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Israeli Health Minister Diagnosed with Coronavirus
1
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus. Both are said to be in good condition.The 71-year-old minister is the most senior Israeli official to be diagnosed with the virus. Litzman has been a frequent target of criticism over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, particularly as he is seen as a representative of the ultra-Orthodox community which has been disproportionately affected by the virus.

As a result, PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and a number of other senior officials have all been sent into quarantine (Netanyahu for the second time).

As matters stand, 32 Israelis have died of coronavirus and the number of people diagnosed is over 6,200.

2
Is annexation of the West Bank the sticking point in unity government negotiations between Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu? The Times of Israel takes a look at the apparent deadlock and the issues facing both sides as the talks continue.
3
Israel reportedly bombed an airbase in western Syria late on Tuesday as it continued its military campaign against Iran.

Video

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Commentary I'm reading

- Netanyahu’s chief rival agrees to join him in government. It’s a patriotic move. (Washington Post)

- Netanyahu faces a rebellion on the right as new government takes shape (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- If US eases sanctions on Iran, how much quicker could it produce a nuke? (Yonah Jeremy Bob)

- The case against lifting sanctions on Iran's clerical regime (Benjamin Weinthal)

- Haredim have finally begun embracing social distancing. Why did it take so long? (Sam Sokol)

- As calls rise for the US to ease sanctions on Tehran, why is Netanyahu silent? (Raphael Ahren)

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Netanyahu in Quarantine Despite Testing Negative for Coronavirus
1
PM Benjamin Netanyahu has gone into quarantine as a precautionary measure after an adviser and her husband came down with the coronavirus. The PM and his family have, however, tested negative for the disease but will remain quarantined for the time being.

Israel's death toll has now reached 18 with 4,831 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday morning. The disproportionately high numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews becoming infected is causing great concern. The New York Times examines why this is the case. Israeli media report that the Haredi city of Bnei Brak may even need to be quarantined.

Meanwhile, Israeli apps are helping to contain the pandemic while the Defense Ministry plans to use software analyzing data gathered from cell phones to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them.
As the economy continues to crash, the government published its major economic plan to soften the blow of the coronavirus outbreak.
2
Hamas is prepping for mass quarantines, including building two large isolation facilities to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, Palestnian Authority intelligence services have managed to secure 10,000 coronavirus testing kits from China.

Israel's UN ambassador has taken PA President Mahmoud Abbas to task for spreading the false charge that IDF soldiers are spreading coronavirus in the West Bank.

3
An Israeli woman has been indicted for allegedly spying for the Lebanese-based Hezbollah terrorist group. The 25-year-old is charged with "contact with a foreign agent, handing information to an enemy with the intent to harm state security and providing a service to a terrorist organization." (Ynet)

Commentary I'm reading

- Did Benny Gantz betray Israel … or save it? (Jonathan Tobin)

- Coronavirus in Gaza is both a threat and an opportunity for Israel (Alex Fishman)

- Israel’s edge: Netanyahu-Gantz superstorm distracts from coronavirus dread (Chemi Shalev)

- Netanyahu seeks to draw out unity talks, as Gantz’s hand weakens (Raoul Wootliff)

- Win-win coalition? Both Netanyahu and Gantz can make case for victory in talks (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- Despite self-quarantine, for Netanyahu it’s mostly business as usual (Raphael Ahren)

- What Iran’s severe virus crisis might mean for its threat to the region (Ron Kampeas)

- Benny Gantz just sold out Israel’s perilously ill democracy (Gershom Gorenberg)

- Wanted: A non-bloated, non-bankrupt government (Ben-Dror Yemini)

- Netanyahu won, but Israel's right wing lost (Nave Dromi)

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IsraBite News: Gantz Splits Blue and White to Form Unity Gov't

1
High political drama even by Israeli standards as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz was elected Knesset Speaker with the votes of PM Benjamin Netanyahu's political bloc with the aim of negotiating a unity government deal.

This came at the cost of Gantz's Blue and White alliance. Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid and Moshe Ya'alon's Telem factions broke away rather than sit in a Netanyahu-led coalition. The dust has yet to settle as some individual MKs contemplate which side to go with.

According to the emerging deal, Netanyahu will continue to serve as PM fwith Gantz serving initially as foreign or defense minister before taking over as prime minister in September 2021.


See below for plenty of commentary on whether Gantz betrayed his voters or responsibly put the country first.

2
A 92-year-old man has become Israel's 13th coronavirus fatality. An 82-year-old Israeli man in Italy also died of the disease. As of Sunday morning, there have been 3,865 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel.

Coronavirus has not stopped immigration to Israel as more than 800 new immigrants have arrived since the beginning of March, with another 200 expected before the start of the Passover holiday on April 8.

The Observer takes a look at why Passover will, thanks to corona, be particularly different this year.

3
Palestinian groups cancelled mass rallies along the Gaza border planned to mark the second anniversary of the "Great March of Return" due to the coronavirus. Weekly protests had led to regular violence on the border.

The relative calm caused by the coronavirus was broken Friday night after a rocket launched from Gaza landed in an open field in southern Israel. In response, IDF tanks and aircraft attacked three sites belonging to Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority reported six new coronavirus patients on Sunday morning bringing the total number of known COVID-19 patients in the PA to 104.

4
Britain's Prince Harry faces a backlash over plans to invite injured Israeli soldiers to compete at his 2022 Invictus Games for wounded and sick military personnel and veterans. (Mail on Sunday)

5
Antisemitism watch: A renowned Italian painter unveiled his latest canvas this week — a grotesquely antisemitic depiction of hook-nosed Jews engaged in the “ritual murder” of a terrified Christian infant.


A German Spiegel magazine journalist walked back his description of Israel’s government as the first “Corona Dictatorship” after facing days of intense criticism that he spread antisemitism on the news outlet's website.

Commentary I'm reading

- The shared hell of the coronavirus will change the world for the better (Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks)

- Israel's democracy was never in danger (Jonathan Tobin)

- Defeating the epidemic of hatred (Nadav Shragai)

- Defying ruthless, deadlocked politics, Gantz sacrifices everything for stability (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- Gantz lost trust in Netanyahu, but coronavirus made him compromise (Gil Hoffman)

- Abandoning core vow, doesn’t Gantz risk harming the democracy he said he’d save? (David Horovitz)

- Did Gantz sacrifice his party for the country, or was he outmanoeuvred by Netanyahu? (Anshel Pfeffer)

If the PA lacks funds to combat the coronavirus, it should stop paying salaries to terrorists (Yossi Kuperwasser)

- Israel is coronavirus light unto Arab nations (Smadar Perry)

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Right-Wing MKs To Boycott Knesset After High Court Ruling?


A Virtual Hug from HonestReporting

Yesterday, we sent a "virtual hug" to our readers and the responses were incredibly heartwarming.

 

We're hunkered down at home juggling work and family, not knowing how the situation will play out. Your messages of encouragement, appreciation and concern remind us we can all make it through these trying times with our optimism intact.

 

Stay safe and healthy.

Pesach Benson

1
In  a boost to Benny Gantz and a blow to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Supreme Court said that Health Ministry instructions didn't justify closing the Knesset, and further ordered Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to hold a vote on his successor by Wednesday.

 

There's been talk of MKs from the Right-wing bloc boycotting today's Knesset deliberations. 

2
Israel is considering tightening the national lockdown as the number of positive diagnoses climbed to 1,238. More at the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post.

 

In other corona-related news, the Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshippers. It's the first time Muslims were told not to visit the mosque. And the International Criminal Court said it was postponing its investigation of alleged Israeli "war crimes" in the West Bank.

3
The pandemic has given Israel an unprecedented opportunity to cooperate with other Arab countries. Why isn't it happening?

4
A 32-year-old Palestinian man throwing rocks and dropping boulders at Israeli cars in the West Bank was shot and killed as soldiers dispersed him and and his accomplices. The rock-throwing has become a regular occurrence in recent days. (Ynet)

Video: Coronavirus: Israel Beyond the Headlines

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Commentary I'm reading

- Corona: Responsibility for Gaza will fall on Israel's shoulders (Prof. Eyal Zisser)

- Palestinians: Fighting against coronavirus, for freedom of speech (Khaled Abu Toameh)

- Anti-Israel NGOs exploit COVID-19 to spread hatred (Becca Wertman)

- The coronavirus is no reason to let the Iranian regime off the hook (Jonathan Tobin)

- Democracy resumes as the Knesset reopens, but the political crisis is deepening (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- Paternal doomsayer Netanyahu fights virus, and accusation he’s undoing democracy (David Horovitz)

- Netanyahu's unity problem: No one trusts him (Yuval Karni)

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Holocaust Survivor is Israel's First Coronavirus Fatality

1
Israel buried its first corona fatality on Saturday night. Holocaust survivor Aryeh Even was laid to rest in Jerusalem in a funeral restricted to 20 people keeping social distance.

 

The number of Israelis diagnosed with the coronavirus jumped to 945.

2
The first two case sof COVID-19 were confirmed in Gaza. And in the West Bank, Palestinians reported 57 cases -- of which 17 have recovered. The Media Line takes a closer look at Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in the battle against the pandemic.

3
My health care plan doesn't promise 72 virgins.

 

Associated Press: "Iran’s supreme leader Sunday refused U.S. assistance to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America."

4
No progress to report on efforts to form a new government. Likud and Blue and White parties remain stuck, the Knesset is paralyzed over who its next speaker will be, and unelected Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is viewed by many as democracy's last safeguard.

Commentary I'm reading

- Palestinian leaders use coronavirus to attack Israel (Khaled Abu Toameh)

- Coronavirus crisis forces Israel and Palestinians to stare into the same abyss (Amos Harel)

- With Iran struggling under weight of coronavirus, will it act out against Israel and America?  (Israel Kasnett)

- In Israel, the pandemic becomes an instrument of preserving power (Ron Kampeas)

- With a pandemic as cover, Netanyahu is carrying out a coup in Israel (Gershom Gorenberg)

- In Israel, stiff upper lips and gallows humor greet the coronavirus (Dana Kessler)

- The 'no Jewish state' solution (Mitchell Bard)

Reuters: Gaza, Coronavirus and Dishonesty
BY DANIEL POMERANTZ  MARCH 18, 2020

In a stunning display of misleading journalism and demonstrating its anti-Israel agenda, Reuters promotes the myth that restrictions on Gaza are somehow comparable to global quarantines defending against the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Reuters

@Reuters
'Dear world, how is the lockdown?': A sly dig at the international community, this is just one among a torrent of social media posts that has emerged from the blockaded Gaza Strip in the wake of the #coronavirus pandemic https://reut.rs/2WkFajL  via @NidalAl

https://honestreporting.com/reuters-gaza-coronavirus-and-dishonesty/
Blockaded Gaza looks wryly on as world isolates itself
"Dear world, how is the lockdown? Gaza."
reuters.com
170
11:48 AM - Mar 18, 2020
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In the article, Reuters shares a number of tweets from Gaza residents such as this one:

We in Gaza have been living this for 14 years.

Reuters did not commit an ethical breach by sharing tweets from Gaza residents: Gaza is a part of our world and is deemed newsworthy. However, as a body of professional journalists, Reuters has a duty to also share context and balance.  For example, Reuters:

Makes no mention of the 11,560 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel that necessitated a blockade in the first place.
Shares no balancing tweets from the Israelis who have lived (and died) under that rocket fire.
Makes no mention of the massive arms shipments from Iran that the Gaza blockade has prevented, nor how many innocent Israeli lives were saved as a result.
Fails to mention that Hamas (the group that rules Gaza) is officially designated as a terror organization by Australia, Canada, Egypt, the EU, Israel, the UK, and the  United States.
Fails to mention that the Hamas founding charter commits the terror group to the total destruction of all of Israel.
Does not even mention the significant cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian health officials.
For a quick peek into some of Israel’s containment measures and general updates, here’s a recording of a “livestream” we broadcast on Monday. Though the situation is continuing to change, this gives at least a bit of an insight into the evolving nature of daily life in Israel.

There are many international stories relevant to COVID-19: Italy’s desperate measures, South Korea’s massive testing, the UK and its backtracking from a unique “herd immunity” approach, even Israel with its aggressive containment strategy and furious work toward a vaccine.

However, this Reuters article is not relevant to COVID-19 nor is it newsworthy in that context . Instead, this article reads like like a transparent excuse to say something negative about Israel at any cost: even at the cost of basic journalistic ethics.

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Israeli Politicians Clash Over Democracy Amid Corona Crisis
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Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein of the Likud has ordered the Knesset shut at least until Monday after the Blue and White party refused his proposal of having equal representation in the Knesset’s so-called Arrangements Committee, which is tasked with overseeing the formation and operation of the parliament.

Even Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has called on Edelstein to reopen the Knesset and not to harm Israeli democracy.

Many Israelis are demanding greater parliamentary oversight given PM Netanyahu's interim government's controversial measures to fight the coronavirus including allowing the Shin Bet security service access to citizens' cellphone movements.

Read a good analysis courtesy of Haviv Rettig Gur.

Meanwhile, the number of Israelis with coronavirus jumped Thursday morning to 529, according to the Health Ministry. An additional Israeli was listed as in critical condition – bringing the total to six – but the majority of those afflicted (498) have mild symptoms, the ministry reported. Thirteen Israelis are in moderate condition and 12 have recovered.

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Let's have some good news: The fall in economic activity and in particular car journeys and public transport use has significantly improved Israel's air quality.
 
The S&P global ratings agency believes Israel will avoid a recession, citing Israel's strong economy and the shekel's depreciation as factors that will help Israel overcome the virus crisis.

3
Antisemitism Watch: The coronavirus is a Zionist plot spread by Jews to decrease the world population, some members of Turkey's press and public have said, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

South African anti-Israel activists are pushing the false claim that Israel has not published Arabic-language guidelines for dealing with the coronavirus out of contempt for its Arab citizens — despite the fact that these materials are readily accessible on the Israeli Health Ministry’s website.

Video: We Can Beat COVID-19. Here’s How

Commentary I'm reading

- Can the Arab world cope with the coronavirus? (Edy Cohen)

- The coronavirus and the Palestinians (Pinhas Inbari)

- Israel is in all-out war with the coronavirus (Giora Eiland)

- Knesset work stalled as Likud refuses to accept its minority role (Moran Azulay)

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Gantz Given Mandate to Form Gov't

1
President Reuven Rivlin gave Benny Gantz a mandate to form the next government after hosting him and Benjamin Netanyahu for national unity talks.

The Blue and White leader received recommendations from 61 MKs, including, in a suprise move, the Joint (Arab) List's unanimous support. Gantz has six weeks to cobble together a coalition. The Times of Israel is liveblogging the latest developments.

Due to health ministry restrictions on public gatherings, MKs are due to be sworn in at the Knesset in a series of small groups.

Related reading: 12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After

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The number of Israeli diagnosed with corona now stands at 250. Despite the pandemic and having to go into immediate quarantine, 24 Americans are following through with aliyah on Thursday.

Sparking Gaza debate, a Hamas-affiliated academic is urging a ceasefire with Israel amidst the pandemic.

3
Whether you're quarantined like me, or just cooped up by circumstance, here are the Top 7 Israel Advocacy Books.

4
"A lawmaker from the Arab-majority Joint List on Friday accused the IDF of an “atrocity” by spraying Palestinians “with an unknown substance,” before acknowledging the video clip of the incident actually shows Palestinian Authority forces disinfecting a West Bank checkpoint."

5
Khartoum is coming in from the cold: Sudan authorized direct flights to Israel over its territory.

6
Antisemitism Watch: An Argentine soccer team released a player who made an antisemitic gesture during a game.

Video: Does Coronavirus Close Off The Search For An Israeli MIA?

Commentary I'm reading

- Coronavirus forces Iran to rethink its proxy wars (Amos Harel)

- An unexpected crisis debunks the Trump-Netanyahu analogy (Jonathan Tobin)

- Will the coronavirus quiet Gaza? (Yoni Ben Menachem)

- Israel needs an emergency unity government to deal with the coronavirus (Asher Fredman)

- Emergency government uncalled for (Yossi Beilin)

- When is 61 seats not a majority? (Lahav Harkov)

- How the supposedly inept Benny Gantz found a strategic path (almost) to the top (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- ‘Rebranding’ BDS on the African continent (Ben Cohen)

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Israel Enters Partial Lockdown Over Coronavirus

1
A raft of new regulations take effect Sunday to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, including the closure of all cafes, restaurants, hotels, malls, movie theaters, gyms, event halls and the like. Supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and other essential service providers are continuing to function.

The government, in a move that raises significant concerns over privacy, will now be using invasive digital monitoring measures to track the movements of sick individuals, which had previously been employed against terrorism.

A ban against congregating in groups larger than 10 has been extended to gatherings for religious activities — the minimum number of men for an Orthodox prayer quorum, or “minyan,” is 10 — and mandates that people participating in such activities maintain a distance of at least two meters from one another.

Meanwhile, Muslim clerics have shut the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock until further notice while the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip announced that the Rafah pedestrian crossing would be shut to travelers in both directions. And a UN Human Rights Council session that was going to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was suspended.

More on the latest at the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Ynet and Haaretz.

2
The opening of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial in three corruption cases has been postponed by more than two months until May 24 due to new restrictions on Israel’s courts as part of the new measures to combat the coronavirus.

3
President Reuven Rivlin has begun consultations with political parties on the tasking of a lawmaker to form a new government. But will the coronavirus crisis impact on the political situation?

PM Netanyahu has repeated a call for an emergency national unity government, which Blue and White, while considering the possibility, has reacted with suspicion given Netanyahu's efforts to remain in power. But with the entire Joint List recommending Benny Gantz for prime minister, will the math now favor a center-left minority government?

4
A journalist for the Tehran regime’s official English-language mouthpiece, Press TV, was widely mocked online on Thursday after he said he would prefer getting the coronavirus over using an Israeli-produced preventative shot.

But if Israel produced a vaccine, would it be halal for the Iranian regime? Perhaps so according to one Iranian cleric
 
5
To those of you who are currently quarantined, some words of wisdom from former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky on how to remain productive while in isolation.

6
Antisemitism Watch: Oxfam has removed antisemitic books from sale after the Israeli ambassador to the UK criticized the charity on Twitter.

According to the ADL, extremists are promulgating the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was created by a cabal of Jews.
Video: Corona Crisis: Live from Jerusalem

Commentary I'm reading

- Pandemic panic a breeding ground for the virus of Jew-hatred (Jonathan Tobin)

- The true nature of the BDS movement (Alan Futerman, Walter Block, Rafi Farber)

- An attack on Israel's Arabs is an attack on us all (Tamir Pardo)

- Coronavirus, Europe and Israel (Eyal Zisser)

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Israel Bans Gatherings of More Than 100 as Infections Rise

1
Israel's confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 100 as the growing number of people in quarantine disrupted schools, train schedules, the airport, prisons and more.

 

Israel also banned gatherings of more than 100, raising questions about tomorrow's Knesset swearing-in ceremony.

 

Ministry of Finance officials estimate that current quarantine requirements will cost the Israeli economy NIS 4.3 billion ($1.2 billion) monthly. The government announced an economic rescue plan to the tune of NIS 10 billion ($2.8 billion).

 

More on the latest at the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Ynet and Haaretz.

2
The PA arrested a number of Palestinians for spreading fake news about coronavirus. And the situation is hitting the Mossad, as operatives returning to Israel from abroad have to quarantine.

 

Mideast reports picked up by the Israeli press suggest that Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders are infected or in quarantine after visiting Tehran. And Hussein Sheikh al-Islam, an Iranian thought to have knowledge of Israeli MIA Ron Arad's fate, died of coronavirus, taking his secrets to the grave. Arad -- who disappeared when his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 -- is one of four Israeli MIAs.

3
Syrian media reports picked up by Reuters suggest Israel launched an air strike at Abukamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq. A number of strikes on Iranian proxy militias in Abukamal have been attributed to Israel in recent months.

 

Related reading: How Iran’s Land Bridge Threatens the Entire Middle East.

4
A Saudi crackdown on Hamas continues: Now underway is the trial of 68 people accused of collecting and laundering money for the terror group.

5
A  Brown University advisory committee formally recommended that the Ivy League university divest itself from “any company that profits from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”

 

The recommendation is non-binding, but carries more weight coming from an advisory committee of faculty, staff, students and alumni.

6
Antisemitism Watch: A California State University professor claims Israel will place Arab coronavirus patients in ‘mass prisons.’

 

Berlin opened Germany's first counseling center for victims of antisemitic attacks. Two youths attacked an Austrian Jewish teen wearing a Star of David ring. Nine historians resigned from a Belgian Holocaust museum over plans to honor an anti-Israel activist. An Argentine soccer player may be prosecuted for making an antisemitic gesture during a game.

Video: Coronavirus and the Virus of Antisemitism

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Commentary I'm reading

 

- Don't boycott Israel just yet (Aaron Andrews)

- Israeli security officials dread having to handle a Gaza coronavirus outbreak (Amos Harel)

- Palestinians revive blood libels as Israel saves their lives (Khaled Abu Toameh)

- The coronavirus coalition (Giora Eiland)

- Netanyahu and Gantz should grow up (Ben-Dror Yemini)

- Palestinian Islamists disrupt an attempted truce in Gaza (Eitan Dangot)

- I worked on Jeremy Corbyn’s team. This is how Labour rotted under him (Josh Simons)

- To the brave students who counter 'Apartheid' Week (Prof. Cherryl Smith)

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Will Israel Place Restrictions on Visitors From All Countries?

Note: We won't be publishing a roundup for the next two days. IsraBite News will resume on Thursday. Happy Purim to all of our readers.

Pesach Benson

Deputy Managing Editor

1
The number of Israelis diagnosed with coronavirus jumped to 39. Among them is Israel's first patient whose COVID-19 is of "unknown origin."

Officials are now considering quarantining all foreigners and Israelis returning from anywhere abroad. More on that at the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel.

2
One Arab MK called for a repeal of Israel's Law of Return as a condition for the Joint List supporting any governing coalition.

Related reading: What Is Israel's Law of Return?

3
The Washington Post takes a closer look at the ongoing Gaza terror balloons.

4
Antisemitism Watch: Will the spread of coronavirus lead to another spike in US antisemitism? Tehran is pushing antisemitic conspiracies about COVID-19 because "Iran’s regime requires a foreign enemy to distract its citizens from its failure to confront the virus last month."

Meanwhile, Fox News is under fire for using an antisemitic trope after anchor Raymond Arroyo asserted that recent presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg will be a “Biden puppet master.” And Phillip Agnew, who has called Zionism ‘racist,’ says he's a senior adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign.

Commentary I'm reading

- What we know about Iran five years after Netanyahu’s speech to Congress (Yaakov Amidror)

- The connection between Iran's nuclear bid and regional aggression (Ron Ben-Yishai)

- Politically tripping over itself, Israel can’t move on Trump plan (Herb Keinon)

- Stronger Arab sector is good for all Israelis (Chen Artzi Sror)

- Who's attacking Palestinian Christians? (Bassam Tawil)

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Israel Weighs Restrictions on US Travelers

1
Israeli officials are divided over restricting travelers from the US over the coronavirus. Israeli media reports suggested restrictions may be imposed on flights specifically arriving from the states of New York, California and Washington, and that Israelis recently in those places may be required to self-quarantine. Health Minister Yaakov Litzman only said that Israelis should be ready for unspecified “big steps” that may be announced later today.

 

So far, 25 Israelis and 19 Palestinians have been diagnosed with coronavirus. At least 80,000 Israelis are currently in quarantine.

2
Coalition maneuverings are underway. Benny Gantz agreed in principle to Avigdor Liberman's demands focusing on issues such as civil marriage, commerce and transportation on Shabbat haredi conscription. And Joint (Arab) List leaders began laying out their terms for supporting a Blue and White-led coalition.

3
In a further sign of detente, Israel attended an anti-terrorism conference in Morocco.

4
The US Army is dropping a $1 billion project to integrate elements of the Iron Dome into military defenses after Israel refused to share the system's source code. (Jerusalem Post)

5
A senior Fatah official was arrested for questioning Mahmoud Abbas’s mental health.

6
Antisemitism Watch: A Toronto-based Arabic newspaper accused Israel of burying Palestinians alive and stealing their organs. UK Labour will investigate after party activists branded a deputy leadership candidate a 'Mossad agent.' A report found rising antisemitism in Italy is fueled by anti-Zionist propaganda and conspiracy theories. High school students in Brazil displayed a Nazi salute to support a classmate.

HonestReporting Election Resources

 

- How Do The Israeli Elections Work?

- 12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After

- The Chaos of Israeli Democracy: An Explainer

- So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?

- Video: What You Didn't Know About Israeli Elections

Commentary I'm reading

- Qatari cash for Hamas will backfire on Israel (Udi Levi)

- Why Abbas rejects Trump's deal (and any other deal with Israel) (Benny Begin)

- For Palestinians and Israelis, this is the deal that can be done now (Jason Greenblatt)

- Israel’s Arab parties and defending democracy (Jonathan Tobin)

- Stronger Arab sector is good for all Israelis (Chen Artzi Sror)

- Benny Gantz's gamble (Gil Hoffman)

- History shows that epidemics can carry dangerous side effects for Jews: deadly anti-Semitism (Henry Abramson)

- Israel's virus response is missing one thing (Zev Chafets)

- Europe’s modern anti-Semitic carnivals are carrying on a centuries-old tradition (Cnaan Liphshiz)



https://honestreporting.com/false-israel-south-africa-apartheid-libel/
The False Israel-Apartheid Libel
BY GUESTPOST  MAY 21, 2019

Apartheid. Just the mention of the word is emotive, evocative and provocative. For millions of South Africans who suffered under the apartheid regime, the word is synonymous with suffering, discrimination and racism.

Today the word apartheid has been hijacked by Israel’s detractors as a way to launch a well-orchestrated assault on her legitimacy as a state. They capitalize on the emotional response that the very mention of the word and the images that it conjures up, to plan campaigns that are based on their own particular brand of racism – antisemitism.

Why has the comparison between Israel and apartheid South Africa gained so much trajectory over the last decade? The Durban Conference on Racism that was held in South Africa in 2001 became the springboard where this comparison really gained ground. Not since Nazi Germany have such nasty invective and accusations been leveled against Israel and the Jewish people.

The rationale behind this is that if Israel is compared to and demonized just as much as apartheid South Africa was, then treating the Jewish state like a pariah and meting out the same treatment in the form of boycotts, divestment and sanction policies is the logical step. In fact, if Israel is as odious as South Africa was, should it exist at all? And herein lies one of the fundamental differences. At no point during the apartheid years was South Africa’s legitimacy or existence as a state challenged, just the racist governmental policy.

Israel being singled out for opprobrium at the  expense of other conflict regions and states that are guilty of human rights abuse smacks of something more sinister.

What was apartheid?
Apartheid is defined as the discriminatory and oppressive laws based on race that deemed one group of people (non-white) as inferior and legislation in all spheres to support that. It also pertains to the forced removal of people of color from their neighborhoods and relocation to less desirable areas.

Does racism exist in Israel? Yes it does. Just as it does in Canada, the U.S., Brazil, South Africa or any other country in the world. It is abhorrent and inexcusable but is it state legislated and policy like it was in Nazi Germany or South Africa? No, and to single Israel out exposes a shocking double standard. Israeli Arabs who are citizens of Israel enjoy equal voting rights, representation in government, the right to education in the same schools and universities as anyone else and all inalienable rights. Israel’s critics will argue but what about the  Palestinians? Aren’t they subject to apartheid that is worse then South Africa at the hands of Israel?

Israel famously disengaged from Gaza in 2005, removing the citizens that had settled there, including the dead. Any Israeli presence was removed from the area and an opportunity was created for the Palestinians to make overtures towards peace. Instead, a vacuum was created that led to the fundamentalist Hamas taking control of the territory. This new regime persecuted and got rid of any opposition, installing an Islamist leadership that quickly imposed harsh restrictions and trampled on human rights including on the media, freedom of religion, women’s rights and sexual orientation.

Israel’s detractors make the comparison of Hamas being a liberation movement for the Palestinians but can we really compare the genocidal Hamas Charter, which advocates the destruction of the Jews and Israel, to the ANC Freedom Charter, which calls for equal rights and inclusion of all citizens of South Africa regardless of race or history? To do so maligns everything those who fought to end apartheid injustice stood for and the hard work by veterans such as Nelson Mandela to broker reconciliation.

If we are going to point a finger at any regime practicing apartheid in the Middle East, Hamas is certainly a top contender. Others include Lebanon and Jordan and others who withhold the rights of citizenship from Palestinians, relegating them to perpetual second-class citizenship status. What about Iran or Saudi Arabia whose records on human rights are deplorable?

The PLO ambassador to the U.S. famously declared that no Jews would be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state. Is this not apartheid?


Kenneth Meshoe
The Rev. Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) had this to say about the Israel apartheid analogy:

As a black South African who lived under apartheid, …in my view, Israel cannot be compared to apartheid in South Africa. Those who make the accusation expose their ignorance of what apartheid really is. Black, brown and white Jews and the Arab minority mingle freely in all public places, universities, restaurants, voting stations and public transportation. All people have the right to vote. The Arab minority has political parties, serves in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) and holds positions in government ministries, the police force and the security services. In hospitals, Palestinian patients lie in beds next to Israeli Jews, and doctors and nurses are as likely to be Israeli Arabs as Jews. …None of the above was legally permissible in apartheid South Africa!

Despite evidence and statements to the contrary, Israel continues to to face accusations of apartheid practices. The singling out of Israel for approbation in the media, United Nations, university campuses and farcical tribunals like the Russell Tribunal reinforces the idea of an antisemitic cabal. Now that is racism.


Rolene Marks is a South African olah and volunteer member of the Media Team Israel and Truth be Told, an advocacy body that fights media bias. She has appeared on radio, television and has been published in numerous global publications. Visit her blog: www.rorosrantings.wordpress.com

See our Hot Topics for more on the Apartheid State Libel and how to address this slur.

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Tom Friedman Distracts With False Equivalence
Historical Hyperbole and False Rape Allegations

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Gantz to Push Law Barring Indicted PM From Serving

1
"With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religious right-wing bloc of supporters all but guaranteed to have won fewer than half of the seats in the Knesset in Monday’s elections, the rival Blue and White party on Wednesday confirmed it was working on getting a majority to support a law that would prevent an indicted prime minister from serving, which would effectively oust the premier."

The new Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on March 16. March 17 is the deadline for President Reuven Rivlin to task someone with forming a government, which could become politically explosive. It's also the day Netanyahu's corruption trial begins.

Haaretz notes the key dates and deadlines for the upcoming stages of coalition-forming process.

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In other election news: Who are the potential center-left defectors Netanyahu hopes will cross the aisle? Despite breaching personal data on every single registered voter, Likud credited the Elector app for its election day surge.

Worth reading: The New York Times explores Netanyahu's support among Mizrahi Jews whose families originally came from Arab countries. (Related reading: The Forgotten Jewish Refugees From Arab Lands.)

3
"More than 130 gay and trans filmmakers have pledged to boycott an LGBT+ film festival in Tel Aviv."

4
It turns out the anti-Israel Human Rights Watch accepted a Saudi tycoon's $470,000 donation that came with a quid pro quo: not to criticize the kingdom's repression of gays. The Jerusalem Post picked up on The Intercept's scoop.

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Coronavirus cases in Israel rose to 15.

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Antisemitism Watch: "The director of the controversial Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has claimed the internationally-recognised definition of anti-Jewish racism 'drains antisemitism of any meaning.'" A Jewish man was attacked in Sao Paulo by assailants shouting antisemitic slurs.

HonestReporting Election Resources

- How Do The Israeli Elections Work?

- 12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After

- The Chaos of Israeli Democracy: An Explainer

- So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?

- Video: What You Didn't Know About Israeli Elections

Commentary I'm reading

- 3 Israeli elections reconfirm 2 basic facts (Jonathan Tobin)

- The indefatigable, unbeatable Benjamin Netanyahu (Shmuel Rosner)

- Netanyahu’s victory is an indictment of his indictment (Lahav Harkov)

- Gaza for Netanyahu, West Bank for Gantz (Elior Levy)

- Who is preventing Palestinians from voting? (Khaled Abu Toameh)

- Israel’s new diplomatic moment (Jonathan Spyer, click via Twitter)

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Does Netanyahu 'Win' End Political Stalemate?

1
Israeli exit polls indicate that the right-wing bloc will be shy of the necessary 61-seat majority to form a governing coalition, even as Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the Knesset's largest party.

Coalition negotiations will be complicated by Netanyahu's upcoming corruption trial, which begins on March 17. Likud plans to target center-left "deserters" to cross the aisle.

The Times of Israel, Haaretz and i24 News are liveblogging the election aftermath. Here's a preliminary look at what the Knesset will look like with 97 percent of the votes tallied.The uncounted three percent are votes cast by soldiers, prisoners, diplomats abroad and the medically quarantined

2
In other election fallout, Palestinians decried the results as a mandate for annexing the West Bank. The Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party leaders defended their decision to stay in the race after not qualifying for any seats. The center-left blame game is underway.

Amid concerns about ballots being contaminated by the coronavirus, Central Election Committee personnel wearing protective gear will tally some 4,000 votes cast by quarantined Israelis.

3
The IDF struck a Syrian vehicle, thwarting a sniper attack on Israeli troops near the Golan border village of Quneitra on Monday.

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised to protect US businesses noted in a UN blacklist of companies operating in West Bank settlements. (The Hill)

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Antisemitism Watch: At yet another Spanish carnival, dancers equated Jews and Nazis alongside Auschwitz floats (!?). A University of Maryland student was arrested on hate crime charges after allegedly sending antisemitic texts. In Britain, a man who shouted 'dirty Jews' and shoved a baby's pram was convicted of a racist assault.

HonestReporting Election Resources

- How Do The Israeli Elections Work?

- 12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After

- The Chaos of Israeli Democracy: An Explainer

- So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?

- Video: What You Didn't Know About Israeli Elections

Commentary I'm reading

- Likud has beaten Blue and White, but Netanyahu’s options hinge on final count (David Horovitz)

- All that's clear in Israel is that nothing is (Vivian Bercovici)

- The election proves the Arab public is hungry for integration (Daniel Siryoti)

- Netanyahu and Gantz both leave all options open, but few may be on the table (Raoul Wootliff)

- Netanyahu's indictments were the fuel to his victory (Sever Plocker)

- Win or lose, Netanyahu's trial is still March 17 (Yonah Jeremy Bob)

- A day of reckoning for the Left (Yossi Beilin)

- Why are Palestinians dying in Hamas prisons? (Bassam Tawil)

- European floats depict vermin, chimneys, poison gas, bags of money . . . (Thane Rosenbaum)

12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After
BY PESACH BENSON  APRIL 1, 2019
Israeli elections construction
Israeli elections always generate media interest. As Israeli society tries to strike a balance between being Jewish, democratic and secure, ongoing developments always seem to make Israel a lightning rod for criticism, kudos and consuming conversation.

If you’re trying to make sense of the Israeli elections and related domestic politics, here’s the basic background you need to know about the voting process and how a governing coalition is formed.

There are two primary stages to the process which will be elaborated on below.

The Knesset is formed based on the election results.
One of the party leaders puts together a governing coalition.
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Who gets a Knesset seat?
1. Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats. Members of Knesset (MKs) are chosen based on proportional representation, not by district. If a party receives, say, 10 percent of the vote, that party will receive 12 of the seats. When parties register to run, they list their slate of candidates so the public can know who the lawmakers would be. Voters cast their ballots for a party, not for an individual candidate.

2. Israeli elections are held every four years, or earlier if the governing coalition is dissolved. By law, Israel cannot go for more than four years without elections. Votes of no-confidence or the failure to pass a budget by a certain date, among other things, can force the Knesset’s dissolution.

3. Israeli citizens 18 and older are eligible to vote. Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza vote in Palestinian Authority elections. Palestinians with Jerusalem residency permits can vote in municipal elections, but not in national elections. With divided leadership between Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have been unable or unwilling to hold elections of their own. (Related reading: So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?)

4. The voting process is low-tech indeed: Voters stand behind a partition, choose a slip of paper with the name of their party and put it in an envelope. In front of Central Elections Committee volunteers, voters place their envelope in a blue box. After polls close, the votes are counted and the results are made public. (Related reading: Here’s What Israeli Democracy in Action Looks Like)

voting
A woman in Efrat casts her ballot during municipal elections, on October 30, 2018. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90
5. Parties must receive a minimum of 3.25 percent of the vote (the equivalent of four Knesset seats) to sit in the parliament. Votes for parties that don’t make that threshold are known as wasted votes. The minimum threshold was raised several times in recent years to streamline Knesset activities by keeping smaller factions out of parliament. (For a fuller discussion on this issue and its implications, see the Israel Policy Forum and the Israel Democracy Institute.)

Related reading: So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?

6. Ahead of the Israeli elections, parties can make “surplus vote” deals with other each other in the hopes of gaining extra seats. Ynet explains how they work:

After the polls close, the votes are counted and each party that makes it past the threshold is allocated a number of the 120 Knesset seats depending on the percentage of the vote they received. However, it is rarely a tidy number, and there is normally a number of votes for each party that do not translate into a full Knesset seat. And this is where a party can boost its number of seats, if it manages to strike a deal with another party for surplus votes.

Two parties can use the surplus votes agreement to combine their leftover ballots, and if the two combined totals adds up to enough votes to make a full seat, it then goes to the party with the greater number of surplus votes (which most of the time is also the bigger party).

These agreements — also known as “vote sharing” — are publicized before the elections. (To learn more about the methodology behind the surplus vote calculations, see The Distribution of Knesset Seats Among the Lists – the Bader-Offer Method at the Knesset’s web site.)

7. In the history of Israeli elections, no party has ever won 61 Knesset seats, so governing requires a coalition.

Related reading: The Chaos of Israeli Democracy: An Explainer

Creating a coalition
President Reuven Rivlin
President Reuven Rivlin
8. After all the Knesset seats are allocated, Israel’s President holds consultations with the leaders of all the parties to gauge who would have the best chance of forming a coalition. A governing coalition technically requires a simple majority of 61 MKs, but larger coalitions have more stability. If a national unity government is to emerge, this is the stage it will become evident. Israel’s current President is Reuven Rivlin.

9. After holding consultations, the President will choose the party leader he feels has the best chance of forming a coalition. Heading the party with the most Knesset seats doesn’t automatically mean that person will become prime minister. For example, Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party won more seats than Likud in the 2009 elections, but the make-up of the Knesset and resulting consultations led president Shimon Peres to assign Benjamin Netanyahu with the job.

10. Once tasked with building a governing a coalition, the would-be prime minister has 28 days to pull it off. It’s a time of horse-trading — the would-be PM has to satisfy competing demands for cabinet appointments, policy commitments and political principles among potential coalition partners and within his own party. Because of all the wheeling and dealing, the president customarily grants the would-be prime minister a 14-day extension if necessary.

Related video: Video: What You Didn’t Know About Israeli Elections

11. If the would-be PM fails to form a governing coalition in time, the president will ask a second candidate to form one in 28 days. Should that fail, a third candidate would be given a chance in 14 days. (Neither would have any possibility of receiving a extension.) Should all three candidates fail to form a coalition, the president will dissolve the Knesset, new elections will be held within 90 days, and the process of Israeli elections repeats itself. That situation has never materialized, although the Knesset was dissolved in spring 2019 without a coalition being formed by incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu, but before rival candidates were given the chance to form a coalition.

12. Once a coalition is agreed upon, the would-be prime minister presents to the Knesset a report listing the cabinet ministers and sketching out the government’s basic policies. After MKs vote to confirm the new government, the prime minister and the cabinet are sworn in and begin governing.

 
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Israel Gears Up for Tomorrow's Election

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Note: We're taking Monday off for Israel's elections. We'll resume the roundup on Tuesday.

Pesach Benson
Deputy Managing Editor

2
Israelis vote tomorrow for the third election in a year. Final polls indicate gains for Likud and the Joint Arab List, but not enough to break the coalition impasse. A fourth election is widely expected.

 

Leaks were the big story in the last weekend before the big day. One of Benjamin Netanyahu's aides was recorded saying "Hate is what unites our camp," while one of Benny Gantz's aides was recorded saying Gantz "hasn’t got the courage to attack Iran."

 

For Israelis abroad with no possibility of absentee balloting, is it worth flying home for a third election in a year?

3
Meet Sabrin Sa'adi, the first hijab-wearing religious Muslim female to be an Israeli police investigation officer. (Ynet)

4
Antisemitism Watch: A New York Jewish firefighter sued his boss over alleged antisemitic discrimination. Austria's parliament unanimously condemned the BDS movement as antisemitic.

HonestReporting Election Resources


- How Do The Israeli Elections Work?

- 12 Things to Know About Israeli Elections and What Happens After

- The Chaos of Israeli Democracy: An Explainer

- So Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?

- Video: What You Didn't Know About Israeli Elections

Commentary I'm reading

 

- Is Israel on track to the fourth election? (Herb Keinon)

- For both Netanyahu and Gantz, it isn’t about winning – it’s about staying in the ring (Haviv Rettig Gur)

- Israel's enemies are not waiting until a Prime Minister is chosen (Anna Ahronheim)

- Israel's Election: What do the Iranians and Palestinians want? (Bassam Tawil)

- Netanyahu saw Trump plan as asset, but now polls show surge of angry Arab voters (David Horovitz)

- Four things I learned talking to the world’s diplomats about Israel (Jeremy Havardi)

- ‘Fun’ antisemitic displays in Europe should shock Jews everywhere (Benny Avni)

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Why Can’t the Palestinians Vote?
BY PESACH BENSON  JANUARY 1, 2019
Palestinians vote
“It’s Israel’s fault the Palestinians can’t vote.” That’s an accusation we often hear, especially when Israel pivots to election campaign mode.

Unfortunately, the Palestinians are disenfranchised.

But not by Israel.

The Palestinians have been disenfranchised by their own feuding leaders in Fatah and Hamas. A look at the history shows Egypt and Jordan bear some responsibility too.

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The Pre-Oslo History
The first election held in what would become the state of Israel was organized by the British Mandate in 1923. Jews and Arabs were to vote for members of an electoral college which would choose members of a 23-seat legislature. But Arabs boycotted the vote in a dispute over the distribution of seats; British authorities later annulled the results.

Britain quit the Holy Land in 1948, prompting Israel’s War of Independence. When that conflict finally ended, Israel was in control of the Negev, the Mediterranean coast, the Galilee plus the western half of Jerusalem. Arabs in those areas who did not flee the fighting became Israeli citizens, receiving full voting rights. The first Knesset included three MKs from an Arab party called the Democratic List of Nazareth, while a fourth Arab MK was with the Israeli Communist Party (more commonly known by its Hebrew acronym, Maki).

first Knesset
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion walks to his seat as Hillel Kook (Herut) takes his place at the rostrum at the Knesset in Tel Aviv on May 1, 1949.
The Arabs who lived in the West Bank when the war ended came under Jordanian jurisdiction, while Arabs living in Gaza lived under Egyptian military occupation. The roughly 700,000 Arabs who fled to neighboring countries — the first Palestinian refugees — came under the administration of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Neither Syria nor Lebanon never offered citizenship to any Palestinian refugees or their descendants. Egypt offered citizenship to 50,000 Palestinians with Egyptian mothers — in 2012.

Jordan, on the other hand, annexed the West Bank in 1948, a move that was never internationally recognized. Palestinians who fled to Jordan during the war obtained full Jordanian citizenship. After the war, in the West Bank, some Palestinians procured Jordanian citizenship but most did not. In Jordan’s 1950 general election, Palestinians sent 20 “West Bankers” to represent them in the new parliament in Amman. (Palestinians who fled to Jordan during the 1967 war did not receive Jordanian citizenship, just special passports allowing them to travel abroad.) However, in the 2000s, reports disclosed that Amman was revoking the Jordanian citizenship of thousands of Palestinians — including Mahmoud Abbas. Jordanian officials never explained how many were actually withdrawn or why.


Related reading: How Do Israeli Elections Work?

As for Gaza, following the War of Independence, the “All-Palestine Government” served as the Strip’s figurehead government. It only existed under the protection of the Egyptian military administration which ran Gaza’s day-to-day affairs. (Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser disbanded the All-Palestine Government in 1959, in the name of “Pan-Arabism.”)

Perhaps foreshadowing the current tensions between the West Bank and Gaza, Egypt didn’t trust Jordan’s influence over the West Bank; the Jordanians were suspicious of Egypt’s domination over the All-Palestine Government.

Hussein and Nasser
Jordan’s King Hussein and Egypt’s President Gamel Abdel Nasser in the mid 1950s
During the Six Day War of 1967, Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem’s eastern neighborhoods, becoming responsible for managing the daily affairs of these areas.

In accordance with international law, Israel established a military administration in those areas, while extending Israeli law to eastern Jerusalem. (In 1980, the Knesset would further enshrine the city’s unified status with the Jerusalem Law, which declared the united city as Israel’s capital.) By extending Israeli law to Jerusalem’s eastern neighborhoods, Israel obligated itself to give voting rights to the Palestinians living there. Israeli policy is make citizenship available to eastern Jerusalem Palestinians who apply for it, but will not impose citizenship on them. (More on Jerusalem voting below.)

Israeli attempts to organize West Bank municipal elections in 1972 and 1976 met with limited success.

Palestinians Vote: Oslo to Now
Just as Israeli citizens vote in Israeli elections, Palestinians vote in Palestinian Authority elections, which were set up within the framework of the 1993 Oslo accords (see Annex I).

The new Palestinian exercise in democracy began in 1996, when they elected Yasser Arafat as president with 88 percent of the vote. Palestinians also gave Fatah 55 of the 88 seats on the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Palestinians living in eastern Jerusalem also voted, though Israel was not obligated to allow it. (However, those with full Israeli citizenship were not allowed to vote.) Also, the Palestinian diaspora — most notably those living in refugees camps abroad were also ineligible.

Palestinians didn’t hold another national election until January, 2005. A few months after Arafat’s death, Mahmoud Abbas was voted president with a majority of 62%. Abbas was widely viewed as Arafat’s natural successor and a leader Israel could do business with.

Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
The PLC was expanded to 132 seats; the parliamentary elections of January, 2006, led to shocking results. Hamas won big, taking 74 seats, compared to Fatah’s 45. Fatah, for the first time, faced a real challenge to its political primacy.

Indeed, in June, 2007, lip service to normal political activity flew out the window when Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Fatah responded by entrenching itself in the West Bank. The Palestinian Legislative Council stopped meeting. Mahmoud Abbas, whose four-year term expired in 2009, simply continued as PA president. No national elections have been held since. In December, 2018, Abbas announced his intention to dissolve the parliament.

Hamas takeover
A Palestinian gunman in Gaza during the 2007 Hamas takeover.
On the local level, Palestinians held several rounds of voting in municipalities to appoint mayors and members of town councils in 2005. However, by December, the balloting was not completed. The issue was put on hold as Fatah-Hamas disagreements increased.

Another attempt was made with local elections scheduled for July, 2010. Balloting was delayed two years when Fatah couldn’t agree on its own candidate list. Municipal elections due to be held in October, 2016, were suspended by a Palestinian Authority court. Voting eventually took place in May, 2017, but because of Hamas-Fatah feuding, the majority of West Bank locales held no elections.

There’s no end in sight to their impasse. With both wielding a veto power over balloting that isn’t to their advantage, many question whether either Fatah or Hamas really want national unity.

The Israeli government’s position? PA elections are a domestic Palestinian affair. It’s up to the Palestinians to break their political deadlock and choose their leaders.

Even if Israeli officials have preferences for particular people or parties, they know better than to express them. Any Israeli endorsement — real or implied — could be a kiss of death in Palestinian politics.

So just as Israelis don’t participate in Palestinian Authority elections, Palestinians don’t participate in Israeli elections. Nobody can participate in both elections. Full stop (almost).

The Jerusalem Exception
JerusalemAlthough Palestinians are not entitled to participate in Israeli elections, eastern Jerusalem Palestinians vote in the city’s municipal elections, and even run for the city council. Or at least they’re entitled to. As explained earlier, Israeli policy is make full citizenship available to eastern Jerusalem Palestinians who wish to apply; this would let Palestinians vote and run in national elections as naturalized Israelis. In practice, the vast majority don’t apply, though there are periodic surges. Israeli policy is not to impose citizenship.

By law, only an Israeli citizen can be mayor, so it’s theoretically possible that Jerusalem could have an Israeli-Arab mayor with a council featuring non-Israeli Palestinians. With around 300,000 Palestinians eligible to vote in the 2018 municipal elections (about 40 percent of the population), there’s plenty of clout to reshape city politics.

Related reading: Deal With It: Jerusalem is Israel’s Capital

However, Palestinian residents of eastern Jerusalem historically boycott the local elections, saying participation legitimizes Israel control over the city. The boycotts are reinforced by fatwas (religious decrees) and intimidation.

The few Palestinians who buck consensus by throwing their hat in the ring never garner enough support. A Palestinian list called “Jerusalem, My Town,” led by Ramadan Dabash managed to get 3,001 votes in 2018. But to receive one of the city council’s 30 seats, his list would have needed 8,086 votes.

Nobody’s compelled to vote, but it’s disingenuous for Palestinians to then claim that city hall discriminates against them on issues like schools, garbage collection, health clinics etc. These issues do not stem from racial discrimination but rather from a simple lack of representation.

The Context of “Occupation”
It’s sometimes claimed that the Israeli “occupation” makes it impossible for Palestinians to have truly free elections. It’s commonly argued that checkpoints hinder freedom of movement for lawmakers, candidates and activists. Many Palestinian lawmakers are in Israeli prisons. And Israel restricts Palestinian political expression in Jerusalem. How can Palestinians vote under these circumstances?

While the legalities of occupation are beyond the scope of this work, the Israeli “occupation” is not illegal. In fact, it’s required by international law. “Occupying powers” are obligated to oversee territory by a military administration, not a civilian one. The occupation is supposed to be temporary, for the sake of law and order, until the territory’s political status is resolved. (For a better understanding, HonestReporting’s Daniel Pomerantz elaborated on this point.)

After the Six-Day War, Israel offered to return the captured territory to the Arabs for an end of hostilities. In August, 1967, Arab leaders met in Khartoum to coordinate a response to Israel’s sweeping land-for-peace offer. It became known as The Three Noes: No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and no recognition of Israel.

Related reading: Three Noes That Set the Mideast On Course of Conflict

Tayseer Abu Sneineh
Hebron Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh
It took years for those Noes to soften. The process that created the Palestinian electoral process also recognized the presence of Israeli security forces. Unfortunately, checkpoints are necessary to stop terrorists. Sadly, Palestinians have elected lawmakers associated with terror groups, which is why many are imprisoned. This phenomenon’s poster boy would be Hebron Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh, who in 1980 was convicted of murdering six Israelis and released in a 1983 prisoner swap.

As for restrictions on political activity in Jerusalem, that’s what Palestinians agreed to in the 1993 Oslo 2 agreement (see Article XVII (1a)).

Ignored is the Palestinian diaspora. Refugees living in UNRWA camps abroad face varying restrictions on employment, property ownership, as well as the right to participate in their host country’s elections. This is an issue for every refugee population, but the Palestinians are unique in terms of the extended stalemate over their status and how the UN defines and supports them.

Related reading: The UNRWA Refugee Controversy Explained

Contrast the three million disenfranchised Palestinians living in Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian refugee camps with naturalized Palestinians living in far-flung but vibrant communities including Chile, Honduras, Germany and the US. For example, in November, 2018, Rashida Tlaib made international headlines for becoming the first Palestinian-American woman to win a seat in the US Congress.

“Occupation” is a convenient word to lay blame on Israel’s doorstep. But the combination of Hamas-Fatah enmity, ineptitude and indifference is what really disenfranchises Palestinians.

Featured image: vectors by Vecteezy; Knesset CC BY-NC-SA Government Press Office; Hussein and Nasser via Wikimedia Commons; Abbas via President of Russia; Gaza takeover via YouTube/AP Archive; Abu Sneineh via YouTube/Good Afternoon NET;

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Shaky Gaza Truce Taking Hold

1
Life in Gaza-area communities began returning to a semblance of normalcy as a shaky truce went into effect. Over the course of Sunday and Monday, the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired more than 90 rockets at Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes on PIJ targets in Gaza and Syria.

 

A number of roads in the Gaza area were reopened and train service resumed, but children were kept home from school as a precaution.

 

PIJ vowed revenge after Israel killed an operative planting a bomb along the Gaza border and seized the body on Sunday. Will the ceasefire last?

2
An Israeli woman hospitalized in Japan after testing positive for the coronavirus has reportedly recovered and will fly home.

 

Meanwhile, experts warn that Coronavirus could cost the Israeli economy NIS 14 billion.

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Antisemitism Watch: More than 50 Jewish community centers across the US received bomb threats on Sunday. Belgium's prime minister and European Union officials hinted that legal action might be taken against the organizers of an annual parade featuring antisemitic effigies. Dutch railway employees sang a ‘wholly inappropriate’ song about Jews over a train's loudspeaker system.

Commentary I'm reading

 

- Hamas torn between long-term calm, popular resistance (Ron Ben-Yishai)

- Hamas fails to curb Islamic Jihad, which has no interest in stabilizing Gaza (Yaakov Lappin)

- Gaza is Netanyahu’s 11-year recurring nightmare (Yaakov Katz)

- Israel's Gaza delusion (Elior Levy)

- Despite attempt to change rules with Syria strikes, Israel’s Gaza policy failing (Avi Issacharoff)

- The fortunate Arabs in the Middle East (Bassam Tawil)

- A bridge over troubled Waters (Thane Rosenbaum)

- It’s time for Big Tech to adopt IHRA definition of antisemitism (Emily Schrader)

- Who needs deepfakes? Simple out-of-context photos can be a powerfully low-tech form of misinformation (Lisa Fazio)

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200 Israelis Quarantined Over Coronavirus Concerns

1
Some 200 Israelis who recently came in contact with a group of South Korean pilgrims were placed in home quarantine over the weekend. Upon returning to Korea after their eight-day tour of Israel and the West Bank, 18 of the 77 pilgrims tested positive for the coronavirus.

 

All the Israelis are students, teachers and chaperones from schools in Haifa, Beersheba and Afula who encountered the pilgrims on school trips to Masada, Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs, and other sites. A number of Border Police personnel on duty at those sites were also isolated.

 

The PA also instructed Palestinians who came in contact with the Koreans to go into quarantine. It's not known if the Koreans contracted the virus before or during their time in the Holy Land.

2
Two Palestinians placing an explosive device along the Israeli-Gaza border were shot and killed by the IDF this morning. And on Thursday, a Palestinian woman who tried to stab an Israeli by Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday was shot and killed by responding police officers.

3
Kuwait Airways faces a new legal challenge to its ‘discriminatory’ ban of Israeli passengers.

4
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is visiting Australia. He discussed the peace process, Iran and other issues with The Australian. Along the way, he also visited Fiji.

5
Antisemitism Watch: A leading UK publisher pulled a school textbook asking children to 'reflect' on how Israel caused 9/11. Organizers of a carnival in Belgium insist that an annual parade -- which often features antisemitic effigies of hook-nosed Jews -- will go on today despite heavy condemnation.

 

YouTube permanently banned TruNews, the antisemitic conspiracy channel over repeated hate speech. A watchdog organization tracked more than 50,000 incidents of antisemitic content posted on French social media in 2019.

 

Amazon is failing to remove ‘vile, racist’ Nazi propaganda books from sale. Last but not least, a Cleveland park was vandalized with swastikas and antisemitic graffiti.

Commentary I'm reading

 

- Why the Palestinian case at The Hague took a big hit this past week (Raphael Ahren)

- There could be trouble brewing for Israel in Syria (Alex Fishman)

- Israel's construction plans mean Palestinians can't divide Jerusalem (Nadav Shragai)

- The UN Human Rights Council strikes again (Clifford May)

- Wanted: A smart way to starve terrorist funding (Uri Heitner)

- Palestinians condemn US for offering to help (Khaled Abu Toameh)

- Antisemitism can't be fought with lip service (Fiamma Nirenstein)

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Israel, PA Step Back From Trade War

1
Israel and the Palestinian Authority backed down from an escalating trade war. After the PA banned the import of Israeli calves several months ago, Israel retaliated with a ban on Palestinian agricultural products. Jerusalem and Ramallah reached an agreement to end their restrictions.
2
UNESCO helps Palestinian terrorists study 'human rights' in Israeli prisons with sham courses (!?).
3
Meet Afif Abu Much, "a mild-mannered software engineer" who is emerging as an articulate and influential spokesman on issues of Arab representation in Israeli society.
4
A fourth Israeli aboard a cruise ship docked in Yokohama was diagnosed with the coronavirus and is expected to be isolated in a Japanese military hospital for further treatment.

Another 11 Israelis aboard the Diamond Princess have so far tested negative for the virus. They are expected to arrive back in Israel tomorrow  -- and face another two weeks of quarantine at Ramat Gan's Sheba Medical Center.

The Health Ministry believes that the coronavirus will inevitably reach Israel and has already drawn up plans to create isolation units and, if necessary, commandeer entire hospitals, close major tourist sites and hotels, and impose restrictions on large gatherings. The Palestinians are gearing up for potential outbreaks in the West Bank and Gaza.

5
Antisemitism Watch: A former Polish priest was indicted for hate speech and Holocaust denial. A large swastika was painted on the front of a Jewish-owned business in New Jersey. Frankfurt's mayor made a stark warning about rising German antisemitism.

Commentary I'm reading

- How Hamas extorts Israel through attrition (Elior Levy)

- Hamas using Israeli election to extract a softer stance on Gaza (Amos Harel)

- Gilad Shalit, Israel’s son, is getting married (Bari Weiss)

- Iran has become a burden to its allies in Syria (Abdulrahman Al-Rashed)

- The right-wing's moral duty (Ben-Dror Yemini)

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Netanyahu Trial to Begin March 17

1
Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial begins on March 17, so mark your calendars. That's two weeks after election day, when either Netanyahu or Benny Gantz will be trying to put together a coalition.

Related reading: The Charges Against Benjamin Netanyahu, Explained.

2
Israel struck an Islamic Jihad terror cell on the Gaza border after an IDF patrol came under sniper fire today.

A Gaza terror balloon carrying a warhead from a rocket propelled grenade was found outside the Israeli community of Alumim. Sappers safely defused the explosive.

3
Two Israelis aboard a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama were allowed to disembark. Ten other Israelis still on the Diamond Princess are expected to be released later today or tomorrow and three others remain hospitalized in Japan.

The Interior Ministry is banning non-Israelis from entering the country if they have been in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau within 14 days prior to their arrival.
And yes, special voting locations will be set up for Israelis under quarantine on election day.

4
The Washington Post takes a closer look at an ongoing Israel-Palestinian trade war.

5
Antisemitism Watch: Britain's TalkRadio was fined £75,000 for a George Galloway broadcast dismissing Labour antisemitism as a "Goebbellian lie." One of Ireland's newly-elected Sinn Fein lawmakers apologized for tweets comparing Israel to the Nazis. And antisemitism is spiking in the Netherlands.

Last but not least the president of the University of Illinois student government vetoed a BDS resolution, saying its passage "made students feel unsafe" and "fostered a climate of hate."

Commentary I'm reading

- The 'deal of the century' and Israel's European challenge (Dr. Emmanuel Navon)

- Islamists' response to Trump peace plan (Bassam Tawil)

- The UN should be ashamed of its anti-Israel boycott list (Stephen Daisley)

- A brazen anti-Semitic ‘blacklist’ (The Australian, staff-ed)

- Israel may be facing new wave of terrorism (Yoav Limor)

- Palestinian rights activists moonlight as terrorists (Emily Schrader)

- Antisemitism, toujours (Judith Miller)

- Why Netanyahu’s post-election court date might mean a quicker ouster (Anshel Pfeffer)  






https://honestreporting.com/israel-turkey-eastern-med/
Are Israel and Turkey On a Collision Course in the Eastern Med?
BY PESACH BENSON  JANUARY 23, 2020
Israel Turkey maritime
The discovery of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is putting Israel on a collision course with Turkey.  Israel is partnering with Cyprus and Greece to build an ambitious pipeline to Europe. But with billions of dollars at stake, Turkey is poised to play the spoiler.

What’s behind Turkey’s opposition, and how far will President Recep Tayyip Erdogan go to thwart Israel’s energy alliance?

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The Pipeline
The EastMed pipeline is an undersea pipeline that will deliver natural gas in Israeli, Cypriot and Greek waters to Europe.

The roughly 2,000 km pipeline, comes with a $7 billion price tag and is due to be completed in 2025. It will initially transfer 9-12 billion cubic meters of gas annually, enough to meet an estimated 10 percent of Europe’s energy needs.

The pipeline will connect Israel’s Leviathan gas field with Cyprus’ Aphrodite field, continue to the Greek island of Crete and the eastern Peloponnese, then cross the Gulf of Patras before reaching mainland Greece. A second pipeline, known as Poseidon, will be laid to transfer the gas to Italy.
Greekcitytimes
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Greece, Cyprus and Israel Set to Sign EastMed Pipeline today https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/01/02/51547/
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The gas sales will be a windfall for Israel, Cyprus and Greece.

Factoring in the Turkey’s Occupation
Turkey’s opposition to the EastMed pipeline must be understood in the context of its claims on Cyprus and current occupation of Northern Cyprus. Cyprus was an Ottoman territory until 1878, when Britain captured it during the Russo-Turkish war. During World War I, Cyprus was annexed to the British Empire after the Ottomans joined the Central Powers.

As the British Empire declined after World War II, a referendum was held in 1950; the island’s Greek Cypriot majority overwhelmingly voted for unification with Greece, while Turkish Cypriots preferred partitioning the island between Greece and Turkey.

In the 1950s, Greek Cypriot insurgents fought to oust the British from Cyprus. The London and Zurich agreements of 1959 set in motion Cypriot independence, which was finally attained in 1960.  In 1961, the Republic of Cyprus became the 99th member state of the United Nations.

Turkey, notably, is the only UN member state that does not recognize Cyprus.

A constitution outlining the power sharing between Cyprus’ Greek and Turkish communities led to legal impasses and discontent on both sides. Tensions rose considerably when President Archbishop Makarios III proposed constitutional amendments in 1960, and violence between the two communities broke out in 1963.

But the conflict exploded in 1974, when Greece’s military junta ousted Makarios. Turkey invaded to protect Turkish Cypriots, and in the ensuing fallout, the Greek military regime collapsed. Amidst peace talks, the Turkish military launched the “Second Peace Operation” with a new invasion that overran Northern Cyprus.  Almost all the Greek Cypriots there were driven off their lands or fled.

Cyprus

Today, Cyprus is divided by a UN-patrolled buffer zone. Nobody recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is under international embargo in areas such as business, transportation, culture, sports and more. Thus:

Northern Cyprus’ mail, trade, banking and transportation take place through Turkey.
Turkish settlers from the mainland and their descendants “now make up roughly half the population in the north,” meaning they may already outnumber the original Turkish Cypriots and their descendants.
An estimated 30,000-40,000 Turkish soldiers are stationed on Northern Cyprus andTurkish leaders want to establish a naval base there as well.
Meanwhile, the Greek Cypriot and Maronite communities, numbering 343 and 118 respectively as of 2014, live in enclaves and are denied the right to vote  or run for office. Turkey is accused of erasing the Greek and Christian character of Northern Cyprus by neglecting and even looting archaeological sites, churches,  and monasteries  as well as Christian and and Jewish cemeteries.

(A comparison of Turkish settlements in Northern Cyprus with Israeli settlements in the West Bank is beyond the scope of this article. For more on that, Professor Eugene Kontorovich elaborates.)

Nicosia
The UN buffer zone in Nicosia.
War Over Energy Resources?
The Cyprus dispute has simmered for years. But the discovery of natural gas and other resources raised the  stakes to include neighboring Mediterranean states. The Eastern Med gas rush began with the discovery of the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields in Israeli waters in 2009 and 2010 respectively. That prompted Israel and Cyprus to hammer out a maritime border agreement, just in time for the discovery of the Aphrodite gas field in adjacent Cypriot waters. Greece too, is exploring for gas and oil widely believed to be in the vicinity of Crete.

All this coincided with the steady rise of Turkey’s ruling Islamist neo-Ottoman AKP Party which wants to expand Turkey’s regional influence in Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus and, significantly, both Cyprus and various Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

The bottom line is that the EastMed pipeline can’t be built without Cyprus, but Turkey doesn’t recognize Cyprus. And the Turks are throwing their weight around. Forbes explains:

Earlier this year, Turkey tested similar tactics the Chinese have used to impose control over the South China Sea. When experiments in using naval forces to escort Turkish drill ships into contested waters and to block rival petrochemical exploration vessels were met with little protest, Turkey simply moved the goalposts. Emboldened by somnolent America and European reactions, Turkey moved quickly to redefine the Mediterranean’s maritime borders. Earlier this month, Turkey concluded a massive maritime land-grab, entering into a maritime border agreement with Libya’s besieged government that cedes much of the resource-rich eastern Mediterranean to Turkish control.

For Turkey, regional maritime might is proving to be right.

Turkish naval ships
Turkish naval ships during a 2018 exercise.
A number of incidents have incidents have largely flown beneath the Western media’s radar, but point to a pattern of Turkish behavior that cannot be ignored:

An Israeli research vessel, the Bat Galim, was working in Cypriot waters in coordination with the Cypriot government when it was was harrassed and forced away by Turkish naval ships in December 2019. (Israel responded two weeks later with Air Force jets circling over a Turkish research ship operating near Cypriot waters.)
Turkey deployed armed aerial drones to Cyprus to further enforce its maritime claims.
On January 14 alone, Turkish F-16 jets committed 91 violations of Greek air space including mock dogfights with Greek fighter jets and flying over inhabited areas of the Greek Islands.
Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) signed a maritime agreement creating an exclusive economic zone from Turkey’s southern Mediterranean shore to Libya’s northeast coast. Although the GNA has international recognition, it controls only limited amounts of the countryside, which is why Turkey is sending troops to Libya. Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Egypt denounced the agreement as illegal. There are concerns that Turkey’s endgame in Libya is to install a Muslim Brotherhood regime.
Turkey is building its first aircraft carrier which is expected to enter service in 2021.
Turkey Libya maritime agreement

Indeed, Israel’s military “added Erdogan’s aggressive policies in the region to its list of ‘challenges’ in an annual assessment for the coming year,” the first time the IDF assessed Turkey this way.

Israel has other reasons to be wary of Erdogan and the ruling AKP Party.

Erdogan allows Hamas to plot terror attacks on Israel from Turkish soil.
Turkish meddling in Jerusalem undermines Israeli sovereignty over the city.
Hoping to undercut Jewish land claims, Erdogan transferred to the Palestinians thousands of Ottoman-era land registries.
Other Eastern Med Players
While Israel, Cyprus and Greece have been quickest to capitalize on their bonanza of natural resources, they aren’t the only Eastern Med countries with offshore gas carefully watching how matters play out with Turkey:

For the Palestinians, the Gaza Marine gas field remains undeveloped because of the geopolitical headaches posed by Hamas control over the Strip.
In Egypt, sales from the Zohr natural field have had little trickle-down effect on the public and Cairo actually imports Israeli gas.
Lebanese efforts to exploit offshore resources have been slow due to government inefficiency and political paralysis.  The Israeli-Lebanese maritime border is also a matter of contention, with reserves extending into a disputed zone. Hezbollah has threatened to fire missiles at Israeli gas rigs.
gas fields

Related reading: Understanding the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Dispute

Turkey’s attacks on US-backed Kurds, purchase of Russian missile systems, support for Islamist factions in Syria, and championing the Palestinian cause suggest Ankara wants to actively expand its regional influence in conjunction with Iran and Russia — at the expense of the US, the West and Israel.

Will Turkish expansionism lead to wider conflict?

Only time will tell.

Images: Cyprus map via Wikimedia Commons with additions by HonestReporting; Nicosia CC BY-NC-ND Marco Fieber; Turkish navy via YouTube/Turk Silahali Kuvvetleri;
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IDF Thwarts Hamas Catfishing Scheme

1
The IDF thwarted a Hamas catfishing scheme to trick soldiers into downloading malware onto their phones. The fake social media accounts and the malware's ability to take over a soldier's phone were described as the most sophisticated of Hamas's previous attempts.

 

Per the Jerusalem Post, "While the military knew about Hamas’s operation for the past several months, it was decided to let them continue, to enable the IDF to have more effective technological means to stop the terror group."

 

More at the Times of Israel and Ynet.

 

While we're on the subject of cyber security, Haaretz reports the Likud party app was hacked for the second time in one week.

2
Megiddo Prison guards had a gut feeling about the guy: Palestinian security prisoner found with 11 cellphones in his abdomen.

3
Israeli police at Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs apprehended a Palestinian man who tried to stab them.

4
A third Israeli aboard a cruise ship docked in Yokohama tested positive for the rapidly spreading coronavirus and is now hospitalized in Japan. Another 12 Israelis remain aboard the Diamond Princess. Ynet looks at Israeli preparations for their return. So the question is: Is repatriating the Israelis a danger to public safety?

 

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry expanded Israel's quarantine regulations: Recent visitors to Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau are now required to self-quarantine at home for two weeks.

5
Antisemitism Watch: Swastikas and other racist graffiti were found at Columbia University. And the Tennessee state legislature advanced bills against antisemitism.

Commentary I'm reading

 

- UN blacklist crushes cooperation that actually boosts Israeli-Palestinian ties (David Harsanyi)

- Just negotiate: Palestinians at the UN continue their anti-Israel pressure campaigns (New York Daily News staff-ed)

- Hamas is in charge in Gaza border towns, not Israel (Matan Tzuri)

- Iron Dome upgrade deals another blow to enemy's desire to target Israeli civilians (Yaakov Lappin)

- Beware a Palestinian state (Yoram Ettinger)

- Is Lebanon’s prime minister a Hezbollah puppet? (Abdulrahman Al-Rashed)

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UN Releases Blacklist; Israel Furious

1
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet published a blacklist of companies doing business in West Bank settlements.

 

Israel blasted the blacklist and suspended ties with Bachelet, who prepared the list at the request of the UN Human Rights Council. The UNHRC's main annual session in Geneva begins on February 24.

 

Of the 112 listed companies, 94 are based in Israel. Among the more well-known companies included are Motorola Solutions, General Mills, Airbnb and Trip Advisor.The list will be updated annually.

 

Related reading: Israel and the Dysfunctional UN Human Rights Council

2
Per Arab media reports picked up by i24 News, the Lebanese military opened fire on an Israeli drone flying in Lebanese airspace, forcing it to retreat.

3
For the second time in one week, videos glorifying Palestinian violence were found on TikTok.

4
In the ivory tower of dour known as Harvard U., Jewish students formed an anti-Zionist organization which they say will support BDS while also fighting antisemitism . . .

5
Antisemitism Watch: The UK Labour party expelled 25 members in a single day. The Jewish Chronicle suggests the party was pressured to act by a looming ruling by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, which enforces Britain's equality and non-discrimination laws.

 

And the Oxford English Dictionary is under fire for its expanded definition of "yid."

Commentary I'm reading

 

- Breaking down the UNHRC blacklist (Ben Cohen)

- Debunk the UNHRC blacklist (Nadav Shragai)

- UNHRC’s game is rigged, so Israel isn’t playing (Lahav Harkov)

- Blacklist a message to Israel on its settlements (Itamar Eichner)

- Israeli-Arab non-aggression pact? Don't celebrate yet (Zvi Bar'el)

- World players may vow open mind on Trump plan, but won’t abandon old positions (Raphael Ahren)

- 'Deal of the century' will go nowhere as long as Palestinians are unwilling to deal (Jesse Kline)

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Hezbollah Tapped to Coordinate Iraqi Militias' Activities

1
Reuters: Trying to fill a void left by the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Tehran has tapped Hezbollah to coordinate the activities of Iran's proxy militias in Iraq.

2
Peace processing: Addressing the UN Security Council, Palestinian chief Mahmoud Abbas denounced the US peace plan. Abbas also appeared with ex-PM Ehud Olmert at a press conference; Abbas called for turning back the clock on peace talks to where they were 12 years ago -- when Abbas refused to respond to Olmert's unprecedented offer.

And despite a steady drip of dire headlines that the PA has or will cut ties with Israel, Abbas has not followed through.

3
Israel and the Gulf states will soon sign a non-aggression pact, according to former Qatari PM Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim. Jassim tweeted in Arabic that the agreement might also include Morocco. More at i24 News.

4
The panel of three judges with the unenviable responsibility of overseeing the trial of State of Israel vs. Benjamin Netanyahu has been set, per the Jerusalem Post. No date has been scheduled but proceedings are not expected to begin before Israel's March 2 elections.

Related reading: The Charges Against Benjamin Netanyahu, Explained.

Commentary I'm reading

- The promise of the Trump peace plan (Natan Sharansky, Gil Troy; click via Twitter)

- The Arabs are giving up on the Palestinians, and the PA knows it (Vivian Bercovici)

- The days of intifada are long gone (Moshe Elad)