Temple Mount Standoff Continues, Jews Visit Holy Site

Today’s Top Stories

1. While Arabs continued to boycott the Temple Mount over the installation of metal detectors, non-Muslim visitors were allowed back to the holy site for the first time since Friday’s attack. Times of Israel coverage.

https://twitter.com/IsraelHatzolah/status/886835313557073921

2. Over in Paris, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel opposes the US-Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement in southern Syria “because it perpetuates the Iranian presence in the country,” Haaretz reported. And ex-National Security Council chief Yaakov Amidror told the Jerusalem Post that Israel may need to take military action to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent presence there. Yesterday, Ynet reported the latest on Iranian plans to lease sea, land and air bases.

Most notably, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism. He also shared Israeli concerns about Hezbollah, and chided Netanyahu over settlements.

Netanyahu is due to arrive in Budapest today, where you can still see swastika-daubed posters of George Soros. They’re still up because of “technical issues.”

With Israel's PM @Netanyahu set to arrive, swastika-daubed anti-Soros posters still in Budapest https://t.co/35TRvUeJmi via @timesofisrael

— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) July 17, 2017

3. According to Arab reports picked up by i24 News, Hamas is seeking to disperse its leadership in several countries such as Turkey, Algeria, Lebanon and Malaysia.

Until recently, many Hamas leaders were based in Qatar, but they were expelled amid Qatar’s crisis with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

4. Haaretz Editor: I’m Anti-Zionist and Yes, Israel=Apartheid: Following editor’s Twitter rant, it’s time for Haaretz to acknowledge it is wholly unrepresentative of Israeli society.

Israel and the Palestinians

• Jerusalem Post: Umm el-Fahm residents linked Friday’s fatal Temple Mount terror attack on the belief by many of the town’s residents that “the Al-Aqsa mosque is in danger.”

• The Times of London picked up on a nascent Israeli plan to establish rail links with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. With Turkish trucks unable to transport goods across Syria anymore, a railway connecting Haifa’s port with Jenin, Amman, Riyadh, a Saudi port city on the Persian Gulf, and other destinations would open trade possibilities.

• Worth reading: The Los Angeles Times takes a closer look at Palestinian laborers working illegally in Israel.

• If you feel uninformed about what’s going on in the world around, instead of blaming mass media, a little introspection may be called for in light of this UK survey. Where do you get your news?

Commentary/Analysis

• Plenty of commentary about the Temple Mount terror and its fallout.

– Mayor Rafik Halabi: It’s time to save our state
– Mohamed Kaabiya: Terrorism is not our way
– Shmuel Rosner: Bullshit detectors at the Temple Mount
– Ben-Dror Yemini: Incitement leads to action
– Avi Issacharoff: Dangerous Muslim theatrics at the Mideast’s most incendiary spot
– Moshe Arens: Allah’s warriors from Umm al-Fahm
– Nadav Shragai: The Waqf’s double-talk

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas: Shut up or I will arrest you
– Herb Keinon: What Paris peace conference?
– Burak Bekdil: Erdogan’s obsession to take Jerusalem

Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA ERIO;