Today’s Top Stories
1. Judging from Sunday night’s address the PLO Central Council, PA President Mahmoud Abbas is either divorcing himself from the Olso accords, reality, or both. He blamed Europe for sending Jews to Israel, blamed Israel for destroying the “dead” Oslo accords, blamed the US for mishandling peace efforts and blamed Hamas for undermining Palestinian unity. He also insisted that peace talks could only resume under international mediation.
But AP took note of one particular line addressing the US president, which raised a lot of eyebrows:
To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase “Yehreb Beitak,” literally translated as “may your house be demolished.”
In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.
I really feel for the Israeli journalists like Barak Ravid who had to cover it.
Palestinian President Abbas's speech at the PLO conference right now is becoming more and more delusional
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 14, 2018
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
2. According to media reports, the Trump administration will cut in half the year’s first contribution to the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees.
President Donald Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but appears more likely to send only $60 million of the planned $125 million first installment to the UN Relief and Works Agency, said the officials, who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Future contributions would require the agency, facing heavy Israeli criticism, to demonstrate significant changes in operations, they said, adding that one suggestion under consideration would require the Palestinians to first re-enter peace talks with Israel.
HR Video: Should America Stop Funding UNRWA? The US wants to cut support to the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees. Is that wise? And what alternative is Israel suggesting?
3. A 26-year-old Israeli Arab from Taibeh was charged with trying to carry out an Islamic State-inspired attack. Haaretz notes:
According to the indictment, last summer Yousef tried to convince others to join him in committing terrorist assaults, including a shooting attack in Jerusalem, a car-bomb attack opposite the police station in his hometown of Taibeh, and a stabbing attack. Yousef was arrested this month, the Shin Bet said. All of the people he allegedly attempted to convince to join him in the terrorist attacks refused, the Shin Bet said, adding that his plans didn’t come to fruition because he was afraid of carrying them out on his own.
In the News
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India continues. Israel and India inked nine cooperation pacts in areas such as energy, air transportation, cybersecurity and film production. Netanyahu discussed bilateral ties, his trip’s agenda and more in an interview with India Today.
• In Delhi’s ‘mini Israel,’ visit by premier elicits collective Netanyawho?
• The BBC profiles Moshe Holtzberg, the Israeli boy who survived 2008 Mumbai attack and is returning there for the first time with Netanyahu.
• Tweet of the day goes to George Deek:
Since 2014, #Hamas spent $120 million on terror tunnels. What they could’ve done with $120m: 1,500 homes to house the poor, 3 water plants to provide clean water to #Gaza, 24k hospital beds to heal the sick. Instead of investing in the future, Hamas invests in hate and suffering. pic.twitter.com/ixfpNhUQsE
— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) January 14, 2018
• Uruguayan hostel rejects Israeli guests over owner’s anti-Israel political view.
• Lebanon is banning Steven Spielberg’s latest movie over the director’s ties to Israel.
A source involved with The Post‘s international rollout says the movie, which stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, was presented to the Lebanese censorship board, which nixed it, citing a “boycott Israel” list that includes Spielberg due to his Oscar-winning Holocaust film Schindler’s List (the 1993 film shot some scenes in Jerusalem). . .
Unlike Gal Gadot, whose film Wonder Woman was banned in Lebanon in May, Spielberg is not an Israeli citizen, nor has he ever fought with the Israeli Army.
Also censored by Lebanese authorities was Jungle. AFP explains:
The other film that got the censorship axe was “Jungle“, a survival drama about Israeli adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg, who got lost in an uncharted part of the Bolivian Amazon in 1981.
The film, starring Daniel Radcliffe, had been screening for two weeks in Lebanon but is now being pulled, the same official told AFP, explaining that the decision followed a number of complaints.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Avi Issacharoff: Did Abbas just give his valedictory speech, blaming everyone for his failures?
– Elior Levy: Abbas slams Trump and Israel, yet is careful not to burn all his bridges
– Amos Harel: Hamas approaches endgame in Gaza as Israel sharpens its tunnel-elimination prowess
– Yoav Limor: Hamas’ growing dilemma
– Prof. Shalva Weil: The Indian Jews at the heart of the Netanyahu-Modi love affair
– Saudamini Jain: India’s ‘internet Hindus’ are in love with Israel
– MEP David Campbell-Bannerman: Forget the EU-led idiocy, Iran is not our friend
Featured image: CC BY Robert Couse-Baker; Spielberg CC BY-SA Gage Skidmore;
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