Today’s Top Stories
1. Following recent days of calm along the Gaza border, Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to full operations and extended the Strip’s fishing zone
2. Interpol made its first PA-requested arrest since the Palestinians joined the international police organization. A male fugitive wanted on rape charges was arrested at an undisclosed international airport and the PA is now in the legal process of having him extradited.
The Palestinians became members of Interpol in 2017 over Israeli objections. Israel opposes Palestinian membership fearing the Palestinians will leak sensitive information to terrorists and use Interpol warrants to arbitrarily arrest Israeli officials, among other concerns.
3. Washington officials told Haaretz that the Trump administration wants to see a long-term Gaza ceasefire “with or without the Palestinian Authority.”
4. Owen Jones Adds Fuel to Corbyn’s Antisemitism Problem: Corbynistas wish Labour’s dumpster fire of antisemitism would disappear, but Owen Jones and The Guardian add fuel to the fire.
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In the News
• Israel reportedly filed a formal protest against the International Criminal Court over an unusual appeal to ‘Palestinian victims.’ The Times of Israel explains:
Israel has lodged a formal protest with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for launching a campaign last month to reach out to “victims of the situation in Palestine,” an unusual step which Jerusalem officials charge casts doubt on the court’s ability to treat the Jewish state fairly . . .
This despite the fact that ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has not yet decided whether the court has any jurisdiction over matters related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, since it has no jurisdiction over Israel (which is not a member state) and because Palestine is not a state and therefore cannot exercise jurisdiction over the West Bank.
• Russia to help restore UN patrols near Syria-Israel frontier. CNN and the Daily Telegraph visited the Syrian Golan with Russian forces.
• Palestinians are scrambling to deliver 10 tons of mail blocked by Israel for years. Letters and parcels barred from entering the West Bank, either for security or administrative reasons, had piled up in Jordan.
COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body responsible for civilian coordination in the Palestinian territories, said the release was part of confidence building measures after the two sides agreed on a postal entry deal “about a year ago.”
It said while the deal had not yet gone into force for future deliveries, it had “allowed a one-time transfer of approximately ten and a half tons of mail that had been held in Jordan.”
• Reuters: UN-run schools for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon may not be able to open due to US aid cuts. The UN Relief and Works Agency is responsible for more than 700 schools and 22,000 teachers for around 500,000 children.
• BDS claims victory in Tunisia, forcing an “Israel-linked” ship from port. However, “a spokesman for the Israeli container company Zim told The Jerusalem Post that the ship did not belong to the company, was not rented by the company, and did not contain any cargo belonging to the company.”
• Haaretz: Israel’s attorney general to examine Shin Bet detentions of Left-wing activists entering the country.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be grilled in the “Bezeq affair” on Friday for the last time. Police are investigating whether the PM had an understanding with Shaul Elovitch, Bezeq’s majority shareholder, in which Netanyahu gave the telecom giant regulatory benefits in exchange for favorable coverage on the Elovitch-owned Walla! News site.
Around the World
• “Jewish Labour members will boycott talks on tackling antisemitism after accusing party leaders of trying to deliberately “antagonise tensions” in the row over the issue, The Independent has learned.”
• Former ambassador slams Jeremy Corbyn’s support for pair convicted over bombing of Jewish targets in UK. The Jewish Chronicle explains:
Mr Corbyn was part of a campaign to free Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, who were convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions after two car bomb attacks in London on July 26, 1994.
The first bomb exploded at the Israeli embassy, injuring 14 people. Thirteen hours later, a second bomb exploded, injuring six more people, outside Balfour House in North Finchley, the headquarters of a number of Jewish charities, including the Joint Israel Appeal, the forerunner of the UJIA.
• Australian students condemned for dressing up as Jewish caricatures with money bags, hooked noses and striped concentration camp uniforms with yellow Jewish stars — repeatedly.
Commentary
• Worth reading: I liked this Twitter thread from Peter Lerner.
Thread:
People keep asking me why is #Israel negotiating with #Hamas. While Israel refuses to confirm its negotiating with the terrorist organization the reality on the ground suggests otherwise. Here are my thoughts on the subject.— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) August 15, 2018
• Plenty of spilled ink and burnt pixels weighing on Jeremy Corbyn and Labour’s antisemitism problem:
– Anshel Pfeffer: Netanyahu picks the perfect time to lay a trap for Corbyn – and he fell for it
– Sohrab Ahmari: Never Corbyn
– David Patrikarakos: Jeremy Corbyn will lay a wreath for PLO Munich murderers but not for dead Jews at Yad Vashem
– Michael Foster: I’m a Jewish Labour donor and stood to be an MP. But if Corbyn becomes Prime Minister, I’ll have to leave Britain
– Julie Lenarz: Jeremy Corbyn, anti-Semite
– Matthew Norman: Netanyahu is a brutal bully – but only blind Corbyn cultists could say he was wrong about the wreath-laying
• For commentary on the domestic scene, David Horovitz weighs in on Israeli democracy while Avi Berkowitz and Alexander Apfel comment on the nation state law.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today:
– Amos Harel: In nearing deal with Israel on Gaza, Hamas wins achievements through military resistance
– Cliff Smith: Trump should release secret report on the true number of Palestinian refugees
– Lt. Gen. (ret.) John Toolan: Laws of armed conflict in Gaza
– Raphael Ahren: A Palestinian attempt to oust Israel from the UN would be quixotic — and fail
– Daniel Arbess: Advice for a Palestinian ‘icon’ (click via Twitter)
– Amb. Alan Baker: Is the International Criminal Court Becoming a Palestinian Propaganda Engine?
– Amnon Lord: Lawfare in the service of terrorism
– Fern Sidman: Israel is the #1 victim of ‘fake news’
– David Ignatius: The unintended consequences of US disengagement in the Middle East
Featured image: CC0 Unsplash/Johnson Wang; Interpol via YouTube/INTERPOL; Corbyn via YouTube/Wafa Agency; thinking CC0 Max Pixel;
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