Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories:
1. Terrorists infiltrating from Egypt killed an Israeli this morning. News services were quick on the attack. Yesterday, Haaretz reported Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood ties to the rocket attacks, so I particularly wanted to see if anyone would connect the dots today. All due credit to Daily Telegraph reporter Phoebe Greenwood, though it wasn’t the followup I expected:
A source within Israel’s defence ministry said that the anonymous allegation had already caused ‘a great deal of damage’. In an effort towards damage limitation, Amos Gilad, a high-ranking Israeli defence official, took to national radio on Sunday morning to discount the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement in the incident.
“It is too early to say who is responsible,” Mr Gilad said. “But the Muslim Brotherhood is tied up in historic elections and does not have an operational wing taking part in terror activity.” . . .
Despite Israeli officials’ efforts to discredit any connection between the unexplained missiles and the Egyptian electoral hopefuls, Eilat locals voiced their fears this weekend that the incident is a sign of what will come should the Islamist party win the election.
Killed in the attack was Saeed Pashafshe. Haaretz writes:
Pashafshe, who was married and a father of four, worked for a company owned by his brother which was contracted by Defense Ministry for jobs along the Egyptian border.
See also Jerusalem Post and Haaretz analyses of the border situation.
2. Must read: The Guardian learns from those in the know that Iran was behind attacks on Israeli targets in New Delhi, Bangkok and Tbilisi.
“The question is not was this Iran-backed or Iran-organised but who in Iran was running all this,” said one western security official.
A separate report looks at how the attacks came about.
3. The Muslim Brotherhood claims victory, army claims power following Egyptian elections. All the rest is detail at the BBC, Washington Post, NY Times, etc.
Israel and the Palestinians
• In an LA Times op-ed, Shimon Peres discusses freedom and peace.
• A Palestinian journalist was abducted three days ago in Gaza was released. According to Maan News, it’s not clear who Hatim Abu Mousa’s captors were.
• New reports say German neo-Nazis were involved in the 1972 Munich massacre.
Historical documents released to the magazine by the German secret service show that Dortmund police had been aware of collaboration between Palestinian terrorist Abu Daud and neo-Nazi Willi Pohl seven weeks before the attack – yet did not intervene, wrote the paper.
