Today’s Top Stories
1. Damian Pachter, the journalist who first broke the news of Nisman’s death, has fled Argentina for his own safety. According to Haaretz, Pachter’s on his way to Israel:
Pachter lives in Argentina but holds Israeli citizenship, and has written for Haaretz about Nisman’s death.
Meanwhile, Iran denies it had anything to do with Nisman’s death.
2. The UN General Assembly held its first ever meeting on anti-Semitism. Best coverage was in the New York Times. Keynote address was by Bernard-Henri Levy, whose talk was republished in the Huffington Post.
And I say here that even if Israel’s conduct were exemplary, even if Israel were a nation of angels, even if the Palestinians were granted the state that is their right, even then, alas, this old, enigmatic hatred would not dissipate one iota.
Since the UN is as the UN does, the Saudis blamed Israel for anti-Semitism. See also Hillel Neuer’s take at UN Watch.
3. Report: 400 percent rise in anti-Semitism during Gaza war. France was found to be the most dangerous country for Jews today.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The UN slammed Israel for “illegally” demolishing 77 homes in eastern Jerusalem. AFP coverage.
• Times of Israel: Mahmoud Abbas isn’t just feuding with Hamas in Gaza. He’s feuding with Mohammed Dahlan’s supporters there too.
• “Strike in Syria targeted new, Iran-backed terror unit that planned kidnappings,” according to Israeli media reports.
• Iranian general was killed in Israeli strike because he didn’t turn off his phone, according to Arab media reports.
Mideast Matters
• The Washington Post fact-checks President Obama’s statement that the US has halted the progress of Iran’s nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material. Bottom line: The president was awarded three Pinocchios.
Words have consequences, especially in a State of the Union address. The president could have claimed that “we’ve slowed the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of the most dangerous nuclear material.” But instead he choose to make sweeping claims for which there is little basis. Thus he earns Three Pinocchios.
• Now that everybody knows Hezbollah’s operating in the Syrian Golan after previous denials, the organization appears to be going all in on publicizing its activities — showing Lebanon that its adventures are making a difference. Lebanese media outlets aired — for the first time — footage of Hezbollah and Syrian army forces ambushing members of Jahbat al-Nusra. According to reports cited by YNet, 30 of the Nusra Front’s personnel were killed.
• Prince Salman ascended to the Saudi throne following death of King Abdullah. The New York Times looks at what’s in store for the kingdom.
Around the World
• Swedish reporter Peter Lindgren donned a skullcap and walked around Malmo with a hidden camera to get a better understanding of how locals treated the Jews. It was anything but pleasant. The video‘s in Swedish with English subtitles; YNet explains the background.
• According to Scotland Yard, anti-Semitic hate crimes against Jews in London have risen dramatically. Jewish Chronicle coverage.
• Dutch Jews demand soldiers be deployed near synagogues.
Commentary/Analysis
• Worth reading: Award-winning British author Howard Jacobson says:
Try ‘and’ instead of ‘but’ and you’ll find that America and Israel are not to blame for all the world’s atrocities.
• Khaled Abu Toameh explains why the PA and Hamas are burying their heads in the sand over the rising popularity of ISIS in the West Bank and Gaza. Both fear that acknowledging the problem will scare away international donors and scare off global support for statehood.
The glorification of terrorists and jihadists by the PA and the ongoing anti-Israel incitement by both the PA and Hamas, are driving many Palestinians into the open arms of the Islamic State.
This is something that the UN Security Council members will have to consider the next time they are asked to vote in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state. Otherwise, they will be voting for the creation of an Islamic, and not a Palestinian, state.
• The Israeli airstrike on the Hezbollah/Iran convoy also sent a message to Washington, says Tony Badran:
To understand Israeli behavior, we must take into account three key factors: Iranian influence in the Levant is expanding rapidly, it is doing so with American consent; and, moreover, no one in the Middle East actually believes that the Obama administration will stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. With the real prospect of a nuclear Iran on the horizon, no Israeli government can afford to have the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) set up base in the Golan. Ultimately, this was the point Israel wanted to make — not just to Tehran, but to Washington as well. . . .
The Obama administration’s de facto embrace of Iran and acceptance of its expanded domain in the Levant has put the US at odds with Israel’s interests. With this strike against senior Iranian officers, Israel also sent a message to President Obama: “Your accommodation with Iran will not come at our expense.”
• Boaz Bismuth on Yemen, Israel, and the West:
The Obama government is unquestionably caught up in the Iranian knot when it should be pressuring Iran and its nuclear program to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. At the same time, U.S. forces are currently in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and now in Yemen. Tehran has tripped Obama up: On one hand, it’s on the same side as the Americans in dealing with the al-Qaida jihadists and the barbaric Islamic State terrorists, while on the other, it’s protecting Syrian President Bashar Assad and refusing to relinquish its nuclear dreams. It’s not surprising that Persians were the ones who invented chess . . .
The Houthis’ slogan is “Allahu akbar: Death to America, death to Israel.” Yet more proof of why the U.S. and Israel, along with Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, must understand that they all have all the reasons in the world to see Iran checked.
• For more commentary/analysis, see Alan Baker (Some legal truths about the Palestinian ICC exercise), Yossi Melman (Fearing entanglement with Iran and Hezbollah on the northern border), Yoram Ettinger (The myth of Palestinian centrality), Douglas Alexander (Anti-Semitism: the old disease has found new hosts), and Andrew Gilligan ((The rising tide of anti-Semitism).
See also David Ignatius (Saudi Arabia’s coming struggle), Simon Henderson (Royal roulette: the Saudi succession struggle), Charles Krauthammer (Iran’s emerging empire), and The Economist (In an unstable region, Iran expands its reach).
Featured image: CC BY Jon S via flickr with additions by HonestReporting; Levy via UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe; Pinocchio via YouTube/De Niro; helicopter CC BY-NC flickr/Israel Defense Forces
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
