Today’s Top Stories
*** BREAKING NEWS *** Shortly after this roundup was published, reports of a car-ramming attack near Hebron. A Border Police officer was injured. The driver was shot and killed at the scene.
1. Russia seems to be changing its stance on Bashar Assad. Syrian opposition figures have been invited to Moscow for consultations, and Russian defense officials said “opposition representatives” were helping direct air strikes. Daily Telegraph coverage:
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Tuesday that Mr Assad’s survival is not a red-line issue for Russia.
When asked if saving Mr Assad was a matter of principal for Russia, Zakharova said: “Absolutely not, we never said that.”
Also worth reading: How much does Russia care about Hezbollah?
But Russia’s interests do not necessarily extend to providing protection for Hezbollah’s weapons stored in Syrian military bases, which, after all, are related to the conflict against Israel and not to Assad’s survival.
2. The EU’s guidelines for labeling products from settlements continues to boil away ahead of their release. The EU’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faarborg-Andersen defended the plan, telling the Jerusalem Post that “territory beyond the Green Line is not part of Israel.” Jordan Valley farmers denounced the move in comments to the Financial Times (click via Google News).
“Do you know what is absurd?” Mr Elhaiini asks. “Palestinians buy dates from us to sell to Qatar; they change the boxes so nobody knows where they come from. Even the Palestinians don’t boycott our dates. It’s kind of a hypocrisy.”
Another farmer suggested that after the EU guidelines were published, he might sell to Europe the same way. It is unclear whether the EU would be able to keep track of, much less stop, such sales.
3. Palestinian arrested for diverting Gaza reconstruction material to Hamas terrorists. According to the Jerusalem Post:
Barim circumvented UN inspectors responsible for ensuring that such materials, provided by donor nations and other bodies, are used solely for rehabilitating civilian infrastructure damaged during summer 2014’s Operation Protective Edge.
4. “Israeli Occupation Forces?”: Why is The Independent adopting Palestinian terminology?
5. CNN’s New Terror: “Other-Handism”: Narratives are not all created equal.
Israel and the Intifada
• Incitement: The Palestinian Authority and Fatah marked the anniversary of the Balfour declaration by claiming Israel had “no right” to be created, along with an image of Lord Arthur Balfour consumed in flames. That would explain why Mahmoud Abbas recently told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that all of Israel has been”occupied” since 1948.
• Incitement: Israel arrested a preacher whose Temple Mount sermons called for the death of Jews. Videos of Sheikh Khaled Al-Mughrabi circulating on social media and cited by Palestinian Media Watch called on Palestinians to kill Jews.
• Incitement: The JTA takes a closer look at Mahmoud Abbas’ responsibility for the level of Palestinian incitement against Israel.
• Incitement: The Washington Post‘s William Booth delves into the question of Palestinian incitement, profiling cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh, who draws for the PA’s official newspaper. The Post only displays one cartoon from Sabaaneh’s portfolio. I suggest looking at more of his cartoons on Sabaaneh’s Twitter feed and judging for yourself.
• A Sudanese man tried to kill an Israeli national aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight in the African skies. Arik Zanuda told YNet he was saved by a Lebanese national and the Ethiopian Airlines flight crew. The attacker was detained when the plane landed in Addis Ababa.
Iranian Atomic Urgency
• US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter discussed mending US-Israel ties with in a Q&A with Jeffrey Goldberg.
• What misconception did the Ayatollah think needed clarifying?
Commentary/Analysis
• Politico discussed Israeli-Palestinian violence, Iran, Syria, and Netanyahu’s upcoming trip to the US with retired Israeli general Michael Herzog. Full interview’s in print, or watch excerpts on video.
• The diplomats are speaking out. The British ambassador to Israel, David Quarrey, discussed in a YNet op-ed his opposition to cultural boycotts of Israel. And Israel’s ambassador to NATO, David Walzer, took to Politico to decry upcoming EU labeling laws.
While we fully respect that the EU needs to apply its own acquis, this makes it very hard to escape the conclusion that this is a political step, with the distinctly political message that Israel is to be blamed and punished for the stagnation of the peace process.
In Israel it is hard to explain how this could conceivably help kick-start peace talks. Nor does it appear to be a timely message. The Middle East is ablaze, with wars raging in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. These wars have become magnets for Daesh and Hezbollah Islamists, engaged in the random slaughter of civilians. We are facing an unprecedented refugee crisis. And in these times the EU sees fit, under the guise of consumer protection law, to slap quasi-sanctions on Israel, the only state in the region whose constitution embraces and defends Europe’s own values?
• The what-if angle is too speculative for my taste. But on the 20th anniversary of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, the question’s everywhere.
– Aaron David Miller: What if Rabin had lived?
– David Horovitz: What if Rabin had lived?
– Yossi Beilin: What if Rabin had lived?
– Ian Black: What if Rabin had lived?
– Haaretz: What if Rabin had lived?
– NPR: What if Rabin had lived?
– AFP: What if Rabin had lived?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today:
– Gabi Avital: The elusive Palestinian condemnation
– David Brog: Beware of friends bearing boycotts
– Tony Badran: Obama licenses Iran to ship missiles to Hezbollah
Featured image: CC BY-NC flickr/Jeremy Brooks with additions by HonestReporting; dates CC BY flickr/Guillaume Paumier;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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