Today’s Top Stories
1. A group of military experts, including Col. Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, found that Israel’s actions during the 2014 war with Hamas surpassed the standards set by international law.
Following a months-long investigation into the 50-day conflict, the High Level Military Group — made up of retired generals and defense officials from Germany, Colombia, India, Spain, Australia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Italy — found that Israel not only abided by the laws of armed conflict, but far surpassed their requirements, despite damning reports by the UN and non-governmental organizations that accused the IDF of potential war crimes.
2. Washington Post correspondent William Booth presents a skeptical view of Benjamin Netanyahu’s linkage between terror in Israel and international Jihadist terror:
Netanyahu is pressing his case that Israel, Europe and the United States face a common enemy — and in doing so he is trying to blur the lines between Palestinians wielding knives and Islamic State militants carrying assault rifles.
It seems that Booth is blurring some lines himself, like those between news reporting and opinion.
3. MK Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint (Arab) List, refused to address the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations because the floor of the building where the meeting was to take place also housed the Jewish Agency.
According to Commentary Magazine, Odeh’s decision casts doubts about claims that he’s working towards peace and coexistence between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens.
If Odeh can’t sit down in the New York offices of a Jewish group dedicated to helping their fellow Jews in Israel, how is it possible to imagine his loose coalition of communists, secular anti-Zionists, and Islamists helping to further peace in the Middle East. Sadly, the popularity of men like Odeh, whom even some of their fellow Israeli Arabs understand are more interested in self-aggrandizement and exploiting the conflict than in helping their people, shows not only the failings of Israel’s political system but also how remote the chances of peace really are.
4. Facebook Restores HR’s Golda Meir Picture – Social media giant admitted it made a mistake removing a picture of Golda Meir published during last summer’s Gaza war.
Israel and the Intifada
• Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon gets space in the New York Post to urge world leaders to fight terrorism through better intelligence, profiling, and a different mindset towards personal security.
Western societies as a whole must change their mindset when it comes to personal security. Israelis have long ago grown accustomed to having their bags checked at the entrance of all public venues, from soccer stadiums to their local neighborhood café to their local supermarket.
We obviously prefer these measures weren’t necessary, but we know that for now, this is the price we must pay to ensure our safety and security. There’s no reason that terrorists should succeed in entering a concert hall armed with automatic weapons. This should be unacceptable to security authorities in all countries.
• CNN looks at Israel’s efforts to secure the Sinai border from the threat of ISIS attacks.
Militants in Sinai have not carried out any major cross-border attacks, but in early July, they launched two short-range Grad rockets into southern Israel. The rockets landed in open fields, with no reports of damage or injuries. The border has remained relatively quiet, but Israel is aware of the ongoing presence of ISIS Sinai.
“It’s loud quiet. There’s always stuff going on,” says Lt. Colton, stationed along the border. “Unfortunately, we can’t see everything. That’s a big problem, so we have to be ready to face anything. There is a terrorist threat in Sinai.”
On the water, Capt. Matan echoes his concerns: “Today, ISIS is our biggest threat, so we’re doing drills like that once a week, sometimes twice, sometimes in the day, sometimes in the night, to make all soldiers ready for everything to come.”
• Ynet talks to a leading cyber security expert about countering social media incitement. He concludes that Israel is not using its capabilities to the full extent…yet.
“It is my impression that not enough is being done. Everyone can see the incitement works for the Palestinians, and we haven’t been able to defeat them. Even in the research we do on the internet, we don’t see any signs of sophisticated counter-campaigns. In my in-depth browsing of social media I would expect to see the three types of activities I mentioned. Of course, it could be that I don’t see some of these things being done, but what I do see is a 14-year-old girl stabbing with scissors. After all, she didn’t spend time with a terror organization; she was exposed to incitement on social media.”
Around the World
• Researchers looked at Google search terms to find a link between hateful thoughts and hate crimes. The results were published in the New York Times.
The top Google search in California with the word “Muslims” in it was “kill Muslims.” And the rest of America searched for the phrase “kill Muslims” with about the same frequency that they searched for “martini recipe,” “migraine symptoms” and “Cowboys roster.”
People often have vicious thoughts. Sometimes they share them on Google. Do these thoughts matter?
Yes. Using weekly data from 2004 to 2013, we found a direct correlation between anti-Muslim searches and anti-Muslim hate crimes.
• Australian academic in trouble over anti-Semitic article.
• New academic group to help fight BDS on campus.
The Academic Engagement Network (AEN) says its group of faculty members and administrators will “anticipate and address anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities as they arise, counteract the BDS movement, and maintain constructive ties with those on other campuses who are confronting similar challenges.”
The group is going to publish “Academic Freedom and BDS: A Guide for University Presidents and Administrators” in the coming month.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians’ Biggest Tragedy: Failed Leadership
– Shmuel Rosner: Let Israel Fight ISIS
– Boaz Ganor: The formulation of a counterterrorism strategy
For more, see Thursday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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