Israel, NATO Upgrade Ties

Today’s Top Stories

1. Yosef Ben David, ringleader of the kidnapping and brutal murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was sentenced to life plus 20 years behind bars. Two accomplices –both minors — were already convicted and given jail time for their roles in the 2014 attack.

After three Israeli teens abducted by Palestinians were found dead in June 2014, Ben David and the others kidnapped the 16-year-old Abu Khdeir, beat him unconscious, and burnt him alive.

https://twitter.com/StephensWSJ/status/727611611901464577

2. Israel and NATO upgraded ties as the organization will formally recognize an official Israeli representative who will have a permanent office at the military alliance’s Brussels headquarters. David Walzer, Israel’s Ambassador to the European Union, currently represents Israeli interests there. Why now? The European Jewish Press says NATO-member Turkey removed its veto of the upgrade.

3. Kuwait Airways halted its inter-European flights after a legal complaint was filed over its refusal to allow Israelis to fly on the airline.

In mid-April, Lawfare Project Swiss Council Philippe Grumbach filed an administrative complaint with the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation as well as a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor General against Kuwait Airways Corporation on behalf of an Israeli national living in Switzerland who was denied a ticket on the Kuwait Airways flight from Geneva to Frankfurt, Germany.

 

The complaint was based on the airline’s violation of the Swiss Penal Code as well as the Swiss constitution, which protects individuals from discrimination based on race, religion and ethnicity, the Lawfare Project said.

Last year, the Kuwait Airways dropped its lucrative London-New York route rather than comply with a Dept. of Transportation order to sell tickets to Israelis.

4. Julie Hazan to Launch HonestReporting’s NYC Hub: We’re proud to announce the newest member of the HR staff, Julie Hazan, who will become HR’s East Coast Development and Community Engagement Director.

She’ll be responsible for establishing the organization’s NYC hub, resource planning, and community outreach including Israel Mission alumni engagement. HR CEO Joe Hyams said:

Now is the time to meet the overwhelming demand for grassroots educational and media training. Young professionals in metro communities are eager to increase their level of news literacy. Julie brings the experience and cultural breadth to take our global reach to a whole new level.”

5. IDF Vindicated as US Admits That More Civilians Must Die to Defeat ISIL: The US Air Force begins knocking on roofs, vindicating what Israel has done for years.

6. Trailer: 3 Terror Victims. Israel’s Untold Stories: Miri’s eight-year old sister, uncle and she herself, were touched by terror — all before she even reached the age of 25. On Israel’s Memorial Day we will share her story, because the media doesn’t. View the trailer.

Israel and the Palestinians

• Three soldiers were injured in car-ramming attack at a West Bank checkpoint near Ramallah; responding soldiers opened fire, killing the driver.

I wonder what editors at EuroNews were thinking when they published this flubbed headline on the incident.

• Gaza border tensions heated up today with four incidents targeting Israeli soldiers. This morning, a mortar was fired at soldiers doing “operational work. Two separate explosions were reported in the afternoon, and later in the day, soldiers heard gun shots fired in their vicinity. Nobody was hurt in any of the incidents and the IDF returned fire. Haaretz coverage.

• No stomach for Israel? Jewish leader calls on Michelin to rank Israeli eats.

World Press Freedom Day

• Happy World Press Freedom Day from the Palestinian Authority and Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior. The following two tweets sum it up.

Palestinian Authority arrests Hebron journalist Adib al-Atrash. No reason given.

— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) May 3, 2016

Egypt’s Interior Ministry accidentally sends to journalists its memo on how to silence the media about #GiulioRegeni https://t.co/n0Cg9mGIoL

— Martin Scheinin (@MartinScheinin) May 4, 2016

Around the World

• Israel Labour mulls break with UK party over anti-Semitism claims

• More UK Labour officials are in hot water over anti-Semitic social media posts. It’s getting harder to keep track of it all, and the problem’s spreading. The Scottish National Party suspended activist Amjed Hussein for Facebook posts that crossed the line.

• Reuters takes a closer look at Israeli-American differences over a memorandum of understanding that will govern US military aid to the Jewish state for the next decade.

Israel is seeking up to $10 billion more than the current 10-year package and billions more than the U.S. administration is offering, partly by asking for guaranteed funding for missile defense projects hitherto funded on an ad hoc basis by the U.S. Congress, the officials said.

 

U.S. President Barack Obama wants to ensure the funds, thus far spent partly on Israeli arms, are eventually spent entirely on U.S.-made weapons . . .

 

In seeking a sharp increase in military funding, Israel argues it needs to offset military purchases by Iran, Israel’s regional arch-foe, after it secured sanctions relief in the accord limiting its nuclear program.

Commentary/Analysis

• The UK Labour Party’s anti-Semitism problem continued to dominate the commentaries I saw. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis weighed in at the Daily Telegraph.

– Angela Epstein: Even Labour’s probe into its own anti-Semitism excludes Jews
– Michael Freedland: How everyday antisemitism in Britain has left its mark on me
– Denis MacEoin: Anti-Semitism in the UK Labour Party
– Omar Hamdi: The Quran supports Israel – so why are so many Muslims anti-Semitic?
– Kenan Malik: The British Left’s Jewish problem
– Daniel Finkelstein: Labour’s crisis stems from the West-hating left

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Dan Margalit: Holocaust denial: Undermining Israel’s right to exist
– Efraim Inbar: Israel’s Palestinian dilemmas
– Susan Sommercamp: ‘Jew.’ Why does the word for a person of my religion sound like a slur?
– Elliott Abrams: Assad uses chemical weapons, and now what?

Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA Ed Yourdon with additions by HonestReporting; IAF CC BY-NC Israel Defense Forces;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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