Today’s Top Stories
1. Israelis paid their respects to Shimon Peres today as he lay in state outside the Knesset. As flags fluttered at half-mast, thousands filed past his coffin to say their final goodbyes. Meanwhile, Israeli police geared up for the arrival of international dignitaries ahead of tomorrow morning’s state funeral.
2. After this roundup went to press, the Times of Israel and Haaretz reported that Mahmoud Abbas will indeed lead a PA delegation to the Peres funeral. The PA’s presence makes it hard for the Joint List’s Israeli Arab MKs to justify their decision to skip the event. So far, Morocco is the only Arab country which has indicated it will send a representative (Andre Azoulay, a Jewish adviser to King Mohammed VI, according to the Jerusalem Post). Egypt, and Jordan have not yet confirmed they will send anyone to the funeral.
The Arab world’s overall silence over Peres is deafening, which is why this tweet by Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa made news.
Rest in Peace President Shimon Peres , a Man of War and a Man of the still elusive Peace in the Middle East
— خالد بن أحمد (@khalidalkhalifa) September 29, 2016
(UPDATE: After this roundup was published, Jordan’s King Abdullah sent a condolence letter.)
3. Hamas calls for ‘day of rage‘ during funeral.
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4. Double Standards for Aleppo and Gaza: Imagine the headlines if Israel were dropping chemical weapons and barrel bombs on Syrian civilians.
Unfortunately for the 250,000 residents of Aleppo, the city is not being attacked by the IDF. There are no leaflets being dropped warning civilians to evacuate areas in the line of fire. There is no “roof knocking” — where non-explosive devices are dropped on the roofs of targeted buildings to give civilians time to flee. And judging by the number of civilian casualties and the extent of the destruction in Syria, there is very little to no concern for the well-being of innocent civilians.
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Shimon Peres, 1923-2017
• Hmmmm. The Times of Israel notes that world leaders paying tribute to Peres are shying away from the opportunity to urge peace for the future.
Just as most Israeli hawks in their eulogies avoided mentioning some of the fundamental policy disagreements they had with the dovish Peres, a number of key international dignitaries — including people who usually jump at every chance to exhort the Israeli government to take bold steps toward peace — decided not to link Peres’s death with such calls . . .
The change of tone and emphasis may be coincidental. The shift could also stem from the fact that Peres had not been prime minister for 20 years, and so was not the address for specific policy actions. But it could also reflect an awareness of how relatively remote the prospects for dramatic negotiating progress appear right now.
• Shimon Peres’ death moves religious leaders.
• The Israeli media looked at little-known aspects of Peres’ contributions to building up the country’s military and nuclear program.
• No shortage of tributes, reminiscences, and commentary today:
– Bret Stephens: Israel’s last founding father (click via Google News)
– Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau: Our advocate in heaven
– Washington Post (staff-ed): Israel loses a lion
– Tzipi Livni: The realist dreamer
– Ron Prosor: Peres was an icon, a giant and a personal hero
– Daniel Kurtzer: Hawk to dove, pro-settlements to pro-peace: Peres was it all
– Alan Dershowitz: Shimon Peres — a leader for all seasons
• Interviewed by the Wall St. Journal, “Start Up Nation” author Dan Senor gives fascinating insights into Shimon Peres’s impact on Israel’s high-tech industry and why so many entrepreneurs viewed him as “their rabbi.”
– Amir Peretz: Peres’s life, Israel’s history
– Tony Blair: Peres pursued peace for sake of Israel’s values, and Palestinians’ dignity
– Daniel Kurtzer: Hawk to dove, pro-settlements to pro-peace: Peres was it all
– Debra Kamin: Can Israel’s peace movement survive the loss of Shimon Peres?
– Isabel Kershner: Israel without Peres? In many ways, his dream faded long ago
– Boaz Bismuth: Our eternal advocate
– Shmuel Rosner: Peres transformed Israel—and himself—in his final act
• For a sense of what the critics are saying, see Ghada Karmi and Robert Fisk.
Around the World
• In the Mideast, only Israeli security barriers are denounced, right?
Turkey to complete Syria border wall within 5 months, official says
• Food for thought: A new Pew Research Center study compares and contrasts Israeli and American Jews.
• USA Today takes a closer look at French immigration to Israel.
Although 2015 was a record year for French immigration to Israel, the numbers this year are lower. As of August 2016, 40% fewer Jews had arrived, compared to the same period last year, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Commentary/Analysis
• Israeli journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer gave voice to something niggling at my brain today:
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Eugene Kontorovich: If FIFA kicks Israeli teams out of soccer, it has to also kick out Korea
– Stephen Pollard: US has crushed any lingering chance of Middle East peace
Featured Image: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90;
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