Today’s Top Stories
*** Breaking News *** Just before this roundup was published, Israeli media reported that Israel busted a Hamas cell plotting a terror attack with the goal of ultimately kidnapping Israelis to obtain the release of prisoners. See more at the Jerusalem Post and YNet.
1. Secrets were stolen in a massive cyber attack on ThyssenKrupp, a German firm making Israeli submarines.
This comes days after revelations that 1) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attorney, David Shimron, may have had a conflict of interest for representing ThyssenKrupp in a $1.5 billion submarine deal, and 2) that Iran holds a 4.5 percent stake in the German firm.
The cyber attacks were reportedly detected in April and traces of the breaches were traced back to February of this year.
The company stated that it has not identified hacks into its marine systems unit, which manufactures the likes of military submarines and warships sold to Israel.
The German company did not specify which documents had been stolen, nor the exact extent of their losses.
2. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman publicly acknowledged that Israel has carried out air strikes in Syria to prevent Hezbollah from getting advanced weapons systems or weapons of mass destruction. Liberman first disclosed this to a group of European ambassadors, then reiterated his points to the Knesset, implying that Hezbollah’s trying to acquire chemical weapons:
The defense minister again insisted that Israel has “absolutely no interest” in getting involved in the Syrian civil war, but will work to defend itself.
“Our policies and our positions are very clear and are based on three red lines: We won’t allow any harm to the citizens of the State of Israel, we won’t allow any harm to the sovereignty of the State of Israel and we will not allow the smuggling of high-quality advanced weapons and chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon for Hezbollah,” Liberman said.
3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s willing to meet Mahmoud Abbas in Paris if France drops its accompanying international peace conference. The Prime Minister’s spokesman, David Keyes explained to the Times of Israel:
“Peace will be achieved through direct negotiations with our Palestinian neighbors, not through international conferences. Our position has not changed. Israel will not attend the French conference because it will push peace further away. Prime Minister Netanyahu is ready to begin direct peace talks anytime, anywhere without preconditions,” he told The Times of Israel.
4. Why the LA Times Defends Threats, Intimidation and Anti-Semitism: The LA Times is entitled to its opinions, but the US Constitution, Supreme Court and almost the entirety of Western civilization disagree.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• An 18-year-old Palestinian trying to stab Border Policemen was shot and killed at the Tapuach Junction this morning. Without criticizing Reuters, it struck me that wire service’s boilerplate background info (200 words) was almost twice as long as the news itself (107 words). Just saying . . .
• Worth reading: The New York Times takes a closer look at Facebook’s struggle to balance out Israel’s battle against online incitement vs. Palestinian gripes about being censored.
In this part of the world, the debate is not just theoretical. Terrorism is an everyday reality, and the role that Facebook and other social media sites may play in inspiring it generates deep emotion. Israel has pushed to combat online provocation that it links to bloodshed. Palestinians consider a crackdown on Facebook posts just another tool of repression by an occupying power.
“We have similar conversations around the world about the problem of online hate speech,” said Simon Milner, Facebook’s policy director for Britain, the Middle East and Africa. “But we do absolutely see in Israel and the Palestinian territory that this is one of the central issues in society even more in this region than elsewhere.”
• The Associated Press takes a jaundiced look at the Fatah party congress, bluntly stating “it is unlikely that fresh ideas on winning statehood will emerge from this group of veteran loyalists.” But if the sidelined younger generation is even more radical, do the problems posed by the geriatocracy even make a difference?
“When we see our leaders speaking for hours about the rights of youth, we start laughing [because] youth in Palestine starts from age 66,” Abu Helal said sarcastically. “These people don’t accept a new generation. They don’t accept change because they have power, they have money and they have corruption.”
Abu Helal is active in various grassroots opposition groups, which he said number hundreds of members who reject “normalization” of relations with Israel . . .
• Two Hamas operatives were killed in a Gaza tunnel collapse on Wednesday. Maan News adds that Hamas was looking other “missing fighters.”
• According to leaked documents from NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden, US and UK intelligence snooped on Israeli diplomats, the IDF, government bodies, defense firms, university research centers, and the Palestinian Authority. See Boaz Bismuth‘s take.
Around the World
• A US federal judge ordered a new trial for Rasmieh Odeh, a Palestinian activist charged with immigration fraud. In 2014, Odeh was found guilty of lying to immigration authorities by not disclosing she had been convicted and served prison time in Israel for her role in a 1969 bombing of a Jerusalem supermarket. Two people were killed in that attack. More at the Jerusalem Post and Detroit Free Press.
Most significantly, the decision means that Rasmea Yousef Odeh will get to argue that her confession and conviction in Israel came as the result of torture by Israeli security forces – potentially putting the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) itself “on trial” in a US court.
• Germany’s ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union party, passed a resolution directly calling BDS anti-Semitic.
“Who today under the flag of the BDS movement calls to boycott Israeli goods and services speaks the same language in which people were called to not buy from Jews. That is nothing other than coarse antisemitism,” the CDU said.
The CDU likened BDS to the National Socialists who boycotted Jews in the 1930s. BDS dresses up antisemitism in the “new clothes of the 21st century” as anti-Zionism, the party said.
“The German CDU declares with this motion its disapproval and rejection of every form of BDS activity and condemns these activities as antisemitic. The CDU will decisively oppose every hostile action that Israel faces.
I’m glad Angela Merkel’s party is taking a principled stand. About a month ago, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called BDS protected free speech.
The #EU says boycotting #Israel is free speech.
Is this also free speech?Just wondering.#BDS pic.twitter.com/ljT7WRunU2
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 1, 2016
• Meanwhile in Canada, the Green Party rejects BDS but still supports economic pressure on Israel.
• Several Dutch firms blacklisted by the state of New York for allegedly supporting BDS deny they boycotted Israel, according to Dutch media reports.
• Today’s satire:
Commentary/Analysis
• The Syrian airstrike’s on my mind . . .
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Is Syrian retaliation against Israel in the works?
– Avi Issacharoff: In Syrian skies, Israel flies a tricky path
– Yoav Limor: Disturbing signs in the north
– Amos Harel: Strike in Syria: Is Israel playing Russian roulette?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Yair Rosenberg: American-Israeli academic collaboration soars despite BDS efforts
– Cary Nelson, David Greenberg: Students are shouting down pro-Israel speakers — and silencing free speech
– Amb. Vivian Bercovici: Will the Obama administration attempt an eleventh-hour peace push?
– Frederic Filloux: Facebook’s walled wonderland is inherently incompatible with news
Featured image: CC BY Christine Rondeau; submarine CC BY-NC Israel Defense Forces; Air Force jet CC BY-NC-SA Israel Defense Forces; Facebook CC BY-SA Esther Vargas; espionage CC0 Pixabay/succo;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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