Today’s Top Stories
1. Israel finally confirmed that it destroyed the Syrian nuclear reactor in Deir al-Zor in 2007. Operation Orchard (also known as Operation Outside the Box) was suppressed by Israeli censors but Israel’s responsibility for the strike was an open secret for years thanks to hints and slips from Israeli politicians, an account of the attack in ex-president George Bush Jr.’s memoirs and occasional foreign reports.
Israeli censors lifted the ban, allowing the Israeli press to publish previously undisclosed details of the operation, including declassified footage, photos and documents so take your pick of Yossi Melman’s “inside story,” and coverage from the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Ynet, Israel HaYom and Times of Israel. The latter addresses why the censor’s ban was lifted now:
There was no one reason given for the decision to remove the censorship on the al-Kibar strike, but it most likely came from a variety of considerations, among them repeated legal appeals by media outlets to get rid of the ban.
It is easiest to see this announcement as a not-so-subtle threat to atomically ambitious Iran, especially given the fact that in the coming months US President Donald Trump may abandon the 2015 nuclear deal, unless significant alterations are made to it.
There’s another element to “Why Now?” Former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak (who was defense minister during the attack) offer conflicting versions of what happened in their memoirs.
2. Hoping to pressure Hamas, the PA is weighing a complete divorce from Gaza. In a nutshell, the PA would declare Gaza a “rebel district,” absolving Ramallah of its responsibilities to the Strip. A PA official told the Times of Israel:
“Declaring Gaza as a rebel district would mean that the Palestinian Authority will no longer be responsible for anything there,” the official said.
“In a way, it would be like a divorce between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We hope that this will not happen and that Hamas will wake up and realize that its policies and actions are very harmful and destructive to the Palestinian people and their national project.”
The official acknowledged that such a move would result in a severe humanitarian and economic crisis in the Gaza Strip.
3. Fraying US-Palestinian ties became even more tense after PA President Mahmoud Abbas called US Ambassador David Friedman a “son of a dog” and a “settler,” in what the Associated Press called “an angry rant” at a PA leadership meeting in Ramallah. The US denounced the PA chief’s language while Friedman suggested Abbas is an antisemite.
Mentioning US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his plan to move the country’s embassy in Israel to the city, Abbas said Trump “views the settlements as legitimate.”
“More than one official has said that,” he added. “The ambassador, David Friedman, said they’re building on their own land. You son of a dog, building on their own land?! You are a settler and your family are settlers!”
Further underlining the enmity and incitement, Abbas’ Fatah party tweeted a leery image of Friedman with the caption, “settler, son of a dog.” I’m posting a screengrab in case the Palestinians remove the tweet.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• Israeli security forces are gearing up for Palestinian violence over Passover. March 30 is Palestinian “Land Day,” and Palestinians are expected to storm border fences amid mass marches
• According to Israeli media reports, the biggest threat to the US embassy being moved to Jerusalem isn’t international opposition or Palestinian violence but Israeli bureaucracy(!?)
• The Jerusalem Post examines how Israel foiled Hamas plans to build a rocket base in Lebanon and drag Hezbollah into a war.
• More than 12,000 Jews visited the Temple Mount since September, a 47 percent increase, according to numbers released by Temple Mount groups. Ynet adds that the actual numbers are even higher because their report didn’t include Jews who independently visited the holy site.
• Plenty more to read about Israel’s affirmation of Operation Orchard, including:
– An Ehud Olmert Q+A with Ynet.
– Ex-Mossad chief Tamir Pardo: Now wasn’t the time to declassify the attack
– The reactor’s discovery caught the Mossad off-guard.
– An intelligence official on lessons learned.
– Pilot: “To this day, my wife doesn’t know”
– US official: Air strike was “a blessing for humanity.”
– How did an Israeli journalist reach Deir al-Zor and what did he see there?
– Current IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot shared his recollections.
• While the world’s preoccupied with the Sergei Skripal affair — the Russian double agent who was poisoned with a powerful nerve agent in the UK — Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman takes a closer look at the Mossad’s possible involvement in the mysterious 2002 death of a Russian general who was in charge of Moscow’s chemical weapons program.
• Israel began clearing thousands of landmines from around Qasr al-Yahud baptism site on the Jordan River, the Times of Israel reports.
• Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom once again reveals her ignorance — this time in an interview with Sweden’s Jewish Chronicle and picked up by the Times of Israel.
Interviewed by Jewish Chronicle FM @margotwallstrom is asked her opinion on the Palestinian Authority paying families of terrorist. Her reply?
"I don't know what is right,but are people supposed to starve? What will they do if we don't give them money?"https://t.co/U5FnASgRVa— Annika H Rothstein (@truthandfiction) March 19, 2018
Also in the News
• Jerusalem Post: As widely expected Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is going to announce that he won’t run for a third term, but seek a Knesset seat.
• “A Spanish judge granted an anti-Israel group’s motion to initiate a trial for alleged incitement to hatred and intimidation against the leader of a group that fights boycotts of the Jewish state,” the JTA reports. Angel Mas heads ACOM, which has scored a number of legal victories against BDS in various Spanish municipalities. Earlier this week, Mas shared his story in a recent guest post: BDS: The Bane in Spain.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Khaled Abu Toameh: Burning all bridges, Abbas sets himself up for continued isolation
– Amos Harel: Forget ‘son of a dog’ – Abbas’ speech was disconcerting for an entirely different reason
– Smadar Perry: The Americans, the Saudis and the irrelevant Palestinian leader
– Zvi Bar’el: With ‘son of a dog’ remark, Abbas showed he’s finished with America. And Jerusalem rejoiced
– Jerusalem Post (staff-ed): Abbas’s end game
– Dr. George Tzogopoulos: Should US aid to the Palestinians be suspended?
LOL: Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas minimizes his statement that U.S. Ambassador David Friedman is "a son of a dog," noting that "dogs are pets in the Arab world, and they are generally viewed positively." (GLZ) pic.twitter.com/vEP5hfcPyo
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) March 20, 2018
– Atef Abu Saif: Why I stay in Gaza
– Alex Fishman: Decade of relative calm is behind us
– Elior Levy: An escalation waiting to happen
– Yoav Zitun: As IDF keeps destroying tunnels, Hamas rebuilds old ones
– Benjamin Weinthal, Asaf Romirowsky: Iran’s role in the boycott Israel campaign
– Jared Samilow: Academic boycotts are bad for the academy
– Justine Murray: Mindless antisemitism at Syracuse U.
– Gil Troy: Are the Jews today’s wicked witches of the West?
– Benny Avni: Germany’s shameless power play against Israel
– Josh Rogin: What happens the day after Trump pulls out of the Iran deal
Featured image: CC0 Pixabay; jet via Facebook/Israeli Air Force;
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