Today’s Top Stories
1. The IDF announced it discovered and destroyed another cross-border terror tunnel from Gaza which was “ready for use.” It’s the fifth cross-border tunnel destroyed in the last five months. Haaretz reports it was found “near the site where Palestinians have been protesting along the Israel-Gaza border for the past several weeks.” The Jerusalem Post notes:
The tunnel stretched several kilometers inside Gaza and was connected to a network of other tunnels. It stretched meters inside Israel close to the community of Kfar Aza but “did not at any point pose any threat to Israeli citizens or communities,” Manelis stressed.
Over the course of the weekend, the IDF thwarted an offensive terror tunnel belonging to the Hamas terror organization that infiltrated Israeli territory from northern Gaza near Nahal Oz. This terror tunnel put the lives of hundreds of Israeli families at risk pic.twitter.com/4tO6AebKBA
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 15, 2018
2. The US, Britain and France struck Syrian targets over the weekend in retaliation for Bashar Assad’s recent chemical attacks. Satellite photos show that the regime’s chemical weapons facilities in three different locations were hit heavily. Officials in Jerusalem leaders praised the retaliation but fretted that the US will soon abandon Syria to Russia and Iran, forcing Israel to deal with their threats alone.
In further comments underlining Israel’s concerns about finding itself alone on the front line, Trump also said, “No amount of American blood or treasure can produce lasting peace and security in the Middle East. It’s a troubled place. We will try to make it better, but it is a troubled place. The United States will be a partner and a friend, but the fate of the region lies in the hands of its own people.”
Israel is also reportedly worried that Putin may utilize the US-led strike as a pretext to justify making some of its advanced air defense systems available to Assad, Israel’s Hadashot TV reported Saturday night.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Following some below-the-radar diplomacy, Arab sponsors of a pair of UNESCO resolutions denouncing Israel agreed to postpone a vote for at least six months. Upbeat officials in Jerusalem and the UN said they were satisfied. Does this mark the beginning of change for UNESCO?
4. HR CEO Joe Hyams discussed news literacy, journalism and the battle against media bias with Steven Shalowitz of IsraelCast.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Turns out the Iranian drone shot down over northern Israel in February was loaded with explosives.
• The weekly border clashes continued on Friday with some 10,000 Palestinians demonstrating at several points along the border. Many threw firebombs at Israeli soldiers, while others sought to damage or breach the border fence. Palestinians even tried to fly a kite bomb over soldiers but the Daily Mail reports things didn’t go as planned:
The daring plot did not go as planned as the kite was instead blown into Gaza before it crashed to the ground and exploded. Another bomb was detonated near the Karni crossing, and may have caused Palestinian casualties.
Video of explosive being attached to the Gaza “peace” kite. These guys should be nominated for a Darwin Award
1. Douse explosive in gasoline
2. Light on fire
3. Send chump to run with flaming devise pic.twitter.com/FcOOgR48ap— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 14, 2018
• Four Islamic Jihad operatives were killed in a work accident when explosives on their all-terrain vehicle blew up a few hundred meters from the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday.
• Haaretz publisher derided for ‘racist’ tweet.
Responding to commenter criticizing a Haaretz weekend supplement that crowned Israel’s national anthem the ‘most hated Israeli song,’ publisher Amos Shocken tweets, ‘My family was part of Zionism’s leadership while you were still climbing trees‘; after public outcry, Shocken backtracks and claims he meant to point out ‘ignorance.’
• On Tuesday night and Wednesday day, Israelis pay tribute to fallen soldiers, security personnel and terror victims on Yom HaZikaron. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the Memorial Day based on Ynet and government figures.
– 23,645: Overall number of the fallen since 1860, when when Jews began moving outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.
– 71: Overall number of people added to the list since last year
– 31: IDF veterans disabled in attacks who died of their condition in the past year
– 12: civilians killed in the past year
– 8,929: bereaved parents currently living in Israel
– 4,849: IDF and security personnel widows
– 3,134: overall number of civilians murdered in enemy activity since Israel declared its independence in 1948
– 122: foreign citizens, who were murdered in terror attacks in Israel
– 100: Israelis killed in attacks abroad
Around the World
• Jerusalem Post: An Israeli diplomat in Berlin, Adi Farjon, took to Twitter to chide Germany’s weekly Die Zeit for a cover story arguing that Jews from around the world “settled Arab lands” to build the state of Israel.
The article’s headline, “Israel at 70: Why is There No Quiet in This Country?” triggered outrage over the omission of historical facts. The paper asserted that “Jews from across the world settled Arab lands and simply created facts out of which the State of Israel grew.”
• 40 academics at the U. of Sydney pledge to boycott Israel.
• 51 NYU student groups pledge to boycott Israel and its pro-Israel backers.
• Columbia U. students accuse anti-Zionist groups of ‘systematically harassing, silencing’ opposing voices.
• South Carolina is set to become first state to define anti-Semitism by law. The JTA picked up on coverage from the Charleston Post and Courier.
Under the measure, universities must take the definition into account when reviewing charges of discrimination or bias.
The bill uses as its template the State Department definition of anti-Semitism, which includes as anti-Semitic calls for violence against Jews, advancing conspiracy theories about Jewish control and Holocaust denial. More controversially, it also includes “applying double standards” to Israel “by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”
• UK Labour shadow minister suggests party could back BDS movement.
• Jewish Chronicle: Labour Party will no longer use award-winning TV and film director Ken Loach to produce its election broadcasts following his comments on antisemitism this week.
This comes after the film-maker demanded that the Labour MPs who demonstrated against antisemitism in Parliament Square be kicked out of the party.
• A 40-year-old Jewish man found was found dead and bound in his Paris apartment.
Police believe the motive for the crime is financial, according to the report. Jeremy Dahan’s car and an expensive hand watch were missing.
In recent years, France has seen several cases of extreme violence against Jewish victims whose attackers singled them out for robbery, rape and murder because they were Jewish.
• Unable to find venues to perform, the antisemitic French comedian Dieudonne — who has been repeatedly convicted of hate speech — turned to deception to book Chateau de Vaugrenier on France’s Cote d’Azur. Now the owners of the chateau have sued Dieudonne and his agents.
Commentary
• The Western missile strike on Syria was welcome, but didn’t go far enough for Israel, Ron Ben-Yishai argues:
The “one time shot” announced by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis hit only Syria’s chemical weapons infrastructures and little else. It’s far less than what could have—and should have—been done, especially considering the fact the targets hit do not threaten the regime’s survivability or its ability to continue its victory tour over rebel groups.
If anything, those deterred are the Americans, French and British, who were overly cautious with their choice of targets out of fear of angering Putin. Defense Secretary Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford claimed the strike was limited to avoid harming civilians or other collateral damage.
• The Syrian situation’s on my mind this weekend:
– Ron Prosor: Mission not accomplished
– Zvi Bar’el: Putin may limit Israel’s operations in Syria in retaliation for US-led strikes
– Herb Keinon: For Israel, not much changes after US-led attack
– David Horovitz: Attack drone revelation shows grave, immediate, adjacent threat to Israel: Iran
– Noga Tarnopolsky: Trump’s hit-and-split approach to Syria has Israelis worried: The US goes, Iran stays
• Plenty of ink spills, broken quills, and burnt pixels weighing in on Gaza:
– Shimrit Meir: In Gaza, a march into the unknown
– Yossi Klein Halevi: Israelis, Palestinians and the Necessary Injustice of Partition (click via Twitter)
– Seth Frantzman: How Gaza’s mass protests are failing to make an impact
– Grisha Yakubovich: Popular resistance vs. Israeli independence
– Dr. Reuven Berko: Hamas’ failed doctrine
– Marc Lynch: Why Gaza’s ‘March of Return’ isn’t dominating Arab headlines
– Yoni Ben Menachem: Why Egypt is concerned about Gaza’s ‘Return March’
– Gary Rosenblatt: Israel-Gaza Clash About Outlook, Not Borders
– Haim Ramon: It’s time to end policy of coexistence with Hamas
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Brendan O’Neill: Why do you hate Israel?
– Julie Szego: Anti-Semitism rears its ugly head once more
– Bassam Tawil: Palestinians: License to kill Americans
– Robert Fulford: The next British PM might be an anti-Semite, like some leftist friends
– Shmuel Berkowitz: The status of Jerusalem in international and Israeli law
– Randy Hultgren and Aviv Ezra: Israeli medical humanitarian work along Syrian border deserves UN recognition
Featured image: CC BY-NC Frank Knaack; Die Zeit via 4vector.com; South Carolina CC BY Ron Cogswell; B-1 via US Dept. of Defense;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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