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Things are starting to heat up on Israel’s northern border. On Thursday the IDF reinforced the Northern Command, deploying one battalion and a number of additional troops. Tensions with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have been escalating since the death of one of its members in Syria on Monday, during an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus.
Hezbollah is laying the groundwork for a large-scale attack on Israel’s northern border, a former member of the IDF’s Intelligence Corps warns. The terrorist group is consolidating its forces and conducting movements reminiscent of the lead-up to the 2006 cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of three Israeli soldiers and the capture of two others, according to the former intelligence officer.
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COVID-19: Israeli lawmakers empowered the government to order anti-coronavirus curbs with limited parliamentary oversight. The Knesset ratified the controversial “Grand Coronavirus Law” that will allow the government to impose restrictions it deems urgent – such as a threatened new lockdown – with lawmakers reviewing such decisions only after 24 hours.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein appointed Sourasky Medical Center CEO Ronni Gamzu Israel’s coronavirus chief after midnight Wednesday night. The move came after Prof. Gabriel Barbash, who Gamzu had praised as the right person for the role hours before, rejected Netanyahu’s offer following a battle over the mandate of the new post in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
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A group of 34 immigrants from Ethiopia is scheduled to land in Israel on Thursday, the third group to arrive since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Like other immigrants landing in the country, these new arrivals will be required to enter quarantine for 14 days immediately upon arrival. About 8,000 Falashmura – descendants of the Ethiopian Jewish community forced to convert to Christianity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – still remain in Africa.
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The government of Spain has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. The IHRA working definition describes various forms of antisemitism, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial, and unfair criticism of Israel. Spain is one of 34 alliance member countries.
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Antisemitism Watch: Britain’s opposition Labour Party apologized “unreservedly,” withdrew its accusations, and agreed to pay substantial damages to seven whistleblowers who sued it for defamation over an antisemitism dispute. The former employees were also accused of trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader at the time. The whistleblowers had criticized the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints, and sued the party when it issued a statement describing them as having “personal and political axes to grind.”
Recommended Reading
- Why is it so hard to know where Israelis are getting infected? (Ido Efrati)
- “Proportionality is madness”: Second Lebanon War summary (Dov Lipman)
- Social media giants: Free speech is not hate speech (Orit Farkash-Hacohen)
- The “free speech debate” isn’t really about free speech (Zack Beauchamp)
- An obligation to keep: Israel’s unique response to an influx of African refugees and migrants (Sara Cowen and Daniel Pomerantz)
