Ayelet Balaban, an Israeli-UK dual citizen, recently had her birthplace changed from “Jerusalem” to “Occupied Palestinian Territories” upon renewing her British passport.
According to Balaban, she had sent her old passport to London about two weeks ago, and received the new one this week. Upon discovering the change, Balaban checked with her brother, who when renewing his British passport two years ago had his place of birth listed as Jerusalem. Her brother, who works at Nefesh B’Nefesh, which helps Jews from English-speaking countries immigrate to Israel, said that it is the first time the organization has encountered the change.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry inquired into the matter, contacting the British Embassy in Israel. The British Home Office later apologized for the mislabeling, describing it as an “error” and saying it was urgently investigating the incident.
Firefighters battled 10 blazes in southern Israel that were sparked for the second day in a row by balloon-borne incendiary devices launched from the Gaza Strip. It came just hours after the Israeli Air Force struck terror targets in Gaza, reportedly in response to an attempt by three Palestinians to infiltrate Israeli territory. IDF troops arrested the suspects.
“We are the first to come under fire as soon as something happens elsewhere. This time it was the flag march in Jerusalem,” Ofer Lieberman, a farmer from Kibbutz Am Nir, said in reference to Tuesday’s parade through the Old City that the Hamas terrorist group threatened would lead to an escalation of violence.
The IDF on Tuesday struck Hamas military targets in Gaza in response to renewed arson attacks, which caused 26 fires in and around southern border towns. The explosive balloons from the coastal enclave and the IDF’s counterstrikes were the first exchange between terror groups in Gaza and the Israeli army since last month’s 11-day conflict.
A Hamas spokesman said that Palestinians would continue to pursue their “brave resistance and defend their rights and sacred sites” in Jerusalem.
Various Palestinian factions warned against the possibility of jump-starting peace negotiations with the new Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The warning came in response to a report that claimed that Ramallah had formed a negotiating team at the behest of US President Joe Biden.
The PA is reportedly set to demand that Israel return to the situation that existed in the West Bank before the Second Intifada. This means that the IDF would no longer enter Area A of the West Bank to arrest Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. The PA negotiating team will also push for control over additional areas in Areas B and C.
According to the Oslo Accords, the PA is meant to have full civil and security control in Area A, in which the vast majority of Palestinians live. The PA has civil control in Area B, while Israel has security control. The Jewish state maintains control over both civil and security matters in Area C.
“We believe that we can work with the Biden administration because of its positive attitude towards the two-state solution,” a senior Palestinian Authority official said, adding: “The ball is now in the court of the new Israeli government.”
Reports about the potential resumption of long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have drawn sharp criticism from two Palestinian factions, in particular, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two Gaza-based terrorist groups, are also opposed to renewing the peace process.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI sent a message of congratulations to Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, becoming the latest signatory of the Abraham Accords to welcome Israel’s new premier. After US-brokered negotiations between Jerusalem and Rabat last December, Morocco became the fourth country to normalize relations with the Jewish state.
In the letter, the long-time monarch emphasized that “Morocco has adhered to its role and efforts to bring about a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, to guarantee that all peoples in the region live side by side in a peaceful, stable environment.”
In response, Bennet reaffirmed the good relations between the two countries and said that Israel sees Morocco as an important partner in bringing peace and security to the Middle East.
However, despite the warm greetings between the two leaders, Morocco’s Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani, allegedly sent a letter last month to Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh after the ceasefire that ended the recent Gaza conflict. In that letter, El Othmani congratulated the terrorist group on its “victory” over the “Zionist entity.”
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Recommended Reading
- Will Every Israeli Airstrike Now Be Front Page News? (Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post)
- The Palestinian Culture of Violence (Mitchell Bard, Jewish News Syndicate)
- ‘Every Oxygen Concentrator We Provide Can Save 20 Lives’: Israeli Aid Continues as India Faces Possible Third COVID Wave (Sharon Wrobel, Algemeiner)
- Secret WWII Jewish British Military Commandos Finally Come Out of the Shadows (Renee Ghert-Zand, Times of Israel)
- Jared Kushner Signs Tell-all Book Deal (Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
