The Biden Administration paid $135 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after an agreement was signed in which the agency explicitly condemned antisemitism. UNRWA announced the news of the US grant and revised framework the day after the end of the visit by US Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to the Jewish state and Palestinian territories.
The agreement now contains a paragraph that states: “The United States and UNRWA unreservedly condemn all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnicity or religious belief, including antisemitism.” UNRWA also made a commitment to ensuring that its funds would not be transferred to individuals engaged in terrorism or used to support terrorist activities.
The United States is the largest donor to the organization, which cares for 5.7 million people it claims are Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank, and the eastern part of Jerusalem. The $135 million donation brings the total US contribution to the agency to $313.8 million for this year, which is close to the annual $360 million it had received before the Trump administration cut American funding in 2018.
The Trump administration opposed UNRWA, claiming the agency supports a perpetual class of Palestinian ‘refugees’ by awarding that designation to the descendants of those who fled their homes during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. In addition, the Trump White House harshly criticized findings of antisemitism and incitement against Israel in textbooks used by UNRWA teachers in their classrooms.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered the police to continue allowing Jews to ascend the Temple Mount on Sunday, the fast day of Tisha B’Av, even as Muslims clashed with police at the holy site. Dozens of Palestinians flocked to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday, in an attempt to prevent Jewish worshipers from reaching the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, where the two temples stood. Tisha B’Av marks the anniversary of their destruction in 586 BCE and 70 CE.
Clashes then erupted between Palestinians and the Israel Police, which responded with riot control means. After Israeli police cleared the site of violent demonstrators, Jewish worshippers began to ascend to the Temple Mount for Tisha B’Av prayers. Nearly 1,700 Jews visited the site during the permitted hours.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Jewish worshippers of “storming” the Al-Aqsa Mosque, adding that this constituted a serious violation of the holy site. Hamas warned late last week that Israel was “playing with fire” by allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount. Gaza’s terrorist rulers also called on residents of the coastal enclave to “keep their fingers on the trigger” to defend Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bennett emphasized that “full freedom of worship on the Temple Mount will be maintained for Muslims, as well, who are marking the Day of Arafa and Eid al-Adha this week.
Health Ministry data shows there has been a large spike in COVID-19 cases in Israel, with 1,100 confirmed on Friday. An additional 945 new infections were recorded on Saturday and Sunday. There are currently 6,598 active cases in the country, 61 of which are deemed serious.
As such, Israel could close Ben Gurion Airport for all non-essential travel amid evidence that 10 percent of all recent coronavirus cases have been brought in from overseas.
The spike in infections comes as 22,000 people boarded flights out of Israel on Sunday, despite Prime Minister Naftali Bennett having urged Israelis to refrain from taking trips abroad. The premier has warned citizens that they should cancel any planned vacations, explaining that more countries will soon be moved to the “high-risk” category, and adding: “The whole world will become ‘red,’ and your trip will be canceled anyway, so don’t even book.”
The Health Ministry is considering imposing new measures on returnees, including mandating that everyone who enters Israel isolate for seven days rather than the current 24-hour quarantine required for those arriving from countries not considered to have high rates of infection. Additional steps being weighed for travelers are expanding the list of countries to which Israelis are barred from flying, and allowing travel only for those who are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of Muslims drafting into the Israel Defense Forces. According to new IDF statistics, a total of 606 Muslim Arabs joined the military in 2020 – up from 489 in 2019 and 436 in 2018.
In addition, the number of those who joined the Bedouin reconnaissance unit has nearly doubled in two years, from 84 in 2018 to 171 in 2020. The IDF has created two platoons for basic training for each draft to accommodate the dramatic rise in new recruits.
Data also shows that the number of Muslims who prematurely ended their military service declined by 7 percent in the past year. In 2020, the drop-out rate was 30 percent, compared to 23 percent over the previous 12-month period. The IDF is hoping to push that figure down to 20 percent over the next year.
Military leaders reportedly expect the trend of an increasing Muslim draft to continue, despite the recent Operation Guardian of the Walls and the riots that took place in Arab communities. During the May conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups led by Hamas, 20 Muslim soldiers reportedly requested to be released from service. However, 18 of these are said to have decided to continue their military careers after talking with their IDF commanders. There was also a 10 percent decrease in the amount of time Muslim soldiers were away from duty without authorized leave.
Israel Defense Forces officials believe that all the statistics indicate a high motivation to serve.
Families of the victims of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires that left 85 dead and hundreds wounded on Sunday renewed their demands for justice, as they marked the anniversary of the attack. Argentina’s 300,000-strong Jewish community — the largest in South America — protested the fact that no one has ever been convicted over the bombing.
The virtual event was organized by the Memoria Activa (Active Memory) Association under the motto: “27 years without justice, full of memories.”
The bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA), a community center in Buenos Aires, remains the deadliest terror strike in the country’s history. The initial investigation was botched and tainted by allegations of corruption.
Iran and its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah have long been linked to the attack. Following a subsequent investigation, prosecutor Alberto Nisman accused Tehran of ordering the bombing via Hezbollah. His efforts to prosecute five Iranian officials, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were cut short when then-president Cristina Kirchner signed a deal with the Islamic Republic to set up a Tehran-based joint commission to investigate the attacks. Iran has never allowed its officials to be interviewed, and the country’s parliament rejected the Kirchner proposal.
Just before Nisman was due to present his findings to Congress in January 2015, he died at his home under mysterious circumstances.
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Recommended Reading
- COVID Variants Are Here to Stay, We Must Behave Accordingly (Jerusalem Post)
- With Rising Influence, Hezbollah Stands Ready to Exploit Chaos in Lebanon (Steven Emerson, Algemeiner)
- King Abdallah’s Upcoming Visit to Washington: Implications for Jerusalem (James Dorsey, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Israeli Study Offers Hope of ‘Rewiring’ Nerves to Restore Lost Sense of Touch (Nathan Jeffay, NoCamels)
- Omri Casspi, First Israeli Player in NBA, Retires From Professional Basketball (Ben Sales, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
