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Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with Palestinian Authority (PA) Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh on Sunday night, the latest in a string of meetings between leading Israeli and Palestinian political figures.
I met this evening with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and we discussed several political and bilateral issues. I have highlighted the need for a political horizon between the two parties based on #international legitimacy https://t.co/YAN9VqebOc
— حسين الشيخ Hussein Al Sheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) January 23, 2022
A member of the Fatah party that rules Palestinian-controlled territories in the West Bank, al-Sheikh is considered a close confidant of Fatah Chairman and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and a potential successor to Abbas for the PA presidency.
In December, Defense Minister Benny Gantz hosted Abbas at the former’s home in Israel. The two discussed security and economic issues.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to renewed peace negotiations with the Palestinians and has refused to meet with Abbas. “I see no logic in meeting Abbas when he’s suing our soldiers in the Hague and accuses our commanders of war crimes,” Bennett said last year. Nevertheless, his government has pledged to prop up the Palestinian Authority and strengthen its economy, with Gantz spearheading the move.
After his Sunday meeting with Lapid, al-Sheikh said that 500 undocumented West Bank residents would receive Palestinian identification cards. The announcement appeared to be a continuation of a previous pledge by Gantz, rather than a new initiative.
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A war drill conducted by the IDF’s 74th Armored Battalion on the Golan Heights has significantly improved the military’s readiness for combat against Hezbollah, Lt. Col. Ofer Tchorz, the battalion’s commander, has stated.
The exercise simulated combat against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, in which the battalion would have to navigate hilly terrain and take on a heavily armed enemy that employs guerilla warfare tactics and fights out of populated areas in Lebanon, Tchorz said.
During the drill, the tanks teamed up with infantry units, combat engineers and artillery units, as well as with the Israeli Air Force.
The four-day live-fire battalion-wide exercise capped off a three-month training period.
Tchorz, commander of the Merkava 4 Tank 74th battalion, a part of the 188th Armored Brigade, told local media that the training cycle has allowed his troops “to prepare for the next war and improve our readiness.”
“We understand that in next war, the only way in which each part of the army can bring its strength to the table and bridge one another’s gaps is through integrated combat…This is how we deliver maximum efficiency,” Tchorz added.
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The coronavirus pandemic led to a rise in antisemitism around the world in 2021, according to a report by the Diaspora Ministry that was presented to the government on Sunday, ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.
The report notes an increase in conspiratorial rhetoric that depicts Jews as profiting from vaccines and exploiting the crisis to strengthen their grip on governments and the world economy. It also shows that COVID-19 has catalyzed a trend of trivialization of the Holocaust, both by public figures and social media users.
In addition, the Diaspora Ministry reports that the past year has seen an upsurge in antisemitic incidents around the world in part due to the escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups in May.
The Diaspora Ministry identified 3.5 million antisemitic posts in various languages on social media, and identified a correlation between violent content and violent actions in the public sphere against Jews, who are seen as collectively responsible for Israel’s actions.
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Israel is weighing its options as tensions rise on the Russia-Ukraine border, with the Foreign Ministry planning to deliberate on the matter on Monday.
Local media reported on Sunday that representatives of various government offices and groups met to discuss the possibility that thousands of Ukrainian Jews will want to immigrate to Israel. Among the participants at the meeting were the Prime Minister’s Office, Foreign Minister, Defense Ministry, Diaspora Affairs Ministry and the Jewish Agency.
The report said that some 75,000 people living in eastern Ukraine are believed eligible for Israeli citizenship. Israel has reportedly long had plans for the mass evacuation of Jews from various countries should the need arise, and has updated those plans for Ukraine due to the rising tensions.
The Aliyah and Integration Ministry said: “At this time, there is no increase in the number of immigrants from Ukraine compared to last year. If there will be, the ministry is prepared to handle it as it has in the past and is in contact with the relevant parties, including the Jewish Agency and Nativ.”
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HonestReporting is joining forces with StandWithUs and other organizations in order to combat the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) “Commission of Inquiry” (COI) targeting Israel.
In December, the United Nations General Assembly approved an open-ended COI into Israel’s treatment of Palestinians that was proposed in the aftermath of the 11-day Hamas-initiated conflict. The UNHRC in May had voted to launch the investigation amid accusations that Israeli forces committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
At that time, HonestReporting demonstrated that the claims were based on faulty information as well as a misinterpretation of the Geneva Conventions.
The COI is the highest-level probe that can be ordered by the UN Human Rights Council. The one concerning alleged Israeli misdeeds is the first ever to have an “ongoing” mandate. Others, like that focusing on the war in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, must be renewed each year.
We strongly encourage you to speak out against the UN’s latest attempt to single out Israel and the Jewish people.
Sign this petition and make your voice heard.
Recommended Reading
- Human Rights Watch: Australia, Like Israel, Is Guilty of Apartheid (Salo Aizenberg, Times of Israel)
- The UN Descent to Its Deepest Depths of Hostility to Israel (Alan Baker, Algemeiner)
- CAIR Not Only Inspires Terrorists. It’s Historically Linked to Them (Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Newsweek)
- Plot Twist in the Sordid Mass Murder Scandal Rocking Argentina (Noga Tarnopolsky, Daily Beast)
- Israel Spends $9M More on Yad Vashem to Preserve Testimony From ‘Disappearing Generation’ of Survivors (Sharon Wrobel, Algemeiner)
- Winter Storm Elpis Set to Bring Snow to Jerusalem (Tzvi Joffre, Jerusalem Post)
