Today’s Top Stories
1. Washington is reportedly reexamining the entirety of US aid to Palestinians, according to Israeli media reports.
2. “Even as the Palestinian Authority faces major funding cuts from the US, it has purchased a new luxurious $50 million private jet to be used by President Mahmoud Abbas,” according to Israeli media reports.
Jordan’s King Abdullah explicitly said that there can be no peace process or solution without the US, but also insisted that Washington get peace efforts back on track by demanding a significant concession from Israel:
“The challenge that the Americans have with the Israelis is that if this [Jerusalem recognition] is to make any sense, it’s to give something pretty good to the Palestinians,” he told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria during an open interview session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland . . .
Trump had hinted that the move would require something big in return from Israel, saying in a cryptic tweet that “Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.”
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. How to Keep HonestReporting in Your Facebook Feed: As Facebook changes the way material appears to you, ensure your Facebook feed keeps HonestReporting visible with these easy steps.
5. Why Did Haaretz Publish a Pro-BDS Ad? Where do newspapers draw the line when it comes to publishing controversial advertisements?
6. Iraqi Jews, Al Jazeera and Theft: The descendants of Iraqi Jews want a priceless collection of books returned. The government of Iraq says the trove was stolen from them by the US forces. Whose trauma is it? A special guest post by Lyn Julius.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Jerusalem is protesting after a South African diplomat at the UN Human Rights Council called Israel an apartheid state. Times of Israel coverage.
• Apparently conceding defeat on the terror tunnel front, Hamas is boosting its efforts to develop attack drones, Haaretz reports.
• Lawmakers are advancing the “muezzin bill” which would place limits on the times and volume of traditional Muslim calls to prayer. But Ynet reports Knesset support for the contentious legislation is fading.
• AP reports 100 film industry people signed a letter denouncing the Biarritz Film Festival for giving the public the “opportunity to appreciate Israeli content and talent.” The Guardian, which never fails to give a soapbox to these BDS open letters, is clearly slacking.
• Memo to Yahoo News: The reason Ahed Tamimi is being tried in a military court and not in the Israeli judicial system is because Israel hasn’t annexed the West Bank.
.@beatnikjourno Why did u fail 2 mention that there's military law precisely because Israel hasn't annexed the territory? & Nabi Saleh residents weren't throwing stones at soldiers; they were targeting civilian cars on a nearby road. Despite Tamimi's claims, stones can kill. https://t.co/QFmrV4KM5H
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 25, 2018
Around the World
• The Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel picked up on a worrisome Pew survey which finds the US partisan divide on Israel at a historically high level.
Responding to the poll, MK Michael Oren told the Times of Israel that Israel needs to win over progressive American support as a “strategic goal.”
• Half of European Jews hide their religion, survey shows
• The US wants Lebanon to cut Hezbollah out of the country’s financial sector
• If this guy had channeled his inner Ahed Tamimi and filmed himself slapping the dog, he’d be getting better press coverage.
Man bites police dog while resisting arrest
• After World War II, a group of Holocaust survivors plotted to kill six million Germans by poisoning the water supplies of Munich, Nuremberg, Hamburg and Frankfurt. You’ll be surprised to learn how surprisingly close they came to pulling it off.
• Russian professor kicks Moscow State U. Jewish student out of exam room for wearing a kippah.
• I always cringe when a sentence starts off with the words, Ï’m not anti-Semitic, but . . .” USA Today picks up on the backlash at R&B singer Erykah Badu comments in an interview with Vulture. As for what exactly was the good she saw in Hitler, I’m not going to play spoiler. Perfect idiocy ahead of International Holocaust Commemoration Day.
• 2 Torahs stolen from Hawaii synagogue.
• French lawmakers are now banned from wearing religious symbols in parliament, including kippot.
Commentary
• I wonder if the New York Times’ hostility towards the Trump administration affects its ability to deal rationally with Israel. Just wondering after seeing this staff-ed about Pence’s visit.
• The pundits are Pence-ive:
– Rabbi Meir Soloveichik: Pence visits Israel’s capital (click via Twitter)
– Zev Chafets: Pence, the anti-Trump, takes Israel by storm
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Pence’s Knesset speech: Curb your enthusiasm
– Aaron David Miller: What Mike Pence just did in Jerusalem
– Ron Kampeas: Mike Pence’s faith drives his support for Israel. Does it drive Mideast policy?
– Boaz Bismuth: A shining speech in Jerusalem – the city upon the hill
– Jonathan Tobin: Why can’t the left accept Mike Pence’s evangelical love for Israel?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Shmuel Rosner: Eroding support for Israel: What can we do?
– Haviv Rettig Gur: Boycotting the boycotters: Why Israel is as bad at fighting BDS as BDS is at fighting Israel
– Vijeta Uniyal: Divided EU won’t back Abbas on Palestinian ‘statehood’
– Shalom Lipner: Forget the ultimate deal. The Mideast needs the status quo.
– Asaf Romirowsky, Alex Joffe: How aid to Palestinians hurts – not helps – the peace process
– Alex Fishman: Trump’s Mideast plan: Take it or leave it
– Kim Ghattas: Palestine is a victim of the Iranian-Saudi war
– Maajid Nawaz: Human rights are universal, Amnesty. Even Jewish rights
– Clifford May: Hezbollah: The A-team of terrorists
– Richard Dannatt: Britain needs to wake up to the threat from Hezbollah
Featured image: CC0 Pexels/Rebecca Zaal King Abdullah via YouTube/World Economic Forum; mosque CCO Pixabay/Firas_Samir; thinking CC0 Pixabay;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Comments Policy. Any comments deemed to be in breach of the policy will be removed at the editor’s discretion.
