Today’s Top Stories
1. Just before this roundup was published, Israeli media reported that a UN blacklist of companies doing business in Israeli settlements was indefinitely postponed.
BREAKING ON @news10: After strong pressure by U.S. & Israel the UN postpones indefinitely the publication of a "Blacklist" of foreign & Israeli companies which operate in the settlements in the West bank & East Jerusalem
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 31, 2018
2. According to Israeli media reports, the US may reject the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) practice of granting refugee status to descendants of Palestinian refugees.
Israel has for years demanded that the UN change its designation of Palestinian refugees, and that it use the same criteria it applies for other refugee populations worldwide. Humanitarian assistance to other refugee groups is overseen by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which does not extend refugee status to descendants of original refugees.
The TV report quoted Israeli diplomatic sources who are aware of the new US thinking on the issue as saying that a Trump declaration rejecting the UN criteria for Palestinian refugees would represent “a tremendous victory” for Israeli diplomacy . . .
Bringing the definition of a refugee in-line with other refugee populations around the world could be a game-changer for the Palestinian so-called “right” of return. We unpacked the UNRWA controversy in this ‘splainer video.
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3. Haaretz: “Israel will submit a $1 billion dollar plan for easing the Gaza Strip’s humanitarian crisis, which it will ask the international community to fund, at an emergency meeting on Wednesday of donor states.”
The plan’s centerpiece will be Israeli assistance in building infrastructure projects, including desalination plants, electricity lines and a gas pipeline, as well as upgrading the Erez industrial park on the Israeli-Gazan border.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Irish Senate postponed last night’s scheduled vote on legislation criminalizing the import of settlement goods. The delay was partly in response to vociferous Israeli opposition and partly due to divisions within Ireland’s governing coalition.
• In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump called for ending US aid to “enemies,” which he suggested includes countries who voted at the UN to denounce his Jerusalem declaration. While domestic issues dominated the speech, Trump also denounced the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.
• Soldiers thwarted a stabbing attack, arresting a Palestinian with a knife and a map of the West Bank settlement of Negohot, located near Hebron.
• Following up on this week’s Netanyahu-Putin meeting, a large delegation of high-level Russian security officials are due to arrive in Israel today to discuss Iranian entrenchment in Syria and Lebanon. According to Israeli media reports:
A senior Israeli official was quoted by Channel 10 as saying the talks will focus on the same issues discussed by the leaders in Moscow, including Iran’s attempt to increase its influence in Syria; Tehran’s attempts to build rocket factories for the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon; and efforts by Israel and the US to change the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.
• Worth reading: Bloomberg News takes a closer look Jerusalem Arabs working in Jewish areas of the city, which helps curb violence.
Ro’aa is a symbol of how economics is reweaving the tapestry of the fractious city. She and an increasing number of young Arabs like her are finding more professional opportunities in the Jewish quarters of Jerusalem. That helps explain in part Jerusalem’s relative calm in the wake of U.S. President Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize the city as the capital of Israel, especially in contrast with violent demonstrations the West Bank, Gaza Strip and other parts of the Arab world and even Europe. Even though the young Arabs of east Jerusalem strongly oppose the embassy transfer, they don’t want to undermine opportunity with violence.
Around the World
• Implementation of a Kansas law requiring public employees to declare that they do not boycott Israel was temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf a teacher who lost a contract because she boycotts Israel. Many states now have anti-BDS legislation, which critics say violates free speech rights. More at the Wichita Eagle and Haaretz.
• BDSniks at Montreal’s McGill U. are up in arms as the university’s board of governors considers rejecting the use of endowment to “to advance social or political causes.” Students trying to get McGill to divest from Israel as well as fossil fuel corporations say the proposed changes to the governors’ social responsibility committee would destroy any campus divestment campaign for five years.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Prof. Eytan Gilboa: Trump’s business approach to foreign aid could also challenge Israel
– Nadav Shragai: An embarrassing freeze
– David Ignatius: The road to an Israeli-Palestinian deal is vanishing
– Cnaan Liphshiz: Netanyahu is trying hard to court Putin. Is his rhetoric working?
– Thomas Friedman: Can crazy still keep the peace between Israel and Iran?
– Benny Anvi: How Nikki Haley is pushing Europe to get tough on Iran
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Mark Belokopytov; Israeli flag CC BY Nicolas Raymond; Russian flag CC BY Nicolas Raymond; puzzle vector CC BY-SA Wikimedia Commons; McGill CC BY-ND Viola Ng;
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