Today’s Top Stories
1. An Israeli policeman was killed in a car-ramming attack as security forces were evacuating buildings in the illegally-built village of Umm al-Hiran, in the Negev. The driver, Yacoub Abu al Kiyan, was said to be a teacher affiliated with the Islamic Movement. Residents claim Kiyan lost control of his vehicle after being fired on for no reason. More at the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel, plus security footage.
Sgt. Maj. Erez Levy, was 34 and is survived by a wife and two children.
Advanced staff Sergeant major Erez Levi age 34 was killed this morning in vehicle attack in Um Al Hiran in the Negev region in the south. pic.twitter.com/71sYmxdfIi
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) January 18, 2017
2. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt: Hamas, Fatah announced a deal to form a Palestinian unity government and hold elections.
3. Times of Israel: Ending a diplomatic standoff, Brazil accepted Yossi Sheli as Israel’s ambassador in Brasilia. A businessman with no diplomatic experience, Sheli is considered a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has some controversy in his own background.
Israel has been without an ambassador in Brazil for about a year-and-a-half when Brasilia refused to accept former settler leader Dani Dayan as ambassador.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. UN Resolution Unleashes Wave of Anti-Israel Bias in New Zealand Media: Public debate brings out of the woodwork self-appointed ‘experts’ with a tenuous grasp of the Mideast.
5. Sign our petition demanding Sydney Morning Herald editors correct the record and acknowledge that Tel Aviv is not the capital of Israel
Israel and the Palestinians
• A video of soldiers evacuating an injured Palestinian shot during a clash stoked anger in the West Bank. Footage shows soldiers — apparently still being stoned — carrying a limp 18-year-old Qusai Al-Amour, his head appearing to bounce on the ground, to behind a jeep, where he was given emergency medical treatment. Amour was later declared dead. The New York Times reports:
The Israeli military said in a statement that “hundreds of violent rioters” had confronted the security forces, who fired on and wounded “a main violent instigator.” In the process of evacuating him, the military said, the forces came under a barrage of rocks, which caused them to remove him hastily. The military added that the episode was under review.
• While the Paris peace conference theme was about saving the two-state solution, the Christian Science Monitor took note of a disconnect I haven’t seen reflected in the wider Western media:
But even as the conference’s closing statement urged Israelis and Palestinians “to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution,” 2 in 3 Palestinians say that model is no longer viable, according to a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in Ramallah.
• Haaretz: Gaza’s electricity situation is back to normal, which, for the Strip, is eight hours a day.
• Turkish, Israeli top soldiers meet for first time since re-normalizing ties.
• Israel finished renovations on its electronic barrier along the Egypt border. AFP reports that the 242 km (250 mile) long fence was raised an extra three meters and its detection devices upgraded. The work is expected to inhibit terrorist infiltrations, illegal migration, and smuggling.
Around the World
• Fordham U. denied students permission to form a Students for Justice in Palestine group. Inside Higher Ed quotes from the Dean Keith Eldredge statement explaining why:
While students are encouraged to promote diverse political points of view, and we encourage conversation and debate on all topics, I cannot support an organization whose sole purpose is advocating political goals of a specific group, and against a specific country, when these goals clearly conflict with and run contrary to the mission and values of the university,” Eldredge wrote . . .
“The purpose of the organization as stated in the proposed club constitution points toward that polarization. Specifically, the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel presents a barrier to open dialogue and mutual learning and understanding.”
• Jewish groups denounced a decision to drop a probe into anti-Semitism at the Oxford Labour Club.
Commentary/Analysis
• The Obama/Kerry echo chamber continues in the New York Times op-ed section with Roger Cohen‘s take on Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Yonah Jeremy Bob: Bedouin clashes: Is there no rule of law in the Negev?
– Aaron David Miller: Could Jared Kushner resolve the Mideast conflict?
– Avi Dichter: Paris conference shows France doesn’t understand Mideast reality
– Hannes Jobstl: Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on UK campuses
– Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser: Incentivizing terrorism: PA allocations to terrorists and their families
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND James Russo;
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