Today’s Top Stories
1. Palestinian sources, journalists, and possibly Trump administration officials as well muddied the waters on whether the US is going to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. Follow the bouncing ball and draw your own conclusions about what this means for the next four years of Mideast news coverage.
It all starts with the Arab paper Asharq al-Awsat (English site) reporting that the PA received US reassurances that the embassy would not be moved to Jerusalem. Israeli papers then followed up with their own PA sources. The results? Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel sources specifically denied receiving reassurances, while a Haaretz source confirmed receiving US reassurances.
There was no hard confirmation from the US, though the White House may be lowering expectations.
2. AP: The State Department is reviewing a $221 million payment to PA made in the waning hours of the Obama administration.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Ukraine announced that it seized missile components destined for Iran last week.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, an inter-governmental organization, adopted a report charging Israel with “excessive and intentional force without justification against Palestinian civilians in the buffer zone, including against farmers, journalists, medical crews and peaceful protesters, [which] runs blatantly counter to human rights principles and the international law-enforcement standards.” More on the story at YNet and the Times of Israel.
• Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancel or reschedule his upcoming trip to Australia so he can meet with President Donald Trump in the US? Israeli journalists suggest yes, but Australia’s Amb. David Sharma says Canberra still looks forward to the visit. Netanyahu is scheduled to leave Israel for Singapore and Australia on February 18.
• Israel advises citizens in Egypt’s Sinai to leave, citing highest level risk of attack and describing an “immediate term” terror threat to peninsula’s tourist spots as “very high and concrete.”
• The IDF shelled a Hamas outpost on the Gaza border in retaliation for a shooting incident on Tuesday. YNet says no Israelis were injured.
Around the World
• Speaking on LBC radio, former Islamist Maajid Nawaz accused pro-Palestinians of bullying Jewish students on UK campuses “under the guise that criticism of Israel is not antisemitism.” Backstory and related links at The Algemeiner.
• Worth reading: Reuters takes a closer look at the injured Syrians getting medical care in Israel and the Israelis treating them.
Under cover of night, Syrian wounded seek help from enemy Israel https://t.co/xrcq487wT6 pic.twitter.com/hjLOn7v3q6
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 24, 2017
Commentary/Analysis
• Staff-eds in the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun, the Toronto Star‘s Mitch Potter and the Globe and Mail‘s Michael Bell criticize Israeli settlement policy and a possible embassy relocation.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Alan Shatter: Accusations against Israel hide the real issues
– David Ignatius: What does Israel want from America?
– Amb. Shmuel Ben Shmuel: Terrorism and incitement remain biggest obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace
– Aaron David Miller: Moving US Embassy to Jerusalem puts America’s interests last
– Alex Fishman: IDF preparing for Trump’s embassy decision
– Smadar Perry: As Trump era begins, Arab leaders should prepare for bad days
– Benjamin Gladstone: On right and left, Jews must start challenging anti-Semitism among their political allies
– Evelyn Gordon: What aid to Israel buys America
– Yoni Ben Menachem: A Palestinian national unity government?
• For a sense of what the critics are saying, see op-eds by Hanan Ashrawi,
Featured image: CC BY-NC Lori Erickson; Netanyahua via YouTube/France 24; Trump via YouTube/NBC News; Turnbull via YouTube/ABC News (Australia);
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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