Today’s Top Stories
1. As this roundup was being published, the IDF confirmed two soldiers were killed when an anti-tank rocket fired from Lebanon hit a military vehicle in the Har Dov area. Mortars also fell in the Hermon region. Several other soldiers were hospitalized and a Spanish member of UNIFIL died of injuries from the crossfire. Israel denied any soldiers were abducted. More on the story at the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, and YNet.
The media fun and games quickly got underway. Turns out this image making the rounds dates back to Pakistan, 2007. The pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen News didn’t bother adding the words, “for illustrative purposes only.” To its credit, Reported.ly, which is Andy Carvin’s new venture, corrected the record pretty quickly. I’m not sure about others though . . .
2. YNet: 10,000 Palestinian teens, some as young as 15, graduated from a Hamas terror camp developing the next generation of cannon fodder.
The participants of the militant camp were also trained in firing sniper rifles, using the portraits of Israeli leaders for targets. The Palestinian youth simulated attacks on Israeli destinations through model terror tunnels, meant to recreate the experience of infiltrating Israeli territory.
3. BBC Question Time’s an interesting town hall format show. Every week, you assemble a mixture of five public officials, activists, and (sometimes) outspoken celebrities, in venues around Britain, and let the public pose questions. Now the Beeb’s under fire because MP George Galloway is scheduled to be a panelist in an upcoming show in Finchley, a London suburb with one of Britain’s highest concentrations of Jewish residents.
Galloway’s Israel-bashing credentials are certainly impeccable. He refuses to debate Israelis, was censured by Ofcom for using his show to slam Israel, and was briefly investigated by police for declaring his constituency in Bradford-West an “Israel-free zone.”
The producer of Question Time responsible for booking Galloway for Finchley clearly knew what he was doing. Harry’s Place offered one terrific way the BBC can fix the problem.
4. While following developments along the northern border, keep in 5 Tips for Sorting Through the News and Sharing Responsibly on Social Media.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Mahmoud Abbas has decided not to submit another statehood bid to the UN Security Council till after Israel’s elections. The Jerusalem Post reports that he came under a lot of US and Arab League pressure.
• The Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, issued a report accusing the IDF of violating the rules of war during Operation Protective Edge. AP never acknowledged that Hamas fueled Gaza’s death and destruction by embedding itself among civilians. Even B’tselem acknowledged this, but in a way that absolves Hamas for any and all culpability. AFP wrote:
The report also criticised what it said were attempts to shirk responsibility for civilian deaths by blaming Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas.
“It is true that Hamas and other organisations operating in the Gaza Strip do not abide by international humanitarian law,” it said, referring to Hamas firing rockets at Israeli cities from densely populated civilian areas inside Gaza.
But Netanyahu’s insistence that Hamas was to blame for all civilian deaths in Gaza was an attempt to place “no restrictions whatsoever on Israeli action… no matter how horrifying the consequences,” it said.
“This policy is unlawful through and through.”
For what it’s worth, Isabel Kershner’s coverage for the New York Times was the most fair.
• Greece’s ambassador to Israel explained to the Times of Israel why his country’s new leftist government shouldn’t raise Israeli angst.
But there are several indications that Jerusalem has no need to worry, he added. For one, politicians act differently once they are in charge of running a country. “It’s a party has [entered] the government, therefore [party leaders might become] much more responsible and careful in the policies they are about to advocate.” Secondly, the diplomat said, Syriza’s junior coalition partner is “very well-known for its pro-Israeli attitudes.”
“There is a reality called ‘instability in the Mediterranean’. No matter who is in the democratically elected government in Greece, [one] cannot ignore the fact that there are very few democratic prosperous states with Westerns ideals in the region. Israel is one of them. See around you, there is a very limited array of countries with which Greece can cooperate.”
• Throwing stones at cars is illegal, no matter whether the incident is in Malaysia, Mumbai, Trinidad & Tobago, or Accrington. So why is it worth the attention of an international wire service like AP that a 14-year-old stone-throwing Palestinian girl was sentenced to two months in prison?
Around the World
• French President Francois Hollande is talking tough against online anti-Semitism. AP reports:
During a visit to France’s Holocaust Memorial on Tuesday, Hollande said Internet service providers cannot ignore anti-Semitic and Holocaust- denial theories that are disseminated on social networks. Otherwise, he says, “they will be regarded as accomplices.”
Hollande also called European and international leaders to define new regulations with penalties for Internet service providers which do not comply.
• British actress Maureen Lipman made some waves when she told LBC radio she’s considering leaving the UK for either Israel or New York because of rising UK anti-Semitism. The Daily Telegraph picked up on the story, including figures on the incidents.
• Jordan agrees to release terrorist in exchange for pilot held by ISIS
Commentary/Analysis
• Tweets that make me go hmmmm.
• Avi Issacharoff explains why Hezbollah may be trying to draw Israel into sending ground forces into Syria.
The next stage, as far as Hezbollah is concerned, could be to try to further upset the security situation by firing rockets sporadically into the Israeli Golan Heights, in a manner that may force the IDF to send troops deep into Syrian territory. This would make it easier for Hezbollah to exact losses from Israelis casualties and at the same time focus Arab public opinion on the battles in the Golan Heights, distracting it from the daily acts of carnage perpetrated by Assad loyalists.
Furthermore, if Hezbollah manages to draw Israel into committing even a small number of troops to a ground incursion in the Syrian Golan Heights, the Sunni radical groups Islamic State and al Nusra Front will be in the problematic position of being portrayed as collaborators with Israel in its battle against the Assad regime and its Lebanese ally.
• For more commentary/analysis, see Ron Ben-Yishai (Israel must think hard about latest Hezbollah attack), Amos Harel (Israel and Hezbollah’s new battle ground: The Golan Heights), Yoav Limor (An active northern front), Omer Einav (Rising tension in the Golan Heights), and Nicholas Saidel (10 Reasons Hezbollah Should Be Worried).
Featured image: CC BY-NC Tobia Myrstrand Leander via flickr with additions by HonestReporting; Parthenon CC BY-NC-ND flickr/Glorgos
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
