Today’s Top Stories
1. Prince William will visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan this summer. No date has been set for what will be the first official visit to Israel by a senior royal. Prince William is second in line to the throne.
According to the Jewish Chronicle, Princess Catherine is unlikely to accompany her husband as she is due to give birth in April. Haaretz notes that the spin games have already begun.
The Hebrew-language press release announcing the visit referred to the “Palestinian territories,” while the English-language press release referred to the “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Prince Charles was in Israel for the funerals of Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, while Prince Philip made a private visit in 1994 — but those visits were brief and not considered official visits.
The Duke of Cambridge will visit Israel, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Summer. pic.twitter.com/VSdx7ts1Ff
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) March 1, 2018
2. Iranian wrestling official Rasoul Khadem resigned over Tehran’s ban on competing against Israelis:
Khadem argued that Iranians should openly admit they will not compete against Israelis rather than invent excuses, and accept the consequences . . .
“Forcing an athlete to accept defeat or run around all night looking for a doctor’s note is not right,” he added.
3. The White House denied news reports that the Trump peace plan being crafted “may include US and international recognition of a Palestinian state and acceptance of East Jerusalem as its capital,” place Jerusalem’s Old City under “international protection,” call on Palestinian refugees to give up on their “right” of return, and “allow Israel to retain security control over the borders with the West Bank, while responsibility for security of the Gaza Strip would be handed to the Egyptians.”
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4. HR Visits Abbas at the UN: Mahmoud Abbas tells the UN he wants a peaceful two-state solution while telling his people something vastly different.
In the News
• This morning, IDF soldiers defused explosives planted on Gaza fence. “An army spokesperson said the IED was apparently installed during a violent demonstration along the border two weeks ago, as it was the same type as the one that wounded the four soldiers on February 17,” reported the Times of Israel.
• Ethiopian Jews are threatening to hold a mass hunger strike “if Israel eliminates funding to allow them to join their families in that country.”
Most of the nearly 8,000 Ethiopian Jews in the East African nation are said to have family members already in Israel. Some told The Associated Press they have been separated for well over a decade.
• Worth reading: Reuters takes a closer look at Gaza’s economic collapse.
The question that dominates Gaza is whether hard times will make Palestinians more inclined to support attacks on Israel, or less so, because they fear reprisals.
• I see The Independent revised a bungled headline about the Israel-church dispute over taxes and land sales which I called out in yesterday’s roundup. Christian leaders never leveled the word Nazi during the dust-up. Here are the before and after headers:
• Israeli officials are increasingly frustrated with US inaction on Iran’s entrenchment in Syria, according to Israeli media reports.
• Police to question Sara Netanyahu on Friday at the same time as the Prime Minister.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Amos Harel: Satellite images of Iranian missile base in Syria may signal an Israeli strike
– Amos Yadlin: Just another dangerous chapter in the ongoing Syrian tragedy
– Yoav Limor: A poignant warning
– Seth Frantzman: Churches and municipality in game of chicken: ‘Who will swerve first?’
– Benny Avni: The Palestinian ‘Game of Thrones’ is on
– Yoram Ettinger: US Embassy in Jerusalem enhances US interest
– Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka: Why a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians is closer than you think
– Haviv Rettig Gur: Comparing America to Israel on gun laws is dishonest – and revealing
– Michael Cohen: Trump owns startling spike in anti-Semitic acts — indeed, he feeds it
Featured image: Geshon Elinson/Flash 90; pen CC BY-NC pngimg.com;
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