Today’s Top Stories
1. According to the IDF, the Egyptian army’s electronic warfare against Sinai jihadists is having a spillover effect, causing cellular blackouts in southern Israel.
While the disruptions, which have ensued for two weeks, will likely continue, the defense establishment “is dealing with the issue with their Egyptian counterparts,” according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. “We have a dialogue with them on the issue.”
2. The Palestinian Authority’s 2018 budget boosts the amount of money for terrorists and their families by $56 million. This was disclosed in the Knesset during a debate on reducing tax transfers to the Palestinians which Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The Jerusalem Post explains:
Dichter pointed out that PA President Mahmoud Abbas authorized the 2018 PA budget on Sunday, and that there is a PA law that says 7% of each budget must go to paying terrorists, or to their families, if they’re killed in the act . . .
The PA paid terrorists and their families more than $347m. in 2017. Terrorists who have been sentenced to three to five years in Israeli prisons receive the average income of a Palestinian, about $580 per month. The families of those who committed more severe crimes and were involved in killing Israelis receive five times that each month for the rest of their lives.
Terrorists receive more from the PA if they are married, for each child they have, if they live in Jerusalem or if they’re an Israeli citizen.
3. A lawsuit against Arizona State U. will test the legality of the state’s anti-BDS legislation and potentially set a precedent for challenges in other states with similar laws. The legal action comes after ASU said a Muslim student group wasn’t allowed to sponsor a guest speaker who promotes boycotting Israel. Details at the Arizona Daily Star and JTA.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly met with Israeli officials in Egypt to discuss normalizing relations and feel out Israeli interest in a major Saudi project:
Within that framework, Israel would take part in the unprecedented real estate venture being sponsored by the Saudis in the Gulf of Aqaba. Crown Prince Mohammed first announced plans for the 26,500-square-kilometer (10,230-square-mile) zone at an international investment conference in Riyadh last October. Officials say public and private investment in the area is expected to reach $500 billion. The mega-city would be built on Saudi territory on the eastern shore of the Red Sea near the border with Jordan , and connect to Egypt across the gulf via a bridge running through the island of Tiran . . .
The source who leaked the information about the prince’s meeting with the Israelis said that in light of the shared sea border between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Israel, it is necessary to establish an international framework to include Israel in the Saudi project.
Saudi Arabia Just Announced Plans to Build a Mega City That Will Cost $500 Billion https://t.co/EiNqGaLnhI #NEOM pic.twitter.com/R4Qy9zS4Vz
— Bloomberg Graphics (@BBGVisualData) October 24, 2017
• Is Israeli agriculture near Gaza imperiled due to the Strip’s inoperative sewage treatment facilities?
• The Palestinian Authority became a full-fledged member of Interpol after completing all the necessary technical procedures. Now that the PA has access to Interpol information and the ability to request the arrest and extradition of wanted individuals, Mahmoud Abbas’ political rivals — most notably Mohammed Dahlan and former PLO moneyman Mohammed Rashid — fear the PA will use Interpol against them.
• The Times of Israel takes a closer look at Mahmoud Al-Aloul, the new would-be successor to Mahmoud Abbas.
Window into Israel
• Lawmakers are trying to resolve a coalition crisis threatening to topple the government. United Torah Judaism, an Orthodox party, is threatening to vote against the 2019 budget unless certain amendments are made to a law governing military draft exemptions for yeshiva students.
As the standoff continues, Finance Minister and Kulanu party chief Moshe Kahlon threatened to quit the governing coalition if the budget isn’t approved by Passover, with the Times of Israel adding:
The 2019 state budget can technically be passed until the end of the year, but Kahlon, backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been adamant that it be passed earlier, before a six-week Knesset recess beginning March 18.
New elections could be triggered by Kulanu quitting the coalition, or if the Knesset votes down a proposed budget.
• NBC News examines the battle over Sabbath laws and Orthodox draft exemptions and the pressures those issues put on Israeli politics.
• A survey picked up by the Times of Israel and Ynet finds support for coexistence plunging among Jewish and Arab Israelis.
• High Court freezes compensation to owners of razed West Bank homes.
• Ynet examines what new information was disclosed by two ex-officials who turned state’s witness against the Prime Minister this week.
• For commentary on the domestic scene, see Raoul Wootliff, Moran Azulay and Mati Tuchfeld.
Around the World
• Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to go on trial for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in Jewish center bombing. No date has been set, and 11 other former government officials will also be tried.
Eighty five people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a truckload of explosives at the headquarters of the Argentine Jewish community in Buenos Aires in 1994. Iran has been tied to attack. In 2015, prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his apartment one day before he was due to present his findings to Argentine lawmakers.
• Around 400 Turkish Jews moved to Israel in 2017, “more than double the 164 who moved there the year before.” What’s behind the rising aliyah from Turkey?
This number keeps rising each year, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a trend that contradicts the figures for diaspora Jews from all other countries except Russia. The agency cites what it says are Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Semitic policies as the cause of this rise.
With the number of Jews in Turkey estimated to be around 12,000, the 400 emigrants amounts to more than 2 percent leaving the country – a significant amount.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Jennifer Rubin: Syria is the inherent weakness in Trump’s Israel pitch
– Orly Azoulay: Trump-Netanyahu meeting: That’s what friends are for
– Alan Mendoza: Netanyahu reaps benefits of treating Trump with respect, rather than contempt
– Benny Avni: Iran is pushing Israel into war
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Syria carnage proves international community cannot be trusted to protect anyone’s security
– John Robson: Moral clarity on Israel means admitting that Jerusalem is its capital
– Amos Harel: As Mahmoud Abbas’ health deteriorates, Israel prepares for bloody succession fight
– Yoni Ben Menachem: Fatah prepares to replace Mahmoud Abbas
– Brig.-Gen. Amir Avivi (Res.): Time for Oslo to exit the stage
– Shmuel Rosner: Are US universities hiding the truth of Deir Yassin?
– Susan Shapiro: Liberal feminists for Farrakhan? Tamika Mallory is on the wrong side of a bright moral line
Featured image: CC BY-SA Michele Ursino; Knesset CC BY James Emery; Kirchner via YouTube/Unidad Ciudadana;
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