Today’s Top Stories
1. A rocket fired from Gaza exploded on an Ashkelon beach on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage. The incident marks the fifth rocket to have been launched at Israel within the last month.”
According to Asharq al-Awsat, Gaza Salafists who identify with Islamic State are firing the rockets to pressure Hamas into releasing Salafists arrested in a recent crackdown. Asharq also reports that the crackdown is part of a Hamas-Egypt agreement to prevent the jihadists from cooperating with Islamic State insurgents battling the Egyptian military in the Sinai.
Later this afternoon, Israeli tanks and jets struck Hamas positions in retaliation for Palestinian gunfire on soldiers on routine duty along the Gaza border.
2. An investigation uncovers more awkward ties between British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and anti-Semitic Palestinian activists, with the Daily Mail writing:
The revelations will raise fresh concerns that Mr Corbyn – who is battling rock bottom popularity ratings after a humiliating Labour defeat in Copeland last week – is unqualified to deal with claims of anti-Semitism in his party.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Israel has already quietly begun exporting natural gas to Jordan. Why the low profile?
The deliveries to the two companies, which operate plants on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, began in January, but all the sides involved opted to keep a low profile because of the political sensitivities in Jordan about doing business with Israel . . .
Although many Jordanians oppose doing business with Israel, Jordan has little choice because other sources of gas are unavailable or unreliable.
4. If It Bleeds, It Leads — To Reuters’ Absurdity: Emphasizing death, not the actions or intent behind a terror attack, leads to a skewed headline.
5. The Independent Uses Casualty Figures as a Moral Barometer: The moral high ground does not belong to the side that loses more people when the people killed are trying to murder innocent civilians.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Jerusalem Post updates the latest legal battles against Facebook over the platform it provides for Palestinian terrorists.
• What’s behind the recent war of words between Israel and Hezbollah? The Christian Science Monitor examines the deterrence and likelihood of conflict.
• In other news from Gaza . . .
Hamas refuses to register newborn baby in Gaza because his name is Mahmoud Abbas. https://t.co/2d515hCQfp
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) March 2, 2017
• Worth reading: In an exclusive interview, Chagai Tzuriel, the director-general of Israel’s Intelligence Ministry discussed the strengthening Iran-Hezbollah-Syria axis with the Times of Israel.
• In a devastating essay in The American Interest, former Israeli peace negotiator Michael Herzog assails former secretary of state John Kerry for mishandling 2014 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
• Human rights groups are urging the UN to add 11 parties to list of child rights violators — including the IDF.
• The BBC takes a closer look at an IDF program that giving jobs to people with autism.
• Whatever your views are on the the controversy surrounding MK Bezalel Smotrich’s house (apparently built on private Palestinian land) this odd map in The Guardian is overkill.
Around the World
• It appears that the wave of hoax bomb threats called to Jewish institutions across the US are coordinated; law enforcement officials are examining the possibility that hacked communications devices are being used. CBS News updated the latest on the investigation.
• Islamic State fanatics online are calling for lone wolf attacks on Jews in the West, recommending that people dress up as Jews, hide weapons under their clothing, and even listed specific Jewish communities in the UK. Details on the chilling chatter Daily Mail and The Foreign Desk.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Elhanan Miller: Why Mahmoud Abbas is Israel’s best partner for peace
– Ben-Dror Yemini: Banning entry is not the way to fight anti-Israel groups
– Richard Black: British universities have a duty to Jewish students to monitor Israel Apartheid Week
• Last but not least, Fisk’s being Fisk again.
Featured image: CC0 MiraDeShazer; Corbyn via YouTube/The Politics Hub;
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