Today’s Top Stories
1. Russia reportedly suspended the transfer of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran after Israeli intelligence tipped off Moscow that Tehran broke a pledge not to transfer sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah.
A senior source told the newspaper that the Russian leader elected to punish the Iranian regime after Israel supplied him with clear-cut evidence that Tehran had given its proxy Hezbollah SA-22 surface-to-air missiles.
The intelligence information was corroborated by reports from Russian pilots flying their fighter jets over Lebanon and Syria.
The Russian air force anti-missile radars were able to detect SA-22 systems stashed in regions of Lebanon that are under the control of the Shi’ite militia.
2. According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas operatives now fear going into tunnels, believing Israel is behind a spate of collapses.
Official reports, both in Israel and Gaza, describe collapses caused by recent storms and heavy rains. However, among Hamas and others, there are many who believe Israel is responsible.
Hamas operatives have seen Israeli activities near the border fence against tunnels and fear they are connected to the tunnel collapses.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Since a wave of violent attacks began in October, 321 Israelis have been injured. Some face a long rehabilitation; others are dealing with psychological trauma. YNet shares some of the victims’ stories.
4. Meet Israel’s First Bedouin Diplomat: HonestReporting invites you to hear from Ishmael Khaldi about his unique experiences climbing up Israel’s diplomatic ranks, fighting against BDS in San Francisco and London, and more.
Where: The Agron Guest House, 6 Agron St., Jerusalem
When: Monday, March 7 (that’s tomorrow!)
Time: 7:00 PM prompt (doors open 6:15 PM)
Cost: 50 NIS to offset expenses
Details: For more info or to pre-register (required) click here.
5. HonestReporting was prominently featured in a JNS report on Israel vs. the foreign media.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Border police arrested a Palestinian teenager with a knife outside Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs on Saturday night. On Friday morning, a Palestinian rammed her car into a soldier at the Gush Etzion junction, south of Jerusalem.
• Hamas preparing Iranian-style swarm boat attacks for future clash
• The Europeans are escalating their labeling of settlement products, according to Israel HaYom:
The European Union plans to step up its anti-Israel boycott measures and require farmers based beyond the Green Line to clearly label produce as coming from “the occupied territories,” Israel Hayom learned Thursday.
Farmers in the Jordan Valley were recently informed by two companies that export their produce to the EU that the new directive will take effect in mid April.
• Same article (almost) in two papers, but oh what a difference the headline makes framing the issue. The Irish Independent‘s shortened version of Raf Sanchez of Raf Sanchez dispatch is actually clearer than the full version of the same piece in the Daily Telegraph.
And that’s significant, because the Israel Law Center video at the center of this non-news story clearly starts off with the words, “Imagine you turned on your TV and saw everybody talking like this . . .”
• The National Post caught up with one of Israel’s pioneering diplomats, George Deek. The Christian Arab diplomat discussed BDS and other issues in a Q&A.
• Israeli media picked up on a Hamas video urging PA policemen to attack IDF troops
Mideast Matters
• Gee whiz, these are countries we already have peace treaties with . . .
– Ousted Egyptian MP apologizes for hosting Israeli ambassador
– Jordanian newspaper sorry for Israeli job ad
• Tweet of the day from Eli Lake:
India seems unbothered by Israeli settlements. https://t.co/Bgb0EpJLdh
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) March 4, 2016
• Palestinian protests against reduction in UNRWA services continued in one of Lebanon’s refugee camps.
• According to Lebanese media reports, Russia’s military intelligence chief killed in secret operation in Beirut.
• Worth reading:
Joining Hezbollah: An insider’s account
• Analysts talking to Foreign Policy assess what the next Israel-Hezbollah conflict might look like.
Around the World
• The Vassar College student government was warned by the administration that it may lose control of student funds if it adopts a BDS measure. That’s because, as Legal Insurrection‘s William Jacobson points out, “This legal concern makes sense because the New York State Human Rights Law prohibits boycotts based on national origin.”
The Board of Trustees and senior level administration of the college have publicly stated they do not approve of the BDS movement, and that they are concerned with potential legal consequences of using funds to support a boycott.
• University Palestinian group banned after hosting man who killed Israeli.
The Queen Mary University Palestine Solidarity Society had Ahmed Alfaleet appear via a video link at an event on campus in January.
Alfaleet, 42, served 20 years in prison for the death of the Israeli in Gaza in 1992.
Students belonging to the Oxford University Labour Club allegedly called Jewish students “Zios”, sang a song about rockets over Tel Aviv and called Auschwitz “a cash cow”, according to testimony seen by The Sunday Times.
• Over at Columbia University, more than 600 students, faculty members, and alumni signed a letter condemning a recent campus BDS petition which referred to Palestinian terror as “civil disobedience.”
The mischaracterization of suicide bombings, stabbings, and shootings as ‘civil disobedience’ is an egregious ethical breach. We proudly uphold the value of free speech, but malicious incitement and fictitious characterizations do not lie within that value and should find no welcome within our campus discourse.”
• Canadian editor suspended from Multicultural Council after praising jihad against Israel
• ‘Vile anti-Semitic’ rally in Greece features banners and texts calling Jews the one and only enemy.
• Indiana lawmakers want to pull millions of dollars in retirement investments from companies that want to boycott or divest from Israel. The Indianapolis Star updates the latest effort to boycott the boycotters.
Commentary/Analysis
• David Collier weighs in on what the anti-Israel boycotters are saying when they think we’re not listening.
Anti-Israel activists often base their remarks on universal values—but when the audience changes, so does their language, and their fealty to the truth.
• Here’s what else I’m reading this weekend . . .
– Bassam Tawil: Palestinians: The right time to take big steps?
– Haim Shine: EU labeling: Tel Aviv will be next
– Jonathan Tobin: What a Palestinian state looks like
– Neri Zilber: Will the PA ever be economically viable?
– Benjamin Weinthal: BDS spreading like wildfire in Europe?
– Michael Curtis: Anti-Semitic bigots at Oxford and elsewhere
– Melanie Phillips: How the West undermines Jewish survival
– Lenny Ben-David: PA funding to terrorists and their families
– Dov Lipman: How Israel will win the public diplomacy war
– Eyal Zisser: Israel and Egypt on the same page
– Hanin Ghaddar: Hezbollah’s Shiite catch
Image: CC BY Dominic Alves; Putin CC BY-SA Global Panorama; Khaldi via YouTube/Al Jazeera English;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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