Today’s Top Stories
1. Israel and Lebanon are on a collision course over offshore gas, with Hezbollah deliberately escalating the problem. Globes reports in articles one and two.
The establishment of a new government in Lebanon, however, has completely changed the situation. Through the Lebanese political parties associated with it, Hezbollah has made sure that the distribution of rights in the southern marine area, which are close to the border with Israel, are under its control. Geological assessments are that discovery of a natural gas reservoir on the scale of the Tamar reservoir in the Block 9 licensing area, the southern part of which is in the disputed area, is very likely. Such a gas reservoir is likely to provide Hezbollah with economic power for many years, except that Israel will not allow this to happen.
No Western company will conduct gas explorations in the area when Israeli warships are patrolling nearby, but a Russian company might do it, and an Iranian company certainly will. Inflammable natural gas could set the entire region alight.
2. BDS founder Omar Barghouti was arrested and charged with failing to report $700,000 in income over the past decade.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Israel arrested the head of a Turkish aid group in Gaza for financing Hamas. The charges against Muhammad Murtaja are bound to strain Jerusalem-Ankara ties. Details at the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel.
According to the security agency, Murtaja took advantage of his position in TIKA in order to direct funds and resources away from “meaningful humanitarian projects” and toward Hamas’s military wing.
4. Success: HR Gets Apartheid Slur Story Removed: When the International Business Times promoted an Israel apartheid libel based on questionable sources, HR managed to get the report removed.
Israel and the Palestinians
• An IDF investigation into Thursday night’s Arrow-3 launch against a Syrian missile concluded that the Syrian SA5, which was carrying 200 kg of explosives, was going to hit the Jordan Valley. Ynet explains
“We didn’t care if it was a surface-to-surface missile or a surface-to-air missile. There were no dilemmas or doubts, no budgetary considerations. The missile was supposed to hit the Jordan Valley. The Arrow was chosen in accordance with the level of threat and the availability of the defense systems on hand. There was no other option except to intercept . . .
The official also added that the Syrian missile was outdated and did not pose any threat to the F-15s that carried out an attack shortly beforehand in Syria. “I assume the Syrians did not intend to fire the missile as a ballistic threat, but that’s not the point,” he said.
• Hezbollah claims to have seized an IDF drone.
• The Associated Press talked to Hamas insiders to get a better sense of what the new Hamas charter will look like. Expect the new document to soften Hamas on being anti-Semitic and distancing itself from the Muslim Brotherhood. Otherwise, it’s just window dressing an agenda to destroy Israel. The omissions are glaring:
In referring to a Palestinian state, Hamas does not spell out whether it considers this an acceptable solution to the conflict with Israel or a stepping stone to its longstanding goal of an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.
It makes no mention of recognizing Israel, which its political rival, the Palestine Liberation Organization, did in 1993. At the time, the PLO was led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
• A delegation of UNESCO envoys visited the Temple Mount for a first-hand look at the complexities of the Jerusalem holy site.
During the visit, Kenyan Ambassador to UNESCO Professor George Godia said the “challenges and complexity” Israel faces were now clearer to him and he was impressed with how the country was handling them.
• To the delight of Christian pilgrims ahead of Easter, the first round of restoration work at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre finished up. The Edicule, where Christians believe Jesus was buried, was stabilized and cleaned up. AP details what was done and what’s next for the church:
Now, money is being raised for another round of restorations — consolidating drainage and sewage pipes underground, around the tomb, to stabilize its foundations — so renovations won’t be needed for years to come.
• An Australian probe “found no evidence taxpayer money was misused by the World Vision NGO in the Gaza Strip,” after Israel charged one of the aid group’s senior staffers of diverting money to Hamas. More at ABC News (Australia) and AFP.
• This is just satire.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Ron Ben-Yishai: The battle over the next war
– Ruthie Blum: Falsehoods and false hopes
– Prof. Efraim Inbar: President Trump Wants a Peace Process Too
– Naftali Bennett: Good schools aren’t the only secret to Israel’s high-tech boom
– Dr. Ruth Nemzoff: Not my feminism
– Benjamin Gladstone: It’s time for intersectionality to include Jews
– Marisa Fox-Bevilacqua: Do anti-Trump feminists value terrorists more than Jewish women?
– Sarah Stern: Ahlam Tamimi: More than just a matter of justice
– Rabbi Avi Shafran: Let’s keep quiet about anti-Semitism in America
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Sophie; Arrow 3 via US Dept. of Defense; Holy Sepulchre CC BY-NC-ND Michael Privorotsky;
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