Was Malaysia Hit Part of Larger Mossad Operation?

Today’s Top Stories

1. The killing of a Hamas drone expert in Malaysia was part of what the New York Times reports is a broader Mossad operation “to dismantle a Hamas project that sends Gaza’s most promising scientists and engineers overseas to gather know-how and weaponry to fight Israel.”

The Times also reports that Fadi al-Batsh was also negotiating arms deals with North Korea.

2. A Palestinian “journalist” shot at a Gaza protest died of his wounds yesterday. The reason I’m qualifying the “journalist” designation is because of what Associated Press says about 24-year-old Ahmed Abu Hussein’s employer:

Hussein was working for “Voice of People” — a radio station linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the EU.

PFLP-linked radio stations don’t do journalism, they do propaganda and incitement. MK and former journalist Yair Lapid articulated the distinctions in a 2016 letter to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) after the press organization denounced Israel for closing down an Islamic Jihad-affiliated TV station:

[Lapid] added that “freedom of the press does not extend to terrorist propaganda and to those who incite to murder. The content on Palestine Today would not pass the editorial guidelines of any of your members. I was a journalist for over three decades; this isn’t journalism. This isn’t free speech, this is hate speech. You are not defending press freedom; you are defending incitement to murder.”

3. It’s the equivalent of terminating the Grammys. Germany has discontinued the Echo music awards amid an antisemitism controversy.

“The Echo brand is so badly damaged that a complete new beginning is necessary,” the BVMI announced, adding that the “Echo will be no more.”

“The events surrounding this year’s Echo, for which the board apologized, cannot be reversed, but we can ensure that such a mistake does not happen again in the future,” the BVMI statement said.

4. AP Exposes Hamas Definition of ‘Non-Violence’: Thumbs up to AP for shedding light on Hamasplaining non-violence.

Israel and the Palestinians

• Czech president announces 3-stage plan to move embassy to Jerusalem – eventually. I’m not holding my breath.

Israeli politicians hailed [Milos] Zeman’s speech, despite the fact that as president, he has limited executive power. Acting Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is opposed to a full-fledged relocation of the embassy, saying he does not want to break with EU policy.

• Reporters Without Borders released its annual World Press Freedom index. Of the 180 countries listed, Israel‘s press freedom was ranked at 87 (problematic) while the Palestinian areas were ranked at 134 (bad). Norway and North Korea were rated the world’s best and worst respectively.

Window into Israel

• Government ministers agreed to postpone a vote on a contentious “Supreme Court Override Bill.”

Members of the ruling coalition want to enable the Knesset to re-approve legislation that the Supreme Court strikes down. The delay was a condition for Supreme Court President Esther Hayut to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Override Bill. More at the Times of Israel.

The legislation would take the form of a passage added to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. With no constitution, Israel’s basic laws set the parameters of the balance of power between different branches of government.

• A government report shows scant number of African migrants consented to leave Israel.

• For commentary on the domestic scene, David Horovitz and a Haaretz staff-ed weigh in on the African migrants situation. Emmanuel Navon and Gershom Gorenberg address the Supreme Court override bill.

Around the World

• Thousands of Germans wore kippot (skullcaps) in solidarity against antisemitism yesterday. The German government’s anti-Semitism czar agrees it can be unsafe to wear kippah in public.

In an interview with The Times of Israel, Dr. Felix Klein also said the recent increase in anti-Semitic violence on German streets is due to a “brutalization of our political culture,” and argued that the beating of an Israeli last week in Berlin proved that German Jews’ concerns about the major influx of Muslim and Arab refugees were legitimate.

Most European Jews stopped wearing kippot for safety anyway.

After recent anti-Semitic violence in Berlin, large daily @Tagesspiegel prints a cutout do-it-yourself #Kippa. Asks Berliners to wear it today in sign of solidarity. #NeverForget #berlinträgtkippa pic.twitter.com/oh8xljcOUq

— Henrik Enderlein (@henrikenderlein) April 25, 2018

• In anti-Semitism row, Belgian prime minister slams honor for pro-BDS British director Ken Loach.

• This is what we’ve come to: In London, dozens of Labour politicians escorted Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth across Westminster to an anti-Semitism hearing as she ran a gauntlet of Corbynistas heckling her and branding her abuse claims a ‘witch hunt.’ Smeeth was there to give evidence at a disciplinary hearing for Labour activist Marc Wadsworth. More at the Daily Mail.

In 2016, Wadsworth was suspended from Labour for haranguing Smeeth, a Jewish MK, at the launch of the Chakrabarti Inquiry report into allegations of antisemitism and racism within Labour.

• Students, activists disrupt talk by Israeli diplomat at Syracuse U.

• Report finds Canadian antisemitism is ‘becoming mainstream’ as number of incidents rise.

• UCLA’s star quarterback Josh Rosen, who is expected to be a high pick in tonight’s NFL draft, says he gets called antisemitic slurs during games. The JTA picked up on Rosen’s interview with Michael Silver. Here’s the key snippet fueling the buzz:

When it comes to trash talk in his current sport, Rosen has proven to be an easy target. “I get a lot of Jewish things,” Rosen says. “My nose, particularly. I get, like, ‘Stay the f— down, you Jewish bastard … I’m gonna break your f—- nose, you Jew.’ ”

Rosen’s reaction? Keep it coming.

“I really like when people try to get in my head,” he says. “I like away games more than home games. I like silencing crowds; that’s a big thing. One of my best games was at Arizona my freshman year. It was College GameDay and they had a ton of banners; they had my face on the queen from ‘Frozen’. They had, ‘Josh Rosen’s Bar Mitzvah Wasn’t Even Lit.’ When people really get into me, it gets my competitive juices flowing.”

• Brazilian governor apologizes for welcoming Hezbollah official.

Commentary

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Oded Granot: Israel can meet the S-300 challenge
– Alex Fishman: Gaza protests: Hamas preparing its ‘victory picture’
– Aviv Ezra: Hamas can’t mask intent
– Radu Golban: Why is Romania’s president refusing to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem?
– Dr. Alex Joffe: Transfer UNRWA’s responsibilities to whom?
– Yves Mamou: Has Europe even tried to fight antisemitism?
– Seth Frantzman: What the new French-American tag team means for the Middle East

 

Featured image: CC BY-ND michael davis-burchat; Hayut via Wikimedia Commons; Rosen via YouTube/SkyDesigns;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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