Today’s Top Stories
1. Within two years Israel to complete a new Gaza barrier with tech that senses incursions above and below ground.
2. Members of a Jewish terror network suspected of several attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, including the firebombing of buildings that had people inside, have been arrested by Israeli security services.
3. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is interviewed by Spiegel Online where he singularly avoids taking responsibility for any Palestinian terrorism or even any mistakes over the past 20 years. He also states that he will not run for office again. Considering his four year term was supposed to end in January 2009, his statement might not amount to much.
Israel and the Palestinians
• After six months of violence, Palestinians wonder: What was gained? The Washington Post explores the question.
• The PA is leaning toward freezing its effort to secure a United Nations Security Council draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements, following pressure from France and other countries.
• The PA has threatened to stop using the Israeli Shekel as its national currency. It is unclear from the article which currency the PA would plan to use instead, and what effect, if any, this would have on Israel.
• Footage was released showing the view of a firefighter who arrived at the scene of Monday’s Jerusalem bus bombing.
• Deeper analysis of Palestinian celebrations over the terror attack.
• The White House defended VP Biden’s criticism of PM Netanyahu.
• In reaction to an earlier statement by PM Netanyahu, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the Obama administration does not consider the Golan Heights to be part of Israel, echoing similar statements by Germany and the Arab League. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz backed Netanyahu, saying it would be “foolhardy and dangerous” for the world to press Israel to relinquish the territory amid the ongoing Syrian civil war.
Mideast Matters
• Are Lebanese people beginning to see Hezbollah as an occupier rather than a resistance organization? One Lebanese writer thinks so.
• The parliament in Bahrain issued a statement calling on the government to declare war on Iran and its client terror organization in Lebanon, Hezbollah, following recurrent terror attacks against the state’s security forces.
• A U.S. citizen sued former Israeli PM Ehud Barak, saying he had been shot five times by the IDF during his participation the 2010 “Marmara flotilla” to Gaza, but it turns out he may have fabricated the whole story.
Commentary/Analysis
• What does Monday’s bus bombing say about the state of mind of Hamas? According to Dr. Reuven Berko: distress.
• More analysis on the UNESCO resolution entitled, “Occupied Palestine,” which condemns all Israeli presence and activities in Jerusalem, Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb. The resolution calls the Western Wall “Al-Buraq Plaza,” and refers to Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs as “Palestinian sites.”
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– JCPA: The Internal Palestinian Fight for Jerusalem.
Featured image: CC BY Hendrik Wieduwilt via flickr with additions by HonestReporting
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