Today’s Top Stories
1. Palestinian charged with asking IDF to shoot him to get Hamas stipend.
Hamas member Mustafa Banna allegedly asked soldiers during Gaza border clashes to shoot him so he could get $500 payment and stipend from the terror group; he entered Israel and was arrested.
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2. Guatemala raises flag over new Jerusalem embassy site ahead of May 16 opening.
Where do matters stand with other countries in the mix to move? President Donald Trump said he may visit Jerusalem for the May 14 opening of the United States embassy. President Horacio Cartes of Paraguay pledged to relocate his country’s embassy. The Czech Republic announced a three-staged move. The National Congress of Honduras passed a non-binding resolution supporting a move. Then there’s Romania, which is, uh, a more complicated story.
Last but not least, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan told Mahmoud Abbas that Tokyo has no plans to relocate its embassy.
It's official: the flag of Guatemala has been raised in Jerusalem, making it the first country to move its embassy to Israel's capital. ???? (via @arik3000) pic.twitter.com/n96eO3zISD
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) May 1, 2018
3. “The Trump administration has taken the position that Israel should not be required to discuss giving up nuclear weapons, which according to foreign sources it possesses, without recognition by all states in Middle East of the country’s right to exist.” Haaretz explains that the US policy shift pre-empts calls for making the Mideast a nuclear-free zone as diplomats lay the groundwork the 2020 conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons:
Israel took the position that the issue of nuclear weapons could not be divorced from security issues in the region or from the state of war that exists between Israel and some other countries. Israel also argued that some of the signatories to the treaty, including Iran, Syria and Libya, were attempting to develop nuclear weapons.
4. Business Insider: Israel ‘Stomping on Iran’: News site prematurely declares “one of the worst wars the Middle East has ever seen” is already Israel’s fault.
5. New York Times Electrifies Israel’s Gaza Fence: Are Palestinians trying to breach the Israel-Gaza border fence really getting shock therapy?
Iranian Nukes
• Has Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech reawakened Iranian protests against the mullahs?
• While the US and Europe are divided about the impact of the Iranian nuclear revelations, the New York Times suggests Israel’s next steps:
And Israel is not finished with its lobbying campaign. Officials there said they planned to share much of the data they had harvested from the secret archive with the International Atomic Energy Agency — including data on some previously unknown nuclear sites in Iran.
Israel’s intention appears to be to force the organization, a United Nations agency, to demand that the Iranians allow inspections of those sites, even though some of them may have been closed or dismantled years ago. Since Iran considers many of these military sites, the Israelis, and some American officials, expect the Iranians to balk at the demand — inciting another crisis for the deal.
Indeed, Germany says the IAEA should probe Israeli claims.
• According to Israeli media reports, Iran breached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, a.k.a. the Iranian nuclear deal) by simply holding onto all the files.
• The Mossad heist has the Iranian regime “quaking in its boots.”
Israel and the Palestinians
• Israeli and American officials, the European Union and Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt denounced Mahmoud Abbas for antisemitic remarks in an address to the Palestinian National Council on Monday.
Abbas — who wrote his dissertation on the Holocaust — blamed the Holocaust on “Jewish behavior,” in particular money-lending and banking. He also described Israel’s origin as a European “colonial project aimed at planting foreign bodies in the region.”
As for the rest of the PNC powwow, The Media Line reports that Hamas boycotted the gathering despite holding 70 of the council’s 700 seats. Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were also no-shows.
• Israel signed a $775 million deal to build four electricity power plants in the West Bank and for the PA to take responsibility for the power distribution. Reuters notes that the deal does not apply to the Gaza Strip:
As part of the new deal, the PA will pay off a 915-million-shekel debt to the state-owned utility Israel Electric Corp (IEC), while taking charge of the distribution of electricity to West Bank Palestinians.
• A new Israeli liaison to the Palestinians was sworn in on Sunday. Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon, a Druze officer, replaces Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai as head of Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
• President Reuven Rivlin landed in Addis Ababa for the first visit to Ethiopia by an Israeli head of state. Among the items on Rivlin’s itinerary: meeting with Falash Mura leaders who are threatening a mass hunger strike to protest delays in bringing the 8,000 members of their community to Israel.
• British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey was provocatively filmed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists during the diplomat’s secret visit to the Gaza border.
Unusual day at the office for @DavidQuarrey, UK ambassador to Israel, who spent last Friday at the Gaza border in a flak jacket. Part of his trip was filmed by Islamic Jihad. https://t.co/yLAnePnki2 https://t.co/uKGGfKbgwF
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) May 1, 2018
Window into Israel
• The Knesset passed a bill barring terrorists from becoming members of the parliament. Details at the Jerusalem Post.
The goal of the legislation is to prevent those who have taken action against the state and its citizens for ideological reasons from being fielded as a candidate by a party. The sponsors of the bill said they hoped it would also educate the public about the seriousness of hate crimes.
• Principal of pre-military academy resigns after flash flood disaster.
• It’s days like this when I wish Jews controlled the weather:
Cities Cancel Holiday Bonfires as Hot, Dry Weather Hits Israel
• For commentary on the domestic scene, Gil Troy weighs in on the Nahal Tzafit flash flood disaster and Nimrod Goren on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Around the World
• Morocco cuts Iran ties over an alleged arms delivery to Polisario Front separatists in Western Sahara, reports AFP. Moroccan officials also accused Hezbollah of complicity. Is Iran trying to gain a foothold in northwestern Africa now?
• German newspaper’s Israeli flag experiment yields ‘frightening results.’
• The first person convicted of under Malaysia’s new Fake News Law is a 46-year-old Danish citizen who posted a YouTube video accusing Malaysian police of taking almost an hour to respond to the shooting of Hamas engineer and lecturer Fadi al-Batsh. Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman will be spending a month behind bars.
Police insisted they only took eight minutes to respond, and the charge against Sulaiman said he had “with ill intent, published fake news through a video on YouTube.” Sulaiman pleaded guilty but said the video was posted in a “moment of anger” and he did not mean any harm. The judge fined Sulaiman 10,000 ringgit ($2,500) but he opted to spend a month in jail because he could not pay.
If you read 5 Tips For Sorting Through the News and Sharing Responsibly on Social Media, you’re less likely to be fooled by such posts or run afoul of Malaysian authorities.
Commentary
• Plenty of commentary about the Israel, Iran and the nuclear deal.
– Bret Stephens: The Iran deal is a lie
– David Ignatius: We know Iran’s nuclear secrets now. Let’s make the most of them.
– Raphael Ahren: Very existence of Iran’s secret nuclear archive may be a violation of nuke deal
– Dore Gold: Netanyahu’s wake-up call to the world on the Iranian nuclear program
– Dr. Haim Shine: Mockery backfires on the media
– David Sharma: Iran nuclear deal is the lesser evil
– Con Coughlin: In taking on Iran, we must not ignore the dangerous terrorists the ayahtollas still sponsor
– David Harsanyi: Team Obama should just accept they failed with Iran
– Associated Press: Iran has few options to avenge Syria strikes
– Ben-Dror Yemini: Trump’s ‘madness’ may be doing the trick
• For a sense of what the critics from the Nothing New Here Choir are saying, see John Kerry, John Kirby, Steven Simon, Jeffrey Lewis, Catherine Philp, CNN‘s experts and a Los Angeles Times staff-ed.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Jonathan Freedland: It’s right to condemn Mahmoud Abbas for his antisemitic remarks
– Michael Starr: Hamas’ newest innovation: The human shield-wall
– Khaled Abu Toameh: The real Gaza blockade
– Amb. Alan Baker: Manipulating the truth about Gaza
– Linda Maizels: Black nationalist antisemitism on campus requires Jews to be ‘white’
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND sinkdd; electricity CC0 Pixabay; Iran CC BY yeowatzup;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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