Today’s Top Stories
1. Trump announced the US is withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions.
Israel and the Gulf states were happy. Europe expressed its regrets. Iran denounced the move but said it will keep the JCPOA and move forward by negotiating with Russia, China and Europe.
Trump emphasized that sanctions would also apply to other nations that did business with Iran, meaning that the United States could very well apply sanctions on its closest European allies. “America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail,” Trump said.
However, officials said European companies would have several months to pull out of the Iranian market.
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2. The Syrian situation got hotter as another military based was struck, presumably by Israel. Fifteen people, including eight Iranians, were said to be killed. The IDF noted unusual movements of Iranian forces in Syria, and believed they were preparing an imminent reprisal for last month’s strike on the T4 air base. Arab media reports picked up Ynet said missiles intended to be fired at Israel were destroyed:
Yedioth Ahronoth military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai added that it could be gleaned from the Syrian report of an Israeli attack on a base used by Iranian militias that Iranians have been trying to launch missiles or rockets at Israel in the past few days.
Israel has foiled these attempts, Ben-Yishai opined, both by using the media and — reportedly — by launching a preventative attack. It could also be surmised that the targets of Tuesday’s attack were missile silos and rocket launchers the Iranians took out of hiding and intended to use—prompting Israel to attack once it discovered it.
More at Haaretz and the Times of Israel, plus Amos Harel‘s take.
3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin. The primary agenda item, says Haaretz, is maintaining military coordination over Syria. See also The Media Line, which points out that with the US pulling out of the nuclear accord, Putin is poised to broker an understanding between Jerusalem and Tehran over Syria.
BREAKING: In Moscow's Red Square, PM @Netanyahu watches as Russia's military parades the S-400 anti-missile batteries (which could be deployed to Syria soon defend Assad) pic.twitter.com/f9xOTJYsyr
— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) May 9, 2018
4. BBC Whitewashes HR’s Jeremy Bowen Complaint: The BBC went for the one person guaranteed to provide entertainment and controversy rather than sober analysis, then tried to quietly cover it all up with after-the-fact revisions and lame response to a formal complaint.
5. Which West Bank? Unraveling an unusual reader alert.
Iranian Threat
• State comptroller: “Communities on Israel’s borders are at risk of being infiltrated by terrorists due to the failure of the Defense Ministry and IDF to properly fund, coordinate and plan a proper security system.” As tensions with Syria mount, the army told northern residents not to disrupt their daily routines.
Meanwhile, the US warned government employees not to go to the Golan without prior approval.
• AP finally discovers the “two Jews, three opinions” phenomenon . . .
Netanyahu opposition to Iran deal not shared by all Israelis
Israel and the Palestinians
• Further cluttering my calendar, the Palestinians announced that the day the US moves its embassy to Jerusalem — Monday, May 14 — will be a “day of rage.” It makes for an already busy week:
›› Sun. May 13 is Jerusalem Day, featuring plenty of events commemorating the anniversary on the Hebrew calendar of the city’s reunification during the Six Day War.
›› Mon. May 15 Is Israel’s Independence Day (according to the Gregorian calendar) and when Palestinians mark their “Naqba Day.” Hamas plans a mass march on the Israel-Gaza border and . further marches on Israeli checkpoints and borders in the West Bank and from Lebanon and Jordan are also called for, though the PA, Jordan, Egypt and Israel are working together to prevent violence.
›› Tue. May 16, Guatemala moves its embassy to Jerusalem.
• Human Rights Watch is going to court to prevent Israel from expelling its Israel-Palestine director. The Interior Ministry revoked Omar Shakir’s work permit and gave him 14 days to leave saying he supports the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Shakir, a US citizen of Iraqi descent, denies ties to BDS and says Israel is trying to muzzle HRW.
• Settler gets 15 years in prison for killing Palestinian, 13 years later. Yehoshua Elitzur was convicted of manslaughter in 2005 for shooting Sael Jabara al-Shatiya on a West Bank road, but fled Israel before he could be sentenced. Elitzur was arrested in Brazil which extradited him this past January. More at Ynet.
Commentary
• Plenty of spilled ink and burnt pixels weighing on the Iranian situation . . .
– David Horovitz: Trump’s Iran deal withdrawal: It should never have come to this
– Hugh Hewitt: The Netanyahu moment
– Ron Kampeas: After pulling out of the Iran deal, Trump is open to Plan B — but no one knows what that is
– Yonah Jeremy Bob: Is the Iran nuclear deal dead, or only wounded?
– Raphael Ahren: In nixing nuclear deal, Trump vindicates Netanyahu — for now
– Seth Frantzman: How does Iran keep getting away with it?
– Bret Stephens: A courageous Trump call on a lousy Iran deal
– Jennifer Rubin: 5 big consequences of Trump’s Iran blunder
– Susan Rice: Trump’s most foolish decision yet
– Jonathan Schanzer: Why Trump pulled out of the Iran deal, and what could happen next
– Benny Avni: Keep killing off Obama’s foreign policy, Mr. President
– Walker Robins: The withdrawal from the Iran deal signals a new power player in Washington: Christian Zionists
– New York Daily News (staff-ed) Trump pulls out of the misbegotten Iran deal without a plan for what comes next
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Daniel Shapiro: What everyone’s getting wrong about the US embassy move to Jerusalem
– Yoni Ben Menachem: Turkey’s role in Hamas terror
– Liel Leibovitz: Meet Palestine’s million-dollar killers
– Boaz Haeztni: Helpless in the face of primitive kites
– Jonathan Marks: Real antisemitism on campus
– Sloan Rachmuth: Jewish antisemitism isn’t merely Durham’s problem but America’s
Featured image: CC BY KellyB.; save the date CC0 Pixabay; atom CC0 Pixabay;
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