Today’s Top Stories
1. What does US use of roof-knocking mean for the International Criminal Court’s view of Israel’s use of it?
2. The FBI arrested a man who planned to throw a bomb into an Aventura, Florida synagogue while it was crowded with Passover worshippers, Miami’s 7News reports.
3. According to Arab media reports picked up by Jerusalem Post, high-level Hezbollah commanders are smuggling their sons to Europe and South America to keep them from being sent to fight in Syria.
According to the report, the phenomenon of young Shi’ite men fleeing to Europe from Lebanon emerged last year, after Hezbollah militiamen saw their organization suffering heavy blows in Syria. Knowing that Hezbollah would coerce their sons to participate in the war efforts, especially in the regions of Aleppo, Daraa, Homs and Damascus, they helped them to flee en masse to Europe.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. Freedom House’s Flawed Ranking of Israel’s ‘National Sport’: Freedom House should hold Israel to the same standards it applies to every other country on Earth.
5. Anti-Israel Rant or Anti-Semitic Smear? Whether or not she crossed the line of anti-Semitism herself, Rachel Smalley’s sleight-of-hand attempt to cloak her misleading accusations in the mantle of “legitimate criticism” is disingenuous.
Israel and the Palestinians
•An Islamic Jihadhnik was killed in an explosion in Gaza this afternoon. Two others were injured. The circumstances aren’t clear, but Maan News described the blast as “reportedly a work accident.”
• How do international performers get to Israel despite BDS and evolving security concerns? Promoters tell the Times of Israel it’s a “concerted effort.”
• Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest apologized for hurt feelings over banning a number of flags, including the Palestinian one, from the competition. But the policy remains unchanged.
• Israelis and Palestinian press organizations agreed to create a hotline to help journalists out in the field who run into trouble.
• The Financial Times (click via Google News) takes a look at Palestinians trying to create their own “start-up nation.”
But a bigger, perhaps decisive problem, is what economists call a “crowding out” effect, when government spending is so high that it stifles private initiative and investment.
The Palestinian Authority, the perennial interim government that has tens of thousands on its payroll, is by far the largest employer. With safe government jobs on offer, and no chance of peace with Israel anytime soon, why would anyone trade a paycheck for the risk and hard graft of a new venture?
I witnessed a similar phenomenon when I reported for the FT in South Africa a decade ago: there, the start-up scene was stunted because the post-apartheid transition pulled the most talented black businesspeople into government departments or listed companies seeking to fill racial quotas.
Around the World
• Embattled UK Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn refuses to denounce ‘friends’ Hamas and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, heads continued rolling. Ex-Blackburn mayor Salim Mulla and Ilyas Aziz, a Nottingham City councillor, were both suspended for ugly Facebook posts. The latter was spotted by Guido Fawkes.
• Anti-Semitic incidents drop in the Netherlands.
• University of Chile Law Faculty Student Union approves academic boycott of Israel.
• French journalist infiltrates jihadist cell for six months.
Commentary/Analysis
• Daily Telegraph cartoonist Christian Adams take on Jeremy Corbyn makes tweet of the day:
My #Labour #antisemitic #antisemitism @Telegraph #cartoon #localelection2016 pic.twitter.com/ApSGQDKCSN
— Christian Adams (@Adamstoon1) May 1, 2016
• More spilled ink and burnt pixels on Labour’s anti-Semitism problem.
– Jack Lewy: As a Jewish student in Britain, Ken Livingstone’s remarks scare me
– Eleanor Margolis: When it comes to Labour and anti-Semitism, there’s only so much this left-wing Jew can suck it up
– Julie Burchill: Labour Party “Jew-hatred” is cynical bid for Muslim vote
– Ruthie Blum: British Jewish in false Labour
– Ben-Dror Yemini: UK denial of anti-Semitism
– Rosa Prince: The warning that a triumphant leader failed to heed
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Calvin Sidjaya: Indonesia, Israel should formalize diplomatic ties
– Yoram Ettinger: US investment in – not foreign aid to – Israel
– Grant Rumley: Barack Obama’s West Bank strongman: Mahmoud Abbas
– Noam Tibon: The day after ISIS is defeated
Featured image: CC BY-NC Dave with additions by HonestReporting; scouts via YouTube/Resistance 313
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Comments Policy. Any comments deemed to be in breach of the policy will be removed at the editor’s discretion.
