Today’s Top Stories
1. US President Donald Trump arrived in Israel for a whirlwind 28 hours in the Holy Land. The Times of Israel, Haaretz and i24 News are all live-blogging.
After a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport, Trump was whisked off to Jerusalem where he met with President Reuven Rivlin and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Western Wall. The president was also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the evening.
The Old City was in lockdown as Trump visited the holy sites.
Next up for Trump, the Western Wall — here's a police shot of the scaffolding put up yesterday to secure the president. pic.twitter.com/xX1lOrmDIx
— joshmitnick (@joshmitnick) May 22, 2017
2. In Riyadh, Trump gave a speech (video or transcript) urging the Arab world to drive out Islamic extremism. Unfortunately, Trump had little to say about Israel or Jewish-Arab rapprochement. The Times of Israel asks: Did Trump miss an opportunity?
The true toll of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams.
Hamas objected to being described as a terror group.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. A number of Israeli officials said they’re not concerned about Trump’s massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia, telling the Times of Israel it might even be good for the Jewish state.
Amidror said that beefing up Saudi Arabia’s military against Iran, a common enemy with Israel, might increase the Saudis’ “self confidence” and their readiness to expand their engagement with the Jewish state in an anti-Iran alliance.
“Who knows? Maybe it will lead to a different relationship in the Middle East.”
4. Comments and the Roar of the Crowd: HR Complicit in Trump’s Intel Leak? If HonestReporting’s Israel Daily News Stream is to be relevant to its readers, we have to be frank about what’s happening and why.
5. Repeat Offender: The Guardian and “Judaism’s Holiest Site”: Not only is it a factual error to call the Western Wall Judaism’s holiest site, in the week where we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War, the media and the world must understand Jewish ties to Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Israeli cabinet approved a package of economic measures benefiting Palestinians yesterday in a goodwill gesture at Trump’s request. Among the measures approved were
permits for thousands of Palestinian homes, building two West Bank industrial zones, easing passage for Palestinian laborers at crossing point near Tulkarem, and keeping the Allenby Bridge border crossing open 24 hours.
• Jerusalem Post: By visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Trump enters a sensitive tug-of-war between the different Christian factions responsible for the site and enters uncharted waters of protocol.
Trump may just want a tour of the holiest church in the Christian world, but these groups take seriously every step and handshake and who is represented so that each church’s rights and privileges are maintained and they are properly represented.
• Jonathan Pollard to Netanyahu: Don’t forget me in your talks with Trump.
• Say what, Mr. Secretary of State?
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tells reporters today: "Onto the second stop, Tel Aviv, home of Judaism."
— Aaron Magid (@AaronMagid) May 22, 2017
• The White House may skip a prayer service at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity “because of the presence of an exhibit placed outside the church, expressing solidarity with Palestinian prisoners serving sentences in Israeli jails.” Or Trump may skip it because the event was only tentatively booked on the president’s itinerary. More at the Jerusalem Post.
Don’t be surprised if more last-minute changes and cancellations pop up. Reuters reports Trump showed signs of fatigue in Riyadh.
Speaking of prisoners, Haaretz updates the latest on the hunger-strike:
The Israel Prison Service on Sunday evacuated some 60 hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners to hospitals because their medical condition had deteriorated, while 592 other hunger strikers have recently been moved for observation to infirmaries set up in the prisons.
• Trump wasn’t the only US VIP in Israel right now. Ynet reports Mike Huckabee paid a visit to Joseph’s Tomb, in Nablus, accompanied by settler leaders.
The former Arkansas governor and close associate of Trump decries fact Jews have to visit the tomb, under PA control, ‘in the dead of night, under armed guard, with the smell of tear gas in the air, burning tires along the route.’
• According to Lebanese media reports picked up by MEMRI, Hezbollah has stationed an elite unit in southern Lebanon in the area of Shebaa Farms.
Around the World
• The Daily Telegraph reports that UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has had a 10-year association with “a cabal of Holocaust deniers.”
An investigation by The Telegraph shows Mr Corbyn was considered to be a “stalwart” supporter of an anti-Israel campaign group Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) for several years after its organisers were exposed publicly for their extreme anti-Semitic views.
While there is no suggestion Mr Corbyn shares their views, his association raises serious questions about his judgement.
• Berlin’s Social Democratic Party declared BDS anti-Semitic.
• More anti-Semitic fliers found in Bozeman in second incident this month.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Orly Azoulay: A weakened president on an impossible mission
– Barak Ravid: Trump plans to shower Israel with love, but it might be a honey trap for Netanyahu
– Raphael Ahren: Donald Trump brings God into the negotiation room
– Moshe Arens: No solution in sight
– Eitan Haber: Welcome to Israel, Mr. President
– Tovah Lazaroff: Why a photo-op of PM and Trump at the Western Wall matters
– Sallai Meridor: Say ‘yes’ to deal
– Oded Revivi: Israelis and Palestinians as co-workers (click via Twitter)
Featured image: screen grab of Reuters video; jets CC BY-NC US Air Force;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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