Today’s Top Stories
1. Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Mulki submitted his resignation to King Abdullah amid widespread demonstrations against the government’s austerity measures.
King Abdullah asked Omar al-Razzaz, a former World Bank economist, to form the new government. Razzaz was education minister in Mulki’s government. According to a government-linked daily, Razzaz has been tapped as the country’s new prime minister.
Israel’s closely watching developments in the neighboring kingdom. Haaretz offers more background.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is en route to Europe today to discuss Iranian entrenchment in Syria and the future of the Iranian nuclear deal. Haaretz and AP preview what’s in store for talks with his counterparts in Berlin, Paris and London.
Meanwhile, the Times of London got a peek at one of the key Iranian atomic documents pilfered by the Mossad earlier this year, “a memorandum that formally hands responsibility for the production of weapons-grade enriched uranium to the Iranian defence ministry.”
Mr Netanyahu will use the latest analytical findings from the captured archives to make the case to Theresa May on Wednesday that the multinational accord was essentially invalid since it was based on a falsehood: Iran’s contention that it had never pursued a nuclear weapons programme and that it needed to enrich uranium purely for peaceful purposes. “What Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency about its capacities was almost comical compared to what we have here,” said a senior Israeli intelligence officer involved in the analysis of the seized documents.
A second Times of London report about the Iranian docs, explains that “Israel wants to ensure that Britain, France and Germany do not break ranks and strike an arrangement with Iran that could ease the pressure. Mr Netanyahu has to convince the Europeans that their position — that Iran has never strictly violated the 2015 accord — is untenable.”
3. IDF vet gets death threats after she’s falsely accused of killing Gaza medic. The soldier, Rebecca, asked the Times of Israel not to publish her last name. She never served as a sniper and was released from military service more than two years ago.:
The accusation against the IDF veteran may have originated with a woman from Chicago, with over 13,000 followers on Facebook, who posted a photograph of Rebecca that was published four years ago on the army’s official page.
A few hours later, the “Freedom for Gaza” Facebook page, with its more than 100,000 followers, published Rebecca’s picture, claiming that she had “executed a 21-year-old Palestinian nurse in Gaza.” As of Sunday evening, the post has been shared nearly 15,000 times . . .
The IDF spokeswoman encouraged Rebecca to make a video in response to the claim, which was later published by the StandWithUs pro-Israel advocacy group.
In the News
• Haaretz: Fire damage to Israeli agriculture near the Gaza border is estimated at $1.4 million — and rising. Netanyahu ordered funds be withheld from the PA to compensate victims of kite attacks.
• A Palestinian man with an axe was shot and killed by the IDF trying to breach the Israeli border fence today. A second Palestinian was wounded but managed to escape back to the Strip.
• A group of Gazans infiltrated Israel, setting fire to defense equipment before returning to the Strip on Sunday evening.
• The Foreign Press Association in Israel says its seeing a spike in invasive strip searches of journalists returning from Gaza to Israel.
• For the first time, Israel is participating [correction: not participating] in a major NATO exercise near Russia. The Saber Strike exercise in Poland and the Baltic states involves 18,000 troops from 19 nations.
• US Ambassador David Friedman fired a broadside at the international press corps — at a media event no less. The Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post were on hand.
• Police arrested the mayor of Hadera and three other municipal officials on suspicions of corruption.
• Days after Bashar Assad denied the presence of Iranian military personnel in Syria, a senior Iranian general denied his forces will leave Syria.
• Israel rushes emergency aid to Guatemala after volcano eruption kills 25
• Corbynistas are crying foul over Tracy Ullman’s satirical take on Jeremy Corbyn’s struggles with antisemitism. Watch the BBC video and judge for yourself.
Commentary
• After getting an exclusive look at some of the Mossad’s stolen Iranian nuclear documents (articles one and two), a Times of London staff-ed bluntly calls out Tehran’s untruths:
The Times has argued in the past that scrapping the accord would propel the regime to accelerate its nuclear sprint. But an agreement based on deceit loses its validity. If Iran had been serious about setting aside a military option it would have surrendered its archive as did South Africa in the early 1990s. The International Atomic Energy Agency must now be allowed to do its job under the Iran deal and the comprehensive safeguards agreement. All suspect military sites should be opened for inspection. If Iran refuses, then sanctions should be reimposed immediately.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Radical Muslim groups trying to drag IDF into war in Gaza
– Avi Issacharoff: Rocket fire from Gaza is a message, but it’s not clear who the audience is
– Dr. Mordechai Kedar: Iranian blood money, Palestinian blood
– Efraim Karsh: Gaza: It’s not the economy, stupid
– Yoav Limor: Hamas’ new test
– The Australian (staff-ed): Scrutinize Palestinian funding
– Amb. Dore Gold: Russia constrains Iran
– Dr. Michal Yaari: Israel and Saudi Arabia: From foes to potential friends
– Melanie Phillips: Europe’s about-face on Israel
– Borzou Daragahi: Iran wants to stay in Syria forever
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Franck Paul; atom CC0 Pixabay; reading CC0 Public Domain Files;
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.
