Today’s Top Stories
1. The Palestinians are clearly yanking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s chain. Follow the bouncing ball . . .
– Tillerson says the PA has changed its policy on terror stipends.
– Israel says PA has not halted payments to terrorists.
– Palestinian official says PA will continue funding terror stipends.
2. I knew the Palestinian Authority had cut back on medical aid to Gaza, but I didn’t realize how drastically. According to the Jaffa-based Physicians for Humans Rights Israel, the PA has slashed medical aid to the Strip by 90 percent:
The PA, according to information given to PHRI, used to pay $4 million monthly for the regular operations of 13 government hospitals and 54 primary care centers. In April it was down to $2.3 million, and in May it fell to just $500,000, the organization said.
In April, the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted a senior adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas who said Ramallah is slashing the health care budget for Gaza as part of the series of measures meant to coerce Hamas to relinquish some control of the Strip and give it back to the PA.
3. Israel and New Zealand agreed to restore diplomatic ties, but the reconcilation’s proving to be bumpy. Relations ruptured in December when Wellington co-sponsored UN Security Council resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements. However, Wellington’s letter of “regret” to Jerusalem was so carefully worded that it ultimately satisfied nobody, with some saying New Zealand caved in to Israel and others saying it wasn’t much of an apology at all.
Asked by reporters, Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee pointedly denied that the letter was an expression of apology.
See New Zealand Herald columnist Audrey Young, who called the letter a “plasticine apology.”
4. We’re excited to announce a special members-only online screening of Eyeless in Gaza on Wednesday June 21 at 11:30 a.m. EST. Following the screening, Simon Plosker, HR’s managing editor and Daniel Pomerantz, senior editor, will moderate a live Q+A on our Facebook page with filmmaker Robert Magid.
For more info and to register in advance, click here.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
5. Academic Makes Up Non-Existent ‘Gaza Invasions’: Can a professor’s op-ed get away with inventing non-existent Israeli military operations?
6. Video: Al Quds Day 2017: Ever since 1979, the last Friday of Ramadan is Al Quds Day, described as a day to support Palestinians and the destruction of Israel.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Haaretz: Israel is in talks with Egypt and the European Union to resolve Gaza’s electricity crisis.
• Hamas takes stricter security measures on Gaza border with Egypt.
• A shunned documentary on European anti-Semitism finally saw the light of day — sort of. The film, “Chosen and Excluded – Jew Hatred in Europe,” was leaked to and posted on Bild Zeitung, Germany’s biggest newspaper,” for 24 hours.
The Times of Israel explains why the European media executives are skittish about the documentary:
Although it was approved by network editors, for the past five months it has been withheld from the public by the Franco-German public TV networks Arte, which owns its broadcasting rights.
One of the reasons given for the highly controversial decision to shun the movie, which was commissioned by the German public WDR network on behalf of its partner station Arte, was that it would include too much footage from Israel. The documentary also includes a segment on anti-Semitic Israel bashing, which, as the film strikingly shows, is often supported by tax-funded European NGOs.
You can watch the full video on YouTube in German — at least for now.
https://youtu.be/I0ffyhZ2_TE
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Yoav Limor: Trying to keep the lights on in Gaza
– Ronni Shaked: Gaza is definitely Israel’s problem
– Dr. Col. (res.) Moshe Elad: The joint effort to end Hamas
– Shifra Horn: Palestinians spurning offers of peace
– Herb Keinon: UN chief caught in the middle of tug of war over Israel
– David Collier: Boycotting Gal Gadot. Anti-Semitic, discriminatory. BDS in action
– Smadar Perry: Iran gaining foothold in the region and nearing Israeli border
– Cnaan Liphshiz: French Jew’s killing tests new Macron administration
Featured image: CC BY shoobydooby Tillerson CC BY Jim Mattis;
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.
