Today’s Top Stories
1. In a royal shakeup, Saudi King Salman appointed as Crown Prince his 32 year-old son, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Prince Mohammed now replaces his cousin, Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, as first in line to succeed the 81-year-old king. Take your pick of CNN or BBC coverage.
Prince Mohammed currently serves as the kingdom’s defense minister, making him a key figure in the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
And what does this royal reshuffle mean for Israel? According to Haaretz:
Until now, Mohammed bin Salman has been good news for Israel and the United States, as his firm anti-Iranian positions make him an important partner – and not only in the struggle against Iran. Bin Salman agrees with America on the need to thwart Russian influence in the region; to topple President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria; and to act firmly against ISIS and other radical organizations, from the Muslim Brotherhood to Hezbollah. During the last two years, several Arab websites have reported that bin Salman also met with top Israelis.
Israeli Minister @ayoobkara welcomes Saudi Arabia naming Mohammed Bin Salman new crown prince, hopes change will accelerate detente w Israel
— Raphael Ahren (@RaphaelAhren) June 21, 2017
2. Israeli officials are furious over the UN hosting a ’50 years of Israeli occupation’ conference next week.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Is the PA planning to deceive the US and donor countries about its terror stipends? Palestinian Media Watch picked up on what PA movers and shakers are telling their own media.
For example, here’s what Hassan Asfour, a former PA minister and current associate of Muhammad Dahlan, political adversary of Mahmoud Abbas, told the Fatah Voice
“Abbas, despite his initial objection [to the US demand to stop prisoner salary payments], has begun to examine practical options to comply with the American demand in a way that will not lead to an explosion that might lead to his downfall and the downfall of their [Abbas’ and US’] joint plan. Among these options that are being examined with special secrecy, is the option of transferring the prisoners’ and Martyrs’ salaries to a ‘social insurance’ body so that it will look as if it is ‘humanitarian and social aid to needy families’ and not ‘monthly salaries to fighter families.'”
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Daily Telegraph raises an interesting point about a new settlement which Israel broke ground on yesterday.
Plans for the new settlement were approved in March and drew no protest from the US at the time. US officials said they accepted the settlement because Mr Netanyahu promised to build it before Mr Trump laid out his expectations for a slow down in settlement construction.
The new settlement will house around 300 Israelis from the settlement of Amona, which was demolished earlier this year after Israel’s supreme court ruled it had been illegally built on private Palestinian land.
• Memo to The Guardian: If you insist on editorializing that “settlements are illegal in international law,” at least have the decency to add that Israel disputes this and that the legal views aren’t so cut and dry. See what Eugene Kontorovich, Mitchell Bard, Eugene Rostow, Moshe Dann and Jeffrey Helmreich say on the matter.
• Israeli police arrested the mother of one of Hadas Malka’s killers on suspicion of incitement. According to Ynet:
The mother was arrested in the village of Deir Abu Mash’al on suspicion of incitement, supporting a terror group and because of recent statements in which she is said to have glorified martyrs and called for attacking Jews. During the arrest, security forces also seized inciting material, flags and posters.
• It’s myopic to assume that the Israeli Left has a monopoly on interest in peace — the majority of Israelis want peace too. But the Irish Times lost perspective on the story through the choice of people chosen to discuss “the occupation.”
Another point: The Israeli Left didn’t collapse because of the failure of peace talks but because of the Second Intifada. However, mentioning that would spoil the mood created by reporter Michael Jansen.
• IDF soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man trying to stab them near the West Bank settlement of Adam, just north of Jerusalem yesterday. Times of Israel coverage.
• US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has Hamas in her sights. She’s calling on the Security Council to designate Hamas as a terror organization “with consequences for anyone who continues to support it.” More at the Jerusalem Post.
Around the World
• EU justice minister to Jerusalem Post: We’re making progress against anti-Semitism on social media.
• Hmmmmmm. Forbes reports that a shipment of phosphates from Morocco-occupied Western Sahara is being held up in South Africa. The phosphates were en route to New Zealand, a country with a selective outrage at occupation.
The Polisario Front, the national liberation movement for Western Sahara, applied for a court order to prevent the ship from leaving port while it pursued its legal case for ownership of the cargo. That interim order was confirmed by the High Court in Port Elizabeth on June 15, which noted that “Morocco has no claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara” and said the case should go to trial.
Commentary/Analysis
• Unpacking media coverage of Friday’s deadly Palestinian terror attack, Ira Rifkin explains how the incident “illustrates the deepening fog in which journalists now work.”
Bottom line: When terror groups offer competing claims of responsibility and editors sacrifice nuance for speed, where does that leave news consumers?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Alex Ryvchin: So it’s all about the, er, settlements then?
– Prof. Hillel Frisch: Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is fake news
– Avi Issacharoff: Turning Gaza’s lights back on, Abbas’s rival Dahlan makes dramatic return to center stage
– Alon Ben-Meir: After 50 years of occupation, what’s next: An open letter to President Mahmoud Abbas
– Amos Harel: Israel and Jordan grow closer as Iranian foothold in southern Syria grows stronger
– Amb. Mark Regev: Clarity in fighting terrorism
– Alex Fishman: A miserable failure for Iran’s military industry
Featured image: CC0 Pexels; money CC BY Images Money; Irish Times CC BY-SA Wikimedia Commons; CC BY Elisa; with modifications CC BY-SA by HonestReporting;
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