Today’s Top Stories
1. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to meet with his Israeli counterpart, Reuven Rivlin in Brussels despite A) prodding from European officials B) Rivlin’s willingness for a little jaw-jaw, and C) Abbas’s history of claims that he’s willing to “immediately” meet with Israeli leaders. Rivlin called Abbas’s snub “strange.”
So now Abbas also refuse to meet Israeli president Ruvi Rivlin, but it's still Israel's fault there are no negotiation. Right?
— Ariel Kahana אריאל כהנא (@arik3000) June 23, 2016
Rivlin addressed the European Parliament yesterday (transcript here), telling lawmakers that the French peace initiative were “negotiations for negotiations’ sake” and bound to fail, then called for the EU to instead focus on “a patient and methodical building of trust.” Abbas addressed the European Parliament today.
2. Anti-Semitic assaults in the US rose 50 percent in 2015, according to Anti-Defamation League findings picked up by Reuters.
3. Worth reading: Radio Free Europe‘s Daniella Cheslow visited Tunisia’s Jewish community, which is questioning its future in the North African country. With more economic opportunities and openness in Israel, might the 1,100 or so Jews make aliyah en masse?
That would be a huge loss for Tunisias cultural diversity. Jews have always been part of Tunisia https://t.co/SgcGU99kRq
— karim (@Specta_Orientem) June 23, 2016
Israel and the Palestinians
• The Israeli government is drafting legislation to combat incitement and terrorist content on social media.
Various petitions to courts in the past demanding the removal of such content have often failed on account of free speech allowances, including a 2012 petition by then Israeli-Arab MK Taleb al-Sana ordering Google to remove a You Tube video disgracing the Prophet Muhammad.
The bill would carve-out an exception to free speech protections in the area of inciting terrorism as has been done in recent years in other criminal areas like child pornography.
• Jordanian aviation officials are irked at Israeli plans to open a new airport just outside Eilat to serve “Eilat and Aqaba, the adjacent Israeli and Jordanian resort cities on the Red Sea.” According to Reuters, the Ilan & Asaf Ramon Airport, which is due to open in April, 2017, will be able to accommodate more types of aircraft and a higher volume of traffic than Jordan’s nearby King Hussein International Airport.
Plans for the airport got higher priority after the US Federal Aviation Administration briefly banned flights to Ben Gurion Airport — Israel’s only international gateway — due to Hamas rocket fire during the 2014 Gaza conflict.
Meanwhile, the Wall St. Journal takes a closer look at Israel’s efforts to build rail links to the Arab world. An old railway line is being fixed up to carry cargo from Haifa to Beit Shean, where trucks will take items to Jordan and other Arab destinations. Israeli officials would like to connect the rail line to Jordan’s network.
On a recent morning at Haifa port, 43-year-old Turkish driver Nazem Mohammed unloaded his truck from a ship that had come from Mersin in Turkey. He used to drive through Syria to get his vegetables and fruits to Jordan’s capital, Amman. Now he has to either go by sea via the Suez Canal to deliver goods to Saudi Arabia, or over land through Israel to Jordan.
The Israeli route “is the best way for business” as it is cheaper and takes less time, said Mr. Mohammed, a 20-year veteran trucker, while playing cards with a fellow driver in the shadow of his vehicle. “This makes it a promising route.”
• Jerusalem Post: In sign of improving ties, Israeli MK and Turkish official to appear publicly at joint event in Istanbul.
Around the World
• The Jerusalem Post discussed Brexit and its ramifications for Israel with veteran diplomat Yigal Palmor. And the Times of Israel takes the pulse of UK Jewry’s views.
• According to Professors Leonard Saxe and Theodore Sasson, BDS isn’t as widespread at American universities as Israelis think. The Jerusalem Post was on hand when they shared their views with a Knesset committee:
Contrary to widespread views in Israel, BDS is only present on certain campuses and is not deterring Jewish students from forging a stronger connection to Israel, the professors asserted.
• A Jewish man wearing a kippah in Berlin was attacked by three men making anti-Semitic insults.
• Maharashtra state in India granted Jews minority status. With about 3,000 of India’s 4,500 Jews living in the western India state — mostly in Mumbai — the Times of India explains this will make it easier for Jews to register births, deaths and marriages, obtain scholarships, set up educational institutions, observe holidays, and possibly obtain subsidies for travel to Israel.
See also the New York Times, which adds that the Jewish community is waiting for a similar decision from the national government.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Alan Dershowitz: Combating BDS by legislation: Different approaches, same goal
– Alex Fishman: Will Mohammed Dahlan be Gaza’s next ruler?
– Eli Lake: Obama wants to stop subsidizing Israel’s defense industry
– New York Post: The president’s Israel propblem (staff-ed)
– Yair Lapid: The UN has lost it
– Jonathan Spyer: Reflections on the Second Lebanon War
– Khaled Abu Toameh: President Mahmoud Abbas: The Palestinian “untouchable”
– Emily Landau: The Iran nuclear deal: One year on
Featured image: CC BY Kheel Center with additions by HonestReporting; Haifa Port via YouTube/Zohar Rom; train via YouTube/Ido Marom; El Al CC BY SA Dmitry Terekhov; CC BY NC Julie;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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