Today’s Top Stories
1. In response to a rocket fired into Israel from Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck two Hamas infrastructure targets in the north and south of the Gaza Strip on Monday night, according to the IDF. Strikes were recorded in at least three locations in Gaza, Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said, with Hamas bases struck near the southern city of Rafah and Gaza City in the north, as well as open land southeast of Gaza City. Earlier that day, a rocket hit southern Israel, in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, not causing any damage or casualties. The launch was claimed by a Salafist group linked to Islamic State, according to Hebrew media reports.
2. Just when international media has found it popular to demonize Israel for providing Palestinians access to Israeli medical treatment, claiming that the access is insufficient (see our prior critique of this Washington Post article), it turns out that the the vast majority of access is presently blocked by the Palestinian Authority. Haaretz reports that the Palestinian Authority prevents access by Palestinians from Gaza seeking urgent medical care: including patients with cancer and heart disease, and children who need treatments unavailable in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority is currently denying or suspending response on over 90% medical permit requests.
3. The Australian Labor Party has used its parliamentary majority in South Australia to call for the recognition of “the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel,” making it the only Australian legislative body to formally back Palestine statehood.
4. A Huffington Post article defends Hamas and Hezbollah, indicating that they are considered terror organizations only because…Trump. Read: HonestReporting’s critique.
5. On Australian Channel 9’s 60 Minutes, Liam Bartlett produces an appallingly one-sided report on settlements using a Palestinian narrative and outright distortions. Read: HonestReporting’s critique
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Israel and the Palestinians
• One of the biggest Palestinian events in Europe may be cancelled by the British government. Palestinian Expo, which includes political discussions, concerts, comedy acts, workshops, a food court and other events, is scheduled to run in London on the weekend of 8 and 9 July. But according to British Secretary of State Sajid Javid, the event also features connections to, and public support for, Hamas: a terror organization proscribed by the British government. Accordingly, Javid has expressed that he is considering forcing the organizers to cancel the event.
• The “Western Wall issue” is on many people’s minds these days. Times of Israel explains the facts:
The cabinet on Sunday suspended a government-approved plan to establish a pluralistic prayer pavilion at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, which was to have had joint oversight by all streams of Judaism, following calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies to scrap the deal.
Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett adds a clarification:
…there is an apparent campaign of misinformation claiming the [Western Wall] is being closed to Diaspora Jews and that the status of conversions is being changed. This is false…this is why, over the next day, we will hold a series of meetings to listen to the leaders of Diaspora Communities and reach understanding allowing us to end this crisis.
Times of Israel further explains that there are existing sites for egalitarian prayer based on previous compromises, and those sites are unaffected by the present decision. However, those sites are technically considered temporary solutions. The plan that was just suspended would have improved egalitarian access to the area is recognized as the primary Western Wall prayer site, and would also have brought oversight from Conservative and Reform movements to portions of that site.
• Many Palestinians of eastern Jerusalem have long shunned integration into Israel, typically declining citizenship and in many cases refusing to learn Hebrew. Is it possible the mood is finally changing? Isabel Kershner of the New York Times suggests that it is, pointing out increasing engagement in the bagrut, (essentially the Israeli SAT) which ultimately leads to study in Israeli universities, as well as increasingly taking mainstream jobs in various cities and neighborhoods beyond the Arab sector.
Around the World
• A “subsidiary” march at Chicago’s LGBT Parade (commonly known as the “Gay Pride Parade”) asked three marchers to leave for flying flags with the star of David (along with the iconic LGBT color pattern) saying that the flags were “triggering,” and made them feel “unsafe.” The AJC (American Jewish Committee) issued a statement on their Facebook page calling the incident, “anti-Semitism–plain and simple.” However, the Chicago Tribune points out that within the main parade, a number of flags containing the star of David flew without incident.
• The U.S. government will seek to collaborate with Israel and other countries to develop new ways to thwart computer hacks and other cyber attacks, according to Thomas Bossert, U.S. President Donald Trump’s homeland security adviser. According to Bossert:
The agility Israel has in developing solutions will innovate cyber defenses that we can test here and bring back to America. Perfect security may not be achievable but we have within our reach a safer and more secure internet.
Commentary/Analysis
• Who’s really behind suffering in Gaza over the electricity crisis? In the IBT, Julie Lenarz explains that it is actually Hamas.
• In light of international pressure for the Palestinian Authority to stop paying salaries to terrorists, an analysis by Daniel Siryoti and the Israel Hayom Staff indicates that the PA has instead resorted to funneling those funds through NGOs, in order to continue the practice.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– PressTV: Ayatollah Khamenei: Muslims obliged to fight against Israel
– Thomas Joscelyn: Two US cases provide unique window into Iran’s global terror network
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Vitor Pina;
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