Today’s Top Stories
1. Encampments of displaced Syrians sprung up along Syria’s border with Israel and Jordan as civilians fled renewed fighting in the southwestern Daraa province.
Syrian and Russian forces last week launched an offensive against rebels in southern Syria, violating a ceasefire brokered by the US, Russia and Jordan. Israel was not a party to that ceasefire. Of the estimated 160,000 people driven from their homes, 45,000 people have made their way to the Israeli and Jordanian borders. Jerusalem and Amman insist that no refugees would be allowed to enter, though six injured Syrian children were taken into Israel for treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
The IDF transferred humanitarian aid sprung up along Syria’s border with Israel and Jordan and is also bolstering defenses along the unsettled frontier. Reuters also reported that peace talks between rebels and Russia have resumed under Jordanian mediation.
Displaced Syrians explained to CNN and Haaretz why they fled to the Israeli border:
Abu Khaled said they decided to head for the Israeli border “because it’s safest there. It’s a demilitarized zone, according to international agreements, and the regime and its allies can’t attack there with their planes.”
2. An Israeli court ordered the PA to pay $3.5 million compensation to 51 “collaborators” tortured in Palestinian prisons. The Times of Israel explains the precedent-setting ruling:
Many of the plaintiffs were arrested by the PA’s forces from within Israeli territory — mostly East Jerusalem — and/or have Israeli citizenship. The Jerusalem court therefore ruled it had the jurisdiction to preside over the case.
Plaintiffs said while held between 1990 and 2003, interrogators beat them, put out cigarettes on their bodies, pulled out their teeth, forced them into painful positions for lengthy periods of time and withheld food and drink. Several said their genitals were abused, leaving them sterile and impotent.
3. The Palestinian Authority is stepping up activity in eastern Jerusalem in violation of agreements with Israel dating back to 1994. We’re talking about conferences, receptions, youth groups and cultural events organized and/or funded by the PA or Palestinian factions.
The Palestinians claim the activity is legal and that Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has emboldened police to clamp down.
4. Western Wall Confusion in the UK Press: HonestReporting corrected the record when several papers mischaracterized the holy site visited by Prince William.
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In the News
• Two Palestinians were killed and another five were injured in a mysterious explosion in a Gaza apartment building. There were conflicting details but the consensus coverage in the Israeli media suggests “mishandling of explosives.”
• Plans to build a permanent mixed-prayer pavilion at the Western Wall were cast further in doubt today when Likud lawmakers balked at joining a committee tasked with implementing it. In recent days, the committee’s chair, Miri Regev (Minister of Culture and Sport) and Ayelet Shaked (Justice Minister) dropped out and have not been replaced. The Jerusalem Post reports that the committee’s last remaining member is Religious Services Minister David Azoulai of Shas, “who will vote against the upgrades.” More at the Times of Israel.
• Government delays aliyah of Ethiopian Jews. Around 8,000 Jews in Ethiopia are waiting to immigrate:
At least 1,500 of those entitled to make Aliyah have been separated from their parents or children.
The Interior Ministry has decided the Law of Return does not apply to Ethiopian Jews due to suspicions that they willingly converted to Christianity after suffering persecution during the last century and later returned to Judaism.
• The cabinet approved an Orthodox army conscription bill for passage to Knesset. Judging from the Jerusalem Post, it appears the bill will pass the Knesset and that the religious parties will likely not follow through on earlier threats to topple the government.
• South Africa’s leading Jewish organization is pursuing criminal charges against three online antisemites. “Laden with obscenities, the messages openly threatened Jews and evoked crude antisemitic stereotypes.”
• A congressional bill combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee. The Jerusalem Post explains that the legislation “would shield Israel and Israeli businesses by criminally penalizing US citizens seeking to participate in international boycotts against them.”
• French prosecutors announce investigation into anti-Semitic mosque sermon in Toulouse.
• Dutch Muslim political activist wishes cancer on ‘filthy Jews’ at pro-Israel paper.
• The Spanish city of Sagunto voted to boycott Israel in defiance of court rulings.
• My blood went cold when I first learned of the terrible attack on the Annapolis Capital-Gazette. In memory of the five victims, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith, its worth pausing to remind ourselves of something that’s so obvious, we take it for granted: Journalists tell us the stories of the day — in our hometown, our country, and around the world — so we can be a better-informed, self-governing citizens.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today:
– Amos Harel: Assad preparing to retake southwest Syria and Israel will Have to decide whether to intervene
– Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman, Dr. Nir Boms: Daraa: Will Israel once again turn its back on those who have been on its side?
– Yossi Yehushua: Israeli deterrence against Hamas has ended
– Marc Schulman: This summer, Israel and Hamas could reach a peace agreement — or tumble into war
– Jonathan Tobin: Why Trump and Kushner will never get the Palestinians to the negotiating table
– Daniel Gordis: Can Abbas revive Israel’s left?
– Irish Examiner (staff-ed) Eurovision Song Contest: Sound of hypocrisy in boycott call
– Raphael Ahren: Prince William’s visit a PR coup for Israel, with some royal pain amid the gain
– Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis: Why Prince William’s Israel visit meant so much to British Jews
– Ben-Dror Yemini: The Palestinian paradox: 70 years of perpetuating refugeeism
– Jonathan Schanzer, Varsha Koduvayur: Kuwait best get with the program – or be prepared to face Trump’s wrath
Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Alex Moreno Fuster; Sagunto Castle CC BY-ND santiago lopez-pastor;
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