State Dept. Funded Anti-Netanyahu Campaign

Today’s Top Stories

1. A US Senate report revealed that US taxpayer money was indirectly used to influence Israelis to vote against Benjamin Netanyahu during last year’s Israeli elections. The State Dept. sent money to an organization called OneVoice, which channeled the money to V15 (short for Victory 2015), which raised suspicions in Jerusalem at the time. The Washington Times was first to report on the Senate’s findings.

Some $350,000 was sent to OneVoice, ostensibly to support the group’s efforts to back Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement negotiations. But OneVoice used the money to build a voter database, train activists and hire a political consulting firm with ties to President Obama’s campaign — all of which set the stage for an anti-Netanyahu campaign, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a bipartisan staff report . . .

 

Mr. Netanyahu survived the election, and the U.S. spending was not deemed illegal because the State Department never put any conditions on the money. Investigators also said OneVoice didn’t turn explicitly political until days after the grant period ended.

 

“The State Department ignored warnings signs and funded a politically active group in a politically sensitive environment with inadequate safeguards,” said Sen. Rob Portman, chairman of the investigative subcommittee. “It is completely unacceptable that U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to build a political campaign infrastructure that was deployed — immediately after the grant ended — against the leader of our closest ally in the Middle East. American resources should be used to help our allies in the region, not undermine them.”

The Senate report also chided then-US consul general Michael Ratney for improperly deleting emails related to OneVoice’s activities. Ratney now serves as special envoy to Syria.

The report was released the same day the US State Dept. criticized a contentious law passed by the Knesset requiring greater transparency from non-governmental organizations that receive funds from foreign governments.

V15's real mistake was the thought that the Israeli challenge is about voter turnout or that the problem is Netanyahu. wrong on both

— noam sheizaf (@nsheizaf) July 13, 2016

2. A Bedouin man said to be going through emotional distress climbed the Gaza border fence and entered the Strip before Israeli soldiers could stop him. Hamas already holds two other Israeli nationals, Avraham Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who entered Gaza separately.

3. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to evacuate 15 Israelis stuck in war-torn South Sudan. YNet reports that rescue efforts for the aid workers and businessmen is complicated by the fact that A) “Some of the Israelis trapped in the country are in Juba, while others are scattered elsewhere,” and B) The airport in the capital city, Juba, was closed, though a cease fire appears to be holding and the airport may have re-opened today.

South Sudan, which gained independence five years ago, has been torn apart by a two and a half year-long civil war.

Israel and the Palestinians

• A Palestinian trying to run over soldiers raiding a West Bank weapons workshop last night was shot and killed.

• European diplomats sent a report back to Brussels urging stronger measures against Israeli settlements, but the EU brass isn’t acting on their recommendations. The Guardian, which saw the report, explains why:

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is not thought to be an ardent advocate at present of further practical steps to enforce differentiation between Israel and Israeli settlements, while one previously strongly pro-Palestinian EU member, Greece, is said to have shifted its position, seeking better economic and diplomatic relations with Israel.

• BDS activists entering Israel on tourist visas operate freely.

• Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon warned the UN that Hezbollah has 120,000 missiles aimed at the Jewish state.

Israel withdrew from every inch of Lebanon (certified by the UN). Meanwhile Hezbollah has amassed roughly 1 missile for every 80 Israelis.

— Kamel Amin Thaabet (@K_AminThaabet) July 13, 2016

• Facebook shut down Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal’s account, poor thing.

• Worth reading: New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman describes the behind scenes work involved in his story about Yoni Netanyahu, the prime minister’s older brother killed at Entebbe.

Mideast Matters

• French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault reportedly met with Hezbollah figures during a visit to Lebanon. Israeli officials were very unhappy.

• Noting the 10th anniversary of the Second War in Lebanon, the Christian Science Monitor interviewed a Hezbollah member who recently returned from Syria, and an IDF soldier who fought in the 2014 Gaza war. The format raises a whiff of moral equivalence, but it’s clear that one is willing to embrace martyrdom to destroy Israel while the other would rather be left alone but will defend his country if pushed.

Commentary/Analysis

• Regarding the Knesset’s contentious NGO law, Yonah Jeremy Bob tells everyone to take a deep breath. The changes for effected NGOs are minimal, and the issue is really about BDS. BDS?

So what was the purpose of the law? In essence, to publicly shame the NGOs – and massively anger the EU.

 

In November, the EU labeled products from the West Bank settlements as distinct from Israel.

 

This move was viewed by the Israeli government as joining hands with the global forces trying to promote boycotts of Israel.

 

The law was effectively supposed to label them back. It would not stop them from funding left-wing groups, but it would engage in shaming them just as the EU was engaging in shaming Israel for its West Bank settlements.

• Tweet of the day from Eugene Kontorovich:

If Israel did this, US/EU would be yelling apartheid and end of democracy. But its Switzerland so carry on: https://t.co/Ty9MAJxqFE

— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) July 13, 2016

• Spilled ink and burnt pixels assessing the Mideast’s diplomatic moves:

– Amb. Danny Danon: Reviving relations between Israel and Africa (click via Google News)
– Aaron David Miller: Can Egypt’s Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative work?
– Alex Fishman: Egypt’s diplomatic games
– Ron Kampeas: Bibi pulls off Turkey, Egypt, Africa trifecta

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Ira Rifkin: Painful group memories and the news media’s (potentially) curative powers
– Jeffrey Salkin: Ten minutes with my Arabic teacher
– Eitan Haber: Lebanon: A long quiet
– Bret Stephens: Truth catches the Iran deal (click via Google News)
– Eli Lake: What the nuclear deal’s backers owe to Iran’s victims
– Clifford May: Obama’s Iran experiment

Featured image: CC BY Max Talbot-Minkin with additions by HonestReporting;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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