Today’s Top Stories
1. White House envoy Jason Greenblatt facilitated a historic Israeli-Palestinian water deal. The agreement on a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal includes sale of 33 million cubic meters of desalinated water to the PA. Details at the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel:
Besides providing a yearly total of 100 million cubic meters of drinking water to Palestinians, Jordanians and Israelis, the Red-Dead project will produce “green energy” and replenish the Dead Sea, which is currently shrinking at a drastic pace, Hanegbi said.
Earlier this week, Israel and the PA signed a landmark electricity deal hoping to pave the way for Palestinian energy independence.
2. Canada bans ‘Product of Israel’ labels for wines from the West Bank, Golan, eastern Jerusalem and even Gaza.
In a statement, Bnai Brith Canada said it had information “that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will soon rescind its recent decision.”
3. French Jews are protesting a play about Mohammed Merah, who was responsible for the 2012 Toulouse massacre.
“I Love Death as You Love Life,” which premiered last week at the Festival of Avignon in southern France, details the last three hours in the life of Mohammed Merah, the Islamist who in 2012 murdered a rabbi and two of his sons along with a girl at the school. He also shot dead three French soldiers.
4. HR Success: WashPost Corrects the Record on Israel’s Capital: Once again, big media needed reminding that Tel Aviv is not the capital of Israel.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• Out of fuel, Hamas shut down Gaza’s only electricity plant last night. This leaves the Strip with two to four hours of electricity. The Palestinian Authority recently notified Israel it would no longer pay for fuel shipments to the Gaza as Mahmoud Abbas turns the screws on Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post takes a closer look at the escalating Hamas-Fatah fight over Gaza.
• I agree that Al Jazeera has a problem with anti-Semitism and support for terror. But the United Arab Emirates has never been at the forefront of fighting anti-Semitism, so pardon my smirk . . .
UAE to UN: Al Jazeera anti-Semitic, promotes terrorism
• Cabinet minister to Bloomberg News: Israel seeks unprecedented direct flights to Saudi Arabia for pilgrims traveling to Mecca.
Instead of enduring the 1,000-mile bus route across the Jordan River and through the Saudi desert to reach Islam’s most sacred shrine, Israel hopes its Muslim citizens will be able to fly directly into the kingdom from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara said . . .
“Reality has changed,” Kara said in an interview this week at his office in Jerusalem. “This is a good time to make the request, and I’m working hard on it.”
• Israel’s security cabinet didn’t reach any decision on transferring land to the Palestinian city of Qalqilya yesterday. More at the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel and Ynet.
• Palestinians told AFP that a cut in PA stipends to prisoners and the families of terrorists could trigger a Palestinian crisis. What does that say about Israel’s peace partners?
• Hmmmmmm. Foreign Policy reports that the Syrian ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia specifically bars Iran forces and their proxies near the Israeli or Jordanian borders. But analysts questioned whether the Russians can really enforce this over the long-term.
• Palestinian workers in Israel, by the numbers, based on The Media Line.
- “More than 30,000”: Israeli work permits given to Palestinians in 2017.
- 100,000: Palestinians working in Israel or settlements.
- 400,000: Unemployed West Bank Palestinians.
- 1,000: Palestinians now employed in construction in Efrat alone.
- 200-500 NIS: Typical daily earnings of one Palestinian worker in Israel.
- 70 NIS: Typical daily earnings of one Palestinian worker in the PA, anecdotally.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Charles Bybelezer: The Taylor Force Act: A pathway or roadblock to peace?
– Liel Liebovitz: In praise of Thom Yorke’s Israel policy
– Vernon Bogdanor: The failure to confront anti-Semitism within Labour amounts to institutional racism
– Nathaniel Belmont and Lenny Ben-David: Creation of Western Wall plaza in 1967 was necessary and legal
– Nadav Shragai: A red line for Jordan
– Amos Harel: Israel’s cyber authority braces for foreign involvement in elections
• For a sense of what the critics are saying, see Daoud Kuttab on Hebron.
Featured image: CC BY daliscar1; wine via Vimeo/Kfir Harbi; Mecca CC BY-NC-ND With Luv;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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