Today’s Top Stories
1. Will Russia’s expected military presence in Syria close off Syrian skies to Israel?
2. “In a move that reflected growing internal disarray,” the PLO delayed elections for its internal leadership, which were set to be held next week, according to AP.
3. Russia reportedly bought 10 Israeli-made intelligence-gathering drones. And despite left-wing opposition, the Swiss parliament approved a $250 million Israeli drone purchase.
Campaigners had rallied against the deal with Israeli company Elbit Systems, urging Switzerland not to invest in Israel’s military complex due to its alleged “systematic human rights abuses” against Palestinians.
4. Gazan Infant Mortality Used to Attack Israel: A politically charged misdiagnosis.
Israel and the Palestinians
• William Booth of the Washington Post visited SodaStream. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement doesn’t come out looking so good:
Although hundreds of Palestinians will soon be out of jobs, BDS leaders say it is worth it.
• An Israeli man has been missing for three months after trying to visit Yemen. The family fears he was abducted by Islamic State.
• Israel unfazed by PA threat to end Oslo accords, declare Palestine occupied state.
“The Palestinians routinely negotiate through brinkmanship. If they don’t get what they demand, they threaten to jump off the cliff.”
• Israeli firefighters responding to calls in eastern Jerusalem say they’re coming under increasing Palestinian attacks. According to YNet, we’re talking about Molotov cocktails, stone-throwing barrages, spitting, and other forms of physical and verbal abuse.
Firefighters were wounded in several incidents and required medical treatment and, more often, damage was caused to fire trucks.
According to the Fire Department, the escalation started in the summer of 2014 – after the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli yeshiva students, the murder of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir and Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.
• What a creative way to give traction to like-minded Israel-bashers, and squeeze more content out of a non-story: The Guardian considers it newsworthy when a handful of leftist politicians, academics, and union leaders condemn Israel in a letter published in — of all places — The Guardian!
• Italy’s Jewish leaders are urging President Rivlin to block Fiamma Nirenstein’s appointment as Israeli ambassador to Rome. According to Haaretz:
The sources said that the two Italian Jewish leaders explained to Rivlin that the appointment of someone who had so recently been a senior member of the Italian parliament and had also run unsuccessfully for president of Rome’s Jewish community three months ago could raise claims of dual loyalty.
The two also told Rivlin that Nirenstein was almost fully identified with the right wing in Italy, which could have a negative impact on ties between Israel’s government and the Italian government, which is controlled by the left wing.
• Dimona scientists developed a micro-copter to track nuclear activities.
Around the World
• Jews in South Africa vow not to be ‘bullied’ by calls to cut dual Israeli citizenship. The ruling African National Congress is considering banning dual citizenship to prevent South African nationals from serving in the IDF.
• France is struggling to lure back Jews to emigrated to Israel. According to the Wall St. Journal, (click via Google News), there’s no comparison between Start Up Israel vs. Shut Off France.
In Israel, employers and investors view early failure as a valuable learning experience, émigrés say, while it can be viewed as career-ending in France.
• Spanish teen says neo-Nazis carved swastika into his arm
• The largest Jewish school in Melbourne has become the first in Victoria to employ armed guards.
It is expected that other Jewish schools in Melbourne will seriously consider employing armed guards following Mount Scopus’ move.
Jewish schools have been vigilant for some time amid concerns about a resurgence of anti-Semitism around the world.
• A Jewish teenager was beaten unconscious in Manchester. Was it an anti-Semitic attack, or was it drug-related? Or perhaps both?
Commentary/Analysis
• Does it really matter who the next Palestinian president is?
What the West needs to understand is that no Palestinian leader is authorized to make concessions to Israel for the sake of peace.
• Eugene Kontorovich revisits UN resolution 242 in light of a French resolution expected to be introduced in the coming weeks.
. . . Res. 242 represented a territorial compromise, with accommodations to Arab and Israel positions. The French resolution – which mandates a withdrawal to the 1949 Armistice Lines – would specifically undo the parts of that compromise that were in Israel’s favor, and essentially “reverse” 242, replacing it with the resolution demanded by the U.S.S.R and Arab states in 1967. If the U.S. allows this to happen, it would be a fundamental reversal of 50 years of Middle East diplomacy.
• Fight BDS by buying Israeli products
• Why is the Red Cross holding seminars on the law of war with Hamas?
• Will the US-Israel spat over Iran sideline the Palestinians?
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Amiel Ungar: Why the fight against the Iran deal was worth it
– Jonathan Adelman: After the Iran deal, what now for Israel?
– Alan Dershowitz: Hold Iran to the language of the deal (via Google News)
– Efraim Inbar: How dangerous is Islamic State to Israel?
– Eyal Zisser: Putin ups the ante in Syria
Image: CC BY-NC-SA HonestReporting, flickr/Zuhair A. Al-Traifi; firefighter CC BY-NC flickr/Israel Defense Forces; flag CC BY-NC-SA flickr/Col;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
Before you comment on this article, please remind yourself of our Comments Policy. Any comments deemed to be in breach of the policy will be removed at the editor’s discretion.
