Today’s Top Stories
1. Following two years of stalemate, Lebanon’s parliament elected Gen. Michel Aoun as president. Aoun, an 81-year-old Maronite Christian, aligned his Free Patriotic Party with Hezbollah back in 2006, which is why analysts say his victory is good news for Hezbollah and Iran (or maybe not that much).
Lebanon has been without a president since 2014, when lawmakers deadlocked on a successor to Michel Suleiman. According to wire reports, Saad Hariri, who is backed by Saudi Arabia, is expected to be appointed prime minister as part of Beirut’s wheeling and dealing.
Today’s vote included moments of exasperation as MPs needed four rounds of balloting for Aoun to get the required two-thirds majority. And twice, the ballot box was found to have 128 envelopes even though 127 lawmakers were present, drawing scorn on Twitter.
2. Iran’s only Jewish parliamentarian, Siamak Moreh Sedgh denied speaking to Israeli media after Israel Radio aired a recording of him telling reporter Gideon Kotz that he didn’t expect a war between Israel and Iran.
“Iran does not want to start a war against Israel, because they know that everyone who starts a war in the Middle East is doing suicide,” Siamak Moreh Sedgh told Israel Radio in an English-language interview aired Sunday morning . . .
“Relations between Iran and Israel [are] more stable than ever before since the signing of the nuclear agreement last year,” he said.
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3. The Knesset kicked off its winter session today. The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz preview what’s expected to be a stormy parliamentary period.
4. HR North American Executive Director to Retire: A salute to Gary Kenzer and his decade of tireless efforts for HonestReporting.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Legislators and pro-Israel groups concerned about anti-Semitism are trying to block Students for Justice in Palestine from holding its national conference at George Mason University, in Virginia next month. The Israel activists argue that the SJP confab runs afoul of anti-BDS legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year.
• 3 Border Police lightly hurt in a Palestinian car-ramming attack north of Hebron late Sunday afternoon.
• UN cafeterias finally added kosher food.
• See Harry’s Place for a first-hand description of Palestinian hatred unleashed at University College London.
• Italian President Sergio Mattarella began a four-day visit in Israel.
• Here’s Danielle Berrin’s post script on Ari Shavit’s resignation from Haaretz:
I'm grateful for Ari Shavit's powerful, honest statement. His resolution to do 'heshbon hanefesh' – an accounting of the soul – is admirable https://t.co/OOGMIOuNHD
— Danielle Berrin (@danielleberrin) October 30, 2016
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Herb Keinon: Incoming UNHRC less stacked against Israel than outgoing one
– Yossi Beilin: Obama’s last chance to rectify Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking failures
– Gabe Friedman: Why Ari Shavit’s fall from grace stings for so many American Jews
– Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (staff-ed): UNESCO’s insult
Featured Image: CC BY Robert Couse-Baker; Aoun via YouTube/euronews (in English);
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