Today’s Top Stories
1. Three suitcases stuffed with $15 million from Qatar passed through the Erez crossing to Hamas on Thursday, allowing Hamas to pay the salaries of some 30,000 of its civil servants. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the transfer.
Hamas demanded funds to pay civil servant salaries as one of the conditions that would need to be met in order to halt violent riots along the border and the launching of incendiary devices into Gaza.
Netanyahu said that he had no intention of using Israeli funds to bribe Hamas. But the UN and Egypt, which have worked intensely to restore calm, have explored the option of Qatari funds to pay civil servant salaries in order to quell domestic unrest.
Israel and Qatar also reportedly agreed on a sea crossing between Gaza and Cyprus, though details on security arrangements remain to be hammered out. That’s according to Arab reports picked up by the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel. More overall at the New York Times.
Exclusive: 3 suitcases w 15 million dollars in cash entered Gaza today w the qatari envoy through Israel (Erez crossing point). The money goes to Hamas, to pay salaries of civil employees. Exclusive pic: pic.twitter.com/asmrOP0YFu
— Gal Berger גל ברגר (@galberger) November 8, 2018
2. Israel’s High Court of Justice endorsed a lower court’s landmark judgment against the Palestinian Authority for the false imprisonment and torture of 51 Palestinian “collaborators.” The Jerusalem Post explains:
Notably, the court said if Palestinians were cooperating with Israel to thwart terrorist attacks on Israelis, the PA is also obligated to assist in such efforts under the Oslo Accords. Accordingly, the court said the PA could not treat such Palestinians as criminals, much less torture them.
Further, the court found that in some cases, the PA had arrested Palestinians while they were within the Green Line, or had arrested Arabs who have Israeli citizenship.
The lower court awarded the Palestinians NIS 13.1 million (approximately $3.5 million) in damages for false imprisonment but did not yet set a financial liability for the torture.
3. Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry was invited to a conference in Bahrain. Ynet explains:
[Eli] Cohen’s expected trip follows a number of visits made by high-profile Israeli politicians to the Gulf states in recent weeks, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic visit to Oman and Culture Minister Miri Regev’s trip to Abu Dhabi to attend the Judo Grand Competition.
4. The Washington Post’s Perplexing Platform for Press Predators: Editors owe readers an explanation for publishing an op-ed by the leader of the antisemitic and Iranian-proxy Houthi rebels.
5. What Does The Independent Really Think About Israel? The First timeline entry accompanying a feature on Prince Charles simply refers to Israel’s creation in terms of the “destruction of Palestine.”
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
Israel and the Palestinians
• A Gaza man who infiltrated Israel on Friday managed to burn down a greenhouse in Netiv Ha’Asara before being apprehended. The IDF insisted that no lives were endangered by infiltrator, saying he was tracked by surveillance footage, but residents of the border community were furious.
• According to Haaretz, Israel is quietly and indirectly cooperating with the International Criminal Court’s probe of the 2014 Gaza war.
In the past, Israel sharply criticized the court, saying that it had no authority to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, there is concern in the political and military echelons that the court will open a criminal investigation into Israel’s actions in the Strip, a process that could lead to a wave of lawsuits against those involved and even to their arrest abroad.
In the last few months, diplomatic, military and legal officials have held discussions, some of them attended by the prime minister, to prepare for the court’s initial findings regarding the 2014 Gaza war. Toward that end, Israel has begun using third parties to transfer documents to the court that could bolster its stance and influence the examination team, which until now has been exposed mainly to the evidence presented by the Palestinian side.
• Israeli security at the Erez crossing nabbed a Palestinian trying to smuggle coins from the time of Alexander the Great out of Gaza. Times of Israel coverage.
• The Wall St. Journal (click via Twitter) takes a closer look at the growing trend of Palestinians working in Israel’s hi-tech industry.
But the depth of Israel’s talent shortage and the high wages Israeli companies can offer are breaking down political barriers.
“The more the Israeli market has a demand, the more they flip every stone to look for talent,” said Mr. Tahboub.
• Did Benjamin Netanyahu pay a secret visit to Pakistan?
• New ambassadors from Egypt and Jordan recommitted to peace with Israel while presenting their credentials to President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Thursday.
• Cairo denied Palestinian claims that Egyptian naval forces shot and killed a Palestinian fisherman off the coast of Gaza.
Window Into Israel
• The JTA takes a closer look at Aliza Bloch, the first female mayor of Beit Shemesh and a “reluctant icon for Orthodox feminism.”
• 20 Israelis were rescued from flash floods in the Negev over the weekend.
• Organized crime assassinations are on the rise.
• The million-dollar question: When will Israel hold new elections?
Around the World
• Could Iranian election meddling help Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street?
Russia is not, though, the only hostile state attempting to influence political debate in the UK. According to recent reports, Iran has its sights on assisting Corbyn. Among its reported targets for trolling are Israel and British Jews who complain about anti-Semitism in the UK’s principal opposition party.
The reason for that support will worry both. It underlines a long and controversial association between the Labour leader and Iran, and throws light on the radically different approach Corbyn advocates for British foreign policy in the region — which he might seek to advance were he to become prime minister.
• Drip drip drip: Per the Times of London, “The Labour Party allowed a member who was being investigated for anti-semitism to be a delegate at its recent conference — despite Jeremy Corbyn pledging in his speech to make the party “allies” of the Jewish community.” More at the Jewish Chronicle.
• The Los Angeles city council unanimously called on UCLA to cancel the upcoming national conference of Students for Justice in Palestine. So did 31 other student groups.
• Bowing to widespread outrage, French President Emmanuel Macron backed away from honoring the disgraced Philippe Petain during Armistice Day commemorations. Petain, a hero of World War I, became the figurehead leader of Vichy France, which collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. After the Nazis were defeated, Petain was convicted of treason and stripped of his military ranks. France is hosting events marking the 100th anniversary of World War I.
• On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe revealed a 69% increase in antisemitic incidents this year.
• Anti-Israel rally at Amsterdam Holocaust monument glorifies suicide bomber. London rally for Jews killed in Arab countries disrupted by men shouting in Arabic about killing Jews. Police arrested a man suspected of snatching wigs off the heads of Orthodox Jewish women in Los Angeles. Swastika and “heil Hitler” painted on Jewish family’s Las Vegas home.
Commentary
• Pakistani columnist Irfan Husain wonders why can’t Pakistan come to terms with the existence of Israel.
• Natan Sharansky weighs in on issues raised by the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and what they mean not only for Jewish diaspora communities but Israel as well.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today:
– Avi Issacharoff: Israel and Hamas cheer Qatari infusion, but Abbas could spoil the party
– Yoav Limor: Qatari cash: The right move at the right time
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Calm in Gaza, unrest in the West Bank
– Zvi Bar’el: Israel and the US set eyes on Lebanon as Iran-Saudi proxy clash heats up
– Naomi Linder Kahn: The PA moves to take over Area C with European financial support
– Steven Cook: Oman just bought Israeli insurance
– David Collier: NYU, SJP and a response to ‘the 10 common misconceptions About BDS’
– Amb. Danny Danon: Don’t give up on the Democrats
– Avram Mlotek: Farrakhan’s hate speech leads to actual abuse of Jews. I just experienced it.
– Amotz Asa-El: Can antisemitism flourish in America?
– Thane Rosenbaum: The anniversary of Kristallnacht is a somber reminder
– Seth Frantzman: In the Middle East, World War I centenary is reminder of continuing conflict
Featured image: CC BY daliscar1; gavel CC BY-SA wp paarz; digital CC BY-ND Dennis Skley; Corbyn via YouTube/ITV News; Kristallnacht via Wikimedia Commons;
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