Today’s Top Stories
1. Claiming that the intifada is really a series of Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinians, PA President Mahmoud Abbas met with Fatou Bensouda, the head of the International Criminal Court, to urge that a preliminary investigation into so-called Israeli “war crimes” be put on a fast-track.
2. A Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai, killing all 224 people aboard. Islamic State claimed “credit” for downing the jet, but Russian officials ruled out terrorism, attributing the downing to unspecified technical reasons. To be on the safe-side, Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France-KLM re-routed flights away from the area. More coverage in the Washington Post.
3. Reports say that the Israeli Air Force bombed Hezbollah targets in Syria. This would be the first time Israel has launched an operation in Syria since the Russian air force joined the fray. With the news that a small number of American special forces soldiers were sent to Syria, the battlefield is getting crowded . . .
4. Audio: The Violence is Not Random: I was on the Mottle Wolf podcast taking issue with media accounts calling the wave of Palestinian terrorism “random violence.”
Israel and the Intifada
• At the moment, reports are coming in over a suspected vehicle attack near Hebron. This morning, a terrorist attacked IDF soldiers with a knife in the same place and was shot dead. This is in addition to yesterday’s incident in which a terrorist attempted to stab Israeli soldiers and was also killed. Reuters mentions social media incitement, fears that Israel might change the “status-quo” on the Temple Mount, and “frustration” at the failure of peace talks as motives behind the attacks.
• The focus of the violence seems to have shifted to Hebron, where Palestinian attacks against soldiers have been occurring almost daily. Some Palestinians believe that Israel plans to divide the Temple Mount in a way similar to the way Jews and Arabs have been separated at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Israel separated Jews and Arabs at the Hebron holy site after Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Arab worshippers in 1994. Despite the repeated rumors, Israel has no plans to change the status quo at the Temple Mount.
• Israel marked the 20th anniversary of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin with a rally in Tel Aviv where the crowd was estimated at 100,000. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke, as did President Barack Obama on video.
An Israel HaYom poll showed that while most respondents respect Rabin as a leader, they do not believe the Oslo Accords were justified. The Daily Telegraph uses coverage of the commemoration to write about current Israeli extremist groups.
Iranian Atomic Urgency
• Israel’s top intelligence officer says that Israel and Iran are already at war. It is a war of technology and although Israel maintains a lead, that lead is being eroded by massive Iranian investment in science and higher education. He warns of the potential for unprecedented Israeli civilian casualties in a shooting war with Iran.
• Fox News reports that key equipment at a sensitive Iranian military site has disappeared according to international nuclear inspectors who visited the Parchin military site.
• The New York Times Sunday Review ran a cover story about Eritrean refugees coming to Israel. Like many other countries, Israel is dealing with a difficult problem without any clear solutions. (Those other countries don’t get the Sunday Review treatment.)
• The International Olympic Committee stripped an international shooting competition of its status as an Olympic qualifier after an Israeli judge was denied entry to Kuwait as a supervisor. It is good to see the IOC standing up to the sports boycott of Israel by much of the Arab world.
Commentary/Analysis
• Writing for the Gatestone Institute, Bassam Tawil shows how Palestinian claims that Israel is endangering the Al-Aqsa Mosque are pure bunk. Important because he is writing as a practicing Muslim. He starts with an interesting observation: “Ironically — I am ashamed to admit it — thanks to the Israel Police, Al-Aqsa is the safest mosque in the Middle East.”
• George Will makes the case that Iranian anti-Semitism is as dangerous as the attitudes were in Nazi Germany.
• Yiftah Curiel from the Israeli Embassy in London was given op-ed space in the International Business Times to point how often in the media, Palestinian terrorists are being equated with their victims in articles covering the recent wave of terror. One prime example from today’s coverage: Haaretz headline “10 Israelis, at least 68 Palestinians killed during terror wave last month.
• Revital Malca, Israel’s Deputy Consul General in Miami was given space in the Miami Herald to write about the Palestinian incitement that is at the core of the current wave of terrorism.
•The Washington Post asks whether Facebook could be blamed for the murder of Richard Lakin because of the terrorist’s use of the social media platform.
Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
— Interesting New York Times profile on an Arab-Israeli spokeswoman for the Israeli police.
— The Hidden Hand behind the Palestinian Terror Wave
— Lone Wolf Terrorism and Social Media
Image of Rabin via YouTube/Jonathan Meital;
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.
