Today’s Top Stories
1. Two controversial Knesset bills were postponed to next week amid coalition infighting.
We’re talking about the “Regulation bill,” which would retroactively legalize unrecognized settler outposts, and the “Muezzin bill,” which would bar mosques from using loudspeakers to call Muslims to prayer.
The clock’s ticking on the Regulation bill: the legislation is an attempt to bypass a Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Amona outpost to be demolished by December 25. The last time police demolished buildings in Amona under court order in 2006, the ensuing clash between settlers and security forces was ugly. Could the violence repeat itself?
2. Fatah’s congress kicked off in Ramallah. Yesterday’s main development: delegates unanimously re-elected Mahmoud Abbas as party leader. There has been talk that the confab will also choose a successor for the 81-year-old Abbas, who also serves as president of the Palestinian Authority and chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Because of the split with Hamas, it is not certain who would be next in line to lead the Palestinian Authority if Mr. Abbas were incapacitated.
Mr. Abbas planned to address the conference on Tuesday evening, and he sat onstage and appeared in good spirits. At the last minute, though, he postponed his speech until Wednesday. Some veteran observers doubted that he would use the occasion to identify a possible heir, if only because doing so might set up another power center in the West Bank that would inevitably undercut his authority.
Related tweet of the day from Gregg Carlstrom:
A youthful gathering of Fatah members anoints Mahmoud Abbas as the leader for a new generation. pic.twitter.com/1WK3gTFfga
— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) November 29, 2016
3. Jerusalem is neither confirming nor denying Arab media reports that the Israeli Air Force struck a Hezbollah convoy on the Damascus-Beirut highway and an arms cache in the Damascus area.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
4. Unintended Irony Over French Settlement Labeling? An odd choice for an illustrative photo along with an inaccurate caption unintentionally highlights how damaging the singling out of settlement products would be for both Jews and Arabs.
5. Fact-Check Fail Fixed: Israel Never Bombed Morocco!: Nor is Israel at fault for one of Hollywood’s biggest flops.
6. Video: The UN Blames Israel…for Saving the World: The UN’s World Health Organization just gave Israel its highest honor. So why did they also single out Israel for condemnation, while ignoring the whole rest of the world?
Israel and the Palestinians
• The president of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, donned a Palestinian scarf to mark an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the UN.
• Two eastern Jerusalem hospitals — Al-Maqased and Augusta Victoria — warned that they face closure over an unpaid PA debt f $62.4 million.
The two hospitals said that they will be forced to start postponing surgeries from Tuesday unless they receive the outstanding money, which they need in order to purchase equipment and medicine.
• Hackers took over an Israeli Channel 2 news broadcast, posting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and other messages related to the wildfires and muezzin bill. Jerusalem Post coverage.
• Reuters: Muscle men ring up dollars with Gaza private security firms.
• Palestinians are fuming over a delegation of African diplomats visiting Jerusalem’s Old City under Israeli auspices. The event, sponsored by the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, sought to drum up African business. The Times of Israel reports the envoys met with MKs and municipal officials, and toured various sites despite PA protests:
But on Monday morning, the ambassadors of Ethiopia and Zambia and diplomats from Cameroon, Ghana, Angola, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo did not hesitate to meet with Israeli government officials beyond the Green Line and tour Jewish sites there. (The ambassadors of South Africa and Ivory Coast had planned to attend as well, but canceled on short notice.)
Commentary/Analysis
• Whoda thought this?
There are many Arabs and Jews who believe all the calamities and wars that have beset the Arab world, including the Arab Spring, are part of Allah’s curse on those states over the discriminatory treatment toward the Jews. The leaders of those states didn’t want to or couldn’t defend the People of the Book, even though the Quran tells Muslims that they should treat non-Muslims, including Jews, with respect, if they accept Islamic rule.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Benny Avni: The Ohio State attack was honed by Palestinians
– Prof. William Jacobson: Palestinian car ramming tactic comes to Ohio State
– Moshe Arens: Israelis’ hopes and expectations for Donald Trump
– Jonathan Tobin: An Obama post-presidency and Israel
– AJ Caschetta: The UN’s Palestine language
– Elliott Abrams: Jimmy Carter blames Israel one more time
– Yves Mamou: French labeling guidelines ignore 200 other territorial conflicts
– David Harris: In honor of Jewish refugees from Arab lands: Letter from a forgotten Jew
Featured image: CC BY-NC Ed Stevenson; Knesset CC BY israeltourism; Africa CC0 Pixabay;
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