Today’s Top Stories
1. The IDF launched an operation along the Lebanese border to destroy Hezbollah attack tunnels. IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stressed that Operation Northern Shield was only taking place on the Israeli side of the border and that the tunnels were not yet ready for use.
Conricus didn’t specify how many tunnels were being destroyed or how far into Israel they penetrated. He accused Iran of providing money and technical assistance and chided Lebanon’s government for abdicating control of the border area to the terror group. Although the IDF reinforced its presence along the border as a precaution, northern residents were not instructed to change their daily routines and reservists have not been called up.
Take your pick of Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and Ynet coverage. The latter reported:
IDF officials estimated the operation would last a few weeks, but noted that it depended on how Hezbollah would choose to respond. Israel will also demand to implement its defensive measures in areas along the border that are under dispute, which could lead to protest from the Lebanese government.
As this roundup was published, the Lebanese side of the border remained calm. One tunnel was said to be significantly larger than Hamas’s tunnels. The IDF released this video detailing the threats posed by the tunnels.
The operation comes one day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Per Israeli media reports, Netanyahu told Pompeo that “Israel could take military action if Beirut does not clamp down on Hezbollah, amid concerns that Tehran has begun shipping advanced arms directly to the terror group in Lebanon.”
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2. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Capitol Hill, announced plans to lead a congressional delegation to “the occupied West Bank.” The Michigan representative told The Intercept she hopes the yet-unscheduled junket will serve as an alternative to AIPAC’s annual mission for congressional freshmen. The Jerusalem Post and Ynet picked up on the story.
Tlaib also publicly expressed her support for BDS for the first time.
3. It’s official: Johannesburg’s city council named a street after Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled. Tweet of the day goes to Michael Dickson‘s response.
This embrace of extremism is not a good look for the ANC or for South Africa: Johannesburg names road after Palestinian terrorist airplane hijacker Leila Khaled – What next? Osama Bin Laden Drive? https://t.co/Lv71oNODbJ
— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) December 4, 2018
In the News
• Israel’s Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services will no longer recognize bachelor’s degrees in social work from Al-Quds University, saying the program incites against Israel. Details at Israel HaYom.
• Worth reading: The New York Times examines the legal and political factors that have Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future hanging in the balance.
• Hate Israeli traffic jams? Globes examines the status of eight transportation projects that will supposedly clear the congestion.
• Around the world: Swiss authorities are investigating the vandalization of a Basel synagogue. Earlier this year, a kosher butcher shop in the same town was vandalized four times in one month. Racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim stickers were found on public signs in the Providence area. A swastika was painted on a San Diego home hours after Chanuka decorations had been put up.
Commentary
• What was Hezbollah’s operational plan for those cross-border terror tunnels? In a nutshell, Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira explains that the terror group sought to be able to move hundreds of fighters and take control of isolated Israeli communities along the northern border.
• Ron Ben-Yishai and Nahum Barnea weighed in on the Netanyahu-Pompeo meeting, correctly writing before Operation Northern Shield began that the diplomatic jaw-jaw was a warning to both Lebanon and Iran.
• For more commentary on Northern Shield see
– Yaakov Katz: Hezbollah’s attack tunnels are just part of Israel’s concerns in the north
– Amos Harel: Attack tunnels from Lebanon: Israel robs Hezbollah of major offensive asset
– Lahav Harkov: Northern Shield was planned, but its political timing is impeccable
• Prof. Marc Lamont Hill and antisemitic white supremacist David Duke sure make for strange bedfellows.
When David Duke supports your cause, you may be in the wrong. https://t.co/G6OCbZQYoN
— Annika H Rothstein (@truthandfiction) December 3, 2018
• Here are other commentaries I’m reading today:
– Shmuel Rosner: Israel’s warming relations with Muslim Arab states disproves ‘linkage’ theory
– Jerusalem Post (staff-ed): Johannesburg rewards terrorism
– Yonah Jeremy Bob: The Netanyahu corruption probe: Attorney-General holds all the cards
– Nahum Barnea: Netanyahu’s Case 4000: Cashbox for flattery
Featured image: CC BY-SA Kurt Bauschardt;
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