Australia Recognizes ‘West Jerusalem’ as Israel’s Capital

Today’s Top Stories

1. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia’s recognition of “West Jerusalem” as Israel’s capital, adding that its embassy would not be moved until a peace agreement resolves the city’s final status. Disappointed Israeli officials diplomatically called the move “a step in the right direction,” while Palestinians blasted Canberra.

Just to be clear, #Australia’s new policy on #Jerusalem is closer to #Russia’s (West v East, etc) than #America’s, which leaves final disposition of the city’s borders to negotiations and does not commit to an inevitable #Palestine capital there. #Israel https://t.co/v79SomMYbG

— Robert Satloff (@robsatloff) December 15, 2018

2. Thousands of Israelis gathered for the funerals of two soldiers killed in a Palestinian shooting attack outside a West Bank settlement outpost last week. Sgt. Yosef Cohen and Staff Sgt. Yovel Mor Yosef were in the in Netzah Yehuda infantry battalion; the funerals drew attention to the haredi soldiers who serve in Netzach Yehuda.

3. A Pulitzer-nominated Palestinian photographer who works for the New York Times and Time magazine glorified Palestinian terrorism on his Instagram account. 24 News explains:

Wissam Nassar posted pictures of the suspected terrorists behind the Barkan Industrial Estate and Ofra shooting attacks on Instagram, adding the text: “A sad morning that carries with it pride with the martyrs, and honor in resistance. ‘If you lost the way, follow the martyrs’.”

The Palestinian Gaza-based photographer uploaded it as a “story”, meaning it was deleted after 24 hours.

In the News

• The IDF uncovered a fourth Hezbollah tunnel entering into Israeli territory.

• “Moscow is allowing fighters from Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian Shiite groups operating in Syria to carry Russian flags in order to protect them from Israeli airstrikes,” according to Russian media reports picked up by Ynet.

According to the report, Israel complained to Russia that its flags were spotted atop compounds and military convoys belonging to Iran and its allies in Syria. The complaint came ahead of a senior Israeli military delegation visit to Moscow on Tuesday.

According to Syrian opposition leader Colonel Petach Hasson, the Iranians promised to coordinate with the Russian military’s Syrian headquarters in Latakia in exchange for protection for the Shiite militias allied to Iran operating in the war-torn country.

• Is the latest round of terror attacks a sign of Hamas trying to raise its profile in the West Bank? The New York Times discussed the question with analysts.

• Worth reading: The anatomy of a Palestinan riot and Israel’s response

It appears, from watching this and other past protests, that Israel has learned many of the lessons of the previous Intifadas. It has learned to reduce the use of live fire and also to reduce the point of contact between rioters and riot control to a bare minimum of seconds or minutes, so that the number of possible injuries are reduced. This also changes the media war. . . . Israel’s war fighting has become more precise over time, as revealed in reports about the lengths Israel goes to when it warns residents of Gaza about airstrikes, for instance. This precision also appears in the West Bank . . .

• After the IDF demolished the home of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli soldier, Mahmoud Abbas ordered the home rebuilt. The four-story building in Ramallah’s al-Am’ari refugee camp belonged to Islam Yousef Abu Hmaid, who dropped a heavy marble slab onto the head of St.-Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky during an arrest raid in May.

• A European Union court rejected a Hamas appeal over its terror listing.

• Israel’s security cabinet is reviewing arrangements for a Chinese firm to take over Haifa port operations in 2021 — after the US Navy confirmed it might no longer dock there. The Jerusalem Post explains:

Haifa, the nation’s largest port city, regularly hosts joint US-Israeli naval drills and visits from American vessels. But a 2015 agreement between Israel’s Transportation Ministry and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) – a company in which the Chinese government has a majority stake – has raised intelligence and security concerns that are only now prompting an interagency review.

That agreement granted SIPG control over the port for 25 years. The Chinese company has committed $2 billion to the project and, according to state-run media, plans to transform the port’s bay terminal into the largest harbor in the country . . .

But it is unclear whether Israel has any recourse to allay US concerns with the China project, which is already sealed and in motion.

Israel’s inner security cabinet is reviewing its #Haifa deal with the Chinese. “You don’t want a decision that was made ostensibly for business reasons to have an impact on Israel’s relationship with the American navy,” one source said. https://t.co/7Pm4zpvy26

— Michael Wilner (@mawilner) December 15, 2018

• The Knesset is going to host Egyptian, Lebanese, Algerian and Moroccan journalists working for European media outlets, per Israel HaYom.

• The US slapped sanctions on a former Israeli military officer and two other people for accused of illicit arms sales to the South Sudanese government. According to the Wall St. Journal (click via Twitter), retired Maj.-Gen. Israel Ziv is said to have sold South Sudan “about $150 million worth of weapons.”

• All 10 University of California chancellors condemned the boycott of Israel as a “direct, serious threat to academic freedom.”

• Eugene Kontorovich on the cluck of the Irish . . .

As Ireland moving forward to pass bill making business with "occupied territories" a crime, @IrishTimes promoting vacations in occupied Northern Cyprus. Because under the Irish bill, "occupation" defined to only cover Jews. Sen @frances_black, any comment? https://t.co/KbXOabOXjJ

— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) December 13, 2018

• It turns out the European Union gave £140,000 in public money to the group that organizes London’s annual Al Quds rally. Thanks to the Sunday Telegraph‘s disclosure, the European Commission (the EU’s executive branch) is ending its relationship with the Islamic Human Rights Commission. More at the Jewish Chronicle.

Al Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) was launched by Iran as a day of support for the Palestinians; international rallies on the last Friday of Ramadan feature calls for Israel’s destruction, Hezbollah flags, antisemitic banners and more. This HonestReporting video unpacks in more detail the truth behind Quds Day.

• Drip drip drip: UK Labour suspended senior activist Mohammed Yasin, who shared antisemitic posts and conspiracy theories on social media for more than two years. According to the Times of London:

Labour has been riven by allegations of anti-semitism among members and activists, but Yasin is believed to be the first paid member of staff to be implicated.

• Around the world: Britain’s Chelsea football club questioned its own fans’ ‘brainpower’ over antisemitic chants. (Several fans at Chelsea’s match in Budapest were also photographed hoisting a flag with Nazi symbols.) Swastikas and antisemitic graffiti defaced the Washington DC headquarters of the American Federations of Teachers, a Holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki, and tombstones in a French-Jewish cemetery.

Commentary

• Israeli soldier Netanel Felber is fighting for his life after Thursday’s Palestinian terror attack. This attack hits me a little more because he’s an ex-pat from Maryland and because my teenage son is getting closer to 18. As Netanel began his army service, his mother, Judi, wrote “My Son, the Soldier.” It still resonates:

It’s scary to let my little fledgling fly away to the great unknown, with dangers I can’t understand. But, I am also so proud that my son will grow into a man with a purpose bigger than himself, with values of altruism and sacrifice for one’s people. Although I will be so proud when he comes home wearing his new uniform, the mom in me will always have a knot in the pit of my gut until I see him.

Judi Abramson Felber wrote this about Natanel who is fighting for his life. Our heart is full of hope and our souls filled with prayer.

Netanel Ilan son of Sheyna Tzipora נתנאל אילן בן שיינע ציפורה https://t.co/O5mD2s7tS2

— Elana Heideman (@elanayael18) December 13, 2018

• Lebanese writers Khairallah Khairallah and Ali Al-Amin worry Hezbollah will drag their country into war and make the Lebanese public pay the price for Iran’s ambitions.

• Shana Becker, an organizer of Women’s March on Raleigh weighs in on Tablet‘s deep-dive look at antisemitism and bigotry at the core of the Women’s March movement — by calling on the national leadership to resign.

We cannot equivocate in the face of anti-Semitism and violence. We cannot be silent. We cannot give a pass to an elder for inciting anti-Semitism because he has done other great things. Each member of the board of the National Women’s March has done one or more of these things and in so doing has contributed to allowing anti-Semitism to fester within the women’s movement . . .

The board of the National Women’s March reflects on all of the women and allies of the movement. Part of embracing intersectionality is conscientiously listening, talking, and helping address the wrongs we even commit against each other. In this spirit, I am calling in the board of the National Women’s March. Their struggles with anti-Semitism are wounding; stepping down to work together with their Jewish sisters and allies to continue the important dialogue essential in an intersectional movement would be healing. Handing over leadership to other extraordinary women who are free from the specter of anti-Semitism would be uniting.

• Here are other commentaries I’m reading today:

– Raphael Ahren: How Israel’s calls for countries to move their embassies boomeranged
– Yaakov Ahimeir: Half-recognition means redividing the capital
– Herb Keinon: Australia’s Jerusalem decision is more like Moscow’s than Washington’s
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Hezbollah, Lebanon and the limitations of diplomacy
– Ron Ben-Yishai: Stopping the wave of terror attacks before the tsunami hits
– Yoav Limor: Hamas is pursuing its endgame
– Yoni Ben Menachem: Israel security agency’s long reach in the West Bank
– New York Post (staff-ed): Palestinian leaders have a disturbing idea of ‘heroism’

#Hamas is celebrating 31 years. All of their failures in one image. Generation after generation of child abuse, terrorism, and poor choices for the Palestinian people. Sad. pic.twitter.com/wyuyFENIOx

— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) December 15, 2018

– Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: Hezbollah tunnels: How far will the IDF go?
– Pinhas Inbari: Iran is also infiltrating Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon
– Evelyn Gordon: UNIFIL deters EU from banning Hezbollah
– Amos Harel: From Lebanon to Iraq: Iran’s new, hybrid threat to Israel
– Samuel Tadros: Mideast Christians are under threat. How do they feel about Jews and Israel?
– David Harris: Why anti-Zionism is malign
– Falyn Stempler: Progressive circles need to listen to Jewish people
– Ashley Perry: What the Ocasio-Cortez coming can teach us
– Douglas Murray: Why are Jewish people ‘wandering’ again?
– Jonathan Tobin: Why are French “yellow vests” protestors attacking the Jews?

Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND lukexmartin;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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