Today’s Top Stories
1. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat threatened (or predicted?) Arab violence if the US relocates its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Here’s Erekat dog whistling after saying he’d resign and the PLO would revoke its recognition of Israel. Draw your own conclusion:
Furthermore, said Erekat, all American embassies in the Arab world would be forced to close — not necessarily because Arab leaderships would want to close them, but because the infuriated public in the Arab world would not “allow” for the embassies to continue to operate.
Reaction from Eugene Kontorovich:
A joke – there was never any real recognition. Worth noting, he also threatened to have his sympathizers attack US embassies. https://t.co/ag6aDluWF7
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) December 19, 2016
2. Israeli-Arab MK Basel Ghattas is suspected of transferring intelligence to a Palestinian security prisoner and smuggled mobile phones to him and another during a visit to the Ketziot Prison near Beersheva on Sunday.
Channel 2 said that Walid Daka — who is serving a 37-year sentence for the 1984 kidnap and murder of 19-year-old IDF soldier Moshe Tamam — was searched after a visit by MK Basel Ghattas of the Joint (Arab) List following a tip-off to officials, and was found to have “significant” information hidden in his underwear.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. Baroness Jenny Tonge’s under investigation by the House of Lords — widely presumed for chairing a controversial meeting in the Parliament building calling for Britain to apologize for the Balfour declaration. At that meeting in October, a participant blamed Israel for Islamic State and suggested that Jews were also responsible for the Holocaust.
The Commissioner for Standards in the House of Lords hasn’t confirmed the reason for his inquiry.
Israel and the Palestinians
• According to the Times of Israel, Hamas continues to allow the smuggling of weapons from Gaza to Islamic State in Sinai. Now we’re talking about anti-tank missiles and improvised explosive devices used in roadside bombings. Injured jihadis are still treated in Gaza hospitals too.
These roadside bombs are a major challenge to the Egyptian Army; every week they inflict heavy casualties. The Egyptians are using various advanced technological means in an effort to solve the problem but have not yet succeeded in completely overcoming it. Some of these roadside bombs come from Gaza; others are assembled in the Sinai. Explosives experts from Hamas’s military wing have arrived in the Sinai to assist with the assembly of the devices.
• The IDF busted a large underground Palestinian home-made weapons factory in Hebron on Sunday night.
Forces discovered more than 100 Carl Gustav m/45 barrels, Russian 7.62 sniper rifles and for the first time, M16 rifle parts with assembly instructions.
During the raid, IDF forces also discovered a large cache of ammunition hidden in one of the walls of the house.
#IDF uncovers 'largest weapons factory ever discovered' under #Hebron home #Israel #Palestinians https://t.co/4oWyO7IxSW pic.twitter.com/DWR4eZdDFa
— Ynetnews (@ynetnews) December 19, 2016
• Gunshots were fired at an Israeli bus in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem, on Monday night. No injuries were reported. And on Sunday night, an Israeli was lightly injured in a drive-by shooting attack near Ramallah.
• UK announces new structure for Palestinian Authority funding
• In a Times of Israel Q+A, Jibril Rajoub, now the Palestinian Authority’s de facto number two man discussed dodged questions about his background in terror and succeeding Mahmoud Abbas.
• Nazareth school holds children’s event honoring killer of three Israelis.
• Reuters updates the latest on Mahmoud Abbas’s crackdown on political opponents.
Around the World
• Argentine prosecutors found new evidence related to the 1994 bombing of the AMIA building. Eighty six people were killed in a massive blast which destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Jewish community in Buenos Aires:
National prosecutors ordered that DNA tests be performed on the evidence.
If the results don’t match with the already identified victims, they could correspond either to an unknown victim or to a suicide terrorist.
• Rectors of universities from 14 Latin American countries want to collaborate with Hebrew U. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the sound of BDSniks gnashing their teeth.
“There are rectors from three countries that we don’t have [diplomatic] ties with, and not only did they come to Israel but we also signed academic collaborations with them,” she said.
• Website targets Jewish community in white supremacist’s home town
• Journalists and unions accuse EU-backed Euronews of pandering to oppressive regimes.
Commentary/Analysis
• The Washington Post op-ed section dog-piled on Donald Trump’s choice of ambassador to Israel, David Friedman with denunciations coming from J Street chief Jeremy Ben-Ami, columnist Richard Cohen, and a staff editorial.
Last but not least, in the paper’s “Post Everything” section, Nathan Hersh of Partners for Progressive Israel urges a boycott of settlement products since the Trump administration won’t be pressuring Israel.
Meanwhile, Elliott Abrams and former Canadian ambassador to Israel Vivian Bercovici (click via Google News) argue that the sky’s not falling with the Friedman appointment.
• Israel-Diaspora ties are on my mind:
– Omri Boehm: Liberal Zionism in the age of Trump
– Shalom Lipner: Divergence grows in the America-Israel relationship
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Ronen Bergman: Tunisia assassination: Yossi Cohen’s baptism of fire
– Alex Fishman: The message behind the Tunisia assassination
– Moshe Arens: Deter Hezbollah — or preempt it?
– Zvi Hauser: Golan Heights: From annexation to recognition
– Baria Alamuddin: Is Iran 100 times worse than Israel?
– Amos Harel: After Aleppo victory, Assad could try to retake Israel border area
– Bassam Tawil: Palestinians: Welcome to the world of Western-funded terrorism
Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA Patrick White with additions by HonestReporting; Argentina CC BY Global Jet; USA CC BY-SA HonestReporting;
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