Embassy Move Back on the Table

Today’s Top Stories

1. Is the American embassy moving to Jerusalem? American Vice-President Mike Pence indicated that the topic is apparently back on the table, saying on Sunday that President Donald Trump was seriously considering the matter. Meanwhile, Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer says there is ‘no daylight’ between the countries for first time in years. Both were speaking at a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), where Dermer said there was “a meeting of the minds” when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington DC in February. Dermer made specific reference to defending against Iran, security cooperation, and defense of Israel at the UN.

2. With Iranian President Rouhani travelling to meet with Russian President Putin in Moscow, various forms of cooperation between Iran and Russia, Russia and the United States, and Russia and Israel are making the Middle East into an increasingly complicated place. What does this mean for the role of Hezbollah in Syria and for Iran throughout the Middle East?

3. Hamas partially re-opens the key Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. The Erez crossing is the main channel for movement of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. While Israel has closed the crossing for brief periods in the past over security concerns, this is the first time it has been closed by Hamas, in apparent retaliation for the killing Friday of major Hamas figure Mazen Faqha, which at least one Hamas spokesperson has blamed on Israel. It is not yet clear who actually carried out the killing, but even if the closure is some form of retaliation against Israel, is it unclear how the action actually harms anyone other than the residents of Gaza.

4. In the wake of a deadly attack at the British Parliament, which the BBC unambiguously identified as a “terror attack,” the Brazilian division of the BBC took a different approach: suggesting that the terrorists might actually be “freedom fighters.” HonestReporting critiqued the matter in English, as did HonestReporting Brasil on its Portuguese language Facebook page.

British Colonel Richard Kemp (Ret.), who is widely followed in the UK and throughout the world, shared the critique on Twitter:

British taxpayers are funding BBC Brazil who suggest Islamic terrorist in London may have been a “freedom fighter”. https://t.co/iPRtzvtnCU

— R?????? K??? (@COLRICHARDKEMP) March 26, 2017

Israel and the Palestinians

• In yesterday’s IDNS we reported on the close range assassination of major Hamas figure Mazen Faqha. Though it is not yet clear who is behind the killing it seems to have been especially professional, and is already increasing tensions between Hamas and Israel. Non-wartime Israeli actions in Gaza have typically been limited to air power, raising two questions: could this have been an Israeli action? And if so, does it represent a new mode of operations for Israeli forces in Gaza?

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bitter political rivalry with Mohammad Dahlan and the deep hatred Abbas has towards Dahlan has resulted in a massive search by Palestinian security forces for hundreds of Palestinian youths who participated in several conferences organized by Dahlan for Fatah activists in Ein a-Sukhna, Egypt. Some of the students were located and interrogated, and ten of them were transferred to administrative detention, accused of having attempted to co-operate with Egyptian intelligence in an attempt to overthrow the PA chairman.

• Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has (again) vowed to capture all of Israel,  reiterating that his group will not abandon a “single inch” from Palestine, while also calling for ending the inter-Palestinian rift and achieving national reconciliation. Haniyeh made the statement in an address during a visit on Wednesday to the house of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City to mark the 13th anniversary of his death. This stands in contrast to a Hamas statement several days earlier, hinting that Hamas might be open to negotiations based on 1967 lines. Does either statement carry any meaning of new significance?

Commentary/Analysis

• Writing in The Jerusalem Post, David Brinn describes a conversation with Palestinian Authority figure Jabril Rajoub. Rajoub has in recent years developed somewhat of a reputation for being flexible, pragmatic and willing to engage with whom he calls, “rational Israelis.” Yet Brinn describes a discussion filled with mixed messages that left him with an uncertain feeling. Here is a video of some of the conversation.

• Does the assassination of a senior Hamas member really signal escalation? Or does it serve as a de-escalating warning? Or is it perhaps just “business as usual” between Israel and the various terror elements of the Gaza Strip?

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Netanyahu: We Will Defeat Radical Islamic Terror Much Quicker If We Work Together with Other Threatened Nations
– Ron Prosor: The UK Cracks Down on the UN’s Anti-Israel Dishonesty
– Elliott Abrams: What’s the Palestinian Contribution to Peace?

Featured image: CC BY Jon S;

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