Today’s Top Stories
1. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that the Palestinian ‘right of return’ should be “off the table.” as the Trump administration prepares to roll out its peace plan. Though the thinking in Washington isn’t new, this is the first time it has been stated publicly as ab official policy shift.
As we discussed in a previous IDNS, the “right” of return is not actually a legal right but a claim by Palestinians to allow all refugees and all their descendants to settle in Israel. This is out of line with the the international laws regarding all other refugee groups in the world as set forth in the 1951 Refugee Convention, yet the UN applies its own unique set of rules to Palestinians.
2. Iran is attempting to fight US sanctions in the International Court of Justice at the Hauge. Their argument is that US sanctions breach a 1955 bilateral agreement on US-Iran trade known as the Treaty of Amity. The US will likely argue that the Hague does not have jurisdiction over US treaties and trade policy. If that fails, the US may argue that Iran is not truly the same country it was in 1955, as the government was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (thus making the treaty inapplicable to the current Iranian government). It is not clear at this stage how any of the arguments will play out, but it does seem to indicate that the sanctions are creating real pressure on Iran.
3. The IDF demolished the home of Muhammad Tarek Ibrahim Dar Yusuf: a Palestinian who killed an Israeli in a terror attack last month. During the demolition Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs at troops. Despite the attack on IDF soldiers, there are no reports of Palestinians being killed or injured. The Associated Press followed a common media trend of referring to these actions as a “protest.” I can’t help but wonder: is there any place else in the world where a journalist would call hurling rocks and explosives at soldiers a “protest?”
Israel and the Palestinians
• Possibly due to the anticipated announcement of a US peace plan, Palestinian President Abbas has announced that he backs a demilitarized Palestinian state. According to Abbas:
I support a state along the 1967 borders without an army. I want unarmed police forces with batons, not guns. Instead of warplanes and tanks, I prefer to build schools and hospitals and allocate funds and resources to social institutions.
This contrasts with Abbas’s ongoing insistence that he won’t stop payments to the Martyrs Fund, which rewards terror attackers and takes up a significant portion of the Palestinian national budget.
• The purchase of accurate surface-to-surface rockets from the defense company Israel Military Industries (IMI) will create new, rapid-firepower response capabilities for the IDF’s ground forces. This will increase the power and precision of ground forces, making them less reliant on artillery brigades and the Israeli Air Force.
• Suffering from one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, Gaza-based software firms have launched coding academies across the Palestinian Territories to help create jobs.
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Around the World
• Two Spanish cities reversed Israel boycott motions following legal action. The towns of Sagunto and Villarrobledo scrapped earlier pro-BDS decisions after intervention by the pro-Israel group ACOM. Tribunals in Spain, including the nation’s Supreme Court in two of its rulings, have voided more than a dozen motions passed by municipalities while other municipalities voluntarily scrapped their boycott motions under threat of legal action. However, dozens of Spanish municipalities still support boycott, more than in any other EU nation.
• Even as the US cuts aid to Palestinians (see our previous IDNS), America is encouraging other nations to step up and fill the gap. America’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said the U.S. cannot be faulted for cutting funding when countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait aren’t doing their part.
• Egypt is not an oil rich nation as many of the Gulf states, yet is developing plans of becoming energy independent and even a net exporter by the end of 2018. Egyptian plans include potentially importing from Israel and Cyprus and then re-exporting to Europe and elsewhere. As the global energy economy changes, look for this to have an impact on Mideast politics and power balances.
• Rubicon, a Greek anarchist group, has staged a protest at the Foreign Ministry building in central Athens to oppose Greek-Israeli energy and military cooperation as well as the decision by the United States to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. As this is a reaction to increasing Greek-Israeli cooperation in a variety of areas, it can actually be seen as a positive sign for Greece-Israel relations.
• In a bizarre speech, UK’s Labor party leader Jeremy Corbyn claims that Israel controls speeches made by British MPs in Parliament.
Commentary/Analysis
• BBC’s bias against Israel shows it is not fit for purpose.
• British Jews who have traditionally supported the Labor party struggle with Jeremy Corbyn’s antisemitism, and what this means for their vote. Meanwhile, analysis and opinions abound, including a statement by former chief rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks that Corbyn an “anti-Semite” who “defiles our politics,” as well as this analysis of Corbyn’s long and disturbing history.
• Israel’s recent Nation State Law encourages Jewish “settlement.” While the term in its original Hebrew refers to settlement throughout Israel, it does not exclude the West Bank. Will this cause new problems for Israel in the future? Will it change the democratic nature of Israeli society? Former editor of the New Republic Martin Peretz gives his take.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– UNRWA Is Not the Solution – Amb. Ron Prosor
– Israel wants to help Pacific with potable water – Radio New Zealand
– Carter’s Plan to Reengage with Assad Regime Is Unrealistic – Frederic C. Hof
Featured image: CC BY-SA Ted Eytan;
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