Today’s Top Stories
1. The Palestinian Authority will reportedly once again allow patients from the Gaza Strip to be treated in Israel after three babies died on Tuesday in the enclave controlled by the Hamas terror group. International journalists rant almost without end that Israel does not provide enough medical care and freedom of movement to Palestinians (often without any context about legitimate security concerns, nor context about the enormous amount of medical care that Israel does provide). Yet it is, ironically, the Palestinian Authority that has lately been preventing Palestinians from accessing Israeli medical care.
Though Israel physically controls its border with Gaza and issues Palestinians almost 200,000 medical entry permits per year, a Palestinian must also have an exit permit from the Palestinian government in order to leave Gaza. The PA is officially the sole Palestinian governing body, and is therefore in charge of issuing such exit permits and applying foreign aid funds to pay for the medical treatment. The PA denies charges that it has been limiting access to medical care, but a study by the Population Health Research Institute indicates that it has.
2. The astoundingly large United States air craft carrier USS George H.W. Bush docked outside Israel’s northern Haifa port this week. The last time a US Navy vessel of such capacity docked in an Israeli harbor was roughly 17 years ago, making the visit a special one that conveys the strong cooperation between the US and Israel in military and security-related issues.
The IDF called the supercarrier, an “important part of the coalition campaign against the Islamic State.” But more importantly, here’s a video of an IDF helicopter landing on the American aircraft carrier. A historic sight, and well worth watching.
3. Amid the raging civil war in Syria, Israel has been quietly coordinating with rebel forces and taking actions itself to carve out a so called “safe zone.” Running roughly 6 miles (10km) deep and 12 miles (20km) long beyond the demarcation line of the Golan Heights, this so-called safe zone is intended to prevent the Syrian government and its allies, specifically Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, from maintaining a foothold along the Israeli fence. In some respects this resembles an Israeli approach to protecting its northern border that was employed during the Lebanese civil war, which ran roughly from 1975 to 1990.
4. Writing in the International Business Times, anti-Israel columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown creates a perversion of reality while claiming to be a victim of attempts to limit her freedom of expression.
5. A Newsweek article by repeat offender Tom O’Connor makes several misstatements of fact in order to create the impression that Israel is somehow behind the Al-Qaeda linked “Al-Nusra” terror group.
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Israel and the Palestinians
• The political camp of Muhammad Dahlan, the self-exiled Fatah leader and arch-rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has weighed in on the tensions between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Abu Zaida, Dahlan’s close associate, said in a statement:
If Abu Mazen’s [Abbas’s] pressure on Gaza continues with Israel’s participation, Hamas will not just accept it…Hamas will decide that it has no choice but to have another confrontation with Israel.
Think about this for a moment: the PA is pressuring Hamas, so the logical response is to go to war with…Israel? The mental gymnastics involved in this train of thought would be impressive, if they weren’t so dangerous.
At this moment it is also worth noticing a certain irony: just this past January, Hamas and Fatah announced that they were about to reconcile and form a unity government. The two parties have made many such announcements since their rounds of violence and resulting political separation in 2007.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to lift the ban on MKs visiting the Temple Mount after having ordered lawmakers not to visit the site back in October 2015. The decision was made in response to growing tensions and a wave of violence triggered by false stories in Palestinian society claiming that Israel was attempting to take control of the compound. The site, called the Temple Mount by Jews and the Haram Al Sharif by Muslims is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site to Muslims. The seven day-long “pilot run” will measure whether visits by MKs cause unrest.
The announcement came after MK Yehuda Glick (Likud), a prominent campaigner for Jewish rights, filed a High Court of Justice court petition against the ban.
Glick stated that
The decision to open the Temple Mount is fair and just,” and that “It is a shame that we need to go to the High Court in order for the decision to be taken.
Israel, which has always denied seeking any form of change in the status quo, will brace itself for the possibility of a new round of violence surrounding the Temple Mount
Mideast Matters
• Saudi Arabian Airlines has denied the authenticity of a picture circulating on social media of one of its planes parked at Ben-Gurion Airport. The official spokesman of Saudi Arabian Airlines was quoted as saying:
…parties and knowledgeable elements [are] publishing lies and spreading rumors and inflating facts with the intent of harming Saudi Arabian Airlines as a national Saudi symbol.
Despite the harsh words, persistent rumors indicate that Israel-Saudi relations have been warming in recent years, at least unofficially and typically in secret. The change, if true, may be related to a shared interest in defending against the growing influence of Iran.
Around the World
• In the midst of a wave of attacks that started with the ramming of civilians and the stabbing of Police Constable Keith Palmer on March 22nd, the United Kingdom is now turning to Israel’s expertise and knowledge in preventing acts of terror. A British team is due to visit Israel in order to gain a greater understanding of the means and methods used by Israeli security forces.
However, Israel and the UK are two very different places with unique situations. Unlike Israel, or even the US for that matter, most British officers do not carry guns while the British capital of London is fifteen times the size of Jerusalem.
British born Micky Rosenfeld, Chief Inspector and Foreign Spokesperson of the Israeli Police stated that:
I must admit that if I was walking around as a police officer in London at a time like this, with just a baton for protection, then I would be worried.
• Germany has approved a deal to sell three nuclear-capable submarines to Israel. Last February, Israel’s attorney general announced a probe into possible corruption on the part of Prime Minster Netanyahu and his personal lawyer David Shimron, related to conflicts of interest in the way the deal was negotiated. As a result, the deal is now being scrutinized by authorities in both countries and reportedly Germany has inserted a clause into the contract giving it the right to cancel the deal if corruption allegations were to be proven.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel on Tuesday. Prime Minister Netanyahu explains the significance:
This is a historic visit to Israel. In the 70 years of the country’s existence, no Indian prime minister has ever visited, and this is further expression of the State of Israel’s military, economic and diplomatic strength.
India’s ties with Israel are not driven by sentiment – as one could argue is partly the case with Israel’s ties with the US – but solely by interests. India understands that it has much to gain militarily, economically and even diplomatically by strengthening ties with Israel. In the past, India has put its relations with the Arab world above its relationship with Israel, including with regard to its previous voting pattern at the United Nations. This visit, as well as recent changes to India’s UN votes, seem to indicate a meaningful shift in Indian priorities and a new era in Israel-India relations.
Commentary/Analysis
• Avi Issacharoff takes a close look at the electricity crisis in Gaza, as well as other complex internal and external challenges, and concludes:
Hamas is sitting on a time bomb and, short of a dramatic turnaround, may have to choose between being eaten alive by its own unhappy constituents and embarking on yet another military adventure against Israel.
Will Israel pay the price for Hamas corruption and incompetence as a de facto governing body?
• Did you think the defeat of Islamic State would be a step toward making the world a better place? Yoram Schweitzer quickly dispels that hope, demonstrating that a wider reaching Salafi-Jihad movement is quickly moving to fill the gap.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Hizbullah Facing Cuts in Financial Support – Alex Fishman
– Hamas in Distress? – Prof. Eyal Zisser
– The Dahlan Plan: Without Hamas and Without Abbas– Zvi Bar’el
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