Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories
1. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning terror groups who kidnap people, and called on countries to not give money or political concessions to the kidnappers. More at Reuters.
The resolution’s nice in principle, but A) it won’t deter Palestinian terror groups with ongoing plans to to kidnap Israelis, and B) although there was plenty of Israeli debate over the prisoner release that led to Gilad Shalit’s freedom, I didn’t see similar sentiments coming from the rest of the world.
2. UNESCO’s going ahead with a disputed Jewish exhibition, reports Reuters. Hillel Neuer discussed the fiasco with the Wall St. Journal.
3. Despite being imprisoned in Egypt, Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste managed to get a letter smuggled out from behind bars. More on the Australian national’s plight at Sky News Australia.
4. Hateful Filibustering in The Scotsman: If Hugh Reilly is a victim of anything, it’s his own prejudices and blind hatred of Israel.
Israel and the Palestinians
• The PA is also in Davos trying to drum up international investment. Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa told Bloomberg News the Palestinian leadership wants to tap gas fields off the coast of Gaza and restructure the PA’s debt.
• Palestinians earn degrees while in Israeli jail
• Tzipi Livni is the PA’s newest enemy, writes Khaled Abu Toameh. What does it mean for the peace talks?
The Palestinian Authority leadership is now saying that Livni is no longer fit to negotiate with the Palestinians and must be replaced. In other words, any Israeli negotiator who does not accept all Palestinian demands should be excluded from the US-sponsored peace talks . . .
This Palestinian escalation of rhetoric does not bode well for the future of the peace talks. The Palestinians were first unhappy with Kerry, whom they accused of being biased in favor of Israel. Now they are angry with Livni for daring to criticize Abbas. In the end, Israel and the U.S. will be blamed for the failure of the peace process.
This is exactly what happened after the botched Camp David summit in 2000, when Arafat held Israel and the U.S. fully responsible for the failure of the peace process. A few weeks later, the Second Intifada erupted. The same scenario is likely to repeat itself unless the Palestinian Authority leadership stops putting all the blame on others.
• For more commentary/analysis, see David Singer (why Ariel Sharon haunts Obama and Kerry), Ben White (Europe courts Iran, shuns Israel), Amir Taheri (slamming Kerry’s Mideast and Iranian diplomacy), Michael Curtis, (Scarlett Johansson and Oxfam), and Legal Insurrection (pinkwashing, redwashing and greenwashing Israel).
Rest O’ the Roundup
• Sanity prevails: Israel’s Government Press Office apologized to Turkish journalists who were given a hard time by the Prime Minister’s security team at a December media event.
• JTA: An anti-Hollande march in Paris turned hateful against Jews.
• For more commentary/analysi on the Iranian situation, see Jennifer Rubin (responding to Dennis Ross in Politico and a separate JINSA report he co-authored).
(Image of Livni via YouTube/Israelkongress)
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
[sc:bottomsignup]
