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. If Israel makes peace with the Palestinians, then the US will make war on Iran. Should Israel accept such hypothetical linkage known in shorthand as “settlements for Iran?” No way, says Zalman Shoval.
One of the basic assumptions in the aforementioned proposal is that blocking Iran’s nuclear program is just an Israeli interest, and that U.S. military action against Iran would essentially be a “favor” to Israel. . .
In other words, it needs to be clear that if Washington remains unconvinced that an atomic bomb in the hands of the ayatollahs isn’t a direct threat to the country or its essential interests — even if Israel never builds another house in Jerusalem and gives Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas control over the Western Wall — U.S. bomber aircraft won’t be taking off at dawn.
2. Turkey’s premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called Zionism a “crime against humanity.” Press reports credited UN Watch with the scoop and video. Erdogan was addressing a UN forum in Vienna.
“Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity,” Erdo?an said, slamming politicians who use communication tools to deepen the gap between cultures.
3. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah appeared on TV to dismiss rumors that he’s being treated for cancer abroad and that his deputy was ambushed by Syrian rebels. But Syrian rebels responded:
Meanwhile, Radio Sawt Beirut International, which is reported to have connections with Hezbollah’s opposition, claimed that Nasrallah’s speech was actually filmed in Iran.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Maan News: After a 210-day hunger strike, Israeli prison officials transferred Samer Issawi to a Rehovot hospital. Maan also reports that two other prisoners suspended their hunger strikes.
• The Oxford Student Union shot down a motion calling for a boycott of Israel. Details at the Times of Israel. Credit George Galloway with an unwitting assist.
• There’s another brewing book battle. The descendents of Palestinians who fled their homes in 1948 are trying to reclaim books now in the possession of Israel’s National Library. According to AFP, the library’s basement holds some 30,000 books labeled as abandoned property.
• In an LA Times op-ed, Jonathan Schanzer argues that Mahmoud Abbas needs to appoint an “heir apparent.” If the aging Abbas passed away today, by law, the presidency would go to the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council — Aziz Dweik of Hamas:
Should Dweik succeed Abbas, it would be the end of any possible peace process.
Of course, the Fatah faction and the Palestine Liberation Organization (the dominant players in the Palestinian Authority) could try to circumvent Palestinian law (it wouldn’t be the first time) and appoint someone more palatable. However, this would likely prompt another conflict between Fatah and Hamas — not unlike the 2007 conflict, when Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Abbas’ forces.
• Riccardo Dugulin slams Palestinian leaders for cynically using the death of Arafat Jaradat to push a political agenda. He writes in YNet:
If the world is used to Hamas and Hezbollah’s martyr-oriented speeches and gruesome parades of women and children armed with assault weapons and suicide vests, international commentators and policy makers need to realize that the PA has been sponsoring a death-glorifying discourse throughout its history.
Not only has the authority in charge of ruling over Judea and Samaria been at the epicenter of some of the worst terrorist campaigns led against the State of Israel, over the last decades it has also promoted a propaganda machine aimed at distorting the realities on the ground and creating a culture of victimization which takes its roots in the death of young people.
• Professor Ken Lasson (Baltimore Sun op-ed) calls on President Obama to free Jonathan Pollard.
- Western negotiators dropped demand that Iran shut down Fordo.
- Muslim Brotherhood gets control of Egypt’s main state-run TV stations.
- US training Syrian rebels.
