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. Israel denied media reports that Russia agreed to cancel the sale of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. A number of news services picked up on a Sunday Times of London report that Israel convinced Vladimir Putin that the missiles could fall into the wrong hands and endanger air traffic at Ben Gurion Airport. The Times even noted this Israeli-Russian understanding:
In return, he said, the Russians expected Israel to refrain from further air attacks on Syria.
2. Beirut’s roiling. In a defiant speech, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah publicly confirmed that Hezbollah has personnel fighting in Syria. How did Nasrallah justify being all-in with Bashar Assad?
If Syria falls in the hands of America, Israel and the takfiris, the people of our region will go into a dark period,” he said in a speech to mark the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000. “If Syria falls, Palestine will be lost.”
Hours later, rockets hit Hezbollah neighborhoods in southern Beirut. See Daily Star and AFP coverage.
3. Syrian hackers tried to disrupt Haifa’s water supply. Attack occurred on May 6, reportedly in retaliation for Israeli air strikes on Syria.
4. HonestReporting’s mission continued. Today, the group visited HR’s world headquarters for a presentation by our CEO, Joe Hyams. Then, it was off to Sderot and a VIP tour of the Erez crossing with Gaza. We’re tweeting selected events; follow the mission on Twitter at @HonestReporting.
5. Palestinian Firebombers Exploit Journos as Human Shields: We all know who gets blamed if a foreign reporter covering a clash gets hurt.
6. How to Lie About Israel — And Get Away With It: Saeb Erekat says the PA’s willing to return to peace without pre-conditions — except for some pre-conditions.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Khaled Abu Toameh wonders, Why doesn’t the EU condemn Palestinian torture?
• Israeli ambassador to Britain, Daniel Taub, insists that the Stephen Hawking and the BDS movement are more interested in isolating Israel than in academic freedom or legitimate efforts of reconciliation.
• Former NY Times bureau chief, Ethan Bronner, shares his impressions of Israel after returning for a visit.
• Does this Christian Science Monitor dispatch on Gaza’s falling exports blame Israel?
• Time’s Ilene Prusher examines the state of the one-state solution. (It’s more realistic to talk about the three-state solution.)
• Gil Troy deconstructs McGill University’s decision to give Judith Butler (“a caustic critic of Israel, with a blind spot for terrorist totalitarians”) with an honorary degree.
Both times she failed to denounce the Hamas-Hezbollah religious zealotry, homophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism and genocidal aims. Her need to prettify these terrorist organizations as “social movements,” her reductionist insult to progressivism by suggesting that these brutal anti-democratic movements are at all progressive because they are imperialist meaning anti-Israel, reflects a moral obtuseness and intellectual sloppiness that has made many intellectuals enablers of Islamist terrorists and Palestinian rejectionism.
• Over at the Toronto Star, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner weighs in on Canada’s deportation of Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad. He’s the PFLP terrorist involved in a 1968 El Al hijacking that killed an Israeli passenger. Mohammed lived in Canada for 26 years after falsely declaring he was never convicted of a crime.
- Israeli hackers pierce the veil of Anonymous.
- Syrian civil war intensifies Palestinian divisions.
- An in-depth look at the 20-year-old Syria-Hezbollah arms pipeline.
