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. Four Hezbollah fighters who were exposed to chemical agents in Syria are now being treated in a Beirut hospital. A source told the Daily Star that the four “came into contact with chemical agents while searching a group of rebel tunnels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar over the weekend.”
In other words, they stumbled upon a rebel cache of chemical weapons.
A likely story?
One alternative explanation is (pass the popcorn) Hezbollah’s men were collateral damage from Assad’s chemical attack. An equally plausible possibility — but more alarming — is that Hezbollah was handling the chemical weapons.
2. Forget the Israeli cabinet‘s unscheduled meeting, British jets spotted in Cyprus, American warships on the move or the families of Syrian brass fleeing the country. The surest sign of an imminent attack comes from AFP:
Jordan will not be a “launchpad” for military intervention in Syria, a senior government official said . . .
3. The IDF’s often maligned for the way it probes the shootings of Palestinians. Which is why the Jerusalem Post‘s inside look at one IDF investigation is worth reading.
4. Adjudicator Rules Against BDS-Infected Academia: An important ruling sets a hopeful precedent for pro-Israel students facing intimidation and discrimination in British academia.
5. LA Times Embellishing Casualty Figures: While hundreds of people are dying in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq, why is a rise in Palestinian deaths from four to 13 fatalities made to sound so dramatic and negative?
Israel and the Palestinians
• The US State Dept. denied that any Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were cancelled. Problem is, if you watch the full video of the press briefing (via Israel Matzav), AP reporter Matt Lee’s effort to get a straight response from spokesperson Marie Harf was like pulling teeth. Skip ahead to the 22:55 point.
• The Media Line: Egypt and the PA won today’s cutest couple award after Mahmoud Abbas hosted Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmi.
• This is going to cause a real stink: According to Israeli media reports, Mossad agents took Palestinian wives in order to pose as refugees in the 1950s. Some even had children:
Nine agents completed the process and were embedded in the Arab Israeli population. Their mission was to warn of uprisings and to infiltrate the Palestinian Diaspora in Arab countries . . .
One of the men’s biggest accomplishments, according to the report, was providing intelligence on the early days of the PLO.
• What an over-the-top headline in The Independent. The quote marks don’t mitigate the unwarranted hysteria.
• Google’s primary search domain for Palestine was suspended after being attacked by hackers. Details at TechCrunch.
• YNet: BDSniks are pressuring Sir Tom Jones to cancel his upcoming Tel Aviv concert, prompting the Israeli consulate in New York to push back.
• For commentary/analysis, see Asaf Romirowsky and Jonathan Tobin.
Arab Spring Winter
• Why we can’t compare Israel’s new i24 channel to Al Jazeera
• Egypt’s journalists are still under siege, explains Ibrahim Essa in a NY Times commentary.
• For more commentary/analysis, see Tzvi Bisk, Ariel Ben Solomon, Bret Stephens (Wall St. Journal via Google News), CNN, the Financial Times (via Google News), Robert Satloff, plus staff-eds in the Daily Telegraph, Washington Post, and NY Times.
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
