Israel and the Middle East News Update

Friday, October 14

Headlines:

 UNESCO Fails to Mention Jewish Ties to Temple Mount  PA: Denial of Jewish History 'Victory for Palestinian People'  Trump: UNESCO Decision Evidence of ‘Enormous Anti-Israel Bias’ at UN  Palestinians Sound out UNSC Members on Settlements Resolution  Netanyahu: 'You don't need the Foreign Ministry People; I'm Here'  Gold after Resignation: No Bad Blood with Netanyahu  Saudi Lobbyist Calls for Normalization With Israel

Commentary:

 Ha’aretz: “Trump’s downfall dismantles Netanyahu’s Republican Iron Dome as well”  By Chemi Shalev, senior columnist at Ha’aretz covering US elections  Ynet News: “'Clinton or Trump: The Jewish dilemma”  By Yossi Shain, Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● David Abreu, Associate Editor

News Excerpts October 14, 2016 Ynet News UNESCO Fails to Mention Jewish Ties to Temple Mount The United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passed a draft resolution on Thursday that failed to acknowledge the Jewish people's ties to the Temple Mount, raising ire in Israel. The proposal "strongly condemns the Israeli escalating aggressions and illegal measures against the Waqf Department and its personnel, and against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their Holy Site Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif, and requests Israel, the Occupying Power, to respect the historic Status Quo and to immediately stop these measures." It omits the Jewish name for the holy site—the Temple Mount—and instead refers to it only by its Muslim name—Al-Haram Al Sharif. See also, “Netanyahu Slams UNESCO Resolution on Temple Mount: Like Denying Link Between Egypt and the Pyramids” (Ha’aretz)

Ynet News PA: Denial of Jewish History 'Victory for Palestinian People' Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority, welcomed on Thursday a UNESCO resolution which fails to acknowledge Jewish ties to the Temple Mount. “This decision is an important victory for the Palestinian people, the protectors of al-Aqsa, and in terms of national defense,” a Palestinian spokesperson said. A Fatah press release said that the importance of the decision lies in its content, specifically that it denies any historical connection between Jews and Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The statement also stressed the important timing of the resolution, which comes “at a time of increased Judaization of Jerusalem and an increase in the number of infringements (by Jews) into al- Aqsa, along with the number of home demolitions.” See also, “US Jews: UNESCO vote seeks to erase Jewish ties to Jerusalem (Times of Israel)

Times of Israel Trump: Decision Evidence of ‘Enormous Anti-Israel Bias’ Donald Trump weighed in on Thursday on a controversial resolution approved earlier in the day by the UN’s cultural arm that erases the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and its holy sites, calling the move a “one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city” and “further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias” at the United Nations. Trump said that under his potential administration, “the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel” and that “Israel will have a true, loyal and lasting friend in the United States of America.”

Times of Israel Pal’ Sound out UNSC Members on Settlements Resolution After explosive UNESCO decision, Palestinian envoy says he’s met with half of 15-member council ahead of informal session Friday and amid new push for UN membership. The Palestinians said Thursday they are sounding out members of the UN Security Council on a new resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement building and on prospects for becoming a full member of the United Nations. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that he met with about half the 15-member council in the last 10 days and expects to meet the rest in the next week.

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Ha’aretz Netanyahu: 'You don't need the Foreign Ministry; I'm Here' Prime Minister Netanyahu told defense officials and military officers at a discussion on the Palestinian issue last month that they “don’t need the Foreign Ministry people; I’m here.” Two sources who attended the meeting and asked to remain anonymous said officers and Defense Ministry officials asked why Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold or anyone else from his ministry weren't there to weigh in on these issues, of which they’re in charge. Netanyahu’s brief answer astonished the attendees. “You don’t need the Foreign Ministry people,” he said. “I’m here.” An official who attended the meeting said that at the end of the discussion Netanyahu allocated to the Defense Ministry and the military some of the tasks that in a democratic country would ordinarily be given to the Foreign Ministry. See also, “Dore Gold to leave Israeli Foreign Ministry” (Jerusalem Post)

Jerusalem Post Gold after Resignation: No Bad Blood with Netanyahu Denying any bad blood with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold unexpectedly resigned on Thursday, citing “personal reasons” for his decision to leave his job immediately as the country's top diplomat just 15 months after taking over the position. Gold is the second top foreign policy official around Netanyahu to opt out of office in less than three months because of “personal reasons.” Yaakov Nagel, the acting head of the National Security Council, turned down an appointment to head the organization in August, also citing personal reasons. Netanyahu thanked Gold, who has served at his side in various capacities for some 25 years, for his dedicated service. He quickly named diplomat Yuval Rotem as Gold's replacement.

Ha’aretz Saudi Lobbyist Calls for Normalization With Israel A U.S.-based Saudi lobbyist called for closer economic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia in an op- ed at “The Hill”, in possibly yet another sign of a thaw in traditional Saudi hostility to Israel. Saudi Arabia technically still does not recognize Israel's existence. In his op-ed, however, Salman al-Ansari, the founder and president of the Washington-based Saudi Public Relation Affairs Committee, asserted that "the prevailing political discourse might not only indicate that it is in the interest of [Saudi Arabia and Israel] to form a collaborative alliance, but in the interest of the greater Middle East and their global allies as well." Ansari added that, although some may suggest that "rapprochement" between Israel and Saudi Arabia may be found in the common threat that they see in Iran, "a more solid foundation for establishing ties between the two countries could manifest in the context of a mutually beneficial partnership." See also, “How Israel can contribute to Saudi's vision 2030” (The Hill)

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Ha’aretz– October 14, 2016 Trump’s Downfall Dismantles Netanyahu’s Republican Iron Dome as Well

By Chemi Shalev

 Donald Trump is going down. No presidential candidate so far behind has ever recovered in such a short time. After the recording of his repugnant words on women, after five victims and counting have now come forth to complain of his sexual assaults, after his harsh, take no prisoners, “Let me die with the Philistines" reaction, it’s impossible to see how Trump can recover.  If a catastrophe does not befall America, if nothing too terrible is discovered about Hillary Clinton, if the world isn’t upside down and no one knows anything, Trump will suffer a humiliating defeat on November 8. The Republican Party might lose its majority in one if not both houses of Congress. The Evangelical movement, which provides the GOP with ideological and logistical support, could be torn apart by internal strife. Jewish Republicans will be deserting the party in droves, leaving Sheldon Adelson alone among the ruins. And the political Iron Dome that Benjamin Netanyahu has relied on for the past quarter century to support and protect him against leftist, liberal U.S. Democrats could corrode and crumble, leaving him - and Israel, if you are so inclined - alone and vulnerable.  It’s not Netanyahu’s fault, his supporters might say. He couldn’t have anticipated a problematic candidate like Trump, they’ll add. Nonetheless, it is Netanyahu who decided to put all our eggs in the GOP’s basket, against most people’s better judgment. It is Netanyahu who’s relied on Republicans to rebuff President Obama’s peace initiatives. It is Netanyahu who colluded with the GOP leadership, alienating many Democratic lawmakers, before making his famous speech in Congress against the nuclear deal with Iran. It is Netanyahu who openly and brazenly supported Mitt Romney in 2012. And it is Netanyahu who three weeks ago inexplicably initiated a last minute New York meeting with Trump, that could only benefit the Republican candidate. Left with no choice, Clinton showed up as well, 24 hours before her first debate, but the event registered with her and her advisers.  It is Netanyahu who enlisted the Moral Majority’s Jerry Falwell a quarter of a century ago, on the eve of the Monica Lewinsky affair, to deter President Bill Clinton, just as he and the Israeli right wing have preferred ever since to court the settlement-supporting two-state-opposing Evangelicals rather than contend with the more complex, challenging and critical Jewish community. Because the Evangelicals will go along with whatever meshugas the Israeli right can invent, and then some.  Netanyahu fans as well as many Republicans will try to make you believe that Donald Trump is a fluke, an aberration, a bug in an otherwise rational and coherent operating system. He isn’t. The Republican candidate may hold different views than Republicans and may not have grown in their garden, but he is nonetheless a natural outgrowth of the xenophobia, racism, anarchism and adherence to lurid conspiracy theories that have overtaken the GOP in recent years.

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 One can understand why most Israelis have preferred not to look a gift horse in the mouth, to take Republican support at face value and to view it as somehow unconnected to the party’s aversion to science, oppression of women, hostility to immigrants, fear of minorities and racially-tinged attitude towards America’s first black president. Israelis yearn for international love. All too often, they are rejected for irrational reasons, such as the UNESCO vote on Thursday denying the Jewish ties to Jerusalem. They’ll take support wherever they can get it.  But just like Trump, the GOP’s unequivocal, unqualified and unquestioning support is no fluke. It is not an aberration. It’s not the exception, but the rule, part of the same loony-tune GOP tapestry that found itself anointing Donald Trump. Accepting Netanyahu’s basic pessimistic view of the Middle East is one thing, but how rational is it, really, for presidential contenders of a serious party to sound as if their statements on Israel were formulated at Likud Party Headquarters?  How logical is it for American politicians who propose to lead the free world to declare that the first thing they’ll do in the White House is phone Netanyahu (Carly Fiorina), that Palestinians should be moved to Egypt (Ben Carson) that there’s no two-state solution to be had (Marco Rubio) that Judea and Samaria belong to Israel (Mike Huckabee) that they’ll move the American Embassy to Jerusalem (Ted Cruz) or, the blockbuster of this political season, that they’ll tear up the Iran nuclear deal on their first day in the White House, as Trump halfheartedly and his deputy Mike Pence have enthusiastically promised?  Seriously? That’s the first thing they’ll do? Tear up a deal signed by the world’s major powers, ratified by the United Nations Security Council and supported by the entire international community? Create an immediate diplomatic crisis and risk war in the Middle East? Really? And this passes for “rational?"  The echo-chamber discourse between Netanyahu and the GOP bestows a sense of legitimacy and reasonableness on Netanyahu in particular and the Israeli right wing in general. It allowed many Israelis to pretend that their government’s position was within the bounds of the acceptable, because a major U.S. party, one that could return to the helm at any moment, supported it wholeheartedly. It alleviated Israel’s sense of isolation, because even when the world is against us, we’ll always have the GOP.  Now, along with Trump, this facade is collapsing. The GOP is in disarray. The Evangelicals are facing what could turn out to be a historic rupture. The Jews are running for their lives. Netanyahu’s Defensive Shield is crumbling. He could be facing a bad situation, with a Democratic President, that could go to worse, with a Democratic Senate, to worst of all, if the Republicans lose the House as well, a development that seemed unthinkable a short while ago but now? Not so much.  And make no mistake: Clinton might be “to the right” of Obama on Israel, but she is no less committed to pursuing a two state solution, and it won’t be along the delusional lines supported by Netanyahu and the GOP.  In a normal country, voters would be demanding the prime minister’s head for betting their house on a horse that not only seems destined to lose but also could collapse before the finish line. But be patient. This is no time to seek revenge. If the rosy predictions of Democrats and the hellish projections of Republicans are borne out, the composition of the next 5

American Congress and Administration will supply more than enough consolation, satisfaction, entertainment and Schadenfreude for Netanyahu’s critics in Israel and abroad. And Trump will deserve all the credit. Chemi Shalev covers US elections for Ha’aretz

SUMMARY: Now, along with Trump, the GOP is in disarray. The Evangelicals are facing what could turn out to be a historic rupture. The Jews are running for their lives.

Netanyahu’s Defensive Shield is crumbling. He could be facing a bad situation, with a Democratic President, that could go to worse, with a Democratic Senate, to worst of all, if the Republicans lose the House as well, a development that seemed unthinkable a short

while ago but now? Not so much. And make no mistake: Clinton might be “to the right” of Obama on Israel, but she is no less committed to pursuing a two state solution, and it won’t be along the delusional lines supported by Netanyahu and the GOP. In a normal

country, voters would be demanding the prime minister’s head for betting their house on a horse that not only seems destined to lose but also could collapse before the finish line. But be patient. This is no time to seek revenge. If the rosy predictions of Democrats

and the hellish projections of Republicans are borne out, the composition of the next American Congress and Administration will supply more than enough consolation, satisfaction, entertainment and Schadenfreude for Netanyahu’s critics in Israel and

abroad. And Trump will deserve all the credit.

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Ynet News– October 14, 2016 Clinton or Trump: The Jewish Dilemma Many traditional Jews will vote for Donald Trump despite his image, personality, rhetoric and messages, yet the large Jewish majority will vote for Hillary Clinton because it perceives her Republican rival as dangerous. By Yossi Shain

 Even after the latest debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, there is still a sharp Jewish dilemma in the current US presidential election. On the one hand, how can a Jew identify with such a morally problematic and controversial figure like Trump? On the other hand, how committed are the Jews to the Democratic Party, after many of its leaders and voters have distanced themselves in recent years from the traditional core values of the American center?  For decades, US Jews identified with the liberal center that promised them the status of a minority which shares the American vision and is identified with the American democratic ethos, which was also “attached” to the Israel-US relations. But this ethos has been worn down in recent years among progressive democrats, like Bernie Sanders, who have also moved away from sympathizing with the Jews as a minority.

 The conservative right gave the Jews “a safer place.” In addition, while progressive Democrats ceased to see Israel as a democratic state but rather as an occupying state, the Republicans presented Israel as a spearhead in the battle for worldwide democracy.  In the current elections, Trump represents the perception of returning to tribalism, fear of universalism, a demand for American greatness based on the values of the past and an objection to anti-capitalist social activism. All these are values which Jewish liberals were always afraid of, in addition to their fear of the religious-Christian elements of this perception.  Many of the more religious Jews, the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, US Jewry’s fastest growing group, feel secure even against these messages. They are not afraid of the old white anti- Semitism and do not hesitate to define themselves as a separated tribal group. In a meeting with Republican Jews, I was jokingly told by my hosts that the difference between a Reform Jew and Trump is that the latter will at least have Jewish grandchildren.  The Jewish liberals, on the other hand, are caught in a trap. Their communities are growing weaker due to mixed marriages and an erosion of their Jewish ethnic identity. The focus on universal social activism, which they like to refer to as “tikkun olam,” has moved them further away from the tribal Jewish experience. There is a reason why US President Barack Obama used the expression “we are all Jews” to define the American liberal Jewry.  In the upcoming elections in November, many of the “tribal” Jews will vote for Trump although his image, personality, rhetoric and messages are very far off from the American Jewish cultural experience and tradition. They too have essentially moved away from these values and this tradition. Nonetheless, the large Jewish majority is expected to vote for Clinton because it perceives Trump as unexpected and dangerous.

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 Despite the dramatic changes taking place in the Jewish community and the numerical increase of the more religious forces, most US Jews are concerned that Trump may lead a radical change in direction. They believe that he cannot lead the US in an organized manner and that his term as president may evoke a social unrest which will also affect the economic system. Even Jews in the Democratic center, who are repelled by the progressive voice in the party and do not trust Clinton, will prefer her “conventionalism,”- the expected - even if it is problematic.  Surprisingly, the Israeli issue has almost disappeared in this election. The Democratic camp is avoiding a conflict with the Israeli government at this stage, for fear that the Jewish forces in the center that applauded Trump at the AIPAC conference will take a further step and vote for him. In fact, it is Clinton’s campaign which is stopping the administration right now from advancing an international initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Meanwhile, the US Jewry’s leadership is sitting on the fence and trying not to get caught in the eye of the storm, which is reaching new intolerable lows. The American Jewry, just like all of America, is greatly divided in this election campaign, but its leaders understand very well that they must make an effort to reduce the internal rifts, including concerning the Israeli issue, as they face the unknown. Yossi Shain is Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University and Chairman of its Political Science Department

SUMMARY: In the upcoming elections in November, many of the “tribal” Jews will vote for Trump although his image, personality, rhetoric and messages are very far off from the American Jewish cultural experience and tradition. They too have essentially moved away from these values and this tradition. Nonetheless, the large Jewish majority is expected to vote for Clinton because it perceives Trump as unexpected and dangerous. Despite the dramatic changes taking place in the Jewish community and the numerical increase of the more religious forces, most US Jews are concerned that Trump may lead a radical change in direction. They believe that he cannot lead the US in an organized manner and that his term as president may evoke a social unrest which will also affect the economic system. Even Jews in the Democratic center, who are repelled by the progressive voice in the party and do not trust Clinton, will prefer her “conventionalism,”- the expected - even if it is problematic.

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