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Home , Aryeh Deri, Aryeh Eldad, Moshe Gafni, Naftali Bennett, Oded Forer

Israel and Middle East News Update

Tuesday, August 3

Headlines: ● ‘ Agreement to Advance in Winter' ● Court’s Compromise Would Avoid Palestinian Evictions ● Eyeing Housing Project Ahead of Bennett’s Washington Visit ● UNRWA Teachers Condone Violence, Spread Hate Online ● Bennett Slams Netanyahu Gov't for ‘Failed’ Policy on Iran ● Blinken Vows ‘Collective Response’ to Iran on Tanker ● IDF Launches Military Drill Along Border ● Heavy Gun Battle in Jenin; 6 Palestinians Hurt

Commentary: ● : “The Bennett Enigma’’ - By Nahum Barnea

● Ma’ariv: “A Plucked Rooster’’ - By Ben Caspit

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 1725 I St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts August 3, 2021 Post ‘Western Wall Agreement to Advance in Winter' The Israeli government intends to advance the Western Wall agreement for a state-recognized, non- Orthodox prayer section at the holy site, but it has delayed doing so due to higher priorities, including passing the budget, coalition sources have said. The agreement would upgrade the current egalitarian prayer section at the southern end of the Western Wall, grant it recognition as a holy site and give Reform and Masorti (Conservative) representatives a place on the site’s governing committee. It was passed as a government resolution in 2016 but was indefinitely suspended due to pressure by the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties. In theory, the government decision of 2017 to suspend implementation could be reversed by a vote in the cabinet, which would allow for implementing the agreement. However, some elements within the coalition are not fully in favor of the agreement, according to a government source said. Dig Deeper ‘‘Blame Game in Plenum’’ ()

Associated Press Court’s Compromise Would Avoid Palestinian Evictions ’s Supreme Court floated a compromise that would prevent the evictions of dozens of Palestinians in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where attempts by Jewish settlers to expel them from their homes helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants in May. The cases examined involve four Palestinian families numbering a total of about 70 people. Lower Israeli courts have approved the evictions of the four families. They ruled that their houses were built on land owned by Jews before Israel was established in 1948. But weighing a last-ditch appeal from the residents, the court suggested a compromise that would give them “protected” status. The deal would protect them from eviction for many years, but leave the question of legal ownership unanswered, said a consultant to the residents’ legal team.

Times of Israel Eyeing Housing Project Ahead of Bennett’s Washington Visit The Housing Ministry is seeking to advance a controversial housing project in East Jerusalem in the weeks ahead of Prime Minister ’s expected visit to Washington. The ministry placed a 9,000-housing-unit plan to expand the Atarot neighborhood on the agenda for a December meeting of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, Walla reported. The new neighborhood would be located at the site of the Atarot Airport, which has been inoperative since the eruption of the in 2000. An Israeli official confirmed that the plan had indeed been placed on the docket, but said that the Prime Minister’s Office had not been notified in advance of the move. Following a diplomatic rift with the Obama administration in 2010 when the Housing Ministry — without then-prime minister ’s knowledge — advanced a different controversial project in East Jerusalem while then Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel for a visit. 2 I24 News UNRWA Teachers Condone Violence, Spread Hate Online A new report from a Geneva-based independent human rights group has highlighted that more than 100 educators and staff who work for the UN agency that runs schools and social services for Palestinians have publicly promoted violence and on social media. In its report "Beyond the Textbooks, non-governmental organization UN Watch has uncovered evidence of "22 recent cases of UNRWA staff incitement which clearly violate the agency’s own rules as well as its policy of zero tolerance for racism, discrimination or antisemitism." The report revealed that staff in schools in Gaza, the , Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan have utilized their personal social media channels to propagate antisemitism and terrorism. Given the small sample size, the NGO extrapolated that among the agency's 30,000 or so employees, the problem is likely much more widespread. Dig Deeper ‘‘False Rumors About Mahmoud Abbas’ Health Reveal Disturbing Truth’’ (Ha’aretz)

Ynet News Bennett Slams Netanyahu Gov’t for ‘Failed’ Policy on Iran Prime Minister Bennett said the "failed" policies of Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Iran caused the need to increase Israel's defense budget. Speaking in a contentious Knesset session convened by the opposition to discuss "the dangers to Israelis security posed by the government," Bennett listed what he saw as the previous administration's failings. "Iran is racing ahead with its nuclear program. We will deal with it," he said. "We know what to do. but to fight with every country in the world while Iran proceeds with its military program is irresponsible. But this is the legacy you have left for us." The premier also slammed the previous government's actions in dealing with the and for allowing the Iran-backed Lebanese to amass rockets able to reach any part of Israel. Netanyahu responded that Bennett and Foreign Minister compromised Israel's abilities to act against Iran by promising the US that it would not take military action without informing Washington.

Al-Monitor Blinken Vows ‘Collective Response’ to Iran on Tanker US is “confident” that Iran is responsible for an attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two crew members off the coast of Oman last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. “I want to condemn again the attack against the commercial ship. We’ve conducted a thorough review and we’re confident that Iran carried out this attack,” said Blinken during a State Department briefing. The US and the UK have concluded that one or more Iranian drones were used to target the MV Mercer Street, a Japanese oil tanker managed by a UK-based company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. A British sailor and the ship's Romanian captain died in the attack as the ship was traveling from Tanzania to the UAE. “Iran continues to act with tremendous irresponsibility,” Blinken said. “We are in very close contact, in coordination, with the United Kingdom, Israel, Romania and other countries. There will be a collective response." Dig Deeper ‘‘Flattery and Subservience: Israel Raps EU Plan to Attend Iran Pres. Inauguration’’ (Times of Israel)

3 Times of Israel IDF Launches Military Drill Along Lebanon Border The (IDF) will hold an exercise along the northern border, simulating fighting with the Hezbollah in Lebanon. The drill, dubbed “Sunbeam,” aims to test the readiness of soldiers during a potential escalation with the Iran-backed terror group that could last a number of days, the military said. The IDF added that during the exercise, forces will examine ways of applying lessons learned from the recent military conflict in Gaza with . Israel and Hamas concluded 11 days of fighting in May during which the terror group launched some 4,300 rockets at Israeli cities and towns, and Israel launched hundreds of retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. During May’s fighting, as well as last month, a number of rockets were launched from Lebanon into northern Israel. The military assessed the rockets had been launched by a local Palestinian group, not by Hezbollah. However, Hezbollah maintains tight control over southern Lebanon, making it unlikely that such attacks would be conducted from this area without at least its tacit approval. The Iran-backed Hezbollah, which maintains an arsenal of some 140,000 rockets and mortar shells, is considered the most significant military threat to the IDF. Dig Deeper ‘‘US, UK Know Iran Attacked Oil Tanker, but Are Unlikely to Strike Back’’ (Times of Israel)

Times of Israel Heavy Gun Battle in Jenin; 6 Palestinians Hurt Undercover Border Police forces clashed with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin during a heavy exchange of fire, with several of the attackers hit, Israel Police said in a statement. Police said members of its counterterrorism unit, known by its Hebrew acronym Yamam, “neutralized a number of terrorists” who had opened fire at the troops during arrest operations in Jenin. Forces came under “massive fire” during the operations, police said. The attackers also hurled explosive devices, Molotov cocktails and rocks at the Israeli troops, police said. Six Palestinians were hit by Israeli fire, including one who was hospitalized in serious condition, the official Palestinian Authority’s WAFA news agency reported. The initial arrest operation in the northern West Bank city was conducted jointly with IDF soldiers, police said. The statement did not provide any further details about the arrest operation, the nature of the activities, what the suspects were wanted for, or whether any of those shot had been targeted for arrest. Last month, six Palestinian gunmen were shot during a similar incident in Jenin.

4 Yedioth Ahronoth – August 3, 2021 The Bennett Enigma By Nahum Barnea ● Curiosity about Bennett is running high both in Israel and in capitals around the world. What is the stuff that he is made of, the first prime minister to begin his term in office without any public supporters and without a real party? Is he a right-winger who has been catering to the center, or is he a centrist who has set aside his right-wing views? Is he a version of Netanyahu with a micro- kippa—a “Bibon,” as he used to be called—or is he the antithesis of everything connected to the Netanyahu era? One senior civil servant, who by dint of his duties has attended a large number of meetings with the prime minister, told me this week that Bennett had surprised him. “He’s attentive, open, well- argued, serious and pragmatic,” he told me. ● Another person who has spent a fair amount of time with Bennett, also by dint of his duties, came away disappointed: “Deep down inside, he’s Bibi,” he said. “In the end, everything is marketing with him.” A third person told me that Bennett is the kind of person who grows with the job. The problem is that Bennett doesn’t have a lot of time. In another two and a half years he is supposed to vacate his seat for Lapid and to move to either the Interior Ministry or the Justice Ministry. That is in the best-case scenario. In the worst-case scenario he is liable to lose his seat even earlier. He has decided to treat all of Israel’s foreign and security issues as sacrosanct; political concerns aren’t taken into account. His bureau has been staffed with professionals; relatively young experts in their fields without any political affiliations. All that works well enough when the issue under discussion is Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Bennett’s most successful initiative to date has been the rehabilitation of Israel’s relations with Jordan. He gave the Jordanians water and received reconciliation and public compliments from the king. ● That might even work with the Biden administration. But the Palestinians are a different story. The Prime Minister’s Bureau has been flooded with requests by ministers from the left wing of the government who want to meet with Abu Mazen. The security establishment, and Gantz at its forefront, want to strengthen the Palestinian Authority. The right wing of the government has been pressing in the opposite direction: no to meetings, no to negotiations, and yes to ongoing, creeping annexation. Every decision on those issues is going to be [deemed to be] reflective of Bennett’s worldview; every decision is going to reflect on his political future. Will he try to establish a new voter base in the soft right, in the area between Lapid and Gantz and the ? Or will he veer farther to the clear-cut right, and aim to take voters from the Likud and Smotrich. is pulling him to the right; the premiership is pulling him to the left. Above all, he needs to succeed—and quickly.

5 Ma’ariv – August 3, 2021 A plucked Rooster By Ben Caspit ● From Avigdor Liberman’s perspective, this is mission accomplished. The fact that he succeeded in reaching an accommodation with all of the coalition party leaders (who aren’t few in number, as we all know) and that he managed to get the proposed budget passed “smoothly” with all of the reforms intact—is no mean feat. Finance Minister Liberman has no doubt that the budget will also be approved by the Knesset and, if we were to turn an attentive ear to the opposition chairman and to what has been said in closed-door meetings that he’s been holding held—we will discover that he also knows that only a miracle will prevent that from happening. On the face of things, before we dive in to take a close look at the details, the budget looks good. The reforms are justified; the supplementary funding to the health-care system is apt. Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi also received what he needs to begin to rebuild what has been neglected for years on the Iranian issue. The fact that all of the leaders of the parties in this very complex coalition came away happy and satisfied ought to alarm the opposition. ● And since we’re talking about the opposition, the most interesting place was the Likud faction meeting. Netanyahu has reverted to being in the awful situation he once was in in which he would try to trick the buyers only to end up paying an exorbitant price, eating the rotten fish and being forced to leave town [Caspit is making an allusion to a Jewish parable about a slave who is given a choice among three punishments for a misdeed and ends up suffering all three]. He decided to put forward MK Keren Barak as the Likud’s candidate for a spot on the Judges Selection Committee against another candidate, Orly Levy-Abekasis, who is only a Likud MK thanks to a slot that Netanyahu personally reserved for her. Strange. ● And then he lost the vote. Which is even stranger, seeing as Netanyahu is supposed to be the all-powerful ruler—at least within his own Knesset faction—and since, as per that old saying, every rooster is king on his own dunghill. After we saw him on the Netanya beach on Saturday, the increasingly unavoidable sense is that he’s a relatively plucked rooster. The Likud faction is one of the most cowardly entities in the history of Israeli politics. Members of that faction are big talkers behind closed doors, and it’s my impression that they all dream of the day in which they might finally be freed from the dybbuk [a possessing demon in Jewish lore]. Publicly, however, they all murmur their support for the leader. That stinging and even humiliating loss in a secret ballot vote in the Likud faction reflects Netanyahu’s real standing within the Likud. I’d be worried if I were him. ● Back to the budget. The man who left Israel without a budget for more than two years just to facilitate his own efforts to cheat his political partner; the man who drove the entire country mad by forcing four consecutive elections just because he refused to step down to attend to his personal legal affairs; the man who decimated governance, stateliness and all reasonable behavior—that man had the audacity yesterday to take to the podium to attack the 2021 state budget. 6 ● The truly tragic-comic moment arrived when Netanyahu frothed at the mouth as he blasted the Bennett-Lapid government for relying on Mansour Abbas’s . Sometimes it’s simply impossible not to be exasperated by that man, who doesn’t have a single milligram of shame in his body. Abbas yelled out to him from his seat in the Knesset: “You invited me to Balfour four times,” which elicited peals of laughter in the plenum. Incidentally, those invitations weren’t merely on paper either. Abbas sat down for lengthy meetings with Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, after he was given a guided tour, was told about the mold and leaks; had that gone on even a moment longer he might have paid out of his own pocket for a plasterer to rescue the starving family that was living there. ● Abbas also heard what Netanyahu was prepared to give him in exchange for saving him. Hint: everything that he received from Bennett and Lapid—just more. Funding, positions of power, the trappings of power and, most importantly, the following promise: “I, as opposed to them, can keep my promises,” said the desperate Netanyahu to Abbas. “The legitimacy of my government will help me do that.” Now he is attacking Bennett and Lapid for having the gall to ride in the cart that he personally hitched. The irony. That was even more ironic than his attempt to criticize Yair Lapid on the Iranian issue—an issue on which Netanyahu left dangerously scorched earth in his wake; an issue that will have to be the subject of in-depth investigative reports if we ever want to grasp the full severity of his mismanagement, his myopia, his addiction to giving speeches and to short-term achievements while ignoring the warnings and the writing that was scrawled in huge letters on the wall. ● A final word about the Haredim. Just looking at and is enough to have a team of paramedics and a mobile intensive care unit on call permanently at the Knesset. The two of them have been screaming like two (losing) competitors in a taekwondo match. They’ve been robbed, they’ve been denied; Bennett is a liar, he’s a murderer. Their eyes have been bleary with alarm; the veins on their necks have been popping out. In another moment they’ll burst into a thousand tiny particles and evaporate into the air. Guys, relax. You made your bed. Now you need to lie in it. It turns out that there’s a price for Bibi-ism. It turns out that that band of robbers, which prioritized its own needs over the needs of the country, has ended up exactly where it deserves to be. Facing a dead end with no way out. ● You pushed Gantz into joining the crook’s government; you promised him that you would personally guarantee the agreement; you knew that the scorpion would sting him—and you didn’t lift a finger. Up until not too long ago Deri didn’t even have the courage to say that Netanyahu had deliberately defrauded and deceived Gantz. So I’ll make do here with what Minister said in an interview to Aryeh Eldad and me on Radio 103 FM on the issue of the agricultural reform and the withering criticism that was aired by Aryeh Deri: “Deri can relax. We’ll do everything we can to lower the price of onions for the next time that he tries to fake cry.”

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