Israel and the Middle East News Update

Thursday, April 23

Headlines:

• With 36 Ministers, New Israeli Govt’ the Largest in Country's History • Likud, Kahol Lavan in Legislative Marathon to Change Basic Laws • Panel in Labor Party Approves Joining Netanyahu’s Government • Thwarts Terror Attack at Country's Biggest Soccer Stadium • Pompeo: West Bank Annexation ‘An Israeli Decision’ • Health Ministry No.2: Current Wave of Israel's Virus Outbreak Over • Cabinet Set to Further Ease Restrictions Amid Rising Public Frustration • Police Won’t Physically Block Bereaved Families from Cemeteries

Commentary:

• Ha’aretz: “Bribery Suspect Netanyahu and Vote Thief Gantz Form an Alliance of Scoundrels” - By Aluf Benn, chief editor at Ha’aretz • : “A Toothless Justice Minister” - By Tova Tzimuki, commentator at Yedioth Ahronoth

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org

News Excerpts April 23, 2020 Ha’aretz With 36 Ministers, New Israeli Govt’ the Largest in Country's History The new Israeli government that will emerge from the unity government deal signed Monday by Prime Minister and is ultimately expected have up to 36 cabinet ministers and up to 16 deputy ministers, making it the largest in the country’s history. That poses a special challenge for Netanyahu’s main coalition partner, Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party, which only has 15 members, most of whom will become cabinet ministers, leaving almost none of the remaining members to be appointed to Knesset committees. The coalition agreement signed Monday provides for the heads of 32 ministries to be divided equally between Netanyahu’s Likud party, on one hand, and Kahol Lavan and its Labor party ally on the other

Ha’aretz Likud, Kahol Lavan in Legislative Marathon to Change Basic Laws Kahol Lavan and Likud are planning to begin the marathon process of amending Israel’s Basic Laws, the closest thing the state has to a constitution, according to the coalition agreement reached between the two parties on Monday. But the sides have not yet reached an agreement on the final wording of the new laws. The heads of the opposition parties in the Knesset announced in response that they are demanding that the advancement of the legislation be delayed. In a letter to the Benny Gantz, the heads of opposition parties said, “The advancement of the bills, before the High Court of Justice has ruled on the matter of agreement between the parties, could well create a situation in which the Knesset legislated a law whose basis is undermined in a decision of the High Court of Justice.”

Jerusalem Post Panel in Labor Party Approves Joining Netanyahu’s Government The Labor Party's executive committee approved entering the government on Wednesday night ahead of an unprecedented digital convention on Sunday that will make the final decision. The executive committee is made of mostly of party chairman 's loyalists. Peretz and MK Itzik Shmuli are expected to speak in favor of joining at the convention and MK Merav Michaeli and former MK Michal Biran will speak against entering the coalition. Biran sent Labor's leadership a letter on Wednesday saying that the short notice for the convention was "political thievery." Peretz said in radio interviews on Wednesday that if the convention decides against entering the government, he will accept the decision of the party. He called on Michaeli to make a similar vow. News Israel Thwarts Terror Attack at Country's Biggest Soccer Stadium Israel has thwarted several terror attacks in Jerusalem, including at the capital's biggest soccer stadium, the Shin Bet security services revealed Wednesday. The Shin Bet operatives arrested three Hamas members last month who planned to carry out attacks against IDF soldiers in the Ramallah region as well as at Teddy Stadium in the capital that can house over 30,000 people. The members of the terror cell are Ahmed Sajadia, 27, from Qalandiya refugee camp, Muhammad Hamad, 26, from Kafr 'Aqab near Jerusalem and Omar Eid, 24, from the village of Deir Jarir near Ramallah. Eid also holds an Israeli identity card, which he used to attend a soccer match at the Stadium.

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Jerusalem Post Pompeo: West Bank Annexation ‘An Israeli Decision’ Israel will decide whether and when to annex parts of the West Bank, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a briefing on Wednesday. “As for the annexation of the West Bank, the Israelis ultimately make those decisions, so that’s an Israeli decision,” he said. “We will work closely with them to share with them our views on this in a private setting,” he added. Pompeo said he was glad there is now a “fully formed” government in Israel. A new government has yet to be sworn in, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz signed a coalition agreement on Monday night. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and other representatives of the Trump administration have begun discussing the peace plan’s implementation with Netanyahu and his expected replacement in a year and a half, Gantz. See also, “Pompeo Says Annexing West Bank Is Israel's Decision to Make” (Ha’aretz)

Ha’aretz Health Ministry No.2: Current Wave of Israel's Virus Outbreak Over Health Ministry’s Deputy Director General Prof. Itamar Grotto said Wednesday that the current wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Israel has reached its peak and has begun to subside. “We can say we have stopped the current wave of the outbreak," said the Health Ministry’s No. 2 in an interview with Ynet. He warned, however, that a new wave of COVID-19 might be around the corner if the economy and the education system is reopened too soon. "Even 200 new patients a day could be the spark of a new epidemic." "It [the new wave] will be much harder to contain in contrast to two months ago, where most infected came from abroad and we could quarantine them." Prof. Grotto also addressed the sharp rise in infections over the past 24 hours released on Wednesday morning. "It's not correct to only look at the daily rise, but we are aware and a bit troubled by it," he said.

Times of Israel Cabinet Set to Further Ease Restrictions Amid Rising Public Frustration The government is to weigh an additional, previously unplanned easing of coronavirus restrictions on Thursday amid public confusion and anger over the decision-making process on which businesses can and cannot currently open. Anger rose Wednesday as IKEA reopened its furniture stores in accordance with government rules, drawing in large crowds, while many other shops remained shuttered. Israelis flocked to the company’s three branches, leading to long lines of people needing their ready-to-assemble furniture fix. Lottery booths throughout the country also reopened, Channel 12 reported, with the Finance Ministry saying they met the standards.

Times of Israel Police Won’t Physically Block Bereaved Families from Cemeteries The police will not physically enforce an order banning bereaved families from cemeteries who wish to visit the graves of their loved ones on Memorial Day next week, Hebrew-language media reported Wednesday. The reports come after the cabinet voted in favor of severely limiting commemorations and celebrations of Israel’s independence and memorial days and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the latest bid to stem the spread of coronavirus. Families have been encouraged to go visit the graves fallen soldiers over the next few days to avoid crowding, but some families have vowed to defy the order. According to reports in and the Kan national broadcaster, while police will set up roadblocks to block access to the cemeteries, if families try to push their way in, they will not use physical force to stop them. 3

Ha’aretz – April 23, 2020 Bribery Suspect Netanyahu and Vote Thief Gantz Form an Alliance of Scoundrels

By Aluf Benn, chief editor at Ha’aretz

• On Monday evening, Benny Gantz signed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public acquittal. That is the bottom line of the coalition agreement between Kahol Lavan and Likud. In agreeing to serve as Netanyahu’s appointed successor, Gantz made it clear to the public that he doesn’t care about the prime minister’s bribery indictment. He has no reservations, ethical or otherwise, about a political partnership with a man who has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust and who seeks to destroy Israeli democracy. This is a man whom Gantz himself held up before the March 2 election as the Israeli version of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. • For Gantz, the image is reversed: Netanyahu’s indictments aren’t a problem; they’re an opportunity. They give him a chance to qualify for the top post in 18 months or possibly sooner, in the event that Netanyahu resigns or falls ill. Gantz didn’t enter politics to promote principles and values. Instead, he saw it as a track for promotion: from IDF private all the way to chief of staff, and now, as a civilian, to defense minister and prime minister. • That’s what the coalition agreement promises, and he chose signing it with Netanyahu over a fourth general election during the coronavirus crisis. He concluded that even if there was only a slim chance that he would actually replace Netanyahu after 18 months, it was presumably greater than the likelihood of Kahol Lavan forming a government without Netanyahu. • Gantz must think that he caught Netanyahu at his weakest and got the deal of his dreams out of him: an inner cabinet with parity between Kahol Lavan and Likud, mutual veto power over any resolution, rotation of the prime minister without an additional Knesset vote, myriad cabinet positions and other top posts. • He’s not obsessed about the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee like the right- wingers are and he had no problem with trading in positions of legal power, giving them to Netanyahu in exchange for control of numerous Knesset committees and other appointments. That is the essence of the deal: Netanyahu wants to avoid his trial, Gantz wants the trappings of power. • Gantz’s election motto, “Israel before all else,” should be changed to “Israel after all else.” Instead of a recovery plan for a country in crisis, we got an agreement between two opportunists for divvying up the political spoils, from the Knesset committees to the next ambassador to Australia. • The core issues – from the economic crisis to the coronavirus pandemic to social problems and foreign relations – will be delegated to committees or legislative drafting teams. The emergency period will be extended by six months, and then it will be extended again and again, for the rulers’ convenience. • The annexations in the West Bank, the heart of the right-wing bloc’s ideology, was mentioned in passing, like a mine that Netanyahu placed in the agreement as an exit clause rather than a firm commitment. In any event, the timing and scope of the annexation will be tailored to suit

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the interests of U.S. President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign, not set in deliberations between representatives of Likud and Kahol Lavan. • Gantz’s voters never imagined that they were casting their ballots to the rescue squad that would keep Netanyahu in power and sanction his corrupt actions and threats to democracy. But that was the choice Gantz made. It’s not a romance, but rather an alliance of scoundrels, the bribery suspect and the vote thief, and their partnership will reflect this. • Each side will search for potential deserters in the opposing camp in a bid for a voting majority, each side will tweet and leak to the best of its ability against its partner/rival and each side will try to dissolve the agreement from an advantageous position. The rivalry between Netanyahu and Gantz did not end with the signing of the agreement, it only took on a new form.

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Yedioth Ahronoth – April 22, 2020 A Toothless Justice Minister

By Tova Tzimuki, commentator at Yedioth Ahronoth

• The decision to appoint Avi Nissenkorn as the next justice minister was met with a tremendous sigh of relief among top officials in the justice system, which in this past year has been the object of political attacks and threats to its independence, and has found itself put in the pillory. However, the fact that the coalition agreement places so many restrictions on Nissenkorn’s powers has given rise to fears within the justice system that Nissenkorn will ultimately be a “low-topped palm tree” [a phrase from a famous poem by Rachel Bluwstein] and that in the best- case scenario, he will engage in risk management. • Naturally, no one should downplay the importance of the fact that moving ahead, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and Attorney General will enjoy public support in the face of the attacks that the justice system has suffered from for many years. Whereas danced a marvelous tango, in which she forced change on the justice system while simultaneously maintaining excellent relationships with its leaders, her successor, , attacked the justice system without any reservations. • Nissenkorn will defend the justice system in the cabinet, the Knesset and the media. That defense will be very visible. But the justice minister and the justice system will quickly come to realize that the coalition agreement has left the justice minister with clipped wings and very limited powers. At most they might allow him to wield some influence in the sphere in which he is most experienced—the Labor Court. But since the Likud and Yamina are unlikely to change their attitude and will probably continue to attack the justice system with all their might, Nissenkorn will be forced to issue statements repeatedly about “bolstering the rule of law,” his “commitment to the gatekeepers,” and so on. In practice, however, any attempt by him to use his station to advance legislation or to take any other act of governing will be locked down, if not completely quarantined. As chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which is the gasket through which any bill, government-sponsored or private, has to pass—he will find himself facing an aggressive [majority that will] veto. The committee’s deputy chairman will be personally appointed by Netanyahu and will be tasked with keeping a close watch. When Nissenkorn tries to act in the Knesset, he will find himself up against the Knesset speaker, Yariv Levin, who will oppose him every step of the way and is known to be an outspoken critic of the justice system. The coalition agreement also stipulates that the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which has the power to advance or delay any bill, will be chaired by a Likud representative. • If that weren’t enough, Nissenkorn will also find himself in a minority in the Judges Selection Committee, which he will chair. The second minister on the committee will be a Likud representative, as will be one of the two MKs on the committee. The second MK will be MK Zvi Hauser, who ostensibly hails from Blue and White’s ranks but whose conservative views place him squarely within the right-wing bloc. • Nissenkorn also needs to be aware of the limits to one of the most important aspects of his power as justice minister—the appointment of the next state attorney and attorney general (in less than two years). The defendant, Netanyahu, has veto power over both appointments.

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Unless Avi Nissenkorn proves to have exceptional leadership skills, it seems that he is most likely going to be on what David Levy once memorably described as a “flight to nowhere” as justice minister.

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