Israel and the Middle East News Update
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April 6 2020
Israel and the Middle East News Update Monday, April 6 Headlines: • Cabinet Decides Lockdown in 8 Cities, Jerusalem Areas Amid Passover • Israel Seals Off Ultra-Orthodox Town Hit Hard by Coronavirus • Israel's Number of COVID-19 Cases Rises to 8,430 • Bennett Demands Defense Ministry Take Over Virus Battle from Health • Gantz Asks Rivlin for More Coalition-Forming Time • Eyeing Positions in Likud Govt, Labor Asks to End Left-Wing Alliance • PA Bans Israeli Goods to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus • Ex-IDF Generals: West Bank Annexation Could Cause Collapse of PA Commentary: • Ma’ariv: “‘An Appeal to Netanyahu: Health Ministry Versus the Scientists” - By Ben Caspit, commentator at Ma’ariv • Ha’aretz: “Who Needs Doctors When You Have an Army?” - By Raviv Drucker, commentator at Channel 13 News S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org News Excerpts April 6, 2020 Times of Israel Cabinet Decides Lockdown in 8 Cities, Jerusalem Areas Amid Passover The cabinet early Monday adopted decisions to allow the government to close off several cities and neighborhoods across Israel and the West Bank to combat the spread of the coronavirus and also step up economic assistance to the battered economy. The cabinet, which met via telephone, authorized a ministerial committee to declare various areas in Israel with high infection rates as “restricted areas,” and gave the same powers to the Israel Defense Force commander in the West Bank. The cabinet statement, issued after midnight Sunday, did not say who the members of the committee would be. -
The Role of People-To-People Programs in the Current Israeli-Palestinian
The Power of Possibility: The Role of People-to-People Programs in the Current Israeli- Palestinian Reality Forum Israel Shira Herzog and Avivit Hai ECF economic cooperation foundation © 2005 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel Office P.O.Box 12235 Herzliya 46733, Israel Editor: Hermann Bünz Layout: Jaffa Cohen Printing: Ra'ayon All rights reserved. Editorial The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is a non-profit organisation with ideological roots in the German and international labour movement. Out of a profound commitment to social justice and peaceful coexistence both within societies and between nations, the Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung office in Israel contributes to - Strengthening German-Israeli relations - Facilitating the peace process and regional co-operation - Improving labour relations - Working for gender equality and women's empowerment - Democracy education for youth - Policy consulting and information Together with its partners, the Israel office of the Friedrich-Ebert- Stiftung regularly holds public forums and workshops which address the above-mentioned topics. Authoritative representatives from the political, social, economic, and academic worlds are invited to take part in these encounters. Lectures and addresses given at these events, as well as conference summaries, are reproduced in this series of brochures, entitled "Israel Forum". The series is also intended for the presentation of policy analyses and research results which constitute the backdrop to such public forums. www.fes.org.il Opening Note The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF) are pleased to support this publication, "The Power of Possibility – the Role of People-to-People in the Current Israeli-Palestinian Reality." The last few months have seen dramatic changes in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. -
Families of Backsliding Democracies: Unhappy in Their Own Way?
Working draft – do not cite Families of Backsliding Democracies: Unhappy in their own way? Mordechai Kemnitzer and Yuval Shany (with assistance by Oded Ron), The paper, which is part of a broader project studying the mechanics and root causes of democratic backsliding and their possible relevance for Israeli democracy, explores similarities and differences between specific legislative and administrative measures taken or contemplated in three clusters of states, which could conceivably be presented on a spectrum of backsliding from liberal democracy – (1) Poland and Hungary – two EU member states that retain democratic institutions, but whose governments have been able to change significantly the balance of power between branches of government and to decrease the space available to criticism and opposition to government policies and to certain conservative values supported by the government (such countries are sometime regarded as illiberal or anti-liberal democracies); (2) Israel - a state which retains democratic institutions, but where elements in government have been attempting, with partial success, to change the balance of power between the branches of government and to curb criticism and opposition; and (3) Turkey, Russia and Venezuela – states that preserve some democratic institutions but no longer allow meaningfully competitive elections, practice open repression against political opponents and have left very little civic space for criticism and dissent. The present paper focuses only on comparing certain measures taken in the first two clusters of countries and presents some tentative conclusions about democratic backsliding in the three states. Our concern in this paper is not with the overall assessment of the situation in backsliding democracies, or on studying the populist ideology inspiring and, at times, facilitating the backsliding. -
Israel's National Religious and the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict
Leap of Faith: Israel’s National Religious and the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict Middle East Report N°147 | 21 November 2013 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i Recommendations..................................................................................................................... iv I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Religious Zionism: From Ascendance to Fragmentation ................................................ 5 A. 1973: A Turning Point ................................................................................................ 5 B. 1980s and 1990s: Polarisation ................................................................................... 7 C. The Gaza Disengagement and its Aftermath ............................................................. 11 III. Settling the Land .............................................................................................................. 14 A. Bargaining with the State: The Kookists ................................................................... 15 B. Defying the State: The Hilltop Youth ........................................................................ 17 IV. From the Hills to the State .............................................................................................. -
Burden Sharing and the Haredim
8 Burden Sharing and the Haredim On March 12, 2014 the Knesset passed, on its which scholars should remain exempt, but also third reading, Amendment 19 to the Military states that draft evaders will be subject to arrest if Service Law, which aims to widen the participation quotas are unmet. !e comprehensive exemption of Ultra-Orthodox young men and yeshiva granting all Haredi yeshiva students aged 22 students in military and civilian national service. and over who join the workforce is of particular !is amendment also aims to promote their significance. integration into the working population. On April 17, 2014, the Ministerial Committee on Background: !e History of Burden Sharing in Military Service set concrete steps for the amendment’s implementation the Exemption (!e Arrangement and follow up. !ese were given the force of a for Deferral of Army Service Cabinet resolution. Under the new arrangement, by Yeshiva Students) the amendment will take full e"ect on July 1, Compulsory military service applies under the 2017, following an adjustment period. When in Security Service Law (Combined Version) of 1986. full force, the military or civilian national service According to this law, Israeli citizens are subject inductees will number 5,200 a year (two thirds to conscription at age 18 unless granted an of the age cohort according to current figures). exemption. Exemption was the subject of lively Until then, yeshiva students will be able to defer debates between yeshiva heads and the political their enlistment and receive an exemption at age leadership in the early days of the state. !e 22, as long as the yeshivot meet their recruitment executive committee of the Center for Service targets, which will be implemented according to to the People considered the conscription of the mandated schedule: in 2014, a total of 3,800 yeshiva students, and in March 1948 authorized Haredim are expected to join the IDF or national a temporary army service deferment for yeshiva service; in 2015, 4,500; and 5,200 in the years that students whose occupation was Torah study.1 follow. -
Israel 2020 Human Rights Report
ISRAEL 2020 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Although it has no constitution, its parliament, the unicameral 120-member Knesset, has enacted a series of “Basic Laws” that enumerate fundamental rights. Certain fundamental laws, orders, and regulations legally depend on the existence of a “state of emergency,” which has been in effect since 1948. Under the Basic Laws, the Knesset has the power to dissolve itself and mandate elections. On March 2, Israel held its third general election within a year, which resulted in a coalition government. On December 23, following the government’s failure to pass a budget, the Knesset dissolved itself, which paved the way for new elections scheduled for March 23, 2021. Under the authority of the prime minister, the Israeli Security Agency combats terrorism and espionage in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The national police, including the border police and the immigration police, are under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security. The Israeli Defense Forces are responsible for external security but also have some domestic security responsibilities and report to the Ministry of Defense. Israeli Security Agency forces operating in the West Bank fall under the Israeli Defense Forces for operations and operational debriefing. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security services. The Israeli military and civilian justice systems have on occasion found members of the security forces to have committed abuses. Significant human -
The National Left (First Draft) by Shmuel Hasfari and Eldad Yaniv
The National Left (First Draft) by Shmu'el Hasfari and Eldad Yaniv Open Source Center OSC Summary: A self-published book by Israeli playwright Shmu'el Hasfari and political activist Eldad Yaniv entitled "The National Left (First Draft)" bemoans the death of Israel's political left. http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/osc/israel-left.pdf Statement by the Authors The contents of this publication are the responsibility of the authors, who also personally bore the modest printing costs. Any part of the material in this book may be photocopied and recorded. It is recommended that it should be kept in a data-storage system, transmitted, or recorded in any form or by any electronic, optical, mechanical means, or otherwise. Any form of commercial use of the material in this book is permitted without the explicit written permission of the authors. 1. The Left The Left died the day the Six-Day War ended. With the dawn of the Israeli empire, the Left's sun sank and the Small [pun on Smol, the Hebrew word for Left] was born. The Small is a mark of Cain, a disparaging term for a collaborator, a lover of Arabs, a hater of Israel, a Jew who turns against his own people, not a patriot. The Small-ists eat pork on Yom Kippur, gobble shrimps during the week, drink espresso whenever possible, and are homos, kapos, artsy-fartsy snobs, and what not. Until 1967, the Left actually managed some impressive deeds -- it took control of the land, ploughed, sowed, harvested, founded the state, built the army, built its industry from scratch, fought Arabs, settled the land, built the nuclear reactor, brought millions of Jews here and absorbed them, and set up kibbutzim, moshavim, and agriculture. -
The Haredim As a Challenge for the Jewish State. the Culture War Over Israel's Identity
SWP Research Paper Peter Lintl The Haredim as a Challenge for the Jewish State The Culture War over Israel’s Identity Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs SWP Research Paper 14 December 2020, Berlin Abstract ∎ A culture war is being waged in Israel: over the identity of the state, its guiding principles, the relationship between religion and the state, and generally over the question of what it means to be Jewish in the “Jewish State”. ∎ The Ultra-Orthodox community or Haredim are pitted against the rest of the Israeli population. The former has tripled in size from four to 12 per- cent of the total since 1980, and is projected to grow to over 20 percent by 2040. That projection has considerable consequences for the debate. ∎ The worldview of the Haredim is often diametrically opposed to that of the majority of the population. They accept only the Torah and religious laws (halakha) as the basis of Jewish life and Jewish identity, are critical of democratic principles, rely on hierarchical social structures with rabbis at the apex, and are largely a-Zionist. ∎ The Haredim nevertheless depend on the state and its institutions for safeguarding their lifeworld. Their (growing) “community of learners” of Torah students, who are exempt from military service and refrain from paid work, has to be funded; and their education system (a central pillar of ultra-Orthodoxy) has to be protected from external interventions. These can only be achieved by participation in the democratic process. ∎ Haredi parties are therefore caught between withdrawal and influence. -
Israel and the Middle East News Update
Israel and the Middle East News Update Monday, May 18 Headlines: ● After 508-Days, Israel’s New Gov't Finally Sworn in ● EU Members May Impose Bilateral Sanctions on Israel ● PM: Time has Come for the Annexation of WB Settlements ● Airstrikes in East Syria Kill Iran-Backed Fighters ● U.S. Lawmakers Warn Against Pulling Troops out of Sinai ● Spat Exposes Tensions Between Israel, Evangelicals ● Israeli Convicted of Murders in Duma Terror Attack ● Chinese Ambassador Death Due to Cardiac Arrest - Police Commentary: ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Give Women the Power” − By Merav Betito ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Breach of Trust” − By Sima Kadmon S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts May 18, 2020 Times of Israel After 508-Days, Israel’s New Gov't Finally Sworn in Israel’s 35th government was sworn in at the Knesset on Sunday, bringing an end to a 508-day political deadlock during which lawmakers were unable to cobble together a coalition. The Knesset voted 73-46 in favor of the new government. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister and will head the government for the fifth term of his political career. Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz was sworn in as “alternate prime minister and future prime minister” as well as minister of defense. Netanyahu promised from the podium to hand over the premiership to Gantz on November 17, 2021. In addition to Netanyahu and Gantz, 32 ministers were sworn in, including the first female ultra-Orthodox minister, Omer Yankelevich (Diaspora affairs), and the first Ethiopia-born minister, Pnina Tamano-Shata (immigration and absorption), in Israel’s history. -
Israel Und Deutschland Im US-Wahljahr: Nationale Narrative, Identitäten Und Außenpolitik“ – So Lautete Die Überschrift Der Ausschreibung Für Diesen Jahrgang
Editorial Lob der Komplexität Von Martin Bialecki, Chefredakteur Zum ersten Mal versammelt die IP die Texte der Sylke-Tempel-Fellows in einer Sonderausgabe. Es gibt dafür viele gute Gründe, von denen der Name der heraus- ragenden früheren Chefredakteurin dieser Zeitschrift gewiss der nächstliegende ist. „Israel und Deutschland im US-Wahljahr: Nationale Narrative, Identitäten und Außenpolitik“ – so lautete die Überschrift der Ausschreibung für diesen Jahrgang. Der Trias dieser Länder war Sylke Tempel auf besondere Weise verbun- den, und zu jedem einzelnen der genannten Begriffe hätte sie 100 kluge Fragen stellen können, Hinweise geben, Debatten anstoßen, sie humorvoll ergänzen oder gelassen zerlegen. Der zweite Grund ist die Komplexität der Aufgabenstellung. Diese Zeitschrift bemüht sich um Klarheit und Prägnanz; sie bleibt aber auch dann das richtige Medium für Darstellung und Analyse, wenn sich manche Komplexität schlicht nicht reduzieren lässt. Das deutsch-israelische Verhältnis gehört gewiss dazu, Israels Geschichte, das Verhältnis Israels zu Muslimen, die Rolle der USA sowie angelsächsischer Denkschulen und vieles mehr. Wir laden Sie herzlich ein, sich mit den folgenden Texten im inneren Gepäck auf die Reise durch dieses weite Feld zu begeben. Dritter Grund: die Autorinnen und Autoren. Sechs junge Menschen – drei Frauen, drei Männer; aus Israel und aus Deutschland – sind eingetaucht in Traditionen, Geschichte, in Knäuel von Fragen. Ihre Texte legen immer wieder Zeugnis ab davon, dass solche Auseinandersetzungen nichts Altes an sich haben müssen und nichts Fades. Der gemeinsame Spirit der Fellows war begeisternd. Gerne hätten wir – und sie selbst – davon mehr persönlich erlebt, aber auch die Arbeiten in diesem Heft entstanden schließlich unter Corona-Bedingungen. Viertens schließlich: Sie, unsere Leserinnen und Leser. -
Excluded, for God's Sake: Gender Segregation in Public Space in Israel
Israel Religious Action Center Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism ExcludEd, For God’s sakE: Gender Segregation and the Exclusion of Women in Public Space in Israel Second Annual Report – January 2012 ExcludEd, For God’s sakE: Gender Segregation and the Exclusion of Women in Public Space in Israel Second Annual Report – January 2012 Written by: Attorney Ruth Carmi, Attorney Ricky Shapira-Rosenberg consultation: Attorney Einat Hurwitz, Attorney Orly Erez-Lahovsky English translation: Shaul Vardi © Israel Religious Action Center, Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism Israel Religious Action Center 13 King David St., P.O. Box 31936, Jerusalem 91319 Telephone: 02-6203323 | Fax: 02-6256260 www.irac.org | [email protected] With special thanks to The New Israel Fund, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation for funding the English translation of this report IRAC’s work against gender segregation and the exclusion of women has been made possible by the support of the following people and organizations: The Kathryn Ames Foundation ARZA ARZA Canada ARZENU Claudia Bach TheBarat Family (the Arthur Barat Fellow for Justice) The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation Inc. The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation Canadian Friends of the World Union for Progressive Judaism The Donald and Carole Chaiken Foundation The Jewish Federation of Cleveland The Naomi and Nehemia Cohen Foundation The Cohen Family Foundation John and Noeleen Cohen The Eugene J. Eder Foundation -
IIA January-April 2019
Monthly Highlights January-April 2019 International Interreligious Affairs January 8 – 15, US Three AJC Regional offices in the US hosted me in January. In Miami, I addressed a dinner meeting of the local Muslim Jewish Advisory Council on January 8th; a Catholic-Jewish Breakfast meeting the next morning with Archbishop Wenski. The main event was a well-attended meeting of the local AJC Marshall Society Lunch where I spoke on the topic “Is Religion the Problem or the Solution”. See https://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/news/miami-dade/fl-jj-miami-ajc-rabbi- david-rosen-20190206-story.html On Thursday January 10th I continued on to Atlanta. A courtesy visit was paid to Archbishop Wilton Gregory, and in the evening the local AJC director Dov Wilker interviewed me on my work at the Atlanta AJC’s 75th Anniversary gala event. https://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/rosen-continues-to-inspire-interfaith-progress/ (https://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/ajcs-rabbi-rosen-to-discuss-judaism-and-other- religions/ ) Over the Shabbat I was scholar-in-residence at Congregation She’arith Israel, speaking on Friday night on Relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish People/State of Israel, which was also attended by Catholic leaders: and at Shabbat lunch time on AJC’s role in new interfaith initiatives from the Arab Muslim world. My visit culminated in Sarasota where in addition to parlor meetings, I addressed the major educational luncheon event of the AJC office on Catholic-Jewish relations and my relationships with three pontiffs. https://www.yourobserver.com/photo-gallery/american-jewish-committee-ajc-west-coast-florida- winter-lunch-learn Feb 4-6, and Feb.