April 1 2020
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Israel and the Middle East News Update Wednesday, April 1 Headlines: • Justice Ministry and Knesset Speaker Among Last Hurdles in Unity Talks • Blue and White Under Pressure to Compromise on Ministers • Sa’ar: Gantz Should Prevent ‘Inflated’ Unity Govt’ During Time of Crisis • Syria: Air Defenses Down Missiles from Israeli Warplanes • IDF's Top Military Commander Tests Negative for Coronavirus • Nearly a Quarter of Israel’s Workforce Unemployed due to Virus Outbreak • Gov't Mulls Lockdown on Haredi Cities as Coronavirus Patients Hit 5,591 • Palestinian Forces Conduct Rare Operation in Jerusalem Neighborhood Commentary: • Yedioth Ahronoth: “‘Chaos Reigns in the Absence of a Plan” - By Nadav Eyal, Channel Thirteen News’ foreign news editor • Al Monitor: “Why Gantz Needed to Replace Netanyahu's Knesset Speaker” - By Ksenia Svetlova, former Knesset member for Hatnua Party S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org News Excerpts April 1, 2020 Ha’aretz Justice Ministry and Knesset Speaker Among Last Hurdles in Unity Talks Likud and Kahol Lavan officials hope to be able to finalize coalition talks and expect a government to be sworn in on Monday, April 6, a few days before Passover begins.The cancellation of a meeting between PM Netanyahu and Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz, scheduled to take place on Monday, delayed the process. The meeting was reportedly postponed as Netanyahu went into self-quarantine at his official residence after one of his aides tested positive for coronavirus. Netanyahu himself tested negative. Negotiations are focusing on government appointments, with the Justice Ministry a major point of contention. Likud is strenuously opposing the appointment of Kahol Lavan lawmaker Avi Nissenkorn to the role, preferring Chili Tropper, who is also of Kahol Lavan but preferred by Netanyahu and his right-wing bloc. See also “Netanyahu seeks to draw out unity talks, as Gantz’s hand weakens” (TOI) Jerusalem Post Blue and White Under Pressure to Compromise on Ministers Blue and White leader Benny Gantz faced pressure on Tuesday to give up his demand for the same number of ministers as the Likud and its satellite parties after complaints about the size of the government during an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus. Likud and Blue and White’s negotiating teams met on Tuesday night by video conference after a day and a half with no talks. The current plan remains for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc of Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Yamina to have 15 ministers and for Blue and White and Labor to have the same, even though the Right-Center bloc would have 58 MKs and the Center-Left bloc 19. See also “Chairing his first full Knesset session, Gantz faces assaults from former allies” (TOI) Times of Israel Sa’ar: Gantz Should Prevent ‘Inflated’ Unity Govt’ During Time of Crisis In the economic climate created by the coronavirus crisis, Israel cannot afford the next government to be the largest in its history, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz has the ability to prevent this, Likud MK and former leadership contender Gideon Sa’ar said in an interview with Channel 12 on Tuesday evening.He spoke as a source close to negotiations told Channel 13 news that a crucial video conference call was being held between the sides on Tuesday evening, and that if no deal between Gantz and PM Netanyahu was reached by the weekend it might not be made at all. Ynet News Syria: Air Defenses Down Missiles From Israeli Warplanes Syria's state-run SANA media outlet said that the country's air defenses opened fire Tuesday night on missiles launched from Israeli warplanes on the central province of Homs, shooting down some of them, state media said. State TV said the warplanes fired the missiles while flying in Lebanese airspace. The outlet said the warplanes targeted a Syrian army position without saying where exactly. It added that some of the missiles were shot down. The Lebanese pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel reported that the attack was aimed at "military sites east of Homs." The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that, "the Israeli Air Force has launched an attack on Shayrat airfield with more than eight missiles." See also, “Syria air defences down Israeli missiles over Homs: state media” (Al Jazeera) 2 I24 News IDF's Top Military Commander Tests Negative for Coronavirus Israel's top military, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, has tested negative for coronavirus a day after entering going into quarantine along with two members of his close team. "The Chief of Staff feels good and will remain in isolation until the end of the week," an IDF spokesperson unit statement said. Kochavi voluntarily went into self-isolation on Tuesday after coming into contact with an IDF commander who tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus. On March 22 Lt.-Gen. Kochavi attended a meeting with a Home Front commander, where one of the military attendees was diagnosed with the coronavirus Tuesday, according to an IDF statement. See also “IDF chief in quarantine after contact with coronavirus sufferer” (Ynet News) Times of Israel Nearly a Quarter of Israel’s Workforce Unemployed due to Virus Outbreak The unemployment rate climbed to 23.4 percent on Tuesday with over 800,000 Israelis put out of work in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some 24,000 newly out of work Israelis registered for unemployment on Monday. Among those seeking state benefits, 89.8% have been placed on unpaid leave by their workplaces, while 6.3% were fired, according to the National Employment Service. The month of March was one of the worst for Israel’s job market in its history. Only a month ago, before the coronavirus outbreak, unemployment in Israel was at a record low of under 4%. Some 812,000 Israelis were put out of work since the start of the crisis. There are now 969,693 Israelis seeking unemployment benefits, counting the 160,000 who were already on unemployment before the crisis See also, “Unemployment in Israel: 989,000 apply for benefits, 23.8% of workforce” (JPost) Jerusalem Post Gov't Mulls Lockdown on Haredi Cities as Coronavirus Patients hit 5,591 The government is considering imposing a full lockdown on haredi (ultra-Orthodox) cities and towns in which the number of people infected with coronavirus continues to rise. A team of top scientists said it expects Israel will have 500 critically ill patients by next week. “[On Monday], there were talks between the prime minister, health minister and defense minister, and we are preparing for such a scenario with Home Front Command,” Health Ministry director-general said Tuesday in a live-streamed interview. Specifically, the number of people infected with the virus continues to spike in the haredi city of Bnei Brak, where there has been an increase of 66 sick people in one. See also, “One-Third Of Bnei Brak Residents Tested For COVID-19 Are Positive, ER Screening Chareidi Patients” (WIN) Ha’aretz Palestinian Forces Conduct Rare Operation in Jerusalem Neighborhood Armed security forces from the Palestinian Authority conducted a rare operation in a Jerusalem neighborhood that is within the Israeli municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, but on the West Bank side of the separation wall. Palestinian sources say Israel was notified of the operation in advance. Palestinian security forces openly entered Kafr Aqab to calm the situation there, following a gun battle among Palestinians over a roadblock set up to enforce the lockdown the Palestinian Authority has imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the territory under its jurisdiction. About two weeks ago, the residents of Kafr Aqab established their own neighborhood committee to combat the coronavirus. After the Palestinian Authority imposed a lockdown on all the towns and villages in PA- administered territory, the committee decided to set up a roadblock to halt traffic. 3 Yedioth Ahronoth – April 1, 2020 Chaos Reigns in the Absence of a Plan By Nadav Eyal, Channel Thirteen News’ foreign news editor • Several weeks ago an article was printed in this newspaper that argued that Israel needed an orderly national plan to fight the coronavirus and to return life to normal. Several weeks have passed and Israel still has no plan, and chaos reigns. Planning teams have been formed at universities and other planning teams have been formed in the high-tech community. An acquisitions war room under the Mossad director’s command was formed, and a second war room under the command of IDF special forces officers was also formed. Teams have been working with information from the Health Ministry and the Gartner Institute that isn’t available to everyone. Power struggles have been underway among top health care system officials: hospital directors have been fighting Health Ministry officials, and Health Ministry officials have been fighting with one another. One day they say that more tests are going to be done. The next day we’re told that there’s no point to testing. Masks? No need, said Prof. Sadetzki, who suddenly showed up the next day wearing a mask and bearing news of a new (and necessary) policy that was long ago the subject of global studies. And mainly, time and time again, a single and sole method: lockdown and more lockdown and increasingly stricter restrictions. • Here are the hard facts. The death rate in Israel is currently low because the state took proper action initially by quarantining people returning from overseas. The credit for that goes to the Health Ministry and its directors, and to Prime Minister Netanyahu, all of whom perceived the severity of the threat in its early stages.