Israel and Middle East News Update

Wednesday, June 23

Headlines: ● Bennett: Treating Uptick in Cases as Another Outbreak ● Edelstein to Challenge Netanyahu for Leadership ● Hamas Opposes PA Role in Gaza Aid, Reconstruction ● Palestinian Authority Arrests Activist Over Online Criticism ● Lapid to Advance Peace Pact in Historic Trip to UAE ● US Seizes Iranian State News Websites ● Under US Pressure, Israel Votes to Condemn China Abuses ● Druze Woman to Serve as Jewish Agency Envoy

Commentary: ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Conference of Hate’’ - By Ben-Dror Yemini

● Yedioth Ahronoth: “The Opposition to the Chairman of the Opposition’’ - By Sima Kadmon

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 1725 I St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts June 23, 2021 I24 News Bennett: Israel Treating Uptick in Cases as Another Outbreak Prime Minister said that the government is treating the increase in local COVID-19 infections of the Delta, or Indian variant, as a new outbreak. Bennett said that the government is taking steps to quash the outbreak at the early stages, detailing the measures, including putting back together the so-called coronavirus cabinet. The immediate steps include the requirement to wear a mask at Ben Gurion Airport and PCR testing for all arrivals to Israel. Public health experts say that the majority of new cases stem from the Delta variant of the disease, which origins have been traced back to India and are thought to have been transported back to Israel by travelers returning from abroad. Medical experts have assured government officials that the likelihood of a pandemic relapse and a return to severe restrictions remains low. Dig Deeper ‘‘Israel Won’t Extend COVID-19 Jobless Benefits Past June’’ (Reuters)

Jerusalem Post Edelstein to Challenge Netanyahu for Likud Leadership Opposition leader ’s No. 2 in Likud, , is willing to run in a primary against the former prime minister, provided there is enough time for a serious challenge, he said in closed conversations. In the past, Netanyahu has moved up leadership primaries to the earliest date possible to catch his potential competitors off guard. Edelstein said he would not run if Netanyahu called for a primary in a few weeks, but he will if it takes place after the High Holy Days and Sukkot at the end of September. Edelstein does not believe Netanyahu would willingly leave his post, and he is concerned that under the former prime minister’s leadership, the Likud will not be able to return to power. Sources close to Netanyahu said he would be willing to face any challenger at any time. But they said there is strong opposition to advancing the primary, which is set to be held ahead of the next election.

Jerusalem Post Hamas Opposes PA Role in Gaza Aid, Reconstruction The Palestinian Authority should be responsible for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the delivery of Qatari cash grants, Israel has informed Hamas. The Israeli message was relayed to Hamas through the United Nations, sources in the Gaza Strip told Al-Quds, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian newspaper. Hamas rejected a demand to allow the PA to exclusively oversee the reconstruction effort and the entry of the Qatari money into Gaza. The PA announced the formation of a team for the reconstruction of Gaza. But Hamas officials said they were unaware of the decision by the PA to form the committee, adding that the move was not coordinated in advance with Hamas or other factions. Referring to the controversy surrounding reconstruction efforts, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said his government was the “only legitimate address” for carrying out the work. Dig Deeper ‘‘Palestinians Warn Gaza Won't Be Silent Until Border Restrictions Eased’’ (Jerusalem Post) 2 Associated Press Palestinian Authority Arrests Activist Over Online Criticism The PA arrested a prominent activist and held him overnight after he criticized its policies in a series of online posts and accused it of arresting another individual for political reasons. The PA has come under intense criticism in recent weeks after canceling the first elections in 15 years. Issa Amro, an outspoken critic of both Israel and the PA who has been arrested by both in the past, said he was summoned for questioning by the PA’s cybercrimes unit. He said he was asked about a Facebook post in which he protested the arrest of a man linked to a political rival of President Mahmoud Abbas. In the post, he said the PA should instead arrest “corrupt” people within its own ranks. Palestinian officials declined to comment on the case. The PA faces a crisis of legitimacy after calling off elections in April when it looked like Abbas’ Fatah party would suffer an embarrassing defeat. Its rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas have meanwhile seen their popularity soar following the Gaza war. Dig Deeper ‘‘Abbas Rivals Targeted in ‘Unprecedented’ PA Crackdown’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Ynet News Lapid to Advance Peace Pact in Historic Trip to UAE Foreign Minister will embark on his first official overseas trip next week, traveling to the United Arab Emirates to meet with counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed in what will be the first ever visit by a top Israeli government official to the Gulf state. The historic event, set to take place next Tuesday and Wednesday, also will see Lapid inaugurate the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, as well as Jerusalem’s consulate general in Dubai, the Foreign Ministry told The Media Line. “Ties between Israel and the UAE are an important relationship, the fruits of which will be enjoyed not only by the citizens of the two countries, but by the entire Middle East,” a ministry spokesperson said. Prime Minister Bennett commended his coalition partner, calling the summit “an important, historic occasion.” Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Ram Ben Barak, a member of Lapid’s party, spoke with Emirati counterpart Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi. The two discussed regional security, cooperation between their committees and parliaments, and foreign affairs. Dig Deeper ‘‘Lapid, Pelosi Discuss Bipartisan US Support for Israel in First Phone Call’’ (Times of Israel)

I24 News US Seizes Iranian State News Websites US law enforcement seized control of the websites of two Iranian state-controlled news groups, Press TV and Al-Alam, and of the Al-Masirah TV channel of Yemen's Huthis, statements posted on the websites showed. Each site had displayed a single page with a statement that it "has been seized by the United States Government" and making reference to US sanctions laws, accompanied by the seal of the FBI and the US Department of Commerce. slamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the parent of Al-Alam, reported that other sites, including a Palestinian-directed broadcast and an Arabic- language religious and cultural channel were also seized. IRIB accused the United States of repressing freedom of expression and joining forces with Israel and Saudi Arabia "to block pro- resistance media outlets exposing the crimes of US allies in the region." Dig Deeper ‘‘US Seizes Iranian, Pro-Hamas News Websites in Major Crackdown’’ (Times of Israel)

3 Times of Israel Under US Pressure, Israel Votes to Condemn China Abuses Israel was among 41 countries at the Human Rights Council that urged China to allow “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access” so independent observers can visit its western Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of a brutal crackdown on Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities. The decision to back the measure came after pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration, Walla news reported, marking what appeared to be a stark policy shift from Israel’s previous attempts to walk a tightrope between the two powers. The statement, presented by Canada and backed by 41 mostly Western countries, echoed widespread concerns among human rights groups about detention centers in Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities have been held. China denies mistreating the Uyghurs, once a clear majority in their ancestral homeland until the state helped waves of ethnic Han Chinese migrate there. Beijing insists it is simply running vocational training centers designed to counter extremism. Dig Deeper ‘‘Netanyahu Tries to Sabotage New Government's Relations With Washington’’ (Al-Monitor)

Ha’aretz Druze Woman to Serve as Jewish Agency Envoy The Jewish Agency announced the appointment of its first-ever Druze shaliach, or envoy. Gadeer Mreeh, a former Knesset member from Kahol Lavan and later Yesh Atid – both centrist parties – will serve as a senior envoy to Washington D.C., working in close cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She is to join a team of 10 Jewish Agency envoys already stationed in the Greater Washington area. In a statement, the Jewish Agency said she would focus in her new role on Israel advocacy work on college campuses. Mreeh was the first Druze woman to serve in the Knesset. She was first elected in April 2019 as a representative of Kahol Lavan, which ran together with Yesh Atid in that election. When the parties split in May 2020, after Kahol Lavan opted to join the government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Mreeh defected to oppositionist Yesh Atid. She was angry that Kahol Lavan, as part of its coalition agreement with Likud, had backed out of its past promises to amend the so-called nation-state law, widely perceived as discriminatory toward Israel’s Arab minority. A resident of Daliyat al-Karmel, the largest Druze town in Israel, Mreeh announced her decision to retire from politics earlier this year. The 37-year-old mother of two boys was the first non- Jewish woman to anchor a Hebrew-language news broadcast in Israel. In past years, the main job of the Jewish Agency envoy was to encourage Jewish immigration to Israel. In more recent years, it has focused on building bridges between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

4 Yedioth Ahronoth – June 23, 2021 Conference of Hate By Ben-Dror Yemini ● A conference was held at the Sabahattin Zaim University in Istanbul on the subject of apartheid in Palestine. The conference was sponsored by the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and was clearly sympathetic to Hamas. The conference was sponsored by Professor Sami al-Arian, who was charged with having ties with terrorist organizations and was deported from the United States following a plea bargain agreement. One of the guests of that conference was Omar Shakir, director of the Israel/Palestine department at Human Rights Watch, an anti-Israel “human rights” organization. Shakir’s permit to reside in Israel was revoked because of his support for BDS, among other reasons. Shakir is the person who wrote a recent report in which he accused Israel of being an apartheid state. ● He is the perfect embodiment of the red-green coalition, anti-Semitic left-wing activists along with jihadists. Other Israel-haters, such as Azmi Bishara and Ilan Pappe, were also on the list of speakers at the CIGA conference in Istanbul—as well as the [former] grand mufti of Jerusalem, who a few years ago infamously explained the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister by citing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Surprise, surprise—the very same Shakir was invited to address, in tandem with the conference in Istanbul, a conference that was held in the Knesset under a similar title—”Between Occupation and Apartheid.” That is strange since the conference that was held in Istanbul could not have been held in the parliament of many European countries since all of the participants are outspoken supporters of BDS, and some of them explicitly support Hamas. ● The Bundestag, for example, like many other parliaments in Europe, decided that the BDS movement is anti- Semitic. So how could something that could not happen in the Bundestag happen in the Knesset? That is particularly serious since most of the representatives of organizations that spread the lies about apartheid, such as Shakir, either support BDS or are part of the incessant campaign of lies against Israel around the world. Many of them addressed the Knesset. The majority of the Zionist left has always known how to draw a clear red line distinguishing between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and any of its policies, and joining in the blood libel that is being spread by people who deny Israel’s very right to exist. But the noisy part of the left wing has changed for the worse. When MK of joins MK Aida Touma-Sliman of the anti-Zionist , and both of them invite Shakir while he is in the middle of attending another anti-Semitic conference—Raz crossed that red line. Doing that does nothing to promote the cause of peace and reconciliation. It only advances hateful talk, rejectionism and anti-Semitism. If a similar conference were to have been held in the French or Italian parliaments, we would have cried out in alarm against the decision to give anti-Semites a platform, and justly so. On the assumption that that is clear to every sane person—that there is no room for tolerating a hateful conference of that kind in any parliament anywhere in the world, except for Turkey, Qatar and Iran.

5 Yedioth Ahronoth – June 23, 2021 The Opposition to the Chairman of the Opposition By Sima Kadmon ● “Slowly but surely, people are going to come to realize that he isn’t going to return [to power]. His age. The dramatic decline in [his] good judgment. The sub- standard bureau [that he ran]. Decision-making that increasingly moved to Balfour [i.e. decisions that were made by the Netanyahu family]. With every passing day, the new government will make new decisions. Appointments of new officials, cabinet meetings and security cabinet meetings—all of that will only highlight everything that was lacking here before. And once that happens, it will be far easier to replace him as chairman of the Likud.” The above statement was made to me earlier this week by a senior Likud member. Just like Yuli Edelstein, who intends to run against Netanyahu and whose opinion about the current party leader was leaked to the media, the senior Likud official with whom I spoke said that the only thing standing between the Likud and being in power is Netanyahu. Bennett, Lapid and Liberman’s greatest interest, he said, is to have Netanyahu remain chairman of the opposition, because that will guarantee the current government’s continued existence. As long as Netanyahu is around—this government will survive, even for four years. Every speech he gives only extends its life span, because even when they do disagree with one another, they remember why they’re together, said the Likud official. ● Netanyahu isn’t going to make a comeback, said the Likud official. He has a glass ceiling over his head. This government will hold office for years, and the Likud will plunge along with Netanyahu into the depths. Nevertheless, the senior Likud official was not yet prepared to make the above statements on-the-record. He knows that there is still a large majority within the Likud that continues to see Netanyahu as prime minister, as if he was never replaced (one privately-commissioned poll found that more than 62% of Likud voters think that Netanyahu should stay, as opposed to the remaining third that thinks he should be replaced). The senior Likud official said that would happen [he would speak on-the-record] soon. Everyone is going to come out of the closet. But there is a time for everything, he said. There is a group of Bibi-ists in the faction, and they aren’t party to that kind of talk. But they are only a small group. He said the rebellion in the Likud may not be underway just yet, but there is talk. People are talking. He has met and heard MKs. And people are saying that just like Netanyahu said that he wasn’t going to lose the election but lost, now he is saying that he is going to return to power but he might not. ● Likud mayors and activists have been roaming the halls of the Knesset feeling bitter and frustrated. Their frustration and bitterness stems from the way things have unfolded. They have been miffed to see the Bennett-Lapid government appoint such a large number of people to new positions of power within a short amount of time, whereas Netanyahu could never be bothered to look out for them over all the years [he was in power]. In the meantime, senior Likud officials appear to have won a small victory for themselves. It seems that the Likud primary is not going to be held in the immediate future, as Netanyahu wants. We’ve pushed the race off until after the period in which he is going to be thought of as a martyr inside the Likud, said one top Likud official to me. 6 ● Yes, some people in the party are living a pipe dream as if one day they’re going to wake up to hear that Netanyahu was resigning. That isn’t going to happen, said the Likud official. Netanyahu and Lapid left the Knesset at almost the exact same minute—at 4:15 in the morning. To draw an allusion from the Euro soccer tournament currently underway, the match they played against one another ended in a 6:0 victory for Lapid. Two no-confidence motions and [four] bills that were introduced for their first reading by the coalition were put to a vote. Netanyahu personally led the opposition’s fight. He forced to abandon an event in Rishon Lezion and he forced to leave an event being held by her daughter in Tel Aviv—he forced all of them to sit in the Knesset plenum until four in the morning only to lose time and time again to Bennett and Lapid. ● He simply didn’t want to return home—that was the prevailing explanation for Netanyahu’s behavior offered by the MKs who were forced to pull an all-nighter. Netanyahu’s real goal, however, was not to win the votes. What he wanted to achieve was to establish his public image as an aggressive chairman of the fighting opposition. No one is better at taking undeserved credit than he is. Whereas many of the Likud MKs believe that even if they do nothing, this coalition is going to find itself facing several major challenges, such as in the current case of the citizenship law. Rest assured: Netanyahu will be waiting in the wings to take credit, even if he had nothing to do with the outcome. ● Similarly, his cynicism is in plain view for all to see. How his political motives supersede any national security considerations. The Likud’s decision to vote against the citizenship law—adopting the opposite position from the one taken by Netanyahu’s coalition government just two weeks ago, which argued that the law needed to be approved for security reasons—may ultimately boomerang on him. Just as his negotiations with the and his introduction of the concept of an alternate prime minister boomeranged on him. The current coalition will be able to emulate his stance when it responds to the booby-trapped bills that the Likud intends to introduce further down the line and to reject on similar grounds any other motion the Likud files. ● Meanwhile, Netanyahu appears to be waiting for his political rivals to give him an opportunity to lash out. Like Zeev Elkin, who gave Netanyahu a piece of his mind in the Knesset plenum the other night about everything that he has had against him for a long time, including the demonstration that was organized outside his home that he said scared his five-year-old daughter to death. But it’s amusing to think that a little girl’s fears are going to have any impact on Netanyahu while he and his envoys appear to have decided to burn down the house. ● One senior cabinet minister said that damage has been done [by Netanyahu] to Israel’s most critical interests, such as the fight against Iran, sovereignty in Jerusalem and relations with the United States. The only thing he cares about is sowing destruction for the new government. That was the case with the “important foreign policy statement” that Netanyahu gave on Monday, which proved to be another flop by the former prime minister.

7 ● The political affairs correspondents heard Netanyahu speak out against the principle of “no surprises” that was discussed by Foreign Minister Lapid and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But they all know that that has been the policy that all Israeli governments have adopted for years, including Netanyahu’s governments. Netanyahu needs to pray, said one high-placed source, that no one ever discloses to the public the huge number of operations that Netanyahu refused to authorize only because he was leery—and rightly so, in most cases—of the Americans’ reaction. So if anyone had been asking themselves whether Netanyahu was going to be a stately chairman of the opposition—that question was clearly answered in the past few days.

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