Israel and the Middle East News Update

Friday, December 27

Headlines:

• Netanyahu Quashes Likud Leadership Challenge from Sa’ar With 72% • Strikes in Gaza After Rocket Forces Netanyahu Off Stage • Israel Hit by Widespread Flooding as Wintry Weather Persists • Gaza’s Weekly Protests Suspended for 3 Months • Israel's Meretz Party Seeks to Run a Second Arab Candidate on Slate • ICC Prosecutor Bensouda was Welcomed by Israel in ’98 • Trump Calls for End to Killing in Syria Rebel Bastion • Egypt Renovates Historic Synagogue

Commentary:

• Ha’aretz: “The Israeli Center-left Must Open Its Eyes - By Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel

• Post: “ICC: This May Only Be the Beginning” - By Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister of Israel

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

News Excerpts December 27, 2019 Times of Israel Netanyahu Quashes Likud Leadership Challenge from Sa’ar With 72% Netanyahu trounced his rival Gideon Sa’ar in the Likud leadership race early Friday, winning some 72.5% of the party vote in a landslide victory for the longtime Likud leader. Netanyahu declared victory soon after midnight Thursday-Friday, as the count was underway, while Sa’ar conceded an hour later. As the final results were announced, Sa’ar called Netanyahu to congratulate him. “This is a huge victory! Thank you Likud members for your trust, support and love,” Netanyahu said in a message to supporters, vowing to “lead Likud to a great victory in the upcoming [national] elections and continue to lead the State of Israel to unprecedented achievements.” See also, “ Netanyahu Cements Likud Leadership After Beating Sa’ar in Primary” (Ha’aretz)

Ha’aretz Israel Strikes in Gaza After Rocket Forces Netanyahu Off Stage The Israeli military said it struck in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, targeting Hamas military posts in the coastal enclave in retaliation for a rocket that was launched at Israel's south earlier on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was attending an election campaign event there. Netanyahu, who had been making an address at a gathering in the port city of Ashkelon, was rushed off the stage with his wife Sara to a nearby shelter; he later returned to complete his speech. Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed that the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one rocket fired from the Strip. See also, “ Netanyahu rushed offstage as rocket fired from Gaza into Israel” (CNN)

Ynet News Israel Hit by Widespread Flooding as Wintry Weather Persists Israel was hit by widespread flooding on Thursday as a wave of torrential downpours and strong gusts swept through the country.Major flooding was reported in northern and central Israel as entire streets became submerged in Tayibe, Umm al-Fahm, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Qalansawe and Kafr Qara. Particularly high rainfall was measured in the Western Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the Upper Galilee. Some areas have experienced continuous cloudbursts since Wednesday afternoon, with rainfall measurements reaching a staggering 140 mm in the northern city of Ma'alot-Tarshiha within about 24 hours.The Sea of Galilee reportedly rose by 6 cm within 24 hours, 4.5 cm of which during the night, setting the world's lowest sweet water lake's elevation level at 211.765 meters below sea level. See also, “Goat herder killed in northern Israel flash flood” (Ynet News)

Jerusalem Post Gaza’s Weekly Protests Suspended for 3 Months The organizers of the "Great March of Return," the weekly demonstrations near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, decided on Thursday to suspend the protests until the end of March 2020. The decision, which goes into effect January 3, is seen by some Palestinians as the beginning of the end of the protests, first launched in March 2018 by several Palestinian factions, including Hamas. According to unconfirmed reports, at least 348 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with the IDF since the start of the demonstrations. See also, “Gaza Border Protests to Stop Until April, Will Resume on Monthly Basis, Group Says” (Ha’aretz)

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Ha’aretz Israel's Meretz Party Seeks to Run a Second Arab Candidate on Slate Meretz is seeking to raise its appeal to Arab citizens by adding an Arab candidate to its party list for the next elections. The party is negotiating with Mazen Ghanaim, a former mayor of Sakhnin, to reserve the fifth slot on the party’s list for him, one place behind former MK Esawi Freige. Meretz wants to strengthen its image as the party promoting Jewish-Arab cooperation and hopes to gain two Knesset seats from Arab voters. If Ghanaim agrees, he is expected to join the list not as a Meretz member but as a representative of the Arab Democratic Party, founded by former MK Abdulwahab Darawshe. Ghanaim, who once served as chairman of the Bnei Sakhnin soccer club, told Haaretz: “At this point I’m not saying a word. I took time out for one week. I’ll be wiser in a week’s time.” See also, “Opinion: Labor, Meretz, Come Down to Earth” (Ha’aretz)

Times of Israel ICC Prosecutor Bensouda was Welcomed by Israel in ’98 Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court who last week announced her intention to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes, came to Israel two decades ago to attend a government-sponsored conference, The Times of Israel has learned.In October 1998, Bensouda, who had just been appointed justice minister of her native Gambia, participated in a seminar for women leaders from all over the world hosted by Mashav, the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, in . Two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Bensouda’s participation. “The conference celebrated both Israel’s 50th jubilee and 40 years of Israeli foreign aid,” the Foreign Ministry said in a press release issued at the time. See also, “From The Gambia to The Hague: Meet Israel’s new public enemy number one” (TOI)

I24 News Trump Calls for End to Killing in Syria Rebel Bastion US President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the governments in Moscow, Damascus and Tehran to stop the bloodshed that has displaced thousands in Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib. Heightened regime and Russian bombardment has hit the country's last major opposition bastion since mid- December, as regime forces make advances on the ground despite an August ceasefire and United Nations calls for a de-escalation. Nearly 80 civilians have been killed by air strikes and artillery attacks in the last two weeks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which estimates that more than 40,000 people have been displaced. Turkey called Tuesday for the attacks to "come to an end immediately," after sending a delegation to Moscow to discuss the flare-up. See also “US, Russian troops brawl in northeast Syria - report” (Jerusalem Post)

Jerusalem Post Egypt Renovates Historic Synagogue The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry announced on Friday the reopening of the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue next January. The government began renovations on the 14th-century Alexandria house of worship in 2017.This came after the Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani toured a number of archaeological sites in the Mediterranean port city, among them the synagogue, which was built in 1354. The ministry explained in a press release that the Egyptian government is interested in preserving all of the country's monuments and heritage, regardless of whether they are Pharaonic, Jewish, Coptic, or Islamic. "The restoration project included structural and architectural reinforcement to the building.”

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Ha’aretz- December 26, 2019 The Israeli Center-left Must Open Its Eyes

By Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel

• Open your eyes. The election that is ahead of us will be critical in determining Israel’s character and its future. The fact that it will be the third within a year shows that the political order is at risk of a painful collapse. And both sides of the aisle, including the one to which I belong, are blind. Two to three weeks remain to combine forces, and nine weeks until the election. Sobriety, vigilance and willingness to act are the order of the day. • Those of you in the center left must open your eyes. The election will determine the size of the bloc, not the size of the party. The center left’s unwillingness to take decisive action to build a winning bloc, in total contrast to the right, constitutes inexplicable blindness on the part of its leaders. If even one of the small leftist parties fails to meet the electoral threshold, it could guarantee the establishment of a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which would be a disaster. • Three conclusions must be drawn: Democratic Union must maintain its unity and the composition of its electoral slate; Meretz's Nitzan Horowitz is right to call for an alliance of the left. Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz must overcome all the pitfalls and move forthwith to join Democratic Union. Kahol Lavan Chairman Benny Gantz, who has demonstrated impressive political skills, must recognize the he has a responsibility to put together a winning bloc, whose size will enable it to establish a government that will return the state to the Zionism of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Only a winning bloc under his leadership can negotiate from a position of strength with the ultra-Orthodox parties and forces on the right about joining his government. • This responsibility requires Gantz to focus on persuading the parties to his left to unite. He must present them with a plan envisioning joint action. Without these measures, there will be no unification of forces, and without that, the blindness of the leadership is liable to lead to a defeat that will be laid at his doorstep. • The opposite is happening on the right. The leader, who has been indicted for bribery, is hysterically yet soberly and determinedly pulling out all the stops to save himself from having to face justice. In so doing, he continues endlessly to incite, to divide, to threaten to take credit for others’ achievements and to lie. He and his family are prepared to burn down the house, and with it the norms of public life in Israel. A century ago, the Irish poet W. B. Yeats bewailed the blindness of leaders who brought on the apocalypse of World War I: • “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Sounds familiar? On the Israeli right, some of those being led – most of them good people in and of themselves – suffer from blindness: They follow a leader whose time has passed, a “magician” who was exposed by his disgrace and his deceit, a leader who behaves criminally. A man, some of whose alleged crimes have yet even to be investigated, among them possible insider trading linked to a cousin of his and misreporting to the state comptroller, not to mention the ships affair, the most serious of affairs, in the Holy of Holies of national security.

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• I know thousands of Likud members and am convinced that many of them are pained about the contradiction between their expectations of leadership and what happens in the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. What Matanyahu Englman in the State Comptroller’s Office and Amir Ohana in the Justice Ministry are destroying is just a taste of what we can expect down the line. • And I am calling on you all, too. Open your eyes. What’s happening on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street is not the Israel of which we dreamed and for which we fought. The power to change is in our hands – to be more precise, in your hands. The day after we are rid of this evil, and with it the criminal neglect of health, education, transportation, civil rights, environmental quality and security, we will all breathe more easily. Yes, I am convinced that you all will as well. Simply open your eyes and dare to act.

Summary: Those of you in the center left must open your eyes. The election will determine the size of the bloc, not the size of the party. The center left’s unwillingness to take decisive

action to build a winning bloc, in total contrast to the right, constitutes inexplicable blindness on the part of its leaders. If even one of the small leftist parties fails to meet the electoral threshold, it could guarantee the establishment of a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which would be a disaster. Three conclusions must be drawn: Democratic Union must maintain its unity and the composition of its electoral slate; Meretz's Nitzan Horowitz is right to call for an alliance of the left. Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz must overcome all the pitfalls and move forthwith to join Democratic Union. Kahol Lavan Chairman Benny Gantz,

who has demonstrated impressive political skills, must recognize the he has a responsibility to put together a winning bloc, whose size will enable it to establish a government that will return the state to the Zionism of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Only a winning bloc under his leadership can negotiate from a position of strength with the ultra-Orthodox parties and forces on the right about joining his government.

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Jerusalem Post – December 26 2019 ICC: This May Only Be the Beginning By Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister of Israel

• International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's decision to open an investigation against the State of Israel on suspicion that political leaders, IDF commanders and combat soldiers committed war crimes, is an action that was based on wickedness, malice, deception and distortion, with a hint of anti-Israel sentiment. • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn't have asked for more effective, influential and distracting occurrence. The louder the protests and the angrier the responses, the happier Netanyahu is that the spotlight is not shining on him. For as long as this moment lasts he won't have to deal with Gideon Sa'ar, or figure out why only 200 people attended his recent election rally in Jerusalem. Right now he has a new predicament, around which he can unite the entire nation. All the Israel-lovers will once again rally around Bibi, thinking he is the only one who can protect us against the antisemitic Israel-haters who consistently distort reality and inflict horrible atrocities upon the Jewish people. • In reality, though, the situation is a bit more complex. The State of Israel has long been portrayed in the international community as an occupier that refuses to hold talks to end the occupation, and that continues to crush the rights of millions of Palestinians who lack basic civil rights. This portrayal is, of course, far from accurate. • It is true that the State of Israel has been controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians for more than 50 years, and there's no doubt that the Palestinians are not given equal rights or national recognition in the land where they are the majority. They have not been recognized as a sovereign state, and there's no doubt that most nations around the world are discontented with Israel's rule over the territories. Israel's claim that it imposes closures on the territories due to murderous acts of terrorism committed by Gazans are not widely accepted by the international community. And yet, since I was the last Israeli prime minister to carry out serious negotiations with the Palestinians, I can say with utter certainty and based on my most intense and personal involvement, that at the time, the side responsible for thwarting a peace agreement was indisputably the Palestinians. • Although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas never explicitly rejected the far- reaching peace proposals I presented to him, neither did he accept any of them. In short, this will be recorded in the annals of history as another missed opportunity for peace. Nevertheless, there is no denying that in the last 10 years, Israel has been the recalcitrant, aggressive party that lacks flexibility, and this is main reason that not only was a peace agreement never reached, but initial discussions never even got underway. • Granted, there was Hamas, and terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians. It's clear that only if the Palestinians are prepared to take the far-reaching political steps necessary to establish a productive and functioning society, will there be any chance for achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But is this what Israelis really want? Over the last 10 years, the Israeli government has been unwilling to demonstrate even the tiniest morsel of openness in an effort to bring about an end to the conflict with the Palestinians.

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• IN THE PAST, the international community - including our most loyal allies - exerted significant influence over our political, military and economic endeavors. We were more attentive to world opinion, and we listened carefully to the harsh accusations coming out of France, Germany, the UK and numerous other countries, all of which have long-standing friendships with Israel and have steadfastly stood by us during times of difficulty. In recent years, and especially since President Donald Trump took office, Israel has been relatively immune to military and economic pressure from abroad. Trump has served as a clear wall of defense protecting Israel's arrogant and smug policies. • For personal and political reasons, Netanyahu has made provocative declarations about Israel's annexation of the Jordan Valley, and the US has expressed full compliance. The American president has officially recognized (west) Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the US Embassy was moved with great fanfare from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. So why not go one step further and recognize the Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel? The settlements in Judea and Samaria have been a bone of contention that has been subjected to intense scrutiny by every single American president since 1967. Now that they have been declared completely legitimate by Trump, they are no longer considered a violation of international law. • This sense of security, however, is nothing more than a fleeting illusion. The international community has not come to terms with these circumstances, and will never reconcile itself with the Bibi-Bennett-Ben Gvir annexation strategy. It will continue searching for ways to strike out at Israel, and find sensitive spots that will hurt Israel even more than a UN Security Council decision can. • Fifteen years ago, when Arik Sharon was prime minister, the European Union decided to restrict Israel's trade rights with the EU. According to the new agreement, Israel was required to identify all goods that were produced in territories that were not recognized as part of the State of Israel. All of these products were then denied customs exemptions. The EU claimed that their Free Trade Agreement had been signed with the State of Israel, and did cover any disputed territories. At the time, as Israel's minister of industry and trade, and acting prime minister, I made the decision to accept this agreement, since not doing so would have put our entire $12-billion export industry in jeopardy. The export of goods produced in Judea and Samaria amounted to only $120 million. • Many people asserted that protecting 1% of Israel's exports to Europe justified risking a billions- of-dollars industry, lest heaven forbid, it would appear as if we agreed that the territories were not part of the State of Israel. Despite this resistance, the agreement was approved. Protests in Israel soon died down, and Israel's economic need to maintain good trade relations with Europe remained clear. Years later, under Netanyahu's proud Jewish leadership, Israel violated this agreement, which I personally had signed. We are now currently in the midst of a battle, at the end of which we will once again be forced to sign an agreement stating that the territories are not part of the State of Israel. • Exports to Europe are a relatively negligible matter. Forces that are currently seeking to force Israel to revoke its annexation plan have also initiated a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, claiming Israel has carried out war crimes. • Professor Hersch Lauterpacht, a Jew from Zolkiev in western Ukraine, near Lvov, who assisted in the drafting of Israel's Declaration of Independence, formulated the legal concept of crimes against humanity, and within that the subset of war crimes. How ironic is it that decades after 7

Nazi war criminals were indicted for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials soon after World War II ended, Israeli leaders and IDF soldiers could be subject to malicious claims, based on principles conceived by this Jewish professor, however dissimilar the circumstances and actions may be. • Moreover, boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activity continues. Although these actions do little harm to Israeli exports, they can put Israel in a defensive position with respect to our international standing. European countries could start requiring Israeli tourists to take out visas before being allowed to visit on the grounds that by doing so will enable them to identify when possible suspects of war crimes are coming through their gates. • I imagine that there will be some among us who will propose that we respond in a similar fashion as an act of national pride. It may feel like these are situations that could only be relevant in the distant future, but this scenario could develop quicker than you may think. So long as Israel's leadership chooses to pursue a policy of near-sightedness and focus exclusively on what affects the political foundation of the imperial family, and not what is the correct form of action for the good of the country, we cannot progress. • There is, however, a way to clean up this mess. Of course, there is no magic wand that will change our reality or rid our world of hatred, hypocrisy and antisemitism at the flick of a wrist, and there's no certainty that a new, bold Israeli initiative would lead to a genuine peace with our neighbors. But neither can we deny that the time has come to set out on a new path, one that offers a more restrained and thoughtful course, without jeopardizing our security concerns or existence. • If Israel were to courageously initiate serious and respectful talks today, it would not find itself being pushed to the margins of the international community and sued for war crimes at the ICC. Countries would not be considering joining boycotts against Israel, and countries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and countries in North Africa wouldn't condemn Israel in every international forum possible. In order for circumstances and the general atmosphere to change in the international community, we need a leadership that truly wants peace. We need a leader who has the courage to take chances involving concessions and refraining from the aggressive and patronizing rhetoric that have become the hallmark of this government. • I write these words from the bottom of my heart. No one has the authority to preach to me regarding the State of Israel's security concerns. The Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, pre-nuclear Syria, and Iran (which knows everything, even if I don't say anything - and I never have - that could humiliate it in the international or domestic arena) can all attest to the fact that at one time there was an Israeli government that knew how to take risks and to make crucial decisions regarding vital security matters, while at the same time reaching out to our neighbors in an effort to achieve peace. The charge against Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague is a loud wake-up call that cannot be ignored. And I fear that this may be only the beginning.

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Summary: If Israel were to courageously initiate serious and respectful talks today, it would not find itself being pushed to the margins of the international community and sued for war crimes at the ICC. Countries would not be considering joining boycotts against Israel, and countries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and countries in North Africa wouldn't condemn Israel in every international forum possible. In order for circumstances and the general atmosphere to change in the international community, we need a leadership that truly wants peace. We need a leader who has the courage to take chances involving concessions and refraining from the aggressive and patronizing rhetoric that have become the hallmark of this government. I write these words from the bottom of my heart. No one has the authority to preach to me regarding the State of Israel's security concerns. The Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, pre-nuclear Syria, and Iran (which knows everything, even if I don't say anything - and I never have - that could humiliate it in the international or domestic arena) can all attest to the fact that at one time there was an Israeli government that knew how to take risks and to make crucial decisions regarding vital security matters, while at the same time reaching out to our neighbors in an effort to achieve peace. The charge against Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague is a loud wake-up call that cannot be ignored. And I fear that this may be only the beginning.

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