DOCSLIB.ORG

August 17 2018

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
August 17 2018 Israel and the Middle East News Update Friday, August 17 Headlines: • Egypt Finalizing Details of Long-Term Hamas Truce: Source • Shin Bet Head Said to Warn Cabinet on Gaza Truce Without PA • U.S. Ambassador: ‘No Reason to Evacuate Settlements’: Report • W.H: Trump and Putin Agree That Iran Needs to Pull Out of Syria • Netanyahu to Face Police Grilling Friday in Corruption Probe • Peter Beinart Says Netanyahu 'Very Similar to Erdogan' • Israeli NGO: ICC Should Open War Crimes Probe against Abbas • Israeli Woman Killed in Suspected Hit-and-Run in West Bank Commentary: • Ha’aretz: “There's a Reason the Opposition Didn't Attend the Nation-state Protest” - By MK Tzipi Livni, head of the Opposition • Al Monitor: “Who is Afraid of Arab Israelis? - By Akiva Eldar, contributor to Al Monitor S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● Aaron Zucker, Associate Editor News Excerpts August 17, 2018 Reuters Egypt Finalizing Details of Long-Term Hamas Truce: Source Egypt is finalizing details of a long-term truce deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian security source said on Thursday, amid easing tensions on the border of the enclave where some two million Palestinians live. Cairo has brokered an interim truce that has allowed commercial goods into Gaza ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha feast which starts next week. “We are putting the final touches to the terms of the truce that will be signed by all sides, and we expect to announce the terms next week if Fatah helps us to do so,” the source said, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s mainstream party See also, ”Israel-Hamas truce includes Qatari financing for Gaza, Cyprus sea line: report” (i24 News) Times of Israel Shin Bet Head Said to Warn Cabinet on Gaza Truce Without PA The head of the Shin Bet security agency has warned cabinet ministers that excluding the Palestinian Authority from a long-term ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip will send a message that terrorism is rewarded, Israeli television reported Thursday. According to the Hadashot TV news report, Nadav Argaman also told members of the security cabinet that a truce that ignores PA President Mahmoud Abbas would strengthen Hamas in the West Bank, where the internationally recognized PA is based. “Pushing aside [Abbas] from the process [of reaching an] agreement will strengthen Hamas in the West Bank and prove terror pays,” Argaman was quoted as saying. See also, “Abbas: Egypt is making an effort, but Hamas won't settle” (Ynet News) Jerusalem Post U.S. Ambassador: ‘No Reason to Evacuate Settlements’ West Bank settlements do not need to be uprooted, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told visitors to his Jerusalem office – on the same day the Trump administration warned that its peace deal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would leave both sides dissatisfied. “There is no reason to evacuate settlements,” Friedman told the group, according to MK Yehudah Glick (Likud) who was at the meeting, along with South Hebron Hills Regional Council head Yochai Damri. Glick clarified that he was not Friedman’s spokesman, but he was left with the impression that Friedman was “fed up with programs of separation.’ The US Embassy said it had “no comment” on the report. See also, “Friedman says 'no reason to evacuate settlements' in peace deal: report” (i24 News) Ha’aretz W.H: Trump and Putin Agree That Iran Needs to Pull Out of Syria Russia and the United States both agree in principle that Iran should take its forces out of Syria, but the Russian government believes it will be a "difficult task" to get the Iranians out of the country, a senior U.S. official told local news outlets on Thursday. The comments were made ahead of an upcoming trip by Trump's National Security Adviser, John Bolton, to Geneva, where he will meet with senior Russian officials. His discussions there will focus on the Iran and Syria issues. See also, “ White House says Trump, Putin agree in principle on getting Iran out of Syria” (TOI) 2 Times of Israel Netanyahu to Face Police Grilling Friday in Corruption Probe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be grilled by police for the last time on Friday on charges of bribery in the Bezeq corruption probe, known as Case 4000. Investigators will question the premier in his official residence in Jerusalem amid media reports that they are reportedly leaning towards recommending a bribery indictment against Netanyahu in the case. According to Hebrew-language media reports throughout this week, officials suspect Netanyahu advanced regulatory decisions as communications minister and prime minister that benefited Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in Bezeq, the country’s largest telecommunications firm, despite opposition from the Communication Ministry’s career officials and in exchange for positive coverage from Elovitch’s Walla news site. See also, “Netanyahu to be grilled in 'Bezeq affair' on Friday for the last time” (Jerusalem Post) i24 News Peter Beinart Says Netanyahu 'Very Similar to Erdogan' Peter Beinart, the American Jewish journalist who was detained at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, told i24NEWS about his experience and how fear of terrorism in the Jewish state is being exploited by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to crack down on opposition. “I think that the Netanyahu government has exploited those fears to try and crack down on opposition and dissent in a whole range of ways. In this way, he is very similar to a whole range of leaders we are seeing around the world from Donald Trump to Erdogan in Turkey… a kind of authoritarian hyper-nationalism view that plays on and exacerbates people’s fears in ways that undermine liberal democratic ideals,” he said. Jerusalem Post Israeli NGO: ICC Should Open War Crimes Probe against Abbas An Israeli NGO is pushing the International Criminal Court to investigate Palestinian leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. On September 13, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice plans to file its second request this year to the ICC prosecutor’s office asking that it open a war crimes probe against Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for the militarization of children under the age of 15. In March 2017, it also asked the ICC prosecutor to investigate Haniyeh for war crimes based on Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields and its indiscriminate rocket fire against Israel. Later this year, the NGO intends to file requests for investigations against Haniyeh and Abbas for crimes against humanity. The NGO argued that the Palestinian Authority’s 2015 accession to the Rome Statute, which governs the ICC and the ICC’s decision in that year to open a “preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine,” opened the door to such suits. Ynet News Israeli Woman Killed in Suspected Hit-and-Run in West Bank An Israeli woman was killed after being hit by what is reported to be a Palestinian taxi at a junction on Highway 60 near the Havat Gilad outpost on Thursday night in a suspected hit-and-run. The woman, in her 40s, was seriously hurt, and paramedics at the scene had to declare her dead after resuscitation efforts failed. The driver, in his 60s, fled the scene, but later turned himself in to the Palestinian police in Nablus. He said he fled because he was afraid. Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, asserted the incident was a terror attack. "The junction is lighted... there are no signs of an attempt to stop—not before the spot and not after” Dagan said. 3 Ha’aretz – August 17, 2018 There's a Reason the Opposition Didn't Attend the Nation- state Protest By MK Tzipi Livni, head of the Opposition • “Cowards!” scream the articles published since the demonstration organized by the Arab community’s Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last Saturday. “Rhinoceroses,” charge the cartoonists. The question asked over and over by those writers is this: How is it possible that the leaders of the Zionist Union party didn’t attend the demonstration? • So here’s the answer: We didn’t come because we believe Israel must be both a Jewish and a democratic state. That’s not an easy combination, and some say it’s impossible. But I believe it’s essential, and so did the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who represented all the different groups in the pre-state Jewish community’s leadership. They wrote in that declaration that Israel is the state of the Jewish people and that it will ensure equality for all its citizens. • I am loyal to their path, even if there are some people who don’t accept the idea of equality for all Israelis, like the current government, which refused to add that into the nation-state law. On the other side, there are people – and regrettably, the leaders of the Arab parties’ Joint List are among them – who have trouble accepting Israel’s definition as the Jewish nation-state, even if it were to ensure equality. • We believe in both halves of this equation, and we consider both vital. We won’t acquiesce in Israel conceding either half of the equation, regardless of whether it’s the Jewish-state half or the half that promises equality to all citizens under a democratic system of government. I cannot support any formulation that gives priority to either of these values at the expense of the other. • The claim that we weren’t at the demonstration because we were afraid is very reminiscent of the government’s charge that we didn’t support the nation-state law because we opposed enshrining Israel’s definition as the state of the Jewish people in legislation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Israel and Overseas: Israeli Election Primer 2015 (As Of, January 27, 2015) Elections • in Israel, Elections for the Knesset A
    Israel and Overseas: Israeli Election Primer 2015 (As of, January 27, 2015) Elections In Israel, elections for the Knesset are held at least every four years. As is frequently the case, the outgoing government coalition collapsed due to disagreements between the parties. As a result, the Knesset fell significantly short of seeing out its full four year term. Knesset elections in Israel will now be held on March 17, 2015, slightly over two years since the last time that this occurred. The Basics of the Israeli Electoral System All Israeli citizens above the age of 18 and currently in the country are eligible to vote. Voters simply select one political party. Votes are tallied and each party is then basically awarded the same percentage of Knesset seats as the percentage of votes that it received. So a party that wins 10% of total votes, receives 10% of the seats in the Knesset (In other words, they would win 12, out of a total of 120 seats). To discourage small parties, the law was recently amended and now the votes of any party that does not win at least 3.25% of the total (probably around 130,000 votes) are completely discarded and that party will not receive any seats. (Until recently, the “electoral threshold,” as it is known, was only 2%). For the upcoming elections, by January 29, each party must submit a numbered list of its candidates, which cannot later be altered. So a party that receives 10 seats will send to the Knesset the top 10 people listed on its pre-submitted list.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia in Syria and the Implications for Israel Israel's Imagined
    Volume 19 | No. 2 | July 2016 Russia in Syria and the Implications for Israel Amos Yadlin Israel’s Imagined Role in the Syrian Civil War Tha‘er al-Nashef and Ofir Winter Will Russia and Iran Walk Hand in Hand? Ephraim Kam Changes in Hezbollah’s Identity and Fundamental Worldview Roman Levi No Magic Solution: The Effectiveness of Deporting Terrorists as a Counterterrorism Policy Measure Adam Hoffman A Troubling Correlation: The Ongoing Economic Deterioration in East Jerusalem and the Current Wave of Terror Amit Efrati Troubles in Paradise: The New Arab Leadership in Israel and the Challenges of the Hour Doron Matza, Meir Elran, and Mohammed Abo Nasra Selective Engagement: China’s Middle East Policy after the Arab Spring Wang Jin China and Turkey: Closer Relations Mixed with Suspicion Galia Lavi and Gallia Lindenstrauss Israel and the International Criminal Court: A Legal Battlefield Bar Levy and Shir Rozenzweig Israel’s Second War Doctrine Ron Tira Strategic ASSESSMENT Volume 19 | No. 2 | July 2016 CONTENTS Abstracts | 3 Russia in Syria and the Implications for Israel | 9 Amos Yadlin Israel’s Imagined Role in the Syrian Civil War | 27 Tha‘er al-Nashef and Ofir Winter Will Russia and Iran Walk Hand in Hand? | 41 Ephraim Kam Changes in Hezbollah’s Identity and Fundamental Worldview | 53 Roman Levi No Magic Solution: The Effectiveness of Deporting Terrorists as a Counterterrorism Policy Measure | 67 Adam Hoffman A Troubling Correlation: The Ongoing Economic Deterioration in East Jerusalem and the Current Wave of Terror | 81 Amit Efrati Troubles
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish-Arab Relations in Israel Tested by Time and Reality
    Tel Aviv University The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies The Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation Cordially invite you to a festive conference marking the 20th anniversary of the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation Jewish-Arab Relations in Israel Tested by Time and Reality Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Efter Auditorium, Entrance floor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University * The lectures will be delivered in Hebrew with simultaneous translation into English. This invitation may be used to access the Gate 4 parking lot. Please park in marked spaces only. Event code: 1079968 RSVP: Telephone: 03-6409991 | E-mail: [email protected] 16:00 Gathering 16:30 – 16:45 Greetings Prof. Uzi Rabi, Head of the Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University Dr. Michael Borchard, Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Israel 16:45 – 18:00 First Session: Celebrating 20 Years of the Konrad Adenauer Program Moderator: Dr. Michael Borchard, Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Israel Keynote address MK Tzipi Livni, Hatnua, The Zionist Union Participants: MK Zouheir Bahloul, Labor Party Prof. Elie Rekhess, Founding Director of the Konrad Adenauer Program; Israel Studies, Crown Center, Northwestern University Reflections on the Past and Prospects for the Future 18:00 – 18:30 Coffee Break Second Session: Arab Society and Jewish-Arab Relations in Israel – An Overview 18:30 – 20:00 Chairperson and Dr. Itamar Radai, Academic Director, Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab respondent: Cooperation Lecturers: MK Ksenia Svetlova, The Zionist Union Jews and Arabs: Education for Inequality Arik Rudnitzky, Project Manager, Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation Arab Nationalist Discourse in Israel Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Visiting Delegations—20Th Knesset
    The Knesset Visiting Delegations—20th Knesset Since April 2015, the 20th Knesset has welcomed some 350 visiting delegations from abroad. Below are some highlights of this work, which point to the variety of national and professional backgrounds represented in these delegations. Visit of the Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia Participants: Dates: 11–12 December 2018 Details: In December 2018, the Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia visited the Knesset. He was accompanied by a delegation that included the Deputy Secretary General, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, and the Knesset’s contact person in the Parliament of Georgia. During the visit, the delegation was shown various aspects of the Knesset's administrative work: human resources, transparency, information and technology, accessibility, and more. A meeting with the Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets of the Japanese House of Representatives (the Diet) Participants: MK Avi Dichter, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and Mr. Shmuel Letko, the director of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and MK Tzipi Livni Dates: 30 July 2018 Details: On July 29 and 30, the Knesset hosted a delegation of the Board of Oversight and Review of Specially Designated Secrets of the Japanese House of Representatives. The delegation came to Israel to learn about the management of confidential information, the regulation of information classification, and the relationship between the executive branch and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and its subcommittees. As part of the visit, the delegation members met with Opposition Leader MK Livni, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Dichter, and with committee director Shmuel Letko, with whom they discussed the committee's work and information management procedures.
    [Show full text]
  • Outgoing Delegations—20Th Knesset
    The Knesset Outgoing Delegations—20th Knesset Participation by the Director General of the Knesset in Events Marking 100 years of Democracy in Georgia Participants: Director General of the Knesset Albert Sakharovich Destination: Georgia Dates: 10–14 March 2019 Details: The Director General of the Knesset, Albert Sakharovich, was invited by his Georgian counterpart, Mr. Givi Mikandadze, to take part in a series of events marking the 100th anniversary of democracy in Georgia. During the visit, work meetings were held in Parliament, including a tour of the training center and a visit to an information and reception area for people with disabilities. In addition, a tour was held of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, which is housed in the parliament, and the Book Museum. Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) in Belgrade Participants: MK Amir Peretz (Labor), MK Eitan Broshi (Labor) Destination: Belgrade, Serbia Dates: 20–24 February 2019 Details: MK Amir Peretz, the Knesset representative in the PAM, was elected by secret ballot as vice president of the organization with a large majority of 80% of the vote and was given the second slot after Italy. MK Peretz: "This is an important moment in strengthening the international standing of the Knesset in the international arena. It provides an opportunity to advance economic and political issues in a complex arena that includes representatives of the Mediterranean basin and representatives of Arab countries in our region." MK Peretz called on the organization to serve as an umbrella for bilateral talks, including between Israelis and Palestinians. Conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Participants: MK Anat Berko (Likud) Destination: Vienna, Austria Dates: 20–23 February 2019 Details: The OSCE's Winter Meeting was held in February 2019 inVienna.
    [Show full text]
  • Combatting Extremism in Israel: Rabbi Susan Grossman
    1 If Not Now, When? Combatting Extremism in Israeli A Sermon for the High Holy Days By Rabbi Susan Grossman Beth Shalom Congregation Columbia Maryland www/beth-shalom.net Shanah Tovah I want to share with you four incidents that happened in Israel this summer. They are important for us to know about, to think about as we reflect on who we are and who we want to be, as individuals and as a Jewish People. Incident number one: It was on a quiet street in Haifa, Israel at 5:30 in the morning, July 19, when my colleague Rabbi Dubi Haiyun of the Masorti (Israeli Conservative) congregation Moriah woke to a loud pounding on his door. It was the police. They had come to take him in for questioning. His supposed “crime?” Officiating at a wedding without the approval of the Chief Rabbinate. ii The thing is, the Chief Rabbinate does not approve of anything a Masorti (or any non- Orthodox) Rabbi does. That is why marriages officiated by Rabbi Haiyun and his colleagues are not recognized by the Chief Rabbinate or registered by the State. Many young Israelis refuse to have the details of their happy day dictated by the ultra-Orthodox Haredi who control Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. Since Israel recognizes civil marriages performed in other countries, many couples go overseas for a civil marriage and then have a Jewish wedding in Israel with the rabbi of their choice. For the couple in question, their choice was Rabbi Haiyun. Masorti rabbis have been officiating at weddings in this way for decades largely without incident.
    [Show full text]
  • Government Updates
    Israel Update - October 2018 Government and Public Discourse Research Publications Civil Society Knesset GOVERNMENT UPDATES EEOC 10th Anniversary Conference Features Employment Advances and Barriers Israel’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) marked its 10th anniversary this year with a conference in June that convened employers from the public and private sectors, municipal leaders, and research experts to explore advances and barriers in integrating under-represented groups into the Israeli workforce. The EEOC presented findings from its 2017 Diversity Index, showing that Israel’s Arab citizens, including those with advanced degrees, are still paid far less than their Jewish counterparts and are not proportionally represented in high-skill professions. Proposed solutions were discussed, and it was noted that Arabs are coming forward more to file discrimination complaints with the EEOC. The EEOC is headed by Adv. Mariam Kabha, the National Commissioner for Equal Employment Opportunities and the highest-ranking Arab woman in Israel’s government. READ MORE Polygamy Committee Recommendations An estimated 20 percent of Bedouin families in Israel are polygamous, although polygamy has been illegal in Israel since 1977, with wide- ranging social, legal and economic consequences. In 2017, Government Resolution 2345 (Hebrew) established an Inter- Ministerial Committee to study and make recommendations for appropriately addressing polygamy in Bedouin society. This July, the committee presented its main recommendations (Hebrew), which include changes to government policy, legislation and enforcement; initiatives to enhance education and employment; and improving health and welfare services and awareness of them among the Bedouin population. The recommendations received mixed responses from Bedouin women’s groups who welcome enforcement but are suspicious that the government aims to control Bedouin birthrates, and were criticized by right- wing Jewish organizations as too lenient to effect substantial change.
    [Show full text]
  • Israel's 'Nation-State Law'
    Israel’s ‘Nation-State Law’ The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Context On July 19, 2018, the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) narrowly passed a new bill: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People. The ‘nation-state law’ has drastic implications for the political aspirations of the Palestinian people. It acts as a roadmap for an exclusively Jewish State of Israel that enshrines discrimination against Palestinians by the Israeli Government. The nation of Israel was founded as a democracy with Western, liberal values. It’s 1948 Declaration of Independence commits to ensuring “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex”. However, Israel was also premised on Jewish identity; the 1948 statement proclaims that “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people”. Since its formation, a question has hung over the State of Israel. Is it possible for Israel to be a ‘Jewish State’ that celebrates Jewish identity and, at the same time, a liberal democracy that safeguards the rights of the indigenous Palestinian people? Israel’s nation-state law appears to have formally answered this question. The new ‘Basic Law’ – equivalent to a constitutional addition – excludes the 1948 Declaration’s assurance of equality and is silent on the notion of democracy. Critics of the law within and outside of Israel, from both the Jewish and Palestinian communities, see these omissions as a disregard for the values on which the State of Israel was created. They say it encourages discrimination against Palestinians and other minorities in Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Ad Here Your Ad Here
    Eye on the News [email protected] Truthful, Factual and Unbiased Vol:X Issue No:239 Price: Afs.15 www.afghanistantimes.af www.facebook.com/ afghanistantimes www.twitter.com/ afghanistantimes WEDNESDAY. MARCH 30. 2016 -Hamal 11, 1395 HS Yo ur Yo ur ad ad he re he re 0778894038 0778894038 AT Monitoring Desk KABUL: Two civilians were killed suspended following the incident. and seven others injured in a road- A delegation was assigned to side bomb blast Tuesday morning evaluate if the officers were guilty, in Kabul city, a security official it added. said. The ministry strongly con- “A bomb placed under a bridge demned the attack. in police district 11, exploded at Separately, a former senator 9:00 am, killing a woman and a child Rafiullah Gul Afghan claimed that and wounding seven other civil- it was a remote-controlled bomb ians,” Najib Danish, deputy placed to target his convoy. spokesman for interior ministry He said that four civilians were said. killed and over 10 injured. The interior ministry said in a No armed group has claimed statement that five officers were responsibility for the incident yet. Key HPC members work for foreigners: Shahid A spokesman for the High Peace HERAT CITY: Former national Council on Tuesday said funding security advisor Dr. Rangin Dad- for 2,400 HPC projects has been far Spanta has said inappropriate embezzled and that key members policies of the incumbent govern- of the council are being paid by ment had raised concerns about foreign embassies. political instability and fear of es- While appearing on a TOLO- calation in war.
    [Show full text]
  • Givat Haviva Conference for a Shared Society in Israel
    חברה משותפת مجتمع مشترك Shared Society The Forth Annual Givat Haviva Conference for a Shared Society in Israel May 24, 2016 | 8:30 - 17:00 | Givat Haviva Campus Acknowledgements Contents Givat Haviva expresses its deep appreciation to the supporters of the Fourth Annual Givat Haviva Shared Society Conference. President of the United States Barack Obama President of the State of Israel, Mr. Reuven Rivlin Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Remarks from the speakers: Yaniv Sagee, Givat Haviva Executive Director On May 24, 2016 prominent leaders and representatives from civil society, government, Mohammad Darawshe, Director of Planning, Equality, and Shared Society at Givat Haviva and the private sector from Israel and around the world gathered for the Forth Annual Dr. Werner Puschra, Director of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Israel Givat Haviva Conference – Development of a Joint Vision for a Shared Society in Israel. Mark Gallagher, Head of Political Section of European Union Delegation to Israel This booklet presents the conference's highlights and recommendations. Mohammad Barakeh, Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel Summary of remarks by public representatives: MK Yitzhak Herzog, Head of the Opposition MK Ayman Odeh, Head of the Joint List Itamar Shviky, Director of Havazelet group Nir Meir, Secretary of the Kibbutz Movement MK Ayoob Kara, Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation, Likud MK Ofer Shelach, Yesh Atid Givat Haviva 378000 M.P. Menashe, Israel • Tel: 972-4-6309288 • Fax: 972-4-6309305 • [email protected] • www.givathaviva.org.il Givat Haviva Educational Foundation, USA 424 West 33rd Street, Suite 150 New York, New York 10001 • (212)989-9272 • [email protected] • www.ghef.blogspot.com Givat Haviva Europe Mauritiusstraße 1 • 65183 Wiesbaden, Germany • Tel: + 49 (0)6 11 16 88 83 64 • [email protected] Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Resigned Knesset Member: Jewish Nation-State Law Is ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
    Resigned Knesset Member: Jewish Nation-state Law Is ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ In an interview with MEE, Zouheir Bahloul says that there is a limit to what Arab citizens of Israel can take By Mustafa Abu Sneineh Region: Middle East & North Africa Global Research, August 09, 2018 Theme: Law and Justice, Poverty & Social Middle East Eye 8 August 2018 Inequality In-depth Report: PALESTINE Note to readers: please click the share buttons above A Knesset member who resigned in protest over the Jewishnation-state law says the legislation “normalises and enshrines in law” the superiority of Israeli Jews over their Arab peers, and warned of a limit to what the Arab community in Israel will tolerate. Zouheir Bahloul, 67, a popular sports commentator turned politician who represented the Zionist Union, quit the Knesset on 28 July following the passage of the law last month, which declared Israel to be the nation-state of the Jewish people. In an interview with Middle East Eye, Bahloul said that after three years in parliament, he was moved to quit over a law he says institutionalises the “inferior status” long experienced by Arab citizens of Israel. “My resignation is an outcry that we will not accept laws that chase the Arab presence from this country,” he said. “Our legal status after this law is inferior because the law normalises and enshrines Arab inferiority and Jewish superiority through a basic law that has the authority of a constitution [to] which the High Court can hardly object.” The nation-state law also describes Jewish settlement building as being in the Israeli national interest and declares Hebrew as the national language, with Arabic granted only a special status.
    [Show full text]