Israel and Middle East News Update Friday, May 7 Headlines: ● Lapid: Israel Has Had Enough Hate and Needs Unity ● Negotiations on Unity Government Begin ● Palestinians, Israeli Settlers Scuffle in East Jerusalem ● European Countries Urge Israel to Halt Settlement Expansion ● PM to Dismiss US Objections to Building Beyond Green Line ● Israeli Spymaster Visits Bahrain to Discuss Mideast Security ● Report: Saudi Arabia to Reopen Damascus Embassy ● Egypt & Turkey Seek to Overhaul Ties With Talks on Libya Commentary: ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Clashes in Sheikh Jarrah’’ - By Elior Levy & Gilad Cohen ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Mandate and Punishment’’ - 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 May 7, 2021 Ynet News Lapid: Israel Has Had Enough Hate and Needs Unity In his first speech as prime minister designate, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called for unity, saying Israel has had enough of internal divisions and hostility. "We have had enough anger, we have had enough hate, we have had enough fighting," said Lapid, who was tapped by President Reuven Rivlin to try to form the next government. Lapid said he was trying to form "a complex government, but one that will have a simple goal: to get us out of this crisis. From the coronavirus crisis, from the economic crisis, from the political crisis, especially from the crisis within us, within the people of Israel." Lapid said he was committed to the coalition outline of parity and rotating premiership he has proposed to Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, whose seven Knesset seats he needs to form a majority government. Dig Deeper ‘‘Declaring Support for Bennett, Yamina MKs Allege Strong Likud Pressure to Defect’’ (Times of Israel) Jerusalem Post Negotiations on Unity Government Begin Coalition negotiation teams of Yesh Atid and Yamina convened formally to form a new government. Both teams want to reach an agreement as soon as possible, sources in the parties said after the meeting. But a meeting between Lapid and Bennett has not yet been set. Lapid singled out Bennett, Blue & White leader Benny Gantz, New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar, Labor head Merav Michaeli, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman and Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz. Lapid blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his attacks on the party leaders trying to replace him. Netanyahu made a point of meeting the leaders of his political camp. The Right bloc leaders vowed to go to the opposition rather than join a government led by Bennett. Dig Deeper ‘‘Israel's Never-Ending Political Crisis’’ (Ynet News) Associated Press Palestinians, Israeli Settlers Scuffle in East Jerusalem Palestinians and Israeli settlers hurled rocks and chairs at each other in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem before Israeli police moved in to separate them, arresting at least seven people. The violence broke out where dozens of Palestinians are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Jewish settlers trying to acquire property in the neighborhood, which is just north of Jerusalem’s Old City. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been meeting for nightly iftars (the meal held after breaking the daylong fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan) at long tables set up outside. Settlers set up a table and awning across the street. They were joined by Itamar Ben- Gvir, the leader of a far-right party with roots in a violent anti-Arab extremist group. protesters on both sides hurling rocks and chairs at each other, and Palestinians tearing down the awning, before Israeli police moved in. There were no reports of serious injuries. Dig Deeper ‘‘15 Arrested in Fresh Clashes in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood’’ (Times of Israel) 2 Al-Monitor European Countries Urge Israel to Halt Settlement Expansion The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are urging Israel to call off plans to construct more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. They warned the move “will cause further damage to the prospects for a viable Palestinian State” and “undermines efforts to rebuild trust between the parties, following the positive resumption of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation.” Israel has given the green light for a 540-unit development beyond the Green Line in Har Homa, a neighborhood situated between East Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Israel has also awarded contracts for some 1,200 housing units in the nearby Jewish neighborhood of Givat Hamatos. The Palestinians envision the Gaza Strip and West Bank as part of a future state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. More than 440,000 Jewish settlers currently live in the West Bank on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Dig Deeper ‘‘Shin Bet: PFLP Diverted Millions in European Humanitarian Aid to Finance Terrorism’’ (I24 News) Times of Israel PM to Dismiss US Objections to Building Beyond Green Line Netanyahu has repeatedly dismissed objections made by the Biden administration over Israeli expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to a Channel 12 report. Three times since the beginning of April, US officials reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office to express their opposition to Israeli steps beyond the Green Line. The first appeal came after an Israeli planning committee advanced 540 new units in Har Homa. The objection was issued by the chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in Jerusalem, Jonathan Shrier. Netanyahu dismissed the concern, according to the report. Senior National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan raised similar concerns over both construction approvals in East Jerusalem as well as in the West Bank. Netanyahu retorted that “Jerusalem is not a settlement, but the capital of Israel,” the report said. A third message by the US was sent on Wednesday expressing concerns in of Sheikh Jarrah, where ultranationalist Jewish groups are seeking to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes. In that exchange as well, American concerns were said to have been dismissed. Associated Press Israeli Spymaster Visits Bahrain to Discuss Mideast Security The head of the Mossad intelligence agency visited Bahrain for talks with officials, the Bahrain state- run news agency reported. The trip came amid heightened tensions in the region over Iran and followed Israel’s recent deal to normalize relations with the island kingdom. The brief statement carried by the news agency said only that Yossi Cohen met with Bahrain’s heads of national intelligence and strategic security to discuss “the most prominent security topics, regional developments and issues of common interest.” It did not elaborate. Indirect talks between the US and Iran over a return to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which former President Donald Trump abandoned, are now gaining traction in Vienna. Israel and Gulf Arab sheikhdoms have voiced concern over a generous American rapprochement with Iran that doesn’t address Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional proxies, in addition to its nuclear program. 3 Ynet News Report: Saudi Arabia to Reopen Damascus Embassy Saudi Arabia has decided to reopen its embassy in Damascus as it seeks a rapprochement with Syria, Jordanian newspaper Rai el Youm (Today’s Perspective) reported. According to the report, a Saudi delegation arrived in Damascus in a diplomatic visit. Riyadh's messengers reportedly liaised with several senior Syria officials, including President Bashar al-Assad and his senior advisor and close confidante Ali Mamlouk. Riyadh is said to be looking to restore its ties with Syria, an ally and client state for Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional arch-nemesis. The two countries severed ties in 2012 as Syria's civil war escalated and Assad turned to help for Iran, while Riyadh supported the anti-regime forces. Saudi and Iranian officials held direct Iraqi-mediated talks in a bid to ease tensions between the two foes, a senior Iranian official and two regional sources said. The regional source said the meeting focused on Yemen, where a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been battling the Iran- aligned Houthi group since March 2015. The talks were the first significant contact between the two countries, which cut their ties in 2016 after Riyadh executed 47 people, including a prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Reuters Egypt & Turkey Seek to Overhaul Ties With Talks on Libya Egypt and Turkey held talks on the conflict in Libya, where they back competing factions, on Syria and the security situation in the eastern Mediterranean, in a push to rebuild their fractured relations. The discussions, held over two days and led by deputy foreign ministers, were the first high-level public talks for years between the two powers, who fell out over issues including opposing positions on political Islam and maritime borders. Turkey has been striving to mend fences with several US- allied Arab states including Egypt. Egypt has so far responded cautiously to Turkish overtures. Turkey is ready to hold a tripartite meeting between Turkish, Egyptian and Libyan officials to agree on disputed issues in Libya including the presence of foreign fighters, two Egyptian intelligence sources said. The Turkish delegation told Egyptians that Ankara could not hand over Muslim Brotherhood leaders wanted by Egypt, adding that most of those leaders had now legalized their residency in Turkey, the sources said. Relations between the regional powers have been tense since Egypt's army toppled a democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood president close to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in 2013. 4 Yedioth Ahronoth – May 7, 2021 Clashes in Sheikh Jarrah By Elior Levy & Gilad Cohen ● Tension is rising in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem. Riots took place last night, for the sixth evening consecutively, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood, against the backdrop of the intention to evict Arab families from the neighborhood.