/ REVIEW

VOLUME 45 No. 5 MAY 2020

AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL & JEWISH AFFAIRS COUNCIL

ISRAEL HAS A GOVERNMENT AT LAST

But can the complex Netanyahu-Gantz “national emergency” government deal hold?

ISRAELI TECH VERSUS JAKARTA UNDER A CASE FOR MORAL ANOTHER COVID-19 PRESSURE CLARITY CONTAGION The politics of pandem- The intersection The conspiracy theory “Start-Up Nation” innovation and the ic for ’s young between anti- epidemic continues to fight against coronavirus ...... PAGE 20 democracy...... PAGE 23 and spread ...... PAGE 26 ...PAGE 31 NAME OF SECTION

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AIR – May 2020 AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL VOLUME 45 No. 5 REVIEW MAY 2020 EDITOR’S NOTE NAME OF SECTION his AIR edition analyses the breakthrough in Israeli politics, whereby, after more than ON THE COVER Ta year of deadlock, incumbent PM Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party Israeli Prime Minister leader have signed an agreement to form a “national emergency” govern- Binyamin Netanyahu and ment, leading to a unity government in six months. Blue and White party leader Amotz Asa-el looks at the convoluted arrangements that Netanyahu and Gantz have Benny Gantz at a memorial agreed on, and their prospects for success, while Jonathan Tobin argues that, contrary to ceremony marking 24 years the claims of his critics, Netanyahu will be pleased to lead a centrist government. In ad- since the assassination of dition, David Makovsky and Stephen Daisley offer contrasting analyses of a controversial former Israeli Prime Minister provision in the Gantz-Netanyahu agreement for Israel to annex parts of the , , in the on November 10, as per the Trump Administration’s peace plan. 2019. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) Also featured this month is a detailed report from Ahron Shapiro and Naomi Levin on how Israeli high-tech is ramping up to confront the coronavirus crisis, while famous American legal academic Alan Dershowitz dis- sects the intersection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. And don’t miss academic Zachary Abuza on the political implications of Indonesia’s COVID-19 emergency, Oved Lobel on the continuing conspiracy theory epidemic accompanying the medical pandemic, and top analyst Jonathan Spyer on how the Islamic State’s “ghost caliphate” is gearing up to exploit the current global coronavirus crisis. We would welcome any feedback you have at [email protected].

Tzvi Fleischer CONTENTS FEATURE STORIES REGULAR COLUMNS A GOVERNMENT FROM THE EDITORIAL CHAIRMAN AT LAST COLIN RUBENSTEIN ...... PAGE 4 ...... PAGE 5 BY AMOTZ ASA-EL WORD FOR WORD Calling it an Emergency Govern- SCRIBBLINGS ment, this will focus on TZVI FLEISCHER ...... PAGE 6 combatting coronavirus ...... PAGE 12 DECONSTRUCTION ZONE ISRAEL’S NEW CENTRIST GOVERNMENT RICKI HOLLANDER ...... PAGE 7 BY JONATHAN TOBIN ...... PAGE 15 ASIA WATCH “APPLYING SOVEREIGNTY” IN THE WEST BANK MICHAEL SHANNON ...... PAGE 8 BY DAVID MAKOVSKY ...... PAGE 16 AIR IS THE TRUMP PLAN BACK ON TRACK? MIRIAM BELL ...... PAGE 9 BY STEPHEN DAISLEY ...... PAGE 18 BEHIND THE NEWS...... PAGE 10 ISRAELI TECH VERSUS COVID-19 Start-Up Nation innovation in the fight against the virus STRANGER THAN FICTION...... PAGE 11 BY AHRON SHAPIRO & NAOMI LEVIN ...... PAGE 20 NOTED AND QUOTED...... PAGE 35 COVID-19 AND INDONESIAN DEMOCRACY ...... PAGE 36 BY ZACHARY ABUZA ...... PAGE 23 IN THE GHOST CALIPHATE MEDIA MICROSCOPE ALLON LEE ...... PAGE 39 BY JONATHAN SPYER ...... PAGE 25 CONSPIRACY BUG CONTINUES TO SPREAD THE LAST WORD BY OVED LOBEL ...... PAGE 26 JEREMY JONES ...... PAGE 40 A SHEIKH’S TRAVELS BY RAN PORAT ...... PAGE 28 HOW TO USE OUR INTERACTIVE EDITION

BIBLIO FILE: THE ‘ORIGINAL GRUDGE’ THEORY • Tap/click to return to the Contents page BY LYN JULIUS ...... PAGE 30 • All listed articles link to their page. ESSAY: THE CASE FOR MORAL CLARITY • Best viewed in your desktop browser or the Books (iOS) or Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel equivalent e-book reader app in portrait mode. BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ...... PAGE 31 3

AIR – May 2020 Australia/Israel Review A journal of analysis and opinion published by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC)

Editorial Chairman

EDITORIAL Dr COLIN RUBENSTEIN AM Editor-in-Chief Dr TZVI FLEISCHER Senior Contributing Editor AT LAST, A POLITICAL JEREMY JONES AM Staff Writers ALLON LEE, JAMIE HYAMS, AHRON BREAKTHROUGH SHAPIRO, SHARYN MITTELMAN, NAOMI LEVIN, OVED LOBEL, JUDY MAYNARD Publishing Manager fter three elections, Israel finally has a government. Following weeks of tense nego- MICHAEL SHANNON Correspondents Atiations between Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White’s ISRAEL: AMOTZ ASA-EL Benny Gantz, they finally agreed to form a national emergency and unity government EUROPE: DOUGLAS DAVIS NEW ZEALAND: MIRIAM BELL to address Israel’s immense challenges – especially the coronavirus crisis and its crush- National Editorial Board ing impact on the economy. KEITH BEVILLE, RABBI RALPH GENENDE OAM, GARY HERZ, MIRIAM In the first six months, “the government will act as an emergency government” fo- LASKY, STEVE LIEBLICH, RABBI JOHN cussed on “dealing with the coronavirus crisis in all its aspects.” It will then transition to LEVI AM, Hon. HOWARD NATHAN AM, IAN WALLER SC a longer-lived national unity government, which will give it time to seriously address Israel’s other strategic challenges, including especially threats from and its proxies in AIJAC , Lebanon and Gaza. National Chairman While Gantz had long promised during the election campaign that he would not sit MARK LEIBLER AC in government alongside Netanyahu while the latter remains under criminal indictment, NSW Chairman PAUL RUBENSTEIN the challenges confronting Israel at the current time led him to compromise rather than Executive Director send Israelis to a fourth election amid a pandemic. As Gantz argued, “these are not normal Dr COLIN RUBENSTEIN AM Director of International & times and they call for unusual decisions.” Community Affairs Certainly, the pragmatism and patriotism of both Netanyahu and Gantz demonstrated JEREMY JONES AM Senior Policy Analysts that the spirit of democratic compromise and service to the national interest is still alive AHRON SHAPIRO, JAMIE HYAMS, and well in Israel. Israel desperately needs the stable government they seem likely to pro- ALLON LEE, NAOMI LEVIN, SHARYN MITTELMAN vide after the unfortunate political impasse the country has experienced over the last year, Policy Analysts with no duly-elected government in Israel since December 2018, and no ability to pass a OVED LOBEL, JUDY MAYNARD Associate Director of Public Affairs national budget to fund the range of services required – especially crippling amid the cur- JOEL BURNIE rent medical crisis. National Media & Public Affairs Officer The 14-page Gantz-Netanyahu deal is unquestionably complex. Netanyahu will serve ARIEL ZOHAR as PM for the first 18 months while Gantz serves as PM for the subsequent 18 months. Events Coordinator HELEN BRUSTMAN OAM While Netanyahu is PM, Gantz will serve as Defence Minister and “Alternate Prime Administration Minister”, a new position to be created by legislation. Netanyahu will be “Alternate Prime : ROSEMARY SANDLER, RENA LANGBERG Minister” when Gantz becomes PM. : LOUISE DE MESQUITA The agreement would also split a record 36 ministers evenly between blocs led by Israel Liaison PETER ADLER and Blue and White respectively, with both parties being criticised for creating such Founding Chairmen a bloated and expensive cabinet at a time of national austerity. Yet most Israelis would ISADOR MAGID AM (OBM) ROBERT ZABLUD (OBM) doubtless agree that, despite this expense, it is best to avoid a fourth election campaign HEAD OFFICE amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Level 1, 22 Albert Road, South Melbourne, VIC 3205, Australia Blue and White and Likud will be joined in government by several smaller parties, Telephone: (03) 9681 6660 Fax: (03) 9681 6650 making a robust governing coalition of at least 72 members of the Knesset out of 120. The Email: [email protected] dual structure that Netanyahu and Gantz have created, whereby agreement between the SYDNEY OFFICE two main blocs is needed for most important decisions, is potentially unwieldy and will 140 William Street East Sydney, NSW 2011, Australia need goodwill and political creativity to function effectively. Telephone: (02) 9360 5415 Email: [email protected] Controversial Health Minister , head of the ultra-Orthodox United SUBSCRIPTIONS Torah party, has reportedly asked to be moved from the health to the hous- Please send all remittances, changes of address and subscription inquiries to: ing portfolio. Litzman has been criticised by many for his handling of the coronavirus Australia/Israel Review Level 1, 22 Albert Road crisis and especially for allegedly pushing to allow ultra-orthodox religious institutions South Melbourne, VIC 3205, Australia ISSN No. 1442-3693 to keep functioning even as health experts were saying they needed to be temporarily Print Post Approved – 100007869 shut down – and indeed a concentration of COVID-19 cases in ultra-Orthodox neigh- 4 www.aijac.org.au bourhoods of Israel has eventuated. Moreover, there are allegations that Litzman broke

AIR – May 2020 his own ministry’s guidelines to attend an indoor prayer plan in a way that will draw reasonably definitive borders service. between Israel and the ongoing option of a viable future Litzman’s reappointment would also be a very bitter Palestinian state. This is something which simply can- pill for Jewish community, including AI- not be achieved through negotiations for the foreseeable

JAC, and Australians in general, given that Israeli police future because of the continued Palestinian refusal to even EDITORIAL have recommended he be indicted because of his alleged negotiate. interference in the extradition “The pragmatism and patriotism of This difficult issue will of accused child sex offender certainly tax the creativity and both Netanyahu and Gantz demon- Malka Leifer. Leifer is wanted in cohesiveness of the new unity Australia to face 74 charges of strated that the spirit of democratic government. sexual assault from the time she compromise and service to the national Gantz has said this is not the was the principal of the Adass interest is still alive and well in Israel” kind of government he would Israel school in Melbourne. The have wanted, but desperate retention of Litzman in health would be a bad look for times call for desperate measures. The Government he and the new government, while a move to housing may be a Netanyahu have forged is certainly unique, and in some somewhat less problematic but still highly unsatisfactory ways, unprecedented. outcome, as Litzman should be sidelined from the ministry But Gantz and Netanyahu do have a history of work- until police investigations are completed. ing together successfully: when Gantz was IDF Chief of One controversial aspect of the agreement to form the Staff and Netanyahu was PM from 2011 to 2015. And both Gantz-Netanyau emergency government is a clause which appear to have few good alternatives to trying to make the allows Netanyahu to introduce legislation after July 1 to current arrangement work. They also bring to the table a apply Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank, as out- broad coalition encompassing most of the centrist mem- lined in the US Trump Administration’s peace plan released bers of the Knesset, potentially affording the Government in January. This is subject to some fairly ambiguous pre- the capability and flexibility to make those important conditions about prior international consultations. decisions needed to ensure the nation’s health, economic As David Makovksy notes in this edition (p. 16), there viability and security. are serious diplomatic risks to Israel in doing this. How- While the challenges are profound, there are good ever, as Stephen Daisley points out (p. 18), there is also a reasons to believe, and every reason to anticipate, that case to be made that there is currently a unique and short- the new unity Government can fulfil many of these lived opportunity to begin implementing the Trump peace expectations.

“We’re glad that there is a now fully formed government in Israel. As for the annexation in the West Bank, the Israelis will WORD ultimately make those decisions... we will work closely with FOR WORD them to share with them our views of this in a private setting.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (US State Department, April “We prevented a fourth election. We will preserve democracy. 22). We will fight the coronavirus and take care of all of Israel’s citizens.” “The world is dealing with a crisis that does not distinguish Blue and White leader Benny Gantz announces the formation of the between people or where they live. The cooperation between us National Emergency Government in Israel (Twitter, April 21). is vital to ensure the health of both Israelis and Palestinians...our ability to work together in times of crisis is also testament to “The coronavirus has changed priorities around the world, and our ability to work together in the future for the good of us all.” it may also change priorities in the Middle East. I am hopeful Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in a phone call with Palestinian that we will strengthen even more our ties with Arab and mod- Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Times of Israel, March 30). erate Muslim countries.” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Twitter, April 21). “The Israeli and Palestinian authorities are continuing to coordi- nate their responses closely and constructively, which is a major “A government coalition based on a commitment to annex more factor in the level of disease containment achieved so far.” occupied Palestinian territory is a threat to a rules-based world UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay order in general... Annexation means the end of any possibility Mladenov (Algemeiner, March 30). for a negotiated solution.” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on the annexation provision in “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and de- the new Israeli emergency government agreement (New York Times, stroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.” April 22). US President Donald Trump (Twitter, April 22). 5

AIR – May 2020 A similar poll from August 2017, which I noted in this column in November of that year, found that, when asked “which term best describes you”, 54% of Israeli Arabs said something that was a variation of “Israeli” – “Israeli Arab,” COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION Tzvi Fleischer “Arab citizen of Israel,” “Israeli,” or “Israeli Muslim.” Only 24% chose some variant of “Palestinian” – most commonly ARAB ISRAELIS SAY “I FEEL LIKE A REAL simply “Palestinian”. ISRAELI” That 2017 poll in itself showed major change from This column has frequently highlighted trends and a poll conducted five years earlier, which showed only polls indicating that, despite some ongoing problems and 32.5% of Israeli Arabs chose a variation of “Israeli” when discrimination, members of Israel’s Arab minority are asked about their identity. increasingly integrating into the Israeli mainstream and But the new JPPI survey suggests an even greater trans- finding themselves at home there. formation since 2017. Today, a full 74% of Israeli Arabs There have been numerous stories, both in Israel and self-identify as either an “Israeli Arab” (51%) or simply an internationally, that suggest the COVID-19 crisis may “Israeli” (23%). Only around 7% said their identity was as be helping to encourage this trend – especially given the a “Palestinian.” important and often selfless roles Arab medical workers in The trend toward identifying simply as “Israeli” with Israel are taking in helping victims of the virus. no modifier was particularly striking. A similar survey last Arabs make up around 17% of Israel’s doctors, 24% of year found only 5% of Israeli Arabs chose to call them- the nurses, and 48% of the pharmacists. Many important selves simply “Israeli” at that time. medical departments at Israel’s major hospitals are headed Another survey question provided additional evidence by Arab doctors. In the Israeli medical system, Arab and that many Israeli Arabs are identifying with a sense of ‘Is- Jewish patients are treated side by side, under the care of raeliness’. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement both Arab and Jewish doctors and nurses who generally with the statement “I feel like a real Israeli.” Almost all said work together seamlessly. they either agree completely (65%) or somewhat agree And there are some amazing stories coming out in the (33%) with that statement. Israeli media of Arab health care workers going above and The selfless and often heroic efforts of Israeli Arab beyond, acting with compassion, skill and selflessness, and medical workers can only help accelerate this trend. even making extra efforts to help Jewish patients with Yet the evidence from the expressed views of Arabs their religious needs. themselves is that the important work of improving the To give but one ex- integration of Israel’s Arab minority is already making ample, Haaretz published excellent progress. a photo of Dr. Abed Zahalka, dressed in full AN IRANIAN PRESENT FOR YOM protective gear, carrying HASHOAH Dr. Abed Zahalka bringing a Torah a Torah scroll wrapped in Many people seemed to think that, with the departure scroll into the coronavirus unit at a Jewish prayer shawl into of the openly antisemitic and Holocaust denying Iranian Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Centre in the COVID-19 ward at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013, the Iranian re- Bnei Brak the hospital he works at gime had largely stopped its rampant Jew-baiting. Nothing in Bnei Brak. Bnei Brak is an ultra-Orthodox neighbour- could be further from the truth. hood which has a been a major hotspot for coronavirus The real power in the regime, Iranian Supreme Leader cases in Israel. Dr. Zahalka, a Muslim, said facilitating Jew- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has himself engaged in Holocaust ish patients carrying out their daily religious rituals would denial, including in a speech in 2014 and in a video he help them recover, but also said, “I felt like… I was a part posted in 2016. He has also promoted antisemitic con- of the place, of the people, of the tradition.” spiracy theories, including regarding the coronavirus. In All of this is very positive, especially after a period late March, Khamenei’s own office offered this explanation when Israeli politics has featured some divisive rhetoric for a claim made by Khamenei that djinns (demons) and about Israel’s Arab minority and their sometimes con- humans could be conspiring together against Iran in the troversial representatives in the Knesset. But the truth is coronavirus crisis – there is “no doubt that the and there is evidence things were going well in terms of Arab especially the Zionists previously have a long history of feelings of integration even before the pandemic. supernatural affairs and matters such as a relationship with Of particular interest is a poll conducted by the devil and genies.” University’s Camille Fuchs for the Jewish Public Policy Meanwhile, this year the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 6 Institute (JPPI) on Israeli Arab identity. Corps (IRGC), which has come to increasingly dominate

AIR – May 2020 the politics and economy of Iran under Khamenei’s patron- The WHO’s political and sectarian approach to health- age, had its own little present for this year’s Holocaust care in the West Bank and Gaza is made clear in its “Coun- Memorial Day (called Yom HaShoah amongst Jews), which try Cooperation Strategy for WHO and the Occupied Pal- fell on April 21. estinian Territory 2017–2020” (CCS) – the document that

The IRGC saw fit to post on its official twitter account sets out its strategic vision in establishing health policies, COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION the following tweet in Persian (translation courtesy of strategies and plans for Palestinian healthcare development Google Translate): efforts. “Big Lie: Today Israel commemorates the greatest lie Shortcomings in healthcare delivery to Palestinians are of the century, , in which the Jews created blamed on Israel, with no acknowledgement of the role of fictitious documents to influence leaders in the world, the Palestinian leadership – neither nor the Pales- [about the] killing of six million Jews in World War II tinian Authority (PA) – in the conflict itself, or in the deci- and the Nazi invasion of Poland in incinerators and gas sions it makes that compromise healthcare delivery. chambers.” Similarly, the WHO’s most recent report on Palestin- Ahmadinejad may be long gone, but the most powerful ian health care, “Right to Health”, published at the end of elements in the Iranian regime seem determined to con- 2017, was crafted to blame Israel for limitations in Pales- tinue to make it the most antisemitic in the world. tinian access to healthcare. According to the executive summary, the report, “fo- cuses on two major issues: access restrictions for patients, companions and health staff – specifically due to Israel’s permit regime – and health attacks affecting patients, com- panions, health workers and health facilities.” Ricki Hollander While noting that the PA and Hamas have responsibili- ties for providing appropriate healthcare to their people, THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE UN’S WHO the WHO report lays the blame for Palestinian healthcare EXPOSED problems squarely on Israel: The World Health Organisation (WHO), the United “Israel as occupying power has the primary responsibility Nations agency responsible for international health under for ensuring the right to the highest attainable standard of the helm of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreye- health for the Palestinian population…” sus, has been increasingly criticised for playing politics by What is missing from both the CCS and report on allowing China to downplay and conceal information about Palestinian healthcare is the context of Israel’s complete the novel coronavirus outbreak in that country; for refus- withdrawal from the and its takeover by Hamas. ing to declare COVID-19 a global emergency from the There is no discussion about the effect of Palestinian get-go; and for opposing travel bans from China. terrorism that impacts the delivery of healthcare, nor of An April 15 Wall Street Journal editorial points out the decisions by the leadership – the Palestinian Author- that the coronavirus epidemic “has exposed the [WHO’s] ity (PA) that runs the West Bank, and Hamas, the terrorist process for declaring emergencies as prone to politicisa- group that runs Gaza – that have an impact on the delivery tion…” But this was not the first time that the WHO of healthcare. There is, for example, nothing about the director-general has been criticised for allowing political subverting of medical ambulances by terrorists, Hamas’ considerations to influence him to cover up epidemics and rejection of essential medical supplies from Israel, or the human rights abuses. diversion of resources by Hamas to benefit its terrorist Much the same can be said of the WHO’s politicisation infrastructure; and nothing about the reduction of essen- of healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza. tial services and halting of medical shipments by the PA to Israel is one of the WHO’s 194 member states and Gaza resulting from the internecine fighting between the belongs to the European region. The West Bank and Gaza PA and Hamas. belong to the Eastern Mediterranean region, made up Like its reliance on the Chinese Communist Govern- of largely Arab and Muslim countries. The only non- ment as a source of information on the coronavirus out- state included in the Eastern Mediterranean region is the break, the WHO relies on Gaza’s Health Ministry officials West Bank and Gaza Strip, referred to by the WHO as as a source of information. These officials are employees of “”. Hamas, a terrorist regime sworn to Israel’s destruction. WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean division is overtly Were the WHO really interested in improving Palestin- partisan: its literature consistently refers to the disputed ian healthcare, it would examine all the factors involved in land of the West Bank and Gaza as “Occupied Palestinian regulating healthcare. Territories” and, along with its reports, include incendiary It has taken a global pandemic to shed light on the fact propaganda claims, with the WHO imprimatur. that the United Nation’s World Health Organisation is not 7

AIR – May 2020 the politically neutral organisation it was meant to be – not Thai deep south. Most of those infected did not display any in China nor in the Middle East. symptoms upon their return, but steadily streamed into hospitals in the weeks that followed. Ricki Hollander is a senior media analyst at CAMERA, the Commit- On March 17, only four cases had been detected in the COLUMNS NAME OF SECTION tee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. © CAM- southern border region, but that number had jumped to ERA (www.camera.org), reprinted by permission, all rights reserved. more than 280 by mid-April. Containing the virus in the Muslim-majority, Malay- speaking far south is a task complicated by the ongoing separatist insurgency that has claimed more than 7,000 lives over the past 16 years. Yet, the insidious spread of COVID-19 through the region has achieved what many years of counter-insurgency operations could not – a Michael Shannon ceasefire. IN THE BALANCE On April 3, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National The coronavirus pandemic is adding an extra layer of Revolutionary Front, or BRN) which has spearheaded the hardship to impoverished southern Thailand, already strug- separatist revolt, announced it was willing, at least tem- gling to contain the disproportionate growth of infections, porarily, to put down its arms on humanitarian grounds yet the lockdown has brought about a rare cessation of and facilitate the response to a threat it described as the hostilities in the insurgency-stricken region. “principal enemy of the human race”, so long as the Thai Ripple effects from the viral outbreak have hit the military refrained from attacking its forces. region’s fishing and rubber farming industries, and the clo- The declaration by BRN came two months after its sure of the Thai- border trapped nearly 100,000 military wing and the Thai government announced that Thai workers on the wrong side. The border provinces they had opened direct talks facilitated by Malaysia, but the are already among the country’s most impoverished, with path since then has hardly been smooth. an average household income of 15,000 to 20,000 baht Thai security forces have continued targeted raids on (A$720 to A$965) per month, compared with 45,500 baht insurgent safe houses, leading to clashes, bombings and ar- (A$2,170) in Bangkok. rests. BRN leaders have complained that these operations Confirmed infections in the southernmost provinces – reportedly based on improved operational intelligence – account for 11% of cases recorded nationwide since Janu- are at odds with Bangkok’s stated goal of advancing peace. ary, although the mostly Muslim, Malay-speaking region Larger sweeps through mountains and jungles where comprises just 3.5% of Thailand’s total population. BRN fighters hide out have also taken a toll. In February, Meanwhile, the office that oversees Muslim affairs has a running battle in the mountains of Narathiwat saw six ordered mosques closed nationwide and banned activi- fighters surrounded and killed in the largest single loss to ties associated with Ramadan, which began in late April, BRN’s military wing since 2013. including food bazaars, invitations to break the daily fast One of the largest operations to date unfolded in mid- with friends and colleagues, and large groupings for eve- March when security forces closed in on a group of rebel ning prayers. fighters camped in marshland close to Yala city. After Thai authorities already have to walk a fine line, en- dragging on for nine days, the operation left four rebels forcing public health measures while avoiding offending dead along with one Thai soldier killed and six others religious sensibilities, but appear to have been blindsided wounded. by the disastrous timing of the massive Islamic revivalist The BRN struck back with a massive car-bomb attack gatherings held by Tablighi Jamaat. on March 17 on the headquarters of the Southern Bor- As mentioned in last month’s column, hundreds of fol- der Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) in Yala city lowers of the India-based missionary group tested positive which injured some 25 people but miraculously caused for the coronavirus after attending gatherings in Malaysia, no fatalities. The ceasefire announcement followed soon India and Pakistan, despite warnings from medical person- afterwards. nel and fellow Muslims to observe social distancing. Other The Thai Government has not yet given an official followers who travelled to Sulawesi in Indonesia to attend response to the announcement, although a spokesman for another gathering, which was eventually cancelled, also the military’s southern regional command indicated that caught the virus. security forces would carry on with enforcing laws “to Around 340 Thai Tablighi Jamaat followers who at- keep internal peace, regardless of [a] ceasefire.” tended the Malaysian event or had travelled for the Indo- Mutual suspicion between the two camps remains high. nesian gathering have tested positive for COVID-19 since Hopes that the pandemic pause could create an opening for 8 returning home. This cluster included 170 residents of the a lasting peace appear slim.

AIR – May 2020 ate amount of media attention in New Zealand. A prime example of this is a situation which occurred in Wellington in February, just before the COVID-19 crisis took hold. NAME OF SECTION Miriam Bell The Wellington Jewish Council had requested that COLUMNS Wellington Council adopt the widely-used International MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGNS Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of Closed borders and deserted streets, crazed behaviour at antisemitism. The city’s new mayor, Andy Foster, was keen supermarkets, the global economy in free fall… This is life to do so. in the time of COVID-19. It seems longer, but in a mere few Then just a day before the Wellington Council meeting weeks, the world has become a very different place. where the proposal was to be debated, two members of After confirming its first case of COVID-19 on Feb. 28, Temple Sinai – Wellington’s Progressive synagogue – pub- New Zealand closed its borders to non-residents on March lished an opinion piece in the city’s newspaper voicing 19 and went into lockdown on March 25. their strong opposition. New Zealand, like Australia, currently seems to be Fred Albert and Marilyn Garson claimed that the winning its battle on the public health front at least, but IHRA definition includes a set of examples which conflate it’s not possible to avoid seeing reports of the devastation antisemitism with anti-Zionism and that the definition is a wrought by COVID-19 in countries like Italy, Spain, the political instrument which fails as an anti-racism tool. UK and the USA. Albert and Garson, who have a history of publishing Yet while we might be in the midst of a global crisis, such views and falsely implying they represent the wider that’s not enough to stop some people peddling their brand Jewish community, also complained there had been no op- of anti-Israel propaganda. portunity for public input on the motion. Indeed, the lockdown means that a vast number of Subsequently, the Wellington Jewish Council requested people are living their lives online – and at least some old that the motion be withdrawn because of the controversy hands have realised that equates to a captive audience. In it was causing, but also expressed hopes that it can be particular, veteran Kiwi pro-Palestinian activists Roger returned to the agenda at some point. Fowler (the force behind the group “Kia Ora Gaza”) and But the Albert/Garson column caused significant con- John Minto have been doing their best to mobilise their sternation among the Jewish community. troops during lockdown. Temple Sinai’s Board of Management Chair Matthew Largely using the Kia Ora Gaza website and The Daily Smith explicitly repudiated the column. Blog, they have been ensuring a constant stream of mis- Smith said the fact that Albert and Garson self-de- information appears about Israel’s actions towards Gaza scribed themselves as “members and service leaders” at during the COVID-19 pandemic. the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation without Given Israeli and Palestinian authorities have, in fact, offering any further disclaimer implied their views could been co-ordinating efforts to battle COVID-19 pretty be ascribed to Temple Sinai and its members. well, the claims of Minto and his cohorts are easily dis- “This effective misrepresentation is damaging to the proven. But that has not stopped them upping the level Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation and is of activity on their websites and social media channels in disregarding of its members... Their views are in no way order to push their agenda. representative of those of the Board or the congregation, Over the course of the lockdown, they organised a they are rather the views of a vocal fringe.” letter, signed by New Zealand “notables”, to the Prime The words of Smith and New Zealand Jewish Council Minister and New Zealand’s “first online protest”, and held spokesperson Juliet Moses, who reinforced Smith’s state- an online film screening (“Gaza fights for freedom”). Minto ment, were reported by media. The problem is they did even featured in the Sunday Star Times magazine’s “At home not receive nearly the degree of coverage that the words of with…” section. He was sporting a Justice for Palestine- Albert and Garson had. type t-shirt and predictably expressed his strong views on All too often, that is the problem in New Zealand. The the situation between Israel and the Palestinians. views of a very small, vocal minority of anti-Israel protes- However, the current reality of life under COVID-19 tors are presented as authoritative. Further, the tiny num- means that little notice has been taken of their efforts. ber of Jewish people among these groups tend to be pre- Despite their plea to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, her sented as representative of the wider Jewish community. attention has clearly been focused elsewhere, as has that of And this is not only wrong, it is contributing to a pro- the media. found lack of knowledge about Israel and the Palestinians, The problem is that in other, more settled times, this as well as a growing misunderstanding of what constitutes same small group of “activists” can garner a disproportion- antisemitism. 9

AIR – May 2020 BEHIND THE NEWS BEHIND THE ROCKETS AND TERROR Israel’s Defence Ministry’s Coordi- been increasingly strained since the REPORT nator of Government Activities in the PA cut communications with the US Israel’s security agency Territories has, since the start of the following President Donald Trump’s recently announced it had arrested medical emergency, transferred hun- decision to recognise as the three Hamas operatives who had at- dreds of tonnes of medical equipment, capital of Israel. tempted a number of attacks in Israel as well as food, agricultural products The Trump Administration later and the West Bank, including planning and building materials to Gaza, and clarified that the funding was part of a an attack at the Teddy Stadium soccer provided information on preventing wider US effort to support coronavi- venue in Jerusalem. coronavirus in Arabic to the Palestinian rus responses in the Middle East, and Only a single rocket was fired public via a digital platform. Israel has did not reverse existing policy on aid from Gaza into Israel in recent weeks, also been regularly processing coro- to the Palestinians. on March 27, as Hamas and other navirus tests from Gaza in an IDF lab Palestinian groups focussed efforts on and removed restrictions on previously containing the spread of COVID-19. banned dual-use items entering Gaza if ZOOM WITH ISRAELIS, While the March of Return riots have these are needed to fight the coronavi- GET ARRESTED been cancelled for now, three Pales- rus pandemic. On April 6, Palestinian activ- tinians armed with a knife and fire ists in Gaza took part in a two-hour accelerants snuck through the fence discussion with Israeli peace activists from Gaza into Israel on April 14. MOSSAD HELPS WITH via Zoom, conversing about topics The death of a Palestinian prisoner MEDICAL EFFORT including the current COVID-19 cri- on April 21 led to explosive balloons As part of the battle against coro- sis. In the days following, Hamas-run again being launched into Israel from navirus, Israeli PM Binyamin Netan- security forces arrested several of the Gaza after a month of quiet. yahu reportedly ordered the Mossad, Palestinians involved. On April 22, a Palestinian armed Israel’s spy agency, to focus on sourc- “Holding any activity or contact with a pipe bomb rammed his van ing medical supplies for Israel via its into a border police officer in the overseas contacts. West Bank and then tried to stab him Between mid-March and mid- before being shot and killed. April, the Mossad obtained at least An Israeli citizen and leading 100,000 coronavirus detection kits; Palestinian activist, Ayman Haj Yahya, millions of protective gear items such was indicted for spying for Iran on as surgical masks, overalls and glasses; April 19. 50,000 doses of potential coronavirus Palestinian activists in Gaza: “Illegal” con- On 22 April, the medicines and hundreds of crucially tact with Israelis Relief and Works Agency for Pales- needed ventilators. with the Israeli occupation under any tine Refugees (UNRWA) announced cover is a crime punishable by law that it had found a hand grenade and and a betrayal of the people and their military vest hidden in one of its now US BREAKS PALESTINIAN sacrifices,” a Hamas statement read. vacant schools in Gaza. AID FREEZE DUE TO Meanwhile, in early April, Hamas’ PANDEMIC leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, stated he On April 6, US Ambassador to was interested in resuming negotia- ISRAEL TRAINS GAZA Israel David Friedman announced that tions with Israel for a long-discussed MEDICS the US would give US$5 million to prisoner swap deal. The proposed deal Israeli medical staff have trained a Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank is to trade the bodies of two Israeli team of Palestinian doctors and nurses to help fight coronavirus. The decision soldiers, and two living Israeli civilians from Gaza to treat coronavirus pa- came despite the US cutting most of who had entered Gaza voluntarily, for tients. A team from the Sheba Medical its aid funding to the Palestinians in Hamas prisoners in two stages, accord- Centre in Ramat Gan conducted the recent years. ing to Arab media reports. training sessions at the Erez Border Relations between the US and 10 Crossing. the Palestinian Authority (PA) have

AIR – May 2020 ASSAD REGIME ASSISTING economically vital Strait of Hormuz. IN GOLAN IRAN UPS THE ANTE IN On April 10, the IDF released PERSIAN GULF footage of the Syrian military helping Iran continues to harass both MAHAN AIR’S COVID-19 the Hezbollah terror group establish military and civilian vessels in the ROLE NEWS BEHIND THE a permanent military presence on the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Persian Until overtaken in late April by Syrian section of the Golan Heights. Gulf. Turkey, Iran had been the epicentre of The footage showed the com- On March 27, ships approached a COVID-19 in the Middle East. Newly mander of the Syrian Army’s 1st Divi- US-flagged tanker with raised ladders, revealed aviation data shows that a sion and other Syrian army officers and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard prime cause may be the continuation walking with the head of Hezbollah’s Corps Navy (IRGCN) approached of flights between Iran and China, southern command. According to an another vessel on April 2. On April 15, including Wuhan, by Mahan Air, for Israeli agreement with Russia, the the IRGC seized a Hong Kong-flagged several weeks after the pandemic regime is supposed to keep Hezbollah tanker, but released it upon realising began. Mahan Air is a privately-owned forces away from the Golan border. it was Chinese. Also on April 15, 11 Iranian airline linked to the Islamic On April 20, Israel struck Iranian IRGCN fast boats harassed a US naval Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah positions in Syria, re- exercise in international waters, racing and has allegedly frequently been used portedly killing nine fighters. Israel also back and forth across the bows and by the IRGC for ferrying weapons struck Syria’s Shayrat Airbase on April 1. sterns of ships at high speed and at and fighters into Syria and elsewhere. extremely close range. In response, on Although the Iranian Government April 22 US President Donald Trump declared the suspension of the flights IRAN NUCLEAR announced orders to fire upon any on Jan. 31, and Mahan Air insists BREAKOUT TIME: “3-5 Iranian gunboat that hassles US ships. it stopped flying to China on Feb. MONTHS” Reports also indicate Iran has 5, flight data assembled by outside The US-based Institute for Science deployed Fajr-5 missile batteries on researchers appears to reveal flights and International Security concluded beaches along the strategically and continuing until early March. on April 21 that Iran would require only three to five months to amass using a bipolar virus inside the device,” but 25kg of weapons-grade enriched no further information was provided about uranium, enough for one atomic war- the detection device except that it was head, if it were to decide to do so. trialled in 10 Iranian hospitals for 10 days This significantly shorter breakout COVID-19 DEVICE BOMBS and showed a success rate of up to 90%! time is based on Iran’s nuclear stock- OUT The device, unsurprisingly, was piles as of late February. Since then, As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads not well received by either the Iranian Teheran has escalated breaches of its across the world, it is universally agreed people, with media reporting it was nuclear commitments and is currently that one crucial weapon in fighting the widely mocked, or by foreign observers. in possession of at least one ton of virus would be widespread testing with a However an IRGC official responded by low-enriched uranium. swift turnaround. saying negative reactions were “a result Furthermore, on April 8, an While the world’s scientists have of [the West’s] feelings of weakness, infe- Institute for Science and International been labouring to achieve this result, riority, and desperation in the face of the Security report exposed the Shahid it seems they no longer need bother – Iranians’ might and will in resolving what Mahallati Uranium Metals Work- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has embroiled not only the Iranian nation, shop near Teheran as a previously (IRGC) has apparently taken a break but also other nations and societies.” undisclosed plant for manufacturing from spreading terrorism and conflict The UK’s Independent newspaper nuclear weapon cores that was in op- throughout the Middle East to achieve a noted that the Mosta’an appeared to be eration between 2002 and 2003. dramatic breakthrough in such testing. very similar to a fake bomb-detecting On April 22, Iran’s Islamic Revolu- At an April 15 grand ceremony, IRGC device previously peddled by a British tionary Guard Corps launched a mili- Commander Major General Hossein Salami fraudster named James McCormick to tary satellite into orbit. In response, US unveiled a device, called a Mosta’an, that he various countries including , Saudi Special Representative for Iran, Brian claimed could detect the presence of coro- Arabia and Thailand. Hook, emphasised that “Iran’s space navirus in a person or on a surface from 100 The claims about the Mosta’an are program is clearly a cover for its inter- metres away in only five seconds. about as believable as the Iranian regime’s continental ballistic missile aspirations.” The dubious technology was said to claim that it has never pursued nuclear be based on “creating a magnetic field and weapons. 11

AIR – May 2020 COVER STORY NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES A GOVERNMENT AT LAST

NETANYAHU AND GANTZ MAKE A DEAL

by Amotz Asa-El

t’s over. No, the coronavi- Likud’s Yisrael Katz, the Irus pandemic is not over, current foreign minister, will and its economic impact and become finance minister. social challenges may hardly In addition, Blue and White have begun. will get the justice portfolio, However, the 12-month which has become pivotal political deadlock in Israel, in the wake of Netanyahu’s during which these major legal entanglements, and medical/economic crises Likud will get the Knesset occurred, has finally ended speakership. after Israel’s two largest par- The deadlock this deal ties – Binyamin Netanyahu’s After weeks of negotiations, Binyamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz ends began at the April 9 Likud and Benny Gantz’s sign a 14-page coalition deal on April 20 2019 general election, in Blue and White – signed a which each major party won coalition agreement, following three inconclusive election 35 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Netanyahu’s decade-old campaigns and seven weeks of unedifying talks. right-wing coalition unravelled at that time, after former According to the deal, Netanyahu will serve as prime defence minister and his secularist Is- minister for 18 months, and Gantz will then succeed him rael Beitenu party abandoned it, citing Netanyahu’s retreat for 18 months, after which the next general election will from a bill that would have expanded the conscription of be held in early 2023, unless Netanyahu and Gantz decide ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF. jointly to schedule it closer to its legal deadline of early Israel consequently went to a new election the follow- 2024. ing September, in which the centrist Blue and White won After creating, through new legislation, the entirely one seat more than Likud, but still could not form the novel political position of “Alternate Prime Minister”, the centre-left coalition which its leaders hoped would end the pair will serve as each other’s defence minister (assuming Netanyahu era. Netanyahu’s legal travails allow him to), and become the There was another possibility at that time: a broad other’s automatic, and only, replacement. Both sides will government, based on the precedent of 1984’s inconclu- have an equal number of cabinet ministers which they are sive election, after which the two major parties of the day free to allocate to their satellite parties. – Likud and Labor – agreed to share power, rotating the Calling itself an Emergency Government, this coali- premiership between their leaders. tion will focus on combating coronavirus, an effort which Netanyahu, who at that point had yet to be formally in- Gantz and Netanyahu will lead personally and jointly. dicted on the corruption charges that were pending against Blue and White’s Gabi Ashkenazi – Gantz’s predeces- him, offered Blue and White a rotation government. Under 12 sor as IDF chief of staff – will be foreign minister, while this scenario, he would have relinquished the premiership

AIR – May 2020 once indicted, but Blue and White’s four leaders turned Gantz decided to part with them. The faction therefore that offer down, saying they would not serve in a govern- split down the middle: Gantz was supported by 17 of his ment headed by a suspected felon. faction’s 33 lawmakers, and the rest followed Lapid, who It was a decision Netanyahu’s opponents would soon will now be Leader of the Opposition, leading the Yesh regret, because in the next election they forced, on March Atid (“There is a Future”) faction. NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES 9 this year – the third within 11 months – Likud emerged Gantz also brings into the coalition two of Labor’s three with three more seats than Blue and White, though once lawmakers, headed by Amir Peretz, who served as defence again neither of the two parties could form government minister in ’s government, and before that as without the other. head of the Histadrut labour federation. Worse, from Blue and White’s viewpoint, Likud grew The 68-year-old Peretz will serve as economics minis- its vote in that election, increasing its representation from ter, and his colleague Itzik Shmuli, 40, will be minister of 32 to 36 Knesset seats. This came despite Netanyahu’s for- welfare. More significantly, Peretz and Gantz announced mal indictment between the second and third elections. they had plans to merge their factions, a move which may This circumstance alone caused some in Blue and White presage a deeper consolidation. Gantz also intends to ap- to conclude they must compromise and enter a broad point an Arab-Israeli citizen, yet to be named, as minister government, in order to put an end to what Gantz and his for minority affairs. colleagues portrayed as a Likud-led assault on the judicial system. here has been considerable commotion on the emerg- A confederation of three parties established only last Ting coalition’s opposite side as well. year, the Blue and White coalition’s debate on this dilemma First, lawyer and social activist Orly Levy-Abecassis, had hardly begun when the coronavirus crisis upended the who ran with her Gesher Party on the same ticket as Labor world and undid their union. and the far-left , has veered right, returning to On the rational side, the split was over political where she was born and raised, as the daughter of former strategy. Likud leader and foreign minister David Levy. She will Former finance minister and former defence now become a minister representing Likud. minister Moshe Ya’alon wanted to first conquer the legis- Second, and much more dramatically, Netanyahu seems lature by appointing a Knesset prepared – as of this writing speaker from Blue and White with – to leave incumbent Defence the support of the , a Minister and his party whose mostly Arab mem- right-wing faction out of bers oppose the idea of a Jewish the new coalition. state. Lapid and Ya’alon’s plan was The reason for such a move, if to proceed from there to the es- it materialises, would be two- tablishment of a minority govern- fold: first, the outspoken Bennett ment and then seek its expansion. has been a thorn in Netanyahu’s However, Gantz and Ashke- side – recently criticising the nazi argued that the pandemic government in which he was a changed everything, and de- Split down the middle: (From left) Blue and White’s Ash- senior member for its handling manded a unity government. kenazi and Gantz join the government, while Lapid and of the coronavirus crisis, as he Polls indicated that this was also Ya’alon refused similarly did back in 2014 when the will of most voters, includ- he spoke out against the then- ing Blue and White’s. This was on top of the reluctance government’s management of that summer’s fighting in of Gantz and Ashkenazi to rely, even momentarily, on the Gaza while it was still raging. support of the Joint List. Secondly, Yamina currently holds three important Beyond these dilemmas, there appears to have been some portfolios – defence, education, and transport – even personal circumstances that led to a gap in emotional inten- though it only has six elected lawmakers. Vacating those sity between members of Blue and White’s estranged leaders. ministries would allow Netanyahu to give Likud members Lapid and Ya’alon were both personally humiliated by Netan- more booty out of what little has been left for them after yahu, the former in 2014, when he was fired as finance min- Netanyahu gave Gantz 16 ministries to allocate. ister, and the latter in 2016, when he was removed as defence Still, even without Yamina, the Netanyahu-Gantz coali- minister. Gantz and Ashkenazi, who worked under Netanyahu tion will include a solid 72 lawmakers, and thus provide as IDF commanders, carried no such baggage. the stability Israeli politics has craved since late 2018, Emotion aside, when faced with his colleagues’ refusal and even more so since the outbreak of the coronavirus to enter into an emergency government under Netanyahu, pandemic. 13

AIR – May 2020 The new coalition’s agenda will obviously be dominated The three will nominally manage the crisis, together by the pandemic, which is also what brought the deadlock with the Health Minister. Yaakov Litzman, one of Netanya- to its end. hu’s ultra-Orthodox loyalists, currently holds that position, The pandemic caused Gantz to retreat from his de- but if he keeps the job, the others will likely effectively

NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES mand that the indicted Netanyahu clear the scene until the sideline him. Litzman has been criticised for being ineffec- charges against him were resolved, and the pandemic made tive as an administrator, focusing largely on sectarian issues Netanyahu seek a partner with whom to share responsibil- like delaying social distancing in synagogues, and is alleged ity for the tough decisions it demands. to have flouted his own ministry’s social distancing guide- Until he made his move, some “The new coalition’s agenda lines. Litzman also faces allegations of pundits thought Netanyahu was actu- interference in the case to extradite ally seeking yet another election. This will obviously be dominated former Australian Jewish school prin- impression was underscored by polls by the pandemic, which is cipal and accused child sex offender that indicated the public was largely also what brought the dead- Malka Leifer to Melbourne. However, satisfied with Netanyahu’s handling of lock to its end” Litzman has reportedly requested to the coronavirus crisis, and that support move to housing. for Likud was consequently rising. Netanyahu had indeed responded to the crisis faster eyond the coronavirus crisis, the new coalition will than most other world leaders. Israel stopped flights from Bbe tested on two more fronts: the politicisation of China and neighbouring countries earlier than others, and the judicial system and the Trump Administration’s peace was also quicker to impose social distancing, all of which plan released in late January. resulted in comparably lower rates of contagion in Israel, Regarding the judiciary, Netanyahu will stand trial compared with most of Europe and the US. while Blue and White runs the Ministry of Justice, which Even so, with the Israeli jobless rate suddenly exceeding oversees the court system. 24%; with school closure increasingly unsettling parents; This means that Gantz’s designated justice minister, Avi and with small business owners vocally demanding they be Nissenkorn, a 53-year-old lawyer and former chairman of allowed to reopen their stores, Netanyahu likely knew that the Histadrut labour federation, will be tasked with undo- the current positive polls might well prove meaningless by ing the legacy of Likud’s Amir Ohana. It has been alleged the time an early election rolled around in August. Ohana tried to use the pandemic to delay Netanyahu’s Now he will be handling the crisis together with Gantz, trial, and before that, broke precedent by trying to install and if public impatience and dissatisfaction grow, as they his own candidate as State Attorney, while rejecting the likely will, he will not be held solely accountable. candidate of the non-political Attorney-General. The pair will be joined in this effort by Katz, the des- According to the details of the Netanyahu-Gantz deal, ignated finance minister, who incidentally grew up with all senior civil service appointments, except for certain Gantz in the same small farming community south of Tel Ambassadorships, will be made by consensus. Aviv, Kfar Ahim, which means, perhaps proverbially, “vil- This provision will first be applied to Nissenkorn’s lage of brothers”. appointment of a new State Attorney. Other positions, An efficient administrator and powerful party boss, the such as a new Inspector General for Israel’s Police and an 64-year-old Katz will be tasked with making deep budget- Ambassador to Washington, will test the new coalition’s ary cuts, including possibly slashing public-sector salaries, harmony soon after it is sworn in sometime in early May. in order to finance compensation for the unemployed and Concerning the Trump peace plan, Netanyahu insisted for the private sector’s losses in the wake of the pandemic. on applying its recommendation that Israel extend its sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and certain other parts of the West Bank, by passing a law to this effect. Gantz agreed, but only if the legislation was approved in advance by Washington. Whatever transpires on this front, particularly if it is

ise in ent ex -r au m ce h s p l ig t o l r l e h e n Palestinian violence and strong diplomatic protests from a t v c l e

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2 0 6 1 1 Jordan, might also test the new coalition’s effectiveness 1, 0 2 , 2 2 01 15 013, 2014 3, 2014, 20 and durability. Yet more than anything else, Israel’s 35th government seems set to be remembered for signalling the beginning of the end of the Netanyahu era, which began with his return to the premiership in late 2009. 14 For better or for worse, Netanyahu’s current premier-

AIR – May 2020 ship now appears to have a formal expiration date, Sep- That’s not just because the recent deal left both Yamina tember 2021 – more than a dozen years after he returned and leading Likud figures without their share of power. The to Israel’s top job. unity deal also ensures that outside of guaranteeing a vote If the deal holds up until then, Gantz can say that, in the on the annexation of some West Bank settlements in the short year since he entered politics, he has left an imprint coming year, the new Government is not committed to the NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES on Israeli political history deeper than most other Israeli platform Netanyahu ran on. politicians made even after decades in Jerusalem’s corri- On judicial reform, economics and, yes, even settlement dors of power. growth, the Government will be split rather than united. That ensures that stalemate, rather than right-wing gover- nance, will largely characterise the next three years – assum- ing, that is, that the judges’ rulings in the fraud, corruption NETANYAHU AND and breach of trust allegations against Netanyahu don’t cut ISRAEL’S CENTRIST NEW the scheme short by seeking to do what the voters and his political opponents could not, and depose him. GOVERNMENT The assumption in some quarters is that this is frus- trating for Netanyahu. That isn’t the case. While he is the undoubted idol of Israel’s right-wing voters, he is perfectly by Jonathan Tobin pleased not to be leading a narrow right-wing govern- ment largely dominated by ideologues. To the contrary, his srael’s year-long political standoff is finally over, and preference has always been for assembling the most broad- Ithe only real winner is Prime Minister Binyamin Ne- based government possible. tanyahu. Although there were moments when it seemed That was true in 2009, when he assembled a government as if there was no way he could hold onto office for long, that included the Labor Party, then led by , even Netanyahu again proved that it’s a mistake to underesti- though he could have assembled a majority that was solely mate his political acumen or survival instincts. composed of right-wing and religious parties. But there is something else about this outcome that Ne- After the next election in 2013, the same thing hap- tanyahu’s international detractors need to understand. The pened as Netanyahu invited both Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh agreement does reaffirm the conventional wisdom that Atid Party and ’s Hatnua Party into his govern- views Netanyahu as a ruthless, skilled and self-interested ment, disappointing those on the right who wanted him to partisan dedicated to holding onto power at virtually any govern with the narrow majority that he had won. cost. It’s true that those who join in coalitions with Netan- But contrary to most mainstream media coverage of yahu generally find the experience extremely unpleasant. Israel, the deal with Blue and White coalition leader Benny Barak, Lapid and Livni all emerged from their time at Gantz also debunks the notion that Netanyahu is an ex- Netanyahu’s cabinet table determined never to do it again. tremist who is wrecking Israel by dragging it to the right, That’s one of the reasons why Netanyahu wound up lead- as well as sabotaging hopes of peace with the Palestinians. ing a narrow right-wing/religious coalition after the 2015 Israel’s new government is instead proof that Netanyahu is, election. at heart, a consensus politician most happy when leading from the centre and with his right-wing allies cut out of he defection of Avigdor Lieberman’s the decision-making process. TParty, which leans strongly to the right on security The deal he signed on April 20 with Gantz will likely issues though is avowedly secular, from Netanyahu’s bloc enable the incumbent Prime Minister to remain in office at the end of 2018 led to the long stalemate that has just for the next 18 months and call a new election, which he ended. might win, even if the Israeli Supreme Court rules that That dispute, along with others that led to other right- he is ineligible to stand as prime minister because of his wing figures such as Telem Party chief and former defence upcoming corruption trial. minister Moshe Ya’alon and other former members of Netanyahu’s enemies are lamenting what they see Gantz’s Blue and White coalition to take sides against the as Gantz’s weakness, as well as the way the coronavirus Prime Minister, was rooted more in personal animosity pandemic strengthened the Prime Minister’s hand. Still, as than ideology. many in the Likud and in its erstwhile right-wing part- Netanyahu is probably quite glad to see his Yamina al- ner Yamina Party are pointing out, while Netanyahu got lies decide to go into opposition, as opposed to joining his what he wanted out of the agreement, the interests of the new government. Yamina wants to prod Netanyahu to push national camp that he has led for a generation did not fare the envelope on establishing Israeli sovereignty over land as well. in the West Bank, when he is content merely to discuss 15

AIR – May 2020 the possibility, while still resisting – as he has throughout ous questions persist about whether this principle will be his career – pressure on Israel to make concessions to the sustained given their wide disparity in parliamentary seats Palestinians. held. An early test for the new Government will come in While Netanyahu’s flacks attacked Gantz as a leftist the next two months, as Israel decides whether to “apply COVER STORIES NAME OF SECTION during the three election campaigns of 2019-20, the Prime sovereignty” in parts of the West Bank, which many ob- Minister and Gantz, the new Defence Minister/future servers view as de facto annexation. According to the April prime minister, are largely in agreement on most secu- 20 agreement, Netanyahu will be allowed to bring this rity issues. When they clash, it will be about Netanyahu’s issue before cabinet or even a parliamentary vote from July efforts to gain immunity from prosecution or when he 1, provided he fulfils two stipulations in advance: obtaining pursues efforts to reform what he sees as an out-of-control “full agreement” from the United States, and conducting Israeli judiciary. “consultations” internationally. And if that leads to stasis rather than pushing ahead the agenda of the settlement movement or others in his core constituency, Netanyahu won’t shed a tear so long as his grip on high office remains secure. The easy way that Netanyahu and Gantz, who ran to the right in the elections to appear as close to the Prime Minister on the peace process as possible, will be able to cooperate on security issues demonstrates another element of Israeli politics that many still struggle to understand. They represent a broad consensus that believes that in the Netanyahu sees expanding sovereignty to areas of the West Bank as absence of a credible peace partner, the best Israel can do a key part of his legacy is to manage the conflict and secure those areas – like the Jordan Valley and the settlement blocs – that the Jewish state will never surrender, even if peace were possible. WHY DOES NETANYAHU WANT Say what you like about Netanyahu, whose ultimate fate SOVEREIGNTY, AND WHY NOW? will likely be settled in court, but calling him an extremist The idea of applying sovereignty has its origins in for- is simply untrue. mer Israeli Likud PM ’s December 1981 decision to unilaterally apply Israeli “law, jurisdiction, and Jonathan S. Tobin is Editor in Chief of JNS – Jewish News Syn- administration” to the Golan Heights. In his public remarks dicate. © JNS (www.jns.org), reprinted by permission, all rights at the time, Begin – always a stickler for legal distinc- reserved. tions – chose this formulation rather than “annexation” and pledged that it would not prohibit Israel from engaging in peace talks with Syria. In other words, applying sover- eignty was reversible, while annexation was irreversible. THE COMPLEXITIES To most observers inside and outside Israel, however, this OF ‘APPLYING sounds like a distinction without a difference. Granted, the Golan decision did not stop Israel from ne- SOVEREIGNTY’ IN THE gotiating over the territory’s future between 1992 and 2010 WEST BANK (including under governments led by Netanyahu). Yet Israel seems to have closed the issue indefinitely amid the Syrian regime’s brutal, decade-long war, Iran’s military entrench- by David Makovsky ment close to the Golan, and US President Donald Trump’s March 2019 announcement that the United States would n April 20, after the longest electoral deadlock in henceforth recognise Israeli “annexation” of that territory. OIsrael’s history, Prime Minister Binyamin Netan- Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Netanyahu yahu and rival Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz declared that he would also support applying Israeli sov- signed an agreement to form a unity government with a ereignty to all West Bank settlements, hoping that this pro- rotating premiership. Netanyahu will lead the Govern- posal would likewise gain public approval from Washing- ment for the first 18 months, even as he battles three ton. Yet a May 2019 blog post by Joel Singer – former legal corruption indictments; Gantz will take the second advisor to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and a top negotiator rotation. during the Oslo Accords – called this step a “poison pill” Although officials have committed to parity between that would make it extremely difficult to reach a two-state 16 the new Government’s right-wing and centre blocs, seri- solution.

AIR – May 2020 He also laid out some of the political and legal hurdles obstacle in this regard and will not block Israeli application that would need to be cleared in order to pass such a of sovereignty. measure. According to him, the matter falls under the The remaining question is conditionality. If Israel de- jurisdiction of the Referendum Law of 2014, meaning it cides to apply sovereignty, will the US ask the Knesset to would require approval from a super-majority of the Knes- commit to the measure called for in the Trump peace plan, NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES set (80 out of 120 members) or 50% of Israeli voters in a namely, yielding the remainder of the West Bank to the referendum. Palestinians? In Netanyahu’s view, however, the Trump Administra- tion peace plan presented on Jan. 28 has given him an INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGES historic opportunity to fulfil long-term territorial goals. Jordan’s Prime Minister Omar Razzaz has stated that He respected the Administration’s wishes to wait until a West Bank annexations under any name would put Israel’s new government was formed before attempting to annex peace treaty with his country in a deep freeze, though the 30% of the West Bank allocated to Israel in the peace speculation suggests that bilateral security cooperation plan. Yet he now sees application of sovereignty as a key would continue. component of his legacy. Unconfirmed reports also indicate the Palestinian The window for securing that component may be quite Authority might suspend security coordination after such narrow, though. The coronavirus pandemic has added to a move, though that inclination could be tempered by the uncertainty over whether President Trump will be continued economic downturns and dependency on Israel re-elected in November, so Netanyahu is adamant about during the pandemic. Europe has substantial objections as acting on annexation before then. He also seems to believe well – in February, 21 EU countries came out against the that Trump is willing to run interference with key Arab Trump plan and annexation. states so long as Israel makes the move before the most The potential reaction among Gulf Arab states is un- intense portion of the presidential election campaign (i.e., certain. Israel has prioritised quiet ties with them amid around September, if history is any indicator). strategic convergence on Iran and a shared focus on tech- Netanyahu’s timetable also appears driven by concerns nological development. Yet, even if these states are tired that Trump’s opponent Joe Biden could build a significant of the Palestinian issue, they do not like being publicly electoral lead before November. All of these factors help embarrassed, and they remain risk-averse. As such, they explain why Netanyahu rejected Gantz’s offer to delay an- are unlikely to see the upside of publicly aligning with nexation discussions for six months, instead insisting on a unilateral Israeli annexations that are seen to impinge on July deadline.

ISRAEL’S PLANS, TRUMP’S TERMS? One key unknown is where exactly the application of sovereignty would occur: • In all 128 Israeli settlements (which would make a two-state solution impossible). • In the Jordan Valley frontier (a key security zone that holds major sensitivities for Israelis, Palestinians, and Your opportunity to Jordanians). earn 10%+ target returns • In the 51 settlements that lie inside the West Bank security barrier, house most of the settlers, and take up in partnership with one around 8% of the land (a move that could be consistent of Australia’s most with a two-state solution if conducted via negotiations and territorial swaps with the Palestinians, though any such successful families talks seem unfeasible at present). • In a limited number of less controversial settlements adjacent to Israeli urban areas (e.g., Gush Etzion, which has been included as part of Israel in leaked Palestinian maps related to past two-state discussions). Some believe that Netanyahu’s top priority right now is the Jordan Valley. [email protected] As for the US view, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “the Israelis ultimately make those decisions,” sug- WWW.VALARACAPITAL.COM.AU gesting the Administration will be a partner rather than an 17

AIR – May 2020 Jordan’s security and Palestinian rights – especially in the of staff, Gantz and Ashkenazi are well aware how impor- context of a pandemic that has rendered regional govern- tant it is for Israel to maintain good ties with the United ments all the more vulnerable to public unrest. States, Europe, and Arab governments. For example, given Another challenge lies in Washington, where Democrats Amman’s frosty relationship with Netanyahu, it would

COVER STORIES may depict Netanyahu’s annexation push as not only a deadly not be surprising to see Jordanian officials meet with the blow to peace efforts, but also as a ploy to help Trump win two former generals in the coming weeks to explain how re-election. Leading pro-Israel Democrats in Congress have annexation might affect the kingdom’s internal stability. publicly rejected such proposals for at least a year now. The Both men will likely meet with European officials and US full diplomatic damage of pressing ahead with annexation Democrats as well. might not be felt immediately, but congressional sources indicate they would not be surprised if legislators call for CONCLUSION restricting military assistance to Israel in the future. In theory, a broader Government should enable Israel to make favourable progress on several fronts: extricating A TEST FOR GANTZ AND ASHKENAZI itself from its reliance on pro-settler factions, which have During the new Government’s first rotation, Gantz will held the balance of political power since 2015; reaching serve as defence minister while his Blue and White col- wider constituencies in key foreign countries; and restoring league Gabi Ashkenazi will serve as foreign minister. It will bipartisan cooperation with Washington. Yet the looming be interesting to see how both men act leading up to the July 1 annexation deadline puts all of these potential gains July 1 deadline. They are already being accused domesti- in peril very early in the new government’s tenure. cally of lending their imprimatur to annexation and not using their leverage to delay or reshape the issue at this key David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Wash- moment. In response, they privately argue that Netanyahu ington Institute for Near East Policy, and coauthor with Den- could win the requisite support for applying sovereignty by nis Ross of the book Be Strong and of Good Courage: How wooing just a handful of dissident parliamentarians. Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny. © Yet given their military record as former IDF chiefs Washington Institute, reprinted by permission, all rights reserved.

DOES COALITION DEAL PUT THE ognise this Israeli sovereignty provided Jerusalem agrees to map TRUMP PEACE PLAN BACK ON TRACK? out a Palestinian state with its opposite numbers in Ramallah. It now falls to the Palestinians to decide whether this is By Stephen Daisley where the Israeli settlement enterprise ends or whether it con- tinues advocating for complete sovereignty. fter three stalemate elections in a year, Israel finally has The Palestinians and their forerunner representatives have Aa government. The most immediate concerns for Israelis refused every offer of statehood made to them. If they refuse are how the new administration will handle the coronavirus this one, they may not get another. outbreak, but for the rest of the world, what matters most is One of the reasons for Palestinian rejectionism is that such paragraph 29 of Netanyahu and Gantz’s coalition agreement. behaviour is rewarded by the international community. Israel Paragraph 29 says Netanyahu can bring forward a bill to ap- makes concessions, the Palestinians spurn the concessions, ply sovereignty to Israeli settlements in the West Bank as early as the world demands Israel make more, Israel makes more, the July 1. Although Gantz personally opposes this approach, he will Palestinians again rebuff them, and the world shakes its col- not stand in the way. Provided Netanyahu can find the votes, we lective head at those hard-line Israelis who just refuse to give could be just weeks away from Israel formally asserting itself as any ground. Encouraging Palestinian intransigence keeps them the de jure sovereign over the West Bank settlements. stateless and their national fate in the hands of others. Indulging This will of course be met with resistance. Yousel al-Ha- their rejectionism, their payments to terrorists who kill Israelis, saineh has already accused Netanyahu and Gantz of “extremism” and their kindergarten plays where children dress up as suicide and undermining the peace process. Yousel al-Hasaineh is the bombers, makes it all the harder to achieve a Palestinian state. spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Alongside PIJ, The sovereignty bill Netanyahu is likely to bring forward expect cold fury from the likes of the UN, the EU, CNN and the will leave the Palestinians with the vast majority of Judea and BBC. Terms like “annexation”, “colonisation” and “bantustans” Samaria on which to found their state. Any country that consid- will almost certainly be thrown around. ers itself a friend to the Palestinians should beg them to take the But a sovereignty bill, if it passes into law, will simply begin deal and end the conflict. the process of implementing US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, announced in January. That plan assigns 30% of the Stephen Daisley is a Scottish journalist, political commentator and film West Bank/Judea and Samaria to Israel, and the other 70% to a critic. Reprinted from The Spectator. © The Spectator, all rights 18 demilitarised Palestinian state. The United States intends to rec- reserved, reprinted by permission.

AIR – May 2020 Abe and Marlene Zelwer NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES

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AIR – May 2020 similar product, while Herzliya-based Voca – whose core Israeli tech versus business focuses on automated call centre technology – has partnered with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, COVID-19 USA, to develop what it calls the Corona Voice Detect app. NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES Coronavirus can also potentially be detected not only through sound but through smell. Israel’s Ministry of “Start-Up Nation” innovation in the Defence is teaching dogs from the IDF canine unit to help fight against the virus identify coronavirus patients by smelling saliva samples – a technique that is also being explored in other parts of the world. by Ahron Shapiro and Naomi Levin On the patient side, Israeli health funds working to- gether with civilian and military partners have unveiled he worldwide mobilisation to address the coronavirus innovative walk-up kiosks in two Israeli cities offering Tpandemic has been compared to a war, and nowhere contactless testing for coronavirus. Health care workers has this been more true than in Israel, where govern- conduct the tests from inside pressurised booths using ment, defence and academia have pulled together as in rubber gloves that extend outwards from the enclosure. wartime to provide innovative solutions to the crisis both Between patients, the gloves are carefully washed with domestically and as part of the global community. disinfectant, providing a secure environment for patient Israel, the world’s leader in start-up companies per and clinician alike. capita, has directed that innovative mindset towards some A further 30 booths are slated to be deployed in the trendsetting efforts to harness technologies and resources coming days. to mitigate the coronavirus crisis on four fronts: improving “We would be happy to share the design plans with any testing methods for determining if people have contracted health organisation worldwide in order to support our the virus; creating better treatments to shared mission of fighting the CO- lower mortality rates for those already VID-19 virus,” Maccabi health fund infected; developing a vaccine to pro- CEO Ran Sa’ar told the UK’s Daily tect those who haven’t been stricken; Mail. and improving patient care to deliver Meanwhile, on the laboratory side, the best outcomes for coronavirus researchers at the Technion-Israel Insti- patients while minimising risk to the tute of Technology, collaborating with people caring for them. experts at Rambam Medical Centre in , have come up with a new TESTING IMPROVEMENTS method of processing test results that Testing for coronavirus has been Israel has invented a contactless coronavirus could vastly speed up the rate at which testing booth, the plans for which it is now a highly fraught aspect of the current offering to other countries tests for the virus can be completed. outbreak given the global shortage of The technique, known as “pooling”, testing kits, and the slow pace and labour intensiveness of involves protocols which make it possible for a lab to test traditional lab testing methods. samples from up to 64 people at the same time, rather than Israeli researchers have been taking a multi-faceted ap- one at a time, as is the usual practice. proach to improving testing methods through technology. Also, the British-Israeli company “diagnostics.ai”, whose At least three different Israeli companies are developing R&D centre is based in Herzliya, is using artificial intel- coronavirus screening and monitoring platforms, based on ligence to vastly shorten the time it takes for labs in the artificial intelligence, that analyse the sound of a patient’s US and UK to process coronavirus test results, effectively voice and breathing, observing patterns in order to detect doubling the rate of testing without the need for more the illness, as well as allowing doctors to evaluate the se- technicians. verity of the symptoms among those infected. Tel Aviv University (TAU) has opened a dedicated coro- Cordio Medical has modified its HearO app, which had navirus research lab, which will also be able to perform previously been used to remotely monitor fluid accumula- 1,000 tests for coronavirus a day, adding to Israel’s ability tion in the lungs of outpatients suffering from heart failure. to slow the spread of the virus. HearO, already in use in 10 Israeli hospitals and medical Israel has also recruited more than 600 doctoral stu- institutions, is now undergoing clinical trials for coronavi- dents from across the country’s top universities and medi- rus cases. cal centres to help with testing. Tel Aviv start-up Vocalis Health, working under the “The level of collaboration between faculty, physicians, 20 guidance of Israel’s Defence Ministry, is developing a health professionals and medical and graduate students

AIR – May 2020 lungs – typically, in such cases, double pneumonia sets in and the organ loses its ability to oxygenate blood, until the point that the weakened body can no longer breathe on its own and the patient dies.

At that crucial point for so many, the only thing NAME OF SECTION COVER STORIES standing in the way of death is a ventilator, which breathes for the patient until the immune system can beat back the virus and healing begins. The fear in Israel, as in Australia and elsewhere, has been that the number of critical patients in need of ventilation will exceed the number of ventilators available. It has been said that in the war Israel has recruited its university labs and doctoral students to assist with against the coronavirus, ventilators are the tanks testing on the battlefield, personal protective equipment (PPE) are the bullets. at the universities, hospitals, health maintenance organ- Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that Israel’s Ministry isations, Magen David Adom, and Ministry of Health, is of Defence, defence contractors and entire units of the Is- unprecedented in Israel,” Professor Karen Avraham, Vice rael Defence Forces itself have been redeployed as ventila- Dean of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, reflected. tor builders and PPE makers virtually overnight. The IDF tasked its famous Unit 81, the military intelli- BETTER CORONAVIRUS TREATMENTS gence technology unit, with upgrading simple and inex- While the public’s focus may be on vaccine develop- pensive household breathing regulators, commonly known ment, inoculations are useless to the millions of people as CPAP machines, into “smart” ICU-grade ventilators. The worldwide who have already contracted the virus, or those first prototype reportedly took a month to perfect. Israel’s who are expected to in coming months. Health Ministry ordered 1,000 – the first hundred were For those people, the medical community is more delivered on April 19. focused on finding off-the-shelf treatments that might Meanwhile, according to , Israel’s weaken the virus’ fatal grip on so many patients, especially Defence Ministry, in collaboration with medical company the elderly and those with pre-existing health issues. Inovytec and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), launched To that end, scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute a production line for Ventway Sparrow ventilators on the of Science, together with Diamond Light Source labora- grounds of a classified IAI missile production site. tory in the UK, are “pioneering a revolutionary method of Additionally, Unit 108 of the Israeli Air Force has scientific research that could see a candidate for an anti- teamed up with Microsoft Israel Research and Develop- coronavirus drug emerge ‘within weeks’” the UK’s Jewish ment, Ichilov Medical Centre, Magen David Adom (MDA) Chronicle reported. and others to develop a simple respirator that could be According to Dr. Nir London, who heads the team at mass-produced in labs at low cost. It is being developed as Weizmann, the technique involves using the “crowd-sourc- “open source” so that countries around the world can ramp ing of global intelligence” to quickly generate an “unprec- up manufacturing locally, affordably and in a short period edented amount of preliminary data” and then using tests of time. conducted on all proposed molecules in parallel, rather The IDF has also retooled assembly lines previously than linearly, enabling scientists to follow up on “500 to a used to build seats for tanks in order to produce protective 1,000 compounds” in the same period it would normally goggles for health care workers. take to test a “few tens of compounds.” Potential treatments go beyond pharmaceuticals. Haifa- THE RACE FOR A VACCINE based Pluristem has used its PLX placenta-based stem Early reports that Israel was ready to export a coro- cell-therapy product to treat seven ventilated, critically ill navirus vaccine to the world were premature: In reality, coronavirus patients, including one in a US hospital. All of even vaccines that appear to work on lab animals need them survived, giving hope for its potential as a treatment additional testing before they can be considered safe and in improving coronavirus survival rates. effective in humans. All such candidates would require Like other countries, Israeli hospitals are also experi- extensive clinical trials that take at least a year. However, menting with treating patients with antibodies from people there are at least four Israeli institutions closing in on such who have recovered from the virus. Results, while encour- a vaccine. aging, are still inconclusive. Israel’s state-run Institute for Biological Research Coronavirus kills most of its victims by affecting the (IIBR) was tasked with the job of creating a vaccine early 21

AIR – May 2020 on by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Fifty top system to focus on it and create antibodies that would scientists at the Institute are working on the vaccine, in directly target the virus at its weak spot.” three separate teams, alongside a global biotech company Finally, at Haifa’s Technion, Dr. Avi Schroeder, head with complementary expertise. As of the end of March, of the Laboratory for Targeted Drug Delivery and Per-

COVERNAME OF SECTION STORIES according to reports, IIBR had begun testing a COVID-19 sonalised Medicine Technologies, is aiming to rework an vaccine prototype on rodents. immunity-boosting treatment he has previously developed In addition, Migal Galilee Research Institute, located to fight a virus affecting shrimp into a coronavirus vaccine. in Kiryat Shmona in Israel’s far-north, has spent four years “Viruses infect us by multiplying inside our cells,” working on a vaccine for a coronavirus disease in poultry Schroeder told Forbes. “To do this the virus produces that has many similarities to the current novel coronavirus proteins. [When] we stop the production of these pro- which is causing the current pandemic among humans. teins inside the body, this is called RNA interference. The David Zigdon, the CEO of Migal Galilee Research shrimp [treatment] triggers RNA interference, breaking Institute, said his lab was working hard to accelerate the down the messenger RNA that carries the virus that infects vaccine’s development, and is expecting to be able to go to the body”, and Schroeder believes he can interfere with clinical trials “within a few months”. coronavirus RNA in the same way. “The experiments we have carried out so far show that because the vaccine does not include the virus itself, it will be safe to use in immune-suppressed recipients, and has fewer chances of side effects,” Zigdon said in an April 22 statement announcing a new infusion of venture capital funding in the vaccine’s development. Meanwhile, Professor Jonathan Gershoni of the School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology at TAU, announced on April 19 that his lab was “two-thirds of the A quarantine Telemed robot and control centre at the Sheba Medical Centre way to a vaccine” that would tackle not only COVID-19, but the entire family of coronaviruses – past, present and future. REFINING PATIENT CARE Gershoni was recently granted a US patent for his vac- Winning the war against coronavirus requires a holistic cine model, which would target the coronavirus’ Receptor approach that maximises efficiency in caring for patients, Binding Motif (RBM) – what he believes is a vulnerable while at the same time minimising exposure to the virus, keystone in the virus’ mechanism for invading a cell. Ac- not only for doctors and nurses, but other patients and cording to Gershoni, who has studied the coronavirus fam- staff in the hospital. Israeli tech companies are providing ily since 2004, a vaccine that would target the virus at this innovative solutions in all aspects of patient care. stage would likely be effective against any mutation. For example, CLEW Medical, based in the coastal “The idea is to recreate, to reconstitute, to construct an city of Netanya, has developed an artificial intelligence RBM of COVID-19 virus and use it as the vaccine,” he told platform for use in intensive care units (ICU) designed to the Jerusalem Post. “That is to say, you would inject a small identify a pattern of respiratory deterioration in patients in 50 amino-acid sequence and it would allow our immune real-time and issue pre-emptive warnings to ICU doctors accordingly. While already in use in some Israeli hospitals and not aimed at coronavirus per se, the technology is ex- With the compliments of pected to be especially valuable in coronavirus cases, given the disease’s notoriously fast-moving nature. The Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems has de- veloped an automated radar-based system to measure a Schoenfeld patient’s heartbeat, respiration rate and body temperature CONSULTING from a distance, without any need for physical contact by a medical worker. It is currently undergoing medical trials at PO Box 2462 Rabin Medical Centre. Brighton North VIC 3186 Tel Aviv-based Kryon Systems has developed an auto- Tel: (03) 9592 5411 mation system to help Israel’s health insurance companies 22 quickly process the mountains of data coming in from the

AIR – May 2020 country’s growing number of coronavirus patients – as that is a factor of the dearth of testing in Indonesia. But it well as those who have tested negative. Kryon is now of- also speaks to Indonesia’s chronic underinvestment in its fering its automation technology free of charge to assist in public health. the global effort to combat the virus. Indonesia’s public health spending is 3.1% of govern-

In Israel, even secondary school students have made ment spending, well below the ASEAN average of 4%, far COVER STORIES NAME OF SECTION a meaningful technological contribution to the national below its neighbours: Malaysia (3.8%), Thailand (3.7%), effort, with students at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa Philippines (4.4%), and Vietnam (5.7%). The figures for answering the call of Rambam Hospital for a remote- physicians per 1,000 population show the same thing: controlled robot to handle some of the tasks required in Indonesia has 0.38 doctors per 1,000 people; the ASEAN coronavirus wards, reducing the exposure of staff to the (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) average is 1.04. virus. Indonesia pales in comparison with its neighbours: Ma- Israel has proven itself to be at the cutting edge in help- laysia (1.51), Thailand (0.81), Philippines (1.28), Vietnam ing solve this dangerous pandemic. Time remains of the (0.82). The Global Health Index makes clear that in terms essence, but Israel’s entrepreneurs, academics, engineers of most of their six categories (detection, risk, norms, and innovators appear to not be wasting any of it. prevention, response, and health), Indonesia lags behind its peers. And yet, Indonesia is no stranger to viral epidemics: COVID-19 AND THE It has weathered SARS, H1N1, avian influenza, swine flu and MERS. Yet it did not make significant investments in FATE OF INDONESIAN preparedness, monitoring, or its health care systems. DEMOCRACY The deaths of over 42 doctors and nurses put additional strains on the health care system. And lest we forget, Indonesia’s already under-resourced by Zachary Abuza health care system was further hobbled by the 2009 Law on Health that prioritised a creeping Islamist agenda. Its t the time of writing, Indonesia had 7,775 confirmed priority was assuring that all Muslims have the right to a Acases of COVID-19, the second highest in Southeast Muslim doctor. Asia. The rate of infection was At the current rate of growth, doubling every 13 days. Indonesia is likely to see well over But commentators really do 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 not have a handle on the scope of by the end of 2020, the earliest we the problem, as Indonesia has the may see a vaccine come on-line. lowest rate of testing in the region. However, this estimate may change As of April 23, Indonesia had con- in the wake of the new restrictions ducted fewer than 50,000 tests, or announced on April 23. 0.17 tests per 1,000 people. Even the Philippines had conducted three PRESIDENT WIDODO’S times that amount. RESPONSE Six hundred and forty-seven While no government should be deaths from COVID-19 have been blamed for a pandemic, how they reported (51% of the total reported respond to it is fair game. And what COVID-19 deaths in Southeast we have seen from the Indonesian Asia). But anecdotal reports suggest Government’s initial response, up that this is a gross undercounting, to April 22, has been inept, poorly with funerals in some provinces communicated, indecisive, lacking 40% higher than normal times. The The low level of testing, and funeral statistics, sug- transparency, and based on short- Indonesian Doctors’ Association es- gest Indonesia’s COVID-19 problem is far worse than term economic calculations, not timates more than a thousand dead, official figures imply science. with many untested but having had The pandemic erupted in the COVID-19 symptoms. second term of President Joko Widodo (widely known by The case fatality rate in Indonesia is the highest in the nickname “Jokowi”). He knew the levers of govern- Southeast Asia, currently over 9%. By comparison, Malay- ment. Yet the response was bungled from the start. The sia, which until mid-April had a similar number of con- Government was in complete denial, downplaying the firmed cases, had a case fatality rate of just 1.7%. In part crisis, apparently fearing negative economic repercussions. 23

AIR – May 2020 While other governments began lockdowns, President eligible for unemployment benefits. Jokowi was courting tourists. The Government pushed Commodity exports will fall with economic contrac- back against social distancing, only imposing stricter tions and declining manufacturing in the region. measures in mid-April, already too late. The Government Indonesia is also likely to take another hit: regional

COVERNAME OF SECTION STORIES flip-flopped on whether to allow people to return to their countries that rely on migrant workers are going to be provinces for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, following Ramadan, very reluctant to take any as long as the pandemic rages before announcing last minute extensive travel bans on in Indonesia. That will lead to a significant drop in remit- April 23. Rapid transmission beyond the capital, where tances, impacting domestic consumption. health care is even more under-resourced, will prolong the pandemic and increase the death toll. THE POLITICAL AND SECURITY While President Jokowi has accepted more testing kits IMPLICATIONS from South Korea, and pledged to step up the rate of test- While President Jokowi is in his last term and not per- ing, the base line is so low that mitted to run again, he still has it really won’t stem the rate of well over five years to serve. And transmissions soon. yet his timid response, mixed The belated announcement at messages, and lack of a vision for the start of Ramadan on April 23 moving forward have damaged his of a ban on “sea, air, land and rail- legitimacy and public trust in his way transportation” across all of Administration. While not a lame Indonesia, lasting until June, may duck, he will emerge weaker possibly have more of an effect. politically, and with diminished Indonesia has a very rudimen- public confidence. tary social safety net. While the That has an important impli- Government allocated IDR 405 Indonesia’s healthcare system compares poorly with most cation for civil-military relations. trillion (AUD$40 billion) for of its neighbours, with far fewer doctors per capita Since the start of his Adminis- urgent injection into the health tration in 2014, the Indonesian infrastructure, including purchases of personal protec- military has been pushing to reassert itself in public life tion equipment (PPE) from China, it also had to earmark and civil administration. Though this push, known as Bela some social welfare for up to 10 million households. It has Negara, meaning “Defending the Nation,” was largely the pledged electricity and food subsidies. pet project of the former minister of defence, Ryamiz- Indonesia is already the largest food importer in South- ard Ryacudu, the current incumbent, Prabowo Subianto, east Asia and maintaining low prices for food and staples is has similar interests. President Widodo has already toyed critical for the Government. While the Government claims with the passage of an emergency decree (as we’ve seen in that it has 3.5 million tons of rice stockpiled, its national Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia), and he’s looked logistics agency BULOG is riddled with corruption and to the military to backstop his fumbling response. inefficiency. It has not helped that his Minister of Health, Terawan Moreover, Indonesia had already acknowledged need- Putranto, is a lieutenant general in the army. Terawan has ing to import one million tons of rice in 2020, up from been anti-science and an indecisive leader during the pan- 600,000 tons in 2019. And due to droughts in Thailand demic. While a handful of defence industries are quickly and Vietnam in 2019, largely caused by China’s damming trying to produce ventilators, giving the Indonesian Na- of the Mekong, rice prices are 7% higher. And with the tional Armed Forces (known by their Indonesian acronym pandemic, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia (the second, TNI) greater powers over civilian life and public policy is a third, and eighth largest exporters, respectively) have all setback for Indonesia’s fragile democracy. temporarily halted rice exports because of fears of hoard- In terms of domestic security, we have not seen how ing and price spikes at home. Should the price of food the pandemic will play out. Islamist parties and organisa- staples go up dramatically, there is a high potential for tions quickly scapegoated ethnic Chinese for COVID-19’s unrest. spread, always their default stance. The pandemic’s economic implications will be enor- Indonesian officials were very slow to shut down a mass mous, larger than the 2007-08 Asian Economic Crisis, gathering of the Tabligh Islamic evangelical movement in which resulted in 40 million Indonesians unemployed or Sulawesi, for fear of angering Islamists, even though a simi- underemployed, and saw a major economic contraction. lar Tabligh gathering a few weeks earlier outside of Kuala Indonesia’s currency is already approaching the exchange Lumpur had led to outbreaks of COVID-19 in Malaysia, rate at the height of the 1998 crisis, US$1 being equal to Singapore, Brunei, and Thailand. While the Government 24 IDR 15,795. In Jakarta alone, 300,000 workers are already ultimately banned the gathering, it was only after thou-

AIR – May 2020 sands of people had already converged. authority of three administrations – the Assad regime, the President Jokowi has been reluctant to ban religious Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) and the gatherings for fear of angering Islamists, defaulting to let- government of Iraq – the structures and networks of ISIS ting individual imams make their own decisions. are alive.

Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), Indonesia’s Islamic State And with all three of these administrations preoccupied NAME OF SECTION affiliate, has been largely quiet on the issue. While there with the current pandemic, Islamic State is raising its head. was a shootout between police and members of the pro- A sharp uptick in ISIS activity has taken place across this Islamic State Mujahideen Indonesia Timur, leading to the space over the last few weeks. deaths of two militants, it’s not clear how planned out the On April 9, ISIS gunmen attacked and seized the town initial attack was. of al-Sukhna in the desert of central Syria’s Homs prov- The older Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Islamist group is actually ince. Russian aircraft were scrambled in response, launch- in a much stronger position than the JAD to take advantage ing a series of air raids against the positions of the jihadis. of the situation as it has a very well developed network Extended clashes followed between the ISIS men and Assad of charities and social welfare organisations. JI has been regime forces. The death count after the ISIS fighters disap- given ample space to regroup, which it has done effectively peared back into the desert was 18 on the regime side, while letting the JAD be the focus of Indonesia’s counter- and 11 ISIS men, according to the Syrian Observatory for terrorism efforts. Human Rights. In eastern Deir al-Zor province, ISIS fighters killed Dr. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College, two members of the National Defence Forces, an Iran- Washington, DC and an adjunct at Georgetown University’s Secu- established regime auxiliary force, on April 7. In the same rity Studies Program. The views expressed are his personal opinions period in this area, Sunni jihadis on April 6 executed a and do not reflect the opinions of the National War College or the woman they claimed was working with the regime, and on US Department of Defence. April 7, detonated a land mine in the Shola area in south- ern Deir al-Zor, killing four pro-regime militia members. ISIS also attacked regime positions in the towns of al-Jala, al-Siyal and al-Abbas in the same area on April 6. According to the Observatory, the latest attacks bring COVID-19 AND THE the death toll among regime and allied forces west of the GHOST CALIPHATE Euphrates at the hands of ISIS for the period from March 24 to mid-April to 377. The Kurdish/US-controlled area east of the Euphrates by Jonathan Spyer has also been hit by the uptick in ISIS activity. On April 3, an SDC forces unit killed an ISIS would-be suicide bomber he coronavirus is generally held to represent a com- in the town of Manbij as he prepared to carry out his Tmon threat to all nations and communities. It does not attack. differentiate according to religion, ethnicity or national The situation in the mainly Sunni Arab middle Euphra- origin. The pandemic has even produced examples of tes River valley is tense. There are unresolved issues of enemies working together against the new invisible foe. authority and governance between the Sunni Arab tribal Medical personnel from Hamas-controlled Gaza, for population in the area and the SDC forces. ISIS seeks to example, have travelled to Israeli hospitals to learn tech- gain from this situation, and attacks have been on the in- niques for treating those infected. But the virus, and more specifically the general focus on it, also offers an opportunity to any organisation seek- ing to exploit the short-term distraction of its enemies. Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, lacks adminis- trative control of any territory. But across a broad swath of Iraq and Syria, ISIS retains networks of support and lines of communication and supply. Somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 members of the group remain active in this area. There is no shortage of either money or weaponry. From Syria’s Badia desert in the west, eastward to the Euphrates River valley and Deir al-Zor province, and then A member of the Kurdish-led Asayish security organisation stands deep into Sunni-majority central Iraq, the vanquished ISIS near a man in a wheelchair along an empty street, as coronavirus caliphate retains a kind of half-life. Beneath the nominal restrictions are imposed in Qamishli, Syria 25

AIR – May 2020 crease since February. is proof that the “victories” in the wars in Syria and Iraq This issue is compounded by the uncertainty in the have resolved little. area. US President Donald Trump’s announcement in Neither the Assad regime’s crushing of the Sunni Arab October 2019 of the imminent withdrawal of remaining uprising against it, nor the US-led coalition’s destruction

NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE US forces from northeast Syria has reduced the willingness of the ISIS caliphate has settled the underlying issue that of some elements in the population to cooperate with the led to the emergence of both. This is the fact that both SDC. Baghdad and Damascus are dominated by non-Sunni ruling A central concern for both the SDC and its US partners authorities with little interest in, or ability to integrate, the is the roughly 11-12,000 ISIS prisoners held in a number large Sunni Arab populations living under their rule. of facilities east of the Euphrates. Already, ISIS prisoners The coronavirus offers a window for ISIS to increase have staged one attempted breakout. the tempo of its activities. But with or without the pan- demic, the “ghost caliphate” is here to stay. he public health situation in the SDC-controlled area Tis fragile. Water supplies are subject to intermittent Dr. Jonathan Spyer is Director of the Middle East Centre for interruptions, because of Turkish control of the Allouk Reporting and Analysis, and a research fellow at the Jerusalem water station since late 2019. There is also an acute Institute for Security and Strategy. He is the author of Days of shortage of medical equipment, including testing kits and the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars ventilators. (Routledge, December 2017). © Jerusalem Post (jpost.com), There is concern that if COVID-19 strikes in the reprinted by permission, all rights served. area, facilities holding ISIS prisoners could become unmanageable. Iraq, too, has witnessed renewed ISIS violence in recent days. A recent report on the Kurdish Rudaw website noted THE CONSPIRACY the death of an Iraqi federal police officer at a checkpoint in Hawija in western Kirkuk on Sunday, April 12. Hawija DISEASE CONTINUES TO is a focal point of support and activity for ISIS. The re- SPREAD port noted that this was the third killing of security forces personnel by the organisation since the beginning of the month. by Oved Lobel The Iraqi security forces are currently focused on the pandemic. The attacks come also in the wake of US rede- egrettably, even after in-depth coverage of conspiracy ployment of forces within Iraq in recent weeks, and the Rtheories arising from the coronavirus pandemic in continued paralysis of the political system there. the April edition of the Australia-Israel Review, there is So the increase in ISIS activity is taking place across a still more than enough new material to compile another broad but contiguous majority-Sunni Arab area of terri- article for this month’s edition, particularly focussed on tory. The pattern of events confirms the continued exis- Jews and Israel. tence of ISIS’s networks of supply and support, through On April 17, Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rappor- which the movement’s members can safely pass. This is the teur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, released a state- “ghost caliphate” in the territory that the movement once ment noting that he was “extremely concerned to see that administered. certain religious leaders and politicians continue to exploit The ongoing, slow-burning ISIS insurgency in this area the challenging times during this pandemic to spread hatred against Jews and other minorities,” in particular the conspiracy theory that Jews or Israel had unleashed the With Compliments virus to reduce the world’s gentile population. A recent report by Israeli Students Combatting Anti- semitism (ISCA) has been tracking hundreds of antisemitic Goldman Legal posts across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram in multiple languages that blame the spread of the virus on Level 13 Jews and Israel, although the problem is obviously far more 200 Queen Street widespread than these specific posts. Melbourne VIC 3000 Looking beyond the antisemitic conspiracy theories, among the most bizarre ones circulating is that all the virus Tel. 03 9044 4444 symptoms are in fact caused by electromagnetic radia- 26 tion emanating from 5G radio antennae, which has led to

AIR – May 2020 eanwhile, Palestinian conspiratorialism and incite- Mment about Israel purposely spreading the virus among Palestinians have reached fever pitch, such that the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territo-

ries (COGAT) Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun (himself an NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE Arabic-speaking Israeli Druze) called on the Palestinian leadership to retract its absurd accusations. Rukun warned Palestinian leaders falsely blaming Israel for spreading the virus “that there could be repercussions in various spheres... Such shameful remarks, baseless and indefensible, completely contradict the plain fact that Israel Mobile phone towers – an unlikely target for conspiracy theories and has prepared and engaged itself to give all possible assis- even vandalism tance in the regional effort to halt the spread of the epi- dozens of attacks on telecommunication masts and engi- demic, both in Israel and in the Palestinian territories. We neers around the world, threatening lives and livelihoods. see those remarks and accusations as crossing a red line.” A surprising proponent of the 5G conspiracy is the former No less a figure than Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa. He explained the Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has been spreading lies “science” behind the 5G-virus link: about IDF soldiers deliberately spitting on car door “In 1918, the [Spanish Flu] pandemic was caused by a handles to spread the virus. disruption in the Earth’s electromagnetism, due to the The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Report- prevalence of electricity...When electricity was first ing and Analysis (CAMERA) has documented several other introduced, it caused something in the atmosphere, which instances of senior PA and Fatah officials – as well as inter- prepared it for the splitting of these materials, thus creat- national supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions ing that virus. When we apply the same theory to the movement – championing these conspiracies. For instance, coronavirus, we see that the fifth generation of communi- leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was quoted by cations might be the cause... All our phones are 4G now. the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on March 30th saying “... For the sake of 4G technology, 20,000 satellites were The settler gangs go wild, the latest example of which launched into orbit. In order to introduce 5G technology, is… the spitting on Palestinian cars and property in order which they say will change social relations, they had to to transfer the corona disease to them… all of these are launch 100,000 satellites into orbit. This caused additional expressions of the spirit of hate taking root, the spread of disruptions in the electromagnetic field, which have made the incitement to racism, and the wild desire to get rid of the atmosphere hospitable for the spread of these viruses.” the Palestinian people in any way…” Celebrities have taken the bait too. Among those Official PA spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem went even spreading the 5G nonsense are Hollywood actors Woody further: “It is not strange that the settlers and occupation Harrelson and John Cusack and singers MIA and Keri soldiers are doing acts such as these [trying to infect Pal- Hilson. estinian property], as they are striving for the epidemic’s The British organisation HOPE Not Hate has been spread in Palestine. In addition, they are attempting to investigating anti-5G social media groups and has found approach our labourers and mingle with them in order to extensive links to the far-right for over a month. Multiple transfer the disease to them.” Facebook groups with tens of thousands of followers ac- This lie about Israel deliberately infecting Palestin- tively plot attacks on 5G infrastructure. ian workers is particularly ironic given that, as CAMERA Unfortunately, any large collection of conspiracy theo- points out, it was PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh rists, regardless of the particular theory under discussion, himself who insisted that Palestinian workers return to seemingly always end up at antisemitism. According to Palestinian Authority-controlled territories, whereas Israel HOPE Not Hate researcher Gregory Davis, “People seek- allowed them to stay in Israel to see out the quarantine ing out information on the 5G controversy in Facebook period, and even mandated their employers provide them groups will soon find themselves exposed to any number accommodation temporarily. This did not stop Fatah de- of alternative conspiracy theories, many only tangentially claring on its official Facebook page that Israel “is opening related to 5G. Many of these theories are implicitly or all of the gates and fences throughout the two districts of explicitly anti-Semitic, with the rollout of 5G and many Qalqilya and Tulkarem in order to ease the smuggling of other alleged crimes being laid at the feet of prominent Palestinian labourers who were infected inside Israel into Jewish individuals or organisations.” their villages without passing through the [PA’s] emer- gency committees, medical inspections, and quarantine… [Israel] is now launching a biological war against us.” 27

AIR – May 2020 The PA has also been using the spread of coronavirus to pressure Israel into releasing Palestinian prisoners, WHO IS SHEIKH TAJ EL-DIN AL-HILALY? with one op-ed in the official PA daily newspaper claiming Sheikh Hilaly has a chequered past, spending time in that Israel had “not taken the necessary steps to prevent prison and appearing to openly incite racism in Australia.

BIBLIO FILE NAME OF SECTION the spread of the virus, and added insult to injury when Egyptian-born Hilaly arrived in Australia from Lebanon they withheld disinfectant and cleaning materials from the in 1982 on a tourist visa. He narrowly escaped deporta- prisoners – as if we are on the brink of a holocaust against tion in 1988 when the then-immigration minister alleged the Palestinian prisoners…The colonialist and settlement he failed to uphold “Australian values”, but was granted occupation system in the era of is residency in 1990 following strong lobbying by elements proving for the millionth time that it is the most dangerous of the Australian Muslim community. In 1999 Hilaly was ‘human virus’ known to man.” jailed in Egypt for smuggling, and in 2003 fined for exhib- A slew of cartoons comparing Israel to the virus con- iting offensive behaviour towards NSW police officers and tinue to appear in official and unofficial Palestinian media, resisting arrest. and the lies have been coming from all levels of the leader- Hilaly has a long history of alleged antisemitism. In ship on TV and in print. 1988, he told a Sydney audience that Jews have “enmity Hamas seems to actually have been less vocal than the towards the human race as a whole”, and are trying to PA when it comes to these conspiracy theories, but its achieve world domination using “secret movements” such statements also reflect a parallel reality. as communism, libertarianism and Freemasonry, as well as Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the through sex, “espionage, treason, and economic hoarding.” Middle East Peace Process, recently publicly praised Israel In a sermon in Lebanon in 2004, Hilaly called for Mus- for allowing “the entry of critical supplies and equipment lim youth to become martyrs by fighting Israel and praised into Gaza: examples of critical supplies include swabs the 2001 September 11 terror attacks against the United for collection of samples and other laboratory supplies States as “God’s work against oppressors”, stating that “The required for COVID-19 testing, and Personal Protective media all over the world are controlled by Zionist fingers.” Equipment to protect health workers,” as well as facilitat- Hilaly was removed from an Australian government ing the movement of UN and other personnel moving in consultation group in 2006 after calling the Holocaust a and out of Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has even been “Zionist lie” and labelling Israel a “cancer”. training Gaza medics, and is reportedly processing corona- He has also been notorious for his extreme views virus test results from Gaza. against homosexuals, anti-Western comments (“the biggest Naturally, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya’s re- liars and oppressors”), and for suggesting that women in sponse to this was to threaten Israel with “other measures” revealing clothes are like “uncovered meat” and thus bear to force it to do what it is already doing. This is even as the blame if they are raped. In 2013, he labelled Australia a other Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya “dictatorship”. Sinwar, expressed optimism about reaching an agreement Despite being Sunni, Hilaly is an open supporter of He- with Israel on a prisoner exchange. zbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organisation which Still, at least the Palestinians are not promoting “Islamic is Iran’s most important international client and proxy. He medicine”, and can thus avoid the fate of Iranians who have met Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in Lebanon been advised by certain of their clerics to drink fresh camel in February 2004 and later said that he had praised Hez- urine or apply violet oil to the anus to cure the virus. bollah and “its sacrifice” as a model for all “Mujahideen” (Islamic fighters) around the world. In 2007 he was cleared of allegations that he had trans- A SHEIKH’S TRAVELS ferred charitable donations to Hezbollah. A VISIT TO LEBANON by Ran Porat In mid-February this year, Hilaly paid a visit to Lebanon. heikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly, a senior Australian Sunni On Feb. 19 in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, Hilaly met Scleric and a former Mufti of Australia, recently trav- with senior members of the Islamic Unification Movement elled to Lebanon and met with two leaders of political (IUM, Arabic: Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami), including the movements with ties to terror organisations. His encoun- Secretary General Sheikh Bilal Saeed Sha’aban, and the ters in Lebanon – unnoticed by the Australian public until head of the Military Command Council (Arabic: Majliss al- now – provide fresh evidence of the continued question- Kiyadi al-Harb) Sheikh Hashem Minqara. On that occasion, able behaviour and ties of this senior Australian Muslim Hilaly was awarded a special plaque honouring his “efforts 28 preacher. on the road of Da‘wah” (preaching the word of Islam).

AIR – May 2020 founder and Editor in Chief of the website Middle East Transparent, confirmed that Sheikh Minqara is “linked to Syrian security services.” Minqara was jailed in Syria for 15 years until he was released at the behest of Lebanese Prime

Minister Najib Mikati. According to Akel, Mikati person- NAME OF SECTION BILIO FILE ally brought Minqara from Damascus in his car, possibly in exchange for working with Syrian intelligence services. In 2013, a Lebanese court charged Minqara, along with two Syrians – one of whom was a Syrian intelligence of- ficer – with responsibility for car bomb explosions outside two Sunni mosques, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 500. Akel also alleged that Minqara bore responsibility for the 1987 killing of dozens of Communist supporters in the Mina district conducted by IUM fighters.

eanwhile, in the Lebanese town of Minya north of MTripoli, Hilaly visited Shi’ite Sheikh Mustafa Malas, the head of the National Solidarity Council. Malas is also a member of the Council of Ulama (Koranic scholars), (From top) Hilaly with Shiekh Sha’aban; Hilaly (in the middle) holding the a pro-Iran group made up of Lebanese Sunni and Shi’ite plaque he received from the IUM scholars. Formed in 1982 in Tripoli, the Sunni IUM was once a Like Sha’aban and Minqara, Malas is strongly affili- heavily armed militia of a thousand or more fighters, with ated with Hezbollah and Iran, and an extreme supporter extremely anti-Western views following the Khomeinist of violent struggle against Israel. “What is happening in ideology of the Shi’ite Iranian regime. Palestine,” Malas said in response to the US decision to Tony Badran, a Lebanon expert at the US-based think- move its embassy to Jerusalem in December 2017, “once tank the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD), again confirms that the Intifada is the only solution to the described the IUM as “an Iranian asset” backed by the Palestinian cause, and that the resistance is the first choice Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and noted that “its of the Palestinian people.” leader was a regular guest in Tehran.” The IUM is part of Malas survived a car bomb attack in October 2010 the Islamic Action Front (Jabhat al-‘Amal al-Islami), which following his support of a visit to Lebanon by then Iranian is a “Hezbollah- and Iran-aligned consortium of groups President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. representing Tehran’s network in northern Lebanon” and Malas also visited Teheran at least once – in February provides a “veneer of cross-sectarian unity around Iran’s 2018. regional designs,” according to Badran. In November 2019, Malas met with a delegation from The IUM is suspected of responsibility for at least three Islamic Jihad in Lebanon (not to be confused with the terror attacks in Lebanon – one in 1985 and two in 2013 – Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad), a Shi’ite terror or- in which 68 people lost their lives and almost 500 were in- ganisation responsible for several attacks, assassinations and jured. It is listed as a terrorist organisation in the Routledge kidnappings. Islamic Jihad in Lebanon is strongly affiliated Handbook of Terrorism Research. It was heavily involved in the with Hezbollah, specifically with the External Security Lebanese civil war and in fighting against the Israeli army’s Organisation (ESO) within Hezbollah, which is listed in presence in Lebanon between 1988 and 2000. In 2014, the Australia as a terrorist entity. Lebanese army largely crushed the IUM militia while fight- Australians meeting terrorist supporters on foreign soil ing al-Qaeda affiliated terror groups in Tripoli. are not exempt from responsibility for their actions. Taj Current IUM leader Sha’aban is an enthusiastic sup- El-Din al-Hilaly’s visit to Lebanon is yet another red flag in porter of Hezbollah and Iran. Last September, he praised his notoriously controversial personal history and should two Lebanese terrorists who were trained in Iran and not go unnoticed by the relevant authorities. killed by Israeli forces in Syria while preparing to launch armed drone attacks against Israel. Sha’aban congratulated Dr. Ran Porat is a researcher at the Australian Centre for Jew- them for “the heroic operation carried out by the group of ish Civilisation at , a research fellow at the martyrs […] giving the Umma [Islamic nation] the dose of International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplin- glory it needed.” ary Centre, Herzliya Israel, and a research associate at the Future Interviewed for this story, Lebanon expert Pierre Akel, Directions International Research Institute, Western Australia. 29

AIR – May 2020 Living in the Marrakech medina in Morocco until he left for France at age 13, Sibony knew the power of the mob. Riots would erupt around the

NAME OF SECTION BIBLIO FILE time of Jewish festivals, to the extent that one Jewish mother preparing her daughter’s wedding sought reassurance Muslims and Jews: The from a neighbour that his co-religion- ists were not planning to disrupt the ‘original grudge’ theory festivities. The ruler could turn the screw on his Jews when he needed them to Un certain “vivre ensemble”: Musulmans et pay heavier taxes, while threatening juifs dans le monde arabe to unleash popular violence on them. Today’s jihadists, too, Sibony argues, Daniel Sibony, Odile Jacob, 2016, 190 pp. are essentially mobsters. There are plenty of Jews from by Lyn Julius Morocco willing to testify to the good relations there between Jews and Muslims. One reason was that the mob n 2013, Princeton University Press bears the non-Muslim ‘other’ an never penetrated the richer quarters; Ipublished A History of Jewish-Muslim “original grudge,” which has coloured protected by the police – their Jewish Relations: From the Origins to the Present Muslim relations with the Jews living residents were insulated from trouble. Day, the first encyclopaedia on the among them since the Koran was writ- Sibony claims that Jews did not history of relations between Jews and ten in the seventh century. want to dwell on the negative, they Muslims from the birth of Islam to Going back to Mohammed’s en- were too busy living life to the full – a the present day. Edited by Abdelwa- counter with the Jewish tribes of Ara- life filled with music, poetry, ritual and hab Meddeb and Benjamin Stora, the bia, the grudge, says Sibony, consists of faith. There were times when Muslims, encyclopaedia is a glossy coffee-table resentment of the Jews for “betraying” too, forgot their “grudge” – but it was book featuring more than 150 articles Mohammed by refusing to follow his always there in the background, like by an international team of lead- new religion. And, he adds, there is a radio whose volume knob had been ing experts. Its stated objective was the lingering resentment that the Jews turned down. The ultimate proof that “greater historical understanding and were first out with their Holy Book. all was not well between the two com- a more informed dialogue between In the Muslim mind, argues Sibony, munities is the massive exodus of Jews Jews and Muslims.” the Jew is cursed by his primordial fail- from Arab lands. One man, however, was not ure to convert. In fact, the very term Sibony’s thesis may be criticised impressed. Daniel Sibony is a French “Jew” – with its apparent associations for putting too much emphasis on psychoanalyst and philosopher, and of uncleanliness and femininity – was a dhimmi status abrogated by the the author of no fewer than 26 books, an insult in Morocco, he notes. colonial era, and for ignoring the most, unfortunately, not available in The Jew is condemned to inferior, or influence of European and Nazi English. Sibony believed that “greater dhimmi, status, a system of humiliating antisemitism in the Arab world. But understanding” and “informed dia- handicaps and strictures. He is banned in Morocco the colonial period was logue” meant idealising the true nature from reading the Koran, in case he shorter than most, and Sibony still of Jewish-Muslim relations during 13 should criticise it. To argue that the colo- remembers seeing Jews wearing the centuries of “coexistence”. He set out nial era in Arab lands marked a divorce discriminatory black djellaba in his his response to Meddeb and Stora in a between Jews and Arabs assumes that native Marrakesh. He should be com- book called Un certain “vivre-ensemble’: there was a marriage in the first place. mended for boldly swimming against musulmans et juifs dans le monde arabe (“A Non-Muslims kept the Islamic a tide of denial and distortion. certain ‘co-existence’: Muslims and world afloat through payment of the Jews in the Arab world”). jizya tax. The ruler levied this tax in or- Lyn Julius is the author of Uprooted: The book’s message may be summed der to “protect” the Jews. But protect How 3,000 years of Jewish Civilisation up as follows: “Tell me who you despise, from whom? A hostile populace which in the Arab World Vanished Overnight and I’ll tell you who you are.” had assimilated the lessons of the Ko- (Vallentine Mitchell, 2018). © JNS.org, 30 Sibony argues that the Muslim ran and the “original grudge”. reprinted by permission, all rights reserved.

AIR – May 2020 They show a fundamental disrespect for others who think differently from them. ESSAY I consider myself a liberal.

Anti-Israel rhetoric does not stem ESSAYNAME OF SECTION from liberals for the most part, but from radical leftists. The radical Left has been antisemitic since Voltaire and The Case for Moral Marx. The radical Left and the radical Right both have shared elements of Clarity antisemitism. A problem we now face is that this outlook is slowly creeping into the minds of liberals. American Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Jewish writer Peter Beinart deserves Israel some of the blame for this phenom- enon, because he presents himself as a liberal, not a radical leftist, and he has by Alan Dershowitz begun to use tropes, that at least oth- ers interpret and use to make broader arguments against the Jewish people, uch of what today purports current form of antisemitism. such as the influence of Jewish money. Mto be criticism of Israel or the To put this brief on antisemitism These can be heard from other Jews, claim of ideological opposition to in historical context, “legitimate” too. Zionism is merely disguised antisem- anti-Zionism can be traced to Ger- For example, Eric Yoffie, a former itism, perpetrated by singling out the man Jews who considered Judaism head of the Reform movement in the nation-state of the Jewish people for merely a religion and not a national- US, attacked me in an article in Israeli condemnation and demonisation. ity. However, this is not the subject at newspaper Ha’aretz, for defend- The United Nations, for example, hand, nor is it the mindset of today’s ing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin devotes more time to condemning antisemitic “anti-Zionists.” The cur- Netanyahu against his current indict- Israel than all the other countries in rent debate does not centre around ment, saying I must be doing it for the the world combined, and the only ex- the philosophy of Zionism, but on the money. He said that it was a matter of planation for this is that they American businessman Shel- are motivated by a hatred of “If you want to find apartheid situations in don Adelson’s money. the Jewish people and a hatred the Middle East, look to Saudi Arabia for I have never received a of their Jewish state. apartheid based on religion and gender, penny for defending Netan- When, on university cam- or talk about Iranian apartheid based on yahu. How is Yoffie different puses, there are demonstra- from US House of Represen- tions against buildings going sexual orientation. But don’t pick Israel” tatives Congresswoman Ilhan up in the West Bank (some- Omar tweeting, “It’s all about thing I might personally be opposed demonisation of Israel not because of the Benjamins, baby”? The trope that to), while ignoring the misdeeds of what it does, but because of what it Jews do everything for money and Syria, Yemen, Iran, Hezbollah, and is, and that is, a sovereign state of the that Jews use money to do everything Hamas, there is no other explanation Jews. There is no name for this other is pervasive, and even Jews are guilty but a hatred of the Jewish people. than antisemitism. of this when attacking other Jews. The world did not care when the First, to understand the new When Yoffie attacked me, he Palestinians were being oppressed antisemitic movement, its core values resorted to antisemitic tropes; that and occupied by Egypt or Jordan. and outlook must be understood. The I must be doing what I do for the The world only became concerned so-called “progressives” are largely money, even though I have never spo- when occupation accusations shifted regressive, in that they repress free ken to Adelson about this subject and to the nation-state of the Jewish speech and deny due process. These would never take orders from any- people. Israel is the “Jew among the new McCarthyites are not truly body, even a client, as to what to say nations,” and to single out only Israel liberals because they do not allow on a given subject, as a matter of prin- for delegitimisation, condemnation, for freedom of thought, freedom of ciple. The use of antisemitic tropes and demonisation is perverse and the conscience, and freedom of speech. is finding its way into our everyday 31

AIR – May 2020 the terms and their legal meaning. One culprit is a man I voted for twice and cam-

ESSAY paigned for twice, former President Barack Obama. President Obama, who, in a vengeful last act, a month before he left his presidency, actually pushed through, and did not just refuse to veto, a resolution saying that the Kotel – the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest place of prayer – was illegally oc- cupied, and that the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s historic Old City, which

The situation in the West Bank bears no relationship to apartheid, nor is it “occupation” as that term is used has been populated by Jews in international law for 3,000 years, is “illegally occupied.” speech, writing, and rhetoric, and it is basic rights. In Israel, of course, the First, the term “illegal occupation” a dangerous development. Declaration of Independence assures is a misnomer. The term “occupation” Not only are classical antisemitic the Arab citizens of Israel full, com- is a term of art in international law. It terms being used in rhetoric against plete, and equal rights, and obviously, applies to “belligerent occupation” of Israel, but other loaded catchphrases the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, has sovereign territories by an external are being blatantly misused to smear Arab members. Apartheid is a fake sovereign, whether it was Nazi Ger- Israel. argument, but it is one that resonates many’s occupation of European states One such term is calling Israel “an with ignorant people who do not such as France, Belgium, and Holland apartheid state.” understand history and cannot distin- or whether it was the Allied post-war Historically, we should recall that guish true apartheid from the country occupation of Germany or imperial the campaign that misnamed Israel as in the Middle East that has the most Japan. an apartheid country was initiated by equality. The specific situation in the West none other than an antisemite named If you want to find apartheid situa- Bank areas of Judea and Samaria after Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. tions in the Middle East, look to Saudi the 1967 war is not occupation, since Bishop Tutu, though highly respected, Arabia for apartheid based on religion the Palestinians never had a state has proven himself a bigot, constantly and gender, or talk about Iranian there. It would be accurate to say speaking of the Jewish people’s influ- apartheid based on sexual orientation. that the lands are under dispute and ence and money. He once said that But don’t pick Israel, which has the subject to negotiation in line with the Israel and the Jews are very un-Chris- best record of equality on all these Oslo Accords of the 1990s. tian. I was banned from speaking at grounds of any country in the Middle Yet, China’s occupation of Tibet, a university in Cape Town because of East, and one of the best records of or Russia’s occupation of Chechnya, my criticism of Bishop Tutu. any country in the world. or Turkey’s occupation of Northern The apartheid claim generally Cyprus are overlooked, as are other comes from antisemites, and it is THE MYTH OF “ILLEGAL parts of the world today where there based on ignorance. Anybody who OCCUPATION” is genuine occupation. fought the war against South African Another false claim is that of “oc- There can be no “occupation” apartheid as I did, along with Bishop cupation.” This term has crept into the when on numerous occasions, in Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Canadian popular parlance by way of the media line with Oslo and subsequent peace Supreme Court Justice and jurist adopting this inaccuracy from sources initiatives, Israel offered to concede Irwin Cotler, knows what apartheid of propaganda and anti-Israel rheto- disputed land in exchange for peace is. Apartheid is denying “people of ric, with politicians following along, and recognition. 32 colour” the right to vote, among other lacking basic understanding about I know this because I sat across the

AIR – May 2020 table from Palestinian Authority Presi- offered the Palestinians the West Israel. Legitimate criticism should dent Mahmoud Abbas and asked him if Bank, the Boycott, Divestment and focus on issues and actions, not on he would be willing to say that Israel is Sanctions (BDS) movement and other what Israel is. Criticism must be the nation-state of the Jewish people. attacks on Israel grew. equivalent to both sides. It must be

He replied, “No,” he would not. There is an inverse relationship be- criticism which passes what I call “the ESSAY You cannot honestly call the situ- tween conciliatory Israeli actions and shoe on the other foot” test. If you ation between the Israelis and the the criticisms and attacks on Israel. criticise Israel for something, and the Palestinians “apartheid” when former The BDS movement is not a protest Palestinians do it too and do it worse, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert against Israeli decisions or actions; it you must criticise them equally. If you offered the Palestinians an end to the is a crusade against Israel itself. criticise Israel, and other countries so-called “occupation” in 2008, or Just ask the founder of the move- in the world are as bad or worse, you when former Israeli Prime Minister ment, Omar Barghouti, who says must put it in the context of those Ehud Barak offered to end the “oc- that he believes in Palestine “from other countries. cupation” in 2000. the river to the sea,” which means Tel That is the key to legitimate criti- That is not “apartheid;” that is not Aviv, Haifa, and Ashdod. This makes cism; equality, symmetry of criticism, no even an “occupation.” That is just dis- the idea that Israel can counter this double standards, no singling out Israel puted territory over which the Israelis kind of belief system historically because it is the nation-state of the are prepared to compromise. This only untenable since it is an attack on the Jewish people. Much of the current requires that the Palestinians sit down very existence of Israel. condemnation of Israel does not meet with Israelis, which the Palestinian According to the anti-Zionists, the that definition of legitimacy. leadership has refused to do for over only thing Israel can do to stop the a decade, feigning various reasons, criticism is pack up and leave, give Professor Alan Dershowitz is the Felix the latest of which has been the 2019 up and commit politicide, which no Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus, American Embassy move from Tel Aviv country in the history of the world Harvard University Law School, and to Jerusalem, which is a simple recog- has ever done, and which Israel will the author of numerous books including nition of the Jewish right to its actual not do. 2019’s Defending Israel: The Story of historical capital and does not negate Concessions drive radical attacks My Relationship with My Most Chal- the right to a Palestinian capital jointly on Israel, and these attacks are not lenging Client. This essay was initially located there at a later phase. based on the “occupation,” the separa- published as a chapter in the book Is- Even the situation of Arabs living tion fence, the response to Gaza, the raelophobia and the West: The Hijack- on the West Bank bears no relation- moving of the embassy, or the recog- ing of Civil Discourse on Israel and ship to apartheid. The leadership has nition of Israeli sovereignty over the How to Rescue It, edited by Dan Diker repeatedly rejected offers of state- Golan Heights. The attacks on Israel and published by the Jerusalem Centre for hood. Moreover, Arabs living in Ra- are not based on what Israel does, Public Affairs (JCPA). © JCPA (www.jcpa. mallah, Jericho, and other West Bank rather, they happen because of what org), reprinted by permission, all rights cities have more freedom and control Israel is, and that is the nation-state of reserved. over their lives than most Arabs living the Jewish people. in Muslim countries. Peter Beinart wrote an article justi- fying arguments that Israel should not alse claims and legal inaccura- be the nation-state of the Jewish peo- Fcies hurled at Israel freely by the ple, saying that it is perfectly legitimate left beg the question, “Can Israel do to criticise and attack the entire Zionist anything about the new antisemitic enterprise, and that it is not antisemitic bias in the form of anti-Zionism or to say that Israel should not exist, any anti-Israeli sentiments?” The answer more than it is anti-Kurdish to say that is, unfortunately, nothing. there should not be a Kurdish country. In my new book, Defending Israel: But it is anti-Kurdish to say that there My Lifelong Relationship with My Most shouldn’t be a Kurdish country. There Challenging Client, I document how should be a Kurdish country. And it is every time Israel did something posi- certainly antisemitic to say that there tive, every time it gave away some of should not be a nation-state for the its territories, every time it sat down Jewish people. and negotiated, every time it offered This brings us to the question of a two-state solution, every time it what is truly legitimate criticism of 33

AIR – May 2020 NAME OF SECTION With Compliments

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AIR – May 2020 THE MONTH IN MEDIA QUOTEDNOTEDNAME OF SECTION AND

PLANE TRUTH nity adoption in the first 10 days, but historian Simon Schama’s look at past The Australian Financial Review’s that governments need to redouble plagues and the shameful record of Andrew Tillett (April 14) reported that efforts to push past this adoption ‘ceil- European countries in scapegoating two El Al flights chartered by Israel to ing’ in weeks ahead.’’ Jews when they occurred. repatriate 500 of its nationals in Austra- On April 3, the paper ran a He said, “If scapegoating was lia during the coronavirus pandemic Washington Post column by Henry always going to be a predictable represented “two accomplishments”. Olsen noting, “Israeli Prime Minister response of plague-beleaguered Tillett explained, “A flight to Perth Benjamin Netanyahu is as hated by powers, the inevitable target of on March 24 was the first direct ser- his political opponents as Trump is by blame was the Jews. At the time of vice between Israel and Australia, while his, but 60 per cent of Israelis gave the Black Death, they were accused the airline set the record for its longest Netanyahu a good grade or better on in some places of poisoning wells; non-stop flight, between Tel Aviv and his handling of the crisis in a recent in others it was said that they had Melbourne, on April 2.” poll. His Likud party is also gaining in introduced the disease out of sheer The report said it was a logistical recent polls.” malevolence towards Christians. challenge involving liaising with the The consequences, even by the Department of Foreign Affairs and standards of persecution endemic in Trade, Australian Border Force and SECRET VIRUS BUSINESS the medieval Christian world, were state authorities, as well as Kiwi offi- A report in News Corp papers horrific. From Spain to the Rhine- cials given that some of the Israeli pas- (April 17) said, “the secretive Israel land, in Switzerland and Bavaria, sengers were coming back from New Institute for Biological Research, Jews were the victims of massacre Zealand – plus meeting the stringent which normally works on developing and, very often, burnings alive. In security arrangements El Al enforces defences against chemical and bio- Strasbourg, 2000 were slaughtered; because of its history of being a terror- logical threats, has been re-tasked to in Basel, 130 children were separated ism target. researching COVID-19.” from their parents before 600 adults Israeli Ambassador to Australia The “secretive” Israel Institute for were burnt. In the single village of Mark Sofer was quoted saying, “The Biological Research (IIBR), an Israeli Tarrega in Catalonia, virtually the Australians were absolutely wonderful. government research institution, is entire community of 300 Jews were I can’t stress enough the co-operation no different to any other scientific killed by assault or burning... The we’ve got.” organisation that carries out research pious and the powerful often, but into potentially lethal substances and not invariably, held up their hands in threats and which supplies products horror. Pope Clement VI forbade at- FULLY SICK and solutions to both government and tacks on Jews and insisted that since Tillett’s story wasn’t an outlier, civilian clients. they had suffered at least equally if with Israel making many small but In fact, it has a mission statement not more seriously than Christians noteworthy appearances in a plethora to commercialise its research. Re- from the plague, why would they be of coronavirus reports. searchers from the IIBR have helped responsible for their own suffering?” In an April 21 report by AFR cor- develop a polio vaccine, kits to respondent Tom Burton on the merits identify explosives and a drug to treat of forcing Australians to download a Sjogren’s syndrome. CREDIBILITY GAP tracking app to combat the spread of On April 22, ABC TV “7pm News On the ABC’s website (April 14), communal infections, IT consultancy ()” listed Israel as one of Executive Council of Australian Jewry firm Kearney was quoted saying, ‘‘Sin- 20 countries trialling a COVID-19 co-CEO Peter Wertheim tackled the gapore and Israel – nations that were vaccine. very contemporary issue of when early users of government sponsored criticising Israel and calling for boy- voluntary-adoption apps – show us cotts against it becomes antisemitism. that not only is a strong early push EVERYTHING OLD IS JEW Wertheim said the internation- necessary to build momentum, both AGAIN ally recognised working definition of achieving [about] 20 per cent commu- The AFR (April 17) ran British antisemitism from the International 35

AIR – May 2020 Holocaust Remembrance Alliance “law-abiding who and thus denying Jewish people their (IHRA), adopted by many countries support Israel are accused of being right to national self-determination. and official institutions, emphatically more loyal to Israel than Australia... Israel’s detractors wouldn’t deny that rejects the “belief that criticisms of When classical stereotypes are de- right to any other people, least of all

NOTED AND QUOTEDNOTED AND Israel and antisemitism are mutually ployed about Jews as a people having the Palestinians. It’s a double stan- exclusive.” inordinate control over the media, dard, and therefore antisemitism.” Wertheim, quoting the definition’s economy, government or other soci- All Israeli citizens, including Jews, principles, argued that when criti- etal institutions as a means of sup- Arabs and others, have equal voting, cism of Israel “is couched in terms porting Israel…When BDS support- civil and religious rights, he noted, which employ or appeal to negative ers denigrate us as ‘the Jewish lobby,’ and BDS activists’ “skewed concept of stereotypes of Jewish people gener- ‘the Zionist lobby’ or ‘the pro-Israel apartheid could be applied to almost ally; or denies the Jewish people lobby,’ a sinister influence rather than every country in the world, includ- their right to self-determination; or Australians legitimately exercising the ing Australia. Yet they only seek to applies double standards by requiring right of all citizens to promote our boycott Israel.” of Israel standards of behaviour not views, that’s antisemitism. In the Spectator Australia (April 11), expected or demanded of any other “According to the IHRA defini- Australian Jewish Association Execu- democratic nation; or holds Jews col- tion, claiming that the existence of tive Director Ted Lapkin also explored lectively responsible for actions of the a State of Israel is a racist endeavour the strands of legitimate and illegiti- State of Israel,” then “the line has been — for example, by smearing Israel as mate criticism of Israel in the context crossed. It’s antisemitism.” an ‘apartheid State’ — is a way of de- of historic antisemitism. He cited the examples of when nying the legitimacy of a Jewish State

flag should be banned in NSW, but I would like to go through OUT OF the proper process – with a referral to the NSW Law Reform Commission. “The Nazi flag is deeply offensive to veterans who fought Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Lib., Cook) during a press against fascism and was an affront to survivors of the Holocaust conference, when asked what his message is to people carrying and their descendants. The Nazi flag is an emblem of genocide out racist attacks during the coronavirus pandemic– April 21 and racism. – “Stop it. That’s my message… and I think that is the mes- “Physical attacks on a person on the way to prayer, painted sage of every Australian. Now is a time to support each other swastikas at Bondi Beach and a Nazi flag flying in Wagga Wagga and I would remind everyone that it was Chinese Australians and Newtown are all symbols of a despicable shift in our com- in particular that provided one of the greatest defences we had munity. The decision to fly a Nazi flag is a simple expression of in those early weeks. They were the ones who first went into hatred.” self-isolation, they were the ones who were returning from NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman (Lib., Cronulla) family visits up into China and they were coming home, and it speaking to the Australian Jewish News about proposals to ban the was through their care, it was through their commitment, their flying of the Nazi swastika – April 23 – “I have requested advice patience that actually Australia was protected in their first wave. from the Department of Communities and Justice about this I mean within a week of our first case, we’d shut off travel from matter. These symbols of hatred and antisemitism are unaccept- those from China except for Australians returning home. And so able anywhere in our community. They are deeply offensive and absolutely I deplore that sort of behaviour against any Australian capable of traumatising survivors of genocide and their loved regardless of their ethnicity or their religion or whatever it hap- ones. pens to be. And I think that is the view of all Australians. So we “The small but disgraceful minority who display these im- have to call that sort of thing out. It’s not on.” ages insult the memory of the millions of victims of the Holo- Federal Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Andrew caust and those who died defending the world from this hatred.” Giles (ALP, Scullin) in an opinion piece in the Canberra Times Victorian Shadow Minister for Police, Community Safety – April 21 – “At this time of great disruption and anxiety we and Corrections David Southwick (Lib., Caulfield) speaking to the need facts, not fear. We need to build solidarity, and reject hate Australian Jewish News about the public display of the Nazi swas- and division.We can do so with the confidence of knowing the tika – April 16 – “The use of this imagery, [which] incites fear majority of Australians value our multiculturalism and abhor and division throughout the community, at a time such as this is racism. But the challenge of fighting, and defeating racism isn’t appalling and such behaviour must never be tolerated. just a matter for individuals, it’s a responsibility of our leaders.” “Whether it’s in Kyabram, Beulah or Caulfield, the Nazi NSW Shadow Treasurer Walt Secord (ALP, Legislative Coun- swastika remains an extreme symbol of hate and has no place in 36 cil) in J-Wire – April 19 – “Put simply, I believe flying a Nazi our community.”

AIR – May 2020 TOO BRIEF because he is refusing to step down as On April 21, the SBS TV “World PM whilst under indictment. FUNNY BUSINESS News” report on the new Israeli Gov- The announcement in Israel of ernment was relegated to the show’s a new national emergency govern- 38-minute mark, when newsreader A GAZA TRUTH QUOTEDNOTED AND ment on April 20, after 17 months of Janice Peterson noted that both BLOCKADE deadlock and three elections, made Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and The capacity for Palestinians in little more than a whimper in the White leader Benny Gantz support the Gaza Strip to cope with CO- local media, given the overwhelming US President Donald Trump’s peace VID-19 was the focus of an ABC TV contemporary focus on the coronavi- plan which “involves the annexation “The World” (April 6) interview with rus crisis. of parts of the West Bank”. What she Oxfam’s Gaza-based food security ABC Middle East correspondent didn’t say was that it also gives Pales- manager Najla Shawa that included Eric Tlozek’s major offering was a tinians a chance to establish a Palestin- anti-Israel propaganda. monologue on ABC Radio National’s ian state. Host Bev O’Connor’s introduc- “Correspondents Report” (April 19) The news item was also a conve- tion appropriately noted that Gaza is with his observations including saying nient segue to promote an episode under a “crippling blockade by both Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s of SBS TV’s “Dateline” later that night Israel and Egypt.” decision to “throw in the towel to looking at a grassroots peacemak- Shawa said coping with COVID-19 join an emergency government” had ing effort involving fringe but well- was particularly challenging for “allowed” Benjamin Netanyahu “to meaning Israeli activists who support Gazans because the territory has been become the first Israeli prime min- a two-state formula for peace and suffering a “humanitarian crisis” for ister in history to serve while also a honest Palestinians who talked about a years due to the blockade, which has defendant in a criminal case.” preferred one-state option. caused 47% unemployment and “close Of course, Netanyahu argues he SBS reporter Ben Lewis’ story was to 70%” of Gazans not “know[ing] is an innocent man and has availed reasonable, if lacking in context and where their next meal is going to himself of the rights under Israel’s background, but did make the faux come from.” Basic Law passed in 1992 that lets a pas of implying that Israel was only It is not the blockade that has sitting PM under indictment remain established in 1948 in response to created the humanitarian crisis or in office until he has been convicted the Holocaust, after which Jews were caused “the health system in Gaza [to and exhausted all appeals. able to settle there. In fact, Israel was be] extremely weak” but the legacy On ABC TV “The World” (April virtually a fait accompli before World of Hamas’ decision to invest in terror 21) veteran Israeli commentator and War II, with a large Jewish population tunnels and rocket production instead AIJAC fellow Ehud Yaari described the and proto-state already in place. of civilian infrastructure over the past governing arrangement as “a political 13 years, as well as neglect of medical structure never seen before. We will investment by the Palestinian Author- have now a prime minister and an al- SOCIALLY DISTANCED ity, nominally responsible for purchas- ternate prime minister. They will have FROM THE CONTEXT ing medical supplies and equipment both prime ministerial residences at A Courier Mail report (April 21) for Gaza. the same time”. on the visually arresting site of 2,000 Shawa said responding to cases of He said, “this arrangement is puz- Israelis practising social distancing at coronavirus was difficult because “in, zling to Israelis. I’m sure it’s, it’s quite a rally in Tel Aviv, said protesters were general, there is a lot of restriction of funny to watch from abroad.” “against what they said was a threat movement even within the Gaza Strip Asked what happens if Israel’s to democracy from ongoing coalition itself.” Supreme Court rules that Binyamin talks between Prime Minister Benja- Apart from a narrow buffer zone Netanyahu – who is under indict- min Netanyahu and his former rival along the shared border with Gaza ment on corruption charges – cannot Benny Gantz” and “followed a call to deter would-be terrorists from lead the government, Yaari said, “they launched on Facebook by the ‘Black entering Israel, any internal restric- have both committed to one another Flag’ movement which condemns tions on movement are on the orders in writing that if Netanyahu is not al- Netanyahu’s continuing rule.” of Hamas – and this should have been lowed to form the government, then A few more lines, such as were made clear. But the word “Hamas” they” will go to a “fourth round of included in the Adelaide Advertiser’s was somehow never mentioned in the elections.” report, would have informed read- interview. ers of the important context that Asked if there had been an eas- the group are opposed to Netanyahu ing of the blockade, Shawa acknowl- 37

AIR – May 2020 edged there was “some collaboration are refugees, which only makes sense Nusseibeh said, “Everybody is sad between the authorities” but claimed if you know that the vast majority to see all the shops, the souvenir, the “there is strong restriction on medical inherited their refugee status from restaurants, the streets is empty. And equipment, on the devices, on even ancestors displaced during the 1948 this time is the time for people to

NOTED AND QUOTEDNOTED AND humanitarian assistance.” war – which is a unique right that live in the city, to making money. No This is simply untrue. only Palestinians enjoy. money, no work. People stay home Israel’s blockade never restricted Whilst Tlozek did note Israel and no people to come to pray.” either humanitarian assistance,medical has been working to ensure Gaza’s When host Andrew West asked supplies,or almost any medical equip- medical needs are met, he said Israeli why a Muslim family has the key, ment. Certain very limited types of Defence Minister Naftali Bennett Nusseibeh said it is because Muslims medical equipment, such as x-ray has suggested “some assistance for believe “Jesus is one of the… holiest machines, are considered “dual-use” Gaza” could be conditional on Hamas prophets in the world.” (x-ray machines contain radioactive returning the bodies of two Israeli West gave listeners the wider con- material which can be used to build soldiers killed there in the 2014 war. text – centuries of bickering between a “dirty bomb”) and are subject to While Bennett did threaten some- various Christian churches attempt- extra restrictions, but they can still be thing along these lines, there is no ing to share access and control over imported with proper arrangements. evidence Israeli agencies have ever the holy site eventually resulted in a What’s more, Israel has lifted almost sought to implement this threat. Muslim family being entrusted with all “dual-use” restrictions on anything the key. considered of medical relevance since the coronavirus crisis began. HAMAS MISSING IN Meanwhile, Gazans needing medi- ACTION NO FOOLING cal treatment can still enter Israel. Elsewhere, the Australian (March ABC Radio National “Religion and The NGO Gisha, which moni- 31) expressed an entirely justified Ethics” episode on April Fools’ Day tors Gaza restrictions and is generally concern over the ability of develop- included a story by Australian-born Is- highly critical of Israel, said on April ing nations to combat the COVID-19 raeli reporter Irris Makler on Israel’s 20, “since March 8, travel to and pandemic, and said that “in the Gaza ultra-Orthodox Jews – known as from Gaza via Erez Crossing has been Strip, two million Palestinians are “Haredi”, meaning “trembling” before limited almost exclusively to medical crammed together cheek by jowl, God – who make up only 10% of the patients seeking treatment unrelated their only real hope Israel’s willing- population but were 50% of those to COVID-19, and their companions” ness to help contain the pandemic.” hospitalised with COVID-19. and “Kerem Shalom Crossing, be- Although it did not blame the block- Makler noted that Israeli cities tween Israel and Gaza, is operating as ade, unfortunately there was also ob- with large Haredi populations tend usual. Salah a-Din Gate for entrance viously not enough space to acknowl- to be densely populated, making it of goods from Egypt to Gaza is also edge Hamas’ negligence as the key “hard to implement” social distancing working regularly on three days per reason for the Strip’s limited capacity rules. week.” to cope with the pandemic. The report quoted Israel Democ- racy Institute’s ultra-Orthodox expert Dr. Gilad Malach, arguing, “the state THE GOOD, THE BAD AND QUIET AS A GRAVE has been slow to communicate with THE UGLY ALL IN ONE ABC Radio National “Religion and the ultra-Orthodox rabbis” about so- On April 4, ABC Middle East cor- Ethics” (April 8) reported that CO- cial distancing, and conceded that this respondent Eric Tlozek’s report on VID-19 has forced the historic closure is strange given Israel’s then-Health Gaza and COVID-19 for “7pm News” during Easter of Jerusalem’s Church of Minister Yaakov Litzman is himself offered greater context than Oxfam’s the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians Haredi and leads a Haredi political propaganda but wasn’t without its believe Jesus was buried. The story party. problems. focused on Palestinian Muslim Wajeeh The day after the episode, Tlozek noted Gaza’s capacity to Nusseibeh, whose family has minded News Corp websites reported that cope has been affected by wars fought the key to the holy site for generations. Litzman and his wife had contracted with Israel and infighting between Free of the politics of the Palestin- COVID-19. Palestinian factions i.e. Hamas and the ian-Israeli conflict, the interview gave On March 26 and April 9, the Palestinian Authority. listeners a glimpse of the Jerusalem’s Age reported on the flouting of social But Tlozek absurdly said “two- Old City not frequently heard on the distancing rules by small groups of 38 thirds” of Gaza’s two million residents ABC. ultra-Orthodox Jews in Melbourne.

AIR – May 2020 Allon Lee MEDIA MICROSCOPE

BETWEEN ALPHA AND OMEGA stitute scholar Michael Rubin in the Australian (April 27) The coronavirus pandemic may have been the alpha provided evidence that the regime only shifts position and omega of the media’s news focus, but there was still when faced with “maximum pressure”. plenty of Middle East coverage, too. Iran responded to Germany’s 1992 “critical dialogue” On the cusp of the pandemic (March 14), Canberra proposal, Rubin wrote, with “assassinations in Berlin just Times columnist Crispin Hull decried successive US weeks later, a truck bombing of the Jewish community administrations, saying if they “had not sent massive centre in Buenos Aires in 1994, and another targeting an amounts of arms to Israel American barracks in Saudi since the 1960s and troops “Sanctions relief, Rubin said, would Arabia two years after that.” and weapons to Saudi Arabia mostly benefit Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Sanctions relief, Rubin – seen as an enemy of Shiite Guard Corps, which dominates ‘manufac- said, would mostly benefit Muslims – since the 1950s turing, trade, and all major industries’” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary and troops and weapons to Guard Corps, which domi- other regimes in the Middle nates “manufacturing, trade, East or endlessly meddled on Israel's side in the Palestin- and all major industries, and control[s] perhaps 40 per ian conflict, anti-US sentiment would not have built up. cent of Iran’s economy” and would “deny hope to those It would not have built up to the extent that terrorist who suffer the most.” groups would make the US a prime target.” An online analysis (April 11) by ABC Middle East Hull of course downplayed the former Soviet Union’s correspondent Eric Tlozek and ABC fixer Fouad Abu role in fomenting regional tensions, including spreading Ghosh explored COVID-19’s potential effects on Middle false intelligence that helped spark the 1967 war, as well Eastern governments, including Iran and Syria. But no as massive arms transfers in the 1950s and again between consideration was given to future repercussions for the 1970 and 1973. Moreover, prior to 1967, Israel relied Hezbollah-Iran relationship, which some blame for expe- upon French, not US, military aid to counter Moscow’s diting COVID-19’s entry into Lebanon. interventions. A welcome reality check, however, came courtesy of Renewed Iranian-American hostilities in April saw Dutch Lebanese writer Kim Ghattas who discussed her Australian commentator Graham Richardson (April 24) new book “Black Wave” (reviewed in the AIR, April 2020) write that US President Donald Trump’s order “to ‘shoot on ABC Radio National “Religion and Ethics Report” down’ Iranian gunboats harassing US shipping” was “ter- (April 22). rifying” and “dangerous”, adding, “being the one to fire During the lengthy interview, the corrosive effect of the first shot is never a good look and may give some the partnership between Palestinian leaders and post- legitimacy to these mad mullahs who control Iran. Those revolutionary Iran was raised. ignorant, hate-filled theocrats should never be presented According to Ghattas, PLO Chairman as being only as bad as the world’s superpower. The Israe- wooed Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 because Pales- lis have been right all along. As long as the mullahs run tinians felt “repeatedly betrayed by the Arabs or let down the show, there can never be peace in the Middle East.” by the Arabs because either they could not win wars A UK Channel 4 report on SBS TV “World News” against the Israeli occupation or they signed peace with (April 13) highlighted the Iranian regime’s cover up and the Israeli occupier… Arafat thought, well, who’s going repression of the pandemic’s full effects, including in the to help us now reclaim the land that we lost in this parti- holy city of Qom, both an epicentre of the virus and a tion plan of 1948, which we rejected.” central plank in the regime’s support base. Khomeini, she said, “early on identified the Palestinian In the Australian (April 16), Lowy Institute analyst cause as one that could give him appeal beyond the Shi’a Rodger Shanahan called for the Trump Administration community… into the Arab world… Arafat was very to lift “punitive” sanctions imposed on Iran after the US supportive, helping to train the vanguards of the Iranian withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, predicting this revolution in Lebanon, Islamists and leftists… And he would “ease tensions in the region and… gain favour was the first foreign dignitary to visit Ayatollah Khomeini among the Iranian population.” in Iran in February 1979, just about a week after Kho- A response to Shanahan by American Enterprise In- meini returned.” 39

AIR – May 2020 NAME OF SECTION Jeremy Jones

VIRAL THEORIES The authors of the document displayed an astonishing As I write, the coronavirus pandemic has brought about lack of self-awareness by treating victims of racist anti- changes to virtually every aspect of our ways of life. Jewish bullying as the perpetrators of an offence against Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives or progressive thinking. experienced devastating illness, while countless millions My own experiences with far-left groups while a student have lost livelihoods, opportunities and aspirations. exposed me to their complete contempt not only for people Country after country, state after state, community after com- who draw different conclusions about what is best for the munity are experiencing restrictions on movement, and various population, but also for values such as truth or honesty. levels of government authority have exercised their power to I had first-hand experiences of well-to-do activists cyni- legislate and enforce numerous changes to our daily lives. cally campaigning to stop economic programmes which Unfortunately, but perhaps inevitably, reactions have would help disadvantaged and needy people because they included acceptance of conspiracy theories – by which I do thought that the suffering of the destitute was the best way not mean healthy scepticism and critical thinking – par- to have the “working class” see the political light. ticularly on the origin and early spread of the virus. Having been present in discussions as to how to ma- The central villains in the malevolent conspiracy theories nipulate political processes to exact influence well beyond vary from culture to culture and subculture to subculture, that justified by popular support, nothing done or said by but those open to the conspiracies universally share a failure far-left activists surprises me. to consider that the human beings making decisions could be But not being surprised doesn’t mean not being con- speaking and acting honestly and with responsibility. cerned – or even alarmed. With the virus dominating the media in the United For, as scholar and author of Contemporary Left Antisemi- Kingdom, evidence of this conspiratorial mindset came to tism David Hirsh has observed, the underlying thesis of the light in the context of a leaked report on antisemitism in Labour Party report was the idea that the success of the the British Labour Party – Corbyn project was derailed by conspirators, enemy agents which essentially dismissed and deplorable double-dealers. the problem as a beat-up by Hirsh noted, “It is a classic ‘stab in the back’ myth.” The opponents of former leader Labour Party “blames the issue of antisemitism for its defeat. Jeremy Corbyn. It focusses the blame onto political opponents. And the Jewish The 860-page in-house communities which were loudest and clearest in their opposi- Former UK Labour leader Jeremy assessment of the way anti- tion to antisemitism … are the unmentioned, unseen villain.” Corbyn continues to spark con- semitism was dealt with by Dave Rich, author of The Left’s Jewish Problem, wrote troversies over antisemitism the Party addressed allega- that, “the repeated message from the top of the Labour tions made against people promoting anti-Jewish bigotry Party and their outriders and supporters was that allega- and hatred within the Labour movement since Corbyn’s tions of antisemitism were exaggerated or invented to ascension to the leadership in 2015. prevent socialism and defend Israel.” Its dismissive attitude revealed not just that the party Another expert observer, Dr Alan Johnson, noted that has a problem with antisemitism but also that it is peopled the report confirms the Labour Party was institutionally by factional warriors who have complete contempt for antisemitic, and provided a comfortable home for those anyone who is not the correct shade of leftness. who are antisemitic. The report’s authors failed to address the corrupt ide- To return to this issue of the coronavirus, conspiracy ologies driving so many who had gravitated to the Labour theories have the potential to lead to misdirected anger Party or appreciate why it was and destructive behaviour. that so many previously rusted- The conspiracy theory which has infected the British on Labour voters simply, well, Labour Party has the power to harm Britain for a genera- rusted off. tion or more.

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