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Home , Benny Gantz, Eli Avidar, Nadav Tamir, Norwegian Law (Israel), Orna Barbivai, Port of Eilat

Israel and News Update

Monday, July 26

Headlines: ● Herzog Meets Opposition Leader Netanyahu ● Israeli Airlines Launch First Direct Flights to ● Gov’t Approves 85% Reduction of Carbon Emissions by 2050 ● Partially Freezes UAE Oil Pipeline Deal ● IDF Attacks Gazan Targets After Incendiary Balloons ● King Abdullah II Confirms He Met With Gantz, Bennett ● Russia Intends to Arm Syria Against Israeli Strikes ● Lapid and Gantz Said to Warn US on Iran

Commentary: ● Ma’ariv: “The Ball is in Our Court’’ - By Nadav Tamir

● Yedioth Ahronoth: “The TikTok Government’’ - By Nahum Barnea

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 1725 I St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts July 26, 2021 I24 News Herzog Meets Opposition Leader Netanyahu The , held his first working meeting with Opposition leader and former prime minister . During the meeting, the two men discussed the topics on the agenda, including the rise in coronavirus cases. Herzog noted the great importance he placed on the role of the opposition in the , a position he once held as Labor party leader, and made it clear that "there is no democracy without opposition," according to a statement from the president's office. Earlier this month, Herzog was sworn in as Israel's 11th president before the Knesset in . He replaced former president , who completed his seven-year tenure as the official head of state. With his left hand on the Torah, he vowed before the deputies to "faithfully fulfil his role as president." Dig Deeper ‘‘Rotation, Cannabis Bills to Highlight This Week’s Knesset Battles’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Associated Press Israeli Airlines Launch First Direct Flights to Morocco Two Israeli airlines launched their first commercial flights between Israel and Morocco, less than a year after the countries officially normalized relations. Israir’s flight departed for Marrakech with around 100 Israeli tourists, the company said, hours before Israeli national carrier dispatched its first direct flight to the same destination. Israeli Tourism Minister said the new direct flights would “help advance fruitful tourism, trade and economic cooperation and diplomatic agreements between the two countries.” Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize relations in late 2020 as part of the US-brokered “Abraham Accords.” Morocco was among four Arab nations, including the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. As part of the deal, the US agreed to recognize Morocco’s claim to the long-disputed Western Sahara region, however the Biden administration said it will review this decision.

Jerusalem Post Gov’t Approves 85% Reduction of Carbon Emissions by 2050 Israel said that by mid-century it would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from 2015 levels, as part of an international push to limit global warming. The government approved the 2050 target and set an interim target of 2030 to reduce emissions by 27% from levels in 2015, the year when global climate accords were agreed in Paris. The Paris deal aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably by 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels. srael's Foreign Ministry said national targets included a 96% reduction in carbon emissions from transport, an 85% reduction from the electricity sector and a 92% reduction in the municipal waste sector. However, others in the Knesset are saying the plan doesn't go far enough, instead hoping Israel would meet the significantly higher goals outlined by the United Nations, similar to those seen in the US' proposed 'Green New Deal.' 2 Times of Israel Israel Partially Freezes UAE Oil Pipeline Deal Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry said that it was delaying implementation of a proposed oil transport deal with the UAE, freezing a project that has angered environmentalists. The agreement, which followed the UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic ties last year, would see Gulf oil brought to the port of by tanker, then moved by pipeline through mainland Israel to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, from where it would be shipped to Europe. The ministry informed Israel’s state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company on Sunday that it rejected an environmental risk survey that was carried out in connection with the deal. The ministry also said it would delay work to assess the EAPC’s readiness to receive greater numbers of Gulf oil tankers at Eilat. This, said the ministry, is until the government has discussed and reached a decision on the controversial memorandum of understanding the company signed with the UAE in October.

I24 News IDF Attacks Gazan Targets After Incendiary Balloons Israel's air force struck targets in the in response to incendiary balloons, according to the (IDF). The IDF spokesperson's unit said fighter jets hit a Hamas military base and infrastructure used for terrorism. The base is located near a school, the statement said. Gazan residents posted footage on social media of the strikes on several points in the coastal enclave. Terrorists firing machine guns at Israeli planes in response, Arabic media sources said. The IDF earlier announced a reduction in the Gazan fishing zone in response to incendiary balloons, which started fires in southern Israel, in farming communities near Gaza. Israel's stated policy is to not tolerate any attacks emanating from Gaza and holds the Hamas terrorist organization that holds power there responsible for hostilities originating in the territory. Dig Deeper ‘‘ Accuse Hamas of Storing Weapons in Residential Areas’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Jerusalem Post King Abdullah II Confirms He Met With Gantz, Bennett King Abdullah II revealed in an interview with CNN for the first time that he had indeed secretly met with Prime Minister earlier this month, as was reported in the Israeli media. The king also confirmed in the interview that he met with Defense Minister in the weeks after the formation of Israel's new government. The secret meeting with Bennett was reported a little over two weeks ago, as the two countries were finalizing a major water deal. Such meetings between former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah were rare and had not happened for a number of years due to rising tensions between the two countries and more specifically, between the two leaders. At the meeting, Bennett and Abdullah reportedly agreed that the two countries must heal that rift, using the water deal as a first step in the right direction. According to Israeli reports, a secret meeting between Abdullah and Gantz happened in late February, as an attempt to boost the latter's chances of besting Netanyahu in the election — which was set to take place later that month — echoing the reasons for his 2018 meeting with then-Labor Party chairman, Avi Gabbay. Dig Deeper ‘‘How Water Has Become a Flashpoint in the Middle East’’ (Al-Monitor)

3 News Russia Intends to Arm Syria Against Israeli Strikes Russia intends to curtail Israel's military operations in Syria by supplying the regime of President Bashar al-Assad with stronger air defenses, a report claimed. The anonymously sourced report by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat cited a “well-informed” Russian official as saying that the Kremlin has “run out of patience” with Israeli air raids in Syria. Moreover, Moscow believes this move wouldn't encounter stiff opposition from the administration of President Joe Biden, as Russian officials have been given the impression that Washington doesn't approve of Israeli strikes either. Since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out raids in Syria, mostly targeting government positions and allied Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces and weapons convoys. Israel rarely confirms strikes in Syria, however, the IDF has said it hit about 50 targets in the war-ravaged country last year, without providing details. Israel has said it is trying to prevent its arch-foe Iran from entrenching in Syria, and thus gaining a permanent military foothold on its doorstep. While Russian President Vladimir Putin had a close personal relationship with former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, Russia has routinely criticized Israeli strikes in Syria. Russia, a key supporter of the Assad regime, has built a strong military presence in the country. Dig Deeper ‘‘Israeli Government Faces Major Diplomatic Tests From Russia’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Times of Israel Lapid and Gantz Said to Warn US on Iran Israeli authorities have warned US officials in recent days that Iran is closer than ever to attaining nuclear weapons, according to Kan. Foreign Minister , Defense Minister Gantz and other Israeli officials have addressed the issue with their American counterparts recently, issuing an “unusual warning,” according to the report. Nuclear talks between world powers and Iran — attended indirectly by the US — have been ongoing for months in Vienna, but have stalled in recent weeks. “Something has to happen with the negotiations with Iran,” a senior diplomat told Kan. “This ‘limbo’ cannot be a time when Iran is quickly advancing toward becoming a nuclear threshold state.” Prime Minister Bennett is working to schedule a meeting in Washington with President Biden next month, though he is hampered by his wafer-thin majority in the Knesset, requiring his presence for every crucial vote. Since April, Tehran has been engaged in talks with world powers in Vienna over reviving a 2015 nuclear accord, with Washington taking part indirectly in the negotiations. Iran has confirmed that the talks will not resume until the ultraconservative new president, Ebrahim Raisi, takes office in August. Dig Deeper ‘‘Biden to Host Weakened Iraqi Leader Tiptoeing Between Washington and Iran’’ (Times of Israel)

4 Ma’ariv – July 26, 2021 The Ball is in Our Court By Nadav Tamir ● I naively thought that once Binyamin Netanyahu had left office, the tendency to get the country worked in hysterics over imagined or inflated threats so as to sweep the real challenges facing Israel off the public agenda would also end. Regrettably, the new government’s reaction to the ice cream threat proves that we haven’t rid ourselves yet of Bibi-ism and of its toxic influence over public opinion. The BDS movement has suffered a decisive defeat in its attempt to damage the Israeli economy. The Israeli economy is stronger than ever simply because there is demand around the world for the Israeli private sector’s innovation and dynamism. But the BDS movement has succeeded in inducing Israeli governments to respond hysterically, reactions that jeopardize Israel’s relationship with some of the most important groups in the liberal and progressive wings of global public opinion. ● Contrary to the way that the Israeli right wing likes to portray the progressives as being Israel-haters, the case of Ben & Jerry’s proves the exact opposite. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who founded the ice cream giant, are two from Vermont who were financially successful but who never abandoned their progressive values. Alongside their commitment to social justice and to protecting the environment, they also decided to build one of their first plants outside of the in Israel of all places. They viewed Israel as embodying their values and the promise of tikkun olam [a Jewish concept that means “improving/mending the world”]. Even after Israel changed as a result of the ongoing occupation and the previous Israeli government’s move away from the liberal values of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the two owners never capitulated to the pressure they came under from the BDS movement and they drew a clear distinction between Israel within its original borders and the territories it controls beyond the Green Line. ● Cohen and Greenfield are reflective of a large majority of Jews in the United States, who have become more distant from Israel not on account of the BDS movement, but because Israel has moved away from their values. Those Jewish Americans express their criticism, which usually stems from their deep concerns about the future of the Jewish people’s nation-state. As someone who is opposed to boycotts because I do not believe them to be an effective tool in achieving the two-state solution and in securing the basic rights that Israelis and Palestinians deserve, I am equally opposed to the Israeli effort to deny freedom of speech to people who choose to use that tool, which is legitimate and patently non-violent. The Israeli government’s Pavlovian reaction to criticism and to the BDS movement delivered to the BDS movement a tremendous victory because liberal Americans view any curtailment of the freedom of speech as an attack on one of the most sanctified values in any liberal democracy. BDS activists saw the Strategic Affairs Ministry, which has since been shut down by the new government, resort to military discipline to cope with a challenge that is better coped with by showing the State of Israel’s liberal values and supporters.

5 ● BDS supporters are indubitably rubbing their hands together gleefully now that they see that the new Israeli government is also operating in a way that pushes new supporters into their arms—people who are now shying away from Israel precisely because it is calling them names and is trying to silence them, instead of coping with the criticism and taking action more maturely, first and foremost so by taking serious steps to change the situation with the Palestinians. It isn’t too late to do so. The new government brought with it a new spirit of governance. It renewed the intimate relationship with the US administration, which has allowed for disagreements to be discussed constructively and to wield more influence. ● It has renewed its relationship with the non-Orthodox Jewish groups and it has renewed its relationship with the liberal countries in Europe. The speech that was given by the new foreign minister, Yair Lapid, about anti-Semitism also reflected a refreshingly new approach by someone who has come to realize that the only way to fight anti-Semitism is by forming broad coalitions with other people in the world who suffer from racism and xenophobia, and not to insist that hatred of Jews is the only form of hatred that ought to be addressed. The way to act against the BDS movement is not by mounting counter- boycotts, certainly not against companies and people who care about Israel. It is a shame that we reverted immediately to old patterns of needless hysteria in response to the ice cream crisis.

6 Yedioth Ahronoth – July 26, 2021 The TikTok Government By Nahum Barnea ● “I’ve been trying to make something for TikTok for three days,” one cabinet minister told me. “Believe me, it’s awfully hard.” TikTok is a Chinese app for sharing personal videos that run between three and 60 seconds long. It’s especially popular among children who are too young to be vaccinated. The above-cited minister shared his difficulties with me in response to a comment I made about Israel’s new economy and industry minister, . Barbivai, a retired IDF major general who by all accounts is a serious woman, posted a video on TikTok showing her tossing a container of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream into the garbage. No matter what the minister’s complaints are against the ice cream company, I said—it’s wrong to throw food in the trash, especially in a country in which there are some children who can’t afford ice cream. The economy minister’s job is to look out for the wellbeing of the workers at Ben & Jerry’s factory in Kiryat Malachi, not to stage performances for her telephone. The Bennett-Lapid government was born wrapped tightly in tons and tons of goodwill. The members of that government should have recognized that this was a one-time resource that must not be squandered on frivolous things. The previous government, the Netanyahu-Haredim government, became mired in a bog of political commitments and personal interests. Their lengthy terms in office corrupted them. ● The new government’s most important asset is its newness. No clouds of criminal suspicion hang over any of its decisions. There is even an advantage to the fact that most of the partners to this government currently do not have a committed electorate that they need to appease, and a group of activists who are waiting to be rewarded. When you are not forced to operate under the shadow of criminal investigations; when political operators don’t have your private cellphone number; when you own nothing to your registered party members and aren’t obliged to attend anyone’s bar mitzvah or to appoint anyone’s cronies—you can make germane decisions. That is the full half of the glass. The government’s handling of the coronavirus is a good example. Given the surrounding media noise that is borderline hysterical, Bennett and Horowitz have taken a sober and cautious attitude that is rooted in the recommendations made by professionals. That is how the government ought to act. ● But now to the broken half of the glass. The coalition’s need to vastly expand the use of the Norwegian law [in which cabinet ministers resign from the Knesset] is readily understandable; with a narrow majority and facing an opposition that repeatedly has voted against legislation that it supports, filling the Knesset with other MKs is the only way ministers will be able to focus on getting their jobs done. But doing so comes with a cost: it wastes public funding and, more importantly, it further degrades the Knesset’s public standing and the level of the MKs. There is no good justification for the bloated size of the cabinet. is a flamboyant fellow who has a sharp tongue and some very original opinions. He has now been appointed a cabinet minister only because he threatened the coalition’s viability.

7 ● What does that say about Bennett and Lapid’s ability to withstand pressure? Equally grave is the appointment of () as deputy economy minister. Two generals in one poor ministry. Golan is a very talented man. He knows a lot about war; he is less knowledgeable when it comes to economics. The public chose to put him to work in the Knesset. If he finds that job to be beneath him, he should resign. ● The 61 members of the Bennett-Lapid government know that they have no other alternative. If the current government falls apart, most of them won’t be in the next government or Knesset. Nevertheless, some of them have begun to act as if the asset that they were given on loan is a toy that they’re allowed to break. They’ve been pampering themselves to death. Naftali Bennett filled his bureau with a combination of professionals who have no known political affiliations and with loyalist political operators. He has been praised, and justly so, for that combination. But then he appointed Moshe Klughaft, a man who worked up until last year as Netanyahu’s adviser, as his own adviser. That appointment was criticized because of Klughaft’s link with Netanyahu. ● That is the smaller problem. Klughaft is described by Wikipedia as an international strategist. That description begs further clarification. Candidates tend to retain the services of this strategic adviser before elections. They do so because they are frightened. The strategist [Klughaft] then roams from one country to the next, giving creative advice to the candidate running for parliament in Albania and the candidate running for president in Colombia. The candidates all assume that their strategist is an ex-Mossad agent, something super special. If they win, he adds their names to his CV; but if they lose—he disappears. In some cases, that has culminated in criminal investigations. ● The Israeli experience is complex: most of the strategists who have come here from America have been a waste of money. Some of the local strategists only ended up giving their clients scandals and losing them voters. Just ask Benny Gantz. Klughaft is exceptional in just one sense: he is malicious. Just ask , whom Klughaft maliciously set up to fail; and just ask Naomi Chazan, who found herself facing threats to her life as a result of a personal campaign that he mounted against her on behalf of a right-wing organization. He is the last consultant that Bennett’s fragile coalition needs. All they need is a TikTok consultant.

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