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Israel and the Middle East News Update

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Israel and the Middle East News Update Israel and the Middle East News Update Friday, April 22 Headlines: Bibi Urges Putin to Strengthen Security Coordination in Syria Arab League Rejects Netanyahu’s Claim to the Golan Heights PA Holds Off on UNSC Resolution to Not Disrupt French Peace Initiative Shin Bet Confirms J’lem Bomber’s Identity, Arrests Father and Accomplices West Bank on Lockdown for Passover Israel Guards Temple Mount from Activists Over High Holiday Israel Plans to Improve Conditions at ‘Shameful’ West Bank Crossing Kerry, Zarif to Meet Again as Iran Complains US Not Fulfilling Its Bargain Commentary: Ha’aretz: “French FM: Summit to Bring Guarantees, Not Just Declarations” By Dov Alfon, Former Editor-in-Chief, Ha’aretz Washington Institute: “Next Step for Israeli-Palestinian Security Coordination” By Ghaith al-Omari, Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● David Abreu, Associate Editor News Excerpts April 22, 2016 Yedioth Ahronoth Bibi Talks to Putin to Strengthen Security Coordination in Syria While Netanyahu met with the Russian president to discuss urgent matters in the Middle East, it was learned that Russian forces had fired in the past at least twice at IAF planes. This issue arose during Rivlin’s visit to Moscow—at which time Putin said was the first he had heard about it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin met yesterday in the Kremlin for three hours to mainly discuss Syria and the functioning of the military coordination between the two countries. “I came here for one main purpose—to strengthen the security coordination between us in order to prevent mishaps, misunderstandings and unnecessary clashes,” Netanyahu said. See also, “Israel Urges Russia to Tighten Coordination Ties in Syria” (Defense News) See also, “Kremlin Denies Reports on Russian Fire on Israeli Jets in Syria” (Jerusalem Post) Times of Israel Arab League Rejects Netanyahu's Claim to the Golan Heights Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called Thursday for a special criminal court to be set up for Israel, at a meeting to condemn an announcement that it will never return the Golan. Delegates to the 22- member Arab bloc based in Cairo are expected to pass a resolution denouncing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge Sunday that the Golan Heights would remain Israeli “forever.” Israel was acting like “a country that is above the law and accountability,” Arabi told delegates. See also, “EU: Golan Heights Do Not Belong to Israel” (Daily Sabah) Al Arabiya PA Holds Off on UNSC Resolution to Not Disrupt French Confab Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Thursday that a push for a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion will be put on hold to focus instead on a French proposal for a peace conference on May 30. The draft resolution was circulated to Arab countries and some members of the Security Council earlier this month as part of a drive for UN action in support of the two-state solution. “We have agreed that our move at the Security Council should not jeopardize in any way the French initiative,” Maliki told reporters in New York. “We should really sail smoothly in a way that the French initiative will continue,” he said, adding that the Palestinians would decide on formally presenting the draft text at a later time. Jerusalem Post Shin Bet Confirms J’lem Bomber’s Identity, Arrests Father After days of police silence and media speculation, Shin Bet on Thursday confirmed the identity of the Palestinian who detonated a bomb on an Egged bus in Jerusalem. The confirmation comes less than 24 hours after Hamas claimed responsibility, and lauded its operative, Abdel Hamid Abu Srour for carrying out the attack that wounded 20 men, women, and children. Srour died on Wednesday night at Shaare Zedek Medical Center following multiple surgeries after his legs were blown off. See also, “Hamas Suspects Arrested Over Jerusalem Bombing” (BICOM) 2 Arutz Sheva West Bank on Lockdown for Passover Israel has announced the closure of all points of entry between the West Bank and Gaza on the one side and sovereign Israeli territory on the other both on Friday and Saturday for the Passover holiday, amid high terror warnings. Tensions are high with fears of attack attempts targeting the holiday celebrations, especially given the Hamas bus bombing in Jerusalem on Monday that left 15 victims wounded, in what was the first bus bombing of the current Arab terror wave that has claimed the lives of 34 victims since last September. The blockade was decided after "an evaluation of the security situation," a military spokesperson told AFP without giving specifics. See also, “Israel Shuts Entrances to West Bank and Gaza Strip for Passover” (Voice of America) Israel Radio News Israel Guards Temple Mount from Activists Over High Holiday Two Temple Mount activists, Refael Morris and Yair Kehati, were issued with restraining orders barring them from entering Jerusalem until the end of the Passover holiday due to concern that they and other activists would try to sacrifice a Passover sacrifice at the site of the Temple Mount. The restraining order was signed by OC Home Front Command Yoel Strick. Refael Morris said in response that the authorities would not succeed in silencing him and his friends and keeping them from offering the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount. See also, “Israel Arrests Jewish Activists for Passover Plot to Sacrifice Lamb on Temple Mount” (Newsweek) Times of Israel Israel Plans to Improve Conditions at 'Shameful' WB Crossings As part of a wider effort to boost Israeli-Palestinian economic ties, the Finance Ministry is planning to improve the much-criticized conditions at crossings where tens of thousands of Palestinians enter Israel daily from the West Bank to work, a ministry spokesperson told The Times of Israel on Thursday. The plan to increase bilateral economic ties initially calls for new work permits to be granted for 7,800 additional Palestinian laborers, some of whom will be employed in skilled fields such as high-tech, medicine and construction planning. To facilitate the expected increase of workers crossing into Israel, the plan immediately allocates NIS 10 million (some $2.6 million) to improve crossings, and calls for “upgrading and expanding” the crossings to a level “suitable for regular workers.” See also, “Future of Palestinian Town Bleak After Israel Shuts Quarries” (Ynet News) Middle East Eye Kerry, Zarif to Meet as Iran Complains US Not Fulfilling Bargain U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in New York on Friday with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as Tehran complains that Washington has not lived up to its nuclear deal obligations. Kerry's spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters in Washington that the two top diplomatic chiefs plan to hold another day of talks following a meeting at the UN on Tuesday. Tehran has said it is not receiving enough sanctions relief. See also, “Kerry, Zarif Prepare to Reconvene on Iran’s Sanction Complaints” (Times of Israel) 3 Ha’aretz – April 21, 2016 French FM: Summit to Bring Guarantees, Not Just Declarations In an interview with Ha’aretz, Jean-Marc Ayrault says the path for Israeli-Palestinian peace is based on the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as a shared capital, and stresses that violence and the settlements are obstacles to talks. By Dov Alfon French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault elaborated on the French positions on the Israeli- Palestinian peace process on Thursday, saying that violence between the sides and the settlements were the two immediate obstacles to continued talks. In an interview on Thursday with Haaretz and other international journalists, Ayrault spoke about the French peace initiative, which is to be the focus of a summit meeting of foreign ministers in Paris on May 30. He attributed great importance to active Russian participation in the conference, and said that in his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the topic of the freeze in the talks between Israel and the Palestinians has been raised as a focal point of the danger of a broader flare-up in the Middle East. What is the goal of the conference in Paris? The goal is clear, he says. “To build a collective commitment of the international community in preparation for paving a diplomatic horizon for peace. It is in everyone’s interest. The guiding principle is also clear and recognized: The two-state solution. I want to return to the guiding principles of this solution, because there is a tendency not to mention them. We are talking about the State of Israel and the state of Palestine living side by side in peace and security, with secure and recognized borders on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem their shared capital.” This is not acceptable to Israel. “I did not say it would be easy. The parties are now far apart, maybe more than ever. We have on one side, in Israel, a government that shows more and more ambivalence to the two-state plan... and on the other side the Palestinians, who are not only divided [on this question], but also must address growing anger from their public. And we also have the situation itself — there is no need to mention there have already been two conflicts in six years. Is there an alternative to the plan we are proposing? The only other option is a fatalistic acceptance of conflict. I reject that approach.” In his first response to the French initiative on February 16, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “strange.” Will his response be any different when he receives an invitation to the conference? “Just today I read the position paper of the association of Palestinian NGOs for peace, which called our initiative ‘almost ridiculous’ because in their opinion it is ‘sentenced to failure in advance.’ We know there is a very narrow opening for this initiative, and it is clear we could also have ignored this opportunity.
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