Netanyahu Extends Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen's Term

Israel and the Middle East News Update

Monday, July 6

Headlines: ● Israel Ramps up Quarantining, PA Reimposes Lockdown ● IDF Strikes Hamas Targets Following Gaza Rocket Fire ● Former World Leaders Warn Against Israeli Sovereignty Plan ● Abbas Adviser Warns of Third Intifada Over Annexation ● Netanyahu Extends Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen’s Term ● Israel Was Behind Blast at Iran Nuclear Site: Intel Official ● Israel Successfully Launches Ofek 16 Spy Satellite ● Prominent Journalist, Netanyahu Critic, Loses TV Job

Commentary: ● Ma’ariv: “The GSS Director Test” - By Ben Caspit

● Yedioth Ahronoth: “From the Depth of His Heart” - 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 6, 2020 Ynet News Israel Ramps up Quarantining, PA Reimposes Lockdown Israel ordered thousands of people into quarantine as Palestinians in the West Bank returned to life under lockdown after both areas saw surges in coronavirus cases. A statement from the Health Ministry said "many" messages had been sent to Israelis following the renewed involvement of the Shin Bet security agency. So far, tens of thousands of people have been notified they must enter quarantine. West Bank, residents of the PA have been ordered since to remain at home unless they need to purchase food or medicine. Movement between cities and towns is heavily restricted. The lockdown is expected to last five days. Authorities fear that if the renewed outbreak of coronavirus would spiral out of control and could overwhelm its under-resourced health care system. See also ‘‘Netanyahu Says Israel in 'State of Emergency' in Wake of Virus Resurgence’’ (Ynet News)

Jerusalem Post IDF Strikes Hamas Targets Following Gaza Rocket Fire Israeli aircraft struck Hamas positions in Gaza after three rockets were fired from the Hamas- run enclave towards southern Israel. IAF jets and helicopters struck an underground facility belonging to Hamas in the northern part of coastal enclave, the IDF said. Two of the rockets, which caused thousands of Israelis in southern Israeli communities to run to bomb shelters twice in less than an hour, landed in open fields and caused no damage. The third was intercepted by the Iron Dome. The rocket fire comes as tensions are high with the blockaded coastal enclave as Hamas and other Gazan terror groups have vowed to oppose Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi has warned that the plans to annex the West Bank could easily lead to tensions along the Gaza Strip. See also ‘‘6 Injured as Settlers and Palestinians Clash in Northern West Bank’’ (Times of Israel)

Israel Hayom Former World Leaders Warn Against Israeli Sovereignty Plan A group of former world leaders urged European leaders to keep pressuring Israel against applying sovereignty, warning against complacency after Israel made no move to take over the territory on July 1. The Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, said in letters to the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and the EU that they should insist to Israel that sovereignty would have negative political and economic consequences for bilateral and regional relations. The Elders said sovereignty "is fundamentally contrary to the long-term interests of both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples." They called on EU leaders to consider suspending the 27-nation's Association Agreement with Israel if sovereignty goes ahead in any form. See also ‘‘The Democrats' New Policy That Could See Bernie and Biden Find Middle Ground on Aid to Israel’’ (Ha’aretz) 2 Times of Israel Abbas Adviser Warns of Third Intifada Over Annexation An adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned there was a possibility of a third intifada if the Israeli government goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank. The Kan public broadcaster reported that Nabil Shaath told the Arabic-language arm of the France 24 network that Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas are in agreement that there should be a popular uprising if the controversial plan goes ahead. “When things flare up and it becomes a fully-fledged intifada, we will see a combination of forces between Gaza and the West Bank,” Shaath said. The Palestinian adviser also said that he expected the potential uprising to be funded by the Arab world, noting Saudi Arabia sent billions of dollars within the first few days of the Second Intifada, but without further elaborating. The Second Intifada, which erupted in the early 2000s, included waves of suicide bombings and other terror attacks that killed more than 1,000 Israelis. See also ‘‘Is Hamas Facing a New Mutiny?’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Ha’aretz Netanyahu Extends Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen's Term Netanyahu announced that he will be extending the term of Yossi Cohen, the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, by six months. The decision was described in a statement as the result of "the security challenges facing the State of Israel." Cohen is considered close to the prime minister. Among the operations that the Mossad carried out under Cohen’s leadership was the theft of Iranian documents in 2018 that proved that Tehran was working on the development of nuclear weapons. Cohen has represented Netanyahu on a large number of diplomatic missions to Europe, the United States and Arab countries. Three weeks ago, he went to Jordan to convey a message to King Abdullah II from Netanyahu about Israel’s possible moves to annex territory in the West Bank. He is also in close touch with directors of foreign intelligence agencies and has conveyed diplomatic messages condemning Iran. See also ‘‘Mossad Chief’s Term Extended, Amid Speculation of Covert War with Iran’’ (Times of Israel)

Times of Israel Israel Was Behind Blast at Iran Nuclear Site: Intel Official A fire that damaged a building used for producing centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site was the work of Israel, a Middle Eastern intelligence official told the New York Times. The official said the blast was caused by a powerful bomb. The official said Israel wasn’t linked to several other recent mysterious fires in Iran over the past week. The report came as Iran admitted that Natanz incurred “considerable” damage from the fire last week, as satellite pictures appeared to show widespread devastation at the sensitive facility. Experts assess that the damage from the apparent explosion has set back Iran’s nuclear program by a year, according to Israel’s Channel 13 news. The network said that the lab in Natanz where advanced centrifuges are assembled had been destroyed. See also ‘‘Ashkenazi on Iran Explosions: Our Actions Are Better Left Unsaid’’ (Jerusalem Post)

3 Jerusalem Post Israel Successfully Launches Ofek 16 Spy Satellite Israel launched the new Ofek 16 spy satellite into orbit from a launchpad at Palmachim airbase in central Israel, the Defense Ministry announced. “The Space Administration in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), of the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD), and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), have successfully launched the "Ofek 16" reconnaissance satellite into space, today at 4:00 AM,” the ministry said in a statement. The "Ofek 16" is an electro-optical reconnaissance satellite with advanced capabilities and was the first launch of an Israeli satellite since Spacecom’s Amos-17 took off from Florida in 2017. Defense Minister Benny Gantz hailed the successful launch, saying that it’s "another extraordinary achievement for the defense establishment, for the defense industries as a whole, and for Israel Aerospace Industries in particular - and that “technological superiority and intelligence capabilities are essential to the security of the State of Israel.” “We will continue to strengthen and maintain Israel's capabilities on every front, in every place,” Gantz added.

Ynet News Prominent Journalist, Netanyahu Critic, Loses TV Job A prominent journalist known for breaking diplomatic scoops and critical coverage of Prime Minister Netanyahu received notice he was being dismissed. Barak Ravid, Channel 13 TV’s diplomatic correspondent, was among nearly 40 people who received dismissal letters from the station. Ravid has gained a reputation for breaking stories about Israel’s relations with the U.S., the European Union and other foreign partners. His reporting has upset Netanyahu at times, and the prime minister has publicly rebuked Ravid in the past. A person familiar with the situation on Channel 13 said Ravid’s dismissal letter cited him for having poor “professional results.” Noa Landau, the diplomatic correspondent at the Haaretz daily and a friend of Ravid, said on Twitter that the dismissal has the “scent of a political assassination.” In a statement to Haaretz, Channel 13 said it was dealing with a financial streamlining process that has forced it to “bid farewell to outstanding professionals.” It said the process could be continued “within the organization, not outside it,” due to privacy concerns. See also ‘‘Citing Financial Distress, Israel’s Channel 13 News Fires Dozens of Journalists’’ (Ha’aretz)

4 Ma’ariv – July 6, 2020 The GSS Director Test By Ben Caspit ● Blue and White’s representatives decided this week to take themselves in hand. Their first decision was to stop being afraid of Netanyahu. He wants elections? Let him call elections. The time has come to stop living under the threat of elections. What if the party crashes and burns? Then it will crash and burn. Signs of that decision were visible throughout the entire course of this past week. Blue and White’s representatives began to give more interviews and to distinguish themselves [from their fellow coalition partners]. They stopped being leery of criticizing the rabid attacks on the attorney general. They weren’t wary of speaking up about the state budget. ● They came to realize that Bibi only understands and values strength. If you show signs of weakness, you’re as good as dead. They were already dead. Now they’re trying to revive themselves. Blue and White now faces three important tests. The first is annexation, and they have already delivered the goods on that issue. The large-scale annexation that Netanyahu dreamt of enacting isn’t going to happen. If anything is annexed, it will be on a small scale and it will be coupled with meaningful good will gestures towards the Palestinians. That is exclusively thanks to the work that was put in by Gabi Ashkenazi (in the United States) and Gantz. Netanyahu knows that. The problem faced by the two retired chiefs of staff is that their electorate doesn’t know that. ● The second test is the state budget. They are dead set on a two-year budget. That is one of the stipulations of the coalition agreement, and they want to see that agreement honored. But Netanyahu has shifted gears and wants a state budget for just one year. Doing so will give him the option of bringing down the government over the 2021 state budget next year, before the alternating premiership arrangement goes into effect. The problem is that this year is almost over. In practice, even a bi-annual budget will only apply to five quarters. ● Gantz and Ashkenazi have no intention of giving in on that issue, with or without Yair Lapid. If Netanyahu wants to bring down the government over the budget, he’s welcome to do so. Gantz wasn’t born in politics and he isn’t going to die in politics. Ashkenazi even less so. Let’s see him, they’ve said behind closed doors. Let’s see him bring down the government and drag the entire country into elections while a million Israelis are out of work, with the coronavirus raging, with an enormous deficit, with economic and social chaos. Go ahead, Bibi, call elections. The third test is the most interesting one of all: the identity of the next GSS director. The well-established rumor has it that Netanyahu wants to appoint National Security Council Director Meir Ben-Shabbat as the next GSS director. Gantz and Ashkenazi aren’t even willing to hear about that. ● Not because Ben-Shabbat has right wing views. That is irrelevant. Ben-Shabbat has turned himself into a deputy apprentice on Balfour Street [i.e,. in the service of the Netanyahu family]. He has beeninvolved in providing services; he has involved himself in politics (as he proved when he went to meet with Rabbi Haim Druckman [to persuade

5 Druckman to pressure Bennett and Shaked into backing down from an ultimatum they gave to Netanyahu]). Security and political officials at every level have been talking about the possibility of a Ben-Shabbat appointment. For the sake of fairness, one must say that the GSS as an organization and all of the top GSS officials have steered as far away from commenting on that possibility as from Mandelblit. But all of the others everywhere else, political official and security officials, are unanimously of the opinion that Ben-Shabbat lacks the basic skills required to do that job. He is informed only about the southern sector; he is one-dimensional, is inadequately prepared and is ill-fitted for the post. ● In the previous instances in which Netanyahu changed his mind at the last moment and appointed someone unexpected to a key post (so that he would owe him for the appointment), things worked out well: even Yossi Cohen’s critics can’t deny his capabilities and fitness for the job (something that has been eminently clear from the Mossad’s performance during his tenure). The same is true of Yoram Cohen, whom Netanyahu chose at the last moment over Yitzhak Ilan. Cohen had a good term as GSS director. Meir Ben-Shabbat is neither a Yossi Cohen nor a Yoram Cohen. Blue and White has veto power over the appointment of senior officials, such as the GSS director, the IDF chief of staff and so on. This is bound to get interesting.

6 Yedioth Ahronoth – July 6, 2020 From the Depth of His Heart By Nahum Barnea ● Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz was interviewed on Kan Radio. Shalom Kital, the interviewer, asked about Netanyahu’s attacks on the justice system. Steinitz, whose view of the justice system is different from that of Netanyahu’s, tried to defend him. “He speaks from the depth of his heart,” he said. [The expression meaning depth of someone’s heart is literally “the blood of their heart” in Hebrew.] Blood and heart: those are two loaded words. We can understand politicians when the blood in their hearts gets the better of them once, or even twice. But when such texts emerge from their mouths four and five and six times and are backed by talking points and by statements made by close associates, then that’s policy. It’s neither from blood or from the heart: it’s all from the head. Mandelblit, that is what preoccupies him these days; along with the millions that he is demanding to receive from the state and from his billionaire friend; along with his sado-maso relationship with Benny Gantz; along with his election musings. Anything, as long as it is not the coronavirus. ● The second wave finds Israel less prepared than it was in the first wave. In that regard— and not the unfounded boasting in the first months of the coronavirus—Israel truly is unique, a world champion. Israel’s handling of the first wave excelled in a number of features: one, an effective information campaign starring Netanyahu and Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov which succeeded in instilling real fear, perhaps even excessive fear, among the public; second, the extensive involvement of the IDF and of the Mossad; third, draconian measures that paralyzed the economy for a long time. The avowed goal was to buy time to plan properly for the second wave. The goal was achieved. And what did we do during that time? Nothing. Israel has a long-standing tradition of years in this regard: faced with any threat, whether diplomatic, military, legal or epidemiological, its governments invest a huge effort in one goal—buying time. All its talents, all its energy, all its creativity, are invested in that effort. And then, when the time has been bought, it does nothing. ● Every government has its Yom Kippur fiasco. The establishment of the government with Blue and White was the first test of the politicians’ seriousness. Gantz explained his decision to join the government as being due to the coronavirus. Nonetheless, he passed on taking the Finance Ministry and the Health Ministry—the two ministries with a pivotal role in handling the crisis. Netanyahu realized that his voting public would find it difficult to accept Litzman’s continuing as health minister. He could have appointed to the position of minister someone with executive experience from his own party. There was no dearth of candidates: Gilad Erdan, Yuval Steinitz, Yoav Galant, Tzahi Hanegbi (that would perhaps have spared Hanegbi from his miserable comment on Saturday). ● But he chose Yuli Edelstein. It’s true that Blue and White disqualified Edelstein from continuing as Knesset speaker after his hazing of the Supreme Court; it’s true that Edelstein threatened an Intifada in the Likud; Edelstein could be an excellent foreign minister, a minister for strategic affairs, a minister for regional cooperation, for higher 7 education, for immigration. He has opinions of his own and rich political experience. But he has never, in his life, overseen a governmental mechanism, he has never handled a national crisis, he has never headed a ministry that requires an immediate shakeup. He is not suited. That’s why he was chosen. ● The second test was setting priorities. Netanyahu, in a festive speech to the nation, basically told it to “go and party,” and he launched three campaigns that enthused him and put the public to sleep. One was money for himself and his family, the second was Mandelblit, the third was annexation. All while a million unemployed were knocking on the doors of the employment bureaus. Much has been said about the obtuseness, the hubris and the moral blindness of these actions. No less significant is the immediate damage: people lost their trust. The loss of trust was expressed in their personal behavior, on the street, in the workplace, on the bus. ● There is a direct correlation between the disregard above and the infection rate below. There is no annexation, there is no money, but there is Mandelblit (for now). The top tiers of the Health Ministry are busy doing their own thing: very little ability, a lot of ego and wars over territory. Nobody understands why nurses at Tipat Halav [clinics for babies] have to work as hot line operators 24/7 instead of Home Front Command soldiers. Nobody understand why in a country so blessed with labs, the Health Ministry’s lab is collapsing. That is what happens when the mind of the top officials is elsewhere, suppressing, denying living in its own bubble. ● The pessimistic projections talk about tent cities that will be pitched on the outskirts of cities in a month or two, not as a spontaneous protest but as a tangible expression of the fact that the money of apartment renters has run out, and they were thrown out. There are less pessimistic projections, but there is not a single projection that exempts the government from having to make tough decisions. The gap between the rhetoric and actual behavior will be closed at some point, and it will be painful. Very painful.