Israel and Middle East News Update
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Israel and Middle East News Update Monday, December 28 Headlines: ● Blue & White Breaks Apart with Departures of Key Figures ● Poll: Neither Netanyahu nor SA’AR Have Path to Coalition ● Israel to Approve New Housing Before Biden Swear-In ● Nasrallah Claims Saudi-US-Israel Plot to Assassinate Him ● PA: Palestinian Prisoners to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine ● UAE Joins Egypt-Led Eastern Med Gas Forum ● Moroccan Delegation Arrives in Israel ● Rafael to Outfit IDF with Drones That Spot Threats Commentary: ● Ma’ariv: “Gabi’s Dilemma’’ - By Ben Caspit ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “A Lone Man, Surrounded by Criminals” - 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 December 28, 2020 Ynet News Blue & White Breaks Apart with Departures of Key Figures Leader and Defense Minister Benny Gantz dismissed MKs Asaf Zamir and Miki Haimovich after both lawmakers refused to vote in favor of a motion postponing the deadline for the government to present a state budget and preventing another round of elections. Gantz also met with his no. 2, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who is currently deliberating on whether to retire from political life outright or form a new party ahead of the March 2021 elections. Haimovich and Zamir's dismissal from Blue & White came after the two, alongside MK Ram Shefa, chose to vote against the compromise between Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the deadline for a state budget until December 31. See also ‘‘The Real Reason Behind Israel's Elections: The Role of Israel's Courts’’ (Jerusalem Post) Times of Israel Poll: Neither Netanyahu nor SA’AR Have Path to Coalition Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud would be the largest party in the upcoming election, according to a Channel 12 poll, which indicated that neither he nor rival Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope would be likely to cobble together a coalition without each other. The poll ahead of the March elections — Israel’s fourth national vote in two years — found little change from previous surveys. Though Netanyahu lacked a clear path to forming a government, it was unclear from the survey results if an alternative coalition could be assembled, with the parties opposing the Likud leader divided ideologically and over the question of who should be premier. See also ‘‘Top Strategist: ‘the One Thing That Could Save Netanyahu,’ and 9 Other Insights’’ (Times of Israel) I24 News Israel to Approve New Housing Before BiDen Swear-In Israel is expected to green light construction of new housing units in the eastern part of Jerusalem before the swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, KAN reported. The Defense Ministry unit responsible for authorizing construction of settlements in the West Bank is expected to meet within the next 2 weeks to move construction projects forward. According to the Jerusalem Municipality, the subcommittee is expected to approve the construction of 108 housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. As Vice President of the Obama administration, Biden denounced the construction of 1,600 housing units in 2010, during a trip to Israel. In October, after a seven-month hiatus, the subcommittee approved the construction of more than 5,000 homes in 2 days. Several hundred of these approvals were for houses that were already illegally built, but which will be retroactively legalized. See also ‘‘Settlers: If Netanyahu Wants Votes, He Must Legalize Outposts’’ (Jerusalem Post) 2 Jerusalem Post Nasrallah Claims SauDi-US-Israel Plot to Assassinate Him Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed that Saudi Arabia sought to discuss with the US and Israel his assassination, pointing to US Central Command Mark Miley’s recent visit to Israel as evidence. Nasrallah accused President Trump of acting impulsively and unpredictably in the region. He also said that Saudi Arabia has been acting without reason in recent years, with hatred toward Hezbollah. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) has sought to oppose Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon in the past. Nasrallah linked the alleged plans to assassinate him to the US killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January 2020. The anniversary of their deaths is approaching, and Nasrallah wants to claim he is as important as they were. Tensions are high in the region between the US and Iran and Hezbollah. See also ‘‘Iranian Official Warns Any Israeli Submarine That Reaches Gulf Will Be Targeted’’ (I24 News) Jerusalem Post PA: Palestinian Prisoners to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Israel has informed Palestinian security prisoners that they will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the next few days, Qadri Abu Baker, Director of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prisoners and Ex- Prisoners Commission, announced. Abu Baker told the PA news agency WAFA that the vaccination for the prisoners will not be compulsory. He revealed that some prisoners have expressed their desire to receive the vaccine. He said the PA was planning to ask Israel to allow Palestinian or foreign doctors to supervise the vaccination. The prisoners will receive the vaccine produced by Pfizer, he said. Vaccines against COVID-19 will be available to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within the next two weeks, a senior official with the PA Health Ministry said. The PA, he said, was in touch with the World Health Organization and the companies that produce the coronavirus vaccines to make sure that they are provided to the Palestinians as soon as possible. See also ‘‘Israel, UAE Plotting to Eliminate UNRWA – Report’’ (Jerusalem Post) Al-Monitor UAE Joins Egypt-LeD Eastern MeD Gas Forum A presidential statement said the UAE has joined the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) as an observer. “Egyptian President Sisi underlined the importance of the added value that the UAE will contribute to the forum’s activities to serve the strategic interests and enhance cooperation and partnership between the forum countries,”. The EMGF was established as an intergovernmental organization by Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan, and Palestine. Founders say the forum aims to facilitate talks among Mediterranean countries about exporting natural gas, cooperating on various energy issues and advancing the construction of an undersea pipeline that would transfer gas to the south of Europe. France has applied to join the Cairo-based forum, while the US and the EU requested observer status. Energy-hungry Turkey has denounced the EMGF as an attempt to exclude it from the gas equation in the Eastern Mediterranean. See also ‘‘2020: The Year Sudan Ended Its Isolation and Looked to Peace with Israel’’ (Jerusalem Post) 3 Jerusalem Post Moroccan Delegation Arrives in Israel A Moroccan diplomatic delegation landed in Israel for the first time since normalization was announced. The delegation plans to work towards reopening the Moroccan liaison office in Tel Aviv, which it has held onto for the past 20 years since Rabat cut official ties. Israel has also retained its closed office in Morocco. The Moroccan delegation is also expected to prepare for a high-level delegation to come to Israel at a later date that is still undetermined. The Moroccan diplomats have meetings scheduled in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, but they do not have any public events or statements on their agenda. Prime Minister Netanyahu invited Morocco's King Mohammed VI to visit Israel, in a phone conversation over the weekend. Netanyahu's office characterized the conversation as "warm and friendly," and taking place in French, English, Hebrew and Arabic. Israel and Morocco first forged diplomatic relations in 1994, though the countries had unofficial relations for decades before that. They did not have full diplomatic ties, and the new relations are resuming from that point, moving towards full diplomatic relations. Morocco broke off ties with Israel during the Second Intifada in 2000, but in recent years, tens of thousands of Israelis have visited the North African state each year. An estimated 1 million Israeli Jews have roots in Morocco. See also ‘‘Israel, Morocco Sign First Economic Agreement’’ (Israel Hayom) Times of Israel Rafael to Outfit IDF with Drones That Spot Threats The Rafael defense contractor unveiled a number of new weapons and systems, including miniature drones and a robotic dog, which it plans to sell to the IDF and foreign militaries and that it claims will change the face of modern warfare. The company, one of Israel’s leading weapons manufacturers, sees these technological developments as a step toward a more interconnected and intelligent future battlefield, one in which many of the impediments to proper communication between various units and vehicles have been removed, granting the entire military access to up-to-date information and intelligence. Improved communication between various branches of the military is a central point of IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi’s Momentum Plan. A main lynchpin of that plan is a powerful mapping and communication system produced by Rafael known as Smart Trigger, which allows for the rapid sharing of intelligence between units and allows commanders to easily determine which troops are in the best position to attack a target. Rafael is developing a number of devices that can grant access to this system — and the information it contains, which was once only available to senior commanders — to individual troops on the battlefield. See also ‘‘Rafael Unveils AI, Deep Learning Tech for IDF Infantry Troops’’ (Jerusalem Post) 4 Ma’ariv – December 28, 2020 Gabi’s Dilemma By Ben Caspit ● Gabi Ashkenazi is at a crossroads. He deliberated at length before deciding to “get in under the stretcher,” and he never imagined that he would ultimately find himself on it [i.e., injured].