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February 20 2020 Trying to Set the Agenda

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February 20 2020 Trying to Set the Agenda Israel and the Middle East News Update Thursday, February 20 Headlines: • Gantz's Party Gains Two-seat Lead Over Likud in Latest Election Poll • Netanyahu Vows Not to 'Transfer' any Arab Citizens to a Future Palestine • Israeli Minister Tried to Push for Move to Postpone PM’s Criminal Trial • Iraqi MP: 'Deal of the Century' will Transfer Palestinians to Iraq • Israeli Envoys Abroad Begin Voting in Elections Amid Coronavirus Panic • Passengers of Quarantined Cruise Ship to Return to Israel on Friday • Jewish-American Pedophiles Flee Justice by Coming to Israel – Report • Rivlin Hails ‘True Friendship’ Ahead of First Official Visit to Australia Commentary: • Al Monitor: “Facing Trial, Netanyahu Left with Three Options” - By Ben Caspit, commentator at Al Monitor • Ma’ariv: “Trying to Set the Agenda” - By Anna Barsky, commentator at Ma’ariv S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor News Excerpts February 20, 2020 Ha’aretz Gantz's Party Gains Two-seat Lead Over Likud in Latest Election Poll Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan party would get two seats more than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud if elections were held on Wednesday, according to a Channel 12 poll. The poll shows Kahol Lavan getting 35 out of the Knesset's 120 seats, with 33 going to Likud. According to the survey, the country's third election in a year on March 2 could again be inconclusive, with the parties that Netanyahu previously managed to get on board to try and form a coalition getting a combined 56 seats – five short of a majority. The poll also projects 13 seats for the Joint List alliance of Arab-led parties; nine for the Labor-Gesher-Meretz left-wing alliance; eight each for the Shas and United Torah Judaism ultra-Orthodox parties; seven for Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu; and seven for the right-wing alliance Yamina. See also, “Polls cast doubt on 3rd Israeli elections” (TV7) I24 News Netanyahu Vows Not to 'Transfer' any Arab Citizens to a Future Palestine Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Tuesday a surprising interview to Israel’s most popular news website in Arabic, PANET, vowing that no Arab citizen would be forcefully transferred to a Palestinian state amid the unveiling of Trump’s Mideast peace plan. “The transfer idea needs to be erased. There isn’t and there won’t be any transfer, not one -- Arab or Jew -- will be uprooted from his home. I oppose that ideologically and practically,” Netanyahu told PANET. With less than two weeks before Israeli citizens cast their ballots for the third time in a row, the Israeli premier said he hopes Israeli Arabs will vote for his Likud party in droves come March 2. See also, “Netanyahu disavows Trump plan idea to redraw border around Arab Israeli towns” (TOI) Ha’aretz Israeli Minister Tried to Push for Move to Postpone PM’s Criminal Trial Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan had contacted an official in his office and asked him to re-examine a procedure to seal evidence from the public in criminal cases – a move that could have postponed the criminal trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following Erdan's move, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit instructed him not to handle the subject because he is a witness on behalf of the prosecution in case 4000, in which Netanyahu has been charged with bribery. The report on Erdan's move was published by Israel's Channel 12 News on Wednesday. See also “ Likud ministers slam police for arresting, searching home of former MK Glick” (TOI) Jerusalem Post Iraqi MP: 'Deal of the Century' will Transfer Palestinians to Iraq An Iraqi member of parliament has stated that the US is planning on transferring Palestinians to western Iraq as part of the "Deal of the Century" Middle East peace plan, according to the Iranian Fars news agency. "The US is plotting to keep out Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) from the Western provinces of Iraq, specially al-Anbar province, in a move to provide a proper ground for sheltering the Palestinians inside Iraq," Mohammad al-Baldawi, the representative of the al-Fatah coalition in the Iraqi parliament, said to the al-Ma'aloumeh news site on Tuesday. See also, “How Donald Trump’s Peace Plan Looks to the Gulf and Europe” (Chatham House) 2 Ynet News Israeli Envoys Abroad Begin Voting in Elections Amid Coronavirus Panic Israeli diplomats and envoys in 77 different countries around the world on Wednesday began voting in the national elections. This year the vote, which is set to take place in Israel on March 2, is clouded by the coronavirus outbreak making the process in East Asian countries where the virus is rampant, challenging. Besides the difficulty of getting to the polling stations, the diplomats in the Far East also have not yet figured out how the ballots will be returned to Israel since anyone returning from prominent East Asian states are required by the Health Ministry to self-quarantine upon landing for at least two weeks. The first Israelis to cast their votes in the third election in less than a year, were the staff of Embassy of Israel in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, who voted Tuesday night. Ynet News Passengers of Quarantined Cruise Ship to Return to Israel on Friday The Israelis quarantined on the "Diamond Princess" cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan for fear of the spread of the coronavirus, are expected to land at Ben Gurion airport on Friday. According to a Health Ministry statement on Wednesday, the plane carrying the passengers will land in a remote part of the airport, away from the populated terminals. The plane itself will be handled by a small crew equipped with all the needed precautions, while the passengers will be quickly transported by Magen David Adom to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer for a 14-day mandatory quarantine. Additionally, the passengers' baggage will be transported to a vehicle belonging to the Health Ministry as an added precaution. See also “Israel readies for return of 11 ‘coronavirus cruise’ travelers” (JPost) Jerusalem Post Jewish-American Pedophiles Flee Justice by Coming to Israel – Report Many Jewish people have decided to use the right of return to build their lives in Israel – after all, the law is meant to offer anyone who is Jewish a legal way to come to Israel and become a part of the Jewish state. However, the law can also be used by Jewish-American pedophiles to escape justice for their crimes, CBS reported on Wednesday. The CBS reporter joined Jewish Community Watch (JCW) activists as they were looking for Jimmy Karow, who fled the US in 2000 after being accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl in Oregon. Karow, who is wanted by Interpol, yet was able to remain in Israel, where he allegedly moved between different Jewish communities to avoid being exposed. See also “How Jewish American pedophiles hide from justice in Israel” (CBS) Australian Jewish News Rivlin Hails ‘True Friendship’ Ahead of First Official Visit to Australia The Australian Jewish community “is the living bridge between our two countries”, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told The AJN this week ahead of his visit. Rivlin arrives in Australia on Friday as a guest of Governor-General David Hurley, the highest level of visit Australia affords foreign dignitaries. In addition to a day of meetings in Canberra, he will be the guest of honour at UIA’s major campaign events in Sydney and Melbourne and will also visit Melbourne’s Mount Scopus Memorial College.“It is a tremendous honour to be here,” Rivlin said, adding that despite the “enormous geographical distance, there are many things that connect us and create a relationship of true friendship”, including a shared commitment to democracy and equality. “Our government-to-government relations are already strong, and I am sure that my meetings with the Governor-General, as well with leaders at federal and state levels, will allow us to explore further areas of cooperation.” 3 Al Monitor – February 19, 2020 Facing Trial, Netanyahu Left with Three Options By Ben Caspit, commentator at Al Monitor • It's now official: Fifteen days after elections, one day after the 23rd Knesset will be sworn in, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear for a court hearing at the start of the corruption trial against him. This will happen on March 17 in the Jerusalem District Court. Even if he loses the March 2 elections to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, Netanyahu will still be serving as prime minister on the first day of his trial — no new government will be composed in the laps of these two weeks. And so, the date will become historical. It will be the first time in the history of the State of Israel that a serving prime minister will be put on trial for indictments filed against him on bribery, fraud and breach of trust. • The event is expected to be especially bizarre because the Jerusalem District Court is situated in East Jerusalem, an area densely populated by Palestinians. Even the name of the street on which the court is situated has symbolic meaning: Salah al-Din, the Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders in the 1187 battle of Hattin (the Battle of the Horns of Hattin). The prime minister of Israel — one of the most guarded and secured persons in the world — will be forced to appear in a courthouse planted in the very heart of Palestinian East Jerusalem.
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