Israel and the Middle East News Update

Monday, June 1

Headlines: ● Gantz Apologizes for Unarmed, Autistic Palestinian's Death ● 5 Pro-Iran Fighters Killed in Syria Strike Blamed on ● US Embassy in Israel Warns from Travel to West Bank, Gaza ● Dagan: Trump’s Plan Completes 2005 Evacuations ● UN Warns of PA Economic Collapse, Annexation Violence ● Mossad Chief Met With Egyptian Security Officials ● AG Defends Probe of False Statements in Trial PM's Wife ● Jews and Arabs Share Genetic Link to Ancient Canaanites

Commentary: ● Ma’ariv: “Contingency Plan” − By Shlomo Shamir

● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Unnecessary and Disgraceful” − By Ben-Dror Yemini

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 1725 I St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts June 1, 2020 Ynet News Gantz Apologizes for Unarmed, Autistic Palestinian's Death Defense Minister Benny Gantz apologized on Sunday for the Israeli police's deadly shooting of an unarmed, autistic Palestinian man. The shooting of Iyad Halak, 32, in 's Old City on Saturday, drew broad condemnations and revived complaints alleging excessive force by Israeli security forces. "We are really sorry about the incident in which Iyad Halak was shot to death and we share in the family's grief," Gantz said. "I am sure this subject will be investigated swiftly and conclusions will be reached." Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups have long accused Israeli security forces of using excessive force in some cases, either by killing individuals who could have been arrested or using lethal force when their lives were not in danger. See also ‘‘Fatah, Hamas, Threaten Retaliation Over Israeli Killing of Disabled Palestinian’’ (Israel Hayom)

Times of Israel 5 Pro-Iran Fighters Killed in Syria Strike Blamed on Israel An airstrike in eastern Syria killed five non-Syrian fighters backed by Iran, a Britain-based war monitor said. The strike targeted three military vehicles belonging to Iran-backed paramilitary fighters near the Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said that “Israel was likely responsible.” Earlier, Sky News Arabia reported that unidentified aircraft carried out a pre-dawn bombing and also said that the targets were Tehran-linked forces. The website did not identify who was behind the reported airstrike nor did it provide information on what specifically was hit in the attack. Iranian-backed militias and their allies command a significant presence in eastern Syria south of the Euphrates Valley. See also ‘‘Israel Lauds Austrian Parliament for Urging Action Against Hezbollah’’ (Times of Israel)

Israel Hayom US Embassy in Israel Warns from Travel to West Bank, Gaza The US Embassy in Israel issued a travel advisory warning Americans in Israel against traveling to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The advisory followed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement last week that is no longer bound by the accords signed with Israel and the US, and his decision to suspend security coordination with the IDF. "The US Embassy advises US citizens residing in or considering travel to the West Bank and Gaza to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness," a statement on the embassy's website read. See also ‘‘US Embassy in Israel Warns Citizens Against Travelling to Gaza, West Bank’’ (Jerusalem Post)

2 Jerusalem Post Dagan: Trump’s Plan Completes 2005 Samaria Evacuations Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan charged that the plan completes the Israeli withdrawal from northern Samaria carried out 15 years ago by former prime minister . According to Dagan, the plan takes territory in northern Samaria that had been part Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal and places it within the boundary of a future Palestinian state. At issue for him is territory of four northern Samaria settlements. The settlements were evacuated and demolished during the implementation of Sharon’s Disengagement plan in 2005. The plan dealt largely with the evacuation and demolition of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip. In northern Samaria, Israel maintained its military rights to the evacuated territory and declared it a closed military zone, effectively turning the territory into no-man’s land. The High Court of Justice has since ruled that the land on which the former settlement of was built, was private Palestinian property and should be returned to its owners. The Palestinians have not yet been able to access that land.

Jerusalem Post UN Warns of PA Economic Collapse, Annexation Violence The Palestinian Authority faces economic collapse due to COVID-19 and the West Bank faces potential violence caused by Israeli annexation attempts, the UN plans to say during a virtual donor parley today. The 15-member committee, chaired by Norway, includes representation by Israel, the Palestinians and the Quartet, composed of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. The AHLC meets twice a year in the fall and spring. This year’s spring meeting was delayed due to the pandemic. UNSCO said the combination of COVID-19 and Israeli annexation plans had created a particularly perilous situation. “An Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank would also call into the question the purpose of the AHLC and the engagement of its members in support of Palestinian institution building,” UNESCO said in a report it prepared for the conference.

I24 News Mossad Chief Met With Egyptian Security Officials The head of Israel's clandestine intelligence agency Mossad secretly met with Egyptian high- ranking security officials earlier this week in Cairo, London-based Arabic daily Al-Araby newspaper reported. Yossi Cohen is said to have met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his secret trip to Cairo. According to the newspaper, the aim of the meeting was to discuss Hamas and Gaza Strip, the Trump administration's controversial peace plan, and Israeli government plans to annex parts of the West Bank later this year. Jerusalem has signaled that it is ready to extend sovereignty over large swaths of the West Bank after July 1, which includes 130 Jewish settlements and virtually all of the Jordan Valley. Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab-majority countries in the Middle East that have formal peace agreements with Israel.

3 Ynet News AG Defends Probe of False Statements in Trial PM's Wife Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit called allegations by the attorney for Mrs. Sara Netanyahu that he enslaves the police and prosecution in his obsessive pursuit of the PMs family – nonsense. The AG's office issued a statement saying that the evidence that prompted the latest investigation was presented to law enforcement one year ago and investigated. Police investigators said they were probing whether two employees at Prime Minister ’s official residence gave false testimony in a civil case against his wife, Sara Netanyahu — reportedly in order to help her fend off accusations of mistreating a housekeeper. Israeli police confirmed an investigation “is being conducted with the approval of the Attorney General and the supervision of the State Attorney’s Office.” Netanyahu and his wife have a reputation for leading indulgent lives at public expense, in stark contrast with most Israelis. Sara Netanyahu has been accused of excessive spending and abusive behavior toward her staff. See also ‘‘Netanyahu's Pre-Election Overseas Trips Cost Taxpayer Fortune, Memos Reveal’’ (Ynet News)

Ha’aretz Jews and Arabs Share Genetic Link to Ancient Canaanites Most of today’s Jewish and Arabic-speaking populations share a strong genetic link to the ancient Canaanites, a study by an international team of archaeologists and geneticists has found. These modern-day groups in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and parts of Syria share a large part of their ancestry, in most cases more than half, with the people who lived in the Levant during the Bronze Age more than 3,000 years ago, the study concludes. The researchers also determined that the Canaanites – who frequently appear in ancient sources, including the Bible – descended from a mixture of an earlier Levantine population and migrants coming from the Caucasus region or northwestern Iran. “This study suggests there is a deep genetic connection of many Jewish groups today across the Diaspora and many Arab groups to this part of the world thousands of years ago,” says David Reich, a Harvard University geneticist and one of the world’s top experts in the study of ancient DNA.

4 Ma’ariv – June 1, 2020 Contingency Plan By Shlomo Shamir ● If Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi truly have made it their top priority to promote implementing President Trump’s peace plan, as indicated by their statements, that is a decision that is mistaken and hasty, even as only a declaration of intention. Even worse, by enthusiastically adopting what President Trump has dubbed “the deal of the century,” Gantz and Ashkenazi have laid the groundwork for the possibility that they will be depicted in an embarrassing light and ridiculed. Their avowed support for the plan has revealed a flawed agenda that neither reflects to nor gives expression to the immediate challenges that Israel faces on the foreign policy front. ● The actions that may be taken by EU leaders, based to the threats that they have made if Israel decides to annex territories [in the West Bank], are far more critical to Israel than the future of the peace plan. The debate that was held in the UN Security Council about [potential] annexation indicates that an international coalition has been formed that unequivocally rejects such an annexation based on consensus that it would be a violation of international law. It was far more urgent for Foreign Minister Ashkenazi to respond to that development than it was for him to lavish praise on the peace plan. But Ashkenazi opted not to respond. ● It seems that Gantz and Ashkenazi are unaware and have not been informed of the fact that the peace plan is not on the president’s agenda and is not going to be there in the near future, if ever. The Middle East in general, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict in particular, are old news for the White House. Trump’s primary concern is the presidential election in November. The president is busy and anxious, and is reportedly panicked by the public opinion polls that showed that his approval ratings have been dropping and cratering, even among groups that were identified as his supporters, particularly among Americans aged 60 and older, who are very afraid of the coronavirus and have been disappointed in how the president has handled the pandemic. ● If one of President Trump’s advisers were to report to him that Israel’s alternate prime minister and foreign minister were thrilled with his peace plan, the president would definitely not understand what he meant—“What plan is he talking about? I’ve got an election to win.” As evidence, it wasn’t Jared Kushner, the architect and prophet of the peace plan, who paid an urgent visit to Jerusalem for talks with Netanyahu and Gantz, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Kushner is preoccupied with efforts to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from becoming a visible and influential factor in the presidential election, and definitely not on the peace plan. ● What Gantz and Ashkenazi should remember and take into account in their work plan and when they set their priorities in foreign policy with the United States is that they should be careful about being excessively identified with President Trump and about demonstrating support for a diplomatic-political initiative that comes from a Republican

5 White House or from the State Department under the Republican Pompeo. Gantz and Ashkenazi should get to work with a view to paving a way to renew working ties, connections and coordination with the leaders of the Democratic Party—areas that in recent years have been neglected and abandoned. The polls for the presidential election, which is scheduled for November 3 this year, have not ruled out a Democratic return to the White House. Gantz and Ashkenazi will find partners among the Democrats to support a peace initiative.

6 Yedioth Ahronoth – June 1, 2020 Unnecessary and Disgraceful By Ben-Dror Yemini ● The “special authorities law to cope with the coronavirus” is meant to extend the “emergency regulations,” which are a direct continuation of the “emergency defense regulations” that were created by the British in 1945 to combat the Jewish undergrounds. When the state was established, these regulations were adopted by the temporary government because Israel was battling for its life. Israel was then in a state of emergency, and they have been in place ever since, and from time to time, use is made of them. Now it is the coronavirus that has restored them to center stage. An absolute majority of Israelis took the lockdown instructions seriously not because of the special regulations, but because they genuinely felt that this was an emergency. The ones who violated the instructions were the two heads of state—the prime minister and the president. Both invited family members to celebrate Seder night. Now Netanyahu wants to give authority to every inspector and policeman to invade the private space of every single person and give them the authority to enforce the regulations that he himself violated. ● This is not emergency legislation. This is a draconian legislation for which there is no need. This is a cynical exploitation of the coronavirus in order to give the prime minister the authorities of a tyrant, with no need for the ’s approval. “The world,” so the explanation for the new bill states, “and Israel as a part of it, has been coping with a pandemic since January 2020.” That’s true, but one must wonder why it is that countries that are affected to a far greater extent do not need such emergency laws? And why have other democratic countries that are handling the coronavirus crisis no less well than Israel, not given such frightening authorities to any inspector or policeman? ● The state needed 5,271 words to provide the public with an explanation for the bill, plus another 4,596 words for the actual bill. The public was asked to respond. “Blatant trampling of fundamental rights,” wrote Ran Ezra. “A declaration of war on the citizens of the State of Israel whose dignity, liberty and rights will be crudely trampled. The bill is meant to serve a dictatorial regime and has no comparison in any Western state,” wrote Reuven Lavi. “I want to see a policeman entering my house without a warrant. It will be chaos,” wrote Yodfat Tohar. “You’ve gone completely off the rails,” wrote Merav Mizrahi. A total of 4,695 responses were posted on the official website that was opened for the public’s responses. I kept looking, but I did not find even one single supportive comment. ● Ministers and MKs—this is a bill that is both unnecessary and disgraceful. There is no need for police to be given permission to enter a private home. There is no need to give the prime minister, who the bill says would be responsible for the law, authorities that are better suited to a dictatorship, not a democracy. And mainly, there is no connection between this bill and the coronavirus. If there is any sense left in your minds and if democracy is still important to you, do not let this bill pass and enter into the law books.

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