Israel and the Middle East News Update
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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 Israel ● US Embassy in Israel Warns from Travel to West Bank, Gaza ● Dagan: Trump’s Plan Completes 2005 Samaria 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 Jerusalem'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 Ramallah 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 Ariel Sharon. 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 Homesh 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 Benjamin Netanyahu’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.