Salvaging Israeli-Palestinian Peace’’ - by Ghassan Michel Rubeiz

Israel and Middle East News Update

Tuesday, June 29

Headlines: ● Ultra-Orthodox Boycott Committee, Chair Is a Reform Rabbi ● Gantz: Illegal Outpost to Be Evacuated in Coming Days ● Ra'Am Chief Eyes Reviving Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks ● Bennett to Meet Biden in July ● American Jewish Leaders Laud Rivlin at NYC Farewell Event ● Bennett, Sisi Discuss Israeli Captives in Gaza, Agree to Meet ● Journalists Ask UN for Protection Against PA ● US Troops Come Under Fire in Syria After Strikes

Commentary: ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Between Sebastia and Evyatar’’ - By Nadav Eyal

● The Arab Daily: “Salvaging Israeli-Palestinian Peace’’ - By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz

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 29, 2021 Times of Israel Ultra-Orthodox Boycott Committee, Chair Is a Reform Rabbi The Knesset plenum approved the formation of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, led by Labor MK Gilad Kariv, with 60 MKs supporting the motion and 52 opposing. Kariv is the first Reform rabbi to serve in the Knesset, a fact that has drawn intense criticism from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers in the opposition. Haredi leaders have said they will boycott the new committee — a powerful panel tasked with redrafting and pushing through key legislation — and will not attach representatives to it. In February, ahead of the Knesset elections, representatives from Shas, United Torah Judaism and the Religious Zionist party said that Kariv follows a distorted religion that seeks to destroy the foundations of Judaism. They said cooperation with Kariv, who is the director of the Israeli Reform Movement, is forbidden and that any contact with him is dangerous.

Ynet News Gantz: Illegal Outpost to Be Evacuated in Coming Days Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank in the coming days, despite talks with the settlers living there on a compromise for voluntary evacuation. The Eviatar outpost was set up in early May and quickly became home to 50 settler families who erected huts and tents and brought in trailer caravans in defiance of international and Israeli law. According to the compromise drafted by Gantz and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, the majority of the residents will leave the site and the Defense Ministry will establish an interim base there as the government decides on the legal status of the land. Some media reports said that the area was tapped to ultimately become a yeshiva or Jewish religious seminary. Dig Deeper ‘‘West Bank Evyatar Eviction Still Looms, Outpost Deal Not Yet Finalized’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Israel Hayom Ra'Am Chief Eyes Reviving Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks Right-wing lawmakers lambasted Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas after he said in an interview with that his party is pursuing ways to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Abbas, who chairs the Knesset’s Special Committee on Arab Society, has no official role in the efforts to revive the peace talks, moribund since 2014. In an interview published by the London-based Al-Quds-Al-Arabi, Abbas said that he could not elaborate on the efforts his party has undertaken over "sensitive political issues" pertaining to the talks. Ra’am made history last month when it became part of the coalition put together by Bennett and Lapid. The decision to join the coalition stemmed from "a strategy of the wasati approach in Islam, which is more moderate and pragmatic and opposes violence and is our inspiration, especially given the unique circumstances by which Arabs live in Israel," he explained referring to the principles separating the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement from the Northern Branch. 2 Arutz Sheva Bennett to Meet Biden in July Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will meet President Joe Biden in Washington DC in July, Walla news reported. The meeting will be the first between the two since Bennett assumed office earlier this month. Both sides hope to improve relations which were strained under former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a close relationship with former President Donald Trump but sparred with Trump's predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Prime Minister Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also oppose the return of the US to the nuclear deal, but have signaled a greater willingness to work with the US on the issue. The details of the meeting are being worked out by Bennett’s foreign policy adviser Shimrit Meir and Biden’s top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, Axios reported. Dig Deeper ‘‘Lapid Lands in UAE; Bennett Expected to Meet With Biden’’ (Jerusalem Post)

Times of Israel American Jewish Leaders Laud Rivlin at NYC Farewell Event American Jewish community leaders gathered in Manhattan to thank President Reuven Rivlin for his service on behalf of Israel and world Jewry in a farewell ceremony at the front end of the president’s final trip to the US as head of state. Executives of the Jewish Federations of North America, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American Zionist Movement and the United Jewish Appeal highlighted Rivlin’s ability during his seven years as president to serve as a unifying figure, bringing Israelis and Jews of all backgrounds together. Rivlin referred to Diaspora Jewry as the “fifth tribe” of Israel, telling the American Jewish community leaders that their “many years of support for the State of Israel makes you an integral part of Israeli society.’’ Rivlin also noted the uptick in antisemitism in the US against the backdrop of last month’s Gaza war. Dig Deeper ‘‘Biden Tells Rivlin He Won’t Allow Iranian Nukes on His Watch’’ (Times of Israel)

Jerusalem Post Bennett, Sisi Discuss Israeli Captives in Gaza, Agree to Meet The two Israeli men and the remains of two soldiers held captive in Gaza must be returned, Prime Minister Bennett told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It was the first phone conversation between the two leaders, as efforts continue to consolidate a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Both Bennett and Sisi agreed to set up a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible. Sisi emphasized the importance of a Gaza Strip ceasefire and the need to improve the civilian and humanitarian situation for the Palestinians living there, the Prime Minister’s Office said. The conversation took place hours after Israel allowed fuel for the Gaza power plant to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time since Operation Guardian of the Walls last month. It is another sign that tensions between Israel and Hamas are easing. Egypt and the United Nations are key brokers in efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Last week, the status of talks to maintain calm between Israel and Hamas appeared fragile. But this week, the process appeared to be advancing. Dig Deeper ‘‘Gaza Reconstruction Clouded by Dispute Over Israelis Held by Hamas’’ (Reuters)

3 I24 News Journalists Ask UN for Protection Against PA About 50 Palestinian journalists demonstrated in Ramallah in the name of press freedom in the West Bank and called on the UN to "protect" them following an outbreak of violence during a number of rallies against the Palestinian Authority (PA). The death of Palestinian human rights activist Nizar Banat while in PA detention has sparked anger in the West Bank. Journalists reported having been assaulted by the police. In view of the violations of journalists' freedom to cover the rallies, a letter was submitted to the United Nations, which called on the international body to take "necessary and immediate measures" to protect local journalists, said Naila Khalil, a Palestinian reporter for the Al- Arabi Al-Jdid newspaper. The Palestinian Journalists Union called for the police chief's dismissal for "failing to protect journalists who have been assaulted and threatened by plainclothes in plain sight of the police." PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called for "respect for press freedom" and called on "everyone to exercise a higher sense of responsibility." Activist Nizar Banat, who died Thursday, was known for his videos posted on social media criticizing the Mahmoud Abbas and the PA, whom he accused of corruption. Shtayyeh promised that the investigation into his death would be "professional and transparent," adding those responsible "will be brought before the competent authorities." Dig Deeper ‘‘Explainer: Why Are Palestinians Protesting Against Abbas?’’ (Associated Press)

Reuters US Troops Come Under Fire in Syria After Strikes US troops came under rocket fire in Syria on Monday, but escaped injury, in apparent retaliation for weekend US air strikes against Iran-aligned militia in Syria and Iraq. A US military spokesman said US forces had responded to the multiple rockets by firing back at the positions in self-defense. Sources in Deir al Zor, in eastern Syria, said an Iranian-backed militia group had fired a few artillery rounds in the vicinity of al Omar oil field, which is controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The rocket fire underscored the risk of escalation and the limits of US military firepower to restrain Iran-aligned militias that Washington blames for a series of increasingly sophisticated drone strikes against US personnel and facilities in Iraq. Iraq's government, wary of getting dragged into a US-Iran conflict, had condemned the US strikes on its territory and said it would "study all legal options" to prevent such action from being repeated. Syria called the strikes a "flagrant violation of the sanctity of Syrian and Iraqi lands." It was the second time President Biden had ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militias since taking office five months ago. He ordered limited strikes in Syria in February, that time in response to rocket attacks in Iraq. Dig Deeper ‘‘Blinken: 'Untenable' for 10,000 Is Fighters Still to Be Held in Syria’’ (Reuters)

4 Yedioth Ahronoth – June 29, 2021 Between Sebastia and Evyatar By Nadav Eyal ● They set up the victory table in Evyatar facing the sun, outside the permanent structure in which a temporary office for Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan had been set up, replete with a large chair, a flag and all the rest. Seated at the table were dignitaries, such as Dagan, who is the top mover and shaker on the right, Daniella Weiss and others. The yeshiva students and some of the families that had moved there gathered around, along with the media. That was the big moment, the moment when the compromise was announced. The word “compromise” was designed to create the semblance as if mutual concessions had been made. ● In practice, before and after the press conference, the yeshiva students danced in circles to celebrate the achievement—for the first time in decades, they had found a way to establish a new settlement in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Standing near the table with the speakers was a group of girls who listened to their leaders describe their victory. Behind them was the real attraction: a slushie machine. It was an irresistible temptation in the stifling heat. Cups filled with sweet pink slush. The container with the slush was already half-empty, while the people at the table gave speeches about the Land of Israel and settlement, about the achievements made at Evyatar and the pain that had been endured. The girls listened attentively, but every once in a while they stole a glance at the pink slush that was running out, until it ran out completely. ● People driving on the road to Evyatar are met by an ominous black cloud that becomes visible on the road after Tapuah junction. We went there yesterday, Yedioth Ahronoth’s hard-working settlement affairs correspondent, Elisha Ben Kimon, and I. The residents of Beita routinely set fire to huge piles of tires, and the wind carries the billowing smoke and stench to the settlement outpost. The outpost was established deliberately in a strategic location, one that is designed to scuttle Palestinian territorial contiguity between the village Beita, Kabalan and Yatma. A few hundred meters from there at least four Palestinians were killed in clashes with the IDF in the past month and a half. The Palestinians, fighting against the establishment of the settlement outpost, threw stones, while others descended via the terraced hills to evacuate the people who were injured on makeshift gurneys. Hagit Ofran, who heads Peace Now’s settlement monitoring team, describes Evyatar as a “security liability” and an act of “political trolling,” adding that it proves that the “settlers decide Israel’s policy in the territories.” ● Several Israeli security officials were inclined to agree with Ofran’s description about the settlers controlling policy after it became evident that the government had agreed to leave the permanent structures on the site and to establish a military base there in place of the outpost and to station a company there; the government also undertook to establish a yeshiva on the site and to allow three families to remain, and then to conduct a survey of the area to allow for a permanent settlement to be established on the site.

5 ● A playground was built on the highest spot in the new outpost. Generally speaking, the outpost was bustling with activity yesterday. Aside from the dozens of families that have settled on the site, there were also a large number of yeshiva students and young women present as well. The outpost has grown in size since May, thanks to the tacit consent that was given by the Netanyahu government, which deliberately left this landmine for the next government to trip over. [The logic was that the next government would have to choose between two options:] Either it would forcibly remove [the outpost], ruin any possible relationship with the settlers and produce an event that would be seared into [the right-wing public’s] memory as a violent incident similar to the removal of Amona; or it would leave the outpost intact, get into hot water with the Americans, the Palestinians and, of course, the left wing within the coalition. “That’s what’s known as a win-win situation,” said to me a former Likud minister. ● An hour before we arrived, the settlers who had moved to the outpost issued a statement: the families will leave voluntarily, and within six months the processes will be completed to allow for a full-blown settlement to be established instead. This sets a precedent, Ben Kimon said to me while we stood by the study hall. “We haven’t seen anything like this in years. I was here in the first nights, after Yehuda Guetta was murdered. There was maybe a single building with 20 people. Now it’s just a few weeks later, and they’ve effectively secured a promise for a permanent [settlement] point. That’s astonishing.” Several extraordinary things occurred here. ● First, the state’s willingness—and primarily the willingness of the responsible minister, Defense Minister Gantz—to legitimize an entirely unauthorized and illegal act of the kind that in the past would have ended in immediate eviction. As more time passed, the people on the outpost couldn’t believe their good luck. Not only had the state not evicted them but, as one involved person told us, “the government and the Civil Administration displayed understanding and even good will.” Simultaneously, thanks to a convergence of circumstances, Evyatar became a popular issue in Judea and Samaria, among families and in the yeshivas; and a lot of people decided to make the most of the transitional period between the end of the Netanyahu government and whatever would come in its wake to establish a fact on the ground. ● Zvi Sukkot, who moved from Yitzhar with his wife and daughters to Evyatar, is also Yossi Dagan’s aide. Sukkot told us that he estimated that several tens of thousands of people had passed through the outpost for either a brief visit or had spent the Sabbath there. Families called and tried to get a place on the waiting list for a plot of land, as if Evyatar were some moshav in the Hefer Valley. “This isn’t an outpost,” said Ben Kimon, “it’s a project. What we’ve mainly seen in the past few years are farming outposts. They would set up a family with a bit of security and seize control of a lot of territory. Here they opted for a settlement, with a group of settlers, opening a kindergarten and all the rest.” It sounds like a romantic return to the Sebastia model [Sebastia was the site of the first West Bank settlement]. Sebastia with a slushie machine, of course. The person who invoked the memory of Sebastia was Daniella Weiss.

6 ● Most of the people who spoke at the press conference tried their best to conceal their astonishment at their own success versus the government, as if they had just won the lottery and didn’t want to show off the winning ticket. They counterbalanced the achievement with the removal of the families, and spoke about the “difficult” discussion that they had been forced to have with the families about whether they would be prepared to leave. Those kinds of meetings truly were fraught. In the small square in the center of Evyatar I saw a teenage girl scream at her friend: “Where are your principles!?” To which the friend replied: “Which principles exactly have I conceded? A yeshiva is going to be established here! What do you want? More beatings and violence? The public is tired of seeing evictions.” ● The leaders at the event, people who have had their fill of disappointments and evictions over the years, simply couldn’t believe their good luck. “Who would have thought that this government of all governments, which has had criticism heaped on it,” said Daniella Weiss, “would find a noble and uplifting way of talking with us, in appreciation for the pioneers of the Land of Israel.” Weiss almost certainly never used the word “noble” to describe any other Israeli government since the Begin government, which established “a lot of Elon Morehs.” Weiss’s contact in the government is Ayelet Shaked, whom residents of the outpost said mediated between them and the Defense Ministry (and probably Prime Minister Bennett as well). ● We sat in Yossi Dagan’s makeshift office. Weiss politely shooed away the youngsters who had settled there, enjoying a few moments of air conditioned chill. The movement that Rabbi Moshe Levinger established, Nahala, is well outside the settler mainstream; nor does it have the means that the large and well-connected Amana has at its disposal. Most of the outposts Nahala has tried to establish have been removed immediately. The latest example was an outpost with the exotic name of Maalot Halhoul, between the Etzion Bloc and Kiryat Arba. Nahala Director Zvi Sharaf, Rabbi Levinger’s grandson, told me that in Evyatar things had happened differently. There was a [settlement construction] moratorium of sorts during the Netanyahu era, they said, and that’s why people are feeling energized now. I asked them whether the government’s willingness to compromise was a sign of weakness. That’s unfair towards the government, replied Sharaf. ● There were a few weeks of Bibi and now there have been a few weeks of Bennett. This is a parity outpost. I reminded Weiss of the first time we had met. It was more than 20 years ago, during one of the withdrawals stipulated by the Wye Memorandum, at which point parts of Area C (which is under full Israeli control) were redefined as Area B (in which the Palestinian Authority has civilian control). Weiss, naturally, had been opposed to that withdrawal, and announced that she would hunker down and hide out in the territory— which was uninhabited—to prevent the withdrawal. As a correspondent covering the territories [for Army Radio], I went looking for her in the Te’enim ravine, and I ultimately found her. All around, Palestinians were busy picking olives. They gazed on at her and at the small group with her silently. Army Radio’s correspondents in the territories back then were armed. “Okay, you’re a soldier,” said to me one of the members of her entourage. “Now you’ll be our security detail.” 7 ● Weiss repeated [back in the present, in Evyatar] Rabbi Levinger’s slogan—Gush Emunim doesn’t force governments to bow, it “elevates” them. I asked her whether we could expect any similar acts of “elevation” in the future, saying that I wasn’t sure that the government would survive that. Laughter rippled through the room. And what about Beita, Elisha and I asked. People there were killed. This is a point of friction; now they’re going to establish a base here. Weiss remarked that the Palestinian prime minister had visited Beita in response to the establishment of Evyatar. “The nations of the world understand the Jewish people’s weaknesses and strengths. The Palestinians realize that this is a reality-changing event,” she said. I repeated my question about the demonstrations and the struggle by the Palestinians below. They’ll calm down, she replied.

8 The Arab Daily – June 29, 2021 Salvaging Israeli-Palestinian Peace By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz ● For how long will peace between Palestinians and Israelis remain viable? For one thing, with the passage of time their leaders are not getting smarter. The world is glad to see less of Netanyahu’s diplomacy, but ending his leadership is far from terminating Israel’s hegemony over the Palestinians. The new cabinet of right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is inclined to maintain the status quo of the occupation of land slated to be a future Palestinian state. Bennett is expected to focus on domestic issues of security and governance. He will also try to improve relations with Washington, which got worse during Netanyahu’s tenure. The new cabinet is dominated by ministers who oppose Palestinian statehood. Bennett is against a “two-state” solution and would even push for annexing a large part of the West Bank, knowing well that his secular-minded partners in the cabinet would oppose rapid land-grabbing. ● Over the span of five decades, Israeli society has become accustomed to living with hegemony: suppressing a nation equal to its size. Within the borders controlled by Israel, there are about seven million Jews and seven million Palestinians. In addition, six to seven million Palestinians live as migrants or refugees outside the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. This makes 13 million people dreaming daily of justice to be fulfilled. In the long run, friends of Israel do not serve its interests by defending it reflexively. When President Biden made his first public commentary on the eleven-day war between Gaza’s resistance and Israeli forces, he blamed the victim: “Israel has the right to defend itself”. ● Biden knows well that the occupation of Palestinian Territories in 1967 is the underlying factor of a five-decade tumultuous conflict. And the White House is aware that the precipitating cause of the recent outbreak of war was the threat to displace more Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel’s security forces. Washington’s policy on the most central Middle East issue has not changed significantly from that of the previous administration on matters of foreign aid and the disputed territorial question. The current US administration does not apply serious pressure on Tel-Aviv to negotiate for peace on reasonable terms. Instead, the US keeps augmenting its foreign aid to Tel-Aviv. Expect the newly formed Israeli coalition cabinet to continue expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, perhaps at a slower rate than before. No lessons have been learned from the recent outbreak of war with Gaza, neither by Tel-Aviv nor by Washington. ● Washington is now focusing first on promoting the expansion of the Abraham Accords and, second, on ending Israel’s political dysfunction: effectively restoring the status quo of no peace and no war. To give the impression of being fair toward the two sides, Washington promises to “improve relations” with the Palestinians and “encourage” the new Israeli government to “enhance the quality of life” in the West Bank, Gaza and in the Arab Israeli communities. Will the Abraham Accords serve the region without paying immediate attention to the future of Palestine? The simple answer is “no”. 9 ● No matter what the Arab or Israeli leaders dictate, and what Washington orchestrates, the Arab street will never offer real peace to Israel without witnessing tangible evidence of justice for Palestinians. To last or to expand, the Abraham Accords must have a popular base across borders. Currently it is a business and security deal at the top. Will Israel return to domestic stability without offering Palestinian statehood or equal rights for all? This second dimension of US policy is also problematic. Israel’s stability will not improve with the continuation of the status quo. As the state shifts demographically and ideologically to the conservative Right, tension between Arabs and Jews will rise. In such a sectarian climate, Palestinian Islamist politics has also been growing; Hamas is gaining status in Gaza and beyond. As religion gains dominance over politics on both sides, stability weakens; consequently, the current Israeli cabinet may not last long. ● As for the US goal to “improve the quality of life” of Palestinians, such a policy is unfair and unrealistic too. No amount of financial aid or of soft diplomacy would significantly alleviate the daily suffering of living under a brutal occupation. To ask a Palestinian to stay living under occupation until further notice, is like asking an inmate who has been in prison for 54 years (for no legitimate reason) to wait for parole for an indefinite time. ● Recent reports show a growing militancy among Israeli settlers. Settlers are gradually developing a Jihadi militia subculture. Their movement has nearly become a “Party of God”, even without a plausible cause. In its latest humanitarian report the United Nations revealed that in the first two weeks of June alone “perpetrators known, or believed to be Israeli settlers, injured 11 Palestinians including four children, damaged vehicles, and destroyed hundreds of olive trees, water systems and other Palestinian-owned property”. In conclusion, postponing US attention to Palestine is unfair, if not cruel. “Right” conditions are not expected to “mature” with the mere passage of time; the chances for statehood are eroding day after day. Apparently, Israel has no interest in dealing with popular Palestinian leadership or in facing Palestinian unity. In the open Israeli politicians call for “better Palestinian partners for peace” while they covertly continue to assassinate or jail strong resistance leaders. If there is a suitable time for a radically innovative approach to resolving the Palestinian question it is now. It won’t be easy or guaranteed. ● Dr. Ghassan Michel Rubeiz is an Arab-American writer, journalist and commentator on issues of development, peace and justice, He is the former Middle East Secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches.