Israel and Middle East News Update Thursday, February 11

Israel and Middle East News Update

Thursday, February 11

Headlines: ● Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Reject Criticism, Defy Virus Rules ● PM: Ben Gvir Won’t Be in Cabinet, Will Be Part of Coalition ● IDF Completes 'Lightning Storm' Exercise in the North ● Gazans Hope for Vote After Years of Deterioration ● "Munich Group” Makes New Israel-Palestine Proposals ● Turkey and Israel Inch Closer Toward Reconciliation ● Blinken, Saudi Foreign Minister Discuss Yemen, Defense ● Iran Produces Uranium Metal, in Latest Breach of Deal

Commentary: ● Yedioth Ahronoth: “Bennett, it’s in Your Hands’’ - By Amos Malka, former director of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate

● Yedioth Ahronoth: “No Phone Call from Biden’’ - By Itamar Eichner

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 1725 I St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President Editor: Yousef Bashir News Excerpts February 11, 2021 Associated Press Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Reject Criticism, Defy Virus Rules Ultra-Orthodox Jews have defied coronavirus restrictions by holding big funerals and gatherings for beloved rabbis who died of COVID-19. The gatherings have led to clashes with police and an unprecedented wave of public anger toward the religious community. Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protested lockdown restrictions and faced off with police officers. The ultra-Orthodox community makes up about 12% of Israel’s 9.3 million people. It has wielded outsize influence, using its kingmaker status in the Knesset to secure benefits and generous government subsidies. Ultra-Orthodox men are exempt from military service and collect welfare payments while continuing to study full time in seminaries throughout adulthood. Their schools enjoy broad autonomy and focus almost entirely on religion while shunning basic subjects like math and science. Dig Deeper ‘‘Four Arrested After Israeli Police, Ultra-Orthodox Jews Clash in Jerusalem’’ (I24 News)

Times of Israel PM: Ben Gvir Won’t Be in Cabinet, Will Be Part of Coalition Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the leader of the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party will not be a part of the next cabinet but will be a member of his coalition. Netanyahu spoke to right-wing Channel 20 after his Likud party signed a surplus vote-sharing agreement with the Religious Zionism Party, which includes the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit. Under the agreement, furthermore, Likud promised that Netanyahu would include Religious Zionism MKs “in any government he forms.” The vote-sharing agreement allows the parties to ensure that extra votes they win that don’t add up to a Knesset seat do not go to waste. Instead, the combined leftover votes go to the party closest to winning another seat — and are often sufficient to add that seat to its tally, making the votes potentially decisive in a close race. This is not the first time Netanyahu has been behind a deal to bring Otzma Yehudit into the political mainstream.

Jerusalem Post IDF Completes 'Lightning Storm' Exercise in the North After the IDF Intelligence hinted about the readiness of Hezbollah to a limited confrontation with Israel, the army completed the “Lightning Storm” exercise, which trained the cooperation between different units near the Lebanese border. The exercise also included the operation of the IDF’s unified target attack system – the “Circle of Fire.” Troops from the Northern Command took part in the exercise, along with other forces from the Air Force and Navy, the Computer Service and Cyber Defense Directorate, the Intelligence Directorate, and the Israel Police. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, visited the exercise and examined the readiness of the forces on the ground for defense and attack scenarios, including sudden operational events on the border, accumulation of forces, rapid use of fire, and the defense of northern towns. 2 Times of Israel Gazans Hope for Vote After Years of Deterioration Palestinian poll workers fanned out across the Gaza Strip, where they found voters eager to register ahead of elections that could serve as the first referendum on Hamas’s rule since the terrorist group seized power more than a decade ago. The outreach came a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party and Hamas reaffirmed their commitment to elections, the first since Hamas won a surprising victory in 2006. 28 teams from the Central Elections Committee deployed to help register voters in Gaza. Election officials said interest was high, with more than 90% of Gaza City’s 385,000 eligible voters having registered before a February 16 deadline. It’s unclear whether Gazans will punish Hamas in the polls. Hamas blames the enclave’s problems on Israel and Abbas, and it retains a strong base of support among Gaza’s population of more than 2 million. Dig Deeper ‘‘Israeli Officials Brace for Un Condemnation Over Palestinian Vaccination’’ (Ynet News)

Axios "Munich Group” Makes New Israel-Palestine Proposals A group of Arab and European countries nicknamed “The Munich Group” is lobbying Israeli and Palestinian leaders to commit to a package of confidence-building measures. The countries are hoping to improve the atmosphere between the Israelis and Palestinians as the Biden administration reviews its policy on the issue. But European diplomats say both sides are hesitant to take any steps without the participation of the Biden administration. Last week, the ambassadors of Germany, France, Egypt, and Jordan met with the director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and presented possible steps Israel could take. They included providing more vaccines to Palestinian medical teams, unfreezing the bank accounts of Palestinian prisoners and transferring the dead bodies of suspected Palestinian terrorists, which are withheld by Israeli security forces. The most substantial request was a freeze on all new settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Dig Deeper ‘‘Trying to Woo US with Election, Palestinians Drop a Hot Potato in Biden’s Lap’’ (Times of Israel)

Ynet News Turkey and Israel Inch Closer Toward Reconciliation News of rapprochement between Israel and Turkey is heating up after years of ebb and flow in their diplomatic ties. According to Turkish officials, the once-close allies are eager to kick-start their renewed relations soon. Both countries expelled their ambassadors in May 2018 over the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli forces along the Gaza border and following Washington’s decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. Turkish President Recep Erdogan said Turkey would like to have better ties with Israel but Israeli policy toward the Palestinians remained “unacceptable.” Erdogan champions the Palestinian cause and has a contentious relationship with Netanyahu. Erdogan said then that Turkey had some issues with “people at the top level” in Israel, adding that Palestine still constitutes Turkey’s red line and that it was impossible for Ankara to accept Israel’s “merciless” policies regarding the Palestinian territories.

3 Reuters Blinken, Saudi Foreign Minister Discuss Yemen, Defense Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed diplomatic efforts to end the war in Yemen and bolstering Saudi Arabia’s defenses in a call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the State Department said. Saudi state media and the state department said the two ministers also discussed the need to find a political solution to the war in Yemen. On Wednesday, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it carried out a drone attack on Saudi’s Abha airport, which the Saudi- led coalition fighting Houthi forces in Yemen said caused a fire in a civilian aircraft. The two officials “discussed joint efforts to bolster Saudi defenses against attacks on the Kingdom,” the State Department said in a statement. President Joe Biden last week named veteran diplomat Tim Lenderking as a special envoy to Yemen in a bid to step up American diplomacy to end the war. The new administration in Washington has also announced an end to its support for Saudi-led military operations in Yemen.

Ynet News Iran Produces Uranium Metal, in Latest Breach of Deal Iran has carried out its plan to produce uranium metal, the UN atomic watchdog confirmed, despite Western powers having warned Tehran that would breach their 2015 nuclear deal as uranium metal can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iran began breaching its nuclear deal with major powers step by step in 2019 in response to former President Trump's withdrawal from the deal the previous year and Washington reimposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Iran has accelerated those breaches of the deal's restrictions on its atomic activities in recent months, potentially complicating efforts to bring the US back into the deal under President Joe Biden. A law passed in response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist in November, which Tehran blames on its foe Israel, called for steps including opening a uranium metal plant. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency in December it planned to produce uranium metal fuel for a research reactor. "Director- General Rafael Mariano Grossi informed IAEA Member States about recent developments regarding Iran's R&D activities on uranium metal production as part of its stated aim to produce fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor," the IAEA said in a statement. Dig Deeper ‘‘Iranian Nuclear Scientist Killed by One-Ton Automated Gun in Israeli Hit: Jewish Chronicle’’ (Reuters)

4 Yedioth Ahronoth – February 11, 2021 Bennett, it’s in Your Hands By Amos Malka ● I’ve noticed recently that Naftali Bennett has his eye on me. I mean that metaphorically, as someone who represents the disappointed, deliberating voters who are looking for someone to vote for this time. But after carefully observing all those who are competing from my vote, I am very hesitant to give it to him. I am a Mapainik from Kiryat Haim. I left the Labor Party many years ago because it went too far to the left and because of its serial assassinations of its own leaders. I voted three times for Blue & White and today, I am one of the many people disappointed in it. I am one of the people who believe that the campaigns that focus on right- wing versus left wing are mainly about branding because, at the moment of truth, we’ve seen all the governments, including the Netanyahu government, make sane decisions. ● I believe that the next government will have to focus on complex national rehabilitation, and not on foreign policy decisions. That’s why I am unmoved by the left wing-right-wing issue, and I have no problem in voting in the next elections for a sane right-wing party. I am currently deliberating among Yair Lapid, Gideon Saar and Bennett. On the one hand, I believe that Bennett is “sane right-wing,” intelligent, energetic, someone who has been successful in life, who has correctly and sharply criticized the current government, mainly the person who heads it, and even has ideas for solutions, some of which definitely seem very sensible. I also liked his remarks about how the next government will have to set aside all ideological issues for the sake of focusing on rehabilitation, and that all past signed diplomatic agreements must be honored. ● But my main problem with him is that he is trying to have his cake and eat it too: on the one hand, he has fiercely criticized this government and the prime minister the management of the coronavirus crisis and its various derivatives, while on the other hand, he has not promised the voters that he won’t join a Netanyahu-led government. That is liable to disqualify him [for me]. I realize that he is trying to maximize his ability to get votes from the right-wing and from the center, but it gives him the image of a capitulator. Can we be sure that he won’t succumb to the temptations that Netanyahu will offer him? Why is a majority of the public certain that he will crown Netanyahu once again? Bennett can decide the outcome of the elections even today: not by deciding who will form the next government, but by deciding who will not form it. If he pledges to the voter that Netanyahu must go and he therefore will not agree to serve in his government, then Netanyahu’s story will be over, because without Bennett, he won’t have 61 seats. I also expect another promise from Bennett: condition his joining any government on the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the management of the coronavirus crisis. After all, he is building his entire campaign on this fiasco—so he must issue an unequivocal statement saying so. This fiasco is worse than the Yom Kippur War in terms of preparation, decision-making, failure in the battle to hold back the enemy (by not closing Ben Gurion Airport), displaying weak leadership and hesitant management, thousands of dead, economic devastation, and more.

5 ● If a state commission of inquiry could be formed for the Second Lebanon War, it is even more obvious that one should be formed for the coronavirus fiasco. On the matter of the justice system, the immunity bill, the French law and the override clause—I expect Bennett to state clearly that he will not support letting Netanyahu evade his trial, that he will not support retroactive legislation, that he will only support an override clause that is passed by a majority of 80 MKs, and that changes in the justice system will only be done without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Bennett, persuade me that I am not risking my vote.

6 Yedioth Ahronoth – February 11, 2021 No Phone Call from Biden By Itamar Eichner ● The former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, embarrassed Prime Minister Netanyahu when he wrote an odd post on Twitter in which he asked why President Biden, who had spoken to several world leaders since assuming office, had not yet called Netanyahu. “Joe Biden, you’ve called world leaders from Canada, Mexico, UK, India, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Russia. Might it now be time to call the leader of Israel, the closest ally of the US? The PM’s number is: 972-2-6705555,” he wrote and included a picture of Netanyahu together with Biden from the past in Jerusalem. Danon’s tweet went viral and immediately raised questions about the meaning of Danon’s initiative, who is known to be Netanyahu’s bitter political rival. The fact that Danon noted in the post that he was a former ambassador made many surmise that his post was an official Israeli initiative. CNN anchor Jake Tapper said that Danon was a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, whereas Seth Rogen, who has more than nine million followers on Twitter, wrote on Twitter: “most Jewish tweet ever! You never call!”. ● The Prime Minister’s Bureau did not comment yesterday on Danon’s tweet, but Netanyahu’s close aides said that Danon wanted to commit a “diplomatic terrorist attack” against Netanyahu and to embarrass him, perhaps because of his sense that Netanyahu was trying to force Danon out of the Likud’s leadership. Danon’s close associates said that the tweet had indeed been his own initiative but said that he had only wanted to help Netanyahu, and to put the focus on Biden’s treatment of Netanyahu. The fact is that three weeks since moving into the White House, Biden has still not called Netanyahu. Compared to the last two presidents, this is unusual. Obama called Netanyahu after four days, Trump called after only three days. The White House’s official explanation is that Biden is calling leaders based on a regional list and simply hasn’t yet gotten to the Middle East. ● Israeli officials are divided over whether Biden is deliberating ghosting or embarrassing Netanyahu, or whether Israel simply needs to get used to the fact that Biden is not Trump and it can forget about the close intimacy that those two leaders shared. This administration is focused on the battle against the coronavirus, repairing the damage to the economy and to businesses, climate change and competition with China. With all due respect, the Middle East is not at the top of Biden’s agenda. Sources close to the Biden administration say that the new administration is deliberately letting Netanyahu sweat. The Americans know that he has elections soon and don’t want to help him, particularly on account of past baggage. Israel’s statements against a return to the nuclear agreement and the comments made by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi didn’t contribute to building trust either. When looking at the list of the world leaders that Biden has already called, it’s hard not to reach the conclusion that someone in the White House is simply disregarding Netanyahu.

7 ● However, White House officials have hinted and signaled to Jerusalem saying that when Biden begins his talks with leaders of the Middle East, he will do Netanyahu the honor of being first. ● Dan Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Israel—who is now a candidate for a senior position in the Biden administration, perhaps even as ambassador to Israel again— commented yesterday at an online event. He said that the fact that Biden had not yet spoken with Netanyahu did not mean that Israel was unimportant. He said that the president would likely call next week and that there was no reason to be concerned. On Tuesday, when asked why Biden hadn’t yet called him, Netanyahu said: “I spoke to Biden immediately after his victory. He calls state leaders in the order that he wants, he hasn’t yet reached the Middle East. He will call, I have no doubt about that.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken also commented on the matter in an interview to CNN and said that Netanyahu was one of the first leaders that Biden had spoken to during the transition and that he was certain that they would have an opportunity to talk soon.

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