January 3 2020 Preventing Disaster for the Center-Left Bloc by Ephraim Sneh, Served in Four Israeli Cabinets
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Israel and the Middle East News Update Friday, January 3 Headlines: • Top Iranian General Qassim Suleimani Is Killed on Trump’s Orders • The Killing of Iran's General Soleimani is Hugely Significant- Analysis • Israel IDF Chiefs to Convene After Soleimani Killing • Trump Envoy to Visit Israel, Discuss Middle East Peace Plan • Court Rejects Petition Seeking to Bar Netanyahu from Forming Govt’ • Poll: left Bloc Leads, Likud Steady Despite PM’s Immunity Request • Leaders from Israel, Cyprus, Greece Sign EastMed Gas Pipe Deal • Israel Set to Build Advanced National Communications Satellite Commentary: • JTA: “My Plan to Fight Anti-Semitism” - By Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate and former US vice president • Ha’aretz: “Preventing Disaster for the Center-Left Bloc” - By Ephraim Sneh, served in four Israeli cabinets 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 January 3, 2020 New York Times Top Iranian General Qassim Suleimani Is Killed on Trump’s Orders The commander of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was killed early Friday in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport that was authorized by President Trump, American officials said. The commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, and several officials from Iraqi militias backed by Tehran were killed when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired missiles into a convoy that was leaving the airport. General Suleimani was the architect of nearly every significant operation by Iranian intelligence and military forces over the past two decades, and his death was a staggering blow for Iran at a time of sweeping geopolitical conflict. See also, “Who is Qassem Suleimani? Iran farm boy who became more powerful than a president” (Guardian) CNN The Killing of Iran's General Soleimani is Hugely Significant- Analysis The significance of Thursday's US strike against Qasem Soleimani cannot be overstated because he ran Iran's military operations across the Middle East. Here is how General Joseph Votel, the then- commander of US Central Command that oversees American military operations in the Middle East, explained Soleimani's role in 2018: "Wherever you see Iranian activity, you see Qasem Soleimani, whether it is in Syria, whether it is in Iraq, whether it is in Yemen, he is there and it is the Quds Force, the organization which he leads, that I think is the principal threat as we look at this and the principal ones that are stoking this destabilizing activity." See also, “The Death of Qasem Suleimani Will Lead to Violence in the Region, Chaos in Iraq” (New York Magazine) Times of Israel Israel IDF Chiefs to Convene After Soleimani Killing An Israeli ski resort near the Syrian border that was the site of a previous missile attack was closed to visitors on Friday, amid fears of Iran exacting revenge on Israel for the US killing of a powerful Iranian general. The Israel Defense Forces said it had ordered the Mount Hermon Ski resort in the Golan Heights shuttered for the day “in light of a situational assessment.” Meanwhile Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called a situation assessment with the heads of the defense establishment at military headquarters in Tel Aviv. PM Netanyahu is in Greece Friday morning after signing a deal for a gas pipeline the previous day. There was no immediate news on whether he planned to cut his trip short. Ha’aretz Trump Envoy to Visit Israel, Discuss Middle East Peace Plan U.S. President Donald Trump's special assistant Avi Berkowitz, who is leading the Middle East peace plan, will arrive in Israel next week, signaling the White House hasn’t fully given up on promoting the initiative. The peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians has been in deep freeze since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government after Israel's April 9 election. Berkowitz, a close aide to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has been working on the plan since Jason Greenblatt left his post as the president's special envoy to the Middle East in September 2019. Berkowitz joined Kushner on his last visit to Israel in October. See also, “Avi Berkowitz making his first trip to Israel since taking office“ (JPost) 2 Times of Israel Court Rejects Petition Seeking to Bar Netanyahu from Forming Govt’ The High Court of Justice threw out a petition on Thursday that urged it to bar Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government after the upcoming March election due to the charges against him in three criminal cases. The court said it would not make a decision on the matter, because the timing was “premature.” The panel of justices led by Supreme Court President Esther Hayut indicated it was too early to give a ruling as the election has not yet taken place, and said the petition may be more pertinent if and when Netanyahu is about to be tasked with forming a government after the election. “According to Basic Law: The Government, the president is the authorized party to impose on one of the Knesset members the task of assembling the government. See also, “Israel supreme court dismisses 'premature' Netanyahu petition” (Guardian) Ha’aretz Poll: left Bloc Leads, Likud Steady Despite PM’s Immunity Request Polls published Thursday night, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested immunity from trial in the three corruption cases against him, show that if the election was held today the center- left bloc would lead over the right-wing bloc by two Knesset seats. According to a Channel 13 poll, the center-left bloc would receive 58 seats compared to 56 for the right wing bloc – leaving both blocs short of the 61 seats necessary to form a governing coalition. A Channel 12 poll predicts the center- left bloc will receive 57 Knesset seats, compared to 55 for the right-wing bloc. In both polls, Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan emerges as the largest party, two Knesset seats ahead of Netanyahu's Likud. See also, “Jerusalem Post poll finds 6-seat Blue and White lead” (JPost) Bloomberg Leaders From Israel, Cyprus, Greece Sign EastMed Gas Pipe Deal Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended in Athens Thursday the signing ceremony for the accord to construct the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline.The 1,900-kilometer (1,181 miles) link will connect recently discovered, and to-be-found, gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean basin with European markets through Cyprus, Greece and Italy. The project is being developed by IGI Poseidon SA, a joint venture of Greece’s state-owned supplier Depa SA and Edison SpA. Italy is set to sign the agreement at a later date. “Today, we did not just sign an advantageous agreement, but also cemented our decision for strategic engagement in a region that’s in need of cooperation,” Mitsotakis said at the ceremony. “EastMed is not a threat to anyone.” See also, “PM cuts short Greece tripafter Soleimani killing (TOI) Ynet News Israel Set to Build Advanced National Communications Satellite Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer will develop and manufacture a national communications satellite that is expected to serve the country's needs for at least 15 years. According to the agreement signed between Israel Aerospace Industries and the government on Thursday, the development of the satellite, dubbed 'Dror-1' will take up to four years and will cost approximately NIS 200 million ($58 million) to develop. IAI is expected to utilize mainly Israeli-developed technologies to build the satellite, such as a digital communications payload and "space smartphone" capabilities, enabling communication flexibility.See also, “IAI to build Israel's national communications satellite” (Globes) 3 JTA- January 3, 2020 My Plan to Fight Anti-Semitism By Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate and former US vice president • Anti-Semitic hate crimes are currently on the rise across the United States. In 2018, there were two deadly shootings at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, violent attacks now regularly plague the Jews of New York City and Jews continue to be the target of most religion-based hate crimes across the country. What is your plan to address the rise in anti-Semitism across the US? • We have a serious problem with rising tides of white supremacy and anti-Semitism — both in America, on the political right and left, and around the world. It’s not a new phenomenon, but it is the responsibility of leaders everywhere to work aggressively to combat this poison. Instead, we have a president who, in clear language and in code, encourages and emboldens it. • After Charlottesville, Donald Trump gave renewed license and safe harbor for hate to white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and the KKK. There’s a short line from those people marching with tiki torches in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us” to the shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh saying Jews “were committing genocide to his people.” • We need a comprehensive approach to battling anti-Semitism that takes seriously both the violence that accompanies it and the hateful and dangerous lies that undergird it. Sadly, anti- Semitism takes many different forms and cuts across ideology, political party, group and nation. So we must remain vigilant and speak out every time we see the persistent evil of anti-Semitism rear its ugly head. It’s incumbent on all of us to stand against those who traffic in pernicious stereotypes, or who seek to scare and divide us for political gain. Silence is complicity, so we must speak out — every time.