Selected articles concerning , published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum ( [email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L

Issue 8 4 3 Volume 20 , Number 2 2 Parshias Beha'aloscha June 13 , 20 20

Israel Experiences a Resurgence of COVID - 19, but This Time with No One to Blame By Ruthie Blum israelhayom.com June 2, 2020 An apology is due the ultra - Orthodox. were members of the haredi (ultra - Orthodox) community. Two weeks after Israel gradually reopened its No, that scenario has been an integral part of the blame education system, students and teachers around the game since the deadly virus first reared its microbes in the country came down with the coronavirus, forcing Jewish state. thousands of their peers and family members into As soon as Israelis started getting si ck and dying, the quarantine. haredim became both the face of the tragedy and the The main hotspot has been the high school, culprits behind its spread. Rather than examining and Hagymnasia Haivrit, in the capital’s Re chavia trying to empathize with the key reasons for the high rate neighborhood, which had to shut down due to the more of infection among the ultra - Orthodox — such as the large than 130 adults and teenagers who tested positive to size of nuclear f amilies living in cramped quarters, and a COVID - 19. lack of access to news via TV and the Internet — the More than 17 additional schools also closed, some by country turned on them as the perfect scapegoat for its ministerial order, and a few by parental decree. frustration and fear of getting ill. If the trend continues, the Ed ucation Ministry may Even when the massive education campaign in haredi - succumb to pressure from health officials to send everyone majority areas prov ed successful — with the added benefit home to resume classes via Zoom — just like during the of bringing Israel Defense Forces soldiers and black hats good old days less than a month ago. together in a touching show of mutual kindness and Kids were honest about how this happened. Few admiration — the media played up every subsequent adhered to social - distancing and mask - we aring regulations. violation displayed by the disobedient minority. Many greeted one another with hugs and kisses. The Following the Lag B’Omer holiday last month, for general feeling among all was that the crisis was over. instance, news sites highlighted every ultra - Orthodox The thousands of beach - goers who descended upon bonfire with dramatic headlines while giving a perfunctory the shores of the Mediterranean as soon as the nod to the fact that most of the community stayed at government lifted restrictions on d oing so exhibited a home. similar sense of freedom from lockdown bondage. Ditto The enmity towards the haredim is not restricted to for the diners and partiers who piled in to cafes, secular Israelis. On the contrary, the country’s national - restaurants, bars and nightclubs with great fervor, but little religious community is often even angrier at their extremist attention to the government’s frequent urgent requests to co - religionists for opposing military service and, in case of practice s ocial distancing, wash hands and wear masks. some sects, for rejecting Zionism altogether. The most striking aspect of the sharp spike in Ironically, secular Israe lis rarely can distinguish infection — which, so far, has not led to a corresponding between one group of haredim and another, treating them rise in the number of deaths — is the response to it on the as a homogenous bunch. But then, few people are as part of the mainstream media and Twittersphere. Though judgmental and discriminatory as those who fancy many pundits have been opining that “we reopened the themselves to be truly “enlightened.” economy too soon,” nobody is faulting a particular This brings us back to the new outb reak of COVID - religious or socioeconomic demographic. Some critics 19, which has struck not the ultra - Orthodox, but their oh - attack the young for being selfish and clueless, thus so - liberal counterparts. endangering the lives of their elders with pre - existing Suddenly, the discussion is no longer about the medical conditions. identity of the coronavirus carriers. Indeed, no accusations Others vo calize a general dim view of Israeli culture, are being flung at them for the way in which they choose in which rule breaking is a badge of honor — or at least a to observe their Judaism. sign of cool rebelliousness and an assertion of Nor are the hip Israelis who flouted the directives to independence over authority figures. such an extent that the government may have to reinstate But no one has mentioned that the people causing the temporary closures apologizing to the haredim, whom they current uptick in COVID - 19 cases are secular Israelis. You previously vilified for the same behavior. know, the ones who adhere even less to Jewish law than Let the res t of us do it for them, then, while hanging they do to pandemic regulations. our heads in shame. One need not imagine the kind of epithets that would Ms. Blum is an Israel - based journalist and author of “To Hell in a be flying through the air right now — faster than Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.’ ” coronavirus droplets — if the transgressors in question Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 2

Why the Libyan Civil War Should Worry Israel By Eran Lerman jiss.org.il May 24, 2020 A Turkish bid for dominance in the eastern ensue? Or can a different political outcome still be Mediterranean. possible, despite the mutual hatred, which may leave Sarraj Within the last few months four major developments in power in power in Tripoli (thus giving Turkey the right not only intensified the civil war in Libya, but turned it to claim “success”) but can still ensure that the EEZ deal into a deadly struggle for the future of the eastern will be undone? Mediterranean as a w hole: This now depends on five factors: In November 2017 in Ankara, the “Government of The ability of Haftar’s forces (backed mainly by Egypt) National Accord”, led by Prime Minister Fa’iz al - Sarraj, to maintain control over much of the country, despite the signed two agreements with Erdogan. One provides for setbacks, and contain the GNA counter - attack (called Turkish military support for the GNA (which effectively “The Volcano of Anger”) so as to deny the Turkish rules only in Tripoli and adjacent a reas) in its war with intervention its ultima te goal of destroying the LNA. The Khalifa Haftar’s Benghazi - based “Libyan National Army”. role played by Russian “Wagner” mercenaries (and now by The other claims to delineate a border in the eastern pro - Assad Syrian “volunteers”) may be troubling; but the Mediterranean between the Exclusive Economic Zones consequences of total collapse of the LNA would be (EEZ) of Turkey and Libya. The latter is designed to break severe. up the EMGF (E astern Mediterranean Gas Forum), and The ability of the relevant Eastern Mediterranea n Gas deny Cyprus, Egypt and Israel access to the European Forum nations to coordinate their policies effectively. The market. key players are Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and Israel (Jordan On March 31, 2020, the EU Council launched a CSDP and the Palestinian Authority are members, but not quite (Common Security and Defense Policy) military operation relevant). Tripartite summits should be convened as soon in the Mediterranean – codenamed IRINI (Greek for as possible. Italy has long been relatively friendly towards “ peace”) – to be carried out by the EUNAVFOR (EU the GNA, but suspicious of Erdogan’s designs: by naval forces). Its declared purpose is to implement the UN assuming operational command of Operation IRINI arms embargo on arms to the warring sides; but since the Rome may be indicating a willingness to act to curb LNA relies on an overland line of supply from Egypt, the Turkish ambitions. actual meaning would be to prevent Turkish shipping of The commitment of the European Union, althou gh arms to the GNA. The French Navy has already taken beset by coronavirus concerns, to stand up to Erdogan; to such action – in line with the promise Macron made to exact a painful price for the actions taken against an EU Mitsotakis during the latter’s visit in Paris in January 2020. member, namely Cyprus; to sustain naval action In late April 2020, Haftar abandoned the “Berlin controlling the sea lanes to Libya; and to back the process” and all e fforts to find a political solution. He alternative map of EEZ borders that It aly, Greece and announced the Skhirat Agreement of 2015 null and void, Egypt plan to present. and openly declared himself as the legitimate ruler of An unequivocal stand by the Trump Administration. Libya. Backed by a somewhat unwieldy coalition of Egypt, The US can offer Erdogan, on one hand, support on his the UAE, Russia and France, and even the Asad reg ime in legitimate concerns, such as combatting the pandemic, Syria, his forces have laying siege to the GNA in Tripoli: which has spread dramatically in Turkey; stabilizing the attempts by France, Italy (at odds with each other) and in si tuation in Idlib, which threatens to send hundreds of January 2020, Germany to bring about a compromise all thousands fleeing northwards; or even leave Sarraj in came to naught again and again. power in Tripoli: but Washington (including Congress) Haftar’s announcement came despite (or becaus e of) must sternly warn Ankara against actions which destabilize the serious setbacks suffered by his forces: most the eastern Mediterranean and endan vital interests of significantly, the loss of the al - Watiyah Air Base, south of key U.S. allies. Israel’s main contribution can and should Tripoli, in mid - May 2020. This was a dramatic be to make discreet but intensive efforts in Washington achievement for the Turkish intervention in support of the (specifically, in Congress) so as to focus attention on this GNA (drones, air defense, and the transfer to Tripoli of crucial question – and generate real pressure on Turkey, Islamist and Turkmen Syrian militias). which is highly vulnerable economically, to abandon the The Factors which may Determine the Outcome Libyan EEZ adventure. True, the gas pipeline may be a The GNA now refuses to accept any political process pipe dream, given present energy prices: but the alignment that would give the “war criminal,” Haftar, a legitimate of the EMGF, and specifically, the partnerships with role. The stakes are ever higher, and th e future of the Egypt and Jordan as well as Greece and Cyprus, is of great Mediterranean may now hinge upon the military outcome. strategic importance for Israel, well beyond its economic Will Erdogan’s ambitious and aggressive strategy succeed, implications. with all that this would entail for the future of the eastern A recognition by Putin that despite the complex Mediterranean region? Will a long and bloody stalemate calculations about competing gas projects, Russia’s first Page 3 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel

priority should be to contain Erdogan’s neo - Ottoman organized with Greece and Cyprus: it should als o serve as a mbitions – and thus work closely not only with Haftar an opportunity to bring the new ministers of Defense, but also with Egypt, Israel, Greece and Cyprus (with the Foreign Affairs – with continuity in the PM office and the latter two Russia has meaningful historical, cultural and Ministry of Energy – up to speed on the strategic religious affinities). All this, while seeking to avoid a importance of the alignment. Close attention to the needs resumption of the military co nfrontation between Russian of Egypt (and Jordan) in this context may even help and Turkish proxies in Libya. alleviate tensions over other issues. Policy Recommendations Working in Washington (with both the Administration In order to bring about a de - escalation, and possibly and Congress) to overcome the understandable qualms revive the political process (on the basis of coexistence and about Haftar – neither a paragon of moral probity nor a de - centralization), there should and can be an alignment of military genius – and neverth eless act firmly, using the European, Russian, perhaps Chinese (given the role of the leverage the US has already established, to ensure that Mediterranean in the BRI) and certainly American Turkey would be forced to abandon the Ankara MoU’s of positions. It should be the role of the key EMGF counties November 2019. to help generate such an alignment. Placing this issue on the (already crowded) agenda Thus, pressure can be brought to bear on Erdogan to with Putin, whose basic sentiments are quite close to those play a constructive role. This is not beyond the realm of of Israel: and seeking to ensure that the demand to annul the possible, given the vulnerability of the Turkish the EEZ map would be part of any renewed effort to economy. While Erdogan may well be able to point to the broker a ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations, along survival of the GNA as an impressive achievement of his the lines of Putin’s agreement with Erdogan, and the intervention, he would need to let go of the dangerous and Berlin Conference in Janua ry 2020. destabilizing delineation of the EEZ border: the counter - Meanwhile, amidst many other challenges, the IDF – map, reportedly being prepared by Egypt, Greece and navy, air force and intelligence – as well as Israel’s defense Italy, should be upheld – as the international norms and intelligence establishment as a whole should start require. preparing for the darker scenario of having to face an Israel’ s role must, by necessity, be diplomatic and overt Turkish bid to f ully control the eastern discreet. It should focus upon three avenues of action: Mediterranean sea lanes of communication Forging a common position of all EMGF countries. As soon as possible, a tripartite summit meeting should be

How Israel Can Fix the U.S. Peace Plan, and Why It Should By Moshe Koppel israelhayom.com June 4, 2020 Don’t let the blessing turn into a curse. also include a US c ommitment to respond appropriately in Israel now has a historic opportunity to appl y Israeli the case of irreversible Palestinian violations of the plan, law to the Jordan Valley and settlements in Judea and either on the ground or in the International Criminal Samaria. There are two purposes in applying Israeli law Court. there: 1) to regulate and normalize life through unified, The second step is to improve the maps attached to modern laws and to allow for long - term planning and 2) to the Trump plan. Let's tell the truth: these m aps were make it clear that I srael is here for eternity. drawn up in an almost criminally amateur manner. The According to the Trump plan, the application of current maps annex nearly 100,000 Arabs in the area of Israeli law to some of the territory entails a construction Biddu and Beit Lakiya to Israel and cut off entire cities freeze and the start of a process that could theoretically from adjacent roads, as well as other elementary mistakes. end with a Palestinian state. The plan is very good for To make the maps viabl e, there is no need to institute Israe l, but two steps must be taken to ensure that the major changes. The conceptual map gives Israel 32.4% of blessing doesn't turn into a curse. Judea and Samaria. Maintaining that same percentage, we The first step is for Israel and the US to sign a could apply Israeli law to all settlements and the Jordan memorandum of understanding in which the US will Valley, including the allocation of land for settleme nts; promise to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state corridors to connect communities, and major until the P alestinians fulfill all eight of the conditions of transportation arteries (especially Highway 60, including the Trump plan, which they will most likely never do. It is the Hawara and Al - Arus bypasses). None of this would important to remember that Trump won't always be require bringing any Arab village inside the new lines. president. Agreement on a map brings us closer to a Officials on the Right warn that a less - than - optimal Palestinian state without the conditions bei ng fulfilled if a map could lead to disaster. But these warnings are less friendly president moves into the White House. A unrealistic. Every road we currently use and control would signed memorandum might not bind the hands of another be the same under Israeli law. No road will become the president, but American tradition would make it very hard target of snipers and no community will be "choked off by for that president to ignore it. The memorandum must masses of Arabs." Ne vertheless, it is very important to Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 4

insist on details when the maps are being charted. To make Chinese involvement in major infrastructure projects in it clear that Israel will always remain here, we need to start Israel. the process with continuity and sustainability. A map that But more importantly, the Americans were amazed to isn't contiguous or sustainable project s impermanence, discover that the person who is slated to become prime thereby undermining the purpose of sovereignty. minister a year and a half from now, Blue and White leader There are reports that some representatives of Israel , isn't at all interested in applying Israeli law and the US are losing patience, and that the lack of to Judea and Samaria, regardless of the map chosen. Since agreement over isolated sections of the map has caused an then, their enthusiasm for their own plan has waned, along impasse. We can hope that t he obstacle will turn out to be with their flexibility and patience. The same Israeli political temporary. Both sides want to agree on the maps and the officials who prevented the formation of a narrow right - way ahead – only the finalization will require bold wing government, arguing that sovereignt y was a move negotiations. that demanded broad support, found out that a prime It's no surprise that people are losing their patience. minister - designate who opposes the move is worse for the Israel is disappointed that the Americans prom ised to sovereignty plan than an opposition leader who opposes it. agree to the application of sovereignty immediately after But we can find our way out of the mess and reach an the declaration in Washington, and subsequently changed agreement that will be nefit both the US and the Jewish their minds. The Americans also originally promised that people. The US will sign a memorandum of understanding, they would allow the needed changes to be made to the give a little when it comes to the maps, and let us handle map, and then dug their heels in opposition against them. our domestic politics on our own. At the same time, Israel The Americans were disappointed that the Israeli should cooperate with the US when it comes to Chi na, and Right didn't embrace every part of the plan. They were also announce that it is willing to adopt the Trump plan in full offended that Israel did not rule out the possibility of as the basis for future negotiations. The clock is ticking, but we still have time.

Who Really Represents America’s Jews? By Jonathan S. Tobin commentarymagazine.com June 2020 The Jews who first acquainted Muslim scholars with political and ideological lines that allow little room for Jerusalem. coope ration. The notion that any single organization could Yet by cloaking itself in a mythical consensus, the represent the views or the interests of American Jews on Conference has skillfully inserted itself into policy Israel — or any other issue — has always been risible. Yet discussions at the highest level both in Washington and this dubious assertion has been the raison d’être of one of abroad. Its ability to not merely be heard but to have its the more successful experiments in political activism in bland but still assertive b rand of advocacy be treated as an American Jewish history. important factor in rallying support for the State of Israel Born seven decades ago out of a hostile in Washington has made it the go - to place for anyone — administration’s impatience with the myriad Jewish groups especially foreign governments — who wishes to sound out lobbying the State Department about Israel, the the views of American Jewish influencers. Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Under the l eadership of Executive Vice Chairman has thrived by claiming to be the central address for Malcolm Hoenlein, who assumed the role in 1986, the American Jewish political interests. Conference became less of a club of organizational leaders But while the Conference has enjoyed a unique perch and more of an aggressive collective putting forward the in the organized Jewish world, many of the groups who views of the Jewish community on issues concerning Israel compose its membership are neit her “major” in any real and anti - Semitism at home and abroad. sense or, by themselves, particularly influential — let alone And then, in 2020, what ordinarily would have been a representative of American Jewry. routine changeover of lay leaders at the head of the Nor can it be considered the public face of the pro - Conference turned into an ideological donnybrook that Israel community. That distinction belongs to the put the future utility of the organization in jeopa rdy. American Israel Public Affairs Commi ttee (AIPAC). The President of the Conference of Presidents is a Unlike AIPAC, the Conference can’t mobilize tens of grand title, the responsibilities of the position somewhat thousands of activists to lobby Congress, attend an annual less so, since it was always understood that Hoenlein ran conference, or help direct campaign donations to friends the actual operation. The selection of a new president — of Israel or foes of the Jewish state’s critics. the post’s tenure is two yea rs — has been a fairly Despite its title, the Co nference has also lacked the uncontentious process. Not so this year, with the ability to command its member groups to take action on nomination and subsequent election of Dianne Lob, the even the most anodyne issues. All 53 organizations retain former head of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a complete autonomy of action and are divided along Jewish group whose purpose is to facilitate absorption of Page 5 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel

immigrants and refugee s. Lob’s ascension occasioned a As the memory of the Holocaust faded and Israel surrogate battle over whether the umbrella group would grew stronger in its defense of itself, passionate continue to take an aggressive stand of advocacy for the involvement in sympathy for Israel began to wane within positions of the government of Israel. the American Jewish community. The overwhelming The Conference was created in response to the majority of Amer ican Jewry was religiously non - Orthodox dilemma of how Jews could b est address an unfriendly and believed the universalist strain within Judaism to be its administration in Washington. Dwight Eisenhower’s most authentic expression — one challenged by Israel’s election in 1952 created a situation in which Jewish groups particularism and increasing religiosity. The Conference’s found themselves stymied in their attempts to lobby a standing as a group that embraced all segm ents of the State Department and White House that had little patience community helped sidetrack, if not entirely stifle, for the plethora of organizations seeking to bend their disaffection with its pro - Israel consensus. ears. Even so, liberal Americans became increasingly Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was particularly disillusioned by the more hard - boiled views about the indignant about being asked to listen to the opinion of an Palestinians articulated by elected Israeli lea ders skeptical array of groups claiming to speak for the pro - Israel or about prospects for peace with the Palestinians. That gap Jewish communities. His advice w as for the Jews to band widened following the collapse of the Oslo process after together and form a single group or face the possibility Yasir Arafat rejected peace at Camp David in 2000 and that none of them would get a hearing. So in 1953, an followed that up with the terrorist war of attrition called informal gathering of top Jewish leaders of groups such as the second i ntifada. the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith, the World That the Conference still held together throughout Jewish Congress, and the Zionist Organization of America this period was due to Hoenlein’s leadership and his ability became known as the “president’s club.” to recruit powerful and respected figures to assume the In 1956, when Eisenhower and Dulles came down position of lay leader of the organization. The list of hard on the Israeli government because of their opposition Conference leaders duri ng this era included the cream of to the Sinai Campaign Israel undertook with Britain and the organized Jewish world — figures such as Franc e against the Egyptian regime of Gamal Abdul Alexander Schindler, Morris Abram, Kenneth Bialkin, Nasser, the need to formalize Jewish advocacy became Seymour Reich, Richard Stone, and Shoshana Cardin, as urgent, and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish well as philanthropists such as Mortimer Zuckerman, Organizations was born. Ronald Lauder, and James Tisch. In the years that followed, the Conference served a All of them took seriously the idea that the useful purpose by giving substance to what was — in the Conference had to represent a consensus of pro - Israel wake of a wave of pro - Israel sentiment that swept over opinion. The umbrella group’s influence was maintained American Jewry in response to the aftermath of the despite the growing dissent against Israel’s measures of Holocaust, the 1967 Six - Day War, and the 1973 Yom self - defense and its refusal to trade more land for dubious Kippur War — a genuine consensus that regarded the hopes of peace in the aftermath of failed peace efforts. But Jewish state’s surviva l as a communal priority. The plight in recent years, it’s been harder to hold the line against the of the Jews trapped inside the former Soviet Union also increasingly loud voices criticizing not just Israel but rallied America’s Jews. Zionism itself. In the 1980s, when AIPAC began to concentrate its The problem was starkly ill uminated by a bitter debate energies on lobbying Congress while the Conference under about J Street’s bid for Conference membership in 2014. J Hoenlein’s leadership devoted it self to being heard by the Street fit most of the criteria of what constituted a “major” executive branch, widespread support for the alliance Jewish organization. Though only founded in 2008 as the between the two democracies finally reflected a larger Jewish rump of the Democratic Party activist group bipartisan consensus. M oveon.org, J Street was national in scope and had a not But the source of the Conference’s success in leading insignificant popular following. It had an easier time than Jewish activism on behalf of both Israel and the crusade to did far mor established groups in getting mainstream free Soviet Jewry — the notion that there is a such a thing media outlets like the New York Times to provide a as a Jewish consensus — always threatened its undoing. platform for its views. And thanks t o the generosity of The idea that an embattled Israel had the backing of leftist mega - donor George Soros, it was awash in cash. the overwhelming majority of American Jewry in its battle Aside from a few large organizations such as the Anti - for survival was p robably true during the period stretching Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and from the 1948 War of Independence to the Lebanon War AIPAC and representatives of the denominational groups, of 1982. But the enthusiasm for Israel during this period most are small outfits with narrow fields of interests. Many veiled a basic truth about American Jewry’s historic are made up of little more than a membership list, a small ambivalence about the idea of a Jewish state that had cadre of donors, and a minimal staff. J Street had more largely prevailed prior to 1948. clout than most of the other Conference members. Foc us o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 6

Yet though it billed itself as both “pro - Israel and pro - helping the masses of largely penniless Jewish immigrants peace,” J Street’s purpose was to be an alternative to find their way in the New World. AIPAC. As su ch, it sought to serve as the Jewish Then, in 2014, th e group stopped calling itself by its cheerleader for the Obama administration’s strategy of full name. creating more daylight between the United States and In an unfortunate act of political correctness, the Israel. And by 2014, it had become the leading Jewish group decided the focus on the “Hebrew” wasn’t inclusive advocate for Obama’s policy of appeasement of Iran that enough for the 21st century, and it now goes only by its l ed to the disastrous nuclear agreement concluded the acronym HIAS — and goes by the motto “Welco me the following year. stranger. Protect the refugee.” J Street’s core mission of mobilizing U.S. pressure on The shift was as much a matter of the changing face of Israel to force concessions to the Palestinians was HIAS’s client base and funding as a nod to the pieties of antithetical to the cause to which the Conference had been contemporary liberalism. For the past three decades, dedicated since it’s founding. So, despite the arguments almost all of HIAS’s clients have not been Jewish. The that the Conference needed more diversity in an era in HIAS of today is the source of legal aid and support for which younger and non - Orthodox Jews were less other sorts of immigrants, including Syrian refugees and enamored of traditional pro - Israel advocacy, and to the others seeking to escape either the chaos of the Arab and outrage of liberals, J Street’s membership bid was Muslim worlds or the misery of Central America. While decisively d efeated, with only 17 of the 50 groups voting to the focus of HIAS’s activi sm has changed, its back it. overwhelmingly Jewish supporters still think their work is By 2020, the 75 - year - old Hoenlein was transitioning to the quintessence of Jewish values. It has never played a emeritus status at the Conference. William Daroff, who role in pro - Israel advocacy — understandable, in a way, was hired to replace Hoenlein in 2019, came out of the since its mission was the settlement of Jews outside Israel, mainstream organized Jewish phila nthropic world and had in Am erica. impeccable pro - Israel credentials as well as a record of Much of the Jewish community has spent the past working in Republican Party presidential campaigns. Yet three years denouncing Trump’s rhetoric as well as his Daroff seemed to want to move the organization in a policies seeking to stem the tide of illegal immigration and direction that would make liberal groups feel more limit the numbers of those entering the country legally. In welcome. Such a c hange might shift the tone at a group in that sense, HIAS believes that its positions have which, unlike most American Jewish forums including the mainstream Jewish support. bipartisan AIPAC, the Jewish right and those sympathetic But groups such as the Zionist Organization of to both the Netanyahu government and the administration America, which strongly supports the stands of both of President Donald Trump felt more at home th an did Netanyahu and Trump and whose president, Morton those on the left. Klein, was the most outspoken critic of the Lob It was in this context that the Conference’s search nominatio n, believe that it’s too closely connected to its committee — over which both Daroff and Hoenlein claim leftist allies — including avowed foes of Israel — in the anti - they had no direct influence — made a choice that caused a Trump “resistance.” They think no one from HIAS can be dispute that may have no resolution. counted on to work with what is, by any reasonable Outgoing Conference president Ar thur Stark was the definition, the most pro - Israel president ever to serve in former president of the Bed Bath & Beyond chain of the White House. home furnishings stores and had led the Friends of the According to Klein, HIAS’s role in supporting Israel Defense Forces, a small apolitical fundraising group, immigration from Muslim countries amounted to an effort before assuming his national role. to ease the influx into the United States of a population The choice to succeed him came from a different that was likely to be a source of anti - Semitism. HIAS also corner of the Jewish world. Dianne Lob, a Wall Street ha s partnered at times with Muslim groups such as the executive who had served as the immediate past chair of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) that have a HIAS and a complete unknown in the world of pro - Israel record of support for anti - Israel terror and anti - Semitism. advocacy, emerged as the committee’s choice. Just as damning in the eyes of some Jews was the Founded in 1881 at the start of t he massive wave of decision of HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield to sign a 2017 letter immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States, along with other Jewish left - wingers supporting Linda HIAS’s yichus — its lineage — is more impressive than that Sarsour, the Palestinian - American activist and a former of just about any other Jewish group in America. From its leader of the anti - Trump Women’s March organization. inception in the 19th century through the early 1990s, This, despite her shameful record of anti - Semitic when the last m ajor group of Jewish immigrants arrived on utterances, opposition t o Israel’s existence, and ties to American shores from the former Soviet Union, the Nation of Islam hatemonger Louis Farrakhan. As far as Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society had the responsibility of the ZOA was concerned, all that rendered Lob a poor choice and also meant that HIAS had ceased to be a Page 7 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel

Jewish organization and ought to be ejected from the should not be discounted — then i t is not unthinkable that Conference b ecause it was working to undermine Jewish an institution that has served the Jewish community well interests. for more than 60 years may be doomed to split into two The debate that ensued was not so much about Lob’s ideological factions. At that point, it would be possible that personal credentials — she had no history of anti - Israel previously sidelined groups such as J Street or the ope nly activity and was vouched for by her sponsors as someone anti - Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace will no longer be with centrist views — as it was a stand - in for the hyper - hindered by the Conference’s influence. Conference partisan political combat that is the hallmark of present - leaders hope this split can be avoided once those involved day American discourse. get to know Lob and see that she has no interest in Like the rest of America, Jews are split along partisan abandoning its brief of pro - Israel a dvocacy. lines between supporters of Trump and his opponents, This argument is more than just a baffling example of with little room left for neutrals. While the overw helming inside - baseball Jewish politics that most Jews view with majority of American Jews remain liberals and loyal either dismay or indifference. The conceit of the Democratic voters, a minority that consists largely of Conference from its inception has been that the Jewish Orthodox Jews and political conservatives are Trump community’s ideological and den ominational differences backers in no small measure because of his record of could be transcended by a common affection for Israel. support for Israel. But the duel between ZOA and HIAS has come at a Many on the righ t now regard even AIPAC as moment in history when, as a result of growing rates of unreliable because of its support for a two - state solution assimilation and the resulting demographic implosion that and opposition to the idea of Israeli annexation of West it has caused, the non - Orthodox majority of American Bank settlements contemplated by Netanyahu’s new Jewry is less and less devoted to both Zionism and government. Whether or not that conclusion is reasonable, traditional conceptions of Jewish peoplehood. This means they s ee the Conference as the last line of defense for a that the previous assumptions about communal life can no genuinely pro - Israel movement. longer be taken for granted. ZOA’s claim that HIAS isn’t Jewish is based on the In theory, there ought t o be room for a compromise notion that pro - Israel Jews, as opposed to the general that will let the Conference continue to play a constructive Jewish population, are at odds with a growing tendency role. Indeed, most Jews still see themselves neither as far even among t raditionally nonpartisan organizations like the to the left as HIAS nor as comfortable on the right as Anti - Defamation League to act as either Democratic ZOA. But the no - holds - barred warfare over Trump that surrogates or fierce critics of a pro - Israel administration. characterizes American politics in 2020 has now become From their point of view, a HIAS takeover of the part of Jewish organizational squabbles. Conference, if Lob’s election can be depicted a s such a The no - holds - barred warfare over Trump that thing, constitutes a debacle that must be fought to the last characterizes American politics in 2020 has now become ditch. part of Jewish organizational squabbles. In an effort to stave off a split, Daroff helped The idea that shared history, faith, and values can negotiate a compromise by which Lob, who had the bring such disparate groups together under one roof may support of a clear majority of members of the Conference, no longer be true. A group that is comfortable with the would wait an additiona l year before assuming her new likes of Sarsour and other foes of both Israel and Trump’s role. But ZOA and seven allied groups still voted against immigration policies has little in common with Zionis ts granting her the title of president - elect, making Lob the who agree with the administration’s Middle East stands first Conference leader in its history who failed to receive and its dim view of continued mass immigration to the unanimous support. United States. Even after that, Klein and li ke - minded allies have What began as an effort for Jews to speak with one continued to state that HIAS has no right to call itself voice about Israel may end as evidence that, in the era of Jewish, leading in turn to angry denunciations of his Trump and diminishi ng Jewish support for Israel, the conduct from liberals who see him as the real threat to whole idea of a Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Jewish unity. They say that ZOA should be ousted from Organizations that upholds a cherished but mythical the Conferenc e on the spurious grounds that he violated concept of Jewish unity is an anachronism. its rules about civility. If that should happen — and given Mr. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org Klein’s determination to continue the fight against what he Visit suburbanorthodox.org for the current issue. believes are Israel’s foes, the odds of the struggle escalating

History proves J Street is wrong on annexation By Moshe Phillips jns.org June 10, 2020 Why all the fear and anxiety? The threat of U.N. didn’t stop Menachem Begin from doing what was resolutions and condemnation needed to protect Israel and its future. Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 8

J Street’s leader, Jeremy Ben - Ami, last week tweeted “Too often the credo of Diaspora Jews is ‘Keep a low that the Conference of Presidents of Major American profile, and anti - Semitism will disappear.’ The Jewish Organizations, which his group in not a member of, phenomenon of a Jewish Prime Minister standing up to should follow the lead of some of the honchos of the the gentile world and declaring boldly ‘Don’t teach us British Jewish establishment and speak out forcefu lly about morality or how to fight for our survival in your against Israeli government plans to annex large parts of midst!’ was jarring. And it was anxiety - provoking … to see Judea and Samaria. That is, extend Israeli law formally over … Jewish military power used preventatively to destroy land Israel has controlled for more than 50 years and life - threatening targets sponsored by hostile political where hundreds of thousands of Israelis already live. alliances.” The timing of the announce ment — just as Israel was The raid on Iraq was part of a chain of actions taken preparing to mark two important historic anniversaries — by Begin. Each of Begin’s moves caused an outcry from begs for comment. the United Nations, as well as official condemnation — the J Street is the controversial Washington, D.C. - based kind of con demnations that J Street has warned will come Jewish pressure group that was created specifically, and should Israel carry out its annexation plans. almost exclusively, to lobby for an independent Palestinian Before the Iraq attack, on July 30, 1980, the state. It was founded by Ben - Ami in 2007. He made his ratified the “Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel” that, statement on the 53rd anniversar y of the outbreak of the among other things, applied sovereignty to the ci ty. U.N. Six - Day War and days before the 39th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 478 attacked Israel for the “Operation Opera,” in which Israeli fighter jets eliminated move. former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s under construction And after the Iraqi operation, on Dec. 14, 1981, nuclear reactor in a daring raid. Israel’s Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law through Iraq was building a nuclear bomb. In 1981, 14 Israeli which Israeli law was applied to the Golan Heights. The Air Force F - 16s struck and destroyed the Osirak reactor, U.N. Security Council Reso lution 497 called the Israeli nearly 700 miles from Israel’s borders. The successful action “null and void and without international legal operation put an end to Hussein’s nuclear program. The effect.” United Nations adopted Security Council Resolution 487 The threat of resolutions didn’t stop Menachem Begin critici zing Israel for the attack. from doing what was in Israel’s best interest and was The strike on Osirak established what has been called needed to protect its very existence. the Begin Doctrine (name for Israeli Prime Minister Can one imagine wh at the Gulf War would have Menachem Begin), which unconditionally declared that the looked like had Hussein possessed nuclear - armed SCUD surprise raid was not a one - time thing. As Begin himself missiles, or what the Syrian Civil War would have meant explaine d in a June 15 interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, for Israel if Syrian President Bashar Assad controlled the “This attack will be a precedent for every future Golan? government in Israel. … Every future Israeli prime In the end, what did the U.N.’s Security Council minister will act, in similar circumstances, in the same Resol utions really mean for Israel? Was there any tangible way.” impact? Any lasting effect at all? What very few J Streeters know is that Yi tshaq Ben - Surely, Jeremy Ben - Ami and J Street must know the Ami (Jeremy’s father) was a key organizer in the United answer is clearly no. States for support in the 1940s for Begin’s Irgun What we must do is remind Israel’s leaders and underground army. ourselves that instead of hesitating, Israel sho uld look to Part of Yitshaq Ben - Ami’s foreword to the second the Begin Doctrine and gain the confidence required to (1983) edition of his memoirs, Years of Wrath, Days of take necessary action. History has taught us that J Street’s Glory, contains hi s reaction to Begin’s 1981 decision to warnings are nonsense: Israel is not hurt by U.N. criticism attack the Iraqi nuclear reactor and his 1982 decision to go and threats, Jeremy Ben - Ami’s cries to the contrary. to war in Lebanon against the PLO. He wrote: Mr. Phillips is national director of Herut North America’s U.S. division.

Political Deadlock and Pandemic Show the Weakness of Israel’s Cabinet Ministers By Haviv Rettig Gur timesofisrael.com June 3, 2020 In praise of unelected bureaucrats. But Litzman himself, Israelis learned over the past two , Israel’s former health minister and weeks, had almost no role in making those decisions or current housing minister, held one of the most important recommendations. posts in Israel’s government over the past four months. The Israeli right often complains about the country’s Decisions and recommendations that flowed from his “governability” problem — the way elected leaders often office decided the health and financial fate of millions of find themselves straitjackete d by over - powerful (and leftist, Israelis as the coronavirus pandemic raged and the the complaint goes) bureaucrats and unable to enact right - economy ground to a halt. Page 9 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel wing policies. It’s a constant refrain that even played a policies on a national lockdown, the grounding of air central part in ’s 2015 election campaign. travel, virus testing, and so on. But the coronavirus crisis and the past year and a half As the virus threat receded, Bar Siman - To v, or “Barsi” of political deadlock, from the fall of the 34th as he’s popularly known, announced on May 12 he would Government in December 2018 to the formation of the be retiring after five years as the Health Ministry’s director 35th on May 17, 2020, have led some, including on the general — a term extended by a year due to the lack of a right, to rethink the sources of the problem. Whether it functioning government. was the health minister, then - finance minister Moshe The announcement drew from Litzman effusive praise Kahlon, the absentee agriculture minister (a position held for his top subordinate. Bar Siman - Tov’s decisions during by four different people since November), or any number the crisis were “correct and inspired,” Litzman said in a of other vital cabinet posts, the unprecedented events of May 14 statement. He couched all of Bar Siman - Tov’s the past 18 months have showcased for Israelis the successes in the plural, as a team effort: “Throughout this fecklessness and irrespons ibility of much of their elected period we had to make difficult decisions to lead the leadership and the importance of the technocrats really country to victory in the struggle against the coronavirus running the show behind the scenes. pathogen. With God’s help, and thanks to the ingenuity The ministers Israelis needed most were busy avoiding and professionalism that Barsi showed, we have succeeded the hard decisions and responsibilities in the midst of a thus far.” dire national emerg ency — and it was the much - maligned So many were genuinely surprised when, fo ur days bureaucrats who stepped quietly into the breach and later, Litzman appeared to launch a concerted campaign to delivered coherent policies to deal with the crisis. besmirch Bar Siman - Tov — and to acknowledge, for the Prime Minister , left, then - health first time, his own irrelevance. minister Yaakov Litzman, right, and Health Ministry “I thought [Israel’s virus response] was panic,” he said Director G eneral Moshe Bar Siman - Tov at a press in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster on May conference about the coronavirus at the Prime Minister’s 18. “As soon as my director general [Bar Siman - Tov] said Office in Jerusalem on March 11, 2020. (Flash90) he fears there will be 10,000 deaths, I yelled in the cabinet MIA in a pandemic meeting, in front of all the ministers, in his presence, that I Doubts about Litzman’s role in managing the crisis disagree, that it won’t happen, that it’s an exaggeration. But began with his appearances alongside Prime Minister the prime minister accepted that exaggeration and gave in Benjamin Netanyahu at regular televised briefings on the to the director general’s fears.” government’s steps to combat the virus. While Netanyahu The next morning, May 19, in a radio interview, offered details about the virus’s spread or the Litzman accuse d: “Netanyahu preferred Bar Siman - Tov’s government’s distancing measures, and various other views. I told him [Netanyahu] that we have to decide officials discussed efforts to min imize the economic who’s the health minister. But the professional echelon fallout, Litzman’s appearances were consistently strange developed the recommendations and took them straight to and unhelpful. Netanyahu. Occasionally they updated me.” He provided no information, occasionally offered It was a startling acknowledgement of what everyone aphorisms or morality tales, and led many to wonder what already assumed. his role was at the decision making table. After the first Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, visits the few briefings, he stopped showing up altogether. ’s coronavirus operations center in The questions about his role grew more strident after Jerusalem together with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, he demanded to keep synagogues and ritual baths open right; Health Minister Yaakov Litzm an, second right; while other institutions were shuttering. His refusal to have Tourism Minister , left; and National Security his temperature checked upon entering the Knesset and Adviser Meir Ben - Shabbat, second left; on February 27, the fact that he ended up contracting the virus, sending 2020. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO) fellow ministers into isolation, helped cement the image of Litzman has been roundly pilloried for his hypocrisy a man wholly detached from the fight he was ostensibly and for throwing his subordinate under the bus. Pundits, leading. including in his own Haredi community, pointed out that On April 5, with the crisis in full swing, one of his views about the virus threat have changed more than Litzman’s closest political allies, fellow United Torah once over the past three months. In the early days of the Judaism MK , defended his party leader — by crisis, he repeatedly tried to diminish concern and prevent confirming his irrelevance. “The Health Ministry is of counter - pand emic measures from disrupting Haredi course controlled by the minister, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman,” communities. He demanded the government delay social Porush told Channel 12, “but it has a dir ector general, distancing measures until after the Purim holiday on [Moshe] Bar Siman - Tov, and he’s the one making the March 9 - 10, then pressured Netanyahu to exempt substantive decisions” — i.e., setting the Health Ministry’s synagogues from the general closure orders. Then, when the death t oll in Haredi bastion Bnei Brak began to climb, Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 10 he reversed course and demanded a complete quarantine finally left the post, it remained unmanned (technically of the city. held by Netanyahu, one of five ministries he led at the But the problem is deeper than the obvious fact that time). When N etanyahu relinquished nominal control after he has been on both sides of the issue. Litzman’s pivot his indictment in January 2020, Likud’s since May 18 reflects something important and widespread got the job — again, as an interim minister largely in Israel’s governance culture. uninvolved in the ministry’s operations. It wasn’t until May At the very start of the crisis, Bar Siman - Tov pointed 17, with the swearing in of the new governme nt, that the out to an interviewer with his trademark equanimity that Agriculture Ministry finally got a full - fledged minister, Blue he fully expects to be criticized over his handling of the and White’s Alon Shuster. crisis, regardless of how he acts or the pandemic’s actual Yet throughout this period, the ministry was a leading toll on Israeli society. It’s a problem innate to and influential force in the Israeli economy and in the epidemiology, he suggested. If you take only minimal country’s public debates. It took part in d ramatic decisions measures and the death toll spirals out of control, people and policy changes, including fights over import quotas on will ask why you didn’t take the threat seriously. But if you butter, eggs and other staples, changes to fishing a ct forcefully and manage to keep the death toll low, those regulations, and the public debate over the country’s food same people, he said, will ask why you took such drastic security and reliance on food imports. measures for such a minimal threat. There are no easy It did these things without a functioning minister — answers, and someone must stand in the breach, make the but with its respected Director General Shlomo Ben difficult decisions and suffer the inevitable scorn. Eliyahu ably filling the gap in leadership and setting policy By late March, at the height of the crisis, a survey cited in the name of his absentee bosses. in the business journal TheMarker suggested that Bar So it went across a broad range of ministries. Siman - Tov’s pessimism about public opinion might have Politicians ducked out of the limelig ht; most played no role been premature. Israelis had come to trust him. Asked in the nation’s response to the virus, and weren’t even seen whether they were satisfied with his handling of the crisis, by the public between mid - March and mid - May. 61 percent of Israelis said they were, the highest for any There is a common thread that links Bar Siman - Tov, official in the survey. Netanyahu was a close second at Babad and Ben Eliyahu. While the politicians jockeyed for 57%. Litzman trailed far behind at a dismal 22%. position and fail ed to manage the agencies officially under In turning on Bar Siman - Tov as the pandemic their control, it was the class of top - level bureaucrats that appeared to ebb (at least for the moment), the same successfully carried responsibility for the major decisions Litzman who avoided the decision making itself now of the state. sought to avoid the after - the - fact criticism, even if it means As the May 13 edition of TheMarker put it, the virus embracing his own irrelevance. crisis revealed the evas ion that lies at the root of the Rule of the bureaucrats complaint about overly powerful bureaucrats. While “Barsi” ran health policy in lieu of Litzman, his From left to right: Finance Ministry Director General colleague Shai Babad, director general of the finance Shai Babad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Health ministry, led economic planning while his boss, Moshe Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman - Tov and Kahlon, was similarly checked out in the midst of a National Security Ad viser Meir Ben - Shabbat at the Prime national emergency. Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem on March 22, 2020. In January, then - finance minister Kahlon informed (Screen capture: Twitter) repor ters that he would not run in the March election and “In such unprecedented and fateful circumstances, planned to leave politics for good. His Kulanu party’s when no lobbyist or media adviser could formulate a collapse in the polls and his own paltry prospects in Likud policy paper for them, when a decision one way or the after his return to his former political home last year other could seal political fates (and the fates of people seemed to drain the ambition out of him. Like Litzman, generally), the elected leaders preferred to take a step back, Kahlon missed policy meetings, showed up only to quiet the Facebook page and silence the tweets. Only occasionally at the televised briefings, and was largely when the moment called for leadership and responsibility uninvolved in the furious debate roiling the Israeli in unch arted waters could the loathsome bureaucracy government over how to balance social distancing with the finally get some screen time, and one could no longer hear need to safeguard t he long - term health of the economy. the complaint that the ‘rule of the bureaucrats’ weakened And on and on. the elected echelon and violated the democratic balance.” The Agriculture Ministry hasn’t had a functioning When Likud’s , the new tra nsportation minister since January 2019, when then - minister minister, peremptorily fired Transportation Ministry lost the National Union party’s leadership race to Bezalel Director General Keren Terner Eyal, outgoing Smotrich and began to plan his retirem ent from politics. transportation minister Smotrich offered a response that Ariel hasn’t been an MK since April 2019, but remained spoke volumes. minister in an interim capacity until November. When he Page 11 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel

Smotrich entered the Transportation Ministry last June It is usually held that a new government’s policies and as a devotee of the right’s argument against an priorities can be discerned by looking at its political overweening bureaucracy. But when news broke that makeup. But one might learn more by digging one level Regev had fired Terner Eyal, he revealed the depth of the deeper, moving past the posturing but often feckless change that had come over him during his first brief stint politicians to the chief bureaucrats of the state apparatus in the executive branch. — who will still be there to run the country even when the “Behind the engine of government st and exceptional politicians, whether out of cowardice, indifference or and devoted public servants, and the finest of them is political weakness, flee their posts and abandon their Keren Terner Eyal,” he gushed in a tweet. “I had the responsibilities. privilege of working alongside her and learning from her the mysteries of the ministry.”

Learning the Lessons of Israe l’s War of Attrition with Egypt By Sean Durns jpost.com June 8, 2020 Not the last time Western powers encouraged Israel successfully drove off Egyptians plotting an ambush. It to make concessions without receiving peace in was Israel’s first c ombat death in what would develop into return. a long war, characterized by intermittent combat. Perhaps Edmund Burke, the British parliamentarian and most infamously, Egypt would sink the Israeli naval political theorist, once claimed t hat “you can never plan flagship Eilat, along with two torpedo boats, on October the future by the past.” But the past does often 21, 1967. foreshadow the future. And events that unfolded in the Nasser’s objective, Klagsbrun noted, “wa s to wear Middle East fifty years ago this summer – while down the Jewish state’s strength and morale until it overlooked today – provide a good example. withdrew from all the territories that it had captured in A little more than half a century ago , Israel became 1967.” By March 1969, Nasser made the war official by embroiled in a war that seemed to be without end. That announcing that he would no longer recognize the cease - low intensity conflict, known as the War of Attrition, fire declared after the Ar ab - initiated Six Day War. Soon, marked a sharp departure from previous warfare. Instead “shootings and harassment of Israeli soldiers along the of relatively short conventional engagements, the Jewish canal became incessant, one operation following another, nation found itse lf in a slow, grinding war that not only like water steadily dripping on a rock, eating away at its presaged conflicts to come, but resulted in failed surface,” Klagsbrun wrote. diplomatic attempts that were themselves harbingers of continuing their proxy wa r in international forums and future peace plans. through various initiatives. Golda Meir, who became The war, Francine Klagsbrun wrote in her 2018 Israel’s prime minister following the February 1969 death biography of Israeli premier Golda Meir, “w as not of , was soon tasked with dealing with a Nixon heralded by marching bands blaring martial music,” but it administration that viewed the Middle East as not only an “was cruel and bloody and lasted longer than any of arena for great power competition, but also a distraction Israel’s previous wars.” from arms control initiatives and Vietnam. Combat began when Egyptian forces attacked Israeli By December 1969, then US Secretary of State counterparts near the Suez Canal a mere three weeks after William Rogers introduced a plan to break the deadlock Israe l’s stunning victory in the June, 1967 Six Day War. It between Israel and Egypt. Both sides rejected the would drag on interminably as Egypt, encouraged by her propo sal. Soviet patrons, sought to regain the ground and prestige By January 1970, Meir ordered bombing raids deep that it had lost in the recent conflict. inside Egypt. Nasser made a secret trip to Moscow, which As the late Israeli diplomat Chaim Herzog observed, furnished him with advanced fighter planes, SAM - 3 the War of Attrition, although it lasted until an August surface - to - air missiles, and thousands of military advisers. 1970 ceasefire, “did not attract worldwide attention,” but By contrast, the Nixon administrat ion refused to approve nonetheless many of its events were “to be complete the sale of arms and planes to Israel, hoping Klagsbrun innovations in the history of warfar e… with the battlefield notes, “to improve America’s diplomatic relationship with around the Suez Canal” becoming a “major proving Egypt and Syria and thus its influence in the region.” ground for the military equipment of the two In June 1970, Rogers introduced a new plan, which superpowers,” with the Soviet Union backing Egypt and included a 90 - day ceasefire. Meir, worrying that Egypt the US having promised to give Israel military aid. would exploit the ceasefire for military benefit, was Egypt, ruled by Gamal Abdel Nass er, began inclined to oppose it. But the US made it clear that doing ambushing Israeli patrols operating in the Suez Canal. On so would come at the cost of promised military aid. July 1, 1967, Israeli Defense Forces Major Uriel Menuhin Eventually American reassurances, including that n o Israeli was killed in action when his armored infantry company soldier would be withdrawn from the present lines until a Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 12 binding peace agreement was achieved, encouraged the exploited th e US - backed agreement, taking full advantage Meir government to accept the plan. This vow, coupled of American naiveté. with promises about forthcoming US aid, as well as Israel’s The Rogers Plan did not lead to bilateral negotiations downing of Soviet - pil oted MiGs in July, led to Israel’s between Israel and Egypt over borders. The arrival of a cabinet voting in favor of the new Rogers plan. new Egyptian leader, Anwar Sadat, and the consequences The ceasefire began on August 8, 1970. Yet, in the of the Yom Kippur War di d. Desiring to move from the hours before it took effect, Israeli aerial surveillance Soviet camp to the West, Sadat would later forge peace witnessed Egyptian soldiers moving Russian SAM - 2 and with Israel at Camp David. SAM - 3 missil es into place on their side – despite the fact The slow, intermittent fighting during the War of that the agreements forbade moving military equipment Attrition was a precursor of many of Israel’s subsequent into the area. As Klagbrun observed, “The ink had barely wars, from Lebanon to the Second Intif ada. And it would dried on the cease - fire agreement, and it was already being not be the last time that international actors and allies violated.” The US, however, initially denied that any would encourage Israel to accept agreements requiring it to violations had occurred. By September, the US State cede land, but without receiving in return the Department grudgingly admitted that, in fact, they had commensurate peace. been violated, but no consequences followed. “One cannot and must not try to erase the past,” Gold The SAM missiles would exact a devastating toll on Meir once wrote, “simply because it does not fit the Israel three years later, when Egypt initiated what became present.” Sometimes, however, events of the past mirror known as the Yom Kippur War. While Israel would the present all too well. eventually rebound, the dramatic losses of that war’s early Mr. Durns is a senior research analyst for the Washington office of days were the result, in part, of what flowed from the CAMERA, the 65,000 - member Boston - based Committee for Rogers plan. Just as Meir had feared, Israel’s enemies had Accuracy in Middle Eat Reporting and Analysis.

Iran’s Coronavirus Disinformation Provides an Opportunity for the U.S. By David T. Glenn and Ari Cicurel nationalinterest.org June 7, 2020 Combat conspiracy theories with the truth. track er. These numbers likely cover a fraction of the actual The Islamic Republic of Iran’s disinformation about virus fallout. A confidential report by Iran’s parliament the coronavirus creates an opening for the United States research center claims the death toll may be over double and its partners to pressure the regime by revealing its the official figure. abuses. “Lying is a delightful thing,” Fyodor Dostoevsky Recently, Iranian communications about the wrote in Crime and Punishment, “f or it leads to the coronavirus have mirr ored Chinese and Russian truth — what is offensive is that they lie and worship their disinformation campaigns. Their strategy seeks to avoid own lying.” Over 150 years after Dostoevsky penned those domestic or international accountability by creating an words, Iranian falsehoods about the novel coronavirus alternative narrative that minimizes their failures and spread like wildfire. criticizes America’s response to the pandemic. Iran’s leadership has a long history of destr uctive Iran’s leaders a re also pushing conspiracy theories behavior and disinformation operations to cover it up. about the coronavirus. Ayatollah Khamenei, amongst Some of its most recent frauds include: lying about not others, has argued it is an American - made biological massacring protestors, denying it downed a Ukrainian weapon. Likewise, Khamenei refuses U.S. aid, speculating passenger plane, and spreading the conspiracy theory that American “medicine is a way to spread the virus.” Both America and Israel support the Islamic State. argu ments are absurd, yet Iran continues to feed these lies Now, Iranian leaders continue to “worship their own to its people and spread them internationally, particularly lying,” denying their failed response to the virus and online. floating conspiracy theories. The truth: Tehran bungled its Earlier this month, Facebook dismantled an Iranian pandemic response from the start. disinformation network with connections to the Islamic Iran ordered air travel with China h alted on January Republic of Iran Broadcast ing (IRIB). Unfortunately, Iran 31, but Iranian leadership allowed Mahan Air flights until will likely create new accounts, restarting the endless game February 23. Meanwhile, Iran did not acknowledge the of whack - a - mole that social media companies play to virus’s presence in the country before it confirmed its first remove fraudulent content from their platforms. coronavirus deaths on February 19. How can America combat this disinformation Currently, the nation and its people are one of the campaign? hardest impacted by the novel coronavirus. Indeed, The United States must strive to reveal the truth about concern about the extent of the Iranian public’s suffering the Islamic Republic’s misdeeds by coordinating continues. comprehensive technological and media responses with As of May 28, Iran had over 143,000 cases and over international partners. 7,600 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus Page 13 June 13, 2020 Focus on Israel

First, providing everyday Iranians with tools to get private sector to attempt to coordinate a diver sity of like - truthful information weakens the regime. Much as U.S. - minded voices into a shared messaging strategy. Some of funded Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty offered the most persuasive messaging against the Islamic alternative programming in Soviet states during the Cold Republic comes from Muslim or expatriate groups who War, supplying greater internet access in Iran would share language and a sense of suffering from the abusive decrease the effectiveness of false narratives. Projects to hardliners. Tapping into the se groups can be immensely launch thousa nds of low - earth - orbit satellites, like helpful. SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, could Finally, coordinated social media messaging strategies provide cheap, uncensored internet access by bypassing with prompt, widespread dissemination can greatly expand local fiber connections. U.S. funding for programs that can the reach of government, journalists, activists, and ordinary provide cheap computers and phones with paid sat ellite individuals. Stronger public - private sector relationships, connections can help deliver uncensored information to with government and non governmental organizations Iranians. sharing guidance and non - sensitive information, can help Likewise, tailored cyber operations can advance policy social media companies, in particular, to flag, disclaim, or objectives to disable or minimize the regime’s ability to remove fraudulent material with greater speed and spread false information. Introducing measured accuracy. technological constraint s on the IRIB can decrease its Disinformation continues to be a dangerous and ability to disseminate the inaccurate narrative about the powe rful tool that America must combat at home and virus. abroad. Shedding light on false narratives provides the Next, the U.S. government should continue its active Iranian populace with the knowledge to better ward public engagement about Iran’s disinformation. In addition against the coronavirus lies today, as well as future Iranian to the various ongoing press conferences and Twi tter disinformation. exchanges from senior administration officials, candid and RADM Glenn, USCG (ret.) was the Director, Command, accurate messaging directly to the Iranian public, Control, Communication and Computer (C4) Systems and Chief particularly in Farsi, will help widely spread correct Information Officer (CIO) of the US Cyber Command. He was a information. participant on the Jewish Institute for National Security of However, U.S. influence has its limits. Iranians are less America’s (JINSA) 2012 Generals and Admirals Prog ram to inclined to sup port media with an overt pro - U.S. message. Israel. Mr. Cicurel is a Senior Policy Analyst at JINSA’s Messaging must be perceived to be truthful and unbiased. Gemunder Center for Defense & Strategy. Therefore, the United States ought to work alongside partner nations, nongovernmental organizations, and the

Israeli strategic infrastructure a battleground between the US and China By David Wurmser jns.org June 4, 2020 A national effort should be launched to use the post - coronavirus reset to overhaul the infrastructure industry to restore it to global dominance. the world in terms of both government and population. As In t he last week, three major infrastructure issues have such, Israel tends to yield to Washington’s wishes when it seized headlines in Israel in the context of the growing comes to global strategic issues, such as China. tensions between the United States and China: a major It is crucial that issues of strategic importance desalination plant, the development of a 5G network, and involving not on ly defense and defense technologies but now bidding on a major new power pl ant. also infrastructure have entered the U.S. - Israeli dialogue Under U.S. pressure, an Israeli desalination plant, the over China. Israel is becoming a critical Western economic tender for which was expected to be awarded to a interest in terms of being an incubator of global high - tech. consortium involving Chinese firms, was awarded instead In addition, little attention has bee n given to how this to another group excluding the Chinese. The Israeli “start - up” nation will become the land of infrastructure Defense Ministry is also now making a major push towards spending and thus highly vulnerable to the temptations of excluding any Chinese firms from Israel’s 5G network, and China’s Belt and Road initiative. will most likely prevail. And a new power plant that a With a population expected to double within 30 years, major Chinese firm plans to bid on is only now entering a complex and limited amount of l and and an economic the picture and likely will be another area where U.S. transformation generating great wealth, Israel is on track to pressure wil l be needed to swing the decisions away from overhaul its lagging and highly inadequate infrastructure China. sector. The Israeli government is set to spend several U.S. pressure was highly effective since there is a wall - hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming decade on to - wall consensus in Israel that its main strategic partner rail, road, other transport, ports, tunnels, telecom, artificial was, is and will remain the United States. This probably islands, airports, energy and so forth. It has already makes Israel one of the most p ro - American countries in planned and allocated much, as projects move from Focus o n Israel June 13, 2020 Page 14 concept to tenders. The demise of the Arab boycott also In a post - coronavirus world, it is imperative to avoid unlocks Israel as a huge opportunit y for infrastructure investing in and stimulating industries that have structural firms. Moreover, Israel is emerging through its reasons for decline, such as “saving” typewriter companies infrastructure plans as a strategically critical land bridge to from comput ers. But a major effort should be launched to supplement the Suez Canal, which is likely one of the use the post - coronavirus national reset to transform our reasons China has been so aggressive in pursuing contracts infrastructure and overhaul the infrastructure industry to to run Isr aeli ports and connecting rail. China realized this restore it to global dominance. Such dominance can then very early and has aggressively moved to cash in. be a force multiplier leveraged to adv ance American power But lurking behind the comforting thought that U.S. and to contribute to global strategic projection rather than pressure still works on Israel and will continue to work in hide behind, and thus slowly drain it. the foreseeable future lies a nagging worr y: why is pressure In many ways, we never set a new national strategy to even necessary in terms of Israeli infrastructure? Where are replace NSC - 68 — which mobilized our nation and the U.S. infrastructure companies, or at least, where are the economy for the long struggle agains t communism — in the infrastructure companies of our allies, like Japan? In the post - Cold War world. Over time, we will need one to aftermath of the 1967 Six - Day War, President Richard confront China, but for the moment, it is imperative that a Ni xon, frustrated with the Vietnam War, met with Israeli major piece of it already be put in place: a strong industrial Prime Minister Golda Meir. He humorously asked if the policy in the infrastructure sector is needed to transform it United States could trade three generals for Israel’s Gen. into our strategic arm. Moshe Dayan. She answered: “Sure: General Electric, Last December, the administration already laid the General Dynamics and General Motors. ” This is not the initial foundations of such an effort through the Export conversation we would have now with Israel. Import Bank through its “Program on China and And this betrays a deeper economic and strategic Transformational Exports” (Section 402). The 402 concern far beyond Israel. How long can we rely alone on Program should be substantial ly expanded to tap the pressure with allies, which demands ever increasing economic nationalism re - legitimized by the current marginal efforts with each round and involves quid pro administration to begin to formulate a national strategy to quos? Moreover, how can we continue to rely on pressure reinvigorate strategic industries that can be leveraged to alone in an ever - increasing number of countries that are advance our global power. Further bipartisan legislation is not beholden to their relations with the United States, such bei ng reintroduced currently, the “Endless Frontiers Act,” as in Africa where China is also moving with even greater designed to allocate $100 billion into research to ensure aggre ssiveness? Why, in terms of geo - politics, are our enterprise in the United States reacquires global industrial companies not inherently dominating the field so much predominance. that they themselves become a strong reason why Perhaps we can use Israel as such a test bed, given that countries seek to be strategically aligned with the United it has maj or infrastructure projects coming down the pike States? executed at the highest levels of complexity and Currently, the United States is strat egically upside sophistication, and that it seems to already be a major down. It uses its geostrategic weight to help the battleground torn between the temptations of the Chinese infrastructure sector, or at least bound China’s, rather than Belt and Road effort, and Israel’s firm member ship in the the inverse. That is, we use the weight of the U.S. Western grouping. infrastructure sector to advance our geostrategic This is a significant battle. We have sway to win it, and dominance. The world sees this, possibly correctly, as the thus we can use it as a test bed to showcase what we can behavior of a twilight power cashing in on and spending do among our allies and in regions like Africa to signal our down its accrued stature rather than the actions of a rising, strategic - industrial reassertion. dynamic power building its reputation and strength. As Dr. Wurmser is d irector of the Center for Security such, the United States constantly projects extern ally that it Policy’s Project on Global Anti - Semitism and the U.S. - is a declining power. Israel Relationship. He is a former U.S. Navy Reserve President Donald Trump has single - handedly shifted intelligence officer with extensive national security debate in the United States on this issue and re - legitimized experience working for the State Department, the economic nationalism over absolute adherence to free - Pentagon, Vice President Dick Cheney and the National trade ideology. He has also signaled a strong interest i n a Security Council. major U.S. infrastructure initiative. The two should be combined.

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