October 2 2019
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Israel and the Middle East News Update Wednesday, October 2 Headlines: • 22nd Knesset to Be Sworn in Tomorrow Amid 3rd Election Talk • Gantz Cancels Meet with Netanyahu: ‘Not Acting in Good Faith’ • PM to Convene Right-Wing Allies as His Criminal Hearings Begin • Arab MK: If Center-left Forms Gov't With Haredis, We May Support It • Report: Macron Brokered Document Between Rohani and Trump • Putin, Rouhani Meet in Armenia to Discuss Regional Issues • Israel Lets Gaza Workers Enter in Bid to Reduce Tension • 130,000 Sephardic Jews Apply for Spanish Citizenship by Deadline Commentary: • Ha’aretz: “3 Cases, 4 Days and Dozens of Lawyers: Netanyahu's Pre- indictment Hearing Begins Wednesday” - By Netael Bandel, columnist at Ha’aretz • Yedioth Ahronoth: “Not in Good Faith” - By Yuval Karni commentator at Yedioth Ahronoth S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● Aaron Zucker, Associate Editor News Excerpts October 2, 2019 Jerusalem Post 22nd Knesset to Be Sworn in Tomorrow Amid 3rd Election Talk The 22nd Knesset will be inaugurated on Thursday, despite persistent threats from all political sides that it will soon be dissolved ahead of a third election in less than a year. There are only eight new MKs this time, and another nine are returning from past stints as legislators, which means that 103 members of the 22nd Knesset will be sworn in for the second time in 2019. Starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, MKs can arrive at the Knesset, walk down a red carpet and receive a boutonniere and have a souvenir photo taken. In the afternoon, there will be a celebratory reception in the Chagall Hall. See also, “Israeli unity government talks falter after Netanyahu rival rejects meeting” (Reuters) Times of Israel Gantz Cancels Meet with Netanyahu: ‘Not Acting in Good Faith’ Blue and White on Tuesday evening said an expected meeting between its party chief Benny Gantz and Netanyahu Wednesday would not take place, as there were no signs that the premier was truly interested in reaching a power-sharing compromise. The announcement led to both parties accusing each other of intransigence and claiming that the other side was pushing the country toward election. And it could pave the way to Netanyahu ending his coalition efforts and returning the mandate to do so to Israel’s president. Negotiators from both parties had been set to convene again on Wednesday morning, with the leaders then meeting in the evening. But Blue and White said that “at this stage the most basic conditions to hold an additional meeting between the negotiating teams have not ripened.” See also, “Gantz's Party Nixes Negotiation Meeting With Netanyahu's Likud Over Unity Government” (Ha’aretz) Times of Israel PM to Convene Right-Wing Allies as His Criminal Hearings Begin PM Netanyahu will seek to shore up right-wing support Wednesday morning, with the start of a high- stakes legal hearing and the possible end of coalition negotiations suspended over his political future like twin swords of Damocles. A long-awaited pre-indictment hearing with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit comes as coalition negotiations have foundered, leading to widespread speculation that the longtime Likud leader may end his bid to form a new government early, which may eventually mean an unprecedented third round of elections. Netanyahu is set to meet Wednesday morning with the heads of his 55 block parties to discuss the deadlock in coalition talks. See also, “ NETANYAHU PRE-INDICTMENT HEARING WITH MANDELBLIT SET FOR TODAY” (JPost) Ha’aretz Arab MK: If Center-left Forms Gov't With Haredis, We May Support It The Joint List of Arab-majority parties does not rule out the possibility of supporting a government led by Kahol Lavan, together with leftist and ultra-Orthodox parties, Ta'al party leader MK Ahmad Tibi told Channel 13 on Saturday. Tibi clarified that his alliance would support a government "from the outside," which means it would not actually be part of a ruling coalition.“Kahol Lavan, Labor, Meretz, the Haredim [ultra-Orthodox], that’s 60 [Knesset seats],” Tibi said. “There’s something to talk about with the Joint List. This is a scenario from the 1990s,” he added, referring to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s second government, which was supported from the outside by the Arab parties. 2 Ha’aretz Report: Macron Brokered Document Between Rohani and Trump U.S. President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rohani had agreed to a four-point document that was mediated by French President Emmanuel Macron as a basis for a meeting as well as a revival of talks between Washington and Tehran, American magazine Politico reported on Tuesday. Citing French officials, the report said that the document didn't bear fruit because the Iranian president balked. Rohani had insisted that Trump declare he would lift U.S. sanctions as a precondition for a meeting. Macron also tried to arrange a phone call between the two leaders as an alternative for the meeting, but Rohani declined, the report added. Despite their failure to broker contacts between the U.S. and Iran, French officials told Politico they were undeterred. "The alternative is a major conflict in the Gulf," one official was quoted as saying. See also, “Report: US, Iran agreed on plan for talks, broke up over sanctions” (Politico) I24 News Putin, Rouhani Meet in Armenia to Discuss Regional Issues Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani met on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan, Armenia, on Tuesday. Iran's Hormuz Peace Endeavor, a Gulf peace initiative unveiled at the recent UN General Assembly in New York, was one of the top issues on their agenda. While the details of the initiative, which is supposedly aimed at upholding regional stability and global energy security, are yet to be rolled out, Rouhani's comments hint that it is centered on a demand of US withdrawal from the region. The two leaders also discussed the beleaguered 2015 nuclear deal, with Putin reportedly stressing Moscow's support for the accord. Ynet News Israel Lets Gaza Workers Enter in Bid to Reduce Tension Israel is quietly allowing thousands of Palestinians to enter from the Gaza Strip to conduct business and work menial jobs, apparently as part of understandings with the ruling Hamas militant group aimed at preventing a fourth war in the blockaded territory. Israel effectively revoked thousands of work- permits when it joined Egypt in imposing a crippling blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. The blockade, along with three wars between Hamas and Israel, has devastated the economy in Gaza, where unemployment is over 50%. In recent months, Israel has quietly provided some relief as part of an unofficial, Egyptian-brokered truce with Hamas, in exchange for reduced rocket fire from the territory and the scaling back of weekly protests along the border. See also, “Israel quietly lets in thousands of Gaza workers, in bid to ease tensions” (TOI) Ynet News 130,000 Sephardic Jews Apply for Spanish Citizenship by Deadline More than 130,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled en masse from Spain in 1492 have requested Spanish citizenship in the past four years, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, hours after a deadline for applications expired. About half of the 132,226 applications were submitted in the past month alone as the deadline drew near, it said. The bulk of applications came from Latin American countries, mainly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. For the past four years, Spain allowed the foreign Sephardim - old Hebrew for Spaniards - to apply to become Spanish nationals without giving up their current citizenship. They had to present proof of their Sephardic background through their surnames, language or ancestry. The ministry said it would process all applications. 3 Ha’aretz – October 2, 2019 3 Cases, 4 Days and Dozens of Lawyers: Netanyahu's Pre- indictment Hearing Begins Wednesday By Netael Bandel, columnist at Ha’aretz • In the basement of the Justice Ministry offices on Salah ad Din Street in Jerusalem, in a windowless room devoid of celluar service, the first day of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pre-indictment hearing begins Wednesday. • Twelve of Netanyahu's lawyers will cram in across from some 20 Justice Ministry officials who have been following the prime minister's corruption cases since 2016. At the premiere's request, the hearing will span four days and will end on Monday evening – a day before the eve of the Jewish day of judgement, Yom Kippur. By December, only several weeks away, the Justice Ministry aspires to reach a final decision. • The first two days will be dedicated to discussion of Case 4000 – which deals with a supposed quid-pro-quo with media mogul Shaul Elovitch. Next week, on Sunday and Monday, Netanyahu's lawyers will present their arguments regarding Case 1000 (which revolves around lavish gifts from billionaires) and Case 2000 (regarding Netanyahu's exchanges with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes). • Case 4000 is considered the most damning of the three, and Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit announced in February that he intends to charge the prime minister with bribery. In Cases 1000 and 2000 the attorney general intends to charge Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust. • At the head of the defense team stand Amit Hadad and Yosef Ashkenazi. They will be joined by Israel Wolnerman, additional lawyers from their offices, and, apparently, Attorney Ram Caspi who advises the team. • At the head of the Justice Ministry's team stands the man who will ultimately decide whether or not to file an indictment – Avichai Mendelblit.