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Israel and the Middle East News Update Monday, May 23 Headlines: Lieberman: Coalition Talks with Likud Have Hit a ‘Dead End’ Bennett Ultimatum to Bib: Fix Security Cabinet Defects or No Coalition Deal PM: I’m Responsible for Israel’s Defense, ‘Stop the Crying’ Herzog Under Attack by Own Party After Failed Coalition Effort In Scrapped Coalition Deal, PM Takes Positive Stance on Arab Peace Initiative Bibi Urges France to Ditch Regional Parley, Set Up Two-Way Summit w/Abbas New U.S. Defense Bill Includes $600 Million for Missile Defense Israel Resumes Cement Shipments to Gaza for Reconstruction Commentary: The New York Times: “Israel’s Army Goes to War with Its Politicians” By Ronen Bergman, Senior Military and Intelligence Correspondent, Yedioth Ahronoth Times of Israel: “Why Bibi Dumping Defense Minister Was No Ordinary Move” By David Horovitz, Founding Editor, Times of Israel S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● David Abreu, Associate Editor News Excerpts May 23, 2016 Arutz Sheva Lieberman: Coalition Talks with Likud Have Hit a ‘Dead End’ Yisrael Beiteinu chairperson Avigdor Liberman spoke about the coalition negotiations with Likud during a meeting of his party on Monday, and revealed the talks have hit a dead end. "Unfortunately we still haven't reached agreements in terms of the pension reform, and we are waiting for another offer," said Liberman, who was given his request to be appointed Defense Minister. Another condition Liberman had claimed last week was applying the death penalty for terrorist murderers, but he apparently has folded on that demand. See also, “Netanyahu Rejects Lieberman Claim That Coalition Talks Hit Dead End” (Ynet News) Jerusalem Post Bennett Ultimatum: Fix Cabinet Defects or No Coalition Deal As the government scrambles to solidify coalition changes, Education Minister and Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an ultimatum on Monday, calling on him to fix what he said were problems within the cabinet in order to receive approval for Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman to join the government. Bennett said his call came "In light of the lessons learned from Operation Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War, in which cabinet members did not share quality intelligence and weren't properly trained for their roles, when tested with the responsibility for the army." Times of Israel PM: I'm Responsible for Israel's Defense, 'Stop the Crying' Seeking to assuage fears over the expected appointment of Avigdor Liberman as defense minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he has the final word on Israel’s security operations. The prime minister also urged Israelis to stop their “crying and moaning,” over the dramatic political shake-up that saw former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon abruptly leave political life on Friday, with Liberman set to replace him and bring his five-seat Yisrael Beiteinu party into the razor-thin coalition. See also, “PM: Quit Crying and Moaning” (Ynet News) Ynet News Herzog Attacked by Own Party After Failed Coalition Effort Opposition leader Isaac Herzog came under scathing criticism from his own Zionist Union party on Sunday in the wake of his failed attempt to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. During a stormy faction meeting Herzog sought to explain his actions when he found himself under attack by his own supporters. Five MKs from the Labor party—Stav Shaffir, Shelly Yachimovich, Erel Margalit, Mickey Rosenthal and Yossi Yona—decided to boycott the meeting, signaling their opposition his actions. Justifying the boycott, Rosenthal said that “I lost faith in the chairman of my party and his abilities to lead the opposition against Netanyahu.” See also, “Herzog Declares Coalition Talks 'Over and Done'” (Times of Israel) 2 Times of Israel In Scrapped Coalition Deal, PM Took Positive Stance on API A clause in the scrapped coalition agreement between the Likud party and the Zionist Union stated that the government would “relate positively” to the idea of a regional reconciliation agreement between Israel and several Arab states, as well as to certain elements of the Arab Peace Initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The clause in the document further stated that Israel would “express a readiness for the first time to enter a dialogue on the matter with the relevant Arab states.” The contents of the file were confirmed by the Prime Minister’s Office. See also “Netanyahu: Arab Nations Can Help Bring ‘Real Peace’” (Breaking Israel News) Ha’aretz Bibi Urges France to Ditch Peace Confab for a Summit w/ Abbas Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged his French counterpart to ditch the idea of a regional peace conference in Paris and, instead, to set up a bipartite meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. At the start of his meeting with Manuel Valls in Jerusalem on Monday, Netanyahu reiterated his view that direct talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders would be more effective than a regional conference with many participants. Valls arrived in to Israel on Sunday and is also scheduled to meet with Abbas in Ramallah. The French peace initiative will be one of the main topics discussed during the visit. See also, “Netanyahu Rejects Paris Peace Bid, But Offers to Meet Abbas” (Times of Israel) Ha’aretz New U.S. Defense Bill Includes $600 Million for Missile Defense A number of measures for Israel have been attached to a defense spending bill approved in the U.S. House of Representatives, including $600 million in missile defense cooperation. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Thursday welcomed the missile defense component of National Defense Authorization Act, the bill that outlines defense spending policies. The spending “will help Israel defend its citizens against rocket and missile threats, and contribute to America’s missile defense,” AIPAC said a day after the House approved the act. Voice of America Israel Resumes Cement Shipments for Gaza Reconstruction Israel resumed cement shipments to the Gaza Strip on Monday, ending a 45-day-old ban it imposed after it accused the Palestinian enclave's Hamas rulers of seizing some of the stock meant for rebuilding homes destroyed in a 2014 war. Hamas has denied Israeli charges that it siphons off cement imports to fortify attack tunnels. Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, welcomed the resumption of the shipments, saying in a statement that "all sides need to ensure that cement deliveries reach their intended beneficiaries and are used solely for civilian purposes." 3 The New York Times – May 21, 2016 Israel’s Army Goes to War with Its Politicians By Ronen Bergman In most countries, the political class supervises the defense establishment and restrains its leaders from violating human rights or pursuing dangerous, aggressive policies. In Israel, the opposite is happening. Here, politicians blatantly trample the state’s values and laws and seek belligerent solutions, while the chiefs of the Israel Defense Forces and the heads of the intelligence agencies try to calm and restrain them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer last week of the post of defense minister to Avigdor Lieberman, a pugnacious ultranationalist politician, is the latest act in the war between Mr. Netanyahu and the military and intelligence leaders, a conflict that has no end in sight but could further erode the rule of law and human rights, or lead to a dangerous, superfluous military campaign. The prime minister sees the defense establishment as a competitor to his authority and an opponent of his goals. Putting Mr. Lieberman, an impulsive and reckless extremist, in charge of the military is a clear signal that the generals’ and the intelligence chiefs’ opposition will no longer be tolerated. Mr. Lieberman is known for ruthlessly quashing people who hold opposing views. This latest round of this conflict began on March 24: Elor Azariah, a sergeant in the I.D.F., shot and killed a Palestinian assailant who was lying wounded on the ground after stabbing one of Sergeant Azariah’s comrades. The I.D.F. top brass condemned the killing. A spokesman for Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the chief of staff, said, “This isn’t the I.D.F., these are not the I.D.F.’s values.” But right-wing politicians backed Sergeant Azariah. “I.D.F. soldiers, our children, stand before murderous attacks by terrorists who come to kill them,” the prime minister said. “They have to make decisions in real time.” Mr. Lieberman, then still the leader of a small far- right opposition party, turned up in military court to support the soldier. Mr. Netanyahu also called the soldier’s father to offer support. An I.D.F. general told me that the top brass saw the telephone call as a gross defiance of the military’s authority. The deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, chose one of the most sensitive dates on the Israeli calendar, Holocaust Memorial Eve, to react: He suggested that Israel today in some ways resembles Germany in the 1930s. Mr. Netanyahu countered that General Golan’s words do Israel an injustice and “cheapen the Holocaust.” His defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, a former chief of staff and a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s party, backed the army. He told a gathering of top officers to speak freely, even if it went against political leaders. The prime minister summoned Mr. Ya’alon to an “urgent clarification discussion.” Shortly after, he invited Mr. Lieberman to join the government coalition with his small parliamentary faction and offered him the defense portfolio. In Israel’s short history, army commanders and the heads of the intelligence agencies have often advocated the use of force and in many cases showed contempt for the law and human rights.
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