Israel and the Middle East News Update

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Wednesday, December 4

Headlines:

• Blue and White, Likud Trade Blows After Fruitless Unity Talks • Lieberman to Join Right-wing Gov't if Gantz Doesn't Let PM Serve First • French Lawmakers Pass Resolution Calling Israel Hatred Anti-Semitism • Netanyahu, Pompeo to Meet in Lisbon this Week • After Netanyahu Indictment, Israel's AG Prepares for His Next Battle • In First, US Court Sentences Hezbollah Operative to 40 Years in Jail • Ex-Head of Israel Bar Association to be Charged with Bribery • Over 100 Jewish Graves Found Desecrated near Strasbourg

Commentary:

• Ma’ariv: “Netanyahu is Abusing the President’s Proposal” - By Ben Caspit, columnist at Ma’ariv • Al Monitor: “Israel's New Defense Minister Pushes Jewish Settlement in Hebron” - By Shlomi Eldar, contributor to Al Monitor

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor

News Excerpts December 4, 2019 Ynet News Blue and White, Likud Trade Blows After Fruitless Unity Talks Likud and Blue and White traded accusations on Tuesday, after what appeared to have been an unsuccessful meeting aimed at narrowing the gaps on a unity government. The Likud and Blue and White leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz respectively, met Tuesday afternoon in Tel Aviv in a last-ditch attempt to close the gaps on a unity government, with the two sharing a rotating premiership. The two met for about 45 minutes and did not issue a joint statement to the media after the meeting. The two biggest hurdles to overcome in reaching an agreement are the issue of who would serve as prime minister first in a rotation agreement and whether members of the other parties in Netanyahu's right-wing bloc would also be part of the government. See also, “No progress on unity as Netanyahu-Gantz meeting breaks up after 45 minutes” (TOI)

Ha’aretz Lieberman to Join Right-wing Gov't if Gantz Doesn't Let PM Serve First Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman has told Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan that he would join a narrow right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the party doesn't agree to let Netanyahu be first to serve as premier in a rotation agreement. Lieberman's staff said on Tuesday that he was approached by Knesset members who asked him to enter a right-wing government to prevent Israel from going to a third election this year. Earlier that day, Lieberman said that Knesset members from his faction "are riling up against the conduct of Kahol Lavan…It's hard to rule out what's worse, an early election or a narrow government." See also, “2 Yisrael Beytenu MKs said pressing Liberman to join right-wing government” (TOI)

Times of Israel French Lawmakers Pass Resolution Calling Israel Hatred Anti-Semitism The lower house of France’s parliament on Tuesday approved a draft resolution that calls hate of Israel a form of anti-Semitism, drawing praise from Jerusalem and Jewish groups. The 577 members of the National Assembly voted on the draft, which also calls on the government to join other European nations in adopting the definition of anti-Semitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The resolution was backed by 154 lawmakers while 74 opposed it. The IHRA definition states that some forms of vitriol against Israel, including comparing it to Nazi Germany, are examples of anti- Semitism, though criticizing Israel’s policies is not. See also, “French Parliament Passes anti-Semitism Resolution That Includes anti-Zionism” (Ha’aretz)

Reuters Netanyahu, Pompeo to Meet in Lisbon this Week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday in Lisbon, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. Pompeo, accompanying President Donald Trump at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in London, will be in Lisbon on Wednesday and Thursday and will meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, the department said in a statement. The hastily arranged talks with the top diplomat of Israel’s closest ally could be aimed at giving Netanyahu a political boost at home.

Ha’aretz After Netanyahu Indictment, Israel's AG Prepares for His Next Battle After announcing that he was indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery and then having to fend off attacks on the law enforcement system, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit is preparing for his next battle: Choosing a replacement for State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, who retires in less than two weeks. When there is an elected government, the state prosecutor is chosen by a search committee appointed by the justice minister and headed by the attorney general. Generally the political echelons allow the attorney general to appoint a person whose abilities he believes in and with whom he will be able to cooperate. But the current government is a transitional government, whose ability to make senior appointments is limited, and Mendelblit has said the law does not permit Justice Minister Amir Ohana to set up a search committee. See also, “Battle Of Wills Between Justice Minister & AG Over State Prosecutor Appointment” (TYW)

I24 News In First, US Court Sentences Hezbollah Operative to 40 Years in Jail In a first, an American of Lebanese descent was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Tuesday for buying weapons and plotting attacks on behalf of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Ali Kourani, 34, was found guilty in May of gathering intelligence on potential attack targets, including New York's JFK International Airport, a federal building in Manhattan, and even conducting surveillance of daycare centers. A federal court in America's financial capital convicted him of eight allegations including conspiracy to use weapons in a violent crime.Geoffrey Berman, attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the lengthy sentence sent an important message to Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization. See also “Hezbollah member gets 40 years for scouting possible sites for terrorist attacks in New York” (Washington Post)

Times of Israel Ex-Head of Israel Bar Association to be Charged with Bribery Prosecutors announced Tuesday they intend to charge the former head of the Israel Bar Association over suspicions he advocated for the judicial appointment of a woman with whom he was romantically involved. The Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office said Efi Nave will be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, pending a pre-indictment hearing. Eti Craif, a judge on the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, faces charges of bribery and destroying evidence, also pending a hearing. Police recommended in September that Nave and Craif stand trial. Nave, who resigned as head of the bar association after his arrest at the beginning of the year, was one of the nine members of the powerful Judicial Appointments Committee. See also, “Efi Nave, judge to be indicted in sex for judgeship scandal” (JPost)

Ynet News Over 100 Jewish Graves Found Desecrated near Strasbourg More than one hundred tombstones were found desecrated in the Jewish cemetery in Westhoffen near the French border town of Strasbourg on Tuesday. Anti-Semitic symbols, including swastikas, were found on at least 107 Jewish graves inside a cemetery located in Westhoffen, town leaders said in a statement. "This discovery comes as anti-Semitic graffiti was already found in the town of Schaffhouse-sur-Zorn", about twenty kilometers from Westhoffen, the statement added.Local authorities are currently conducting a preliminary investigation and collecting evidence inside the desecrated cemetery.

Ma’ariv- December 4, 2019 Netanyahu is Abusing the President’s Proposal By Ben Caspit, columnist at Ma’ariv

• We need to begin by correcting a mistake/lie that has begun to take root here: the formula that has been proposed by the Likud for an alternating premiership government is not the “president’s proposal.” If you were to take the president’s proposal for a walk to Balfour Street, introduce it to the denizens of the royal residence, strip it and abuse it—you’d get that formula. President Reuven Rivlin made two important matters clear in the course of a meeting he recently held with Netanyahu, Yariv Levin and Zeev Elkin. First, the timing of the beginning of incapacitation: according to the president’s proposal, the precise time is to be decided between the two sides, but will begin at some point between the attorney general’s decision to indict Netanyahu and the formal submission of the indictment. The attorney general has already decided to indict Netanyahu, and now he has 30 days to submit the indictment. In other words, Netanyahu’s incapacitation needs to begin within one month’s time at the latest. • Second, the powers: according to the president’s proposal, Netanyahu will have no powers whatsoever once he begins his period of incapacitation. He will receive honors, but he won’t make any decisions. He will bear a title (deputy prime minister), but won’t bear any burden of responsibility. Netanyahu and his men repudiated that. He will be deputy prime minister, a security cabinet member, will chair Likud faction meetings, will run the cabinet and, as usual, will sabotage Gantz behind his back. • Now to expand upon that a bit further: the dilemma facing Blue and White’s cockpit is one of the most complex dilemmas in modern Israeli politics. After I’ve become privy to all of the information, the considerations, the contemplations and the sophistry, it seems to me that the most likely possibility is as follows: Netanyahu has no intention of going into a state of incapacitation for even a single moment. Not in another six months, not in another six days and not in another six minutes. He intends to obey the orders issued by the commanders at Balfour Street and to head into elections. As opposed to the incapacitation option, if he opts for elections he gets the same period of time in office (roughly half a year), with a chance at the end: a miracle might happen that will save him at the last moment. He can always pull a hair- raising trick at the last minute, sign a defense pact with Zimbabwe, annex Aram-Naharayim or convert President Trump to Judaism at the Western Wall plaza. • So why has he continued to harangue everyone with the “president’s proposal?” The answer is very simple: he wants Blue and White to agree; he wants to enter into marathon negotiations until the very last moment; he wants to see newspaper headlines that report about progress towards a “unity government”; he wants people to talk about whether he will begin his incapacitation in another five months or six months. And then, at the moment of truth, at midnight next Tuesday, everything will fall apart over one disagreement or another. Everyone will blame everyone else, but there won’t be any way of reversing what’s already been done: Blue and White will be tarred and feathered. They will be forced to hold elections after having violated their promise to the voter by negotiating joining a government under Netanyahu—a man who has been indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The person who will benefit from the fallout is Liberman, who will be the only politician to have kept his word in Israel, and, of course, Netanyahu, who will never miss an opportunity to build himself up on the ruins of others. 4

• That is the reason that Blue and White has hesitated before walking into that trap that has been laid at their feet. They need only look at the statistics, which never lie. They need to pay a visit to the political cemetery where the people who negotiated with Netanyahu are buried: Tzipi Livni, Shaul Mofaz, Yitzhak Herzog, Noni Mozes and a good many others. • All of the above is based on assessments and on intelligence that has been gathered from all of the people on the political playing field. We mustn’t forget that going into a new election is also a gamble for Blue and White. Despite Netanyahu’s clear decline in the aftermath of the indictments, no one can ever know in advance what might happen in an Israeli election. They are going to have to make their decision over the course of the coming weekend. It’s going to be very tense in the cockpit.

Summary: So why has he continued to harangue everyone with the “president’s proposal?” The answer is very simple: he wants Blue and White to agree; he wants to enter into marathon negotiations until the very last moment; he wants to see newspaper headlines that report about progress towards a “unity government”; he wants people to talk about whether he will begin his incapacitation in another five months or six months. And then, at the moment of truth, at midnight next Tuesday, everything will fall apart over one disagreement or another. Everyone will blame everyone else, but there won’t be any way of reversing what’s already been done: Blue and White will be tarred and feathered. They will be forced to hold elections after having violated their promise to the voter by negotiating joining a government under

Netanyahu—a man who has been indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The person who will benefit from the fallout is Liberman, who will be the only politician to have kept his word in Israel, and, of course, Netanyahu, who will never miss an opportunity to build himself up on the ruins of others.

Al Monitor – December 3, 2019 Israel's New Defense Minister Pushes Jewish Settlement in Hebron By Shlomi Eldar, contributor to Al Monitor • Less than a month on the job, and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is not wasting a minute of his time. On Dec. 1, he instructed the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to inform Palestinian municipal authorities in Hebron that planning had begun for construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in the compound of the town’s wholesale market, earning accolades from his target audience, the settlers. In doing so, Bennett is seeking to create territorial contiguity from the Tomb of the Patriarchs to the Jewish neighborhood of Avraham Avinu (Our Father Abraham) and to double Hebron’s Jewish population. • According to data compiled by the human rights organization B’Tselem, some 700 Jews currently reside in the area of Hebron designated as H2, which includes the Old City, as well as 250 students in the Shavei Hevron yeshiva. About 34,000 Palestinians also live in H2 and another 166,000 in other parts of the town, designated H1. • H1 and H2 were so designated by the 1997 Hebron Protocol, signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-head of the Palestinian Authority, PLO leader Yasser Arafat, in order to divide security control of the volatile and tense city, especially in the wake of the 1994 massacre of Muslim worshippers by a Jewish settler. The division was intended to prevent the tensions between the Jews and Palestinians from spilling over into other parts of the West Bank and undermining the Oslo peace accords. The idea was also to create a buffer between Palestinians and Jews, who regard habitation in the city, including the takeover of homes in the heart of the crowded Palestinian town, as a pioneering, national religious mission. • Under the agreement, 80% of the town’s area (H1) was handed over to Palestinian control. The rest (H2), where 34,000 Palestinians live along with the Jewish settlers, and which includes the Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs sacred to both Muslims and Jews, is under Israeli military control. • While the agreement was designed to separate Palestinians and Jews, clashes and friction between the two sides have occurred virtually daily ever since it was signed. The Jewish settlement is populated by radical right-wing activists and an extremist core of settlers, including disciples of arch-racist Rabbi Meir Kahane, such as Baruch Marzel and Noam Federman. Also, radical activists, such as Chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party Michael Ben Ari, whose history of anti-Arab incitement disqualified him from running for the Knesset this year, and Bentzi Gopstein, founder of the radical Lehava organization, are frequent visitors. • To protect the settlers and prevent clashes between Jews and Palestinians to the extent possible, the Israeli military has set up some 20 roadblocks within the town over the years. Palestinians wishing to move around Hebron are forced to undergo intrusive security checks at every checkpoint. The restrictions have pushed thousands of residents from the H2 area to H1, leaving behind deserted, abandoned streets — all for the sake of some 1,000 settlers and religious students who view the Jewish settlement in Hebron as a return to the holy ancestral city of their forefathers.

• The wholesale market where Bennett has approved construction has long been a bone of contention. The Jewish community that lived in Hebron bought the area prior to the 1929 riots in which 133 Jews were murdered, after which Jews left the city. It subsequently came under Jordanian control. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli authorities gave the municipality permission to build a market in the compound. The market was in operation until the 1990s, but since the beginning of the Jewish “return movement” to the city, the settlers have been seeking to restore the ownership of the market area to the Jews, which bought it legally decades ago. • The decision of a new Jewish neighborhood was one of Bennett’s first acts as defense minister despite the fact that he serves in a caretaker government that has not won the confidence of the Knesset (his appointment was not approved by the Knesset, either), and is not authorized to make such weighty decisions. Bennett nonetheless gleefully announced that he was restoring Hebron to its historic glory days and building homes there for the Jews. • According to Bennett, the market buildings will be razed and new ones will be built to replace them. The upper floors will be reserved for apartments for Jewish tenants, while the shops on the ground floor will remain under Palestinian ownership to ensure, as per Bennett, that their rights are protected. • All of Israel’s defense ministers over the years, including the late Defense Minister and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considered the father of the settlements, as well as Moshe Arens, Moshe Ya’alon, Avigdor Liberman and even former Defense Minister Netanyahu, all distinctly of the right-wing persuasion, avoided moving a single stone in the market area in order to preserve the fragile status quo in the tinderbox town. Then Bennett came and decided that he would use the biblical city to rehabilitate his shattered political standing. • Bennett, as some may recall, quit his HaBayit HaYehudi party prior to the April 2019 elections with his political partner Ayelet Shaked to found the New Right party. His gamble culminated in a humiliating ballot box defeat, leaving the small party out of the Knesset. Ahead of the September elections, beaten and abused, he joined the Yamina (Rightward) alliance of right- wing parties and was placed in the fourth and unflattering place on its list of Knesset candidates. Following the elections, which did not yield Yamina the bonanza it targeted, the New Right broke away from the alliance, leaving Bennett in a tiny three-member Knesset faction. • Netanyahu nonetheless handed him the prestigious Defense Ministry post because he feared Bennett would join forces with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and enable him to form the country’s next government. Thus, one of the most senior posts in government was handed as a pay-off to a man who has not won his voters’ trust. From his office in the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, Bennett is now attempting to woo back the electorate that abandoned him. He knows that without the settler vote, he does not stand a chance of political rehabilitation and his days in the Defense Ministry are numbered. • Bennett took office in the midst of Israel’s military operation codenamed “Black Belt,” which began with its Nov. 12 killing of top Islamic Jihad military commander in Gaza, Bahaa Abu el- Atta, followed by retaliatory barrages of hundreds of rockets fired by the organization into Israel. Given the timing, Bennett asked to scrap the ceremony usually held to welcome new defense ministers. As a freshman defense minister, Bennett has since been issuing press statements on various issues of great sensitivity — for example, an ambitious plan to expel Iranian forces from Syria — much to the dismay and anger of the defense agencies.

• Bennett’s decision on new Jewish housing in Hebron is yet another sensitive initiative designed to please the settlers, portray him as Israel’s best defense minister ever and reward him accordingly. Maybe this way he could garner sufficient votes to get back into the Knesset in the next elections — and the rest be damned.

Summary: According to Bennett, the market buildings will be razed and new ones will be built to replace them. The upper floors will be reserved for apartments for Jewish tenants, while the shops on the ground floor will remain under Palestinian ownership to ensure, as per Bennett, that their rights are protected. All of Israel’s defense ministers over the years, including the late Defense Minister and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considered the father of the settlements, as well as Moshe Arens, Moshe Ya’alon, Avigdor Liberman and even former Defense Minister Netanyahu, all distinctly of the right-wing persuasion, avoided moving a single stone in the market area in order to preserve the fragile status quo in the tinderbox town. Then Bennett came and decided that he would use the biblical city to rehabilitate his shattered political standing.