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Israel and the Middle East News Update

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Israel and the Middle East News Update Israel and the Middle East News Update Tuesday, May 12 Headlines: ● Gilad Erdan to Serve as U.S., UN Envoy ● Comptroller Rejects Ohana Request to Probe A-G Mandelblit ● Likud, Yamina Trade Barbs as Bibi Prepares to Swear in Gov ● PM Seeks Okay for 36 Ministers, in Bid to Bring in Yamina ● France Pushes for Tough EU Response to Any Annexation ● Bennett's Opening Salvo Against Palestinian Statehood ● Head of Chief Rabbinate Kashrut to be Indicted for Bribery ● Israeli Soldier Killed During West Bank Arrest Operation Commentary: ● Israel Hayom: “It Would be Absurd to Leave Yamina Out” − By Matti Tuchfeld ● Ha’aretz: “What Pompeo’s Mid-Pandemic Trip to Israel is Really About” − By Daniel Shapiro, former US Ambassador to Israel (2011-2017) S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President News Excerpts May 12, 2020 Ynet News Gilad Erdan to Serve as U.S., UN Envoy Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan will be heading to the United States after accepting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to serve as Israel's next ambassador to the United Nations, replacing Danny Danon. But in an unconventional move, the Prime Minister's Office also announced that Erdan will be taking over as the country's next Ambassador to the U.S. from Ron Dermer, who has served in Washington since July 2013. It remains unclear how will Erdan juggle between the responsibilities of both offices, but a spokesman for his office said that he was confident he can manage each role effectively and will travel between Washington D.C. and New York. Erdan has been reluctant to assume a diplomatic role in the past, rejecting multiple offers in recent years, but was finally persuaded after meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem over the weekend. See also ‘‘Erdan to US and UN Helps Solve Likud Appointment Logjam’’ (Jerusalem Post). Jerusalem Post Comptroller Rejects Ohana Request to Probe A-G Mandelblit State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman rejected a request by outgoing acting justice minister Amir Ohana to probe Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit for unspecified issues relating to the Harpaz Affair, which Mandelblit was cleared before entering office. Having lost a battle with Mandelblit before the High Court of Justice to extend the term of temporary state attorney Dan Eldad, Ohana had hoped the comptroller would create problems for the attorney-general. Ohana has also said he may call for a state commission of inquiry into how Mandelblit handled the Eldad matter, into the 10-year-old Harpaz Affair and into other unspecified general issues he has with the prosecution. Israel Hayom Likud, Yamina Trade Barbs as Bibi Prepares to Swear in Gov A day after announcing that he would not join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fifth government, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett intensified his attacks on the incumbent prime minister. "Netanyahu has fragmented the right-wing bloc," Bennett said, reiterating his attack on the prime minister's refusal to give Yamina prominent portfolios in the government, which is set to be sworn in on Thursday. A Likud official dismissed the accusations and told Israel Hayom: "It is sad that because of Yamina's infighting over portfolios, they are willing to join the Left in the opposition. Netanyahu is now pursuing a historic move to apply sovereignty on Judea and Samaria and rather than take part in this, Bennett is capitulating to an internal political battle." See also ‘‘Government Swearing-in Pushed off to Thursday Against Backdrop of Pompeo visit’’ (Times of Israel). 2 Times of Israel PM Seeks Okay for 36 Ministers, in Bid to Bring in Yamina Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to expand the blueprint for the new government and swear in 36 ministers on Thursday instead of the agreed-upon 32, Channel 12 reported, in a bid to coax the Yamina party, which has said it will remain outside the coalition, to join. Likud and Blue and White had agreed to start the government with 30 ministers plus Netanyahu and Benny Gantz for the initial six-month emergency period in which it will focus on combating the coronavirus. Afterwards it could be expanded up to 36 in all. But the report said Netanyahu was now seeking to immediately go to 36. The report said that Netanyahu asked Gantz to agree to this a few days ago. The move would help the prime minister deal with pressure for ministerial positions within Likud as well as possibly paving the way for Yamina to join. The report said that Gantz was expected to agree to the request. But a source in Blue and White told the Ynet news site that “the issue wasn’t brought up for discussion at all.” See also ‘‘Likud: Bennett Betrayed Religious Zionism’’ (Jerusalem Post). Reuters France Pushes for Tough EU Response to Any Annexation France is urging its European Union partners to consider threatening Israel with a tough response if it goes ahead with a de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, three EU diplomats said. Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg also want to discuss the possibility of punitive economic measures during a foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday, the diplomats told Reuters, though all member states would have to agree to any collective action. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said cabinet discussions will start in July overextending Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, as was mooted under U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. Palestinians have expressed outrage at Israel’s plans to cement its hold further on land it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, territory they are seeking for a state. Jerusalem Post Bennett's Opening Salvo Against Palestinian Statehood Outgoing-Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has launched the first salvo in the right-wing battle against Palestinian statehood under the Trump peace initiative, as he vowed stiff opposition and declared the end of the unified right-wing bloc. It will remain the first salvo whether Bennett become the “fighting opposition,” as he has phrased it, or enters the coalition at the last minute. As the clock’s ticks toward annexation under the Trump plan, opposition to the Palestinian statehood component of the initiative has been gaining steam. Support for Palestinian statehood “is a point of no return. One can’t recognize and then un-recognize Palestinian statehood. It’s like un-cooking scrambled eggs,” Bennett told reporters. He clarified specifically that this included the Palestinian component of the Trump plan, even if in doing so Israel would lose US support for sovereignty. 3 Jerusalem Post Head of Chief Rabbinate Kashrut to be Indicted for Bribery The head of the Chief Rabbinate’s Kashrut Division is to be indicted on charges of receiving bribes from food importers who demanded kosher certification and preferential treatment in return for their money. In December, KAN News reported that the police had obtained footage of Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen Arazi, the exclusive authority for granting kashrut approval to imported food, receiving envelopes filled with cash allegedly in return for kashrut approval without undergoing the requisite procedures for licensing. KAN reported that Cohen Arazi is set to be indicted for having taken bribes for many years. According to the original report, in one video of the rabbi, one of the importers is seen giving Cohen Arazi an envelope of cash and the rabbi is seen counting the bills. Ha’aretz Israeli Soldier Killed During West Bank Arrest Operation A soldier was killed early Tuesday morning by a stone dropped on his head during an operation to arrest suspects in the West Bank, an Israeli military statement said. The IDF named the soldier as 21-year-old Staff Sgt. Amit Ben Ygal, a resident of Ramat Gan. At around 4 A.M., a unit from the Golani Brigade arrived at the town of Ya'bad, near Jenin, to arrest four Palestinians – two suspected of involvement in a terrorist organization, and two suspected of throwing stones. About half an hour later, a large stone was hurled from the roof of a house in the village, hitting Ben Yigal on the head. The IDF says he was wearing a helmet. He was evacuated via helicopter to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Troops are now searching for the perpetrator. The IDF is investigating the incident. In a similar incident in 2018, Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky was fatally injured when a heavy stone slab was thrown from the third floor of a building during arrests at the al-Am’ari refugee camp, near Ramallah. A Palestinian, Islam Mohammed Yousef Naji, was sentenced to life in prison after confessing. According to the Shin Bet security service, he had decided to take revenge after his brother was arrested earlier in 2018. 4 Israel Hayom– May 12, 2020 It Would be Absurd to Leave Yamina Out By Matti Tuchfeld ● It’s happening. After a year and a half of instability and endless skepticism about the efforts to form a coalition, Israeli citizens will wake up this morning and while they might not know whether the kindergartens are going to be open, they can rest assured that they will have a government in another two days. Despite the short amount of time left, not a single meeting or conversation was held yesterday between the Likud and Yamina. If no way is found to cooperate with this right-wing party, that will be the greatest absurdity of the 2020 Israeli government. The right-wing parties walked in lockstep for a year and a half, Contrary to all the assessments and in spite of every attempt, all of them, from Netanyahu to Litzman, has the wisdom to stick together through thick and thin, even when that meant dragging the country into three elections.
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