Israel and the Middle East News Update Monday, May 1 Headlines: 'We Are All Brothers'—Israel Remembers Fallen Soldiers Clashes at Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremonies Netanyahu to Abbas: If You Want Peace, Stop Paying Terrorists Egypt, PA Coordinate Positions Ahead of Abbas, Trump Meeting Hamas Accuses Abbas of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Gaza Hamas to Amend Controversial Charter in Bid to Ease Ties Survey: Israeli Arabs View Country More Positively Than Jews Israel, Palestinians Battle for Votes Over Jerusalem Resolution at UNESCO Commentary: Jewish Journal: “Even the Experts Are Turning on the WB Occupation” By Rob Eshman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, TRIBE Media Corp. / Jewish Journal WAPO: “If Trump Has a Mideast Peace Strategy, It's Remaining a Secret” By Josh Rogin, Global Opinions Columnist, Washington Post 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 ● David Abreu, Associate Editor News Excerpts May 1, 2017 Ynet News 'We Are All Brothers'—Israel Remembers Fallen Soldiers Israel marked Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism on Monday morning with a two-minute siren, with people stopping their daily activities. The day also included a state memorial service honoring fallen IDF soldiers at the military plot on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Chief Justice Miriam Naor were in attendance, alongside bereaved families of fallen soldiers. See also, “Israel Marks Memorial Day with Siren to Remember 23,544 Fallen” (Forward) Ha’aretz Clashes at Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremonies Right-wing protesters disrupted, heckled and even forced their way into joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremonies held in Tel Aviv and in the north on Sunday night. In Tel Aviv, some 4,000 participated in the event, held to commemorate the lives lost on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and were attacked by members of a counter protest of several dozen right wingers. See also, “Palestinians Barred from Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Service” (Times of Israel) Ha’aretz Netanyahu to Abbas: If You Want Peace, Stop Paying Terrorists Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the national Memorial Day service on Monday that Israel's existence is dependent on soldiers' willingness to sacrifice. "It's not only a condition for our existence, but also for the achievement of peace with our neighbors," he added. Netanyahu paid tribute to fallen servicemen, including his brother Yoni Netanyahu, as well as bereaved families. Later, Netanyahu addressed a second memorial, held for victims of terrorism. Addressing PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu said: "How can you talk about peace with Israel when you're paying murderers who kill innocent Israelis. If you want peace, cancel payment to murderers." Jerusalem Post Egypt, PA Coordinate Positions Ahead of Abbas, Trump Meeting Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi and PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday coordinated their positions ahead of the latter's upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington this week. During a meeting in Cairo, Sisi was also cited as pledging Cairo's continued efforts to help formulate a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Egyptian president's spokesperson Alaa Yousi stated such a peace plan would outline an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital. Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, Palestinian General Intelligence head Majed Faraj, and Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Jamal al-Shubki accompanied Abbas on the visit. See also, “Abbas Meets with King Abdullah Ahead of White House Visit” (Times of Israel) 2 Times of Israel Hamas Accuses Abbas of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Gaza Senior Hamas officials stepped up a war of words with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the weekend, accusing him of “crimes against humanity” over his plans to pressure the terror group to cede control of the Gaza Strip. “The criminals in the PA, you cut off power to the innocent people of the Strip, so God will cut off power to your hearts,” he added. On Sunday, Ismail Haniyeh, the former Gaza leader for Hamas who is poised to take over soon as chief of the organization worldwide, called Abbas “delusional.” Last week, the PA informed Israel it would no longer pay for electricity provided by Israel to Gaza, despite the Strip already facing a crippling power shortage. i24 News Hamas to Amend Controversial Charter in Bid to Ease Ties Hamas is to unveil a new version of its controversial founding charter which called for the destruction of Israel in a bid to ease its international isolation, party officials said. Leaders of the Islamist movement have long spoken of the more limited aim of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip without explicitly setting it out in its charter. But after years of internal debate, the party leadership is to publish a supplementary charter at a conference in Qatar on Monday that will formally accept the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. See also, “With Eyes on Trump's Peace Efforts, Hamas to Unveil New Charter” (Ha'aretz) Times of Israel Survey: Israeli Arabs View Country More Positively Than Jews More among Israel’s Arab community than its Jewish population are satisfied with life in Israel and slightly over half are proud to be Israeli citizens, according to a new survey released on Sunday. The results of the poll, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University Peace Index, were released ahead of Israel’s 69th Independence Day that falls on Tuesday. The survey sought an appraisal of life in Israel, asking the question: “How’s it going?” Among Jewish respondents, 43.9 percent said they see Israel’s situation as “good” or “very good” while among Arabs the figure was nearly two-thirds at 66%. See also, “Poll: Arab Citizens Think Higher of Israel Than Its Jewish Citizens Do” (Jerusalem Post) Jerusalem Post Israel, Pal. Battle for Votes Over J’lem Resolution at UNESCO Israel is battling to prevent a public-relations victory for the Palestinians at the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris, which is expected to disavow Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem on Independence Day. Such a vote would provide PA President Mahmoud Abbas a boost when he meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House one day later. The United States, one of the 58 UNESCO Executive Board members, is expected to oppose the resolution. The Palestinians have an automatic majority on the board, but the PA and Israel are battling for the support of the 11 EU member states. Their votes have come to represent a “moral” political victory. See also, “US Official Criticizes ‘Delegitimizing’ UNESCO Res. Labeling Israeli Presence in J’lem ‘Illegal’” (Algemeiner) 3 Jewish Journal – April 27, 2017 Even the Experts Are Turning on the West Bank Occupation By Rob Eshman For decades, I’ve been writing about the danger Israel’s occupation of the West Bank — and before that, Gaza — poses to the existence of a democratic State of Israel. It’s not a position that makes you popular with a vocal minority of American Jews, and perhaps a majority of the Jewish establishment. One of the most frequent critiques I get is that I am a naive non-combatant writing from the safety of the United States who knows nothing about Israeli security, the realities of the Middle East or the true nature of the Palestinians. So, fine, let’s say I plead no contest to all those charges. But suppose I could find someone who served at the highest ranks of Israel’s army or intelligence services and who holds the same positions on the issues that I do? Would that convince the critics? Now, what if I could find 270 of them? Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) is a group of former combat commanders, generals and intelligence officials who have undertaken a campaign in Israel to end the occupation. “We believe in separation as opposed to annexation,” Gen. (Res.) Giora Inbar, a CIS leader, told me. “We understand security comes by agreement, not by fighting.” Inbar visited the Jewish Journal offices early last month as part of a speaking tour sponsored by Israel Policy Forum. He is, at 64, tall and trim, with close-cropped gray hair and a gravelly close-your-eyes-and-it’s-Yitzhak-Rabin voice. Inbar and other members of the group, including Amnon Reshef, a hero of the Yom Kippur War, will be back in Los Angeles next weekend, as well. Like Rabin, they harbor few illusions about whether Hamas loves Jews or whether ISIS doesn’t have its sights set on Ramallah, much less Amman. As the former head of the Israel Defense Forces’ liaison unit in southern Lebanon, Inbar worked with intelligence-gathering units that likely knew more about what was going on in Syria than Bashar Assad. “We are combat commanders,” Inbar explained. “Each of us at a point in his career understood the limits of power. We believe the two-state solution is the only solution that guarantees the security of Israel.” When Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza in the Six-Day War, 50 years ago this June, it assumed control of the millions of Palestinians who live there, without granting them full democratic rights. Unless it withdraws, the country soon will find itself having to choose between being an apartheid state or a binational state of Jews and Arabs — something the generals and most analysts see as a recipe for a Syria-like disaster.