Israel and the Middle East News Update Thursday, October 13 Headlines: Palestinian Man Killed During East Jerusalem Riots Under Right-Wing Pressure, Bibi to Ask Further Delay in Evacuating Amona B'Tselem to Address UN Security Council’s Informal Meeting on Settlements UNESCO to Vote on Resolution Doubting Jewish Ties to Western Wall Gaza Strip Population Said to Reach Two Million Israel Thwarts Hamas Suicide Bombing Plot on Jerusalem Bus Hezbollah Vows at Mass Beirut Rally to Keep Up ‘Jihad’ in Syria Israel, Turkey Discuss Joint Gas Pipeline as Ties Resume Commentary: Ma’ariv: “J’lem Officials Concerned of What to Come After High Holidays” By Dana Somberg, Diplomatic Correspondent, Ma’ariv Ha’aretz: “Eulogize Peres, Not the Peace Process” By Shir Nosatzki, Co-Founder, Social Communication Agency 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 October 13, 2016 Yedioth Ahronoth Palestinian Man Killed During East Jerusalem Riots Yom Kippur was volatile in East Jerusalem: in clashes that erupted on the eve of Yom Kippur in Silwan, a Palestinian man was killed by shots that were fired by the Israeli security forces. Ali Shawihi, aged 20, who had only been released several months before from Israeli prison where he had served an 18-month sentence, was killed. The clashes, which lasted for several hours, began after masked men pelted Border Police troops with firebombs and stones in Silwan. A Jerusalem District Police spokesperson said that shots were fired after the violent rioting deteriorated further, “which was aimed directly at the troops and placed the combatants’ lives in real danger.” Shawihi apparently was killed by a bullet to the abdomen. See also, “One Dead in Jerusalem Clashes Over Yom Kippur” (BICOM) See also, “Security Forces Arrest 20 Palestinians Over Yom Kippur” (Times of Israel) Ha’aretz Under Pressure, Bibi to Ask Further Delay in Evacuating Amona The state will ask the High Court of Justice for a six-month delay in evacuating the illegal West Bank outpost Amona, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Habayit Hayehudi leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked agreed on Thursday. The meeting, also attended by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, was held after Education Minister Bennett threatened Netanyahu overnight that his party might cause a crisis for the governing coalition if the state did not petition the court for a delay. Ynet News B'Tselem to Address UNSC’s Informal Meeting on Settlements The Palestinian delegation to the United Nations successfully initiated an informal meeting of the Security Council on Israeli settlements in the West Bank that is to be held on Friday and to be attended by representatives of B'Tselem. According to the UN's website, the "Arria-Formula meeting," which is how Friday's discussion has been defined, is a "very informal, confidential" meeting that enables "Security Council members to have a frank and private exchange of views." It is believed that this meeting is the Palestinian delegation's first step in a plan to have the Security Council issue a resolution against Israel regarding the settlements. See also, “Israel UN Envoy Slams NGO's Participation in 'Anti-Israel' Settlement Meeting” (i24 News) BICOM UNESCO To Vote on Resolution Doubting Jewish Ties to Kotel UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) is set to vote today on a Palestinian-spearheaded motion which appears to question any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The resolution has been tabled for discussion at UNESCO’s Executive Board meeting, taking place in Paris. It has been submitted by the Palestinian delegation with the support of Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan. See also, “UNESCO Poised to Pass Resolution Erasing Jewish Ties to Western Wall” (Ha'aretz) 2 Times of Israel Gaza Strip Population Said to Reach Two Million The two millionth person has been born in Gaza, the Strip’s Hamas rulers claimed Wednesday, with the birth of a baby boy named Waleed officially recognized as reaching the milestone in the densely populated Palestinian territory. “There are now more than two million residents in the Gaza Strip after the baby Waleed Shaath was born last night in Rafah in southern Gaza,” Iyad Bezm, a spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry, told AFP. The 2 million and oneth person, a girl named Lana Ayad, was born shortly afterwards, the ministry said. Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world, according to the United Nations. The territory could be “unlivable” by 2020, the UN said last year, due in large part to “high population density and overcrowding.” See also, “Gaza Population Passes Two Million for First Time” (Middle East Eye) Jerusalem Post Israel Thwarts Hamas Suicide Bombing Plot on Jerusalem Bus Security forces arrested a Hamas operative who planned a number of terrorist attacks in the Jerusalem area, including a suicide bombing on a bus in the capital’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood, authorities announced on Tuesday morning. The investigation of Muhammad Fuaz Ibrahim Julani revealed that he had discussed a number of attacks with his handlers, including a shooting at the Hizme checkpoint, a bombing at a store in Jerusalem he had formerly worked at, and bombing attacks at high-profile sites in Jerusalem that would cause mass casualties, such as the central bus station and the Malha Mall. See also “In Flyers, IDF Warns Palestinian Village of Future Action” (Times of Israel) See also, “Shin Bet Foils Hamas Suicide Bus Bombing in Jerusalem” (Times of Israel) Ynet News Hezbollah Vows at Mass Beirut Rally to Keep Up ‘Jihad’ in Syria Hezbollah vowed to maintain its "jihad" in neighboring Syria at a huge rally in Beirut on Wednesday, a day after its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the war was in a phase of escalation. Addressing thousands marking Shi'ite Islam's annual Ashura religious commemoration in a heavily secured square in Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold, Nasrallah said the war in Syria was being fought in defense of the whole region. "We will continue to bear our great responsibilities of jihad there. Your sons are there, and your men, your brothers, your husbands. They are defending their existence, dignity and the resistance," he said. See also, “WATCH: Hezbollah Vows to Keep Up Syria 'Jihad'” (Reuters) Reuters Israel, Turkey Discuss Joint Gas Pipeline as Ties Resume Israel and Turkey have discussed the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline between the two countries, Israel's energy minister said on Thursday, in the first Israeli ministerial visit to Turkey since ties were ruptured six years ago. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz agreed at a meeting in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Berat Albayrak to "establish immediately a dialogue between our two governments" to examine the project's feasibility, he told reporters. "We discussed energy in general and particularly the issue of natural gas and the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey in order to deliver natural gas to Turkey and to Europe," Steinitz said. 3 Ma’ariv – October 13, 2016 J’lem Officials Concerned of What to Come After High Holidays By Dana Somberg If the period of time after the High Holidays, when we deal with the tasks that we postponed for a long time, is tough for most of us, then it is about to be exceptionally tough for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. This because officials in the Prime Minister’s Bureau and the Foreign Ministry are gearing up for a “diplomatic tsunami,” and they are preparing accordingly. Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry just recently, and told him that Israel expected the Obama administration to neither change policy nor support a resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian topic in the UN Security Council. Kerry replied that the administration had not yet made any decisions on that matter. It seems that the government’s decision to build about 100 housing units as a solution for the settlers to be evicted from Amona is the straw that broke the Americans’ back. The criticism from the White House and the State Department was unprecedentedly harsh, and American officials have said that it was meant to validate the US bid in the UN. Former Israeli consul general in New York Alon Pinkas said, “American officials still haven’t decided what this diplomatic tsunami will be like. There are a few possibilities: the first is that the president will give a speech detailing the parameters that are in consensus to date. Naturally, Netanyahu will later say that the speech was misunderstood. “Afterwards, the president will talk about the issues that have not yet been agreed on. He will speak about the American vision regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and will repeat the Clinton parameters from 2001. He’ll tell Netanyahu and Abbas ‘you can complain, but you’re the ones who didn’t budge.’” Pinkas said “Another possibility is that the Americans will quietly encourage the French to propose a resolution to the Security Council. The US will say that it certainly objects to an agreement that is not reached through negotiations, but it won’t cast a veto. In their proposal, the French will elaborate on topics like the Palestinian state, border adjustments etc. It will be a principled proposal, but it will be a point of reference from this point in time, and every time they talk about resolving the conflict, they will refer to this proposal. “The third possibility is that contrary to every scenario, Obama is not interested in dealing with this issue any more.