--A relative of Mohammed Dawabsheh, from Duma village in the West Bank, told Maariv. Dawabsheh is one of the three missing construction workers still buried under the rubble of the collapsed parking complex in Tel-Aviv.*
Times of Israel: August 26
“Netanyahu’s Mixed
Messages on Temple Mount Incitement”
by Lara Friedman, Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now
In 2009, Israel arrested the head of the northern branch of Israel’s Islamic Movement for incitement, for saying that Israel “seeks to build a synagogue on Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Since then – and especially over the past two years, as unrest has rocked Jerusalem – Netanyahu has regularly argued that Palestinian Authority incitement over the Temple Mount is a chief cause of violence, and has called Palestinian officials’ statements about Israel’s intentions on the Temple Mount “gross lies.”
Earlier this month, on August 14-15, Jews observed the fast day of Tisha B’Av, commemorating various catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people, including the destruction of the first and second temples. Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister, Eli Ben-Dahan, marked this solemn occasion by telling a crowd gathered for a march around the Old City: “We aren’t embarrassed to say it: We want to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount.”
Al-Monitor: August 25
“Will 50
years of occupation unite Israel’s peace camp?” highlights the “Deciding at 50” campaign – “the only initiative
by the peace camp on the horizon ahead of the 50th anniversary of the occupation is coalescing around
Peace Now.”
Israel National News: August 24
“Peace Now ‘slanders’ activists over Hevron
construction,” discusses Peace Now’s campaign against Jewish construction in Hebron, which features “MK Orit
Strok (Jewish Home) and right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Bentzy Gopstein in cartoon profiles accompanied by
the tagline: "He who established 28 housing units in the heart of Hevron wants to perpetuate the conflict and fan
the flames in the most sensitive and explosive area of the West Bank."
Maan News: August 23
“Peace Now: New settlement will add 100 more Israeli
settlers in Hebron,” details Peace Now’s response to the announcement of settlement expansion in Hebron. “While
Peace Now reported on Monday that the renovations for the housing units were already underway, the statement on
Tuesday said the planning process for the new settlement had not yet begun in the Israeli Civil Administration's
High Planning Committee.”
Haaretz: August 22
“For first time in decade, Israel plans to expand
Jewish settlement in Hebron,” Settlement Watch’s Hagit Ofran says “there is an attempt here to overturn a High
Court decision that forbade building settlements on land seized for military use.”
Times of Israel: August 22
“Israel said planning
to build several Jewish homes in Hebron,” Peace Now is quoted saying the expansion plan contravenes a High
Court ruling, and their 2008 and 2010 petitions to the High Court are referenced.
Associated Press: August 22
“Israel
takes steps toward new settlement in volatile city,” Settlement Watch’s Hagit Ofran says the approval of
settlement expansion in Hebron is “the first approval in the area in more than a decade,” and is an example of
Israel “using legal acrobatics, allocating the land to settlers instead of turning it over to the Palestinian-run
municipality.”
Washington Jewish Week: August 17
“Closed doors
for Israel aid package,” Yossi Alpher’s weekly Q&A column for APN is quoted in a story about the US aid
package to Israel. Alpher says that Netanyahu cut Lieberman out of the process in reaction to the Defense
Minister’s comparison of the Iran deal to the 1938 Munich Agreement as a way to coalition tensions and reaffirm the
US-Israel security relationship.
AFP (published in i24 News) – September 1
“Top
Israeli court orders demolition of rogue outpost in West Bank settlement bloc,” The court order followed the
petition by Peace Now and Palestinian residents of Al Khader who claimed the outpost was constructed illegally on
Palestinian-owned land.
Jerusalem Post – September 1
“Court
orders demolition of 17 settler homes in Derech Ha’avot outpost,” Israel’s High Court of Justice orders
demolition of settler homes in response to Peace Now’s petition
France24 – August 31
“Israel approves more than
400 new West Bank settlement homes,” Peace Now quoted that Israeli Authorities approved 466 settlement homes in
the Occupied West Bank despite growing international criticism.
Reuters – August 31
“Israel approves 284
new West Bank housing units, draws US ire,” Peace Now quoted saying the Civil Administration approved a
234-unit nursing home in Elkana, 30 houses in Beit Arye, and 20 houses in Givat Zeev.
AFP (published in Ynet News) – August 31
“Additional West Bank construction approved and
retroactively sanctioned,” Peace Now quoted saying Netanyahu’s government “continues to plan and build all over
the West Bank, while also giving settlers the message that any construction done without planning will be
retroactively legalized."
Jerusalem Post – August 31
“Peace
Now: Netanyahu abetting illegal settler building,” Peace Now charged that the Higher Planning Council for Judea
and Samaria has advanced plans to retroactively authorize 384 settler homes and to legalize another 372 such
structures, as well as to advance plans for 1,531 new settler homes this year.
New York Times – August 30
“Israel
Quietly legalizes pirate outposts in the West Bank,” Isabel Kershner quotes Hagit Ofran and uses Peace Now’s
aerial photographs in her major feature on Israel’s efforts to legalize outposts in the West Bank, such as Mitzpe
Danny.
Al-Monitor – August 29
“Will
Israel hold referendum over two-state solution?” Ben Caspit reports on the “Deciding at 50” referendum
initiative, which will be launched on September 5. He attributes the idea behind to initiative to Peace Now’s Tzali
Reshef.
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1. Bills & Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. On the Record
Congress returned this week from its summer recess – coming back for a very brief session before it goes back into recess for the final period before November elections. Surprising no one, GOP leaders returned to Washington eager to score points against the Obama Administration over its Iran policy – immediately introducing 6 pieces of Iran-focused legislation (all 100% partisan), on top of a whopping 14 GOP letters sent to the Obama Administration from GOP House and Senate members (over the recess and this week) demanding answers to long and leading lists of questions about Iran-related matters
In addition, this week opened with a faux-anti-BDS event on Capitol Hill – “faux” because, consistent with the trend in Congress for more than a year, the real goal of the event was to legitimize settlements. As noted in Israel Hayom (the paper owned by Sheldon Adelson and viewed as so close to Netanyahu that it is nicknamed, “Bibiton”), the event was instigated by the Shomron Regional Council – the municipal body of settlements in the northern part of the West Bank – and featured settler leader Yossi Dagan. The opening paragraph of the article makes crystal clear the intent of the event: “U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday hosted a unique conference to support the Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise and denounce anti-Israel incitement and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement's activities on American university campuses.” Also see: A7: Samarian Council takes fight against BDS to Washington (with video); Ynet: Head of Samaria Regional Council speaks at congressional BDS conference; and JPost: Republican Congressmen: BDS akin to 1930s anti-Semitism.
Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
This week, Alpher discusses three new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives that are reportedly being incubated: a set of “Obama principles”, a Moscow summit, and an Israeli referendum in terms of potential content and advantages and disadvantages; what would he recommend for an Obama peace formula as part of his legacy; PM Netanyahu seemingly contemplating steps to dissuade Obama from any peace initiatives, including a possible Moscow summit with Palestinian leader Abbas; allegations that Abbas had been recruited sometime before 1983 by the KGB; and the campaign to hold a national referendum on the two-state solution, “Decision at 50.”
Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
This week, Alpher discusses books! The best book on the Arab revolutionary wave, books on additional causes for the current chaos in the Arab world, books on the Arab revolutions that add a more human dimension, on the US role in the Middle East before the Arab revolutions, and on Israel and the Palestinians.