Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
The Peace Process: Stephen Schecter, Shabbtai, Dec. 21, 2017
Christmas Reality: Palestinians Use Christians as Pawns, Israel Protects Them: Ariel Ben Solomon, JNS, Dec. 26, 2017
Trump’s Recognition of Jerusalem: The View from Beijing: Roie Yellinek, BESA, Dec. 27, 2017
Overcoming The Challenges Against All Odds: Jewish Press, Dec. 23, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“I think the settlements are part of Israel…I think that was always the expectation when Resolution 242 was adopted in 1967. It remains today the only substantive resolution that was agreed to by everybody…The idea [behind the resolution] was that Israel would be entitled to secure borders.” — US Amb. to Israel David Friedman. Friedman recently asked the State Department to cease using the term 'occupation' to describe Israel's presence in the West Bank. The State Department reportedly objected to the request, but eventually agreed to discuss the matter. “So there was always supposed to be some notion of expansion into the West Bank, but not necessarily expansion into the entire 'West Bank'. And I think that’s exactly what, you know, Israel has done. I mean, they’re only occupying two percent of the 'West Bank',” he pointed out. Friedman also said that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria have an “important nationalistic, historical, religious significance…I think the settlers view themselves as Israelis and Israel views the settlers as Israelis.” (Arutz Sheva, Dec. 26, 2017)
"To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the UN’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world. I’ve often wondered why, in the face of such hostility, Israel has chosen to remain a member of this body. And then I remember that Israel has chosen to remain in this institution because it’s important to stand up for yourself. Israel must stand up for its own survival as a nation; but it also stands up for the ideals of freedom and human dignity that the United Nations is supposed to be about.” — U.S. Amb. to the UN Nikki Haley. Last week, as the UN General Assembly voted 128-9 to reject President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haley warned there could be consequences for the UN. “When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege’ of being disrespected,” Haley said. (Jewish Press, Dec. 21, 2017)
“The state of Israel rejects this vote outright…Jerusalem is our capital, we will continue to build there and additional embassies will move to Jerusalem…Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, whether or not the UN recognizes this. It took 70 years for the United States to formally recognize this, and it will take years for the UN to do the same.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nine states – including the United States and Israel –voted against the resolution rejecting Trump’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The other countries which supported Washington were Togo, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, Guatemala and Honduras. Thirty-five countries abstained, including five EU states, and other US allies including Australia, Canada, Colombia and Mexico. Twenty-two of the 28 EU countries voted for the resolution, including the UK and France. Germany – which in the past has abstained on measures relating to Israel – also voted in favour. (Guardian, Dec. 21, 2017)
“We must evict the UN from the scenic Governor’s House, where its bloated staff does nothing, and give this historic site to a school, a hospital or – best yet – a new US embassy.” — Michael Oren, Israel’s deputy minister for diplomacy. (Guardian, Dec. 21, 2017)
"We will continue the struggle for Jerusalem to the end, no matter what the price will be…We are witnessing an intifada that is not only Palestinian. All parts of the Islamic nation are taking part in this intifada…Trump's decision will not pass. We have a massive strategic arsenal. Jerusalem is one and united, it has no West and East, it is the eternal capital of Palestine." — Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh. According to Haniyeh, Trump is expected to recognize Israel as a Jewish country. During a press conference, the terrorist leader claimed that according to information attained by Hamas, Trump is also expected to declare that he recognizes the Israeli settlements and that he plans to revoke the Palestinian right of return. (Jerusalem Online, Dec. 23, 2017)
“Jerusalem is our red line. Any steps against Jerusalem’s historic status and holiness are unacceptable.” — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan added that his country will work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state and seek the support of the European Union. Speaking at a visit to Tunisia at the end of a four-day Africa trip focusing on economic issues, Erdogan also called Syria’s President Assad a “terrorist who engaged in state terrorism” and should not be part of Syria’s post-conflict future. “How can we embrace a future with a Syrian leader who has killed close to a million of his citizens?” said the Turkish leader, whose country has seen a flood of refugees from neighboring Syria during the fighting. The Turkish leader said, “There is no calm in Syria, and with Assad there can never be peace there.” (Times of Israel, Dec. 27, 2017)
“We as Arabs must come to an understanding with the other party and know what its demands are, so that we can succeed in peace-negotiation efforts, so that negotiations not be futile…We must recognize and realize that Jerusalem is a religious symbol to Jews and sacred to them, as Mecca and Medina are to Muslims.”— Abdulhameed Hakeem, of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies in Saudi Arabia. Hakeem – who in a March article stressed that Israel and Saudi Arabia face a common threat in Iran – said the “Arab mind must liberate itself from the legacy of [former Egyptian President] Gamal Abdul-Nasser, and the legacy of both the Sunni and Shi’a sects, which has instilled for political interests the culture of Jew-hatred and denial of their historic right in the region.” (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 18, 2017)
"We know that actually someone who has engaged and turned away from that hateful ideology can be an extraordinarily powerful voice for preventing radicalization in future generations and younger people within the community.” — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a year-end interview with CTV, Trudeau claimed that he believes returning Jihadists — like those I.S. members headed back to Canada after losing the fight abroad — can be rehabilitated into "powerful" voices against radicalism within Canada. Now that I.S. is nearly defeated, Canada anticipates that some of their departed brethren who left to join in the fight for the Caliphate, will return to their motherland. Unlike the U.S. Canada plans on welcoming the ones who claim to be reformed back with open arms. (Daily Wire, Dec. 21, 2017)
“As the expression goes, “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” And now is the Christian turn. Christians are now recapitulating the Jewish exodus. From 1500 to 1900, Christians made up a consistent 15 percent of the Middle East’s population…In 1910, that number had dipped to 13.6 percent…and in 2010, Christians had been reduced to a meager 4.2 percent, or less than a third as large as a century earlier. The downward trend, of course, is steeply continuing. As…Lee Smith puts it: “Being Christian in the Middle East has never been easy, but the wave of uprisings that has swept the region over the past year has made the situation for the region’s Christian minority almost unbearable.” The examples are alarming, and in many ways unprecedented in the long history of Muslim-Christian relations.” — Daniel Pipes. (Breaking Israel News, Dec. 21, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
SYRIAN REBELS NEAR ISRAEL BORDER ORDERED TO SURRENDER (Damascus) — Besieged Syrian rebels near the country’s three-way border with Israel and Lebanon have been ordered by regime forces to surrender or face defeat. Rebels are situated in Beit Jinn, and are facing Syrian military forces as well as Iranian-backed militias and Hezbollah. Fierce fighting has been reported in the area in recent days as the forces backing Assad advanced on the rebels. In September, a Hezbollah commander said the group has 10,000 fighters in southern Syria ready to confront Israel. Hezbollah is believed to have between 100,000 and 150,000 missiles and some 50,000 soldiers. (Times of Israel, Dec. 27, 2017)
OBAMA PROTECTED HEZBOLLAH DRUG RING TO SAVE IRAN DEAL (Washington) — The Obama administration stymied an investigation into Hezbollah — and its highly lucrative drug- trafficking networks — to protect the Iran nuclear deal, according to a report. A team had been working for almost a decade to bring down the Iran-backed organization’s sophisticated drug ring, which laundered money and smuggled cocaine into the U.S., Politico reported. But the departments of Justice and Treasury undermined efforts to arrest and prosecute key members of the criminal network — because the White House feared upsetting Tehran ahead of the nuclear agreement, according to Politico. (New York Post, Dec. 18, 2017)
ISRAEL’S WITHDRAWAL FROM UNESCO RUNS INTO HOLIDAY OBSTACLE (Jerusalem) — Israel’s planned withdrawal from UNESCO by the end of the year has hit a snag with diplomats unable to file the necessary papers on time because the cultural agency’s Paris offices are closed for the year-end holidays. But Israel’s envoy to the organization vowed to ensure that Israel will give up its membership. Netanyahu on Friday instructed Israel’s envoy to the UNESCO to submit a formal letter announcing Israel’s intent to leave the organization, two months after the US formally announced its own withdrawal — partly due to UNESCO’s anti-Israel bias. (Times of Israel, Dec. 27, 2017)
EX-MARINE CITES TRUMP'S JERUSALEM DECISION IN PLANNED ATTACK (San Francisco) — A former US Marine was charged in a foiled I.S.-inspired attack planned for Christmas on San Francisco's Pier 39, according to court documents. Everitt Aaron Jameson, a Muslim convert, cited Trump's decision to name Jerusalem the capital of Israel as one of his reasons behind the plot. Jameson first attracted FBI attention after the agency received a tip that he'd been interacting with Facebook posts praising I.S., including one showing an image of Santa Claus and a box of dynamite with the words, "We meet at Christmas in New York…soon," a federal affidavit states. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 24, 2017)
ISRAEL IN TALKS WITH MORE THAN 10 COUNTRIES OVER EMBASSY MOVE (Jerusalem) — Israel is in talks with more than 10 countries — including some in Europe — about potentially moving their respective embassies to Jerusalem. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely on Monday said the nations were interested in following Trump’s footsteps and declaring the Israeli city the new capital in the wake of Guatemala’s recent decision to do so. Honduras is reportedly the next in line to take Trump’s lead. Honduras, like Guatemala, was one of the nine nations that voted in support of the US in the UN General Assembly’s resolution to oppose Trump’s Jerusalem decision. (New York Post, Dec. 25, 2017)
HALEY INVITES COUNTRIES WHO SUPPORTED US IN ISRAEL VOTE TO RECEPTION (Washington) — U.S. Amb. to the UN Nikki Haley sent an invitation to the 65 countries who didn’t vote against the United States in the U.N. General Assembly vote to denounce Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The invitation to the Jan. 3 reception marked a symbolic step of the U.S. taking note of who supports the country and who doesn’t. Last week, Trump linked the UN vote to the future of assistance from the U.S. to foreign countries, telling reporters: "Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care." (Fox News, Dec. 22, 2017)
NEW WESTERN WALL TRAIN STATION TO BE NAMED AFTER TRUMP (Jerusalem) — A train station that will be built next to the Western Wall will be named after President Trump. The train will include a 3 km. tunnel from the Umma (nation) station at the entrance to the city to the Cardo in the Jewish Quarter. Transportation Minister Israel Katz said that he sees the project of extending the length of the railway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as the most important national project, and ordered officials to define it as a top priority mission. The high-speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway has been under construction since 2001 and will complement the existing, slower railway that already operates between the two cities. The project has been marked by numerous setbacks and delays. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 27, 2017)
DENMARK TO CUT FUNDING FROM SOME PALESTINIAN NGOS (Copenhagen) — Denmark is to revoke funding from several Palestinian non-governmental organizations and tighten aid criteria for others after they were tied to anti-Israel activities. The Danish Foreign Ministry said it would implement a more stringent vetting process for the transfer of funds to Palestinian NGOs. The move came after Denmark launched a review of its practices following a meeting where Prime Minister Netanyahu urged Denmark to stop funding Palestinian NGOs that are involved in anti-Israel incitement or promote boycotts of the Jewish state. Netanyahu listed organizations which receive Danish funds that Israel says are linked to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel. (Times of Israel, Dec. 23, 2017)
CHILDREN’S MAGAZINE DESCRIBING ISRAEL AS NOT ‘A REAL COUNTRY’ WITHDRAWN (Paris) — The entire print run of a popular French children’s magazine is being pulled from distribution following the publication of a feature which described the State of Israel as “not a real country.” The claim about Israel appeared in the January issue of Youpi, aimed at children aged 5-10. The magazine publisher’s president apologized for what he called a “clumsy error,” adding, “Obviously, we did not want to challenge the existence of the State of Israel.” The magazine explained that there are 197 countries in the world, but not all of them are recognized as “real countries.” The magazine cited both Israel and North Korea in this regard. (Algemeiner, Dec. 26, 2017)
LORDE CANCELS TEL AVIV CONCERT AFTER CALLS TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL (New York) — Lorde has decided to cancel her 2018 concert in Tel Aviv following calls for the singer to withdraw from the gig due to the anti-Israel BDS boycott. Lorde had canceled the show, scheduled for the Tel Aviv Convention Centre on June 5th as part of her 2018 world tour. The clamor for Lorde to boycott Israel increased in recent days as the United States announced it would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Lorde becomes the latest artist to cancel an Israel concert following pressure from the BDS movement, joining Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Lauryn Hill and more. Radiohead and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds proceeded with planned Israel shows in 2017 despite criticism from BDS. (Rolling Stone, Dec. 24, 2017)
SAUDI ARABIA BLOCKS ISRAEL’S CHESS TEAM FROM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Riyadh) — Israel has been left out of the World Chess Championships, which kicked off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after its players were unable to obtain the visas they needed to attend. In a statement posted online on Tuesday, Fatimah S. Baeshen, a spokeswoman for the Saudi ambassador to the United States, blamed a lack of formal relations between the two countries for the denial. The decision came as a surprise to the Israeli team, especially after a Sunday announcement that visas had been issued to players from Qatar and Iran, two countries with poor relations with Saudi Arabia. The seven Israeli players who had planned to attend were now seeking financial compensation from the federation. (New York Times, Dec. 26, 2017)
HRW DEFENDS FORMER ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT AGAINST CHARGE OF COLLUSION WITH IRAN (Geneva) — The influential NGO Human Rights Watch rose to the defense of the previous Argentine government— two weeks after a judge indicted former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and several of her colleagues for allegedly colluding with Iran in the cover-up of Tehran’s responsibility for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. HRW’s statement was quickly followed by the publication of an opinion piece by one of the indicted officials, former Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who favorably cited the organization in asserting his innocence of the collusion charges. Timerman was a founder and former leader of the NGO Americas Watch — later absorbed into Human Rights Watch. (Algemeiner, Dec. 20, 2017)
VANDALS SAID TO ATTACK SYNAGOGUE IN IRAN, RIP UP TORAH SCROLLS (Shiraz) — Two Torah scrolls were reportedly torn to pieces and prayer books were thrown into toilets in a vandalism attack at a synagogue in the Iranian city of Shiraz. Iranian police are investigating the incident at the Hadash (“new”) synagogue in the city’s Maaleh neighborhood. It was not immediately clear who was behind the vandalism. Two years ago, an ancient Torah scroll stolen from an unnamed synagogue in the same city was returned to the local Jewish community. Iran had between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews before the 1979 Revolution but most have since fled, mainly to the U.S., Israel and Europe. There are only about 8,500 left, mostly in Tehran but also in Isfahan and Shiraz. (Times of Israel, Dec. 26, 2017)
HUNDREDS ATTACKED CHURCH IN GIZA (Giza) — The Archbishop of Atfeeh issued a statement saying the Church of al-Amir Tadros (Prince Tadros) in the Kafr al-Waselin village in Giza, Egypt was attacked by a mob who gathered on Friday at noon outside the church while chanting hostile slogans that demanded the demolition of the church. Hundreds reportedly broke into the church, destroyed its contents, and beat the Christians who were present. Security forces arrived and dispersed the mob while the injured were transferred to hospital, the statement added. (Egypt Independent, Dec. 23, 2017)
NEWBORN SYRIAN REFUGEE FLOWN TO ISRAEL FOR HEART SURGERY (Jerusalem) — A two-day-old infant was flown from Cyprus to Israel on Friday night for emergency heart surgery. The infant was born to two Syrian refugees located in Cyprus. The Cyprus government contacted Israel for help after it was determined that the infant needed heart surgery. The newborn baby and his father were flown to Israel for treatment at Sheba hospital. (Jewish Press, Dec. 23, 2017)
WESTERN WALL TUNNELS SYNAGOGUE OPENED (Jerusalem) — A new synagogue within the Western Wall tunnels complex that took 12 years to build was dedicated and opened on Monday, following the Hanukka candle-lighting ceremony in the Western Wall plaza. The synagogue is deep inside the complex, adjacent to the area above which the ancient Jewish temples stood on the Temple Mount, and the inner sanctum of the Holy of Holies. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 19, 2017)
ISRAELI COST OF LIVING AMONG HIGHEST IN DEVELOPED WORLD (Jerusalem) — A year-end report found that the cost of living in Israel is among the highest of developed nations. The Taub Center’s report showed that while employment was up and salaries had increased over the past 12 months, “price levels in Israel remain among the highest in the OECD.” The report found that Israel’s price index was 23 percent higher than the average in developed or developing countries, besting rich Western nations such as the US, France, Germany and Luxembourg. Only Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand had higher price indices. The report also found that the life expectancy for Arabs in Israel was the highest in the Arab-Muslim world, at 79 years. (Times of Israel, Dec. 27, 2017)
RECORD NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS TO VISIT ISRAEL FOR CHRISTMAS (Jerusalem) — The Tourism Ministry announced that a record number of Christian pilgrims are expected to visit the Holy Land for Christmas, finishing up a record-breaking year of tourism for Israel. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin released a statement saying that in the next few weeks, 20 percent more Christian tourists are expected than visited last year. More than half of the 2.9 million tourists in 2016 were Christian. Of the total Christian tourists last year, 38 percent identified as Catholic, 28 percent as Protestants, and 28 percent as Orthodox. Among the Protestants, 75 percent identified as Evangelicals. 23 percent of all visitors to Israel defined the purpose of their visit as ‘a pilgrimage’. (Breaking Israel News, Dec. 21, 2017)
The Peace Process: Stephen Schecter, Shabbtai, Dec. 21, 2017 — Three days of rage Muslims proclaimed When Mr. Trump his statement made: Israel's capital, he told them, Is sure and true Jerusalem.
Christmas Reality: Palestinians Use Christians as Pawns, Israel Protects Them: Ariel Ben Solomon, JNS, Dec. 26, 2017—The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli Muslims often voice support for Christians, and seek to utilize them in the struggle against Israel. But it is the Jewish state that stands out as a defender of Middle East Christians.
Trump’s Recognition of Jerusalem: The View from Beijing: Roie Yellinek, BESA, Dec. 27, 2017—On December 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump signed a declaration that said, “We finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.” In doing so, he overturned the traditional evasion of US presidents of Congress’s 1995 decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Overcoming The Challenges Against All Odds: Jewish Press, Dec. 23, 2017—Just a few hundred meters from the Egyptian border, Yedidya Harush stands a top of a sand dune overlooking what less than a decade ago was a vast, inhospitable, empty expanse, stretching as far as the eye can see.
