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Media Summary

Missile strikes had limited impact on Syrian chemical weapons

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The Independent reports that US, British and French missile strikes on Syria had a limited impact on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ability to carry out chemical weapons attacks, US assessments have reportedly shown. Donald Trump tweeted “Mission Accomplished” after the attacks, which members of his administration claimed had struck the heart of the country’s chemical weapons programme.

The Daily Mail  published an article explaining Yom Ha’atzmaut and the “Google Doodle” that was produced by the search engine to mark the occassion.

The Telegraph yesterday published a column by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin which argues that “Israel needs the West now more than ever,” and advocates continued efforts to bring peace to the region.

The Guardian has published an oped by Michael Segalov which argues that “Israel’s independence day should not be a religious holiday”. He makes the argument that the Jewish community in Britain should “see Israeli independence day as an opportunity for debate,” about the state.

The Times reports that 3000 members of Turkey’s military are to be dismissed as part of Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan’s purge after a failed coup, tightening his grip on power before early elections. The dismissals were announced hours before the Turkish parliament voted to extend the country’s state of emergency for the seventh time since the coup attempt in July 2016. It also voted to call snap parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24, 17 months ahead of schedule.

The Times reports that Russia plans to confront the UN Security Council (UNSC) with a television interview featuring a Syrian boy allegedly paid with food to pose as a victim of a chemical weapons attack in Douma. The attack on 7 April has fuelled an escalating information war between the Kremlin and the West. International inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been prevented from reaching the area, which is controlled by Russian military police. They were forced to abandon the attempt this week when their reconnaissance team came under small-arms fire. Russia blamed “terrorists”. As many as 70 people are thought to have died in the chemical attack, which was carried out with chlorine and sarin, according to US officials. Journalists who were allowed to visit the site on Monday under the watchful eye of Syrian regime forces returned with conflicting accounts of whether an attack had taken place.

The Financial Times published an editorial which argues that “the continuing blockade of Qatar makes no sense”. The article says that: “Given how far the royals in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have gone to whip up anti-Qatari sentiment, a sudden climb down is unlikely. But it is high time they moved in that direction. Toning down the rhetoric would be a start. Lifting the blockade incrementally should be the next”.

The Guardian highlightsHaifa in its cities series. Quoting a citizen of the city, the story illustrates that “Haifa is essentially segregated” and that “cracks [are] appear[ing] in Israel’s capital of coexistence”. The article quotes Joint-List leader Ayman Odeh who previously served on the Haifa city council.

More than 500 parliamentarians from France, Germany and the UK have written to their US counterparts urging them to persuade Trump not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. In a joint statement published in the Guardian, Der Spiegel, the New York Times and Le Monde, they urged a White House rethink before the 12 May deadline set by Trump to pull out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unless Europe can come up with a new policy that will meet his concerns. “The US government threatens to abandon the JCPOA, although Iran fulfils its obligations under the agreement,” the letter said. They warn that “an exit from the US would have fatal consequences”.

The Daily Mail reports that Natalie Portman has cancelled her upcoming trip to Israel. The 36-year-old Black Swan actress was set to venture to the Middle Eastern country in June to attend a ceremony put on by the Genesis Prize Foundation.  Portman’s decision to not attend the ceremony comes just days after the European Union called for an official investigation into Israel’s use of live ammunition against Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border. It was announced back in November that Portman had won the 2018 Genesis Prize.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that the Romanian government will follow the United States and transfer its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) leader said Thursday .

The Daily Mail reports that a supporter of Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who starred in a Labour TV campaign previously referred to Jews as “evil” and denied the right of Israel to exist.

The Telegraph reports that it has emerged that one of the victims of an antisemitic attack in central Berlin that shocked Germany this week is not Jewish. Adam Armoush told German television he was wearing a Jewish kippah skullcap in an attempt to prove it was safe to wear one on the streets of Berlin, but the experiment went wrong when he and a companion were set upon in the affluent neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg and whipped with a belt by three men who shouted “Yahudi”, the Arabic word for Jew. The 21-year-old victim is an Israeli citizen of Arab descent. “I’m not Jewish, I’m an Israeli, I grew up in Israel in an Arab family,” he told Deutsche Welle television.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that Gaza protest organisers moved sit-in tents closer to the Israeli border fence Thursday, a day before a fourth planned mass demonstration, raising fears of more bloodshed. The protests, largely led by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, began 30 March. Organisers said they’ll gradually move the camps toward the fence until 15 May, but made conflicting comments about a possible breach.

Ma’ariv and Haaretz report comments by Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein in which he severely criticised Netanyahu and Culture Minister Miri Regev after Netanyahu spoke for significantly longer than his allotted time during the Torch Lighting Ceremony on Independence Day. When asked during an interview on Channel Ten News last night whether Netanyahu’s credibility had been compromised, Edelstein said “yes,” adding, “it will have an effect.”

Under the headline “a pained and hopeful embrace”, Yediot Ahronot reports on the Israel Prize ceremony that was held yesterday in which Miriam Peretz [who lost two sons in different wars] embraced with David Grossman [whose son Uri was killed in the Second Lebanon War]. The paper comments that the “two bereaved parents who come from such different worlds, showed that culture, courtesy and modesty are stronger than any kitsch or hollow slogans.”

Kan Radio News reports that Hamas has declined a request by Israel, which was relayed by Egypt, to stop the demonstrations along the border fence. The source said that Hamas told Egypt that it was not organising the demonstrations, which were spontaneous and quiet demonstrations by the Palestinians. Israel Hayom runs the headlines “Alert in Southern Israel: Preparing for Kite Terrorism” in relation to this week’s expected disturbances.

Maariv reports that Islamic Jihad has threatened that Senior IDF Officers are “in the crosshairs”.  The military wing of Islamic Jihad released footage yesterday showing its armed operatives in a house in the Gaza Strip as they staked out Maj. Gen. Mordechai and other troops and officers standing next to him.

The Jerusalem Post reports comments by Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt that Palestinians have a right “to protest their dire humanitarian circumstances” in the Gaza Strip but adding that they should do so at a safe distance from Israel’s border with the strip and with no violence. “Palestinians in Gaza have the right to protest their dire humanitarian circumstances. Organisers and leaders should focus on that message, not stoke the potential for more violence with firebombs and flaming kites, and must keep a safe distance from the border.”

Kan Radio News reports that Romania has decided to relocate its embassy to Israel to Jerusalem. The leader of Romania’s ruling party, Liviu Dragnea, said on Romanian television that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would lead to great benefits for his country. Netanyahu said yesterday at a reception for the diplomatic corps posted to Israel that six additional countries were seriously considering moving their embassies to Jerusalem.

The Times of Israel reports comments by Netanyahu at an Independence Day event at the President’s Residence in which he referred to Trump moving the embassy. “Recognising reality is the way to build peace. You cannot build peace on the basis of lies because it crashes on the rocks of reality,” he said. Netanyahu said Israel would provide “preferential treatment” to the first ten states who move their embassies. “There is a simple principle [that] you know — “first come first serve”. I decided that the first ten embassies that arrive here will get a preferential treatment.”