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Media Summary

Assad imposes travel ban on cousin

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The Telegraph, Associated Press and The Guardian report that the fatal shooting by Israel Border Police of Iyad Halak in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday has prompted comparisons to the police violence in the US and accusations of excessive force by Israeli forces. The report says that the shooting has caused widespread outcry on social media with many comparisons to the racially charged death of George Floyd in the US last week. The papers note that whilst Defence Minister Benny Gantz apologised for the death of Halak in a cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of the incident in his opening remarks.

The Financial Times leads with a report titled “Israel-Iran attacks: ‘Cyber winter is coming’” by Mehul Srivastava. The report follows the recent cyberattack by Iran on Israel’s water infrastructure, which would have left tens of thousands of civilians and farms parched in the middle of a heatwave. The paper quotes an Israeli official who said the attack — the latest salvo in the four-decade hostility between the two countries — had opened the door to “an unpredictable risk scenario”. The official added that it had created a precedent for tit-for-tat cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure that both countries have so far avoided — and may still be keen to avoid.

The BBC, Sky News and the Associated Press report on the reopening of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, for morning prayers yesterday. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, and many other holy sites, have been off limits to Muslims since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning they were unable to host daily prayers during Ramadan. The reports mentions that precautions were taken to reduce the risk of the virus spreading, including worshippers having their temperatures checked, stood at a distance from each other, and were asked to wear masks and bring their own prayer mats.

The Times leads this morning with the worsening relationship between Syrian President Bashar Assad and his billionaire cousin, Rami Makhlouf. Assad has imposed a travel ban on Makhlouf, who has posted videos on Facebook rejecting demands that he hand over some of his money to the Syrian regime. In his latest post, Makhlouf says he has put his shareholdings into a family charity, confirming suggestions that assets the president is trying to seize include stakes in international banks. According to the report, regime insiders say it was always assumed that Makhlouf was merely “holding” the money for the interests of the broader family, and that Assad is now calling in the debt of about $230m.

The Telegraph reports on The White Helmets’ charge that the World Health Organization is failing to help Syria’s most vulnerable people from the coronavirus pandemic as doctors brace themselves for catastrophe.

A new report in Israel Hayom this morning reveals that Israel and Saudi Arabia held a secret meeting last December, with US mediation, about plans to include a Saudi Arabian representatives on the Islamic Waqf Council on the Temple Mount. A Saudi official told Israel Hayom that the Jordanians, who have a special exclusive status in the in the Islamic Waqf’s management on the Temple Mount, had changed their minds about altering the composition of the council as a result of greater Turkish interference in East Jerusalem. The report says Saudi Arabia’s inclusion would be under terms that it would not harm the special exclusive status of the Jordanian royal family on the Temple Mount, Saudi Arabia transfer millions of dollars as a contribution to Islamic associations operating in East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount, and the Saudis apply diplomatic and political pressure to remove the Turkish Islamic organisations operating under Palestinian auspices.

Kan Radio News reports this morning that the young Palestinian man Iyad Halak, who was shot to death by Border Police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday, was laid to rest last night in East Jerusalem. The funeral was attended by few dozen people and ended without incidence. Police were bracing for potential unrest Sunday in Jerusalem as the Temple Mount reopened for worshipers for the first time in two months, and one day after the shooting of Halak. Police have opened up an investigation over Halak’s death. Initial reports claimed that the police believed Halak was armed and had apparently not understood officers’ orders to halt as he passed near the Lion’s Gate. He reportedly fled on foot and hid in a garbage room where he was shot. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana expressed sorrow for Halak’s death and vowed to investigate, but said it was early to “pass sentence” on the police officers involved, noting that they “are required to make fateful decisions in seconds in an area that has been inundated with terror attacks, and in which there is a constant danger to their lives.”

Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Ben-Dror Yemini takes aim at the “special authorities law to cope with the coronavirus” is extends the “emergency regulations,” that were created by the British in 1945. He says the proposed legislation would allow inspector and policeman to invade the private space of every single person and give them the authority to enforce the regulations. By calling the bill “both unnecessary and disgraceful” Ben-Dror Yemini asks, “Why it is that countries that are affected to a far greater extent do not need such emergency laws? And why have other democratic countries that are handling the coronavirus crisis no less well than Israel, not given such frightening authorities to any inspector or policeman?”