Media Summary
Pope arrives in Iraq for four day visit
Ahead of the Pope’s arrival in Iraq, the Associated Press publishes a timeline of disasters that have struck the country’s Christian community. The paper notes that Iraq was estimated to have a Christian population of 1.5 million before the 2003 invasion, but now officials estimate only a few hundred thousand remain in the country.
The Economist reports on the significance of the Pope’s visit to Iraq. The paper notes: “Pope Francis is the first-ever pontiff to visit Iraq, where over 95 per cent of the population is thought to be Muslim. He arrives at a difficult time for its Christians, whose forebears have been in the country since the first century. Churches are being rebuilt, but there are fewer believers to fill the pews … Iraq’s leaders hope that Christians displaced within the country will soon feel safe enough to go home. President Barham Salih says the Pope’s visit will help Iraq to ‘heal’.”
BBC News reports that Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel claimed Iran was responsible for the tar that washed up across much of the country’s shoreline. Gamliel said she believed the tanker spilled oil smuggled from Iran and said it was guilty of “environmental terrorism”. However, Israeli TV channels reported that the country’s defence establishment did not share that assessment.
James Rothwell writes for The Telegraph about “why the ICC war crimes probe into the Gaza war has rattled Israel and what will happen next”. He notes: “Israeli officials say the investigation would be a severe misuse of resources, arguing that the real war crimes that should be investigated are taking place in Syria under dictator Bashar al-Assad. They also say that the ICC is trying to punish Israel for defending its people against terrorist threats.”
Reuters reports that during a call between Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris reiterated the US’s opposition to the ICC probe of war crimes in the Palestinian territories. This was the first call between the two leaders. According to a White House statement, Harris noted the US administration’s “opposition to the International Criminal Court’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel” and “emphasised the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security”.
The Independent reports on growing calls to boycott the FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar in 2022. There has been growing backlash against the tournament due to Qatar’s human rights record and the corrupt nature of FIFA. The paper notes that Denmark’s parliament is facing a petition calling for the country to boycott the tournament. If the petition gets 50,000 signatures by June 8, the country’s participation in the World Cup would have to be debated in parliament. To date, the petition has 7,000 signatories.
The Guardian reviews The Dissident, a documentary chronicling the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The paper notes: “Bryan Fogel’s documentary about the Khashoggi murder may not reveal anything substantially new, but it’s a fierce, forceful and highly illuminating film, set out with clarity and verve. In a way, Erdoğan has played Deep Throat; his outrage and document-dump did all the work that might have taken investigative journalists years. But there are gripping details.”
The Times reports that US President Joe Biden called off an airstrike in Syria when a woman and two children were spotted at the target site. The call was made 30 minutes before the bombing, with Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin advising the change of plan. The US thus proceeded with just one airstrike in retaliation for the rocket attack by Iranian-backed militias in northern Iraq. Aides said Biden “wanted to make sure that the first military action of his presidency was viewed in the region as a show of force but not an escalation of hostilities”.
The Guardian reports that displaced Syrians could face steep fines or the seizure of their assets following an amendment to the country’s conscription law. The paper writes: “Bashar al-Assad’s sanctions-hit, cash-strapped government, looking for ways to raise money in any way possible, announced a change to an article of the law concerning military conscription earlier this month. Under the amended law, those who did not do military service before the age of 43 must pay $8,000 (£5,700) or lose their property without notice or any right to appeal.”
The Economist reports on Lebanon’s vaccine scandal, which saw politicians jump the cue to get inoculated. Lebanon struck a deal with the World Bank to receive $34m for vaccine imports, under the condition of transparency and a fair system for distributing vaccines. But when a 71-year-old MP and 15 of his friends got the jab at the end of February, the World Bank was furious. The paper notes that: “The World Bank faced a dilemma familiar to Lebanon’s donors. To do nothing would set a bad precedent, in Lebanon and other countries with similar agreements. But to halt funding would delay an already sluggish vaccine roll-out. So far it has demanded only that the health ministry publish weekly data on vaccine distribution.”
All the Israeli media comment on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s phone conversation last night with US Vice President Kamala Harris. The Prime Minister stressed that he was committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons which are intended on destroying Israel. Netanyahu wrote on Twitter that Israel would continue to strengthen intelligence cooperation with the US. Vice President Harris expressed the Biden administration’s complete opposition to the decision of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Palestinians’ complaints of war crimes. Kan News reports that Hungary announced last night it also opposes the decision by the ICC and strongly supports Israel’s right to defend itself. Hungarian officials said that the ICC’s decision did not bring Israel and the Palestinians any closer to direct negotiations. Israel is working to recruit support from other countries to cancel the ICC’s decision. Defence Minister Benny Gantz spoke last night with his German and French counterparts and told them that the politically-motivated decision of the ICC was likely to undermine the ability of other democracies to defend themselves against terrorism. Gantz said that Israel has independent investigative institutions and a strong justice system that can investigate any allegations of violations of international law.
All the Israel media report that Defence Minister Gantz said that the IDF was updating its plans to hit nuclear sites in Iran and was ready to act independently. The defence minister said in an interview to Fox News that Israel has identified numerous targets in Iran that if hit, Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear bombs would be severely undermined. Gantz said: “If the world stops them before, it’s very good. But if not, we must stand independently and we must defend ourselves by ourselves.”
The Israeli media continues to discuss the cause of the massive oil spill that polluted a significant part of Israel’s coastline. Last night Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel defended her earlier accusation that Iran had deliberately orchestrated the oil spill. In a Channel 12 News interview, she said, “It was clear it was a malicious act… this is an environmental terror attack.” Israel Hayom supports the claim that Iran was behind the oil spill with new evidence: “According to imagery provided by TankerTrackers, the suspected tanker Emerald can be seen near an Iranian port on January 17. It is believed that during this port call, near Kharg Island, the ship was loaded with Iranian oil that ended up contaminating Israeli beaches. There is also satellite imagery showing the tanker in the high seas between Cyprus and Syria. That image appears to confirm that the tanker tried to transfer its oil to an Iranian-flagged tanker with the name Lotus through what is known as a ship-to-ship (STS) procedure.” However, Haaretz reports that the Israeli office of Greenpeace described Gamliel’s assertions of “eco-terrorism” as “baseless at this stage in time”. Meanwhile, Ynet reports that the Lebanese Parliamentary Environmental Protection Committee has said it will meet to “file a complaint against the Israeli enemy for polluting Lebanon’s shores,” with the UN.
With the election less than three weeks away there are numerous new polls. According to Kan News, the bloc of pro-Netanyahu parties has dropped to 47 seats, compared to 58 seats for the opposition. The poll had the following results: Likud 29, Yesh Atid 20, New Hope 12, Yamina 11, Joint List 8, Yisrael Beiteinu 7, Shas 7, United Torah Judaism 7, Labour Party 6, Blue and White 5, Religious Zionist Party 4 and United Arab List 4, with Meretz under the threshold. Maariv’s poll has similar data, with the pro-Netanyahu bloc polling at 46 seats. The anti-Netanyahu bloc has 62 seats. Overall, it gave the Likud 27 seats, Yesh Atid 20, New Hope 12, Yamina 12, Yisrael Beiteinu 9, Joint List 8, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Labour Party 5, Blue and White 4, Meretz 4 and the Religious Zionist Party 4. They also ask, “Whom do you consider more suitable to serve as prime minister?” Netanyahu received 48 per cent vs. Lapid: 41 per cent. In a head-to-head with Gideon Saar, Netanyahu won 42 per cent against Saar’s 41 per cent, and 39 per cent against Naftali Bennett’s 38 per cent. According to Israel Hayom, the Likud has 29 seats, Yesh Atid 17, New Hope 11, Joint List 10, Yamina 10, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Yisrael Beiteinu 7, Blue and White 5, Labour Party 4, Meretz 4, and the Religious Zionist Party 4. In their breakdown of the blocs, the pro-Netanyahu camp received 48 and the anti-Netanyahu camp 58, whilst Yamina on 10 and United Arab List on 4 are separate.