Media Summary
The BBC publishes a piece on a forum for women across Gulf states and Israel, led by the deputy Mayor of Jerusalem.
The BBC publishes a piece on a forum for women across Gulf states and Israel, led by the deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. The forum has hundreds of members from a wide range of professions, delete comma and includes women from non-Abraham Accords countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Saudi Arabia still doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Israel, while Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 (but is not a Gulf state).
The BBC and The Guardian reports report that Israel has stripped a Palestinian-French human rights lawyer of his Jerusalem residency and is expected to deport him to France. Salah Hamouri, 37, had his Jerusalem residency revoked in October 2021 on the grounds of a “breach of allegiance” to the Israeli state. Israel alleges he is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel’s western allies.
The Guardian also reports that a Netflix film depicting Israeli forces killing a Palestinian family during the 1948 war has been condemned by Israeli officials as “creating a false narrative”. Farha, the debut of the Jordanian film-maker Darin Sallam, has been shown at several film festivals around the world since its release last year.
The Guardian further reports that Two former senior US diplomats have made an unusual call for the Biden administration to cut weapons supplies to Israel if the incoming government uses them to annex Palestinian land, expel Arabs or kill off the diminishing possibility of a Palestinian state. Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel under George W Bush, and Aaron David Miller, a US Middle East peace negotiator during several administrations, have called for what they described as an “unprecedented and controversial” break from America’s largely unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel if “the most extreme government in the history of the state” pursues the stated aims of some of its members.
The Economist publishes a piece on religious schools in Israel. The number of trainee teachers in Israel has fallen by 38% compared with the previous year, as morale in the classroom has plummeted. The government has raised teachers’ pay and made it easy to get into teacher-training college. But the number of teachers keeps falling. The profession lacks prestige. Bright young Israelis nowadays are keener to go into tech companies. Indeed, over 10% of Israel’s workforce is employed in the tech industry, perhaps the world’s highest proportion, but some doubt this will last, since Israeli children are scoring dismally in international tests. “We’re getting serious complaints from business, academia and even the military about the level of school graduates,” says Dalit Stauber, the education ministry’s director-general. Israel’s education system faces “a strategic crisis”.
Reuters and the Finanical Times reports that Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu reached a coalition deal with the far-right Religious Zionism party, bringing him closer to securing a new government after an election last month, Netanyahu’s Likud party said on Thursday. Religious Zionism will be given control of the Finance Ministry as part of a rotation, Likud said, though it did not lay out how the rotation would work. It will also have strong influence over policies in the occupied West Bank and the country’s justice system.
Reuters also reports that the Israeli army killed two Palestinian militants when a predawn raid on a flashpoint town in the West Bank on Thursday touched off clashes, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. Islamic Jihad claimed the slain men as members. One was a leader of the faction in Jenin, which, along with the nearby city of Nablus, has seen intensified military operations since a spate of Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities in March.
National Geographic has published a photographic exploration of food in Israel, saying “there are few countries more visually stimulating than Israel. Whether it’s the remote village of Mitzpe Ramon or the vibrant coastal city of Acre, each corner of the country offers a unique contribution to Israel’s rich and diverse culinary landscape.”
The Times reports that Kanye West, recently interviewed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, was interviewed dressed in a black mask that covered his entire face, brought along a small fishing net and a bottle of Yoo-hoo brand chocolate drink to reference Binyamin Netanyahu, who is returning as the prime minister of Israel. Mimicking him in a high-pitched voice, he said: “We have to control the history books. We have to control the banks. And we have to go and kill people.
In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot includes an interview with new National Unity MK and former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The headline quotes Eisenkot saying, “I fear for the fate of the county as I know it.” Eisenkot expresses grave concern over the direction the new government could go in. He says, “If Netanyahu harms the national interests of the State of Israel, if he harms Israeli democracy, public education, the army as a people’s army, the way to deal with that will be to get a million people to hit the streets.” Eisenkot adds, “I condemn the cynical move to make use of Ben Gvir and his ilk. We must not allow a situation to be created in which soldiers do not want to serve in battle because of the way soldiers are treated by parties with an agenda. Anyone who drags the IDF into the political conversation weakens the army in the long-term in order to secure a short-term gain. Today, as a civilian, I am free to say what I couldn’t say when I was in uniform: the cowardly position taken by most of the country’s leaders in the Azaria affair must not be repeated. You need to back the IDF up.”
Ynet reports Defence Minister Benny Gantz warning that if a decision is made in Tehran, Iran can be in possession of a nuclear bomb within two weeks. Yesterday Gantz briefed the military attachés of 30 countries. He told them Iran had, in recent years, carried out 16 attacks against civilian targets in the Red Sea and the Gulf and called for the world to take action. “Just last month we saw a strike carried out on a civilian ship off the coast of Oman…Iran is a threat to the entire world and not just a challenge for Israel.” Relating to the Palestinians he said, “We’ve taken steps to bolster the Palestinian Authority. We can see the problems the PA has in exerting its authority and will take extensive action against terror gangs that not only target Israelis, but also harm Palestinian residents.” He also said that Israel was advancing plans to supply Ukraine with early warning systems in their fight against the Russian invasion and repeated the government’s position condemning Russian attacks on the civilian population.
Maariv’s headline reveals forty-five young drivers were killed in road accidents this year. Its report is based on analysis by the Green Light Association on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics. It cites as an example that in Umm al-Fahm 41% of the drivers injured in traffic accidents are young drivers under the age of 24.
Haaretz covers the interview Prime Minister designate Netanyahu gave to Bari Weiss, where he condemned former US President Donald Trump’s decision to host Kanye West and Nick Fuentes at his Mar-A-Lago estate. Netanyahu is quoted saying, “I condemned Kanye West’s antisemitic statements. Straight away, I thought that was just wrong and misplaced. And I think that that’s what I would say about President Trump’s decision to dine with this person I think is wrong and misplaced. I think it’s a mistake. He shouldn’t do that.” The paper further quotes Netanyahu’s comments on Trump: “He has been a tremendous supporter of Israel, and I’m unabashedly appreciative of what he did for Israel. He did great things for Israel in recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, long overdue, given that it happened 3,000 years ago under King David. He moved the American embassy there. He recognised our sovereignty on the Golan Heights, from which we were attacked for years by Syria. He got out of this dangerous Iran deal, and I appreciate all that it doesn’t take away from. Also, you know, he’s been very supportive of the Jewish people. So I think he made a mistake. I hope it’s not repeated. That’s all I can tell you,” Later in the interview Netanyahu defended himself against allegations that he helped fuel the rise of Putinism alongside other authoritarian leaders: “To describe me as this boorish, anti-democratic strongman, when I’m actually a 19th-century democrat, don’t put me in that bind. I’m probably more versed, or equally versed, in the basic texts of modern democracy than any of the governing leaders of Western democracies today.”
Israel Hayom also reflects on Trump’s controversial dinner with Nick Fuentes and West. Quoting a Republican Party official, “The meeting with Fuentes and Ye served as an excuse for senior Republicans who want to distance themselves from Trump, but it also shows just how important it is to have advisers such as Kushner to protect Trump from such mistakes. Trump is now left without anyone to push the brakes and prevent him from such missteps. This situation, along with the fact that many in the GOP want to move on from Trump, means that Trump’s power is all but gone.” The adviser also believes that “Trump has launched his presidential bid too early. Usually, those who lead in the beginning ultimately win, but there are two years until the election, which is too long. That could have an adverse effect on his chances.”