Media Summary
The BBC, Sky News, Reuters and The Guardian report that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has criticised Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as an obstacle to peace.
The BBC, Sky News, Reuters and The Guardian report that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has criticised Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as an obstacle to peace. The comments came following talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday. It underlines US opposition to a key platform of Israel’s new government, which aims to strengthen settlements. Mr Blinken’s visit comes in the wake of spiralling tensions after a spate of deadly attacks and a military raid.
The BBC reports on the escalating situation between Israel and and the West Bank, saying that: “when Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion airport on Monday he said he had arrived at a “pivotal moment”. By the end of his two-day visit, it is clear he had more than one moment in mind. Israel and the occupied West Bank are currently gripped by a level of violence unmatched in years, which shows signs of slipping much further out of control. But there are several “pivotal moments” converging and the Americans are worried. Their top diplomat might have been referring to any or all of them as he spoke on the tarmac with aviation fumes still blurring the air behind him”.
The Guardian publishes an editorial saying “The question is no longer whether a third intifada could happen, but what can be done to avert it. In a recent poll, 61% of Palestinians and 65% of Israeli Jews believed it was on the horizon. As violence escalates, the crisis of domestic political leadership demonstrates why others must step up; but Antony Blinken has demonstrated that no one should expect the US to do so. The secretary of state flew to the Middle East this week for talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president and prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammad Shtayyeh, but vague calls for calm won’t end the crisis.”
Sky News reports on our story from Monday, that a drone attack that caused a large explosion in the Iranian city of Isfahan was the work of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, according to US officials. A US intelligence official said on Sunday that Israel was behind the attack, but the Israeli military declined to comment.
The Financial Times reports on tensions in East Jerusalem, saying “outside the East Jerusalem synagogue where a Palestinian gunman killed seven people on Friday evening, the trauma of the attack was still being felt days later. On the street corner, a guard leaned on a motorbike with a gun protruding from his belt. Nearby, three small girls studied the death notice of one of the victims that had been plastered to a lamppost. On the fence outside the synagogue hung a banner that read ‘Jewish blood cannot be wasted’.”
The Independent reports that the West Bank Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar is at risk of demolition by the Israeli army since it lost its legal protection over four years ago. The long-running dispute has resurfaced this week as a focus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Telegraph and The Guardian report that A Church of England vicar who suggested Israel was behind 9/11 has been barred from ministry for 12 years after engaging in “antisemitic activity”. Rev Dr Stephen Sizer was said to have “undermined Christian-Jewish relations” after he made an “unauthorised visit” to meet a senior commander of the military wing of Hezbollah in 2006. A disciplinary hearing heard how the 69-year-old retired vicar shared a “virulently antisemitic” article on Facebook suggesting Israel was involved in destroying the Twin Towers.
Whilst the Israeli newspapers cover the latest attack in the West Bank, Kan News reports this morning that the security establishment increasingly believes that the incident last night at the Tapuah junction was a traffic accident and not a deliberate terror attack. Two IDF soldiers sustained light and moderate injuries when a Palestinian taxi hit them. The driver, 21, fled the scene and later turned himself in to the IDF. The driver said that the accident had been caused by the fog and that he fled because he was scared that the soldiers would shoot him.
All the Israeli media cover hundreds of high-tech workers who demonstrated yesterday across the country against the judicial reforms being advanced by the government. In Tel Aviv, 300 demonstrators marched in the pouring rain and blocked main roads. The demonstrators, who held up placards reading, “No high-tech without democracy,” gathered near high-tech hubs in Haifa, Herzliya, Rehovot, Jerusalem, Netanya, Airport City, Petah Tikva, Yavne, Raanana, Ramat Gan and elsewhere. Maariv quotes Tzur Mishal, one of the high-tech protest leaders, “We were silent for too long, but this past week thousands of high-tech workers went into the streets and cried out the warning that was issued by top economists, bank CEOs, ministry directors-general, investors and entrepreneurs, the governor of the Bank of Israel and many others: Without freedom and without an independent court, high-tech—and along with it the Israeli economy—will crash. This isn’t a question of right and left. We are all concerned Israelis who want to live in a democratic country with a flourishing economy.”
Channel 12 News reveals that Tom Livne, the CEO and founder of Verbit, said that he intends to stop paying taxes in Israel, and urged others to follow his lead. Livne said he made his decision in response to the planned judicial reform. His company, Verbit, is worth more than two billion dollars. Livne said, “In the past several years I’ve personally paid tens of millions of dollars, and the company has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes…The route that I’m going to take—and I hope that lots of others take after me—is simply to emigrate from Israel and to stop being a resident of the State of Israel, and then to stop paying taxes here.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appealed directly to Livne on Twitter, writing: “Hello Tom, we’re brothers. I hope you change your mind. We don’t have another country, another people and another state. In any event, we promise, with God’s help, to keep Israel Jewish and democratic, economically strong and prosperous, so that you and every Jew will always have a home to return to.”
Maariv reports on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments yesterday, “I say to our political rivals: it’s no fun losing an election, but there’s no need to turn your bitterness into damaging the state’s economy. That won’t help either because we have a strong economy that will continue to grow stronger.” The paper then quotes Leader of the Opposition Lapid response on Twitter: “It’s no fun being charged with criminal offenses, but there’s no need to turn your bitterness into destroying democracy and the economy in Israel.” The paper also covers the latest deliberations from the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee yesterday. The former deputy attorney general, Raz Nizri, said, “If the reform is passed as is, that will severely harm the state’s democratic nature and its social cohesiveness.” Nizri said that the proposal to change the composition of the Judges Selection Committee and to grant the coalition a seven-member majority would completely upend the current balance. Regarding an override clause, Nizri said that he believed that the Knesset should have the ability to override High Court of Justice rulings by means of a 65-MK majority. On the issue of the grounds of reasonability, Nizri said, “Abolishing it would be the wrong outcome. It is a legal tool that protects the citizen. But I do think that its use needs to be restricted.” Nizri warned against making the ministries’ legal advisers political appointments, saying that would “damage an aspect of the rule of law.”
Haaretz leads with concern that Israeli defence officials have warned that military officers are reluctant to voice professional opinions that are opposed to those held by Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Haaretz leads with Israeli defence officials’ warning that military officers are reluctant to voice professional opinions that are opposed to those held by Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The paper quotes an unnamed senior official, claiming the current discourse between the political and security echelons is not as open as it used to be, and “it’s much harder to express a sharp and clear stance.” The official added that this is due to fear of “being turned into a punching bag” in the hands of politicians and exposed on social media and in media outlets. A recently-retired senior security official told the paper that there is a “very serious problem of government officials getting involved in military issues, and the more this is happening, the more the problem will escalate into a strategic threat.” According to the official, in the past “there was no such impatience toward security officials, but now the situation is different. Throughout the discussions there’s an unhealthy tension and a fear of being mocked. There’s also a fear that it’ll be leaked to embarrass us.”
Israel Hayom reveals Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi planed reforms of Israel’s media landscape. The main component of the proposed reforms will include a massive downsizing of the public broadcasting body Kan’s news division. Unlike previously speculated it will not include a total closure of Kan. Instead, the minister will call for major budgetary cuts that would see many units close. Other parts of Kan will be privatised. The proposals will also call for loosening regulation on the commercial outlets in Israel – Channels 12, 13, 14. According to the paper “another aspect of the plan will also do the same for the channels that run under Israel’s cable and satellite companies – Hot and Yes. This means that they could eventually, for the first time, start broadcasting paid ads content on screen, and potentially reduce the price for consumers. A key provision in the plan would also mandate that streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ would have to invest resources in original Israeli content, as a means of boosting the local industry. Israeli streaming providers will have to do the same if their revenues reach a certain threshold.”
Israel Hayom also reports on the visit to Israel yesterday by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. He met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and discussed their shared goal of exporting natural gas to Europe. They decided to revisit the idea of exporting liquefied Israeli natural gas to Greece via Cyprus, and from there to Europe. If the two governments approve the plan, it will take several years to implement. The goal is to export 500 megatons in the initial stage.