“Schlaglicht Israel” offers an insight into internal Israeli debates and reflects selected, political events that affect daily life in Israel. It appears every two weeks and summarizes articles that appeared in the Israeli daily press.
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Main topics covered in this Publication:
1. Palestinian Reconciliation
Reconciliation in Gaza provides Israel with an opportunity
(…) PA President Mahmoud Abbas has for years claimed he represents the Palestinian people and is empowered to negotiate in their name. But since the Fatah-Hamas breakup in 2006, it has been a hollow claim. (…) He was in need of legitimization and the agreement is intended to be a step in that direction. (…) Opposition to Hamas by the local population is growing as they realize the Hamas leadership is incapable of providing relief for their suffering. Hamas has also become increasingly isolated, and the sources of overseas financial assistance seem to have dried up. (…) Without the Egyptians, the agreement probably would not have occurred. They have interests (…). Keeping Hamas from aiding these terrorists and providing refuge for them in the Gaza Strip is a primary aim of Egyptian policy. (…) Sissi is also interested in promoting Egypt’s role as a leading power in the Arab world (…) If the agreement strengthens Egypt in its battle against terror, it is also in Israel’s interests. But the primary Israeli interest is the dismantling of Hamas’ military capability in Gaza. The stockpile of thousands of rockets in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad constitute a constant danger to Israel’s civilian population in the south. (…)
Moshe Arens, HAA, 16.10.17
Cabinet decision to nix PA talks won’t change a thing
Israel’s Security Cabinet decided (…), that peace talks with the Palestinians would not be renewed as long as the Palestinians refuse to accept a series of conditions, including Hamas’s disarmament (…) and Hamas recognizing Israel and honoring past agreements, as well as disengaging from Iran. (…) Nothing is actually changing. Israel isn’t halting its security coordination with the Palestinians, which is in Israel’s interest. (…) Israel will keep transferring tax money it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf and will not impose any sanctions on the PA. (…) We must not forget that although the cabinet stated there would be no negotiations until Hamas is disarmed, there have actually been no negotiations for the past three years. (…) PA officials, meanwhile, appeared unfazed by the cabinet’s decision to suspend the negotiations, as such negotiations have not been held since 2014. While the American team has not given up on the possibility of bringing the two sides to the negotiating table, the Palestinians believe the chances that the ultimate deal would be signed with Prime Minister Netanyahu are slim to nonexistent. It seems Abbas has also come to terms with the fact he won’t be the Palestinian leader who eventually signs a peace agreement with Israel. The Ramallah leadership will thus keep reaching out to Gaza in a bid to slowly and carefully restore its control of the strip, from the civil responsibility to authority over the crossings. (…) While Hamas and Fatah are still facing major obstacles, at the moment, Abbas likely understands that gambling on a reconciliation, which would give him a foothold in Gaza, is better than gambling on another round of negotiations with the most right-wing government Israel ever had.
Itamar Eichner, Elior Levy, YED, 18.10.17
Hamas sets sights on PLO
(…) Palestinian reconciliation accord between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah will pave the way for Hamas joining the Palestine Liberation Organization (…) after Hamas’ hostile takeover of Gaza in June 2007, it became the sovereign power in the coastal enclave (…), but that did not give it inter-Palestinian and international legitimacy, nor the gravitas it needed to transform from a terrorist group with a political arm into an entity that garners global recognition as the representative leader of the Palestinians. (…) It is hard to believe that Fatah will willingly hand over the keys to leadership and it is also safe to assume that Egypt does not want to see Hamas grow stronger. But quasi-democratic developments such as these have their own dynamics. In 2006, Israel was persuaded by Washington to allow Hamas to run in the general Palestinian elections, thinking the Islamist group had no chance of winning. But Hamas won those elections. We can assume Mashaal will now look to repeat that political ploy by joining the PLO and vying for its leadership.
Prof. Eyal Zisser, IHY, 18.10.17
Fatah-Hamas reconciliation: Both a challenge and an opportunity
(…) The agreement, brokered by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, boosts Cairo’s standing as the only one capable of bridging the tensions between Hamas and Fatah, out of a declared intention of creating momentum for the peace process between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. If talks between Israel and the Palestinians are actually renewed, Egypt will likely play an important role in these negotiations and regain leadership of the axis of Sunni states (…) The integration of PA people in Gaza’s policing system and the transfer of administrative control authorities over to the Palestinian government are considered an achievement for Abbas. (…) Hamas is now forced to accept the PA’s foothold in Gaza. (…) The internal Palestinian battle between the Fatah-led national movement and the religion-based movement led by Hamas, focuses on (…) a definition of the occupation (…). The second bone of contention is whether the Palestinians efforts to end the occupation should focus on armed resistance, which is Hamas’s position, or on a combination of an unarmed popular uprising and international activity, which is Fatah’s position. And the third question is regarding the image of the future Palestinian state—a sharia-based Islamic state or a democratic state. (…) Israel is becoming a key element in the transformation of this initial agreement into a Palestinian unity agreement. (…) Now, with the absence of a peace process, about 75 percent of the Palestinian public are in favor of armed violence. (…) the reconciliation agreement strengthens Fatah’s relatively moderate approach and weakens Hamas’s violent approach. On the other hand, Hamas is becoming a significant part of the united Palestinian leadership and may physically and ideologically take over that leadership one day. To prevent this risk, (…) we must give the Palestinian public a reason to favor Fatah’s approach over Hamas’s approach, and see the Palestinian unity as an opportunity rather than just as a danger. (…) Israel must convey a real willingness to reach a two-state-for-two-peoples solution in a gradual, reliable and consistent manner. (…) this intra-Palestinian reconciliation agreement (…) can succeed and make it possible to move forward toward a permanent agreement with Israel.
Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher, Orni Petruschka, YED, 19.10.17
2. Rivlins’ Reprimand
President tries to save Israel from pyromaniac Netanyahu’s anti-Democratic revolution
(…) The president has already made controversial statements, and none of them have cheered the right. (…) Anyone familiar with Rivlin knows how much he fears for the country’s fate in the age of Netanyahu (…). His speech was tame compared to what he says in private. (…) Rivlin’s speech, written from the heart, proves how much the institution of the presidency depends on the person filling the position. (…) Rivlin sounded like the opposition leader. (…) Participating in ceremonies is good. Approving ambassadorial credentials is important. But Rivlin sees his role as keeping the country from descending into an abyss. (…) When you hear the pale statements of politicians, for example Labor chief Avi Gabbay, you can definitely award that title to Rivlin. (…) The twisted political scene of Israel 2017 makes us aware once again of the strategy of Netanyahu and his cronies – to threaten coalition partners by saying they’ll topple the government. It works the opposite way in normal countries (…) The wind blowing in the Knesset on Monday was the wind of an election. Netanyahu wants one, most probably because he hopes to improve his legal situation in the maze of the corruption investigations against him. (…) The attempt (…) to compel the coalition to approve a bill that in any event will never survive, a bill that would shield a suspect from a verdict, is liable to serve Netanyahu even if the coalition partners don’t cooperate. If there’s no legislation, at least there’ll be a crisis. In the end, an excuse will be found to dissolve the coalition.
Yossi Verter, HAA, 23.10.17
Rivlin blasts Netanyahu’s dangerous putsch and Likud’s profiles in cowardice
(…) Israeli President Ruvi Rivlin’s speech to the Knesset (…) was a chapter in a Profile of Courage. (…) Rivlin would not have volunteered to rail against the evil winds that Netanyahu is spreading if any other senior figure in their shared political movement would have done so, instead of and before him. (…) no one has risen. (…) In the senior echelons of Israel’s ruling party, no one has stood up to resist efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court and clip its wings. No one has said a word to protest Netanyahu’s (…) machinations to avoid prosecution, including sweeping immunity laws, attacks on the police and questioning the integrity Israel’s law and order. (…) Rivlin spoke like the last remnant of a political outlook and a historical era that are already long one. (…) in the party that Jabotinsky, Menachem Begin and Rivlin once belonged to, there isn’t even one hero to stand up to the rest. (…)
Chemi Shalev, HAA, 24.10.17
Where is the outrage over Netanyahu’s crusade for righteousness?
The presumption of innocence is the privilege of anyone suspected or accused of a crime until a final verdict is given. (…) Sometimes the public is exposed to a suspect who reenacts his crime in front of police cameras, describing in his own words what he did. He is still considered innocent at this point. (…) The ardor with which Netanyahu’s henchmen are pursuing the bill intended to exempt a sitting prime minister from investigation for fraud and bribery is like a reenactment suspects perform in front of a camera. There could be no more effective circumstantial proof that Netanyahu feels guilty, and in a panic, is sending his followers to create a disturbance in the form of a legislative mafia. (…) President Reuven Rivlin, in his glorious speech at the Knesset, described the cluster of reprehensible laws brought forth by Netanyahu and his supporters, laws which threaten civil liberty and equality before the law that define a law-abiding country. (…) we must consider the psychological dynamics of Likud lawmakers. (…) Why have they fallen silent? Why don’t they tell him that they won’t destroy an entire orderly legal system in order to exempt one person, important as he may be, from taking responsibility for his actions? (…) signs of rot are exposed not only among leaders, but among their families, friends and minions. Their silence is almost as worrying as Netanyahu’s ambition to live, at any public or national cost, in that house on Balfour Street in Jerusalem.
Dan Margalit, HAA, 26.10.17
It’s not a sourpuss industry, it’s a corruption industry
The legislation granting a sitting prime minister immunity from investigation is corrupt legislation, and the public should take to the streets if it doesn’t stop. (…) I still hope that the state’s citizens will express their disgust over the current leadership’s conduct—as well as over its norms and values—in democratic elections, and choose a new way. I am convinced that a democratic decision is preferable to maintain the Israeli society’s national strength. (…) Any sensible person can clearly see that corruption has reached the Knesset, and this time it’s no longer in the form of “errant weeds.” It has put down deep roots in our house of representatives, who are allowing it to stand on the podium, undisguised — and worse, with no shame — in an attempt to lead fundamentally corrupt legislation, aimed at shielding the prime minister through unrestrained politics from the police investigations and the attorney general. (…) As the police investigations progress, we are witnessing more and more whining, delusional persecution stories or, alternatively, spins aimed at diverting the public’s attention (…) while inciting against everyone — especially against political rivals. (…) There’s no dispute that the State of Israel definitely has reasons to be concerned by Palestinian terror or by radical Islamic terror, (…) we can handle all these through the State of Israel’s military, security and strategic abilities, as well as through cooperation with the international community wherever it is required. We do have a reason, however, to panic over the moral and ethical decay we are being led by, which is infiltrating the Knesset and government systems and undermining our future and the foundations of our existence. (…) This corrupt legislation must stop immediately. Otherwise, Israeli citizens from all ends of the political spectrum must take to the streets in masses and protest against this despicable bill in a democratic way, until it is completely removed from the agenda.
Yuval Diskin, YED, 30.10.17
Netanyahu sowing seeds of delegitimization against police
(…) there are no leaks from the police. The commissioner’s heroic battle on this issue has borne fruit. (…) What troubles Netanyahu is the investigations, not the leaks. Netanyahu’s campaign against the police is (…) a planned move. (…) This is the time to sow the seeds of delegitimization among the public. Not only are the investigators suspected of leaks, the actual investigation is illegitimate. (…) Alsheikh’s work in this field is really unusual. The measures for locating and deterring leakers—primarily the lie detector—were not only introduced and improved, they were also enforced by law. (…) The way Alsheikh sees it, the conspiracy theories around the prime minister’s investigations are like the conspiracy theories accusing the Shin Bet of murdering former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. They’re a joke. (…)
Nahum Barnea, YED, 22.10.17
PM immunity bill proves there’s no shame left
These are critical times for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ministers. These are the hours, the days, perhaps the weeks, in which they will be tested for their integrity, morality and leadership. If they fail to stand firm in the coming weeks against MK David Amsalem’s bill — which is known as the “French law,” yet increasingly seems like “the Bibi law” — we can close up shop. (…) There’s no shame left. Everything is being done in broad daylight, aggressively, in an unbridled manner and without even trying to pretend. (…) All of his preparation work — the attacks on the Supreme Court, on the State Attorney’s Office, on the police and on the media, the mass Likud rallies, the long trips abroad — was intended for the decisive moment, for the creation of a quick aggressive legislative move, which would end up becoming the Bibi law. A law that would determine all the investigations against him must be stopped immediately. (…) What Netanyahu wants is quick legislation, with a retroactive “Bibi law” that would apply to him to and stop the investigations right away. And then he would remain in office for the next two years and run for prime minister again. That’s the deal, there’s no other deal, and that’s where the political system is headed. (…)
Sima Kadmon, YED, 23.10.17
No one is above the law
(…) the fundamental principle in the rule of law is that all are equal before the law. Discriminating in favor of certain people just because of the weight of office on their shoulders categorically contradicts this principle. Moreover, substantively, leaving people with clouds of criminal suspicion around their heads is likely to cause irreversible damage to both their missions and the public trust vested by those who voted them into office. People dogged by criminal allegations are likely to use their positions and offices for personal benefit, and not for the public benefit. To avoid legal complications, they are likely to decide to act contrary to the good of the state or the public. (…) Delay of justice is a major problem in Israel, both during the process of investigation and in court proceedings. (…) We must not whitewash facts or ignore suspicions, and not postpone investigations until the end of terms in office. (…)
Prof. Aviad Hacohen, IHY, 24.10.17
For the sake of stability
(…) Why is the French law vital to governmental stability? Because running a country is not the same as managing a building committee. Because for 20 years, the prime minister has been put under a microscope for matters of little consequence. And yet one after another, all the cases brought against him until now have collapsed and amounted to nothing. Indeed, all of these time-consuming and unnecessary investigations could have been avoided. (…) a prime minister should be replaced by the voters, not through hollow investigations by purists waging a witch hunt. The French law must also apply to the Knesset Speaker and president. Obviously, such a law would have prevented Rivlin from experiencing the anguish he endured. (…) Why are good laws from so many other democratic countries not good enough for Israel? Why do we completely ignore the manner in which other successful democracies manage their countries? (…) In these places, the attorney general’s job is to protect the prime minister and his cabinet ministers, not function as their chief prosecutor, and because in these countries, judges are appointed by politicians. For all these reasons, the French law must be passed.
Dr. Gabi Avital, IHY, 24.10.17
3. Israel demolishes a Tunnel
Tunnel explosion puts Palestinian reconciliation to the test
Since Operation Protective Edge, the defense establishment heads have been promising that the Gaza tunnels would turn into cemeteries for anyone who enters them. (…) Destroying every tunnel being dug into Israel is a legitimate goal, and it is the political echelon’s duty to instruct the army to destroy it. On Monday, Israel not only demonstrated its ability to turn the tunnels into cemeteries, but also its ability to bury the Palestinian reconciliation agreement if the basic conditions it is demanding aren’t met. The main condition is demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and handing security responsibility over to the Palestinian Authority, so that Gaza doesn’t turn into Lebanon, and Hamas and the Islamic Jihad don’t turn into Hezbollah. (…) Israel took, and is still taking, into account the possibility that the Islamic Jihad would seek revenge and deterrence, as the organization isn’t committed in any way to the reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas. Its weapons can’t be revoked and it can’t be required to stop digging tunnels. (…) While Hamas is running out of cash reserves and is forced to reduce its digging pace, the Islamic Jihad has no such problem. It’s a big military organization, and its rocket arsenal is half of Hamas’ arsenal. It’s an organization which can forcibly torpedo any dialogue with the PA or Israel, in accordance with an Iranian decision. (…) If the Islamic Jihad fires, Israel would respond, and the exchanges of fire that would develop would drag Hamas into the fray. If that happens, the Egyptians may remove their people from the strip and inform the Americans that the dream of a regional reconciliation plan, which the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation is only part, can be shelved. (…) Hamas won’t have the tunnel map over to the PA, and the Islamic Jihad definitely won’t do that. (…) How will the PA gain responsibility for crossings and borders if it has no control over the tunnels and military forces of the different organizations operating in the area? (…) the road to a complete severance of ties and a conflict between Israel and the PA isn’t long.
Alex Fishman, YED, 31.10.17
Tunnel explosion timing affected by Gaza political situation
The controlled explosion of an offensive tunnel infiltrating Israel from the southern Gaza Strip indicates that the tunnel-detection systems developed by the defense establishment have now reached a certain level of maturity. (…) the IDF possesses diverse abilities to accurately locate the tunnels’ route and destroy them in a controlled manner, using different means. (…) It’s more than likely that the timing of the tunnel explosion wasn’t random and wasn’t just the result of operational considerations. There’s hardly any doubt that Israel chose to bomb the tunnel at this time because the political conditions in Gaza reduces the chance that Hamas or the Islamic Jihad will respond by firing rockets into Israel. (…) the assumption among defense establishment officials is that Hamas isn’t interested in a military escalation at the moment, as it seeks to improve its relations with Egypt and score points with Palestinian public opinion during the reconciliation process. Furthermore, the strip’s distressed residents won’t accept another round of fighting at this time. (…) There was no need for international legitimization, as the tunnel had already infiltrated Israeli territory and blatantly violated the ceasefire agreements and, most importantly, Israeli sovereignty. (…)
Ron Ben-Yishai, YED, 31.10.17
Palestinian ‘peace’
(…) Hamas will not relinquish its military capabilities under the reconciliation agreement, but will instead opt to retain its missile arsenal and maintain its attack tunnels. Hamas views the tunnels as a key component of its military capabilities. Hamas will likely also not comply with Israel’s call to crack down on rogue Palestinian factions. (…) These groups stockpile weapons and may even dig tunnels, but it is their very existence that is an important card that Hamas hopes to play in future dealings with Israel, even if, for now, Hamas’ stated policy is to maintain calm along the border. The discovery and demolition of the tunnel is also a reminder that any reconciliation deal seeking to restore calm, facilitate normal civilian life and cultivate a healthy economy in Gaza is doomed to fail unless it addresses the terror arsenal there (…) Israel was right to take the calculated risk of blowing up the tunnel and arousing the anger of Hamas and its partners in Gaza. The IDF proved its advanced technological capabilities in dealing with the tunnel threat, which will deter the diggers from Gaza. The decisiveness in protecting Israeli sovereignty and nipping any possible threat at the bud is also important. This is how Israel conducts itself in the northern front with weapons the Iranians try to give to Hezbollah, and this is how Israel conducts itself in Gaza.
Prof. Eyal Zisser, IHY, 31.10.17
Israel’s strike on Gaza attack tunnel could break fragile Palestinian status quo
(…) The decision to blow up the tunnel was made after recent consultations by government and security officials. The timing is considered sensitive for two reasons: the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the PA, (…) and the construction of the Israeli anti-tunnel barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip, which is being worked on north of the site of the tunnel. Although the Israeli government has expressed official disapproval of the rapprochement between the PA and Hamas, it does not want to appear
to be actively sabotaging the agreement because of its own close relations with Egypt. (…) The tough Israeli position combines with the tension on the northern border, particularly regarding Iran’s entrenchment in southern Syria. (…) Israel will not allow Iran to expand its military foothold in Syria and certainly will not allow Shi’ite militias that operate under its influence, or Hezbollah, to get close to the border between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. (…)
Amos Harel and Yaniv Kubovich, HAA, 31.10.17
4. Selection of Articles
The incident is over, the problem remains
(…) Syria and Hezbollah have tied their fates together. (…) Israel will be forced to contend with a unified Syrian-Lebanese front in the next war. (…) the last emergency call-up military exercise tested this scenario. To prevent the next war, which is likely to break out from a single unplanned incident, Israel must do everything to keep the fronts divided – to keep Syria in Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon (…). Otherwise, the mix of interests will deteriorate into an unwanted escalation for the sides involved. The road to prevent this also goes through Moscow. Israel did the right thing by updating Russia on their hotline at the time of the attack, and even more so by sharing all of its considerations with the Russian defense minister (…). It is doubtful that this will turn the Russians into Zionists, but assuming that Russia is indeed interested in calm in Syria – so that it can enjoy the financial fruits of Syria’s fiscal rehabilitation – it can be hoped that Russia will act to calm the tense atmosphere. It seems this incident is behind us. Syria has not responded to even more severe incidents and will refrain from doing so for now. But with every such incident, the threshold of tensions is raised. In the Middle East, raised tensions are a sure recipe for uncertainty.
Yoav Limor, IHY, 17.10.17
A left for Jews only
Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay (…) will not agree to include the Arab parties’ Joint List in any governing coalition he heads. (…) These are very serious statements. They’re especially grave since they were uttered by the most senior representative of Israel’s center-left camp, which pretends to be the alternative to the Likud-led government. Yet in his remarks, Gabbay effectively ruled out any possibility of his party forming a future government. His remarks also emit a strong whiff of nationalism. (…) The Joint List is a coalition of several parties that together represent the mainstream of the Israeli-Arab community, a community that comprises about one fifth of Israel’s citizens. (…) Gabbay didn’t limit himself to merely disqualifying them in advance; he also stressed that his party had absolutely nothing in common with them. (…) He has nothing in common with the entire Joint List’s battle against the outrageous discrimination suffered by Israeli Arabs and for equal rights for all. We can only conclude that Gabbay’s comments were an attempt to find favor in the eyes of right-wing groups and to try to glean votes from society’s Arab-haters. This is both an unacceptable endeavor and a pointless one. (…) Labor has tried veering rightward countless times over the years, and it’s one of the main reasons for its continuous failure. The only way to replace the right-wing government is by uniting all the forces on the left and center and presenting a real alternative. In his remarks, Gabbay chose a different path: Imitating the right, disqualifying the Arabs and presenting a false facade of leftism.
Editorial, HAA, 16.10.17
Labor and Settlements – Enemies, a Love Story
The Labor Party led the settlement projects in the Jordan Valley and in the Sinai Desert, and it annexed east Jerusalem and built Ramat Eshkol, Gilo, Ramot and Armon Hanatziv. (…) It should therefore have not even been news when new Labor Party chairman Avi Gabbay this week said a peace agreement with the Palestinians should not entail Jewish settlers’ removal. (…) Gabbay’s internal logic doesn’t even need explanation. His question – if there is peace, why can’t Jews live in the West Bank? – is sound (…). Why, then, did Gabbay have to say what should have been obvious, namely, that his party respects settlers, even if they don’t vote Labor (…)? The reason is as simple as it is tragic: The Labor Party was hijacked. THE ORIGINAL Labor movement never thought settling beyond the Green Line was illegal, much less immoral. (…) Labor Party was torn from its own roots by extremists who incited to not just disagree with the West Bank settlement project but to delegitimize and also demonize it. Gabbay is not the first to seek an end to this defamation’s nihilism. (…) Isaac Herzog said the two-state solution is for now “not feasible.” Behind these statements lurk the frustration of a party that hasn’t won since last century; the realization that its peace-in-our-time rhetoric is unelectable; and the calculation that wooing its lost voters means somehow separating Labor from the rest of the Left. The question is how, and the answer lies in what Labor’s politicians still refuse to do: confess. (…) To return where it was during Yitzhak Rabin’s landslide in 1992, Labor must now say: Oslo was the right deal signed with the wrong people. It was our idea, and it failed. (…) Now let’s seek a way to move ahead jointly on matters of war and peace, while going our separate ways on everything else.
Amotz Asa-El, JPO, 19.10.17
Trump did the Right Thing by Walking away from UNESCO – for now
(…) President Donald Trump’s decision to leave UNESCO (…) will also send a strong message to the Palestinians that statehood cannot be achieved on the basis of UN resolutions alone, and that the only way forward is to engage in direct negotiations with Israel where mutual sacrifices will be required. (…) the 195-member body (…) has become a springboard for Jew-hatred and the rewriting of history. (…) Even for some of the harshest critics of Israel, this historical ignorance is sometimes too much to swallow. (…) between 2009 and 2014, the cultural body adopted 46 resolutions against Israel, yet only one on Syria and none on Iran, Sudan, North Korea, or any of the other known violators of human rights around the world. In fact, a representative of the regime of Syrian dictator and mass murderer Bashar Assad sits on a UNESCO human rights committee. (…) it was announced that former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay – a Jewish woman – was elected as UNESCO chief. (…) I hope she can turn UNESCO from an organization that promotes bigotry in the false name of culture into one that opposes all forms of bigotry. Given the nature of its voting membership, this will not be easy, but with pressure from the US it may have a chance of succeeding. Perhaps then the US will maintain its membership in and financial support for UNESCO.
Alan Dershowitz, JPO, 19.10.17
HAA = Haaretz
YED = Yedioth Ahronoth / Ynetnews
JPO = Jerusalem Post
IHY = Israel HaYom
TOI = Times of Israel
GLO = Globes
Published: November 2017
Responsible: Dr. Werner Puschra, Head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel
Editors: Susanne Knaul, Judith Stelmach
Homepage: www.fes.org.il
Email: fes@fes.org.il
