Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi to take part in another Gaza flotilla
(JNS.org) Arab member of the Israeli Knesset Haneen Zoabi (Joint Arab List) is expected to participate in a women’s flotilla to the Gaza Strip in September, sources close to Zoabi told Israel Hayom.
Zoabi plans to participate in the Women’s Boat to Gaza flotilla to protest the maritime blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. In 2010, Zoabi took part in the Turkish flotilla that aimed to breach the Gaza blockade. She sailed aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, where after Turkish militants attacked Israeli commandos, nine of the Turks died in ensuing clashes. For many in Israel, this move called Zoabi’s loyalty to Israel into question. She has been a frequent harsh critic of the Israeli government; in April, she compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Holocaust and refused to attend Israel’s national Holocaust memorial assembly.
Zoabi, who recently finished a four-month suspension from the Knesset for meeting terrorists’ families, could find herself embroiled in conflict once again with the Knesset Ethics Committee and face another suspension over her planned flotilla participation. The flotilla will include women activists of various leftist organizations, and European female parliamentarians may join them. Organizers are keeping the location from which the flotilla will set sail under wraps.
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Israeli legal NGO threatens Boeing deal with Iran
(JNS.org) An Israeli legal rights NGO on Thursday threatened to place liens against any planes that the American aerospace giant Boeing plans to sell to Iran.
Iran on Tuesday announced an agreement with Boeing that would be the first aircraft deal with an American company since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Boeing intends to sell Iran about 100 new airplanes, but the deal is awaiting U.S. government approval.
The Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center represents families of victims of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks, seeking to secure financial compensation for the families that has been mandated by U.S. courts but has not yet been paid out by Iran. Shurat HaDin said that Iran must pay these debts before it can purchase Boeing’s planes.
“It is shocking that a company like Boeing would enter into a business deal with the outlaw regime in Tehran,”said Shurat HaDin’s director, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Some members of the U.S. Congress are also publicly opposing the Boeing-Iran deal, warning that American planes could be used to support terrorism. The agreement with Boeing is part of the trend of warming business ties between Iran and world powers following last year’s nuclear deal.
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Egyptian and Jordan ambassadors urge Israel to adopt Arab Peace Initiative
(JNS.org) The Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to Israel, in a rare joint public appearance, urged Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative as a way to end the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Egypt still believes that reaching a peace agreement is achievable,” Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat said in a speech at the Herzilya Conference.
“Israelis and Palestinians should make peace because they must. The two-state solution is the only way to end this conflict. There is not much time left and there is no other alternative,” he added.
Jordan Ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat reiterated Khairat’s call, saying that the Arab Peace Initiative “stands as the master of all initiatives when we talk about regional approaches.”
First proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, and later adopted by the Arab League, the plan calls for Israel to return to the pre-1967 lines and implement a solution to the Palestinian refugee situation in return for full recognition of Israel by the Arab world.
Over the years, Israel has been tepid in its response to the plan, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “sensing warmer relations with the Arab world” has called for a revised version of the plan as the basis for a regional solution to the conflict.
In recent weeks, Egyptian leaders have expressed a willingness to lead Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Separately, France has engaged in peace efforts, hosting a summit of world leaders in Paris on June 3 with the intention restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks. But the French summit excluded Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
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Report: Israel to build massive wall around Gaza under and above ground
(JNS.org) Israel is reportedly set to build a massive underground and aboveground concrete wall around the Gaza Strip in order to prevent infiltration by Hamas terrorists using cross-border attack tunnels.
The wall, which will cost around NIS 2.2 billion ($567 million), will stretch along Israel’s entire 60-mile border with Gaza and will be built tens of meters under and above ground, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
“We have no desire to rule over Gaza, and as long as there is no alternative government there, we have no business being there,” said a senior defense official said.
“But on the other hand we cannot conduct a constant war of attrition,” the official added. “Therefore the next conflict has to be the last conflict in terms of Hamas ruling the Strip. We are not looking for an adventure, but a confrontation with Hamas is inevitable. It is an ongoing and growing threat and we need to be prepared for it.”
There have been several efforts to build a barrier around Gaza. The first barrier was erected in 1994 in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords, while the second barrier was built following Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005. But neither barrier addressed the threat of underground attack tunnels, which became a major concern during 2014’s summer war with Hamas. Since 2014, Hamas has continued efforts to rebuild its tunnel network, which was destroyed in that conflict.
Israel is also currently erecting a wall around sections of its border with Lebanon, after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to invade the country’s northern region and seize Israeli towns along the border during any future conflicts.
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Ya’alon slams Netanyahu, announces bid for Israeli prime minister
(JNS.org) Former Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, who resigned from the government last month amid the news that he would be replaced by current Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has announced his intention to run for prime minister.
Ya’alon accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “scaring” the country in order to distract from serious societal threats.
“At this point, and in the foreseeable future, there is no existential threat facing Israel. Thus it is fitting that the leadership of the country stop scaring the citizenry and stop giving them the feeling that we are standing before a second Holocaust,†Ya’alon said Thursday in a speech at the Herzliya Conference.
“If there is something that I lose sleep at night about, it’s not the truckloads of weapons in Syria and Lebanon or Iran’s attempts to wage terror–Israel has the capabilities to deal with these forcefully and with sophistication,” he said. If there is something that I lose sleep over, it’s the cracks in Israel’s society, the erosion of basic values, the attempts to harm IDF soldiers and their commanders. It is my intention to run for the leadership in the next elections.”
Following his remarks, Ya’alon’s former political party, Likud, accused him of hypocrisy.
“Just a few months ago he said Iran is an existential concern for Israel. Today when turned into a politician at the Herzliya Conference, he said that Israel faces no existential threat,” Likud said.
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