July 30, 2013 16:48
by Pesach Benson
Today’s Top Stories
1. Abbas: Palestinian state will be judenrein. This from Reuters:
“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands,” Abbas said in a briefing to mostly Egyptian journalists.
2. Israeli hopes of Cairo taking more responsibility for Gaza are out the window. Jerusalem’s preparing to expand operations at Kerem Shalom.
3. Israeli Arab schools are refusing to accept Arab national service volunteers, reports Israel HaYom:
There has been a significant rise in the number of Israeli Arab volunteers within the national service program in recent years, but some Arab communities are resisting this trend and, in some cases, launching aggressive campaigns against it. Volunteers are often referred to by their communities as “lepers” and warned that anyone who volunteers will have trouble “finding a mate.”
Israel and the Palestinians
• CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria discussed with Ambassador Michael Oren the issue of Palestinians formally recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.
• For commentary/analysis on the peace talks, see a Wall St. Journal staff-ed (click via Google News), a cute Tom Toles cartoon, Aaron David Miller, a LA Times tag team of Daniel Kurtzer and Gilead Sher, Con Coughlin, Roger Cohen, and Dan Margalit.
Arab Spring Winter
• NY Times: The resumption of peace talks complicates White House efforts to steer Egypt away from violence. What would happen if the US cut off aid to Egypt, and Cairo responded by saying it could no longer afford to maintain any semblance of order in the Sinai?
Were that to happen, analysts said, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would face enormous domestic pressure not to make any concessions to the Palestinians, especially on security issues. He probably could not even continue talking to them.
“If the situation in Sinai gets worse, and it starts to affect Israel’s security, then Bibi won’t have the political support to go on with the talks,” said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Egypt and Israel, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname.
• Media reports say Hezbollah wired $100,000 to the Bulgaria bombing suspects.
• EU foreign policy Catherine Ashton visited Mohammed Morsi. Deutsche Welle notes she’s the first person outside of Egypt’s security services to visit the deposed president.
• The Independent discovered Bashar Assad’s Instagram feed. If you don’t think it’s for real, see Sydney Brownstone. Post your captions in the comments section.
Rest O’ the Roundup
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs labor strike escalated. The Finance Ministry ordered a 25 percent pay cut applied to the July salaries of striking workers. More at Haaretz.
• Although Israeli-Turkish political ties need fixing, Today’s Zaman reports that “figures indicate the blossoming of economic activity between the two countries.”
Source material can be found at this site.
