“In late April, as Israel was busy managing its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s National Water Authority was struck by a large-scale cyberattack”

Posted on May 24, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

PUNDICITY
The Iranian-Israeli Conflict Goes Online
by Ilan Berman
May 26, 2020

A different kind of conflict is taking shape in the Middle East. Unlike the long-running Syrian civil war, this one is not a pitched power struggle between an entrenched secular dictatorship and assorted Islamist forces. Nor is it a brutal political tug-of-war between rival militias, the way post-Muammar Gadhafi Libya has become. Rather, it is a further intensification of the ongoing shadow war between Israel and its regional nemesis, Iran – one that has now begun playing out in cyberspace… In all, six separate facilities responsible for water supply and waste management were targeted by hacks subsequently identified as having originated from Iran. READ MORE

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“How could Mandelblit indict Netanyahu for a nonexistent crime that is unheard of not only in Israel, but on most of the planet?”

Posted on May 24, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
What on earth is media bribery, and should it be a crime?
by Yonah Jeremy Bob
May 25, 2020

…[Netanyahu’s lawyers] were especially irate because they said Netanyahu has faced decades of biased coverage against him, including in Yediot and Walla, and there was nothing wrong with trying to negotiate for better coverage like other politicians (especially since they deny he pushed for any communications policy beyond what was good for the country and or that he directed any systematic interference with Walla). And where is the money, they ask? Doesn’t bribery require cash in envelopes or at least expensive ties or approvals of questionable construction plans, like former prime minister Ehud Olmert was given? READ MORE

JNS Ruthie Blum:Demonstrating against the forces of condescension Protestations to the contrary, the chattering classes in the press, academia and the courts have been on an endless campaign to delegitimize the right.

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“Though they are 21 percent of population, Arabs account for only 2 percent of COVID-19 deaths and 6 percent of cases. Even the month of Ramadan ended without any outbreaks”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

HAARETZ
How Arabs Crushed the Curve and Became Israel’s Coronavirus Success Story
by Ronny Linder
May 21, 2020

There were two communities that worried the Health Ministry in particular during the coronavirus crisis – Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews, two groups that live in relatively crowded confines, pray in their respective houses of worship and don’t always cooperate with the establishment. But while the concerns about the Haredi community did in fact pan out, all the divisions of Arab society beat the forecasts and finished with the country’s lowest rates of infection and death. Only 1,040 coronavirus patients were diagnosed among Arab citizens, and only five of them died. READ MORE SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT

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The perfect reality-show set up with 200 people from all walks of life: Israelis, Palestinians, religious and secular, all COVID patients recovering under one roof

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

NPR ROUGH TRANSLATION
Hotel Corona
by Gregory Warner and Daniel Estrin
May 13, 2020

When the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem was leased by the government to house recovering COVID-19 patients, the new guests gave it the nickname, “Hotel Corona.” The nearly 200 patients inside already had the coronavirus; and so, unlike the outside world on strict lockdown, they could give each other high fives and hugs and hang out together. What was even more surprising than what they could do was what they were doing. Patients from all walks of life – Israelis, Palestinians, religious, secular, groups that don’t normally mix – were getting along and having fun. They were eating together, sharing jokes, even doing Zumba. And because they were documenting themselves on social media, the whole country was tuning in to watch, like a real life reality TV show. LISTEN TO THE NPR SEGMENT

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“The Jordan Valley has always been considered an area that must be under Israeli control in any permanent establishment of borders, because it is essential to Israel’s defense”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ELDER OF ZIYON
The Manufactured Outrage over “Annexation”
by Vic Rosenthal
May 21, 2020

…A few words about the reality behind the so-called “annexation.” To start with, nothing is being annexed. It is the reasonable position of the Israeli government that it is sovereign in Judea and Samaria according to international law; and you can’t annex something that already belongs to you. But wait, you say, virtually the entire world disagrees, as is pointed out ad nauseum by sources like the BBC and the NY Times. Unhappily for them and the Palestinians they empathize with, international law is neither a popularity contest nor subject to a majority vote in the UN General Assembly. It is quite possible that the Government of Israel is right and “virtually the entire world” is wrong. This isn’t an article about that, but if you are interested, here is a good one. READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Democratic senators release letter warning Israel against annexation Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and six other senators sign onto updated version after not joining the initial draft…Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who did not sign on to the letter, told Jewish Insider earlier this month: “I don’t think it is helpful for us to sow dissension in the United States as it relates to the support for Israel.”

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#HasHeReallyThoughtThisThrough: “By halting the security crackdown on Hamas, Abbas would be paving the way for terrorists to kill him and his associates in the West Bank”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Abbas’s Precious Gift to Iran: Hamas
by Khaled Abu Toameh
May 23, 2020

…Khamenei evidently sees Abbas’s decision to renounce all agreements and understandings with Israel and the US as a positive development that would facilitate the mission Iran and Hamas share to export anti-Israel terrorism to the West Bank. The Iranian leader wants the West Bank to become like the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas and its allies have been firing rockets at Israel for several years. If Abbas goes through with his threat to halt security coordination with Israel, that would mean an end to his efforts to prevent Iran’s Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, from proceeding with their ambition of extending their control to the West Bank…READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL Khamenei explains ‘final solution’ poster: I want Israel destroyed, not all Jews Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said he seeks Israel’s destruction but not the annihilation of all Jews, after Israeli and American leaders accused him of encouraging genocide…Khamenei was commenting on a poster published on his website that used the words “final solution” in calling for Israel’s destruction, a term usually associated with Nazi Germany’s efforts to eliminate all Jews during the Holocaust. “Eliminating the Zionist regime doesn’t mean eliminating Jews. We aren’t against Jews.”

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“Unlike AIPAC, the Conference can’t mobilize tens of thousands of activists to lobby Congress, attend an annual conference, or help direct campaign donations to friends of Israel”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
Who Really Represents America’s Jews?
by Jonathan S. Tobin
June 2020

…As the memory of the Holocaust faded and Israel grew stronger in its defense of itself, passionate involvement in sympathy for Israel began to wane within the American Jewish community. The overwhelming majority of American Jewry was religiously non-Orthodox and believed the universalist strain within Judaism to be its most authentic expression—one challenged by Israel’s particularism and increasing religiosity. The Conference [of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations]’s standing as a group that embraced all segments of the community helped sidetrack, if not entirely stifle, disaffection with its pro-Israel consensus. READ MORE

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GW University dean selection a sign of “the broader state of academia that continues to produce vapid pro-Palestinian polemics under the thin guise of scholarship”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

NEWSWEEK
Normalizing Palestinian Scholarship and Anti-Semitism in the Nation’s Capital
by Asaf Romirowsky
May 21, 2020

The recent appointment of Ilana Feldman as the interim dean of George Washington University’s (GWU) Elliott School of International Affairs is extremely concerning on several levels. Feldman is an active known supporter of the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement through her involvement with the Palestinian American Research Center, and was part of a group that pushed a BDS initiative in the American Anthropological Association. Feldman’s scholarship has long typified the politicization of the academy, especially as it relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict. But her new appointment would allow her pro-Palestinian activism to shape university administration. READ MORE

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“Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters calls for ‘taking back the land’ from the river to the sea during online Nakba Day event”

Posted on May 21, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ARUTZ SHEVA
Roger Waters: ‘From the River to the Sea, we’ll take the land from Israel’
by David Rosenberg
May 20, 2020

Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters took part in a Nakba Day event last Friday, during which he performed a song seemingly calling for the termination of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian state. Waters, 76, a former bassist, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist for the band Pink Floyd, made an appearance at the virtual Nakba Day 2020 event hosted online by the Jewish Voice for Peace and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign this past Friday. READ MORE

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Israel has “annulled” the Oslo Accords, says P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas

Posted on May 17, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Abbas: PA no longer bound by agreements with Israel, US
by Daniel Siryoti, Shahar Klaiman and Dean Shmuel Elmas
May 20, 2020

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that he was terminating all agreements with Israel and the United States over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to extend Israeli law to parts of Judea and Samaria under the aegis of the Trump peace plan. In a speech to Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, Abbas warned that Israel would have to assume responsibility for the civilian Palestinian population, currently exceeding 2 million people. “The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones,” said Abbas…READ MORE

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