Israel Weekly News Roundup May 14, 2021

Things you need to know

This week’s roundup will be dedicated to the deteriorating situation on all fronts in Israel: Israel and Gaza, growing tension and violence between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the political deadlock which has a new development.

Israel and Gaza:

It seems like the situation vis-à-vis Gaza is out of control. Israel is under massive attack, thousands of rockets are being shot at Israeli towns and cities, including the Tel Aviv area, and Israeli forces are bombing and shelling targets in the Gaza strip. Eight Israelis were killed, including a soldier, a 6 year old boy from the southern town Sderot, two Arab citizens, and dozens were injured. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported over 119 dead in Gaza, at least 31 of them children.

Analysts emphasize that Israel was wrong in under estimating the readiness of Hamas to engage in a broad military campaign.

On Monday Hamas targeted a small town near Jerusalem. That attack resulted in sirens in Jerusalem, sending people to safe areas and shelters. This caught the Knesset in the middle of a plenary discussion that was interrupted, as all had to evacuate the main hall and take shelter.

The sirens and the rocket shelling in Israel caused the district court in Jerusalem to halt all sessions earlier than planned, including Netanyahu’s trial.

Israel started drafting reserve forces, and sending “boots on the ground” into Gaza is now an option. If this happens it will end with a heavy toll in human lives, and it will not be an easy decision to make. Meanwhile Israel announced it managed to target-kill a series of Hamas senior operators. It is not yet known how this will affect the ability of Hamas to continue the rocket and mortar fire.

The international community, including President Biden, called on Israel to take every action they can to halt the violence.

Violence between Jews and Arabs within Israel

In what seems like reality out of control, tens of violent events took place mainly in mixed cities where Jews and Arab citizens live together. On Wednesday evening a Jewish mob started a lynch against an Arab passerby in a town in the greater Tel Aviv area. The whole incident was broadcast live on public television. The police were not seen during the whole incident.

In another town in the north, Acre, an Arab mob attacked a Jewish man who was seriously injured. Similar incidents continue all over the country. These events made headlines all over the world.

Israeli police imposed a night-curfew on the mixed city Lod, after 48 hours of extreme violence, in which an Arab citizen of the city was shot dead by a Jewish shooter, and a series of Jewish Synagogues were burned down by Arab rioters. Recent events in the city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, tell the unsettling story of a city that is home for its indigenous Arab residents, 1950s Jewish immigrants from North Africa, 1990s immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, Palestinian collaborators, and, in the past 15 years, it also includes purpose built communities of Zionist Religious families and young adults, that have built their homes and communal institutions often on lands confiscated from Arab residents.  The residents have suffered for years from organized criminal gangs, drug and firearms dealers who operate in broad daylight, poor infrastructure, and overall neglect.

The raging violent clashes in cities around the country were sparked by a series of events in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount and at Al-Aqsa Mosque, at Nablus Gate, and in Sheikh Jarrah, where violent clashes between Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, Jewish and Arab demonstrators, and the police took place. The already high tensions were further fueled by a series of national and religious events in close calendar proximity. The end of the sacred month of Ramadan, in which pilgrims go to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount coincided with Jerusalem Day which celebrates the unity of the city after 1967 war. One of the events marking Jerusalem Day is the traditional “March of Flags”, of Zionist Religious youth movements and groups, who march through the streets of Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem and the Old City.

In response to violence in the streets, and the deaths, injuries and damage to houses of prayer, shops and properties, Jewish and Arab activists around the country took to the streets, junctions and bridges, under one slogan : “we refuse to be enemies”. Additional civic initiatives, mostly led by women, are emerging around the country, resisting violence, and calling for dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflicts.

Jewish-Arab vigils in Jerusalem and near the village of Abu-Ghosh. Photo credits: Standing Together, Daniel Assayag and Hamutal Gouri

The prospects for a Fifth round of elections increased, when Naftali Bennet, head of the right wing party Yemina, announced Thursday night that he will not join the camp of change led by Yair Lapid, and that he is willing to join with PM Netanyahu. Despite that, Netanyahu still does not have the needed majority to establish a coalition. If he therefore fails to collect the support of 61 votes out of 120 members of the Knesset. Israel will go to another round of elections in September, the fifth round of elections in a row in just more than two years..

For further reading:

Gaza: Here, here, here

Jews and Arabs: Here, here, here

Politics: Here, here