Israel Weekly News Roundup Sep 22, 2023
5 Things you need to know
This Weeks Roundup Will Focus Mainly on PM Netanyahu’s Visit to the USA
1. President Biden Finally Met With PM Netanyahu
After almost nine months since PM Netanyahu assumed office, he finally met with US President Biden. President Biden avoided inviting PM Netanyahu to the White House, and by doing so made a statement against the judicial overhaul, the main policy of PM Netanyahu’s current government. There is an unwritten custom by which the newly elected Israeli PM is invited to the White House soon after taking office. President Biden expressed time and again his objections to the way Israel is proceeding, especially distancing itself from the stated shared values with the US.
The meeting between the two leaders was not held in the White House as it customarily has been. It took place in a hotel in New York City, as part of the events of the current UN General Assembly. It is important to note here, that in another case, President Biden invited Ukrainian President Zelensky to the White House, when he also came to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
President Biden decided eventually to meet PM Netanyahu, mainly because he wants to advance the normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, as an asset to use in his presidential campaign, to demonstrate international diplomacy achievements to the American electorate. If he signs the deal with the Saudis, petrol prices expected to get cheaper.
On Friday, PM Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly and spoke mainly about Iran and it’s nuclear abilities which potentially pose an existential risk to Israel and talked about the possibility of a deal with Saudi Arabia, saying that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will “truly create a new Middle East”. Hundred demonstrated near the UN building in NYC during his speech.
2. PM Netanyahu Met with Billionaire Elon Musk in California
Prior to his travel to NYC and his meeting with President Biden, PM Netanyahu decided to start his visit with a public meeting with Elon Musk. This decision generated a lot of criticism, since Musks social media platform X (formally Twitter) has become a base for frequent antisemitic posts, while Musk himself does not denounce them. On the contrary, Musk insisted that he believes in freedom of speech, therefore even anti-Semitic posts should be protected as such. The meeting between the two, was streamed on the X social media platform. In the discussion between the two, Musk revealed that he received many negative comments from workers at Tesla who opposed the meeting with PM Netanyahu, and asked Musk not to meet him.
3. Demonstrations Against PM Netanyahu Across the USA
Hundreds of Israelis and progressive members of Jewish communities in the US, organized protests against PM Netanyahu, and made sure he was confronted by demonstrations wherever he went. Leaders of the protest in Israel traveled to the US, to participate in the demonstrations and to brief key players in the Jewish communities and the Biden administration about the sentiment among the on going demonstrations in Israel against the judicial overhaul.
Some of the protests were very creative. It started with the projection of a banner on the UN building in NYC, reading “PM Netanyahu is a liar”. Another banner projected on the walls of the famous prison in San Francisco Bay on Alcatraz Island, read that PM Netanyahu should be jailed due to his indictment and ongoing trial for corruption.
There were some voices in Israel who criticized the demonstrations outside Israel, arguing that Israelis should not undermine PM Netanyahu’s important mission abroad.
On the other hand, before he boarded his plane in Israel, PM Netanyahu denounced the protestors, saying they are like Iran and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), the worst enemies of Israel. PM Netanyahu later tried to explain his statement, but it was too late.
Meanwhile, the renowned American TV show, 60 Minutes, dedicated one of this weeks stories to reflect the current reality in Israel. Lesly Stahl was in Israel, went to the demonstrations, and interviewed some of the leaders.
4. Another Escalation in the West Bank and Gaza
The Palestinian scene is boiling over. Thousands of people in Gaza demonstrate daily near the fence between Gaza and Israel. The demonstrators are encouraged by the Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip. During the Jewish holidays, Israel imposes a closure on the West Bank, preventing workers and other Palestinians from crossing the checkpoints into Israeli territory. Israel also prevents thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, who have permits to work in Israel, from crossing the border. This closure was scheduled to be lifted after the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday (Jewish New Year), but was not, due to the demonstrations at the Gaza Strip fences with Israel.
Meanwhile Israeli military forces entered Jenin refugee camp, in order to arrest a suspected terrorist. The operation failed to meet its objectives, four Palestinians were killed and about a further thirty were injured. A raid in a separate refugee camp killed a fifth Palestinian. A sixth Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire during unrest in the Gaza Strip, officials said. About 190 Palestinians and 31 Israelis have been killed in 2023 in a surge of violence not seen for the last twenty years.
5. IDF to Start Pilot Program to Accept Women to Elite Special Forces Unit
Three young women appealed to the High Court of Justice in 2020, to force the army to open the armies most well know known unit, sayeret maktal, to women. As a result of the court questioning the IDFs reasoning for barring women from elite units in June, on Tuesday the IDF announced it would begin to draft volunteer female recruits to the military’s most elite unit, Sayeret Matkal, and two other units that were previously closed to women, as part of a pilot program.
Israel is the only democracy in the world that has a mandatory draft to the army for men and women alike when they reach the age of eighteen. But for many years, most of the units were closed to women and they have had to fight for gender equality through appeals to the High Court of Justice.
The most well known case is that of Alice Miller, an olah (immigrant) from South Africa, who appealed against the Air Forces men pilots only policy, to open its gates to women who are qualified to be army pilots. That was in 1996. Later others had to appeal, and feminist movements have had to advocate for gender equality in the army ranks. This week marked another milestone in a long road towards full gender equality.
For Further Reading:
President Biden & Netanyahu: Here, here, here
PM Netanyahu & Musk: Here, here, here, here
Protest: Here, here, here, here
60 Minutes: Here