US-Israel Relations: The decision by the American House of Representatives to exclude from the annual budget vote Israel’s request for military aid was met with surprise. Israel placed a request for American aid to renew its’ storage for Iron Dome, the protective weapon that has the ability to intercept incoming missiles and mortars in the air. This military tool is essential in the fight against Hamas in Gaza and against potential missile attacks from Hizbollah in Lebanon or from Syria.
But with a one day delay the request was approved. The vast majority of the House approved it by a vote of 420 to 9 (two were recorded present, eight Democrats and one Republican voted against) to approve the one billion request. The bill now goes to the Senate for final approval.
The supplies for Iron Dome were depleted after the last military campaign against Gaza in March.
The American House of Representatives decided to postpone the vote on Israels’ request due to pressure from the progressive caucus of the Democratic Party, mainly by The Squad (AOC - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of NY, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Mass and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan). The four are considered to be progressive in general and towards Israel in particular, and their influence on Democratic Party policy has proved time and again to be effective. Eventually AOC reported present and did not vote against the bill.
There was a wave of criticism within Israel against the former leadership, mainly former PM Netanyahu who decided at a certain point to focus all the Israeli-American political relationships with the Republicans, in contradiction to the traditional Israeli policy of bi-partisanship.
In this context it is important to mention that earlier this week former PM Netanyahu posted on his social media accounts a short video in which he criticized current PM Bennett, but by doing so, he mocked President Biden by falsely accusing him of falling asleep during his first meeting with Bennett in the White House last month. The short video went viral.
Arab Lives Matter – A New Online Campaign is Going Viral on Social Media: a new online campaign, under the hashtag “Arab Lives Matter”, protesting the state’s failure to address raging firearm violence in Arab localities is gaining traction on social media outlets. The campaign was inspired by BLM (Black Lives Matter) in the US. Ninety Arab citizens were killed during 2021 to date in Arab localities, victims of the use of illegal firearms. The campaign, initiated by a group of young bloggers and activists, is calling upon the Israeli government, and specifically the ministry of homeland security, to take rigorous action to end the violence and restore a sense of safety and security in Arab communities. Numerous Jewish activists expressed their support for the campaign.
Minister of Homeland Security, Omer Bar Lev (Labor), said, in response to the campaign: “Decades of neglect, ignorance and fear of confronting the issues in the Arab communities, along with the assumption that ‘as long as they’re killing each other, it’s their problem,’” wrote Bar Lev. “In my first hundred days in office, I have done more to deal with the crime in the Arab sector than has been done in the past several decades.”
COVID-19: Debate Over third Booster Jab A panel of FDA experts issued a recommendation last weekend, to administer the third booster jab only to people aged 65 and older. In Israel, however, by that day, more than 1 million people had already received the third shot. This controversy may spark a renewed discussion by the government to apply the “green pass” regulation only to those who received the booster jab and may impact parents’ decisions on whether to inoculate their children.
Israel is facing high rates of positive tested people and the health authorities and the corona cabinet are struggling to find the most effective tools to address it. For now, the corona cabinet and senior health officials remain of the opinion that the third booster jab is most effective in combatting severe morbidity caused by the delta variant. The ministry of education announced earlier this week that teachers who refuse vaccination will be put on leave of absence without pay.
Palestinian Prisoners are back: A sigh of relief was shared by all top security forces in Israel when the last two Palestinians who fled a high security prison were quietly caught. Six Palestinian prisoners, who are accused of murder and of executing terrorists actions managed to dig a tunnel and escape. The escape revealed a history of negligence within the Israel Prison Service. The alleged negligence is under investigation since the escape.
On the other hand, the chase after the escaped prisoners escalated tensions within the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) and in Palestinian areas that are under Israeli military control. There was widespread fear that if the prisoners were not captured alive and if there is no bloodshed during the effort to catch them, the security situation will rapidly deteriorate.
It is important to say in this context that during the Jewish holidays (most of September this year) there is usually a closure on Palestinians towns and villages and they are banned from crossing to Israel even to work. That is a tradition annual practice by the security forces in order to prevent unnecessary tensions during the holidays.
Leading Pop Singer Comes Out as Lesbian in New Clip: Sarit Hadad, Israel’s top Mediterranean musician for more than two decades released a new clip, called “a love like ours”, written by her partner, a highly successful songwriter herself, who made her debut in pop music at the age of 16 on one of the primetime singing competition reality shows. The clip features Hadad and her partner in a loving embrace, sitting on a bench overlooking the sea. The clip went viral within hours of its release. As the clip was launched, Hadad posted on her Instagram account to her 200,000+ followers: “this new clip conveys love from my own perspective of the world and of myself… Now that my daughters are growing up so fast… I want them to know that they can be whatever they want to, and I want to teach them that freedom and choosing your own path are most important”. Fans, music critiques and LGBTQI leaders and activists were quick to congratulate Hadad. Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), a long-time gay rights advocate, wrote: “what you are saying is so important, every woman can be who she wants to be, with whom she desires to, and how she chooses to live her life”. Some music critiques, however, suggested that the clip was more of a public relation stunt, and that coming out after so many years, perhaps for fear of the reactions of some of her fans, was not as courageous as it might have been several years ago.
For Further Reading:
Netanyahu & Biden: Here, here, here, here
Arab Lives Matter: Here, here, here, here