Seven People Killed and One Wounded in Series of Terror Attacks. This week saw three terror attacks: two border police officers, a Druze man and a Jewish woman, were killed in a terror attack in Hadera, a city north of Tel Aviv. The attackers, residents of the Arab town of Um el Fahm, were shot to death. Five people, including an Arab-Christian police officer, were killed in a terror attack in the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv. The attacker, a Palestinian from the West Bank town of Jenin, was shot dead by police. A man was wounded in a stabbing attack on a bus near the West Bank settlement Neve Daniel. The attacker was shot dead by one of the passengers. PM Bennett called for resilience and urged civilians to carry firearms. Right-wing politicians were quick to arrive at the scenes where the terror attacks occurred and criticized the government for its failure to address the wave of terror attacks. Security officials voiced concern over the lack of intelligence warnings on what analysts refer to as “copycat ISIS inspired terror attacks”.
Far-Right MK Itamar Ben Gvir Visits Temple Mount Amid Rising Tensions: Ben Gvir toured the Temple Mount compound for fifteen minutes, under heavy security. The visit was approved by the Jerusalem police chief, despite criticism from members of the Arab Joint List who warned that the visit to the compound, where the Al Aqsa Mosque is located, may cause an escalation of violence during an already explosive climate. Ben Gvir, who is known for his provocative behavior and statements, said to the media: “My visit here sends a very simple message: I do not surrender or fold, and nor should the state of Israel, to those terrorists who are trying to kill us all”. He also criticized the decision to increase the number of people of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, the Islamic religious trust, responsible for controlling and managing the Islamic edifices on and around the Temple Mount and referred to them as “terrorists”. In light of the recent wave of terror attacks, with the Holy month of Ramadan starting on April 2nd, and the Jewish high holiday of Passover fast approaching, the police will tighten security measures on the Temple Mount, which is a key symbolic location for Jews and Muslims.
Jordanian King Abdullah Held a Series of High Level Meetings as a Preliminary Step to Try to Monitor the Tension Before the Holy Muslim Month of Ramadan: Abdullah, who controls the Muslim authority over the Temple Mount, travelled to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Abbas. Later this week, at his palace, Abdullah met separately with President of Israel Isaac Herzog and minister of defense Benny Gantz. Israeli officials are concerned at the beginning of Ramadan, the holiest month for the Muslim, and expressed their anxiety that extremist will inflame the region during this month, especially because this year Ramadan overlaps both the Jewish holiday Passover and the Christian holiday Easter. During Passover many Jews make pilgrimages to Jerusalem in general and to the Western Wall in particular, and the presence of both Jews and Muslims may be explosive.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid Held the Negev Summit with Five Other Foreign Ministers: The idea was to convene foreign ministers of Arab countries to coordinate a common approach towards the possibility of finalizing a new Iran Deal and to coordinate the position of countries that have mutual interests. American Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken joined the meeting with Lapid and the foreign ministers of UAE (United Arab Emirates) Bahrain, Egypt and Morocco. The summit took place in the south of Israel, near the tombstone of Ben Gurion, the first PM of Israel who is widely considered the founding father of the state. It was the first summit as such, that was held in Israel. This was enabled due to the common interest of the countries in the region regarding the Iran deal. The summit was preceded and enabled by the Abraham Accords that were signed during the Trump administration and when Netanyahu was PM in Israel. Unfortunately the Summit was pushed to a lower place in the public agenda due to the bloody terrorist act that that took the lives of 2 Israelis on the same night.
After a Long Journey at the Supreme Court and in High Level Decision Making Forums, Minister of Education was Forced to Grant a Professor of Mathematics with the Highest National Award, the Israel Prize: Prof. Goldriech from the Weizman Institute was announced as a laureate of the Israel Prize a year ago. Soon after the announcement, it was revealed that he signed a petition to the EU to ban Ariel University from receiving a substantial research allocation, because Ariel is located in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian territories) and therefore is not eligible to receive funds that are allocated to academic research. Minister of Education, who is in charge of the Israel Prize, decided not to give him the prize, despite the decision of the professional committee. Goldreich appealed to the Supreme Court, and after a second round the court ruled that the minister of education has to award him the prize. Recognition of Ariel University is at the center of an extensive public and academic dispute in Israel, since it is located in the West Bank and is not considered part of sovereign Israel. The international community does not recognize those areas as part of Israel. But, during Netanyahu’s era, the right wing pushed the government to upgrade the then college of Ariel to a university. Ariel university is the ninth public Israeli university and the first to be established since 1974. This move drew a lot of criticism in Israel and in the international community.
Further reading:
Terror attacks: Here, here, here, here, here
King Abdullah: Here, here, here, here
Negev Summit: Here, here, here, here
Israel Prize: Here, here, here, here