Kushner arrives in Israel; Egypt turns on the lights in Gaza

What We’re Reading

US-Israel relations

Trump's son-in-law Kushner begins peace push with Middle East talks,

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, beginning a new U.S. effort to revive Middle East peace efforts.

With Kushner en Route to Israel, U.S. Reiterates: Settlement Construction Unhelpful to Peace,

The U.S. State Department says it’s in close coordination with the White House on an Israeli-Palestinian peace effort.

Trump Administration Pressuring Israel to Move Ahead With Peace Deal, Senior Israeli Minister Says,

A day ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner in Israel for talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah, Israel’s finance minister said that the American administration is pressuring Israel to move forward on reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Why Is One Pro-Israel Group Desperate To Keep You From Watching This Video?,

On June 8, No Way To Treat a Child hosted a panel discussion on Capitol Hill on the Palestinian experience under Israeli control. The Israel Project, which is led by former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block, called the event an “anti-Israel hatefest” filled with “hate speech.”

Gaza

Turning Gaza’s lights back on, Abbas’s rival Dahlan makes dramatic return to center stage,

Brokering a deal with Egypt to ship in fuel, the former Fatah security chief may have managed to ‘save’ the Strip… and helped Egypt and Hamas knock the Palestinian president down a few pegs.

Opinion: Israel's Plague of Darkness for Gazans Is an Act of Terrorism,

“It’s the worst thing Israel’s done all year. It’s a punishment which targets huge numbers of people who have committed no crime. We will not be forgiven for this. Nor should we be,” writes Bradley Burston.

Occupation/Human rights

UN envoy: Israel is defying UNSC by accelerating settler construction,

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that Israel was not abiding by UN resolutions as Netanyahu boasts of the construction of a new settlement for Amona evacuees.

Israel uproots hundreds of fruit trees and ruins crops on privately owned Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley,

Over the past two months, Israeli forces have raided two Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley, uprooting and confiscating olive and date palm trees, and ruining fields of melon and fakus [Armenian cucumber], all on privately owned Palestinian land.

Israeli politics

Kahlon refutes ministers’ claim cabinet never vetted Qalqilya plan,

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon insisted on Tuesday that the cabinet had debated and voted on a plan to expand the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in the West Bank, rejecting claims from ministers that they had never okayed the proposal.

U.S. 'Inspiration' for Israeli Academic Ethics Code Condemns It as Threat to Israel's Democracy,

The American Association of University Professors, whose ethics code Education Minister Naftali Bennett cited in defending the one written by Prof. Asa Kasher for Israeli universities, issued a harsh condemnation of the Israeli code on Monday.

Opinion: Calculations and principles,

“It is imperative to look at the far-reaching, dangerous implications of a “Jewish nation-state” bill that lacks the principle of equality,” writes Benny Begin.