“Ashkenazi’s appointment as Israel’s top diplomat might be surprising, but there are those in his future ministry who welcome his arrival. ‘The ministry has reached rock bottom in recent years as far as budget cuts and image are concerned,’ said a senior diplomat in Jerusalem, speaking on condition of anonymity. ‘Netanyahu has taken over Israel’s foreign relations, emptying the ministry of all and every imaginable responsibility. Ashkenazi wants to go places, so maybe he’ll fight to turn things around.'”

“Much can happen by July 1, so it is difficult to prophesize whether Netanyahu goes through with annexation, or just how much of the West Bank will be annexed to Israel. Much of this will depend on President Trump’s political situation and how much pressure Jordan and potentially Egypt exert on him — as well as pressure from Israel’s security establishment, which fears that annexation could lead to the collapse of its security coordination with the Palestinian Authority, and possibly Israel’s peace agreement with Jordan. Barring opposition from the White House, however, the way the coalition agreement was written means Netanyahu will find it very difficult to explain to his supporters any course of action that does not end with annexation of the West Bank. In a sense, this section almost forces him to annex.”

“Gantz, a political neophyte, was overmatched by Netanyahu, who knows every trick, dirty and otherwise, in the book. The agreement they finally came to granted Gantz’s party some key portfolios, including defense and foreign affairs, but left Netanyahu in position to get what he wants in virtually every realm.”

“If the emergency unity government is indeed sworn in, Israel will have been spared its fourth elections in 16 months. But what does the coalition stand for? And will it hold?”

“Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz on Tuesday defended his decision to sign a coalition agreement with Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he himself would have preferred a ‘different government,’ but breaking bread with his ex-rival was the responsible thing to do given the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. The comments were the first Gantz made publicly since signing the deal with Netanyahu on Monday night, and came moments after his ex-ally Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party excoriated him for switching sides and accused him of perpetuating ‘the worst act of fraud in the history of this country.'”

“For leaders around the world, the coronavirus has been a colossal challenge, testing their ability to manage a crisis on an unparalleled scale. But for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the pandemic has also been a political salve, allowing him to put off his corruption trial, smash the country’s main opposition party, and now forge a governing majority that had eluded him since late 2018. In the coming months, it could provide another dividend for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister: a chance to fulfill a nationalist agenda of annexing parts of the West Bank and effectively quashing Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.”

“A large force of Border Police, Police and Civil Administration forces demolished six temporary structures Wednesday morning at the illegal outpost of Kumi Ori, adjacent to the Yizhar settlement in the West Bank. Three of the buildings were being used for residential purposes. Two of the buildings lie in Area B, which is under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control. One of those two buildings is the home of far-right activist Neria Zarug, who was arrested during the demolition. In November, Zarug was arrested for violating an administrative order barring him from entering the West Bank. The settlers at Yitzhar, said ‘We avidly condemn the demolition of family homes as a governmental ‘price tag’ attack,” referring to acts of retribution, usually committed by settlers against Palestinians following terrorist attacks, ‘especially during the coronavirus epidemic.'”

“Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved on Tuesday the confiscation of Palestinian land in the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron, located in the southern occupied West Bank. Final approval still remains in the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, local media reported. Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett already greenlit the expropriation plan in December…Israeli authorities have justified the expropriation in order to build an elevator and ramp to allow people with disabilities, including tourists and Jewish worshippers, to access the holy site.”

“Annexation would prove Israel is interested in cementing, perpetuating and deepening the existing situation in which, two groups of people live in the territory under its rule and sovereignty: Israeli citizens with full rights and Palestinian subjects deprived of political and other rights, with the Israelis ruling over and oppressing the Palestinians. The institutional, systemic discrimination against Palestinians and the diversion of local resources to Israelis at the Palestinians’ expense, are a distinct feature of Apartheid. Annexation will pull the rug from under the argument, currently prevalent in many circles, that while Apartheid, or at least an Apartheid-like regime, is currently practiced in the West Bank, the sovereign State of Israel is a democracy. Applying Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank would be tantamount to a declaration that there is one regime, rather than separate administrations.”

“The public did not choose for Israel go down this extreme path; most of the public does not want annexation. The security echelon warns of the implications of annexation. Annexation costs will be much higher than the debilitating costs of the Covid­19 crisis. Most of all, annexing territories without giving full citizenship rights to the millions of Palestinians who would be left in nominally autonomous enclaves under Israeli rule would spell an end to Israel’s democracy. Whether annexing one settlement or all of the settlements, such a move would constitute the foundation to an apartheid state. Annexation is bad for Israel. So who is annexation good for? It is to that ideological fringe, which for years has been enjoying budget flows to illegal outposts as the rest of Israel swoons under record­level housing prices, paving bypass roads for every settlement when the rest of Israel is stuck in traffic jams, and doing all it can to keep Israel entangled in the West Bank at the cost of perpetuating the conflict.”

“The Shin Bet, in cooperation with the IDF and the Israel Police, arrested three Hamas operatives who were planning to commit several terror attacks against security forces and Israelis in Jerusalem and Ramallah area…The three attempted to created home-made explosive devices by downloading instructions from the internet and bough several chemicals and metals to accomplish their task. Their plans included bombing the Beitar Jerusalem soccer stadium in Jerusalem as well as several other terror attacks against Israeli security forces in the West Bank.”

“A Border Police officer was moderately injured in a vehicular and stabbing attack on Wednesday morning by the Kiosk Checkpoint in the West Bank town of Abu Dis. The attack, which was captured by a security camera, saw a Palestinian terrorist ram his van into a Border Police officer who had been standing on a raised sidewalk by the checkpoint, which is located near the entry way to the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.”

“On Wednesday, citing unnamed Israeli defense officials, Channel 12 said the issue of the captives was delaying Israeli agreement to new investment in blockaded Gaza, and Hamas was growing desperate to lift part of the blockade amid the global coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn.”

“The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday surprisingly blocked the police from obtaining special coronavirus-related authority to be given addresses of people in quarantine without a court order in the first major setback for law enforcement during the crisis.”

“The road to hell is littered with good intentions, and the need to swiftly stop the spread of the virus has led to some dangerous shortcuts. The main players in these efforts are the Shin Bet (which has actually been relatively cautious, knowing how sensitive the issue is); Military Intelligence, the Mossad, Israel Police and civilian technology companies. All are involved, in one way or another, in steps which constitute the unprecedented prying into the lives of Israeli citizens. Some people who took part in discussions have already noticed a dangerous blurring of lines; uniformed officials who take the surveillance for granted and now wish to expand their authority.”

“Thousands of Palestinian workers remained in Israel over the recent Jewish Passover holiday, as the Israeli authorities maintained the validity of their work permits. However, concerns have been raised again about their return, and the related risk of a spread of the virus, during the month of Ramadan, with a big influx expected at the beginning of the holiday later this week. Those who have returned have been registered by the Palestinian authorities and supplied with health information materials and instructions for home quarantine, although reaching unauthorized workers has been challenging as they avoid the official crossings, despite the efforts of the authorities and emergency committees to monitor their return.”

“’We need a miracle,’says the father of twins. He is glad that the Autonomy Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are finally cooperating at this moment, and that the Israeli government is also showing itself accessible. ‘According to international law, Israel, as an occupier and besieger, is obliged to guarantee the welfare of the people here. Palestinians and Israelis are now in the same boat. It is also in Israel’s interest to help us,’ he said. ‘This pandemic does not discriminate, it knows no borders, no different skin colors, religions or genders.’”

“The low numbers likely stem from a lack of test kits and available labs to analyze the results. In the West Bank there are only five labs to handle all of the tests from Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nabulus. The lack of test kits is a global problem and the Palestinians have struggled to to acquire them. A fresh batch of tests from the World Health Organization was set to arrive in the PA in the coming days.”