“What does an antisemitism spewing, Nazi dog-whistling President give his favorite Jewish and Christian zealots for the holidays, after already giving them Jerusalem, settlements, the Golan Heights, the murder of the two-state solution, and the delegitimization of Palestinian national claims, identity, and aspirations? An Israel exception to the First Amendment, of course. That’s what Trump’s Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism is, no matter how the White House and credulous, lazy, or dishonest pundits try to sell it.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting what the White House describes as a growing problem of anti-Semitic harassment on U.S. college campuses. ‘Free speech is not carte blanche for anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish people and the state of Israel,’ Netanyahu says.”

“Jewish worshipers are able to pray on the Temple Mount with what appears to be the tacit consent of police forces at the site, The Jerusalem Post observed during a visit there on Thursday…” A temple Mount activist: “said that ultimately he wishes to be able to pray in a more orderly and complete fashion, with the correct prostrations required for prayer at the Temple Mount, and with the use of prayer shawls and tefillin, all of which is not possible at present.The final goal, however, is to rebuild the Temple. ‘The ultimate goal is to be able to offer sacrifices in the Temple,” Weber says simply. “We are not really dealing with that right now because there are many stages to this.’”

“Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday…This year’s decision is a break with usual policy. Last year, Israel granted permits for close to 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.”

“One of the key messages Barkat proposed in his presentation was to invest more heavily in Israel’s periphery- a model that he has been working to develop in cooperation with Professor Porter. He further advanced his vision for increased economic cooperation with the Palestinian workforce via a plan to develop increased ‘industrial clusters’ throughout Judea and Samaria along the lines of those which already exist in places like Barkan and Mishor Adumim.  ‘Everywhere in Israel can be ripe for growth if we invest and budget properly while taking advantage of local resources,’ Barkat said. ‘We need to start thinking long-term about how to expand well beyond our current urban centers because in a short amount of time these areas won’t be able to handle the burden of growing populations.’ The conference was attended by academics from around the world, including many from Arab countries.”

“Israeli military control of the West Bank between 2000 and 2017 cost the Palestinian people approximately $47.7 billion, or more than $2.5 billion annually, according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report published on December 2. The report, titled ‘Economic cost of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people: Fiscal aspects,’ says that if these sums were invested in the Palestinian economy, they would have created two million jobs. Khaled al-Osaily, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of national economy, told The Media Line that the real figure was probably much higher. ‘This figure isn’t accurate, where there are indirect costs of the Israeli occupation that simply can’t be measured,’ he said. ‘Israel views its illegal occupation of the West Bank as a source of income. It’s a profitable project that generates great revenues for Israel.’”

“On Sept. 5, I received the tragic news that my mother was diagnosed with cancer. As well as trying to cope with the shock and the unrelenting challenges of life-or-death uncertainty, as a Palestinian living in the West Bank, I also had to worry about something else: Israel’s occupation and its brutal control of all aspects of our daily lives… Israeli authorities denied my permit request for undisclosed ‘security reasons.’…Israel’s punishment didn’t stop there. On Oct. 26, when I was heading to Jordan to attend my aunt’s funeral, Israel prevented me from traveling abroad, again for ‘security reasons.’ The ‘security reasons’ for which I have been banned have never been revealed to me. What has become increasingly clear, however, is that Israeli authorities are targeting human rights advocates with ‘security’ bans for the role we play in exposing Israeli human rights violations.”

“Israeli forces arrested a dozen senior figures in the Hamas terror group overnight in a sweep of the West Bank city of Hebron and surrounding areas. The arrests were a preemptive measure in preparation for coming Palestinian celebrations over the weekend to mark the anniversary of the founding of Hamas in 1987, according to Hebrew-language reports Thursday morning citing the military.”

“Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman attacked both Blue and White and the Likud party for ties to haredi and Arab parties, as Israel heads to its third round of Knesset elections this year. ‘Whoever wants a government supported by admirers of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hamas, and Hezbollah should vote for Blue and White,’ Liberman wrote on his Facebook page.”

“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently asserted that Arab Israelis would become a ‘major influencer’ in Israel’s politics, if only they would turn out for national elections at similar levels as they do for municipal votes. He also expressed criticism of Arab Israelis who he said shun the elections in Israel because they consider the Knesset to be a ‘Zionist council,’ and lashed out at members of the majority-Arab Joint List party for quarreling over what he described as ‘trivial matters.’ Abbas made the comments at a closed-door meeting in late September in New York City before he addressed the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The Times of Israel recently obtained a recording of the PA president’s remarks at the gathering, which have not been previously reported.”

“A northern Israeli municipality cancelled a meeting between high school students and an Israeli-Palestinian NGO after parents and right-wing politicians complained that they did not want the children exposed to ‘terrorists.’ The school’s student council blasted the move, calling it a ‘cowardly, unfortunate and irresponsible move, which violates basic democratic values and the high school’s educational values.’ The non-compulsory meeting in the town of Nesher between high school students and The Parents Circle Families Forum, a grassroots organization of Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost immediate family members in the conflict, was slated for Thursday. The student council expressed its full support for the educational staff that planned the meeting.  The Nesher municipality said: ‘Following a request from the school’s central parents committee, the meeting planned for today was called off.’”

“A suspected hate crime was carried out in the Arab village of Manshiya Zabda overnight Wednesday. The tires of dozens of vehicles were punctured and hateful slogans were spray-painted on the northern Israeli village’s neighborhood walls. A Star of David was scrawled on one of the cars.  Two buildings in the village were defiled with the sentences: ‘Jews wake up, expel the enemy,’ ‘Arabs are enemies —  expel or kill’ and ‘Mohammed is a pig.’”

“’It’s not the financial damage. It’s the emotional harm. Everything else can be repaired,’ said Karim Sa’ida, a resident of the Jezreel Valley Arab village of Manshiya Zabda in Israel’s north, which was targeted overnight on Wednesday by a wave of vandalism, which included anti-Arab graffiti. News of the incident prompted an outpouring of support from residents of nearby Jewish communities. About 100 vehicles in the village of several hundred residents were damaged, in addition to the graffiti spray-painted on walls. The repair bill on Sa’ida’s three trucks is 26,676 shekels (about $7,700), he said. Each of the trucks has six tires.”

“In the summer of 2018, Yara Kraim, Awla Hassan and Walaa Abu Ishaq were looking for an apartment to rent in Tel Aviv. A real estate agency’s Facebook post about an apartment in a ‘great location’ that would be ‘excellent for three roommates’ caught Kraim’s eye. She called the number in the advertisement and arranged to see the place that afternoon. Just before the conversation ended, she gave her name. A few minutes later, she was told that the apartment had already been taken. But her Jewish friend, who called a little while later, was told the opposite.”

“Just days after the international PISA exams showed widening gaps between Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students and the government’s survey on wages revealed a 35 percent gap between the two population groups, new research shows the Jewish-Arab gap at university has also grown sharply over the last two decades. The study, which was done at the Herzilya Interdisciplinary Center’s Aaron Institute for Economic Policy, found that the Jewish-Arab gap in the rate of graduation from bachelor’s programs at Israeli institutes of higher education widened to 38 percent in 2017, from 23 percent in 2000. The dropout rate is especially high for Arab men, it found.”

“Israelis went to the polls in April because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to try to preempt the pending announcement regarding his indictment. In May, when he failed to form a coalition, Israelis were sent again to the polls, this time because Netanyahu wanted to try to preempt his indictment. And now, again on Wednesday, Israelis were sent to the polls for the third time this year so Netanyahu can try to secure for himself immunity.”

“The majority of Israelis do not expect the next government to do more to reach a peace treaty with the Palestinians, a poll commissioned by the Geneva Initiative found. More than half (56%) of Israelis expect the next government will do less (19%) or the same (37%) to work towards a peace agreement, while 44% expect it to do more. Most of those surveyed (53%) thought that Israel has not made enough of an effort to reach a peace agreement in the past decade, while 28% said Israel did make a sufficient effort and 19% didn’t know, and most (56%) thought that allowing the current situation to continue is bad for Israel, while 23% thought it was good and 21% didn’t know. Of the following options, 57% preferred a two-state solution, 26% chose one state with fewer rights for Palestinians and 17% preferred one state with equal rights for all.”

“Former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin announced Friday that his right-wing Zehut party will not run in the upcoming Knesset election, because given the political atmosphere today, people are ‘not attentive to its message.’ Zehut, which is mainly identified with rebuilding the Temple, the legalization of recreational marijuana and a free capitalist economy, will run again ‘when Israeli society is ripe for change,’ said Feiglin, the party’s chairman.”

“The prolong electoral crisis is taking its toll on Israeli politics, as a recent poll shows that Likud and the right-wing bloc as a whole will face an uphill battle ahead of the March 2 elections….”

“Blue & White will consider agreeing to a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for alleged corruption, if he agrees to retire from political life, party leader Benny Gantz said Thursday evening.”

“Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman said on Thursday that he would support pardoning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the three corruption cases against him in exchange for Israel’s leader retirement from political life.”

“We cannot exclude the possibility that Abbas’ demand for East Jerusalem ballot boxes, knowing the makeup of Israel’s Security Cabinet, is, in fact, nothing but a ploy designed to obtain Israeli ‘help’ in getting off his election high horse.”

“Mahmoud al-Aloul, vice president of Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, on Thursday met with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, to discuss steps to facilitate the PA elections. The two discussed the latest developments on holding general elections in ‘Palestine’, and the means to allow the elections to take place in eastern Jerusalem as they did in 1996, 2005 and 2006, according to a statement by al-Aloul’s office quoted by the Xinhua news agency. Mounir Jaghoub, a Fatah spokesman, told Xinhua that the meeting came as part of ‘Palestinian efforts to hold elections in East Jerusalem.’ ‘It is not expected that Israel would easily allow Palestinian elections to take place in Jerusalem. That is why we are increasing our diplomatic endeavors,’ he said.”

“Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations (UN) Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has told FRANCE 24 that the situation in the Gaza Strip remains extremely tense, warning that ‘we are always no more than two to three days away from another war in Gaza’. ‘This is the situation which we’ve lived in for the past year and a half to two years now’, he said.”

“A month after the latest escalation in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces fears that the opportunity created for a long-term agreement with Hamas will again be missed. In recent weeks the army has seen an opening for expediting the indirect talks being conducted with Hamas, which could lead to a lengthy break in fighting. But the contacts haven’t seen enough progress, and meanwhile, a new political agenda arising from another election is liable to disrupt the formulation of understandings.”

“Noor Sawarka is an 11-year-old girl, in the sixth grade. On November 14, 2019, the Israeli air force killed both her parents, Yusra and Mohammed, and her two brothers Muaz, 7, and Waseem, 13,at their home in Dir al-Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip. Her uncle Rasmi, his wife and their three children were also killed in the Israel Defense Forces attack. All told, nine members of the extended family were killed. Noor remains alone with her five siblings, some of them stepsiblings, orphaned, traumatized, homeless. Last week, she told Olfat al-Kurd, a Gaza-based field researcher of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, about the disaster that befell her and her family.”

“Imagine how the international community would react if in Hong Kong or New York, two other similarly crowded territories, unemployment was 47 per cent, the poverty rate 53 per cent, the average class size was 39 and the infant mortality rate at 10.5 per 1,000 live births. The international community has grown used to absolving Israel of any accountability for collective punishment and gross human rights abuses. But surely the point now is that Gaza must be considered a human stain on the conscience of the world. By neglect, or default, all western governments have actively contributed to its misery. All are deeply complicit in an inhuman experiment: how to keep more than 2 million people on a level of subsistence considered intolerable and unlivable by the UN, without tipping them over into mass death. What has to happen for this to change? For how much longer will we delete, as Google apparently does, Gaza, its refugees, its daily suffering from the collective consciousness of the world?” [Also see video: Gaza 2020: has Israel’s siege made life impossible for Palestinians?]

“After Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah held talks in Cairo last week with the head of Egypt’s intelligence Abbas Kamel, Haniyeh continued on to Turkey, and from there plans to visit Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon and Mauritania. He also hopes to receive an invitation from the Kremlin to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is not included in his itinerary, and it is also still unclear whether Haniyeh will visit Iran. The main objective of Haniyeh’s journey is to collect as many donations and commitments to invest in Gaza as possible, in order to aid Hamas in rehabilitating the Strip and building a sustainable economic foundation. This will include the construction of industrial zones on the border with Egypt, some of which will be in Egyptian territory, where thousands of Gazans will be employed. It seems Haniyeh has already been given the green light by Israel to begin the development stage, once the long term agreement is signed.”

“The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ ‘military wing’, said on Thursday that, as part of the ongoing campaign with the ‘enemy’, an important security and intelligence achievement will be revealed over the next few days. The group’s spokesman, Abu Obeida, tweeted that the achievement would be a severe blow to the leadership of the ‘enemy’ as it thwarted a dangerous plan to harm Hamas officials. Following an IDF operation unearthed and thwarted in Khan Yunis in 2018, Hamas officials claimed that valuable intelligence was gathered on Israel’s clandestine activities. Hamas claims that the purpose of the operation was to plant means of gathering intelligence on senior officials in the group, and that experts were able to extract valuable information from the equipment left in the field.”

“Israel will take part in the prestigious Expo 2020 world fair in Dubai, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday, after a visit by a top ministry official to the United Arab Emirates. Yuval Rotem, director-general of the Foreign Ministry, visited Dubai this week to sign an agreement on Israel’s participation. He also met with officials there during his trip, according to Hebrew media reports. ‘Israel’s participation in the exhibition reflects the rise in Israel’s status, not only internationally but also among the key state actors in our region.’ Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement on Tuesday.”

“Turkey said Friday it would offer up to 10 million lira ($1.75 million) for information leading to the capture of former Palestinian strongman Mohammad Dahlan, now exiled in the United Arab Emirates, placing him on its list of most wanted fugitives. Turkey accuses Dahlan of being a mercenary for the UAE and involved in the 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who he is an outspoken critic of. Arrest warrants have been issued for his arrest, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said according to the Reuters news organization. In addition to the attempted coup, Dahlan is also said to seek changing the constitutional order by force, and is accused of spying, Reuters reported without giving further details.”

“Lebanese officials protested against a recent threat by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) to attack Israel from Lebanon, calling the statement a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported. ‘If the Zionist regime makes the smallest mistake toward Iran, we will reduce Tel Aviv to ashes from Lebanon,’ said IRGC commander Morteza Qorbani, adding that Iran wouldn’t need to fire a single missile from its territories. ‘These statements are unfortunate and unacceptable,’ tweeted caretaker Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab. ‘They are a violation of the sovereignty of Lebanon, which enjoys ties of friendship with Iran that should not infringe on its independent decision-making in any way, shape or form.’”

“Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, announced on Thursday in the Moroccan capital Rabat, that ‘Israel will never achieve its dreams in Palestine.’ ‘Israel will never achieve its dream of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian homeland and the creation of a racist regime,’ affirmed Çavuşoğlu in a speech he delivered during the celebration of the 50th commemoration of the foundation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). He explained: ‘The occupation of the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, is still ongoing. The unity of Muslims is the only hope for achieving the rights of the Palestinian people, despite the loss of memory and hypocrisy.’ ‘We may have differences and different points of view on many issues, but we must not allow our bilateral conflicts to undermine our struggle. Our Palestinian brothers must resolve their differences and reach a solution for reconciliation,’ added the Turkish minister.”

“Two Israeli researchers have raised concerns regarding Saudi Arabia’s efforts to obtain nuclear capabilities, fearing that Saudi might shift its position towards Israel, or that these capabilities might reach Israel’s enemies, Sama News reported on Wednesday. In a report published by Israel Hayom, the two researchers called for resolving their concerns through cooperation with the US, in order to supply the Saudi Kingdom with a peaceful nuclear programme under strict observation.”

“Ariel Bulshtein, adviser to the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that Israel has refused to sell weapons to Georgia, at Russia’s request. He also stated a month and a half ago, that Israel had refrained from selling weapons to Ukraine at the request of Russia, in exchange for halting an arms deal between Russia and Iran.”

“The concern in Israel’s political and security establishments isn’t about a new comprehensive deal between Iran and the U.S. – everyone assumes this is not a real possibility. Iran will never agree to the conditions the Trump administration has set for a new agreement, and Trump will not give up on those demands before the 2020 presidential election, in which he will rely for his survival on the support of Christian evangelicals, a constituency that hates and is suspicious of the Islamic Republic. Israeli officials have nevertheless warned the administration that the very act of holding a public meeting between Trump and Rohani would by itself decrease the pressure on Tehran.”

“A total of 25 faith-based pro-Israel parliamentarians from around the world gathered in Jerusalem this week for the three-day Israel Allies Foundation’s (IAF) annual Chairman’s Conference. The group spent time meeting with key political officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attending workshops and touring strategic areas in order to share ideas and strategies as part of their work in advancing pro-Israel legislation, combating BDS and anti-Semitism, and fighting the delegitimization of Israel in their home countries. Much of the conference focused on combating the recent European Court of Justice ruling calling for the labeling of Jewish products from Judea and Samaria as being made in “Israeli settlements,” as opposed to ‘Made in Israel.’ On the first day of the event, participants toured the Barkan Industrial Zone in Samaria to understand the potential effects of that ruling firsthand—not only for Jewish companies, but for the 8,000 Arabs who work there as well.”

“Following the US recognition in November of the legality of Israel’s West Bank settlements, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn is advancing an initiative calling for the European Union to recognize a Palestinian state. Last week, Asselborn sent a letter to the EU’s new foreign affairs representative, Josep Borrell, and to the 27 EU foreign ministers. In the letter, he argued that the way to rescue the two-state solution was to create a “more equitable situation” policy-wise between Israel and the Palestinians, to which end he urged the European states to hold a discussion as soon as possible regarding the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state. Such a move, he said, would not be anti-Israel.”

“Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) published its Office of the Prosecutor Report. While it predictably accused Israel of false war crimes in Judea and Samaria, it also, for the first time, subtly mentioned that the Palestinian Authority could be guilty of war crimes over payments to terrorists. Article 222 states: ‘The PA have encouraged and provided financial incentives for the commission of violence through their provision of payments to the families of Palestinians who were involved, in particular, in carrying out attacks against Israeli citizens, and under the circumstances, the payment of such stipends may give rise to Rome Statute crimes.’”

“The Austrian parliament is expected to unanimously pass a resolution against ‘Israel-related anti-Semitism’ that calls on the government to condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. On Wednesday, all five parties represented in Austria’s National Council — including the Greens and the far-right Freedom Party — agreed to support the text of the resolution and to hold a vote on it next month.”

“The Arab League (AL) stressed that Brazilian MP Eduardo Bolsonaro’s visit to Psagot settlement, established in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, is a violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions. The AL warned that such steps would negatively affect Arab relations with the Federal Republic of Brazil.”