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Sunday, October 18, 2020

10/18 Links: Abraham returns to forge peace among his descendants; PA Irony: PA leader chooses Israeli hospital for HIS Coronavirus treatment after saying Israel intentionally spreads the virus to kill Palestinians

From Ian:

Abraham returns to forge peace among his descendants
One of the main achievements of the Abraham Accords—which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain—is their very name. After losing hope of defeating Israel on the battlefield, Israel’s enemies focused on creating an anti-Israel narrative. Their ambition was to erase all of Zionism’s intellectual foundations—distort history, negate the legitimacy of the Bible and paint Israel as an evil state, certainly not as a state seeking to promote progress and good in the region.

One of the primary avenues of this narrative-based attack is “occupation”—a buzzword that the State of Israel has been most identified with by international organizations and media outlets across the globe. This nefarious term, “Israeli occupation,” implies all that Israel’s enemies wish to convey: that Israel is a colony of the “white man” in the heart of the Middle East, a European foothold, a foreign entity seizing Arab lands and violating the human rights of the natives, the original people of the land: Palestinian Arabs.

How does one fight this? How do we express the Jewish people’s deeply-rooted connection to this land, which is the backbone of the State of Israel, and undo the image of the heartless occupier? The answer to this question lies in this new treaty, and is predicated upon a single word: “Abraham.”

US Vice President Mike Pence visited Israel in January 2018 and spoke to the Knesset. In that speech, he elucidated the importance of Abraham: “Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man left his home in Ur of the Chaldeans to travel here, to Israel. He ruled no empire, he wore no crown, he commanded no armies, he performed no miracles, delivered no prophecies, yet to him was promised ‘descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.’

“Today, Jews, Christians and Muslims—more than half the population of the Earth, and nearly all the people of the Middle East—claim Abraham as their forefather in faith,” he said.

It’s evident, then, that the phrase “Abraham Accords” denotes that the treaty was forged by the descendants of Abraham’s children—Arabs and Jews—and thus redefines Jewish presence in the region as ancient and therefore legitimate. This runs exactly counter to the “occupation” narrative. It also appears the UAE has adopted the figure of Abraham as a unifying element in the region. In Abu Dhabi, construction has already begun on a magnificent inter-faith complex named the Abrahamic Family House, which will consist of three main buildings—a mosque, church and synagogue—for the purpose of invoking peace and coexistence among the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Mnuchin: Trump win would bring peace between more countries and Israel
More Arab and Muslim countries are likely to make peace if US President Donald Trump is reelected, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said on a flight to Bahrain with a US-Israeli delegation on Sunday.

“We are very hopeful there will be other announcements,” he said. “Our expectation is, obviously, that President Trump wins and this continues… There is a lot more in the works.”

Asked if a Trump loss would stop the momentum of Arab states establishing ties with Israel, he said: “I surely hope not.” The Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are “the most extraordinary outcome in the last 25 years,” Mnuchin said.

“I think 10 years from now when we look back at this, this will be as significant – if not more significant than both the Egyptian treaty and the Jordanian treaty [with Israel] – in how it has changed the whole region economically in particular, but also from a security standpoint and a cultural standpoint,” he said.

The opportunities for trade between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain are enormous, Mnuchin said.
Landing in Bahrain, top Israeli official says Jerusalem seeks ‘genuine peace’
A joint US-Israeli delegation arrived in Bahrain Sunday afternoon to sign a series of bilateral agreements between Jerusalem and Manama, including a so-called Joint Communiqué that will formally establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

El Al Flight 973 — a nod to Bahrain’s country code — landed in Manama after taking off from Ben Gurion Airport in the first-ever nonstop passenger flight from Israel to the Gulf kingdom.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani welcomed the joint US-Israeli delegation at the airport.

During a ceremony held on the tarmac, Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat said in Arabic that Israel “extends its hands for genuine peace with the Bahraini people.”

“Together we will change the reality in the region for the benefit of our nations. God willing, we will host you in Israel soon,” he said.

Switching to Hebrew, Ben-Shabbat noted that the Knesset approved the Israel-UAE peace treaty three days ago. He said the current delegation, like a previous one to the United Arab Emirates, flew nonstop from Tel Aviv, and added that he hoped the route would become a regular route in the near future. He thanked Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for making peace.

“In a certain sense, this visit today closes a circle for Bahrain’s role in bringing peace,” Ben-Shabbat said, presumably referring to last year’s Peace to Prosperity conference in Manama.


Israel, UAE agree on 28 weekly direct flights between Emirates, Tel Aviv
Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed Sunday to enable 28 weekly flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi and Dubai, following the normalization agreement between the countries, signed last month.

The agreement will enable 10 weekly cargo flights, while charter flights between the UAE and Israel’s Ramon Airport, near Eilat, will be unlimited.

The two nations’ transportation ministries agreed on the deal, to be signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, at Ben Gurion Airport.

“The aviation agreement will enable tourism, trade, and business between the countries, and is one of the first, important fruits of the peace agreement,” the Transportation Ministry said in a statement.

Media reports indicated the flights were set to begin within weeks. On Tuesday, an Israeli official said direct flights would be postponed until January because of the coronavirus. An explanation for the contradiction in the reports was not immediately clear.

Last week, the UAE’s Etihad Airways launched a Hebrew-language website, with high hopes for burgeoning tourism and business trade.

The message, “Welcome from Abu Dhabi,” greets users as they enter the website, with different sections on safety protocols and other destinations offered by the airline also appearing in Hebrew.


Sudanese group backing normalization with Israel holds first conference
The first conference of the “Popular Initiative for Normalization with Israel” was held today in Khartoum, in another sign that the Sudanese transitional government may be considering advancing ties with Israel.

The US has reportedly been pressuring Sudan to normalize with Israel in exchange for removing Khartoum from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan’s presence on the list subjects it to crippling economic sanctions and limits the impoverished country’s access to international credit.

A previous attempt to hold a pro-normalization press conference in early October was stopped by authorities, a member of the Sudanese-Israeli Friendship Association told The Times of Israel at the time. That the current conference was allowed to go forward may signal increasing support for open ties with Israel by the country’s military leaders — or even an attempt to prepare their public for the move.

None of the members present at Sunday’s press conference seemed to be well-known public figures, nor did they specify how many members were in their organization.

“Normalization simply means to make our relations with our countries, including Israel, normal… since the 1960s, Sudan has been imprisoned by certain ideological concepts,” said Najm al-Din Adam Abdullah, a member of the fledgling organization.

Sudan has long had strained ties with the Jewish state. In 1967, the Arab states congregated in Khartoum to announce a policy that would come to be known as “The Three Nos”: no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no normalization with Israel.
Joint List chief: Israel’s occupation, not Iran, is region’s main problem
MK Ayman Odeh, head of the majority-Arab Joint List Knesset faction, said Israel’s normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were based on a “twisted logic,” and insisted that the Palestinian issue, rather than Iran, should be the region’s main concern.

On Thursday the Joint List was the sole Knesset faction to vote against ratifying the peace deals.

Asked during a subsequent interview with Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Hezbollah terror group, why 13 of the Joint List’s 15 lawmakers had voted to strike down the agreements, Odeh said the Abraham Accords “are based on a flawed assumption: that the fundamental issue in the East is the Iranian question, and not the Palestinian question, and that there must be an alliance” to defeat it.

But, he said, “practically, the Israeli occupation is the fundamental problem. All this talk of ‘combating Iran,’ we cannot accept this twisted logic, either morally or nationally.”

The Knesset overwhelmingly approved the accords, with 80 lawmakers voting in favor. They will now return to the desks of ministers, who will vote on them once more. Once ratified, the agreement enters into force for Israel, but full diplomatic relations between the two countries will not be established until the UAE ratifies the agreement as well.

Odeh himself was not present at the vote, as he was in isolation after contracting the coronavirus.


Abbas’s Fatah warns Jerusalem Arabs against UAE funding
The Palestinian ruling Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday stepped up its attacks on the United Arab Emirates and accused it of stabbing the Palestinians in the heart with a dagger.

Fatah also warned residents of east Jerusalem of the “Emirati money dipped in Palestinian blood,” an apparent reference to claims that the UAE is planning to fund various projects and individuals in the city in cooperation with the Jerusalem Municipality.

Palestinian officials, meanwhile, refused to comment on the arrival of an Israeli delegation in Bahrain on Sunday for a series of meetings and signing of declarations, including one establishing full diplomatic relations and peace between the two countries.

The PA leadership has in recent weeks urged Palestinians to refrain from insulting symbols and persons of the Gulf states. The move came as part of the PA’s effort to ease tensions with the UAE and Bahrain, the two countries that recently decided to establish relations with Israel.

Shadi Mtour, Secretary-General of Fatah in Jerusalem, said that the purported UAE funding comes while Israeli authorities ban the PA from operating in the city. He warned Palestinians not to cooperate with such projects, whether directly or indirectly.

An Israeli law passed in 1995 bans the PA from engaging in political, diplomatic, security or security-related activities within the area of Israel, including east Jerusalem.

Mtour again condemned last week’s visit by an Emirati delegation to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, dubbing it a “dagger in the Palestinian heart.” He said that it was “a patriotic and religious duty to confront to preserve our holy sites and our land.”
Thousands rally in France after teacher’s beheading shocks country
Thousands of people rallied in central Paris Sunday in a defiant show of solidarity with a teacher beheaded for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Demonstrators on the Place de la Republique held aloft posters declaring: “No to totalitarianism of thought” and “I am a teacher” in memory of the decapitated victim, Samuel Paty.

Some chanted “Je Suis Samuel,” or “I am Samuel,” echoing the “Je Suis Charlie” cry that traveled around the world after Islamist terrorists killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in 2015 for publishing caricatures of the Islamic prophet.

Between bursts of applause, others recited: “Freedom of expression, freedom to teach.”

French Jewish groups called on their supporters to join the rally, which focused on safeguarding freedom of expression. But the Jewish groups said it should also call attention to the threat of Islamic terrorism in France.

CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jewish communities, called on its followers to show up, citing the “escalating nature of Islamist attacks.” So did the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism.

“Islamist horror and Islamist terror have hit France again,” said the anti-Semitism watchdog group’s statement, which called for the expulsion of Islamist terrorism suspects from France. “It is time to take real action to eradicate this danger that comes from within.”

Demonstrations were also planned for the cities of Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille and Bordeaux.

Paty’s killing shocked the country and brought back memories of a wave of Islamist violence in 2015 that started with the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Anger as New Statesman writer condemns 'brutal police murder' of Islamist terrorist who beheaded teacher outside French school
A British-based writer sparked outrage last night by condemning French police for shooting dead the armed Islamist terrorist who beheaded teacher Samuel Paty.

Dana Nawzar Jaf – a former Chevening Scholar at Durham University – questioned the police's decision to kill Chechen fanatic Aboulakh Anzorov, fearing the terrorist would attack them or others.

Mr Jaf, who describes himself as a Kurdish activist, had taken to Twitter, posting: 'I fully condemn French police's brutal senseless murder of the Muslim suspect last night.

'Macron and his security apparatus should explain to the public what was the need for the use of the disproportionate force against someone suspected of a knife crime. France is in crisis.'

Mr Jaf – an occasional writer for the Left-leaning New Statesman magazine, did not condemn the beheading itself.

His Twitter account, which bears the motto 'build bridges and destroy idols', was inundated with angry comments.

One poster wrote: 'Police have done what they needed to do. They were protecting their citizens.'

Last night, Mr Jaf, who is believed to have arrived in Britain as an exchange student from Iraq in 2009, said: 'That was not meant to be a factual statement about the police. It's meant to be a sarcastic comment towards Macron who is the number one fueller of terrorism.'


Gov. Andrew Cuomo plays a dangerous double game with New York Jews
Brooke Goldstein, executive director of The Lawfare Project, told me in an email, “Governor Cuomo’s continued attacks against the Jewish community are outrageous. Never in my life did I think I would see this type of blatant Jew hatred from our public officials. Singling out New York Jews for blame in the Coronavirus spread is unconscionable and discriminatory.”

But Cuomo wasn’t finished. About 10 minutes into a Wednesday call with reporters, Cuomo complained, "The enforcement from the local governments is very uneven. Especially when it’s politically sensitive, and that’s where we’re running into, with a lot of these ultra-Orthodox communities, who are also very politically powerful. Don’t kid yourself." He reiterated that sentiment later in the call, saying that New York’s religious Jews are "a politically powerful community. You know it, and I know it."

Shortly after, Cuomo assured reporters, “I guarantee if a Yeshiva gets closed down and they’re not going to get state funding, you will see compliance.” On Oct. 6, Cuomo issued an executive order closing schools in “red zones” through Nov. 5.

All of this marks a seismic shift. In January, Cuomo stood with the state’s Jewish community, denouncing anti-Semitism as “repugnant” and “anti-American” at New York City’s march against anti-Semitism. By contrast, Cuomo’s recent comments dangerously echo centuries-old charges about Jews spreading disease and having outsized political power that have repeatedly endangered Jews’ safety.

Of all people, the governor of New York should know he’s not punching up in this fight. Americans Against Antisemitism founder Dov Hikind, who reiterated the importance of universal compliance and enforcement of public health guidelines, told me that Cuomo “must understand his words have repercussions, and they do, and he continues to double down. This is not leadership.”

Hikind added, “I’m hearing stories from everyone, the looks they’re getting, the comments they’re getting. The governor has painted an X on my back [as an Orthodox Jew] ... He’s stoking the virus of anti-Semitism.”

Lest anyone doubt that it’s increasingly dangerous to be visibly Jewish in New York, of the 180 hate crimes reported to NYPD between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7 this year, 74 targeted Jews — more than 40%. New reports are already surfacing of harassment and assault in Brooklyn and Rockland County.

As former congressional candidate Lindsey Boylan tweeted, “I am hearing about this kind of hate perpetrated on our visibly Jewish community daily. It is unacceptable and one of the many reasons why the words of our leaders matter. How we speak about complicated issues matter. And hate and fear-mongering is never a public safety tactic.”

Now, if only someone would tell Gov. Cuomo.


Saeb Erekat's COVID-19 symptoms worsen – en route to Hadassah
Veteran PLO official Saeb Erekat, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this month, was transferred on Sunday to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

Erekat, 65, underwent a lung transplant in the US in 2017 after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, a condition which scars the lungs and damages their ability to circulate oxygen.

Several members of the Palestinian ruling Fatah faction in east Jerusalem arrived at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem to inquire about Erekat’s condition.

Erekat is the most senior Palestinian official to be admitted to an Israeli hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The PLO said in a statement that “due to the chronic health problems he faces in the respiratory system, Dr. Erekat’s condition now requires medical attention in a hospital.”

Erekat, who previously served as chief Palestinian negotiator with Israel, is currently secretary-general of the PLO. He is also a member of the Fatah Central Committee.
PMW: PA Irony: PA leader chooses Israeli hospital for HIS Coronavirus treatment after saying Israel intentionally spreads the virus to kill Palestinians
It is quite ironic that top PA official Saeb Erekat has asked that Israel’s Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem treat him for his Coronavirus disease. Israeli sources reported this afternoon and Palestinian sources confirmed that Erekat, who was reported sick last week, is now having trouble breathing and is being moved to the Israeli hospital.

Palestinian Media Watch has reported that while Israel has been giving significant ‎medical training and other aid to the Palestinian population to fight the coronavirus, ‎the PA has been using the pandemic outbreak to spread the libel that Israel is ‎intentionally infecting Palestinians with the virus and trying to kill them. ‎

Saeb Erekat went even further when he joined this chorus of hate, penning an op-ed ‎in which he libeled Israelis, claiming they are ”spitting on Palestinian cars and property ‎in order to transfer the Corona disease” to fulfill ”the wild desire to get rid of the ‎Palestinian people in any way.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 30, 2020]‎

If Erekat really believed his own libel that Israelis ”have the wild desire to get rid of the ‎Palestinian people,” he certainly would not have chosen Hadassah Hospital to treat ‎him and try to save his life. ‎

This contradiction documents once again that the PA leadership is consciously lying ‎when it demonizes Israel to its population with sole purpose of creating hatred toward ‎Israelis and Jews.‎

The follow are excerpts from the op-ed by PLO Executive Committee Secretary Saeb ‎Erekat:

“When the settler gangs go wild, the latest example of which is… the spitting on ‎Palestinian cars and property in order to transfer the Corona disease to them; and ‎when they prevent the entry of more than 140 food products, disinfectants, and cleaners ‎for the Palestinian prisoners numbering over 5,000, and this is under these extraordinary ‎circumstances in light of the Coronavirus; and when they refuse to release hundreds of ‎sick prisoners, including elderly, administrative detainees, children, and women – all of ‎these are expressions of the spirit of hate taking root, the spread of the incitement to ‎racism, and the wild desire to get rid of the Palestinian people in any way…‎

Palestine is between two epidemics today: At a time when our entire people is dealing ‎with the Coronavirus and fighting to get rid of this epidemic in order to save lives… it is ‎dealing with the colonialist occupation epidemic with the same determination.” ‎

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 30, 2020]‎




Canadian Arabic Newspaper Publishes Disturbing Cartoon Depicting A Palestinian Woman Beheaded
Canadian Arabic newspaper Meshwar, known for its antisemitic and anti-Israel content, published a disturbing cartoon on October 2 depicting a Palestinian woman beheaded by UAE Crown Prince MBZ while Israeli PM Netanyahu and US President Trump cheer him on.

That Mohammed bin Zayed is drawn wearing a sash with the Israeli Star of David on it, tacitly symbolizes an outrageous allegation that he’s doing this at Israel’s behest with an image reminiscent of age-old blood libels.


Gantz: Israel will do whatever it takes to stop Iran rearming as UN embargo ends
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Sunday vowed to take “whatever measures necessary” to prevent Iran from purchasing weapons after a United Nations arms embargo against the country ended despite an American effort to extend it.

Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian foreign ministry announced that it considered the ban on weapons sales to be fully over.

“As of today, the Islamic Republic may procure any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based on its defensive needs,” the ministry added in the statement sent out on Twitter.

Iran over the years has expressed considerable interest in purchasing new airplanes to replace its aging fleets, as well as advanced missile defense systems, mostly from Russia — a potential source of concern for Israel.

The embargo on the sale of arms to Iran was due to start expiring progressively from Sunday under the terms of the UN resolution that blessed the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.


Fury as four Tate galleries drop exhibit by anti-racist Jewish artist
The indefinite postponement of a major retrospective to honour the Jewish artist Philip Guston has sparked fury in the art world.

The exhibition, which was due to open at Tate Modern in London and tour art galleries in Washington, Houston and Boston, was cancelled because, according to the four galleries, it requires “additional perspectives and voices” to frame Guston’s depictions of racism.

The paintings, which feature Ku Klux Klan members going about their daily business wearing robes stained by the blood of their victims, were the artist’s way of presenting the banality of evil. Now, according to some critics of the decision, the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has resulted in galleries postponing the exhibit as they want to wait until the “message of social and racial justice” at the centre of Guston’s work “can be more clearly interpreted”.

Canadian-born Guston, born Goldstein, often created work about racism and antisemitism. He died in 1980. His father, a Russian-Jewish blacksmith, fled the pogroms in Odessa but when he struggled to find enough work in the US to feed his seven children, he hanged himself. Philip, then 10, found his body.

Guston was traumatised by the antisemitism his father suffered and in his youth was an anti-racism activist, which is why the postponement has angered so many.

The Tate’s senior curator, Mark Godfrey, voiced his frustration, posting on Instagram that the decision “is actually extremely patronising to viewers, who are assumed not to be able to appreciate the nuance and politics of Guston’s works”.
Israel’s Sheba, New Jersey’s Holy Name to join forces on digital health
New Jersey’s Holy Name Medical Center is joining forces with Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to develop new solutions in digital health and telemedicine.

Through the partnership, Holy Name’s team will work alongside Sheba’s Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate (ARC) Innovation Program, which gives global digital healthcare startups the opportunity to collaborate with healthcare teams, with the aim of identifying clinical needs and developing solutions to medical challenges.

“Working in tandem with Sheba will enable us to participate in an open collaboration with world leaders in global healthcare innovation, all of us working together to find new and innovative ways to deliver patient care,” said Holy Name Medical Center president & CEO Michael Maron in a statement.

Integrating Holy Name into Sheba’s startup ecosystem “to collaborate on unique digital healthcare solutions” will benefit patients in New Jersey, said Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, Sheba’s chief innovation officer who oversees the ARC Innovation Center, in the statement.

Holy Name Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare facility based in Teaneck, New Jersey, with off-site locations throughout Bergen County. Founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in 1925, the 361-bed medical center offers a wide range of healthcare services.

Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, is the largest and most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East. In 2019, Newsweek magazine recognized Sheba one of the top ten hospitals in the world.
European firms seek tie-ups with Israeli startups in bid for innovation
More than 200 Israeli startups are expected to participate in a virtual conference later this month in a bid to lead European companies to greater digitalization and innovation.

The virtual edition of the Europe Days 2020 hopes to help companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria help meet the demand for new tech solutions, demand that has surged due to competitive pressure from China and the US and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The conference will take place on October 27 and among the more than 50 speakers will be Olaf Koch, the CEO of Metro AG, a retail giant with 27 billion euros annual turnover, and Rene Obermann, the chairman of Airbus and the managing director of Warburg Pincus Germany, the organizers said in a statement. The heads of telecom firms, retail chains, and law firms will also be among the speakers. City representatives from Cologne, Vienna, Berlin, Zurich, among others, will also attend.

The format combines talks, interactive round-table sessions, one-on-one meetings and networking opportunities, aimed at maximizing business tie-ups. Apart from practical information on entering the three European countries, which account for a total of 92 million users, special attention will be given on helping Israeli startup access European mid-size companies (Mittelstand), the statement said.

These European mid-size companies are in need, more than ever, for innovative solutions as a growth engine — something that Israeli startups can provide, the statement said.
Majority of Arab News poll respondents happy Gal Gadot will play Cleopatra
While some have criticized the casting of Gal Gadot as Cleopatra in an upcoming film – because although Cleopatra was Greek, Gadot is seen as a politically incorrect choice because she is Israeli and white – over 70% of respondents to an Arab News Twitter poll have no problem with the idea of Gadot playing this role.

The poll was conducted last week by the Saudi Arabian website Arab News, and presumably a high portion of the respondents are Arab. A clear majority of those who weighed in – 61% – answered “Yes” to the question: “Do you think Israeli actress Gal Gadot is suitable for the role of Cleopatra?”

Another 12% said “Let’s decide once we see,” and only 27% answered, “No.”

Even the editors of the website seemed surprised by the results, headlining the article, “Shockingly, most Arab News readers in favor of Israeli actress Gal Gadot as Cleopatra.”

Many respondents weighed in on Twitter stating the obvious: that there is no reason why Gadot should not portray a heroine of Greek ancestry. One Twitter user, @TeddysMom8, pointed out that, “If [Egyptian actor] Omar Sharif could play Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl, beauty Gal Gadot can play Cleopatra.”

Some tweeted pictures of the most famous screen Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor, who was Jewish at the time she played the role, having converted when she married Eddie Fisher.

Others noted that the casting and timing of this movie were announced in the wake of the signing of the peace accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.



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