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Sunday, January 17, 2021

01/17 Links: As Israel-UAE Ties Deepen, BDS Advocates ‘Give Up’ on Efforts to Boycott Jewish State; Poll Finds 45% of UK Adults Hold Antisemitic Views

From Ian:

As Israel-UAE Ties Deepen, BDS Advocates ‘Give Up’ on Efforts to Boycott Jewish State
Amid expanding ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates following the Abraham Accords, a leading Palestinian BDS organization is giving up on efforts to boycott the Jewish state inside of the Arab Gulf country.

In a statement, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)—a member of the Palestinian BDS National Committee—announced that it would “exclude” those residing in the UAE from its call to ban UAE-Israeli economic and diplomatic partnerships.

“The PACBI takes into account the delicate situation of Arab subjects in Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, ruled by tyrannical regimes that have become a hotbed of normalization and betrayal plans and projects in the region,” wrote the BDS group.

Previously, the PACBI had called on Emiratis to boycott several major UAE companies and institutions that had established ties with Israel, including the First Dhabi Bank, Emirates Policy Center and Dubai Expo.

The move by the BDS movement to drop its efforts to boycott Israel in the UAE comes as Arabs in countries that signed the Abraham Accords are showing increasingly positive attitudes towards the Jewish state.

A new report from Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs (MSA) found a substantial decrease in negative posts on Arab social media regarding normalization with Israel in the weeks after the agreements were signed.

According to the MSA, the decline in negative comments towards Israel and normalization was in part due to the public awareness campaigns carried out by the respective governments.
From Pompeo’s Twitter Account, an Understated Policy Statement
Mike Pompeo’s Twitter account has apparently tucked a notable policy statement into an otherwise unremarkable legacy-burnishing tweetstorm — and it has significant implications for U.S. support of Israel at the U.N.

The tweet was just one of the dozens that the secretary of state’s account has fired off every day since the start of 2021 to note his foreign-policy accomplishments as he nears the end of his tenure. It’s generally unremarkable stuff — some old pictures and graphics with snappy, occasionally stilted sloganeering (though more than a few Pompeo critics have seized on it as an opportunity to go after the top Trump official).

But Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noticed a decision that has otherwise gone unremarked upon: When @SecPompeo shared the 2018 press release announcing the U.S. decision to halt funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the post stated that “it’s estimated less than 200,000 Arabs diplaced in 1948 are still alive and most others are not refugees by any rational criteria.”

UNRWA serves Palestinian refugees exclusively — it says that there are 5.8 million of them in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine — and it’s the only organization within the U.N. system that focuses on a specific set of refugees. (All other refugee groups are handled by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.) It’s a testament to the U.N.’s single-minded obsession with criticizing Israel, holding the Jewish state to a different standard.

But what actually makes someone a refugee? Many have disputed the 5 million number as a gross inflation that purposefully overstates the true refugee population in order to undermine Israel at the U.N. Goldberg, dissecting Pompeo’s statement, takes square aim at a longstanding myth:

UNRWA claims to serve millions of “Palestinian refugees.” These “refugees” are in some cases kept in poverty and hopelessness, told they are waiting for the day when they will return to their rightful homes within modern Israel (to end the Jewish majority of the state). Of course, most people served by UNRWA don’t meet basic criteria for refugee status. Most are either citizens of other countries or live within Palestinian territories. Most were not displaced by conflict. Yet @StateDept has promoted UNRWA’s fiction for decades – with taxpayer $.


So Long, Ambassador David Friedman, and Thanks for All the Fish*
Today we are taking our leave from US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. I must say that over the years I have met many ambassadors from many countries, including from the US, our great ally, but I can say that there was never a better ambassador than David Friedman in establishing the deep ties between Israel and the US, in correcting the diplomatic injustices that were created over the years in global diplomacy regarding Israel and in establishing the status of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and many other things some of which have yet to be told.

David, I do not know, when you were appointed ambassador, if you knew the mark you would leave behind, but today we all know it. We know that you were very active in bringing about the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, itself a correction of an injustice that is difficult to understand.

You not only did his but you acted quickly on the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem and on the fact that in American passports it will be written ‘Jerusalem – Israel.’

What could be simpler, what could be more just, than correcting this injustice? This nonsense was corrected after decades due to vigorous action by President Trump and with your encouragement and at your initiative. This is the first thing.


Israeli lenders Hapoalim and Leumi sign accords with National Bank of Bahrain
Israel’s two largest banks, Bank Hapoalim Ltd. and Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd., said on Sunday they have signed memorandum of understanding agreements with the National Bank of Bahrain for cooperation between the lenders.

Hapoalim’s accord was signed by Hapoalim CEO Dov Kotler and the CEO of the Bahrain bank, Jean-Christophe Durand. “The historic accord,” said Bank Hapoalim in a statement, will enable customers of both banks to engage in deals and banking transactions between parties in Israel and Bahrain as economic ties tighten.

Leumi’s accord was signed by the CEO of Leumi, Hanan Friedman, and Durand.

Bank Leumi said in a statement that the accord will “lay the infrastructure” for economic ties between the two countries, enabling investments, trade, clearing services, and foreign exchange and securities trade.

The National Bank of Bahrain, publicly listed on the Bahrain exchange, was established in 1957 as the Kingdom’s first locally owned bank. It has 29 branches and operates in Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to its website.

The accords were made possible after Israel and the UAE and Bahrain signed landmark normalization agreements in September.
Tel Aviv Chosen as One of Abu Dhabi Investment Office’s Eight New Investment Hubs
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced on Sunday that it will establish eight new offices, one of which will be in Israel, as part of a series of strategic opportunities to boost support for investors around the world. The global network, which is in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), will help businesses capitalize on opportunities across the UAE.

In total, the eight new markets include New York, San Francisco, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Beijing, and Seoul. The inclusion of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is a testament to the dedication both nations have to the Abraham Accords and the normalization between the two nations.

“Abu Dhabi offers global investors an attractive business environment, world-class infrastructure, and major growth opportunities,” explained H.E. Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director General of ADIO. “Our network of international offices will serve as a gateway to greater opportunity, enabling us to reach companies of all sizes wherever they are operating. Our global teams will provide a window into Abu Dhabi, with local understanding and capabilities, to ensure investors have the holistic support needed for their growth and expansion.”

“ADIO’s opening of eight regional offices around the world reflects Abu Dhabi’s commitment to launch greater investment opportunities in collaboration with the emirate’s key international partners,” added H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of ADDED and ADIO. “The representative offices will serve as a bridge between key international markets and the exciting opportunities in some of our economy’s highest potential areas, opening up new areas for cooperation between the domestic private sector and its international counterparts.”
Israel and Bhutan to go head-to-head in post-normalization chess match
A chess match will be held this Thursday between Israeli and Bhutanese chess players as part of the Chess4Solidarity project, the organization announced.

Chess4Solidarity has held 12 international chess events with multiple countries, including Morocco and Sudan which recently signed normalization deals with Israel. Now, Bhutan is joining the list of countries with normalized relations with Israel that will now face off against Israeli players in the game of chess.

The event is being held in coordination with the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, which has invested a lot of effort to strengthen Israeli and Bhutanese relations. This unique event will be supported by the Lawfare Project, an organization that helps protects Jews and Israelis around the world from antisemitic and prejudiced actions.

In the last decade, some players from Arab states that do not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state have refused to play against Israelis. However, in this recent tournament, players from Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel have logged in to play.

The upcoming Israeli-Bhutanese event will be broadcast live in Israel, Bhutan and India. The event will have live commentary during the match and interactive footage that will help people understand the cultures in both countries.


Erdan asks UN to censure former Egyptian envoy over anti-Israel remarks
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has asked that former Egyptian ambassador Mootaz Ahmadein Khalil be barred from hosting UN training sessions in light of anti-Israel comments he made at a November event.

“Ambassador Khalil’s comments, political agenda and blatant bias render him unfit to run a United Nations training session,” Erdan wrote. At issue was a November 2020 event hosted by Khalil as part of the UN Institute for Training and Research in New York titled, “A Practical Look at the United Nations.”

Khalil is set to host the same seminar in January and again in February of this year.

In a letter addressed to the head of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) office Marco Suazo, Erdan gave as an example comments Khalil made with regard to the infamous UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, approved in 1975 and revoked in 1991, which stated that Zionism equals racism.

Egypt initially voted for the resolution in 1975, when it passed by a 72-35 vote. In the aftermath of the 1979 peace deal with Israel, it modified its stance slightly and was absent for the 1991 vote in which the resolution was revoked by a vote of 111-25.

At the training event in November, Khalil “noted that he was personally involved in efforts to prevent the rescinding of resolution in 1991, and expressed embarrassment and disappointment that Egypt did not participate in the vote following pressure from the US,” Erdan wrote.


Israel to start vaccinating prisoners this week, including Palestinians
The Israel Prisons Service said Sunday that it will begin vaccinating all inmates, including Palestinians, against COVID-19 this week, after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit challenged Public Security Minister Amir Ohana’s directive delaying the process.

“I would like to emphasize that the duty to act in accordance with the law applies at all times and does not depend on pending petitions,” Mandelblit wrote in a letter Friday to Ohana, referencing legal challenges to the minister’s directive that were set to be heard by the High Court.

Highlighting reports of an uptick in coronavirus cases in the Israel Prisons Service facilities, the attorney general said there was “real urgency” for prisoners to be inoculated in accordance with the Health Ministry’s policy, which on Sunday will begin vaccinating all Israelis over the age of 45. For the past week or so, those above the age of 55 have been allowed to vaccinate.

“Your injunction suffers from a clear lack of authority and is contrary to the requirements of the law,” Mandelblit wrote, noting that his position was shared by the Health Ministry.
Le Devoir Columnist Spreads Falsehood that Israel Isn’t Vaccinating Israeli Arabs
On January 14 on the Power Panel with Anchor Vassy Kapelos on CBC TV, one of the panelists, Le Devoir columnist Emilie Nicolas, erroneously stated the following:
First of all, I just want to correct something that was just said. Israel is not about to vaccinate the entire population of Israel. It is not vaccinating any Palestinians living in Israel and I think that’s something to mention…”

This is an outright falsehood. In truth, Israel is vaccinating all of its citizens, Jews and Arabs alike. For Israel’s Arab residents who self-identify as Palestinians, they are most certainly being vaccinated.In fact, the one millionth person vaccinated in Israel was an Arab citizen named Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab Jabarin,

It’s very simple, any non-citizens are not being vaccinated, but to spread the falsehood that Israel is discriminating against its Arab citizens and providing preferential health care for Jews is appalling. Palestinians in Gaza and areas of the west bank will be vaccinated under the health care of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with perhaps the WHO’s assistance, and/or perhaps the Hamas terror group (unlikely though!) Importantly, this statement was not challenged by CBC Anchor Kapelos.

HonestReporting Canada has filed a complaint with CBC News calling for an on-air corrective to be broadcast to set the record straight, and one that doesn’t further muddy the waters and that is unambiguous about the truth of this situation.
BBC Jerusalem correspondent continues to cloud vaccinations issue
Tom Bateman is quite capable of providing BBC audiences with accurate and objective information about the relevant section of the Oslo Accords should he wish to do so. Instead he chose to contort the terms of a 25 year-old agreement witnessed by international parties into something which ‘Israel says’.

In addition, he once again failed to inform viewers that the bodies he portrayed as “human rights groups” are in fact NGOs (some of which engage in ‘lawfare’ campaigns against Israel) which launched a politically motivated campaign that he and many of his media colleagues have chosen to unquestioningly amplify.

More than three weeks after that campaign was launched the BBC continues to exploit reports ostensibly about the vaccination drive in Israel in order to amplify a political narrative and to sell its audiences short by refraining from providing them with the full range of information.


PMW: Critical facts about the upcoming Palestinian Authority elections
The Palestinian Authority is preparing to hold its first election for PA President in 16 ‎years and for the Palestinian Parliament in 15 years.

The last elections for the Palestinian Parliament, in 2006, ended with Hamas - an ‎internationally designated terror organization - winning the majority of seats in the ‎Parliament and forming a government.

Soon after the 2006 elections, PA President/Chairman Mahmoud Abbas deposed ‎the elected Hamas government. 12 years later, he dissolved the Parliament.‎

According to a Palestinian poll, in a race for President/Chairman of the PA between ‎Abbas and Hamas leader Haniyeh, terrorist Haniyeh would win.

The majority of Palestinians believe that irrespective of the results of the elections, ‎Fatah will continue to control the areas of the West Bank under PA control and ‎Hamas will continue to control the Gaza Strip.

Before the elections, the US administration and the EU should clarify that Hamas, ‎and other internationally designated terror organizations, should not be allowed to ‎participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections.

The US and EU should further clarify that if any representative of a designated terror ‎organization is elected to the Palestinian Parliament or as President/Chairman of ‎the PA, all financial aid to the PA would halt.‎
Iran asks UN not to publish ‘unnecessary’ details on its nuclear program
Iran urged the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday, a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its development of uranium metal.

The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.

“It is expected the international atomic energy agency avoid providing unnecessary details and prevent paving ground for misunderstanding” in the international community, the statement said. It did not elaborate.

On Saturday, Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran to back off its plan to develop uranium metal, calling it “the latest planned violation” of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do.

“Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal,” they said in a joint statement. “The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.”

On Thursday, the IAEA said Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.”
France: Iran is acquiring a nuclear weapons capacity
France’s Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian on Saturday said that Iran was in the process of acquiring a nuclear weapons capacity with its breaches of the 2015 nuclear agreement, and only a full return to that deal could prevent Tehran from achieving its goal.

Speaking to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Le Drain accused the outgoing United States leadership of exacerbating the crisis with Iran and pushing Tehran to advance its nuclear program.

“The Trump administration chose what it called the maximum pressure campaign on Iran. The result was that this strategy only increased the risk and the threat,” Le Drian said.

“This has to stop because Iran and – I say this clearly – is in the process of acquiring nuclear [weapons] capacity,” he warned.

Le Drian said it was urgent to “tell the Iranians that this is enough” and to try to bring both Iran and the United States back into the accord.
Biden's Wendy Sherman appointment tilts balance on Iran deal - analysis
The incoming Biden administration’s announcement that it has picked Wendy Sherman as deputy US secretary of state tilts the balance toward a return to the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel will likely object to more than any other appointment to date.

To be sure, Sherman is highly qualified, experienced and knowledgeable about the Islamic Republic.

She will also not be the top decision-maker.

Incoming US secretary of state Anthony Blinken and President-elect Joe Biden are above her, and both of their messages have been more friendly to at least some of Israel's concerns about the US rejoining the deal, such as Tehran's attempts to smuggle precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah and into Syria.

But Sherman was the chief Iran deal negotiator, among its chief explainers and among the top former officials extolling its praises as the Trump administration exited the agreement.

Incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA director William Burns, and environmental czar John Kerry were all heavily involved in the 2015 nuclear deal as well.


Poll Finds 45% of UK Adults Hold Antisemitic Views
A recently published survey revealed worrying trends with regard to the United Kingdom’s adult population’s opinion of Jews, in which nearly half were shown to have antisemitic views.

“Forty-five percent of those questioned agreed with at least one of six antisemitic tropes that was put to them by a team from YouGov and King’s College London,” reported the Jewish Chronicle.

The statements included the ideas that Jews control the media — which 11% of respondents stated to be the case — “chase money,” or “talk about the Holocaust just to further their political agenda,” which a further 8% agreed with.

Twelve percent of those polled agreed with four or more of the statements, according to the research, commissioned annually by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).

Asked whether they felt “Israel can get away with anything because its supporters control the media” — 16% of those questioned agreed.

Researchers gave 12 statements to participants in the survey who were asked to agree or disagree with them.

More than half (55%) of people did not agree with a single statement, while 45% agreed with one or more.

The proportion of British adults holding antisemitic opinions has continued to drop over the years — a trend which continued in the latest survey.


CAA’s latest Antisemitism Barometer study shows Jewish community regaining confidence after the Corbyn era but scars remain, with Labour, CPS and BBC coming in for opprobrium
The Barometer also includes a separate survey of British Jews designed and analysed in consultation with Dr Allington and carried out by Campaign Against Antisemitism and Jewish community partners. The survey reveals that:
- British Jews are showing early signs of recovery from the Corbyn era but have been left scarred. Far more British Jews are optimistic about their future in the UK this year, but the proportion who decline to display visible signs of their Jewish identity due to antisemitism is at a record high.
- British Jews’ confidence in the criminal justice system is low: a majority believes that the Crown Prosecution Service does not do enough to protect British Jews and the courts were also strongly criticised. Only the police receive more praise than criticism.
- British Jews reserve the greatest opprobrium for politicians. They believe that almost every political party is more tolerant of antisemitism than it was last year; the Labour Party is viewed as more than twice as tolerant of antisemitism than any other party showing that it still has a great deal of work to do to win the confidence of British Jews.
- In the first ever poll on the subject, an overwhelming majority of British Jews — 91% — want the Government to proscribe Hamas in its entirety.
- Two thirds of British Jews are deeply concerned by the BBC’s coverage of matters of Jewish concern, and 55% by its handling of antisemitism complaints, Channel 4 also performs poorly with British Jews. Both broadcasters are state-funded.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “Britain’s Jews are back from the brink. This study starkly shows that Labour under Jeremy Corbyn dealt a crushing blow to Jews’ confidence in their very future in this country, and that our community is now beginning to recover.

“But scars remain. Notwithstanding the relief felt by so many, our data shows that nearly half of those who normally wear outwards symbols of their Judaism now feel they have to hide it, and despite nine months of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of Labour, British Jews remain just as sure that the Party harbours antisemites.


Complete Nuremberg Trials recordings online for the first time
At the opening of his trial in Nuremberg, Julius Streicher made several uncharacteristically friendly statements about Jews — a people he had devoted his professional life to demonize.

Streicher, editor in chief of the Der Sturmer anti-Semitic weekly, claimed that he’d always viewed German Jews as legitimate compatriots and long supported Zionism.

“So the Jewish question was for me solved in Germany, but I believed that another international solution will come, that we should meet with Zionists, listen to their demands,” he said on April 26, 1946 at the military tribunal where he stood trial with other Nazi officials for crimes against humanity.

His equivocations, standing in sharp contrast to his genocidal editorial line reflected in slogans like “Germany will live as long as it sees the Jews as the mortal enemy of mankind,” are now available online for the first time along with hundreds of additional hours of audio and video recordings from the trials of 24 Nazis that ended 1946, nearly 75 years ago.

This week, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum placed online more than 700 hours of audio recordings from the trials, as well as 37 reels of film introduced as evidence. The trials, conducted at a military tribunal with judges from Allied nations including the Soviet Union, were a seminal milestone in the creation of modern international law in general and the prosecution of crimes against humanity.

Streicher’s paper was a symbol for how Nazi propaganda methodically dehumanized Jews and used mass media to ready non-Jewish Germans to carry out the Holocaust. Streicher was executed in 1946 by hanging along with nine other Nazis, including Hans Frank, the highest-ranking Nazi officer in occupied Poland. Two of the 24 defendants died during the trials, including Hermann Goring, commander of Nazi Germany’s air force, who committed suicide. Another man was sentenced to death in absentia. Three were acquitted and the rest given long prison sentences.
Israel's economy could grow 4.6% in 2021
Israel’s economy will grow 4.6 percent in 2021 under the most likely outlook for the year, which includes a gradual emergence from the pandemic, the Finance Ministry said in a report on Sunday.

Under the less likely scenario of a continued deterioration of the economy, the growth forecast is just 1.9%, it said.

Final GDP figures are not yet available for 2020, but the Finance Ministry expects to see that the economy contracted about 3.3% for the pandemic-stricken year. If that is the case, it would be less severe than the 4.15% contraction predicted by the OECD, and would beat the average decline of 5.5% among all OECD countries last year.

Israel’s economic performance was the seventh best of the 37 OECD-member countries, the report showed. China was the only OECD country to report GDP growth in 2020.

Israel’s exports, which comprise a large portion of the economy, were hurt much less than expected, with exports of hi-tech services actually growing over the course of the year.
IPO values Israeli gaming company Playtika at $11B
Israeli mobile gaming company Playtika went public on Thursday with an initial public offering at $27 a share, giving the Herzliya-based company a valuation of $11 billion.

The latest IPO in the game industry will test how much fervor investors have for gaming stocks, as games have prospered during the pandemic as people look for ways to engage in social-distanced fun and distract themselves from reality.

Playtika had set a target price of between $22 and $24 apiece. The Israeli company, which is owned by a Chinese investor group, sold around 18.5 million shares, compared to an original plan of 21.7 million shares, and a further 50.98 million shares by existing investors, up from 47.8 million originally.

The IPO, the biggest US listing in 2021 so far. The total offering was worth around $1.88 billion at $27 per share.

The IPO is the latest sign of robust investor demand for new stocks following a stellar 2020, which was the strongest IPO market in two decades, and a string of other listings this week that priced well relative to their targets.
Jonathan Pollard out of quarantine, strolling Jerusalem – In Pictures
Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy intelligence analyst who spent 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, was seen strolling through downtown Jerusalem on Sunday. Pollard landed in Israel on December 30 and immediately entered quarantine per government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions.

Pollard and his wife, Esther, were walking down the Ben Yehuda open street mall in Jerusalem and were approached by random people, who recognized the former Israeli agent.

Pollard was detained in 1985 for spying for and providing top-secret intelligence to Israel. He served 30 years of a life sentence before he was paroled in 2015. He is the only American in US history to receive a life sentence for spying for an ally, as well as being the only one to serve more than 10 years in prison for the crime.



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