News Roundup for April 19, 2022

April 19, 2022
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J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.

Top News and Analysis

Israel Airstrikes Hit Gaza After Rocket Fire, The Wall Street Journal
Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza early Tuesday in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory, raising fears of a wider conflict amid heightened tensions after days of clashes at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem. Israel’s military said it targeted a Hamas weapons-manufacturing site in Gaza, hours after it intercepted the rocket near the Gaza border with its Iron Dome aerial-defense system, which set off warning sirens in southern Israel late Monday. There weren’t any immediate reports of injuries on either side.

U.S. Officials Engaged With Israelis, Palestinians, Arab Countries Over Tensions in Jerusalem, Reuters
A number of U.S. officials engaged in phone calls with Israelis, Palestinians and Arab representatives in the region over the weekend to see to it that tensions in Jerusalem do not escalate, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday.

News

Israeli Troops Wound 2 Palestinians During New Israeli-Palestinian Violence, NPR
Israeli troops shot and wounded two Palestinians on Monday during clashes that broke out during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said it arrested 11 Palestinians in operations across the territory overnight. In a raid in the village of Yamun, near the city of Jenin, the army said dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks and explosives at troops. Soldiers “responded with live ammunition” toward “suspects who hurled explosive devices,” the military said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two men were hospitalized after being critically wounded.

Turkey’s Erdogan to Call Israel’s Herzog Following Clashes on Temple Mount, Haaretz
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will hold a call with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, after Israeli interventions on Palestinian worshipers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque last week, Turkey’s foreign minister said.

Putin Discusses Russia-Ukraine Talks, Middle East With Palestinian Leader Abbas, Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday. They also talked about “the problems of the Middle East settlement in the context of escalating tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem”, the Kremlin said.

Upcoming JNF Vote Could Pave Way for More West Bank Land Purchases, Haaretz
A critical vote scheduled for this coming Sunday could determine the future of West Bank land purchases by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund. The board of directors will vote on whether to adopt a report that exonerated members of the organization implicated in a string of controversial land deals in the West Bank undertaken between 2017 and 2019.

Opinion and Analysis

This Is Israel’s Only Way to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Missiles, Haaretz
Former Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Yair Golan and Former Deputy Israeli National Security Adviser Chuck Freilich write, “A return to the JCPOA is critical to Israel’s national security. If further extended, it is also the only option which holds out a realistic possibility of a long-term postponement of the nuclear issue and possibly even a resolution of it. All of the other options are means of gaining time, no more. Symbolic issues, such as removing the Revolutionary Guards from the terrorism list, cannot be allowed to cloud our judgment.”