News Roundup for August 19, 2022

August 19, 2022
Receive the roundup in your inbox every morning!

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.


J Street In the News

J Street Calls for US To Protect Due Process for West Bank Rights Groups, J Street
“J Street echoes Israeli pro-democracy groups in expressing deep concern over reports that Israeli authorities this week raided several prominent human rights and civil society organizations in the occupied West Bank, breaking down doors and confiscating materials.”

Top News and Analysis

Israel Shutters Palestinian Rights Groups, Drawing Diplomatic Backlash, The Washington Post
Israel closed the offices of five leading Palestinian rights organizations in an early-morning raid in Ramallah on Thursday, tightening its restrictions on civil society nearly a year after it labeled the organizations terrorist groups in an internationally criticized move. Israel says the organizations have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an armed group that has carried out deadly attacks against Israel. The rights groups deny the allegation.

Palestinians: Israeli Troops Shot, Killed Man in West Bank, AP
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Friday Israeli forces shot and killed a man during an arrest raid near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Salah Sawafta, 58, was in critical condition after a bullet hit his head in Tubas and he died hours later in a hospital, the ministry said. Sawafta was returning home after attending dawn prayers in the village mosque as Israeli forces operated in the area, his brother, Jehad, said.

Israel Came Out on Top in Gaza Op, but Hamas Won Diplomatically – Former General, The Jerusalem Post
Operation Breaking Dawn was conducted properly on both the military and diplomatic levels, but Hamas gained from it on the diplomatic front. That’s according to Maj.-Gen. (res.) Matan Vilnai, the CEO of Commanders for Israel’s Security; a former IDF deputy chief of staff, MK and government minister; and current president of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce. Israel should be doing all it can to can to weaken Hamas and strengthen the Palestinian Authority so that the PA will eventually gain control of Gaza, Vilnai said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

Register here for the J Street 2022 National Conference. Early bird pricing available through August 31

News

IDF Chief of Staff Reveals 3rd Country Was Attacked During Breaking Dawn, The Jerusalem Post
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi on Thursday said the military attacked a third country while operating in Gaza during Operation Breaking Dawn, Israeli media reported.

Likud Says Lapid ‘Advancing Dangerous Concessions to Holocaust Denier Abbas’, The Times of Israel
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party says Prime Minister Yair Lapid is “advancing dangerous concessions to the Holocaust denier Abu Mazen,” using Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s nickname.

Palestinians Claim Social Media Crackdown Following Latest Gaza War, Al-Monitor
A fierce attack has been launched on Palestinian social media content, as dozens of accounts of Palestinian activists, journalists and media institutions have been restricted and deleted after they increased in numbers in the wake of the recent three-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Berlin Police Investigate Abbas’ Holocaust Comments, AP
Berlin police have opened a preliminary investigation against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over his comments this week that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians. The remarks, during a news conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, sparked outrage in Germany, Israel and beyond.

Opinion and Analysis

Sharper Israeli-Palestinian Strife Is Sign of Worse to Come, The Washington Post
Hussein Ibish writes, “A significant effort to improve the daily lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — and in Gaza without unduly strengthening Hamas by relying on international NGOs and UN agencies — in sectors such as health and education is essential. Hopelessness and despair make radicalization inevitable.”