News Roundup for December 3, 2021

December 3, 2021

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.

It’s not quite a Hanukkah miracle, but we’ll take it! Our Giving Tuesday match has been extended, meaning whatever you contribute to J Street today will be doubled by our generous donor Arnie Richman.

If you appreciate our roundup service and our work in Washington, please chip in $50 (which will be doubled to $100) or any other amount to help sustain our fight. Contribute here >>

J Street in the News

‘Revolutions Start Online’: How Mehazkim Is Bringing Israelis and Palestinians Together, J Street
This month, J Street’s Our Israel series spotlights Mehazkim, an Israeli organization that works to promote the values and policies of the Israeli left in the digital space.

Top News and Analysis

Israel pushes U.S. to end Iran talks over  “nuclear blackmail”, Axios
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Secretary of State Tony Blinken in a phone call on Thursday that the Biden administration should end the nuclear negotiations with Iran in Vienna, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Diplomats Mull Iran Proposals to Revive 2015 Nuclear Deal, Bloomberg
Iranian negotiators at nuclear talks with world powers presented draft proposals for how to overcome the biggest hurdles to reviving their 2015 nuclear accord, texts that will help determine whether the sides see the basis for a deal. Ali Bagheri Kani, chief nuclear negotiator, told Iran’s state television that he presented European diplomats with a set of amendments to existing draft agreements on the removal of U.S. sanctions and how Iran intends to roll back advances in its atomic activities.

News

Over 150 Facebook, Instagram Accounts Removed Over Alleged Hamas Ties, Haaretz
Social media giant Meta announced on Wednesday that it had taken action against a network of over 150 Facebook and Instagram accounts it believes is linked to Palestinian armed group Hamas.

Gazans prepare more protests of Hamas policies, Al-Monitor
Activists are preparing to stage new popular demonstrations across the Gaza Strip, blaming Hamas’ governance for high prices and increasing unemployment.

Police escalate clampdown on anti-occupation activists in the South Hebron Hills, 972 Mag
Israeli police arrested three left-wing Israeli activists Wednesday night in the village of A-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, after a settler said he had been assaulted by Palestinians and testified that the activists who were present at the scene did not intervene. Hours after the incident took place, the activists were summoned to give testimony at the police station, but after refusing to cooperate with their interrogation, they were turned into suspects and arrested. Following the incident, the police raided a Palestinian home in A-Tuwani where the activists had been staying, confiscating computers, camera phones, and a car — all without a warrant, and despite most of the equipment not being suspected of belonging to the activists under arrest.

U.S. and Iran voice pessimism about reviving nuclear deal, Reuters
The United States and Iran both sounded pessimistic on Thursday about the chances of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with Washington saying it had little cause for optimism and Tehran questioning the determination of U.S. and European negotiators.

Israeli Minister Gets Security Detail After Jewish Extremists Issue Ruling Calling for His Murder, Haaretz
The Shin Bet security service ordered boosted security on Sunday for Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana of Yamina, following the discovery that a religious extremist group had called for applying a rare religious law permitting the killing of a person whose actions threaten another’s life.

Mossad recruited top Iranian scientists to blow up key nuclear facility, The Jewish Chronicle
Mossad recruited a team of Iranian nuclear scientists to carry out a covert operation which blew up one of the regime’s most secure nuclear facilities earlier this year.

Opinion and Analysis

Netanyahu Dreamed of an Israeli Fox News. This Is What He Got Instead, Haaretz
Netanyahu dreamed of an Israeli version of Fox News – a glitzy, professional and hyper-partisan network owned by the mightiest of media titans. Instead, he got this fly-by-night, zero-ratings, dog and pony show that was originally Israel’s “Tradition Channel.” Under the directorship of the secretive Mirilashvili family, it is now billing itself as “the news channel of Israel.”

Stabbed 20 Times by Her Husband, She Now Fights Laws Favoring Abusers, The New York Times
A profile on Shira Isakov, a national force in the struggle to combat domestic violence and change the legal landscape on parental rights in Israel.