News Roundup for July 20, 2022

July 20, 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.

 Street in the News

J Street’s Nadav Tamir: Biden’s Engagement With Saudis Good for Israel, Al-Monitor
“Ben Caspit hosts Nadav Tamir, the executive director of J Street Israel. Commenting on US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region last week, Tamir welcomed Washington’s renewed interest in the Middle East. “I believe the current engagement of Biden with the Saudis is good for Israel. It is good not only from the perspective of those focused on normalization or a united front against Iran, but also on the Palestinian issue.” The seasoned diplomat notes that the original idea of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump with the Abraham Accords was to bypass the Palestinians and show that Israel could normalize relations with Arab states without solving the conflict with the Palestinians. Still, Tamir believes that in the end it will actually be normalization that will help solve the Palestinian issue as well.”

Top News and Analysis

Palestinian Attacker Shot; Israel and Hamas Exchange Fire, The Washington Post
A Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem stabbed a man on a bus with a screw driver on Tuesday before he was shot by a bystander, Israeli police said. Earlier Tuesday, Israeli aircraft struck a post belonging to the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip, in response to a gunshot fired into southern Israel from the Palestinian territory earlier in the day, the military said. In the Jerusalem stabbing, hospital officials said the victim, a man in his 40s, was moderately wounded. The alleged attacker was shot by a nearby bystander and taken to hospital in critical condition. Police said initial reports indicated the attack was nationalistically motivated but gave no further details. In the Gaza airstrike, Palestinian media said the site was struck multiple times by missiles from the air. Earlier Tuesday, a bullet fired from Gaza hit an industrial building in the community of Netiv HaAsara, the military said.

Israeli Leader Warns Hezbollah During Visit to Border, AP
Israel’s new prime minister paid an unannounced visit to the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, threatening to unleash a harsh military response to what he described as “unacceptable” aggression by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. The visit came at a time of heightened tensions with Hezbollah, a heavily armed group that fought Israel during a monthlong war in 2006. On Monday, Israel said it intercepted a drone that crossed from Lebanese territory, and last week, Hezbollah’s leader threatened Israel with military escalation if a dispute over a maritime border is not resolved in Lebanon’s favor.

News

Ivey Defeats Edwards in Bitter, High-profile MD. Primary for House, The Washington Post
Glenn Ivey, the former top prosecutor in Prince George’s County, has defeated ex-congresswoman Donna Edwards in Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, according to a projection from the Associated Press, positioning him to join the U.S. House after an acrimonious campaign.

Israel Could Face Heatwaves Peaking at 50 Degrees Celsius, Weather Service Warns, Haaretz
Israel’s climate is heating up at double the global average and could suffer heatwaves peaking at 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), but the government has no plans to deal with such extreme temperatures, Israel Meteorological Service director Nir Stav admitted.

Alongside Abbas, Macron Calls for Resumption of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks, The Times of Israel
French President Emmanuel Macron calls for a return to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in a press conference alongside visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The French president stresses the need for the “renewal of direct political dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians.” He warns that violence could break out at any time and that negotiations may be a “difficult path, but we have no other alternative.”

Israel Election: Former Meretz Chief Zehava Galon Calls for Merger With Labor if Reelected, Haaretz
Only hours after announcing her return to politics, former Meretz chair Zehava Galon declared her desire to merge the left-wing party with Merav Michaeli’s Labor, explaining that she was “striving for unification with one goal, and that is to save the bloc, I can already feel the energy.”

Opinion and Analysis

How a Jewish Settler Group Raised Millions to Set Up Illegal Outposts, Haaretz
“The Nachala settler organization announced that it would set up three West Bank outposts on Wednesday. Even though this is illegal, it raised five million shekels for the operation in three days through affiliated groups, Facebook apps and a Chabad crowdfunding platform.”