News Roundup for September 14, 2021

September 14, 2021

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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

Iran Intends to Resume Nuclear Talks in the Near Future, Wall Street Journal
Iran said Monday it planned to resume nuclear talks in the near future, the clearest indication yet that negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal could soon resume, and the Biden administration confirmed it would drop a resolution censuring Iran for failing to cooperate with nuclear inspectors.

Bennett Has No Plans to Meet With President Abbas, Israeli Minister Says, Haaretz
Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has no plans to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying Abbas is no “partner” to Israel. “Abu Mazan [Abbas] is paying money to terrorists that murder Jews and is filing lawsuits in The Hague against Israel Defense Forces soldiers – he’s not a partner,” Shaked said during a conference at Reichman University in Herzliya.

Leaders of Egypt and Israel hold rare public meeting, Axios
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli prime minister in 11 years to pay an official visit to an Egyptian president on Monday, meeting Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the coastal resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. This was an effort by Sisi to establish good relations with the new Israeli government, and the Egyptians made every effort to give Bennett an unusually warm and public welcome.

News

Israel braces for escalation, with major attack said foiled in recent days, Times of Israel
Israeli security forces foiled a major attack this week, as Palestinian terror groups sought to step up violence in solidarity with six escaped prisoners, Hebrew media reported Monday. The Shin Bet security service and police foiled a number of attacks, Channel 12 and 13 reported, without giving details on the major attack prevented. Meanwhile, police were going on high alert, fearing further violence over the Yom Kippur holiday, particularly in Jerusalem.

Greece probes crash that killed witness in Netanyahu trial, AP
Authorities in Greece Tuesday opened an investigation into the crash of a private plane from Israel that killed a prosecution witness in the corruption trial of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Haim Geron, a former senior official at Israel’s ministry of communications, and his wife Esther were killed in the crash late Monday off the island of Samos.

Fears for Palestinian hunger strikers protesting imprisonment, Al Jazeera
Tensions have been building for months but the situation could soon explode as anger over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners reaches boiling point. What is also exacerbating Palestinian anger is the deteriorating health of six Palestinian hunger strikers, protesting against their administrative detention or detention without trial.

Biden to withhold, restrict some military aid to Egypt, Politico

UAE seeks $1 trillion in economic activity with Israel by 2031, Reuters
The United Arab Emirates aims to raise the value of economic activity with Israel to more than $1 trillion in the next 10 years, hoping to work together on everything from healthcare to climate change and energy, the UAE economy minister said.

Opinion and Analysis

Why talks with Iran have faltered and what Biden can do to revive them, Responsible Statecraft
Ryan Costello writes, “The path ahead will not be easy. But we know that max pressure has failed and that the United States and Iran might not be able to avoid a disastrous war if Iran chooses its own form of maximum pressure. The JCPOA might still be salvaged, but maintaining diplomatic flexibility is a must.”

Israel Needs to Reconsider Policy on Palestinian Prisoners, Haaretz
The Haaretz Editorial Board writes, “The breakout provides a glimpse of this enterprise and its dimensions, of the conditions in prison and its impact on the Palestinian street. But this is also an important opportunity to bring up the question of this draconian policy of incarceration as a tool for political repression, used as a central mainstay of the apparatus sustaining the occupation and the military control over millions of people.”