Israeli Cops Shoot Dead a Palestinian Man in East Jerusalem, Haaretz
A Palestinian was shot dead in the course of clashes with Border Police officers in East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday night. Clashes broke out again on Wednesday evening in East Jerusalem, and five rioters were detained. Palestinian sources reported that the Palestinian, 20-year-old Ali Shiokhi, had been shot in the stomach. The policemen prevented a Red Crescent ambulance from getting to him to treat him and he died of blood loss, the sources said.
Under Right-wing Pressure, Netanyahu to Ask Court for Further Delay in Evacuating West Bank Outpost, Haaretz
The state will ask the High Court of Justice for a six-month delay in evacuating the illegal West Bank outpost Amona, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Habayit Hayehudi leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked agreed in a meeting Thursday. The meeting, also attended by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, was held after Education Minister Bennett threatened Netanyahu overnight that his party might cause a crisis for the governing coalition if the state did not petition the court for a delay. The High Court has already given the state two years to arrange Amona’s evacuation. Over the past six months, the Defense Ministry and the attorney general were supposed to come up with a solution that would allow the outpost’s demolition.
Is a new West Bank settlement Obama’s red line?, Al-Monitor
Akiva Eldar writes, “Israel is taking seriously the Oct. 5 White House announcement that the new settlement constitutes a violation of the Israeli government’s commitment to the United States. An Israeli violation of commitments it gave regarding settlements would make it easier for the United States to extricate itself from its commitment to oppose unilateral moves against Israel. If Netanyahu insists on establishing the new settlement, despite Obama’s anger, the president could well be encouraged to abstain in the UN Security Council vote on the recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Israel Demolishes Eight Bedouin Structures in West Bank Built With EU Funds, Haaretz
Israel’s Civil Administration demolished eight buildings on Monday belonging to Palestinians in the Mishor Adumim region of the West Bank. Local Bedouin built the structures in 2012 as living quarters, without permits, according to sources familiar with the situation, and demolition orders were issued. The High Court of Justice rejected a petition against the demolition last month that was signed and circulated by residents. The European Union helped fund the construction of some of the structures, and the EU symbol could be seen on the buildings in a video documenting Monday’s demolition.
Israeli forces implement closures on Hebron-area village, Ma’an
Israeli forces Wednesday closed the main entrance of the village of Beit Ummar in the occupied West Bank district of Hebron and set up several Israeli military posts, a local activist told Ma’an.
MKs call to build in Jerusalem, West Bank in response, Jerusalem Post
Israel should build massively in Jerusalem as part of its answer to the type of terrorism that struck the capital again on Sunday morning, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel said before Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
Billionaire Saban Advises Clinton to Differentiate Herself From Obama on Israel, Haaretz
Israeli-American tycoon and major Hillary Clinton donor Haim Saban had advised the Democratic nominee for U.S. president as early as June 2015 to distance herself from President Barack Obama’s policies on Israel, according to emails made public by WikiLeaks on Tuesday.
Abbas pardons officer who criticized him for attending Peres funeral, Times of Israel
President Abbas pardoned on Wednesday an officer in the PA’s security forces who criticized him for participating in the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres.
American Jews Have Failed to Mobilize Against Trump, Haaretz
Peter Beinart writes, “American Jews will vote against Trump overwhelmingly. Individual Jewish organizations – Bend the Arc and the Anti-Defamation League are two particularly praiseworthy examples – have denounced him. Individual Jewish conservatives – William Kristol, Dan Senor, David Brooks, David Frum, Jonah Goldberg, Max Boot, Bret Stephens, Jennifer Rubin and others – have repudiated him. But as an organized community – represented by a network of organized groups –American Jews have failed. Our community has not mobilized against Trump in the way it mobilizes when it truly cares about something. It has not treated his candidacy like it really matters…..Israel matters. It matters enormously. But when this election ends, American Jews must ask how we built an organized community whose most powerful institutions mobilize when Israel faces a crisis but not when America does. Then we must begin changing those institutions. So they fulfill their obligation to the country in which we live.”
How Netanyahu sidelined Peres’ vision for peace, Al-Monitor
Mazal Mualem reports, “On the morning of Oct. 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his weekly Cabinet meeting by announcing to his ministers that the nuclear research facility in Dimona would be named after Israel’s ninth president, the late Shimon Peres….Netanyahu knows that a commemorative initiative of this proportion will have far-reaching implications on memories, from the actual name change to the ceremonies that will remind people in Israel and around the world why Peres received the honor…..In contrast, Netanyahu seems uninterested in making the peace process the most prominent part of Peres’ legacy, even though he was best known for that during his lifetime. For Netanyahu, avoiding the peace process is his way of playing down his own inaction in this area.”
Yom Kippur For the “Peace Camp”, Matzav Blog
Ned Lazarus writes, “To mobilize the “silent majority“ in Israel, two-states must not remain the trademark of a single “peace camp,“ but a cross-cutting agenda championed by a coalition of “peace camps,” rooted in multiple constituencies. Promising work is already happening along these lines. Throughout this high holiday season, a socioeconomically diverse group of Arab and Jewish Israeli women are leading “Marches of Hope” from “periphery” communities across Israel to Jerusalem, all in support of a peace agreement. In the religious sphere, figures such as Adina Bar Shalom and Rabbi Binyamin Lau have provided public examples of dialogue and human rights and peace advocacy undertaken by prominent Orthodox leaders. Their work is paralleled by promising, off-the-record “Track Two” work involving rabbinic and political leaders in the Ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionist communities, including sustained dialogue processes with secular left leaders and Palestinian citizens of Israel. These efforts are still nascent, but they embody the types of engagement that can motivate a broader cross-section of Israelis to take responsibility for a democratic future.”
How Obama can salvage his legacy on Israel-Palestine, +972
Jim Zogby argues, “after almost eight years of frustrating the administration’s efforts at peace-making, of continued settlement expansion, of systematic violations of Palestinian rights, and of repeated episodes of near unrestrained gross violence, why should anyone have been surprised that Netanyahu would pocket the $38 billion and once again flaunt his commitments to the president? He acts with impunity, precisely because there has been no accountability for his behavior. The White House and State Department may cry foul, issuing strong statements. But Netanyahu knows it will end there — with no price to be paid for bad behavior.”
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