News from September 10-September 17
Annexation, Israeli elections, and the Minnesota synagogue fire
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to annex parts of the West Bank:
What happened? On Tuesday, Netanyahu announced that he would annex a third of the West Bank if he is reelected in next week’s election. The West Bank is a contentious piece of land; it was part of the biblical homeland of the Jews (it’s also called Judea and Samaria) but it’s also home to nearly 2.5 million Palestinians who have called it home for generations. Complicating matters, about 400,000 Israelis live in the West Bank in controversial settlements. Israel captured it in 1967 during a war against its Arab neighbors and has occupied the West Bank since. It’s a loaded topic that deserves more attention than a few paragraphs (so keep your eyes open for a deep dive!).
Why is this important? The West Bank is widely regarded to be the main geographic territory (along with Gaza) of a future Palestinian state under most two-state solution peace plans. Annexing a third of the territory would complicate a future peace deal. Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (the group that represents Palestinians in peace talks) agreed to the Oslo Accords (Part 2) in 1995 which divided the West Bank into areas of control. Area A is under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Israelis are not allowed to enter. This includes cities like Bethlehem and Ramallah. Area B is jointly administered by Israel and the Palestinians. Area C is under full Israeli control. The land that Netanyahu plans to annex, primarily in the Jordan River Valley, is in the eastern part of the West Bank. The land is under area C.
How should I feel about this? That depends. It will likely make any long-term, two-state solution much harder because annexing the land would “decide” the status of contested territory. Netanyahu has said that the annexation is in line with the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan which should be announced right after the election. If the annexation is part of a much larger deal that benefits Palestinians in ways we don’t yet know, then maybe it is a good thing. If it’s just a unilateral action taken by Netanyahu because President Trump will recognize it, it’s hard to see how it makes peace any easier. If the annexation happens, it will probably only be recognized by a few countries and its American recognition might not stand under another president. Whether or not you support it will also depend on how strongly you believe Jews have a right to settle their ancestral homeland. There are a lot of factors, and this is a super complicated issue.
Further Reading: https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-after-jordan-valley-and-settlements-ill-annex-other-vital-areas/ (Times of Israel)
Final Israeli election polls slightly favor Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc:
Background: Israeli elections are on Tuesday. This is the second round of elections this year. In the Israeli parliamentary system, citizens vote for parties and the seats in the Knesset are proportionately distributed according to what percentage of the vote each party gets. In the last election, Netanyahu’s Likud party won the most seats, but could not assemble a coalition because another party, Yisrael Beiteinu, would not sit in Netanyahu’s coalition unless he committed to making the ultra-orthodox serve in the military. The ultra-orthodox refused to sit in Netanyahu’s coalition unless their constituents wouldn’t have to serve in the military. Since parties need a coalition of half of the Knesset seats, Netanyahu needed both parties. They couldn’t reach a compromise, so Netanyahu called for new elections in hopes that a new Knesset would lead to a workable coalition.
What’s going on? In recent days, polls have indicated that Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc is inching closer to victory. You’ll likely see the term “bloc” in the news because a party winning the most seats doesn’t mean that they “won” the election. Since they still need to assemble a coalition, it’s important that their presumptive coalition partners also gain enough seats to form a coalition. In this case, polls are showing that the right-wing bloc (as opposed to the center-left bloc) appears closer to having the seats necessary to form a coalition.
What should I keep an eye on? A few things. For one, it’s going to be interesting to see if the Israeli-Arab parties will be willing to sit in a center-left government. As I noted a few weeks ago, a coalition with Israeli-Arab parties would be unprecedented. Another factor to keep in mind is who President Reuven Rivlin will task with forming a coalition if the Blue and White (leader of the center-left bloc) and Likud (leader of the right-wing bloc) parties end up with the same number of seats. Part of that will be determined by whether or not the Israeli-Arab parties will be willing to recommend Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to Rivlin. Also, keep an eye out for claims of voter fraud. In recent days, Netanyahu has been claiming the election has been “stolen.” He is likely preparing to contest the election on the grounds of voter irregularities if he ends up with unfavorable coalition-building prospects. Lastly, look for whether or not extreme right-wing party Otzma Yehudit gets over the vote threshold to enter the Knesset. That could tip the balance in favor of Netanyahu as well as cause quite a fiasco.
Further Reading: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Final-Channel-12-poll-finds-stalemate-Otzma-Yehudit-clear-threshold-601667 (JPost)
117-year-old synagogue in Minnesota is burnt down in an arson attack:
Did I read that right? Yup, someone intentionally burned down a synagogue in Minnesota. As of Monday, the fire is currently not being treated as a hate crime by the Duluth Police. Of course, it’s possible that it was not a hate crime, but given the rash of attacks on Jews this year, many are upset with how the Duluth police are investigating the incident. The alleged perpetrator reportedly lit a Sukkah on fire and tried to put it out by spitting on it. When he couldn’t put it out, he walked away.
Anything else? The firefighters were awesome. They apparently ran into the synagogue and tried to save as many of the religious objects in the sanctuary. That takes chutzpah. Unfortunately, six Torah scrolls were destroyed in the fire.
Further reading: https://nypost.com/2019/09/15/minnesota-man-arrested-for-allegedly-torching-117-year-old-synagogue/ (NY Post)
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