Trump’s controversial ambassadorial pick
December 21, 2016
Today’s Update looks at US President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that David Friedman is his pick for the next US Ambassador to Israel. Friedman has worked for Trump as a legal adviser for many years and holds a range of positions on Israel that are markedly different to the outgoing Obama Administration, including questioning the merits of the two-state formula for peace. A good profile of Friedman from the New York Times’ Isabel Kershner and Sheryl Gay Stolberg can be found here.
Australia and historical revisionism at Turtle Bay
December 13, 2016 | Allon Lee
Over many decades, Australian governments, of both political persuasions have shown great leadership in looking at the merits of United Nations General Assembly resolutions, opposing or abstaining on the most pernicious and one-sided anti-Israel ones, rather than falling into line with the majority.
So it is disappointing that one resolution called “Jerusalem” (A/RES/71/25), which cries out for Australia to vote “no”, has seen us choosing to abstain.
‘Palestinian children’ petition just more Israel-bashing
December 9, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
A recent Parliamentary petition regarding the Israel Defence Force’s handling of arrests of Palestinian minors is fundamentally wrong for its misleading allegations and its self-serving omissions, but especially because it exploits Palestinian youth for political gain.
This is ironic, because it represents another form of immoral exploitation of Palestinian youth – that of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank – that motivates the youth involved to commit the violence that gets them arrested in the first place.
The imminent fall of Aleppo and the Trump Administration
December 5, 2016
With the Assad regime, and its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies, making major in-roads into the rebel-head eastern district of Aleppo, it now looks like only a matter of time until the city falls to the regime. With US President-elect Trump having pledged to ignore the Syrian conflict and to seek a partnership with Russia, but also having pledged to fight back against the Iranian drive to dominate the region, and with the fall of Aleppo likely to provide a major boost to the Iranian axis – the events in Syria look likely to place the Trump Administration in a dilemma over Syria when they take over. This Update features analysis of that dilemma.
Senators in glass houses
November 29, 2016 | Tzvi Fleischer
When an attempt by a member of the Jewish community to book a council venue for an event featuring One Nation Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts was rebuffed by the Council for operational reasons, Senator Roberts accused the Council of antisemitism, of all things, in a post on his Facebook page. Not only was this claim bizarre, what is even more worrying is that this post, and others on his page about the event and the Council decision, attracted many comments that were themselves blatantly antisemitic, and that the Senator was content to let most of these remain on his page, without even a comment.
Tony Jones’ King Hit
November 28, 2016 | Allon Lee
ABC TV “Lateline” host Tony Jones scored a real coup in securing a twenty minute interview with visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Although the conversation was conducted in English, they may as well have been speaking a different language, with Jones exhibiting a shallow understanding of the region’s complexity, and ignoring or misunderstanding what the Jordanian monarch said.
Bushfires, arson, and Arab schadenfreude
November 25, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
Israel is reeling this week from a growing number of bushfires or wildfires consuming thousands of acres of vegetation, burning houses and causing the evacuation of 75,000 residents of Haifa – Israel’s third largest city. It is believed that the initial fires were accidentally set, but as the crisis unfolded, there was an outbreak of more fires – and estimates by Israeli officials say that at least half of the fires currently burning in Israel were deliberately set.
After 25 years, Israeli-Indian relations appear to be coming of age
November 24, 2016 | Gareth Narunsky
After nearly a quarter century of diplomatic ties, Israeli-Indian relations have come of age.
Moving the US Embassy in Israel/ End of Israel’s Population Bomb?
November 24, 2016
This Update deals with the possibility US President-elect Donald Trump may fulfill a campaign pledge and move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Israel’s actual capital since 1950, Jerusalem, as a a US law passed in 1995 requires.
Video: Bangkok Track II conference – “Islamist Movements and Middle East Turmoil: Implications for Southeast Asia
November 22, 2016
Veteran Israel commentator Ehud Yaari delivered a very perceptive overview of the Middle East at a public session hosted by the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) in Bangkok: “Islamist Movements and Middle East Turmoil: Lessons from and Implications for Southeast Asia”. It is highly recommended viewing.
