Mahmoud Abbas, incitement, and Palestinian politics
January 29, 2016
This Update features three articles discussing how Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas fits into the more problematic aspects of Palestinian politics, such as incitement to terrorism and misuses of foreign aid – as well as his current position within his own Fatah party.
Israeli government launches major program to boost investment in Israeli Arab sectors
January 22, 2016 | Sharyn Mittelman
Israel’s cabinet has approved a five-year plan worth around $15 billion shekels (US$3.85 billion) for social and employment development for Israel’s Arab community. The plan seeks to improve education, public transportation, highway infrastructure, employment, public security, law enforcement, sports ands community services, as well as facilitate the future construction of tens of thousands of housing units in minority communities.
Palestinian Authority incitement continues to fuel murder – and even children are a target: not newsworthy?
January 21, 2016 | Or Avi Guy
The wave of attacks on Israeli civilians is sadly still ongoing. On Sunday Dafna Meir, a nurse and mum of six, was brutally stabbed to death outside her home in Otniel. On Monday, Michal Fruman was attacked and moderately wounded by a teen terrorist.
Neither of these attacks made the major papers in Australia. They have also largely failed to report the significant role that incitementis still playing in motivating these terrorist acts. The most recent terrorist to be elevated to ‘martyr’ status as part of this ongoing incitement is Nashat Melhem, who killed three people in Tel-Aviv.
Iran nuclear deal comes into effect – amid troubling Iranian behaviour
January 20, 2016
This Update deals with the aftermath of the announcement on the weekend by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had met its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal reached last July, and therefore the agreement was coming into force, including the lifting of most sanctions on Iran. (A good summary of what this means in practical terms is discussed in this short video, or in this article.) This Update especially focuses on the controversies over aspects of Iranian behaviour which have surrounded the implementation of the deal.
What 1961 can teach us about 2016
January 19, 2016 | Ahron Shapiro
It’s particularly worthwhile from time to time, in an effort to better understand the core issues in the conflict, to revisit key source materials and policy statements during the period after the 1948 War of Independence and before the Six Day War of 1967 – before the IDF controlled even a centimetre of land in the “occupied territories”.
Of these, then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir’s address to the Special Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on December 15, 1961 is surely a standout. Coming just 13 years after the creation of the state, Meir’s address serves as a crucial policy statement during this period in Israel’s early history.
Israel’s changing place in the mideast region
January 15, 2016
This Update features three recent pieces on Israel’s evolving place in the politics of the Middle East – a region which has changed dramatically since 2011, with large parts devolving into chaos and violence and others living in the shadow of following suit.>
Pot to Kettle: Iran’s hysterical and hypocritical condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s executions
January 14, 2016 | Or Avi Guy
On January 2, Saudi Arabia executed Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent critic of the Saudi authorities who called for political reforms.
While executions are not a new policy or practice in Saudi Arabia, al-Nimr’s execution caused a regional and international backlash – and seems to be triggering a new escalation in the ongoing Cold War between the region’s Sunni states, led by Saudi Arabia, and Shi’ite Iran and its allies.
Escalating Iran-Saudi Arabia tensions
January 14, 2016
This Update features material on the sharp escalation in what was already a sort of Cold War between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Saudi execution of Saudi Shiite religious leader Shaykh Nimr al-Nimr on Jan. 2. It follows up with some analysis of a related development overnight – the Iranian arrest, and then release, of 10 US Navy personnel after Teheran alleged that their two boats entered Iranian territorial waters.
The Iranian link in the North Korean nuclear test
January 13, 2016 | Sharyn Mittelman
Escalating tensions in East Asia, North Korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb on January 6, its fourth nuclear test.
Despite scepticism as to whether the nuclear test was actually a hydrogen bomb, the test reveals that North Korea has been advancing its nuclear weapons program quietly, while the world’s attention has been fixed on the nuclear program of another country – Iran. However, some analysts believe that Iran may also be benefitting from North Korea’s nuclear program given that the two countries have long had extensive cooperation on both nuclear development and missile research.
Hamas and ISIS in Sinai
December 18, 2015
This Update is devoted to new evidence of increasing cooperation between Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, and ISIS – especially in terms of their branch in Sinai fighting the Egyptian regime, calling itself their Sinai Province (“Wilayat Sinai”). It also looks at Israel’s challenges in confronting the growth of ISIS in Sinai.
