Weekend long read

1) Writing at Unherd, Shany Mor explains ‘How Israel won the vaccine wars’.

“Israel’s remarkable vaccination success story might be less interesting if it were only pulling slightly ahead of comparable countries. But the difference is not one of degree. With more than 82 doses delivered per 100 citizens by the end of last week — compared with 26 for the UK, 17 for the US, and a scandalous 5.9 for the EU — Israel is significantly ahead of the pack.

But why is that? No doubt that’s the question governments across the world are currently attempting to answer, in the hope of replicating some of Israel’s success. But the truth is that the country’s vaccination rollout has been a unique victory — one that has emerged from a confluence of factors which, while individually common in other countries, Israel is alone in having.”

2) At WINEP Aaron Y Zelin analyses ‘The Tunisian Jihadist Movement Ten Years After the Prisoner Amnesty’.

“On February 19, 2011, Tunisia announced a general prisoner amnesty following the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in the process allowing 1,200 jihadists back onto the streets to organize. These individuals included 300 operatives who had previously fought in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen.

In the ten years since then, the country’s jihadist movement has morphed through various phases and is now at its greatest lull since the revolution, at least in terms of terrorist attacks. The current situation mirrors the movement’s pre-revolution status in other ways as well, with most of its fighters located on foreign fronts, most of its attack planners based in the West, and members imprisoned in multiple countries. The main difference now is that the number of those involved is much larger.”

3) Writing at the MirYam Institute Danielle Roth-Avneri looks at why Israel’s upcoming election may lead to another one.

“On March 23, Israelis will go to the polls for the fourth time in the past eighteen months, amid fears that a fifth round of elections could be around the corner. […]

Question marks hang over whether any party will be able to put together a 61-member coalition required to form a coalition and the prospect of a fifth election since April 2019  is not far-fetched. 

Unlike the past three elections, which revolved around the sole question of whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should remain in his position or not, another dimension has emerged in this campaign in the form of a new right-wing political force.”

4) At the FDD Richard Goldberg asks ‘Can Biden Fix the U.N. Human Rights Council?’.

“Even the Trump administration, which exhibited deep skepticism and disdain for international organizations, tried engagement to reform the council. U.S. diplomats pressed for an end to the elections by secret ballot that allow countries to vote for human rights abusers without admitting it. They also sought elimination of what seems to be the council’s single standing agenda item: targeting Israel. Their campaign failed, and the United States withdrew from the council in mid-2018.

Last year, China, Cuba, Gabon, Pakistan, Russia, and Uzbekistan were elected to three-year terms on the council. Since its founding in 2006, the Human Rights Council has not passed a single resolution condemning any of these countries. Meanwhile, Israel has been the target of 90 separate condemnations.”

 

 

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