1) NGO Monitor has published a report ‘Deconstructing Definitions of Apartheid that Delegitimise the Jewish State’ by Joshua Kern and Anne Herzberg.
“At the beginning of 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and B’Tselem published reports alleging Israel to be responsible for, and Israeli officials to be guilty of committing, the crime against humanity of apartheid. These publications were accompanied by an extensive PR campaign. Concurrently, NGOs were influential in the establishment of two UN bodies where the claim of apartheid will prominently feature, and these same groups are vigorously lobbying the International Criminal Court to include allegations of apartheid in its investigation into Israel.
However, the definition of apartheid used by HRW, B’Tselem, and other NGOs is not legally substantiated. Instead, these groups promote artificial and manufactured definitions designed to extend the ongoing campaigns that seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel.”
2) Yoni Ben Menachem discusses ‘The Phenomenon of Lone Palestinian Terrorists’ at the JCPA.
“Israel is preparing for the possibility of a new wave of lone terrorism that could emulate the “knife intifada” that broke out in September 2015. Police forces in Jerusalem have been reinforced, and IDF units in the West Bank are on the alert. After assessing the situation, the IDF decided not to reinforce the forces in Judea and Samaria, except at the crossing posts following the vehicular attack at the Te’enim checkpoint in Samaria on December 6, 2021.
Security sources say Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip are trying to ride the success of recent attacks and ignite the tension to encourage more lone terrorists to carry out attacks.”
3) At the INSS, Remi Daniel and Gallia Lindenstrauss analyse relations between Israel and Turkey.
“Paradoxically, the arrest of an Israeli couple vacationing in Turkey and their release nine days later presents a new opportunity in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara. During and following the incident, conversations were held between Israeli and Turkish leaders in a fashion unprecedented in recent years. Over the past year, Turkey has tried to break out of its regional isolation, and Israel is one of the countries marked by Ankara as a target for improving relations. Despite the booming trade between the two countries, however, there are many obstacles to a major improvement in ties.”
4) Matti Friedman looks behind the strengthening of the Israeli currency at the Tablet Magazine.
“Those watching Israel from the outside are condemned to mistake political news for the life of the country. Insiders understand that over the past two decades something deep has come together here in culture and economics, and that modern Israeli society is only tenuously connected to the government. That’s the answer to a perplexing question—namely, how on earth the economy managed to boom through the past two years of political deadlock and infighting, with no national budget.”
