Weekend long read

1) WINEP presents the results of a new poll revealing opinions among Arab residents of Jerusalem.

“As U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to visit Jerusalem, a June 2022 survey of the nearly 400,000 Palestinians there, commissioned by the Washington Institute and conducted by the Palestine Center for Public Opinion, shows that this public has reverted to relatively moderate positions—compared both to pre-pandemic polls and to West Bank attitudes today.

This new trend is most vividly expressed on the bellwether question of citizenship options. Today, half (48%) of the city’s Palestinian residents say that, if they had to make a choice, they would prefer to become citizens of Israel, rather than of a Palestinian state.”

2) At the INSS, Carmit Valensi and Eden Kaduri analyse Israel’s ‘campaign between wars’ in Syria.

“The campaign between wars has scored much success over the years. The vision of Iranian entrenchment in Syria, as conceived by al-Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani (killed in early 2020), has not materialized on the desired scale. Since then, this entrenchment has been visibly scaled back in pace and scope. The al-Quds Force remains without an organized plan in Syria, and the CBW has contributed to this, with the number of attacks in this framework believed to be in the hundreds. Over the past five years, Israel has caused extensive damage to attempted weapons transfers, including precision weapon components sent from Tehran to Syria, and sometimes also to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

3) At the JCPA, Michael Segall looks at the expansion of IRGC navy activities.

“In recent years, the IRGC navy (IRGCN), which has conducted most of the naval activity in the Persian Gulf region, has also spread its activity to other venues, including the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean. In some of its operational activities, the Revolutionary Guards’ navy, granted priority for equipment, manpower, and training, was aided by the Iranian navy (IRIN). The two navies cooperate in assisting the Houthis.”

4) Khaled Abu Toameh explains ‘Why Arabs Are Fed up With the Palestinians’ at the Gatestone Institute.

“Shtayyeh and the PA have condemned the Arab countries that signed normalization agreements with Israel during the Trump administration era. Some of these countries, especially the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, used to help the Palestinians in many fields, including financial aid and providing jobs to tens of thousands of laborers.

The Palestinian leadership has accused the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan of “betraying” the Palestinian people, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem) by agreeing to make peace with Israel.

It is these serious allegations that have alienated these countries and other Arabs, who are accusing the Palestinians of being ungrateful and biting the hand that feeds them.”