WarSclerotic

The U.S. ambassador to Israel called on the Palestinians on Wednesday to free an American-Palestinian who was detained for “selling land to a Jew,” apparently violating a long-standing Palestinian ban on selling land to Israelis.

Through its official Wafa news agency, the Palestinian Authority has accused property dealer Issam Akel, a U.S. citizen, of attempting to sell a property in east Jerusalem without permission of his business partners or the authorities. The Wafa report did not identify the intended buyer.

Palestinian law bars selling land to “a hostile state or any of its citizens,” and requires the permission of the Palestinian Authority for all land sales in east Jerusalem.

Land sales in the Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem, are highly fraught for Palestinians, who see Israeli efforts to buy up land as part of a plot to cement control.

“The Palestinian Authority has been holding U.S. citizen Issam Akel in prison for 2 months. His suspected ‘crime’? Selling land to a Jew,” U.S. Ambassador David Friedman wrote on Twitter.

“Akel’s incarceration is antithetical to the values of the U.S. and to all who advocate the cause of peaceful coexistence. We demand his immediate release.”

Osama al-Qawasme, an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, rejected Friedman’s remarks and called the U.S. envoy “an ambassador of the settlers.”

“We deplore his statement that Akel’s arrest violated American values. Does building of settlements adhere to American values?” al-Qawasme said. “We in Fatah will confront all attempts to harm the city of Jerusalem or its sacred places.”

Akel’s father, Jalal, said a Palestinian court had extended his son’s detention by 45 days on Monday.

“They are stalling. There is no evidence my son sold anything to Israelis, all charges are void,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Adnan Al-Dmairi, a spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, said 20 people had been arrested in recent years on suspicion of violating land laws.

An Israeli security official said Akel was detained on Oct. 10 in Ramallah, the hub city of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Israel said its security services had appealed to their Palestinian counterparts for Akel’s release.

Israel briefly arrested two Palestinian Authority officials from East Jerusalem over the last month on the basis of what the Israeli security official said were suspicions that they had information on Akel’s detention.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is furious over the United ‎States’ efforts to push an unprecedented U.N. ‎General Assembly resolution condemning the Islamist terrorist ‎group over its rocket fire on Israel, ‎its incitement to violence, and ‎its use of civilian resources for military ‎purposes, predominately its ‎sprawling grid of terror tunnels. ‎ ‎

The General Assembly is set to vote on the resolution, a joint move ‎by Israeli Ambassador to the ‎U.N. Danny Danon and outgoing U.S. ‎Ambassador Nikki Haley, later this week or the following week.

If adopted, it would be the first time the General ‎Assembly ‎condemns Hamas, which usurped control of Gaza ‎from ‎the ‎Western-backed government of Palestinian ‎Authority ‎President ‎Mahmoud Abbas in a military coup in 2007. ‎

Haniyeh on Wednesday sent a letter protesting the move to ‎President of the General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa, ‎saying that the Palestinian people “have the right to self-defense” ‎against Israel, which he refers to as “the racist and colonial occupation that has been in place for ‎over seven decades.”‎

“We reiterate the right of our people to defend themselves and to resist the occupation, by all available means, including armed resistance, guaranteed by the international law,” Haniyeh wrote, adding that the U.N. General Assembly has adopted “dozens of resolutions that affirm the right of peoples to independence, self-determination and struggle by all available means, peaceful and non-peaceful, for that right.”

Hamas, he added, “is protected by international law that provides ‎for the right of self-defense against the American aggression.”‎

Haniyeh also wrote that the U.N. should instead condemn “the Israeli occupation of ‎Palestine, the settlement enterprise and the expulsion of [West ‎Bank] residents, as well as the Judaization of Jerusalem and the ‎tragic siege of Gaza.” ‎

Danon lambasted Haniyeh, saying, “Hamas speaks of international ‎law while firing rockets at a civilian population, holding two Israelis ‎and the bodies of two soldiers hostage, and using the residents of ‎Gaza as human shields.‎”

‎”A terrorist organization appealing for the U.N.’s help is like a serial ‎killer asking for police assistance,” Danon continued. “Israel and the United States ‎will continue to mobilize world nations to form a united front against ‎the terrorism Hamas spreads on behalf of Iran.”

On Wednesday, Haniyeh ‎revealed that a visiting Russian diplomat recently invited him to make an official visit to Moscow.

The invitation seemed to follow a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who last week said that Russia was looking to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians, and that stability in the region could not be reached until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved.

The Israeli military this week concluded a combined urban and ‎tunnel warfare exercise simulating fighting in the Gaza Strip. The ‎IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the drill, the 11th of its kind to be held ‎this year, was part of the military’s routine wartime ‎readiness program. ‎

But according to official, the timing of the drill, just two ‎weeks after the the worst flare-up on the Israel-Gaza Strip ‎border since 2014, ‎as well as the fact that it included extreme case scenarios, was meant as a message to Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza. ‎

The drill, which concluded on Wednesday, was led by the Kfir ‎Brigade, the largest infantry brigade in the IDF. It included ‎Engineering and Armored corps’ forces, as well as the canine ‎special forces unit, Oketz.‎

The troops simulated various offensive and defensive ‎scenarios in Gaza’s densely populated ‎neighborhoods, as well as underground, in the Strip’s sewer ‎system and Hamas’ extensive grid of terror tunnels. ‎

They also drilled combat capabilities such as shooting, sniping, ‎handling explosives, rushing fortified areas, dealing with enemies ‎using human shields, and evacuating the wounded under fire.‎

‎”The training strives to accurately simulate the combat reality and allow ‎the troops to improved their urban warfare and counterterrorism ‎skills,” said Kfir Brigade Commander Col. Zion Ratzon.‎

‎”This type of training greatly enhances the Kfir ‎ Brigade’s ability execute its ‎missions. I’m sure that after the intense ‎training of the last two months we, as a brigade, are better ‎prepared to face the enemy in the sectors in which we operate. The ‎brigade commanders spare no effort to prepare the troops for the ‎operational and ethical challenges they may face on the ground,” ‎he said. ‎

Oren Ben Hakoon

Also on Wednesday, GOC Homefront Command Maj. Gen. Tamir ‎Yadai warned that “in the next war, we won’t see a situation where ‎there’s fighting in Gaza or the northern border but people in Tel ‎Aviv are sitting in cafés, sipping coffee. That’s a thing of the past.”‎

Speaking at a briefing for newly elected mayors in southern Israel, ‎Yadai ‎noted that 2019 “will pose different and more complex threats ‎and challenges for Israel.” ‎

‎”There is no dispute over the fact that the Israeli ‎homefront will face challenging times in the next war, especially ‎with respect to the ability to ensure civilian access to municipal ‎services,” he said. “Israeli society’s resilience will be largely determined by ‎municipal resilience ‎in emergency situations.”

Yadai’s comment about the “coffee-sipping” residents of Tel Aviv drew widespread criticism, as he was accused of making them seem callous and uncaring in the face of the hardships endured by residents living along the Israeli border Gaza.

The criticism prompted the IDF ‎Spokesperson’s Unit to issue a statement clarifying that “Maj. Gen. ‎Yadai sought to stress that in the next war, the residents of central ‎Israel, including Tel Aviv, would also come under fire and their ‎normal routine will likely be disrupted. He did not mean to criticize ‎Tel Avivians.”‎

A song posted on Facebook by two British-Israeli brothers in protest against home-rental company Airbnb’s contentious decision to remove listings in Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria was itself removed by the social media platform after it began to go viral.

Brothers Sruli and Mendy Portnoy, of the musical duo Portnoy, found a creative way to protest Airbnb’s decision and wrote a protest song which they filmed themselves performing and posted on Facebook.

The clip quickly notched up more than 70,000 views before being removed by the social media giant, which offered no explanation for the move.

In response, the Portnoys decided to record and film themselves performing a full-length version of the song, which they again posted on Facebook. This time, as well as taking Airbnb to task, they also took a jab at Facebook.

“It’s unfortunate that a well-known platform like Airbnb succumbed to BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions movement] bullies who are determined to spread anti-Semitism,” they said. “We don’t like getting involved in politics, but when the line between politics and blatant racism becomes so gray, we feel obligated to make our voices heard against what we consider to be blatant discrimination.”

Like its predecessor, the new video went viral as well, quickly winning over 40,00 views. The second video was still available for viewing on Wednesday morning.

On Monday, Florida’s Republican Governon Ron DeSantis announced he planned to take action against Airbnb.

On a visit to a local Jewish day school, DeSantis Airbnb’s new policy is “to basically discriminate against Jews in the West Bank. They delisted all Jewish listings in the West Bank. They do not treat anybody else in the entire world like this; it’s only targeted in these Jewish communities.”

“I think that that likely runs afoul of Florida’s BDS legislation; we’re reviewing that now. We’re also going to review how Florida interacts with Airbnb; I know that state workers are allowed to use Airbnbn for official travel. That is not going to be acceptable with me as governor, so I think Airbnb should reevaluate and reverse this policy. If they don’t do that, then it’s going to be rough sledding here in the state of Florida, and we’ll review our options of what we can do with that.”

The state of Illinois, which has invested money in Airbnb, may withdraw funding over the home-rental company’s new policy. The state will announce its decision on the matter next month.

Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan has asked governors across the United States to sanction the company and speak out against its discriminatory policy.

In announcing its decision last week, Airbnb said it would cease its operations in Israeli settlements “that are at the core of the dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

It said the decision came after consulting with experts and “wrestling with the ethics” of whether to do business in Israeli settlements, which much of the international community views as illegal.

On Thursday, lawyers in Israel filed a class action lawsuit against Airbnb, accusing it of “outrageous discrimination” and demanding monetary compensation over its delisting of dozens of properties in Judea and Samaria.

Iranian patience is running out on the European Union’s pledges to keep up oil trade despite U.S. sanctions and Iran would be warning the EU’s top diplomat of this, Iran’s nuclear chief said on Tuesday.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said his country could resume enriching uranium to 20% purity – considered well above the level needed to fuel civilian power plants – if it fails to see the economic benefits of the 2015 international nuclear deal, which curbed its nuclear program.

“If we cannot sell our oil and we don’t enjoy financial transactions, then I don’t think keeping the deal will benefit us anymore,” Salehi said ahead of a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels on Tuesday.

“I will pass certainly a word of caution to her [Mogherini]. I think the period of patience for our people is getting more limited and limited. We are running out of the assumed timeline, which was in terms of months.”

Following the meeting, Mogherini said she and Salehi remained committed to safeguarding the nuclear accord.

“They equally expressed their determination to preserve the nuclear agreement as a matter of respecting international agreements and a key pillar for European and regional security,” Mogherini’s office said in a statement.

It said Mogherini also repeated the EU stance “on issues of concern such as Iran’s role in the region” – alluding to Iranian involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts from Yemen to Syria.

Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, Iran restricted its enrichment program, widely seen in the West as a disguised effort to develop the means to make atomic bombs, in exchange for an end to international sanctions.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord in May, saying it was weak and did not halt Iran’s development of ballistic missiles or support for armed proxies abroad, and reimposed sanctions on Iran, including earlier this month on its vital oil export sector.

But Europe, led by Germany, France and the United Kingdom, sees the nuclear deal as an important element of international security, and it and the other signatories – China and Russia – have struggled to preserve trade incentives for Iran to respect the deal’s nuclear limits under U.S. pressure.

In Brussels for talks on civilian nuclear cooperation that EU officials intended as a signal of support for the accord, Salehi said the bloc’s efforts were encouraging but added, “We have not yet seen any tangible results.”

He welcomed an EU plan to establish a special financial vehicle for non-dollar trade with Iran, but only if it can preserve Iranian oil exports – Iran’s economic lifeline.

“It [the special vehicle] could be helpful in keeping the deal alive,” he said. “If there is nothing to reap, then what is the purpose of us staying in, because voices in Iran are day by day becoming more against the deal.”

Salehi reiterated warnings that Iran has the technical capacity to ramp up enrichment if the deal unravels.

“It is very easy for us to go back to what we were before – even to a better position. We can start the 20% enrichment activity. We can increase the amount of enriched uranium,” he said.

Uranium refined to 20% purity is well beyond the 5% normally required to run civilian nuclear power stations, though still well short of the 80% to 90% purity needed for a nuclear bomb.