News Digest — 5/16/23
FM Cohen In Sweden: ‘A New Era Of Our Relationship’
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Monday (15th) hailed a “new era” in the relationship between Sweden and Israel, as he began a visit to Stockholm, the first by an Israeli foreign minister in 22 years.
“More than twenty years have passed since an Israeli foreign minister visited Sweden, and today I had an important meeting with the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, Tobias Billstrom, a close ally of Israel,” tweeted Cohen.
“Sweden holds the presidency of the European Union and is expected to join NATO; therefore strengthening the relationship between our countries is a strategic interest,” he added.
“We discussed enhancing the economic and security cooperation between the countries, the fight against a nuclear Iran, and broadening the Abraham Accords.”
“I thanked Minister Billstrom for the positive shift towards Israel in the international arena, and he told me about his special connection with Israel and the Jewish people. His wife volunteered on kibbutz Misgav Am in the 90s, and his grandparents welcomed Holocaust survivors into their home after World War II,” concluded Cohen.
Billstrom commented on the meeting as well on his Twitter account, writing, “A very good and productive meeting with Eli Cohen in Stockholm today. The first one in 20 years, so long overdue.”
“The purpose was to further strengthen the bilateral relations between Sweden and Israel and to discuss global and regional issues of mutual interest,” he added.
Sweden and Israel had a rocky relationship during the previous Social Democratic Government, beginning when then-Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom made a series of anti-Israel statements.
In 2014, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman denounced Sweden’s decision to recognize the Palestinian Authority (PA) as ‘the state of Palestine,’ saying that “relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA.”
Following that incident, Wallstrom accused Israel of being “extremely aggressive” and claimed that the Jewish state was “irritating its allies.”
In 2016, Wallstrom was refused meetings with Israeli ministers during her visit to the region. She did however visit Ramallah, where PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas decorated her with an award he called the “Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem.”
Relations between Sweden and Israel began to thaw in 2021, when Wallstrom’s successor, Ann Linde, visited Israel and stressed that her country is a friend of the Jewish state.
The Rocket Attacks From Gaza Brought Out The Best In Israelis – Liat Collins
Even the leader of the opposition in the Knesset, Yair Lapid, offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu support for the government’s actions against Islamic Jihad rocket fire from Gaza, and there was no question of reservists refusing to respond to a call-up. Perfect strangers offered home hospitality to residents of the Gaza envelope seeking refuge.
There were also the familiar touching pictures of newborn babies being moved from maternity wards to rocket proof, subterranean units. No country should have to act as if this is normal.
The plight of the elderly struggling to reach safety with just a few seconds’ warning of incoming rockets is less photogenic, but no less serious. Sderot and the nearby communities must be among the few places in the world where wearing a seat belt is at times forbidden – for safety reasons – when you have just seconds to seek shelter from an incoming rocket.
Don’t forget who is the aggressor and who is the victim. If the Palestinian terror organizations were to cease their murderous campaigns, there would be peace.
The IDF Closely Adhered To International Law In The Gaza Conflict – Col. Richard Kemp
Israel’s Operation Shield and Arrow was carried out to date with breathtaking effectiveness. The shield of Iron Dome and David’s Sling prevented major loss of life among the civilian population. The arrows of target intelligence, air strikes and missile attacks have decimated the Gaza terrorist leadership and destroyed many of their weapons. No other military is capable of defending its people with the ferocity and precision the IDF showed.
While UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that civilian deaths in Gaza are “unacceptable,” the IDF is known by all Western military commanders to be more effective than any other force in the world in preventing the deaths of civilians in enemy territory. Knowing the IDF as I do, I can be confident that they adhered to – and went beyond – international laws of war in this conflict.
Islamic Jihad, behind the recent violence, is an Iranian proxy, bought and paid for by Tehran. The ayatollahs are intent on the destruction of Israel. They have been encircling Israel with weapons and fighters. In Lebanon, they have positioned tens of thousands of missiles and UAVs, including precision-guided systems. In Syria, they have been working to build another front for attack. In Judea and Samaria, Iranian proxies have been fomenting, funding, and directing violent attacks against civilians and military. Iran should be branded for what it is, condemned, isolated and comprehensively sanctioned.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, COBRA.
(ynetnews.com)
Gazan Man Killed By Rocket Recognized As Victim Of Hostilities
The Israel Defense Ministry announced Sunday (14th) that Abdullah Abu Gaba, the Gaza resident who was killed by an Islamic Jihad rocket while working in Israel on Saturday (13th) will be recognized as a victim of hostilities, entitling his family to compensation from Israel’s National Insurance Institute, Israel Hayom reported.
Abu Gaba was killed when a rocket struck the construction site outside the town of Shokeda in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, where he and his brother Khamad, who was seriously wounded in the strike, were working. He was a 40-year-old father of six. A third man, who worked as a security guard at the construction site, was slightly injured in the rocket strike.
The brothers were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, where Abdullah was pronounced dead.
The Victims of Hostile Action (Pensions) Law states that any Israeli citizen or person who was legally staying in Israel, whether a tourist, foreign worker, or Palestinian Arab laborer, is recognized as a victims of hostilities if he or she becomes the victim of a terrorist attack, and will be entitled to National Insurance benefits. Abu Gaba was one of 17,500 residents of Gaza who had received a work permit to work in Israel, allowing him to legally enter Israel and to be legally entitled to the status of a victim of hostilities and the resulting benefits.
The National Insurance and the Defense Ministry said: “Abdullah Abu Gaba, a resident of Gaza who was killed by a rocket during Operation Shield and Arrow, was recognized as a victim of hostilities and his family will be entitled to receive rights in accordance with the law.”
(isnn.com)
Germany’s Advice To Its Diplomats: ‘No Photos Of Jerusalem’s Old City’
Germany is suspected of instructing its diplomats in Israel not to take photographs in the Old City of Jerusalem, which they consider “occupied Palestinian territory.”
Israel Hayom has learned that on two occasions in the recent past, diplomats staying at the King David Hotel in the capital refused to take photographs with the walls of the Old City in the background.
The hotel is located in the heart of Jerusalem and sits along what used to be the demarcation line before the 1967 Six-Day War. The walls of the Old City are well visible from the location, and diplomats usually make a point to include them in photographs. On both occasions, the German diplomats said the matter went against instructions and preferred a different background.
Germany recognizes Israel according to the 1949 borders following the War of Independence and considers land gotten in the Six-Day War – which includes Jerusalem’s Old City, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights – “occupied territory.” German diplomats are instructed not to visit these sites, considered “occupied under international law.”
According to Israeli diplomats who met with their German counterparts in Jerusalem in the past, the instructions must be fairly new as no such behavior was observed before. Responding to an Israel Hayom inquiry, the German Embassy in Tel Aviv said its diplomats were not restricted in the sites they could visit and photograph. It did, however, say that it advised its official delegations, in accordance with the “federal government’s position regarding the status of east Jerusalem and the occupied territories – a position based on international law.”
Cyprus Says In Talks With Israel Over Pipeline Linking Gas Fields
Cyprus and Israel are in talks over the construction of a pipeline linking their offshore gas fields, Cyprus’ energy minister said on Monday (15th).
But George Papanastasiou appeared to play down prospects for an “EastMed” pipeline taking eastern Mediterranean gas to continental Europe, saying a shipping corridor could be set up instead from a hub in Cyprus to transport liquified gas.
“Our objective is low-cost electricity production… so natural gas should come from the area,” Papanastasiou told journalists after briefing an opposition party on the energy plans of the new administration, elected in February.
Papanastasiou, who held senior posts in the oil and gas industry before his ministerial appointment this year, said Cyprus would host a workshop with industry stakeholders on May 29.
He said a liquefaction plant could take about 2.5 years to build and a pipeline with Israel about 18 months.
Plans for a 1,243-mile pipeline to take eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe have been under discussion for about a decade, and the project could potentially be part-funded by the European Union.
However, there was a setback in 2022, when the US pulled its previous support, saying it was too expensive and would take too long to build.
“It will be a corridor that will exist. Instead of a pipeline, it will be a connection between Israel and Europe, which can be done through Cyprus,” Papanastasiou said.
“It could be a virtual pipeline which would link through Cyprus to the rest of Europe in liquefied form,” he added, saying “liquefied gas could be dispatched from Cyprus to any market, including Asia.”
