Israel Update Week Ending July 8
Lapid as Prime Minister,Yair Golan Runs,Hezbollah Attacks,Ukraine and much more
POLITICS
The week began with the newly seated head of state Yair Lapid delivering an address to the Israeli people for the first time as Prime Minister. It was a good speech, and Lapid does have charisma, which Bennett lacked. On Tuesday, Lapid made a quick trip to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, providing plenty of photos of Lapid being Prime Minister. Next week, Lapid will get to greet President Biden.
Also to his credit, Lapid did not make the mistake Bennett made, by staying in his home in Raanana, and providing added fodder for the media. Lapid moved to Jerusalem into the apartment previously occupied by the Prime Minister’s security personnel, since the official residence is still under renovation. Lapid’s wife posted a photo of their modest living room to Instagram, with suitcases present. I believe support for Lapid is being underrepresented in current polling. During the past week, I have spoken to several people who all previously voted for other parties, including Likud. Many of them said they plan to vote for Lapid. We will see what happens on Election day. Needless to say, there are many months until the elections, and a great deal can happen.
On Wednesday, I attended the press conference held by Yair Golan, where he announced he intends to run to replace Nitzan Horowitz as head of Meretz. Golan served as IDF Deputy Chief of Staff. He had been on a short list to become Chief of Staff, until he gave a speech warning of fascism rising in the country. His warning was both widely misunderstood and not well received. I have always been impressed by Golan. However, it’s unclear how well a former general will fare amongst Meretz members. The Labor Party has a history of Generals as leaders; Meretz does not. He made some news at the Press conference that was not picked up by the media, when he called for unilateral separation from the Palestinians if an agreement cannot be reached. There is zero chance the Israeli public will go for that plan
.
Meanwhile, Lapid will face a more immediate security challenge, i.e., how to respond to Hezbollah provocations. Saturday night, it was announced that Hezbollah had sent three drones to attack Israel’s new gas rig. The rig is in water recognized by the UN and the US as Israel’s economic zone (as opposed to an area a bit further north that is in dispute between Israel and Lebanon, and over which ongoing negotiations continue under the auspices of the US. Hezbollah, desperate to change the subject from the terrible state of the Lebanese economy, does not accept the accepted economic zone border. It was revealed on Thursday that Hezbollah had made additional attempts to sabotage the new gas rigs. Lapid spoke at the graduation of the latest IDF officer's course on Thursday and warned Hezbollah that Israel is stronger than all of its enemies, and will not be deterred from using force to defend itself.
WHY UKRAINE
On Wednesday evening, I attended the premiere screening of Bernard-Henry Levy's new film “Why Ukraine”. The film was done together with i24News, owned by Patrick Drahi (who also owns Cablevision). Drahi attended the screening.
Levy’s film was extremely powerful. In the question and answer session that followed the screening, Levy stressed how this war was a war against pure evil and must be everyone's war. Levy was asked how he felt about Israel’s response. While he expressed he understood some of the constraints under which the Israeli government operates, Levy believes Israel should be doing more to support Ukraine. Moreover, Israel should not find itself on the wrong side of history. I agree.
ISRAEL’S SUPREME COURT
Meanwhile, in an unusual decision, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Ukrainian Embassy, which petitioned to stop the Ministry of Interior from expelling Ukrainian refugees. The court sided with the Embassy, claiming the government’s actions violated the treaty between Ukraine and Israel. The unusual aspect of this ruling is that I have not heard of another case where a local embassy sued the government of the host country. Nevertheless, I am glad they did.
US SUPREME COURT
Democrats Abroad had a small rally in Tel Aviv on July 4th, to protest the US Supreme Court decision on abortion. I generally support them and have spoken on their behalf several times, but this did not feel right; it felt seemingly out of place.
I celebrated the 4th by participating in a twenty-minute discussion with Dan Perry (former AP region chief) on the state of America this 4th.
NETANYAHU TRIAL
The trial of former Prime Minister Netanyahu entered a new stage this week, with the testimony of Hadas Klein, who was personal assistant to millionaire Arnon Milchin. Klein described the gifts she purchased for the Netanyahu’s — at their request — gifts, such as expensive cigars and champagne, all of which totaled over $100,000. Klein’s testimony will be hard to refute and will stretch out over months during the election campaign. A good read on the testimony comes from Noga Tarnopolsky, in the Daily Beast. I debated a Likud advisor about the trial on ILTV.
PALESTINIANS & OUR GULF NEIGHBORS
Defense Minister Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday night in Ramallah, in advance of President Biden's visit. Gantz hosted Abbas in December at his home in Rosh Ha'ayin. During his period as Prime Minister, Bennett made clear he would not meet Abbas. Prime Minister Lapid spoke by phone with Abbas this morning. Both Gantz and Lapid spoke to Abbas primarily about security cooperation, and further economic assistance Israel can provide to the Authority. I had a conversation this week with a Palestinian from Tulkarem. According to him, Abbas and his whole family are corrupt and believe they are stealing money right and left. He believes whatever money either the Palestinian Authority or individual Palestinians get the family and their friends take a cut . As to the law, he said there was no law in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Gantz also announced that in advance of the Biden visit, he will focus on cooperation between Israel and its Gulf neighbors, adding that since the Abraham Accords were signed, Israel has sold $2 Billion in arms to the Gulf States.
BUSINESS
IBM has purchased Databank.ai. The company, which has 40 workers, and in which $15 million has been invested since its founding, was sold for an estimated $150 million.
A significant number of Israeli startups have announced layoffs in this past month. They have heard the word that profitability is more important than growth, and thus they are cutting back their expansion plans.
Elbit Systems unveils an innovative technological vision suite for military helicopters (a fifth-generation aircraft technology). The new suite integrates a sophisticated sensor array, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered mission computer and a unique Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) system. The new suite enables helicopter pilots to see through the body of the aircraft and provides them with a real-time, clear, colored wide field of view, day and night, in challenging weather and visibility conditions. These capabilities address one of the toughest operational challenges of military helicopters – conducting low-altitude flights during degraded visibility conditions, significantly expanding the operational envelop of military helicopters, and transforming extreme weather and other degraded visibility conditions into an operational advantage.