Israel Update Week Ending June 3
Jerusalem Day,IDF Maneuvers,UAE Israel Trade Agreement, Political Chaos
THE HOME FRONT — JERUSALEM
This has been a tumultuous week in Israel, on many fronts. The past week began with Jerusalem Day and the Flag March in Jerusalem. I no longer celebrate that day, and I explain why in this article.
Last year, Jerusalem Day ended with a Hamas missile barrage on the holy city, which resulted in another mini-war with Gaza, along with violence in the major mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel. This year, in contrast, Jerusalem day passed with only minor violence. For a change, the Jerusalem police acquitted themselves well. Nevertheless, some of this violence was deeply disturbing; i.e., scenes of Jewish youth from some far-right groups marching through the Old City attacking Arabs, without provocation. Following the march, Defense Minister Gantz suggested that the far-right groups “La Familia” and “Lehava” be officially designated terror groups. Members of these two groups have been responsible for repeated verbal and physical attacks against Arabs.
On Thursday evening, Jerusalem hosted a very different march — the Annual Gay Pride Parade. Despite several threats, this year’s parade attended by 10,000, went off peacefully. Before the parade began, organizers received a threat that stated: “We will not allow the Pride Parade to be held in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the holy city. The fate of Shira Banki is waiting for you all.” (Shira Banki was murdered by an ultra-Orthodox man at the 2015 parade.)
MILITARY & DIPLOMACY
The army has been very much in the news this week. A furor was created by the commander of the Shomron Division (Northern West Bank) at a Yom Yerushalayim ceremony at Yeshivat Alon Moreh when he stated: “many times people say the army and the settlers are working together; that is not true they are one and the same.” In a separate incident, army officers agreed to the request of several rabbis to remove the woman education officers from an army swearing-in ceremony at the Kotel, merely because they were women. Chief of Staff Avi Kohavi denounced the action, stating that it is a violation of the values of the IDF.
During the week, the army held its largest exercise outside Israel. The exercises were conducted in Cyprus, where naval landings were practiced, and an assault on a Hezbollah-controlled village was simulated. The training in Cyprus was followed by one of the largest exercises in the history of the Israeli Air Force, when over 100 planes attacked targets far out over the Mediterranean, simulating an attack on Iran. The Navy was not going to be left out, and it sponsored maneuvers in the Red Sea with one of its submarines and several other ships. Today marked the end of a month-long series of exercises by the IDF.
On Friday, the head of the UN Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi met with Prime Minister Bennett to discuss the state of the Iranian nuclear program.
This was a significant week for Israeli diplomacy. First, a free-trade agreement was signed between Israel and the UAE. Israeli Trade with the UAE has proliferated. The UAE has been purchasing advanced Israeli armaments. Reports indicate that 8 UAE heavy-lift planes made short visits to one of the Israeli Air bases this week. The trade understanding constitutes the first Free Trade Agreement with an Arab State.
There were also reports from reliable sources that an agreement was reached with Saudi Arabia, under which Israel approved Egypt giving back the Islands in the Straits of Tiran (with whom Israel has a security agreement) to Saudi Arabia. In return, Saudi Arabia will grant Israeli airlines overflight rights over Saudi Arabia, thus allowing Israel’s airlines to compete on flights to the Gulf, India, and beyond. This agreement has not yet been officially announced. The release of this news is expected during President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, later this month. According to reports in Israeli media over the past few years, several high-ranking Israelis have visited the Saudi Kingdom, and a significant amount of defense cooperation exists between Israel and the Saudis, for some time.
Finally, on Thursday, Defense Minister Gantz arrived for a short visit in India. The visit commemorates 30 years of defense cooperation between the two countries. Gantz hopes to further that cooperation following his visit.
POLITICS
The political scene here remains turbulent. The coalition seems to jump from one crisis to the next. With only 60 votes in the Knesset, and some of those not 100% reliable. Every day that the Knesset is in session is another day of political drama.
The next looming crisis is a real one. Next week, the government has to pass what has become routine —a law that effectively states that Israeli citizens in the West Bank fall under Israeli law, and not Military law. This law was first passed before there were any settlements, except for Gush Etzion. It was instituted to ensure if something happened to an Israeli while traveling in the West Bank, that Israeli law would apply. In effect, this law is the one thing that actually makes a small part of Israel sort of “apartheid” (i.e., area C of the West Bank) — where one law exists for Israelis and another for Palestinians. It's not quite Apartheid since Israeli Arabs who visit the West Bank also fall under the same provisions as Jewish Israelis. Since the law regarding the status of Jewish Israelis in Area C is not ethnically based, this case might not fit the exact definition of apartheid, but it is close.
It is time for this governance law to be renewed again, and the Ra’am party indicated they will not support it. The Likud has also made clear it will not support the extension of this law — even if it means chaos for the Israelis living in the West Bank. Yariv Levine, Likud faction head, responded to pleas from West Bank leaders by blaming these same people for not working to stop the creation of the current “left-wing” government; adding that the only solution to the situation is to take the government down and bring Netanyahu back to power. Not sure if this stalemate over the governance law is a game of chicken, or if we are at the precipice of a real crisis.
ECONOMY
While some Israeli firms quietly tighten their belts, while others continue to raise funds.
Caralogix, which has developed a platform to analyze data in real-time, without saving that data, has raised $142 million, bringing their total sum of funds raised today to $238 million.
Ultima Genomics has exited stealth mode with a surprise. It developed a sequencing machine that can sequence a complete human genome for $100, which is 1/5 the cost of competing technologies. Furthermore, the Ultima Genomics system can sequence down to a lower level, thus providing more information.
Simplicity, which has developed a risk reduction and productivity platform for modern security teams, raised a $26 million in a Series A round, led by Glilot Capital Partners through its early growth fund, Glilot+, with participation from new investors NTTVC and Atlantic Bridge and existing investors S Capital and Rain Capital. The company previously raised a $6 million seed round led by S Capital. Simplicity already serves over 20 customers globally, including Fortune 500 and publicly traded companies.
Elbit Systems Ltd. announced it has been awarded a $69 million contract to supply Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities to a country in Asia-Pacific. The contract will be delivered over three years. Oren Sabag, General Manager of Elbit Systems ISTAR & EW, said: “We witness a growing demand for our EW capabilities as militaries worldwide increasingly recognize the importance of dominating the electromagnetic spectrum.”