Israel Week Ending May 20th
Government in Turmoil, Lag Ba’Omer, Defense, Zim and the Economy
POLITICS
Politics in Israel is never boring, but the last 24 hours have been out and out head-spinning. On Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, the opposition appeared to be in disarray. The coalition planned to conduct to a vote on a law that would mandate the 2/3 payment of a college education for combat and financially needy soldiers, after completion of their army service.
Until now, tuition for IDF veterans’ higher education was paid for by private sources. However, there were too many conditions required to receive that money, so the government eventually resolved to take over these payments. Opposition leader Netanyahu decided not to support the bill, since he remains determined to show the coalition is unable to succeed at anything. But Likud members publicly objected, asserting they would not vote against funds for army veterans. Alas, when push came to shove at the Likud faction meeting, especially after the chaos in the coalition (see below), the Likud faithful all sided with Netanyahu, agreeing to vote against the bill. Their alleged justification for opposing veteran benefits was that they could only support a bill that covered the tuition in full (i.e., not merely 2/3) — a proposal that had never been discussed. It should be noted that soldiers receive a one-time grant that covers the additional 1/3 of tuition, upon completion of their service.
Then, suddenly, out of the blue, came the announcement by MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of Meretz that she would cease to support the coalition. The news came as a total surprise to everyone. In a letter written by Rinawie Zoabi, the MK stated that events on the Temple Mount and the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh forced her to act.
Zoabi clearly should not be in politics. She should resign from Knesset, and give back her seat. While Meretz voters are not thrilled with the current coalition, in their eyes it still rivals any other potential government. Meretz is currently in the government and accomplishing good things in their areas of passion and control. Perhaps Zoabi would feel more comfortable in the opposition. However, if that is the case, she should not have agreed to run as a member of a Zionist party, which Meretz clearly considers itself.
(Below is my take as of Thursday late afternoon)
All the politicians on the left were united in their call for Rinawie Zoabi to change her mind — which she contends she will not. If the government falls because of Rinawie Zoabi, it will be the end of Meretz, and it will set back Jewish-Arab partnerships in political parties for a generation. It seems unfathomable that Rinawie Zoabi would prefer a government with Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotritch to the current government. Yet, history is replete in leaders and politicians who were only willing to accept the perfect solution and ended up with nothing.
It’s currently not clear whether or not Rinawie Zoabi will vote with the Likud next Wednesday to disband the Knesset and hold new elections. Conventional wisdom bets she will not. It is not in her interest to support the Likud, as doing so will make her a political ‘untouchable’. Rinawie Zoabi will have the most leverage by helping keep the current government in place. As of Friday morning, Rinawie Zoabi was giving indications she would not bring down the government, and might even consider resigning from the Knesset. However, it is still possible Rinawie Zoabi may just be a political terrorist, and merely wants to blow up the entire system.
Death of a Journalist
The death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was a profound tragedy. The funeral of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was also a public relations disaster for Israel. It astounds me that the police were not ready for the reactions they encountered at the funeral. More importantly, it appears the police did not understand what sort of damage they could cause Israel by acting as they did.
I doubt there will be a full accounting of the police’s actions, as Israeli politicians instinctively support the overworked and undertrained law enforcement officers. Yes, the police might have been provoked. And there is no doubt some provocateurs violated the agreed-upon plan. Nevertheless, the police should have looked the other way.
That being said, the reality is that it’s a waste of time to spend money on P.R. and then have a debacle like this take place. Moreover, their seeming obsession with confiscating Palestinian flags is itself an embarrassment. In Israel, it is not illegal to display a Palestinian flag — someone needs to tell that to Jerusalem police commander Doron Turgeman, who gave order to remove the flags, while in Germany on an “important” visit.
Sadly, Israel’s investigation into the death of Akleh has hit an impasse. Israel has identified the soldiers who could possibly have shot the journalist, and the gun that might have been used. Yet, without the fatal bullet, it’s impossible to confirm what transpired, one way or another. Therefore, it’s impossible to proceed with any criminal investigation or filing of charges against anyone.
LAG BA’OMER AND MERON
Yesterday was Lag B’Omer. After last year’s tragedy on Meron, where 45 were killed, a plan was put in place to limit the number of visitors to the mount at any given time. On Wednesday night, the plan worked. But on Thursday afternoon, ultra-Orthodox extremists knocked down the protective fences and overwhelmed police. As a result, the authorities closed Meron to all visitors and ended the celebrations. Extremists also tried to block the ceremony memorializing those who died last year. Ultimately, the ceremony was delayed, but it still went ahead, after the police restored order.
DEFENSE
Israel reportedly struck Iranian targets in Syria twice last week. In the meantime, a large-scale military exercise, currently underway, is being conducted to simulate a potential attack on Iran, and the expected response by Hezbollah in Lebanon to a massive rocket attack from the North. The U.S. will participate in the exercise by using tanker aircraft, which Israel awaits to receive, for refueling its planes.
Minister of Defense Gantz flew to Washington, DC to meet U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin. The men’s primary topic of discussion was Iran, as talks on Iran’s return to the JCOPA agreement seem stalled.
ECONOMY
Zim continues to report record revenue and profit. The company generated its highest ever quarterly net income of $1.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 billion. Q1 2022 carried volume, increased 5% year- over-year. This rate is significantly above the industry average. Zim’s increased 2022 full-year guidance is expected to generate an adjusted EBITDA of $7.8-$8.2 billion and adjusted EBIT of $6.3-$6.7 billion.
Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, stated:
“Building on an extraordinary 2021 for ZIM, we maintained our strong trajectory in the first quarter of 2022, delivering on our commitment to outstanding execution and profitable growth. Consistent with our focus on identifying new profitable market opportunities, we have launched 10 new lines since the beginning of 2022, and we increased our carried volume quarter-over-quarter, during a time when overall industry volume decreased.”
Elbit Systems Ltd. announced that its U. subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America LLC, was awarded a delivery order valued at $49 million for the supply of Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle (“SBNVG”) systems to the U.S. Marines Corps. The order will be executed in Roanoke, Virginia and will be supplied through September 2023. This additional order is part of a $249 million five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract from September 6, 2019.
Cloud data security company Dig emerged from stealth this week, announcing $11M in seed funding for the first cloud Data Detection and Response (DDR) solution. The seed round was led by Team8, with cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike, through their Falcon Fund, and CyberArk joining as strategic investors alongside Merlin Ventures. Moving beyond posture solutions, Dig Security helps organizations discover, monitor, detect, protect and govern their cloud data in real-time through a single unified policy engine.