Media Summary
New calls for action against Livingstone after more claims that “Zionists collaborated with Hitler”
The Times and the Sun report that new calls have been made for Ken Livingstone to be expelled from Labour after he repeated his claims that Zionists collaborated with Hitler. On Saturday, International Holocaust Memorial Day, Livingstone, a former Mayor of London, appeared in a programme called “Has the Holocaust been exploited to oppress others?” on the Iranian state-owned channel Press TV. He said that Hitler had worked with the Zionist movement to move Jewish people to Israel: “He worked with the Zionist movement to move . . . to get 60,000 to go, but it was about half a million — and then he changed his policy and went for genocide”. On Sunday Livingstone repeated his claims at a London conference on the future of Jerusalem hosted by the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
BBC News Online and the Daily Mail via AP report that Poland’s President Andrzej Duda says he will review controversial plans to outlaw any suggestion of Polish complicity in the Nazi Holocaust. Israel has fiercely objected to the draft law, which would also make it illegal to describe Nazi death camps in Poland as Polish. Critics say it seeks to limit discussion about Polish involvement. Duda said on Monday that there was no institutionalised participation by Poland or its people in the Holocaust, but acknowledges that individual Poles took “wicked” actions against Jewish neighbours.
The Daily Mail via AP reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russia on Monday for talks focused on Syria, reaffirming Israel’s opposition to Iran’s growing military presence there and in neighbouring Lebanon. Before departing for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said that Iran is trying to turn Lebanon into “one giant missile site, a site for precision missiles against the state of Israel, which we will not tolerate”.
The Daily Mail via AP reports that Israel is reopening its embassy in Jordan after the two countries put a months-long diplomatic spat behind them. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said on Tuesday that there will be a “gradual reopening” of the embassy in Amman, but that no ambassador has been appointed yet.
The Daily Mail via AFP reports that a group of Gazans were allowed to farm their land near the border with Israel for the first time since 2006 on Monday after a deal agreed with Israeli authorities. The deal, brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), saw around a dozen farmers begin to farm land they had not been able to access since Israel began imposing security measures on Gaza.
The Guardian reports on the audio recording that emerged of Sara Netanyahu furiously scolding a family publicist over a gossip column she said failed to highlight her professional qualifications. The Israeli site Walla! News published the tape in which Netanyahu, a child psychologist, is heard screaming at an aide who had reportedly placed news of her fundraising activities in a 2009 column. The piece had mentioned how the premier’s wife was “obligated” to public service.
The Guardian, the Telegraph, and the Financial Times report on the ongoing Presidential campaign in Egypt. A little-known Egyptian politician has added his name to the candidate list for elections in March, minutes before a nomination deadline was set to pass with incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as the sole officially recognised candidate. Mousa Mostafa Mousa, the head of the small, centrist Ghad party filed his intention to stand, even though his Facebook page declared him a supporter of Sisi’s bid to secure a second term. The Telegraph reports that Egyptian opposition leaders have called for a boycott of the country’s elections after all real candidates trying to stand against Sisi were arrested, prosecuted or intimidated out of the race.
BBC News Online reports on the implications of the cuts to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by the US to those receiving services from the agency in Gaza. The US is the largest single donor to UNRWA. Last year, the US gave the agency around $360m – about half of the total amount it gave in support to the Palestinians. US President Donald Trump first indicated a change in approach on 2 January when he said that his country got “no appreciation or respect” for the large sums of aid it gave. UNRWA supports some 5m people, not only in the Palestinian Territories but also in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom all lead with the meeting in Moscow between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kan Radio News reported that a Colour Red alert had sounded in the Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev Regional Councils last night, although IDF officials have said that it is still not possible to determine with certainty that a rocket was indeed fired from Gaza at Israel last night.
Haaretz reports that the IDF will begin to operate in neighbourhoods such as the Shuafat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab that are within the borders of municipal Jerusalem but are on the other side of the security barrier.
The Times of Israel reports that US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has suggested that action on Iranian missiles could persuade US President Donald Trump not to cancel the nuclear deal.
Yediot Ahronoth reports claims by a state witness in the “submarines affair,” Micky Ganor, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer David Shimron promised to use his connection with Netanyahu to promote the deal with German company Thyssenkrupp.
Maariv reports that the IDF plans to no longer respond to criticism by Rabbis of its mixed gender units.
Haaretz and Times of Israel report comments by Interior Minister Arieh Deri that a third Country – thought to be Rwanda – will accept asylum seekers even if they are forced to leave Israel. Yediot Ahronot reports on discussions from the Knesset on this issue, quoting Deri saying: “Unequivocally there is an agreement with a third country on removing [people] by coercion.” He added that anyone who had filed an application for asylum before December 31, 2017 – and his application has not yet been processed – would not be deported until his application is examined.
Maariv reports on the continuing controversy over the draft legislation in Poland regarding the Holocaust, with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid criticising Netanyahu’s handling of the issue. Kan Radio News reports that Polish President Andrzej Duda last night said that while there were Poles who committed malicious acts against their Jewish neighbours in World War II, there was no institutionalised participation in the Holocaust by Poland or the Polish people.