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Netanyahu Praises Communications Minister’s Decision to Close Al Jazeera’s Israel Office

Benjamin Kerstein

Al Jazeera’s English newsroom in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised Communications Minister Ayoob Kara’s recent decision to close the Qatari-based news channel Al Jazeera’s Israel office.

“I congratulate Minister of Communications Ayoob Kara,” Netanyahu tweeted on Sunday, “who, in accordance with my instructions, took practical steps today to stop Al-Jazeera‘s incitement in Israel.”

Earlier on Sunday, Reuters reported that Kara decided to close the station for “supporting terrorism” and that he will “revoke press credentials of Al-Jazeera TV journalists, close their Jerusalem bureau and pull the Qatar-based station’s broadcasts from local cable and satellite providers.”

Haaretz World News Editor Asaf Ronel, however, tweeted that Kara only “wants” to close the channel but has not yet taken action. Indeed, Reuters notes that “further legislation” will be necessary in order to do so.

Al Jazeera has met with accusations of anti-Israel bias and antisemitism for years. However, it is also controversial within the Arab world. In particular, it has been accused of serving as a mouthpiece for the government of Qatar and a supporter of Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera journalists have been arrested in Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan have shut down its offices in their respective countries. Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab states issued a series of demands to Qatar in February that included the station’s immediate and permanent closure.

Israeli High Court Freezes Controversial Settlement Outpost Law

JNS.org

(JNS.org) The Israeli High Court has issued a temporary freeze on the controversial settlement law that allowed for certain Jewish outposts built on Palestinian-owned land to be retroactively legalized.

The Amona outpost before it was dismantled. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Known as the Regulation Law, the legislation allows for the Israeli government to expropriate private Palestinian-owned land where previously illegal settlement outposts have been built in good faith or with government support. The law was initiated in response to the controversy surrounding the dismantling of the Amona outpost earlier this year. The constitutionality of the law was quickly challenged by left-wing NGOs.

The High Court’s order freezes any attempts to retroactively legalize settlement outposts for a two-month period, during which time the government has a chance to challenge the decision.

Israeli lawmakers behind the Regulation Law called the High Court’s decision another example of the court overstepping its authority.

“Once again, we see how the High Court of Justice tramples on the separation of powers,” Member of Knesset Shuli Mualem-Refaeli (Jewish Home) said in a statement, adding, “The fight against Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and against Israel’s existence, is being fought through terror and incitement, but through the abuse of Israel’s justice system as well.”

Israel’s National Library Launches Massive Online Database of Jewish Manuscripts

JNS.org

Inside the National Library of Israel. Photo: National Library of Israel

JNS.org – The National Library of Israel (NLI) has launched a massive online database of centuries-old Jewish manuscripts from across the world.

The archive — known as Ktiv, Hebrew for “written word”– contains nearly 4.5 million images from 45,000 manuscripts, including prayer books, biblical texts, commentary, philosophy, literature and scientific writings in various Jewish-related languages such as Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and Judeo-Arabic.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is unprecedented, not only for Jewish studies and Judaica,” NLI Director Aviad Stollman said, The Associated Press reported. “There is no project with this scope that aggregated so many manuscripts from so many places in the world.”

The database is a collaboration between NLI, the Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society, the British Library, the Vatican Library and the Italy-based Palatina Library, in an effort to bring almost half of the world’s known volumes of Jewish manuscripts together in one location.

UN: Islamic State is funding attacks, al-Qaeda is resilient

EDITH M. LEDERER

Security Council report says IS adapting to military pressure in Iraq, Syria by delegating responsibility to local commanders

Fighters from al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, formally known as the al-Nusra Front, marching toward the northern village of al-Ais in Aleppo province, Syria. (Al-Nusra Front via AP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Islamic State extremist group is still capable of sending funds to supporters and motivating attacks in Europe and elsewhere despite military pressure and falling revenue — and al-Qaeda remains resilient especially in West Africa, East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, UN experts said in a report circulated Thursday.

The experts monitoring sanctions against the extremist groups said competition between the Islamic State and al-Qaeda continues, but “shifting alliances” among fighters “and cooperation on the tactical level in several regions also allow them to move between various groups.”

The report said the extremist threat continues to rise in Southeast Asia, where IS wants to establish a foothold. It said recent events in the southern Philippines, where the city of Marawi has been under siege by IS-linked fighters for more than two months, is evidence of this.

The experts said in the report to the UN Security Council that “the core” of the Islamic State extremist group is adapting to military pressure in Iraq and Syria by delegating decision-making responsibility to local commanders and switching to encrypted communications

In this undated file photo released by a militant website, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, militants of the Islamic State group hold up their weapons and wave flags on their vehicles, in a convoy on a road leading to Iraq, from Raqqa, Syria. (Militant website via AP)

Several member states highlighted “the increasingly creative use of drones” by IS, primarily in Iraq and Syria. They said the group is developing the capability to design and construct larger drones which will increasingly enable it “to weaponize the drones, thereby increasing its ability to strike at a distance,” according to the report.

It said IS “continues to send funds to its affiliates worldwide” and is likely to do so as long as the group has the means. IS leaders have also sent money to places where the group doesn’t have affiliates in an attempt to prepare for its eventual defeat in Iraq and Syria, according to an unidentified UN member state quoted in the report.

The experts quote several member states as saying IS fighters returning home generally fall into three categories: Those disenchanted with the extremist group “and terrorism as an ideology” who can potentially be deradicalized and reintegrated into society; a much smaller group of high-risk individuals who return with the aim of conducting “terror attacks”; and individuals who have cut ties with IS but “remain radicalized and are ready to join another terrorist group should the opportunity arise.”

The report assessed extremist trends by region:

— Attacks in Europe in the first half of 2017 demonstrate that “Europe remained a priority region” for IS attacks, it said. However, thus far in 2017 the group hasn’t conducted an attack in which the IS “core” is involved in detailed planning and decision-making, sending fighters and providing financial resources, the report said. It quoted some member states reporting “an increase in radicalization and violent extremism” linked to IS networks in Europe.

— In Iraq, the report quoted several member states saying key IS leaders left Mosul prior to the attack by Iraqi forces supported by the US-led coalition. But it said IS resistance in Mosul “indicates that its command and control structure has not broken down completely and that the group remains a significant military threat.” In Syria, the report said key IS members also left their stronghold of Raqqa ahead of an expected attack and air strikes.

— The Arabian Peninsula faces “a significant threat” from al-Qaeda and IS in Yemen, the report said. It said a member state reported that over 30 IS-related “terrorist plots” have been disrupted in the region, including one in June targeting the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It said the importance of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for the terrorist group is demonstrated by a statement from Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden, encouraging sympathizers to join al-Qaeda training camps in Yemen.

— In North Africa, the report said IS cells claimed several attacks in Libya in the first half of 2017 following the extremist group’s ouster from Sirte. It quoted a member state estimating the number of IS fighters in Libya at between 400 and 700. In Tunisia, it said the threat from IS and al-Qaeda remains “a source of concern.”

— In West Africa, the report said “al-Qaeda affiliates remain resilient and present a significant threat to Mali and, to a lesser extent, the Sahel region.” According to member states, al-Qaeda affiliated groups continue to attack military forces and have intelligence capabilities to monitor movements of security and military patrols “and conduct complex attacks,” it said.

— East Africa faces “terrorist threats” from both al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab, which has approximately 6,000 to 9,000 members, and IS affiliates operating in parts of southern Somalia and its semi-autonomous state of Puntland.

— In Afghanistan, the report said IS has intensified its competition with the Taliban “and aims to expand.” But it said despite recruitment efforts in the last three years, “the group has not yet established a viable fighting force there.” It said the Taliban “continues to wield substantial influence over regional al-Qaeda affiliates.” It quoted one member state saying currently more than 7,000 foreigners are fighting in Afghanistan for the Taliban and al-Qaeda affiliates.

— In Southeast Asia, the report said the situation “remains precarious.” It said that while “terrorist groups” are believed to be ideologically divided over IS, the group’s propaganda on its so-called “caliphate” has resonated with extremists in the region. The report said at least seven attacks in 2016 targeting Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines can be attributed to pro-IS fighters.