English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 28/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.june28.20.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10/01-07/:”Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 27-28/2020
Health Ministry: 22 new corona cases reported, total number of confirmed cases rises to 1719
Judge Mazeh issues decree preventing media outlets from hosting US Ambassador
Abdel Samad: No one has the right to prevent the media from reporting news
IMF chief’s fears over lack of progress in talks to solve Lebanon’s economic crisis
British Ambassador: Hizbullah Destabilizing Lebanon
New Source Draining Lebanon’s Finances, MP Says
Salameh: BDL Can't Control Black Market, Activity in It Limited
Fahmi Says 'Foreign Funding' behind Riots, Vows to Sue Road Blockers
A World Redrawn: Lebanon Film Director Fears Nothing Will Change
Lebanese minister target of demonstrators’ wrath/The value of the Lebanese Pound tumbles to new lows against the dollar.
Lebanon Film Director Says Pandemic ‘Did not Teach us Anything’
Literally no one is doing their job:’ Former adviser to Lebanon gov’t on IMF talks
Diab follows-up on bread crisis, commissions Nehme, Ibrahim to search for solutions
No shortage in wheat and flour,’ reassures Nehme
Sleiman after his meeting with Rahi: I urged the Patriarch to form an independent group to address the situation
Berri, Fahmy review security developments
Hashem: For execution steps to end the collapse
Abou Al-Hassan commends decision to expand food basket support
Alain Aoun: FPM, Change & Reform Bloc an oasis of diversity, multiple opinions
Protest in downtown Beirut, another facing BDL
Kanaan: Parliament Council's work on auditing and unifying the numbers is serious, aims to facilitate obtaining IMF assistance

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 27-28/2020
Iraqi PM challenges Iran allies with raid on Katai’b Hezbollah/Iranian missile expert detained in the raid.
Iraqi Forces Launch Night Raid on Armed Factions
Saudi Arabia says it forced three Iranian boats out of its water with warning shots
Iran's Khamenei Warns Economy Will Worsen if Virus Spreads
Iran Quds force chief visits Syria, warns of US, Israel ‘conspiracies:’ Report
Eight more Iranian protesters sentenced to death
Mossad chief meets King Abdullah in secret trip to Jordan ahead of Israeli annexation plans
Gaza Families Receive Qatari Financial Aid
US Delegation Discusses Annexation Plans with Netanyahu, Gantz
Israeli Jets Strike Hamas Sites after Gaza Rockets
Russia's Putin, France's Macron Call for Libya Ceasefire
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Agree to Delay Filling Dam
Nile Countries Agree to Restart Talks, Delay Filling GERD
Sisi: Nile Water an Existential Matter
Turkey Faces Egyptian Red Line in the Battle for Sirte
Tunisian MPs Seek to Withdraw Confidence From Fakhfakh
U.S. States Reimpose Virus Restrictions; India Tops 500,000

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 27-28/2020
Modern Slavery and Woke Hypocrisy/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/June 27/2020
Greece Looks Like a Safer Destination Now/Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/June 27/2020
America is on the Road to Relapse Not Recovery/Niall Ferguson/Bloomberg/June 27/2020
Israeli Annexation in the West Bank? Scenarios and Implications/David Makovsky, Ghaith al-Omari, Dana Stroul, and Dennis Ross/The Washington Institute/June 27/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 27-28/2020
Health Ministry: 22 new corona cases reported, total number of confirmed cases rises to 1719
NNA/June 27/2020 The Public Health Ministry announced, on Saturday, the registration of 22 new corona infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 1719. The Ministry indicated that the number of laboratory examinations carried out during the past 24 hours has reached 2,635.

Judge Mazeh issues decree preventing media outlets from hosting US Ambassador
NNA/June 27/2020
The Judge of Urgent Matters in Tyre, Mohammad Mazeh, has issued a decree to "prohibit any Lebanese or foreign media outlet operating on Lebanese soil, whether audiovisual, written or electronic, from conducting any interview with the American Ambassador (Dorothy Shea) for a period of one year, under the penalty of stopping the media outlet concerned for a similar period, in the event of non-compliance with this decision, and under the penalty of obliging the media outlet to pay the amount of two hundred thousand dollars as a coercive fine due to failure to abide by the provisions of said decree.” The decree came in wake of a summons presented by the citizen Faten Ali Kassir, where Judge Mazeh indicated that Ambassador Shea undermined in an interview via "Al-Hadath Al-Arabiya" Channel yesterday, "Hezbollah," considering that this denotes “interference in Lebanese affairs,” and "deviates from the usual and customary diplomatic norms, in accordance with the international treaties and the Vienna Convention,” and that “it offends the feelings of many Lebanese, and contributes to inciting the Lebanese people against each other, and against the aforementioned party and what it represents, and raises sectarian, confessional and political tensions, igniting the fire of sedition which the Lebanese, alongside the international and regional community, worked hard to put out in the earlier stages."

Abdel Samad: No one has the right to prevent the media from reporting news
NNA/June 27/2020
Information Minister, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, affirmed Saturday via her Twitter account: “I understand the keen concern of the judiciary over the homeland’s security with regards to the interference of some diplomats in its internal affairs. But no one has the right to prevent the media from reporting news and limiting media freedom…In case someone has a problem with the media, let the solution be through the Ministry of Information, the Syndicate, and the advisory role of the National Media Council, far-reaching the Publications Court."

IMF chief’s fears over lack of progress in talks to solve Lebanon’s economic crisis
Najia Houssar/Arab News/June 27/2020
IMF chief’s fears over lack of progress in talks to solve Lebanon’s economic crisis
BEIRUT: The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a doom-laden forecast over the outcome of crucial talks aimed at solving Lebanon’s financial woes. Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said she did not “expect progress in the negotiations with the Lebanese officials” over helping the country out of its economic crisis. Former Lebanese Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud told Arab News: “What Georgieva said has already been stated for years by the International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG), but her declaration comes at a time when Lebanon is negotiating with the IMF.”
Speaking on Friday, the IMF chief said: “IMF officials are still working with Lebanon, but it is not clear whether it is possible for the country’s leaders, active parties, and society to agree on implementing the reforms needed to stabilize the economy and boost economic growth.”
The financial meltdown in the country has seen the Lebanese pound lose 75 percent of its value over the past eight months. Georgieva pointed out that “the core challenge is to implement a set of very difficult but necessary reforms.”
She said that the situation in Lebanon was “breaking her heart,” adding that it was a “country which has a strong culture of entrepreneurship, and is hosting refugees from Palestine and Syria to help alleviate a major humanitarian crisis.”
Reaching an agreement with the IMF would require a strong commitment from the Lebanese government to implement a set of structural reforms in public institutions.
The ISG has called for a prompt resolution to problems in the electricity sector, the issuance of a law that guarantees the independence of the judiciary, and new rules controlling public-sector purchasing and tendering by ministries, public institutions, councils, and municipalities.
One of the most urgent issues for Lebanon is to restore the confidence of its citizens, the international community, and international financial institutions. Economist Issam Al-Jurdi, told Arab News: “There is a prevalent belief in Lebanon that the reform process is limited to simple traditional measures, however what the IMF is asking for is reforms to the public sector that is subject to political control, and it is through these reforms that sectoral and structural reforms could be achieved. “The reason for refraining from doing these reforms is that they touch to the clientelism and nepotism that is widespread throughout the Lebanese political system, and that is used by the political class as a means to uphold power, embezzle public funds, and ensure appointment of proteges, in the name of the confessional system and sectarian privileges.
“The call for reforms is supposed to extend to vital sectors related to treasury funds such as electricity, communications, water, dams, and transportation.”
Al-Jurdi feared that the Lebanese Parliament “would interfere, under the pretext of unifying the figures of the government bailout plan that was submitted to the IMF, to provide support to the banks at the expense of depositors whose deposits were seized by the banks.”
Baroud said that the call for reforms was “most and foremost a Lebanese one before being an IMF demand, and is dictated by the need for good governance and for the preservation of the national interests of Lebanon. “When people demand these reforms, they do so because they are popular demands, but it seems that the political class does not want to hear the outcry of the people, which has brought us to the stage where reforms could no longer be mere wishful thinking, but rather an existential necessity for survival. “Perhaps some parties are not listening to calls for reform on purpose, and we are paying the price. They talk of sacrifices that they are willing to make, but in the end, they are asking the citizens to do sacrifices,” added Baroud. Al-Jurdi said: “After the global financial meltdown in 2008, the IMF amended its previous policies. It is no longer satisfied with the traditional measures that require reducing the deficit, eliminating subsidies, and floating the exchange rate, but it now demands a social program to support poor and marginalized social groups, as the IMF strict reform measures have severe repercussions on these groups.”
He added that Georgieva knew that Lebanon had huge potential and should not have reached this situation.

British Ambassador: Hizbullah Destabilizing Lebanon
Naharnet/June 27/2020
British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling expressed his belief on Saturday that the current situation in Lebanon is worrying and that the long-awaited economic reforms are more necessary than ever. In an interview with Independent Arabia, Rampling said that Britain expects the government and the International Monetary Fund to agree on a clear framework before the program. He made it clear that foreign financing will not flow into Lebanon in the absence of comprehensive economic reforms implemented by the Lebanese authorities. The ambassador emphasized the necessity that local Lebanese players “avoid” the pattern of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech, and his calls to look “East” in Lebanon’s economic dealings. “Unfortunately, Lebanon is in trouble and the Lebanese will not come out of this if they do not focus on their national interest ... If this does not happen, the situation will continue to worsen and I cannot predict the outcome,” said Rampling. He added: “Last year, a decision was taken to ban Hizbullah as a whole including its political wing, and this is an important part of our policy.” He said London realized that Hizbullah has been directly violating Lebanon’s dissociation policy, destabilizing the region and the stability of Lebanon as well. "Lebanon suffers from serious political, security and economic problems, but the serious and worrying decline today is on the economic and social axis with high rates of poverty and unemployment,” he concluded.

New Source Draining Lebanon’s Finances, MP Says
Naharnet/June 27/2020
Democratic Gathering bloc MP Bilal Abdullah said on Saturday that reports emerged lately about smuggling of medicine subsidized by the Central Bank into Syria, adding a “new source to drain the country’s economy.”“According to information, Lebanon’s subsidized medicine is being smuggled at the official exchange rate, adding a new source to drain our economy and our crumbling reserves of hard currency,” Abdullah said in a tweet.“As usual, in such files, the perpetrators remain unknown and the related agencies have no knowledge of,” he added. Lebanon spends billions of dollars on subsidies on essentials such as fuel, flour and medicine, but smugglers often sell them in war-torn Syria at a hefty mark-up. Order of Pharmacists head Ghassan Amin, told al-Jadeed TV: “We must speed up the mechanism of importing medicine in order to avoid the crisis. We have no information about medicine smuggling, but since its price has decreased in Lebanon compared to abroad, it is normal that smuggling operations become active.” In May, the Cabinet ordered the seizure of all contraband goods at its border with Syria after a controversy over fuel smuggling, as both countries face economic crises. The border between the two countries has been closed in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Lebanon is mired in its worst economic crunch in decades and public pressure has mounted for a tougher approach to smuggling, especially of fuel and flour.

Salameh: BDL Can't Control Black Market, Activity in It Limited
Naharnet/June 27/2020
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced Friday that Banque du Liban has no ability to control the currency black market while downplaying the size of its transactions. “The Lebanese central bank, like any central bank in the world, has no ability to control this market, which is receiving undeserved publicity, seeing as activity in it is limited and unorganized,” said Salameh after meeting Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Grand Serail along with Finance Minister Raoul Nehme and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. He added that the central bank’s objective is to reach a situation in which the biggest number of money exchange operations are carried out within banks and within organized markets. Noting that the central bank has launched a long-awaited electronic platform that will organize transactions at money exchange shops, Salameh said all licensed money changers will be part of the platform. “During the first session today, sale and purchase transactions worth more than $8 million took place, at an exchange rate ranging between LBP 3,850 and LBP 3,900,” the governor added. He noted that “this platform will be further activated and will be the main reference for the money exchange market.”Salameh also pointed out that banks can join the platform although their official exchange rate will remain pegged at LBP 1,515. “This issue helps control the prices of fuel, medicine, foodstuffs and flour,” he added.

Fahmi Says 'Foreign Funding' behind Riots, Vows to Sue Road Blockers
Naharnet/June 27/2020
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Friday said authorities possess “certain and confirmed information that foreign interference and financial support are behind the acts of vandalization.” In an interview with al-Manar TV, Fahmi said the “corruption” of those carrying out the rioting has “spared us a major disaster.”“They did not spend all the sums of money that they received from the plotters to spark security incidents,” the minister explained. Revealing that he had tasked security agencies to communicate with Hizbullah, AMAL Movement, al-Mustaqbal Movement and Lebanese Forces during the recent sectarian unrest, Fahmi said the four parties “were positive as to the immunization of civil peace.”Famhi also warned that “the incidents that are happening in Syria’s Idlib might lead to a new Syrian exodus towards Lebanon, with the possibility of the infiltration Daesh members among them with the aim of sparking incidents in the country.”Reassuring that security is under control, the minister acknowledged that “the economic and social situation is a ticking bomb.”“Attacks on citizens and public and private property are prohibited,” Fahmi said, adding that security forces will prevent the blocking of roads by protesters. “We will file lawsuits against those who do it. Yes to freedom of expression and assembly but no to the blocking of roads,” he added, describing the blocking of roads as “a form of aggression against citizens’ dignity.”

A World Redrawn: Lebanon Film Director Fears Nothing Will Change
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/2020
Prize-winning Lebanese documentary filmmaker Carol Mansour fears the world has learnt nothing from the novel coronavirus shock and will go back to square one or worse when normal life returns. The director, who lost her father living in Canada to the COVID-19 disease, admits "what scares me the most" is that mankind has learned nothing from this crisis. "Maybe the skies and the rivers have cleared up a bit, but if the coronavirus crisis can't change us, I don't know what can," she told AFP in an interview on Zoom. "I am very afraid of what will happen after the return to normal" because the crisis "apparently did not teach us anything". "I think that we will quickly return to where we were and perhaps worse," with "three percent of the world population" remaining in charge of the planet. In her own world, Mansour said the curbs linked to the pandemic have brought out "a personal dimension" in her work and pushed her to look differently at her city, Beirut. As for her media, the future of cinema remains in suspense, although she has stayed creative in lockdown. It's as if "we pressed a stop button" since the virus swept across the globe, said Mansour, who lives in the Lebanese capital. In collaboration with Daraj.com, an independent media platform, Mansour has produced two short films on the epidemic, including one on her father. "Every day we hear about... the number of people who have died from coronavirus but I never imagined that my father would be one of those figures," she says in the film "My Father, Killed by Covid-19".
'Has Beirut become beautiful?' In a second video, Mansour focuses on contradictions in "her plans, hopes and concerns" for Beirut in the era of coronavirus. "Beirut is ugly," she said, "because of the indiscriminate construction, the proliferation of huge shopping centres and the continued demolition of old buildings." But that has been cut short by the epidemic and stay-at-home restrictions. She explained that she could now walk in usually crowded streets, "alone among cats" because with confinement, Beirut "has become a city of cats". "Has Beirut become beautiful or has calm embellished it?" she mused.
The Lebanese director of Palestinian origin has won several international awards, including the 2018 prize for best documentary at the Delhi film festival for "Stitching Palestine". Under confinement, Mansour also decided to make another "very personal" film about her mother who fled to Lebanon in 1948 from Jaffa in present-day Israel and died in 2015. The film addresses her mother's discussions "on Palestine" while she was suffering from Alzheimer's. "I was filming it without intending to collect these videos to make a film," she said. Coronavirus has come at a time when we had already grown familiar with "new ways" of seeing and photographing. "With 'Stitching Palestine' we shot segments via Zoom with 350 participants from 20 different countries," she said. "We watched the film, then a discussion took place. In this area, there has definitely been some change."As for Mansour's private life, with the coronavirus, "I've discovered things about myself... I speak (more) now," she said with a laugh. She has also grown to appreciate the merits of a simpler life. "I only yearn for friends and hugs."

Lebanese minister target of demonstrators’ wrath/The value of the Lebanese Pound tumbles to new lows against the dollar.
The Arab Weekly/June 27/2020
Protesters in Lebanon stormed the headquarters of the Ministry of Social Affairs on Friday, demanding to see Ramzi Moucharafieh, who was not present in the building at the time. Protesters held the ministry responsible for the deterioration of their living conditions, accusing Moucharafieh of dereliction of duties towards citizens. Security forces intervened to disperse the crowd and tried to persuade protesters to move to the entrance to the ministry. Several cities in Lebanon have witnessed protests against deteriorating living standards and the fall in the value of Lebanese Pound. Demonstrators cut off the roads for hours in ​​Barja, south of Beirut, as they called their movement a “revolution of anger”. Some complained their situation has become so dire that they could not provide food for their children. In Baalbek, some protesters stood amid a heavy security cordon, in front of the Palace of Justice headquarters in the city, demanding “that the corrupt be held accountable and that looted funds be recovered”. The value of the Lebanese Pound has tumbled to new lows against the Dollar on Friday in the parallel market where it has now lost around 80 percent of its value since October. President of the Syndicate of Importers of Foodstuffs in Lebanon (IFBC) and board member of the Beirut Traders Association (BTA), Hani Bohsali, said food importers have only been able to secure 20 percent of their foreign currency needs at licensed dealers during the last two weeks, which left them dependent on the parallel market for the rest of their hard currency needs. He added: “Food imports are being reduced. It cannot continue this way. If you can’t find dollars to import, you don’t have any guarantee you will be able to have the funds to pay for shipments”. The pound has continued to slump despite President Michel Aoun’s pledge on June 16 that the central bank would supply the currency market with dollars to prop it up. On Friday, Aoun said that “the current situation has increased the percentage of poverty and overburdened the Lebanese. But our first concern now lies with achieving the food sufficiency of the Lebanese people in addition to security”. Economic, financial, and social indicators continue to show a massive deterioration in Lebanon. The unemployment rate is expected to exceed 40 percent, while poverty will affect 50 percent of the Lebanese population. Protester in Lebanon have for months accused the ruling political class of lack of real will to carry out reforms. The government, led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, recently appointed four central bank vice governors after the posts were left vacant for over a year. However, the protestors did not consider this move as the beginning of a solution to the crisis, accusing Diab of forgetting his official pledges to combat corruption.The inability by politicians to carry out reforms hinders international assistance often conditioned on progress introducing reforms.

Lebanon Film Director Says Pandemic ‘Did not Teach us Anything’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
Prize-winning Lebanese documentary filmmaker Carol Mansour fears the world has learnt nothing from the novel coronavirus shock and will go back to square one or worse when normal life returns. The director, who lost her father living in Canada to the COVID-19 disease, admits "what scares me the most" is that mankind has learned nothing from this crisis. "Maybe the skies and the rivers have cleared up a bit, but if the coronavirus crisis can't change us, I don't know what can," she told AFP in an interview on Zoom. "I am very afraid of what will happen after the return to normal" because the crisis "apparently did not teach us anything". "I think that we will quickly return to where we were and perhaps worse," with "three percent of the world population" remaining in charge of the planet. In her own world, Mansour said the curbs linked to the pandemic have brought out "a personal dimension" in her work and pushed her to look differently at her city, Beirut. As for her media, the future of cinema remains in suspense, although she has stayed creative in lockdown.
It's as if "we pressed a stop button" since the virus swept across the globe, said Mansour, who lives in the Lebanese capital. In collaboration with Daraj.com, an independent media platform, Mansour has produced two short films on the epidemic, including one on her father. "Every day we hear about... the number of people who have died from coronavirus but I never imagined that my father would be one of those figures," she says in the film "My Father, Killed by Covid-19". In a second video, Mansour focuses on contradictions in "her plans, hopes and concerns" for Beirut in the era of coronavirus. "Beirut is ugly," she said, "because of the indiscriminate construction, the proliferation of huge shopping centers and the continued demolition of old buildings."But that has been cut short by the epidemic and stay-at-home restrictions. She explained that she could now walk in usually crowded streets, "alone among cats" because with confinement, Beirut "has become a city of cats". "Has Beirut become beautiful or has calm embellished it?" she mused. The Lebanese director of Palestinian origin has won several international awards, including the 2018 prize for best documentary at the Delhi film festival for "Stitching Palestine".
Under confinement, Mansour also decided to make another "very personal" film about her mother who fled to Lebanon in 1948 from Jaffa in present-day Israel and died in 2015.
The film addresses her mother's discussions "on Palestine" while she was suffering from Alzheimer's. "I was filming it without intending to collect these videos to make a film," she said. Coronavirus has come at a time when we had already grown familiar with "new ways" of seeing and photographing.
"With 'Stitching Palestine' we shot segments via Zoom with 350 participants from 20 different countries," she said. "We watched the film, then a discussion took place. In this area, there has definitely been some change." As for Mansour's private life, with the coronavirus, "I've discovered things about myself... I speak (more) now," she said with a laugh. She has also grown to appreciate the merits of a simpler life. "I only yearn for friends and hugs."

Literally no one is doing their job:’ Former adviser to Lebanon gov’t on IMF talks
Al Arabiya English/Saturday 27 June 2020
A financial adviser, Henri Chaoul, working with Lebanon’s government in talks with the International Monetary Fund resigned in mid-June, saying there was “no genuine will” to make reforms.
Lebanon began talks with the IMF in May as the economy continues to tumble. After the government agreed on an economic reform plan, it approached the IMF in a last-ditch effort to pull its economy back from the brink.
Negotiations, however, have been rocky as disputes have broken between the central bank and the government over the size of losses set out in the plan. “I don’t think anyone is doing their job, and that is the reason I resigned. I think literally no one is doing their job,” Chaoul said in an interview with Al Arabiya English. With inflation rising and the currency having lost 78 percent of its value, Chaoul warned that without reform efforts Lebanon would soon see hyperinflation take hold, something experts have recently told Al Arabiya English. “You're going to see a rapid depreciation of the currency. And we are witnessing it as we speak. You're going to see unemployment,” he said. “That's going to go up and up and up. You're going to see mass, mass emigration. Wait until the airport opens and see what would happen.”Unemployment has already climbed, as have poverty rates and food prices, and coronavirus dealt another heavy blow to the economy that has a high percentage of workers in the informal sector. The airport, which closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, is set to reopen July 1, and Lebanese have started planning to leave their home country. With the implementation of new US sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, many have speculated how Lebanon will be indirectly affected by the sanctions as the economies of the two countries are interlinked, but Chaoul said the Caesar Act is not the real issue in Lebanon – the real issue is reform, which he said is “100 percent in the hands of the Parliament.”But for years, the government has failed to reform, and even with the new diagnostic plan presented to the IMF, the political will for real change seems non-existent. New appointments in the financial sector have seen typical sectarian squabbling, rather than a real push to find a path forward. “I'm worried that we will see a lost decade for Lebanon where you don't recognize the losses and you just play the card of the time to just allow the prices to readjust, allow the liabilities you have in the financial sector to disappear over time and you won't get the recovery.”'

Diab follows-up on bread crisis, commissions Nehme, Ibrahim to search for solutions
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, followed-up Saturday on the emerging bread crisis, where he made extensive contacts to address the issue.
In this context, Diab commissioned Economy and Trade Minister, Raoul Nehme, and Public Security Director General, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, to search for quick solutions that will not increase citizens’ burdens and will help to reduce the losses incurred by bakeries.

No shortage in wheat and flour,’ reassures Nehme
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
"We have a large stock of wheat and flour, and therefore there is no bread shortage crisis, and we call on citizens not to rush to bakeries," tweeted Economy and Trade Minister, Raoul Nehme, on Saturday.

Sleiman after his meeting with Rahi: I urged the Patriarch to form an independent group to address the situation
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
Following his meeting with Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, in Diman this afternoon, which was devoted to discussing the general conditions in the country, former President Michel Sleiman stated that he called on the Patriarch to “form an independent group to address the current situation.”
“I urged the Patriarch to form a truly independent group of intellectuals and politicians to seriously address the situation,” he said.“The meeting was an opportunity to confer with His Beatitude over what he said in his sermon on the issue of neutrality, which must be serious and at core of efforts by a Lebanese political intellectual mobilization group to form a document that would serve as a national pact, because everything we discuss on the security, economic and social level has no value if we do not start with the general policy of the state first and foremost,” Sleiman stated.
He added: “The first item that should be discussed at the cabinet table is public policy and not the endorsement of a security or economic policy, for public policy is what is appropriate for security and the economy and not the isolation that cuts off our economy.” Over the recent Baabda meeting, Sleiman said: “While I do appreciate the President's initiative, yet this meeting contributed to the economy’s deterioration…and we gave an indication that we are a one team for this country and not a united national team, since the Christian parties were absent, so were the former heads of government, and they represent large segments, regardless of the talk about the Charter.”Sleiman concluded by hoping that "the upcoming sessions would carry a clear agenda or document, as indicated by His Beatitude in his homily."

Berri, Fahmy review security developments
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, received at his Ain El-Tineh Palace today, Interior and Municipalities Minister, Brigadier General Mohamed Fahmy, with whom he discussed the general situation prevailing in the country, especially the latest security developments. Berri also met with former Chairman of the Banking Supervisory Committee, Samir Hammoud, and later in the afternoon with a member of the Financial Markets Authority, Wajeb Qanso.

Hashem: For execution steps to end the collapse
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
Member of the "Development and Liberation" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Kassem Hashem, hoped, in a statement today, that “the government would take swift and decisive steps to put an end to the state of collapse, in wake of the widening circle of poverty and hunger impacting all classes,” adding that “with the rise in prices and the greed of merchants, statements and intentions are no longer sufficient because the Lebanese want an actual on-ground translation."“There is no doubt that the crisis has left its negative effects on our people and their daily living, and the social and life challenges we are facing today necessitate that we adhere to national values and concepts of interdependence and social solidarity in order to overcome some of these negatives,” Hashem said. He added: “This does not absolve the government of its national responsibilities towards the people of the country in these delicate circumstances, for the state is still the protector and the provider.”Hashem criticized the ongoing polemic among various political sides at a time when unity of national positions is required, in addition to rendering the country’s overarching interest above any sectarian, partisan or regional interests. “The Lebanese are in need of some wisdom, vigilance and awareness of the dangers our country is exposed to, in order to alleviate the crisis,” the MP asserted, questioning, “Will things take the right course, or will the collapse continue to destroy what remains of this country?”

Abou Al-Hassan commends decision to expand food basket support
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
MP Hadi Abou Al-Hassan tweeted Saturday over the government’s food basket support imitative, saying: “The decision to expand support on the food basket is the right decision, and we had asked for it two months ago, but it is not sufficient enough…What is further required is setting a maximum price ceiling on commodities, controlling borders, stopping the pumping of US dollars into the market and facilitating money transfers to students abroad…However, the most important thing is how to restore confidence and achieve reforms to obtain external support!”

Alain Aoun: FPM, Change & Reform Bloc an oasis of diversity, multiple opinions
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
MP Alain Aoun tweeted Saturday saying: "Talk is increasing day after day about certain differences within the Free Patriotic Movement, especially in wake of the recent differences over the government's financial plan. The Movement and the Bloc have always formed an oasis of diversity and wide range of opinions, in which they take pride and have the courage to express without the need for anyone to analyze intentions or exploit them in any dispute [with the Movement or Bloc]."

Protest in downtown Beirut, another facing BDL
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
Activists staged a sit-in this afternoon at one of the entrances to the Parliament in downtown Beirut, opposite the Beirut Municipality building, where they held banners calling for “the departure of the political authority" and declaring their "lack of trust in the government", amidst the deployment of Internal Security Forces and Army units in the area, NNA correspondent reported. Another group of demonstrators also staged a sit-in facing the ‘Banque du Liban’ in Hamra this afternoon, denouncing the significant rise in the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Lebanese pound, alongside the emerging crises, such as the fuel and bread shortages. The protesters demanded that the “Central Bank Governor be held accountable for misleading the leaders with the phrase, ‘the Lira is fine’, and failing to disclose the true amount of the Central Bank’s reserve.”

Kanaan: Parliament Council's work on auditing and unifying the numbers is serious, aims to facilitate obtaining IMF assistance
NNA/Saturday 27 June 2020
Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee Chair, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, confirmed Saturday via Twitter: “The work of the Parliament Council in auditing and standardizing the numbers is serious and based on sensible facts, and its goal is to facilitate obtaining the assistance of the IMF, whose President called yesterday for unifying the Lebanese position…Perhaps it would be more effective for the government to take her advice [IMF President] and begin interacting with the initiative of the constitutionally responsible Parliament, unlike the advisers!"

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 27-28/2020
Iraqi PM challenges Iran allies with raid on Katai’b Hezbollah/Iranian missile expert detained in the raid.
The Arab Weekly/June 27/2020
BAGHDAD –Thursday night was a hot night in Baghadad. The Iraqi military forces exchanged skirmishes with the militias, which ended with the arrest of 14 members of Katai’b Hezbollah, the most hardline Shia armed faction established by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iraq.
Iraqi security sources informed The Arab Weekly that the Katai’b Hezbollah brought in about 80 vehicles transporting its militia at dawn on Friday to surround the headquarters of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), and demanded the liberation of some of its members detained by the CTS. The operation was directly conducted by Abu Fadak, the new commander of the Iran-affiliated brigades in replacement of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed along with Qassem Soleimani in a US raid earlier this year. Heavily-armed vehicles roamed the streets surrounding the Green Zone, while their occupants shouted slogans hostile to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The sources said that one of the detainees was an Iranian expert, specialized in missile engineering and guidance, and confirmed that Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, intervened personally with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi to seek his release. The raid was one of the most daring operations in years by the Iraqi security forces against a powerful armed faction backed by Tehran. US officials accuse Katai’b Hezbollah in Iraq of firing missiles at bases hosting American forces and other facilities in Iraq.
The incident highlights how difficult it is to confront the Iranian-backed factions, as these factions effectively dominate large sectors of security, political and economic institutions in Iraq. The Joint Operations Command, the highest Iraqi military formation, said that on Thursday afternoon, it received “accurate intelligence information about individuals who had on previous occasions opened fire on the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport,” referring to the rocket attacks by Iranian militias on foreign embassiesand military headquarters in Iraq.
The source added that the intelligence services had located “the whereabouts of the group and an arrest warrant was issued by the Iraqi judiciary in accordance with the anti-terrorism law. The task of arresting the wanted individuals and preventing further attacks on government sites was naturally assigned to the Anti-Terrorism Service, which carried out the operation with a high degree of professionalism, arresting the fourteen members of the group and seizing material evidence in the form of two launching pads.”The Joint Operations Command added that “it had formed, immediately following the arrest, a special investigative committee composed of members of the security forces and chaired by the Ministry of Interior. The accused were taken into custody by the relevant security authority […] to be detained until the completion of the investigation and their appearance before the court.”
Before the Iraqi army issued its statement on the raid, government officials and paramilitary sources provided conflicting accounts of what had happened. Paramilitary sources and a government official stated that the group of detainees were transferred shortly after their arrest to to the security wing of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). A second government official, however, denied this and said that the detainees were still being held by the security services. A spokesman for Katai’b Hezbollah said that the CTS had released all of their detained members, but government sources quickly denied the news and said that the militias are purposely spreading false news to create confusion and detract attention from the importance of this operation.
The government sources said that the militias are using the fact of the release of individuals who had been arrested at the site of the operation to confuse public opinion, confirming that four of the detainees gave important confessions related to militia leaders and weapons storage sites in the vicinity of Baghdad.
The sources indicated that the detainees were held in a prison belonging to the Popular Mobilization Security Directorate, which is the relevant military jurisdiction in such cases, but their arrest warrants were issued by a judge of the Counter-Terrorism Service, who alone has the power to determine the duration of their detention. The incident immediately triggered a major campaign against Kadhimi by the militia leaders and representatives of pro-Iranian political blocs, accusing him of inviting trouble between the CTS and the PMF. Iraqi media under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming the participation of US forces in the operation, an allegation totally denied by official Iraqi sources.
The sources said that information obtained from the investigation by the Iraqi military leadership matched information in the possession of the US military about three individuals accused of being involved in rocket attacks against civilian and military targets inside Iraq. Observers expect the confrontation between the pro-Iran militias and the security forces to intensify within the coming days, especially after the tremendous show of force carried out by the Katai’b Hezbollah militia in Baghdad at dawn on Friday. Political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi said that by authorising this unprecedented move, Kadhimi has regained his popularity which has slipped down following the (government’s) recent economic (austerity) measures.”The bold move comes after the United States and Iraq began bilateral talks aimed at setting a framework for the presence of US forces in Iraq, strengthening economic and cultural ties, and reducing the number of US soldiers in the country. Last year, that number stood at 5,200 servicemen. According to al-Hashemi, “the international coalition led by the United States is very happy with this step,” especially that Kadhimi, according to those close to him, is preparing to visit Washington, a trip that his predecessor was unable to secure during his year and a half in power.

Iraqi Forces Launch Night Raid on Armed Factions
Baghdad- Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
The Iraqi government launched a night raid on armed factions accused of firing Katyusha rockets into the Green Zone, the Iraqi army, and international coalition forces. The government's recent move came within the framework of previous pledges of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to “restrict weapons to the state” and “no party or force has the right to operate outside the state.”Kadhimi previously warned Katyusha-launching groups that they will be prosecuted according to the anti-terrorism law. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command issued a statement announcing that the Iraqi army arrested 14 suspects for firing rockets at the Baghdad International Airport and heavily guarded Green Zone. The statement added that the arrest was based on intelligence information that the group had previously targeted those areas with gunfire and rockets. It added that a special investigation committee was formed by the Interior Ministry to complete the investigation on the suspects. 
The statement also revealed that the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) conducted the raid to detain suspects who are "wanted by the Iraqi judicial council". “The defendants have been handed over to the security services until the investigation is completed and a decision is made by the judiciary,” concluded the statement. Following the raid, armed factions paraded over 30 government vehicles in the Green Zone at Friday dawn, and it approached the headquarters of the Counter-Terrorism Services, the statement stated that these parties do not want to be part of the state and seek to remain outside the authority of the Commander in Chief of legal armed forces. The Operations Command stressed that this behavior is a threat to the state’s security and its democratic political system, and cannot be allowed under any pretext. Armed groups affiliated with Iran tried to promote that some of the detainees were released and the prime minister offered his apologies for the raid, which was denied by the release of the statement. Although the joint command did not name which group the detainees belonged to, security observers and sources close to the government said they were members of Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, which are loyal to Iran. The sources said that the security units raid targeted the group’s headquarters in al-Buaytha area, in the south of Baghdad, and indicated that the operation was preceded by another operation, during which three members of the brigades were arrested.
The members confessed to carrying out the Katyusha shelling that occurred near the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in the Green Zone and the headquarters of the CTS near Baghdad International Airport. The government and groups supporting it insist that the operation targeted the outlaws, and not members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), as sources close to Hezbollah Brigades stressed it was necessary to maintain the relationship between the PMF and the CTS. Member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Naeem al-Aboudi tweeted wondering who would benefit from sowing discord between the PMF and the Counter-Terrorism Services, warning against the consequences it could bring to Iraq. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stressed that PMF is an element of power for the Iraqi nation and country. “We should respect this force and maintain their position,” he tweeted. He added that Iraq also honors its CTS forces and their sacrifices for the nation, noting that it is impermissible to attack these and other national security forces. Maliki went on to call for restraint from all sides and resolve problems without foreign intervention. In addition, the deputy secretary-general of the Iraqi al-Nujaba Movement, Nasr al-Shammari, warned against any attempt to attack the PMF and create internal sedition in these difficult times in the country amid the spread of the outbreak.

Saudi Arabia says it forced three Iranian boats out of its water with warning shots
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/Saturday 27 June 2020
Saudi Arabia forced three Iranian boats out of its waters after firing warning shots, the Kingdom’s border guards said on Saturday.

Iran's Khamenei Warns Economy Will Worsen if Virus Spreads
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/2020
Iran's supreme leader warned on Saturday that the country's economic problems would worsen if the novel coronavirus spreads unchecked, saying the initial momentum to contain it had since "waned". The Islamic republic has struggled to curb the COVID-19 outbreak since it reported its first cases in the Shiite holy city of Qom in February. It shut down non-essential businesses, closed schools and cancelled public events in March, but the government gradually lifted restrictions from April to try to reopen the country's sanctions-hit economy. "It is correct to say that something must be done to prevent economic problems caused by the coronavirus," said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "But in the case of negligence and significant spread of the disease, economic problems will increase, too," he said in a meeting with judiciary officials, according to his official website. The Iranian rial has plunged to new lows against the US dollar in recent days due to the temporary economy shutdown, border closures and halt in non-oil exports, according to analysts. Iran's economic problems have worsened since 2018, when President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic, targeting vital oil sales and banking ties. Iran's health ministry spokeswoman said there had been 2,456 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours, raising the country's caseload to 220,180. Sima Sadat Lari added in televised remarks that 125 of those infected had died during the same period, with overall fatalities reaching 10,364. "The sacrifice of health workers, efforts by volunteer groups and overall cooperation by the people made Iran one of the world's successful countries" in controlling the outbreak, Khamenei said. "But that was early in the (outbreak), and now unfortunately that momentum and effort has waned among some of the people and authorities," he added. Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections. Iran has refrained from imposing a mandatory lockdown on people to stop the virus' spread, but has called for mask-wearing to be made compulsory.

Iran Quds force chief visits Syria, warns of US, Israel ‘conspiracies:’ Report
Reuters, Dubai/Saturday 27 June 2020
The commander of Iran's elite Quds force visited Eastern Syria in the past few days and accused the United States and Israel of conspiring to support ISIS, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported. “Given that the existence of this group (Islamic State) is managed by the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel), we can be sure that the conspiracies of these two criminal regimes have not ended,” Tasnim quoted Esmail Qaani as saying in the Syrian town of Abu Kamal.

Eight more Iranian protesters sentenced to death
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Saturday 27 June 2020
Eight Iranian protesters have been charged with “spreading corruption on earth,” a crime punishable by death in Iran, in Isfahan province, a judiciary official said Friday, days after the country’s highest judicial authority upheld the death sentences of three other protesters. The cases of eight protesters have been finalized, and they have been charged with “spreading corruption on earth” in Isfahan, the state-run Quds Online reported the province’s chief justice Mohammadreza Habibi as saying. “If laws are broken, like what happened in 2009, 2017 and November last year, we will definitely deal decisively with the insurgents and the rioters,” Habibi said. Habibi did not say whether the eight individuals he referenced were arrested during the 2009, 2017 or 2019 protests. The Supreme Court of Iran upheld the death sentences of three Iranian protesters arrested during the country’s anti-government protests last November, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Wednesday. Protests broke out across Iran last November after the government introduced gasoline rationing and price hikes. Thousands were arrested and about 1,500 Iranians were killed by security forces, according to a Reuters report.

Mossad chief meets King Abdullah in secret trip to Jordan ahead of Israeli annexation plans
The New Arab Staff/Saturday 27 June 2020
The head of Israel’s spy agency visited Jordan, as plans to illegally annex the occupied West Bank continue despite global criticism. Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen recently made the trip to meet King Abdullah and deliver a message on Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank, according to a report released on Thursday by Israel’s Channel 13. The channel did not disclose the message, but said Cohen was sent directly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's plans to annex approximately one third of the West Bank was greenlighted by US President Donald Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century". The plan also envisages the creation of a severely restricted Palestinian state. srael has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law. The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C. Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel. Israel could begin implementing annexations as soon as 1 July desite global criticms of the illegal move.Palestinians in the Gaza Strip started receiving Qatari aid payments of $100 on Saturday morning, an AFP correspondent said, part of millions in support from the Gulf emirate. The Hamas communications ministry said on Friday that it had received $30 million in aid from Qatar, a rare Middle East ally. A third of the amount would be distributed to 100,000 needy families, it added.
Hundreds of Palestinians queued up at post offices in the impoverished Gaza Strip on Saturday morning to receive the $100 allocated per family, an AFP correspondent said. As part of an informal truce deal between Hamas and Israel in November 2018, the Jewish state allows millions of dollars in Qatari aid to enter the strip. Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, when Islamist movement Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Around 80 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are reliant on international aid, according to the United Nations.
Agencies contributed to this report.

Gaza Families Receive Qatari Financial Aid
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/2020
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip started receiving Qatari aid payments of $100 on Saturday morning, an AFP correspondent said, part of millions in support from the Gulf emirate. The Hamas communications ministry said on Friday that it had received $30 million in aid from Qatar, a rare Middle East ally. A third of the amount would be distributed to 100,000 needy families, it added. Hundreds of Palestinians queued up at post offices in the impoverished Gaza Strip on Saturday morning to receive the $100 allocated per family, an AFP correspondent said. As part of an informal truce deal between Hamas and Israel in November 2018, the Jewish state allows millions of dollars in Qatari aid to enter the strip. Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, when Islamist movement Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Around 80 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are reliant on international aid, according to the United Nations.

US Delegation Discusses Annexation Plans with Netanyahu, Gantz
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
Hundreds of Jewish clerics protested Friday Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley and sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning him against provoking the Palestinians, noting that peace and saving human life “are the true service to Judaism."
Their protest came as a high-ranking US delegation arrived in Tel Aviv to discuss the annexation with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. They also addressed the attempt of former US adviser Jason Greenblatt to convince settlers that the future Palestinian state, as determined in US President Donald Trump's plan, does not threaten their security. The delegation included US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Presidential Envoy Avi Berkowitz, and member of the US-Israeli Cartographic Committee Scott Leith. Berkowitz and Leith will remain in Israel for several days, where they will meet with Netanyahu, Gantz, and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, according to a US official. Observers in Tel Aviv believe that talks among US officials on giving the green light to Israel’s annexation move haven’t reached final results, and that the timetable for implementing the plan is not yet clear, although Netanyahu has set a date for July 1.Political sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the US administration is annoyed with Jewish settler criticism against Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Greenblatt spoke with settlement leaders via video conferencing, saying he wants to send a message to those opposing the annexation as part of Trump’s plan. “Settlement leaders and the right-wing leadership should not attack President Trump and Jared Kushner. They need to explain what their concerns are without simply criticizing. It's not fair.”He added that the establishment of a Palestinian state as set out in the Trump plan “does not affect or harm you.”Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz responded that any Palestinian state between the river and the sea is a disaster for Israel, and it is contrary to the divine promise of the Jewish people.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed that his government was close to reaching an agreement with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) on security arrangements that would keep the Jordan Valley as part of the Palestinian state and ensure security for Israel.
Olmert said that a consensus was formed in Israel claiming that the Jordan Valley is a strategic asset for its security. “Anyone who continues to live in an atmosphere of fear as if it were still 1967 is apparently ignoring the fact that we are now in the year 2020 and the current geopolitical, militaristic, technological and political reality we live in today is quite different than it was back in 1967.” He indicated that anyone who claims that the Jordan Valley is essential to Israel for security reasons, is either still living detached from reality or is trying to sell us a false story about a non-existent danger and useless security needs that have no basis in reality. Olmert revealed that in 2008, the government held negotiations with the PA, Jordan, the Israeli army, and the US administration hoping to reach a political peace settlement that could establish a sovereign Palestinian state in an area comprising most of the West Bank. The talks considered having international NATO forces stationed inside Jordanian territory, along what was supposed to be the eastern border of a future Palestinian state. Then, Netanyahu came on the scene and ignored the changing circumstances, and he knows quite well that the Jordan Valley does not serve any urgent security need for Israel that would warrant its unilateral annexation at the present time, according to Olmert.

Israeli Jets Strike Hamas Sites after Gaza Rockets
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
Israeli warplanes have struck Hamas movement positions in the Gaza Strip after rockets were fired on Friday from the territory towards Israel, shattering months of near-total calm. The exchange came after Hamas warned that Israel's planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank amounted to a "declaration of war.”Israeli jets struck ammunition and rocket "factories" in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said. It added that the airstrikes “will impede" Hamas' future abilities. Security sources in Gaza confirmed to AFP there were strikes in the area of Khan Yunis, at the southern tip of the Palestinian territory of two million inhabitants. Two rockets were fired on Friday from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, the army said earlier. "Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory," the Israeli military said in a statement, after saying "sirens sounded in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip." Medics said the sirens sounded in the Israeli district of Sderot. It was the first reported rocket fire from the Gaza Strip since early May. Israel's proposal to annex its settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley form part of a broader US peace plan released in January.
The proposals foresee the ultimate creation of a Palestinian state on the remaining West Bank territory and the Gaza Strip. But the plan falls far short of Palestinian aspirations, with a state on reduced territory and without east Jerusalem as its capital.

Russia's Putin, France's Macron Call for Libya Ceasefire
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron called on Friday for a ceasefire in Libya and a return to dialogue, the Kremlin said in a statement following a phone call between the two leaders. On Thursday, France, Germany and Italy called on forces in Libya to cease fighting and for outside parties to stop any interference in a bid to try and get political talks back on track. “In light of the growing risks of a deterioration of the situation in Libya ... France, Germany and Italy call on all Libyan parties to immediately and unconditionally cease fighting,” the countries said in a joint statement. “They also urge foreign actors to end all interference and to fully respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council.”Ties between NATO allies France and Turkey have soured in recent weeks over the Libyan conflict.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Agree to Delay Filling Dam
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/2020
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed that Addis Ababa will delay filling a mega-dam as part of a comprehensive deal on the project that has raised tensions between the three countries, the Egyptian presidency said Friday. Ethiopia had previously pushed to start filling the gigantic Nile River dam next month despite vehement opposition from downstream Egypt and Sudan, and the dispute was raised with the UN last week. The office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Friday that "a legally binding final agreement for all parties stressing the prevention of any unilateral moves, including the filling of the dam, will be sent in a letter to the UN Security Council to consider it in its session discussing the Renaissance Dam issue next Monday." Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was more forthcoming, saying in a statement that "it has been agreed upon that the dam filling will be delayed until an agreement is reached".
His office said technical committees for all three countries will try to hammer out a conclusive deal within two weeks as suggested by Ethiopia. "Sudan is one of the biggest beneficiaries from the dam and also one of the biggest losers if risks are not mitigated, thus it urges Egypt and Ethiopia to the impending necessity... of finding a solution," Hamdok added. The minor breakthrough came after an emergency African Union Executive Council virtual session chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. Other attendees included Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. Political tensions have been running high between upstream Ethiopia and downstream Egypt and Sudan after recent ministerial talks failed to produce a deal on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Addis Ababa has been vocal about its plans to start filling the dam, located on the Blue Nile, in July. Egypt, which views the hydroelectric barrage as an existential threat, appealed last week to the UN Security Council to intervene in the dispute. Addis Ababa followed suit complaining about Cairo, while Khartoum expressed its concern to the UN about Ethiopia unilaterally filling without a comprehensive deal being inked first. Cairo fears the dam would severely cut its Nile water supply, which provides nearly 97 percent of the country's freshwater needs. Ethiopia says the dam is indispensible for its electrifiation and development needs. The Nile is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it snakes through.

Nile Countries Agree to Restart Talks, Delay Filling GERD
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
The leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed late Friday to return to talks and for Addis Ababa to delay filling its new hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile. The announcement was a modest reprieve from weeks of escalating tensions over the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Ethiopia had vowed to start filling at the start of the rainy season next month. Early Saturday, Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Seleshi Bekele confirmed that the countries had decided during an African Union summit to restart stalled negotiations and finalize an agreement over the mega-project within two to three weeks, with support from the AU. Egypt and Sudan said Ethiopia would refrain from filling the dam next month until the countries reached a deal. Ethiopia did not comment explicitly on the start of the filling period. Ethiopia has hinged its development ambitions on the colossal dam, describing it as a crucial lifeline to bring millions out of poverty. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for more than 90% of its water supplies and already faces high water stress, fears a devastating impact on its booming population of 100 million. Sudan, which also depends on the Nile for water, has played a key role in bringing the two sides together after the collapse of US-mediated talks in February. Just last week, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew warned that his country could begin filling the dam’s reservoir unilaterally, after the latest round of talks with Egypt and Sudan failed to reach an accord governing how the dam will be filled and operated. After an AU video conference chaired by South Africa late Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that “all parties” had pledged not to take “any unilateral action” by filling the dam without a final agreement, said Bassam Radi, Egypt’s presidency spokesman. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also indicated the impasse between the Nile basin countries had eased, saying the nations had agreed to restart negotiations through a technical committee with the aim of hammering out a conclusive deal within two weeks. Ethiopia won’t fill the dam before inking the much-anticipated deal, Hamdok's statement added. African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said the countries “agreed to an AU-led process to resolve outstanding issues," without elaborating.

Sisi: Nile Water an Existential Matter
Cairo - Waleed Abdul Rahman and Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
The Ethiopian Foreign Minister said his country would start filling the Renaissance Dam in the coming months, a day after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi affirmed that the Nile is an existential matter for all Egyptians and that Cairo rejects unilateral steps by Addis Ababa that would harm Egypt's rights to the river's waters. “The issue of utilizing the Nile water solely rests on Ethiopia’s strong position and does not need the consent of any other party. Using the Nile water is a natural right for Ethiopia,” Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew said.
However, Andargachew explained that his country prefers negotiating on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). His comments came before the UN Security Council holds a video conference on Monday to hear a briefing from UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo on the dam dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The video conference was called by the United States on behalf of Egypt, after talks between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa over the filling and operation of the dam reached a deadlock. Ethiopia wants to start filling the reservoir for the 145-meter dam in July, with or without approval from the two other countries.On Thursday, Sisi discussed the issue of the controversial dam with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the head of the African Union in 2020. Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement that during a phone call, the two leaders tackled Egypt's request to the Security Council to intervene to reach a fair and balanced agreement that takes into account the interests of all parties. According to the statement, Ramaphosa expressed his aspiration to intensify coordination between the two countries during the coming period, added Radi, noting that the South African President praised the sincere and constructive political will that Egypt has always shown to reach a solution to the dam crisis. The Nile -- which flows some 6,000 kilometers as one of the longest rivers in the world -- is an essential source of water and electricity for dozens of countries in East Africa. Egypt fulfills 97 percent of its water needs from the river alone.

Turkey Faces Egyptian Red Line in the Battle for Sirte
London- Kamil al-Tawil/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 26 June, 2020
While all eyes are on the imminent battle in the Libyan city of Sirte between the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, supported by the Turkish army, and the Libyan National Army (LNA), potentially supported by the Egyptian army, the United States’ position will be central to whether the battle happens or not. The most recent official statements by the US imply that they are leaning toward avoiding the battle and restoring inter-Libyan dialogue. US officials have answered Asharq Al-Awsat’s questions about their policy in Libya.
The following report attempts to present answers to pertinent questions on Libya today:
Sirte and al-Jafra battle
The GNA forces have been deploying their forces for weeks to move toward Sirte and al-Jafra. These forces came after the GNA’s forces were able, with Turkish support, to take over the entire western area and the LNA was forced to withdraw. This withdrawal allowed the GNA forces to focus on two fronts only: Sirte and al-Jafra. The attack, however, failed after forces were raided and tens were killed.
Who carried out the raids?
It is not entirely clear. The LNA claims that its air force carries out the tasks required from it, including securing air cover to protect Sirte. However, other reports indicate that the two pilots were Russian.
According to the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), Russian warplanes are taking part in the ongoing battles near Sirte and al-Jafra.
AFRICOM distributed photos confirming the arrival of no less than 14 warplanes to Libya from Russia through Syria, showing that they were repainted to hide their actual source. A spokesperson for AFRICOM told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive interview that the US “has no evidence for that the Russian warplanes in Libya are piloted by Russians and there is concern that they are piloted by inexperienced mercenaries”.
The US warned against the danger of allowing Russia to establish a military base in Libya, considering that it would be a potential threat to NATO.
US officials refused to dwell on the details of the alleged Russian base.
The Americans seem cautious while discussing the topic.
A few days ago, the GNA had distributed what it described as “confessions” by sociologist Maxim Shugaley who was arrested as a Russian spy in Libya in 2019. These alleged confessions indicated that his country was planning on establishing a base in Libya.
What does the US want?
A spokesperson for the US Department of State told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Let’s be clear, the US opposes any foreign military escalation in Libya. It is of utmost importance that there is an immediate ceasefire”.
This “immediate ceasefire” means that the US is opposed to the attack that the GNA and Turks are preparing. The GNA was informed of this position in a meeting with the US ambassador in Libya and the commander of AFRICOM on June 22.
The Egyptian leadership delineated a red line for Turkey in Libya. They first called for a return of dialogue and committing to the truce. Turkey and its allies, however, continued to threaten to move East and take over the two cities. This pushed Sisi to personally transfer to the Sidi Barrani base in West Egypt and told his soldiers to prepare for possible military action in Libya, explicitly announcing that Sirte and al-Jafra were red lines for Egypt’s national security.
It is clear that the Egyptians consider Turkey’s plans for Libya to directly target them.
- France-Turkey-
The current French position is extremely clear in its opposition to the Turkish role in Libya. France is concerned that Erdogan may use Libya to extort Europe like he had done before with refugees, opening his borders for an “invasion of Europe” according to his critics. Furthermore, France is worried Erdogan may succeed in establishing bases for political Islamist movements in Libya.
The Turks, on the other hand, argue that the French were supporting the LNA whom they consider “illegitimate” while they [Turkey] came to Libya at the request of “a government that is recognized by the United Nations”.
-The Libyan parliament-
The President of the Libyan House of Representatives has played a key role recently. He appeared in the press conference with President al-Sisi and Field Marshal Haftar and announced the beginning of a Libyan-Libyan dialogue initiative.
The US is clearly upset with Haftar and his government. Some indications of this are that the East government has expressed openness toward Bashar al-Assad’s government in Damascus and that the Libyan embassy has been reopened in Syria. This is entirely opposed to Washington’s policy that aims to isolate the Syrian regime and economically suffocate it.
There is another crucial dispute between the US and the east Libya government and the LNA. This dispute revolves around Libya’s oil exports that have been halted since last year. Supporters of the East government and Haftar banned the export of oil from the ports of the Oil Crescent and the oil fields in the South to pressure al-Sarraj’s government to stop sponsoring Turkish intervention and to stop paying the salaries of Syrian mercenaries from the Libyan treasury of the state. Yesterday, the National Oil Corporation stated that Russian mercenaries had entered the al-Sharara oil field in the south to prevent the resumption of oil exports.

Tunisian MPs Seek to Withdraw Confidence From Fakhfakh
Tunis- Al Mongi Al Saidani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 27 June, 2020
A number of Tunisian parliamentarians lauded tasking a parliamentary committee and a supervisory body with investigating the charge of "conflict of interests" against Prime Minister Elyes el-Fakhfakh. The lawmakers stressed that as long as everyone is acting against corruption, Tunisia will be fine. They confirmed that they will move forward with their request to withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister in the event that the charge against him is proven, especially as he has pledged to resign if he is found to be in violation of the law. Meanwhile, a number of parliamentarians criticized the smearing campaigns and called for a comprehensive national reconciliation. They emphasized that the formation of the parliamentary commission, headed by the opposition, to investigate this charge is an affirmation of the success of the democratic path in Tunisia. The parliamentary bloc of Islamist Ennhada movement, headed by Noureddine Bhiri, confirmed its refusal to sign a petition to withdraw confidence from the prime minister. The movement wants to pressure the prime minister to clarify the situation, stressing that the charge against Fakhfakh falls under “conflict of interests, and does not amount to a suspicion of corruption.” On the other hand, Heart of Tunisia party, with 27 parliamentary seats and the Dignity Coalition, with 19 seats, are determined to submit a petition to withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister, after being rejected by a number of parliamentary blocs. Fakhfakh still has the vote of the democratic bloc represented by the parties of the Democratic Movement and the People’s Movement, while the Free Destourian Party maintained an impartial position. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister stressed that security forces are to protect the state and its sovereign institutions, “otherwise chaos will occur.”Fakhfah was speaking at a parliamentary session on the assessment of the first one hundred days of the cabinet’s action. He was also answering the claims of a group of human rights organizations that accused the government of excessive use of force during the protests in Tataouine city in southern Tunisia. The organizations called for direct negotiation with protesters after the security authorities released Tariq Al-Haddad, the spokesman for the el-Kamour movement. In 2017, the government and Tataouine protesters signed an agreement to employ 1500 people in petroleum companies, and 3000 others in government institutions, with the allocation of $28 million to finance development projects in the state. A number of unemployed locals protested last week demanding the implementation of the remaining provisions of the agreement, namely the recruitment of 1500 persons in petroleum companies and 500 others in state institutions.

U.S. States Reimpose Virus Restrictions; India Tops 500,000
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/2020
Two of America's largest states have reversed course and clamped down on bars again in the nation's biggest retreat yet as the daily number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. surged Friday to an all-time high of 45,300. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all bars closed, while Florida banned alcohol at such establishments. The two states joined a small but growing number that are either backtracking or putting any further reopening of their economies on hold because of a comeback by the virus, mostly in the country's South and West. Health experts have said a disturbingly large number of cases are being seen among young people who are going out again, often without wearing masks or observing other social-distancing rules.
"It is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars," Abbott said. The Republican governor, who had pursued one of the most aggressive reopening schedules of any state, also scaled back restaurant capacity and said outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people would need approval from local officials. Mayor Carlos Gimenez in Florida's Miami-Dade county announced Friday night he would close beaches over the Fourth of July weekend. He said cracking down on recreational activities is prudent given the growing number of infections among young adults. Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street over the surging case numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 730 points, or nearly 3%. In Asia, a large increase pushed India over half a million cases, the fourth highest in the world, while China and South Korea battled smaller outbreaks in their capitals. The Indian city of Gauhati, the capital of Assam, will be locked down for two weeks from Sunday midnight with night curfews and weekend lockdowns in the rest of the state. India added 18,552 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total to 508,953. The death toll reached 15,685.
China saw an uptick in cases, one day after authorities said they expect an outbreak in Beijing to be brought under control in the near future. The National Health Commission reported 17 new cases in the nation's capital, the most in a week, among 21 nationwide. South Korea, where a resurgence in the past month threatens to erase the country's earlier success, reported 51 new cases including 35 in the Seoul metropolitan area. Officials, worried about the fragile economy, have resisted calls to reimpose restrictions eased in April. Australia braced for more imported cases as citizens return home. About 300 people were due to arrive this weekend from Mumbai, India, with others expected to follow from South America and Indonesia. One state heath official said he is preparing for 5% to 10% of the returnees to be infected, based on arrivals from Indonesia in other states. In Florida, the agency that regulates bars acted after the daily number of new confirmed cases neared 9,000, almost doubling the record set just two days earlier.
Colleen Corbett, a 30-year-old bartender at two places in Tampa, said that she was disappointed and worried about being unemployed again but that the restrictions are the right move. Most customers were not wearing masks, she said. "It was like they forgot there was a pandemic or just stopped caring," Corbett said. A number of the hardest-hit states, including Florida and Arizona, have Republican governors who have resisted mask-wearing requirements and largely echoed President Donald Trump's desire to reopen the economy quickly despite warnings the virus could come storming back. The White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, held its first briefing in nearly two months Friday, and Pence gave assurances that the U.S. is "in a much better place" than it was two months ago. He said the country has more medical supplies on hand, a smaller share of patients are being hospitalized, and deaths are much lower than they were in the spring.
The count of new confirmed infections, provided by Johns Hopkins University, eclipsed the previous high of 40,000 set the previous day. Newly reported cases per day have risen on average about 60% over the past two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis. While the rise partly reflects expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the scourge is making a comeback, including rising deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country and higher percentages of virus tests coming back positive. About 600 people are dying every day from the coronavirus in the U.S., down from a peak of around 2,200 in mid-April. Some experts doubt that deaths will return to that level, because of advances in treatment and prevention and because younger adults are more likely than older ones to survive.
The virus is blamed for about 125,000 deaths and nearly 2.5 million confirmed infections nationwide, by Johns Hopkins' count. But health officials believe the true number of infections is about 10 times higher. Worldwide, the virus has claimed close to a half-million lives. Louisiana reported its second one-day spike of more than 1,300 cases this week. The increasing numbers led Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards to suspend further easing of restrictions. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey did the same in Arizona, where cases are topping 3,000 a day and 85% of hospital beds are occupied. But Republican Gov. Bill Lee has been reluctant to reinstate restrictions or call for a mask mandate in Tennessee, which reported its biggest one-day jump in infections for the second time in a week, with more than 1,400,
In a reversal of fortune, New York said it is offering equipment and other help to Arizona, Texas and Florida, noting that other states came to its aid when it was in the throes of the deadliest outbreak in the nation this spring.
"We will never forget that graciousness, and we will repay it any way we can," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 27-28/2020
Modern Slavery and Woke Hypocrisy
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/June 27/2020
There are an estimated 136,000 people living in modern slavery just in Britain. Slavery in the UK takes the form of forced labor, and domestic and sexual exploitation. Albanians and Vietnamese are among the groups that constitute the majority of slaves. — Global Slavery Index, 2018.
There are currently an estimated 9.2 million black slaves in Africa. Slavery, according to the index, includes forced labor, forced sexual exploitation and forced marriage. — Global Slavery Index, 2018.
"According to the U.N.'s International Labor Organization (ILO), there are more than three times as many people in forced servitude today as were captured and sold during the 350-year span of the transatlantic slave trade", Time Magazine March 14, 2019.
Modern slavery earns criminal networks an estimated $150 billion a year, just slightly less than drug smuggling and weapons trafficking.
"G-20 countries import some $354 billion worth of products at risk of being produced by modern slavery every year". — Global Slavery Index, 2018.
One Malian slave, Raichatou, told the Guardian in 2013 that she became a slave at the age of seven when her mother, also a slave, died. "My father could only watch on helplessly as my mother's master came to claim me and my brothers," she said. She worked as a servant for the family without pay for nearly 20 years, and was forced into a marriage with another slave whom she didn't know, so that she could supply her master with more slaves.
While Black Lives Matter (BLM) and its sycophants endlessly debate changing the names of streets and removing statues, they ignore the staggering 40 million victims of actual slavery in the world today, including an estimated 9.2 million men, women and children currently enslaved in Africa. Pictured: Vandals attempt to pull down the statue of US President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square, on June 22, 2020, near the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The news has been filled with reports about Black Lives Matter (BLM) supporters vandalizing and tearing down statues of slave traders, slave owners, and anyone who they perceive as having been historically involved with slavery. In Bristol, England, a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down and thrown into the harbor. In Belgium, statues of King Leopold were defaced.
The actions have caused some local authorities to consider whether all statues perceived as offending current sensibilities should be removed. The London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a commission to examine the future of landmarks, such as statues and street names, in the UK capital.
What is not apparent is how attacking old statues of people who have been long dead is supposed to help anyone, especially millions of black and non-black people, who are still enslaved today. It would appear that the woke activists of BLM and their many kneeling supporters do not care about the plight of modern slaves, of which there are an estimated whopping 40 million today. Evidently, it is far easier, and presumably more pleasurable, to destroy Western historical monuments than to embark on the difficult work of actually abolishing modern slavery.
In the UK itself, there is a shocking range of modern slavery, something that the local wokesters are happy to ignore as they bravely attack statues of stone and metal. According to the UK government's 2019 Annual Report on Modern Slavery, there are at least 13,000 potential victims of slavery in the UK, although as that number dates back to 2014, it is questionable. According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, there are an estimated 136,000 people living in modern slavery just in Britain.
Slavery in the UK takes the form of forced labor, and domestic and sexual exploitation. Albanians and Vietnamese are among the groups that constitute the majority of slaves. British news outlets have run several stories about the estimated thousands of Vietnamese, half under the age of 18, who are kidnapped and trafficked to the UK where they are forced to work as slaves on cannabis farms. There, they form a small part of the "vast criminal machine that supplies Britain's £2.6bn cannabis black market". Those who are not forced to work in the cannabis industry are enslaved in "nail bars, brothels and restaurants, or kept in domestic servitude behind the doors of private residences". In January, BBC news ran a story about a Vietnamese boy named Ba, who was kidnapped by a Chinese gang and trafficked to the UK, where his Chinese boss starved him and beat him whenever one of the cannabis plants failed.
BLM may not care much about Vietnamese lives in the UK -- after all, they are all about black lives, so how about black slaves in Africa? There are currently an estimated 9.2 million men, women and children living in modern slavery in Africa, according to the Global Slavery Index, which includes forced labor, forced sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
"According to the U.N.'s International Labor Organization (ILO), there are more than three times as many people in forced servitude today as were captured and sold during the 350-year span of the transatlantic slave trade", Time Magazine reported in March 2019. According to the ILO, modern slavery has seen 25 million people in debt bondage and 15 million in forced marriage.
Modern slavery earns criminal networks an estimated $150 billion a year, just slightly less than drug smuggling and weapons trafficking. "Modern slavery is far and away more profitable now than at any point in human history," Siddharth Kara, an economist at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, told Time. According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, "G-20 countries import some $354 billion worth of products at risk of being produced by modern slavery every year".
In 2017, shocking footage emerged from actual slave auctions in Libya: CNN documented an incident in which Arabic-speaking men sold off twelve Nigerians. In 2019, Time Magazine interviewed an African migrant, Iabarot, who had been sold into slavery on his way to Europe:
"When Iabarot reached Libya's southern border, he met a seemingly friendly taxi driver who offered to drive him to the capital city, Tripoli, for free. Instead, he was sold to a 'white Libyan,' or Arab, for $200. He was forced to work off his 'debt' on a construction site, a pattern that repeated each time he was sold and resold."
Sex trafficking forms a considerable part of modern slavery. The Nigerian mafia, for instance, according to a 2019 report by the Washington Post, is trafficking women by the tens of thousands:
"Some experts say that as many as 20,000 Nigerian women, some of them minors, arrived in Sicily between 2016 and 2018, trafficked in cooperation with Nigerians in Italy and back home."
According to a July 2017 report by the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM):
"Over the past three years, IOM Italy has seen an almost 600 per cent increase in the number of potential sex trafficking victims arriving in Italy by sea. This upward trend has continued during the first six months of 2017, with most victims arriving from Nigeria". In its report, IOM estimated that 80 per cent of girls, often minors, arriving from Nigeria -- whose numbers soared dramatically from 1,454 in 2014 to 11,009 in 2016 -- were "potential victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation".
In parts of the African continent, especially in the Sahel, slavery is still ingrained in traditional culture, even though, officially, slavery has been outlawed. In countries such as Mali and Mauritania, so-called descent-based slavery or "caste-based" slavery -- in which slavery is passed down from generation to generation, so that slaves are born into their predicament -- is still practiced by some.
In 2013, it was estimated that around 250,000 people were living in slave-like conditions in Mali, where slavery is not illegal. One Malian slave, Raichatou, told the Guardian in 2013 that she became a slave at the age of seven when her mother, also a slave, died. "My father could only watch on helplessly as my mother's master came to claim me and my brothers," she said. She worked as a servant for the family without pay for nearly 20 years, and was forced into a marriage with another slave whom she didn't know, so that she could supply her master with more slaves.
In Mauritania, it is estimated that up to 20% of the population is enslaved, even though slavery was officially outlawed in 1981. The slaves are mostly from the Haratine minority, who are black Africans, as opposed to the nearly half of the population who are Arabs or Berbers. According to a report by the Guardian from 2018:
"Slavery has a long history in this north African desert nation. For centuries, Arabic-speaking Moors raided African villages, resulting in a rigid caste system that still exists to this day, with darker-skinned inhabitants beholden to their lighter-skinned "masters". Slave status is passed down from mother to child, and anti-slavery activists are regularly tortured and detained. Yet the government routinely denies that slavery exists in Mauritania, instead praising itself for eradicating the practice."
The report also described a few of the horrific fates of the Haratine slaves:
"Aichetou Mint M'barack was a slave by descent in the Rosso area. Like her sister, she was taken away from her mother and then given to a member of the master's family to be a servant. She got married in the home of her masters and had eight children, two of whom were taken away from her to be slaves in other families. In 2010, Aichetou's older sister was able to free her... after she herself fled her masters when they poured hot embers over her baby, killing it."
BLM and the many corporate executives, university professors, media, sports and cultural personalities who are bending their knees to the movement seem totally unconcerned by the fates of the likes of Aichetou. More likely than not, they have never heard of her or her many fellow sufferers. They are apparently black lives that do not matter -- to anyone except the courageous people working in the local anti-slavery organizations.
Instead, BLM and its sycophants endlessly debate changing the names of streets and universities, and removing statues, all of which do not amount to anything more than infantile virtue signaling. They waste time debating whether people who were never themselves slaves, should receive reparations from people who never owned a slave.
To engage in all this posturing, while ignoring the staggering 40 million current victims of actual slavery, not only represents the immeasurable depths of woke hypocrisy, but constitutes an extreme insult to those who are suffering their slavery in silence, while slowly dying from the physical, sexual and emotional abuse that they are being forced to endure. If anything is "offensive," it is that.
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Greece Looks Like a Safer Destination Now
Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/June 27/2020
During the euro-zone crisis at the beginning of the last decade, many European citizens felt they were paying an unfair price for Greece’s problems. As the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic fades in Europe, it’s the turn of the Greek people to feel aggrieved.
The country has had one of the best Covid-19 records in the European Union, thanks to the government’s swift decision to enforce a lockdown and widespread compliance among the population. There have been 185 registered deaths so far from the disease, out of a population of about 10.7 million people — equivalent to 17 deaths per million people. Spain and Italy had 578 and 560 registered deaths per million respectively, and “excess deaths” relative to the previous years were even higher.
Yet the economic pain for Greece may be similar to other southern European nations. The European Commission forecasts that Greek national income will shrink by 9.7% this year, compared with 9.5% in Italy and 9.4% in Spain. The country is, however, expected to rebound more sharply in 2021, by 7.9%, compared with an expectation of 6.5% growth for Italy and 7% for Spain. Greece’s initial contraction — set to be the largest in the EU — is happening because the economy relies heavily on tourism. As foreigners stay at home, hotels and restaurants suffer.
The government hopes that its success in coping with the pandemic will help it promote the country as a safer destination. But the success of the summer holiday season depends on what’s happening elsewhere too. A jump in Covid-19 cases in several Balkan states has prompted Athens to postpone the reopening of its northern border for all countries — except for Bulgaria — until the end of the month. While Greece has reopened its main airports to many international flights, new outbreaks would cause a rethink.
Still, Greece’s successful management so far of the pandemic does carry a prize. For a start, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been able to reopen the domestic economy before other countries such as Britain. This will reduce the hit on gross domestic product. The government put in place expensive measures — including loans for small and medium-sized enterprises, and a furlough scheme for the underemployed — to help businesses and workers. It will hope to scale them back faster than elsewhere as activity resumes, easing the burden on the public finances.
Moreover, the country’s reputation is improving. One reason not to invest in Greece was the expectation that it would handle a crisis worse than others. That meant some foreign companies held back from pouring money into the country. The skepticism is starting to disappear. Last year, the Athens stock exchange index was the world’s best-performer — a sign of growing confidence in Mitsotakis’s reformist administration. Now, Greece’s 10-year bond yields have fallen below Italy’s, partly thanks to the European Central Bank’s decision to include the nation’s debt in its quantitative-easing program.
Greece still has serious vulnerabilities. The ratio of government debt to GDP is the highest in the euro zone and among the highest in the world. This year’s recession and the sharp increase in borrowing will add to that. The country’s financial system was slowly on the mend thanks to the launch of Project Hercules, a program of state guarantees. But banks’ exposure to bad loans still stood at 40.6% of total lending in December. While a decade-long economic crisis has ensured that the surviving companies are resilient, Covid-19 will cause more bankruptcies, adding to the lenders’ woes.
And yet, this time Greece knows it is not alone. Debt will rise across the euro area, and so will non-performing loans. Europe has, therefore, started to devise more creative solutions. These include the ECB’s massive asset-purchase scheme and the EU’s proposed 750 billion-euro ($845 billion) recovery program, made up of loans and grants to help the worst-affected countries.
Above all, Greece’s feeling of being bottom of the euro-zone class has all but disappeared. In the uncertain world ahead, it will be much harder to single Athens out.

America is on the Road to Relapse Not Recovery
Niall Ferguson/Bloomberg/June 27/2020
America is on the road. But is it on the road to economic recovery or a pandemic relapse?
Fans of “On the Road” — Jack Kerouac’s 1957 classic of beatnik literature — will recall that its giddy, low-punctuation style is sometimes a little hard to follow. The same might be said of the data Americans are currently generating, some of which undoubtedly points to a rapid (if not quite V-shaped) recovery, and some of which seems to indicate either a second wave of Covid-19 infections or simply the continuation of the first wave.
The two are not separate stories, but rather a single, intertwined narrative. The best title for this tale was devised by my Hoover Institution colleague, the economist John Cochrane. He called it “The Dumb Reopening.” A smart reopening is the sort that has been possible in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, which were so quick to ramp up testing and contact tracing that they didn’t need to do lockdowns in the first place. Among European countries, Germany and Greece have also successfully adopted these methods, which ensure that any new outbreaks of Covid-19 can quickly be detected, so-called super-spreaders isolated, their recent contacts swiftly traced and tested, and the outbreaks snuffed out.
Other signs of smartness are the persistence of behavioral adaptations by ordinary people, such as social distancing and wearing masks. We know that these practices, which can be adopted by citizens without any government decree, are effective in restricting the spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2.
Less widely appreciated is that social distancing is more effective as policy than lockdowns, as a forthcoming paper in the journal Nature shows. This is also the implication of work by researchers at Oxford’s Blavatnik School who show that there is no correlation between the stringency of government measures and containment of Covid-19. Measures designed to protect groups that are especially susceptible and vulnerable to Covid-19 -- notably the elderly, especially those with pre-existing conditions –- are also smart.
A dumb reopening eschews all such precautionary measures. So is that really what the US is doing? The answer is pretty much yes. Testing has improved, but contact tracing is primitive. And social distancing and mask-wearing are least prevalent where reopening is happening fastest.
The economists I like best prefer data to fancy models. These days they are in clover because the age of the Internet and the smartphone is already a golden era of high-frequency data about economic behavior. When I say, “America is on the road,” I can say it with conviction because mobility data generated by Google, Apple and less well-known tech players such as SafeGraph show it. Recent official statistics on unemployment and retail sales surprised economists, but they shouldn’t have: The mobility data were already pointing to rapid recovery some weeks ago. In the trough of pandemic panic, between mid-March and mid-April, Apple’s Mobility Trends (which track changes in routing requests to Apple Maps since Jan. 13) pointed to declines in driving and walking of around 60%. (For public transport the decline was 89%.) But since late April, the trend for foot and road traffic has been steadily upward. Requests are now up 12% and 33%, respectively, relative to January. (Transit requests are still down 54%.)
SafeGraph offers a more granular view of foot traffic, based on aggregated and anonymized smartphone location data. Relative to Jan. 2-3, Americans were walking between 60% and 70% less by the beginning of April. But in Dallas and Houston, foot traffic is now just a quarter below the start of the year. General merchandise stores, counter-service restaurants and supermarkets are almost back to where they were.
But perhaps the most useful mobility data for economists come from Google’s Community Mobility reports, which show how visits and length of stay at different places have changed relative to a Jan. 3-Feb. 6 baseline. By subdividing destinations into six categories — retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, transit stations, workplaces and residential — the Google data help us zero in on what matters economically.
No recovery was ever driven by visits to parks (up 53% since January, not surprising given the improved weather in most places). Grocery and pharmacy visits weren’t much impacted the pandemic, as they were essential. The big story is retail and recreation: down 49% nationwide at the trough (April 5), but now down just 16%. Mobility data predicted the recent positive statistics on retail sales. In May, the monthly jump in sales reported by the Commerce Department was 17.7%; the monthly jump in Google’s data for retail and recreation visits was 24.4%.
New and old data alike are voraciously devoured by Wall Street analysts. Combined with the Federal Reserve’s multiple liquidity and credit facilities, which are designed to shore up the prices of pretty much all financial assets, they explain why US stocks are back where they were in early March, before the pandemic panic. Mr. Market is acting as if Covid-19 is over. The trend you can infer from the Google data points to July 10 as the date when consumption will be back to normal.
The problem is that Covid-19 isn’t over. As some of us have been warning for some time, the failure to contain the spread of the virus in the US has made a second wave inevitable in many of those places where case numbers had fallen significantly, and a continuation of the first wave inevitable in those places where they had not. The national data for new cases and deaths don’t show this, as they are dominated by improvements in the Northeast (New York and its neighbors).
Eyeballing the latest data on confirmed cases, I see second waves in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, as well as second ripples in Hawaii, Kansas and Montana. First waves continue in California, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Trends in case numbers, positive tests and hospitalizations look especially worrisome in Arizona, Florida and Texas.
As Americans hit the road in increasing numbers, including longer-range trips to vacation destinations, we can also expect rising numbers of cases in states with hitherto low numbers of Covid-19 infections, such as Montana.
So what’s going to happen next? One possibility is that Americans will recoil from reopening when they see worse data on cases, hospitalizations and mortality in their states — or, more likely, if they see worse cable news reports or Internet clickbait about those things. (Watch for breaking news on Arizona’s intensive care unit capacity.) Any actions by state or municipal authorities to slow down the rush back to normality (mandatory masks in Raleigh, North Carolina, for example) may add to public anxiety.
Polling by Civiqs shows that many Americans — Democrats much more than Republicans — are still “extremely concerned” or “moderately concerned” about Covid-19. Eminent economists — notably Michael Spence, who has sought to match mobility and infection data — look at the dumb reopening and conclude that it will end badly. Spence and his co-author Chen Long warn that “the US is heading for a situation comparable to the Great Depression.” They are in good company: Hardly any leading academic economist believes in the V-shaped recovery story, where output snaps back as far and as fast as it has fallen. The alternative, and I suspect more likely, scenario is that Americans carry on getting back to normal and tacitly accept further excess mortality as just a cost of doing business until a vaccine is available. That would be bad news for the significant number of Americans who, because of their age and/or pre-existing health problems such as obesity, hypertension or kidney disease, are potentially at serious risk from Covid-19. But it would not be without precedent.
Although many commentators and scholars have looked back to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic for insights into our current predicament, it seems clear by now that SARS-CoV-2 is not as deadly a virus as H1N1 was just over a century ago. Estimates of the infection fatality rate of Covid-19 still range widely, from 0.02% to 0.86%, according to one recent survey (though some recent European serological studies imply higher rates), but the fatality rate of the so-called “Spanish Flu” was probably between 1.8% and 2.2%. Put differently, 675,000 deaths in the US were attributed to influenza and pneumonic complications in 1918-19 of which around 550,000 were “excess deaths.” An equivalent excess death toll in 2020 would be greater than 1.7 million, compared with a figure to date of around 100,000.
Closer in terms of likely mortality is the less well-known “Asian Flu” pandemic of 1957-58. That caused up to 116,000 deaths in the US (the estimates for excess morality vary widely), which would translate into 215,000 deaths in 2020, roughly what I expect the final US Covid-19 death toll to be.
It is quite probable you have never heard of that pandemic, even though its worldwide death toll was between 700,000 and 1.5 million. This is all the more surprising as, unlike SARS-CoV-2, the H2N2 virus of 1957-58 killed young people. As in most influenza pandemics, significant numbers not only of the very old (over 65) but also of the very young (under 5) died. In terms of excess mortality relative to baseline expected mortality rates, however, it was teenagers who suffered the heaviest losses.
The biggest difference between 1957 and 2020, however, lies in the government and public response to the new pathogen. President Dwight D. Eisenhower did not declare a state of emergency in the fall of 1957. There were no state lockdowns and no school closures. Sick students simply stayed at home, as usual. Work continued more or less uninterrupted; AT&T reported peak absenteeism of 8%. Nor did the Eisenhower administration borrow to the hilt to fund transfers and loans to citizens and businesses. The president asked Congress for a mere $2.5 million (around 0.0005% of 1957 GDP) to support the Public Health Service in case of an epidemic.
True, there was a recession that year, but it had little if anything to do with the pandemic. Eisenhower’s job approval rating deteriorated, declining from about 80% to 50% between January 1957 and March 1958, and his Republican Party sustained severe losses in the 1958 midterms, but no serious historian of the period would attribute these setbacks to the pandemic.
The national mood of insouciance in the face of a new and contagious disease might be summed up in the phrase coined the year before by Mad magazine’s second editor, Al Feldstein: “What, Me Worry?” Huey “Piano” Smith and His Clowns even had a minor hit with “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.”Whereas public health officials reached a consensus in March of this year that only full “lockdowns” could avert disaster, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers declared on Aug. 27, 1957, that there would be “no practical advantage in the closing of schools or the curtailment of public gatherings as it relates to the spread of this disease.” As a Centers for Disease Control official later recalled, “ASTHO encouraged home care for uncomplicated influenza cases to reduce the hospital burden and recommended limitations on hospital admissions to the sickest patients … most were advised simply to stay home, rest, and drink plenty of water and fruit juices.”As today, there was a race to find a vaccine. Unlike today, however, the US had a head start, thanks to the acumen of one exceptionally talented and prescient scientist, Maurice Hilleman, who was chief of the Department of Respiratory Diseases at the Army Medical Center (now the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research) from 1948 to 1957. The first New York Times report of the outbreak in Hong Kong — three paragraphs on page 3 — was on April 17. The Army Medical Center received its first influenza specimens from Hong Kong on May 13. Nine days later, Hilleman had identified the new strain. As early as July 26, doctors at Fort Ord in California began to inoculate military recruits. Approximately 4 million one-milliliter doses were released in August, 9 million in September, and 17 million in October.
It was a different America, no question. For one thing, many Americans today would appear to have a much lower tolerance of risk than their grandparents and great-grandparents six decades ago.

Israeli Annexation in the West Bank? Scenarios and Implications
David Makovsky, Ghaith al-Omari, Dana Stroul, and Dennis Ross/The Washington Institute/June 27/2020
What factors will shape Israel's decisionmaking, and how would unilateral annexation affect its relations with the Palestinians, Arab neighbors, Europe, and U.S. legislators?
On June 18, The Washington Institute held a virtual Policy Forum with David Makovsky, Ghaith al-Omari, Dana Stroul, and Dennis Ross. Makovsky, the director of the Institute’s Project on Arab-Israel Relations, previously served as senior advisor to the U.S. special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Omari is a senior fellow at the Institute and a former member of the Palestinian Authority negotiating team. Stroul is the Institute’s Kassen Fellow and a former senior professional staff member with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Ross, the Institute’s counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, served as a key U.S. official in the peace process for decades. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks.
DAVID MAKOVSKY
The Israeli public is not passionate about annexation—in one recent poll, for example, only 4 percent of respondents listed the issue as their top priority. This attitude is reinforced by the fact that there are so many uncertainties about annexation, including the territory involved and the government’s lack of military and legal preparedness.
Currently, three Israeli camps are engaged on the issue: the national security community, the settler movement, and the political class. Officials in the first camp, which includes many retired generals, see no strategic advantage in moving forward with unilateral West Bank annexations this summer. They do see many potential disadvantages, however: the collapse of the PA; inflammation of tensions with Jordan; distraction from the Iran debate; damage to relations with Arab governments who regard normalization and annexation as irreconcilable; further erosion of Israel’s legitimacy abroad, particularly amid a brewing International Criminal Court investigation (ICC); damage to relations with the European Union; fraying of American bipartisan support for Israel; and a slide toward a one-state reality.
For its part, the settler community is split on the matter. Leaders of the large settlement blocs—which lie closer to the West Bank security barrier and are home to around 77 percent of the settlers—tend to support annexation because their main goal is to live within an Israeli state. Yet more ideological non-bloc settlers oppose the annexation currently being considered because it would presumably remain within the limits laid out in the Trump administration’s peace plan, which envisioned Israel gaining around 30 percent of the West Bank. In other words, they do not want the remaining 70 percent to become a Palestinian state on their doorstep, since they view even a highly conditional, territorially diffuse state as a threat. These divisions emerged in part because Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has yet to lay the groundwork for territorial compromise. But if he is forced to choose between President Trump and the non-bloc settlers, he will choose Trump.
As for Israel’s political class, Washington’s own divisions on annexation have empowered Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who are nearly alone in emphasizing the Trump plan’s vision for a Palestinian state. By focusing on the need for Israeli consensus on any territorial moves, Washington is making it difficult for Netanyahu to unilaterally implement the 30 percent annexation scenario laid out in the Trump plan. Intelligence officials in the Shin Bet have quietly assessed the various downsides to annexation, and if these views filter into the public discourse, then Gantz and Ashkenazi’s Blue and White Party will be bolstered. The question is, will this leverage be enough for them to reach a broader understanding with the Palestinians or defer annexation altogether? Or will they feel enough public pressure to go along with whatever proposal Netanyahu puts forward?
GHAITH AL-OMARI
By essentially killing a two-state solution, annexation would threaten the PA’s political raison d’etre. To stave off this scenario, the PA has been trying to create a sense of crisis by using international diplomatic levers, threatening to end security cooperation with Israel, and refusing to engage in civilian components of the bilateral relationship (e.g., tax revenues), thus giving Israeli officials a sense of what would occur if the PA collapses.
Hamas has taken a different approach, attempting to depict annexation as proof that the Oslo Accords failed. The group does not want to spur uncontrolled escalation in its Gaza stronghold, but it would welcome the collapse of security in the PA-controlled West Bank. Accordingly, its members have been more energetic in conducting terrorist activity and pushing the public to take action. They have also been presenting themselves as a diplomatic alternative to the PA; for example, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh recently sent letters to forty Arab leaders calling for a summit on annexation.
Jordan’s leadership has a particularly deep national security interest in preserving a two-state solution, since a PA collapse would raise questions about the kingdom’s western front and the “Jordan is Palestine” concept. The Jordanian public—including the East Banker community—is intensely opposed to annexation. Of course, King Abdullah must balance this opposition with important strategic interests, from security links and water/gas projects with Israel to the bilateral relationship with Washington. Yet if annexation does occur, Amman will almost surely downgrade diplomatic relations with Israel, freeze nonessential civilian relations, and help Saudi Arabia build an Arab coalition that seeks to impose costs on Israel by reaching out to Europe and international organizations.
In this vein, the op-ed that Emirati ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba recently published in an Israeli newspaper laid out the Gulf position succinctly. Although the Gulf states are genuinely interested in pursuing openings with Israel, annexation would cross a line for them. They will not sacrifice key strategic interests with Israel, particularly on security, but they will hold back on diplomatic and civilian openings. Indeed, shared strategic interests and a general aversion to further regional conflict mean that the sky is unlikely to fall the day after annexation. But there will be costs.
DANA STROUL
U.S. congressional votes reveal how the political landscape on Israel has shifted in recent years. In January 2017, the Senate introduced Resolution 6, which reaffirmed that “a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must come through direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions for a sustainable two-state solution.” Although the measure did not pass, it gained 78 cosponsors, demonstrating bipartisan consensus for direct negotiations. Two years later, the House passed Resolution 326, which discouraged both sides from taking unwelcome steps, “including unilateral annexation of territory” and “efforts to achieve Palestinian statehood status outside the framework of negotiations with Israel.” That resolution passed with 266 votes, but almost all of them came from Democrats, with only 5 Republican votes—a sign of eroding bipartisan support for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Amid the current talk of annexation, Senate Democrats have not coalesced around a message regarding the stakes of Israel’s decision or the best U.S. response. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz is the only senator to publicly argue that Israel should make the decision for itself.
Interestingly, the potential for ICC action against Israel has shown that senators can still come together on baseline language about direct negotiations. Last month, 69 senators gave bipartisan support to a letter expressing concern about the court’s brewing intervention: “Establishing the boundaries of any future Palestinian state...must be determined through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” it read. In the House, momentum is building behind a letter that articulates the strategic and security rationale against annexation while still expressing commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship.
In short, Congress is sending mixed messages on direct negotiations and a two-state solution, and its expressions of concern do not carry as much weight when the body does not legislate in a bipartisan manner. In the absence of a coherent congressional signal against annexation, Israeli officials may conclude that moving forward will not substantially harm U.S.-Israeli relations.
As for how these issues affect the American presidential campaign, Joe Biden has been clear about his commitment to a strong relationship with Israel. At the same time, the Democratic Party is discussing how to address annexation in its final convention platform, and how a potential Biden administration might respond if Israel actually implements the policy.
Ultimately, while annexation might not cause any immediate ruptures with Washington, there will be medium-to-long-term effects. American voices on the right and left continue to talk about U.S. “over-investment” in the Middle East, and the domestic appetite for large foreign expenditures may be further constrained by the challenge of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. The focus on great power competition with China and Russia is another common argument for deprioritizing the Middle East. Even so, many still believe that a strong U.S. presence in the region is important to Israel’s security.
DENNIS ROSS
Historically, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been risk-averse when it comes to national security. Yet he also seems to view annexation as his “Ben-Gurion moment”—a chance to ensure that parts of the West Bank become Israel’s forever, and to shift the international baseline for any future negotiations on a Palestinian state from 100 percent of the territory to 70 percent.
These beliefs may prove illusory, however. Even if the Trump administration allows a unilateral annexation to proceed without public opposition, no other government is likely to recognize it. Moreover, a Biden administration could reverse the U.S. stance, while some European states may respond by recognizing a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines. The latter development would be worse for Israel than today’s international consensus, which centers on adjusting the 1967 lines by swapping settlement blocs for other territory.
Drilling down on some of the risks that Netanyahu refuses to see, annexation would deepen divisions in the Democratic Party and fuel the narrative of Israel as a victimizer. Most U.S. officials have treated Israel’s position in the West Bank as legitimate because it is tied to negotiations, however distant such talks appear today. But that legitimacy will increasingly be called into question if annexation happens. Unilateral moves also violate the central premise of Oslo: that neither side is permitted to alter the ultimate political status of the territories.
To minimize these consequences, Netanyahu may try to announce a smaller annexation of areas that negotiators have generally ceded to Israel in past peace discussions. He might then argue that Israel is not walking away from negotiations on the future of the West Bank, perhaps recalling how Menachem Begin extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights without precluding his successors from negotiating over that territory. Additionally, he may announce that even as Israeli law is extended to annexed areas of the West Bank, comparable portions of Area C will be transferred to Area B, giving the Palestinians more control over local planning, zoning, and law/order decisions.
Yet any such moves would require intensive Israeli diplomacy with Europe, Arab states, and—most important—Washington. Although Arab officials might sway Israel’s calculus somewhat by clearly communicating that they will take normalization steps if it puts aside annexation, the United States will have far greater influence on the decision.
This summary was prepared by Basia Rosenbaum. The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.