Yom Shnee
Monday
17 Tishrei 5784
October 2 2023
The News on the Israeli Street
The war in Judea and Samaria.
Shooting attacks:
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis near Beit El. No Israelis were wounded; the terrorists escaped.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis at Asael. No Israelis were wounded; the terrorists escaped.
“Rock”, Molotov, IED attacks:
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis on the access road to Shomron, on Road 5 near Gitti Avishar, Azzun (infant girl wounded), Kiryat Arba, Oja, Hizma, on Road 35 near the Za’a Bridge, at the Pharmacy Checkpoint in Hevron, at Checkpoint 160 near Hevron, Psagot, Hawara, between Adam and Sha’ar Binyamin, between Gitti Avishar and Ariel, Hermash (infant wounded), north of Kiryat Arba, on Road 446 south of Deir Kadis, on Road 458 at Al Muayyir, on Road 458 at Malik, north of Ofra, between Ojah and Yatev, Beitin, and at dozens of other locations.
TODAY’S BLOG
Normalization Is Afoot?
Various reports of interest today:
1. The Saudi Etihad soccer team was supposed to plan an Iranian team in Iran yesterday. However, when the Saudis showed up, they discovered three statues of Qassem Soleimani in the stadium. The Saudis walked out and refused to play.
Apparently, all the talk about a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement has been somewhat overblown.
2. It appears that the Biden Administration informed PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that the list of demands he made several weeks ago to signal acquiescence to the normalization agreement are “illogical and unreasonable.” What’s more, the report states that on October 17th, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will arrive in order to deliver this message to Abbas in person.
3. The Saudis have apparently dropped their insistence on the 2002 Saudi peace initiative–which they have adhered to for two decades. Apparently, the Saudis are willing to go forward with less than a Palestinian state; instead, they want a commitment that there will be a Palestinian state “at some point in the future” along with “some mention” of eastern Jerusalem.
A lot of “apparentlys”.
If these reports are correct, normalization may indeed be closer than we think.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.