Bibi and Trump fail upward; pose enduring threat to Israel

[LessAspin]

4. NPR

on the timing with all of this...

SIMON: Daniel, why is this happening now? Ramadan, the Israeli elections?

ESTRIN: I think all of the above, Scott. All surrounding Ramadan, there have been a lot of Palestinians in the streets. The city is emerging from the pandemic. And there have been almost nightly clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians. Police saying they were attempting crowd control, but Palestinians say they see this just as an affront to their very existence in the city. I almost drove through a street clash, one of many, two nights ago. Young religious Jewish men throwing stones at Palestinians - I mean, it's just happening all over the city.

And there have just been a series of events - a far-right Israeli march through the city shouting death to Arabs. There have been protests in a neighborhood where Jewish settler groups are claiming ownership rights, Palestinian families slated for possible eviction - on the backdrop of a feeling of a leadership vacuum. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government. His rivals are now trying. That could unseat him, and some pundits are even saying Netanyahu, who's considered Mr. Security, benefits from a rise in tensions, may be somehow luring right-wing politicians to rally around him and to keep him in office...

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/08/995014328/conflict-between-israelis-and-palestinians-continue-in-jerusalem

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