JEWISH WORLD

By JACOB KORNBLUH R on Dermer began his tenure as Israel’s ambassador to Washington in October 2013, just as the United States was on the verge of signing an interim nuclear agreement with Iran. The Obama administration’s talks with Tehran led to a public rift in the already tense relationship between then-President Barack Obama and Dermer’s boss, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- yahu. Seven years later, Dermer finds himself in a radically different diplomatic situation. The current occupant of the White House has enacted a series of decisions welcomed by Israel, including the dismantling of the remaining parts of the nuclear deal with Iran. And earlier this week — as Dermer wraps up the last months of his extended term in Washington — the White House hosted a his- toric peace summit between Israel and two Arab countries on the South Lawn. In a recent hour-long interview, Dermer reflected on the moment and noted with pride how this recent success has been his goal as ambassador all along: To further strengthen the relationship between the U.S. and Israel and to “leave this position in a better place than I found it.” Dermer, who has been dubbed “Bibi’s brain,” first began working for Netanyahu in 2000, as the then- former prime minister was mount- ing a comeback following his defeat in the 1999 elections. In their first meeting, Dermer re- called, Netanyahu presented him with a video cassette of a speech he gave to an audience in Australia. In that speech, Netanyahu touted his vision for “peace through strength,” and explained that only an Israel that is militarily and eco- nomically strong can travel down a path of peace with its neighbors. “To see this trajectory happen over 20 years now — against a lot of critics, cynics and opposition — I think is very gratifying,” Dermer remarked. T he recent developments in the region came to fruition thanks to the trust the leaders had in their point people in Washington, Der- mer said. “We were able to keep a very close hold among a really small number of people,” he said. By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS P alestinians throughout the West Bank were told in ser- mons at mosques that the peace deals signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain amount to high treason against the Palestinian cause, and are condemned by Allah himself. The imams at the mosques were instructed to say so in a sheet of directions supplied by the Palestin- ian Authority's Ministry of Rel- igion, which ordered them to cite a number of Surahs — chapters from the Quran — that underscore the PA's belief in the religious impera- tive to oppose the peace treaty. The instruction sheet issued by the PA to the imams, which were seen and translated by the NGO Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), included sermon talking points such as: “There is nothing that harms Palestine and its holy sites more than making an alliance with the Jews, being connected to them, and relying on them,” and “Obedience to the Jews and being dragged after them will lead the nation to weak- ness, lawlessness, humiliation, and shame.” "What is so important to under- stand about this specific PA hate dissemination is that the Palestinian Authority is rejecting the peace agreement not because it is with Israel but because it is with the Jews," Director of PMW Itamar Marcus said. I mams should call on "the Arab and Islamic peoples and the free people of the world to stand with Palestine in order to bring down the agreement of humiliation and trea- son by the UAE and Bahrain," according to the instruction sheet, and worshippers were urged to con- centrate all their energy "to reject normalization and relations with the Zionist entity." The Abraham Accords signed at the White House by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and the foreign ministers of the UAE and Bahrain, include a commitment to "encourage efforts to promote inter- faith and intercultural dialogue to advance a culture of peace among continued on page 21 Imams ordered Palestinians to reject peace CANDLE LIGHTING continued on page xx 115 Middle Neck Rd. Great Neck, NY 11021 516-594-4000 The award-winning independent Jewish newspaper of Long Island Publisher & editor-in-chief Jerome Wm. 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Periodicals postage paid at Great Neck, NY. POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to L.I. Jewish World, P.O. Box #220297. Great Neck, NY 11022-0010. Includes the Long Island Jewish Press, founded 1942, serving Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Local Offices: 1441 President Street Brooklyn, N.Y. 11213 311 W. 37th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 His Job Is Done Here Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer exits a satisfied man ANALYSIS Dermer is proud to have strengthened the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and to “leave this position in a better place than I found it.” The Palestinian Authority’s order to the imams indicates that it rejects the peace agreement not because it is with Israel but because it is with Jews. Palestinians pray in a mosque in the West Bank. The PA excoriated the Israel-UAE- Bahrain peace deals and ordered all imams to do the same on religious terms. continued on page 18 PM Netanyahu, Pres. Trump, and the UAE Foreign Minister Adbullah bin Zayet Al Nahyan at the signing of the accords. Dermer credits Trump with making it possible. PA Plays The Islam Card 4 JEWISH WORLD • OCTOBER 2-8, 2020 Friday, Oct. 2 Shabbat & Sukkot Candles 6:17 pm Saturday, Oct. 3 2nd night Sukkot, Candles 7:45 pm Sunday, Oct. 4 2nd day Sukkot ends 7:50 pm Friday, Oct. 9 Shabbat &Shemini Atzeres Candles 6:06 pm Saturday, Oct. 10 Simchas Torah, Candles 7:34 pm Sunday, Oct. 11 Simchas Torah ends 7:36 pm PERSPECTIVE