The prevailing assessment in the defense and security establishment is that while Israel has restored deterrence against terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip for the short term, in the absence of any advancement towards a long-term peace deal, the calm restored on Monday will not hold for more than a few weeks.
Although no Israeli officials are saying so, Remembrance Day and Independence Day, as well as next week’s Eurovision song competition extravaganza, were main considerations in Israel’s decision to hold back, and the defense establishment was working under instructions not to cross any lines that might worsen the escalation.
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Buildings in southern Israel sustained some NIS 50 million ($14 million) of damage in the escalation of the past few days, according to the country’s Renovation Contractors Association.
RCA chairman Eran Siv explained on Monday that buildings in the south of Israel are inherently more vulnerable than buildings in the center.
“Most of the homes in the [southern] area have tiled roofs, so the damage in the case of a direct hit, or even a rocket falling nearby, is much bigger than to a building that has a concrete roof,” he said. “A tile roof doesn’t prevent or stop a rocket from entering, so the damage caused to the structure and the inside of an apartment is much greater.”

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is apparently still not over her 2016 loss to Donald Trump; reaction and analysis on ‘The Five.’
WATCH:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sent well wishes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after they gave birth to a baby boy, with Prince William telling reporters that he’s “pleased and glad to welcome” his brother to the “sleep deprivation society that is parenting,” the Daily Beast reports.
“We’re absolutely thrilled and we’re looking forward to seeing them in the next few days,” William told The Sun, adding that he has “plenty of advice” to give his younger brother. “I wish him all the best in the next few days. They can settle down and enjoy having a newborn in the family and all the sort of joys that come with that,” he said.

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Monday commented on the latest rocket and missile attacks from Iran-backed Palestinian Arab terrorist groups towards southern Israel.

A toy museum in Turkey has put on display what it says is a doll with hair from a Jewish girl killed in the Holocaust.
“Before being killed, girls’ hair was cut and used on the dolls produced for rich German children. This is the tragedy of baby dolls with real hair,” museum director Emrah Ünlüsoy told CNN.
The object has been on display at the Anatolian Toy Museum since its opening in 2017, the Turkish edition of CNN and other Turkish media reported last week.
Read more at JPOST.
{Matzav.com}

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Gaza sparked many reactions from Saudis on Twitter. Noteworthy among these responses were tweets, some by prominent intellectuals and journalists, siding with Israel and expressing hope for its safety and victory, while attacking Hamas and its policy, in particular its firing of rockets. Some wrote that Hamas was acting on orders from Iran, in retaliation for the United States tightening sanctions on the Islamic Republic on May 3. It should be noted that this is not the first time Saudi intellectuals and academics have openly expressed support for Israel and criticized Hamas.
The following are some of the tweets:

U.S. Jews are more likely than Christians to say that U.S. President Donald Trump favors Israelis more than the Palestinians, according to a Pew Research poll released on Monday.
Some 42 percent of American Jews complain that Trump is favoring Israelis too much over the Palestinians, while 47 percent of them say he has been striking the right balance between the two.
Meanwhile, 59 percent of U.S. Christians say Trump has been striking the right balance between the Israelis and Palestinians, while only 26 percent say the president is favoring Israelis more than the Palestinians.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday told House Democrats he would not furnish President Donald Trump’s tax returns despite their legal request, the latest move by Trump administration officials to shield the president from congressional investigations.
Mnuchin, in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said he had consulted with the Justice Department and that they had concluded that it would not be lawful for the Trump administration to turn over the tax returns because of potential violations of privacy.
Mnuchin added that requests from Congress “must reasonable serve a legitimate legislative purpose” and that the request from Democrats does not.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got into a heated online exchange on Monday after Scott took a jab at the Green New Deal
“If you were a female candidate, maybe you’d be called ‘unlikeable,’ ‘crazy,’ or ‘uninformed,'” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to Scott making a jab at the Green New Deal. “But since you’re not, this inadequacy is accepted as normal.
“That a sitting US Senator can say something lacking so much critical thinking + honesty is embarrassing to the institution.”
Scott responded by claiming that he was being sarcastic about the Green New Deal, a progressive proposal that calls for radical reforms to combat climate change.