News Summary:
The political and military establishment
braced for the imminent release of the State Comptroller's report on the 2014 Gaza
campaign, which
then-IDF chief Benny Gantz rebuffed, [while Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu wrapped up a five day visit to Australia and Yedioth’s daily cartoon joked that
he wished he could keep flying so as to avoid the release of the report,]
Israel slammed the UN Human Rights Office, calling it ‘hypocritical,’ for saying that
the 18 month prison sentence given to soldier Elor Azariya, in the execution of an incapacitated Palestinian
assailant,
was lenient [although last week's Israeli newspapers agreed – OH], worrying and
‘unacceptable,’ and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said that Israel and the Palestinians should “keep working on a two-state
solution,” in response to US President Donald
Trump’s earlier statement that he likes the two-state solution, but he will leave it up to
Israelis and Palestinians – making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Merkel wasn't alone, outgoing French President François
Hollande also pledged allegiance Thursday to a two-state solution in the Middle East. And
Maariv and JPost reported that former Palestinian Authority minister for prisoner affairs,
Ashraf Al Ajrami, said that the
"The Palestinian Authority is ready for a demilitarized state...and Hamas is willing to go back
to the '67 borders.” Al Ajrami spoke in Acre at a cultural event hosted by the Keshet NGO, an
Arab-Jewish nonprofit organization he helped found. He said that the Palestinians are ready to normalize
relations and end the conflict with Israel. Coalition whip and Likud MK David Bitan participated and got
photographed with Al-Ajrami.
Quick Hits:
A Palestinian Was Standing Still at a Checkpoint. Why Did Israeli Troops Shoot Him Dead?
A video shows that Nidal Mahdawi, a mentally unstable Palestinian on his way to visit his wife and kids in Israel,
could have been arrested without being shot. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac,
Haaretz+)
900 days a Hamas captive—and counting
Hamas apprehended Abera Mengistu more than 2 years ago after he crossed into the Gaza Strip; after years of
fighting and dwindling concern and assistance by the government, his family has grown tired of fighting for his
return.
(Danny Adeno Abebe,
Yedioth/Ynet)
Officers: 10 Key Questions Police Must Answer Following Deadly Clashes in Bulldozed Bedouin Town
(Yaniv Kubovich,
Haaretz+) Events in Umm al-Hiran, when a police officer and local man died, likely to have
damaging impact on police's work in the Arab community.
Illegal outpost rejects another illegal outpost's evacuees
Those who were removed from Amona three weeks ago still don't have a home. They'd like to move to Geulat
Zion—another hilltop settlement that Israeli authorities continually have to dismember—but those who have already
laid claim to it aren't having any of it. (Elisha Ben Kimon,
Yedioth/Ynet)
New York's 'Silicon Alley' Gets an Israeli Makeover
The number of Israeli startups in Manhattan has increased fivefold since 2013. Who are the main players who think
that if they can make it there, they'll make it anywhere. (Haim Handwerker,
Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
T
he One Politician Netanyahu Should Be Very Worried About (Yossi Verter,
Haaretz+) Netanyahu would do well to take note of what’s happening in Habayit Hayehudi.
Israel's opposition leader hopes for a comeback after details of secret peace summit emerge. According to
Herzog, Netanyahu initially seemed ready to go a long way to advance a historic peace summit. Then two of his
ministers entered the picture.
The frustrations of politicians over shooting coming from Gaza could be focused toward the elimination of
the new Hamas leader, Sanwar (Ran Edelist,
Maariv) The elimination of the enemy is not something to be proud of. The state does not
work from the gut, and revenge is not part of its laws. (So maybe we could be at peace with) ticking time
bombs, but now the Shin Bet is talking about "ticking infrastructure" and soon we will have ticking children.
The most problematic part of assassinations is results on the ground. In 2012, Ahmed Jabari, the commander of
the Hamas military wing, was assassinated in what was the opening of Operation Pillar of Defensive. Recently
Hamas elected a new leader, Yahya Sanwar. He too is not an ardent Zionist. I fear that all the frustrations of
politicians over shooting coming from Gaza could be focused toward the elimination of the new Hamas leader,
Sanwar, as an opening to a war in the spring, just as Minister Yoav Galant promised us, one of the planners of
Jabari's assassination. Happy Passover to you all.
No God, No Occupation (Rogel Alpher,
Haaretz+) A straight line leads from the Jewish religion to the Jewish
occupation.
Force majeure: Justice Minister Shaked recorded a historic achievement, but the right-wing celebrations are
over the top (Ben Caspit,
Maariv) Minister of Justice won big, but the sun will rise tomorrow at the High Court.
And, Netanyahu rejected the opportunity regional change….
Israeli forces look after their own, whether in Israel or the West Bank (Amos Harel,
Haaretz+) Conflicting accounts of what happened in a deadly Negev clash last month are
just the tip of the iceberg of what has been known to take place among troops involved in confrontations with
Palestinians.
Mental blocs (Nadav Shragai,
Israel Hayom) The definition of what comprises the "large settlement blocs" has changed
with the successive governments. But the blocs are only part of the issue, which is that Israel doesn't have
sufficient land for a territorial exchange with the Palestinians.
Too soon to say how conservative Israel's new high court bench will be (Sharon Pulwer,
Haaretz+) Not everyone in Israel's legal community is certain about the court's future
direction despite the latest appointments of justices backed by the far-right justice minister, Ayelet
Shaked.
Veterans of the Lehi (pre-state Jewish militant organization) can’t believe it: How could the state, which
sent Elor Azariya to fight, go to prison? (Prof. Arieh Eldad,
Maariv) ‘What will be?’ asked the fighters of the liberation of Israel over the grave of
"Yair" Stern, 75 years after his assassination, on the day the State of Israel sent to prison a soldier who
killed a terrorist. Not for this did we pray.
The bulldozers and the Bedouin (Amira Hass,
Haaretz+) The West Bank Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar received a temporary respite
this week from seemingly inevitable demolitions.
Battle Between Brothers: Yair Lapid moves to combat against Bennett on the way the Prime Minister’s
Residence (Dr. Revital Amiran,
Maariv) The interview that Yesh Atid party chairman, MK Yair Lapid, gave to TV marked the
next political battle that will accompany us in the next elections. The State Comptroller's report on
Operation Protective Edge is supposed to be his security card in the battle.
Who really started the 1948 war and when (Uri Avnery,
Haaretz+) Relatively few Arabs remained within Israel’s post-1948 borders, but the fact
that no Jews remained in the territories conquered by the Arabs has been forgotten.
The main problem in establishing a Palestinian state: the undemocratic nature of the entity (Udi
Segal,
Maariv) Without borders, without settlements, without an economy and without water. The
problem is that this is an entity that is flooded with incitement and has limited capacity for internal
control. Therefore, Israel must insist that Palestine be democratic.
Welcome to Israel (As Long as You Love Us) (Matan Rosenstrauch,
Haaretz+) If you’re planning a visit to the Holy Land in the near future, don’t dare
criticize the Israeli government or the settlements before you travel.
Double-edged apartheid claims (Dror Eydar,
Israel Hayom) The demographic threat is spoken of by those who accuse anyone who doesn't
agree with them of "racism" • Those who hurl claims of apartheid should know that their false claim is a
double-edged sword that harms the justification for Zionism as a whole.
What will the second half of Eisenkot’s term as IDF chief look like? (Alex Fishman,
Yedioth/Ynet) With renewed power following the extension of his term, the chief of staff
is leaving his illness behind and looking to the future. In his remaining two years in office, he will have to
deal with the explosive reality in the West Bank during the Trump era, promote promising generals and prepare
the IDF for the next decade.
According to foreign reports: This is how Israel's secret operations have changed in nature (Alon
Ben-David,
Maariv) Israel learned its lesson from the assassination of Mabhouh, and it has become
more dangerous. It’s only important to choose carefully the target for which it harnesses precious
resources.
What Does Israel Have to Hide? (
Haaretz Editorial) From a state that invited the world to come and marvel at its
achievements, under Netanyahu Israel has become a state that is closed and closed off.
Between the lines, between the tunnels (Alex Fishman,
Yedioth/Ynet) Dealing with the Hamas tunnel threat should have been part of the IDF’s
defense plan vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip. So how is it possible that, according to what has been quoted from the
state comptroller’s report on Operation Protective Edge, the army was unprepared for it?
Israeli Opposition Leader's 10-point-plan for Peace Missing 11th Point (Gideon Levy,
Haaretz+) Isaac Herzog's plan is an abomination.
Netanyahu's Jaunt Down Under and Colonial Ties That Bind (Chemi Shalev,
Haaretz+) If Israel was America, protesters would await Netanyahu at the airport holding
signs with the letters BLM inscribed on them: Bedouin Lives Matter.
This Also Happened in 1948 (Alon Confino,
Haaretz+) We must strive to write a history of the Israeli War of Independence that does
not seek to blame, to score points and to divide the world into the absolute victimizers and the absolute
victims – then we may begin to move forward.
A Silver Lining in Trump's Clouds (Avraham Burg,
Haaretz+) What looks like an out-of-control pot of popcorn becomes logical when the
political lens is replaced with a historical one. The president is the official liquidator of rapacious
capitalism.
The Revolution That Never Happened (Israel Harel,
Haaretz+) Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked did not insist on appointing people who are
capable of leading the campaign against judicial activism.
To the American Jewish Establishment: Being Neutral on Trump or Netanyahu Is Cowardice (Daniel
May,
Haaretz+) After pushing so hard for a values-based, 'unbreakable' U.S.-Israel bond, the
Jewish community now faces the aftermath of its pyrrhic victory: two leaders overtly hostile to democratic
norms.
The Polish People Weren't Tacit Collaborators With Nazi Extermination of Jews (Grzegorz Berendt,
Haaretz+) Polish leaders warned citizens against helping Nazi crimes, says Prof. Grzegorz
Berendt, a historian at Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, in reply to Ofer Aderet's article about
Poles who 'hunted' Jews during the Holocaust.
Why Breaking the Silence? (Yuli Novak,
Haaretz+) A place where breaking the silence is illegitimate - is not a democracy.
How Israel could benefit from Russia's control of the Assad alliance (Amos Harel,
Haaretz+) Israel and Hezbollah are usually only two mistakes away from a war. But a
potential mediator has come on the scene.
