Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Most Israelis support an apartheid regime in the country
• Obama and Romney in tie-breaking debate
• Court to decide fate of Maariv newspaper this morning
• Livni: I will run in elections, I won't be anyone's #2
• Towards a revolution in healing cancer: Personal treatment according to genetic map of tumor
• Jerusalem expecting to open the "train site" on Sabbath and without a kosher license
• Meteorological service forecasts winter with average rainfall

Yedioth Ahronoth

• Kahlon: Likud could lose its rule - Minister who resigned spoke in closed circles
• There are free meals: Severe criticism of Netanyahu in State Comptroller report
• The house robbers were surprised by the return of the resident and stabbed him to death
• Winter is coming
• Shiran Franco is getting married - 13 years after being rescued from the rubble of an earthquake in Turkey
• Letter from the hospital: Yossi Ben-Hanan on (former Mossad chief) Dagan's recovery
• So who won? Results of dramatic debate and how Michelle Obama conquered America
• Parted in tears: After a bronze medal at Athens Olympics and a bitter loss in London, (Arik) Zeevi is hanging up his judo uniform
• Expensive holidays - Tourism Ministry checked why a holiday in Eilat is more expensive than in Paris and how to lower prices

Maariv
(Blank page, with only a small note to readers in center:)
Dear Readers of Maariv, The page you are holding in your hands is indeed the front page of Maariv newspaper. The reason it appears this way is that today its future will be decided, which will determine the fate of its employees. On this day we feel a great danger is still hanging over our future. This morning an offer to sell the paper and its printing press will be presented to the Tel-Aviv District court in a deal to two buyers whose results will be fateful to Maariv and its employees. We are using this stage in an exceptional way to turn to you with simple words: 64 years after Maariv was established it faces the greatest crisis of its history. In the last few weeks we have gone to the streets, demonstrated in squares, gone to the Knesset and given our message - Maariv workers are not unclaimed property. We ask today that the Israeli public, the court and all those who have accompanied us in our struggle pay attention at this weighty moment that we face. A thousand words are not enough and no picture can tell the story, but maybe one blank page will succeed to give the message: We want to continue to be 'Maariv.'
Israel Hayom

• The world is in the palm of their hand - Debate of Obama and Romney
• Kahlon: "We will lower the price of food, like the prices of cellular (phones)"
• Farewell bow
• Itzik surprised the robbers, and was stabbed to death
• Wife of Meir Dagan: "He receives professional treatment in Belarus"
• High School students to learn: (How) not to have an overdraft

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News Summary:

A man is murdered by thieves, whom he caught by surprise, a popular outgoing Likud minister warns his party may lose power and Israeli election tidbits were top stories in the newspapers here today (see Election Quickees below). But only Haaretz and Ynet reported that former US President Jimmy Carter warned that Mideast peace is 'vanishing,' during a visit here and that the Emir of Qatar began a visit to Gaza today, the first by a head of state since Hamas came into power. Maariv reported on the stress of Israel's middle class and an interview with a former IDF legal expert in Haaretz revealed some interesting information and a poll in Haaretz reveals some worrying beliefs among Israeli Jews.
 
Former US President Jimmy Carter condemned Israeli policies in the West Bank and said a Palestinian state has become "unviable." Carter is currently on a two-day visit leading a delegation known as the "The Elders," which includes the former prime minister of Norway and the former president of Ireland. The group met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Haaretz and Ynet reported, but they didn't ask to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, because the latter shunned meetings on previous visits.
 
The Emir of Qatar's is making an historic visit to Gaza with his wife. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas came into power. What the Israeli press did not report was that Fatah officials in Gaza were 'not invited' to meet the emir. As a result, Maan News Agency reported, Fatah called for a boycott of his visit.
 
Not only Iranians are suffering economically. Maariv reports that Israel's middle class is in dire straits. According to statistics published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, a middle class family's earnings are only 20% more than what that family spends. Some 26% of the middle class feel "stressed" and 10% are "depressed," higher rates than for the upper and lower classes.
 
A former legal expert of the IDF said that Israel is "paying a price in our ability to defend ourselves because of the way what we are doing in the territories is perceived." Col. (res.) Liron Liebman.Criticized officers' criticism of military investigations into soldiers' actions towards Palestinians and revealed that graffiti reading “Traitor” and “Don’t get in the way when we fight” was sprayed near the home of then Military Advocate General Avihai Mandelblit. (Note, the article is not premium.)


**Survey: Most Israeli Jews would support apartheid regime in Israel
Survey conducted by Dialog on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, exposes anti-Arab, ultra-nationalist views espoused by a majority of Israeli Jews, writes Haaretz. The survey was commissioned by the New Israel Fund's Yisraela Goldblum Fund and is based on a sample of 503 interviewees. The questions were written by a group of academia-based peace and civil rights activists. Dialog is headed by Tel Aviv University Prof. Camil Fuchs.
 
Percentage of Jewish public that wants preference for Jews over Arabs in admission to jobs in government ministries: 59%
Percentage of Jewish public that wants the state to treat Jewish citizens better than Arab ones: 49%
Percentage of Jewish public that doesn't want to live in the same building with Arabs: 42%
Percentage of Jewish public that doesn't want their children in the same class with Arab children: 42%.
Percentage of Jewish public that objects to giving 2.5 million Palestinians the right to vote if Israel annexes the West Bank: 69%
Percentage of Jewish public that wants separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank: 74%
Percentage of Jewish public that want part of Israel's Arab population to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority: 47%.
Percentage of Jewish public that supports transferring some of the Arab towns from Israel to the PA, in exchange for keeping some of the West Bank settlements: 36%.
Percentage of Jewish public that already believes Israel practices apartheid against Arabs: 58%. (Only 31 percent think such a system is not in force here.)
Percentage of Jewish public that wants Israel to annex the territories with settlements on them: 38%. Percentage that objects: 48%.

Quick Hits:

• Jerusalem youths suspected of setting Palestinian taxi ablaze - Settlers set taxi cab on fire, spray 'price tag' graffiti on Palestinian family's property. Police: Graffiti referencing to arrest of 3 right-wing activists by undercover police. (Ynet)
• Settlers torch car, spray racist slogans in Hebron village - Settlers from Susiya burnt a car and vandalized homes in the presence of Israeli soldiers, who were in the area prior to the attack. Israeli forces then harassed Ma'an TV crews, forcing them to delete the footage they filmed. (Maan)
• IDF strikes north Gaza after rocket fire, two Palestinians killed - Hamas claims casualties in Beit Hanoun as its own; attack follows earlier overnight strike on Jabalya. (Haaretz and Ynet)
• IDF chief: Rabin read strategic map - During seminar held at Yitzhak Rabin Center, army chief tells General Staff Forum regional turmoil may turn into 'active, dangerous' conflict involving Israel. (Ynet)
• Israel postpones hearing for hunger-striking prisoner - An Israeli military court postponed a hearing for Samir Issawi, a prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 83 days. Israeli police did not bring Issawi to Ofer courtroom and judges did not set a new date for the hearing. (Maan)
• Israeli forces demolish water well in Hebron - Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that Israeli military vehicles escorted two bulldozers which demolished a water well owned by Muhammad Said Jaabari from Hebron. The well was in an area close to Israeli settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Harsina. (Maan)
• Hebron youth given jail term, says fending off settlers - Thaer Nidal al-Owewi, 22,was given a five month jail term by an Israeli military court. He was detained after trying to block a group of settlers who attacked his family home in Hebron's Old City, adjacent to the Avraham Avinu settlement, his father said. (Maan)
• Settlers 'strip naked, insult Prophet' in south Hebron village - Three Israeli from the Karmel settlement entered Um al-Kher village: one threw rocks at residents, another settler took off all his clothes, and a third insulted the Prophet Muhammad, in order to provoke the villagers, the mayor said. (Maan)
• Couple assaulted by settlers in Nablus olive grove - Muhammad Rashed Ghazal, 47, and his wife headed to their lands in Ein Makhna, near the Huwwara checkpoint, after prior coordination with Israeli forces and found a group of settlers from Yitzhar settlement harvesting their olives. The couple were hospitalized after settlers attacked them. (Maan)
• Sderot goes on strike after Israel treasury withholds millions in promised aid - In addition to depriving residents of services, the strike resulted in the city skipping this week's Home Front Defense exercise, which focused on coping with an earthquake. (Haaretz)
• Petition: Strike Israeli anti-abortion group from register of nonprofits - After only a few hours, the petition had been shared more than 1,000 times on online social networks. (Haaretz)
• Traveling and remembering - For first time in 16 years, Rabin family won't be participation in annual commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's murder. Instead it will offer the public seven hiking and bicycling paths in nature to commemorate him.  (Yedioth, p. 20)
• Peres lauds Bulgarian president's visit to Israel as 'best response' to terror - President Peres thanked the visiting Bulgarian President Plevneliev for his country's assistance during the July attack on Israeli tourists in Burgas, in which seven were killed and over 30 wounded. (Haaretz)
• Anat Kam wins appeal; 'treason' removed from profile - Court accepts convicted spy's appeal to change her conviction definition and leave out phrase 'treason' from Israel Prison Service computers. Kam also awarded NIS 2000 as reimbursement for legal fees. (Ynet)
• Israeli activist wins one of world's top awards in environmental conservation - Prince Philip presented the award to Drori on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. (Haaretz)
• Israel's 100 most influential people this Jewish year / First Bibi, now Romney: Sheldon Adelson - Sheldon Adelson, the world's 14th wealthiest man, has deployed his casino billions to dominate the Israeli press with his free daily Israel Hayom, the PM's mouthpiece. (Haaretz)
• European broadcasters say Syria, Iran jamming news info - News deliveries of BBC, France 24 and others in parts of Mideast come under 'deliberate, intermittent interference,' broadcasting union says. (Agencies, Ynet)
• Watchdog: Turkey treats journalists worse than Iran -  US-based Committee to Protect Journalists says around two-thirds of detained reporters were writing about largely Kurdish southeast; criticizes PM Erdogan's public disparagement of journalists. (Agencies, Ynet)
• Turkish media reported that Turkey rejected an Israeli call to discuss Syria - Foreign Ministry official told Turkish journalists in Jerusalem that Israel and Turkey should put their discord aside to discuss the escalating violence in Syria. But Ankara rejected the invitation and Jerusalem denied extending an official overture. (Ynet)

Election Quickees:

• Kahlon: Likud might lose power - Minister voices pessimistic predictions for Likud ahead of elections, Channel 10 says; Kahlon denies report. (Ynet)
• Olmert keeps mum on comeback plans - Former PM slams Netanyahu government but maintains political plans under wraps. (Ynet)
• Under PM's pressure, Begin to run in Likud primaries - Minister announces he is to contend in upcoming primaries despite reports he is mulling retirement. (Ynet)
• Lapid's party recruits Herzliya, Dimona mayors - Yael German, Meir Cohen to help Yesh Atid boost support in periphery ahead of January elections. (Ynet)
• Lapid's Waiting list - Without a 'security-type,' without a representative of the social justice protest, without the 'stars' that Yair Lapid promised, the Yesh Lapid party is stuck three months before the elections. Political sources say: everyone is waiting for Tzipi Livni. (Maariv, p. 4)
• Meretz's message to voters: 'Yacimovich will join the ultra-Orthodox and settlers' - Meretz members exhibit much confidence that they can increase the party's strength in the next Knesset from its current three seats. (Haaretz)
• Comptroller: Mofaz mishandled campaign funds - State comptroller fines Kadima chairman NIS 28,000 for receiving illegal contributions, failing to properly document revenues, expenditures. (Ynet)
• Netanyahu's big feast - Criticism from State Comptroller against Prime Minister Netanyahu who organized a 50,000 shekel dinner for Likud members at 418 shekels a head. Who foot the bill? The taxpayers. (Yedioth, p. 8)

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Features:

Aguiar's 'problematic assets' revealed
Three months after he went missing, Jewish millionaire's representatives in Israel warn he owns buildings in 'sensitive areas,' including Hebron, Muslim Quarter and Silwan. (Yedioth and Ynet)
Women's lifestyle blog - now for settler women
Five young women cooperate on a joint website, "Mitnachlot ba'reshet' (Female settlers on the webs), which began a couple days ago. The goal: "To show our lives are just like the lives of every woman in Israel...We too deal with work, children, husband, money, but in the background are the mountains of Binyamin, the Arab neighbors, the High Court and especially the complex relationship of society with us." (Maariv, p. 13)
The Russians of Samaria (W. Bank) 
Fifteen senior tourism reporters from Russia toured Judea and Samaria (W. Bank) last week for five days. They were hosted to great feasts and visits to wineries.  "For me this is the new and interesting Israel," said a reporter from the government TV station. The trip was organized by the "Nikudat Mifgash" (Meeting point) organization and the Yesha settler council in cooperation with the regional council and the Ministry of Tourism. (Maariv, p. 13)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Apartheid without shame or guilt (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) We're racists, the Israelis are saying, we practice apartheid and we even want to live in an apartheid state. Yes, this is Israel.
We need to talk (Haaretz Editorial) From Israel's point of view, it doesn't matter who gets Iran to agree to stop enriching its uranium.
The Iranian bluff (Alex Fishman, Yedioth and Ynet) Tehran seeks dialogue with West as its military threat gradually diminishes.
Professor Higgs and Judge Levy (Moshe Arens, Haaretz) Judge Levy and his committee pointed out that the generally accepted theory that Israel was an occupying power in Judea and Samaria was false and that Jewish settlement there was not contrary to international law.
Lapid's longing (Eyal Megged, Haaretz) My advice to political neophyte Yair Lapid is not only to replace the 'to be rid of' with 'to part from' the Palestinians, but to get rid of and to part from the insane, deceptive dream that will bring us all to our end.
Deri's shameful return (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The public must decide: Is Israel a modern, well-functioning country or a banana republic?
Contempt for peace (Merav Michaeli, Haaretz) We Israelis show no respect for the peace treaty with Egypt or the one with Jordan, or for the Saudi peace initiative or the opportunities for peace with Syria that once existed. And we certainly show none for the possibility of peace with the Palestinians.


 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.