Front Page News:

Haaretz:

• Serious crisis in Netanyahu's office - Cabinet Secretary, military secretary and spokesman complained against Natan Eshel
• Plan to prevent violence among Ethiopian families in cities with no new immigrants
• The director Theo Angelopoulos killed after run over near filming location for his new movie.
• Pro-Palestinian hackers attacked Haaretz, Sheba Hospital and Assuta Medical Center websites

• Military reservists putting up protest tent – "We will stop the Tal Law"
• Deleted children – Testimonies: Social welfare ministry recommended cancelling the questioning of some 170 abused children in order to decrease workload
• AG Mazuz advised: It is your duty to make complaint about Eshel
• Parents of twins prepared to do polygraph: We didn't hurt our children

• Three senior employees of Netanyahu's office complained against Eshel by recommendation of AG Mazuz
• Moment of happiness after a tragedy – Wife of man killed when thrown stone at car gave birth to daughter
• Parents of twins cried during questioning and denied they hurt their children
• Foreign TV networks abandoning Israel – "We're tired of waiting for peace"

• Appears: General Eshel – Next Commander of Israeli Air Force
• Country under combined cyber attack
• Senior employees in prime minister's office complained about Natan Eshel
• Attainable housing? Depends who you ask
• Twins affair: Detention of parents extended

News Summary:
The latest news over the scandals surrounding the allegedly harrassing government cabinet secretary and the allegedly abusing parents of twins continued to be top stories in Israeli papers today along with the rising ire over the extension of the Tal Law that exempts yeshiva students from IDF service. Also in the news was announcement by the Palestinians that the talks to restart negotiations were over and the latest tit-for-tat cyber attacks.
 
Today marks the Mideast Quartet deadline by which the Palestinians and Israelis were to submit their document proposals for borders and security. After the fifth talk took place yesterday, the Palestinians announced it was over.
The PA criticized Israel for "failing to meet the Quartet's basic demands.” Maariv reported that Israel and EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton are working towards arranging another meeting. But the Palestinians say they have had enough of empty talks. Haaretz and Maariv wrote extensively about the subject, with Maariv blaming the Palestinians. Yedioth had a small item on page 23 that only quoted the frustrated Palestinian side.

It seems the Palestinians are not alone. Jordan’s King Abdullah is reportedly mulling sanctions against Israel if negotiations with the Palestinians continue to stall. In the next few days the Palestinian Authority will convene its executive committee in Ramallah to decide on the its next move. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbs will convene with the king ahead of the February 4^th meeting of the Arab League's Middle East Committee, which will review possible diplomatic moves. The EU, meanwhile, is working on getting Israel to prepare an incentives package to get the talks to continue. Haaretz’s Barak Ravid writes that Abbas has had the most depressing of tours of Europe because of the Israeli unwillingness to give his people something, if not a settlement construction freeze or a prisoners release, to show his real intent and continue the talks.

The tit-for-tat cyberwar continues, this time hitting two medical centers and Haaretz's Hebrew website. A Twitter user, identifying himself as Anonymous Palestine, said the Haaretz site was flooded until the servers overloaded and crashed. The war has turned into a massive Israeli Jews vs. Muslim somewhere in the Muslim world battle. Another Israeli hacker claims he got revenge by 'leaking confidential Iranian documents.'
 

Quick Hits:

• New Israeli search method at West Bank checkpoint worries Palestinians - According to eyewitness reports, Israeli police officers have begun searching Palestinian vehicles at a Bethlehem checkpoint through use of nausea-inducing chemicals. (Haaretz)
• Israeli AG defends controversial law on admissions panels to residential communities - Law allows acceptance committees 'to bar residents who do not suit the lifestyle and social fabric of the community.' (Haaretz)
• Israel drops six spots in world press freedom rankings (Haaretz)
•  Arab students at Safed college form own faction after wave of racism - Students say it's clear that more than half of students at northern college are Arab making electoral prospects of the faction considerable. (Haaretz)
• Netanyahu fends off criticism at Knesset (Ynet)
• Change to housing aid rules may ignite coalition crisis (Haaretz)
• Lapid: Graduate admissions probe is political attempt to harm me (Haaretz)
• Barak: Extend Tal Law by one year only - Defense minister says law exempting yeshiva students from IDF service has 'run its course.' Meanwhile, high school seniors plan protest. (Ynet)
• How do you say 'good dog' in Yiddish? Dutch dog trained to receive orders from volunteers in Israeli firefighters' haredi unit. (Ynet)
• EU's Ashton, UNRWA chief sign $72M Palestinian aid agreement (Agencies)
• IDF introduces new regulations to prevent soldier abductions (Israel Hayom)
• 'Egypt-Israel peace treaty to remain as is, at least for now' (Agencies)
• U.S. Jewish democrats: Obama’s address is an endorsement of our values (Haaretz)
• EU Speaker of Parliament: "The Holocaust will not happen a second time" – Events for International Holocaust Rememberance Day opened in Europe on Tuesday. (Yedioth, p. 16)
• Israeli PM's New Year wishes big hit in China (Yedioth and Ynet)
• 'We've barely scratched surface of Israeli-Chinese relations,' PM says (Israel Hayom)
• Azeri politicians: Iran creating provocation – Say Tuesday's revelations of a terror plot to assassinate Israel's Ambassador in Baku is provocation. (Ynet)
• Dubai police chief warns of Gulf war - Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan says recent tensions in Persian Gulf indicative of possible regional conflict. (Ynet)
• Iranian street reacts to Obama's nuclear warning (Agencies)
• US Institute for Science and International Security: Iran won't move toward nuclear weapon in 2012 (Agencies)
• IMF warned of consequences of oil embargo on Iran – Said it could bring rise of 30% in oil prices. (Yedioth, p. 20)

Features:
Istanbul, corner Dizengoff Turkish musician Cem Mansur, who is conducting the Haifa Symphony Orchestra this week, talks about his Tel Aviv roots and classical music in Turkey. (Haaretz)

Study: Pre-military academies not churning out enough officers State invests some 40 million shekels a year in the academies whose goal is to prepare quality manpower for the IDF. But study reveals the rate of enlistment to combat units, to becoming officers and to signing on for permanent service is only slightly higher than the average for high schools. (Maariv and NRG Hebrew)

Relative of David Ben-Gurion releases first single after becoming 2011 Jewish idol WATCH: Mexican singer Adam Kleinberg performs duet with Israeli star and producer Momi Levi. (Haaretz)

Palestinian family against City of David: Tourists coming into our yard – Abbasi family sues Elad Organization: "They established a tourist compound on an archeological site on land that belongs to us over 50 years." Now a judge will have to determine if the stairs in their garden are "State property" or part of a private home. (Maariv, p. 12)

***Disengagement Plans After long years during which they reported from here non-stop, the international news channels are cutting down the number of employees in Israel. When did the world stop being interested in us? The latest cut was to the local branch of CNN. It turns out that viewers in the world are also tired of waiting for peace in the Middle East. Don't worry: They promise to return during the next war.  (Maariv Magazine)
 

Commentary/Analysis:

Israel is being hijacked (Roni Brizon, Ynet) Religious-nationalistic forces taking over Israel by using ideology, demography.

No more white knights in Israeli politics (Ari Shavit, Haaretz) This is a emergency call-up, ladies and gentlemen. This time it's really a battle for our home.

Tahrir Square is divided and conflicted (Amit Cohen, Maariv) Cohen comments on the situation in Egypt, one year since the start of the revolution against Hosni Mubarak.  The author contends that the various Islamist and liberal groups are united by their distrust of the ruling military clique and their hostility to Israel.  The paper says that, "The past year has proven how deeply-rooted hostility toward Israel is among the Egyptian public," even though all parties have taken care not to call for the cancellation of the peace agreements with Israel.
 
Parents - enough of that! (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) From making do with two annual visits to the school to attend parent-teacher meetings, parents have become the executive committee of the school system, and to a certain extent also the alternate commanders of the IDF.
 
An alternative to Israel's High Court of Justice (Israel Harel, Haaretz) The High Court must think out of the box and initiate the establishment of a constitutional court.
 
Iran sanctions preserve the status quo (Hezi Sternlicht, Israel Hayom) When could the EU sanctions on Iran actually lead to war? When they actually have an unwanted impact on oil prices.

Capitol Letter / And don't forget Bin Laden (Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz) Obama's address seemed aimed at being sure voters remember the fate of Osama.

There's no making up for lost time (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Pressure on Iran needs to be ramped up now. What good is an embargo that takes effect only in July?

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