Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Quiet, we're expelling - Afternoon hours in the burning streets of Eilat. The police are determined to finish the daily hunt with a victory photo / Gideon Levy
• Representatives of South Sudan arriving in Israel to discuss the return of citizens to their country
• Murder to be divided into two separate types of crime depending on its severity
• Dozens of citizens injured in clashes ahead of Poland-Russian Euro game
• After decades of decline, number of Jews in NY rising again
• Most of the non-profit organizations that are tax exempt are right-wing
• Study guide for citizenship matriculation: Associating with Arabs can undermine Jewish girls' security
• Cost of living for foreign residents: Tel-Aviv is in 31st place

• Scoop: Ultra-Orthodox to receive draft quota - Whoever expected a revolution that would send tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox to IDF will be disappointed
• Struck with a report: Today: Heavy criticism of conduct of Netanyahu and Barak in State Comptroller report on Marmara (Gaza flotilla) affair
• Boarding school employees refused to hand over Sudanese children for expulsion
• Police officer suspected of raping battered woman while driving her to shelter
• Sport saved me - Six years after being kidnapped, Gilad Shalit reveals how he managed in Hamas captivity and tells about his greatest love - sport
• New in Yedioth: Regular sports column by Gilad Shalit and Erik Henig. First column on Friday

• State Comptroller to publish report on Marmara today -
• Peres' day - Israel's President to receive tonight (1:30AM Israel) an honor that few get, and will recieve from President Obama the Presidential Medal of Honor
• Revolving doors - 'Oz' police inspectors detained 60 infiltrators yesterday while the Prison Authority released 78 from jail
• Avri Gilad: Islam is an illness - IDF radio talk show host lashed out at the religion of a sixth of Israel's citizens who fund the public radio station. IDF Radio: Such comments have no place here (Hebrew)
• In the heart of Tel-Aviv: 30-year-old woman murdered in bathroom of new central bus station

• Today: Marmara report - High tension in political and security echelons ahead of special report by State Comptroller
• New company to compete with HOT and yes (for cable and satellite TV services)
• Higher Council for Education presents: B.A. without matriculation exams
• Medal and Pollard's fate - Peres in Washington
• "Don't tell us that our lives are not worth anything" - Ahead of High Court hearing, Shachar Greenspan's sister asks for more severe punishment for man who ran over Shachar
• High Court to Weiner: Respond to the State Comptroller report by June 25
• Clinton: Russia equipping Assad with combat helicopters
• Rabbi Eliyashiv fighting for his life

News Summary:
Tension ahead of a damning report (Gaza flotilla) and detentions ahead of expulsion (South Sudanese) were top stories in today's Israeli papers. Israel Hayom reported on a poll by an institute in an Israeli college in the West Bank that claimed that a majority of Israelis support settlement activity. A meeting that was supposed to take place between Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood MPs and Israeli MKs was cancelled and the IDF suspended an officer caught on camera doing something he shouldn't.

The comptroller releases his report today into the failures of the Gaza flotilla raid (also known as the Marmara affair ) and the criticism would focus on the conduct of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Israel Hayom deduces that based on a poll, Israelis have become more supportive of settlements. According to a poll by Maagar Mohot Institute of the Ariel University Center of Samaria, an Israeli college in the West Bank (that desperately wants to be officially declared a university), 64% of Israelis support settlement activity.The article has some interesting facts and omissions. It stresses that 36% would support a partial or full annexation of Judea and Samaria. But that means that an overwhelming 64% oppose Israeli annexation of any of the West Bank. The article also notes that 'a sizeable proportion still supports some kind of an Israeli pullout from Judea and Samaria,' however it does not state what percentage.

Some Israeli did not want Israeli politicians to meet with Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood politicians. The 'secret' meeting was to take place in Washington and hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Institute with invitations by the US embassy. But after all the Israeli media reported on it yesterday, the MB MPs cancelled their participation. More here:

The IDF has suspended an officer who fired at Palestinians during a weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh. Bilal Tamimi, a Palestinian man who filmed the shooting 10 days ago and uploaded it to YouTube, sparked an investigation and the dismissal. According to the IDF rules of engagement, a soldier can only open live fire when one's life is danger. But the video shows that the officer was in no life-threatening danger and no one shot at him. Nevertheless he shot a number of times at the demonstrators. He was also shown throwing stones at the Palestinians. The papers reported that he was suspended because he did not report on the incident and he used live fire. Only Yedioth and Haaretz bothered to explain why the Palestinians demonstrate in Nebi Saleh every Friday: a land dispute with the residents of Nave Tsuf settlement. VIDEO here.
 

Quick Hits:

• MKs: 'We must recognize Armenian tragedy' -  Knesset debates whether to recognize mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide. For years, Israel has refrained from commenting on the matter for fear of angering Turkey. (Ynet)
• 300 illegal aliens sign voluntary departure form - Immigration Authority arrests dozens on second day of campaign to deport illegal immigrants. (Ynet)
• Leftist MKs against university in 'heart of territories' - Debate on whether to grant university status to education center in Ariel heating up. Meretz leader says move will lead to academic boycott, while rightist lawmaker claims institution gained 'international recognition.' (Ynet)
• Israel Police find more settler construction on Palestinian land - Waste purification plant near Ofra has been under investigation since 2009. (Haaretz)
• Gov't campaign encourages employment of Arab academics - Campaign designed to raise awareness while breaking through stigmas, calling attention to incentives state offers employers. (Ynet)
• Gaza kindergartners want to 'blow up Zionists' - Kids at Islamic Jihad kindergarten celebrate end of year by demonstrating how Palestinian prisoners are 'tortured' in Israel. (Ynet)
• IDF history no longer key point for psychologists to receive certification (Haaretz)
• Woman who is a doctor, lawyer and pilot urges Druze girls to 'be strong' (Ynet)
• Pro-Syrian, pro-Iranian, pro-Palestinian TV channel goes live (Israel Hayom)
• 'Peace poll' considers Israel less peaceful than Syria - Annual Global Peace Index ranks Israel 150th of 158 countries in terms of peacefulness. Peacefulness factors include number of wars fought as well as perceived criminality. Syria and Iran rank higher than Israel. (Israel Hayom)
• Upgraded 'Nakba Law' may be undemocratic, counsel says - Under existing law academic institutions may face penalties if they support events that reject Israel as a Jewish democracy or condone terrorism, but may allow privately organized events on their premises. (Israel Hayom)
• David Arquette celebrates Bar Mitzva in Jerusalem -  US actor celebrates ceremony at Western Wall while visiting Israel to film travel series. (Yedioth and Ynet)
• Ulpana residents petition Jerusalem court to expedite debate on landownership - Settlers' last-ditch request, submitted less than a month before homes slated for demolition, urges the court to deliberate a prior petition from September 2011. (Haaretz)
• Foreign Minister Lieberman fined over poor Knesset attendance (Ynet)
• Israel appoints envoy in bid to bolster diplomatic presence in Pacific - Appointment of Jonathan Zadka, from Israel’s embassy in Tokyo, comes amid calls for Jerusalem to 'ratchet up its presence' in Asia. (Haaretz)
• 2 children, teacher injured in school acid attack (Ynet)
• Prominent Indian musician cancels Israel appearance - Zakir Hussain, considered one of the world's most influential Indian musicians, cancels planned concerts in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, citing security concerns. (Haaretz)
• Mubarak in 'stable' condition despite health fears, say Egyptian sources (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Report: Iran designing nuclear submarine (Agencies, Ynet)

Commentary/Analysis:
King Bibi is returning to his roots (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz) Kingship, as opposed to democracy, has always been the characteristic Jewish form of government. Bibi is just returning to his roots.

 Israel: Oh, how it has changed! (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) When I moved here almost a quarter-century ago, the Golan Heights, West Bank mountaintops and Jordan Valley were “indispensable” to Israel’s security, by consensus.
 
The warnings we should be hearing (Amira Hass, Haaretz) Warnings should go to Israelis who are planning this summer's protests; experts should not warn Israelis about the dangers of burning down of a mosque, but rather, the dangers of their government.
 
Palestinian inhibition in the walled city of Bethlehem (Leila Sansour, Haaretz) As a child growing up in Bethlehem, I was entrusted with burning all the political books in my father’s library whenever there was an Israeli raid. Now my city is surrounded by walls and ring-fenced by more than forty Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land.

Gaza flotilla report serves as warning ahead of Israeli strike on Iran (Amos Harel, Haaretz) In his latest post, Harel says security establishment's failings bode ill for future Israeli military operations.

Two presidents, one landmine (Eitan Haber, Yedioth) Haber discusses the expectation that President Shimon Peres will present US President Barack Obama with a petition in which 70,000 Israelis call on the latter to release Jonathan Pollard. Haber writes, "With all due respect to Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua, Gilad Shalit, Shlomo Artzi and the 70,000 others who signed petition for Jonathan Pollard's release, the chances are slim-to-none that Shimon Peres will bring him back home to Israel," and adds, "Any other result would be a miracle." The paper refers to the ceremony in which US President Obama will award President Peres the Presidential Medal of Freedom and contends, "Obama needs the ceremony and medal in order to win the hearts of more Jewish voters this November; Peres needs the ceremony and the medal because he wants the ceremony and the medal." Haber believes that neither of them, "will allow Pollard to spoil the mood and the festive ceremony."
 
Israel, where laws are made to be broken (Eyal Benvenisti, Barak Medina, Haaretz) The settlements are under the jurisdiction of international law. Israel has no authority to give Palestinian lands to the settlers.
 
Just the beginning (Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Israel Hayom) As of now, only infiltrators from South Sudan and the Ivory Coast can be legally deported. The next phase will be to deport infiltrators from Eritrea and Sudan, who number nearly 50,000. I will not accept no for an answer.

Israel faces anxiety attack (Einat Fishbain, Ynet) Instead of panic-stricken response to migrant issue, Israel needs real immigration policy.
 
Palestinian Authority clamps down on militants, but Israel turns a blind eye (Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz) Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff return with their newly relaunched blog to explore the Mideast conflict, primarily from a security-diplomatic perspective; in his latest post, Issacharoff discusses why it is easier for Israel to claim there is 'no partner' even as the PA takes significant steps against insurgents.
 
Police intimidation (Haaretz Editorial) Israel's Public Security Minister must instruct the Police Commissioner to immediately cease this dangerous behavior.

Israel’s right to expel (Raanan Shaked, Ynet) Despite unpleasant expulsion images, Israel should not be taking in world’s wretched souls.
 
Say it out loud: Erdogan's infamy (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz) The trial soon resumes of a journalist accused of belonging to a group trying to overthrow Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. When it comes to maintaining freedom of speech, Turkey is among Europe's worst.
 
America has not forgiven us for Pollard (Yaakov Ahimeir, Israel Hayom) Jonathan Pollard has now been imprisoned for 27 years, and at this point it seems like his continued incarceration is an act of revenge by the U.S.

The law is an ass? Blame the lawyers (Moshe Arens, Haaretz) When did the government take the decision, in complete disregard of the rights of those people who had made their homes on territory they mistakenly believed had been legally acquired?
 
The writing was on the wall (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) The vandal who desecrated Yad Vashem will probably not be prosecuted harshly, doubling the insult to the memory of the Holocaust.

 

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