News Nosh 05.04.15

APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday May 4, 2015 

Quote of the day:
“So I found a vehicle, a taxi, and I tried to shell it but missed. Two more vehicles came, and I tried another shell or two, but couldn’t do it. Then the commander came and said, ‘Yallah, stop it, you’re using up all the shells. Cut it out.’ So we moved to the heavy machine gun."
--An Armored Corps soldier gave a testimony about a competition that developed during Operation Protective Edge between the members of his unit: who could succeed in hitting moving Gazan vehicles on a road that carried cars, trucks and even ambulances.**


Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Fury Square – Ethiopians’ protest demonstration spiraled out of control: Ayalon Hwy blocked for hours, Rabin Square turned into battle ground between police and thousands of demonstrators
  • The insult is burning // Dani Adino Abbaba
  • Because of their cry // Nahum Barnea
  • Learn from the IDF // Yossi Yehoshua 
  • There is no us and them // Ben-Dror Yemini
  • The supervision and the discrimination // Yifat Biton and Gadi Yavrakan
  • Or’s sad ending
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
  • Battle zone – From a protest to a rampage – Got out of control
  • Yehuda Shlesinger and Moshe Ben-Simchon, reporter and photographer of Israel Hayom, were injured covering the demo
  • Don’t destroy an achievement of real Zionism // Boaz Bismuth
  • There is a place to express pain, there is no place for violence // MK Avraham Nagusa
  • Sad end: After 8 days of uncertainty – the body of Israeli tourist Or Asraf was found in Nepal; Chief of Staff: “From the best of our boys"

News Summary:
Violent clashes between Ethiopian-Israelis and police at a protest against police brutality was today’s top story in the Hebrew press. Haaretz and Yedioth also wrote about the testimonies by Israeli soldiers that revealed what could amount to war crimes. Also, US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to reassure Israelis that the Iran deal would never expire and that the US would always protect Israel.
 
Both Ethiopian-Israelis and police were injured in the protest last night, during which thousands of protesters blocked a major Israeli highway and some threw rocks and bottles at police later at Rabin Square. Police used stun grenades against the protesters. The protest was sparked by a video of two Israeli policemen beating Demas Fekadeh, a uniformed IDF soldier. Ynet ran interesting testimonies with three people who explained why they came to protest. Adla, first arrested at age 13, had a German Shepherd unleashed on him.

**Some 60 IDF soldiers and officers gave chilling testimonies about acts against Gazan civilians and their property in last summer’s Gaza war. Breaking the Silence organization collected the testimonies and released them in a report today, discussed in both Yedioth by Elior Levy and in Haaretz. The organization also charged the IDF with being lax with its rules of engagement in Operation Protective Edge, which gave minimum risk to soldiers and meant more civilian casualties. An Armored Corps soldier who competed with his fellow soldiers on shooting at moving vehicles said he understood he was firing at civilians. Asked about it, he said, “I think, deep inside, it bothered me a little. But after three weeks in Gaza, when you’re firing at everything that moves, and even things that don’t move, at a psychotic pace, you don’t really … good and bad get a little mixed up and your morality starts to get lost and you lose your compass. And it becomes like a computer game. Really, really cool and real.” 
 
In the full interview with Israeli TV Channel 10 News that was broadcast Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that the emerging deal with Iran would ‘protect Israel,’ that the deal will last ‘forever,’ and that he does not rule out that Israel might attack Iran. Only Maariv reported on it in its print paper. (Also: AP)
  
Quick Hits:
  • 2,026 settlement homes built on private Palestinian land, right-wing study finds - Study conducted in support of possible legislation to expropriate land from Palestinians in exchange for reparations. (Haaretz)
  • Israel Police leave East Jerusalem hotel after 13-year stay - Cliff Hotel became center of legal battle after owners launched legal battle to get their hotel returned. (Haaretz+)
  • Palestinians protest to UN over detention of 9-year-old from East Jerusalem - The boy was detained for eight hours after police claimed he was throwing rocks at a bus. (Haaretz+)
  • Employing Arab workers? Pay a security tax - Beitar Illit Municipality recently passed an exceptional bylaw: every building contractor who employs Palestinian workers will have to help fund the new security system of the city. Mayor in a debate on the bill: "I can not sleep at night because of the fact that there are some 1,500 Palestinian workers walking around town. (MyNet
  • MKs learn to love the camera - Government Press Office gives new members of Knesset media training in both Hebrew and English so they could better represent Israel at home and abroad. (Ynet)
  • Under coalition deal with Kahlon, every party will have veto power - Galant will not be invited to all security cabinet meetings, Kulanu will have seat on Judicial Appointments Committee. (Haaretz+)
  • Lieberman: UTJ's coalition terms are a deal breaker - With three days to go before deadline to form the new government, Netanyahu will have to solve dispute between Shas and Bayit Yehudi on Religious Affairs portfolio, and recruit Lieberman's support to avoid narrow government. (Ynet)
  • 98% of sexual harassment victims in Israel don’t complain to police, according to gov’t poll - Sense of personal safety is lowest in Jerusalem district, highest in northern Israel and the West Bank. (Haaretz+)
  • Report: Gulf states want U.S. arms, agreements in return for support of Iran deal - Both Congress and Israel likely to oppose any moves by Obama to meet demands of Persian Gulf states. (Haaretz
  • Report: Palestinian Authority government to be reshuffled in near future - Fatah and Hamas, the two key factions in the consensus government, are locked in an ongoing dispute over the administration of Gaza. (Haaretz)
  • Dimona chief: Cancer rates at nuclear plant similar to those of general public - Dr. Ehud Netzer says there is no causal connection between working at Negev reactor and illness. (Haaretz+)
  • Samaritans hold annual Passover sacrifice ceremony on Mt. Gerizim - Abrahamic religious group holds 3,600-year-old annual ceremony, sacrificing 50 sheep - one for every family in the 800 member community. (Ynet
  • Tunisian official rejects Israel's warning of Lag Ba’omer terror threat - Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau urged Israelis and Jews not to visit Tunisia over the holiday due to a high-level threat of imminent attack. (Haaretz
  • Israeli restaurant named best restaurant in UK - The Palomar in London, which belongs to owners of Jerusalem's famous Machneyuda restaurant, described by British GQ magazine as having 'the most chutzpah of any food and drink establishment operating in the country right now.' (Ynet
  • Middle East updates / At least 7 reportedly killed in Syrian air raid near Aleppo school - Egypt charges 40 over allegedly being ISIS members • Arab coalition 'reconnaissance' troops in Aden, say Yemeni officials • Three migrants die after boat sinks off Egypt's coast (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:
Israel needs a separate state-secular education system (Ram Fruman, Haaretz+) How can we preserve our secular, liberal and democratic values when our children’s education has been handed over to people pushing nationalism and religion? 
War between the wars: the region could flare up at any moment over anything (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Apparently there is relative quiet in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and in the north, and the controlled friction gives Netanyahu more time. But every isolated incident has the potential of unfolding into a full-out conflagration.
Ethiopian Israeli protest turned violent - but it's still justified (Haaretz Editorial) Dealing with discrimination against Israelis of Ethiopian descent must be at top of new government's agenda. 
The Ethiopian Israelis' justified outcry (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Xenophobia is not only rooted in Israel – it is also encouraged by politicians on the eve of elections. The young protestors are forcing Israelis to look in the mirror, and it's not a pretty sight.  
How different would Israel be if Ben-Gurion had come from Yemen? (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Despite tainting Jews of Middle Eastern origin with anti-Arab tendencies, the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows scarcely any anti-Arab Mizrahi characters. 
Israel's Supreme Court cannot afford to compromise (Aviv Shmider, Haaretz+) Supreme Court President Miriam Naor has a vital role to play in safeguarding Israeli democracy. 
Israel's new ministers will determine our fate (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet) As the next government will likely be making decisions on critical war-related issues, the only consideration in selecting its members should be their compatibility for the position. 
David Cameron rips a page from Netanyahu's campaign playbook (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The three rules a sitting right-wing prime minister must follow in order to be reelected in 2015. 
France is selling out Israel – just like it abandoned Czechs in 1938 (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Just as France betrayed Czechoslovakia to the Nazis, it wants Israel to abandon territory and buoy Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Islamic State.
Netanyahu is the new haredi populist (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel's prime minister, who rejected economic-social populism his entire professional and political life, has now strongly embraced it in his quick and shameless acceptance of the ultra-Orthodox parties' demands.
Could the Castle Bravo bring a tiny ally into Israel's cause against Iran? (Seth Lipsky, Haaretz+) The Marshall Islands bears unique witness to the destructive power of atomic weapons. With a phone call, Netanyahu might be able to capitalize on Iran's seizure of the Maersk Tigris. 
With Obama’s eyes on Iran, Netanyahu needs only lip service for Palestinians
 (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) GOP Senator Marco Rubio’s amendments to Congressional review of Iran deal seen through prism of his reported endorsement by Sheldon Adelson. 
Hezbollah is raising its head (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Nasrallah is no longer deterred by the idea of war and is prepared to take risks that could drag him and Israel into a new conflagration.
Roger Waters, the bright side of Israel’s moon (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The occupation upsets this rock legend. The killing of children horrifies him. The airstrikes in Gaza make him lose sleep. 
Our hope is in fighting racism (Pnina Tamano-Shata, Israel Hayom) It's time the state took steps to clear the obstacles of racism and discrimination from the path of Israeli-born children of Ethiopian immigrants.
South African Jews: apologetic about apartheid, abused over Israel (Benjamin Pogrund, Haaretz+) The Jewish community has confronted its complicity in apartheid, and now finds itself increasingly held to account for Israel's treatment of Palestinians.


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