News Nosh 6.04.17

APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday June 4, 2017
 
Quote of the day:
“[Israel is] a powerful society, it’s a powerful place. So that’s what I mean about the mirror. It’s a ‘victor country’ also living as a defeated country. It lives in both narratives. It’s as if it doesn’t know how to be a victor."
--Famed Caribbean-American writer, Jamaica Kincaid, who was just awarded the Dan David Prize in Tel Aviv, speaks about the occupation in an interview with Haaretz.*


Breaking News:
London Bridge Terror Attack: At Least Seven Killed, 48 Wounded in Car-ramming, Stabbing Attacks (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
News Summary:
Israel planned on dropping an atomic bomb on Sinai in the ’67 war, a former general revealed, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew to an economic and diplomatic forum in Africa (and kept three ministers from traveling = at the last minute, taking only an Ethiopian-Israeli minister) and Israel was set to approve plans for 2,100 new settlement housing units in West Bank, making top stories in today's Hebrew newspapers.

Settlers were angry that Netanyahu reduced the number of homes to be built for Jews in the West Bank. Shomron council head Yossi Dagan called for replacing the prime minister because of a "construction freeze,” Maariv reported. Some 600 of the homes were planned outside of settlement blocs, including 200 housing units intended to house those evicted from Amona. Israel Hayom made it a front page story, stressing that “no one cares as much about settlements as Netanyahu.”
 
Not mentioned in most of the newspapers, was that the 16-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl, who stabbed and very lightly wounded a soldier outside a West Bank settlement Thursday, succumbed to her wounds Friday. A video shows Nuf Uqab Abd al-Jabbar Infiaat approaching the entrance to the settlement, before disappearing from view and then she is seen being chased around the corner by soldiers or settlers or both. [One wonders why they couldn’t simply knock her down and why she was shot in the stomach and not the back when she was running from them. – OH] Al Jazeera shared a video showing settlers insulting the girl as she lay wounded on the ground, calling her a "bitch" and telling her she deserved to die. Haaretz+’s Gideon Levy wrote an Op-Ed about it.
 
Quick Hits:
  • Senior Palestinian Official: 'Obviously' Western Wall Should Remain Under Israeli Control - But 'The Temple Mount is ours, not yours,' Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub says on Israeli TV. (Haaretz and Maariv)
  • Ehud Barak: "There is a one-time opportunity to move the peace process forward" - The former prime minister spoke at a cultural event in Tel Aviv and said that it is not inevitable that Trump will tell Israel and the Palestinians that they have two months to present a plan that the other side will also accept. On Netanyahu: Every day he has a new Hitler. (Maariv)
  • Qatar Reportedly Asks Certain Hamas Officials to Leave Capital City Doha - According to Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV, a senior Qatari official asked Hamas that its contacts with the West Bank be made through its leadership in Gaza, not from overseasף Hamas denies the report. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • (Friday) Exclusive: Trump Officials Studying Obama's Security Plan in Case Israeli-Palestinian Peace Push Works - The proposal for the day after Palestine is established won support from Israel's top army brass, but not its political leaders. U.S. general who devised it: Security was not the obstacle for moving forward. (Haaretz+) 
  • 16 ultra-Orthodox Jews arrested in Mea Shearim for attacking IDF soldiers - A police operation in the Haredi neighborhood leads to the arrests; during the arrests, a riot breaks out in which three policemen were slightly injured by stones thrown at them. (Yedioth/Ynet
  • The "Red Color" alarm that was activated on Ashkelon beach - false alarm - The IDF Spokesman announced that the alarm sounded Saturday afternoon in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip was activated even though no rocket was fired at Israel. (Maariv)
  • Israeli authorities devise plan to combat threat of arson terrorism - Israel Fire and Rescue Services, Israel Police and IDF to join forces on Red Flame counterterrorism scheme, devised following series of 2016 fires, some of which were nationalistically motivated. Fire chief: Educate troops, public on fire prevention. (Israel Hayom)
  • Rothschild Foundation Uses Threats to Keep Poor Arab Israeli Town Tiny - Foundation says that 'ceding' land would violate agreement and prompt return of all lands family gave to Israel after independence. (Haaretz+)
  • IDF trains Palestinian teachers for emergencies - 25 teachers from E. Jerusalem participated in first teaching initiative held by the Home Front in cooperation with Jerusalem Municipality.  (Maariv, p. 18)
  • Can an Alphabet Merging Hebrew and Arabic Promote Coexistence? - The alphabet, designed by an Israeli, is based on a fascinating discovery made by a French ophthalmologist in the 19th century. (JTA, Haaretz
  • Rivlin: Hebron is not an obstacle to peace, it is a test of our ability to live together - The President of Israel spoke at the opening ceremony of the Jubilee celebrations in Kiryat Arba: "After 50 years, the state must make an effort to promote the quality of life of the residents throughout the region." (Maariv
  • Rivlin says Labor Party was adamant about settling Hebron - At ceremony celebrating 50 years since the Israeli conquest of the Hebron region from Jordan in Kiryat Arba, the president recalls the support for Jewish settlement there in Israeli history. (Ynet)
  • Au revoir les enfants - Eden Madar was outside the Hyper Cacher supermarket when a terrorist murdered Jewish customers. Toulouse natives Liora Zano and her brother Eitan realized that Israel is their true home • All three made aliyah because "here, we feel like we're together." (Israel Hayom
  • What Occupation? New Generation of Palestinian Writers Shifts Focus From Politics to 'Life Itself' - Young Arabic-language writers in Israel are tackling the Palestinian predicament from their own point of view rather than obsessing about the Nakba. (Haaretz+)
  • Government launches campaign to fight BDS online - Ethiopian-born model and former Miss Israel Yityish "Titi" Aynaw to head campaign encouraging advocacy of Israel online. Anti-BDS campaign to include website and smartphone application that offer ways to fight demonization of Israel. (Israel Hayom
  • Calling out Roger Waters, Radiohead front man Thom Yorke says calls to boycott Israel 'offensive'
  • Radiohead's Thom Yorke breaks silence on calls to boycott Israel: 'Just to assume that we know nothing about this [and] throw the word 'apartheid' around... It's such an extraordinary waste of energy'. (Haaretz)
  • Did Israel Seize the Golan Heights From Syria Because of a Photograph? - Intelligence operatives and historians debate what led Moshe Dayan to change his mind about attacking Syria. (Haaretz+)
  • EU parliament adopts definition of anti-Semitism - The European Parliament is the latest institutional body to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism. Jewish leaders, groups laud decision as "monumental day." Critics allege definition hinders free speech. (Israel Hayom
  • German Court Upholds Decision to Acquire Drones From Israel Rather Than U.S. - The German court rejected an appeal by the U.S. company that lost the bid for the 580 million-euro drone deal. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israeli TV show pulls interview with 'Wonder Woman' Gadot after question is censored - Interviewer was warned not to ask questions in Hebrew or discuss Lebanese decision to ban the film because Gadot is Israeli, but did both. (Haaretz+) 
  • Suffering Sappho! Tunnel digger named '"Wonder Woman" in honor of Gal Gadot' - Israel's minister of transport responds to Lebanon's decision to ban the new superhero film by naming the fourth tunnel boring machine digging the future Red Line after the Amazonian heroine. (Yedioth/Ynet
  • Lebanon arrests Iraqi claiming to be Israeli spy - Marvin Ben J. J., who was arrested in Lebanon about two months ago, tells his Lebanese interrogators that he was recruited by Israel to gather information about Ron Arad, Hezbollah, the Lebanese army and the Syrian army and recruit agents in Lebanon and Iraq. (Ynet
  • Iran honoring nuclear deal but nearing heavy-water limit again —IAEA - Heavy-water stock within 2 tonnes of 130-tonne ceiling, IAEA says; heavy water production plant currently shut down; a diplomat claims that the limit could be reached by second half of July; Trump is wary but heeding powers' accord with Iran for now. (Agencies, Ynet
  • New York Times Editorial Urges Trump to Send Jared Kushner Away: 'He's in Over His Head' - The New York Times questions Jared Kushner's fitness for his job, including negotiating Israeli-Palestinian peace. (Haaretz)


Features:
How a Small Group of Israelis Made the Western Wall Jewish Again
Fifteen contractors were called for an urgent mission at the end of the Six-Day War: Demolish the Mughrabi neighborhood to provide access to the Kotel. Fifty years later, their stories have come to light. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) 
Hammers, the IAF's F-15 bombing squadron
While the IAF was welcoming new F-35 aircraft, the old tried-and-true F15I was returning from another operation against Hamas and Hezbollah; from carrying out assaults in Gaza without harming a single civilian to flying sorties over the northern skies. Here's a look at the IAF's 69th Squadron. (Yoav Zitun, Ynet
From Selma to Settlements How Progressive American Jews Morphed Into Hardline Israeli Settlers
In her new book 'City on a Hilltop,' Sara Yael Hirschhorn explains how 1960s idealism and activism deeply informed the American Jews who began settling in the occupied territories in the '70s. (Larry Derfner, Haaretz+) 
Exclusive excerpt 'City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement'
How does a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn end up blowing off the legs of the PLO mayor of Nablus? (Haaretz+) 
 
Commentary/Analysis:
With Meeting in Ramallah, Israel's Finance Minister Blazes Palestinian Trail (Barak Ravid, Haaretz) It's been more than a decade since a top Israeli minister visited the Palestinian Authority, but economic gestures are no substitute for diplomatic ones, Palestinian PM hinted.
Trump and Netanyahu Are Deluding Themselves Over Sunni Coalition (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) A vicious attack on Qatar from other Arab countries for something its emir never even said shows how fragile the so-called Sunni Muslim alliance is. 
How can Israeli Left pin its peace hopes on Trump? (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) The US president’s speech at the Israel Museum adopted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s narrative unconditionally. His family, his heart and his mind cause him to identify one-sidedly with the Israeli political Right. So thinking that Trump will pressure Netanyahu is complete nonsense.
Die, Suffer, You Kahba (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) This is the lesson learnt by soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces from the Azaria trial: Instead of shooting a ‘terrorist,’ let the person bleed to death while cursing them.
The lesson of 1967 (Dr. Ephraim Kam, Israel Hayom) After the 1967 Six-Day War, Arab leaders understood that Israel's military was stronger than that of any Arab country and even any coalition of Arab states. 
The Long-running Fiction About BDS (Nitzan Horowitz, Haaretz+) A senior Israeli official serving in the United States didn’t even attempt to evade the truth. It’s true, he told me – we have been greatly exaggerating the issue of the boycott. It’s a marginal, insignificant phenomenon.
Stop the occupation (of the mind) (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) The "land for peace" idea that has dominated diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years fails to address the actual challenges posed by reality • Fifty years after the Six-Day War, here are 10 thoughts on those six days.
What Israel gained - and lost - by unifying Jerusalem (Uzi Benziman, Haaretz+) Fear has driven Israel’s behavior in Jerusalem since 1967; from a city formerly associated with majesty and holiness, it has morphed into an alienated real estate project. 
The truth about the occupation (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) It’s been 50 years since Israel gained control of the territories, and figures show that the Palestinians have actually experienced a major improvement over that period. In most areas, their situation is much better than that of Arabs in neighboring countries. The lies about a genocide and destruction must therefore be shattered.
Sense and Responsibility (Haaretz Editorial) Trump delayed moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Netanyahu can be equally prudent by stalling the approval of new housing units in the West Bank. 
So who is the real Avigdor Lieberman? (Ariela Ringel-Hoffman, Yedioth/Ynet) Even after he replaced the militant and fiery statements with restraint and calm, one has to wonder if the defense minister has any surprises in store; in other words, is Defense Minister Lieberman this new, placid version, or will the 'bad boy' suddenly emerge again? 
The officers who began the occupation fear for Israel’s future (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz) Fifty years ago, two officers in the 16th Jerusalem Brigade were among the first to cross the Green Line and begin the occupation of the West Bank. They recall the early euphoria and pinpoint when they believe things turned sour. 
The 50-year unanswered question (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) The 1967 Six-Day War changed Israel's standing in the Middle East. While the Right argues return to Judea and Samaria was vital and the Left claims "occupation corrupts," the one consensus so far is that the war gave birth to the Palestinian idea.
Iran Dictates New Middle East Reality, Striving for Land Corridor From Tehran to Beirut (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Iran sending Shi'ite militias to create stronghold on Iraq-Syria border through which the Islamic Republic can send forces, weapons and supplies to Assad regime and Hezbollah in Lebanon. 
The prolonged birth pangs of a Palestinian state (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Fifty years ago, Israel was assigned the role of birthing a Palestinian state, but the birth isn't going to happen without a realistic Palestinian initiative; with two generations of Palestinians having lost out on their future, it's time for the fetus to get moving. 
How far will Israel go with Trump? (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) Does Israel have any red lines? How far will it go with its ally, whose leader disregards global alliances and the planet’s future? 
Trump Finally Realizing: Peace or Jerusalem (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Israel can live well without East Jerusalem and could live well without sovereignty over it 
Turkish takeover in Jerusalem (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) The malevolent influence of Erdogan's Turkey is a growing threat in east Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount. Security action and diplomatic maneuver are mandated, and Israel must assume full responsibility for services to east Jerusalem's Arab residents. 
The Israeli Right Is Beyond Repair (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) It is impossible to retain the occupied territories by means of annexation, variations on apartheid or the status quo of military occupation while continuing to yack about a Jewish and democratic state. 
Questions of societal cluelessness (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) A young woman conducting research for a documentary asked me, "Are you actually on the Right?" Why do millennials in journalism view right-wingers as rare specimens whose peculiar political views are a mystery, when we are the majority of the country?
Inside Every Islamist Is a Latent Bezalel Smotrich (Salman Masalha, Haaretz+) They are both waiting for the propitious moment to begin their campaign of conquest. They both dream of the day when 'the army will know what to do.' 
The 'Pious' Men and 'Dangerous' Women of the Israeli Army (Yofi Tirosh, Haaretz+) It is women who pay the price for the Israel Defense Forces' increasing gender segregation and modesty.
 
Interviews:
*Author Jamaica Kincaid, a Jewish Convert, Knows Exactly What's Wrong With Israel
The Caribbean-American writer, who was just awarded the Dan David Prize in Tel Aviv, is one of the world’s most respected black voices. Visiting Israel for the fifth time since converting to Judaism, she explains why Israelis need to stop playing the victim. (Interviewed by Gili Izikovich in Haaretz+)

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