News Nosh 9.15.17

APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday September 15, 2017
 
Quote of the day:
“It isn’t a constitution they seek, but rather the destruction of democracy and the High Court."
--Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni, a former justice minister, reacted to the proposal by serving Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennet to limit the powers of the High Court.

You Must Be Kidding: 
The state has charged a Bedouin Israeli studying medicine in Jordan with grave security offenses — because he spoke with a fellow student and gave out summaries of material from his courses.


Breaking News:
London: Passengers Wounded in 'Explosion' on Train at Parsons Green Station
British police say they have declared the explosion a terrorist incident. (Haaretz and Ynet)

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Bennett and Shaked: Basic Law against High Court - The battle of the conservative right-wing in the Knesset against the High Court has turned into a declaration of war
  • Hurricane Guetta
  • What they did to him was not Judaism // Shai Piron
  • Adir (amazing) father - One of the F-35 fighter pilots, known as Adirs, showed his son the newly arrived jet
  • He did the Labor - Avi Gabai made first achievement since being elected head of party
  • Last words - The burned diary of Gil-Ad Shaer, which was saved from the burnt car in which they were kidnapped
  • MK of the draft - Yair Lapid celebrates a victory in the battle over the exemption of ultra-Orthodox
  • Break the waves // Nahum Barnea
Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)
  • Habayit Hayehudi party presents: path to bypass High Court
  • Victory for Gabai: Labor Party conference accepted all of his demands, including the candidates he wanted selected
  • The Iranian money: $800 million for Hezbollah
  • New Teva Pharmaceuticals CEO to earn tens of millions a year - and the critics are silent
  • A year since his death: The great legacy that Shimon Peres left for Israel // Uri Savir
  • Religion and state: Who is behind the evangelistic activity in Jerusalem
  • Enthusiastic Zionist: Daughter of gangster Meir Lansky in special admission
  • Not joking: Gavri Banai divides Jerusalem and refuses to perform in the Territories
  • The secret recipe: Uri Avnery celebrates 94 years without eating fruit and vegetables
Israel Hayom
  • Bennett and Shaked present: Legal plan to limit the High Court
  • Perfect political timing to close the breach // Mati Tuchfeld
  • High Court did not leave the Knesset any choice // Haim Shine
  • Iran in Golan: Expansive activity that hasn’t been seen in the past
  • Exclusive - 2 km of foolishness - State invested 250 million shekels to build a highway from Beit Arieh to Ofarim in order to provide a safe road from Samaria [in West Bank] to the center of the country, but since 2007 it hasn’t been finished, missing 35 million shekels to complete it
  • Hospitals to distance cats
  • Weapons? There are? You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to bring a knife or fake explosives into shopping centers across the country despite the security
  • Report: Egypt proposed to Israel to transfer bodies of 34 terrorists in exchange for information about about the (Israeli) captives held by Hamas
  • Avinoam Buchris, who saved his fellow tank soldiers in Gaza, is fighting for his life
  • “I’m trying to be Bibi’s eyes and ears” - Interview with Minister Ayub Kara
  • Political party in identity crisis: The presence of MK Guetta at the wedding of his gay nephew revealed the crisis in Shas


News Summary:
Ministers from far-right-wing Habayit Hayehudi party, Education Minister Naftali Bennet and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, prepared a plan to introduce a new basic law that would allow the Knesset to bypass a High Court ruling and would limit the Court’s authority to strike down laws, while the new Labor party chief, Avi Gabai, succeeded in convincing members to give him more authority over the party, and, it was revealed, Israel demanded a 60 kilometer buffer zone on the Golan Heights, but Russia let Iranian forces approach within five kilometers of the border - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Also in the news, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman are at odds with Israeli military and intel brass over whether to push US President Donald Trump to scrap the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu and Lieberman think an end to the deal and a return to sanctions on Iran is in Israel’s interest. However, “all Israeli intelligence bodies dealing with the Iranian issue are united in the opinion that in the two years and two months that have passed since the agreement was signed in Vienna, Iran hasn’t been caught violating a single clause. Also, the Israeli intelligence community has no evidence that the Iranians have resumed their nuclear project and gone back on their commitments,” Haaretz+ reported. Despite calling it 'the worst deal ever' and accusing Iran of violating 'the spirit' of the deal, Trump extended the relief on sanctions on Iran Thursday.

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