News Nosh 11.8.17

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
 
You Must Be Kidding: 
Some 58% of Jewish Israelis support stripping voting rights from Arab citizens who are not Zionists - which is most of them.*

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • State witness Ganor: Molcho was supposed to deal with the Germans about the (submarine) deal”
  • The complainant from Tel-Aviv University reveals herself with courage: “He needs to be jailed, not I” - Bar Lavi…tells how she was raped by a staff member - who continues to work
  • Two new and severe testimonies against the president of Keshet TV: “Alex Giladi raped me”
  • Mayor shocked others at the council meeting: There is someone here who who makes sexual attacks
  • Former Mossad agents helped the harassing Hollywood producer - in mediating with Ehud Barak
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Developments in the corruption investigations that involve or surround close associates of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continue to make headlines. Yesterday it was Cases 3000 (submarines) and 4000 (Bezeq Telecom), today it’s Cases 1000 (gifts for Netanyahu family) and 3000 (submarines). In addition, the state is threatening to legislate a law forcing the Jewish National Fund to fork over some 2 billion shekels a year - 80% of its annual income and the two more women gave testimonies to the Israeli media against Keshet TV President Alex Giladi (also a former NBC executive and Israel’s International Olympic Committee member) - this time that he raped them, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

In a police-initiated confrontation, state witness Miki Ganor met Netanyahu’s personal lawyer and accused him of acting not as attorney but a lobbyist for the German submarines acquisition deal, saying Shimron was set to receive a 20% cut from its profits. And in a confrontation with Netanyahu’s close confidant and diplomatic envoy, attorney Isaac Molcho, Ganor accused the latter of agreeing to promote the deal with the Germans. Molcho reportedly didn’t deny meeting Ganor, but said he didn’t deal with Europe.

And in case 1000, Israel's US Ambassador Ron Dermer testified to the police regarding alleged efforts to get then-US Secretary of State John Kerry to renew Israeli tycoon and Hollywood producer, Arnon Milchan’s US visa. Milchan allegedly supplied the Netanyahucouple with gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.

DIPLOMACY:
Haaretz revealed that British Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel visited the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in breach of protocol, during her controversy-sparking visit in August, for which she may be sacked today. Patel apologized for holding 12 meetings with Israeli ministers and politicians during a private trip to Israel without approving them in advance.

At a Knesset session commemorating the Balfour Declaration, Netanyahu said Israel was working to make peace with moderate Arab states who in the past supported the Balfour Declaration. Netanyahu said that the root of the Arab-Israeli conflict was the “100-year refusal to recognize Zionism, to recognize the Jewish national home in the Land of Israel, to recognize the State of Israel within any borders." (Note: Even the Arab neighbors, Jordan and Egypt, who made peace with Israel never declared that they accept Zionism and Israel’s 'right' to exist in Palestine. Only that they accept Israel as existing. - OH] With Israel’s prime minister making such remarks, it should come as no surprise then that a new poll found that most Israeli Jews would deny voting rights to Arab citizens who reject the Zionist narrative.

In Egypt, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said it was the Israelis who needed convincing to make peace. “The Arabs should convince the Israelis of the advantages of peace.” Indeed, former US Secretary of State John Kerry said he believed that Israel’s leaders don’t want peace. In an audio recording obtained by Channel 10 News and aired on Tuesday Kerry was heard saying that "Israel doesn't have leaders who want to make peace." Kerry said the Palestinians were engaged in non-violent resistance. "If this doesn't change, I'll be surprised if a new and young Palestinian leader doesn't emerge within the next 10 years and says: 'We tried nonviolence for 30 years and it didn't get us anywhere.”
 
Quick Hits:
  • **Most Israeli Jews would deny voting rights to Arab citizens who reject Zionist narrative, survey find - New survey by Israel Democracy Institute finds most Arabs in Israel don’t consider 'Palestinian' their primary identity. (Haaretz)
  • At Kahane memorial, grandson slams ‘Shin Bet terror organization’ - Hundreds of extreme right-wing activists attend rally in commemoration of Meir Kahane, murdered after founding Jewish Defense League (JDL), listed by FBI as terrorist group; ‘People are afraid of Kahane because they know he was right,’ his grandson, Meir Ettinger, tells the crowd in a rare appearance. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Be’er Sheva mayor threatens rights group over Israeli arms industry discussion - Negev Coexistence Forum under fire for arranging meeting to discuss Israeli arms sales abroad and the defense industry in municipal building. (Haaretz+)
  • Move to Increase Powers of Detention for Israeli Guards Draws Criticism From Rights Groups - Critics of an amendment bill awarding authority of detainment in more venues fear the move will simply result in racial profiling at the expense of the Arab community. (Haaretz+)
  • Culture minister met with jeers at artists' award event - "Some people think our presence in Judea and Samaria is a right and a duty," Culture Minister Miri Regev says at annual Israeli Union of Performing Artists ceremony. "I'm used to this, they don't want to hear the truth," she says of derision.
  • (Israel Hayom)
  • Israel's Explanation for Arming Myanmar During Ethnic Cleansing Campaign: 'Both Sides Committing War Crimes' - Israel’s deputy consul general in New York voices statement amid concerns that sales aiding genocide against Rohingya. (Haaretz)
  • Children of settlers killed by terror attacks ask Netanyahu for better protection- After losing their parents in terror attacks, children from grief-stricken settler families write PM in effort to get their remaining parents, currently camped out in front of the Prime Minister's Residence, protesting for better security measures, to come home; 'They won't come back until you move things forward,' children tell PM, asking that he approve better security in West Bank. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Israel Threatens Legislation to Force JNF to Pay 80 Percent of Income to the State - Dispute between Jewish National Fund and Israeli government intensifies after JNF board reneges on deal to transfer two billion shekels to the state. (Haaretz)
  • MK Biran calls MK Hazan a 'pimp,' he implies she's a prostitute - After controversial Likud MK Oren Hazan interrupts a fellow lawmaker, MK Michal Biran leaps to her aid, alluding to Hazan's past as a manager of a casino in Burgas. Hazan responded asking the Zionist Union MK: 'Do you want to fill out a job form? No one would look at you anyway.' (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • New think tank hosts 'Challenges of United Jerusalem' conference - Conference serves as the launch of Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies. Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy among those in attendance. (Israel Hayom)
  • Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak Gave Harvey Weinstein Info on Israeli Firm Hired to Fight Accusations - Barak unwittingly gave Weinstein information that helped him reach out to Israeli firm Black Cube, hired to research his accusers and to scuttle reports of his sexual abuse. (Haaretz)
  • President Rivlin expresses strong support of united Spain amid Catalonia crisis - 'Spain for us is one country, and His Majesty the King is the symbol of that unity,' the president says during state dinner in Madrid. 'All of the citizens of Spain are dear to us, and we hope and pray that all conflicts will be solved by peaceful measures.' (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • PA's soccer body gets court date for case against FIFA over Israel - The Palestinian Football Association is challenging how FIFA, world soccer's governing body, handled complaints against Israeli Football Association • FIFA says it prefers not to intervene. Case to be heard by Court of Arbitration for Sport on Nov. 27. (Israel Hayom)
  • Scaramucci to visit Israel on investment trip run by Orthodox group - Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci is coming to Israel with the Orthodox Chamber of Commerce at the end of November. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • Palestinian Authority official claims 7 terror attacks thwarted by Palestinian forces - Palestinian security official tells Ynet his forces foiled planned stabbings, shootings and bombings against Israelis in the West Bank; eager to prevent Hamas from exploiting reconciliation deal as means to dig in inside West Bank, official outlines crackdown on terrorists, including arrest of 46 Hamas affiliates and dozens more hailing from other terror groups. (Ynet)
  • New Dispute Erupts Over Gaza Border Crossings as PA Pushes for Security Control of Strip - Hamas fumes after Palestinian Authority demands full control of Gaza security to allow border crossing with Egypt to return to full functionally. (Haaretz+)
  • Saudi Arabia says Lebanon declares war, deepening crisis - Following speech by Lebanese PM who blamed Iran and Hezbollah terrorists for his resignation, Riyadh points finger at Hezbollah for rocket launched Monday from Yemen at Saudi capital, insisting aggression tantamount to declaration of war; warns Lebanese government will 'be dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia.' (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:
How did the vegan lifestyle that is conquering the world become a hot trend in the Arab sector
Vegan recipes that are spread on Facebook and traditional foods in which the vegetables, grains and hummus replace the meat: "You can certainly say that there is an awakening.” (Ilana Stutland, Maariv Magazine supplement)

Commentary/Analysis:
Trapped by the Israeli Navy, Gazan Fisherman Are Just Glad to Make It Home Alive(Mohammed M., Haaretz+) Limited by an Israeli nautical cordon, fishermen catch fewer, smaller fish. Policed by the Israeli navy, every sailing risks their boats, even their lives. And they can’t sell up, because, unsurprisingly, there are no takers.
The kings of Netanyahu's swamp (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) The involvement of the prime minister’s most intimate confidants, Isaac Molcho and David Shimron, in two of the affairs being investigated by the police points to their blindness. Their law firm handled the state’s most sensitive issues, Likud affairs, family matters and government-related business interests. All the warnings signs were there, but they didn’t see them because they didn’t want to see them.
Netanyahu’s virtual reality provides consistent alibis for policy failures and personal failings (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) All-encompassing conspiracy theories combat awareness that something is rotten in Bibi’s Kingdom.
Who Wants a War in the Middle East? (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Practically everyone, but no one wants to fight it themselves.
Lebanon’s last chance to save itself (Giora Eiland, Yedioth/Ynet) Hariri’s resignation and his harsh words against Iran create an opportunity to try to change the reality in the country before Iran and Hezbollah complete their takeover. This requires both international pressure and brave Lebanese decisions, as well as indirect Israeli action.
Do not compromise over our sons (Dr. Leah Goldin, Israel Hayom) The government has yet to follow through on its decisions to pressure Hamas. Now, after Israel seized a cross-border tunnel and holds on to the bodies of its diggers, it must not hand them back until its own fallen are properly buried.
Israel's Syrian Minefield (Haaretz Editorial) The army has pledged to protect a Druze village on the other side of the border, but military intervention could unleash worse threats.
Understanding anti-normalization in Palestinian society (Rami Elhanan, Yedioth/Ynet) As far as many Palestinians are concerned, a public dialogue with Israelis is a false representation of normalcy, yet many Israelis find it difficult to accept this strong opposition. It must not stop us, however, from working together to build immensely important bridges between the two peoples.
Let's be practical here (Itzhak Levanon, Israel Hayom) There is no benefit to our obstinacy and to allowing the diplomatic crisis with Jordan to linger; it is time to opt for effective diplomacy.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.