APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday December 29, 2017
Quote of the day:
“The ‘temporary’ situation has dragged on for 50 years, and we will not go on lending a
hand.”
—From a letter written by a group of 63 Jewish Israeli 12th-graders, who publicly declared they will refuse to be drafted into the Israel army.
You Must Be Kidding:
Israeli public grants were funneled to an organization that builds illegal West Bank outposts, Haaretz+ reported.
Front Page:
—From a letter written by a group of 63 Jewish Israeli 12th-graders, who publicly declared they will refuse to be drafted into the Israel army.
You Must Be Kidding:
Israeli public grants were funneled to an organization that builds illegal West Bank outposts, Haaretz+ reported.
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Days of Kahlon // Yossi Verter writes that Moshe Kahlon, coalition partner and leader of Kulanu party, is in a very difficult position in regards to the investigations against Netanyahu
- (Main Photo: Likud MKs David Amsalem and Oren Hazan after the passing yesterday morning of the Recommendations Law to restrict Police recommendations)
- Palestinian woman raped in police interrogation room and even successfully passed a polygraph. So what if she testified
- The detention of the Palestinian girl (Ahed Tamimi) who hit a soldier was extended again
- Ahed, there is no person in the world who is more proud of his daughter than I am // Bassem Tamimi
- Competing judicial system: State to support arbitration courts that rule according to Jewish law
- Author Ronit Maatalon died - 1959-2017
- Symbol of bourgeoisie status: Arab familie aren’t scared of dogs anymore and are adding a friend to their home
- Concert-lectures threaten the status of the classical concert
- Who is Nati Seidoff, the mysterious billionaire who took over Bezeq Telecom
- Trump, Bitcoin and #MeToo: 2017 was a really tiring year
- In the air force squadron we realized for the first time that we are women. We went from being virgins to mattresses // Maggie Otzari
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Special poll - What and who is the most Israeli in your view?
- The most Israeli prime minster: Ben-Gurion (after him were Rabin and Netanyahu)
- The sharpest dispute in Israelis’ opinion: Between Arab Israelis and Jews
- The most positive Israeli characteristic: Warmth and caring - and after that chutzpah
- Expose - Where are the (photos of) women in the Israeli database?
- Expose - Academia in support of reserve soldiers’ families
- Expose - One billion shekel against BDS
- Ronit Matalon 1959-2017 - Esteemed author passed away two months after discovering she has cancer
- 2018 - The year of Trump // Nahum Barnea; Next year // Sever Plocker
Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)
- Fateful day for the sick - Committee for choosing subsidized medicines to publish list this morning of medicines and technologies to be funded by state
- US Ambassador to Israel: “The Palestinian response to Trump’s declaration were ugly, exaggerated and anti-Semitic”
- Postponement in submission of (police) recommendations in Netanyahu investigations; Netanyahu expected to be questioned again
- Kahlon’s choice // Ben Caspit writes that Moshe Kahlon, coalition partner and leader of Kulanu party, has the “hardest decision of his life” in regards to the investigations against Netanyahu, to act according to his conscience, his electorate or Netanyahu
- There are no free lunches // Arieh Eldad, a right-wing commentator and former politician, writes that Netanyahu had to refuse every present from the moment he was elected
- And give rain - Thousands came to the Wailing Wall to pray for rain following the drought that has hit Israel
- Closed base: Why was the mythological Juara Base and the Hagana Museum abandoned?
- List of 100 most influential people in Israel
Israel Hayom
- Not really building: Thousands of apartments in Judea and Samaria are stuck “on paper”
- - The significant construction in Judea and Samaria slowed down in 2017
- The area is crying out for real construction // Nadav Shragai
- Demonstrations in Iran: “Death to Rouhani”
- Park just for associates - Park ‘Emek Hatchelet’ in Tsfat was renovated and closed to public; City’s chief rabbi and his associates are allowed to enter
- Ronit Matalon 1959-2017 - Esteemed author died of cancer
- Recommendations Law: (Yair) Lapid need to learn to lose respectfully // Haim Shine
- (Minister) Bennett in attack on Army Radio: “I won’t be interviewed (there anymore) until Irit Linor (far right-wing radio presenter who insulted President Reuven Rivlin) is brought back”
- Without borders - First peek into the hospital that was established for Syrian citizens
- Austrian Chancellor Kurtz explains why he established a coalition with nationalists
News Summary:
Today's papers were filled with conclusion regarding the year 2017 and much commentary about the consequences of what happened very early Thursday morning, after three long days of filibustering. The Knesset passed into law the controversial police-muzzling Recommendations bill, which bars police from publicly releasing its recommendations on indictment of public figures. However, the law will not apply to probes currently underway against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Hours later, the opposition party Yesh Atid and three separate organizations petitioned the High Court to revoke the law. Meanwhile, the police recommendations regarding the two alleged corruption investigations against Netanyahu are being postponed following new information that was received, that the Netanyahu couple received coats worth thousands of shekels. (Maariv)
Haaretz+ exposed the case of a young Palestinian woman, who was raped six years ago by a police officer in a police interrogations room - and that the case was closed, yet a soldier was indicted for raping a female soldier on base a month ago.
And Israel’s attempt to quit UNESCO may be postponed by a year after it submitted its formal letter during Christmas vacation: UNESCO offices are closed until early January 2018 and a country’s withdrawal goes into effect on January 1st of the year following the year the request was submitted.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.