APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday June 19, 2014
Quote of the day:
"Like many of the Israelis who performed “significant service” in the army, many of the readers of this
column, or their children, entered the home of a Palestinian family in the middle of the night by surprise, with
violence, and simply took away the father, brother or uncle, with determination and insensitivity. That is
kidnapping, and it happens every day. And what about their administrative detainees?"
--Former MK, speaker of the Knesset and former director of the Jewish Agency says all of Palestinian society is kidnapped by Israel.**
--Former MK, speaker of the Knesset and former director of the Jewish Agency says all of Palestinian society is kidnapped by Israel.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- Abbas in conflict with Hamas: The kidnappers are ruining the Palestinian Authority, the kidnapped need to be returned to Israel
- Show campaign could turn into an empty operation // Amos Harel
- State: Doctors will sedate prisoners in order to force-feed them; MKs opposing the bill
- The corruption in the Israel Electricity Co, it appears, is late // Gidi Weitz
- MK Ben-Eliezer purchased a villa for 1.2 million shekels - in cash
- Biggest refinery in Iraq fell to jihadists
- G. Yafit acquiring Steimatzky bookstores; Barel will remain - with a bonus
- Spain lost at Mundial
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Parents of kidnapped hear the desperate (phone) call "They kidnapped me"; Operation Brother's Keeper enters seventh day
- Limits to power (in finding kidnapped) // Eitan Haber
- Ran out of excuses (of police) // Eli Senior
- Letter to an Arab mother // Bambi Sheleg
- Fall of an empire - Spain lost at Mundial
- The exploding Samsung S4 cellular phones
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
- Families listened to last telephone call; Operation Brother's Keeper enters seventh day
- In Israel they suspect: Khaled Mashaal gave the signal for the kidnapping
- Getting out of the routine // Yossi Melman on Israeli intelligence services attempt to think outside the box to find the youth
- "I only took a break" - Haim Horovitz, son of legendary CEO of Teva, requested to leave the board of directors due to work overload
- The skies are the limit - Nano-satellite that students from Herzliya developed to be launched into space this evening and will help find trekkers who got lost
- Rouhani: We will invade Iraq - "We will do that to protect the Shiite holy sites
Israel Hayom
- Abu Mazen: "Hamas is trying to destroy us"
- The chilling moment: Police officers played the recording from the hotline to the parents; Police commissioner established a committee to probe
- Not just the police: In this case, there is enough blame for everyone // Itsik Saban
- Back to jail: IDF arrested 53 people released in the Shalit deal
- At the last moment: G. Yafit signed agreement to acquire Steimatzky
- Spanish expulsion: World champion goes home - shamed
News Summary:
Operation Brothers' Keeper remains today's top story in the Hebrew papers. Also in the news was the call to the kidnappers by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the return of the three Jewish-Israeli teens who were kidnapped in the West Bank six days ago. And, Arab MK Hanin Zouebi now has Knesset bodyguards due to threats to her life by Israeli Jews after she said that she did consider the kidnappers 'terrorists.'
Since the teens went missing six nights ago, 240 Palestinians have been detained and some 800 buildings have been searched. A senior military source told Ynet: "We operated in the entire West Bank: 300,000 people are under siege or closure, and this is beginning to hit home after eight years of relative well-being."
Meanwhile, Israel Hayom's military affairs correspondent Yoav Limor writes that Shin Bet's Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria departments are stretched thin, for the first time since 2002's Operation Defensive Shield. The scope of IDF forces deployed on the ground in the West Bank is also the biggest in over a decade. The directive, as GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon defined it Tuesday, has remained the same -- "undermine Hamas both operationally and strategically."
Maariv ran a piece by Jerusalem Post reporter Yaakov Lapin with a title saying that Israel suspects that Khaled Mashaal gave the signal for the kidnapping. Upon reading the article, one learns that 'Israel' is one 'senior security source.' Moreover, the source says that he thinks that the speech that Mashaal gave a month ago inspired the kidnappers to make the kidnapping, but that they did not receive orders from the political bureau of Hamas (i.e. Mashaal) to do so. [Granted, reporters do not write headlines. - OH] Amos Harel also noted the speech in which Mashaal responds to a letter from a Hamas official serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail, saying: Your letter has arrived. I am aware of your difficulties. The reply will be provided by Iz al-Din al-Qassam." But, Harel did not come to the same conclusion as the unidentified "senior security source." He writes that the kidnapping decision "was made in Hamas’ Hebron branch without advance permission or specific orders from elsewhere. The kidnapping appears to be the result of detailed intelligence, funding and logistics." He also noted that security coordination between Israel and the PA continues as usual.
In his strongest condemnation of the kidnapping yet, Abbas called for the return of the kidnapped teens and said their abductors are "seeking the destruction of the [Palestinian] Authority... The three teens are human beings like us and they should be returned to their families." He explained that Palestinian security coordination with Israel is in the Palestinians' interest, he said he opposed another Intifada - "that would destroy us," and he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "exploiting" the kidnapping to launch a major military operation in the West Bank.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu's office dismissed the condemnation [just as he dismissed Abbas' condemnation of the Holocaust - OH] and he called for Abbas to dismantle the unity government. Justice Minister and former chief negotiator Tzipi Livni, however, said Abbas' comments about the kidnapped youth were important. The US thought so, too. The US State Department Spokeswoman praised Abbas for his comments and urged restraint on both sides. Hamas, however, was very critical of the comments and said they were based on the Zionist narrative.
Kidnapping Quick Hits:
Operation Brothers' Keeper remains today's top story in the Hebrew papers. Also in the news was the call to the kidnappers by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the return of the three Jewish-Israeli teens who were kidnapped in the West Bank six days ago. And, Arab MK Hanin Zouebi now has Knesset bodyguards due to threats to her life by Israeli Jews after she said that she did consider the kidnappers 'terrorists.'
Since the teens went missing six nights ago, 240 Palestinians have been detained and some 800 buildings have been searched. A senior military source told Ynet: "We operated in the entire West Bank: 300,000 people are under siege or closure, and this is beginning to hit home after eight years of relative well-being."
Meanwhile, Israel Hayom's military affairs correspondent Yoav Limor writes that Shin Bet's Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria departments are stretched thin, for the first time since 2002's Operation Defensive Shield. The scope of IDF forces deployed on the ground in the West Bank is also the biggest in over a decade. The directive, as GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon defined it Tuesday, has remained the same -- "undermine Hamas both operationally and strategically."
Maariv ran a piece by Jerusalem Post reporter Yaakov Lapin with a title saying that Israel suspects that Khaled Mashaal gave the signal for the kidnapping. Upon reading the article, one learns that 'Israel' is one 'senior security source.' Moreover, the source says that he thinks that the speech that Mashaal gave a month ago inspired the kidnappers to make the kidnapping, but that they did not receive orders from the political bureau of Hamas (i.e. Mashaal) to do so. [Granted, reporters do not write headlines. - OH] Amos Harel also noted the speech in which Mashaal responds to a letter from a Hamas official serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail, saying: Your letter has arrived. I am aware of your difficulties. The reply will be provided by Iz al-Din al-Qassam." But, Harel did not come to the same conclusion as the unidentified "senior security source." He writes that the kidnapping decision "was made in Hamas’ Hebron branch without advance permission or specific orders from elsewhere. The kidnapping appears to be the result of detailed intelligence, funding and logistics." He also noted that security coordination between Israel and the PA continues as usual.
In his strongest condemnation of the kidnapping yet, Abbas called for the return of the kidnapped teens and said their abductors are "seeking the destruction of the [Palestinian] Authority... The three teens are human beings like us and they should be returned to their families." He explained that Palestinian security coordination with Israel is in the Palestinians' interest, he said he opposed another Intifada - "that would destroy us," and he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "exploiting" the kidnapping to launch a major military operation in the West Bank.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu's office dismissed the condemnation [just as he dismissed Abbas' condemnation of the Holocaust - OH] and he called for Abbas to dismantle the unity government. Justice Minister and former chief negotiator Tzipi Livni, however, said Abbas' comments about the kidnapped youth were important. The US thought so, too. The US State Department Spokeswoman praised Abbas for his comments and urged restraint on both sides. Hamas, however, was very critical of the comments and said they were based on the Zionist narrative.
Kidnapping Quick Hits:
- MK Zoabi gets Knesset bodyguard amid wave of threats against her - Police, prosecutors checking whether she violated law against incitement in her remarks about recent kidnapping. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- Netanyahu cancels Australia visit over 'recent developments’ - Zionist Federation of Australia confirms it was informed by Israeli Embassy in Canberra that PM"s visit scheduled for mid-July would not take place. (Haaretz)
- Kidnapped boys' families hear recording of sons' emergency call - 'We've been kidnapped,' one of the abducted teens said in disputed call to police minutes after kidnapping; police and army exchange blame for dismissing call, missing precious hours after kidnapping. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- Operation Brother's Keeper forces get aerial assistance - Sky Rider unit assists ground forces to make arrests, apprehend fleeing terrorists, provide better picture of field occurrences. (Ynet)
- Kiryat Arba chief rabbi: 'Anti-Jewish' legislation was a cause for kidnappings - Revered religious leader writes on Facebook that another reason was 'constant drive to hand over parts of the land of Israel to terrorists.' (Haaretz+)
- An Arab guide of the Knesset was fired following support for kidnappers - Noor Hussein wrote on his Facebook page that "(The 320) administrative prisoners are (considered) kidnapped by Israel." At the Knesset they say that guide's words seriously harmed the obligation of Knesset employees to provide a neutral and apolitical service. He also wrote: "Terrorism is not the root of the problem. Terrorism is a derivative of the occupation." (Maariv, p. 9)
- Israel-Arab youth urges: 'Bring back our boys' - 'I call for the return of the abducted teens. This is not the way to reach peace,' says Israeli-Arab teen in Facebook post, inspiring slew of death threats – 'I'm afraid to go to school.' (Ynet)
- Palestinian peacenik angry after Israeli press misrepresents him as celebrating kidnappings - Mohammad AlQadi, a Jenin native, was depicted as celebrating kidnappings even though photo of him holding up three fingers was from last year. (JPost)
- ZOA says US policy on PA 'nothing less than Kristallnacht' - Zionist Organization of America blasts US for continuing to fund 'Nazi-like Hamas', in statement regarding kidnapping. (Ynet)
Quick Hits:
- Israel permits doctors to sedate Palestinian prisoners for force-feeding - MKs who oppose the force-feeding bill being pushed forward in the Knesset call it 'immoral' and 'unethical.' (Haaretz+ and Ynet and Maariv)
- Israel Medical Association opposes force-feeding law - According to one clause, a doctor who refuses to force medical treatment on a hunger striker would be required to transfer care for that patient to another doctor/ IMA chairman: "It will de facto require the doctor ... to act against the code of ethics." (Israel Hayom)
- NGOs urge global defense of doctors pressured to force-feed hunger-strikers - Letter to World Medical Association, signed by NGOs from numerous countries including Israel and US, mentions Israeli legislation aimed at stopping Palestinian prisoners' strike among 'attacks on physicians' integrity, ethics.' (Haaretz+)
- Two Gaza rockets explode in southern Israel - One of the rockets hit caused damage to a non-residential building in a kibbutz. (Haaretz)
- Lobbyists barred from showing up at MKs’ offices uninvited - Move follows restrictions on lobbyists' movement in Knesset building two years ago. (Haaretz+)
- Islamic movement leader prohibited from leaving Israel - Interior Minister issues decree after being alerted by Israeli security services that Sheikh's exit would hurt national security. (Haaretz+)
- Supreme Court urges negotiation on procedure for extra gov't spending - MK Stav Shaffir had petitioned the court to intervene in what she called 'the Finance Ministry’s secret budget for the distribution of favors to its political friends.' (Haaretz+)
- Miriam Faust to become Bar-Ilan University’s first female provost - Faust's appointment can be seen within the wider context of a concerted effort on the part of the country’s only religious university to move women into what was once almost exclusive male territory. (Haaretz)
- Iraqi forces battle Islamist insurgents to hold country's biggest refinery - Sunni militants appear to be holding most of the compound; 250-300 workers evacuated early on Thursday. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Envoys: Iran refuses to budge on centrifuges - Tehran adhering to Supreme Leader Khamenei's instructions, will not compromise on ability to produce nuclear fuel; deal betwen Iran, West unlikely before July 20 deadline. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Israel lobbies powers to stay tough on Iran amid Iraq crisis - Israeli works to fight growing 'arc' of Iranian influence in promoting 'global Jihad' from Iraq to Lebanon and Syria. (Agencies, Ynet)
Commentary/Analysis:
Haneen Zoabi, the perfect scapegoat (Peace Now Secretary General, Yariv
Oppenheimer, Haaretz+) The provocative Member of Knesset serves the right wing, the left wing, the
media and misogynists alike.
Inhumane, cruel and insensitive (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) It's inconceivable that an MK would use free speech to agitate Israelis against one another.
It's time to ask Shin Bet some questions (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) Why was there no warning against kidnapping? What happened to Israel's intelligence supremacy in West Bank?
The right to see a lawyer (Haaretz Editorial) Under the guise of security, this basic right is withheld from detainees, as six innocent Arab Israelis learned first-hand last month.
Biggest crackdown in over a decade (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) The search for the kidnapped teenagers has seen the Shin Bet and IDF launch the largest campaign in the West Bank since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
Israeli campaign against Hamas is effort to impose new order in West Bank (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Operation Brother's Keeper goes beyond its initial goal to bring three kidnapped youths home; it has a political context for the Netanyahu government.
No one to talk to (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The images of Palestinian children celebrating the abduction of our boys primarily reveal that yet another brainwashed generation on the other side has been lost.
**The Palestinians: A kidnapped society (Avraham Burg, Haaretz+) We are incapable of understanding the suffering of a society, its cry, and the future of an entire nation that has been kidnapped by us.
Quiet, a kidnapping (Ron Miburg, Maariv) The (Op-Eds being published now in Haaretz that are critical of Israel's policy in the Palestinian Territories and which blame the occupation for the kidnapping) are legitimate, even if they make a large portion of the population angry. The question is whether they are wise. When the fate of three boys is in the balance, it is a reasonable demand to expect from Haaretz writers to hold their fire... Without doubting the intelligence of Haaretz writers, I fear that expressing their opinions in real time is rather stupid. Mainly because a large public knows, without pushing things down its throat, that the kidnapping, like any other damage to the Israeli occupation, is an attempt to destroy the (occupation) and cause Israel to reconsider its grip on the (Palestinian) Territories. It is part of an ongoing struggle whose principles the Palestinians did not invent. It is doubtful that (criticism of the Israeli occupation) would have been published if not for the rising frustration, teeth grinding and feeling of impotence of destruction by an impotent minority that can not deal anymore with Benjamin Netanyahu's propaganda tricks and pranks and his killing of the peace process. As someone whose feelings are not different from those of Gideon Levy, Avraham Burg and their colleagues, it is not difficult for me to understand that this abduction is an "appropriate response" to Israel's systematic abuse of the Palestinians, and that those writers who, while the (search is still taking place), broke the rules and criticized the policy, which in their eyes is responsible for the kidnapping of the youth during the event, because they had reached the limit of their ability to take any more. These are Israelis whose defiant existence is insignificant and they spit against the leading ideological hurricane that they believe will lead to a third intifada and to the destruction of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state...
Israel's double standard (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Human life only refers to ours; concern for it and its liberty only matters when it’s us. Only we are permitted to be our “Brother’s Keeper,” as the IDF is calling the operation to find the three kidnapped teens.
Palestinians in the West should speak out against Hamas’ human rights abuses (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) Just as nothing anti-Semites do justifies keeping millions of Palestinians under occupation, nothing Israel does justifies Hamas repression in Gaza.
Israel must take calculated action against Hamas (Israel Ziv, Ynet) We must take into account that destroying Islamic organization will bring al-Qaeda in its place.
West Bank violence: Seven good years (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) After long years of demanding to suspend the violence, we received long years of suspended violence, which we totally missed. We let the seven good years slip through our fingers.
Iraq: Danger in all directions (Dr. Ephraim Kam, Israel Hayom) The jihadist strongholds in Iraq and Syria could export terror against Israel, undermine Jordan and strengthen extremist Palestinians.
Inhumane, cruel and insensitive (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) It's inconceivable that an MK would use free speech to agitate Israelis against one another.
It's time to ask Shin Bet some questions (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) Why was there no warning against kidnapping? What happened to Israel's intelligence supremacy in West Bank?
The right to see a lawyer (Haaretz Editorial) Under the guise of security, this basic right is withheld from detainees, as six innocent Arab Israelis learned first-hand last month.
Biggest crackdown in over a decade (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) The search for the kidnapped teenagers has seen the Shin Bet and IDF launch the largest campaign in the West Bank since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
Israeli campaign against Hamas is effort to impose new order in West Bank (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Operation Brother's Keeper goes beyond its initial goal to bring three kidnapped youths home; it has a political context for the Netanyahu government.
No one to talk to (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The images of Palestinian children celebrating the abduction of our boys primarily reveal that yet another brainwashed generation on the other side has been lost.
**The Palestinians: A kidnapped society (Avraham Burg, Haaretz+) We are incapable of understanding the suffering of a society, its cry, and the future of an entire nation that has been kidnapped by us.
Quiet, a kidnapping (Ron Miburg, Maariv) The (Op-Eds being published now in Haaretz that are critical of Israel's policy in the Palestinian Territories and which blame the occupation for the kidnapping) are legitimate, even if they make a large portion of the population angry. The question is whether they are wise. When the fate of three boys is in the balance, it is a reasonable demand to expect from Haaretz writers to hold their fire... Without doubting the intelligence of Haaretz writers, I fear that expressing their opinions in real time is rather stupid. Mainly because a large public knows, without pushing things down its throat, that the kidnapping, like any other damage to the Israeli occupation, is an attempt to destroy the (occupation) and cause Israel to reconsider its grip on the (Palestinian) Territories. It is part of an ongoing struggle whose principles the Palestinians did not invent. It is doubtful that (criticism of the Israeli occupation) would have been published if not for the rising frustration, teeth grinding and feeling of impotence of destruction by an impotent minority that can not deal anymore with Benjamin Netanyahu's propaganda tricks and pranks and his killing of the peace process. As someone whose feelings are not different from those of Gideon Levy, Avraham Burg and their colleagues, it is not difficult for me to understand that this abduction is an "appropriate response" to Israel's systematic abuse of the Palestinians, and that those writers who, while the (search is still taking place), broke the rules and criticized the policy, which in their eyes is responsible for the kidnapping of the youth during the event, because they had reached the limit of their ability to take any more. These are Israelis whose defiant existence is insignificant and they spit against the leading ideological hurricane that they believe will lead to a third intifada and to the destruction of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state...
Israel's double standard (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Human life only refers to ours; concern for it and its liberty only matters when it’s us. Only we are permitted to be our “Brother’s Keeper,” as the IDF is calling the operation to find the three kidnapped teens.
Palestinians in the West should speak out against Hamas’ human rights abuses (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) Just as nothing anti-Semites do justifies keeping millions of Palestinians under occupation, nothing Israel does justifies Hamas repression in Gaza.
Israel must take calculated action against Hamas (Israel Ziv, Ynet) We must take into account that destroying Islamic organization will bring al-Qaeda in its place.
West Bank violence: Seven good years (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) After long years of demanding to suspend the violence, we received long years of suspended violence, which we totally missed. We let the seven good years slip through our fingers.
Iraq: Danger in all directions (Dr. Ephraim Kam, Israel Hayom) The jihadist strongholds in Iraq and Syria could export terror against Israel, undermine Jordan and strengthen extremist Palestinians.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.