APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday September 22, 2014
Quote of the day:
"Below is an affidavit from my dentist confirming that on Friday, August 1, 2014, at 9 A.M., I
presented myself at his clinic to insert a pair of fillings in my molars."
--Israeli satirist, B. Michael, writes in Haaretz+ how he couldn't possibly be responsible for the IDF killing of hundreds of people in Rafah on a single day, the government plan to evict thousands of Bedouin Palestinians from their homes, or the High Court approval of a law that permits communities to refuse families from moving to them based on nationality, origin, race, gender, etc.**
--Israeli satirist, B. Michael, writes in Haaretz+ how he couldn't possibly be responsible for the IDF killing of hundreds of people in Rafah on a single day, the government plan to evict thousands of Bedouin Palestinians from their homes, or the High Court approval of a law that permits communities to refuse families from moving to them based on nationality, origin, race, gender, etc.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- The children's Intifada: Harsher policy of imprisoning Palestinian children
- UN acting to deploy hundreds of international observers that will supervise the rehabilitation of Gaza
- Masses in streets of world march for the climate
- Yaalon demands billions more for security budget
- Meni Mazuz and Anat Baron appointed as High Court justices
- Without literature, history, science: ISIS education plan
- What is the most popular name in Israel? Interior Ministry did not include Arabs
- The film 'Gett' (Jewish Divorce) won the Ofir Prize
Yedioth Ahronoth
- IDF to acquire another 200 armored personnel carriers
- The new justices
- Death of legendary Mossad fighter - He operated in the Haganah, served in the Palmach, and created the Kidon assassination unit in the Mossad. Mike Harari passed away
- 'Gett' film on way to Oscar
- Returning to roots: Yosef pushed out Itai as the most popular name for boys
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
- The dispute over billions - Security establishment demands another 6 billion shekels
- Mazuz and Baron appointed justices to High Court
- Ahead of the year 5775: 8,904,373 Israelis
- Children of the seamline // Hagit Ginzburg
- "Harming the farmers" - The battle over the shmita - Calls to cancel decision to import fruit and vegetables
- Exclusive: N. in courageous confession: "This is how I was rescued from drugs, alcohol, forced prostitution and began a new life"
Israel Hayom
- Victory of Zionism: Six million Jews in Israel
- There are judges in Jerusalem - Two appointed to High Court
- Security establishment: Need more money
- Wedding operation: Lt. Eitan, who jumped into terror tunnel in order to rescue Hadar Goldin - got engaged
- Ofir prizes: 'Gett' - best film
News Summary:
New High Court judges and a dispute over billions of shekels for the security budget were today's top stories in the Hebrew press. Meanwhile, Haaretz+ revealed that the UN wants international monitors to oversee reconstruction work in Gaza - Hamas has yet to comment on the proposal.
Haaretz+ also reported that a new more draconian policy is in force since July, through which dozens of Palestinian children have been jailed for a month or two before their trials even took place. Many of them were arrested in E. Jerusalem. The subject of the rioting in E. Jerusalem and the tension between Arabs and Jews throughout the city remains a theme in the newspapers' Friday Jerusalem supplements. On September 12, Maariv's supplement ran an article by Asher Kesher on how the capital's activist left-wingers feel threatened and say they have never witnessed such right-wing hatred towards them. Lea Tzemel said in the past you could argue with the right-wingers and their demonstrations were on the basis of politics, not racism. But, no more. Dr. Meir Margalit, Aviv Tatarsky and Eyal Hareuveni echoed these feelings. Yedioth's supplement reported last Friday on how the municipality is sending "messages of back to routine - but at the same time preventing city council members from visiting E. Jerusalem without an okay from the security establishment." Moreover, members of the city's interior committee declared there was a 'Jerusalem Intifada' after they made a tour of the east side.
Meanwhile, a group of artists and curators who call themselves 'Jerusalem Season of Culture' have set up posters around Jerusalem to try to heal the rift between Jews and Arabs in the capital following Operation Protective Edge, Yedioth's Jerusalem supplement reported Friday. For the last couple of weeks, the photos have been published as full page ads in the Yedioth supplement with photos of the Jewish and Arab residents of the city alongside statements of tolerance and against violence (See the posters and read about them here.)
Quick Hits:
New High Court judges and a dispute over billions of shekels for the security budget were today's top stories in the Hebrew press. Meanwhile, Haaretz+ revealed that the UN wants international monitors to oversee reconstruction work in Gaza - Hamas has yet to comment on the proposal.
Haaretz+ also reported that a new more draconian policy is in force since July, through which dozens of Palestinian children have been jailed for a month or two before their trials even took place. Many of them were arrested in E. Jerusalem. The subject of the rioting in E. Jerusalem and the tension between Arabs and Jews throughout the city remains a theme in the newspapers' Friday Jerusalem supplements. On September 12, Maariv's supplement ran an article by Asher Kesher on how the capital's activist left-wingers feel threatened and say they have never witnessed such right-wing hatred towards them. Lea Tzemel said in the past you could argue with the right-wingers and their demonstrations were on the basis of politics, not racism. But, no more. Dr. Meir Margalit, Aviv Tatarsky and Eyal Hareuveni echoed these feelings. Yedioth's supplement reported last Friday on how the municipality is sending "messages of back to routine - but at the same time preventing city council members from visiting E. Jerusalem without an okay from the security establishment." Moreover, members of the city's interior committee declared there was a 'Jerusalem Intifada' after they made a tour of the east side.
Meanwhile, a group of artists and curators who call themselves 'Jerusalem Season of Culture' have set up posters around Jerusalem to try to heal the rift between Jews and Arabs in the capital following Operation Protective Edge, Yedioth's Jerusalem supplement reported Friday. For the last couple of weeks, the photos have been published as full page ads in the Yedioth supplement with photos of the Jewish and Arab residents of the city alongside statements of tolerance and against violence (See the posters and read about them here.)
Quick Hits:
- UNRWA calls for (Israel's West Bank) Bedouin relocation plan to be scrapped - Civil Administration plans to relocate some 12,500 Bedouin from areas east of Jerusalem to new town near Jericho. Implementation of the plan would "give rise to concerns that it amounts to a ‘forcible transfer’ in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” said UN. (Haaretz)
- Bus full of children pelted with stones in East Jerusalem - Mother of one of the children says kids were crying, frightened; damage caused to bus windshield. (Ynet)
- Some 60% of Israelis fear they won’t be able to support their children - Arabs (76%) are the most worried, while ultra-Orthodox Jews (47%) are less concerned within the Jewish community. Arab respondents were more concerned about job security than Jews — 21% versus 12%. (Haaretz+)
- Agriculture minister: Exports to Russia will continue, regardless of sanctions - Yair Shamir cites boycott of produce from West Bank settlements as one of the key reasons he will withstand European pressure. (Haaretz+)
- East Jerusalem streets get innocuous names - Don't expect to find anything remotely political among the newly approved street names for the Arab part of the city. Most of the 40 new street names refer to inanimate objects. Jerusalem city councilman Pepe Alalu (Meretz) accused municipality of “trying to wipe out the Palestinian identity with names that don’t say anything, as if there is no leadership, no intellectuals and no cultural icons.” (Haaretz+)
- Psst! The most popular boy’s name in Israel in 5774 was really Mohammed - Names that were clearly Arab in origin were omitted from much-publicized list by population authority, which only included Hebrew names. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- After Gaza war, Israel approves extensive plan for development of south - Premier says the $370 million, five-year plan is the 'the largest and most comprehensive economic development plan ever made for the area.' (Haaretz)
- Ya'alon approves addition of 200 advanced APCs for the IDF - Two months after 7 Golani soldiers were killed when an RPG hit their outdated APC in Gaza, the army is upping defensive measures for ground troops. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- MK pushes for tighter Knesset oversight of intelligence agencies - Following Operation Protective Edge, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Zeev Elkin is seeking to spell out in law what must be reported, to whom, and when. Currently only the Shin Bet has any obligation to report regularly. (Israel Hayom)
- Battle move in Israel's cyber turf war: Shin Bet loses authority over 'civilian space' - Netanyahu decides to establish new government authority to protect the cyber space of bodies not under defense establishment, despite Shin Bet request to leave authority in its hands. (Haaretz)
- Mossad legend Mike Harari dies at 87 - Harari took part in operations to free Entebbe hostages, avenge Munich Olympics massacre; had illustrious career shrouded in secrecy. (Ynet)
- Writers, editors protest Israeli sponsorship at Brooklyn Book Festival - Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Diaz was one of hundreds who criticized New York festival for its 'endorsement' of Israel following Gaza war. At issue was panel, which featured Israeli author Assaf Gavron. His appearance was sponsored by Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs in New York. (Haaretz+)
- Ads critical of Islam return to New York transit system - Ads paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative to begin appearing on 100 New York City buses and two subway entrances next week. Pamela Geller: Ad campaign highlights points about Islam ignored by government and media. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
- U.K. Labor Party ousts anti-Israel candidate - Vicki Kirby, 34, sabotages candidacy with Tweets including 'We invented Israel when saving them from Hitler, who now seems to be their teacher.' (Haaretz)
- Israeli police detain 4 women, 2 children in Jerusalem - Zahiya Nimer, in her 60s, and Muna Bayyaa, with two children aged 8 and 13 accompanying her, and two other unidentified women were chased after they left the al-Aqsa compound until they were detained at Damascus gate. (Maan)
- Group: Israeli forces detain 11 Palestinians overnight, 152 last week - Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinians overnight and a total of 152 during the third week of September - 40 of them in Jerusalem, a rights group said Sunday. (Maan)
- Israel bans Muslims from Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of Patriarchs) on Rosh Hashana - The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron will be closed to Muslim worshipers on Thursday and Friday, and open to Israeli settlers. (Maan)
- Tulkarem families allowed jail visits for first time in 3 months - Palestinian Prisoner's Society said in a statement that Israeli prison authorities have been imposing "collective punishment" on Tulkarem-area prisoners since June, refusing to allow family members to see their imprisoned relatives. (Maan)
- Prisoners considering protest against Israeli collective punishment - Palestinian prisoner affairs chief said the Israeli prison services had launched a campaign of punishment and harassment against Palestinian prisoners over the last two months, targeting Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and PFLP prisoners, depriving them of family visits, access to the prison canteen, and deleting channels from the TVs in their wards. (Maan)
- Mayor says Israeli forces harassing al-Khadr residents - Tawfiq Salah, the mayor the village near Bethlehem, said he attempted to intervene to prevent the officers from questioning civilians on the street Sunday, but that soldiers forcibly distanced him. Salah said Israeli forces had been storming the town on a near daily basis and harassing passersby in the streets. (Maan)
- With no news, Gazans mourn relatives lost at sea - No bodies have been recovered since boat carrying 500 people was rammed and sunk off the coast of Malta on September 6. (Haaretz)
- Abbas plans delegation to aid Palestinian shipwreck survivors - Abbas ordered an official delegation be set up and sent to Italy and Malta to follow up on the deaths of a number of Gazans in a shipwreck last week. (Maan)
- Hamas: Palestinians emigrating from Gaza because of Israel - Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil blamed Israel for the fact that thousands of Palestinians are trying to emigrate from Gaza to Europe, saying the "Zionist occupation is the main reason for the crisis. The Zionist occupation attacks the Palestinians, their homes and their workplaces. It pushes them to leave the country so that settlers will come in their stead." (Maariv, p. 6)
- Israeli forces shoot, injure elderly Gaza fisherman - Yousef Zayif, 70, was hit late Wednesday by live fire while waiting for his sons on the shore near al-Sudaniya, off the coast of northern Gaza. (Maan)
- Palestinians tell of struggle to get to Asian Games - Palestinian Olympic Committee chief Jibril Al Rajoub said it was a "battle" to get to Games weeks after a brutal 50-day war in Gaza, during which 37 sports officials and journalists had died. "Even although the Palestinian people are living in circumstances that limit their movement inside Palestine and outside also, and financial difficulties we are facing, we were able to take part in this Asian Games with 80 sportsmen, including seven women, in 12 disciplines," he said. (Maan)
- Two social activists acquitted of setting tires alight after sloppy police probe - The case harks back to the social protests of 2011, but shoddy police and legal work have doomed the prosecution. (Haaretz+)
- Yad Vashem among world's top 10 museums - TripAdvisor travel website includes Israel's Holocaust memorial on list of 25 best museums in the world. 'Not an easy place to visit, but I cannot think of any place more important to go,' review says. (Ynet)
- Israel puts end to horse-driving peddlers' era - Knesset committee bans use of horse-drawn and donkey-drawn carts used by second-hand (Arab-Israeli) salesmen on Israeli streets and highways. (Haaretz)
- Egyptian cinematic charmer, too 'lowbrow' for Israeli tastes - The recent film, 'Factory Girl,' by Mohamed Khan, one of Egypt’s most loved filmmakers, has been praised by both critics and audiences in the Arab world. But many Israeli viewers have failed to recognize the quality of his work. (Haaretz+)
- Only 12 Jews (left) in Egypt - Egyptian Jewry, which was once a large population, has gradually dwindled. The head of the community, Nadia Harun: "We are only 12 left....WIth the few that are left, it is important that we take care of the elderly of the community and make sure that the holy books will be preserved after the community disappears." (Yedioth, p. 24)
- Argentine president threatened by Islamic State - During visit to the Vatican, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez says she has been threatened by Islamic State due to her recognition of both Israel and Palestine. Intercepted call leads to security being beefed up at the Vatican. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
- Hezbollah uses UAV to attack al-Qaeda backed rebels - For first time, Hezbollah employs drone to attack rebel forces in Syria, in possible retaliation for attack on forces. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
- Officer: Most of Syrian border with Israel is controlled by rebels - but not Islamic State - Meanwhile, chastened UN forces in the area are mulling how to keep to their mandate of separating the Israeli and Syrian sides. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- UN Security Council reiterates support for Golan peacekeepers - Calls on all groups other than UNDOF to pull out of the peacekeepers’ area of operations, return peacekeepers' equipment. (JTA, Haaretz)
- US to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks with Egyptian counterpart, confirms U.S. plans to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt to support counterterrorism efforts. Delivery had been on hold since the Egyptian military's ouster of Mohammed Morsi. (Israel Hayom)
- Netanyahu warns of easing sanctions on Iran - Kerry, Zarif meet for talks on nuclear program, also possibly discuss Islamic State group, as Netanyahu warns not to appease Iran to fight Islamic threat. (Ynet)
Features:
Jumping into the water
They meet throughout the year, clean the rivers and streams, initiate environmental activities and hope that in the end the dialogue over the joint water problem will make the two peoples closer and lead also to a diplomatic solution. This is how the special Jewish and Palestinian teens' project succeeds to create dialogue when negotiations failed. The Good Water Neighbors project was started in 2001 by Friends of the Earth Middle East. Mor Shimla, 16: "We live in a reality in which two peoples are connected to each other, but that is only seen in theory. This project gave me the opportunity to really meet people who live in the West Bank and not just through the media. I met them, I ate with them, I had fun with them. (Carmit Sapir-Weitz, Maariv)
Commentary/Analysis:
They meet throughout the year, clean the rivers and streams, initiate environmental activities and hope that in the end the dialogue over the joint water problem will make the two peoples closer and lead also to a diplomatic solution. This is how the special Jewish and Palestinian teens' project succeeds to create dialogue when negotiations failed. The Good Water Neighbors project was started in 2001 by Friends of the Earth Middle East. Mor Shimla, 16: "We live in a reality in which two peoples are connected to each other, but that is only seen in theory. This project gave me the opportunity to really meet people who live in the West Bank and not just through the media. I met them, I ate with them, I had fun with them. (Carmit Sapir-Weitz, Maariv)
Commentary/Analysis:
To those who reject Israeli Arabs: We don't want to live among you anyway (Oudeh
Basharat, Haaretz+) Give us back our land, allow us to build new communities that will suit our way
of life, and I promise you that we won’t even think of coming near you.
Israeli democracy in danger? Says who? (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Leftists obsessed with telling the world that Israel is becoming more racist and more fascist, and to hell with the facts.
**Your Honor, the investigative judge: I cannot dissemble, sir, and claim that I did not know (B. Michael, Haaretz+) I knew about the abominations taking place within spitting distance of my home. Everyone knew. It was impossible not to know. Below is an affidavit from my dentist confirming that on Friday, August 1, 2014, at 9 A.M., I presented myself at his clinic to insert a pair of fillings in my molars...therefore it is clear that I could not possibly have taken part in it. As the court knows, on September 16, 2014, it was reported that my country was acting to forcibly “evacuate” thousands of (Bedouin) people from their places of residence...Although my country works hard to invent pretexts, justifications, ploys, lies and tricks to legitimize this wrongdoing, I have no intention of denying the fact that this is a war crime for all intents and purposes.
Israel's fortitude is not limitless (Dr. Harold Goldmeier, Israel Hayom) Israel's rightward shift is a natural reaction to constant threats
Diving into paranoia: The acquisition of an additional submarine is the implementation of "the whole world is against us" (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The arrival of the 'Tanin' submarine is another crazy budget act that lacks any connection to future threats. The excessive armament must be cancelled, it is part of the waning obsession with Iran, and nothing more.
Holocaust survivors don't belong in the Israeli-Palestinian debate (Arlene Stein, Haaretz+) We must push back against the stifling overuse of Holocaust analogies which polarize and diminish real debate on the conflict.
Netanyahu's stalemate policy based on a fantasy (Tami Arad, Yedioth/Ynet) Prime minister sees no solution to the Palestinian problem apart from easing the pain. But standing in one place while continuing to manage the conflict is a dangerous gamble.
Israelis are afraid that the two-state solution is already here (Matthew Kalman, Haaretz+) Behind the 'Start-Up Nation' headlines of national success there is another nation, a growing underclass of poorly-paid, ill-educated Israelis who rightly fear the future.
Should sanctions be the price Israelis pay for their indifference? (Roy Isacowitz, Haaretz+) They may not have single-handedly felled apartheid, but sanctions were a powerful psychological weapon against the propaganda and inertia of those in power. BDS could do the same to Israel.
Why is Israel commemorated as an occupier? (Avishai Ivri, Maariv) The discussion over the "future of the Territories" perpetuates the presentation of Israel as a cruel occupier. But there is no legal reference in Judea and Samaria there is occupied land, and all the talk among us about the "a solution for the Palestinian problem" is only used against us.
Europe proves one-state solution is an illusion (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) People in the right and in the left are trying to force one big Jewish-Arab state on us. If it's not working in the united continent, it definitely won't work in the split Middle East.
Four lessons for Israel to defeat its enemies after the Gaza offensive (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Forget about deterrence, target the rockets first, fight one front at a time, and get it over with quickly.
They can't without us - Start-up in Ramallah (Smadar Perry, Yedioth) Because of the 'situation,' none of the international development companies or investment 'Angels' have any interest in dealing with hi-tech people in the West Bank. They prefer to work with India and Sri Lanka....
Break Hamas stranglehold on Gaza (Dave Sharma, Yedioth/Ynet) Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma says new cross-border mechanism can help restart, not only rebuild, the Gaza economy.
Israeli democracy in danger? Says who? (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Leftists obsessed with telling the world that Israel is becoming more racist and more fascist, and to hell with the facts.
**Your Honor, the investigative judge: I cannot dissemble, sir, and claim that I did not know (B. Michael, Haaretz+) I knew about the abominations taking place within spitting distance of my home. Everyone knew. It was impossible not to know. Below is an affidavit from my dentist confirming that on Friday, August 1, 2014, at 9 A.M., I presented myself at his clinic to insert a pair of fillings in my molars...therefore it is clear that I could not possibly have taken part in it. As the court knows, on September 16, 2014, it was reported that my country was acting to forcibly “evacuate” thousands of (Bedouin) people from their places of residence...Although my country works hard to invent pretexts, justifications, ploys, lies and tricks to legitimize this wrongdoing, I have no intention of denying the fact that this is a war crime for all intents and purposes.
Israel's fortitude is not limitless (Dr. Harold Goldmeier, Israel Hayom) Israel's rightward shift is a natural reaction to constant threats
Diving into paranoia: The acquisition of an additional submarine is the implementation of "the whole world is against us" (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The arrival of the 'Tanin' submarine is another crazy budget act that lacks any connection to future threats. The excessive armament must be cancelled, it is part of the waning obsession with Iran, and nothing more.
Holocaust survivors don't belong in the Israeli-Palestinian debate (Arlene Stein, Haaretz+) We must push back against the stifling overuse of Holocaust analogies which polarize and diminish real debate on the conflict.
Netanyahu's stalemate policy based on a fantasy (Tami Arad, Yedioth/Ynet) Prime minister sees no solution to the Palestinian problem apart from easing the pain. But standing in one place while continuing to manage the conflict is a dangerous gamble.
Israelis are afraid that the two-state solution is already here (Matthew Kalman, Haaretz+) Behind the 'Start-Up Nation' headlines of national success there is another nation, a growing underclass of poorly-paid, ill-educated Israelis who rightly fear the future.
Should sanctions be the price Israelis pay for their indifference? (Roy Isacowitz, Haaretz+) They may not have single-handedly felled apartheid, but sanctions were a powerful psychological weapon against the propaganda and inertia of those in power. BDS could do the same to Israel.
Why is Israel commemorated as an occupier? (Avishai Ivri, Maariv) The discussion over the "future of the Territories" perpetuates the presentation of Israel as a cruel occupier. But there is no legal reference in Judea and Samaria there is occupied land, and all the talk among us about the "a solution for the Palestinian problem" is only used against us.
Europe proves one-state solution is an illusion (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) People in the right and in the left are trying to force one big Jewish-Arab state on us. If it's not working in the united continent, it definitely won't work in the split Middle East.
Four lessons for Israel to defeat its enemies after the Gaza offensive (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Forget about deterrence, target the rockets first, fight one front at a time, and get it over with quickly.
They can't without us - Start-up in Ramallah (Smadar Perry, Yedioth) Because of the 'situation,' none of the international development companies or investment 'Angels' have any interest in dealing with hi-tech people in the West Bank. They prefer to work with India and Sri Lanka....
Break Hamas stranglehold on Gaza (Dave Sharma, Yedioth/Ynet) Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma says new cross-border mechanism can help restart, not only rebuild, the Gaza economy.
Interviews:
A transcript of AP's full interview with Egypt's al-Sisi
In first interview with foreign media since taking office, Egyptian president speaks of the fight against terrorism - particularly IS - and the future he envisions for his country. (Associated Press, Ynet)
In first interview with foreign media since taking office, Egyptian president speaks of the fight against terrorism - particularly IS - and the future he envisions for his country. (Associated Press, Ynet)
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.