News Nosh 11.02.14

by APN 11/02/14
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APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday November 2, 2014
 

Quote of the day:

“Is the Jewish character of Israel dependent on the signature of a Palestinian leader? Of course not. The Jewish character of the state depends on us.”
--Speaking at the Rabin memorial, Shimon Peres criticized the demand by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state for there to be peace.**

 


Front Page News:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • Already 19 years - Some 12,000 people at the rally in memory of Rabin
  • The murderer won // Eitan Haber
  • Thirsty for hope // Merav Betito
  • "Long white threat" for 148,000 shekels - The surreal expenses of the government ministries
  • "Yehuda and I agreed to disagree" - The father is from the peace camp, the son, Yehuda Glick, is a right-wing activist. Glick the son was wounded in an assassination attempt

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)

Israel Hayom

 

 

News Summary:
Israelis mark 19 years since Yitzhak Rabin's assassination and Shimon Peres slams Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu making the top story in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, US Secretary of State called Netanyahu to apologize for the 'chickenshit' remark and Israel is working its contacts to prevent a 'bad deal' ahead of renewed talks between the world powers and Iran on the nuclear issue. Due to US and Jordanian pressure, Netanyahu called on his ministers nd on MKs not to make waves in E. Jerusalem, for which he was duly slammed by right-wing members. Yedioth reported that the cold weather over the weekend kept things relatively quiet in E. Jerusalem, but Maan reported on the anger among Palestinians, who believe that Israeli police committed an extra-judicial killing against Muitaz Hijazi, the suspect in the assassination attempt against prominent right-wing activist, Yehuda Glick, last week. Meanwhile, a rocket fell in Israel from Gaza and Maariv wrote that it was not clear that it was deliberately launched at Israel. Nevertheless, Israel closed all the crossings into Gaza and since Egypt is creating a buffer zone, the Gaza Strip is essentially closed to the world.

***With the exception of Israel Hayom, the top story in the Hebrew newspapers was the memorial for Rabin, essentially a pro-peace rally. Maariv wrote that few attended - about 12,000. Peres' speech stood out and was quoted the most by the newspapers. He said:


After Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) harshly criticized Jordan’s rulers on his Facebook page for suggesting that the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan might end if Israel did not calm things in E. Jerusalem, Netanyahu urged Israeli parliamentarians Saturday to show 'responsibility and restraint,' Haaretz reported. But MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) promised he would visit the Temple Mount on Sunday morning, and indirectly criticized the prime minister for his call to Knesset members to calm the issue. "There is nothing that ignites the situation in Jerusalem more other than saying we cannot go to the Temple Mount," he said. At a press briefing Saturday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry had demanded that Netanyahu eschew provocative statements and actions regarding Jerusalem and preserve the status quo on the Mount. Kerry had spoken to Netanyahu Friday also to apologize for someone in the US administration calling Netanyahu 'chickenshit.' Kerry also called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and asked him to help calm things down in Jerusalem. According to Maan news agency, Abbas asked Kerry to intervene to stop Israeli actions, particularly settlement construction,which he said dangerously escalated the violence. The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the ongoing tensions in Jerusalem given Israeli "violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque," and other issues, Maan reported.

Meanwhile, violence resumed in East Jerusalem Friday, while Israeli right-wingers rallied on the west side of the city. But the Israeli media failed to report that Palestinians were outraged because they believed that Israeli police could have arrested Muitaz Hijazi, 32, who was suspected of trying to assassinate Yehuda Glick, but instead committed an extrajudicial killing. Around 300 Palestinians took part in his funeral late Thursday, despite an Israeli court order that mandated that only 45 would be allowed to participate. Maan interviewed numerous people who spoke about what they heard and saw when Hijazi was killed. The initial autopsy showed Hijazi was shot more than 20 times and bled to death, adding fuel to the allegations Israeli officers executed him. Also, in Gaza thousands marched in solidarity with Jerusalem, some people holding pictures of Hijazi and chanting slogans in support of Palestinian rights in Jerusalem, Maan reported.
 

Quick Hits:

  • Two weeks before Iran talks' deadline: Tripartite summit in hopes of breakthrough - U.S.'s Kerry, Iran's Zarif and EU's Ashton to meet in Oman's capital on November 9-10. About a week later, on November 18, the negotiating teams of all sides will meet for the home stretch of talks, lasting until the November 24 deadline. A op Israeli minister: Iran's refusal to disclose its nuclear past casts a heavy shadow over the future. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
  • Incitement on the Internet on the eve of the memorial day for Rabin: (a photo) of (President) Rivlin wearing a keffiyeh  - Next to the photo, people wrote harsh words against the President, who opened the Knesset's winter session, read out some of the (harsh) things written about him on the Internet. (Maariv)
  • Shin Bet believes Yehuda Glick's shooter had an accomplice - Agency investigating the possibility another man waited outside the Begin Center in Jerusalem for conference attendees to leave. (Haaretz)
  • Israeli public figures urge Spain to recognize Palestinian state - Nobel and Israel Prize laureates, former MKs and cultural figures sign petition sent to Spanish parliament ahead of debate on Palestinian statehood. "The prospects for Israel's existence depend on the existence of a Palestinian state," petition reads. (Israel Hayom)
  • Israeli soldiers attempt to detain 2-year-old for rock-throwing - Boy's grandfather, who was in the house during the raid, said that the boy did not know there were soldiers in the street below when he tossed stone from the roof where he played with his mother. Then, the soldiers attempted to detain his nine-year-old brother because he had "colored rocks" in his pockets, presumably to throw at soldiers, but when they searched the child they found that the "rocks" were in fact candy. (Maan)
  • Clashes erupt in Tuqu near Bethlehem - Clashes erupted between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers on Friday on the western entrance of Tuqu southeast of Bethlehem. Israeli soldiers raided the house of prisoner Riyad al-Omour. (Maan)
  • 15 Palestinian prisoners held in solitary confinement for 3 months - The fifteen prisoners are being held in solitary confinement after they were moved from the Jalbou and Shatta prisons on June 12 as punishment for "attempts to dig tunnels," prisoners told the a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoner's Society. (Maan)
  • Erdogan on relations with Israel: "They will improve when the blockade (on Gaza) is lifted"  - During his visit to France, Turkish President explained: "The apology for the murders on the Marmara were made and we reached an agreement on compensation. But Israel is not meeting its commitments on the Palestinian issue." Erdogan also denied that he hates Jews: "We have no problem with the Israeli people or Jews of Turkey." (Maariv)
  • Labor MK Eitan Cabel: "(E. Jerusalem neighborhoods) Issawiyya and Beit Hanina is not really part of Jerusalem"  - Labor party Secretary said at the "Shabbatarbut" event Saturday morning that "unified Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and so it will remain in any future agreement, but in the long term, Israel's clear interest is to transfer these neighborhoods to the control of the Palestinians." (Maariv)
  • Why did Netanyahu's office order Labor MK's phone disconnected? - Incident started when Israel Hayom – widely seen as mouthpiece for PM Netanyahu – published Labor MK Eitan Cabel’s phone number so readers could call to complain about his bill calling for an end to freebies. Cabel redirects calls from his office to the PMO after Israel Hayom paper publishes his phone number; PMO sends technician to Cabel's office to disconnect the automatic redirect service. (Haaretz)
  • IDF offers haredim 'women-free' recruitment centers - In bid to soften rabbis' objection to draft law, Defense Minister Ya'alon says army will designate separate days for yeshiva students reporting to military centers. Further concessions will be subject to haredi leaders' cooperation. (Ynet)
  • Why can't Israeli Arab town stop the murder of its women? - In the wake of the murder of Busaina Abu Ghanem last weekend, activists say the police must do more to intervene, although officers say they are stymied by a lack of witnesses. (Haaretz)
  • New IDF tablet sends real-time footage from the field - Device can display video images relayed by all IDF cameras on land, in the air and at sea, even in areas without reception. (Ynet)
  • Companies stop food supply to Gaza hospital amid unpaid bills - Companies in Gaza have stopped providing the al-Shifa hospital with food for meals in protest against not being paid for five months. The hospital owes 800,000 shekels (approximately $211,000) to the companies for food. (Maan)
  • Pope prays for peace and reconciliation in Jerusalem - Pray for the Holy City to be a 'symbol and a precursor of the peace that God wishes for the entire human family,' says pontiff. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • 'It's hard being openly Jewish' - As 'Hitler' Twitter account gains more and more followers and Facebook page displays 'list of Jews,' Foreign Ministry and EU representatives discuss ways to combat anti-Semitism. (Ynet)
  • Israel's anime effort to woo Japan - Israeli Embassy in Tokyo launches Japanese Web series telling story of two young sisters visiting Holy Land in hopes of promoting tourism from Japan: 'Idea is to show case Israel while paying homage to Japanese popular culture.' (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • West making big mistake in fighting ISIS, says senior Israeli officer - IDF Northern Command officer says he thinks the U.S.-led coalition intervened too early against the Sunni militants, and 'not necessarily in the right direction.' "A strange situation has been created in which the United States, Canada and France are on the same side as Hezbollah, Iran and Assad. That doesn't make sense," he said. (Haaretz)
  • (Iraqi Kurdish) Peshmerga fighters enter Syrian border through  - Roughly 150 Kurdish fighters have entered Kobani to take part in fight against Islamic State group, protect fellow Kurds. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Middle East Updates / Egyptian journalists defy editors' pledge of near-blind support to regime - Lawyer: Iranian-British woman gets year in prison; Islamic State executes 67 people in western Iraq, tribal leader says. (Haaretz)

 


Features:

"We agreed not to agree, I love him with all my heart"
Yehuda Prof. Shimon Glick is a man of the peace camp, who supports evacuating settlements and met with the brothers of Yasser Arafat. His son, Yehuda, who is hospitalized in serious condition after begin shot by a Palestinian, is an activist for Jews to go up (and pray) at the Temple Mount. (Chen Kottas-Bar, Yedioth's '24 Hours' supplement)
Not your typical Temple Mount zealot
Yehuda Glick, the right-wing activist who is the driving spirit behind the movement to enable Jews to visit and pray on the Temple Mount and was shot Wednesday night, managed to reach out to more than just the usual suspects in his campaign to enable Jews to pray on the Mount. (Roy (Chicky) Arad, Haaretz)
The redhead who wouldn't give up
"I don't go up to the Temple Mount to demonstrate, but to reconnect with my Creator," Yehuda Glick says. He did not expect to be targeted for assassination, but ironically, the attempt on his life may end up helping his cause. (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom)
Jerusalem Palestinian youths ready for new intifada
Social worker Wael Mahmud said the reasons for the anger are deep-seated, rooted in the perceived takeover of Arab areas of east Jerusalem by hardline Jewish settlers, and the alleged complicity of authorities. (Agencies, Maan)
There are those who are tired of the (Israeli) leadership and decided to do something about it 
When the Knesset is becoming increasingly sectarian and the discourse of elected officials becomes violent, a need is felt for an alternative leadership. "Plan 120" of the Shacharit Institute is trying to build a different political reserve that will be an alternative leadership and create a productive dialogue and societal cooperation. Among its members are ultra-Orthodox settlers, rightists, leftists, Arabs, Sephardim, Ashkenazim, men, women, LGBT, immigrant and social activists. (Aviram Zino, Maariv) 
Fearing bus ban, Arabs are on the edge of their seats
We work for Jews so why are they scared of us riding with them, ask Palestinian laborers on a West Bank-bound line, returning from jobs in Israel. (Roy (Chicky) Arad, Haaretz)
The untold story of City of David 
Hamas and Fatah extremists are exasperated by a little-known island of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Jewish and Arab toddlers race each other in the streets, their parents engage in mutual support. Our weapon is peace, say City of David residents. (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom)
Of biblical proportions: How maps of the Land of Israel never lost their roots
Ancient maps collected in the book ‘The Shape of the Land’ reveal that, even after the true geography of Israel was known, Jewish cartographers still looked to the Bible for inspiration. (Yaad Biran, Haaretz)
Jewish heritage sites in Arab counties face extinction
Old Jewish synagogues and cemeteries in Syria, Iraq, Libya and the rest of the Arab world are being turned into mosques or completely destroyed. Several Jewish organizations are sparing no effort to preserve these historic sites. (Ksenia Svetlov, Israel Hayom)
This Day in Jewish History / A yeshiva head and settler who had a change of heart is born
Rabbi Yehuda Amital fought for the establishment of Israel but was shattered by his yeshiva’s losses in war and began to question the settlement project. (Haaretz)


Commentary/Analysis:

Remembering Rabin: The last of the non-chickenshits (Asher Schechter, Haaretz) Yitzhak Rabin was murdered 19 years ago next week. In his death, he left us with people who are too afraid to decide.
The man who killed Rabin, killed peace (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet)  The three shots fired at Israel's prime minister 19 years ago completely changed the direction in which the state was headed and on which it was building its future.
New conversion bill only makes Israel more of a theocracy (Haaretz Editorial) ‘Strengthening the Jewish majority’ places the Arabs in a position of inferiority once again. And religion should not be a matter for the state.
Jerusalem is the key to the land (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The haters of Israel know the truth -- whoever holds Jerusalem, holds the entire nation. If we give up Jerusalem, we will lose Tel Aviv, too.
O Jerusalem, Israelis have already forgotten thee (Gideon Levy, Haaretz)  Tel Aviv isn’t beautiful, yet it is loved. But a secular, liberal and humanist Israeli cannot love Jerusalem – you can’t love a city that's immoral.
The price of Obama's temper (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not maintain a relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama at all costs, especially if the price is building in Jerusalem. So far, Washington's arrogance has actually bolstered the PM's position among constituents.
Netanyahu's self-serving conflict with US (Yuval Diskin, Yedioth/Ynet)  In recent clash over Jerusalem construction, Israel's prime minister has once again favored his personal survival interest over clear national interest.
Why hasn't Netanyahu been ousted yet? (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz) Israel's three major opposition parties must drop the egotism and put forward a single candidate to bring down the prime minister at the next election.
Restore the fragile status quo (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to rock the boat and this might disappoint several extremists in the coalition. But there is no better alternative.
Longing for Ehud Barak (Amnon Abramovich, Yedioth/Ynet) Former IDF chief, defense minister and prime minister has many faults, but he is also erudite, has a straight political outlook, and knows the extent of Israel's dependence on the US.
What are they smoking in Jerusalem? (Ari Shavit, Haaretz) An Israel that occupies, settles and discriminates is not an Israel that the United States or young Diaspora Jews can continue to back indefinitely.
Under the ground is not good enough (Gonen Ginat, Israel Hayom) The Palestinians don't want us around. Not even underground. Why are Obama and Israeli pundits helping Netanyahu?
Western media's double-standard on Israeli 'racism' (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) So-called prestigious newspapers the Guardian and New York Times give a platform to every nonsensical item about Israel while conveniently ignoring the reality in other countries.
Why Azerbaijan is good for Israel and the international community (Reshad Karimov, Haaretz) The Former Soviet Union state is an important strategic partner for Israel, and should not be seen as the aggressor in the conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.    
The greatest challenge is still ahead (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) The real test for the relationship between Israel and the U.S. will be the potential agreement between Iran and the world powers.
 

Interviews: 

Rivlin: Construction in Jerusalem should be out in the open
"It would benefit us to set things straight with our supporters in the world and explain that this issue [of construction in Jerusalem] does not need to be discussed yet again," President Reuven Rivlin says in exclusive interview with Israel Hayom. 

 

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

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