News Nosh 12.10.14


APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday December 10, 2014

Quote of the day:
"The extreme right doesn’t recognize the word “border”; the “moonstruck” left, or perhaps it’s the “delusional” left, sings hymns to a binational state; and the banal left is willing to support a Palestinian state without drawing its borders. Thus all that’s left for the extreme center is to offer a non-solution, without negotiations and without Palestinian consent."
--Haaretz analyst Zvi Bar'el writes about the 'members of the extreme center party, which include Tzipi Livni.


Breaking News:
Reports: An Israeli soldier killed the Palestinian Settlements Minister at an anti-settlement outpost demonstration in the West Bank. Ziad Abu Ein died after an altercation with IDF soldiers, during which one soldier beat him on the chest with his helmet or his rifle butt (possibly both, depending on the source of the report) in the village of Turmsayya in the Ramallah district. Abu Ein collapsed and was taken in ambulance in serious condition and unconscious and died en route to hospital, where he was declared dead. Abu Ein also suffered severe tear gas inhalation from canisters fired by Israeli soldiers. Abu Ein had diabetes. The minister was demonstrating against the settlement outpost Adi-Ad. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said, "Israel will pay" for the "murder" of Abu Ein. Walla website quoted an unnamed IDF source who said he knew of no physical contact between the soldiers and the minister and that the minister likely died of a heart attack. Following the killing, the council heads of several Palestinian villages in the West Bank as well as Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, petitioned Israel's High Court to evacuate a nearby Jewish settlement, saying that it "serves as a center of illegal activity with the goal of expelling Palestinians from their land." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the attack was "barbarian and intolerable" and declared three days of mourning. Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub said the Palestinian leadership decided to end security liaisons with IDF in reaction to the killing of Ziad Abu Ein.
(MaanHaaretzYnetWalla)

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Test for Netanyahu at Likud Central Committee
  • The cry of the hospitals - Dispersal of Knesset stopped the flow of hundreds of millions of shekels meant to prevent collapse of hospitalization system. Result: No money left for pacemakers and stents and surgeries were canceled
  • Likely: MK Zouebi to be put on trial
  • Does he deserve a prize? Testimonies of women against (poet and author) Yitzhak Laor could deprive him of winning 100 thousand shekels
  • The great bazaar - This is how the Knesset Finance Committee distributed 13 billion shekels in two days without a debate
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
  • "Warning: In the two years left, Obama will continue to advance negotiations" - US Ambassador to Israel in sharp speech that raises question: Is this intervention in elections?
  • The campaign against Netanyahu // Mati Tuchfeld
  • The dam of non-intervention has broken // Avraham Ben-Tzvi
  • "The CIA tortured, lied and hid from the President and the Congress"
  • At Yedioth, all of the right-wing is radical // Dror Eydar
  • High Court judges vs. Zouebi: "Her words would not pass in any parliament in the world"
  • US citizen arrested on suspicion of planning terror attack in Israel
  • For first time in Israel: Court approved euthanasia for patient

News Summary:
Israeli political leaders looking for partners as Likud members vote over Israeli Prime Minister Binaymin Netanyahu's call to hold early primaries, which many oppose, made top stories in today's Hebrew papers along with the hint by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon that Israel was responsible for the attack in Syria.
 
Far right members of Likud hope to scuttle Netanyahu's plan to reschedule the party's primaries, allegedly in an attempt to thwart any threat by potential rivals to win control of the party before the early elections. Today, over 3,700 Likud members will vote Wednesday on Netanyahu's plan and the papers write that many Likudniks are unhappy with it and him.
 
Meanwhile, despite Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid's attempts to woo her, Tzipi Livni will likely unite with the Labor party, she and Labor party chief Isaac Herzog are reportedly trying to come up with a name for their joint faction. Polls say the Livni-Labor combination would beat Netanyahu.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he doesn't care who the Israelis vote for as long as it leads to a two-state solution. Nevertheless, he also suggested that the right-wing parties will not bring peace: "This is the Israelis' decisive year, in which they need to decide if they want to be partners or occupiers...This is the Israelis' time to choose and I hope they don't choose the settlements, they choose peace, they don't choose dictates, they choose negotiations."

Quick Hits:
  • Israeli settlers stab, injure Palestinian 12-year-old in Hebron - A mob of Israeli settlers stabbed Muath Nouh al-Rajabi, 12, in the Old City of Hebron Monday night. Al-Rajabi was moderately injured after being stabbed in the thigh and shoulder. (Maan - not reported on in Israeli media)
  • CIA cited Israeli Supreme Court rulings to justify torture, Senate report says - 'Israeli example' cited as possible justification for use of torture when interrogating terror suspects 'where there is no other available means to prevent the harm' they might inflict. (Haaretz+)
  • Potential terror attack thwarted south of Jerusalem - Two Palestinian men, one of them armed with a knife, arrested near Tekoa. During questioning, the suspects admit they were planning terrorist attack. One suspect is a relative of one of the murderers of the three Israeli teens in Gush Etzion in June. (Israel Hayom)
  • Polls shows strong Palestinian support for attacks, rocket fire - Survey finds 80% of Palestinians support recent spate of lone-wolf attacks; another survey finds 60% support rocket fire at Israel. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Israeli to confiscate over 300 dunams of land near Ramallah - Israeli forces on Tuesday distributed orders to confiscate 321.3 dunams of land from the villages of Beit Ur At-Tahta, Ein Arek, and Beituniya west of Ramallah. The confiscation threatens to close a vital road that connects the villages west of Ramallah to the city. (Maan)
  • Irish government to accept motion to recognize Palestinian state - Ireland to join Sweden in officially recognizing Palestine in 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital; motion also states Israeli settlement construction is 'illegal and severely threatening the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.' (Agencies, Ynet
  • Amnesty International accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza - Group claimed evidence shows 'large-scale destruction was carried out deliberately' while Israeli officials slam Amnesty's singular focus on Israel. (Ynet)
  • Israel calls Amnesty report on Gaza war crimes 'decontextualized' - NGO says Israeli air strikes on multi-story buildings amount to war crimes and calls for independent, impartial investigation; Israeli embassy: report disregards key factors. (Haaretz)  
  • 70 Palestinian prisoners launch hunger strike action - The protest action was launched in solidarity with detainees being held in solitary confinement, some of whom had already gone on hunger strike to protest the policy. (Maan
  • Israeli military drops charges against Palestinian youths - Interrogation documents show that a police officer threatened the three and failed to read them their rights. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israel Police misuse Taser guns, says watchdog - Police lack training, rely on biased safety studies and ignore complaints of victims against whom the deadly electroshock weapons are used, charges Joseph Shapira. (Haaretz+) 
  • Who are East Jerusalem’s ‘permanent residents’? - They were born and bred in the capital, but they aren't Israeli citizens and their status is anything but permanent. In some cases, it may even be revoked. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Leave or let live? Arabs move in to Jewish settlements (neighborhoods in E. Jerusalem) - Small but growing population of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians is drawn by cheaper rent and better services in Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • High Court raps Haneen Zoabi for remarks on the kidnapped-teens case - The Israeli Arab MK had also said the Palestinians should 'impose a siege on Israel instead of negotiating with it.' (Haaretz+)
  • New poll: Labor-Livni bloc would beat Netanyahu - According to Channel 10, if the elections were held Tuesday, a center-left bloc of Labor combined with Livni's Hatnuah would win 22 seats compared with Likud's 20. (Haaretz)
  • Israel indicts U.S. citizen suspected of planning attacks on Muslim holy sites - Adam Everett Livvix, a 30-year-old Texan Christian, cooperated with his roommate, an IDF soldier, to get 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) of explosives, officials say. (Haaretz
  • Ya'alon hints at Syria strikes: Israel will get to anyone who arms our enemies - In an unusually direct reference to Sunday's strikes in the Damascus area attributed to Israel, Defense Minister says Israel will not allow 'red lines to be crossed.' (Haaretz)
  • Swedish prosecutor drops probe into IDF seizure of Gaza flotillas - While some of the soldiers' actions could be considered criminal, investigators see no way of identifying the perpetrators, prosecutor says. (Haaretz
  • IDF expanding net of recruits - but 1 in 6 won't finish service - Using imperfect screening processes, the army is recruiting people who would previously not have passed the so-called draft threshold. Can the IDF, with its 'blue-collar' contingent, be called an 'army of the people'? (Haaretz+)
  • Syrian Jewish Bibles could spark ownership dispute\ - Two decades after the Mossad helped smuggle ancient Hebrew Bibles out of Syria, Israel's national library asks court to grant it custodianship. Proposed trust would enshrine the manuscripts as "owned by the Jewish people," says academic director. (Agencies, Israel Hayom
  • Israeli student stabbed in Brooklyn; attacker shouts 'kill the Jews' - Ultra-Orthodox student, 22, in stable condition after attack on Chabad headquarters in New York; police kill suspect, who had history of bipolar disorder. (Ynet)
  • Rome to host exhibit on Israel at its main airport - The Israeli pavilion for this year's Expo 2015 at the Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, entitled 'Israel Introduces Itself,' will be open to visitors from December 11-24 in Terminal 3. (Haaretz)  
  • Report: Hamas team in Iran for talks on ties - Iranian media says aim of visit was to clear way for mission by Hamas chief Khaled Mashal to mend strained ties between Hamas and Iran. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Iran, Iraq, Syria to continue cooperation against ISIS - Australia: ISIS using Westerners as 'cannon fodder'; suicide attacks kill five in eastern Yemen army base; three Turkish soldiers killed near Syrian border. (Haaretz)
  • Iran: No information on allegations in UN nuclear - reportInternational panel monitoring Tehran's nuclear activity says procurement for Arak reactor continues, as Iranian atomic agency chief denies 'new parts' defy deal with world powers. (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:
The murky operational waters of Israel's pipeline
What did Israel’s military censor want to hide from the readers of Haaretz when a small story about Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company was due to be published in October 2012? (Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Leftists, when will you get it? (Moshe Feiglin, Haaretz+) A responsible leadership must pursue a goal of one state, that of the Jewish nation.
Israel's extreme center party (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The extreme center’s vision consists of “all of us together against the lunatic right and the moonstruck left.” 
Lieberman and Kahlon, now doves? (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) In these elections, the nationalist camp should be concerned by Lieberman and Kahlon, not Herzog and Lapid.
The 73 who won't be voting (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) What did they die for? In whose name and to what purpose? Was their death necessary? Was it for nothing? 
Center bloc should make defense their election cornerstone (Amnon Abramovich, Yedioth/Ynet) Netanyahu likes to think he's Mr. Security, but he has failed at that too; the center, however, has an excellent defense minister in waiting in the form of Shaul Mofaz. 
Without a leader, Egypt's revolution was doomed to fail (Khaled Diab, Haaretz+) Centuries of non-indigenous rule have resulted in a shortage of effective native leaders in Egypt and the Arab world. This has resulted in a damaging leadership culture that forefends the possibility of true reform.
No ideology, no vision (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Rather than debate the issues, the Center-Left is attacking the prime minister. Because they have nothing to sell, they are focusing on labels.
Under Israel-friendly Ashton Carter, no major shift expected at Pentagon (Ron Campeas, JTA, Haaretz) Obama's secretary of defense nominee has been depicted by the media as the un-Chuck Hagel; but on Israel, Carter would represent continuity.
Netanyahu's blatant election economy (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) The only goal of the prime minister's plan to eliminate VAT on a small number of supervised food products is to lure voters and buy their support at the polls for a bargain price.
The sad story of Yair Lapid (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) The story of Israel’s most recent finance minister is a depressing one, where a politician pursued popularity instead of doing what was needed.
Axis of evil stronger than any revolt (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Syria has now become an Islamic caliphate controlled by the Islamic State group, and Syrian President Bashar Assad has become dependent on Iran and Hezbollah for his survival.
What made The New Republic's liberalism obsolete? (Peter Beinart, Haaretz) A rightward shift in U.S. politics. It is virtually impossible to craft a provocative, credible form of liberalism that lies somewhere between centrist Democrats and radical Republicans.
Iran talks: A good deal or no deal (Amb. Matthew Gould, Yedioth/Ynet) British ambassador to Israel explains why world powers have extended deadline for reaching an agreement on Iranian nuclear program.


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