--Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli shouts at LEHAVA leader Bentzi Gopstein in a stormy Knesset debate about whether to outlaw the racist organization.
You Must Be Kidding:
During his interrogation, the military prosecution’s key witness was presented with seven photos. He had to select the accused, who was female. Six of the photos were of men.
--Haaretz commentator Oudeh Bisharat responds to Jewish accusations that Palestinians educate their children to hatred and to reverence for death.
This week, Alpher discusses -in advance of the meeting- Netanyahu’s mood as he approached the meeting between him and President Obama, against a backdrop of an Arab Middle East in turmoil and personal relations that have soured over Iran and the Palestinian issue; Dr. Ran Baratz's appointment by Netanyahu as his new spokesman as head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate; assuming the Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egyptian Sinai was brought down by an act of terrorism, how serious an event was this; and how strong an effect might the European Union's labeling of commercial goods made in West Bank and Golan settlements have on Israeli policy toward the Palestinians.
--Laura Blumenfeld, who served as Senior Policy Advisor on Secretary of State John Kerry's Israeli-Palestinian negotiations team from October 2013-February 2015, revealed the Obama Administration's sense of frustration and humiliation in its dealings with the Netanyahu government.
You Must Be Kidding:
The Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration agreed to retroactively approve two settlement outposts, Mitzpeh Danny and Neveh Erez in the West Bank.
--Maariv’s political affairs reporter Dana Somberg wrote after the Israeli embassy in Washington told her that the reason that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was not invited to stay at the White House’s luxurious guest house was because “it is undergoing renovations.” Somberg checked and found that other state leaders had recently been guests there.
You Must Be Kidding:
53%
--Percentage of Israelis who believe that one must kill a Palestinian who attacked an Israeli even if he were already caught and no longer posed a danger to anyone.
--Israeli author Amos Oz explains why he is quietly boycotting state events.
--Tami Arad writes in Yedioth about Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s bill to force representatives of Israeli organizations that receive funding from foreign states to wear special tags in the Knesset.
You Must Be Kidding:
“It mainly shows him to be such a marginal figure that there is no concern for his safety. I think he could be sent in a para-glider to the Syrian Golan [Heights] controlled by ISIS. They’ll return him the next day with a request for negotiating their own return to Iraq, if only we take him back. 'Just take him, upon our lives, Israelis, your president goes around the camp shaking everyone’s hands, trying to speak to us in Arabic he doesn’t know, telling us to unite because it’s a shame we are divided thus into tribes.'”
--Recent Facebook post about President Reuven Rivlin, written by newly appointed head of National Public Diplomacy Directorate, Ran Baratz, sparks a storm.
Update: this action, now closed, ran in November 2015.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin gave his life in pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Help us honor his legacy and keep his memory alive today by taking the following actions:
- Click here to add your name to our joint statement (APN together with J Street,the New Israel Fund, Ameinu, T’ruah and Partners for Progressive Israel), Living Rabin's Legacy, which will be delivered by hand to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to pass on to the Israeli government.
- Click here to urge your Senators and your Representative to co-sponsor resolutions honoring the life, legacy, and example of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the twentieth anniversary of his death – in the Senate, S. Res. 299 (introduced by Sen. Feinstein, D-CA); in the House, H. Res. 502 (introduced by Rep. Ellison, D-MN), and H. Res. 513 (introduced by Rep. Engel, D-NY).
- Please join us for a briefing call today, November 4th, at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time) with the leaders of APN, the New Israel Fund, J Street, Ameinu and T’ruah. The call, on the anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, will bring together the five organizations to help unite progressive Americans in a solemn demand for a peaceful and democratic Israel.
--Sagit Bracha-Eizenkot says Israeli society needs to do soul searching after mob ran after her grandmother's attacker and did not attend to the stabbed elderly woman.