APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday September 18, 2013

NOTE: News Nosh will be on holiday during most of Sukkot, which begins this evening.

Number of the day:

10.

--Length in centimeters of the biggest date in the world, a Saudi Arabian variety, that will be on display in Israeli President Shimon Peres' sukkah.**

Beginning Wednesday night, September 18th, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins.

During the week-long holiday, Jews build a special kind of home to dwell in for the week, called a sukkah. The sukkah is a deliberately temporary house, which can have no more than one permanent wall, and whose roof must be open to the sky, covered only partially by natural materials such as branches. The sukkah is a strange sort of dwelling, and yet, it is so important, that we use it every Friday night on Shabbat, as a metaphor for peace, asking that God, "spread over us a sukkah of Your peace."

May this year's sukkah be a sukkat shalom, a sukkah of peace, and may we merit to build our house - Israel- from peace.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday September 17, 2013

Quote of the day:

"This right-wing is sitting in the government and speaking about two-states for two peoples, release Palestinians prisoners and is making diplomatic moves. This is very surprising and, of course, it is the result of the Oslo Accords."
--Yossi Beilin, an author of the interim peace agreement, says it made the right-wing more left-wing.**

This week, Alpher discusses the new Middle East reality Israel confronts as a consequence of the US-Russian deal regarding Syria's chemical weapons, what lessons and conclusions can be taken from the massive commemoration in Israel of the 40 years since the outbreak of the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, the significance of a ruling by an Israeli judge two weeks ago concerning Palestinian incitement against Israel, and the contribution of Osama al-Baz, who died Saturday in Egypt, to peace.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday September 16, 2013

Quote of the day:

"It is these facts on the ground, not the guidelines, which threaten to make a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible."
--Former EU leaders - including former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos, who is considered relatively close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - wrote a letter saying settlements harm peace and calling on the EU to stand firm on new guidelines forbidding any EU money to institutions or people linked to activities in the W. Bank, Golan Heights, or E. Jerusalem.**

APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday September 15, 2013

Number of the day:

131.
--The dollar price of a round-trip ticket to Turkey for Israelis as Turkey tries to lure Israeli tourists back to their country.**

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Syria Debate on the Hill - Broader Implications?
3. Members on the Record (on things other than Syria)
4. Hearings/Briefings
5. News of the Weird

APN's daily news review from Israel

Friday September 13, 2013

Quote of the day:

"There is no doubt some Palestinian news outlets incite against Israel and the Jews, but it is clear this is not an official policy of the PA."
--Tel-Aviv District Court Judge Dalia Gannot completely rejects the testimony of the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, Itamar Marcus, making minced meat out of his claims.**

APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday September 12, 2013

Quote of the day:

"This thing is being handled like some moonlighting gig."
--Speaking at a conference, Yossi Beilin slams Israel's handling of the peace talks.**

by Jake Wallis Simons

The "enough blood and tears" speech, which Yitzhak Rabin, then prime minister of Israel, delivered on the White House lawn on Sept 13 1993, is widely regarded as his finest. The Oslo Accord negotiations had been concluded, and a declaration of intent to end hostilities had been signed; he and Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, had just made history by shaking hands, to thunderous applause.

Two years later, Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to territorial compromise. In 2000, a bloody Intifada erupted across the region, claiming the lives of about 1,000 Israelis and 3,300 Palestinians. Israeli politics came to be dominated by parties from the political Right and the settlements on the West Bank continued to be expanded.