News Nosh 03.10.15

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday March 10, 2015

Quote of the day:
"No one has even apologized yet. Today, there is no difference between them and the terrorists in Hebron who throw stones or firebombs at us."
--IDF soldier responding to the attack on soldiers by Bat Ayin settlers.**


Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Rivlin: Go vote
  • Between Garboz and Netanyahu // Ben-Dror Yemini
  • Election malfunction // Tami Arad
  • The patriot // Yuval Diskin
  • Exposed in the lobby – Hotel security guards tell of violence and damage by the Israeli on holiday
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
  • Seven decisive days
  • Elections 2015: We don’t have the luxury to gamble on our future // Haim Shine
  • Senators letter: Without our approval, after Obama – the agreement with Iran will be cancelled
  • US to Eyal Golan: No entry
  • “Livni must reveal the opinion she received from Noni Mozes to promote the (anti-) Israel Hayom bill”
  • Dollar crossed the 4 shekels, Euro crashing
  • Starting next school year: Vaccine against papilloma – for boys, too

News Summary:
With nothing big happening yesterday, all the Hebrew papers, with the exception of Haaretz, made Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to Mahaneh Yehuda market in Jerusalem the top story. Yedioth and Maariv wrote that his rubbing shoulders with spice and vegetable sellers was a sign of panic in the Likud party, which is trying to 'minimize damage' (Maariv) following some serious election faux pas - such as depicting public employees as terrorists in a campaign video clip - for which Netanyahu apologized. However, Israel Hayom reported on the visit just as Likud would want: shopkeepers fawning over Netanyahu.

Other interesting news: The US State Department said it expected the next Israeli government to be committed to the two-state solution, a UN envoy proposed a three to five year Gaza truce in order to aid reconstruction and Hamas reportedly said this would require Israel and Egypt to lift their blockades of Gaza and for the national consensus government to agreeGaza women, meanwhile, protested in front of UNRWA headquarters calling on the international community to uphold its responsibilities and pressure Israel to allow reconstruction material into Gaza and calling on Fatah and Hamas to end their disunity, Maan reported.
 
And there were continued conflicting reports about the reason for the Palestinian Authority’s mass arrest of Hamas people over the weekend. Maariv and Haaretz+ say it was to prevent them from making a terror attack before elections. But Maan and Ynet said it was retaliation for the detention of senior Fatah official Mamoon Sweidan by Hamas security forces in Gaza. Ynet’s Elior Levy noted that many of the people detained were not military-related.

Quick Hits:
  • Palestinian schoolchildren suffered from tear-gas inhalation during Israeli military training in Hebron’s Old City - Israeli forces set up checkpoints in the middle of the street and fired tear gas at passersby and schoolchildren as they headed to their schools. (Maan)
  • **IDF soldiers recall settlers' attack: They were out for blood - Group of IDF soldiers were attacked by gang of Bat Ayin settlers, forcing forces to fire in air Sunday, now soldiers recall event, voicing anger at becoming 'targets of the very people we defend.' [Note: English version 'softens' soldier's quote in translation adding "There seems as if" before the quote: "There is no difference between them and the terrorists in Hebron who throw stones or firebombs at us." - OH (Ynet and Ynet Hebrew)
  • Israeli forces uproot 300 olive trees in Nablus - Israeli bulldozers uprooted the trees 48 hours after the Nablus District Civil Liaison Office requested that Palestinian farmers be given access to plow the land. (Maan)
  • World Zionist Organization transferred $14 million to settlements in 2014 - not $4.2m, as reported - The organization's Settlement Division significantly downplayed the figure in its 2014 report. (Haaretz)
  • Israel demolishes Palestinian house near Tulkarem - Israeli soldiers raided the village and demolished a two-story house owned by Palestinian judge Kifah Abd al-Rahim Sholi in the village of al-Jarushiyya on Monday. (Maan)
  • Jerusalem blacklisting Palestinian residents suspected of security offenses - City seeks to penalize Palestinian suspects beyond criminal proceedings police can initiate. Legal experts: This constitutes abuse of power. (Haaretz+) 
  • Haifa University ordered to rewrite bylaw restricting freedom of expression - Clause used to bar protests is gross violation of free speech, says court. In May the university suspended Arab student groups Hadash and Sons of the Village until the end of the academic year for holding an unauthorized protest. (Haaretz+)
  • In Bedouin town of Lakiya: School on strike due to racist post  - Education system in Lakiya on strike beginning this morning for unlimited time  in protest to racist post that Jewish Hebrew teacher posted following road accident in which eight Bedouin women were killed. “They prayed so hard that Allah really loved it and brought them to him – yuck, they’re gross,” wrote the teacher, who claims her Facebook account was hijacked. (Yedioth, p. 26)
  • Israel election updates / MK Tibi: Lieberman is 'Jewish ISIS,' he must be investigated - 7 days to go: Meretz leaders slam Joint List for blocking surplus-vote agreement; Such an agreement could have given the center-left bloc in the elections one or two additional seats in parliament. (Haaretz
  • Palestinian Authority calls for arrest of Liberman for saying anti-Israel Arab citizens should be beheaded - Strongly-worded statement from the PA Foreign Ministry says Liberman “poses threat to humanity.” (JPost and Maariv)
  • Votes from abroad: Israeli expats visit for elections - Israeli citizens living overseas travel home to make their voices heard in elections that many say seem particularly important. (Ynet)
  • Israel election updates / Likud activist calls Obama anti-Semite, then retracts: 'But he has a bad air' - 6 days to go: Moshe Ifergan also called Netanyahu's 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University a 'genius way of dragging Obama along.' (Haaretz
  • No. 36 on the Likud list opposes Netanyahu: "We can not vote for you anymore" - Pinhas Eidan, chairman of the Airport Authority labor union, dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister, addressing the Likud campaign ads comparing state employees to Hamas terrorists: "You must make a direct apology in your name." (Maariv
  • Netanyahu apologizes for campaign ad after union vows not to vote Likud - Likud campaign ad showed 'support group' for those hurt by PM's policy, grouping together Hamas terrorist and labor unions, prompting massive outcry and even threats by unions to vote against PM. (Ynet)
  • John Oliver takes on Israeli election ads - From Netanyahu's ISIS campaign video, to Herzog's voice and Yesh Atid's 3-hour long video - Last Week Tonight pokes fun at Israeli ads. (Ynet)
  • Yedioth Ahronoth's libelous report -- a disgrace to journalism' - Former Likud minister Benny Begin lashes out at Yedioth Ahronoth for publishing an "invented concessions document" -- a document suggesting that in 2013, Netanyahu was willing to make far-reaching concessions in negotiations with the Palestinians. (Israel Hayom)
  • Livni at Bar-Ilan University: "Netanyahu is blind to the danger of a bi-national state” - Former Justice Minister accused the prime minister of unreliable and unclear political conduct: "This is Bibi's swan song, it's time to replace the CD." (Maariv)
  • Poll: 53% of public opposes unity government - Army Radio survey finds 66% of right-wing voters, 56% of left-wing voters oppose national unity government involving Likud, Zionist Union. President Reuven Rivlin says in the absence of clear-cut endorsement for next PM he will promote unity government. (Israel Hayom)
  • Widow responds to column accusing her in her husband's death: "They hurt the memory of Dolev" - Michal Kesten-Keidar, the widow of Lt. Col. Dolev Keidar, responded to the scathing words of military commentator of Arutz 7, Hagai Haverman, which followed her participation in the rally to replace the government. Chairman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, Nava Shoham-Solan: "He stabbed the widow and twisted the knife." (Maariv
  • Israeli forces detain 4 Palestinians, ban woman from entering Aqsa - Witnesses added that the detainees were transferred to detention centers for interrogation. (Maan)
  • A moment of enjoyment: Border Police fighters put down their weapons and lift the ball - In the video clip spreading around social networks, the soldiers are filmed in a rare moment when they let themselves go with neighborhood kids in East Jerusalem. (MaarivVIDEO)
  • 75% of new IDF recruits want to serve in combat units - Golani is the first brigade to add new soldiers to its ranks as large March draft opens. IDF reports that 30% more female draftees are asking to serve in combat roles. IDF Personnel Directorate head: Army will continue to expand roles for women. (Israel Hayom)
  • UN inquiry on Gaza war crimes seeks delay to June - Report on violations by Israel, Hamas during summer war was due to be issued on March. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • In Berlin, Israel’s tourism promotion pales in comparison to Palestinian Authority’s - The pavilion at Berlin’s ITB travel exhibition last week fell flat; Israel is a tough sell these days, but critics say it doesn’t even try. (Haaretz+)
  • Hillel’s Fingerhut withdraws from J Street confab over Erekat presence - The top Palestinian negotiator has compared Israel to ISIS. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • U.K. conference questions legality of Israel's existence - MP Mark Hoban calls on University of Southampton to reconsider hosting 'provocative' and 'one-sided' event. (Haaretz)
  • 2,300 year-old jewelry found in northern Israel - Israeli tourists discover rare treasure dating back to reign of Alexander the Great who conquered Israel during the Hellenistic period. (Ynet)
  • Israel Police searching for source of Iranian money found during Jerusalem arrest - The Shin Bet has been notified, as police try to figure out if the cash represents Iranian financial support for a group or person. (Haaretz+)
  • Iran's top clerical body elects hard-line ayatollah as chairman - The body's responsibilities, now under Mohammad Yazdi's leadership, include choosing or dismissing the nation's supreme leader. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • GOP, White House lock horns over Iran talks - Republican senators send Iranian leadership letter saying deal reached by Obama and Khamenei will be void should it fail to achieve congressional approval: 'Next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen.' (Agencies, Ynet
  • LA Jewish cemetery sued for throwing out remains - More than 60 people accuse Eden Memorial Park of breaking vaults to make room for more graves and disposing of human bones in a pile. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • 25 Egyptian policemen wounded by suicide car bomber in Sinai - Egyptian president pushes U.S. for military aid in Fox News interview. (Haaretz)
  • Arab League calls for multinational force to fight Islamic militants - ISIS, Yemen's al-Qaeda pose threat to entire world, Arab League says, urging 'multi-national force (able of) quick intervention.' (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:
Poem of the Week / Sh'ma Palestine, you look oddly like New York
From New York, Michael Heller invokes sacred and secular texts to ask Israel and Palestine, “Why avenge?” (Vivian Eden, Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:
Netanyahu shows rightist colors with latest policy flip-flop (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) The serial retractor of declarations denied his Bar-Ilan statement supporting two-states-for-two-peoples. Now Likud denies his denial. It's all election spin. 
How did election campaign get so ugly? (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) By mixing former Mossad chief Meir Dagan's illness with politics, Likud MK Ofir Akunis crossed all limits of insensitivity and vulgarity.  
Exorcising Netanyahu out of office (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The election pits Bibi vs. Netanyahu, Groucho Marx against the face looking out at him from the mirror, with defeat on the way for both candidates. 
Mozes, the would-be backroom prime minister (Miri Eden, Israel Hayom) This is how the Noni machine works: report objectively only when the people involved are the right people, and only if it helps them win the premiership or receive the finance portfolio. 
Will Herzog be the leader that lifts the Labor Party curse? (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Labor is too toxic, too weighed down by history, too unimaginative to reinvent itself. If it wins next week, it will be by default.
Between amulet kissers and 'Hamasniks,' election campaign going downhill (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Artist Yair Garbuz turned Likud voters into illiterate mezuzah kissers, and Prime Minister Netanyahu linked them to Hamas. But while Garbuz represents himself, Netanyahu is supposed to be the responsible adult. And time and again, he fails.
Israel's coalition system is a dictatorship of the minority (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) The large number of parties that make up the next government will force the prime minister to endorse contradictory principles that stoke frustration and stagnation. 
Anything goes in bid to topple Likud (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) Yedioth's recent lies are the latest salvo in the enormous effort to kick out the Right and install a left-wing government.
As Khamenei's health falters, the race for Iran’s next supreme leader heats up (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) The appointment of the ailing Ali Khamenei’s successor will be influenced more by his political connections than his religious supremacy. It could affect the nuclear talks.
The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy (Yaron Friedman, Yedioth/Ynet) Despite their anxiety at the prospect of a nuclear Iran, the Gulf states are still hostile toward Israel - and the next Israeli government will have to find a way to change that.
The nuclear front between Iran’s moderates and conservatives (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) Hassan Rohani and Ali Khamenei aim to sign an agreement with the P5+1 powers and pave the way for progress on socioeconomic issues.
Bennett hurts the Right (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) It is unfortunate that the right-wing bloc keeps sabotaging its ability to win elections.
When asylum-seekers are deported
 to the torture chamber (Haaretz Editorial) The State of Israel is committing a crime against these people, breaking international laws and moral principles. 
Bibi fatigue: Israelis are sick of Netanyahu, but can’t agree on his replacement (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) The tide may be turning against Netanyahu, but it is turning in many directions and the Israeli public just can't agree on a suitable alternative.
Islamists have defeated coexistence (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Joint Arab list's refusal to sign vote-sharing agreement with Israel's most leftist party proves that its leaders' real goal is not equality for Arabs.
Israelis want a different political agenda (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) Netanyahu compares himself with Winston Churchill. But Churchill was defeated in the 1945 election because the people wanted a leader with a different agenda.
The Right must not infight (Dr. Haim Misgav, Israel Hayom) If leaders of Right do not get along, Left could come to power.
Palestinians start food fight as boycott intensifies (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Although Palestinian boycotts of Israeli products only have a marginal impact on the Israeli economy, they do serve a greater social purpose. 
Palestinians are no longer an Arab priority (Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom) The Arab League is more preoccupied with the Iranian nuclear threat and the crises in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Syria than it is with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Interviews: 
Arab Israeli TV host chosen to light Independence Day beacon answers critics
Lucy Aharish says lighting the torch will be 'a slap in the face to all the racists' who called her a 'stinking Arab.' (Interviewed by Itamar Eichner in Yedioth/Ynet)
 
Kahlon responds to Haaretz readers: I support 2-state solution, but no point now
'No partner' at the moment, leader of Kulanu party, Moshe Kahlon, tells Haaretz; Kulanu head distances himself from Likud's disavowal of Bar-Ilan speech. (Haaretz+)
 
Herzog: I want to unite, while Netanyahu divides
Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu's main contender for the position of prime minister, says citizens of Israel know that whoever wants to change six years of 'nothing' must vote for Zionist Union. (Ynet)
 

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