APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday March 29, 2015

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Dispute between Iran and the world powers; Zarif: They need to be more flexible
• France: We will act to advance UN decision to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Israel releasing hundreds of millions from Palestinian monies
• State requesting High Court approval to destroy Palestinian village
• Some 3,000 runners participated in Bethlehem marathon [Main photo: runner passing by Israeli military tower and separation wall]
• Joint List gave up (seats) on Foreign Affair and Defense Committee
• 4-month-old died in nursery for asylum seekers in south Tel-Aviv

• Israel preparing for day after nuclear agreement – Talks in Switzerland: Iran and the West on verge of agreement
• The second strike on the Ganon family – Daughter injured in nightclub, son injured in Gaza in Operation Protective Edge
• Because of the slowing down of economy, 1/3 of employers requiring their employees to take Passover holiday

• Iran and the world powers ahead of agreement of understandings this week
• The signing is on the way // Yossi Melman
• Iran is in, Israel is out // Alon Ben-David
• Tragedy in the nightclub
• “One day everyone will know my name” – The story behind the plane crash

• The concessions document – The race for the nukes: The world powers and Iran are on verge of signing; Criticism in the US: “The agreement and the war in Yemen – proof of the failure of Obama’s policies”
• Obama is galloping towards an agreement, be what will be // Boaz Bismuth
• Fell on a young woman in a nightclub – and severely injured her

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News Summary:
The nuclear agreement that Iran and the world powers are expected to sign this week and the Palestinian tax revenues that Israel decided to release – minus debts - were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news were the statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against Israel that echoed statements by Israel against Abbas and by the US against Israel. In addition, Abbas made harsh statements against Hamas, just as Egypt decided took Hamas off its terror list and the European Union left it on.

German and French foreign ministers joined the final stretch of Iran nuclear talks yesterday to try to iron out the remaining disputes in order to reach a framework agreement by the Tuesday deadline. US Secretary of State John Kerry called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday to update him on progress.
Haaretz and Maariv reported that by alienating the Congressional Black Caucus, Netanyahu may have helped Obama get an Iran deal. While Israel Hayom wrote of Obama's 'failed policies,' Maariv's Yossi Melman wrote how Netanyahu's policy of trying to prevent any agreement with Iran, even at the expense of a conflict with Obama, failed.
  
Out of fear of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu conceded to the recommendations by the Defense Minister, the Shin Bet and the IDF to release the frozen Palestinian tax revenues Israel had been withholding as a punishment to the Palestinians for their applying to join the International Criminal Court. It appears that the immediate possibility of having to take on the responsibility for caring for millions of Palestinians was scarier than possibly being charged with war crimes at The Hague.
  
The Palestinians slammed Israel for taking money from the frozen Palestinian monies to pay for Palestinian debts to Israel without permission. The papers noted that when speaking at the Arab League summit yesterday, Abbas said Netanyahu's election win proves “there is no Israeli partner for peace.” He also used the terminology used by Obama and his spokesmen recently saying that the Palestinians were “reevaluating” diplomatic, economic and security relations with Israel. Only Maan noted that Israel did not confirm whether it would be resuming the normal monthly payment of around $127 million in Palestinian customs duties.

And the Israeli papers failed to mention that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi demanded an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land through the Arab Peace Initiative. France is pushing for an end to the Israeli occupation through a UN Security Council resolution.
 
Few of the papers reported that Abbas and his associate called on the Arab states to bring down Hamas. Ynet and Israel Hayom reported that Abbas caused a furor when he used the military strikes by Sunni Arab states against Yemen as an opportunity to slam Hamas: "I hope the Arab states carry out the same policy that they are in Yemen in the case of all Arab nations that suffer from internal conflicts – such as Palestine, Syria, Libya, and Iraq." Abbas's statement came a day after his associate, Mahmoud al-Habash, declared that Arab countries must mobilize and hit Hamas with an iron first because it led a coup in Gaza.
 
However, in Egypt, an Egyptian lawyer withdrew his appeal to define Hamas as a terrorist organization, after the sudden withdrawal of the state prosecutor’s withdrawal of its appeal on the issue, meaning that Egypt no longer considers Hamas’ politburo a terrorist organization. The previous ruling caused relations between Egypt and Hamas to deteriorate. (Maariv) Hamas welcomed the Egyptian decision, but in Europe, Hamas was not as successful. The European Union decided to leave Hamas on its terror list till the end of the year-long appeal process - despite an EU court ruling otherwise. Hamas called the decision 'unjust and wrong.’
 
Only Haaretz+ reported that the predominantly Arab Joint List asked to relinquish seats on the sensitive and prestigious Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in exchange for seats on the Finance Committee. This is notable for two reasons. To begin with, the Hebrew media has long-accused the Arab parties of focusing only on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while the Arab MKs say that the Hebrew media never reports on the local issues that they work on, and the relinquishing of these seats is an example of this. Secondly, Netanyahu and his campaign team spread a falsehood during the election campaign when they said that opposition leader Isaac Herzog planned to make Arab MK Ahmad Tibi the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Now the Joint List, of which Tibi is a senior member, shows it isn’t even interested in the confidential security committee.

Quick Hits:

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Features:

**IDF playing war games, but with real Palestinians
The Israeli army used a training maneuver in the West Bank (town of Birzeit) this week to prepare for potential unrest in the territories. Haaretz accompanied the soldiers, and witnessed a surreal exercise. (Amos Harel, Haaretz+)
Israeli forces conduct military training in Birzeit
While Haaretz reported the exercise was planned with the intention to cause "relatively little disruption to the routine of Palestinian life," the account included a training exercise that involved a raid on the home of a Birzeit University college student, whose house was searched during the night while he stood in his pajamas with an Israeli soldier. Birzeit is in Area A, falling under full civil and military control of the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo Accords. (Maan)
A French Jew and an Iranian judge try to settle Israel-Iran oil pipeline dispute
Iranians are suing Israel in arbitration cases in Switzerland over oil supplied before the Islamic revolution, as well as over assets of jointly owned pipeline company. (Aluf Benn, Haaretz+) 

Commentary/Analysis:

Forget taking power — the center-left must become a real fighting minority (Ram Fruman, Haaretz+) We must focus on liberal education and making our geographic power centers even more pleasant and ethical places to be. 
So this is what a 'prime minister for all' means (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) Netanyahu's speech at the President's Residence was the exact opposite of what came out of his mouth only nine days earlier; those who are not part of his camp could experience for a few moments what it feels like when your prime minister doesn’t incite against you.
Netanyahu is faking democracy, so we must fight for it (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) What more needs to happen for our economic freedom fighters to understand that Netanyahu and the extreme right have emptied democracy of its values? 
The people were wrong (Susie Becher, Ynet) Israelis went to the polls with their eyes wide shut, thinking the status quo is sustainable. It isn’t. Israel is on its way to becoming an international pariah, and the people – who once again chose might over right – have only themselves to blame.
Ahead of an agreement with Iran: Israel cannot observe from the side anymore (Alon Ben-David, Maariv) Netanyahu has been given an opportunity that happens once in 100 years: Middle Eastern borders of the 20th century have been deleted - and now they can be re-shaped for the 21st century.
Time to give up on two states, but not on coexistence (Nir Baram, Haaretz+) This idea has become the obsession of small, elitist circles in Israel, together with the international community; they both lack the clout to force its acceptance by Israel. 
Keep Lieberman out of Defense Ministry (Ariela Ringel Hoffman, Yedioth/Ynet) A defense minister must be a person who understands what an army is all about, who doesn’t talk about occupying Gaza or sending IDF to show Lebanese what we're capable of. He must also be someone the prime minister trust.
When Zionist parties wooed Palestinian-Israeli voters  (Seraj Assi and Arnon Degani, Haaretz+) The early Israeli establishment allowed Arab citizens to vote and Zionist parties even courted their support. Today, however, the Arab vote is seen as a threat. 
Obama forsakes his allies (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The Arab states figured they should not wait for President Barack Obama to act. They had to go it alone. The region is ablaze and the conflict in Yemen is no longer confined to the Arabian Peninsula. 
Israeli people's vote must be honored (Yifat Erlich, Yedioth/Ynet) The internal and external pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu could lead Israel's citizens to a reality they didn't vote for. 
Zionist Union must help carry the stretcher of Israel’s national interests (Israel Harel, Haaretz+) Isaac Herzog has a chance prove that although he was helped by outsiders during the election campaign, he doesn't do the bidding of Obama and other hostile elements.
Israelis haven't lost hope in peace, but are more prudent about process (Asaf Romirowsky, Yedioth/Ynet) Israeli commitment to a two-state solution predates Netanyahu and represents a consensus that encompasses left to right. Both sides need to make concessions, but Israel’s security and Jewish identity concerns deserve as much attention as Palestinian territorial claims.
A Palestinian's message to Israel: Congratulations on your democracy – now fight for your future (Nizar H. Farsakh, Haaretz+) This world has a brighter future; achieving it is contingent on our actions. 
Two states for one people (Hanoch Daum, Yedioth/Ynet) The members of the Israeli media, which represents only the left, would do well to get out of Tel Aviv and see how the rest of Israel thinks.
Iran takes over Iraq (Dore Gold, Israel Hayom) Above all it is what is going on in Iraq today that is altering the shape of the Middle East and consequently the kinds of challenges Israel will face.
We don't need another failure (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Given the upheaval in the Arab world, Obama needs to ask himself why he thinks a Palestinian state is viable right now; meanwhile, Israel's right needs to understand that its actions are leading to a bi-national state. 
Why we’ll never see a Jon Stewart or John Oliver in Israel (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) Oliver’s goal is not just to entertain, but also to present an opinionated, reasoned, unapologetic view, whose liberal agenda is obvious. Israeli television doesn’t have even one show like this.
When Jews become a minority in Israel (Dror Ze'evi, Ynet) The right, which went out in droves to vote for Netanyahu for fear of the Arabs, brought the hope of Jewish independence to an end and laid the foundations for the development of a different entity – an Arab state. 
War by other means (Sarah N. Stern, Israel Hayom) Obama's behavior toward Iran is tantamount to a woman believing an abusive boyfriend who promises to stop beating her after they get married.
The price of intra-Jewish ethnic condescension in Israel (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) Mizrahim suffered widespread oppression, discrimination and neglect. Today this is no longer the case, but what remains – the condescension and derision – is just as bad. 
Yemen is just part of Iran's Mideast master plan (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel has spent five years warning that Iran seeks Shiite domination of the Muslim world, and the Gulf States know by now not to rely on the Obama administration.  

Interviews:  

'The Palestinians are the real transparent people'
Ohad Hemo, Palestinian affairs correspondent for Channel 2 News, says Israel has become a racist and ignorant country: 'We don’t know the other, and he doesn’t interest us.' (Interviewed by Ayelett Shani in Haaretz+)

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