APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday April 21, 2015 

Note: News Nosh will be off for Independence Day holiday Wednesday-Friday. Back on Sunday.

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Dispute within negotiations: Kahlon rejects (demand to) support bills against High Court
• Eve of Memorial Day [Main photo: female soldier kneeled next to grave with Israeli flag on it]
• Senior Police official: Netanyahu won’t be interrogated in the Prime Minister’s Residences affair
• Peres the lobbyist: Bank Hapoalim paying Shimon Peres $30,000 a month
• Arab stabbed for nationalist motive in Herzliya
• Police Commissioner: The incident with car hitting people in Jerusalem – an attack
• European Union considering expelling migrants that were smuggled by sea
• After years of rising: slight drop in number of divorces in Israel
• Head of Har Etzion Yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, died
• Died in vain // Iris Leal

• I have just one thing to request: remember me – Tonight at 20:00: Siren for silence in memory of 23,320 fallen
• Time stopped – Moving documentation: the orphaned rooms of the fallen, which remained as they were for dozens of years
• Criticism of Peres’ agreement to receive salary from Bank Hapoalim
• Health Ministry retracted: Exceptional cancer statistics in Haifa are wrong
• Rabbi Lichtenstein, among the great men of religious Zionism, is no longer

• With sadness and pride – Israel unites this evening with the 23,320 fallen and 2,538 victims of terror
• Turning grief into music // Lt. Col. Shay Avramson, Chief IDF Hazan
• Stone thrown on car of Michal Herzog (wife of Opposition leader)
• Beit-El: Run over and killed two days after the birth of his brother
• Health Ministry in first official response to storm over cancer in Haifa: There is no certain evidence of high morbidity among children

• Because of them – State of Israel unites with the memory of the 23,320 fallen
• Open and bleeding wound // Eli Ben-Shem
• Unique type of grief // Dan Margalit  
• Special project on bereavement and heroism
• For what is Peres receiving $30,000 a month from Bank Hapoalim?
• Health Ministry admits: We made a mistake about the cancer among children in Haifa
• Man threw rock at car of Michal Herzog; Yitzhak Herzog: “We are continuing with our routine”
• From Sunday: Limitations to use of Pango parking payment service

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News Summary:
Today’s Hebrew newspapers told the stories of the family members of fallen soldiers as well as giving profiles of the liberal modern religious Zionist rabbi, Aharon Lichtenstein, who passed away yesterday. In addition, the left-wing opposition leader’s car was stoned and an Arab-Israeli was attacked in Herzliya and right-wing organizations and their leaders called for exclusion of Arabs.
 
Only Israel Hayom did not make any mention today of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein’s liberal views. Lichtenstein was considered a political dove, who supported the Oslo Accords and was known for not hesitating to criticize the leaders of Israel's religious-Zionist community, for example, for the atmosphere in the community prior to Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, or for its behavior during the disengagement from Gaza and for the phenomenon of refusing orders to remove settler families. (Maariv) The French-born, American-raised, Lichtenstein moved to a West Bank settlement in 1971 where he headed the prestigious Har Etzion Yeshiva. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard and won the Israel Prize for Jewish religious literature. Haaretz+ ran an interesting Op-Ed by one of his students, Yehuda Kurtzer.
 
An assailant threw a rock at the car of the wife of Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, cracking the back window. Police said the motive was unclear. Also yesterday, a religious Jewish man yelled ‘Death to Arabs’ and stabbed an Arab-Israeli street cleaner employed by the Herzliya Municipality, lightly injuring him. The attacker confessed that the motive was nationalistic. Only Ynet sought the Arab victim for an interview. He said: "This is the first time something like this happened to me. The residents of Herzliya are good and honorable people. I never thought about hurting a Jew because I believe in coexistence between Jews and Arabs. This case does not mean that all Jews are racists. If there's one man in a million who is racist, there is nothing one can do about that." It will be interesting to see if the Jewish attacker will be tried for terrorism, as an Arab attacker automatically would. A resident of the victim’s village isn’t holding his breath: “I don't think the police will treat the perpetrator the same way it would treat an Arab who stabbed a Jew in a nationalistic attack.” Haaretz listed numerous other recent attacks by Jews against Arabs. (Haaretz+, Maariv, Israel Hayom and Ynet)
 
Meanwhile, members of Almagor, the right-wing organization for family members of victims of terror, is demanding that a Palestinian victim of Jewish terror not be recognized with the Jewish ones, Maariv reported. ‘Almagor’ has appealed to ministers, MKs and the Attorney General, demanding the removal from the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial wall of the name of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the 16-year-old Palestinian boy who was burned alive by Jews, Maariv reported. Bereaved families from Almagor said: "This is a real abomination to anyone whose child fell to the enemy and who now sees the memorial turned into a mockery." However, today Ynet reported that Mohammed Abu Khdeir has been recognized as a terror victim at Mount Herzl. His name was added to the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial at Mount Herzl. “This is a great initiative to honor my son, but I'm more interested in justice,' said his father.

And, Bentzi Gopstein, leader of a radical right-wing organization, LEHAVA, 
requested police permission to hold a demonstration outside the home of Arab-Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish to protest her being chosen to light a torch at the national Independence Day ceremony, Maariv reported.  "Aharish is not a Zionist, she is not loyal to the State of Israel," said Gopstein. The police imposed severe restrictions on the demonstration and it is doubtful it will be held.

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Who are the 2016 Republican presidential candidates’ Jewish donors?
The Republican Party says it's been making inroads with Jewish voters, who traditionally have favored Democrats by 2-to-1 margins. (Ron Kampeas, JTA, Haaretz) 
PHOTOS: Dress rehearsal for IAF flyover
Israeli Air Force stages practice session for annual aerial show as beachgoers enjoy first day of summer season. (Ynet)

Commentary/Analysis:

The 67 Israeli soldiers who fell during (last) Gaza war died in vain (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) This Memorial Day, families will mourn the 67 soldiers killed in Gaza over the summer. Forget the cliches about heroism. Israel was not dragged against its will into the conflict. 
Israel's most important strategic interest still lies with US (Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy, Yedioth/Ynet) Russia's ambition is to put down roots in Damascus alongside Iran and to restore its image as a key power in the Middle East; Israel must remember that as it prepares to separate itself from Washington.
Herzog must seize the day and form alliance with Kahlon (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Parties to the left of Likud won 63 seats in the election. It's now up to Herzog to offer Kahlon rotation of the premiership, and together form the next government.
Women chosen to light independence beacon fight for equality (Alexandra Lukash and Lucy Aharish, Ynet) News correspondant Lucy Aharish, the woman who granted females the right to join the air force Alice Miller and drug developer Marta Weinstock-Rosin chosen to light Independence Day beacons, say that women still face challenges when it comes to career and family life.
Israel is but an American protectorate, far from true independence (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) We are dependent on the United States both for our lives and on the economic level.
A question of perception (Adi Mintz, Israel Hayom) Obama shares the radical Left's views on Judea and Samaria.
**Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, idiosyncratic titan of Israeli Modern Orthodoxy (Yehuda Kurtzer, Haaretz+) Even when religious Zionism was deservedly vulnerable, Rav Aharon offered no apologetics. 
The enemies of commemoration (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Those who call for erasing the Israeli memory of the Holocaust and of Israel's fallen soldiers are usually those who preach in favor of raising awareness of the Nakba; they are not very good with facts nor with logic. 
For 'free-range' Israeli children, every day is Independence Day (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Even though they live in the 'dangerous' Middle East, Israeli parents are less concerned about 'stranger danger' than their American counterparts.
The price of life (Dr. Haim Misgav, Israel Hayom) No one who wishes to perpetuate Jewish nationhood in this land will be exempt from paying.
Will Obama be the next world leader to recognize the Armenian genocide? (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) With authorities as diverse as the Vatican and European Parliament recently acknowledging the atrocities of 1915, Turkey’s leaders have been in belligerent mood.

Golani commander: My soldiers' love for their country is amazing
The Golani Brigade lost 16 soldiers in Operation Protective Edge, but its fighting spirit remains strong. Commander Col. Rasan Alian is angry that the attack on the APC in Shujaiyya is being painted as a failure, saying, "This is the reality of war." (Interviewed by Yoav Limor in Israel Hayom)
 
Kahlon's campaign manager: "Bibi is the devil, without Tel Aviv, there is no Israel"
PR agent Udi Frieden, who was campaign manager for Kulanu chairman Moshe Kahlon, spoke sharply in interview with Globes: "The incredibly deep inferiority complex among some Mizrachi Jews causes hatred of the Ashkenazi white race."  Despite his profession, his villa and his style of good life, Frieden sees himself as a simple person who isn’t arrogant, who cares about what is happening in the country. It is not certain that what he interprets as a lack of arrogance, will be perceived in that way by the masses themselves.(Interviewed by Anat Bein-Lobovitz in Globes Hebrew, short excerpt in Maariv)
 
Frieden: "What happened to Bibi in the ‘99 elections was exactly what was supposed to him to him again, when the soul of the people was sick of him and we did 'Israel wants change,’ and (Ehud) Barak won. Bibi, in my view, is the devil, an evil man, dishonest, a troublemaker, schismatic and a crook. But because half of the Israeli people did not want to vote for Livni, and because the socioeconomic question was pressuring those people, (polls showed) that (the Zionist Camp and Likud) remained tied. When the Zionist Camp climbed with a gap of four seats, that was when the mobilization of the right-wing began. "
- During the election, the ethnic issue rose again.
"In the election campaign I found that Mizrachim do not believe in Mizrahim. They do not believe in themselves, and therefore they do not believe that someone like them can be a leader. One of the reasons that Kahlon did not receive 20 seats, is that many people said, ‘He is like me. How could he be prime minister? I want a suit, a cigar, Bibi, English. I do not believe Kahlon can lie to Obama, and I want someone who can lie to Obama.’ They want the Bibi presenter. An inferiority complex is so deeply rooted in some of them brings hatred of the Ashkenazi white race much more than the white Ashkenazi looing at them condescendingly. "
- Is there room for soul-searching by the Left-wing?
"The left-wing is wrong to beat itself, but the one that is blocking dialogue is the other side. I demand that the Leftist stop beating himself. You didn’t sin and you didn’t commit a crime. This is the battered woman who thinks she did something wrong and that’s why she is being beaten. Does anyone in Hebron take me into account? If he comes (to eat at the popular Tel-Aviv restaurant) Brasserie, I’ll tell him, ‘Welcome.’ But if I go to Hebron he’ll slash my tires (because I’m left-wing). Not only does he not take me into account, he hates me, he is not willing to understand me, to understand that the State of Tel Aviv is saving the country. He thinks the State of Tel Aviv is a bubble, and I say that without Tel Aviv, there is no Israel. "
- Why?
"What is Israel’s ticket (i.e. how does Israel sell itself)? A Western country, democratic, liberal, open, high-tech. And who is all this? Tel-Aviv. Without Tel-Aviv there is fucking chaos here between the extremists, the Messianic Jews, the amulets… and between the Arabs. It’s not for nothing that they hate each other, because those who are closest to your mentality are the ones you hate. When the extremist right-wing wins, in the worst case, the oppressed left-winger takes the blows and moves to Berlin. When the left-wing wins, the right shoots [reference to assassination of Yitzhak Rabin – OH] and hits. The Leftist respects democracy and says, ‘This does not suit me, I'm leaving the country.' The right-winger says, ‘This doesn’t suit me, I am not complying with the law.' The one that preserves democracy is Tel-Aviv. "
- When you leave Tel Aviv, what do you see?
"I do not go out of Tel Aviv, and I won’t go out because the darkness of God surrounds it. Jerusalem…is an ugly and violent city. (It is) fanatical, dark, uncultured and undemocratic. A hotel that does not serve espresso on Saturday is unworthy. It’s the height of pretentiousness to say it, but the espresso reflects that it is prohibited to heat things because of kosher laws, in 2015, when people come here from around the world.
"The violence and rioting of the ugly Israeli happens relatively less in Tel-Aviv, and you see it more as you move to the periphery (of the country). I do not disparage the periphery, because people no less (worthy) than I am live there. But I do not want to live in a place like that. The periphery says, “I'd rather vote for people who were nine years in power and save my perishable house than fight for improvement.’ I understand, but I will not live that way... Tel Aviv has become more Western-liberal, and the other side went towards fanaticism and hatred of Tel-Aviv. Everything that it isn’t. This is two-states for two people: Tel-Aviv and what is not Tel-Aviv."
 

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