APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday July 28, 2015
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

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News Summary:
The enormous traffic jam expected during work on Tel-Aviv’s light-rail, the enormous acquisition made by Teva Pharmaceuticals and the marijuana soon to be sold at pharmacies were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, the papers expressed surprise that US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit the region to discuss the Iran deal, but skip Israel, reactions to the clashes Sunday on the Temple Mount and the killing by Israeli security forces of another Palestinian – for which the family gave a different reason for death than the Border Police. The Secretary-General of the Labor party presented his plan for an end to the conflict. Meanwhile, settlers prepared to fight the destruction of two apartment buildings built on privately-owned Palestinian land and the IDF continued investigations of possible crimes during Operation Protective Edge. 
 
Kerry won’t be visiting here and he says he doesn’t need to, but Maariv and Yedioth asked if this were the newest record in the crisis in US-Israel relations.
 
Fifteen Arab League ministers will hold a meeting next month to discuss "Israeli escalations at Al-Aqsa mosque, continuing settlements, extra-judicial arrests and assassinations and forced displacements" of Palestinians, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. The meeting comes at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose spokesman warned Monday that there would be repercussions to "continuous raids on al-Aqsa Mosque, daily killings of Palestinian civilians and continued settlement construction." (JPost and Maariv) The statements were made following clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian youth at the Temple Mount on Sunday and the killing of the third Palestinian in a week by Israeli security forces. The severity of the riots was believed to be, at least in part, due to a video made by Avia Morris, a religious right-wing young woman, who shouted that ‘Mohammed is a pig' into the camera. The video went viral on Arab social media. She was arrested and released, after which the JPost interviewed her and a comedy radio interviewing duo, ‘Shai and Dror’ phoned her. Avia Morris explained to them the difference between the God of the Jews and of the Arabs, and how she nearly sparked chaos on the Temple Mount. (Maariv) Meanwhile, a youth copied her and filmed himself shouting "Mohammed is a pig" several times in Jerusalem's Old. He was given a restraining order keeping him out of Jerusalem. Without naming Israel, the UN expressed concern over "religious provocations" in and around holy sites in the Old City of East Jerusalem, but the tension continued as more right-wing Israelis were allowed to tour the Temple Mount on Monday under Israeli police escort. The Arab-Jewish Joint List faction said it planned to visit the Temple Mount in order to prevent the status quo from being changed. Joint List MK Basel Ghattas said that the visit of Minister Uri Ariel to the Temple Mount and the entry of soldiers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque crossed the red line. "We will not sit quietly and we will give our full backing to the (Muslim) worshipers.” (Maariv)

Meanwhile, following the initial reports by the Israeli media, which reported as fact the Border Police’s version of events that lead to the death of Mohammed Abu Latifa, without attributing it, the papers now reported the father’s version: that Abu Latifa did not die from falling from a rooftop, but that he died because Border Police let him bleed to death on a rooftop after shooting him in the leg. Ata Abu Latifa said his son was “killed in cold blood.” Maan has more details here. Other witnesses told Maan that Israeli forces took Abu Latif into custody despite his critical injuries and shortly after he died delivered his body to a Palestinian ambulance, which took him to the Palestine Medical Complex. As happens so often here, more Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces after the funeral.
 
The clashes at Al-Aqsa and the killing of the third Palestinian in a week took place after the Thursday meeting between between Interior Minister Silvan Shalom and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, which was meant for the two to get acquainted. Haaretz+ reported that a ‘private individual’ “who holds no official position in the Israeli government acted as a middleman” in preparing the meeting. An Israeli official told Israel Hayom that the meeting was a "very important trust-building step."

But Zionist Camp MK Hilik Bar believes he already has the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Secretary-General of the Labor party presented his peace plan to Knesset, which keeps much of E. Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty unless Israel agrees to share sovereignty of the 'holy basin' with the Palestinians. The settlement blocks would also be under Israeli sovereignty with land swaps. The plan has yet to be translated to English, but JPost has more details. Bar hopes the plan will be adopted by the Zionist Camp. The only coalition MK to attend the launch was the controversial Oren Hazan, who said he plans to meet with President Abbas, Maariv reported. "I will try to convince Abu Mazen to give up on the two-state solution." Hazan plans to suggest a plan based on Palestinian autonomy in the Territories and to build an "economic peace."
 
Meanwhile, hundreds of settlers have built a tent city in Beit El, stepping up the protest against yesterday’s High Court order to freeze the continued construction of two apartment buildings that the High Court had earlier ordered be demolished by the end of July. Last week, the IDF’s Civil Administration gave the so-called Draynoff buildings authorization to continue to build, despite the High Court demolition order. But Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance to Palestinians, petitioned the court to stop the construction. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) said, "The state's position - there is no point in destroying the Draynoff houses.” Shaked met with residents of Beit El in a tour of the settlement and told them that the government is working to expand Jewish settlement throughout the country: "We established the regulatory committee, which will start operating next week, so that no Jew will have to leave his home." (Maariv)

The IDF Military Police are summoning more soldiers and top brass for questioning in two incidents that took place in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. After the interrogation of Lieutenant Colonel Neria Yeshurun, Military Police decided to expand the investigation and interrogate his soldiers in the case of the ‘honor barrage’ on the Gaza medical clinic. One of the interrogated said through his lawyer: " The clinic was not being used as a clinic, but as a position that controlled the area and there was a military need to attack in light of the fact that it was used for fighting and its location gave the enemy a military advantage.” (Maariv) In the wake of a UN complaint, the IDF has also interrogated two colonels over suspicion that the aerial attack they approved on the UNRWA school, which killed 20 Palestinians taking refuge there, violated international law and IDF regulations. (Also in Maariv) A senior legal official told Maariv: “The investigation is necessary primarily to curb future law suits before an international court. This is a very serious inquiry and Military Police Investigation Unit and the military prosecutor must be given all the time in the world to investigate deeply.”
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

17 minutes in Beit Hanoun: Battalion 931's bloody battle in Gaza
One year ago during Protective Edge, a force from the Nahal Brigade came under heavy Hamas fire; it was outnumbered and lost two fighters, with many others wounded, but the troops came out on top, losing two men and killing 15, according to the IDF commander. The face-to-face combat was against a Hamas force, which was increasing its firepower in an attempt to kidnap a soldier. (Assaf Kamar, Ynet)
His version: Egyptian professor exposes what they think of us there
An alliance between Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood, Israeli ties with ISIS - an an interview an Egyptian intellectual gave to media in his country reveals how the establishment shapes public opinion against Israel. (Jacky Khougi, Maariv)
A rabbi's mission: Saving Damascus' Jewish culture
Rabbi Moshe Chadid is doing the work of an academic department with his two hands: Carefully preserving the Damascus Jewry' heritage and preventing a glorious culture from sinking into oblivion, while attracting a young generation eager to learn about its forefathers. (Eliezer Hayun, Ynet) 
Why Spielberg is all ears for this Israeli podcast
The makers of hit podcast ‘Israel Story’ reveal the secrets of their success. (Itay Stern, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Breaking the Silence is a legitimate group that should be encouraged, not silenced (Haaretz Editorial) The opposition's silence at the increasing attacks on the group reflect the apologetic and fearful tone typical of Israel's new center-left. 
Israel's Arabs don't have to be Zionists to be loyal (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) State of Israel's anthem is a reflection of Jewish yearning for a national home; Arab citizens cannot and should not be part of that yearning, but it should not stop them from being loyal citizens.
Real life threatens to disrupt IDF’s war games (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The army may be in the middle of a major exercise, but events in the West Bank and East Jerusalem could soon intrude. 
The operation has paid off (Amos Gilboa, Maariv) On the anniversary of Operation Protective Edge, there were those that criticized the government for a lax hand and demanded to destroy Hamas. But since then only 12 rockets were fired, and they weren’t by Hamas. 
Why I'm not supporting the Maccabi Games (Noga Stiassny, Haaretz+) An Olympics for Jews only is a problematic enterprise that contains an element of arrogance.
Delusional extremists are trying to start a fire powder keg of the Temple Mount (Yossi Melman, Maariv) That's all we need now - that Israel, plunged in an apparently insoluble conflict with the Palestinian people, finds itself into a religious war with the Muslim world. 
Why I have no interest in Tisha B’Av (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) Jerusalem was not destroyed because of baseless hatred, but rather because of the zeal of Jewish fundamentalists.
National interest vs. Jewish honor (Omer Dustri, Israel Hayom) Israel's policy of "containment" toward Temple Mount rioters hurts everyone and must not continue.
Putin is no Siberian Rambo; he’s helpless (Nitzan Horowitz, Haaretz+) And who’s drooling over his economic folly? Who admires Putinism? A strange combination of extreme-right and racist parties in Europe and Israel who yearn for a strongman. 
On brands and empires: It’s not so certain that Israel’s image can be changed (Amir Gutfreund, Maariv) Or: what can you do when faced with the growing erosion of Israel's standing in the international arena. 
On this Tisha B'Av, it's time to set the record straight about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) It is seemingly incomprehensible: two separate resistance organizations existed in the Warsaw Ghetto. One combining all the socialist movements there, Zionist and anti-Zionist; the other led by members of Betar, the Revisionist youth organization. 
Rewriting Jewish history (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) When Israel retook the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967, an immense responsibility was placed on our shoulders.
No, Jesus was not a Jewish settler. He was a rabbi for human rights (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) If Jesus were alive today, living in the Holy Land, where would you go about looking for him? Michael Oren quoted as saying Jesus today would be considered a West Bank settler. 
Has Israel stopped caring about its soldiers? (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) IDF career officers are bitter about the Locker committee's proposal for cutting their pensions, but the panel is only asking the army to do its part.
 

Regards from Gaza: the human stories behind the destruction in Gaza
A year after Operation Protective Edge, what is really happening in Gaza? We asked five Gazan residents to talk about their daily life in the year since the war. Their monologues reveal the reality we did not know in Israel. (Jacky Khougi, Maariv)
Hosni Najjar, 61, Jabalia:
"For years I worked in your country. In the '70s I ran the café at the Kolbo Shalom tower, downstairs next to the First International Bank. From '74 to '93, until things got crazy and the situation turned around. I do not know how 19 years passed, it's like a dream. I earned good money and I enjoyed my work. They called me Ofer [Note: Until not so long ago, Jewish employers often gave Arab employees Hebrew names, ostensibly to make Jewish customers feel more comfortable. – OH]...I had friends, especially the people at 'Sony', which had a branch next to the cafe. I knew everyone. Dror Herzikovich, his brother Loney, their mother and father, they would come and drink coffee here every morning, and of course their employees. A lot of bank employees used to come, too. The owner, Eliyahu Katan, and I, we were like brothers. But then people from Gaza began to make trouble in your country and the government restricted our entry. Police came to us at the café and asked us to go and not come back. (Working in Israel) was good not only for me, but for all the people who worked in Israel. 120,000 from the Gaza Strip worked in Israel. I waste money and I spent it all. But a lot of people built homes from the money they earned in Israel. We have two governments today, which don’t take enough care of us. I do not know how to ask this of you all, but if you would open the border (between Gaza and Israel), it would be a big help. People here are in a bad situation. Everyone wants to earn a living. There is no work in Gaza, and if there is, then you get 30-40 shekels a day ($9-11). There are those who are dying to work even for those wages, but they cannot find any. There are thousands who finished their university studies and are sitting at home or just walking in the streets. It's a whole generation that does not know Israel and doesn’t speak Hebrew. It knows only war. If there were a way to open (the crossings), they would work in Israel. But for eight years, there's been a total closure. I have five sons and seven daughters. A football team...the majority are married. There are three still at home. I tell them about that period. I brought them milk and honey, I bought them clothes from Tel Aviv. It was a good period and we a hope it will return. I ask your government to allow workers to enter gradually, say, beginning with 20,000. There are older people who are work hard. Aged 30 and over, as long as they start. Everyone will want to work. It's like an engine for the Gaza Strip. If workers work at your businesses, money will come in and then the owner of the mini-market, the driver, the garage, everyone will make a living. Unemployment here is 60% or more. This is the highest rate in the world. If the border were open, people would have run away long ago, to Europe, Canada. This is not life (here).” 

 

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