APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday July 29, 2015
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Authorities in US allowed release of Pollard in November
• Battle to allow Pollard to emigrate to Israel upon his release is doomed to fail // Amir Oren
• Settlers clashed with police in Beit El ahead of demolition of buildings
• Netanyahu’s flak jacket // Yossi Verter
• State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan: I didn’t intend to order canceling the appointment of the doctor who testified against the state in the Zadorov case
• Kahlon and Leitzman agreed: Instead of raising stipends, the state will open savings accounts for every child
• The budget cut to higher education will harm the integration of ultra-Orthodox and Arabs
• 140 authors to (Culture Minister) Regev: Stop the initiative to cancel the Authors’ law
• Survival (for Meretz) now // Avi Shilon
• The morality market // Noam Yuran

• “I am thrilled. Thank you to all who fought for me for years” – It’s official: Pollard will be released November 20th
• Evacuation from the right – This time the left-wing can’t be blamed: the right-wing government headed by Netanyahu is the one that evacuated the Draynoff buildings in Beit El
• In a holy tone // Nahum Barnea
• Counting and building on Bennett // Amnon Abramovich
• Law and justice // Ben-Dror Yemini
• Savings for every child – instead of stipends from the state

• “Thank you to everyone, I am waiting for release” – After 30 years: Jonathan Pollard will go free
• Barricaded themselves in Beit El, returned to Sa-Nur
• We will return // Arieh Eldad
• Rule of law on condition // Yossi Melman
• The (easy) Android break-in

• (Spy Jonathan Pollard) going free
• Feeling of relief – but they should let him emigrate // Haim Shine
• Clash – and politics – A day of violent clashes between settlers and security forces in Beit El
• The coalition is not in danger // Mati Tuchfeld
• Prevent the destruction – carefully // Dan Margalit 
• On the way to the budget: child stipends will increase less; In addition, every child will receive a savings account from the state

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News Summary:
US authorities declare it’s official, spy Jonathan Pollard will be released, and settlers clash with Israeli security forces over the evacuation of settlement buildings to be demolished making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
 
After his release on November 20th, Pollard will have to remain in the US for five years before he can come to Israel. Maariv wrote that US President Barack Obama could allow him to leave the US sooner, but Haaretz+ wrote that White House officials said that Obama won’t do that. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the release was unconnected to the Iran nuclear deal.
 
Since Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon sent in security forces to Beit El settlement late Monday night, hundreds of young settlers have been clashing with Border Police, throwing stones at them, to protest and try to prevent the demolishing of the two Draynoff buildings, built on privately owned Palestinian land. (Today the demolishing begun after the High Court rejected the petition to stop an earlier order by the court to demolish the buildings by the end of the month.) Yaalon did not update Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked that he was sending in security forces, embarrassing Shaked, who had sent the head of Beit-El settlement an SMS text message Monday night saying: “Buji (Ya’alon) said they aren’t demolishing. Sleep peacefully,” the papers reported. She and the settlers were furious when the forces arrived. But Yaalon’s people said that he did not lie, no demolition took place before the High Court decision. [Note: The Knesset recently amended a law that now gives more severe punishments against stone-throwers. Will this be applied to these settlers? - OH]

Following the evacuation of rioting settlers, 10 of whom were arrested, a threat letter was sent addressing the High Court justices, Maariv reported. “You cannot evacuate outposts. We will plant bombs in judges’ cars,” the letter read. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanded that the homes not be demolished. The Palestinian owner of the land, Abdulrahman Qassem, 77, told Yedioth/Ynet’s Elior Levy that he was optimistic the Israeli High Court would return his land to him. His family made a living off of it in farming tomatoes and grapes until 30 years ago when the IDF appropriated it for “military needs.” Since then he has had no access. In 2010 two apartment buildings were built on it without permits and were ordered demolished. With the help of the Israeli NGO, Yesh Din, he filed for the orders to be upheld. “I am now an old man," said Qassem, "but I have a dream to return to my land and re-plant it, and, inshallah, I will do that.” Meanwhile, in Sa-Nur settlement in the north of the West Bank, security forces prepared last night to evacuate some 250 settlers, including families with children, who had barricaded themselves there inside the old fort. The settlement was evacuated in 2005 during the disengagement. (Maariv)
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

When Jews lived the high life in an Egyptian paradise
Disgruntled servants and their masters, romance and seduction, anti-Semitism and opulence – all infuse Yitzhak Gormezano Goren’s novel about Sephardi Jews in 1950s Alexandria. (Gerald Sorin, Haaretz)
On guard
A moment before he finishes his term and begins a new one, Yossi Grif, the Knesset Officer who is responsible for the security of the elected officials, reveals: We get about 30-40 threat letters a month, style: ‘I wish you would die’ or ‘Soon you’ll get a bullet between the eyes.’ (Arik Bender, Maariv’s Magazine supplement, cover)
An Israeli party crasher says farewell
Writing columns about ostensibly common Israeli events over the last three years was truly an education. Now I realize how little I knew about the separate, yet somehow connected universes right at my doorstep. A postscript. (Ron Ben-Tovim, Haaretz+) 

Commentary/Analysis:

Defense Minister Ya'alon is passionate about catering to the settlers (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz+) The case of the Dreinoff buildings in Beit El is yet another example of how Moshe Ya'alon goes out of his way to appease the settlers, only to once again be surprised when they make plans behind his back. 
Israeli ministers
 vs. the rule of law (Haaretz Editorial) When the prime minister, defense minister, education minister and justice minister are all working against the highest court in the land, it shows Israel is not ruled by law, certainly not when it comes to what happens beyond the Green Line.
Law on one condition: among the leaders of the extreme right - morality becomes flexible (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Leaders of Habayit Hayehudi party are furious at the defense minister because of his order to the IDF and Border Police to carry out the orders of the High Court. On the other hand, Ya'alon proves that he is a right-wing politician who is careful to obey the law and respect the courts. 
10 comments on Mike Huckabee and the purveyors of Jewish hate-porn (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Israel will overcome the Iranian threat - but the American Jewish community could succumb to right wing Inquisitors who aim to tear it apart. 
With friends like these: Israel supporters are actually ensuring that the agreement is approved in Congress (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Mike Huckabee's remarks against President Obama annoyed the Jews in the US, causing, among other things, that supporters of the agreement need only stand by and watch as opponents of the agreement eliminate the few odds of foiling it.
Having the cake and eating it too (Judith Bergman, Israel Hayom) The fact that Diaspora Jews want Israel to consider their concerns when making security decisions seems bizarre.
Throw a potted flower at Israeli soldiers? They might kill you (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) When the Palestinian father, frantic with worry, called for help and perhaps even cursed the people who had shot his son, one soldier had the coolheadedness to aim his rifle precisely. 
The responsible adult in the house of crazies (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The defense minister deserves all the credit for deploying soldiers to the Draynoff buildings in Beit El. “Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon today received the temporary appointment as the responsible adult in the house of crazies in which we live. Ya'alon said today, following riots at Beit-El and Sa-Nur, that anyone who thinks he will let them violate the law is mistaken, he will not allow lawlessness, he expects the government ministers to back the rule of law. Ya'alon is absolutely right. He knows and recognizes the constraints around us, the growing delegitimization campaign before us and the enormous importance of protecting the rule of law in general, and in particular the High Court. He is running against part of his electorate that has turned into rotten apples that threaten to roll the rest of us down a slope, and for that he deserves public credit and support.״ 
Why Meretz leader Zehava Galon is right (Avi Shilon, Haaretz+) To maintain its strength, Meretz should join another party. The question is, which one?
The Jewish 'middle way' and world events (Yoel Meltzer, Yedioth/Ynet) We are witnessing a simultaneous existence of two rapidly growing and mutually exclusive cultural trends; the lethal combination of these two extreme developments is potentially destructive for the entire world. 
Jonathan Pollard’s release feels like Israel’s consolation prize for Iran deal (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) The fact that the convicted spy's release is happening at such a low moment in U.S.-Israel ties casts a pall over the news in a way that never felt possible for Pollard’s dedicated supporters. 
When invoking WWII is appropriate (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's warnings about Iran ought to be heeded. 
There’s no schism on the right when it comes to legalizing settlements (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) A legislator in Naftali Bennett’s party floats the trial balloon, and the prime minister and defense minister follow along in the blatant land theft. 
Closer to consensus (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) The diplomatic outline unveiled on Monday with Labor leader Isaac Herzog looking on marked a significant shift in Labor's view of a future peace deal with the Palestinians.
Pollard committed a serious crime that received a disproportionate punishment (Seth Lipsky, Haaretz+) As Pollard's case is about to be handed over to historians, let them consider the points of the one appellate judge who ruled in the convicted spy's favor.
Teaming up with Arab states for Israel's security (Amnon Reshef, Yedioth/Ynet) Combining intelligence abilities and coordinating preventive activity is the only way to restraint Iran, both in terms of nuclear deal violations and its further contribution to instability in the region.
Could climate change be the Arab world's biggest threat? (Juraj Mesík, Haaretz+) A heat wave in Russia may have been the catalyst behind the Arab Spring. What happens if the world's major food exporters – the United States and Europe – are faced with a long-term drought?
World inspection didn't stop Syria's chemical weapons use - why would Iran be different? (Ely Karmon, Haaretz+) The CIA belatedly concluded that Assad has been cheating on his agreement to disband Syria's chemical weapons stash. There's no reason to believe the international community will do better in Iran.

American held hostage in Syria: I've seen Al-Qaida initiating next generation of killers
U.S. journalist Theo Padnos returns to Israel one year after his release by the Al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front into the hands of UN officials. He talks exclusively about Islam, Syria, torture, freedom – and pretty girls. (Interviewed by Danna Harman in Haaretz+)


 

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