News Nosh 09.04.15

APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday September 4, 2015 
 
Quote of the day:
"From ongoing coverage of your candidacy as prime minister over the years, we have no doubt you are not interested in a public broadcaster that is submissive, and that you believe, as we do, that freedom of the press is one of the bedrocks of an open and democratic society."
--From a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu signed by 15 Israeli diplomatic affairs correspondents, including from the staunchly pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom daily, after a provision was passed in Knesset late at night when few people were there that prohibited voicing personal views on public broadcast media. 

You Must Be Kidding: 
A Palestinian man, who the IDF arrested and destroyed his house this week, was released on Thursday after a military judge said there was “nothing” in the file against him.
--Family members of Majdi al-Hija from Jenin refugee camp told Haaretz on Thursday that, when the soldiers came to their house, they told the Shin Bet officer with them that there was nobody in it, but he didn’t believe them. They said they asked him to come inside to check for himself but he refused. Then the troops fired missiles at the house, tore it down with a bulldozer and arrested al-Hija, whose wife and five children are now staying at their grandparents' home. Times of Israel wrote that al-Hija was a 'Hamas affiliate' and the son of a Hamas member in Israeli prison.


Front Page:
Haaretz
  • Middle East asks for asylum in Europe
  • Erdogan debates whether to make a deadline for finding a successor
  • Search for candidates for Police Commissioner continue
  • General rehearsal ahead of appointment of Mossad chief // Amir Oren
  • Abruptly, in the dead of night, the Knesset approved a provision that prohibits expressing personal opinions in public broadcasting media
  • Haaretz+ expose reveals: This is how the IDF and the government transfer billions in municipality taxes (arnona) to well-off communities (e.g., defining Ramat Hasharon as an immigrants’ city)
  • In contradiction to the position of Bank of Israel, Netanyahu and Kahlon announced the decrease to VAT and companies tax
  • Erasing a criminal stain – What is the chance that an accused person will receive an exemption from conviction? Haaretz probe reveals gaps in similar cases
  • The past locked in boxes – At the State Archives, they admit: Variety of historic items wait in warehouses and no one knows what’s in them
  • Journey between firing ranges with Israel’s trigger-happy
  • The Iranian-Israeli comedy by director Dror Shaul
  • Why people go nuts when they get on a plane
  • The poetry of Yehezkel Kadmi, a Jerusalem homeless man and Mizrachi martyr
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • The discounts are on the way – VAT to be lowered
  • Tailwind for growth // Sever Plocker
  • The train of desperation // Shimon Shiffer with the refugees in Budapest
  • Woman, Mossad – One of the most daring agents reveals her thrilling life story
  • When Yonit met Natalie – (TV anchorwoman) Yonit Levy in a personal talk with Natalie Portman
Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)
  • “No to a camp!” – The thousands of Syrians who crowded at the Budapest train station clashed with the police when they understood the authorities were sending them to refugee camps. Hungarian PM warned: “Danger to Christian Europe”
  • Stop, Europe ahead // Nadav Eyal in Budapest writes that “The choices are difficult and so are the photos. This is a choice between responding to universal suffering or to political interests and personal desires which all of us understand: Not to let borders be broken through. Almost always, the interests and desires defeat solidarity
  • Nobel Energy: We will protect our assets
  • VAT lowered to 17%
  • Elections economics // Yehuda Sharoni
  • Help! ISIS – Lior Dayan with the Yazidis in northern Iraq – Special report on the minority that is fighting for existence and screaming for help
  • The prophet: Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall is the defensive shield of Israel // Dr. Uri Milstein
Israel Hayom
  • VAT drops to 17% - Prime Minister and Finance minister declared steps to encourage growth in economy
  • In Europe they are considering: Fence to stop the refugees – “like in Israel”
  • Almost a lynch in Hebron
  • Khamenei threatens to end it: “If the sanctions are not dropped, and only suspended – there is no agreement”
  • Brave woman- Inbar Azrak, who was injured by a firebomb, dreams of going home 
  • Embarrassing ignorance: The full results of the general knowledge test for teachers that shocked the country. What is the Green Line? Who was the first president? Average score: 33.
  • No regrets – (Far-right-wing singer) Amir Benayoun summarizes the stormiest year of his life

 
News Summary:
The crisis of the Syrian refugees (which after the photo of the dead little boy on the beach even Israel Hayom no longer refers to them as ‘migrants’), Europe considering using ‘Israeli means’ to stop the influx, and calls by Arab MK Esawi Freij and Jewish MK Elazar Stern to open Israel’s gates to them (Maariv), the 1% decrease to VAT,
the firebombing of a car of ultra-Orthodox Americans, who got lost in Hebron and were saved by a Palestinian man, and the public broadcasting gag law that was passed in the Knesset “in the dark of night” (and which Maariv reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled this morning) were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, Iran’s Supreme Leader said that if sanctions against Iran are only suspended, his country would also only suspend its nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made his first public statements since his defeat in his battle against US President Barack Obama and the Iran nuclear deal, saying that Americans side with Israel on Iran. But, three members of Congress wrote in Haaretz+ why the nuclear deal with Iran is good for America – and Israel.
 
 
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.