APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday November 243, 2015
Quote of the day:
"But even in the defense establishment, there has been a feeling in the past few months that we are a
bit too late. Because one also has to know when to give..."
--In a revealing analysis of the current situation, Yedioth's chief military analyst writes that Israel's planned gestures to the Palestinian Authority this week should have been made before a crisis broke out and, now, Israel must either make a real peace move or re-occupy the West Bank, because the violence will only get worse.
--In a revealing analysis of the current situation, Yedioth's chief military analyst writes that Israel's planned gestures to the Palestinian Authority this week should have been made before a crisis broke out and, now, Israel must either make a real peace move or re-occupy the West Bank, because the violence will only get worse.
Breaking News:
Two Palestinian girls allegedly make stabbing attack with scissors in Jerusalem
An elderly Palestinian man from Bethlehem was hospitalized with a light stabbing wound in his back and a security guard was hurt in the hand, possibly by police fire. The attack took place at the entrance to a Health Ministry building on Jaffa Street. A policeman shot the girls, cousins aged 14 and 16 from Qalandiya refugee camp in E. Jerusalem, killing one and severely injuring the other, who is hospitalized. (Haaretz, Ynet, Ynet Hebrew and Maan)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Young woman murdered in stabbing attack in Gush Etzion
- Emergency alert level in Brussels extended due to “clear and immediate threat”
- Netanyahu leaning towards not approving Golan Telecom sale to Cellcom: “Golan pulled one over on the public”
- Exceptional pressure on get (divorce) refuser: Court to summon his colleagues in order to shame him
- National insurance can’t revoke allowances due to aid to relatives
- The only rehab halfway house for former Arab prisoners in the country due to close because state stopped funding it
- In contradiction to halacha (Jewish law) // Haaretz Editorial
- Kahlon and the children // Neri Livneh
- The terror businesses
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Gush Etzion protest: “We have no security”
- Hadar (Bucharis’) last smile [Photo] – She was killed yesterday by a stabbing in Gush Etzion, two weeks after returning from vacation
- KaDeWe capitulated – The Berlin department store got scared from the furious responses to the boycott on settlement products
- The modesty dance – Radicalization in the Bnei Akiva movement (Religious scouts): Boys danced with lights on, girls performed in darkness for modesty. Mother of a scout: Once, everyone in this movement swam together, today they educate them to exclude women
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Returned from India and was murdered at Gush Etzion junction
- Wave of terror – The bloody junction [in West Bank]: Four killed there in less than 72 hours
- “I saw the terrorist – and I ran her over” – Former regional council head, Gershon Meskia, thwarted an attack (near Huwwara checkpoint)
- Belgium on terror alert
- Netanyahu calms Bennett: There won’t be any unity government at the expense of Habayit Hayehudi
- He’s straightening out with the right-wing // Ben Caspit
- The silence is deafening, the message is clear // Kalman Libskind on religious Zionism and the controversial rabbis (convicted of sex crimes)
Israel Hayom
- Hadar (Bucharis) returned from India – and was murdered in an attack; Today: Palestinians won’t be allowed to enter Gush Etzion
- Highest alert in Brussels
- “Netanyahu opposes sale of Golan Telecom to Cellcom”
- Chooses music: Tal Ramon, son of (pilot and astronaut killed on Columbia shuttle) releases his first single
- Enormous Berlin department store apologized; settler products returned to shelves
- November draft started: 71.9% interested in combat positions
- Government appraiser: Apartment prices continue to climb
News Summary:
An Israeli woman dies from a stabbing attack while two other alleged Palestinian attacks in the West Bank are thwarted, the Berlin department store ‘capitulates’ and ends its boycott of settlement products and Brussels continues to be under a high alert ‘siege’ for fear of attacks making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Hadar Buchris, 21, succumbed to the stab wounds she sustained at Gush Etzion junction from a 34-year-old Palestinian, who was shot dead yesterday. And near Huwwara checkpoint at the southern entrance to Nabus/Shchem, a settler leader, Gershon Mesika, thwarted an alleged stabbing attack by a Palestinian teenage girl when he hit her with his car, after which a soldier shot her dead. [Note, there was no discussion in the Hebrew media today about what appears to be an extra-judicial murder, based on the interview that Mesika gave. – OH] And a Palestinian taxi driver was shot dead near Kfar Adumim when he allegedly tried to stab an Israeli man whose car he rammed into.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told 103FM radio yesterday, “Our resilience as a society is being tested, Referring to attacks in Israel and Europe, Yaalon said, "We are all in the same boat." (Maariv)
Settlers from Gush Etzion and Hebron made a protest in Jerusalem Sunday demanding Palestinians be barred from using the same roads as Israelis in the West Bank. The protesters also called for increased violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Maan reported. The IDF indeed impose heavy restrictions on movement around Hebron, blocking off roads in and out of Palestinian villages with earth mounds or iron gates, Maan reported. The IDF also now check every Palestinian vehicle on the main West Bank roads, Haaretz+ reported. And it imposed an 8:15PM curfew on the town of Huwwara. Meanwhile, settlers attacked Palestinian homes and residents in three neighborhoods of Hebron, where Palestinian movement is severely restricted. [No mention in Hebrew papers. - OH] Last month, Israeli rights group B'Tselem released video footage that captured five straight days of settler attacks in the same area, while Israeli forces either "looked on" or actively "joined the settlers." [Note that the new law regarding automatic minimum three years imprisonment for stone-throwing is not being enforced on these settlers. – OH] Now, a video is making the rounds of Palestinian social media encouraging 'Death to the settler.'
Washington condemned the murder of the American yeshiva student in the stabbing attack in Gush Etzion last Thursday. “We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to restore trust and confidence, promote calm, and return to a path of peace,” the State Department said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive tomorrow in the country and meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the region to try to stop the ongoing violence and prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli newspapers seemed as if they were sneering at KaDeWe, the Berlin mega-department store, which ‘’capitulated” (Maariv) and returned the settlement made wines to its shelves, after removing them over the weekend. It even “was forced” (Maariv) to apologize. Netanyahu had called on Germany to intervene in what he described as 'boycott.'
An Israeli woman dies from a stabbing attack while two other alleged Palestinian attacks in the West Bank are thwarted, the Berlin department store ‘capitulates’ and ends its boycott of settlement products and Brussels continues to be under a high alert ‘siege’ for fear of attacks making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Hadar Buchris, 21, succumbed to the stab wounds she sustained at Gush Etzion junction from a 34-year-old Palestinian, who was shot dead yesterday. And near Huwwara checkpoint at the southern entrance to Nabus/Shchem, a settler leader, Gershon Mesika, thwarted an alleged stabbing attack by a Palestinian teenage girl when he hit her with his car, after which a soldier shot her dead. [Note, there was no discussion in the Hebrew media today about what appears to be an extra-judicial murder, based on the interview that Mesika gave. – OH] And a Palestinian taxi driver was shot dead near Kfar Adumim when he allegedly tried to stab an Israeli man whose car he rammed into.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told 103FM radio yesterday, “Our resilience as a society is being tested, Referring to attacks in Israel and Europe, Yaalon said, "We are all in the same boat." (Maariv)
Settlers from Gush Etzion and Hebron made a protest in Jerusalem Sunday demanding Palestinians be barred from using the same roads as Israelis in the West Bank. The protesters also called for increased violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Maan reported. The IDF indeed impose heavy restrictions on movement around Hebron, blocking off roads in and out of Palestinian villages with earth mounds or iron gates, Maan reported. The IDF also now check every Palestinian vehicle on the main West Bank roads, Haaretz+ reported. And it imposed an 8:15PM curfew on the town of Huwwara. Meanwhile, settlers attacked Palestinian homes and residents in three neighborhoods of Hebron, where Palestinian movement is severely restricted. [No mention in Hebrew papers. - OH] Last month, Israeli rights group B'Tselem released video footage that captured five straight days of settler attacks in the same area, while Israeli forces either "looked on" or actively "joined the settlers." [Note that the new law regarding automatic minimum three years imprisonment for stone-throwing is not being enforced on these settlers. – OH] Now, a video is making the rounds of Palestinian social media encouraging 'Death to the settler.'
Washington condemned the murder of the American yeshiva student in the stabbing attack in Gush Etzion last Thursday. “We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to restore trust and confidence, promote calm, and return to a path of peace,” the State Department said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive tomorrow in the country and meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the region to try to stop the ongoing violence and prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli newspapers seemed as if they were sneering at KaDeWe, the Berlin mega-department store, which ‘’capitulated” (Maariv) and returned the settlement made wines to its shelves, after removing them over the weekend. It even “was forced” (Maariv) to apologize. Netanyahu had called on Germany to intervene in what he described as 'boycott.'
Quick Hits:
- Study: demolition of houses of terrorists is not a deterrent, it encourages terrorism - Israel Institute for Democracy opposes the punishment: We have not been able to find any data on which it is based the position that the demolition of houses acts as deterrence. But we did track data indicating the lack of deterrence and the opposite effect – it encourages terrorism. (Maariv)
- Israeli ministers pass buck on bill to restrict Supreme Court's power - In an unusual move, they left the decision up to coalition leaders; Knesset sources say the chances of passing the bill are slim. (Haaretz+)
- Israeli forces shoot, injure 2 Palestinians near Nablus - Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinian youth overnight Saturday on the main road near the northern occupied West Bank village of Aqraba, south of Nablus. An Israeli army spokesperson said two Palestinians were "hurling rocks at Israeli vehicles" in the area, and that "Israeli forces responded to the threat, firing at the lower extremities." (Maan)
- Illegal workers arrested on disguised minibus; were on route to Tel Aviv - A minibus on its way to Tel Aviv with 26 illegal [i.e. Palestinian - OH] workers riding inside was stopped in Mevaseret Zion, after its driver did not stop when signaled by police. (Ynet)
- Indictment: 16 year-old belonged to Hamas military wing - The Southern District Prosecutor's Office has presented the youth district court in Be'er Sheva with an indictment against a 16-year-old boy who is under suspicion of belonging to Hamas' military wing. (Ynet)
- Bill: prohibit the publication of photographs of terrorists who were eliminated [killed] and of those wounded in attacks - MK Shuli Muallem seeks to ban the distribution of documentation from the scenes of terror, even when the photo has been blurred. "The ability of people to protect their children from exposure to this material is impossible," she explains. (Maariv)
- Israeli index: Most liked Israelis: members of the social protest. Most disliked: politicians and Arabs - Survey shows increased favor towards yeshiva students, and right-wing Israelis and Israelis living abroad. On the other hand, the Supreme Court and the State Comptroller are experiencing a significant decline. In addition, dissatisfaction with the functioning of the leaders and elected officials. (Maariv)
- Poll: public prefers (former IDF chief) Benny Gantz as Prime Minister over Benjamin Netanyahu - Former chief of staff is the only candidate who prevails over the current prime minister. On the other hand, opposition leader Isaac Herzog, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin fail to pass Netanyahu. (Maariv)
- Netanyahu Assures Bennett: Coalition Will Not Be Expanded at Habayit Hayehudi's Expense - Prime minister's stance implies he has abandoned the idea of forming a national unity government with the Zionist Union. (Haaretz+)
- Zionist Union legislator wants party to join Netanyahu’s government - MK Eitan Broshi calls on Isaac Herzog’s outfit to help form a broad coalition, but Herzog rejects it. (Haaretz+)
- Israel receives 'urgent' security technology orders after Paris attacks - Industry sources compare the increase in demand to the surge in sales in the United States 14 years ago after 9/11. (Haaretz+)
- Only halfway house for released Arab prisoners to close over budget cuts - The NGO, Mercy House, has worked for three decades runs a halfway house that has taken in hundreds of released prisoners over the years, both Jews and Arabs. (Haaretz+)
- Jerusalem cinema complex bows to pressure, agrees to stay closed on Shabbat - Cinema City accepts terms set by mayor and ultra-Orthodox factions that seek to maintain the religious status quo in the city. (Haaretz+)
- Study: Women politicians get more Facebook abuse than men - According to the Berl Katznelson Foundation report, Likud Minister of Culture Miri Regev and Meretz leader MK Zahava Galon top the list of victims of cyber-bullying. (Haaretz+)
- Spacecom shares plunge after contact lost with its Amos 5 satellite - Company says it did not know what caused the problem and had been unable to reestablish contact with the satellite. (Haaretz+)
- Pollard supporters went the wrong way about seeking his release, ex-Prisoner of Zion says - Rabbi Yosef Mendelevitch says Pollard’s people had a chance to win over U.S. public opinion and wasted efforts lobbying Israel. (Haaretz+)
- Factions reject Hamas plans to allocate land to unpaid civil servants - Palestinian factions in Gaza on Sunday slammed a decision announced by Hamas the day before to distribute public land among civil servants hired after 2007, whose salaries the Palestinian Authority has refused to pay. (Maan)
- UK Labour Party boycotts company with Israel ties - UK's second-largest party voted to boycott a major company with commercial ties to Israel while party head Jeremy Corbyn calls for negotiations with ISIS. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- German Avant-garde Art, Targeted by Hitler, Comes to Jerusalem - A new show at the Israel Museum of works from Berlin's national gallery showcases several artists who were expunged from public memory, mainly due to Nazi destruction of 'degenerate' modern art. (Haaretz+)
- Monitor: Russian strikes killed more civilians than fighters - Syrian Observer group publishes report detailing Russian airstrikes in Syria, which they say have killed 403 civilians and 381 fighters in the last two months, while the Russian Defense Ministry claims to have killed 600 fighters in a single strike on Friday. (Ynet)
- WATCH: Sanders rips Qatar for 'spending $200 billion on a soccer event, yet very little to fight ISIS'' - Wealthy and powerful Muslim nations in the region can no longer sit on the sidelines and expect the United States, our young men and women, our tax dollars, to do their work for them.' (Haaretz)
- In new videos, IS threatens to topple Eiffel Tower, burn Obama - U.N. Security Council adopts resolution calling on all countries to coordinate efforts to prevent further terrorist attacks by Islamic State and similar groups. Brussels put on maximum security alert on Saturday due to imminent threat. (Israel Hayom)
- Iran Sentences American Journalist to Prison for 'Espionage' - Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian likely to appeal undisclosed sentence. (Agencies, Haaretz)
Features:
Can There Be Equality for Palestinian-Israelis in the Jewish State?
Meet Yousef Jabareen, the Joint List MK who accepts the two-state solution, pushes for Arab-Jewish equality – and thinks Israelis should accept the Palestinian right of return. (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+)
Otherwise Occupied Fadi and Kathy, Who Invented You?
Is there anything to the anonymous emails about an investigation of a respected Palestinian human rights organization that calls for banning settlement products and takes action against Israeli impunity? Checks by Haaretz have determined that, in contrast to Fadi and Kathy’s claims, Ernst & Young is not investigating and has not investigated Al-Haq and that it found no evidence of fraud in its most recent annual audit of Al-Haq’s financial reports. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Meet Yousef Jabareen, the Joint List MK who accepts the two-state solution, pushes for Arab-Jewish equality – and thinks Israelis should accept the Palestinian right of return. (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+)
Otherwise Occupied Fadi and Kathy, Who Invented You?
Is there anything to the anonymous emails about an investigation of a respected Palestinian human rights organization that calls for banning settlement products and takes action against Israeli impunity? Checks by Haaretz have determined that, in contrast to Fadi and Kathy’s claims, Ernst & Young is not investigating and has not investigated Al-Haq and that it found no evidence of fraud in its most recent annual audit of Al-Haq’s financial reports. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Israel: Jewish-democratic or Jewish-fanatic? (Michael Gitzin, Haaretz) The struggle involving issues of religion and state concerns even more than just
civil rights. It is a battle over Israel’s image, and necessitates addressing its identity as a Jewish and
democratic state.
Jonathan Pollard: The story you didn't know (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet) Eitan Haber, who served as Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin's media advisor at the time of the Israeli spy's arrest, reveals a few unknown details about the affair which seriously damaged US-Israel relations.
The cold shoulder of Jews of America toward the released spy (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Most Jewish leaders see no reason to celebrate the release of Pollard, who is considered a traitor in the US. "He is by no means a hero of the Jewish people," says Abraham Foxman, former CEO of ADL.
American Jews Are for Netanyahu What Communists Were for McCarthy (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The Bibi-Bogie doctrine states that Jewishness of an American Jew comes before his American citizenship, and that Judaism means favoring Israel and betraying the homeland.
Don't forget Iran (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) It is an unfortunate twist of fate that the world is ignoring the threat posed by Iran for the sake of fighting the lesser Islamic State threat.
With friends like this: On Obama's anti-Semitic attitude toward Israel (Karni Eldad, Maariv) The fact that the murder of US-born Ezra Schwartz was not noted in the US media along with Pollard’s restricted release conditions - indicate their unfair attitude towards us. Obama called the family of the US citizen killed in the attacks in Paris, but not the parents of Schwartz. President Obama's attitude towards the Jews is precisely what Ran Baratz called "modern anti-Semitism." It is subtle hatred, sub-text, which can always be denied.
Amir Peretz for Leader of the Israeli Peace Camp (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) At the Haaretz Conference for Peace this year, even under the conditions of Siberian cold, there was a scent of the good old days, when it turned out that there’s a new star.
The fourth stage of terror is on its way (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The defense establishment has already realized that Israel has no more gestures to offer the Palestinians. There are two options left: A real peace move or instructing the army to prepare to take over the West Bank completely.
When good intentions cost dearly (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Pollard's recruitment and handling as an intelligence asset was a botched Israeli operation; it was made worse when Israel refused to come clean.
Parisians as the New Jews (Avshalom Halutz, Haaretz+) The events of November 13 mark the Parisians as the new Jews, who swallow murderous hatred against them along with their morning croissant.
Pollard Still Toxic for Israel-American Relations (Barbara Opall-Rome, Haaretz+) Those who consider Israel has a 'moral obligation' to former prisoner 09185-016 can get busy privately fundraising for him. But Israel's government should take no part in it.
Jonathan Pollard: The story you didn't know (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet) Eitan Haber, who served as Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin's media advisor at the time of the Israeli spy's arrest, reveals a few unknown details about the affair which seriously damaged US-Israel relations.
The cold shoulder of Jews of America toward the released spy (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Most Jewish leaders see no reason to celebrate the release of Pollard, who is considered a traitor in the US. "He is by no means a hero of the Jewish people," says Abraham Foxman, former CEO of ADL.
American Jews Are for Netanyahu What Communists Were for McCarthy (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The Bibi-Bogie doctrine states that Jewishness of an American Jew comes before his American citizenship, and that Judaism means favoring Israel and betraying the homeland.
Don't forget Iran (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) It is an unfortunate twist of fate that the world is ignoring the threat posed by Iran for the sake of fighting the lesser Islamic State threat.
With friends like this: On Obama's anti-Semitic attitude toward Israel (Karni Eldad, Maariv) The fact that the murder of US-born Ezra Schwartz was not noted in the US media along with Pollard’s restricted release conditions - indicate their unfair attitude towards us. Obama called the family of the US citizen killed in the attacks in Paris, but not the parents of Schwartz. President Obama's attitude towards the Jews is precisely what Ran Baratz called "modern anti-Semitism." It is subtle hatred, sub-text, which can always be denied.
Amir Peretz for Leader of the Israeli Peace Camp (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) At the Haaretz Conference for Peace this year, even under the conditions of Siberian cold, there was a scent of the good old days, when it turned out that there’s a new star.
The fourth stage of terror is on its way (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The defense establishment has already realized that Israel has no more gestures to offer the Palestinians. There are two options left: A real peace move or instructing the army to prepare to take over the West Bank completely.
When good intentions cost dearly (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Pollard's recruitment and handling as an intelligence asset was a botched Israeli operation; it was made worse when Israel refused to come clean.
Parisians as the New Jews (Avshalom Halutz, Haaretz+) The events of November 13 mark the Parisians as the new Jews, who swallow murderous hatred against them along with their morning croissant.
Pollard Still Toxic for Israel-American Relations (Barbara Opall-Rome, Haaretz+) Those who consider Israel has a 'moral obligation' to former prisoner 09185-016 can get busy privately fundraising for him. But Israel's government should take no part in it.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.