APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday December 3, 2015  
 

Quote of the day:

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Breaking News:
Soldier and civilian wounded in shooting attack in West Bank, near E. Jerusalem
A civilian was moderately or severely wounded and a soldier was lightly wounded in a shooting attack today near Hizmeh. The assailant was shot and killed. The papers gave conflicting reports, but Maariv had the most details, describing that while a soldiers inspected vehicles the assailant took advantage of the moment when one of the soldiers was looking inside the trunk, got out of his car - and shot the soldier. According to Maariv, a bystander who was likely Arab was was severely injured. (Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom)

Shin Bet: Several (Jewish) Israelis Arrested for West Bank Arson Murders in Duma
Weeks-long gag order partially lifted: Suspects are 'young people suspected Jewish terrorists carrying out terrorist acts.' (Israel Hayom, Haaretz, Ynet)

Front Page:

Haaretz

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News Summary:
Controversial Likud MK Oren Hazan may face jail time and former minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezar (Labor) was indicted on corruption charges making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Yedioth also focused on the so-called ‘hilltop youth,’ extremist Jewish settler youth, who are believed to be behind the deadly arson attack in Duma village.
 
Controversial Likud MK Oren Hazan is in hot water. Shortly after he learned that the Knesset Ethics Committe suspended him yesterday for 1 month after complaints about his behavior, the State Comptroller released his report that showed that Hazan could face jail time for false deposition. He isn’t alone. Former Labor leader and presidential candidate Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was indicted on charges that include bribery and money laundering. Meanwhile, the Likud party fears Hazan's absence will wipe out the coalition's majority - which is a single vote.  
 
This morning, the Shin Bet security agency announced it had arrested an unspecified number of Jewish youth who are suspects in the arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents in July in the West Bank village of Duma. But the details of the investigation remain under gag order. Yesterday, a UN official expressed concern over what he described as "slow progress" in solving the probe into the Dawabsheh family murders. 
 
In Knesset, MK Basel Ghattaas (Joint List) sparked a storm when he asked whether the Shin Bet were trying to cover up its own failures, Yedioth and Walla news website reported.  “Is it true, as published in sources abroad, that the Shin Bet has not filed an indictment in a serious security case, not in order to hide its intelligence sources, but to cover its ass and not reveal a new affair?" He asked whether it wasn’t trying to avoid revealing another ‘Avishai Raviv’ affair. (NOTE: Ghattas may be referring to the report by blogger Richard Silverstein that the problem the Shin Bet may be facing was that it had a Shabak undercover agent among the conspirators, who neglected to reveal the plan to murder a family, “in much the same way that Avishai Raviv did when he goaded Yigal Amir to assassinate Yitzhak Rabi and “neglected” to tell his bosses of the killer’s plans.”

The Israel Democracy Institute announced that "there is concern that the gag order on the current security affair is disproportionate.” (Walla) And a lawyer for one of the arrested youth also asked to lift the gag order. (Maariv)
 
Former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Perry analyzed the major challenges the Shin Bet has in bringing Jewish terrorists to justice: "It is very difficult to crack them in the interrogation with the legal tools given. It’s also hard to turn the intelligence into legal evidence." Perry told Maariv radio 103FM that “Jewish terrorism advocates a delusional ideology.” 

“Our children hate the state,” the father of one of the Jewish youth who was in administrative detention told Yedioth. Yedioth also published quotes from Facebook posts of the father, such as: “A country of scared Arabs wimps liars dogs ‘spit’ shitty country.” And: “Go f*#c yourself all of you who call this the ‘State of the Jews.’

In a separate article, Yedioth showed a photo from the Facebook page of one of the radical right-wing activists: two masked youth standing before a large black flag on which there is are two swords and a skull with sidelocks wearing a kippah. The article profiles the ‘Baladim Hill’ outpost, which "is filled with youth who fell out of educational frameworks and found refuge in the wild west of Judea and Samaria – and turned into the headache of the security forces. On their Facebook page they don’t hesitate to threaten high-ranking officers."
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

The daily questionnaire: What do you know about Knesset members who have resigned from the Knesset
Throughout history, serving MKs resigned from Knesset, often following a report by the state comptroller and sometimes for other reasons entirely. Do you know who they are? (Maariv)
 
Commentary/Analysis:

Breaking the Silence Is Indispensable to Israeli Democracy (Haaretz Editorial) Instead of giving in to incitement and violence, police must do their duty to protect the organization. 
The difference between identifying Jewish terror suspects and putting them on trial (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The gag order and terse hints in the media may create a mistaken impression that authorities are close to fully solving the cases involving Jews who have committed anti-Arab terrorist acts. 
Greetings from the Middle Ages (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Many of those preaching a return to the past are clerics from different religions, who pose a clear and imminent danger to human society. It's harder to understand the damage reflected by those who are not dressed like ayatollahs but share their views.
Who’s Afraid of a Binational State? (Musa Hasdeya, Haaretz+) No more stagnation. No more sitting on the fence. It’s time to roll back our sleeves and start working, for us and for our children.
With Russian anti-aircraft missiles in Syria, Israeli army prepares for more surprises (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The IDF girds for cyberwar, massive rocket barrages, attacks on strategic infrastructure, attacks by ISIS, and a wider Palestinian uprising. 
Miracle in the Holy Land (Clifford D. May, Israel Hayom) Israeli policymakers and scientists have found a way to create an essential resource -- water. Perhaps Israel could now trade "water for peace"? 
Israel’s poisonous racism: Neither religious nor secular can claim immunity (Gershom Gorenberg, Haaretz+) Israeli social media has erupted over a housing company's anti-Mizrahi ad presenting a fair-haired Ashkenazi family as model clients: the clip expressed everyday racism just that bit too explicitly. 
U.S. Jews and Muslims must fight together Trump’s racism (Haroon Moghul, Haaretz+) Given Trump’s position atop the polls, America’s Jews and Muslims have every reason to cooperate. But many of us are more concerned with excluding and demonizing each other. 
How American Jews Can Protect American Muslims (Peter Beinart, Haaretz) The next time someone threatens a mosque, we should be there. 
Israeli High Court support of home demolitions begins to soften (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) Two rulings this week serve as cracks, although not yet wide enough, in the court’s long-standing tradition permitting destruction of terrorists’ homes regardless of harm to families. 
Before ISIS, there was Black September (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) In Munich in 1972, Palestinian terrorists brutally tortured their Israeli hostages, providing a blueprint for the unbridled malice we see in today's jihadists. 
As a Jew, Israeli and Zionist, I Cannot Tolerate Jewish Terrorism (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) The time has come for the government to make it clear that Jewish and Palestinian terrorists will be treated the same. 
Comptroller catches the small fish while swimming with the whales (Gidi Weitz, Haaretz+) Joseph Shapira's report, which implicates MK Oren Hazan in illegality, only proves how weak and shameless the institution of the comptroller really is. 
An anti-Israel agenda disguised as human rights (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) As an organization comprised of human rights activists, Amnesty should be expected to uphold different norms, rather than automatically accept false Palestinian claims. With such a record, how can its reports be taken seriously?
Israel wins KaDeWe battle, but real war awaits (Nachman Shai, Haaretz+) BDS is busy every day, U.S. academic associations are boycotting Israel, and a third intifada is gaining momentum.
Israel's Foreign Ministry Is Being Gutted (Victor Harel, Haaretz+) PMO heads Israel’s foreign relations, but interior minister deals with Palestinians. Ties with Moscow? Try our Jerusalem minister. Confused? So are EU ambassadors. 
The Putinization of Israel: Netanyahu Cozying Up to Russia May Cost Israel Dearly (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) Mistrustful of the U.S. and feeling alienated from Europe, Bibi hasn't defected, but he recognizes the region’s new top dog. 
The True Glue That Holds Israel Together: Shopping (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) Nation-building and the army have taken back seat to consumerism as the one experience that brings all Israelis together.
 
 

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