APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday February 8, 2016

 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

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News Summary:
Following the controversy-sparking meeting of three Arab MKs with parents of Palestinian assailants, whose bodies Israel is holding, the police will open a probe, the Knesset Ethics Committee is holding a discussion today and the coalition is proposing a bill that would get the MKs dismissed. That, along with the stabbing and lightly injuring of a soldier by a Sudanese man and the threat by Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu to hold out for a better US military aid package (in compensation for the Iran nuclear deal) from the next US President were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Based on today’s newspapers, three of the main Hebrew newspapers, Yedioth, Maariv and Israel Hayom, considered the three Balad MKs of being guilty of supporting or inciting terror because of their meeting with parents of Palestinian assailants. Maariv’s title read: “Netanyahu advancing legislation against MKs who supported terror.” Yedioth wrote: “After the outrageous meeting comes the furious response…” All three papers quoted numerous outraged MKs, only giving the responses of the accused only at the end of their articles. Netanyahu accused the MKs of “building walls of hatred (with the Jewish population).” The accused MKs explained that the meeting in question, which was sometimes referred to as a visit or condolence call, was held only with parents of Palestinian assailants whose bodies Israel is holding in order to help get them released. Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh said, “We oppose the trafficking in corpses that the government is conducting. Netanyahu and his ministers know full well that this was the purpose of the meeting that was held in E. Jerusalem. This is a basic humanitarian issue. A man that died, no matter how terrible his crime, needs to be buried. That does not contradict the our moral position that condemns all harm to innocent.” Following a request by Netanyahu, the new Attorney General announced that he asked police
to gather information about the meeting of the three MKs, Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas. Netanyahu and the heads of the coalition government are advancing a bill that would suspend MKs who at least 90 other MKs considered their behavior ‘inappropriate.’ The goal is to suspend the three Balad MKs, who are part of the Joint List, for their meeting with. And today, the Knesset Ethics Committee will discuss punishment for ‘inappropriate behavior.’ It has already received 450 complaints, Maariv reported. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities also announced Sunday that they would return the bodies of two more Palestinians from E. Jerusalem. Israel has held the remains of one for more than 100 days, and of the other for more than 30 days. The IDF reportedly seeks to return corpses, because it perceives holding them as sparking more violence, while the political establishment is in favor of keeping them from the families, saying it is a deterrent factor. Others say this is populist.
 
People from the Sudanese community in Israel say that the Sudanese man who attacked an Israeli soldier in Ashkelon Sunday was emotionally stable and that they roundly condemn the attack.

Netanyahu called on the world to condemn the Friday night arson on the West Bank ‘synagogue,’ as it would the Jewish extremists’ attacks on West Bank mosques. The ‘synagogue,’ however, is actually a tent, in an illegal outpost, Givat Sorek, that was established atop a hill, just north of Halhul village, in memory of the three Jewish teens were kidnapped and killed in May 2014, Israel Hayom reported. The tent was set on fire four times before, but this was the first time the books inside were put in a pile and set afire. The papers did not note that Sheikh Mohammed Kaiyuan Abu Ali, the chairman of the council of Muslim religious leaders in Israel, condemned the arson in a conversation Sunday with Israel’s chief Ashkenazic rabbi, David Lau. Investigators found a trail of evidence leading to Halhul, opposite. Earlier on Friday, IDF soldiers shot dead a 14-year-old boy from Halhul, who was standing next to road 60, which passes by Givat Sorek and Halhul. Soldiers said he and his 12-year-old cousin were about to throw a Molotov cocktail at passing cars. Thousands attended his funeral on Saturday.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

What Israelis weren't told about the alternatives to the Oslo Accords (Adam Raz, Haaretz+) What if almost everything we know about the lead-up to the signing of the Oslo accords is wrong? What if PM Rabin never became ‘disillusioned’ about the Washington talks that were then underway? A behind-the-scenes look at the alternatives to the Oslo track. 
Hot front: The IDF has internalized that the intifada of the lone-wolfs of is here to stay
A tour of Samaria (northern West Bank) with those who daily encounter Palestinian terror, deal with the media's prying eyes and understand that any incorrect action could plunge the situation into an all-out confrontation. (Eyal Levy, Maariv)
**The Jaffa Bar That Takes a Leap Beyond Coexistence
Why regulars at Anna Loulou in Jaffa – Israelis and Palestinians, straights and gays – have taken over running the unique establishment. (Eyal Sagui Bizawe, Haaretz+) 
The sacred ones of Cairo: Even years later, the Lavon affair still raises questions
61 years ago they were executed in Egypt, Moshe Marzouk and Shmuel Azar, network members of Operation Suzannah. Once again, at the annual memorial service for the real victims of the espionage operation, no senior representative of the State of Israel showed up. (Gideon Mitchnik, Maariv) 
Bernie Sanders’ Israeli Cousin Is '100% Behind Him'
While old-timers at Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim in northern Israel are racking their brains to recall Bernie Sanders from a volunteer stint in the 1960s, Haaretz tracked down a first cousin of the Democratic presidential hopeful at a moshav in the Negev. (Hagai Amit, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:

Respecting Arab MKs Is a Must if Israel Is to Remain a Democracy (Haaretz Editorial) Even if the Jewish majority doesn't agree with them, Arab MKs were elected to represent their voters. Intolerance of them means the end of Israeli democracy.
Betting on our security: The problematic considerations of the Prime Minister (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Beggars cannot set the terms of the donors. If Netanyahu's remarks only reflect his bargaining position, which will yield an economic achievement for Israel during the Obama era, it will be possible to praise it. If not, it is a dangerous gamble.
Arab MKs Can't Give Up and Boycott Elections, That's What the Right Wants (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) They could save themselves endless humiliation and allow the Knesset into something truly representative – a Jewish, racially pure, elected legislature of the chosen people. 
One provocation too many (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) Israeli Arabs are well aware of the damage the Arab MKs' constant intifada-mongering inflicts, yet they choose to remain silent.
No One Surpasses Israel in Chutzpah (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Neither the UN Secretary General nor the Arab Members of Knesset can match Israel in this quality that is a national source of pride. 
Not what you think: Yossi Melman recalls his meeting with Bernie Sanders (Yossi Melman, Maariv) In 1963, Sanders was in Kibbutz Sha'ar Haemekim, and in the ‘90s I was introduced to him during our stay at Harvard. In our talks, he criticized Israel, but it never seemed to me that he was anti-Israeli. 
Israel's Opposition Leader Would Set Jerusalem and the Muslim World on Fire (Yudith Oppenheimer, Haaretz+) Isaac Herzog's recent proposal to separate off Palestinian neighborhoods – 'They over there and we over here; we'll erect a big wall between us' – tosses Palestinians from one side to another without fear of consequences. 
Israel's foolish government ignorant of U.S. Jews (B. Michael, Haaretz+) We can rely on the coalition to provide us with a steady stream of slapstick with their twisted thinking, but it’s hard to see anyone enjoying the last laugh.
Otherwise Occupied When the model is the Gaza Strip (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israelis are being killed because their governments keep believing in the sustainability of military rule. 
Clay artist: the brilliant and cynical move by (Culture Minister) Miri Regev (Attorney Yechiel Gutman, Maariv) The "loyalty in culture" bill of the minister has no chance of passing, but it is brilliant in terms of its ability to stir up a storm and serve her goals. 
'It’s Not Only the Two of Us Lying Here': What the Banned Israeli Novel Is Really About (Doron Koren, Haaretz+) ‘Borderlife,’ the book at the center of a controversy involving the Education Ministry, depicts a desperate attempt by the protagonists, a Jewish woman and an Arab man, to make love, not war. The issue of assimilation that it raises cannot be dismissed lightly.
Land and home: This is how the battle for the purchase of land in the West Bank is in reality (Karni Eldad, Maariv) The purchase of land from Palestinians is not a miracle, as defined by (journalist) Raviv Drucker, but rather hard and expensive work, during which one needs to fight with everyone, even the Zionist regime, for which the redeeming the land should be its ambition. 
Only True Israeli Patriots Can End Fifty Years of Occupation (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Daniel Bar-Tal knows all about the Israeli siege mentality – he wrote the book on it. Now he wants to convince his countrymen to end the occupation, for their own sake – without dwelling on Palestinian rights.
Dealing with the tunnel threat (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Let us leave demagoguery and populism out of the current discourse about the threat posed by Hamas tunnels. 
The Joint Arab List Is Not Representative of Israel's Arabs (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) One would have to imagine a Jewish Knesset list which united Meretz, Yisrael Beitenu and Shas to begin to understand how the Joint Arab List functions.
Between Putin and Obama (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) As Assad solidifies his power in Syria, far-right parties in Europe are growing in strength. It appears everyone outside the Obama camp is thriving. 
Israel Sees Battle Over Aleppo as Tilting Balance in Favor of Iran-Hezbollah Axis (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Though Jerusalem rarely voices its opinion on the raging Syrian war, Israel secretly prefers war of attrition between the Assad's regime and its enemies. 
For Syrian Refugees in Turkey, the West Has Proved Itself Worse Than Assad or ISIS (Anshel Pfeffer in Kilis,Turkey, Haaretz+) It was Bashar Assad and Islamic militants who butchered their families and took their homes, but the U.S., Britain and Germany left them to face their fate. 
Give Auschwitz Back to Germany So Israel Can See the Real Poland (Karolina Przewrocka, Haaretz+) Israel forgot to invite the Poles to the reconciliation process with Germany. 
 

'Our fighters are the Iron Dome of the West Bank'
Over the past few months, the Kfir Brigade has been operating in one of the hottest fronts the IDF has, dealing with violent rioting, and a series of stabbing and shooting attacks. The commander of the Kfir Brigade, which operates only in the West Bank, Lt.-Col. Yaniv Barut, and his five battalion chiefs talk about preparing for the new threats, securing Breaking the Silence tours, and why the problematic image of the Haredi Nahal is far from the reality. (Interviewed by Yossi Yehoshua in Yedioth/Ynet)
 
Battalion commander in the West Bank, "Incitement in Palestinian schools is wilder than ever"
The IDF noted a sharp drop in motivation of masses to make clashes, but noted that the youth, who are about 5% of the population, are the ones making individual lethal attacks. According to Lt. Elad Edri, Commander of Kedem battalion of the Home Front Command, the IDF found a direct connection between the wave of terror and incitement in educational institutions in the territories. "We are sometimes shocked by the horrific words of teachers and principals,” said Edri, speaking of the schools of Anata, Hizma, Qalandiya and Beitunya, all near the Adam settlement. “We recognize there is a lack of governance and a problem of lack of authority of parents and the educational system," Edri said. “The knife has become a tool to express protest.” Edri also said: “In investigations following the attacks, we hear from the terrorist that the attack was because of the incitement. They walk around with the idea and with the inspiration until an opportunity arrives to carry out an attack. The way to deal with the problem is a lot of training. Take a company of soldiers, bring it to training, a lot of hand-to-hand combat training (krav maga), a ton of training to neutralize terrorists after they have stabbed or run over someone. We work a lot also on vigilance and security operations (practicing) on each other." (Interviewed by Noam Amir in Maariv)
 
 

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