News Nosh 02.25.16

by APN 02/25/16
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday February 25, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"In my farewell letter to the (Foreign) Ministry I wrote: 'The government leaders have endorsed policies that outrage me… I have a hard time explaining them honestly.' I did not expect that after five years, over the course of which we faced two wars and two elections, Israel’s situation would deteriorate beyond recognition."
--Former Israeli diplomat Ilan Baruch examines where Israel has gone in the last five years and where it needs to go.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
Investigator: You’re sure Sharaf was with you during that terror attack?
Tamimi: Yes, I’m sure Sharaf was with us.
Investigator: You’re lying, because he had a broken leg.
Tamimi: He may have had a broken leg. I don’t remember.
Investigator: Maybe he was with you only in planning to attack the military outpost, but not during the execution?
Tamimi: I’m sure he took part in the planning but by God I don’t remember if he was there at the execution, because you say he had a broken leg.
--A report by Haaretz+'s Chaim Levinson reveals how the IDF military prosecution, headed by Lt. Col. Maurice Hirsch, a resident of the settlement Efrat, continues to have detained Palestinians questioned after they have proven to be false witnesses, who have incriminated innocent people. Those people, who are held in prison for months during the proceedings, sometimes agree to plea bargains just to be sure they will get out of jail.**

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Two heroes – They both charged terrorists, they both paid with their lives. Captain Eliav Gellman, a relative of Operation Protective Edge hero Benaya Sarel…
  • How much more can we take // Eitan Haber
  • “The skies fell on me, I feel as if they killed me” – Real estate entrepreneur Inbal Or
  • Tzvika Levi, Father of the lone soldiers who is fighting for his life
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only) Israel Hayom
  • Family of heroes: Eliav (RIP) and Bania (RIP)
  • Eliav, Benaya and Yania are the silver platter // Emily Amrousi
  • Yanai with his hands exposed (Photo of last week’s attack at supermarket)
  • The suspicion: Inbal Or evaded taxes in the tens of millions
  • State Comptroller: Police cancelled hundreds of traffic tickets – for police
  • Boaz Bismuth reports from Las Vegas: After third consecutive victory – Trump is leading and celebrating
  • Suspicion of murder and suicide: Border Policeman shot to death man in Petach Tikva – and committed suicide

News Summary:
An IDF reserve officer was killed in the West Bank by friendly fire when trying to stop a Palestinian allegedly wielding a knife, Iran announced it would offer compensation to families of Palestinians killed by Israel and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the cease-fire in Syria making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, British Prime Minister slammed Israel’s West Bank policies and the latest on Gaza.
  
The Israeli papers had differing versions of what happened at the Gush Etzion Junction hitchhiking post in the West Bank yesterday. Maariv reported that Captain Eliav Gelman, a 30-year-old originally from Kiryat Arba, who was returning to his home in Karmei Tzur settlement after serving in reserve duty, “saw the terrorist pull out a knife – and acted immediately to neutralize him. But while he was struggling with the terrorist, a (IDF) force securing the junction opened fire at the attacker and made a deadly hit also to Gelman.” Uriel Cohen, who was standing next to Gelman, told Yedioth, “We suddenly saw someone suspicious raise a hand with a knife and run towards us. Then Eliav drew his gun.” It wasn’t clear if he shot or not, but at the same time soldiers from the Kfir Battalion opened fire from a few meters behind the terrorist, Yedioth reported. Israel Hayom reported that the soldiers saw Mamduh Amro, 27, a math teacher from Dura, and thought he looked suspicion, so they performed ‘suspect detention procedure’ and called on him to stop, but that he then pulled out a knife and began running towards the hitchhiking post. They opened fire on him but missed and only when he got to the hitchhiking post did they hit Amro in the foot, but also hit Gelman in the heart. Both were taken to a hospital in Jerusalem, where Gelman died. Gelman’s brother is married to the sister of Benaya Sarel, an officer who fell in Operation Protective Edge. At his funeral last night, his father, David, eulogized him saying: "My son, Eliav, with great pain we accept the fate – that we were forced to make a sacrifice.” (Maariv) 
 
After Gelman’s accidental killing, the Chief of Military Police spoke about the Chief of Staff's decision earlier this week to allow soldiers to go on furloughs with weapons: "In a situation where there are more weapons in the hands of soldiers it raises the probability of mistakes. The solution is many more briefings, much more monitoring and more attention.” (Maariv) Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel insisted Palestinians must be kept away from major West Bank junctions: "Arabs must be prevented from passing at Gush Etzion Junction and Tapuach Junction and places where there is an attempted attack every week. We don’t need to let them go there, not by foot and not by car. This is an attempt to protect ourselves.” [These junctions are major thoroughfares in the north and southern parts of the West Bank. – OH] (Maariv) 
 
British Prime Minister David Cameron called Israeli construction and policies in East Jerusalem "genuinely shocking." Speaking in Parliament Wednesday in answer to a question, he said: “I am well-known as being a strong friend of Israel, but I have to say the first time I visited Jerusalem and had a proper tour around that wonderful city and saw what has happened with the effective encirclement of East Jerusalem – occupied East Jerusalem – it is genuinely shocking.” Cameron's comments came almost at the same time as US Secretary of State John Kerry who said Israeli settlement construction was not helping ease the tensions between the two warring sides. During a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II, US President Barack Obama said it was important to give both Israelis and Palestinians hope.
 
Gaza is on the minds of many. Ynet obtained a recording of ‘explosions and battle cries’ coming from a nearby Hamas outpost, which were worrying nearby residents. [It sounds more like soldiers marching and answering the calls of their commander. – OH] Yesterday Netanyahu met with the heads of the Jewish communities that surround the Gaza Strip and promised them that the IDF was on the verge of finding a solution to Gaza tunnels. Haaretz+ reported that what Hamas wants is a seaport in Gaza or “there will be an explosion.” A day earlier, Israel’s military chief used the same term to describe what would happen if Gaza collapse economically, which it will do if the situation remains the same. Surprisingly, hard-right Minister Uri Ariel expressed support for the IDF’s recommendation to build a Gaza port.

Hebrew papers announced that Iran would “award money to families of slain Palestinian terrorists” and to those whose homes Israel demolished. Actually, Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon said: "The decision firstly includes giving an amount worth $7,000 to every family of a martyr of the intifada in Jerusalem.” [Anyone killed by the occupation or otherwise, i.e. not by natural causes, is called a ‘martyr’ in Arab culture. – OH] The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the money was “further proof of Iran’s deep involvement in promoting terror against Israel.” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Iran of setting up a global terror network, ‘including in Europe and America,’ although he failed to provide evidence for his statement. Yaalon also hinted at cooperation with Gulf states. 
 
On Syria, Putin phoned leaders in the region, including Netanyahu, to update them on the details of the Syrian ceasefire deal. Haaretz+ reported that an Israeli military delegation secretly visited Moscow last week and met with senior Russian counterparts. 
 
Quick Hits:
  • Lawyer: Palestinian hunger-striker Muhammad al-Qiq is dying - Al-Qiq could no longer breath easily and was suffering severe pain, said his lawyer Wednesday, adding that he could die at at any moment. Al-Qiq is protesting being held by Israel without charges. (Maan) 
  • More than 18 months after Gaza war, IDF still investigating eight suspected war crimes cases - Three of the eight were prompted by testimonies published by Breaking the Silence, but NGO refuses to identify witnesses, who testified on condition of anonymity. The Military Police published a summary of the past year’s activities: rape complaints have risen. (Haaretz+ and Maariv) 
  • Report claims torture during interrogations - Two NGOs release testimony of 116 Palestinian security detainees who complained of harsh prison conditions, deprivation of sleep and food, and use of violence; Shin Bet says report is distorted and biased. (Ynet) 
  • Flooding, mold in Etzion jail causing illness among detainees - The flooding has ruined prisoners' clothing and blankets, as mold has taken root in the dampened materials. Flu and skin infection have started to spread among the prisoners, who remain untreated, said a lawyer. (Maan) 
  • **Israeli army uses dubious testimonies to incriminate Palestinians, transcripts show - The police and military prosecution are using 'supplementary questioning' of exonerated Palestinians as a way to implicate others. (Haaretz+) 
  • Palestinian mother put under house arrest as part of son's sentencing - Palestinian officials visited a woman in occupied East Jerusalem who the Israeli authorities have sentenced to house arrest along with her 16-year-old son ahead of his court hearing next month. She cannot work or seek medical care. (Maan) 
  • Palestinian, 17, held as suspect in kibbutz woman's stabbing - Gag order lifted: Hebron-area youth was arrested four days after the February 6 attack in Rahat in which Shlomit Ganon was wounded. Says was spurred by propoganda. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)  
  • Israel's nationalistic 'loyalty in culture' bill passes legal test - Bill gives Culture Minister Miri Regev power to cut funding for cultural activities that 'contravene the principles of the state.' (Haaretz+ and Ynet)  
  • 890 academics protest right-winger’s shake-up of education council - Education Minister Naftali Bennett has replaced a deputy head with a woman with alleged subpar credentials. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israel stops Kenyan president visiting West Bank - Uhuru Kenyatta’s camp was furious at the nixing of his plan to visit Ramallah and meet with Mahmoud Abbas. On Monday he met Benjamin Netanyahu. (Times of Israel)
  • Israel's President Rivlin bars Arab lawmaker from official event - Israel's president denies entry to Jamal Zahalka, one of three legislators temporarily suspended from Knesset activities for a controversial meeting with families of slain Palestinian assailants. (Haaretz+, Maariv and Ynet)
  • Elderly Palestinian woman killed in possible settler hit-and-run - An elderly Palestinian woman was killed and her daughter wounded when they were hit by a car allegedly driven by an Israeli settler in the eastern West Bank district of Jericho Tuesday night. (Maan) 
  • PA official: Israel using 'tripwire explosive device' around settlements - Israeli forces have reportedly been implementing a 'tripwire explosive device' to prevent Palestinians from approaching areas near illegal Israeli settlements and roads in the occupied West Bank, a PA official said Wednesday. (Maan) 
  • Plan stripping IDF's military rabbinate of the Jewish identity programming to move forward - Reassignment of responsibility for all Jewish awareness programming to the IDF's manpower directorate follows turf battles between the military rabbinate and the education corps. (Haaretz+) 
  • Police discover two pipe bombs, ammo in Jerusalem Old City food stand - Two suspects, East Jerusalem residents in their 40s, arrested. (Haaretz and Maan) 
  • Israel to fund Achinoam Nini’s show in Canada after JNF pulls out over BDS claims - JNF Canada withdrew support due to Israeli singer’s left-wing views. 'Israel sees great importance in having Jewish communities around the world mark and celebrate the State of Israel’s Independence Day,' Foreign Ministry says. (Haaretz+) 
  • 'High-profile' PA security officer shot dead by unidentified gunmen - Irzeiqat identified the officer as Ayman Jaradat, a brigadier general in the Palestinian National Security forces and a leader in the Black Panthers, a military offshoot of Fatah. (Maan) 
  • Israeli Attorney General Intervenes in Favor of Ambassador Who Got Into Trouble - Mendelblit overturned decision by the Foreign Ministry's director general, allowing Daniel Taub to contend for the position of the ministry's legal adviser. (Haaretz) 
  • Israeli ambassador to Egypt gives rare Egyptian interview - Interview: Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Haim Koren compliments the Egyptian nation, which 'loves to joke,' and calls for cooperation in security, economy, and culture. (Ynet) 
  • Knesset scraps bills for LGBT community after marking gay rights day - Likud's Amir Ohana, the party's first gay lawmaker, left the plenum without voting. (Haaretz+) 
  • Palestinian families in Silwan receive evacuation notices - A Palestinian family in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Tuesday received a court notice for eviction following efforts by right-wing group Ateret Cohanim to take over their land. (Maan) 
  • Israel demolishes 313 Palestinian structures in six weeks - Over 500 Palestinians have been displaced by the demolitions since the start of 2016, the vast majority of them in the West Bank. (+972mag)
  • Israeli settlers mark Palestinian land in Salfit district - The small community of Izbat Abu Basal has lost land before to the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel. (Maan) 
  • Israeli ultra-Orthodox passenger causes disturbance on El Al flight over 'immodest' movie - The 36-year-old ultra-Orthodox Beit Shemesh resident on the flight from Warsaw to Tel Aviv objects to the in-flight film and breaks two of the airplane's screens. (Haaretz+ and Maariv) 
  • Anti-BDS legislation is challenging 50-year American precedent on settlements - Almost half of the state legislatures in the U.S. are considering bills aimed at countering attempts to boycott Israel, but critics say some are a cause for concern. (JTA, Haaretz) 
  • Netanyahu appoints Avriel Bar-Yosef as National Security Council head - The reserve brigadier general, a former deputy head of the NSC, replaces Yossi Cohen, who became head of the Mossad. (Haaretz+) 
  • Brian Hendler, award-winning Jerusalem-based photographer, dies at 63 - After moving to Israel from South Africa, Hendler worked regularly for the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and other international publications over the past three decades. (Haaretz) 
  • Palestinian teachers rally in bid to get wage deal honored - The teachers and other interest groups want more money for social welfare, less for the security forces. (Haaretz+) 
  • French Jewish teacher arrested for lying over Islamic State attack - Tzion Saadon taken into custody over suspicions his claim in November that he was attacked by ISIS supporters was fabricated; he is the second Jewish French teacher to have allegedly lied about ISIS attack. (Agencies, Ynet) 

Features:
Worn, Tattered or Stained, the Market for Used Israeli Clothes Is Booming in Gaza
After nearly a decade of Hamas rule in the territory, poverty and unemployment are higher than ever. (Fares Akram, Agencies, Haaretz)
In Photos: Palestinians face daily humiliation at Damascus Gate (Maan)
Classified: Politicizing the Nakba in Israel's state archives
Documents that have already been cited in history books are being re-classified in the State Archives. (Lisa Goldman, +972mag)
Commentary/Analysis:
For many Palestinians, working in Israeli settlements is the only option (Ali Sawafta, Haaretz) While settlement jobs may offer no overtime, pension or work insurance, the higher wages offset the shortfall. 'There is no choice. We work in settlements so we can feed our children,' laborer says. 
*Why I had to leave Israel's Foreign Ministry (Ilan Baruch, +972mag) As a former Israeli ambassador, I never expected just how badly the country’s situation would deteriorate.
Israeli Racism Is Evolving, but It's Okay, Because the Joke Is Being Told About Arabs (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) There is a link between the discrimination against immigrants from Morocco a generation ago and today's anti-Arab racism.
Israel Must Prevent an Explosion in Gaza (Haaretz Editorial) Implementation of the IDF’s recommendations to improve conditions in the Strip is part of the government’s obligation to its own citizens. 
Can the initiative of Moroccan Jewry be a first step in a people’s dialogue with the Palestinians? (Udi Segal, Maariv) A meeting was held last week of Israeli public figures, Palestinian ministers and senior members of Moroccan Jewry, initiated by the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry and in coordination with the King of Morocco. This conference is, at the very least, an interesting cultural event, and a most, a opportunity for a new sprout of the so-called "peace process.” The conference of the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry invited 20 officials from the Palestinian Authority, at a time when most of the right-wing government ministers talk about crushing the Palestinian Authority. They presented quotes from (Palestinian President) Abu Mazen, at a time when most members of the government call him a terrorist, and they embraced the solution of two states for two peoples. It’s likely it will end with that – some headline or another. And maybe it the first bud of an alternative, people’s path to dialogue. The Palestinians are working on it. Taleb A-Sanaa, a former member of the Knesset, is trying to connect the Palestinian with Israeli citizens, to get to know each other and to create a dialogue. Abbas has a department for this. I was involved in one such attempt at the headquarters of the Head of the Palestinian Authority. It was limping, but better than nothing. 
Netanyahu, Lapid and BDS all win the battle of the London Underground (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The manufactured hysteria over a handful of posters on the Tube proves once again that anti-Israel activists are useful idiots for Israel’s politicians.
BDS is expanding (Yonah Schiffmiller, Israel Hayom) Anti-Israel organizations in the U.S. are feeding large helpings of anti-Zionist rhetoric to minority and student groups.
Stop America’s Military Aid to Israel From Subsidizing the Settlements (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) The administration’s new security package should require Israel to stop funding settlements, which are destroying the two-state solution. Democratic primary voters might want to weigh in too. 
Jerusalem must remain united (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) A partition of Jerusalem would be a calamity.
The JNF’s Boycott of Noa: Confront the Intimidation by Jewish Right-wing Bullies on Israel (Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, Haaretz+) We refuse to be silenced by a McCarthyite, extreme right-wing minority in the North American Jewish community trying to manipulate the conversation about Israel, whose latest target is Achinoam Nini. 
Crying Wolf on Campus anti-Semitism: The Vassar College Talk Was No Blood Libel (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Charges of anti-Semitism on campus have become so hyperbolic that most criticism of Israel is considered anti-Semitic. Jasbir Puar's claim that Israel harvested Palestinian body parts was irresponsible and unsubstantiated – but it wasn't anti-Semitism. 
The conversion of 'Rabbi' Roseanne Barr: From angry Israel antagonist to fierce advocate (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) The comedian who once called Israel a "Nazi state" speaks to Haaretz about her fervent support of the country ahead of a speech at a pro-Israel fundraising event in California and visit to the Holy Land in March. 
 
Interviews:
“The Knesset is more violent than the soccer fields”
In despair over the situation, shocked from the low level in the Knesset, saluting the Chief of Staff, attacking the Police Commissioner, criticizing the MKs from Balad (who met with families of dead Palestinian assailants), and not understanding the leniency of Culture Minister Miri Regev towards ‘La Familia’ (Beitar Jerusalem racist soccer fan club). MK Zouheir Bahloul dreams at night of a return to the position of sports broadcaster. He doesn't go off his path: moderation, reconciliation, and an attempt to bridge between the peoples. So, yes, he has sharp criticism for the government, the Police Commissioner and the 'Suspension Bill,' but he does not hide his opposition to the Balad MKs. And what luck he can escape from it all on the weekend for something he really loves: To talk about soccer at the conference on the Hebrew language in Rishon L'Tzion. (Interviewed by Yoav Birenburg in Yedioth's '24 Hours' supplement, cover)

Meet the YouTube star taking the Jewish world by storm 
Avi Schwartzberger just launched an outlandish, hilarious video series showing the most taboo sides of Israeli society through the lens of a Birthright alumn. A terrifyingly real interview with a not-quite-real person. (Interviewed by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man in +972mag)

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

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