News Nosh 03.25.16

APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday March 25, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
“It was an interesting slot to be in.”
 --Israel Association of Baseball director Nate Fish said about the IAB presentation of its Jewish-Arab ‘Baseball for All’ program shown at the AIPAC conference in between the speeches of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

You Must Be Kidding: 
Right-wing Jews retweeted former right-wing MK Yinon Magal's Tweet, 'Happy Purim, Jews,' just after the release of the Btselem video that showed an IDF soldier shooting dead a Palestinian assailant who was lying injured on the ground. The Tweet was reminiscent of the quote by then-MK Hanan Porat, who said 'Happy Purim, Jews' after Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinians praying at the Cave of the Patriarchs. He, too, sparked a storm. 


Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • The shot and the storm – Soldier filmed shooting in the head an injured terrorist lying on the ground
  • This is not the reality // Yoaz Hendel
  • Explosives // Yossi Yehoshua 
  • Problematic timing: ‘Happy Purim, Jews’ right-wing Jews said, like after the Goldstein massacre
  • “Don’t force us to start again the battle from A.” – Former secretary of the former president, Moshe Katsav, who was convicted of rape, opposes giving him early release from prison
  • City taking time out // Nahum Barnea in Brussels
Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)
  • Soldier who shot dead an immobilized terrorist: “I was afraid of explosives”
  • At the bottom of the slope // Ben Caspit
  • Battle over values // Yossi Melman
  • Europe is on a manhunt // Gideon Kotz
  • The liaison commission
  • Celebration and happiness [Photo of Purim parade]
  • Director of Ministry of Finance formulated international guideline for continuation of work of Israeli banks with Palestinian Authority
Israel Hayom
News Summary:
The extrajudicial killing of an immobilized Palestinian assailant by an Israeli soldier and the storm it sparked was the top story in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with yesterday’s Purim celebrations and the latest discoveries on the attacks in Belgium (including that the older brother of one of the Brussels bombers competed in a Taekwondo competition in Israel last year, and even took home a gold medal.) Also in the news, Israel’s anger over a UN vote today to blacklist settlement businesses, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon backtracked on his declaration that ‘Breaking the Silence’ committed treason and MK Tzipi Livni angered right-wing politicians when she said that "Islamic State terrorism in Europe is a religious war, whereas the stabbing intifada here [in Israel] is the result of nationalist aspirations." 
 
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon both condemned the extra-judicial killing [NOTE: they did not call it that - OH] of a subdued Palestinian assailant, who had stabbed and moderately injured another soldier in Hebron. A video by a Btselem field worker caught the soldier shooting in the head and killing the wounded assailant, who was lying on the ground injured and bleeding after having been already shot. The IDF will question the officers who were present and is also opening an investigation into why many security services were present, but no one gave him medical aid. The soldier has been detained and said in his defense that he saw the Palestinian young man move and thought he might have explosives on him. Arab MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint Arab List) blamed right-wing politicians, including Netanyahu, for the murder: "IDF soldiers and police officers shoot and execute wounded Palestinians in cold blood as a result of the tempestuousness of Israeli ministers and politicians. The politicians are no less responsible than the shooter. The incident in Hebron was documented, but there are many incidents which were not. Right-wing Jews posted congratulatory messages on Twitter saying, “Happy Purim, Jews.” Security sources feared the murder could spark riots in the West Bank at a time when they have relatively decreased. Earlier this week in Hebron, settlers celebrating Purim used the loudspeakers of the Cave of the Patriarchs (known as the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims) "to sing racist songs that call for the expulsion of Arab Palestinians from Hebron,” locals told Maan.  

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