News Nosh 05.29.16

by APN 05/29/16
Share

APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday May 29, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
“Instead of condemning and arguing, maybe you should start fixing, because there is some truth in (what I have said)."
--Patriotic veteran Channel 2 News military affairs reporter, Roni Daniel, responds to the backlash for his comments last week that he sees no future for his children in Israel.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
 "Our country allowed me, a Christian Arab from Nazareth, to end the war between my soul and my body. So if it made peace for me, our country is only a country of peace." 
-- Ta'alin Abu Hanna, an Israeli Arab from Nazareth won the country's first transgender beauty pageant on Friday, beating out a contestant from an Orthodox Jerusalem family and a Muslim belly-dancer from Tel Aviv.

Front Page:
Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
News Summary:
There’s a crisis in the Israeli government cabinet as the opposition pressed for Kulanu party chairman, Moshe Kahlon, to quit the coalition after his party member, Environmental Affairs Minister Avi Gabbay, resigned on Friday over the appointment of ultra-nationalist MK Avigdor Lieberman as Defense Minister, and meanwhile, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the chairman of Habayit Hayehudi party, threatened he would vote against Lieberman’s appointment if Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu didn’t appoint a military cabinet secretary, to which Likud replied that he and the ministers from his party would be fired. This and the shooting dead by police of a man suspected of a double murder in Rishon L’Tsiyon were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

In Israel-Palestinian conflict related news, both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi spoke of the ‘radicalization’ and racism in Israel – as did Channel 2 News military affairs correspondent Roni Daniel (See Quick Hits). Some 200 Israeli generals said Israel could make diplomatic moves toward peace. Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis will be drilling evacuations of their homes in the case of another war. 
 
Numerous people spoke of the extremism of the Israeli government and society in the last few days. Environment Minister Avi Gabbay (Kulanu party), who resigned Friday over Lieberman’s appointment, said Netanyahu needed to wake up because “Israelis don't want an extremist government.” Tomorrow, Lieberman is expected to be sworn-in as Defense Minister. After Gabbay’s resignation, opposition parties Yesh Atid and Zionist Union urged Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who leads the Kulanu party, to leave Netanyahu's 'bad government.' On Saturday night, some 2,000-2,500 people marched through Tel-Aviv towards the Tel Aviv Likud party headquarters, carrying Palestinian and Israeli flags and chanting: “Lieberman [is a] racist and a fascist,” and “Lieberman is the minister of war.” Many held signs proclaiming “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies” and “Israel, Palestine, two states for two peoples.” Maariv reported that 2,500 demonstrated. A poll released Friday found that if a new party were formed with Moshe Yaalon at the head and including Kahlon and former Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar they would together beat Netanyahu in elections.
 
Meanwhile, Bennett threatened to veto the Lieberman appointment if Netanyahu did not appoint a military cabinet secretary to keep all the ministers informed. Netanyahu appointed a team to review information sharing protocol with ministers, but Bennett rejected that as ‘spin.’ Maariv’s senior political commentator, Ben Caspit, pondered whether Netanyahu was avoiding Bennett’s demands in order to get him to quit as promised from the coalition and bring the Zionist Camp in his stead.
 
In Cairo, Palestinian President Abbas told Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi that 'increasing radicalization in Israel led to Lieberman's appointment.' Abbas also said that the upcoming Paris peace conference must establish time caps on resolutions and that the Palestinians will never recognize a 'Jewish' state as Netanyahu wants. Later on Saturday, at an Arab League meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the French Middle East peace initiative, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi blasted Israel as a bastion of "fascism and racial discrimination." The foreign ministers gave their backing to the peace initiative. Meanwhile, Maariv’s Yossi Melman wrote that according to a report in the ‘Middle East Eye,’ representatives from the UAE, Jordan and Egypt are partners in a move to replace Abbas. The planners reportedly hope that this move will lead in the future to negotiations with Israel. However, 200 former Israeli generals believe that Abbas is a partner for negotiations. On Friday, Commanders for Israel's Security called on Israel not to make moves that would harm negotiations with the Palestinians and to make other moves that would help, among them accepting in principle the Arab Peace Initiative and recognizing that E. Jerusalem should be part of a future Palestinian state "when established as part of a future agreement." 
 
This week, thousands of Israelis will simulate the evacuation of their homes in preparation for a potential two-front war with Hamas and Hezbollah. Ynet reported that Israel is also forming civil defense units in Arab and Jewish villages, in light of a possible war with Hezbollah. Last week, Nickolay Mladenov, the UN envoy for the peace process in the Middle East, said an escalation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was a matter of time.
 
Quick Hits:
  • Israeli forces refrain from crowd dispersal weapons use in Bilin protest for first time in 11 years - Witnesses said Israeli forces photographed protesters and attempted to ambush them in order to detain them, but failed to do so. Protesters raised Palestinian flags and marched in the streets chanting songs of unity and resistance. According to Bilin popular committee leader, this shows the 'failure' of the decade-long use of tear gas and other crowd control weapons to suppress the village’s continued struggle against the Israeli occupation. (Maan) 
  • Israeli forces injure 3 Palestinians in weekly protests with rubber bullets, live fire - Three Palestinians were injured and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation as Israeli forces dispersed weekly protests on Friday in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces also deliberately sprayed skunk water on the house of two local families in Kafr Qaddum. (Maan)
  • Israel to release jailed Palestinian astrophysicist Barghouthi after international clamor - Barghouthi, a suspected Hamas member, was put under administrative detention in early May; Over 350 scientists signed a petition calling for his release. (Haaretz+)
  • Two Months Later, Hebron Buries Palestinian Assailant Killed by Israeli Soldier - Abed al Fatah Al-Sharif, shot dead while immobilized by an IDF soldier currently on trial for manslaughter, was laid to rest in Hebron, draped in a Hamas flag. Sgt. Elor Azaria is facing manslaughter charges for shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif. Azaria's family: 'Outrageous, disturbing and sad.' (Haaretz, Maan, Israel Hayom and Maariv) 
  • Neutralized terrorist shot by Elor Azaria buried amidst cries for revenge -  (Ynet) 
  • Judge shoots down discrimination claim by Israeli soldier accused of killing Palestinian - Lt. Col. Ronen Shor says case has no similarity to instances in which Israeli authorities also shot and killed Palestinian assailants. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israel returns body of 17-year-old Palestinian girl killed after alleged stab attack - The body of 17-year-old Sawsan Daoud Ali Mansour was turned over to her family at the al-Jib military checkpoint north of Jerusalem, and taken in a Palestinian ambulance to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah where dozens of people from her hometown village of Biddu were waiting. They lifted her body and marched in the hallways of the medical complex chanting slogans in condemnation of Israel. (Maan)
  • Installation of asbestos ridden parts into IDF tanks continues - Before leaving office, former Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon wrote to outgoing Minister Environmental Protection Avi Gabai that IDF cannot afford to halt installation of asbestos replacement parts in tanks and APCs, saying no alternative exists. (Ynet)
  • External Oversight of Israeli Prisons, Detention Centers Could Be Axed - Reports by external oversight bodies have pointed to violations of basic human rights in detention facilities. (Haaretz+) 
  • With the young woman whose skull a policeman broke: “We pleaded for mercy and he screamed and threatened" - Journalist Gabi Gazit spoke with the mother of the 19-year-old that was tasered by a police officer and suffered a skull fracture and bruising. "Instead of an ambulance, he handcuffed her, instead of to the hospital, he took her to the police station." The girl’s mother said she had informed the army numerous times that she was becoming religious and therefore wasn’t going to be drafted. (Maariv/103FM) 
  • UN demands Israel pay restitution for 1996 Qana shelling - U.N. Fifth Committee urges Israel to pay compensation of $1.17 million for 1996 shelling of UNIFIL compound in Qana, a Hezbollah-controlled village in south Lebanon. Israel's envoy to the U.N. Danny Danon says Israel will not comply with the demand. (Israel Hayom)
  • UNIFIL: Watchtowers on the border will be used by Lebanese military only - Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano told Ynet that new towers, which were erected in Southern Lebanon in a short amount of time and have caused concern in Israel, will be used for observation only; he further stated that they will not fall into the hands of Hezbollah. (Ynet) 
  • Israeli Policy Is Not to Build in West Bank Settlements, Housing Minister Says - Speaking to a closed meeting with the heads of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Minister Yoav Galant said he was following the policy of the government not to build in the West Bank, “but I am not the only one with the ability to build,” he added. Galant said the government must take diplomatic initiative in the West Bank even without a Palestinian partner. (Haaretz+)
  • Palestinian PM: Israel's demolition orders against West Bank water wells 'atrocious' - “Israel uses every means possible to chase Palestinians away from their ancestral land,” Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said. "Water is life, and if you don't have water you cannot exist." Last week, Israel handed out demolition notices for four water wells and agricultural structures in the village of Qusra. (Maan)
  • Revealed: Defense establishment experimenting on animals - In 2015, 400 mice, 168 rats, 25 sheep, 20 pigs used in defense-related experiments. The Israeli Society for the Abolition of Vivisection: "Animals should not have to suffer for our sake. ... We demand transparency and an end to hiding information." (Israel Hayom)
  • Anti-BDS conference to be held at UN - Over 1,500 students and representatives from dozens of anti-boycott organizations will take part in Tuesday’s international gathering at the General Assembly. (Ynet) 
  • *Roni Daniel is not afraid of the storm over his statements: "There are signs of fascism here" - Speaking on a panel on Channel 2, the Channel 2 News’ Military affairs commentator spoke about the numerous comments following his earlier statement on live TV that his children have no future in Israel, saying he agreed with IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan who said there were trends in Israel similar to those of Germany in the ‘30’s. "This country is sliding down a slippery slope in all areas, but I have no other country… It hurts when you see our country being run as it is being run, for example against minorities." Daniel expressed anger at the criticism he received for his statements, saying: “Instead of condemning and arguing, maybe you should start fixing, because there is some truth in (what I have said)." (Maariv)
  • Netanyahu's condemnation of alleged rape by Palestinians sparks backlash - Zionist Camp MK Shelly Yacimovich accuses the prime minister of exploiting the incident for incitement. (Haaretz+) 
  • Ministers reject Netanyahu's claims about their travel - Ministers, who served alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between 2003-2005, say that his allegations that they also received foreign funding for their travel are patently false; former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz says, 'I never traveled with foreign funding from any group.' (Ynet) 
  • Netanyahu's lawyer likens 'lies' told about the prime minister's wife to blood libel - On the line with David Shimron, lawyer of the prime minister and his wife, about this week's state comptroller's report on the Netanyahus' expense reports. (Haaretz+) 
  • **Israeli Arab Ballerina Takes Crown in Israel's First Transgender Beauty Pageant - Ta'alin Abu Hanna will go on to represent Israel in Miss Trans Star International pageant in Spain. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
  • Comedy tour benefiting bereaved families and victims of terror kicks off - Bar-Ilan University’s creative writing conference marks 10th anniversary of founder's passing; Diplomatic Spouses of Israel raises more than $6,000 for school serving children of migrant workers, asylum seekers. (Haaretz)
  • Health Minister: Medical interns are right - Minister Yakov Litzman came out in support of the interns’ complaints of overlong work shifts, which they say are harming patient care. He claims the Israel Medical Association is responsible for rectifying the situation. (Ynet)
  • Israel missing opportunity to have ambassador at the Olympics - Analysis: With the Brazilian president suspended from power and her temporary replacement known as a friend to Israel, Jerusalem is missing an opportunity to station an ambassador in Brasilia. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Jewish pilgrims mark Lag Ba'omer on Tunisian island - Amid fears of religious violence, southern island of Djerba hosts annual Jewish pilgrimage under unprecedented security. Some 2,000 Jews gather at ancient Ghriba synagogue to mark holiday. Rabbi: Site a symbol of tolerance between Muslims and Jews. (Israel Hayom)
  • Rabbi wanted for sex crimes to be extradited to Israel - Shuvu Banim leader Eliezer Berland spent three years on the run from Israeli police, but will now be sent back after arrest in South Africa. (Haaretz+) 
  • Refugee camp committees to 'indefinitely' shut down UNRWA West Bank offices - The popular committees of the Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank have decided to escalate protests measures against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in response to changes made by UNRWA to the food distribution system in the camps. (Maan) 
  • Members of international community urge Hamas to stop planned executions in Gaza - Amnesty International remained uncertain of the exact number of executions that had been approved, but cited that on May 20, senior Hamas official and PLC member Khalil al-Hayya implied that 13 people convicted of murder, mostly in connection with armed robberies, had exhausted their appeals, and were therefore set to be executed. (Maan) 
  • U.K. Labour Party Reinstates Member Who Accused Jews of Financing Slave Trade - Jackie Walker's case is the first reinstatement of a number of Labour Party members who have been suspended over allegations of anti-Semitic rhetoric. (Haaretz)
  • U.K.'s Corbyn Criticized for Not Replying to Israel's Herzog About anti-Semitism Crisis - British Labour MPs are 'shocked' their party hasn't responded to Israeli Labor leader Isaac Herzog's letter. (Haaretz) 
  • Report: U.K. Student Leader Bouattia Was Investigated for anti-Semitism Year Before 'Zionist Media' Remark
  •  - An internal investigation by the NUS found Malia Bouattia guilty of misconduct a year before her election as president, but stated that 'it was satisfied... that it was not Malia's intention to be anti-Semitic.' (Haaretz) 
  • Clinton appointee seeks to change Democratic Party's platform on Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Rep. Luis Gutierrez is reportedly working together with Sanders' appointees to change platform to show more sympathy to Palestinians. (Haaretz) 
  • Sunni Politicians in Iraq Condemn Visit by Iranian General Soleimani to Fallujah - Visit by al-Quds commander could fuel sectarian tension, three lawmakers say; 'Soleimani's presence is suspicious and a cause for concern.' (Agencies, Haaretz) 

Features:
What motivates a Gazan to dig a tunnel
Paid for their efforts with a monthly salary, more and more Gazans take part in Hamas’ effort to reach Israel and carry out acts of terrorism; three recently captured in Israel explain their reasoning and motivations. (Oded Shalon & Ilana Curiel, Yedioth Friday magazine) 
Patients dying, left seriously disabled as Israeli doctors exhausted from work overload
As surgeons are required to work as many as 36 hours, whistleblowers share their experiences of falling asleep at the operating table, providing incorrect medcaton; 'The young boy I treated is now disabled in half of his body.' (Rotem Elizera, Yedioth/Ynet)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Israel’s Government Is Battered Only One Year In (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) In one week two ministers resigned, an Yisrael Beiteinu MK refused to join the coalition, and Naftali Bennett is mocking Benjamin Netanyahu openly.  
68 years: The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? (Yuval Diskin, Yedioth/Ynet) Former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin writes of his respect for Moshe Ya'alon and his disappointment with Lieberman and Netanyahu's defense credentials; 'Israel is sliding down the slippery slope.'
Netanyahu, the new voice of restraint in the Israeli government? (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Security remains Netanyahu's chief electoral asset, the one that has kept him in office election after election. And right now especially sensitive leadership is needed, because Israel faces sensitive situations on several fronts. 
On Ramadan alert (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Jerusalem Day and the implementation of a plan to allow 30,000 more Palestinians to work in Israel will coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, always sensitive from a security standpoint. Is Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman up to the challenge? 
How the affair that could have destroyed Netanyahu’s political career was buried (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) The journalist who broke the ‘Bibi-Tours’ story in 2011 details how a potentially damning report into the prime minister’s travel arrangements between 2003-2005 suffered delay after delay by figures close to the premier. 
The friendly loathers (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) A little bit of humor, a lame apology, and Netanyahu and Lieberman are together again. However, the mutual loathing between them is palpable still, and every honeymoon has its end.
It's all about public relations (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) If you read the latest comptroller's report you will be stunned to find, despite the blaring headlines, that it contains no mention of any suspicion of any crimes committed by Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was thrown in to ensure the report's shelf life. 
The difference between "Bibitours" and the [corruption] affairs of other politicians (Ben Caspit, Maariv) In ‘Bibitours’ there is material for at least three criminal investigations, not to mention the rest of the wanton trips taken by the Netanyahu couple. But the prime minister has taken preemptive actions and took control over key positions of the people who are supposed to supervise over him. 
What happened to our forces? (Amos Regev, Israel Hayom) The ongoing scandal over the Hebron shooting shows what a single bullet can do when the top military echelon lacks a sense of proportion.
Israel's Next War in Gaza Is Becoming a Self-fulfilling Prophecy (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The volatile situation in the Gaza Strip could be the first security test Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government has to face. 
The future is bright (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) With pride, strength and determination, the people of Israel have established a powerful nation of global significance. And we are only getting stronger.
What is happening in Umm al-Fahm? (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) Umm al-Fahm is the hometown of Raed Salah and delectable Arabic delights; a number of underprivileged women and children are living in the city as well, and the Islamic Movement is profiting off their suffering. 
Tunisia Could Be on Verge of New Revolution: Separating Religion and Politics (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of country's leading Islamic party, talks of a 'Muslim democracy' instead of theocracy, and shows that Arab Spring need not necessarily bring extremist movements to power. 
The day after Abbas (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) The coming transition in Palestinian (and American) politics presents an opportunity to reset the diplomatic table.
 
 
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.

Recent Entries