News Nosh 06.21.16

by APN 06/21/16
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday June 21, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"Can one say the segment of Israeli society concentrated mainly in the occupied territories, trying to achieve an ethnic cleansing of Arabs, is marginal and hasn’t found its way to the centers of Israeli power?"
--Israeli Historian Daniel Blatman answers his colleague Gadi Taub’s statement that what is happening in Israel is not fascism and bears no resemblance to Germany just before the Nazis came to power.**

Breaking News:
IDF shoots Palestinian boy dead in 'misidentification' on West Bank road
After three people in an Israeli car on a Highway 443 were lightly injured from stones thrown at their car, IDF forces identified a Palestinian car on the opposite side of the road and opened fire on it, killing one of the Palestinian youth inside and seriously injuring the other four. Initially, Israeli media reported that Mahmoud Raafat Badran, 15, from the village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, who was killed, was a ‘terrorist’ stone-thrower and not a bystander. IDF is opening an investigation. (Ynet, Maariv, Israel Hayom and Maan)

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • The victory of the parents – Following Yedioth’s expose - subsidized summer camp for children in periphery and poor neighborhoods
  • Labor party scouts: “Yedioth” helps you find work in the summer vacation
  • The report that sparked a war in the police
  • “Prohibit publishing the names of the witnesses in the trial of the Shooting Soldier (Elor Azariya)”
  • Lieberman at the Pentagon
  • Starting next week: Maternity leave also for fathers
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
  • The best females to the F-35 – Israeli pride: four additional women expected to wear pilot wings at end of course
  • Contacts for a Rivlin-Abu Mazen meeting in Brussels
  • “Prohibit publishing the names of the witnesses in the trial of the soldier (Elor Azariya)”
  • Holiday for big kids, summer camp for little ones
  • Two days to the national referendum, highest tension in Britain: Change in the polls – advantage to those supporting staying (in EU)
  • Today: Fateful hearing for Brig. Gen. Buchris, suspected of rape
  • Enormous fraud: 19 arrested on suspicion of laundering 200 million shekels

News Summary:
Two Israeli ministers want Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to close the military aid deal with the US, IDF military prosecution requested that the names of those testifying in the case against the ‘Shooting Soldier from Hebron,’ Elor Azariya, not be made public and the Foreign Ministers of the European Union voted in support of the French Peace Initiative while Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was in Brussels and moves were in the make for a meeting between him and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, Israel said it would ratify the nuclear non-proliferation act ‘when the time was right.’
 
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon told Netanyahu to accept the US aid package and sources told the Israeli media that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also wants to close the deal and that an agreement could be reached soon. Lieberman is presently in Washington discussing the military aid deal with the Americans and, interestingly, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter gave Lieberman the perks, putting a Pentagon plane at his disposal.)

Due to the incitement and physical threats against Major Tom Na'aman, the company commander of Elor Azariya, who testified against Azariya in court, the military prosecutor has requested that the names of all witnesses testifying in the case be withheld. Netanyahu finally spoke out against the threats and demonization saying: “There is no room for this kind of belligerence.” Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog responded saying cynically: “How surprising it is that the Prime Minister has not yet phoned up Maj. Naaman's parents.” Netanyahu had called Azariya’s parents after the same Israelis attacking Naaman attacked the military brass for detaining him and speaking out against what he did: shoot in the head and kill a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant. Haaretz’s military analyst Amos Harel wrote that Netanyahu ‘took his time’ to speak out against the incitement and that "the tone of his remarks to his Likud party was that of someone half-heartedly fulfilling an obligation."
 
As expected, and despite Israel’s best efforts, EU foreign ministers endorsed the French peace initiative and called for a Mideast peace summit by the year's end. Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister told Haaretz+ that indeed, none of EU foreign ministers had any objections to the French initiative.
 
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is visiting the European Union Parliament where he will be speaking tomorrow. Rivlin complained about increasing BDS in Europe, Belgian Prime Minister pledged to fight anti-Semitism. Meanwhile, the President of the EU Parliament is trying to coordinate a meeting between Rivlin and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas. Rivlin has reportedly agreed, but Abbas has yet to respond. Abbas will address the Parliament on Thursday. Netanyahu gave his blessing to the meeting.
 
Netanyahu told a visiting UN official that Israel will ratify the nuclear test ban treaty depending on the ‘regional context.’ (Also Maariv and Israel Hayom)
 
Quick Hits:
  • Funeral held for Palestinian shot by Israeli forces in Sair village - 22-year-old Arif Sharif Jaradat, who had Down Syndrome, died Sunday after succumbing to a live bullet wound he sustained last month when Israeli forces shot him when clashes erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youth after Israeli forces raided the village. (Maan)
  • Israel Admits Cutting West Bank Water Supply, but Blames Palestinian Authority - Israel says region's intense heatwave combined with Palestinian Water Authority's refusal to approve additional infrastructure had led to 'old and limited pipes being unable to transfer all the water needed.' (Haaretz)
  • Defense Ministry official: Israel, like other countries, exports arms not only to democracies - Israel does not transfer arms to countries in which genocide is taking place, head of the defense export control agency says. 'We take human rights very seriously.' (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli conscientious objector sentenced to sixth term in military lock-up - Tair Kaminer will have served 170 days in military prison when her current term ends. Omri Baranes, another conscientious objector, handed 30-day sentence. (Haaretz)
  • 65 Palestinian prisoners begin hunger strike - The decision was in protest against Israel's decision to send PFLP-affiliated prisoner Bilal Kayid to administrative detention without trial for six months, after he was expected to be released after completing a 14-year prison sentence. (Maan) 
  • Israeli forces detain 16 Palestinians across West Bank, including mother and children - Among the detainees were a journalist, as well as a woman along with her son and daughter. (Maan) 
  • Israeli forces close main road to Nablus-area town - Israeli forces reportedly closed the main road to the northern occupied West Bank town of Zaatara south of Nablus after midnight Sunday, locals told Ma’an in "response to repeated rock attacks" at settler vehicles which travel on the nearby bypass road. (Maan)
  • Israeli forces demolish structures, assault locals in West Bank village - Four people were injured and 26 Palestinians were left homeless on Sunday afternoon after Israeli forces assaulted locals and demolished Palestinian structures in the village of Susiya in the southern occupied West Bank, in what activists said was an unprecedented move to carry out a demolition during the holy month of Ramadan. (Maan)
  • Right-wing Israelis tour Aqsa as Israel bans Fatah official from the compound - More than 60 Israelis toured the compounded escorted by six Israeli intelligence officers, said witnesses, adding that a “heated argument” broke out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police officers. (Maan)
  • Israeli minister suggests offshore seaport for Gaza - Transportation minister Yisrael Katz's plan calls for an eight square kilometer island linked to Gaza by a five-kilometer bridge. The island, estimated to cost $5 billion, would include a port and perhaps a future airport as well. (Agencies, Ynet) 
  • Israel extends Gaza fishing zone for Ramadan and due to 'abundance of fish' - The decision is remain effective until June 26, after which the zone will presumably be reduced back to six miles. (Maan) 
  • Israeli minister justifies security 'profiling' hailed by Trump - 'Ultimately these (security) apparatuses... must build a profile of characteristics as to where the danger comes from and locate it,' Yisrael Katz tells foreign reporters. (Haaretz)
  • After controversy abates, Baratz to be named adviser to PM - Ran Baratz, who apologized for derogatory Facebook posts about President Reuven Rivlin and U.S. leaders that sparked an outcry in November, will soon take up a position as a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Maariv writes this could cause problems with President Rivlin. (Israel Hayom and Maariv, p. 1)
  • Culture minister tells Ethiopians she's 'proud to be black' - Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev [who is Mizrachi – OH] tells audience at ceremonial launch of Center for the Legacy of Ethiopian Jewry that government is "making a historic correction" to its treatment of Ethiopian immigrants, who have been "discriminated against." (Israel Hayom) 
  • Israel engaging with J Street in bid to counter BDS on U.S. campuses - In battle against boycott 'there is no left or right,' says strategic affairs minister in unusual meeting with Israeli representative of leftist group. (Haaretz+) 
  • Settler advocacy group urges British Israelis to 'leave' EU - Regavim calls European Union policies toward Israel "aggressive and destructive," says EU aid money finds its way to Palestinian terrorists, and that EU funds also go to underwrite illegal Palestinian construction in Judea and Samaria. (Israel Hayom) 
  • Israel-Hamas Conflict Becomes Hot Question in Hollywood Insurance Row - Universal had to move shooting of Dig miniseries from Israel to New Mexico because of Hamas' rockets in 2014. But its insurer refused to cover extra expenses, saying it views Hamas' actions as war, not terrorism. (Haaretz) 
  • The [kidnapped] Yemenite children affair: Five MKs revealed their stories: "The country betrayed us" - The Knesset Constitution and Law Committee discussed the demand to reveal the protocols of the investigation into the disappearance of Yemenite children [from their homes in Israel by Israeli authorities who gave them to Ashkenazi families that couldn’t bear children – OH]. Among the MKs that exposed their personal connection to the affair was Yossi Yonah: "The day after the child became health, they said she died." (Maariv) 
  • Israel Sends Airtankers to Fight Massive Fires in Cyprus - Forest fires were mostly under control late Monday, as water bombers from Greece and Israel and British helicopters were assisting in the firefighting effort. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
  • ‘Commercial airliners are exposed to cyber attacks' - The head of Israel Aerospace Industry's cyber divisions explain that not only are airplanes susceptible to cyber attacks, but so are critical airport systems; More needs to be done to mitigate these threats to travelers. (Yedioth/Ynet) 
  • Former Israeli president Shimon Peres meets Pope Francis in the Vatican - 'Together we will be a voice for peace and against hatred and terror in the name of God,' the Pope told Peres. (i24 News and Maariv, p. 8)
  • Irving Moskowitz, American patron of settlement enterprise, buried in Jerusalem - Jewish philanthropist Irving Moskowitz died in Miami Thursday at age 88 and was buried Monday on the Mount of Olives in E. Jerusalem. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, eulogized him: "He was among the first to contribute to the development of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem from the understanding of its importance." Maariv's Karni Eldad wrote: "His support changed the map of the capital and renewed Jewish settlement in neighborhoods that were completely Arab for many years. This is how Ir David, Kfar Hashiloach, Maaleh Zeitim, Nof Tzion and Beit Orot Yeshiva and the neighborhood adjacent to it were established, all in East Jerusalem." (NRG Hebrew, Israel Hayom, JPost and Maariv, p. 14)
  • Bank of Israel Official: Mortgage Costs Rising Dangerously Fast - Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg warns that the financial burden could prompt street protests. (Haaretz+) 
  • On Knesset's busiest day, Speaker ends session early for his wedding - Yuli Edelstein's bureau explains that only a Monday - the busiest day in the plenum - was available at the outdoor location the couple wanted. (Haaretz) 
  • Panel fines Yair Lapid for excessive absences from Knesset - Lapid told ethics committee that he regards representing Israel in international forums and fighting BDS to be 'of prime importance.' (Haaretz+) 
  • MK Lapid: "It is unacceptable that the UN takes American money and uses it for propaganda to destroy Israel" - During a conference of the organization "Shurat HaDin," MK Yair Lapid criticized the conduct of the United Nations and said that "rather than being an organization defending democracy, liberal values and peace in the world, branches of the UN have become the opposite." (Maariv and Times of Israel)
  • Gaza Mechanic Turns Heads With Classic Mercedes Replica - When Munir Shindi spotted a 1927 Mercedes Gazelle for the first time, he knew he had to have one. So he built one from scratch in his Gaza City workshop. (Agencies, Haaretz) 
  • Turkey Arrests Journalists for Disseminating 'Terrorist Propaganda' - Reporters Without Borders' Erol Onderoglu, journalist Ahmet Nesin and academic Sebnem Korur Fincanci, had participated in a solidarity campaign for Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish publication subject to multiple investigations and lawsuits. (Agencies, Haaretz) 
  • Israel -Turkey relations may warm up over gas deal - After years of tension, Israel and Turkey may be headed toward normalizing relationships; Change of heart appears to be based less on ideology and more on shared economic interests, as both stand to profit from Israel's gas reserves. (Agencies, Ynet) 
  • Spanish Village Formerly Known as 'Kill Jews Town' Twins With Israeli Town - Kfar Vradim in northern Israel hosted officials from Castrillo Mota de Judios, or Castrillo Jews’ Hill, for a ceremony to make the relationship official. (JTA, Haaretz) 
  • Iran says it has finalized deal to buy 100 Boeing airliners - Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, says Boeing has submitted official request to U.S. Treasury to approve plane sales and "final contract is to be signed between two sides after license has been obtained." (Agencies, Israel Hayom) 
  • Iran Claims to Have Thwarted 'Biggest Terrorist Plot' Ever - Islamic republic claims the suspects have been arrested and bombs and ammunition were seized. (Agencies, Haaretz) 

Features:
Ramadan Tours in Israel Give Boost to Arab Tourism
A nonprofit uses the holiday to acquaint Jewish Israelis with the sites and food of the country’s Muslim minority. (Rina Rozenberg, Haaretz+) 
"This is your dream": Open University makes higher education accessible to minorities in academia
In recent years, the number of Arab and Bedouin students studying for degrees at the Open University has almost doubled. The relatively flexible studies conducted in part at home, also allow religious young women to study at the institution. (Yuval Bango, Maariv) 
Reframing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as a Civil War
In his provocative new book, Enzo Traverso proposes not only considering World Wars I and II as a single conflict, but also framing them as an extended European civil war, rather than a global struggle; can the same concept be applied to the Middle East? (Nitzan Lebovic, Haaretz)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Turkey and Israel, Sister States in Eroding Democracy (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Erdogan and Netanyahu’s governments are in harmony over the need to subordinate democracy to the service of the regime. But Erdogan knows how to get the job done.
Breaking the rules in the Hebron soldier trial (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) It has become clear that if the manner in which the trial is conducted does not suit a particular group - then they break the rules and threaten the witnesses. For IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkot, the norm expected of IDF officers and soldiers is telling the truth, and any attempt to exert pressure on those involved in the legal process deserve harsh condemnation. 
**The Rights and Wrongs of Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany (Daniel Blatman, Haaretz+) Can my colleague Gadi Taub state with certainty that Israel doesn’t provide the conditions that could lead to an attempt at ethnic cleansing? 
Why the officer who fired "a barrage of honor" at a Gazan medical clinic should have been given a medal of honor ([settler] Karni Eldad, Maariv) Instead of giving a medal to Lt. Col. Yeshurun, the JAG recommended reprimanding him and thus further raised the wall separating the combatants and the officials and between the nation and the establishment.
Ten years of lessons learned (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) It has been nearly a decade since the capture of Gilad Shalit and the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War. Has the IDF learned from its past mistakes, and will it be able to bring a decisive victory in the next round of fighting?
Pretending to play: We need to say the truth, we are not a strong democracy (Revital Amiran, Maariv) The Justice Minister can talk about "super-democracy," but political takeover of state institutions demonstrates that we have here a pseudo-democracy. 
Why Ehud Barak Should Be Israel's Next Prime Minister (Tal Niv, Haaretz+) The former Labor Party leader represents the way Israelis want to see themselves: militaristic, financially successful, straight-talking and not too spoiled. 
The Left's intolerance for dissent (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) ideologically, it has now turned to a campaign of personal vitriol.
It is divided: Only the division of the capital will prevent the pitfalls of racism, violence and global isolation (Dr. Shaul Arieli, Maariv) Opponents of the ‘Movement to Save Jewish Jerusalem’ are simply reluctant to part from the land. Their policies could lead us into the abyss of violence and global isolation. 
President Rivlin Is Israel’s Only Opposition to Extremism (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) In recognizing that you don’t need to be a Zionist in order to be Israeli, Reuven Rivlin proved himself a shining light in a dingy democracy.
Don't rest on your laurels (Zalman Shoval, Israel Hayom) The Israeli government has made considerable strides in foreign affairs, but there are plenty of challenges ahead. 
Israel the Beggar Is Taking Potshots at the U.S. (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) Netanyahu’s lousy relations with Obama are going to cost us hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid and severe damage to the IDF.
Who needs the Saudi Peace plan? (Gilad Sharon, Yedioth/Ynet) The Saudis have come to Israel with a non-negotiable peace plan; Gilad Sharon asks what type of country would concede to demands which put access to Jewish places of worship at risk, and which turns the clock back to 1947.
Between the "Dirty Business" and the appointment of Lieberman: Is someone without any security background fit to serve as defense minister? (Ephraim Ganor, Maariv) The ‘Dirty Business’ [known in English as the ‘Lavon Affair’ occurred in 1954, during the reign of the inexperienced defense minister Pinhas Lavon. It combined intrigues, betrayals and poor planning, leaving more than a few victims. The appointment of Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman raises the issue again. 
Stand Up for Sussia and Against Israel's Demolition of Palestinian Villages (Haaretz Editorial) Settler groups and their lawmakers have been pushing for more demolitions as part of their plan to annex Area C. It's not only Sussia and other villages that are at risk, but the possibility of a Palestinian state itself.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.

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