APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday August 4, 2016
While News Nosh's Israel editor is on vacation during the holidays, we are publishing an abbreviated version produced in Washington and therefore it may be sent later in the day.
While News Nosh's Israel editor is on vacation during the holidays, we are publishing an abbreviated version produced in Washington and therefore it may be sent later in the day.
Quote of the day:
"I wonder what Jabotinksy would think about the commissar of culture who silences everyone who thinks differently from her."
"I wonder what Jabotinksy would think about the commissar of culture who silences everyone who thinks differently from her."
- Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Black Lives Matter endorses BDS: Israel is 'Apartheid State'
- Israeli forces who threw Palestinian girl's bike claim they did it to protect her
- Israel, US say progress made in military aid talks, agreement expected soon
- Former Israeli banker who embezzled $65 million granted early release
Israel Hayom
- Humanitarian aid official gave charity funds to Hamas
- PM shaken by video of Palestinian protestor urging soldiers to shoot his son
- Jabotinsky memorial at Knesset turns ugly
- Israeli authorities demolish homes of Sarona terrorists
Haaretz
- Israeli minister: Gaza likely turned blind eye to terror funding
- Suspected Jewish extremists attack Palestinian goatherd, start fires
- Israeli woman among wounded in deadly London stabbing spree
- Turkey issues arrest warrant for cleric accused of coup plot
Ynet News
- MEP setting up pro-West Bank caucus in European Parliament
- Yazidi refugees and IsraAID hold memorial ceremony on anniversary of start of genocide
- Parole board rejects Katsav's release request for second time
- Modi'in to become a smart city
News Summary:
Lawyers for the two Border Police, under review for taking a Palestinian girl's bike and throwing it in the bushes, claim they did so for her own protection - "unable to communicate with her in Arabic, they took away her bicycle to prevent her from risking crossing into the Jewish neighborhood" lawyers Oron Schwartz and Yogev Narkis said. Meanwhile, others point to cruelty evident in the video and the 8 year old girl's mother emphasizes the trauma her daughter experienced.
Early this morning, Israeli troops demolished the homes of the two Palestinian terrorists who opened fire and killed four people in the Sorona Market. Both are currently in custody and awaiting trial for murder. “There is reason to believe that there was an environment in the houses where the attackers lived, encouraging them, in one way or another, to be involved in security crimes against Israelis,” the decision read.
On Monday, the Black Lives Matter coalition released a platform - their first comprehensive document addressing US federal policies - that endorses BDS and condemns the US as complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people. The section relating to Israel is credited to Adalah - the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
Quick Hits:
- Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, says that it has arrested a senior employee of the international charity World Vision saying that he siphoned millions of dollars, targeted for humanitarian purposes, to Hamas. Mohammed Halabi funneled at least $50 million to Hamas who used the funds to build tunnels and buy arms. (The Daily Star)
- A German appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling by canceling the fine to the extreme right-wing politician Hans Puschel for trivialization of the Holocaust and glorifying Nazi crimes. (JTA)
- Syrian president Bashar al-Assad wants Israel’s support. He told Vladmir Putin when recently visiting that he would assure quiet on Israel’s border. (Globes)
- Ysoscher Katz, Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, writes an op-ed for The Forward newspaper titled “We won’t give up on Israel, even if American Jewish Historians do.” He writes, "a Jewish state is by definition a complex philosophical organism. It is an idea whose essence hovers dangerously close to racism, xenophobia and discrimination. Only a dedicated warrior corps can ensure that the boundary that separates legitimate self-definition from discriminatory essentialism stays intact.” (The Forward)
- Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon has unveiled new tax cuts for high-tech companies in Israel. This was in response to previous criticism that government conduct was hurting this important sector of Israel’s economy. (Globes)
- In a New York Times op-ed, Shmuel Rosner talks about how "Israel's Modern-Orthodox Jews Came out of the Closet." He discusses the growing tolerance in the larger Modern-Orthodox community in the wake of hate speech from parts of the rabbinical establishment, notably Rabbi Yigal Levenstein. (New York Times)