APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday August 11, 2016
While News Nosh's Israel editor is on vacation, 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, we are publishing an abbreviated version produced in Washington and therefore it may be sent later in the day.
Quote of the day:
"All Israeli citizens are paying for the expropriation of land for a small number of settlers, who move into Palestinian areas which none of the world recognizes as Israeli territory.”
"All Israeli citizens are paying for the expropriation of land for a small number of settlers, who move into Palestinian areas which none of the world recognizes as Israeli territory.”
- Jerusalem Councilwoman Laura Wharton
Front Page:
Haaretz
- As Erdogan cracks down on free press, journalists leave dire warning as they flee
- Jerusalem City Hall okays land grab from Palestinian neighborhood for Synagogue
- The "Palestine" conflict rages over Google Maps
- Netanyahu accuses reporters of ignoring lies against him
Israel Hayom
- Bravo to Israel for finally taking action against BDS
- PM mulls revising law that allows secret recordings
- UNDP wants speedy justice for official accused of helping Hamas
- Judoka dedicates Olympic medal to 1972 Munich massacre victims
Times of Israel
- Security forces hunting attacker in East Jerusalem stabbing
- Turkey's parliament to ratify Israel deal before end of month
- Romania issues arrest warrant for fugitive Israeli "spy"
- Zionist Union implodes, Yesh Atid soars in the latest polls
Ynet News
- Racist classified ad: "We don't want Ethiopian women"
- Salmonella, Brucella outbreaks lead to recall, hospitalization
- Israel admits to building homes on private Palestinian land
- Jewish man lightly-to-moderately hurt in stabbing at At-tur
News Summary:
Jerusalem's planning committee has approved the expropriation of 1.2 dunams (0.3 acres) of Palestinian owned land to construct a synagogue for the Nof Zion settlement in East Jerusalem, which is surrounded by the Palestinian village of Jabal Mukkaber. The Jerusalem municipality released a statement claiming the land in question was part of the settlement, construction would not affect Jabal Mukkaber, and that they were intending to build public buildings for both the residents of Nof Zion and Jabal Mukkaber. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the surrounding area have no classrooms, public parks, or other community services, and they are consistently denied construction permits.
Two surveys released today show a decline in support for the Zionist Union, an increase in support for Yesh Atid, and a general rise of the right-wing. Zionist Union MK Merav Michaeli admits the party is in crisis and attributes this to infighting between Issac Herzog and Shelly Yachimovich.
PM Netanyahu talks about revising the one-party-consent law that allows individuals to secretly record meetings/conversations they participate in, to instead require two-party consent. "Such an amendment could have far-reaching ramifications, including in cases involving sexual harassment, public corruption, or illegal termination of employment, as many legal proceedings in such cases are based on secretly recorded conversations." Netanyahu says this amendment would exclude police operations.
Quick Hits:
- Israelis have likely eaten salmonella-tainted tehina, a sesame-seed paste that is ubiquitous to Israeli cuisine, the CEO of a major producer of hummus and tehina products said. (Times of Israel)
- Court orders striking Hadassah doctors back to work. Other public hospitals remain on a weekend footing to protest Finance Ministry reforms. (Times of Israel)
- An 80-floor office high-rise has been approved for Tel-Aviv. The building will be one of four high-rises in the northeast corner of the Kirya Defense Ministry headquarters. (Globes)
- The Haredi population is expected to surpass the Arab population by 2050. In an annual survey of Israel’s Haredi community, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, Israel’s Haredi population is likely to surge past the country’s Arab population by mid-century, which could radically alter Israeli politics, the economy, and the relationship between religion and state. (Arutz Sheva)
- Ben-Gurion Airport enjoyed its busiest July ever - a record number of Israelis flew abroad in July while arrivals by foreign travelers were down 2%. (Haaretz)
- Israel releases Jerusalemite girl after five months in prison for knife possession. Also the Ma’an News Agency is reporting that Israeli settler bulldozers have uprooted 500 olive tree in the village of Iskala in eastern Salfit. (Maan)
- The Times of Israel features the story of Michael Levin, the Philadelphia-born lone soldier - a serviceman or woman with no immediate family in Israel - who was killed 10 years ago in the Second Lebanon War. Two thousand people attended Michael Levin's funeral in Israel. He brought attention to the IDF's lone soldiers and inspired thousands of others to join. As his teacher put it, his death "radically changed the way Jews thinks about sacrifice, Zionism, and Israel." (Times of Israel)
- In response to the recent poll that shows the decline of public support for the left, Ari Shavit (Haaretz reporter) introduces his audience to a new ruling elite that he refers to as the religious avant-garde. "The religious avant-garde worked by the good old system of one more dunam and one more goat. Thus, gradually, they established an elite, and have become the almost sole elite. They have turned the knitted kippa into the new hegemony." (Haaretz)
- The Wall Street Journal talks about the hardships Palestinian workers face finding routes into Israel in the context of an increase in the number of Palestinians the government is allowing to work legally in Israel. The planned increase in work permits comes along with an crackdown on border security and efforts to fill the gaps in the separation barrier. (Wall Street Journal)