APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday September 19, 2016
Quote of the day:
“This is bad and dishonest legislation.”
--Likud MK Benny Begin was one of the few Likud MKs who opposed the bill meant to legalize settlement outposts, some of which were built on privately-owned Palestinian land.*
--Likud MK Benny Begin was one of the few Likud MKs who opposed the bill meant to legalize settlement outposts, some of which were built on privately-owned Palestinian land.*
Breaking News:
Two Israel Police Officers Wounded, One Seriously, in Jerusalem Stabbing Attack
In sixth attack in four days, the alleged assailant, Ayman al-Kurd, 20, from the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood of East Jerusalem was shot and critically wounded only after stabbing two police officers multiple times at Old City's Herod's Gate. (Haaretz, Ynet and Maan)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Obama to meet with Netanyahu this week and warn: The situation on the ground is worrying
- The strong man next to the Police Commissioner – the partner of people suspected of crimes and the advisor of politicians
- Explosion in Manhattan put campaign headquarters in US on edge
- Senior official who participated in contacts with the US: Israel lost billions
- In battle over Amona, Likud bypasses Bennett and Lieberman and establishing itself in radical right wing // Yossi Verter
- Senior members of Balad party detained on suspicion that that they fraudulently transferred millions of shekels to the party
- 3 years after animal abuse was exposed at Zoglobeck, and the prosecution is pausing
- Train stations in Tel-Aviv will be closed for eight days due to works
- The path we didn’t take // Rami Livni
Yedioth Ahronoth
- 8 days of disruptions (of trains)
- The Obama plan
- American hazing // Nahum Barnea
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Again: Disruptions of train service
- “We are abandoned” – Wave of attacks renewed and settlers demand that IDF increase security of settlements in Judea and Samaria
- Will they part as friends? Obama and Netanyahu to meet Wednesday
Israel Hayom
- After the agreement: Netanyahu-Obama meeting in New York
- 8 days of (train) disruptions – and making do
- Knife terror: Terrorist infiltrated Efrat, was identified, but managed to stab an officer
- Suspicion of corruption in Balad party: Did they raise funds from enemy states?
News Summary:
A final meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama and another Palestinian stabbing attack in the West Bank against Israeli security forces were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, Netanyahu chastised Social Welfare Affairs Minister Haim Katz for wearing a short-sleeved shirt to the government cabinet meeting. Katz stepped out and returned in minutes wearing a button-down collared shirt.
Yedioth’s Orly Azoulay reported that Obama plans on presenting Netanyahu with a plan to renew diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians. Sources told Azoulay that Obama won’t just talk about two-states, but also about core issues, such as land swaps, the future of Jerusalem and the nature of the final borders.
The recent surge of violence has not abated. An IDF officer was moderately wounded Sunday near Efrat settlement in the fifth attack in three days by young Palestinians against Israeli security forces over the Green Line. Border Police also detained a 12-year-old Palestinian boy allegedly carrying a knife and Molotov Cocktails in the Jordan Valley part of the West Bank. And a Palestinian woman was detained after she threw away a knife after being stopped near Itamar settlement by the settlement’s security officer. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Palestinian youth are making attacks, not because of incitement but "our young people are taking up knives because they have no hope." A Hamas spokesperson said, “Our young people are carrying knives of their own accord, because they belong to a people of resistance ... not because of despair."
Quick Hits:
- Intense talks as Amona outpost eviction deadline looms - Lawmakers hope to avoid clashes as deadline to remove controversial outpost approaches. PM asks lawmakers not to undermine efforts to reach compromise that would relocate residents. MKs on Right concede retroactive approval of community impractical. (Israel Hayom)
- MK Begin: "The (outpost) legalization law is meant to rob and will cast a stain on the country" - Likud MK Benny Begin opposed the 25 Likud MKs who signed a statement expressing support for the law: "This is bad and dishonest legislation.” On the other hand, the chairman of the Yesha Council called to condition the approval for the state budget support on advancing the bill. (Maariv)
- Israeli Arab political party calls fraud allegations ‘political persecution’ - Over 20 Balad party officials arrested in probe of alleged funding cover-up of millions of shekels smuggled from the Arab world by various means, including suitcases filled with cases. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Israel returns body of Jordanian killed by Israeli forces in East Jerusalem - Body of 28-year-old Said Hayil Amr, a native of the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir, was returned to Jordan on Sunday afternoon via the Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank. (Maan)
- Border Police at center of commendations ceremony after rough year of fighting terror - Border Police fighters, who faced countless attacks in the recent wave of terror, account for nearly half of the Israel Police commendation recipients this year. (Ynet)
- Gay Israeli Arab youths thrown lifeline through WhatsApp - No one said coming out in a largely Muslim community was easy, but the group Israel Gay Youth is striving to make it easier with the help of WhatsApp. (Haaretz+)
- Jerusalem to take $93 million loan to address Arab, ultra-Orthodox classroom shortage - The municipality has already crafted a five-year plan to build 2,200 classrooms at a cost of $585 million – especially for Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews. (Haaretz)
- Survey shows one in five Israelis suffer from food insecurity - Survey conducted by the organization Latet reveals that 20% of respondents did not eat balanced meals in the last year and 14% could not buy more food due to economic hardships. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- Divorcing the Palestinians and dining with the Prime Minister: Yair Lapid’s plan for the country - Chairman of Yesh Atid party has presented his 7-point program, which includes a regional move with countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt and the re-establishment of the National Security Council. (Maariv and Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Murder Victim's Family Accuses Police of Botching Probe, Hiding Behind Gag Order - Netanel Arami was providing rappelling services at a construction site when he fell to his death from the 11th floor. Three Palestinians were questioned on suspicion of cutting the cables – but no one was ultimately indicted. Two years later, his family is still waiting for answers. (Haaretz+)
- Abbas meets with Arab officials at Non-Aligned Movement summit in Venezuela - Abbas informed Arab ambassadors of the difficult circumstances in the occupied Palestinian territory amid an escalation of Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians and settlement activity. (Maan)
- Defense aid to Israel won't be limited under Trump, adviser says - "Under a Trump administration, the level of strategic and tactical cooperation between the two countries will be of an unprecedented," David Friedman says. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham vows to push Congress to increase U.S. defense aid to Israel. (Israel Hayom)
- UC Berkeley suspends course promoting anti-Semitic content - Course titled "Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis" canceled after criticism that it was designed to indoctrinate students against Israel. Move follows complaints by Jewish, civil rights and education advocacy groups. (Israel Hayom)
Features:
Tel Aviv’s Hip Pioneers Cast Their Eyes Toward a New Frontier: Haifa
'It’s dangerous for all the young people to concentrate in the "state of Tel Aviv,"' says organizer of new movement. 'It’s a bit pretentious, but we can call it 'pioneering.' (Noa Shpigel, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Hijacked by Right-wing Extremists, Israel's Ruling Party Goes Bonkers Over Illegal Settlement (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Almost all of Likud's 30 Knesset members, ministers and deputy ministers, signed a “petition” to bypass High Court of Justice rulings mandating the evacuation of settlements and outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land
The (Outpost) Legalization bill is undemocratic, unconstitutional - and ridiculous (Adv. Yechiel Gottman, Maariv) No law in the world legalizes the theft of private property. There are red lines not to cross in a democracy.
Israel Must Dismantle the West Bank Settlement of Amona (Haaretz Editorial) If Israel wants to preserve the visage of a law-abiding country, Amona must be dismantled and the proposed legislation to legalize it taken off the agenda.
Did Obama initiate the meeting with Netanyahu to harm Trump? (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) The old friends of the Prime Minister among Republican leaders will not like the meeting which will work in favor of the Democratic Party. So far, the meetings between the two were not displays of affection, and it is likely that it will be the same this time.
Weekend's attacks are just the tip of the iceberg (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The Shin Bet receives warnings of 50-60 potential lone-wolf terrorists at any given time. Meanwhile, there are about 15 terrorist cells in the West Bank that have carried out shooting attacks or are planning attacks in the coming days and during the High Holy Days.
Will the U.S. Stop Importing Israeli Torture Techniques? (Dr. Rachel Stroumsa, Haaretz+) In the wake of Guantanamo, CIA practice exposed and Trump's waterboarding enthusiasm, America had started a conversation about the moral and political costs of torture. Israel hasn't gotten there yet.
The situation in Syria shows that there is no chance that we will continue to hold the Golan Heights (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The world is excluding Israeli from involvement in the arrangement in Syria. But the Netanyahu government has its own agenda and the plan is delusional, and won’t succeed in working in the long run.
Israel's Left Barely Exists, While Its Political Center Is Filled With Cowards and Sycophants (Zeev Sternhell, Haaretz) If Israel had a real left, it would say that Zionism was needed to rescue European Jewry, not a campaign to liberate sacred stones.
Brothers in Arms: Netanyahu has a twin brother. His name is Trump (Uri Savir, Maariv) The worldview of the Republican candidate includes sowing fear of enemies, nationalism, contempt for democratic allies and populist demagogy. Remind you of anyone?
Know how to defend, prepare to attack (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Israel's victory in the next war will not come through having a strong homefront and a stalwart civilian population. Israel must deal the enemy a blow from which it will not recover quickly, so that Israel can dictate the terms of a cease-fire.
Israeli Rightists Should Take Arab MK's Facbook Attack on Peres as Compliment (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) The former president caused the most damage to the Palestinian people, wrote Ghattas. No wonder Bibi is envious.
US aid package: A strategic missed opportunity (Amos Yadlin, Yedioth/Ynet) A responsible policy would have accepted Obama's invitation to enter a thorough strategic discourse on the Iran deal in which Israel would have pointed at its problems while preparing to deal with its risks; instead, Netanyahu chose to break off contact with the administration and intervene in American politics.
Why Is the U.S. Giving Israel $38 Billion? (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) If America gave Britain or France so much money, people there would wonder what the Americans were up to. Not here; all anyone wants is more.
'It’s dangerous for all the young people to concentrate in the "state of Tel Aviv,"' says organizer of new movement. 'It’s a bit pretentious, but we can call it 'pioneering.' (Noa Shpigel, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Hijacked by Right-wing Extremists, Israel's Ruling Party Goes Bonkers Over Illegal Settlement (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Almost all of Likud's 30 Knesset members, ministers and deputy ministers, signed a “petition” to bypass High Court of Justice rulings mandating the evacuation of settlements and outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land
The (Outpost) Legalization bill is undemocratic, unconstitutional - and ridiculous (Adv. Yechiel Gottman, Maariv) No law in the world legalizes the theft of private property. There are red lines not to cross in a democracy.
Israel Must Dismantle the West Bank Settlement of Amona (Haaretz Editorial) If Israel wants to preserve the visage of a law-abiding country, Amona must be dismantled and the proposed legislation to legalize it taken off the agenda.
Did Obama initiate the meeting with Netanyahu to harm Trump? (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) The old friends of the Prime Minister among Republican leaders will not like the meeting which will work in favor of the Democratic Party. So far, the meetings between the two were not displays of affection, and it is likely that it will be the same this time.
Weekend's attacks are just the tip of the iceberg (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The Shin Bet receives warnings of 50-60 potential lone-wolf terrorists at any given time. Meanwhile, there are about 15 terrorist cells in the West Bank that have carried out shooting attacks or are planning attacks in the coming days and during the High Holy Days.
Will the U.S. Stop Importing Israeli Torture Techniques? (Dr. Rachel Stroumsa, Haaretz+) In the wake of Guantanamo, CIA practice exposed and Trump's waterboarding enthusiasm, America had started a conversation about the moral and political costs of torture. Israel hasn't gotten there yet.
The situation in Syria shows that there is no chance that we will continue to hold the Golan Heights (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The world is excluding Israeli from involvement in the arrangement in Syria. But the Netanyahu government has its own agenda and the plan is delusional, and won’t succeed in working in the long run.
Israel's Left Barely Exists, While Its Political Center Is Filled With Cowards and Sycophants (Zeev Sternhell, Haaretz) If Israel had a real left, it would say that Zionism was needed to rescue European Jewry, not a campaign to liberate sacred stones.
Brothers in Arms: Netanyahu has a twin brother. His name is Trump (Uri Savir, Maariv) The worldview of the Republican candidate includes sowing fear of enemies, nationalism, contempt for democratic allies and populist demagogy. Remind you of anyone?
Know how to defend, prepare to attack (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Israel's victory in the next war will not come through having a strong homefront and a stalwart civilian population. Israel must deal the enemy a blow from which it will not recover quickly, so that Israel can dictate the terms of a cease-fire.
Israeli Rightists Should Take Arab MK's Facbook Attack on Peres as Compliment (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) The former president caused the most damage to the Palestinian people, wrote Ghattas. No wonder Bibi is envious.
US aid package: A strategic missed opportunity (Amos Yadlin, Yedioth/Ynet) A responsible policy would have accepted Obama's invitation to enter a thorough strategic discourse on the Iran deal in which Israel would have pointed at its problems while preparing to deal with its risks; instead, Netanyahu chose to break off contact with the administration and intervene in American politics.
Why Is the U.S. Giving Israel $38 Billion? (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) If America gave Britain or France so much money, people there would wonder what the Americans were up to. Not here; all anyone wants is more.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.