APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday September 27, 2016
You Must Be Kidding:
"He represents courage and presence."
--Parents of newborn explain why they named their son after Elor Azariya, the ‘Shooting Soldier from Hebron,’ who is on trial for shooting dead a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant.**
You Must Be Kidding:
"He represents courage and presence."
--Parents of newborn explain why they named their son after Elor Azariya, the ‘Shooting Soldier from Hebron,’ who is on trial for shooting dead a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant.**
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Senior members of Yisrael Beiteinu will be tried for bribery
- Mafia with a white collar // Gidi Weitz
- IDF held exercise of all-out war against Hezbollah and Hamas, only two of the government cabinet members arrived
- Even before the debate, Trump looked like someone who could win the race // Chemi Shalev
- Contacts to reach arrangement through mediation with Military prosecution and Brig. Gen. Buchris, who is accused of rape
- Attorney General to Tel-Aviv Mayor: You should have prevented the performance at Rabin Square due to the exclusion of women
- Mendelblit to High Court: Hold another hearing about an alternative kosher certificate
- (Governor of Bank of Israel) Flug: Tax on three apartments will lower housing prices – but increase rent
- After 50 years absence, the Yarkon River Fish returned home
- Inappropriate integration (of religious soldiers) // Haaretz Editorial
- Not just for soldiers – archaological park in IDF Headquarters will be opened to public at large
- Netanyahu appealed against revealing his laundry bill
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Frontal debate – Trump or Clinton: This morning we’ll know who won
- Captive audience // Yoaz Hendel in Washington
- Every fourth child in Israel is overweight
- The minister, the bribery and the cocaine – The fall of Staz Miszyinikov
- What was he thinking – A moment before he packs, admit that you never saw the strongest man in the world (Obama) like this
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Head-to-head
- More hungry people ahead of the holidays – rise in 30% for food
- Buchris and the military prosecutor agreed on arbitration
- Miszyinikov and Kirschenbaum will be put on criminal trial
- Senior government official: the contacts to create a unity government continue
Israel Hayom
- When Donald met Hilary
- “Minister with drugs, deputy minister – with bribes”
- Netanyahu vs. Yedioth: “Pravda, not a newspaper”
- Brig. Gen. Buchris agreed to mediation: His associates: “He still denies the accusation of rape”
- Enormous agreement: Israel will export natural gas to Jordan for $10 billion
News Summary:
Today’s Hebrew newspapers were consumed with what would take place at the first US presidential debate and the three latest scandals of high-ranking people: a general accused of rape who has now agreed to a plea bargain - possibly in exchange for dropping the rape charge, and a former minister and a former deputy minister of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s party who are accused of bribery. Meanwhile, the Palestinians slammed both US Presidential candidates for their statements in their meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying, “Palestine is not a bargaining chip for the Jewish vote.” Netanyahu said after his meetings that Israel would remain a non-partisan issue and that US-Israel ties will only grow stronger.
Quick Hits:
- Happy Rosh Hashanah: data finds 186,923 babies born over last Jewish year - The Population Immigration and Border Authority issued new data regarding the general Israeli public; In addition to the number of bouncing babies born in Israel, the report finds that 82,315 Israelis were married and 26,990 new Israelis made Aliyah. (Ynet)
- Israeli settler opens fire at Palestinian youth east of Qalqiliya - According to Israeli media, the Israeli settler responsible for the shooting had claimed that Palestinian youth were throwing rocks at him near the illegal Israeli settlement of Karnei Shomron located just south of the Palestinian village of Kafr Laqif, which he responded to by firing shots into the air. (Maan)
- (Israeli-Palestinian) Autopsy reveals Palestinian prisoner died of heart condition after years of medical neglect in Israeli prison - Initial reports indicated the prisoner, 41-year-old Yasser Thiyab Hamduna, had died of either a stroke or a heart attack. (Maan)
- Muhammad Balboul regaining eyesight after ending hunger strike - Eye specialist Salam Ereqat and members of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, Ahmad Tibi and Osama al-Saadi visited Balboul on Sunday at St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem after the soon-to-be released prisoner received an eye exam. (Maan)
- Israeli Army Probes Claims That Soldiers Assaulted Palestinian Paramedics - In both cases the Palestinians claim that soldiers fired on ambulances that were evacuating wounded people. (Haaretz+)
- 5 Palestinians arrested in security forces' raids on weapon mills - Shin Bet security agency, IDF, police raid multiple locations across Judea and Samaria as part of war against illegal weapons. Forces seize weapons, munitions, explosives, pipe bombs, arms manufacturing equipment, and $40,000 in cash. (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli court sentences Al-Aqsa sheikh to 8 months in prison for 'incitement' - Abu Sara told Ma’an that he was initially detained Jan. 1, 2015 and spent five days in jail. During his detention, he said that Israeli officers interrogated him about a religious lecture he gave at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in November 2014, entitled: “Jewish characteristics in the Holy Quran.” (Maan)
- Netanyahu sues to keep his dirty laundry private - The laundry request is part of a larger request by the Movement for Freedom of Information for details of all state-paid expenses for the family’s private home in Caesarea and official residence in Jerusalem for 2014. (JTA)
- Netanyahu hassled while watching Hamilton on Broadway - A report in The Daily Mail claims Prime Minister Netanyahu’s security entourage was forced to push aside two women who approached him while shouting “Free Palestine,” as he made his way to his seat at the Richard Rogers theater on Broadway before a performance of Hamilton. (Ynet)
- Poverty in Israel: grim figures of the needy on the eve of Rosh Hashana - Aid organizations report a 30% increase in requests for food for the holidays and about 240,000 families live without food security. MK Meir Cohen: "Disparaging treatment of the most serious social problem." (Maariv)
- Israelis dissatisfied with foreign affairs, emphasize ties with Arab countries over BDS - A new survey finds that the Israeli public is not happy with the way the Foreign Ministry—and government in general—have been managing Israel's position in the world; among other issues, it would like Israel to initiate a peace process with the Palestinians and promote relations with Arab countries over countering BDS and the threat from Iran. (Ynet)
- Poll: Lapid’s party leads Likud by four seats - Poll held by Channel One shows that Yesh Atid party wins 25 seats, while Likud gets 21. Zionist Camp loses half its strength and Habayit Hayehudi is strengthened by 5 seats. (Maariv)
- Netanyahu on Yedioth: It's not a newspaper, it's Pravda - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth deliberately twisted remarks he made in a TV interview about calling the parents of Hebron shooter Elor Azaria. PM: Yedioth "absolutely" intended to make false connection. (Israel Hayom)
- Men-only Concert in Tel Aviv Was 'Discriminatory, Disrespects Women,' Legal Official Says - 'Intentionally avoiding women singing at a public event is a discriminatory act,' Dina Zilber wrote Mayor Ron Huldai about the concert, canceled following the backlash. (Haaretz+)
- Defense minister orders funding for IDF Jewish conversion course - "The military is making major efforts to create a good course that is available to every soldier," says Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan. Funds from Defense Ministry will keep Nativ conversion course available to all soldiers. (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli woman becomes live organ donor to save dying Druze man - Timna Gabai Markovich donates kidney specifically to Hamzi Hamza. Transplant successful, Hamza expected to make full recovery. "Donating a kidney was my protest against the radicalization, belligerence, and evil that erode us of late," Markovich says. (Israel Hayom)
- **Couple named their newborn son after (Shooting Soldier) Elor Azariya: "He represents courage and presence" - The parents from Gan Yavne have named their fourth child, who was born nine days ago, after the ‘Shooting Soldier’ [on trial for executing a prone and wounded Palestinian assailant – OH]. The father: "This is my way of supporting him, he is the bulwark of the country." (Maariv)
- Hebron Security Officer at Azaria Trial: As Long as Terrorist Is Alive He's Still Dangerous - The trial of Elor Azaria, the soldier accused of killing a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron, shifts into high gear with four hearings scheduled this week and another seven for next month. (Haaretz+)
- Six of 36 Israeli Arab Party Officials Detained in Fraud Probe Remain in Custody - Police suspect that senior Balad officials systematically transferred millions of shekels to the party’s coffers illegally while committing fraud. (Haaretz+)
- Three more arrested for involvement in Israeli Arab mother’s murder - Four suspects detained on Saturday, including three of her brothers, for alleged role in brutal murder. (Haaretz+)
- Israeli forces demolish room in house of alleged accomplice in Tel Aviv shooting - Yatta municipal council spokesman Abd al-Aziz Abu Fanar said that Israeli forces stormed the al-Hila neighborhood in the morning and demolished one room in the house of Yunis Zain, who is currently in Israeli custody, stands accused by Israeli authorities of being involved in a shooting attack carried out by two of his friends. (Maan)
- Monumental Forgotten Gardens of Petra Rediscovered After 2,000 Years - Cool fountains and a huge pool in mid-desert enabled by strikingly advanced stone-carved irrigation and water storage system. (Haaretz)
- Israeli teen travels Europe in search of Guinness world record - Moran Hadid wants to break a record by traveling to more European destinations than anyone else under the age of 18. (Ynet)
- Israel prevents Palestinian woman from leaving Gaza for cancer treatment - 52-year old Nadia al-Bakri, a women's rights activist in Gaza, has been suffering from breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy, an operation, and radiation treatment at Sheba Medical Center in 2009. Despite Sheba Medical Center’s doctors having scheduled several critical medical appointments due to a deterioration in al-Bakri’s health, Israeli forces have continued to prevent her from leaving the Gaza Strip. (Maan)
- US Jews ‘more pro-choice than pro-Israel,’ new study says - Ruderman Family Foundation report finds most American Jews solidly support Jewish state, but are more invested in their liberal identity. (Times of Israel)
- Saudi Daily Calls on Abbas to Consider Netanyahu's Invitation to Address Knesset - The editorial in the Saudi Gazette cites the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's address to the Knesset in the course of a visit that paved the way for a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. (Haaretz)
- Israel qualifies for its first-ever World Baseball Classic game - Israeli team belts British rivals scoring a 9-1 victory in qualifier held in Brooklyn. Israel has won three games, defeating Brazil and U.K. teams twice. The 16-team pitch for the title of "world champion" will be held in South Korea in March 2017. (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli consortium signs gas deal with Jordan - The Delek group has signed a deal that will see the sale of gas worth approximately $10 billion to Israel's eastern neighbor over a period of 15 years. (Agencies, Ynet and Israel Hayom)
- ISIS in Egypt Kills Five Civilians in Restive Sinai - Men were killed under accusations of collaboration with the Egyptian army. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Iran's supreme leader quashes former president's political hopes - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns that a comeback bid by hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would "polarize the country." Ahmadinejad, who as president threatened to eradicate Israel, is expected to heed Khamenei's advice. (Israel Hayom)
Features:
Jerusalem's tourism in the shadow of terror
After months of knife attacks, shootings and car-rammings in Jerusalem and a renewed surge of violence, has tourism in the capital been adversely affected, and do tourists feel safe in the city? (Eli Mendelbaum, Yedioth/Ynet)
Commentary/Analysis:
IDF Order Prioritizes Religious Soldiers' Feelings Over the Right of Women to Equality (Haaretz Editorial) Religious soldiers must subordinate themselves to the army, not the opposite. That’s how it is in a modern army in a properly run state.
Israel held a 'total war' exercise, but ministers nowhere to be found (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Only two of Israel's ministers showed up for one of IDF's largest and more complex exercises simulating war on all fronts.
Ban Ki-moon’s legacy in Palestine: Failure in words and deed (Ramzy Baroud, Maan) It would be utterly unfair to pin the blame for the UN's unmitigated failure to solve world conflicts or obtain any real global achievement on a single individual. But Ban was particularly "good" at this job. It would be quite a challenge to produce another with his exact qualities. His admonishment of Israel, for example, can come across as strong-worded and makes for a good media quote, yet his inaction to confront Israel's illegal violations of numerous resolutions passed by the very UN he headed, is unmatched.
Everything America's Next President Needs to Know About the Challenges That Await in the Mideast (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton prepare to debate America's security, what kind of Mideast awaits them? These are seven of the problems either Clinton or Trump will inherit.
Instead of listening to Kerry’s nightmare scenario – Netanyahu smiles (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Every visit to New York the Prime Minister broadcasts that everything is wonderful in his UN speech and his meetings with US presidential candidates. Too bad that he is not listening to the words of US Secretary of State, who sees Israel as responsible for the political deadlock.
We Are Mizrahim, and Israel's Culture Minister Does Not Represent Us (Ketzia Alon et al., Haaretz+) We feel, with great pain, that because of Miri Regev's cynical exploitation of Mizrahi-ness, many years of social and political struggle for recognition and repair of the injustices done to Mizrahim have gone down the drain.
Aleppo is the real face of Obama's Mideast legacy (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The man who began his presidency eight years ago with an appeasing appeal to the Arab world, in his famous Cairo speech, is ending it with images of a massacre in light of another failed agreement brokered by his administration.
Don't Call Us 'Israeli Arabs': Palestinians in Israel Speak Out (Sam Bahour, Haaretz+) Palestinian citizens of Israel are its Achilles’ heel; they refuse to become Zionists, refuse to leave Israel, and refuse to vanish into thin air. And, increasingly, they are refusing to remain silent.
Know the history (Dr. Yechiel Shabi, Israel Hayom) We must recognize the history of the Arab settlement in Israel in order to deal wisely with the propaganda machine that they use to buy themselves exclusive indigenous rights.
Did Trump Just Short-shrift Netanyahu? (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) Donald Trump promised Benjamin Netanyahu that if elected he'd recognize an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. So why did Netanyahu leave the meeting looking so forlorn?
After months of knife attacks, shootings and car-rammings in Jerusalem and a renewed surge of violence, has tourism in the capital been adversely affected, and do tourists feel safe in the city? (Eli Mendelbaum, Yedioth/Ynet)
Commentary/Analysis:
IDF Order Prioritizes Religious Soldiers' Feelings Over the Right of Women to Equality (Haaretz Editorial) Religious soldiers must subordinate themselves to the army, not the opposite. That’s how it is in a modern army in a properly run state.
Israel held a 'total war' exercise, but ministers nowhere to be found (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Only two of Israel's ministers showed up for one of IDF's largest and more complex exercises simulating war on all fronts.
Ban Ki-moon’s legacy in Palestine: Failure in words and deed (Ramzy Baroud, Maan) It would be utterly unfair to pin the blame for the UN's unmitigated failure to solve world conflicts or obtain any real global achievement on a single individual. But Ban was particularly "good" at this job. It would be quite a challenge to produce another with his exact qualities. His admonishment of Israel, for example, can come across as strong-worded and makes for a good media quote, yet his inaction to confront Israel's illegal violations of numerous resolutions passed by the very UN he headed, is unmatched.
Everything America's Next President Needs to Know About the Challenges That Await in the Mideast (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton prepare to debate America's security, what kind of Mideast awaits them? These are seven of the problems either Clinton or Trump will inherit.
Instead of listening to Kerry’s nightmare scenario – Netanyahu smiles (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Every visit to New York the Prime Minister broadcasts that everything is wonderful in his UN speech and his meetings with US presidential candidates. Too bad that he is not listening to the words of US Secretary of State, who sees Israel as responsible for the political deadlock.
We Are Mizrahim, and Israel's Culture Minister Does Not Represent Us (Ketzia Alon et al., Haaretz+) We feel, with great pain, that because of Miri Regev's cynical exploitation of Mizrahi-ness, many years of social and political struggle for recognition and repair of the injustices done to Mizrahim have gone down the drain.
Aleppo is the real face of Obama's Mideast legacy (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The man who began his presidency eight years ago with an appeasing appeal to the Arab world, in his famous Cairo speech, is ending it with images of a massacre in light of another failed agreement brokered by his administration.
Don't Call Us 'Israeli Arabs': Palestinians in Israel Speak Out (Sam Bahour, Haaretz+) Palestinian citizens of Israel are its Achilles’ heel; they refuse to become Zionists, refuse to leave Israel, and refuse to vanish into thin air. And, increasingly, they are refusing to remain silent.
Know the history (Dr. Yechiel Shabi, Israel Hayom) We must recognize the history of the Arab settlement in Israel in order to deal wisely with the propaganda machine that they use to buy themselves exclusive indigenous rights.
Did Trump Just Short-shrift Netanyahu? (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) Donald Trump promised Benjamin Netanyahu that if elected he'd recognize an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. So why did Netanyahu leave the meeting looking so forlorn?
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.