APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday September 29, 2016  
 

Quote of the day:

“…until now i cant believe that i am working for you ,day and night we are together i will miss your big voice, your smile the way you said LAYLA TOV FREDDY before you sleep at night,thanks for everything thanks for making me part of your history , thanks for trusting a Filipino like me…”
--Excerpt of the Facebook eulogy to Israeli statesman, Shimon Peres, written by Ferdz Capacia, his Filipino caretaker.*

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
From the front page to the back page: from the news, to the Op-Eds, the features and the obituaries – the Hebrew newspapers today were all about the last founding father of Israel, Shimon Peres, who passed yesterday. Today, Peres lies in state at the Knesset as public says its goodbyes. (Ynet has live streaming from the Knesset.) Tomorrow he will be buried at Mt. Herzl in the plot reserved for national heroes.
 
The papers looked at the stations of his life, and at the ironies – “from nuclear pioneer and father of the settlements to champion of peace. Haaretz+’s Ofer Aderet wrote that “Israel’s elder statesman Shimon Peres believed security and peace went hand in hand and that 'Dimona had paved the way for Oslo.’” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu noted that some of the ways in which Peres strengthened Israel remain unknown.

Police say the logistical and security operation for the funeral is 'unprecedented in scope', the likes of which haven't been seen since Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. Maan reported that Israel canceled Gaza worshipers' Friday visit to Al-Aqsa for Peres’ funeral. 
 
Among the dignitaries is US President Barack Obama, who will be one of only seven people who will eulogize Peres at the funeral. Obama ordered US flags in America and across the world to be lowered to half-mast tomorrow. In addition, three Likud members, the Prime Minister, the President and the Speaker of the Knesset will speak as well as his three children. Labor party leader MK Isaac Herzog was furious that he, as the leader of the party at whose helm Peres became Prime Minister of Israel, was refused to speak at the funeral “due to scheduling limitations.” (Also Maariv) 
  
Despite his efforts for peace and a two-state solution, some settlers eulogized him for his strong hand in creating settlements. In Ofra settlement residents handed out photographs of Peres planting a tree there at the time of their founding 41 years ago, Haaartz+ reported. Settler leader Daniella Weiss told 103FM Non-stop Radio/Maariv that she thanked Peres for the Sebastia settlement, but won’t forget that he was behind the Oslo Accords, Maariv reported. “My friends in the right-wing are amazed that I flattered him so much,” she said.
 
Very few Arabs had something positive to say about him. The exception was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who expressed sorrow at Peres’ death. Abbas tweeted in Arabic that "Shimon Peres' death is a heavy loss for all humanity and for peace in the region." The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas had sent a condolence letter to Peres' family, in which he said that Peres had been partner to the "peace of the brave,” Maariv reported. The Hebrew news websites reported today that Abbas told Israel he wants to attend Peres’ funeral. Netanyahu gave approval. In what Israel Hayom called ‘a surprising snub,’ no other Arab leader will attend the funeral, unlike at the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin. In a statement reported from Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, expressed “deep sorrow and grief” at the death of Peres on behalf of himself, his government, and his advisers, sending “our sincerest condolences.” He also praised Peres as “a dove of peace in the region.” 

The Arab media painted an unflattering portrait of Peres, reminding readers that he was responsible for the massacre at Qana in southern Lebanon in April 1996, in which in the 'Operation Grapes of Wrath,' IDF artillery fire on a UN compound in the southern Lebanese village killing 106 civilians. Peres was also noted for being the father of the settlements enterprise. Hamas said, “Shimon Peres was the last remaining Israeli official who founded the occupation.” And Bahrain's Foreign Minister surprised, calling Peres “a man of war and a man of the still elusive peace." Moreover, Iranian exiles called him a “great Israeli statesman." But the Islamic Republic, like the Arab media, talked about Qana and the settlements, Maariv reported. Both U.S. presidential candidates extolled him as a man of peace.

Shimon Peres Quick Hits:

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
Should Hillary Clinton Attend Shimon Peres' Funeral? (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) While Clinton would certainly look presidential standing among world leaders, the downsides of heading to Israel in the heat of her campaign outweigh the advantages significantly. 
Nuclear architect: Shimon Peres recorded his most impressive achievement at the age of 33 (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Our enemies see in him not only as the architect of the ability that gives Israel, in their eyes, the ultimate strategic deterrence, but also as responsible for turning Israel into a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East. 
Shimon Peres pursued peace for the sake of Israel's values, and for Palestinians' human dignity (Tony Blair, Haaretz) Shimon Peres was a relentless optimist and a tough and resourceful patriot. He sought peace for Israel's long-term security, and out of a profound compassion for the Palestinians to fulfill their destiny through statehood. 
Court ruling on Olmert sets bar low for Netanyahu (Gidi Weitz, Haaretz) The courts' severe handling of Olmert's cases means police don't need suspicion of a mega crime to go after Netanyahu.
Shimon Peres: Bigger than life (Attila Somfalvi, Ynet) It’s hard to say goodbye to Shimon Peres, a leader who evoked feelings of astonishment and envy, admiration and contempt, love and hate. It’s hard to say goodbye because of the illusive feeling he created that he was here to stay.
The one thing Shimon Peres longed for in life remained out of his reach (Amir Oren, Haaretz) Shimon Peres kept studying Israeli politics till the end. He was loved, even if nobody believed he was totally selfless. 
Decades of inspiration (Yona Bartal, Israel Hayom) Working with President Shimon Peres for 21 years taught me he was the best ambassador Israel and the Jewish people have ever had. 
In Death, Shimon Peres Received the Love and Respect He Always Felt He Lacked (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) The arrival of presidents and prime ministers from across the world for the funeral will officially make Peres one of the world’s great men, in the same league as Mandela. 
‎'The essence of Israel, itself'‎ (Dr. Howard A. Patten, Israel Hayom) Shimon Peres is a reminder ‎of a time when, regardless of political persuasion, one respected a leader for his or her ‎personal characteristics: presence, vision, gravitas, integrity.
The Countless Contradictions of the Late and Great Shimon Peres (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Israeli politicians and American Jewish leaders lauding him today undermined Shimon Peres when it could have made a difference.
A political realist in an irrational world (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Hundreds of thousands of Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi citizens were sacrificed, unknowingly and with good intent, for the sake of Obama’s sincere desire to talk to tyrant regimes, precisely in order to prevent unnecessary victims; it’s a shame the bad guys failed to understand and play by his rules. 
How Shimon Peres' last tweet reflected his forward-thinking spirit (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) From joining Snapchat at the age of 93 to going internationally viral with two videos, Shimon Peres never ceased to be, in his own words, 'focused on breakthroughs for a new tomorrow.'
 

 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.