APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday October 5, 2016  

 

Quote of the day:

"There is no more father Peres, who will bear the morality of Israel on his shoulders while the children run amok. The full moral responsibility for the image of Israel has now been passed to his successors. It is sad, difficult and frightening."
--Haaretz+ commentator Caroline Landsmann writes that the death of Israel's last founding father will force Israel to grow up.**

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Breaking News:
IDF strikes Gaza targets after rocket hits southern Israel
Rocket fire claimed by an Islamic State-affiliated group on Gaza. No casualties, but home and car damaged. (Israel Hayom and Ynet)

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Zionist Camp chief Isaac Herzog reportedly made substantial progress in creating a unity government, but both denied it, Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist, Ron Lauder, was summoned by Israeli police during his visit to Israel for Shimon Peres' funeral to give a testimony on the preliminary corruption probe into Netanyahu and the tension between the US and Russia over the Syrian bombing of Aleppo were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers – along with the robbing of Kim Kardashian. Meanwhile, participants on a flotilla of women that is attempting to break the siege on Gaza, including a former US diplomat and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, say they will resist with non-violence a takeover by Israeli forces. (Also Maariv) 
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:
Miri Regev: A Paradox Wrapped in an Israeli Flag
Our mission was to find out if the lightning-rod culture minister is playing a role, or if the role is really her. By the end, it was possible to declare ‘mission accomplished.’ (Rom Atik, Haaretz+) 
A peek inside the IDF 8200's combat intelligence unit
From listening to Hezbollah telephone conversations to going into battle to obtain real time information on Hamas in Gaza, the soldiers of the 8200 combat intelligence battalion are giving Israel an added technical edge in protecting the Jewish state. (Yoav Zitun, Ynet)
Fearing for Jaffa's Coexistence, Residents Fight Effort to Judaize City
Two groups running initiatives that aim to strengthen Jaffa’s Jewish identity have Jewish and Arab residents worried for what they describe as their largely harmonious way of life. (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) 
 
Commentary/Analysis:
What Luck It Is to Be a Tiger in Gaza (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israel allows animals to leave the Strip; people, not so much. Not so much at all.
No point in evacuating Amona (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) From an ethical perspective, whoever petitions the High Court over outposts built on private land is helping legitimize settlements in the rest of the area; from a practical perspective, the greater the protest in the settlement sector, the larger the compensation that will be paid for evacuation by consent. 
Netanyahu, This Is What Ethnic Cleansing Really Looks Like (Daniel Blatman, Haaretz+) Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the removal of settlers from the West Bank would be ‘ethnic cleansing’ is utter nonsense. If he wants to know what ethnic cleansing, he has to revisit 1948, not 2005. 
Will Israeli society know how to take Peres’ legacy and move it forward? (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The right-wing, under the auspices fake statehood, is the one that benefited from the legacy and contribution of the ninth president. Herzog and the peace camp accepted it with resignation. 
To All the Hypocrites Attacking Israeli Arab Politicians for Not Attending Peres' Funeral (Jack Khoury, Haaretz+) As in years past, no Israeli official came to Saturday's memorial ceremony for the 12 Arab citizens killed by police in October 2000. Yet the Israeli establishment is outraged that Arab MKs stayed away from Shimon Peres' funeral the day before. 
Death of Final Founding Father Peres Means Israel Must Now Grow Up (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) The full moral responsibility for the image of Israel has been passed onto Shimon Peres' political heirs. It's a scary time, but also one of real opportunity. 
Unity talks: Netanyahu’s pantomime does not say anything specifically (Ben Caspit, Maariv) "An expert in gestures, faces and hints.” That’ what one of Herzog’s confidants called the Prime Minister, while he demands to anchor the political parameters. But the prime minister is not there yet and it is doubtful if he ever will be.  
Shimon Peres' Funeral Proved That anti-Semitism Is Dead (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The ceremony for Peres showed that the Western world would love nothing more than to welcome Israel into the fold. An end to the brutal occupation would end the country’s pariah status in an instant. 
The wise king of Jordan (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) Against all odds, Jordanian King Abdullah has managed to ward off revolution and prevent his rule from collapsing; Had he listened to the TV experts and had he not given Israel a foothold in the Kingdom, the Jordanian story could have ended in a disaster. 
Background of a Boycott (Haaretz Editorial) The boycott of Shimon Peres' funeral by Israeli Arab MKs achieved its goal: placing the opposing narrative of the Arab minority at the media and public center stage, backed by the power of the third-largest faction in the Knesset. 
Washing away the blood of the Oslo Accords (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) Whitewashing Oslo is out of the question. The only way out is to whitewash Shimon Peres himself. 
How not to speak about Islam (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) A lazy and dangerous lecture by the likely next president of Yeshiva University.
The unmistakable dreamer, Shimon Peres (Amos Oz, Yedioth/Ynet) Many laud Shimon Peres’s limitless optimism, but behind this optimism hid a stubborn hope that the wisdom, the words and the effort would change the face of reality. 
Israeli filmmakers, don't pretend to speak for Palestinians (Sayed Kashua, Haaretz) I could identify with Culture Minister Miri Regev, who accused the leaders of the Israeli film industry of being a snobbish, exclusive club. If only she weren't so bent on shutting people up and dictating content.
Peres left his fingerprints all over the Arab world (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) The late president and prime minister pursued peace with all his might. When the door was slammed in his face, he searched for a window. When the window was closed, he tried to squeeze through a narrower opening. But the other side did not miss an opportunity to give him a hard time and shatter his dreams. 
Israelis Should Heed Their Declaration of Independence (Tal Niv, Haaretz+) We mustn't use the Palestinians’ non-recognition of a Jewish state as an excuse for not saving Israel from itself. Israeli democracy needs a constitution based on equality before the law. 
In what country was Peres buried? (Elliot Abrams, Israel Hayom) The White House's decision to delete "Israel" after "Jerusalem" in President Barack Obama's eulogy for Peres suggests that the late president was laid to rest in a no man's land.
Obama’s Confusion About the 'Occupation' of Palestinian Land (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) The president would probably be aghast if he were told that ‘the United States cannot permanently occupy Mexican land.’ Can 'occupation' lead to peaceful accommodation? 
On the Muslim New Year, Party Like It’s 1437 (Haroon Moghul, Haaretz+) Despite the current American political fashion to assume the faceless unanimity and collective guilt of the world’s Muslims, Islam’s diversity is perfectly expressed by our celebration of New Year’s Day. On several different days.
 

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