APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday May 14, 2017
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
A global cyber attack hit nearly 100 countries, but not Israel, Israel’s Eurovision contestant got 23rd place and Tel-Aviv's Hapoel soccer team dropped a league, and Jordan got angry at Israel after an Israeli policeman shot dead a 57-year-old Jordanian man who repeatedly stabbed him (Maan gave details about how the attacker was killed and reported that In the wake of the incident, Israeli police assaulted local Palestinians in the area and detained a Palestinian shop owner for failing to help prevent the attack)  - making top stories in today's Hebrew newspapers.

Almost not mentioned in the news, Israeli soldiers shot and killed Saba Ubeid, 23, who was participating Friday in a solidarity protest in Nebi Saleh in support of the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike. The Palestinian Health Ministry said he was shot in the stomach by IDF forces and the Israeli military said soldiers aimed for legs.

And ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Israel, a senior White House official said Trump will express his support for Palestinian 'dignity' and 'right to self-determination,' which had Israeli leaders at odds. Coalition partner, Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt a policy that nixes the two-state solution, while Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said the Zionist Camp party has Netanyahu's back when it comes to peace talks with the Palestinians. MK Jacob Perry of the opposition Yesh Atid party, said: “Netanyahu is continuing to ‘manage’ the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is not taking any significant steps to solve it.” And, Israel Hayom reported earlier that Trump will give a sympathetic speech from Masada (commentators found the location odd - See Commentary/Analysis below).

Quick Hits:

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Features:

How a Meeting With a Shin Bet Agent Destroyed This Palestinian's Life
The Israeli agent asked Taher Yaakub to become a collaborator, an offer he refused. 'That’s how the tragedy began,' he now says. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
Israeli youth more right-wing, more religious, concerned about security
A comprehensive study examines the attitudes of Israeli youth and young adults in 2017; 67% of them define themselves as right-wing, 40% are defined as secular, and nearly half of the Jews are pessimistic about the future. (Sherry Makover-Balikov, Yedioth/Ynet)
Anti-Zionist Hasidic Father of 16 Pays Hefty Price for Rejecting Israel
The ironic fate of an ultra-Orthodox vegetarian who ran a Jerusalem community slaughterhouse. (Shany Littman, Haaretz+)
Books, khaki shorts and falafel: The life of young Israelis in the state’s first decade
There was no television, but the radio was very popular; there wasn’t much to eat except for the national dish; people didn’t go on dates and were married at a very young age; between the growing pains and initial exposure to Americanization in the State of Israel’s first years, the young generation made the most of a confusing reality of shortages and new hope. (Ami Friedman, Yedioth/Ynet)
What if Israel Had Withdrawn From the Occupied Territories in 1967? (Yagil Levy, Haaretz+) Israel’s most serious problems are often attributed to its protracted rule in the 
occupied territories. But would it really be better off without them?
Iran to Putin: A news junkie's guide to the most decisive upcoming elections - From a surging hardliner in Iran to Palestinian infighting and the eUK's doubling down on Brexit, here is everything you need to know about key upcoming elections. (Alexander Griffing, Haaretz)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
What the Israeli Right Gets Wrong About Security and the Occupation, According to Ehud Barak (Ehud Barak, Haaretz+) Ehud Barak reviews 'Catch 67,' a book he says is steeped in right-wing ideology and therefore fails to identify the real threat facing Israel's existence.
Ehud Barak's New Left Isn't Left at All (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Gideon Levy responds to the former Israeli prime minister’s review of ‘Catch 67’ and finds a right winger in leftist clothing.
*What is the Right so afraid of? (Yariv Oppenheimer, Yedioth/Ynet) If there is willingness on the Palestinian side to reach a compromise and national coexistence, we may be able to talk to them and maybe even reach a two-state agreement. That would mean, however, evacuating settlements and making concessions, which is something the Right doesn’t want—even at the cost of war.
**This Israeli Minister Wrote One of the Worst Facebook Posts in the History of Zionism (Oded Yaron, Haaretz) A post on the culture minister's official Facebook page called on "the people" to protect Regev's star rating from a 'Breaking the Silence' assault.
Israelis Attacked Activists in the West Bank. So the Israeli Army Bars the Activists (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The IDF has prevented activists from escorting Palestinian shepherds who were harassed by Jewish settlers. In one case, the ban violates a High Court ruling.
Trump’s Comey Treatment Is the Stuff of Which Netanyahu’s Nightmares Are Made (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Lame reaction of Republican lawmakers and strong support of GOP voters for FBI director’s dismissal is bad omen for Israel’s right wing.
The ‘impending humanitarian disaster’ syndrome (Col (res.) Moshe Elad, Ynet/Yedioth) The warnings of an imminent crisis in Gaza have been adopted by the Palestinians as a sophisticated and profitable economic measure. The West donates money, the disaster is always averted and the Palestinians have become addicted to donations. Will President Trump finally put an end to this situation?
A New Underground Reality Is Taking Shape Along the Gaza-Israel Border (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Increased pressure from Abbas could push Hamas to try to pull off a cross-border raid | Israel's massive anti-tunnel barrier is causing Hamas to up its posts on the other side − which isn’t necessarily bad.
The Declaration of Independence, errata (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Israel's nation-state bill sums up life in Israel in a very clear fashion: There’s a party going on here, it’s for one side only, and if anyone has a problem with that, they should scram
The right-wing government continues to suffer from a disconnect with reality, even when the world around it is changing (with a look at the new Hamas charter) (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Israel has no real answer to the Russian plan for a new order in Syria, nor to the Hamas charter. And the trick with the snacks that was done to the strongest man in the Palestinian Authority...The previous version of the Hamas charter gave our politicians ammunition to torpedo any political move and there is plenty in the new one too. The 1988 Charter was intended to battle the PLO for its primacy among the Palestinian people, and the 2017 version was intended for global legitimization and a political platform vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority in the run-up to the next elections. This charter is a kind of lessons from Operation Protective Edge, both in terms of assessing material damage and damage to lives, and also in terms of riding the wave of international sympathy and compassion that Hamas “won,” the courtesy of the IDF. Therefore, the call for the destruction of Israel, which was a cornerstone of Hamas policy, was removed, even when this call has no practical feasibility, and (Hamas and) the “Muslim Brotherhood” (due to the need for relations with Egypt) are no longer brothers. In the new charter, "Hamas distinguishes between the Jews, the people of the Book, and Judaism as a religion, and the occupation and the Zionist project” and because "the conflict is not with the Jews because of their religion." All those mantras remain, such as the call to abolish the Balfour Declaration, the UN Partition Plan, the Oslo Accords and that “there is no alternative to liberating all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, no matter how long the occupation continues.” Hamas recognizes "the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees and displaced persons...which does not include recognition of the Zionist entity or waiver the rights of the Palestinian people" - roughly the same as the Irgun (Etzel) and the Lehi approach, in their incarnation as the ‘Herut’ party after the establishment of the state: They will never accept an ideological compromise over the entire Land of Israel and will wage an internal political struggle over the realization of their aspirations. The positive part of the new charter is the influence of the political wing rather than the religious wing, while in Israel, the religious wing is growing stronger. In principle, the real problem of a right-wing religious government is not "the education to kill" or "the tunnels" or this or that charter, but the potential for unification between Gaza and the West Bank. As it seems today, the chances of it happening tomorrow are not great. But there is always the day after tomorrow. The sign is a survey that found that most residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip support Barghouthi as prime minister, which is why the Israeli government refuses to release the only person who can sign an agreement with the majority of Palestinians. So? The last trick for Barghouti's delegitimization as a leader was the trick of the snacks during the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike. The day the item was published I was in the "London and Kirschenbaum" news program studio. “What do you say, Yaron?” correspondent Doron Hermann asked Yaron London “Did you see how they caught Barghouti nibbling on cookies during the hunger strike?” The guy looked smug. “Again? London wondered. “Maybe you should check the date of the video,” I suggested to Herman. “You think it could be...?” London wondered. “50-50,” I said, “actually 49-51.”
Israel's Second-class-citizens Law (Haaretz Editorial) The main purpose of the nation-state bill is to put Israel's Arab citizens down and prepare for the eventually that Jews will become a minority between the river and the sea.
If you served in the army, you know: Breaking the Silence is telling the truth (Assaf Danieli, Haaretz+) A group of reservists is trying to discredit the group, saying it lies about Israel's actions in the occupied territories. I'd like to thank them for getting me to finally speak up about what is being done in Israel's name.
Israel’s allies during the 21st century (Rafael Castro, Ynet) As American hegemony is challenged by China and as the costs and failures of foreign policy idealism in the Middle East mount, US voters will be more reluctant to support a muscular pro-Israel foreign policy. Nevertheless, there are a number of seldom-discussed trends that will benefit Israel.
Israel's Nation-state Bill Stabilizes Democracy (Israel Harel, Haaretz+) Anarchy and intolerance toward minorities develop in places where minorities challenge the majority’s rule and the majority can't defend itself.
Calling Israeli Justice Minister's 'Jewish Values' Bluff (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Not well-known as a scholar of Judaism, Ayelet Shaked wants judges to give more weight to 'Jewish values' in their deliberations. Wouldn't it be refreshing if the left didn't leave religious reactionaries to decide what these values are?
Hatred on Eternity Street (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+)
Policemen taught fifth-graders how to overtake an 'Arab assailant' at an event last week. But what the children really learned that day was how to hate.
Israel's Message to Its Palestinian Citizens: Jewish Rights Are Superior (Sawsan Zaher, Haaretz+) The nation-state bill means, for the first time in its history, Israel's unwritten constitution will explicitly exclude Palestinian citizens from the right to equality and collective rights.
Rants, raves and ramifications (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ideology is Islamist in its core but his pugnacious rhetoric can't be taken personally or be allowed to undermine joint Israeli-Turkish interests.
Another Targeted Assassination of Israeli Media (Emilie Moatti, Haaretz+) Half an hour before the state-run TV station’s flagship program is aired, 49 years after it debuted, its staff gets half an hour to say goodbye, half an hour to find the words.
Pass the nation-state bill (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) It is time to remind ourselves why constitutionalizing Israel's status as the nation-state of the Jewish people is so important.
Israel's Nation-state Bill Is Undemocratic (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) Opposing the bill doesn’t mean negating Israel’s history, only recognizing that a democratic state cannot identify itself with only part of its population
Forty years later, the left-wing is still not prepared to accept a the shakeup of ‘77 (Kalman Liebeskind, Maariv) There is a group here that does not understand who all those "others" are - the religious "other,” the Mizrahi "other,” the "other" from the periphery - who entered the salon without asking permission or wiping their feet.
Israel's campaign against Arabic (Muhammad Amara, Haaretz+) The Knesset bill to demote Arabic will have ruinous consequences within Israel and in the region. When will Israel start seeing Arabic as an asset, not a threat?
Netanyahu Fears Trump's Cooking Something Big (Yossi Verter, Haaretz) The U.S. president's envoy, Jason Greenblatt, is suddenly getting chummy with peacenik Tzipi Livni, Bibi's arch rival.
The next failed peace talks (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) How will U.S. President Donald Trump respond to the inevitable failure of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks he is so intent on mediating?
After Four Months, Trump Also Understands There's No Other Solution Than Two States (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Trump follows the path of his predecessors on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The passion with which he talks about a peace deal and his personal involvement show he's no less 'obsessive and messianic' than John Kerry.
Associates of the prime minister are trying to figure out: What is behind Trump's obsession with peace? (Ben Caspit, Maariv) No one has an answer to the question of whether the president's determination to jumpstart the political process and push the sides to an agreement is a typical temporary caprice, or something real. 
Donald Trump Is Not Gaslighting Just America Anymore - He Is Now Gaslighting Himself as Well (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) At the end of a crazy week, even by the standards of the Trump presidency, we can safely say: Trump is not Nixon. That’s not necessarily a positive.
Shadow of mountains: It is not clear why Trump chose to speak at Masada when he arrives in Israel (Udi Segal, Maariv) It is hard to understand why the US president wants to speak on the controversial site, a symbol of destruction and hopelessness, on his official visit, and also: what right-wingers must remember before appearing here.
At Masada, Trump Will Sully a Symbol of Jewish Resistance (Samuel G. Freedman, Haaretz+) For the main speech of his Israel visit, look forward to the unintended ironies of the U.S. president’s expedient appropriation of Jewish martyrdom against tyranny
If Trump pushes us to another round of destructive talks, the blame will lie with the IDF (Caroline Glick, Maariv/JPost) The root of the problem we encounter with the White House is with the lobbyists of the Palestinian Authority in Israel, I.e. the top echelon of the army, which takes a political stand. From there begins the pressure to talk to Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas).
U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman's Israel Visit Reflects Heightened Interest in Middle East (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Joseph Dunford highlights Iranian threat; future of warfare envisioned by U.S. Army head looks a lot like today's IDF views on war.
Who Are B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence Serving? (Gadi Taub, Haaretz+) Many members of the BDS movement, who are trying to eliminate Israel, feel the materials from B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence advance their goals.
 

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