APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday June 12, 2017
 

Quote of the day #1:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
A storm rages over the silencing ‘ethical code’ for college lecturers, an Israeli journalist is forced to compensate the Netanyahu couple over $30,000 for libel, and after a heated debate, Israeli government security-diplomatic cabinet cuts the power supply to the Gaza Strip to two to four hours a day making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also, the latest on attempts for a peace process.
 
Even Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin, has spoken out against Israel's proposed university ethics code, saying that “The freedom to express a different opinion requires protection.” Yedioth reported that renowned Israeli historian Yuval Harari said in a special message to his students: “I am announcing from now that if and when the ethical code is accepted I intend to violate it every lesson. It is impossible to teach history in a serious manner without touching on political issues. It’s possible to close the History department, together with the other departments in Humanities and Social Sciences. This is the creation of an atmosphere of censorship, a thought and fear police. We are familiar with these things in history, which reached much more radical ends, like in the revolutionary courts in China in the trial to execute lecturers by their students. A tyrannical regime doesn’t from nowhere in one day, the solution is not to agree in advance.” The National Student Union threatened to shut down the education system. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who initiated the code of ethics, said it was actually meant to combat people being silenced on campus. The Israeli professor who wrote the code, Asa Kasher, said university heads are "acting like the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who want to preserve their power and said that the Left-wing opposes the code because far right-wing Education Minister Naftali Bennett supports. Kasher also claimed that his code of ethics, which bars academics from expressing political views in class, mirrors the U.S. code. But Haaretz+ interviewed an Israel Democracy Institute researcher who said the US and Israeli ethical codes are completely different. Kasher’s code goes well beyond the call for caution and the American document, a note was added in 1970 stating: “The intent of this statement is not to discourage what is ‘controversial.’ Controversy is at the heart of the free academic inquiry which the entire statement is designed to foster. The passage serves to underscore the need for teachers to avoid persistently intruding material which has no relation to their subject.” Another essential difference the researcher pointed out was that while the AAUP is a voluntary organization applying ethical rules to itself, Kasher is working for the government to propose ethical rules for academia.
 
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he intended to make a law targeting left-wing human rights NGOs even harder by not allowing any foreign government funding. Netanyahu also announced that he would review a bill to limit the right to stand before the High Court of Justice, “which is intended to harm mainly Palestinians who want to appeal to the High Court of Justice,” wrote Maariv’s Arik Bender. “This is a bill designed to limit a flood of petitions by left-wing organizations such as Peace Now and others, who appeal in the name of Palestinian civilians against [settler] construction on land they claim to own, leading to delays in settlement construction in outposts and house demolitions,” Bender wrote.

A heated discussion took place among the members of the government security cabinet Sunday over whether to heed the request of the Palestinian Authority to cut the Gaza electricity supply by 35%. The IDF supported the request, for which Minister Yuval Steinitz said was getting orders from Abbas. The IDF also warned that if Qatar stopped support for Hamas, as it is being pressured to do, it could lead to a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the Strip, which in turn could spark a military conflict. The IDF said it believes Hamas is not interested in a military conflict with Israel at this time. Zionist Union MK Zouheir Bahloul, meanwhile, decried the "awful and inhumane decision by the Palestinian Authority and Israeli government," saying it was "regrettable that the Netanyahu government chooses to strengthen the PA only when it means hurting the lives of the residents of Gaza."
 
On Renewing Peace Talks:
A top Trump Administration official told Israel Hayom that Israeli and Palestinian spoilers want to derail peace talks and that media reports suggesting that Israeli lawmaker Tzipi Livni was involved in U.S. efforts to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were false. Jerusalem Post and Maariv reported that a five-person Palestinian delegation will be traveling to DC to meet with Trump Administration officials and discuss renewing peace negotiations. According to a senior Fatah official, US President Donald Trump asked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Bethlehem in May to dispatch the delegation. Haaretz+ reported that Netanyahu asked Trump to accept isolated settlements as Israeli enclaves in Palestinian Territory in a future peace deal. “Netanyahu wants to avoid the evacuation of tens of thousands of settlers from the isolated settlements mainly because of the political price he and his Likud Party, which relies on support from the settlers, will pay for it,” wrote Haaretz+. Haaretz+ also reported that Netanyahu and Opposition leader Isaac Herzog secretly met with Egypt’s President in Cairo last year amid a regional peace effort. Yossi Verter reported that the “overnight trip took place after international and regional powers approached Israeli opposition leader Herzog asking for his help in promoting the peace initiative…As Netanyahu was assumed to be politically unable to lead a real peace process, namely due to his right wing coalition partners, international and regional powers reached out to Herzog through various channels. They told him that due to the new circumstances, a change in the right-wing coalition was critical for the regional initiative’s success.”
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

*A comprehensive study found: What personality traits characterize right-wingers and leftists in Israel?
A study conducted at Sapir College examined the characteristics of thousands of Israelis in the face of their willingness to reach a compromise with the Palestinian people. The results: Narcissists and neurotic vengeful people turn to right-wing views. “We found that people with negative characteristics: low receptivity, high scheming, and so forth, were in keeping with the perception of the Palestinians as more threatening. It turns out, therefore, that personality traits constitute glasses through which the worldview is shaped, and that personality has a clear connection to the perception of the threat from the Palestinians,” said Prof. Avi Besser, who headed the study. 
Did the statement "Arabs are flocking to the polls" work and succeed in changing positions?
"Anyone who interpreted this as a statement that threatens his existence and has the personality qualities that are appropriate to what we found in the study, this is certainly a strong enough trigger to encourage such a person to go in the direction of a less compromising vote. As we have seen, the higher the threat level the (more the) differences between people are narrowed and they stay in a less compromising stance. If we really want significant progress of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it will not happen as long as we continue to see them as a threat."
What needs to happen for the public to vote for compromise and a peace process?
"Two things have to happen: The first is that actions need to be taken to reduce the level of perceived threat of the Palestinians by the Jewish Israelis. So, for example, the ‘Israeli Hope Project’ of the ‘four tribes’ [secular, national-religious, ultra-Orthodox and Arabs] initiated by the President of the State is an action to reduce the threat. The second thing is that it’s likely that it right to put the negotiations in the hands of people with high openness to experiencing - that allows the best opportunity to reach a compromise and peace with the Palestinians. Moreover, those should be people with the right personality who bridge and that the external reality at the time will not threaten the public so that it does not turn on the survival trigger which exists in a threatening reality."
(Orit A. Brown, Maariv)
In Israel, it's still not easy being gay on the job
'Every time you change your workplace – you have to come out of the closet again.’ (Tali Heruti-Sover, Haaretz+) 
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Gaza Power Cuts Boost Tension With Israel (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Army warns cabinet of implications of further disruptions to the electricity supply in the Strip.
Start by Fighting anti-Arabracism in Israel (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) It’s hard to fight racism against Jews all over the world when there’s such terrible racism among Jews in Israel 
Reject the Academic Code of Ethics (Arik Carmon, Haaretz+) As one of the pioneers in the study of German academia during the transition to Nazi rule, Arik Carmon wants to issue a warning. 
Ethical code for professors won’t solve the problem (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The problem is not academics expressing their political opinion; the problem is that it’s always the same opinion. So instead of silencing people, critical thinking should be allowed through a diverse and wide presentation of approaches.
A New Way to Delay Negotiations (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu is doing everything he can to buy time by adding new obstacles and conditions that cannot be met. 
The occupation festival (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War is an opportunity to remember that the war broke out because of annihilation plans, before there even was an occupation. The Palestinians could have founded a state and improved their situation a long time ago, but have instead become completely addicted to victimization. 
Dr. Bibi and Mr. Netanyahu: Israeli prime minister initiated extreme NGO bill, but also softened it at the last minute (Jonathan Lis, Haaretz+) Netanyahu has yet to reveal the wording of the draconian NGO law he intends to promote, but it will likely run into diplomatic and legal difficulties. 
Proposed ethics code is Bennett’s attempt to stifle debate (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) The purpose is to curtail discussion of controversial issues, but nothing is more political than the pretense of being apolitical. 
As shot at the academia: The ethical code will force the universities to lead changes (Kalman Liebeskind, Maariv) The code formulated by Prof. Asa Kasher at the request of the Minister of Education will examine whether the academic world can bring about balance and diversity. If not, the political system will do it for it. 
The Justice Minister Versus Israeli Soldiers (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) Ayelet Shaked is playing a dangerous game by taking on the Breaking the Silence veterans' organization. 
Why, Naftali? Was it worth it for one and a quarter seats in the Knesset to imprison freedom? (Ben Caspit, Maariv) What's next? Did Dr. Neve Gordon [Ben-Gurion University professor who supports boycott of Israel – OH] ever get a right-wing student to accept his views? Academia must be free and liberated, and any attempt to restrict it is doomed to failure. 
The Wind Would Have Yellowed Anyway (Doron Rosenblum, Haaretz+) We shouldn't kid ourselves that the occupation was the only reason for the corruption of the Jewish state. 
Israel’s Emerging Arab Middle Class (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz) Rapidly falling birthrates point to a wider social phenomenon: Israeli Arabs are aspiring to ever-higher standards of living and education by having fewer and fewer children.
The Plot Against Israel (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Right-wing assaults on army, academia and judicial system erode Israel’s foundations and undermine its legitimacy 
The ethical code of Asa Kasher: A brutal action against the academia (Prof. Yuli Tamir, Maariv) The document, which is supposed to "regulate" the behavior of the lecturers in the classrooms, attests to the weakness of the State of Israel. A special Op-Ed by former Minister of Education. 
Thom Yorke, This Is Why You Should Boycott Israel (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Hasn’t the time come to do away with this artificial distinction between 'nice' Israelis and the brutal occupation they are responsible for?
On contempt: Dan Margalit's dismissal (from Israel Hayom) is not the end of democracy (Kalman Liebeskind, Maariv) The senior journalist speaks about the values of the free press, years after he puts them aside for money. 
Cutting Abbas down to size (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) Trump's bark caused Abbas to fear that a bite might follow. Whether any pain is actually inflicted remains to be seen, but perception often carries more weight than reality. 
Why Israel Doesn't Have Its Own James Comey (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) How realistic is it to hope for a live broadcast of a Knesset committee hearing featuring Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit or State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan?
The evil spirit that Netanyahu has nurtured for years could lead to civil war (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) If the government’s face is to a diplomatic move, it is important that it stop the security scare campaign, which its extremist parts have begun, before things get out of control.
It's Offensive to Say We American Jews Are "Parachuting In" to Anti-occupation Protests (Natasha Westheimer and Oriel Eisner, Haaretz+) Yes, we international Jews do make the headlines but it's so Palestinian voices, at last, will get heard. 
The Syndrome of blaming the entry guard: Senior officials in the top echelons of the security establishment are subject to light punishments (Yossi Melman, Maariv) For decades, the secrets of the Israeli nuclear program were kept secret until Yitzhak ‘Yatza’ Yaakov, who within the framework of his positions in the Defense Ministry was aware of very sensitive projects, decided that he should leave his mark on history. 
Archie Bunker in the White House (Shlomo Avineri, Haaretz+) What does a democracy do when the man elected to head it obviously doesn’t have the minimal qualifications to run a state, and could cause it and the whole world to deteriorate into deep crises?
"People of the Book"? Miri Regev's values are no different from those of "La Familia" (racist soccer fan club) (Natan Zehavi, Maariv) Culture Minister Regev, the First Lady of painting, sculpture, theater and cinema, under the umbrella of the bosses Sara and Bibi Netanyahu, could completely change everything related to the word "culture" and "art." 
Iraqi Kurds' Independence Referendum Has Become a Weapon for Regional Control (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) Saudi Arabia targets Turkey, with its restive Kurdish region, after the country declares its support for Qatar in the Gulf rift.
 

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