APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday July 23, 2017
 

Quote of the day:

“The writing wasn’t on the wall – it was on the table, in every internal discussion, it was in the mouths of the experts, the long-timers of the Shin Bet and the police, it was also here, on the pages of the newspaper.”
--Senior Yedioth political commentator Nahum Barnea writes that the murder Friday night of three Israeli family members in a West Bank settlement could have been avoided had Israel not decided Friday morning to leave the metal detectors in place on the Temple Mount.**

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Three members of an Israeli family were murdered in their West Bank home Friday by a Palestinian and hours earlier three Palestinians were killed in protest clashes around the Temple Mount over the metal detectors installed there making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers, but the link between the two incidents was described differently.
 
**It almost seemed as if the Israeli editors felt uncomfortable to link the murders and the Temple Mount tension. Normally, a reporter writes in the lede or high up in the body of the article when an incident was motivated by something else that is happening or recently happened, e.g. “Three members of an Israeli family living in the West Bank were murdered by a Palestinian teen, hours after three Palestinians were killed by Israeli Police in clashes that broke out after Police decided not to remove controversial metal detectors from the Temple Mount.” If the connection between events is not self-evident, a quote from an official or expert is added. But the news articles about the murders at Halamish avoided suggesting any connections until towards the end of their articles, if at all. In Haaretz, the connection between the murder and the escalation at the Temple Mount can be made by the reader in the ninth paragraph of the main article, which states that shortly before the murders, the murderer wrote on Facebook, “I’m 20, I have many dreams, but there is no life after what is seen in Al-Aqsa (Temple Mount).” In Maariv, there was only a faint suggestion to the reason in the 10th paragraph of the 11-paragraph article: “About a year ago, the incidents [reference to ‘Knife Intifada’ – OH] were over a nationalist background and now they are over a religious background…”in reference to the Temple Mount. Israel Hayom made no mention of the motivations of the attacker or the tension at the Temple Mount and those killed there in the news article. However, Yedioth stood out in that before the article on the murders, page 2 and 3 were dedicated to top political commentator Nahum Barnea’s analysis, titled: “It Was Avoidable.” Barnea wrote that the murders cannot be justified, “But we are the sovereign here and we are the neighbor. We don’t have the option of ignoring them. We don’t have to fall in love with them: we need to work with them determination, consistency, and common sense. Sadly, the moves by the Government of Israel since the attack at the gates of the Temple Mount the previous Friday [in which two Arab Israelis killed two Israeli Border Police – OH] lack any of those components. There is no determination, no consistency, no common sense – mainly no common sense.” The following article was an analysis by Yossi Yehoshua examining how the murderer succeeded and whether it were avoidable. “The first question returns us to the weekend before last, to the decision to install metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount. Where were the IDF and the Shin Bet [both who opposed the decision – OH] in the decision-making process?” wrote Yehoshua. Unlike Nahum Barnea, Maariv’s top political commentator Ben Caspit did not directly make the connection, but only implied it when he wrote that “the effect on the West Bank of the riots [over the metal detectors on the Temple Mount – OH] should have been taken into account…” The closest Maariv came to connecting between the events was a page four article, titled, “Two hours before the murder the terrorist wrote a post: “I am not at peace about what is happening on the Temple Mount.” Even Israel Hayom made a more direct connection in a page 3 Op-Ed by its commentator Dror Eydar, who wrote: “Let’s say from the start: now, after the installation of metal detectors was signed in the blood of murdered Jews – a grandfather and father and sister who were butchered in the hands of a beast, who unfortunately remained alive (why?!) – any withdrawal from the placement [of the metal detectors] will be shameful, humiliating and permitting bloodshed.” Haaretz’s Amos Harel also makes the connection writing that “Last week's Temple Mount attack threw Israel and the Palestinians into a tailspin, culminating in Friday night's deadly attack in the West Bank.”
  
The Palestinian teen stabbed to death a grandfather and his visiting son and daughter and injured the grandmother. But the wife of the murdered son managed to save herself and the 5 children who came to visit their grandparents by hiding them in a nearby room and told Yedioth the story. An IDF soldier who lived next door came over upon hearing the screams and shot the murderer in the stomach, injuring him. The killer was detained and taken to hospital.
 
Netanyahu called the killer a beast. Shortly before crossing the two kilometers from his village to Halamish settlement, the killer posted on Facebook his last testament.  "I am writing my will and these are my last words. I am young, I have not yet reached the age of 20, I have many dreams and aspirations…But what life is this, in which they murder our wives and our youth without any justification. They desecrate the Al-Aqsa mosque and we are asleep, it's a disgrace that we sit idly by," he continued, asking those who have weapons "but only take them out for weddings and celebrations: Are you not ashamed of yourselves? Why won't you declare war for God? They have closed Al-Aqsa mosque and your weapons are still." The IDF will destroy his home. His father said he opposed his son’s acts.
 
Earlier in the day, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli police and 'over 300 wounded' across East Jerusalem and the West Bank in protest over the metal detectors at the Temple Mount. Another Palestinian protester was killed in clashes on Saturday. Thousands participated in anti-Israel protests in Turkey and Jordan. Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh said, “The anger in the streets of Jerusalem is a response to the Palestinian issue. The metal detectors are harming the Palestinian people and we will not allow it.” According to Haniyeh, "the cameras, the checkpoints and the gates, are aimed at establishing Israel's control over the mosque and restoring the plan to divide it." 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced he was freezing contacts with Israel until recent decisions on 'Al Aqsa' were backtracked. However, Palestinian and Israeli sources say security coordination continues. Abbas also asked US President Donald Trump's top Mideast advisor, Jared Kushner, to intervene in the Temple Mount crisis.
 
The IDF is trying to prevent an escalation, and it fears copy cat attacks, so it has also contacted the Palestinian Authority despite the latter’s announcement of severing ties, Maariv reported. Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the government liaison for the Territories, said Israel was willing to examine alternatives for metal detectors and asked the Arab world for suggestions in an interview on AL-Jazeera.
 

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
Between Political and Legal Fears, Any Sign of Leadership in Israel Is Absent (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The Israel Police made the assessment that metal detectors were required at the Temple Mount to prevent further deadly attacks there, but it required someone senior to them to see the bigger picture. 
The method: This is how two lawyers, members of the prime minister's family, manage the country (Ben Caspit, Maariv) Over the years, David Shimron and Yitzhak Molcho settled themselves on the (money) tap, the decision-making junction, the secrets and the most security-related issues. If Netanyahu knew nothing, he was not fit to run anything.
Every Israeli Should Read the Palestinian Assailant’s Last Will and Testament (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) No one dared ask why Omar al-Abed, a 20-year-old with dreams and aspirations, bought a knife and set out to kill. 
It's still not too late: removing the metal detectors will prevent deterioration of the situation in the capital (Yossi Melman, Maariv) In order to calm the situation, the government must abandon the issues of ego and dignity, while the Palestinian Authority must cool its hotheads. All parties involved, except for Hamas, have an interest in quiet.
Dear God, Not Again (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Israelis and Palestinians are headed for another round of tragedy and destruction but seem helpless to avoid it.
This Is Why Arab States Are Conspicuously Silent on Temple Mount Crisis (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Tensions over holy site could put Arab states on collision course with Islamic movements, but calm is dependent on removal of Israeli metal detectors from the Mount. 
The mouth of the volcano (Nadav Shragai, Friday Israel Hayom) There are plenty of signs that last week's shooting attack on the Temple Mount was part of a broader context of incitement by the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement. The terrorists had been raised on the lie that "Al-Aqsa is in danger." 
Temple Mount Crisis: Fears of Political Rivals Led Netanyahu to Make a Grave Error (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Netanyahu knows what is needed to deal with current tensions, but he voted for the opposite; with no token leftists to blame, he's stuck between a rock and hard place.
Explosive chain of events could lead to new wave of terrorism (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) The Temple Mount crisis and the deadly terror attack in Halamish seem like the beginning of another escalation, which defense officials believe is turning into a pan-Muslim event. Incitement is growing, and there’s no one to restrain the Palestinian street. 
A Diplomatic Test in Jerusalem (Haaretz Editorial) Justified or not, from the moment it became clear that the metal detectors at the Temple Mount were breaking the calm, considering alternative solutions became necessary. 
What status quo? (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) In any future peace talks with the Palestinians, Israel should present a plan to bring equality to the Temple Mount, including allowing Jewish prayer there. 
Jerusalem Unifies the Muslims Through Struggle (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Although most Palestinians are not allowed to visit Al-Aqsa, this holy site is doing what the siege of Gaza and the expansion of the settlements could not: bringing them together. 
If the Israeli Arabs don't stop the terrorists from among them, they will suffer (Meir Uziel, Maariv) Recently, the celebrations of ties that spread from India to Kush have been broken, but we will not give in and the state will continue to be built. However, if the other side does not come to its senses, something bad will happen. More to them than to us.
Hamas' irrational rationale (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) The Gaza Strip's rulers do not subscribe to governmental norms and are indifferent to their people's hardships, but the notion that Gazans will rise up against them is false. Still, reports of (Hamas' eagerness to war with Israel are greatly exaggerated.
Netanyahu’s Message to the World: Accept Israel as It Is, Occupier and Settler (Aluf Benn, Haaretz) On his Europe trip, the prime minister criticized the Trump administration amid its weakness in Congress. Now he hopes Israel's corruption investigators will be deterred by his tough talk 
If Europe disappears, we may live to regret it (Yossi Shain, Yedioth/Ynet) The message Netanyahu tried to convey to his Eastern European colleagues is that we live in a new world of democracies that are not necessarily liberal or multicultural. He knows very well, though, that if Israel moves too far from the liberal values it was founded on, it risks not only self-destruction, but also alienating Western European markets and allies it still needs.
Deal in Submarine Affair Doesn't Mean Netanyahu Is Going Down (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) What the decision to let Michael Ganor turn state's witness in the scandal involving the purchase of German naval vessels really means.
The Prime Minister let political issues manage the confrontation on the Temple Mount (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Ss soon as Bennett caught him in the "Who acts like more of a hero against the Arabs?" corner, Netanyahu made a fuss and let the Police Commissioner make a decision on the issue (of whether to keep the metal detectors on the Temple Mount), fearing that Education Minister Bennett would take from him an electoral price. 
Until Everyone in Israel Feels the Injustice (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Until all men and women in Israel - like pop stars in the LGBT adoption issue - feel the price of the occupation on their own flesh, nothing will change. 
Israel’s ‘associates’ industry (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Just like a journalist can’t take money to write words he doesn’t believe in, a public servant can’t advance private businesses. Whoever works for the state must put everything on hold and lose money he could have earned elsewhere. There’s no other way.
BDS movement's celebrity-obsessed tactics won’t end the Israeli occupation (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) After 12 years, it’s time for the Israel boycotters to rethink their strategy of targeting rock stars about to perform in Israel. It’s not working and is distracting from the real story.
 
 

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