Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Conflicting assessments over whether the IDF will lighten Elor Azaria’s sentence, the sharp reactions to the biting attacks on the security services and US President Donald Trump’s swift ousting of his new communications director were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
 
Also, Yedioth’s Arab Affairs correspondent Smadar Perry reported that the leak to the media of the ID card with the full name of the Israeli embassy guard who killed two Jordanians last week was done by “a very senior source in the Hashemite Kingdom.” But unlike previous assumptions that it was in the wake of the tension between the countries over whether the guard, Ziv Moyal, will stand trial in Israel, the “goal was to break the Israeli censorship and prevent Moyal the ability of working as a guard anywhere in the world – out of fear that he will be identified and people will try to take revenge on him.” Meanwhile, Moyal’s family has left their home following the incident. Ynet interviewed the brother of the Jordanian doctor that Moyal allegedly killed by accident, who said the family does not want money, just a trial. "Even if the young man who was killed with my brother attacked the guard with a screwdriver or with something else, this was a security officer who could have acted more wisely and didn't need to use a weapon and kill someone. He is a security officer who is trained in karate, judo and G-d only knows what other skills he has. He could have handled the young man. He did what he did and shot my brother, accidentally or not,” said Bassem al-Hamarna.
 
Haaretz+’s Amos Harel was convinced that if Elor Azaria, the ‘Shooting Soldier from Hebron,’ who last year executed a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant for which he was convicted (only – OH) of manslaughter, expressed regret for his actions then he could very well get his (short) 18-month sentence shortened. However, Haaretz’s military affairs reporter, Gili Cohen, reported that a pardon is unlikely. “A source in the prosecution says he can’t remember a case in recent years in which the chief of staff bucked the prosecution’s opinion: if it opposes the pardon, that is that.” Moreover, Yedioth’s Yossi Yehoshua and Meir Turgeman reported that IDF sources said that after he was convicted twice of manslaughter there would be no deal offered to Azaria and he will enter jail on Wednesday. Yedioth explained that the High Court has very strict rules about appeals and only in extraordinary cases does it agree to accept a case. “Yet despite the almost zero likelihood that it would be accepted, that didn’t stop his lawyer, Yoram Sheftel, from making conditions to the IDF and conditioning the submission of an appeal (to the High Court) over the military’s ruling on whether the IDF makes Elor an offer that suits him. Only then, said Sheftel, will they decide how to act.” Interesting were the statements by Elor’s father, Charlie. “It’s possible that over the final result of the incident it is possible to apologize,” he said adding that an apology “is not just because of Elor. It’s in order to try to preserve the unity in the country and to minimize the damage caused to the IDF and to the public. We will be willing to listen to these things only to minimize the damage that was caused in the country…We have yet to receive a request from the Prime Minister or the Defense Minister and if we receive an official request we will consider it.” When asked if his son would agree to express regret, he answered: “If a real offer comes and really significantly sweetens (lightens) his sentence, I believe that with the defense team we will decide accordingly.” The Yedioth reporters seemed to deride the father’s response noting that it was said “even after their son was convicted twice of manslaughter.” Military sources said there would be no deal and that the IDF does not hold negotiations and “the family’s conduct is not proper and is even disconnected from reality.” 

Meanwhile, uncouth remarks against IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and against the Shin Bet have drawn fire. Following a public uproar, Azaria’s lawyer, Yoram Sheftel, was forced to apologize after saying Eisenkot looked like “a fat bureaucrat.” And former chief of staff Dan Halutz referred to Culture Minister Miri Regev and coalition whip MK David Bitan (both Likud) as ‘apes’ for their attacks on the Shin Bet. Maariv’s top political commentator, Ben Caspit, wrote another sharp Op-Ed examining these statements and Israeli society and the role the leadership play in affecting the public discourse. [See translation in Commentary below.]
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:
Young J Street activists who love Israel, oppose BDS and oppose the occupation, face criticism from right-wing pro-Israel activists as they try to fight BDS
They are vehemently opposed to Netanyahu's policy, but are waging an all-out war against the boycott movement on US campuses, and J Street activists are visiting Israel to get the tools to continue the struggle. (Tamar Dresler, Maariv)
Limited power supply doesn't stop Gaza programmers from doing their job
Israel’s Mellanox Technologies employs scores of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, using technology to overcome political barriers; other companies should be doing the same. (David Slama, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Hebron Shooter's Best Shot at a Shorter Sentence: Clemency From the Israeli Army Chief (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Gadi Eisenkot would weigh cutting prison time if Elor Azaria expresses regret and waives further appeals.
*The lowest point: The sources of Sheftel's of aggression come from the politicians (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The abyss to which Elor Azaria's lawyer, Yoram Sheftel, reached stems from the level of the Israeli discourse and the style imposed on us by elected officials. Among them, Culture Minister Miri Regev stands out as a beacon of disgrace… The more one listens to the scandalous nonsense that attorney Yoram Sheftel has unleashed on the Chief of Staff over the past few days the more one feels constriction and suffocation in one’s throat. Sheftel is a direct product of the general deterioration in Israeli society. He is the mirror of our image. A refined concentrate of rudeness, extreme evil, radicality, agitation, and a very loose connection to the facts. Our process of degradation is reflected mainly in the overflowing social networks that have turned into stinking sewage reservoirs. But it does not start and end there. The politicians are constantly raising the bar, which dictates the pace and sets the tone. When a minister [Miri Regev] in the Israeli government calls the Shin Bet security service "a hallucinatory organization," why should we complain about Sheftel? I know Sheftel from the radio station where we both broadcast. He's a talented man, there are moments when you can even try to like him. When you dig a little bit past his extrovert personality, you realize that under the rolling tongue, which scares and scolds everyone who is left of Aryeh Eldad, a frightened, shy, insecure and thirsty Jewish child is hiding. All that does not make more acceptable the intolerable ease with which this Cossack attacked the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Had he at least been backed up by the facts. He called a "wretched soul" the man who has spent 40 years in the battlefields, always on the front line… Sheftel's unruliness does not stand in its own right. It stems from the shallow level of discourse, the power of the Fake News, and especially the style imposed on us by elected officials. Among them, as a beacon of shame, stands Minister Miri Regev. In recent days she has been insisting on her opinion regarding the decision on metal detectors [that they should not have been removed from the Temple Mount – OH]. That's her right. She also reiterates that it is permissible and appropriate to criticize the defense establishment as well. This is true. But here it is over. She forgets that she did not criticize these bodies. To call the Shin Bet " hallucinatory" is not criticism. It is a vulgarity, a rudeness, a blatant kick in the belly of all those who devote their lives to the Regev’s safety and ours. Mrs. Regev has a heavy mouth, but a quick tongue. When are no brakes. Everything is kosher. It can be said that the Shin Bet is mistaken, it can be argued that the Shin Bet is misleading, one might think that the Shin Bet is stuck in a concept. But ‘hallucinatory’? If it were not for the Shin Bet's hallucinations, we would look like Mosul. Only in the last two weeks there were 19 serious attacks thwarted by the service. That is official data. Yesterday it happened to her in the from the former chief of staff Dan Halutz. To her credit it must be said that he started. In a radio broadcast on Army Radio, Halutz was asked about the attacks by MK David Bitan (Likud coalition whip) and Miri Regev on the security forces. "People are said to have developed from an ape," he said. "There are public figures who did not complete the transition." A harsh, harsh statement that should not have been said. Halutz's stomach is full of Miri Regev to the point of bursting. But the lady's flamethrower doesn’t hesitate to battle. She wouldn’t count to ten, she would not let her admired commander [she served under him as IDF Spokesperson – OH], her eternal patron and the donkey on whose bank she was supposed to break into politics, enjoy the doubt. "Halutz's arrogance and rudeness made him a failed chief of staff. (And made him) responsible for misconceptions. He ran the army arrogantly and could not accept criticism. These things do not surprise me, his words revealed another aspect of Halutz's personality. His statement about Darwinism is not a slip of the tongue. It is a distorted, racist and dangerous worldview that must be condemned. Dan Halutz was caught naked." Regev's remarks. Indeed, every word is truth. I would accept all this, if it weren’t said by Regev. She seems to think we're all stupid, or that we've been manipulated by the "Men in Black" trick, which erases memory. Regev worked for Halutz. She was the one he promoted and appointed as IDF spokeswoman (despite being warned quite a bit). She tied her fate to his fate. She was his spokesperson, protected him with her body, hid all those things she had "discovered" now, she made him her own God and ours, she swore by his name. The disengagement, which he commanded, she spoke about with obvious cheerfulness. She was already in politics, long before she entered the IDF Spokesperson's Office. Everyone who was close to her knew that after the army he and she were flying together to the political world. Halutz will conquer the arena in a storm, and she will be there next to him, as always. Then things went wrong. Halutz sold his stock portfolio on the morning of the war, which destroyed him publicly. The war seemed a resounding failure (which was not true, in retrospect). Regev was the first to escape from the sinking ship. In her place, I would retain a trace of respect for whoever invented her and was supposed to bring her on his back to the summit. In her place, I would have had some modesty, or even shame. When it's the style of our elected officials, there's nothing to be surprised about Sheftel's downfall. That's how we are.
Al Jazeera Jerusalem bureau chief: Netanyahu's colluding with Arab autocrats to silence us (Walid Omary, Haaretz) It’s no surprise that other Mideast regimes want to see Al Jazeera's independent voice gone. But why would Israel, one of the only self-proclaimed functional democracies in the region, want to join them?
Arbitrary restrictions. Harassment and assault. Is Israel bullying the foreign press?(Daniella Peled, Haaretz+) Israel's very far from the most repressive Mideast state for media. So don't obstruct journalists' access for their own 'safety'– or turn them into political targets
A shared interest (Dr. Ronen Yitzhak, Israel Hayom) Israel should make sure Jordan continues to enjoy its special role on Temple Mount to prevent the Palestinian Authority from taking over the holy sites.
Netanyahu Sawing Off the Branch He Sits On (Haaretz Editorial) Azaria had blatantly violated the IDF’s rules of engagement. Yet this didn't stop the prime minister from proposing a pardon.
Elor Azaria is no hero, and he knows it (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) The soldier made a mistake when he shot the terrorist in Hebron without any justification, and kept making mistakes when he let politicians exploit and turn him into a hero. Having learned enough about battle heritage, he knew there was no heroism in shooting a dying terrorist.
A Dishonest Fallacy: Israel’s Occupation Isn't Why anti-Semitism’s Spiking (Dave Rich, Haaretz) Anti-Jewish agitators in every era claim they're only responding to the 'actual' misdeeds of Jews. For violent Islamists and the left, Israel's occupation is just the latest iteration.
Behind the scenes of a resounding Israeli failure (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) While the police considered the metal detectors a temporary solution ahead of an improved security system, the IDF objected to any change at the Temple Mount, including cameras; cabinet members were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, but an hour later, everything had already been leaked; and Israel’s main lesson from the affair is that it mustn’t rely on the current US administration in the next big crisis either.
Now Is the Time for an Israeli Nuclear Law (Avner Cohen and Eitay Mack, Haaretz+) The debate about the number of submarines Israel needs is essentially a debate about existential deterrence – just the sort of sensitive issue that must be properly regulated and 'normalized' by law.
The Israeli Left’s Jewish Paradox (Tzvia Greenfield, Haaretz+) The Israeli left’s exacting demands from the nation are based on the Jewish values and tradition that the left rejects.
It’s time to bid farewell to the Elor Azaria affair (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) The lessons from the Hebron shooting incident cannot end in the IDF. The entire political system—the entire Israeli society, in fact—must draw conclusions. If we fail to maintain the norms of a law-abiding state, we will undermine the foundations this country is built on.
'Game of Thrones,' Israeli Politics Edition: Who Is the Netanyahu of Westeros? (Niv Hadas, Haaretz+) Niv Hadas tries to draw parallels between characters in this series and Israel's political scene.
A ruling based on evidence (Prof. Aviad Hacohen, Israel Hayom) The judges in the Hebron shooter's trial said that even though the muses become silent when the guns roar, the law must always be heard.
Music, Children’s Choirs and Camels in the Desert (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Three years ago in Gaza, between July 21 and July 28, Israel killed (it is forbidden say murdered) 37 Palestinian children under the age of 7.

 

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