APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday August 7, 2017
 

Number of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
After Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu criticized them for their silence, Likud ministers rushed to defend him,
(as did Habayit Hayehudi leader, Education Minister Naftali Bennett,) while Ari Harow, Netanyahu’s former confidante-turned-state-witness spoke out in defense of his move to implicate the Prime Minister, saying it wasn’t over any crimes he jointly made with Netanyahu, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the blow to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s plan to tax owner’s of three apartments and the upcoming indictment of a renowned Israeli actor for sex crimes.

Meanwhile, Haaretz+ reported that Palestinian officials said peace talks were a nonstarter while Netanyahu was under criminal investigation, but that the Palestinian leadership was afraid that to appease the Israeli right wing, Netanyahu may make moves that will harm the chance for a two-state solution. Moreover, a Palestinian source told Ma'ariv that Israel has turned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas into a prisoner, not allowing him to leave Ramallah because of his failure to calm the situation after the Temple Mount metal detectors affair. Amid rocky ties with Israel following the Temple Mount standoff and the killing of two Jordanians by an Israeli embassy guard in Amman, King Abdullah II is making a rare visit to Ramallah today to meet with Abbas because Abbas cannot leave the West Bank to meet him. The two reportedly want to show that Jordan and Palestine 'speak with one voice.’
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:
The Mossad operative who formed the Jewish underground in North Africa
Selected for a secret mission in 1954, Havilio helped smuggle tens of thousands of Jews to Israel. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+)
This Palestinian Is Fighting for His East Jerusalem Home - and the Whole Neighborhood Is at Stake
Jawad Siyam is competing against the settler group Elad that has far more money and hopes Siyam's house in Silwan will be a tipping point. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Netanyahu's corruption isn't the problem, it's his ideology (Ron Cahlili, Haaretz+) There's something defeatist in this obsessive inquisition into Netanyahu's lifestyle, ostentatious as it may be; it proves, yet again, that the Israeli left doesn't really have anything to offer its voters
Two protests, two different worlds (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) The 37th protest near the attorney general’s home in Petah Tikva on Saturday evening was the largest, youngest and probably happiest protest so far. On the other side of the square, Likud organized a counter-protest. The result was pathetic. The ruling party is capable of much, much more than that.
So Ordered the Israeli Army: The Trumpeter and Violinist Can't Leave Gaza for the West Bank (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israel's High Court agreed to prevent the two 16-year-old musicians with Russian citizenship from leaving: 'It should be noted that the musical development is not necessarily dependent on location'
Caution advised (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Rivals of the prime minister would be wise to recall that Netanyahu has always emerged on top when his enemies were too quick to attack him when he was down.
Death penalty in Israel will bring occupation to the center of world attention (Uri Avnery, Haaretz+) No matter how you look at it, the death penalty is barbaric and stupid and has been abolished in all civilized countries except for certain states in the United States (which are difficult to call civilized)
Netanyahu will be remembered as one who blurred the boundaries between what was good for him and for the good of the country (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) We are probably facing the beginning of the end - not only of the one who has been perceived for many years as the irremovable Israeli leader, but also of a period that has left a stain on the character of our society.
Suspicions against Netanyahu reach critical mass (Haaretz Editorial) Members of the coalition who care about the rule of law must demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu step down
Netanyahu, it’s time for a leave of absence (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The State of Israel and its citizens need a full-time prime minister, not someone who divides most of his time between the interrogation rooms and his lawyers. The state’s best interest comes before the leader’s best interest.
Theater of the Absurd: The Jewish State vs. Palestinian Poet Dareen Tatour (Yehouda Shenhav, Haaretz+) What is a poem, what is a translation and who is a translator: The trial of an Israeli from the Galilee exposes regrettable aspects of local culture.
Those who did not want Iran on the Golan Heights gets it in Jerusalem (Ephraim Ganor, Maariv) The long arms of the Revolutionary Guards are already here, there is no need to be a senior officer in Military Intelligence to understand this...The danger it creates against the backdrop of the Temple Mount crisis is no less dangerous than a nuclear bomb.
If only Israel's culture minister read Herzl's utopian novel (B. Michael, Haaretz+) Herzl was a typical post-Zionist, a supporter of a country for all its citizens. This should suffice for the hooligans of Im Tirtzu to burn his books in the streets
Business as usual in the PA (Ariel Bolstein, Israel Hayom) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his cohorts are waging a campaign of incitement against Israel, the likes of which has not been seen for decades.
Banning Al Jazeera in Israel Won't Be So Easy. Here's Why (Nati Tucker, Haaretz) Israel's communication minister said he requested revoking press credentials and taking Al Jazeera off the air – but the bodies in charge of doing so give no indication of complying.
To understand the complexity of Jerusalem, read this book (Avraham Burg, Haaretz+) In his carefully wrought and well-sourced book ‘Urshalim,’ Nir Hasson tells the story of a united but fractured city, melding scattered historical, political and religious details into a significant picture.

 

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