APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday October 24, 2017
 

Quote of the day #1:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
**The sun was shining outside, but the Knesset winter session opened with a raging storm. Speaking from the Knesset podium, President Reuven Rivlin pointedly accused the government of Binyamin Netanyahu of weakening the country’s democracy by trying to undermine the High Court. (Outgoing Chief Justice Miriam Naor said this happened throughout her term, but that the court cannot be intimidated.) Netanyahu returned fire calling all his detractors ‘pickles’ (sourpusses) and saying that Israel was going through a diplomatic and economic boom. This was the front page top story news in all the Hebrew newspapers with the glaring exception of Israel Hayom, which ran Netanyahu’s speech on page 5 followed by Rivlin’s accusations on page 7. The second biggest story was linked to the first: Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt spoke out against the bill to prohibit criminal investigations against a sitting prime minister. Mendelblitt called the Likud-initiated legislation, also known as the French bill and the ‘Bibi Bill,’ ‘absurd’ and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan agreed, saying that "Ignoring real criminal suspicions harms the state.” Opposition leaders called the Netanyahu-immunity bill ’embarrassing.’

The other big story was the battle within the coalition over the bill itself. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon decided to allow his Kulanu party members vote according to their conscience on the bill that would shield Netanyahu from police investigations - of which he faces many. That put Kahlon directly in a clash with the powerful Netanyahu supporter, coalition whip MK David Bitan, who threatened to “dismantle the coalition if we have to.” But then there was an interesting twist revealed in Haaretz: The police are investigating criminal allegations against Bitan.

Meanwhile, outside, multiple protests took place, including the blind, the disabled and the ultra-Orthodox.
 

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
In America, Self-declared Nazis Can Get State Aid. Israel Boycotters Increasingly Can't (Simone Zimmerman, Haaretz) Israel's already criminalizing its anti-occupation dissenters. Don't let America do the same.
Classic Netanyahu: The prime minister was again at his best when he took things out of their context (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The prime minister is again seen at his peak, turning his opponents into enemies of Israel and reaping applause. Next week he will drag out a meeting in London over five days-all to get away from Unit Lahav 433 (police investigating corruption).
President Tries to Save Israel From Pyromaniac Netanyahu's Anti-Democratic Revolution (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) President Reuven Rivlin's attack on Netanyahu is nothing compared to what he says in private. Rivlin sees his role as keeping Israel from descending into an abyss, led down by a PM plagued by graft investigations. Netanyahu wants an election, but doesn't yet have the power to get it done.
Rivlin forgot about where he came from and adopted a world of concepts that is the opposite of democracy (Nadav Haetzni, Maariv) In high-fluted language, combined with beautiful words, the President joined the choir of those turning things around and attacked those who came to correct. And if he wanted to know how wrong he was, he should listen to the praises [sarcastic - OH] he had been given.
*PM immunity bill proves there’s no shame left (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) We knew where things were headed, but we didn’t realize how desperate and determined Netanyahu was to stop the investigations against him. All of his preparations—the attacks on the court, on the State Attorney’s Office, on the police and on the media, the mass Likud rallies, the long trips abroad—was for the creation of a quick aggressive legislative move to stop all his probes right away.
Moshe Ya'alon for Prime Minister of Stupidity (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) The drivel Israel's ex-defense minister spouted last week, essentially supporting institutionalization of the West Bank apartheid regime, is a perfect expression of the country's new mainstream.
The right of self-determination must be earned (Zalman Shoval, Israel Hayom) The Palestinians, unlike the Kurds, have yet to show they are ready for self-governance or prove they will not threaten their neighbors. But what really matters are the geopolitical interests at play.
Why Is Only One Arab a Righteous Gentile for Saving Jews During the Holocaust? (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+) Where are the others, and is there really a possibility Yad Vashem will ever recognize them too?
Remember the man, not the controversy (Smadar Bat Adam, Israel Hayom) Commemorating slain PM Yitzhak Rabin and Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi should be an opportunity to examine the internal and external conflicts Israel deals with, not play the blame game.
Too Many IDF Officers Believe Battlefield Heroics Spare Them From Punishment for Wrongdoings (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The IDF chief has a short fuse when it comes to disciplinary infractions, so he'll likely see to the suspension of the brigadier general who plundered enemy arms and other materiel.
What does Israel’s left have against Trump? (Tzvia Greenfield, Haaretz+) The American left has understandable political objectives, and its battle against Trump is necessary and justified to realize its political plans. But the struggle of the American left cannot be the struggle of Israelis who desire peace
Netanyahu isn’t Putin, and it’s time he understood that (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet)  If Breaking the Silence didn’t exist, the prime minister would have had to invent it. Otherwise, who would be his ultimate punching bag? The chief military censor and the Knesset’s legal advisor defended not only Breaking the Silence against the attempts to outlaw the organization—they defended Israeli democracy.
If you gave up on Netanyahu, why hold out hope for Trump? (Noa Osterreicher, Haaretz+) Netanyahu is a great speaker and Trump has a hard time putting together a coherent sentence, but both share an inability to deliver. They are dying to expel, annex, throw out and destroy – but they can’t.
Israel Must Stop Arming Myanmar While It Commits Ethnic Cleansing (Haaretz Editorial) The Israel government must remove the moral stain it bears. The political polarization in Israel isn’t relevant in this fight.
A Disgraceful Disease': Egypt Takes No Prisoners in War Against LGBT Community (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Community members are being arrested, 'support' in the media is prohibited and rights groups won’t protect them. Now a bill before parliament makes homosexuality an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

 

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