APN's daily news review from Israel
Friday, January 19, 2018
Quote of the day:
“Archaeologists have been digging in Jerusalem for 150 years and no one shrinks from saying
this is the palace of David, this is from one date or the other. But although carbon-14 dating has been around for a long time, almost no
one applied this method here.”
—Yuval Gadot, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University and one of the leaders of “Setting the Clock in the City of David,” a four-year project that will accurately radiocarbon-date the complex layers of ancient Jerusalem and answer questions about the historicity of the biblical account - including the incendiary issue of whether an ancient Israelite united monarchy under David and Solomon really did exist. Skeptics say that in some cases the dating and interpretation of ancient sites may have been twisted to fit the biblical narrative by scholars eager to prove religious texts right.
You Must Be Kidding:
Jewish Enough to Compete in Israel's Bible Contest – Not Jewish Enough to Stay in the Country - Sintayehu Shifaraw, 18, will be the first ever Ethiopian to participate in the International Bible Contest, but he'll have to return to Addis Ababa after the event ends because his Falashmura community is not officially recognized as Jewish by Israel.
—Yuval Gadot, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University and one of the leaders of “Setting the Clock in the City of David,” a four-year project that will accurately radiocarbon-date the complex layers of ancient Jerusalem and answer questions about the historicity of the biblical account - including the incendiary issue of whether an ancient Israelite united monarchy under David and Solomon really did exist. Skeptics say that in some cases the dating and interpretation of ancient sites may have been twisted to fit the biblical narrative by scholars eager to prove religious texts right.
You Must Be Kidding:
Jewish Enough to Compete in Israel's Bible Contest – Not Jewish Enough to Stay in the Country - Sintayehu Shifaraw, 18, will be the first ever Ethiopian to participate in the International Bible Contest, but he'll have to return to Addis Ababa after the event ends because his Falashmura community is not officially recognized as Jewish by Israel.
Front Page:
Haaretz
- (Labor MK) Cabel advanced a bill against ‘Israel Hayom’ newspaper and received edits of the draft from the publisher of Yedioth
- Loss of (Knesset) seats to Lapid, fleeing of Labor party members and the poll that taught him that 27% of the public doesn’t even know who he is. Avi Gabbay hopes to recruit (former IDF chief of staff Beni) Gantz and create a turnaround // Yossi Verter
- Trump’s good year // Asaf Ronal
- The embassy in Amman will return to activity; Jordan: Israel apologized for the killing of our citizens
- The Indian test - Netanyahu is enjoying his travels around the world, but his budget cuts to the Foreign Ministry may make it difficult to translate text into actions // Noa Landau in India
- High Court: Threat of suicide is not a criminal offense, it is important to express distress
- Looking for a profession: Ultra-Orthodox women are no longer just learning teaching
- What is left of Donald Trump’s central campaign promises? // Noya Kochavi on the US-Mexico border
- Instead of being a security guard at the shopping mall, Tom Cohen became an international conductor and a rising star
- Parents pay hundreds of shekels in order not to see their children angry or sad
- And what if the locomotive drivers in Germany had stopped their trains // Avigdor Feldman
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Thank you, hero - The moving meeting between the mother of rabbi that was murdered and the wounded Yamam unit commando fighter
- The dramatic operation in the heart of Jenin: This is how the account with the terrorists was closed
- Case 2000: MK Cabel and (Yedioth publisher) Noni Mozes were questioned under warning
- Special Op-Ed: Parents of the female combat flight team answer those who oppose recruitment of women - “We educated our daughter towards an open society that respects every man and woman. That all the possibilities are open before her
- Murder without cause - In Ashdod, Itai Mor, 45, walked into the stairway to throw out the garbage and his neighbor stabbed him in the neck, claiming later “I heard a voice from the heavens”
- Situation: (Strong) Winds
- Doctor, heart - The moving story of the senior organ transplanting doctor who adopted the boy he saved
- Investigation - Comrades in arms - This is how an Israeli businessman aided to arm a corrupt African state
Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)
- Assessments: Head of terror cell escaped from Jenin
- Mother of (murdered) Rabbi Shevach: “I’m proud of the security forces”
- Short and stormy: Power outages, fallen trees and flooding expected across the country
- Case 2000 diverges: Suspicion: A law in exchange for (press) coverage
- “I don’t want religionization. Nor secularization” - Education Minister Naftali Bennett responds to the storm of the rabbis (who oppose mixed-gender military units)
- The secret report about MK Yaakov Perry that has yet to be revealed
- Lack of security - IDF is preparing for every scenario, but the junior ranks still fear regarding its readiness for challenges // Alon Ben-David
- Friend of the department - This is how the Police Commissioner (Roni) Alsheikh tried to sweep the Roni Ritman (head of the police anti-fraud unit, suspected of sexual harassment) under the rug // Kalman Libeskind
- As if there weren’t any big change: A different look at the Likudiada in Eilat
- Between (Yom) Kippur (War) and the Rotschild (anti-corruption protests): Moti Ashkenazi joins the demonstrations against the corruption
Israel Hayom
- Mother of Rabbi Shevach: “We are proud of the fighters” - Satisfaction following the operation in Jenin: “We will reach every terrorist”
- Operational success, intel failure // Yoav Limor
- Yamam (police commando unit): Fighting terror as a way of life // Shlomi Michael
- Moishe is not alone - Moved and embarrassed, Moishe Holtzberg, 11, returned to the Chabad House in Mumbay where his parents were killed 9 years ago. (PHOTO: Netanyahu kissing Moishe on the head at a ceremony)
- End to the crisis: Israel apologized to Jordan, the embassy will return to full activity
- Winds of change - Rainy and stormy, snow will rain at Mt. Hermon; In afternoon, storm will weaken
- Ryan Air gave in: The extra payment imposed only on Israelis will be cancelled
- Those still left - Members of the crew that were supposed to be on the Dakar submarine (that sank) and were saved at the last minute
- Next year in Jerusalem: This is how Trump’s first year as president passed // Eli Leon and Erez Lin
News Summary:
The mother of the murdered settler from Havat Gilad, Rabbi Raziel Shevah, visited a wounded Israeli commando fighter and thanked him for the killing of his son’s murderer, but the man Israel was hunting for is still on the run, Maariv reported ( and Maan News Agency reported that the man Israel did kill had the same first and last name as the wanted man, but a different middle name), Israel’s embassy in Jordan will return to full activity after Israel apologized to Jordan for the killing
of three of its citizens in two incidents, including the killing of a young Jordanian judge,whom the IDF claimed had first attacked the Border Guard who shot him dead, and police questioned Labor MK Eitan Cabel and ‘Yedioth Ahronoth’ owner and publisher Arnon Mozes in Case 2000 on suspicion that Cabel, who in 2014 had initiated the 'Israel Hayom bill,' which sought to ban free newspapers, including Israel Hayom, was involved in the discussions of a suspected deal between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Mozes, in which Yedioth would give Netanyahu positive coverage in exchange for Netanyahu weakening Israel Hayom, making top stories in today's Hebrew newspapers.
Also of interest, the Israeli papers reported that the New York Times reported that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel will work out of a consular office building in Jerusalem by 2019. And, Israel’s defense minister during the 1991 Gulf War, Moshe Arens, approved a counterattack on Iraq after it had fired Scud missiles at Israel.
The mother of the murdered settler from Havat Gilad, Rabbi Raziel Shevah, visited a wounded Israeli commando fighter and thanked him for the killing of his son’s murderer, but the man Israel was hunting for is still on the run, Maariv reported ( and Maan News Agency reported that the man Israel did kill had the same first and last name as the wanted man, but a different middle name), Israel’s embassy in Jordan will return to full activity after Israel apologized to Jordan for the killing
of three of its citizens in two incidents, including the killing of a young Jordanian judge,whom the IDF claimed had first attacked the Border Guard who shot him dead, and police questioned Labor MK Eitan Cabel and ‘Yedioth Ahronoth’ owner and publisher Arnon Mozes in Case 2000 on suspicion that Cabel, who in 2014 had initiated the 'Israel Hayom bill,' which sought to ban free newspapers, including Israel Hayom, was involved in the discussions of a suspected deal between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Mozes, in which Yedioth would give Netanyahu positive coverage in exchange for Netanyahu weakening Israel Hayom, making top stories in today's Hebrew newspapers.
Also of interest, the Israeli papers reported that the New York Times reported that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel will work out of a consular office building in Jerusalem by 2019. And, Israel’s defense minister during the 1991 Gulf War, Moshe Arens, approved a counterattack on Iraq after it had fired Scud missiles at Israel.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.