APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday March 11, 2018
 

You Must Be Kidding #1: 

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to convince his coalition government partners to do his bidding as the coalition crisis continued on with snap elections in the horizon, Israeli analysts expressed anxiety over the ‘Summit of Fear’ between the US and N. Korean leaders, while the Russian President sparked shock when he said that the Russians indicted by the US for intervening in US elections “might be Jews with Russian citizenship," and Israelis were outraged that the Israeli Air Force ‘caved in to pressure’ from religious people when it deleted its International Women’s Day video - making top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. (The video showed women serving in various air force roles criticizing those who speak out against women serving. Then former female soldiers and officers made a video bashing hard-line rabbis who spoke out against co-ed service.)

Netanyahu held a coalition meeting Saturday night to solve the crisis over the draft law and thereby prevent early elections. Netanyahu was expected to demand that his coalition partners agree they wouldn’t quit the government if he were indicted. But he even failed to solve the crisis. The ultra-Orthodox parties want to pass the bill that would exempt yeshiva students from military service, but Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman toughened his opposition to an exemption and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said it needs to be solved by Wednesday to pass the budget or he leaves the coalition. Officials insisted that Lieberman and Netanyahu had not coordinated their positions. But, Yedioth reported that Lieberman’s toughened demands strengthen the assessment that this is all concocted by Netanyahu in order to hold early elections. Netanyahu faces five criminal investigations and in two of them the police have already recommended that he be indicted. Police said they needed two more weeks to question Nir Hefetz – the former Netanyahu aide who reached a deal with the police to testify against Netanyahu and his wife in Case 4000. Likud officials told Yedioth that Netanyahu has grown detached and distrustful. Moreover, some Likud party members are reluctant to publicly defend Netanyahu following his media attacks battle on law-enforcement authorities.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Ripping the curtains open on Israel's targeted killings
Dr. Ronen Bergman's 'Rise and Kill First' shines a spotlight on some of the more shadowy parts of Israel’s history, from the successful hits on Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh and Fatah's Abu Jihad, to the botched and aborted attempts to kill Arafat; a must-read for those with a keen interest in Israeli history and the world of espionage. (Yaara Shalom, Yedioth/Ynet)
15 years of separation: The Palestinians cut off from Jerusalem by the wall
Palestinians see it as Israel's attempt to expel them from Jerusalem; Israelis see it as protection from terrorism. Haaretz investigates the separation barrier's impact on the city and its residents. (Netta Ahituv, Haaretz+)
IDF veterans volunteer at Rio favelas
Young Israelis on their post-army trip volunteer with Warriors Without Borders at various locations in 3rd world countries; Lior Tabib is volunteering in Brazil in memory of his army friend Capt. Tal Nachman, who was killed in a friendly fire incident in 2014. (Itamar Eichner, Yedioth/Ynet)
Gideon Levy - Palestinian boy loses his sight after Israeli troops shoot him in the eye
Paramedics told Mohammed's mom he was shot in the eye by IDF troops during a demonstration. She felt relieved. At least he’s alive. (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+)
Operation On Wings of Eagles remembered by volunteer pilot
As a young navigator with Alaska Airlines, Elgen Long volunteered to airlift 1,800 endangered Jews from Yemen to Israel in 1949, taking part in 12 separate airlifts; now, at 91, he came to visit the descendants of those he saved in Israel for the first time and reminisced about the clandestine mission; 'We flew nonstop, and did not file any flight plan, it was all secret,' he recounted. (Ahiya Raved, Yedioth/Ynet)
Yet another religious war averted in Jerusalem
After a three-day crisis that rocked the Christian world and led to the unprecedented closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, church leaders offer a rare peek into their headquarters; ‘We have been here since the Byzantine era,’ they say. ‘The demand to pay municipal taxes now is inconceivable.’ Meanwhile, despite criticism from senior state officials, Mayor Nir Barkat stands to gain politically from the international scandal he created. (Ynet)

Commentary/Analysis:
Netanyahu has a solid excuse to go to early elections. Will the coalition call his bluff? (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) As the legislative crisis reached a boiling point, Ministers Bennett and Shaked hustled to resolve it, Kahlon and Lieberman issued threats – and the prime minister took refuge in applause in Washington.
As Israel Approaches Snap Elections, Netanyahu Allies Decry 'Crisis of His Own Making' (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz) Senior coalition figures tell Haaretz that Netanyahu is behaving 'like a commentator' and 'not making an effort' to solve the crisis threatening to bring down his government.
A true civil war (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) A comparison of PM Netanyahu to his rivals enables us to understand why they are so intent on destroying him and his family. Given the aggressive efforts to sway public opinion, it is imperative that we fight for our right to think differently.
Upon his return from his dream trip in the United States, Netanyahu continues to burn the local club (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The prime minister would have been happy to ignite a civil war here to save his skin, and also: Did Hefetz’s trauma from IDF officer's course make him the person he is today?
The Wrong Man for the Job (Haaretz Editorial) Hananel Gurfinkel helps settle Jews in East Jerusalem. He should not be in charge of the claims of the city’s Arab neighborhoods.
Contrary to the conspiracy theories, there is no connection between the prime minister's investigations and the security escalation (Tal Lev Ram, Maariv) Netanyahu's situation alone does not justify the serious allegations of politicization of military decision-making, and there is no proof of it on the ground.
The impact of Netanyahu's investigations on right-wing voters will determine the character of Israeli society (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's campaign against the legal system is a battle for the public's psyche The impact of eroding his image on the right-wing public who sells his shtick is the most fascinating and important process ahead of the elections.
Torah, Testosterone and Nationalism: Why Two West Bank Rabbis' Anti-liberal Crusade Imploded (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Religious Zionism's flagship rabbis, founders of the elite Eli yeshiva, dreamt of building an Orthodox cadre to lead Israel. Their bigoted and foul-mouthed outbursts have now stirred public outrage - but their own flock stopped obeying them years ago.
Israel expropriated a Palestinian spring. Why? Because it can. (Laura Wharton, +972mag) The residents of Walajeh, who have long suffered abuses under occupation, will no longer have access to their spring.
Fauda at a Palestinian University - Just Another Action-packed Israeli Evening (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Omar Kiswani - arrested by Israeli forces in a raid on a Palestinian university in what seemed like a scene taken from Fauda - is yet another political detainee.
At AIPAC, Israel's problems went unmentioned (Dahlia Scheindlin, +972mag)
Although AIPAC activists regularly acknowledge that, of course, Israel is not perfect, it felt like the people there were cheering and stomping for a different country.
Government’s message to US liberal Jews could cost us dearly (Yossi Shain, Yedioth/Ynet) The Netanyahu coalition’s eagerness to identify with the Republicans is open and unrestrained. National-religious Israel is demanding US Jewry’s absolute support and a rejection of the liberal ethos, which has defined the politics of most US Jews for about 100 years.
Israel’s justice minister is undermining democracy (Amos Schocken, Haaretz+) Ayelet Shaked wants freedom to violate human rights as the parliamentary majority understands it at any time, and freedom to discriminate between the rights of Jewish and non-Jewish citizens.
Netanyahu needs a pardon and a goodbye (Iris Leal, Haaretz) That’s the best way to prevent the next election from bringing Israeli democracy, which is now on its sickbed, to an even more critical state.
Netanyahu: Even in peace, the occupation will never end (Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, +972mag) The next time anyone tries to blame the Palestinians for refusing to return to the table, remember that Israel’s prime minister repeatedly states his unwillingness to end the occupation.
Since when do achievements legitimize corruption? (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Netanyahu's supporters are stressing his achievements: The declining international isolation, the thriving economy, the growing relations with some of our neighboring countries. But in some areas—like the crawl towards one state, like the surrender to the Haredim, like the attack on law enforcement authorities—the prime minister is becoming a problem. He’s acting in Netanyahu's best interest, not in the state’s best interest.
Israel is a police state for the better (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) No organization, certainly not in the political opposition, has dared to confront Netanyahu the way the police under Roni Alsheich have.
Encouraging IDF service through carrots rather than sticks (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel doesn’t need more soldiers, but the Haredi integration process must be encouraged—and not through laws that won’t change anything because of political constraints. We must also create a new generation of Israeli Arabs who are interested in Israelization instead of in a Palestinian identity, in separatism and in supporting terror.
Why AIPAC Just Loves Nikki Haley (Emilie Moatti, Haaretz+) She offered cheap politics – emotions, not principles, intended to charm and flatter ('You guys are amazing') – and the audience reacted accordingly
Hoping for regime change in Iran (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) Should more be done to advance an Iranian counterrevolution? Legendary diplomat Uri Lubrani, who died this week, certainly thought so, and he was not naive.
Israel and Iran Back on Collision Course in the North (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Two powerful yet contradictory trends are all but fated to collide: Iran’s insistence on establishing a military presence in Syria, and Israel’s insistence on preventing it.
Gender equality should be in the IDF too (Orna Barbivai, Yedioth/Ynet) While the public debate focuses on the nature of joint service and on women’s ability to serve alongside men in operational roles, we are missing the larger debate that should be held—the rate of women who don’t enlist at all.
AIPAC, the U.S. Branch of Netanyahu's Likud Party (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) The group’s message is loud and clear: We’re not interested in nonsense like investigations, corruption, bribery, arrests and people who turn state’s evidence.
The Israeli Left’s Shallow Heir Apparent (Nave Dromi, Haaretz+) Tamar Zandberg of the Meretz party is devoid of principles, aside from the principle of ousting the right from power.
The Israeli activist who wants to bring an elitist left-wing party back to the people (Eness Elias, Haaretz+) Avi Buskila, who is Mizrahi and gay, is fighting for the leadership of the predominantly Ashkenazi Meretz party.
‘Let me die with the Philistines’ (Friday Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu is the prime minister, not a run-of-the-mill citizen. Even if he believes he is a victim of injustice, he can’t behave like a garden-variety criminal trying to clear his name.
Despite warnings from experts, no one is examining China's involvement in various areas of the country (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The former head of the Mossad and a cyber expert believe that China's growing involvement in many areas of the Israeli economy poses a threat to the state's security.
Why Does an Israeli Arab Have to Stand for the National Anthem? (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) You can be a good and productive citizen of the state without all the patriotic baggage, and that is exactly what Israeli Arabs are doing.
The quiet feminist revolution in Arab society in Israel (Samah Salaime, +972mag) Despite the hardships, Arab women are making gains in the Israeli legal establishment, local politics, academia, and even in the Islamic Movement.
Yad Vashem’s loud silence amid Israel's deportations of asylum seekers (Alon Harel and Uriel Procaccia, Haaretz+) Even though Yad Vashem has rejected any comparison between the distress of the refugees in Israel and persecuted Jews in Europe during the Holocaust, they also found it appropriate to make a limp statement about asylum seekers here.
 
 

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