APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday, April 23, 2018
 

Quote of the day:

“He should have refused, unhesitatingly and without qualms, to accept any prize — especially the Israel Prize — from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett. The former is bringing about the destruction of democracy and Israeli society, and the latter is nurturing the occupation while bringing about the destruction of public education and Israeli academia.”
—Eli Yassif, the former high school homeroom and literature teacher of renowned Israeli author, David Grossman and present day professor emeritus of Hebrew literature, wrote in an Op-Ed that his former student should have done as actress Natalie Portman did.*

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
A storm brews after news that Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh’s term of office won’t be extended, Education Minister Naftali Bennet announces he will bring the controversial High Court overriding clause for discussion in the Ministerial Legislative Committee, despite lacking coalition agreement, and Israel and Iran play down the possibility of war, while Yedioth blames Hamas for Palestinian children being killed by the IDF, even though stone-throwing has long been a means of protest of Palestinian children, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh hinted he would not stand down on the corruption probes against Prime Minister BInyamin Netanyahu, if that were what it would take for him to get an extension to his term of office, Maariv reported. "If in order to get an extension I will have to give up my values, that they will look for someone else,“ Alsheikh said. Government officials claimed that ‘an additional year' 'was never discussed with him.’ Netanyahu was working to replace Alsheikh, according to a senior member of the the Likud party. He was even interested in moving up the Knesset elections in a bid to prevent Alsheikh from getting a fourth year in office so he can  a more 'convenient' commissioner, said the Likud member.

In an interview with CBS News following exchanges of threats between Iran and Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “I do not believe that we are headed towards regional war, but I do believe that unfortunately, Israel has continued its violations with international law, hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the U.S. support and trying to find smokescreens to hide behind.” Zarif was referring to the Israeli attack earlier this month on an Iranian military facility in Syria. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Israeli target was an advanced Iranian air-defense system and not just an attack drone deployment. Netanyahu said there was a “huge gap between (Zarif’s) moderate words and the Revolutionary Guards' actions” (in reference to the Iranian drone that entered Israeli airspace) and that he was “unimpressed" by either. The Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu wants annulled, needs to be re-approved by the US next month and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Israelis directly through Israeli TV and said that an “imperfect Iran deal is better than no deal.”

In a three-page spread, including the front page, Yedioth set out to show Israelis that Palestinians were to blame for the deaths of their children killed by IDF snipers at the protests near the Gaza border fence. “The pictures prove: terror organizations in Gaza send small children to the line of fire in the ‘March of Return’ at the fence,” read one headline. “This is how Hamas uses children,” read another headline. Across the pages were numerous photos of small boys throwing either stones or tires. The caption read: “The photos document children at the recent Friday demonstrations.” The article quoted a  senior military official, who said that the children “throw Molotov cocktails or sabotage the (security) fence, out of an understanding that we will not hurt them.” Yet, the journalist, veteran military affairs correspondent, Yossi Yehoshua, never questioned the fact that Palestinian children throwing stones has long been a part of the Palestinian protests against Israeli occupation and that indeed, the ‘March of Return’ was planned for families to camp out and participate. The article accused Hamas of sending the children to the ‘line of fire,’ but did not question why there had to be a line of fire. Today’s Haaretz Editorial has called on the IDF to stop shooting at the Gazan protesters.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:
Collaborator: "The engineer disguised himself as a woman, answered the phone, exploded and goodbye”
K, a Palestinian businessman from the Gaza Strip, told The News Company how he transferred the booby-trapped phone to senior Hamas official, Yehiyeh Ayash, in 1995: “Someone came in from the Shin Bet, I found out in the end that he was (then Shin Bet chief) Avi Dichter.” He said he collaborated with Israel because Ayash harmed both peoples. "At first there was no connection [with the Shin Bet], it was with the Civil Administration," he said, "and then they asked me to try to model the problem of the refugees, to make peace. The biggest obstacle was that Sheikh Ayash came into the picture and killed Israelis. He killed Israelis and Arabs, killed the whole business of peace. He caused damage to both peoples, he did not cause harm only to the Jews. " K. said he was happy Ayash was assassinated, but that he paid a heavy personal price.   After the assassination, he entered the Shin Bet rehabilitation program, tried to move to the United States, but quickly returned to Israel. One of the strongest and richest people in the Gaza Strip lost everything. "$21 million was taken, confiscated, by the Palestinian Authority,” he said. "I helped the country with the biggest things there is, everything I was asked to do, I did, I risked all my assets for peace. That's the truth." (Maariv)
IN PHOTOS With Jews largely gone from Iraq, memories survive in Israel
Some 120,000 Iraqi Jews airlifted to Israel in the 1950’s. (Reuters, Haaretz)
Dr. Arad broke through the road to Jerusalem, now his granddaughter is continuing his path and is a navigator in the Meglan Unit
He broke through the road to Jerusalem during the War of Independence, and she is the first woman to head the navigational department in the prestigious IDF unit. Recently they closed circle, when 92-year-old Yitzhak Arad shared his story with the members of 21-year-old Adi Arad’s military unit. (Maayan Haruni, Maariv)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Stop Shooting Gazan Protesters (Haaretz Editorial) The government and army are deliberately refraining from using nonlethal methods, which don’t cause permanent disabilities, to prevent a few of the demonstrators from crossing the border into Israel.
The Tragedy of Jewish Nationalism (Yitzhak Laor, Haaretz+) Jewish nationalism in Israel is a disaster: It requires religion to justify itself, it uses its citizens to trample the Palestinians, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Portman's clear words fell on the naked ears of those who blindly support Netanyahu (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The criticisms that the Israeli-American actress suffered, among other things, reflects the weakening of the parliamentary democracy in the country, which Netanyahu is leading. Portman, who represents a young liberal generation of American Jews who love Israel, stressed that she decided not to attend the award ceremony not because she is boycotting Israel, but because she is dissatisfied with its boss: "I did not want to appear to be supporting Netanyahu. One can be critical of the Israeli leadership without wanting to boycott the entire nation. " But her clear words fell on the naked ears of many right-wingers, including ministers and Knesset members who support blind support for Bibi and who labeled her as nothing less than the enemy of the state…In a consistent process, the government is eroding the power of the Knesset.
*David Grossman’s Mistake, Natalie Portman’s Success (Eli Yassif, Haaretz+) How sad that our national author — a man who has served as our conscience — must learn a lesson in morality from a Hollywood actress.
Like the suicide bomber (in her film ‘Free Zone,’) who runs toward the border: so Portman turned from being a student in Jerusalem into an enemy (Einat Olivier, Maariv) Like the character she played in the Free Zone, Natalie Portman has been moving all her life in the conflict of identity that characterizes young Americans. She was thrilled by what has happened here and was an avid spokesperson of ours. So what happened?…Portman was wrong when she expected people to distinguish between boycotting Netanyahu and boycotting the state in such a sensitive international period. While she thought she was doing a courageous public service and a wake-up call to the incumbent government by refusing to be the Jewish symbol or mascot in current policy, and expressing, apparently, what many of her friends felt, the government was insulted and attacked her back. Miri Regev was correct when she said that "Portman fell like a ripe fruit.”  But Regev should know that Portman fell, not to the arms of BDS, but to the arms of the Minister of Culture herself and the government that condemned her, she only was looking for a reason to differentiate and separate and dissuade, this time between the Jews of the land and the Jews of the Diaspora. And just like at the end of the film "Free Zone", which seemed to predict the event, while the Jewish woman and the Palestinian woman argued about the border and about rights and about money, Portman wanted, as if she were in a craze, as if she were a Shiite suicide bomber that can’t take it anymore, to run pass the border checkpoint.
Bibi-DS instead of BDS: Portman's strategy of boycotting Netanyahu could be next wave of political protest (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Natalie Portman's motives in declining to appear at the Genesis Prize ceremony aren't important. The real question is whether the Netanyahu brand has grown toxic and if it can be disassociated from Israel.
Idol Worship on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) ‘We kept faith with Zion,’ said Netanyahu on Independence Day eve. He’s proud the Jews kept faith with a piece of land? Aren’t religious groups supposed to keep faith with God?
Conflict Between Iran and Israel Will Rest on Fate of the Nuclear Deal (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) With Trump expected to announce if he is nixing the deal by May 12, Tehran is contending with a sluggish economy, the worst drought in 50 years and growing public discontent – making Russia ties ever more important.
Malaysia assassination: Hamas left hanging in the air (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) The professional killing of electrical engineer Fadi Albatsh in Kuala Lumpur is just another operation in a long list of assassinations, in and outside Gaza, against the minds taking part in the development of the terror group’s aerial system.
Threats Ltd.: Hamas does not yet have operational capabilities and infrastructure to carry out terrorist attacks abroad (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Hamas and Islamic Jihad are the only Palestinian organizations that have never harmed Israeli or Jewish targets or individuals abroad. All the other Palestinian factions tried and succeeded at one point or another.
Time to target Hezbollah in Europe (Ron Prosor, Israel Hayom) Israel must launch a diplomatic campaign to sever the Iran-sponsored terrorist group from its sources of funding and support well before any Israeli soldier ever sets foot on Lebanese soil.
Jebalya (Refugee Camp in Gaza) or Malaysia: Egypt will decide the burial location of the Palestinian engineer (Yasir Ukbi, Maariv) After the assassination of Fadi al-Batash in Malaysia, the battle between Israel and Hamas over bringing his body to the Gaza Strip began. It all depends on whether Cairo will allow the body to be transferred through the Rafah crossing.
Approaching Elections, Turkey's Erdogan Gives a Master Class in Dictatorship (Simon A. Waldman, Haaretz+) He's jailed the opposition, controls the media and enjoys autocratic political powers: Erdogan’s never lost an election. And he’ll make sure it stays that way.

 

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