APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday May 2, 2018

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The finger-pointing by US sources at Israel as the perpetrator of the most recent in attack of an Iranian base in Syria and the Iranian warning to Israel along with the latest details revealed from the Iranian nuclear archives and the doubt in Europe about Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s claims over Iran’s nuclear program made top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the closing of the controversial case regarding the killing of a Border Policeman, much to the disdain of the Public Security minister.

Three US sources told NBC news that it was the Israelis who struck the Syrian base with Iranian anti-aircraft missiles Sunday and that Israel is seen as preparing for open warfare with Iran, to which Iranian Defense Minister Amir Khatami warned Israel to stop its “dangerous behavior” because “The Iranian response will be surprising and you will regret it.”

The latest details that were revealed about the daring Mossad operation was that at the end of January, the Iranians discovered the security breach in their nuclear archive and attempted to catch the perpetrators and were "right on their tail.” But the Mossad agents escaped and ten days later Iran sent a drone into Israel, which Israel shot down. Maybe not by chance, Israel just postponed the test of the Arrow 3 ballistic missile interceptor.

As daring as the Mossad operation was, European officials (and Israeli experts) were not convinced that the documents Israel seized from Iran showed any violation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. French, British and German intelligence experts are expected to arrive in Israel to study the documents.However, US President Donald Trump meanwhile, reversed US policy and said that Israeli nukes were not up for debate until Middle East states declare that they recognize that Israel has a right to exist.

State Prosecutors closed the 'Umm al-Hiran case' saying that there was no way to prove that the Bedouin math teacher. Yakub Abu al-Kiyan, of Umm al-Hiran village, had intended to hit and kill a police officer before he was shot dead. At the time, the Israel Police claimed Kiyan was a terrorist who had intentionally hit Levi. However, the legal officials now say there is no way to show whether Kiyan, a schoolteacher, lost control of his car when he was shot by police or whether he acting with the intent to kill. The police were not found at fault for killing al-Kiyan.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Thirteen cases of vandalism, one arrest: Who's behind the wave of West Bank hate crimes?
Shin Bet, police flailing as settler vandals run wild: 'Either the Shin Bet doesn’t want to catch them, or someone there knows what he’s doing.’ (Yotam Berger, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Israel and the U.S. have little to gain from Trump scrapping Iran nuclear deal (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) American withdrawal would not require the imposition of new sanctions on Iran, but it would make it very difficult to mobilize an international coalition to reach an agreement on Iranian ballistic missiles.
“Due to extreme circumstances” - Only two hands are needed for war (Aviad Kleinberg, Yedioth) Israel approved a law giving the prime minister authority to declare war with only a consultation with the defense minister. The problem with this decision, which was pushed to the fringes of the news that were dedicated mostly to Netanyahu’s intelligence (on Iran) show, was that an appeal to the prime minister’s judgement can only be done in retrospect
In hot pursuit of Iran, Netanyahu doesn’t stop for red lights (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The prime minister rejects any and all deals with Tehran while Trump rebuffs any and all achievements by Barack Obama..
Exposing the Iranian documents - Is it permissible to include the Intel in politics? (Ronen Bergman, Yedioth) Netanyahu, who is the supreme commander of the Mossad, has the authority and right to decide when and how information received in an intelligence operation will be revealed outside. The problem is the harnessing of information that the intelligence organization obtained to political interests., or to what it appears to many to be the political needs, of either Netanyahu or of President Trump, both of whom are sunk in troubles and need to divert the attention away from themselves.
Stop playing make-believe (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) The world must be forced to see that a benevolent and responsible Iran does not exist – only the same old Iran, dangerous and manipulative, which, unrestrained, will plunge the entire world into a hazardous tailspin.
Under Cover of Iran, Netanyahu Just Took Three New Steps Toward Fascism (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) For Israel's rickety democracy, already shot through with holes, the worst may well be dead ahead
Early elections: This is what Netanyahu is afraid of (Amnon Abramovich, Yedioth/Ynet)  The day after the elections, we’ll likely see the formation of a rightist-centrist group—including Bennett, Lieberman, Kahlon, Levy-Abekasis and Ya’alon—which will offer Likud the rule, as long as Likud replaces Netanyahu as its leader.
Despite Support for Palestinians, as China Grows Stronger Japan Seeks Closer Ties With Israel (Noa Landau, Haaretz+) One factor drawing Japan and Israel together is the nuclear threat — from North Korea and Iran respectively.
Blocking Iranian nuclear proliferation (Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi, Israel Hayom) Netanyahu's revelation on the Iranian nuclear program aims to coax the signatories of original nuclear deal to demand new terms and curtail Iran's ambitions.
Bedouin and Settlers Unequal Before the Law (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) It’s not surprising that the settlers are demanding that their lawbreaking be treated the same as what they consider “Bedouin lawbreaking” when it comes to taking over land, but not when it comes to freely firing weapons.
The disaster at Tzafit River showed us how much we distinguish between those who “are one of us“ and those who aren’t (Kalman Liebeskind, Maariv) We identify more with people who look like us than with people who look different from us. And yet, this week we could see how far the distinction sometimes goes…It is not pleasant to say, but the (mourning and outpouring of grief) would have been to a lesser extent if it were ultra-Orthodox children (killed in the flood). It would have been to an even lesser extent if they were Arab children.
‘Little Satan’ and the ‘dark murderous regime’: How Israel and Iran went from allies to enemies (David B. Green, Haaretz+) The two countries enjoyed good relations for 30 years, but since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Israel and Iran have been a study in enmity – despite not sharing a border or having any territorial disputes
The authorization for the prime minister to declare war is contrary to the Israeli system of government (Tal Lev-Ram, Maariv) Whether the prime minister does not trust his cabinet members or whether he wants to make the security decisions alone or with the defense minister, the amendment to the law does not meet the spirit of the system of government.
Trump and Netanyahu, the Con Artists Cooking Up Cataclysmic Conflict With Iran (David Rothkopf, Haaretz+) The campaign against the Iran nuclear deal is a fraud led by two men who feel they must lie to lead. But they're playing with millions of lives.
UN officials scoff at Tehran: “Humiliation of the tyrannical regime by the big enemy” (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) Even if the results of the speech do not yield exactly the practical results that the prime minister hopes, the Mossad's achievement has increased Israel's deterrent power - not only in the region but also in the global arena.
From Gal Gadot to Eyal Shani, perception of Israel is changing. But looks can be deceiving (Ofri Ilany, Haaretz+) Israeli cuisine has succeeded where Israeli literature and cinema have failed.
Why rules of engagement on Gaza border must be revoked (Gilad Grossman, Ynet) The attempts to intimidate the Israeli public into believing that a murderous crowd is about to cross the border and destroy everything in its way have been revealed as a fiery rhetoric aimed at justifying indiscriminate shooting at thousands of Palestinians.
Who Said Refugees Don't Return Home? (Dahlia Scheindlin, Haaretz+) The notion, as propounded by Moshe Arens, that the demand for the right of return is exclusive to the Palestinians is patently false.
The High Court's dictatorship has a great deal of moral flexibility and a considerable amount of hypocrisy (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) The overriding clause, with an absolute majority of 61 members of Knesset, is the return of democracy that was robbed by the High Court of Justice, the return of power to the majority of the people, to decide with the help of its elected officials what is the desired image of the country.
Scent of anti-Semitism in Abbas' speech doesn't change his support for two states (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The president's speech before the Palestinian National Council reflected his authoritarian style and habit not to listen to criticism.
So Many Mizrahim on Television (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) Even though Netanyahu has acted cynically, can one ignore the fact that under his governance, the socio-ethnic fabric of the public domain has changed beyond recognition?

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