APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday May 10, 2018
 

Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
At press time for most of the Hebrew newspapers, Israel had not yet shelled in Quneitra in order to prevent any Syrian or Iranian forces from deploying on the Golan Heights border (Yedioth did manage to report that and also Haaretz here) and 20 missiles were not yet fired in response from Syria at Israeli forces in the Golan, which Israel intercepted and then responded by bombing some 50 military targets all over Syria, in "one of the air force's largest operations in recent decades.” Today Israel said it attacked five Syrian antiaircraft batteries and reportedly destroyed all of them after coming under heavy fire.

When most of the newspapers went to print, they were explaining that late Tuesday night, Israel had attacked a small convoy in Kisweh, carrying missiles which ‘sources’ said were meant to be immediately launched on Israel. That ‘preventive strike’ was the main story along with the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Netanyahu hoped to get Putin’s okay for freedom of action against Iran in Syria, and the victory of Hapoel Haifa over Beitar Jerusalem soccer team for the state cup.

Meanwhile, in the fallout over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, France said the deal is ‘not dead’ and that talks were slated with Tehran. US President Donald Trump warned Iran against resuming its nuclear program while in Iran, hardline Iranian MPs burned the US flag and Iranian banks were in turmoil. Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said, "If the Iranian regime collapses, Iran will be our biggest ally in the region.” (Maariv)
 

Quick Hits:

---

Features:

Inside the ‘BDS Dossier’ That Led to the Deportation of an American Human Rights Activist From Israel
A ministry’s report on the director of Human Rights Watch in Israel offers a rare glimpse into how far into a person’s past the government is prepared to go as it investigates activists it deems a threat to the state. (Dina Kraft, Haaretz+)
“I was marked”
10 months after ‘The prisoners of the occupation,’ a play she wrote based on testimonies of Palestinian security prisoners was rejected from being performed at the Acco Festival, Einat Weitzman went on a crowdsourcing campaign and declares: “If I don’t find a theater that will agree to run the show, I will rent a private hall and even present it under the skies. (Ruti Kadosh, Maariv Magazine supplement, p. 13, May 8)
Did Trump's Israel Envoy Support a Radical-right Kahanist Group?
David Friedman headed a foundation that was quite generous to a movement whose leaders are anti-gay and support the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank. (Hilo Glazer, Haaretz+)
Exodus from Egypt
How did the bourgeousie Jewish community life appear in the middle of the 20th century? New research, based on hundreds of family photos from that period, puts light on the annual holidays in Alexandria, on the status symbols and on the decision not to photograph Muslims or to film holidays.  (Ilana Stutlander, Maariv Magazine supplement, p. 6-7, May 6)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
There Is No Opposition in Israel (Haaretz Editorial) The risk of ideological decay threatens Israel more than posing difficult questions or alternative idea at tense times.
Dangerous euphoria (Einav Shiff, Yedioth) The feeling that Israel has in the last week has a specific name: euphoria. As long as the danger of war gets closer and becomes more real, so the feeling that nothing really bad will happen spreads all around. Because of that, we must be sure to remember that one of the incarnations of euphoria is smugness and complacency. The frequent warnings about the home front not being prepared are neutralized by the blowing statements of the senior politicians. The political discourse stopped giving the citizens tranquilizers and moved to giving it stimulants. The habits of denial - the greatest Israeli start-up of them all - is charging a fee in what is called ‘life itself’…And no, it’s not a tiring story about yes, Bibi or no Bibi. Because the other two prominent people in the opposition, Yair Lapid and Avi Gabbay, are not different from him in thos issues. They both like to brag that they are hawkish on security issues more than him, from the understanding that most of the Israelis - also those that don’t necessarily connect to the style - see the prime minister as an experienced diplomat and security man….There is no alternative to the dramatic  moves that are taking place around us. We are marching to where they tell us, and hoping it’ll be okay or not terrible. It’s possible it will be that way. It’s possible it won’t. Are you willing to participate in the experiment?
Israel and the U.S. Are Triggering a Risky, Unnecessary War of Choice in the Middle East (Daniel Levy, Haaretz+) But neither Israel's prime minister, nor other regional U.S. allies, have any assurances America will stick around to manage the dangerous fallout from the Iran deal's implosion.
A new regional order (Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi, Israel Hayom) The U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord could deepen the rift between Washington and its traditional allies in Europe, who tried to convince it to remain in the deal. It also has significance for other players, from Israel to North Korea.
Dumping Iran Deal May Well Spur Regime Change. But It Could Be Trump's Regime. Or Bibi's (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) It may be time for both men to consider why 'be careful what you wish for' is such a useful cliche.
The Iranians acted hastily, both sides will try to contain the events (Yossi Melman, Maariv) It is clear that the Netanyahu and Putin talks held in Moscow contribute to Israeli restraint. Sources in the country understand that it is forbidden to harm the Assad regime, whose existence the Kremlin sees as a supreme interest.
A preemptive strike in Syria (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Even if Iran had no intention of launching missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the alleged Israeli strike came along and conveyed the following message to the Iranians: You raised the likelihood of an attack on Israel, so we’re raising the threat level, despite the tensions.
The Iranians entered a frontal confrontation with Israel in a clear position of inferiority (Tal Lev Ram, Maariv) At the end of the night of fighting and the exchange of blows, it seems that this is a chapter in a confrontation that escalates and has not really ended. Iran will now look for the IDF’s weak spots in the area of the fence.
*Bibi’s nuclear gamble - the return of the bomb? (Haim Ramon, Yedioth) Netanyahu boasts that his campaign brought about the sanctions against Iran. Indeed, the sanctions harmed Iran’s economy. But they didn’t slow the race to an Iranian nuke, rather they turned them into being more determined. Whoever deludes himself now into thinking that starving the Iranian people will cause the Ayatollahs to give up the bomb did not learn a thing from the lesson of N. Korea. 
Netanyahu defeated the pundits (Amnon Lord, Israel Hayom) The prime minister has closed the door on Israel's traditionally slow, cautious policy on Iran. Israel has enough clout in the international arena to make its positions clear.
It isn't too late to stop the Gaza insanity (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Seeing next week’s escalation in the strip as inevitable, Israel and Hamas are busy calculating the expected death toll from the border riots. An Israeli willingness to give a dialogue a chance may be the only way to stop what will likely turn into the next war in the Strip.
Of Rabbits and Arabs (Kobi Niv, Haaretz+) People are dying like flies in Gaza, like plastic ducks at an amusement park shooting gallery- while MK Jelin complains about dead rabbits.
The attempt to get it all left Iran empty-handed (Dr. Ronen A. Cohen, Maariv) Even today, Tehran is moving in a number of channels, trying to achieve quick achievements and to establish facts on the ground. If it had been smart enough, it would have given up some of her pretensions.
The president who stopped playing by the old rules (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Trump is the exact opposite of Obama: The former president questioned America’s greatness, its righteousness, its pretension to serve as an example to others. Trump questions nothing. His gut feeling about America’s status may be a more efficient foreign policy tool than Obama’s scholarly doubts.
To Be a Palestinian Documentary Filmmaker in Israel (Ibtisam Mara'ana Menuhin, Haaretz+) Despite Israel being a powerhouse of political documentaries – most of them are directed by white, Jewish and generally privileged filmmakers – no matter how sensitive and morally attuned they are.
The illusion of security: Twelve years after the Lebanon War, the home front is still abandoned (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) No real step was taken to protect the residents of the north in particular, and the residents of the country in general. The armored personnel carriers are not a solution for today's missiles, which include hundreds of kilograms of explosives.
Israel’s message to Tehran: An unusual IDF order and a ‘preventive strike’ (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) The alleged Israeli attack on a base used by Iranian militias near Damascus, and the earlier order to open bomb shelters in the Golan Heights, may have been an attempt to make it clear to Iran’s moderate camp, led by President Rouhani, that the Revolutionary Guards are adopting a policy that could harm their country at this sensitive time.
The ball is in Iran's court (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) Trump's announcement has created an opportunity for Iran to retaliate over the alleged Israeli strikes on its military assets in Syria, but it does not want war and will have to play its hand very carefully.
Settlements Are Not the Periphery (Noa Osterreicher, Haaretz+) Wait a second; the settlements and the periphery will share the same slice of the budgetary pie? That’s where I started to get suspicious.
In the ayatollahs' offices, there was utter astonishment: the bastard had changed the rules (Meir Uziel, Maariv) So what? They ask there, what’s happening with this Trump? We were sure that everyone in the West was innocent. Suddenly it turns out that the United States has a president who is not willing to work for the whole world.
Iran's Entrenchment in Syria Set Back Months After Most Extensive Israeli Strike in Decades (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Israel thwarted Iran's revenge attack, struck dozens of Iranian military sites. Tehran could still use its big gun, Hezbollah, but is likely to reconsider its policy. Israeli politicians' arrogance poses a danger.

 

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