APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday May 28, 2018
Quote of the day:
“In what world do we want to live? In a world where the court lacks authority? Where do we want to live
if not in a place where the court can extend help in a place where there is harm.“
--Former Chief Justice Miriam Naor lambasted attempts to pass legislation that would allow the Knesset to re-enact laws that were rejected by the High Court of Justice, thereby overriding it.*
Front Page:
--Former Chief Justice Miriam Naor lambasted attempts to pass legislation that would allow the Knesset to re-enact laws that were rejected by the High Court of Justice, thereby overriding it.*
Front Page:
Haaretz
- High Court justices rejected the appeals against the law to remove Knesset member from office
- In Israel they assess that Russia will consider distancing Iran from the Syrian border
- US paid hundreds of thousands of shekels to the (law) office of (Netanyahu confidants) Shimron-Molcho
- Hundreds participated in the funeral of the soldier killed by a stone slab in the West Bank
- Health Ministry: 40% of the children in the Tel-Aviv area have a poor sanitary situation (at preschools)
- State to give status to 300 asylum seekers from Sudan, 2,200 of them still waiting for decision
- Step after step, China succeeds in removing Taiwan from the map
- The military governor (of Haifa) // Odeh Bisharat
- Walking dead // Tzvia Greenfeld
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Land of fire - A sad aerial view: This is what the (kite) fire terror has done to the nature reserve around the Gaza Strip
- Brothers in arms, brothers in fate - Two months after sitting shiva over his son, Kobi Strug, the father of a Duvdevan Unit soldier, went to the home of the Lubarsky family, to give condolences over their son from the same unit who was killed
- The ultimatum to Sara Netanyahu - Attorney General said if she doesn’t take responsibility and pay a considerable fine, she will stand trial
- Epidural depression - New study: Did you get the shot when you planned avoiding it? You likely got postpartum depression
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- IDF to Islamic Jihad: Don’t play with fire
- Latin magic - Singer Enrique Iglesias excited 40,000 people at Hayarkon Park
- Minister Haim Katz: “I will resign if I’m indicted”
- Likely: Indictment against Sara Netanyahu
Israel Hayom
- Draft Law: Agreement achieved to solve crisis - Coalition leaders optimistic: This is how the draft law crisis will be solved and early elections will be avoided
- The farmers return fire - They will sue Hamas leaders at The Hague for the kite terror
- 130 bus lines with less than one passenger on average; Cost of 600 million shekels; Transportation Ministry: “We are obligated to provide service to everyone”
- Senior Iranian official’s surprise remark: “The score with the Zionists is settled”
- After the storm: (Public Security) Minister Erdan decided: Hamas prisoners won’t watch the world cup
News Summary:
The success of Israeli threats towards Syria and the attempts to prevent infiltration through the sky and the sea from the Gaza Strip, legal battles in corruption cases of the Netanyahu family and legal battles against democracy, and the funeral of an Israeli soldier killed by a cement block thrown on his head were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Lots of news on the Syrian-Iran-Hezbollah front. A day after Israel said it would act against Iranian forces everywhere in Syria, Russia is considering preventing Iranian forces from coming to the Israeli border in the south of Syria, Haaretz reported. Yet, according to the independent Saudi news website, ‘Elaph,’ Israel did not wait for Russia and held secret indirect negotiations with Iran through a Jordanian mediator in a hotel in Amman in which the sides agreed that Iranian and Hezbollah forces would not deploy along the border between Syria and Jordan and Israel made it clear that it would not allow Iranian forces to operate in the south of the country. (Also Maariv) Interestingly, an Iranian official said Iran had 'settled the score' with Israel over the strikes against it in Syria, claiming that Israel has "paid the price" for killing Iranian "advisers.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he won't allow weapons production in Lebanon and that Israel is working to prevent the transfer of weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
So Sara Netanyahu is in trouble. According to Maariv she will likely stand trial for fraudulently accepting services under aggravated circumstances. But Yedioth and Israel Hayom reported that Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit gave her an ultimatum, saying she had to say how much she intended on repaying to the public coffers of the monies she fraudulently used in the Prime Minister’s Residence Affair before he will even begin to discuss an out of court settlement. Regarding Netanyahu, Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri suggested that some of the corruption cases Netanyahu is involved in may be combined into one case.
*The latest legislative bills considered anti-democratic give Netanyahu support. Coalition chairman MK David Amsalem (Likud) proposed a law meant to prevent the State Prosecutor’s Office from appealing incarceration sentences of up to 10 years. Opposition members said the bill was meant to keep Netanyahu in power. And Likud MK Mickey Zohar proposed a law prohibiting publication of investigations against public figures. Meretz chairwoman MK Tamar Zandberg: "Miki Zohar is trying to hide the corruption of the prime minister from the public. To this end he is prepared to destroy any democratic principle, the main thing is to keep the chair. The State of Israel has the right to freedom of expression and the right of the public to know about Netanyahu's corruption." (Maariv) At a conference of Israel’s Bar Association, former chief justice Miriam Naor slammed the government's attempts to bypass the High Court. She said that the government’s attempt to pass a law circumventing High Court legislation was wrong and unnecessary. "In what world do you want to live? In a world where the court lacks authority?" she fumed, slamming the coalition's unwarranted "assumption" there is a need for such a thing.
In a separate instance that made front page in Haaretz and a small news item in Yedioth, Israel's High Court upheld a law aimed against Arab MKs that allows removing lawmakers from office, even though it ‘seriously infringes basic rights,’ said Chief Justice Esther Hayut. The law, passed in 2016 by right-wing lawmakers with the aim of dismissing Arab lawmakers, allows the removal of a sitting member of Knesset from office if they believe that his actions incite to racism, reflect support for armed struggle against the state or for a terror organization. (Also Maariv) The petitioners, MK Yusuf Jabarin and Adalah, argued that the new law violates the freedom of expression of lawmakers, and of Arab MKs in particular, that it violates the right to vote and to be elected, and that there cannot be a mechanism for MKs to judge each other on an ideological basis.
On the Gaza Front: Israel shelled a Gaza military post killing three, it has a plan to prevent Palestinians from reaching Israel by sea, but it has failed to prevent Palestinians from sending damaging objects to Israel by air. Israel killed three Palestinians from Islamic Jihad when an Israeli army tank shelled what it said was a Hamas observation post. The IDF also said that last week a drone from Gaza carrying explosive materials infiltrated Israeli territory. The military believed the drone was targeting soldiers, but failed to reach its destination. Yedioth ran a large article about the damage the incendiary kites from Gaza have done to Israeli farmers and a nature reserve outside the Gaza Strip. Over 300 incendiary kites have flown into Israel since April 13, just after the beginning of the March of Return. Israeli farmers plan to sue Hamas at the International Criminal Court over agricultural terrorism.
Quick Hits:
- Israeli cop grilled and suspended for a few days after caught on video slapping a detained man - The policeman is suspected of illegal use of force in an altercation in the largely Bedouin town of Rahat. Cousin of Arab detainee beaten by the policeman said he was 'treated like a terrorist,' added family plans to sue police; after being questioned by Internal Investigations Unit, policeman suspended from police station for several days. (Haaretz+ and Ynet and Ynet)
- Israeli cops shoot Palestinian woman who did not heed calls to stop in Jerusalem - Police say they suspected the woman, who was clothed in black attire that covered her face, was carrying an explosive device on her body; investigation ongoing. The woman was walking in the Arab E. Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat near the light rail. No weapons were found on her. (Haaretz, Maariv, Maan and Ynet)
- MK Smotrich: "Police are zeroes,” Public Security Minister Erdan: "Shame on you, you show a distorted picture" - Habayit Hayehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich sparked a storm after criticizing police enforcement in Yitzhar (settlement) in the West Bank: “I pray for the day that the Israeli police force will have the courage to enforce the law and (Israeli-OH) sovereignty in the Bedouin and Arab communities in the Negev and the Galilee. They are strong against settlers. Zeroes,“ wrote Smotrich. (Zionist Camp) MK Stav Shafir: “Call people like yourself ‘zeroes.“ (Maariv)
- Israeli Minister to Hamas Prisoners: No World Cup for You - The move is aimed in part to get Hamas to return the bodies of two soldiers and to release two Israelis who have been held in Gaza for years. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Court Bans Deportation of Jerusalem Woman Whose Son Stabbed Border Policeman - Appellate tribunal overturns Interior Ministry decision to annul residency permit of woman whose son, Mustafa Khatib, (was shot and killed after) wounding an officer in a 2015 stabbing attack. Judge Elad Azar said mother’s residency should not be rescinded because she does not represent a security risk herself and did not know of her son’s intentions to carry out the attack. Azar accepted the claims of client's lawyers, from Hamoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, that decision to deport the mother was decision to punish her entire family. Azar also wrote that the Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law does not allow the Interior Minister to revoke status granted to resident of the West Bank as a matter of deterrence. (Haaretz+)
- Run for office, only in Hebrew - The campaign of the Gov't Authority for the Advancement of Women calling on women to run in local elections has outraged Arab women. Reason: It was done in Hebrew only. Authority: "We will add captions in Arabic and Russian. (Yedioth, p. 18)
- Israeli Labor lawmaker calls leftism 'a stain,' angering fellow party members - A right-wing paper had asked MK Nachman Shai how he, a secular member of a left-leaning party, thought he could be elected Jerusalem mayor. (Haaretz+)
- Labor Party lawmaker draws fire over call to annex major Israeli settlement blocs - Eitan Cabel's initiative, published on Haaretz, is unacceptable, Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay says. Cabel: Palestinians would not be granted Israeli citizenship. (Haaretz+)
- Due to the confrontations in Gaza, a Turkish lecturer called on his colleagues to cancel their participation in a conference in Israel - Dr. Mehmet Tutuncu asked his colleagues not to attend a discussion at Bar-Ilan University following the events in the Gaza Strip. According to the director of the Dahan Center, where the event will take place, "he acted in a disrespectful manner.” (Maariv)
- The first sovereignty conference was held in Jerusalem - Hundreds of Israeli youth participated in the First-ever Sovereignty Conference for Youth. The conference was organized by the Sovereignty Movement of the founders of Women in Green (settler movement). [The conference is meant to support the idea of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank - OH]. (Maariv, p. 14)
- Hundreds attend funeral of Israeli soldier killed in West Bank raid - Staff Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky, 20, was killed when Palestinians dropped a stone slab on his head. Deputy defense minister: ‘We will not rest until we catch those who attacked you – dead or alive.' (Haaretz and Ynet)
- There is no safe place for you. "What do the Palestinians want from Herzog's chief of staff? - On Eyal Shviki’s Instagram account, who runs the opposition leader's headquarters, hostile elements have taken over, which began with attacks and threats against him. "We will avenge the death of the Palestinian children," one of the announcements said. (Maariv)
- U.S. paid Netanyahu confidant's firm $150k while embassy was being moved to Jerusalem - The sum was paid to the law firm for legal services to the consulate in Jerusalem during the month in which the embassy transferred to the building. An embassy official says the U.S. government has been using the firm's services 'for ordinary business for over 30 years.’ (Haaretz+)
- Exposed (to danger) in the north? Netanyahu's sons toured in Iceland with bodyguards - Iceland media reported that Yair and Avner Netanyahu visited the island adn even though it wasn't an official visit, they were escorted by armed Israeli bodyguards, with the Iceland Police Commissioner's permission. (Maariv, p. 8)
- China won't let laborers work in Jerusalem - Is Israel closing its eyes to a boycott on Jerusalem? Contractors in the city were demanded to stop the work of Chinese laborers: "All our requests for laborers were rejected." Populations Authority: "Chinese workers are only allowed to work in places approved by the Chinese government." (Yedioth economic supplement, p. 1)
- For the Next Missile War, You Can Now Buy Insurance in Israel - The insurer Phoenix is offering the country's first-ever private policy covering war damage to a home’s contents. (Haaretz+)
- Police investigating report of gun snatching from soldier in southern Israel - The soldier says four masked men got out of the car, threatened him, took the weapon and fled. (Haaretz+)
- Heads of Israeli Gay Pride Parade Appeal Police Restrictions That Put March in Doubt - Organizers blast police demands such as putting up a 2-meter-high fence along the route, claim they are 'fundamentally illegal.’ (Haaretz+)
- Israel to Give 300 Asylum Seekers From Sudan Temporary Residence - New status is identical to that of individuals who have been recognized as refugees. Some 2,500 migrants from Darfur have been waiting for years for Israel to process their asylum requests. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Soldier threatened to kill himself, company commander replied: “You aren’t threatening me" - A Golani infantry company commander told a soldier who felt emotionally distressed that he could "commit suicide if he wanted to." The soldier pulled the trigger, but the incident miraculously did not end in a tragedy due to a weapon halt. (Maariv)
- Unsafe, Unhealthy Conditions Found at 1,000 Israeli Schools - Health Ministry report finds cat feces in schoolyards, food past sell-by date being served to children and many other violations at Tel Aviv-area schools. (Haaretz)
- Israeli Flagship Carrier El Al Starts Serving Sandwiches, Not Meals, on Some Flights - The lighter fare, being prepared by Israeli cafe chain Arcafe, is being offered by the airline in an attempt to reduce costs. (Haaretz+)
- Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich reportedly immigrating to Israel - Following Britain’s refusal to extend his visa, the Russian-Jewish billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich is seeking Israeli citizenship. Israel's Ministry of Immigrant Absorption claims it has no such information. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Abbas being kept in hospital despite expected release today - Hospital director says Palestinian president's health is 'improving rapidly.’ (Haaretz+)
- In Speech to New Rabbis, Michael Chabon Slams Occupation and Jewish Inmarriage - Speaking to the graduating class of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, the author lambasted boundaries of any kind — religious, ethnic or national. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Israel Concerned About F-35 Sale to Turkey, Expects U.S. to Withhold 'Upgrade Capabilities' - Israel, U.S. discuss delivering jets without performance-enhancing software so that Israel keeps its edge. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Germany's Merkel calls on public to 'get to know' Jews of Germany - New campaign aims to tackle recent spike in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany by encouraging public to visit Jewish centers in show of solidarity with Jewish community. German Chancellor Angela Merkel: We will always oppose anti-Semitism absolutely. (Israel Hayom)
- Headstones defaced with swastikas in Illinois cemetery - Police detain man in his 30s on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas on over 200 headstones at cemetery • Although cemetery is nonsectarian and headstones appear to have been chosen at random, incident being investigated as a hate crime. (Israel Hayom)
Features:
Filming in Israel, Harvey Keitel transforms from Hollywood gangster into Jewish patriarch
Haaretz catches up with the Hollywood star as he downs Arak on a kibbutz while taking a break from filming a modern retelling of the biblical rivalry between Esau and Jacob, based on the novel by Meir Shalev. (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+)
By the Numbers As Egypt opens Gaza border, a harsh reality is laid bare
Gazans are enclosed in a narrow strip of territory just 25 miles long and six miles wide. (Associated Press, Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
What It’s Like to Be an Arab in Israel (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) Not so long ago we were still afraid to walk down European streets identified as Jews, and now, with a truncheon at our belt in our own cities, we instill terror in others.
From the kicking (of an Arab-Israeli) in Haifa to the investigations of Netanyahu - What do they want from Police Chief Alsheikh? (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth) We expect the police to impose the law in our lives, we expect the police to act against big corrupt people and against small thieves, to arrest anyone who it is appropriate to arrest and to leave the innocent alone, to act humanely towards suspects and people being interrogated and to do everything for the victims, to act kindly and without prejudice. But sometimes that expectations contradict each other. The test is in the policy, the administration, the spirit of the commander, the quality of the manpower, the willingness to deal with crimes of policemen, with obstacles and with failures. The law allows the police to use force. When citizens go out to the streets, to express their protest, the police are called to rule between two types of freedom: freedom of expression and freedom of movement. According to a High Court ruling, freedom of expression is preferable. That’s also what democratic logic says: to a certain point, a traffic jam is a reasonable price for the ability given to the public to express its opinion and protest against a wrongdoing. The question whether a police officer in the field has the wisdom and patience needed before he orders anti-terror police to move the protesters back; the question is when to stop the protesters and when to leave them alone. Do demonstrations of minorities - Arabs, ultra-Orthodox, Ethiopian-Israelis - run into a different treatment than the demonstrations of union workers or supporters of Elor Azaria? What happens to the demonstrators who are detained when they are brought to the police car, without cameras, what happened to them at the police station? In the police there has always been a policy of covering things up: the loyalty of the police to their friends is first. They covered for each other and lied for each other. The question is what was the message that came from the police brass? Is it a message of automatic support for police or the opposite - insisting on the truth also at the price of criticism within the police. It appears the police brass prefer support. Police in every democratic state have difficulty dealing with sectors that don’t trust the state institutions. It’s true in poor neighborhoods in big cities in America, in Muslim immigrant neighborhoods in Europe, and here with Arabs, ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian-Israelis. “A police officer in the heart of mass riots in the Arab sector feels a threat to his body and his life and acts accordingly,” he wrote. “Therefore, the police officers and their commanders try to keep out of Arab communities and avoid problems.” Those are words of truth. This worrying subject now has the opportunity for change: Most of the Arab citizens are sick of the crime and lawlessness in their sector and ask to bring police inside. The violence that the officers use against Arab detainees, in Haif or Rahat, doesn’t help, nor do the words of the Police Commissioner on this subject. The police often detain citizens for interrogation. The judges, some of them former prosecutors, extend the detentions almost automatically. A detention for interrogation is justified only when the person being interrogated is dangerous to his environment or when he is likely to harm evidence. Detention is not a punishment; it is also not a method for breaking (the will) of those being interrogated. It seems that in the police they are finding it difficult to internalize also these rules. Detainees are jailed for extended periods and harassed by being transferred from prison to prison in an effort to break them. The goal may be right, but the means is forbidden. Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh is the enemy of the Prime Minister and his confidants. Not because of the issues I mentioned. His sin was that he brought from his previous work place, the Shin Bet, higher values. He believes the goal of the investigation is to get to the facts, not to strengthen a certain political party or to give thanks to the one that appointed him [Netanyahu - OH]. The backing Alsheikh gave to investigators in the cases that Netanyahu is involved in will cost him, almost certainly, in the decision not to extend his term. A Police Commissioner is appointed to three years: the extension is not automatic. The problem is not the decision, but the reasons. In 1980, police minister Yosef Burg dismissed then police commissioner Herzl Shafir. The real reason was the Apricot Case - an investigation that dealt with the corruption within the National Religious Party, Burg’s party. It was the first case in Israel in which the ministry used its power to distance a police investigation from itself or from its party. Alsheikh is expected to be the second instance.
The death of Staff Sergeant Lubarsky brings back to the fore the question of the price of our holding in the territories (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The manner in which the Duvdevan Unit fighter was killed (a stone slab dropped on his head from the roof of a house the soldier was raiding - OH) brought to the collective memory scenes of the first Intifada. His tragic death brought back the issue that our leadership is trying to blur….On Saturday night, (Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali) Bennett tweeted: "When he died in the alleys of the al-Amari [refugee] camp, Ronen saved the lives of Israelis on the streets of Tel Aviv." If we put aside the melodious tone for a moment (he is apologized for that), it is important to pay attention to the security need that Bennett gave to the soldier's death. Bennett was quick to do so because he was aware that the mainstream Israeli public was not at all in tune with the security need of his plan. Most of them agree to close their eyes to the [nationalist-religious -OH] Messianic vision as long as it does not exact a price from them. In fact, Bennett's doctrine speaks of IDF soldiers continuing to risk their lives within a population deprived of political and national rights, and therefore forever hostile.
Netanyahu, How Many People Will Die in a Nuclear War in the Middle East? (Ehud Ein-Gil, Haaretz+) In the early 60s, the U.S. estimated that the number of victims in a nuclear war against the Soviet Union and China would total some 600 million. 20 years ago, ‘Doomsday Machine’ author Daniel Ellsberg posed a similar question about the Mideast.
The Left's progress backward (Galit Distel Etebaryan, Israel Hayom) The Left worldwide has adopted a paradoxical belief system that espouses minority rights while lending support for subversive fundamentalist groups.
The Military Governor of Haifa (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Haifa mayor Yona Yahav would have erected barriers at the city entrance to ascertain the intentions of the Arabs who come to Haifa.
There are attacks, but there are no rockets: Hamas controls the territory, but allows other organizations to act (Tal Lev-Ram, Maariv) Over 20 explosive devices have been placed on the Gaza Strip border over the past two months. Islamic Jihad wants to enter the campaign even more, after the killing of two of its members, and the IDF is expected to respond accordingly. According to an analysis of the figures, it is clear that at present the Hamas leadership allows its men and terrorists from other organizations to act against the IDF forces, but in the meantime they do not allow the firing of rockets at Israel in an attempt to ostensibly limit the struggle to military targets. This enforcement of Hamas, which, of course, is based solely on internal interests, will be tested in the coming days because usually, when Islamic Jihad terrorists have been killed, it responded by firing rockets or mortars at Israel.
Looking back, Gaza pullout was a mistake (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Had Israel remained in Gaza, the economic gap between the Palestinians in the strip and in the West Bank would have been narrowed, the PA would have maintained its rule, tens of thousands of Gazans would be working in Israel and the level of violence would have dropped.
The blood and fire in Gaza prove that the evacuation of settlers is a prelude to the destruction of Israel (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Not a single problem in the Gaza Strip has been solved thanks to the disengagement (withdrawal of Israeli civilians and soldiers). And still, what was good for us in a unilateral withdrawal? Well, despite the heavy price, it proved that no Israeli concession would lead to peace.
A plan neglecting Gaza is no plan at all (Brigadier-General (res.) Shmuel Tzuker, Yedioth/Ynet) Make no mistake, the Gaza Strip constitutes a ticking time bomb for Israel and despite the violence gripping the border, it is also an opportunity for the region.
Farmers affected by kite terrorism should sue the Tax Authority as soon as possible (Attorney Yoav Bain, Maariv) The residents of the Gaza vicinity can claim compensation for damages caused as a result of the hostilities. Due to the fact that time to do so is very short, it is important to act fast and do the right things.
Along the Gaza Border, They Shoot Medics (Too), Don’t They? (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) An ambulance a minute, 1,300 people shot in a day: Gaza’s Shifa Hospital faces crises that would swamp the world’s best hospitals.
Let the IDF win: There is a real fear that the court will weaken the army (Avishai Greenzweig, Maariv) Chief Justice Hayut conveyed a message that she might intervene in the future rules of engagement of our forces. How will the soldiers defeat the demonstrations in Gaza with the High Court justices standing on their backs?
Israel’s High Court just made an ICC investigation more likely (Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, +972mag) The court’s rejection of a lawsuit challenging the shooting of protesters in Gaza is a reminder that the Israeli legal system simply isn’t set up to investigate the policy makers and policies that result in alleged war crimes.
'Fauda' season 2 on Netflix: Still morally dubious, still entertaining as hell (Adrian Hennigan, Haaretz+) Fauda season 2 has just hit Netflix: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict still makes for mesmerizing TV, but should it?
The demolition of an entire Palestinian village could be days away (Joshua Leifer, +972mag) With a green light from the Supreme Court, Israel is set to a demolish an entire Bedouin village in the West Bank. Human rights advocates warn that the demolition would constitute a grave violation of international law.
Trump is putting American lives in danger by inflaming anti-American sentiment in the Mideast (Mae Elise Cannon, Haaretz+) U.S. Christians who believe in peace must reject how Trump endangered our national interests, and American lives, by privileging unilateral action over negotiations and favoring Israel over the Palestinians.
Haaretz catches up with the Hollywood star as he downs Arak on a kibbutz while taking a break from filming a modern retelling of the biblical rivalry between Esau and Jacob, based on the novel by Meir Shalev. (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+)
By the Numbers As Egypt opens Gaza border, a harsh reality is laid bare
Gazans are enclosed in a narrow strip of territory just 25 miles long and six miles wide. (Associated Press, Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
What It’s Like to Be an Arab in Israel (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) Not so long ago we were still afraid to walk down European streets identified as Jews, and now, with a truncheon at our belt in our own cities, we instill terror in others.
From the kicking (of an Arab-Israeli) in Haifa to the investigations of Netanyahu - What do they want from Police Chief Alsheikh? (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth) We expect the police to impose the law in our lives, we expect the police to act against big corrupt people and against small thieves, to arrest anyone who it is appropriate to arrest and to leave the innocent alone, to act humanely towards suspects and people being interrogated and to do everything for the victims, to act kindly and without prejudice. But sometimes that expectations contradict each other. The test is in the policy, the administration, the spirit of the commander, the quality of the manpower, the willingness to deal with crimes of policemen, with obstacles and with failures. The law allows the police to use force. When citizens go out to the streets, to express their protest, the police are called to rule between two types of freedom: freedom of expression and freedom of movement. According to a High Court ruling, freedom of expression is preferable. That’s also what democratic logic says: to a certain point, a traffic jam is a reasonable price for the ability given to the public to express its opinion and protest against a wrongdoing. The question whether a police officer in the field has the wisdom and patience needed before he orders anti-terror police to move the protesters back; the question is when to stop the protesters and when to leave them alone. Do demonstrations of minorities - Arabs, ultra-Orthodox, Ethiopian-Israelis - run into a different treatment than the demonstrations of union workers or supporters of Elor Azaria? What happens to the demonstrators who are detained when they are brought to the police car, without cameras, what happened to them at the police station? In the police there has always been a policy of covering things up: the loyalty of the police to their friends is first. They covered for each other and lied for each other. The question is what was the message that came from the police brass? Is it a message of automatic support for police or the opposite - insisting on the truth also at the price of criticism within the police. It appears the police brass prefer support. Police in every democratic state have difficulty dealing with sectors that don’t trust the state institutions. It’s true in poor neighborhoods in big cities in America, in Muslim immigrant neighborhoods in Europe, and here with Arabs, ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian-Israelis. “A police officer in the heart of mass riots in the Arab sector feels a threat to his body and his life and acts accordingly,” he wrote. “Therefore, the police officers and their commanders try to keep out of Arab communities and avoid problems.” Those are words of truth. This worrying subject now has the opportunity for change: Most of the Arab citizens are sick of the crime and lawlessness in their sector and ask to bring police inside. The violence that the officers use against Arab detainees, in Haif or Rahat, doesn’t help, nor do the words of the Police Commissioner on this subject. The police often detain citizens for interrogation. The judges, some of them former prosecutors, extend the detentions almost automatically. A detention for interrogation is justified only when the person being interrogated is dangerous to his environment or when he is likely to harm evidence. Detention is not a punishment; it is also not a method for breaking (the will) of those being interrogated. It seems that in the police they are finding it difficult to internalize also these rules. Detainees are jailed for extended periods and harassed by being transferred from prison to prison in an effort to break them. The goal may be right, but the means is forbidden. Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh is the enemy of the Prime Minister and his confidants. Not because of the issues I mentioned. His sin was that he brought from his previous work place, the Shin Bet, higher values. He believes the goal of the investigation is to get to the facts, not to strengthen a certain political party or to give thanks to the one that appointed him [Netanyahu - OH]. The backing Alsheikh gave to investigators in the cases that Netanyahu is involved in will cost him, almost certainly, in the decision not to extend his term. A Police Commissioner is appointed to three years: the extension is not automatic. The problem is not the decision, but the reasons. In 1980, police minister Yosef Burg dismissed then police commissioner Herzl Shafir. The real reason was the Apricot Case - an investigation that dealt with the corruption within the National Religious Party, Burg’s party. It was the first case in Israel in which the ministry used its power to distance a police investigation from itself or from its party. Alsheikh is expected to be the second instance.
The death of Staff Sergeant Lubarsky brings back to the fore the question of the price of our holding in the territories (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The manner in which the Duvdevan Unit fighter was killed (a stone slab dropped on his head from the roof of a house the soldier was raiding - OH) brought to the collective memory scenes of the first Intifada. His tragic death brought back the issue that our leadership is trying to blur….On Saturday night, (Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali) Bennett tweeted: "When he died in the alleys of the al-Amari [refugee] camp, Ronen saved the lives of Israelis on the streets of Tel Aviv." If we put aside the melodious tone for a moment (he is apologized for that), it is important to pay attention to the security need that Bennett gave to the soldier's death. Bennett was quick to do so because he was aware that the mainstream Israeli public was not at all in tune with the security need of his plan. Most of them agree to close their eyes to the [nationalist-religious -OH] Messianic vision as long as it does not exact a price from them. In fact, Bennett's doctrine speaks of IDF soldiers continuing to risk their lives within a population deprived of political and national rights, and therefore forever hostile.
Netanyahu, How Many People Will Die in a Nuclear War in the Middle East? (Ehud Ein-Gil, Haaretz+) In the early 60s, the U.S. estimated that the number of victims in a nuclear war against the Soviet Union and China would total some 600 million. 20 years ago, ‘Doomsday Machine’ author Daniel Ellsberg posed a similar question about the Mideast.
The Left's progress backward (Galit Distel Etebaryan, Israel Hayom) The Left worldwide has adopted a paradoxical belief system that espouses minority rights while lending support for subversive fundamentalist groups.
The Military Governor of Haifa (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Haifa mayor Yona Yahav would have erected barriers at the city entrance to ascertain the intentions of the Arabs who come to Haifa.
There are attacks, but there are no rockets: Hamas controls the territory, but allows other organizations to act (Tal Lev-Ram, Maariv) Over 20 explosive devices have been placed on the Gaza Strip border over the past two months. Islamic Jihad wants to enter the campaign even more, after the killing of two of its members, and the IDF is expected to respond accordingly. According to an analysis of the figures, it is clear that at present the Hamas leadership allows its men and terrorists from other organizations to act against the IDF forces, but in the meantime they do not allow the firing of rockets at Israel in an attempt to ostensibly limit the struggle to military targets. This enforcement of Hamas, which, of course, is based solely on internal interests, will be tested in the coming days because usually, when Islamic Jihad terrorists have been killed, it responded by firing rockets or mortars at Israel.
Looking back, Gaza pullout was a mistake (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Had Israel remained in Gaza, the economic gap between the Palestinians in the strip and in the West Bank would have been narrowed, the PA would have maintained its rule, tens of thousands of Gazans would be working in Israel and the level of violence would have dropped.
The blood and fire in Gaza prove that the evacuation of settlers is a prelude to the destruction of Israel (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Not a single problem in the Gaza Strip has been solved thanks to the disengagement (withdrawal of Israeli civilians and soldiers). And still, what was good for us in a unilateral withdrawal? Well, despite the heavy price, it proved that no Israeli concession would lead to peace.
A plan neglecting Gaza is no plan at all (Brigadier-General (res.) Shmuel Tzuker, Yedioth/Ynet) Make no mistake, the Gaza Strip constitutes a ticking time bomb for Israel and despite the violence gripping the border, it is also an opportunity for the region.
Farmers affected by kite terrorism should sue the Tax Authority as soon as possible (Attorney Yoav Bain, Maariv) The residents of the Gaza vicinity can claim compensation for damages caused as a result of the hostilities. Due to the fact that time to do so is very short, it is important to act fast and do the right things.
Along the Gaza Border, They Shoot Medics (Too), Don’t They? (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) An ambulance a minute, 1,300 people shot in a day: Gaza’s Shifa Hospital faces crises that would swamp the world’s best hospitals.
Let the IDF win: There is a real fear that the court will weaken the army (Avishai Greenzweig, Maariv) Chief Justice Hayut conveyed a message that she might intervene in the future rules of engagement of our forces. How will the soldiers defeat the demonstrations in Gaza with the High Court justices standing on their backs?
Israel’s High Court just made an ICC investigation more likely (Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, +972mag) The court’s rejection of a lawsuit challenging the shooting of protesters in Gaza is a reminder that the Israeli legal system simply isn’t set up to investigate the policy makers and policies that result in alleged war crimes.
'Fauda' season 2 on Netflix: Still morally dubious, still entertaining as hell (Adrian Hennigan, Haaretz+) Fauda season 2 has just hit Netflix: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict still makes for mesmerizing TV, but should it?
The demolition of an entire Palestinian village could be days away (Joshua Leifer, +972mag) With a green light from the Supreme Court, Israel is set to a demolish an entire Bedouin village in the West Bank. Human rights advocates warn that the demolition would constitute a grave violation of international law.
Trump is putting American lives in danger by inflaming anti-American sentiment in the Mideast (Mae Elise Cannon, Haaretz+) U.S. Christians who believe in peace must reject how Trump endangered our national interests, and American lives, by privileging unilateral action over negotiations and favoring Israel over the Palestinians.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.