Quote of the day:

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Breaking News:
Israel Shoots Down Syrian Fighter Jet Penetrating Israeli Airspace
Israeli air defenses fire two Patriot interceptor missiles, taking down the Russian-made Sukhoi plane. (Haaretz, Ynet and Israel Hayom)

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Russia offered to keep Iran 62 miles away from the Israel-Syria border (but Israeli Prime Minister BInyamin Netanyahu said no, not good enough), Israel’s ‘David's Sling’ anti-missile system misses intercepting a Syrian SS-21 missiles in its first time in action, and Israel plans to invest $8 billion into its missile systems over the next decade, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the release of Yonatan Heilo, who sat in jail seven years for killing his rapist, and the sentencing of well-known real estate businessman, Alon Kastiel, who will sit in jail less than 5 years for numerous counts of sex crimes.

Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft hit a burning balloon launching cell in Gaza Monday and the Trump Administration ‘threatened to pull the plug' on the Gaza reconstruction plan, the NYT reported.

Interestingly, Maariv reported on the same page about the visit of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to the home of the family of the soldier Aviv Levy, who was killed by a Palestinian gunman Friday on the Gaza fence, and about the killing of the Palestinian 15-year-old, who was killed by an Israeli soldier in the refugee camp where he lived. (Details in Quick Hits below.)
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Israeli olive oil, among the world's best
Sindyanna of Galilee, a non-profit run by Arab and Jewish women in the Galilee, produces olive oil that was featured in a prestigious international list of the world's best. Sindyanna's oil will also be featured alongside many other blue-and-white products at the 'Israel Festival' currently celebrated by the American chain FAIRWAY. This is an Israeli success story. (Liat Zand, Ynet)
"You pulled one over on us, we will not be second class citizens": Druze against the Nation-State law
The controversial proposal was seen as an insult to the community that hundreds of its sons had fallen in wars. After turning to the High Court, MKs, former officers and bereaved parents warn: "We will intensify the struggle if our appeal is not accepted.” (Maariv)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Europe is fighting Israel's occupation. America is normalizing it (Zaha Hassan, Haaretz) It's a tale of two continents: A wave of European states are backing boycotts of illegal settlements, while the U.S. Congress and state legislatures are actively protecting them. Why are their approaches so different?
*The Right against Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) International condemnation for the Nationality Law didn't come just from Israel's haters, but also from some of its biggest supporters among Diaspora Jewry. It also offends Israel's Druze citizens, with whom we have such a strong bond. So why did we need this law?
Sabah al-Kha'ir, Israel! Now, You Are 'Free' (Mira Awad, Haaretz+) Mabruk Israel, for now being able to march without interference toward half of your dream, while throwing the other half in the garbage. What do you need this democracy nonsense for when you can simply be Jewish?
The abyss law - they only see themselves (Yusuf Hadad, Yedioth) THe State of Israel was established for the Jews, that’s a fact. However, in it are different minority groups, a fifth of the population, who live as citizens with equal rights due to the fact that this is a democratic state. It’s possible to understand the desire to legislate a Basic Law that determines that Israel is the Jewish nation-state, in which it realizes its natural right to self-determination, and to anchor in law also the national symbols. On the other hand, it’s possible to understand the ramifications of the law on the citizens who are not Jews, who feel now that their status has been harmed and that their civil equality is destabilized…Last week the coalition celebrated the passing of the nation-state law, but actually it’s a great victory for those who want to harm the state: boycott organizations, leaders of apartheid campaign and members of the Joint List. The provocation and incitement succeeded. They sowed hatred and succeeded in leading the Knesset to initiate a law that will harm the state in the international arena and will hurt us, the non-Jewish citizens - in our daily reality. After the law’s passing, some of the coalition members took a selfie with the Prime Minister. The photo actually says it all - they only see themselves. (Yusuf Hadad is the CEO of the NGO ‘Biyachad - Arevim Zeh L’Zeh,’ which promotes connections between the Arab sector and Israeli society)
Unite and Rule (Haaretz Editorial) The absence of an alternative has dealt a mortal injury to Israeli democracy. Netanyahu sets the tone, everyone toes his line and the public is not exposed to other ideas.
The lesson of Baghdad - When the policeman doesn’t stop at a red light (Nadav Eyal, Yedioth) THe Us learned the lesson of the invasion of Iraq. Here, on the other hand, we haven’t internalized that the US of American force without reins could be good for Israel, but could also be bad. Remember that the next time they cheer here for the US President to go to war.
Israel Is Inventing an EU Crisis (Ran Goldstein, Haaretz+) Gilad Erdan's report accusing the EU of terror funding is a deliberate attempt to create a crisis with the EU as part of a general Israeli campaign aimed at delegitimizing Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations.
The World Isn’t Flat (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The dangerous nation-state law declares the intention of its authors: To teach generations of Israeli Jews that the world is flat and entrust them with the mission of expelling and wiping out a nation.
These are Israel's core values (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Israel didn't help save 800 Syrian aid workers to pander to hypocritical European countries – these are Israel's core values as the national home of the Jewish people.
Israel Has Its Nation-state Law, but What About the Druze? (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Druze serve alongside Jewish soldiers in all branches of the military; their officers have reached the highest ranks. But one will search the law in vain for any provision for this community.
Nation-state law: More than a declaration (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) The law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is just and timely. It also takes action against the Palestinians' subversive attempts to cause Israel to collapse from within.
Million-dollar Missiles: When Syrian Warheads Fly, Israel Doesn’t Take Chances(Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Better to shoot in vain than risk a rocket hitting an Israeli town with its half-ton warhead. Still, the two misses by the new David's Sling system will have to be investigated.
War-weary Syrians Conceive Their Own Free-love Generation (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) More and more young people aren’t afraid to show affection in public, or hop over to Cyprus for a civil wedding.
Syrian terrorist attacks abroad likely in lieu of direct clash with Israel (Assaf Golan, Israel Hayom) The Syrian president depends on Russia's graces while he attempts to be more than an Iranian puppet, so he is unlikely to risk targeting Israel directly. Israeli experts believe that as the Syrian civil war comes to an end, the IAF will be able to preserve its operational leeway in the foreseeable future.
Trump and Putin Lead the League of Nationalists, but Netanyahu Is Their Disturbingly Enthusiastic Enabler (David Rothkopf, Haaretz+) Last week, Israel made a profoundly perverse choice: A nation founded by the victims of ethnic identity politics adopted that same institutionalized hatred as its constitution, proving its leader's affinity to the world's leading illiberal nationalists.
Is Trump Using Netanyahu and Israel as Soldiers in His Trade War? (Dafna Maor, Haaretz+) One of the president’s goals is to ensure that the Chinese don’t overtake the U.S. lead in technology — and he may insist that Startup Nation do its part.
Strong in terror, weak in history (Smadar Bat Adam, Israel Hayom) Ireland's proposed legislation to imprison or fine anyone who imports goods from Judea and Samaria encourages terror and exposes fundamental holes in knowledge of this land's history.
LGBT protest may herald a turning point in Israel's history (Mordechai Kremnitzer, Haaretz+) In a country that has no categorically declared right to equality, where elective officials betray their mission, the LGBT protest may prove that the struggle for that right is not lost.
Gideon Levy is wrong: The LGBT protest is about basic rights (Lior Soroka, Haaretz+) To be listed as a mother on a child’s identity card, to get married at city hall – these are not demands for privilege, but the basic demands of a person in a secular Western country.
The unavoidable obstacle to LGBT equality, religious pluralism and a liberal Israel: It’s the occupation, stupid (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The political schism in Israel’s non-Orthodox majority prevents it from striking a serious blow for freedom and equality.