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News Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed the left-wing for the hullaballoo over the Jewish Nation-State Law, Labor Party Chief Avi Gabbay asked MK Eitan Broshi to resign from the party after another sexual harassment testimony against the latter, and the mourning over the killing of a 13-year-old boy by a drunk driver were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Meanwhile, Palestinian teenage girl, Ahed Tamimi, was released from Israeli prison and Saudi Arabia’s king declared in contradiction to the Crown Prince that the US peace plan must include E. Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Netanyahu told his ministers not to be apologetic about the Jewish Nation-State Law, for which criticism is mounting. All the newspapers, with the usual exception of ‘Israel Hayom,’ expressed surprise that he blamed the left-wing for the attacks and ignored that the Druze population of Israel is leading the protest. Israel Hayom, however, ran an enormous Op-Ed on its front page equating opposition to the Nation-State Law with being a supporter of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who was jailed for slapping a soldier. (Yet President Reuven Rivlin showed empathy in his meeting with Druze leaders yesterday. Still, Culture Minister Miri Regev instructed Haifa’s mayor to prohibit a nation-state protest event, which she said was organized by 'those who wish us ill, who undermine our existence.’
 

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
The Apartheid Prime Minister (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu has given up on democracy and made it his mission to strengthen international recognition of Israel as 'the state of the Jewish people,' and their state alone.
Slap in the face: Nation-State law establishes my status as a second-rate journalist in Israel (Safa Farhat, Maariv) My status as a Druze journalist was in itself a huge challenge. With the enactment of the delusional, discriminatory and painful law, I received the sad and correct picture that I never wanted to see.
Netanyahu’s Incitement on Nation-state Law Heralds Approach of Israel’s Day of Reckoning (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Controversial laws force many Israelis to look at their state in the mirror and to discover they can hardly recognize it any more.
What can be understood from the IDF investigation into the interception failure by the David’s Sling system? (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The IDF Spokesperson issued a statement stating that "the decision-making process, in the face of identifying the threat and taking into account the short timetable, was correct," but refused to specify what the error was. In essence, the IDF admits for the first time that there were hitches in the interception of the missiles in Syria, but for security reasons it refuses to detail what caused the operational failure, apparently a technical malfunction in the system itself or a human error by one of its operators. It may be recalled that there is a concern that one of the interceptors fell in Syria and did not self-destruct, so its pieces may get into the hands of Assad, Russia and Iran.
Failed by Their Leadership, Palestinians Hope for Thousands More Ahed Tamimis (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Tamimi's village Nabi Saleh once led the popular struggle. Now the released Palestinian teen icon and her mother are inspiring thousands to follow their example.
The application of the Nation-State law must be consistent with the principle of equality (Prof. Oded Mudrik, Maariv)….There is a contradiction in the conclusion that the Nation-State law does not harm and is not intended to harm equality in the context of social minority organizations, but it harms or is intended to harm the civil equality of members of the ethnic minority. Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore the voices of protest by members of the Druze community, who have forged a blood alliance with the Jewish state and which generally do not negate the identity of the State of Israel as a nation state of the Jewish people. It is worth trying to understand this issue…In my opinion, everything is funneled into the statement in section 7 of the Basic Law: "The State views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value, and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation." If Jewish settlement is a national value, then non-Jewish settlement, including that of Druze, is contrary to national values. While the law does not prohibit non-Jewish settlement, in the case of "conflicting" settlement plans, the Jewish national value is liable to take the land from under a non-Jewish settlement. That is a difficult knot that must be untied. The argument of the "ghetto" of Israeli Arabs in general and those of the Druze community in particular is a primary factor in the sense - and in this context also of reality - of "second-class citizens." I do not think that the Nation-State law should be amended. However, it is essential that the methods of implementing the value of national settlement be consistent with the principle of equality. There are practical ways to do this. They may also be anchored in law. This is an inherent obligation of the State of Israel as it emerges from the explanatory notes of the Nation-State Law: "The State of Israel is a democratic state committed to human and civil rights ... The purpose of this Basic Law is to protect ... the status of Israel as the state of the Jewish people in equal standing to the protection the Basic Law provides in Israel to human rights and the democratic character of the state."
Ahed Tamimi and Her Family: Israel's Ongoing PR Disaster (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) By trying to make an example out of Ahed Tamimi's arrest, Israel helped transform her into an anti-occupation poster child.
The most anti-Israeli law (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth) Netanyahu called on his colleagues yesterday not to apologize for the Nation-State Law. The polls that he is reading convince him that the protest (against it) is weak and divided. It’s possible to break it. We need to prove to him he’s wrong.
Ahed Tamimi's Attorney: Eight Months in Prison Didn't Break Her (Gaby Lasky, Haaretz+) The attempts to break Ahed's spirit continued after her arrest as well: police and military intelligence used aggressive, questionably legal measures in interrogating her. But this courageous girl didn't give in for a moment.
Israel, which is repeatedly stung by terror, is acting too ‘cultured’ (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Although there is no existential threat to these stings, there is also no longer any possibility of accept them, but rather to repel them with a strong hand. Given the differences in polar cultures, we must stop with self-flagellation.
Bahloul, I Too Am Glad You Resigned (Abed L. Azab, Haaretz+) Coexistence never had our best interests at heart. Now it is time for us non-Zionist Arabs to stand our ground.
No policy, no security (Tali Ben Ovadia, Yedioth/Ynet) In the north, Netanyahu, the statesman and the security man, has enabled Hezbollah to arm itself with game-changing weapons and Iran to gain a foothold in Syria, but he has created a situation giving the IDF freedom to act in the heart of the war-torn country. But in the south, it seems Hamas dictates the terms and while no military option is viable, Bibi has no political alternative.
Israel's Resigning Arab Legislator Is Right and Wrong at the Same Time (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Zouheir Bahloul should retract his resignation and keep making life difficult for the rightists in Zionist Union.
The end of ambiguity: The status and uniqueness of the two main parties of the center is fading (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) As for all of us, there is no magic formula that is not discussed extensively in the right or the left. Apart from empathy for the residents of the Gaza perimeter, the main parties do not have a serious diplomatic plan.
Instead of Crafting a Strategy on Iran, Trump Plays With the Lion's Tail (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) In his battle of wits with Rohani, Trump blinked first. Like Israel, Washington mistakenly believes that tactical strikes on Iranian targets and threats on Twitter can get Iran out of Syria.
Bloodshed will not break our spirits (Emily Amrousi, Israel Hayom) Terrorism can sow fear and destroy families. But it fails and will always fail in its ultimate goals. Radical Islam will never establish a global caliphate, and it will never oust the Jews from the land of Israel.
Why a 17-year-old Palestinian Went Out to Stab Jews (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The question actually is why so few Palestinians do the same amid the century of injustice and dispossession and years more to come.
Thoughts on my departure (Japan Ambassador Koji Tomita, Israel Hayom) As Japan's ambassador to Israel, I have seen many examples of Israel's remarkable capacity to derive strength from weakness, which I think is a hallmark of a great country.
Iranians in Syria, Hamas at the Fence (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Israel has been sending an unequivocal message that the Iranians won’t be allowed to approach its border. But is it succeeding in sending the same message to Hamas in Gaza?