Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided he would reopen a Gaza Strip crossing ahead of an agreement to ease restrictions on Gaza in exchange for quiet from the Palestinian side, for which far right-wing Education Minister Naftali Bennett attacked him, the Eurovision competition will take place in Israel following a compromise between the Israel Broadcasting Corporation and the Finance Ministry, and the Leptospirosis scare expanded as more northern rivers were suspected of contamination - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

*Also in the news, after prominent left-wing Jewish-American journalist Peter Beinart was detained and questioned by the Shin Bet at Ben-Gurion Airport sparking an uproar, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit ordered to open a probe into the numerous incidents in which the Shin Bet detained Israeli civilians and foreigners upon entering the country and questioned them about their left-wing political activities. On the same day, Iranian-American author and TV host, Reza Aslan, shared that he, too, was detained, questioned - and threatened - upon arriving in Israel. The Anti-Defamation League slammed Israel, saying that 'questioning those who may hold divergent views when entering or exiting Israel does the opposite of strengthening a commitment to a democratic Jewish state'

Defense Minister Lieberman said Tuesday that he would open the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing if the three-day lull in violence from the Palestinian side continued along the Gaza-Israel border,(and indeed, it opened this morning) sparking Education Minister Bennett to accuse Lieberman of ‘giving Hamas a prize for terror.’ Lieberman retorted that Bennett should focus on the rising violence at schools.

Today everyone seems to be convening to discuss the Gaza deal mediated byEgypt and the UN. The Israeli security cabinet will convene today to discuss it and one Israeli minister already told the LA Times that the ceasefire deal was ‘virtually done.' In Cairo, officials from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups continued talksabout a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation and a long-term truce with Israel. The PLO was also expected to convene Wednesday to discuss the matter. Haaretz+ reported that the Trump administration wants to see a Gaza cease-fire 'with or without the Palestinian Authority’ and Argentina blamed Palestinian rocket fire at Israel for Gaza violence. Meanwhile, Egypt allowed 114 truckloads of goods into the besieged Gaza Strip between Sunday and Monday.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Quiz If you're leftist and they know It
Peter Beinart is the latest Jewish American to be questioned at the Israeli airport/border for his political views. Now it's your turn to answer some questions in this Haaretz quiz. (Haaretz)
So You’ve Been Detained at Israel’s Airport. Here Are Your Rights
Dan Yakir, chief counsel for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says it’s crucial for both Israelis and foreigners who are detained to understand what they have to do and what they may refuse. Here’s what to do if you get stopped or questioned at Ben-Gurion Airport for a ‘cautionary conversation’ with the Shin Bet security service. As Yakir explains, the High Court ruled in 2017 that before the Shin Bet can sit an Israeli citizen down for a “cautionary conversation,” that person must be served with a summons that specifies that their cooperation is voluntary. Thus an ambush at the airport designed to extract information and warn people not to cause trouble is completely out of bounds.  “This means, if you are an Israeli citizen who is asked to wait at a border-control clerk’s desk, delaying your entry with no explanation given, your detention is illegal,” Yakir says. “An Israeli in such a situation should call a lawyer and ask for their intervention.” The rules are different for foreign citizens and for Israelis, Yakir adds. Foreign nationals, too, should know that there are limits to what they might have to do when they enter the country, or to whom they might have to speak with. (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+)
'People turn to me, broken: What's happening to our Israel?’
It's almost cliché to say that the crisis between American Jewry and the State of Israel is unprecedented, but it’s only getting worse. The Nation-State Law, the Surrogacy Law, and the detention of Rabbi Haiyun has sunk the liberal Jewish community into deep depression. (Carrie Rubinstein, Ynet)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Where Life Is Cheap in Israel (Haaretz Editorial) The government’s failures are responsible for the fact that human lives have become the construction industry’s cheapest resource.
The ideal choice for preserving (Chief of Staff) Eizenkot's path: Yair Golan as chief of staff and Nitzan Alon as his deputy (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Not only does that speech stand in the way of Yair Golan to the position of Chief of Staff, but mainly the fact that he is a free agent. He is one who in regards to what is his responsibility, he does what he wants…When Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is defending Maj. Gen. Golan against the right-wing nationalists, it sounds “stately,” but Lieberman is not the type of defense minister who defends an officer, but rather a person who seeks legitimacy from the enlightened public.  At the same time, he may hide a joker which he will pull out later. The ideal choice to preserve the path of Rabin, Lipkin-Shahak and Eisenkot, is Yair Golan as chief of staff and Nitzan Alon as his deputy…the latter who is also considered a hater of Israel by the settler right-wing. In the choice that emerges as political, it will not happen. Not because they are politically different from a Zamir or Kochavi (two other candidates), but because both were marked, mythologically and not methodologically, in the right-wing camp. Neither of them is a leftist, of course, unless a leftist is a man who anxiously sees the direction in which Israeli society is deteriorating, in which case, all the candidates are leftists.
The Flag of Palestine Is Beautiful (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) The real terror that Netanyahu feels is the fear that Arab and Jew will rise up together.
So far: Im Tirtzu's campaign against the appointment of Major General Yair Golan as Chief of Staff validates his warnings (Attorney Yehiel Gutman, Maariv) I do not know whether the protest (by ‘Im Tirtzu’) will affect or not affect the appointment of the next chief of staff. I don’t know the general personally, and I did not meet him, but I was impressed that he is an officer of values and principle…Im Tirtzu's ugly and offensive media campaign, for which purpose it used others [bereaved parents of fallen soldiers - OH], undermines the authority of the government. This campaign also justifies the difficult things Golan said, that ugly buds that characterized dark regimes are also seen in our country.
Peter Beinart and the Crisis of Israel’s Illiberal Zionism (Carlo Strenger, Haaretz+) The way the Jewish-American journalist was treated at Ben-Gurion Airport isn’t an isolated incident. It’s a preview of where Israel is headed.
To those opposing the Nation-State Law (Alexander J. Apfel, Ynet) The needless uproar over this justified law illustrates that some people in society would sleepwalk into a future devoid of any national identity if they could. The Nation-State Law poses no threat to the rights of minorities, and the entire controversy, which has been blown out of all proportion, serves, more than anyone else, Israel's most vehement critics.
Israel's Arabs must make a choice (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) Unlike the Druze, who truly want to be equal citizens of Israel, Israeli Arabs are increasingly identifying with the Palestinian narrative, as the protest against the nation-state law demonstrated.
Israel’s Conducts Mass Psychological Experiment on Gaza (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The essence is that Israel is conducting a mass social-psychology experiment in Gaza on obedience, and the subject is obedience. The experiment is being conducted on us Israelis and not on the Gaza Palestinians themselves. The experiment is about compliance and cruelty; it’s an experiment on adapting to increasing cruelty. It’s much more successful than the famous experiment carried out by social psychologist Stanley Milgram 55 years ago, about a year after the Eichmann trial. Milgram sought to find out the extent to which people would be willing to inflict pain on others if they were ordered to do so.
Were we wise in the case of Ahed Tamimi, or would it have been better to release her after a few days of imprisonment? (Zalman Shoval, Maariv) The Palestinian girl has become a sort of Palestinian Joan of Arc, and there are already those who crowned her their future leader. The young woman was punished, and it is also clear that her behavior could not have been ignored.
In Nearing Deal With Israel on Gaza, Hamas Wins Achievements Through Military Resistance (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Netanyahu, who has no clear goal on Gaza, prefers to be weak on terror and not find himself in an endless war in the Strip.
Israel should use its military edge in Gaza (Meir Indor, Israel Hayom) Another ground war in Gaza is just not worth it. The same pundits who blast Israeli restraint would be first to criticize the government if Israel was mired in a ground campaign.
Netanyahu Picks the Perfect Time to Lay a Trap for Corbyn – and He Fell for It(Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The U.K. Labour leader is the only politician hapless enough to lose the moral high ground to Bibi.
If Netanyahu is the representative of God as his admirers claim, what is the explanation for the (events of the) last month? (Natan Zehavi, Maariv) The messenger of God casts the blame for all the troubles that are taking place in Israel on the "left-wing” funded by the "Foundation for the Destruction of Israel” (New Israel Fund). With the help of his sharp-tongued reporters who write in the Trump-McCarthyist style, he is succeeding pretty well.
Mission Accomplished: Why Solidarity Boats to Gaza Succeed Despite Failing to Break the Siege (Ramzy Baroud, Maan) the stream of solidarity boats continued to arrive, not only unhindered by the fear of Israeli retribution, but also stronger in their resolve. Palestinians consider the killed activists as ‘martyrs’ to be added to their own growing list of martyrs. However, none of the boats made it to Gaza; so why keep on trying?