APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday, August 27, 2018

Quote of the day:

“We must understand that things can get out of control because of the extremism that is prevalent in the area...We are all destined to live here together in this country and are not doomed to live like this.”
--President Reuven Rivlin reacted to the brutal racist attack by Jewish Israelis on three Arab Israelis at a beach and alluded to the extremist atmosphere in the country.*

Front Page:

Haaretz

• Mixed (gender) area at the Western Wall will be expanded under pretext of making it handicapped-accessible
• US increasing economic pressure on the Palestinians and endangering the negotiations for a ceasefire // Amos Harel
• Trump’s strategy against the (Palestinian) right of return: Break in order to change // Zvi Bar’el
• Under pressure of an investigation, Italian Public Security minister approved entry of refugees to country
• The parting of the anti-Trump: Republican Senator John McCain died at age 81 // Chemi Shalev
• Students from South Sudan were transferred from a community in the area around the Gaza Strip due to harassment
• Due to years of the worst drought in a hundred years, water will be injected into Lake Kinneret
• Price of incitement // Haaretz Editorial
• Why oppose (to the opening of a faculty of medicine at Ariel University)? // Moshe Arens
• Culture Minister threatens to cut film budget by 50 million shekels

Yedioth Ahronoth

• Exclusive - The optimism won: A new school in the burning south - The Gaza envelope communities move up a class - After a summer of fire, the elementary school in the area around the Gaza Strip gives pupils a reason to smile
• Exclusive - To fly with them - Rare interview: The female soldiers who operate the drones of Israel Air Force, talk about the secret operations, the dilemmas and the challenges
• In their lives and their deaths, they are outstanding - Medal of Honor to be awarded to Border Police, Hadas Malka and Solomon Gavrieh, who fell in battles against terrorists, and in their heroism they saved lives
• Florida: 4 murdered in video game tournament

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• “The leptospirosis in the north won’t be solved soon” - Senior officials in the Water Authority and in Nature and Reserves Authority warn
• US: He lost in a game and massacred the participants
• “He at a dog - and his heart became stupid” - Chief Rabbi against Tel-Aviv mayor over the construction on Sabbaths of Yehudit Bridge
• “We must not get out of control” - President Rivlin reacted to the attack on Arabs due to their ethnicity
• “He served his country for 60 years” - US Senator John McCain, who was considered a friend of Israel, died

Israel Hayom

• UNRWA is the problem - not the solution // Ron Prosor
• Anger at the Arab MKs: They are initiating condemnation of Israel at the UN
• Parting from a US hero - Senator John McCain
• Oy, my Kinneret - After 5 years drought, water level getting close to black line, island expected to connect to shore soo
• Expose from the skies: First flight log of Israel Air Force
• Learning from mom and dad: Highest number of homeschooling in north and in Tel-Aviv area
• Florida: He lost at a computer game and went on a shooting spree

News Summary:
*Today was one of the rare days when there wasn’t one ‘big story’ in all the main Hebrew newspapers. But the papers all expressed woe over the drying up of Lake Kinneret and the death of US Senator John McCain. All the papers reported more details about the attack by Jewish ‘Russian-speaking’ Israelis on three Arab Israelis at a Haifa beach, noting that a judge released the second suspect to house arrest and interviewing the man who drove away the attackers. Yesterday, the three young Arab men visited Yair Alalouf, the man who drove away their attackers, and thanked him for saving their lives. President Reuven Rivlin spoke out against the attack. With the exception of Israel Hayom, these reports were towards the beginning of the newspapers, on pages six or eight. But like yesterday’s report on the attack itself, Israel Hayom ran today’s story on page 19. Meanwhile, two Arab-Israelis were attacked and injured by Jewish Israelis in Binyamina, Ynet reported last night.

In what is becoming increasingly common, Israel Hayom runs enormous Op-Eds on the front page, often looking like news reports. Today, the paper, which is known for being a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, declared that UNRWA was a problem, in an Op-Ed that covered half the page. This comes after the US cut $300 million in funding to the UN agency that serves Palestinian refugees and which Netanyahu supports closing down. But Haaretz+ reported that Israeli defense officials said that swift cuts in UNRWA funding would create a vacuum that Hamas would fill.
 

Quick Hits:

• 2 Tayibe residents attacked in Binyamina - After 3 Arabs filed complaint with police for being beaten by Jews at Kiryat Haim beach in Haifa, 2 Tayibe residents who were moderately and lightly wounded say they were attacked (and stabbed) by Jews because they were Arab; police say incident not nationalistically motivated. (Yedioth/Ynet)
• Arab victims of attack surprised that suspects released - Yair Elalouf, who aided the three Arab men attacked on a Haifa beach by group of young Jewish men, says 'They had brutally beaten them with the clubs for 3-4 minutes, and one of the attackers used an iron chain.' (Ynet)
• MK Smotrich on the incident in the Southern Hebron Hills: “It’s legitimate to use force to repel the rioters" - MK Mossi Raz from Meretz debated with MK Bezalel Smotrich of Habayit Hayehudi on 103FM following the violent incident near Mitzpeh Yair (where settlers attacked Jewish left-wing activists). Raza: “The police and the IDF did nothing…Such events happen often in the area. The violence of the hilltop youth is repeated all the time. The prime minister does not respond to the event and lets these things happen.” Smotrich: "The anarchists come every week to the settlements in order to create a provocation.” (Maariv)
• Israeli settlement expansion to commence in Beit Hanina - Sources reported that about 124 illegal Israeli housing units have already been approved for the project, out of a total of 324 units. A candidate from the right-wing Me'uchadim (United) political faction running for the Jerusalem city council, announced that the new housing units "are being sold to Jews only." (Maan)
• South Sudanese students booted from Israeli community after residents claim they'll bring 'rape, murder and break-ins' - African students are here as part of a government program to study agriculture. Residents warned of ‘rape, murder and break-ins,’ demanded to remove them and blocked their entry. The head of the regional council complied. (Haaretz+)
• (Education Minister) Bennett to settler leaders: We’ve changed conversation from two-states to annexation - In a meeting with settler leaders, Education Minister Naftali Bennett boasts of having helped change the national conversation from one focused on the two-state solution to one concentrated on West Bank annexation. (Maariv and Times of Israel)
• Israeli Minister: Arab Lawmakers Should Be Tried for Treason After Turning to UN - MK Aida Touma-Sliman and other MKs from the Joint List, together with the Palestinian ambassador, met with UN officials in New York and asked them to to try and advance international action against the nation-state law, claiming that it is similar apartheid laws. Netanyahu slammed them. (Haaretz and Maariv)
• High Court judge calls two hospitals in East Jerusalem "Palestinian" - In a ruling permitting Gazan women to receive life-saving cancer treatment in hospitals in East Jerusalem, Justice Yitzhak Amit called the medical centers “Palestinian,” despite the fact that they are in areas under Israeli sovereignty. (Maariv)
• Norwegian Activist Shot Twice in a Week by Israeli Soldiers in West Bank Protests - The activist said she was at protests when soldiers shot her on two different occasions. IDF: 'We are investigating.’ (Haaretz+)
• Shin Bet Pays Damages to Right-wing Activist for Violating High Court Order - The security service paid 6,500 shekels for failing to tell an activist he could refuse an interview after being summoned for estioning. (Haaretz+)
• Israeli forces detain 3 Palestinian former prisoners - According to local sources, large numbers of heavily armed Israeli forces raided several neighborhoods in Beit Ummar village and broke into a number of Palestinian homes. (Maan)
• Israel detains 68 undocumented Palestinian workers - According to local sources, Israeli forces detained 68 undocumented Palestinian workers between the ages 20 to 60 years old throughout the southern West Bank district of Hebron and its surrounding areas. (Maan)
• Israel issues 36 administrative detention orders - Israeli authorities issued 36 administrative detention orders on Sunday against a number of Palestinian detainees held in various Israeli prisons for periods ranging between three to six months. (Maan
• Israeli navy detains 2 Gaza fishermen - Nizar Ayyash, the boat captain, told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces detained two fishermen as they were working along the northern Gaza Strip coast and were taken to an unknown location. (Maan)
• Culture minister: Film budget will drop by 50 million shekels if my bill does not pass - The biggest reform in the legislation is the section that calls for the establishment of a body of script readers subordinate to the Culture Ministry; the film funds would be required to hire 70% of their script readers from that body. Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai: "The film budget is not her private property. It's a public budget that should be distributed only according to public standards." (JPost)
• (Soldier) Hackers sold personal data of thousands of IDF soldiers, investigation finds - Probe by Securities Authority uncovers years-long scam by two soldiers and two civilian contractors who worked in recruitment administration unit. (Maariv and Times of Israel)
• Hezbollah's Nasrallah quotes IDF ombudsman: 'The Israeli military can't recruit young people' - Hezbollah leader says 'last year 44,000 soldiers met with psychiatrists,' referring to report that the number of soldiers meeting mental health officers has gone up by 40 percent. (Haaretz and Ynet)
• IDF to assess officers for conflicts of interest - In wake of the submarine affair, IDF chief Eisenkot appointees team to examine matters of conflicts of interest among IDF officers, especially relating to procurement, and enact proactive measures to combat phenomenon. (Yedioth/Ynet)
• Israeli Army Looks to Integrate Women Into Its Combat Engineering Corps - Until now, such position has only been filled by men. The decision comes as part of a greater push for gender equality in various Israel Defense Forces units. (Haaretz+)
• IDF moves to improve conditions for combat soldiers - Battalion commanders to be given up to NIS 150,000 to spend on unit requirements to reduce dependence on outside donations, field bases to be given entertainment rooms, soldiers to enjoy use of rented vehicles. (Yedioth/Ynet)
• Druze leader denies talks about IDF intervention in Syria - After reports said Mowafaq Tarif had met with Druze from Syria who sought Israeli intervention in ongoing Syrian civil war in order to establish an area for a Druze entity in southern Syria, sheikh denies meeting ever occurred. (Ynet)
• Israel's water sources rapidly drying up - Water Authority announced that ongoing drought so bad even above average rainfall next year isn't enough to replenish water sources; Kinneret nearing black line at 214.86 meters below sea level; working on developing resources to improve weather forecasting, efficient water utilization. (Ynet)
• Talks between the Palestinian factions resumed: Exchange of accusations between Hamas and Fatah - The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will try to persuade the Fatah delegation to accept Cairo's proposals for concluding the reconciliation. According to the initiative, the (Fatah-run) Palestinian Authority will lift the sanctions imposed on Hamas officials. (Maariv)
• Al-Mahmoud: 'US did not fulfill its commitments to Palestinians' - Yousef al-Mahmoud said in a statement at a press conference that the US decision to cut financial aid by over $200 million to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip was not something new. (Maan)
• ISIS claims responsibility for foiled Sinai attack - Egyptian state media said that security forces foiled an attack on a checkpoint west of the city of al-Arish on Saturday, killing four militants. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Turkey's Erdogan Says Will Bring Safety and Peace to Syria, Iraq - The rebel-held Idlib enclave is a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria as well as for powerful jihadist forces, but has been hit by a wave of air strikes and shelling this month. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Iran fires finance minister as rial crashes, economy crumbles - Move is latest in shakeup of top economic personnel as U.S. reimposes sanctions. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Iran's defense minister, visiting Syria amid clashes, seeks 'productive role in reconstruction' - Senior Iranian officials have said their military presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Assad government and they have no immediate plans to withdraw. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif: America is waging a "psychological war against Iran." (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
  Iran Says ‘No Third Party’ Will Limit Its Support to Syria - Israel has expressed concern over Iran’s growing influence in Syria, accusing Iran of seeking to establish a foothold near the frontier with the Jewish state. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  Moscow warns Washington against 'reckless steps' in Syria - Russia earlier this week presented proposals to the Turkish authorities on resolving the situation in Idlib, a northwestern Syrian region that borders Turkey. (Agencies, Haaretz)

Features:

How Israel Founded Ariel's Medical School: In Haste and Against All Recommendations
The minutes of the committee meeting where the facility was approved reveal how the gatekeepers were moved aside with political pressure, leaving the hurriedly approved plan with critical questions unanswered. (Or Kashti, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Arabs Are Arabs, Whether or Not They’re Citizens of Israel (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Humiliation in guise of security questioning has been the norm for many non-Jews at the crossings for years.
The terrorists among us (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The attack on 3 Arab youths at the Haifa beach last week was no less than Jewish terrorism. And we must not show understanding or leniency towards violence against Arabs just because of 'what the other side is doing to us.' Violence must be eradicated with a firm hand.
The Price of Incitement (Haaretz Editorial) The attack on three young Israeli Arab men from Shfaram last week is a direct result of the right-wing incitement machine, and a concrete manifestation of the spirit of the nation-state law.
Those who believe that the recent violent incidents are isolated cases - are blind (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The spirit of the times is pushing the Arabs into the status of second-class citizens, and ends up turning them and those identified with them into a prey for hate criminals. It will not stop until the person responsible for the spirit of the commander - strongly condemns the violence. As may be remembered, the spirit of the inciting anti-Arab campaign began with Netanyahu's last election campaign in a video warning of their implementation of their democratic right to vote. But it did not stop there. It has infected some members of the government and Knesset members from the coalition…But the Zeitgeist is clear: Israeli society is in a nationalist spiral.  The whirlwind is also accompanied by competition between its leaders who are more combative: The prime minister who decides to increase the defense budget at the expense of the education and welfare budgets, the minister of public security who chooses to fill our streets with weapons, the defense minister and the education minister who compete with anyone who exposes more teeth to Hamas…
Mounting U.S. economic pressure on Palestinians could reignite Israel-Gaza violence (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The allegations against UNRWA aren't baseless, but the damage to the organization could have serious consequences, and intelligence officials don't paint an encouraging picture.
Is the Left ashamed of its beliefs? (Yaakov Ahimeir, Israel Hayom) Proponents of minority ideological positions tend not to hold back when defending their views. So why then were participants at a recent rally against the nation-state law asked not to wave the Palestinian flag?
Trump's hardball policy on the Palestinians will blow up in Israel's face (Peter Lerner, Haaretz+) Israelis shouldn't celebrate the Trump administration's decision to slash funds for the Palestinians. It's a radicalizing gift for terrorists - and a ticking time bomb for Israel's security.
John McCain, Staunch Israel Ally and Self-styled Maverick Republican, Dies at 81 (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Netanyahu eulogizes McCain, who was admired by Republicans and Democrats alike for championing civility and compromise, as 'a great American patriot and a great supporter of Israel.'
Even the Palestinians have to pay (Eran Bar-Tal, Israel Hayom) As in U.S. relations with China, Europe, Iran, the Arab world, North Korea and even domestically – Trump doesn't pay without receiving something of value in return.
Trump Would Take Diamonds Over His Own Eyes, but the Palestinians Won't (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) We can keep eating out of the palm of Trump's hand like there’s no tomorrow, but no deal-making acrobatics by a president who consistently traded favors for money will be of any help here.
Building Israel's diplomatic power (Ariel Bolstein, Israel Hayom) In recent years, Israel has been building bridges with countries it neglected on the diplomatic front. The result is a network of new alliances that give Israel support in international organizations.
A New Medical School That Will Benefit Israelis and Palestinians Alike (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Perhaps some people object to the Ariel University med school because it's beyond the Green Line, but remember that local Palestinians will have access to the institution's clinical facilities.
How the Saudis Made Canada the Loneliest Country in the World (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz) Western leaders wooing Saudi money aren’t going to nag the crown prince about Riyadh’s executions of human rights activists.

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