News Nosh: 10.25.18

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday October 25, 2018

 
You Must Be Kidding: 
A student in the settlements receives 15,900 shekels er year, while the national average stands on 9,800 shekels.
--Report issued by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center found that the settlements receive a quarter of all regional councils funds even though they represent only 5% of the country’s regional councils.**

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Expose - The recordings of Moshe Leon - the candidate for mayor of Jerusalem presents: the secret talks about a ‘political deal’
  • Last night: Rockets hit the central Negev
  • Netanyahu on Gideon Saar: “A subversive move”
  • Rivlin on Netanyahu: “It’s paranoia”
  • Between investigations and hallucinations // Sima Kadmon on the connection theory
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
Explosives attack in the US
  • The accusation - he sold (land) to Jews: The Palestinian Authority kidnapped and is holding an Arab-Israeli
  • Storm alert: Today - Winter is stopping for a visit
  • Assessment in Israel is that sanctions on Iran won’t include removing it from the SWIFT financial system
  • Exclusive - Pediatrician accused of indecent acts against 17-year-old patient

News Summary:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and a former Likud member of planning a putsch to prevent him from forming the next government and explosives were sent in the mail to CNN and former US Democratic leaders made the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers, along with the latest ahead of the municipal elections next week. Also the latest on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashouggi, the conflict with the Gaza Strip and diplomacy.



http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/10/25/ex-likud-minister-accused-of-attempting-putsch-to-unseat-netanyahu/



Netanyahu accused his Likud opponent, former minister Gideon Sa’ar of convincing President Rivlin not to task Netanyahu with forming the government after the upcoming elections, assuming the Likud gets the majority number of seats. That was the supposedly the reason that Netanyahu hasn’t called for early elections, Israel Hayom had reported earlier. Rivlin’s office slammed Netanyahu as ‘paranoid’ and Saar denied the allegations. However, the commentators argued whether there was truth behind it. As expected, ‘Israel Hayom’ commentators thought it was possible if not likely, others disagreed and Maariv’s Ben Caspit said that Netanyahu made up the story. (See Commentary/Analysis below.)
 
DIPLOMACY:
  • IAI wins $777 million India contract for missile defense - State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries signs additional contract to supply 7 Indian navy ships with LRSAM air and missile defense systems, also known as Barak 8; 'India is a major market for IAI and we plan to reinforce our positioning in India,' says IAI chief executive officer. (Agencies, Ynet and Israel Hayom)
  • Report: Jordanian MPs urge review of treaty with Israel - In wake of decision to void clauses in 1994 peace deal leasing borderlands to Israel, hawkish lawmakers urge King Abdullah to exit treaty altogether. Security around Israeli Embassy in Amman increased ahead of mass anti-Israel march planned for Friday. (Israel Hayom)
  • Azerbaijan's Military Chief Arrives in Israel for First Official Visit - The Azeri decision to send the general to Israel is perceived in Jerusalem as a clear message to Iran. (Haaretz)
  • Bolivia promoting another anti-Israel event at UN Security Council - Bolivian ambassador invites Randa Siniora, a known supporter of BDS to address the Security Council. "Circus of Bolivian hypocrisy continues," Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon says. (Israel Hayom)
  • Palestinians to Pass 'Dangerous Resolutions' on Relations With Israel, U.S., Says Abbas - The Palestinian president vows that the Palestinian National Council, which is slated to convene at the end of the month, is going to take bold steps because 'Israel has violated' all the 'signed agreements between us.’ (Haaretz+)
  • China inks free trade agreement with Palestinian Authority - Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan meets with Palestinian PM Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah as Deputy Commerce Minister Qian Keming and Palestinian National Economy Minister Abeer Odeh sign free trade memo • In 2017, China-PA trade reached $69 million.  (Israel Hayom)
GAZA:
  • Israel Strikes Eight Hamas Targets Thursday After Gaza Rocket Lands in South - After a rocket was launched from Gaza into southern Israel, the Israeli army retaliated by striking three different military compounds in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday night. In an official statement, the IDF blamed Hamas responsible for "everything happening in and out of the Gaza Strip." Going on to say that Hamas will "bear the consequences for the terrorist acts carried out against the citizens of Israel." (Haaretz)
  • IDF's Gaza Division chief says Hamas behind violent border protests - Egyptian security delegation Gaza Strip after meetings with Palestinian factions. (Haaretz)
  • General of Southern Command Halevi: 'Hamas is deterred' - GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi adds terror organization is still 'looking for ways to harm Israel'; Hamas official: 'Palestinians should make as many sacrifices as needed in order to achieve their national demands and aspirations.' (Ynet)
  • Netanyahu: If not for Israel, Hamas would topple Abbas - Speaking at an assembly of the Jewish Federation of North America, Prime Minister Netanyahu says if Israel 'uncovered a plot of 100 Hamas men to overthrow Abbas. Overthrow? Kill him. Not kill him politically. Kill him.' (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
KHASHOUGGI:
  • Trump Says Saudi Prince 'Running Things,' Could Be Behind Khashoggi Death - Trump told the Wall Street Journal: 'Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage. He's running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.' Trump said he was convinced King Salman had no advance knowledge of the incident, according to the Journal. (Haaretz)
  • Iran: Saudi Arabia Would Not Have Murdered Khashoggi Without U.S. Protection - Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional rivals and have supported opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and different political factions in Iraq and Lebanon. (Haaretz)
  • Saudi Crown Prince: Khashoggi's Killing Is 'Heinous Crime That Can't Be Justified' - Erdogan and Bin Salman have discussed what they said was 'the need for joint efforts to shed light on all aspects of the killing.’ MBS was speaking at the Saudi investment conference in Riyadh dubbed, which was marred by the withdrawal of global business leaders and top bankers over the fate of Khashoggi.  (Haaretz)

Quick Hits:
  • Israel to confiscate thousands of dunams to expand Route 60 - Israeli Minister of Transportation ordered the expansion of West Bank Route 60 to four lanes and 100 meters wide, and will confiscate Palestinian lands from al-Khader town, Beit Jala city, al-Maasara village and Beit Ummar town. (Maan)
  • **Knesset's report: settlements receive quarter of all regional councils funds - “This is only the tip of the iceberg, since the report doesn’t include the budgets that are transferred outside the budget plan, like the Settlement Division’s budgets that are mostly invested in the West Bank settlements and not in the State of Israel,” said MK Stav Shaffir. (Ynet)
  • After Car Chase, Police Arrest East Jerusalem Palestinian Suspected of Plotting Attack - The suspect, a Palestinian in his twenties, was caught near Jerusalem after he was chased him from Tel Aviv. Police say they received 'established intelligence' against him. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Slain Palestinian laid to rest in Tubas - Thousands of Palestinians marched Wednesday in funeral of Muhammad Mahmoud Bisharat, 23, who was killed by Israeli forces when clashes erupted in Tamun town in the early dawn hours of Wednesday. (Maan)
  • Israeli Soldier Hurled Rocks at Haaretz Staff Documenting Site for Khan al-Ahmar Evacuees - Haaretz reporter and photographer identified themselves to soldiers but were still attacked later. IDF says soldier acted against values, will be investigated. (Haaretz+)
  • Only One Percent of Israeli Policemen Who Commit Disciplinary Offenses Are Prosecuted - A report obtained by Haaretz shows the police are forgiving toward policemen, only rarely punishing them. (Haaretz+)
  • A new and comprehensive study determines: Ethiopians and Arabs suffer most from police violence - Prof. Guy Ben-Porat of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev publishes storm-raising data about the phenomenon: "The Arab sector feels that the police are abandoning it, and the Ethiopian community feels that the police do not see its members as Jews.” (Maariv)
  • Police Forcefully Arrest Coptic Monk, Evacuate Others From Jerusalem's Church of Holy Sepulchre, angering Palestinians, Egypt and churches - Coptic officials warn the incident could lead to widespread protests against Israel, including by the Egyptian government. (Haaretz+, Maan and Israel Hayom)
  • Israeli forces dismantle, seize educational caravans in Tubas district - Israeli forces dismantled and seized educational caravans Tuesday belonging to the school of late Marwan Majli, known as "Tahadi 10," in Ibziq village in West Bank. Israeli forces also prevented journalists from reaching the area. (Maan)
  • Israeli right-wing group targets New Israel Fund in dystopian campaign film - The Public Forum's film depicts students in the year 2048 at 'Yassar Arafat High School' in 'Israstine' where Ahmed Tibi is prime minister and the Bible has been outlawed. Film calls on voters not to back candidates in municipal elections supported by the NIF. (Haaretz+)
  • Did This pro-Israel Superstar Work as a Secret Agent on College Campuses? - The Israeli government paid Hen Mazzig for 'campus campaigns' at the same time he toured American college campuses. That could violate U.S. laws. (Haaretz)
  • In Jab at Netanyahu's Policies, Top Jewish Organization Reaffirms Commitment to a Democratic Israel - Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency votes unanimously to adopt resolution prompted by passage of nation-state law. (Haaretz+)
  • 'PM Netanyahu must work to heal Jewish people's wounds' - "The discourse between the Jewish community and the Israeli government has become very strained," Ruderman Family Foundation president tells PM Netanyahu in open letter • The Israeli government "can't throw the Jewish community under the bus," he says. (Israel Hayom)
  • New bill aims to include Druze in nation-state law - Citing Druze contribution, loyalty to the state, Yisrael Beytenu MKs promote an amendment to Israel's controversial nation-state law so that Israel is defined as the nation-state of the Jews, "all those who have tied their fate to the State of Israel." (Israel Hayom)
  • Los Angeles consul-general to head top Jewish fundraising agency Keren Hayesod - Grundwerg, who was tapped by Netanyahu for the job, has been serving as consul-general in Los Angeles for the past two years. (Haaretz+)
  • Watch (Culture Minister) Miri Regev giving the hand sign to MK Hasson in the Knesset plenum: "You are a zero" - The bill for the establishment of an "Authority for Ceremonies and State Symbols" was rejected by the Knesset, but the incident between the minister Regev and the Zionist Camp MK Yoel Hasson led to a flare-up that culminated in a "zero" to the MK. (Maariv VIDEO)
  • Israeli Left-wing Party Meretz Fumes as It’s Left Off Initial List of Rabin Rally Speakers - 'Memory can’t be bought with money. Neither can peace,' the party said in a statement. (Haaretz+)
  • Bill to end visits for security prisoners wins initial approval - Knesset passes bill denying visitation rights from prisoners belonging to terror groups that are holding Israelis captive • Minister: Bill addresses disparity between conditions provided to terrorists in Israel and conditions in which Israelis are held. (Israel Hayom)
  • Proposed Amendment to the Law: A candidate who is investigated for a crime offense shall not form a government - In the wake of the intention of coalition chairman MK David Amsalem to submit a bill that will reduce the president's power when he appoints after the elections a Knesset member to form a government, MK Revital Swid (Zionist Camp) proposed amending the Basic Law so that a candidate under investigation for a crime cannot form a government. (Update: The bill did not pass - OH) (Maariv)
  • OECD report: Israel's education system increases the gap between rich and poor - A recent report reveals that only 5.4% of disadvantaged students in Israel attend schools where most students are from 'advantaged' backgrounds. (Haaretz)
  • Explained Trump's last-minute 'Arabs are voting in droves' campaign push - Trump tweeted, without citing any evidence, that 'criminals and unknown Middle Easterners' are amid an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands. (Haaretz)
  • WATCH Scarlett Johansson Stopped Saudi's MBS From Funding Biopic About Heroic Journalist - 'Scarlett Johansson said absolutely not. She said, ‘This guy is perpetuating the war in Yemen. He has women in prison.’” (Haaretz and VIDEO)
  • Saudi Crown Prince Jokes About Detainment of Lebanese Prime Minister - 'Prime Minister Saad is staying in the kingdom for two days so I hope you don't spread rumors that he was kidnapped,' MBS joked. Hariri was detained in Saudi in 2017. (Haaretz+)
  • Satellite Images Show Deployment of S-300 Missiles in Northern Syria - Israeli satellite images have documented one of the S-300 batteries given by Russia to Syria, showing it is not operational. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • France trying to repatriate children of jihadist fighters held by Syrian forces - Some 150 minors belonging to suspected French Islamist militants, most of whom are under the age of six, are held by Kurdish forces in Syria. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Chinese, Russian Spies Listening to Trump's Calls on Unsecured Cellphone, NY Times Reveals - Beijing in particular seeking to use calls to learn how to sway U.S. policy, New York Times cites officials as saying. (Haaretz)


Features:
Archaeologists Seek Signs of Joshua's Conquest in Last Unexplored Biblical City
Scrambling to save the last un-excavated biblical town from dirt bikers, archaeologists have found layers going back more than 4,000 years, since before Joshua's time. (Ariel David, Haaretz+)
Here's what happened to the fantasy of a Jewish autonomy in Argentina
The area was known as ‘Jerusalem of Argentina.’ Some hoped that Moises Ville would become the hub of an autonomous Jewish district. These days, all that's left are a gravestone maker who has no work, an aging gaucho and, above all, memories. (Roy Arad, Haaretz+)
Bethlehem visitors attracted to hotel adorned by Banksy art
Bristol-based artist describes Walled Off Hotel, which faces the security barrier, as having "the worst views of any hotel in the world" • Bethlehem Mayor Vera Baboun: Having Banksy paintings in the hotel carries "significant political messages." (Agencies, Israel Hayom)

Commentary/Analysis:
The Problems of Israeli Children vs. the Problems of Gazan Children (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Anyone who thought that the children of Jabalya, who gaze longingly at the children of Kibbutz Mefalsim, would sit idly by and accept their fate, does not know human history and the human soul.
We sit and wait for it to blow up in our face (Giora Eiland, Yedioth/Ynet) King Abdullah's decision not to renew Israel's lease on the Arava and Naharayim lands is not really a huge surprise, but a reflection of Israel's dysfunctional governmental organizations, and the tendency to postpone handling serious matters to the last minute.
Academic Loyalty Test (Haaretz Editorial) Education Minister Bennett has endangered Israel's academic world by deciding to put it to a test of loyalty as a condition for receiving funding.
Regev's Cultural Loyalty Law Represents the Israeli Patriotism of Cowards (Yuval Karniel, Haaretz+) Bezalel will go on teaching its students in the tradition of freedom of expression, which the ‘cultural loyalty law’ is trying to eliminate.
This Show Must Not Go On (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Israel of Netanyahu, Regev, Bennett and their spear-carriers seems to be auditioning to win a certificate of loyalty from the settlers of the occupation.
After 23 Years, Nothing Has Changed (Zehava Galon, Haaretz+) The right is moving from defense to offense on the road to rewriting history. It wasn’t the right that murdered Rabin, but the assassin came from its ranks, as did a religious edict sanctioning extrajudicial killing.
Hate, a long story: the history of the murky relations between Netanyahu and Rivlin (Arik Bender, Maariv) Both veterans of the Likud and "princes" of Jerusalemite families are attributed to a revisionist background - and both have been stirring up each other's lives for many years. "Apparently he is not my friend," the president explained in the past.
The TV Series That Offers a Possible Solution to Israel’s Problems (Carlo Strenger, Haaretz+) ’Autonomies,' an acclaimed dystopian drama about the formation of two entities – the Haredi Autonomy in Jerusalem and a secular State of Israel in Tel Aviv – shows how Israel’s various cultures could live better with each other separately.
Jordan deserves a strong response (Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Israel Hayom) It may be time to ask whether our conceptions about the Hashemite kingdom, specifically our decision to give it extra water, endanger us in a changing Middle East.
Netanyahu's New Conspiracy Theory Borders on Psychosis (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) If Netanyahu decided against moving up the elections it's not because President Rivlin or former Likud minister Sa'ar is out to get him, but rather to avoid coinciding with an indictment that might lose him the elections.
Putsch-Banana: Netanyahu was behind the spread of the conspiracy theory against Rivlin and Sa'ar (Ben Caspit, Maariv) It was the prime minister who spread the plot through his shofar, Natan Eshel, who sweated for many days until he found buyers for the rotten goods in his possession. In the end, having no choice, they went to the home newspaper [‘Israel Hayom’] where there is no editing.
U.S. Jewish groups say they support a two-state solution. So why are they so quiet while Trump dismantles it? (Debra Shushan, Haaretz+) Amid a barrage of anti-Palestinian actions, a tacit endorsement of Israel’s West Bank annexation, and an occupation-denying U.S. Ambassador, are the big guns of U.S. Jewry – AIPAC, ADL, AJC, JFNA – really too afraid to rock the boat with Trump?
Jewish General Assembly's Long-awaited Confrontation With Netanyahu Yields Self-defeating Humiliation Instead (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) In fawning interview, the stern motto 'We Need to Talk' was supplanted by the traditional 'Show Must Go On.’
Khashoggi Case: Erdogan Tries to Be Saudis' Judge, Jury and Executioner - but Trump May Save Riyadh Yet (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Turkey’s president is particularly keen to booby-trap U.S.-Saudi relations and shed his image as a hostile actor in the Middle East.
The little prince (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) The grotesque murder of a dissident Saudi journalist has made a mockery of Crown Prince Mohammad, but we are talking about the Arab world and this is what we have to deal with, especially given the Iranian threat.
On Khashoggi, the U.S. Media Is Falling for Turkey’s Conspiracist State-run Media (Louis Fishman, Haaretz+) In its breathless hunt for grisly, sensational details, the Western media is embracing evidence-free, state-curated ‘scoops’ from the same sources that spread lies and hate towards Turkey’s own journalists and political dissidents.
Appropriate consequences for barbarism (Clifford D. May, Israel Hayom) The U.S. is likely to impose sanctions targeting specific individuals implicated in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and could also demand reforms that reduce Saudi authoritarianism.
Hollywood Is Paying a High Price for the Khashoggi Affair (Nirit Anderman, Haaretz+) U.S. film industry's hopes of building a lucrative Saudi film market may now be dashed, following stories about murder of Saudi dissident in Istanbul.
 
Interviews:
Creator of the poster poster of Rabin wearing an SS uniform: "This story was taken completely out of proportions"
S., who was then 16 years old, told Anat Davidov and Yinon Magal of 103FM about the poster: "In the days before Photoshop, I had a hobby to create all kinds of funny characters, including politicians from the right-wing and the left-wing. I would do lots of cut and paste.” (Maariv)
His inspiration: “The inspiration for what I did to Rabin was in the quote of Abba Eban, who argued that the borders of 1967 are the borders of Auschwitz. I do not know if I was the first to do this in Israel, but I was only a 16-year-old boy. I was not aware of the implications and the burden that this entails."
About that day: “I had a very weak acquaintance with Avishay Raviv and I cannot say that I was active in the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) or in Kach. I was a yeshiva student who occasionally joined the demonstrations and printed the posters with the seven shekels I had in my pocket at the time. I showed Raviv what I had prepared and he jumped on it and asked me if he could take the posters. He left me only one copy, which surprised me because I did not think he would be so enthusiastic. Avishai Raviv was a revolutionary for me, one of the most extreme opponents of the Oslo Accords. In retrospect I found out that he took the posters and was photographed with them as he moved from journalist to journalist. I understood that they burned them and that they talked about it on the radio.”
When asked if he was sorry, he replied: "If there were people who were hurt by it, of course I'm very sorry. It was a very minor thing for me, part of the games of a 16-year-old boy. On the level of youth who draws things in his notebook. My inspiration was in the footsteps of the borders of Auschwitz. I tried through an artistic display to present the expression of those who are trying to return Israel to the 1967 borders."

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