APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday January 20, 2019

 

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Breaking News:
Report: Syrian air defense repels Israeli attack in southern Syria; Israeli army: Israel intercepted missiles fired toward Golan Heights
Syrian source tells state news agency: 'Our air defense systems thwarted an Israeli air aggression and prevented it from achieving any of its goals'; Meanwhile, Iron Dome intercepts rocket over Mount Hermon. (Ynet and Haaretz)
[Note: A Saturday report in Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper said that Russia sent a message to Israel: "We will not allow strikes at Damascus airport.” The reason was the plan to rehabilitate the airport with the help of large Russian companies. (Maariv)]

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Elections 2019 and Netanyahu Corruption Affairs News:
A pro-Netanyahu media blitz against the Israeli media, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt, and the left-wing just as Channel 12 reports that Mendelblitt will indict Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu next month on bribery charges in Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla news-for-favors case, made top news in the Hebrew newspapers. The anti-media and left-wing blitz included billboards with the words “They won’t decide” and the photos of four journalists whose investigative reports led to the police investigations on corruption allegations against Netanyahu. Maariv reported, that the Likud party later declared it was behind the anonymous campaign, which also was across social media networks. Later, Netanyahu released a video in which he says Mendelblitt was pressured by the left-wing and the media. MKs accused him of incitement. He also slammed Mendelblitt for granting an interview to Channel 12 News, saying that the timing raises serious questions. “It turns out that for an entire year, the police didn't investigate offenses, but was instead looking for charges against me. It's called a 'set up,'" the prime minister said. Tomorrow, Mendelblitt will meet with Netanyahu’s attorney at the latter’s request, over the timing of the indictment decision. Mendelblitt’s office made clear that 'there are no grounds for suspending the handling of cases against elected officials or candidates' if police have finished investigating. Channel 12 shared new revelations about the decision-making process and the impressions of the Attorney General in the prime minister’s investigations. (Also Maariv)

Other News Summary:

The other top stories were the police killing of a mentally ill Ethiopian-Israeli young man with a knife, a death the family said should have been avoided, (Maariv wrote that the police say there was no connection between his skin color and the shooting, but that they fear that the shooting could lead to an escalation of violence among Ethiopian-Israelis,) and the revelation that a law intern also provided sex to the former Israeli Bar Association Chairman in exchange for helping her pass her bar exam. Evidence against Effi Naveh was obtained through a hacked phone of his that a journalist gave the police. A Justice Ministry official told Israel Hayom that even if the appointment of the female judge also suspected of providing sex for an appointment was not corrupt, there is a strong suspicion of conflict of interest and she must resign.

In Diplomacy and Security:
Netanyahu left late last night for Chad, where he will re-establish formal diplomatic ties cut in 1972. Netanyahu accused Iran and the Palestinian Authority of trying to stop the trip to Chad. Meretz party chief MK Tamar Zandberg demanded Netanyahu's complete schedule be revealed 'to ensure no dubious arms deals are included.’ Netanyahu hinted that there will be future visits to Muslim countries. On Friday, Netanyahu met with his Romanian counterpart in Jerusalem and on Monday he will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart. He hopes they both will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move their embassies.

Meanwhile, a media report was quoted in the Hebrew press that Israel and Hamas have renewed negotiations over a prisoner exchange deal before elections to bolster Netanyahu's standing in the eyes of the public. Palestinian sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Netanyahu government wants to make progress before the April election, but they also said Hamas hasn't changed its demands that Israel release security prisoners it rearrested after freeing them in the Gilad Shalit deal. (Also Maariv) At the same time, Hamas and Israel were exchanging threats over Gaza border protests and Qatari money. On Thursday, Israel said it would decide about whether to transfer the Qatari money [to pay Gaza civil service employees - OH] based on the nature of the Friday weekly Gaza border fence protests. Hamas has rejected any attempt to link the funds to the protests, saying that "The goal of the marches is completely remove the siege.” Hamas said any delay in transferring the money will lead to an escalation of violence. On Friday, Israeli soldiers opened fire and injured 43 Palestinians, including three paramedics and two journalists, at the border fence protests, in which thousands of Palestinians participated.

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Palestinian Is Shot in the Head by Israeli Police on His Way to School, and Lives to Tell the Tale
Somehow, 16-year-old Fawaz Abed wasn’t killed. Border Police shot him in the head at short range near his home in El Bireh, and may also have kicked him, eyewitnesses say. Emergency surgery saved his life. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
Secret Handwritten Memos Reveal How Israel's Nuclear Program Came to Be
A treasure trove of memos written by top Israeli politicians in the 1960s and onward reveals disputes over the nuclear 'project,' its huge cost and the decision to adopt a policy of ambiguity. (Adam Raz, Haaretz+)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Forget Netanyahu. Israelis have fallen in love with an incoherent kind of centrism (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Israel's wildly proliferating and popular center parties are, as yet, distinguished only by their leaders' dashing military records, blue eyes and banal self-help cliches.
A glimpse into the only political union that can change the reality that is being woven in our face (Alon Ben David, Maariv) Six men came to the stage, and there was excitement on their faces. Long years of shared experiences overshadowed the anger and past problems between them of the past, creating an extraordinary fraternity. (Without naming them, the writer describes an imagined press conference with Benny Gantz, Moshe Yaalon, Ehud Barak, Gabi Ashkenazi and two others who unite in order to stop the “process of the deterioration of democracy that the country is going through.”)
Netanyahu Doesn’t Learn (Haaretz Editorial) An anti-media campaign is a new low in the politics of the prime minister and his fellow Likud members.
In the face of Benny Gantz, Netanyahu puts aside all achievements and moves to bullying and slandering (Haim Etgar, Maariv) In order to shift our attention from the qualities of the former chief of staff, the prime minister is descending from the level of a leader to a one of a provacateur and causes us forget the many good moves he has made.
The Land of Israel is again in danger: Can the right-wing form a government after the elections? (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) The leadership battles in religious Zionism are liable to crush the National Religious Party, destroy Habayit Hayehudi faction and destroy the ability of the right-wing to form a coalition - and the situation is as dangerous as before the Oslo Accords.

Commentary/Analysis:
Benny Morris' Dystopian Predictions About Israel's Future Miss the Point (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) I find myself grateful to Benny Morris. In his blindness and his pessimism, he has once again reminded me of the hope that exists.
Gideon Levy and Benny Morris support Netanyahu for the wrong reasons (Mor Altshuler, Haaretz+) If Israel has become a leper among the presumably enlightened circles in Europe and the United States, the credit goes to Levy, Morris and their ilk.
Israel's justice minister knowingly allied herself with evil (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Ayelet Shaked found a perfect partner for her plan to recreate Israel's judiciary, but his fall from grace will only make her stronger.
Who's afraid of Ayelet Shaked? (Yaakov Ahimeir, Israel Hayom) There are many people, among her supporters and adversaries alike, who believe Justice Minister and New Right party leader Ayelet Shaked could be prime minister.
Ayelet Shaked aimed for the Prime Minister's Office, but is she going down? (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Justice minister's alliance with dubious 'sex for judgeship' lawyer might show she lacks the minimal sense of smell to avoid people who, going down, tarnish everyone around.
Surrendering to persecution of leftists at Hebrew University (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) The Jerusalem institution's leadership has caved to the culture that the founder of far-right movement Im Tirtzu imported from his father’s homeland, Argentina.
Time for politicians to be honest about the Nation-State Law (Majalli Wahabi, Yedioth/Ynet) As the elections near, the Israeli public, in particular its minorities, deserve to know who supports and who opposes legislation that strips away so many citizens' connection to their country.
Another step toward the annexation of the West Bank (Shaul Arieli, Haaretz+) The opening of the new 'apartheid road' connecting Jerusalem with its northern settlements was met with silence. Right-wing politicians are no longer afraid of a response, they know the world will remain indifferent.
The False Innocence of Jewish Terrorism (Mayan Sarnat, Haaretz+) Jewish terror has been around since Israel's founding, but an increasingly radical ideology has changed the nature of the threat it poses.
Israel's delicate dance between the US and China (Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy, Yedioth/Ynet) No one believes that Jerusalem must abandon all ties to Beijing, but it must take into account the warnings that are coming from American administrations past and present.
I'm shaving off my Zionism, the worst a man can get (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) The Gillette commercial caused me to look again, more closely, at Netanyahu's Iwo Jima moment. That's when it struck me.
The Israel Police badge of shame (Danny Adeno Abebe, Yedioth/Ynet) The death of 24-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli Yehuda Biadga was cold-blooded murder; there's no other word to describe what happened to the young man from the Ethiopian community who his family says was shot by police in the head.
Hamas could cause an escalation on the Israeli border. Abbas could start a greater conflict (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The Friday protests at the Gaza fence are the first test for the new Israeli army chief. Does the IDF shrug off criticism, even if it’s true?
Hamas vs. Abbas on the southern front (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Despite the rhetoric about "occupation" and "return," the ebb and flow of the violence on the Gaza-Israel border has much more to do with intra-Palestinian power struggles between Hamas and PA President Mahmoud Abbas than it does with Israel.
Biggest challenge facing new Israeli army chief: A wild card thousands of miles away (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) How the attack that killed U.S. forces in Syria could affect Trump’s pullout. The question of Iran’s nuclear program is set to make a comeback.
Trump's 'Arab NATO' Push Against Iran Comes to a Head, and He's the Biggest Obstacle (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Next month, Washington will convene 70 world leaders in Warsaw in an attempt to form an alliance against Iran. But they all remember Trump's zigzagging policies.
How Jews Became 'Too White, Too Powerful' for U.S. Progressive Activism (Sara Yael Hirschhorn, Haaretz+) The Women’s March anti-Semitism saga exposes the profound failure of identity politics and inclusion. We're told we must 'work through' the pain of overt anti-Semitism, that we boost white supremacy and that we're Zionist genocidaires.
 

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