APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday January 31, 2019

 

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Top News Summary:
The surprising political poll results following Benny Gantz’s maiden speech and the large demonstration by Ethiopian-Israelis were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

 A day after Benny Gantz’s first speech, polls showed that if his ‘Hosen L’Yisrael’ party connected with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, they would beat the ruling Likud party, something people didn’t foresee would happen by anyone for many years. Moreover, Gantz and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were neck-and-neck in the question of who should be prime minister. Interestingly, Israel Hayom’s top story was that ‘senior people from the Yesh Atid party’ said that if Gantz doesn't join forces with their party, Lapid will "take him out.” (Lapid today denied this and said it “doesn't reflect the values of Yesh Atid, and has nothing to do with reality.”) Meanwhile, the Labor party crashed to six seats in the polls. (Also Maariv) Haaretz+ reported that Gantz’s Hosen L’Yisrael party is looking to diversify with women and Mizrachi Jews, of which it has none. Meanwhile, an effort was being made to exclude women visually. A campaign poster of MK Orly Levi-Abekasis, leader of the new Gesher party, was vandalized in Jerusalem, and her face was torn off. The Gesher Party responded: "An attempt to silence the voices of women. (Maariv) Naftali Bennett's party is being probed for allegedly not reporting campaign contributions in 2012. Some new candidates are making a bid for the leadership in the primaries of the Arab-majority parties, Hadash and Balad. Maariv has been doing profiles of candidates for different parties and one was of Nir Avishai Cohen, whose platform is about working to end the siege on the Gaza Strip. The deputy battalion commander in the reserves with the rank of major who was an officer in the Golani Brigade, was one of the founders of the Forum for the Advancement of Jewish-Arab Political Partnership. Cohen is running in the primaries of the Meretz party.

In other top news, thousands of Ethiopian-Israelis came to the peaceful protest in Tel-Aviv to protest against police brutality against them. The papers reported differently on the “scuffles” (Haaretz) or “clashes” (Israel Hayom) that took place between a few dozen protesters and the police “after” the demonstration ended (Haaretz) or “at the end” of the demonstration (Israel Hayom).
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

'Iran was at the cutting edge of technology'
Four decades after fleeing, Iranian-Israelis reflect on pro-Western country that transformed into Shiite theocracy • "Iran had ATMs and color TV in the 1970s, when those things were considered novel," recalls Nissan Soleimani, who left at 15. (Dan Lavie, Israel Hayom)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Gantz Stunned in Election Polls, and Balfour Street May Be Gearing Up for New Benjamin (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Pollsters went crazy for Gantz after his debut speech - If he makes no mistakes, the center-left bloc may make a strategic choice and rally behind the former military chief of staff.
Gantz suddenly has charisma (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel Resilience Party leader and former IDF chief Benny Gantz's debut speech can be considered a success. But this was the easy part, the hard part is to defeat PM Netanyahu at the ballot box.
With a Prime-ministerial Look, Benny Gantz Went for Netanyahu’s Jugular (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) The lights went on and Hosen L'Yisrael leader Benny Gantz broke his silence; others had attacked Netanyahu, but Gantz's barbs sounded more authentic.
Israeli Paradox: Why Gantz’s Right-wing Extravaganza Anoints Him as the Left’s anti-Netanyahu (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) His campaign launch had the hallmarks of a jingoistic junta with neo-fascist tendencies - but these didn’t deter Netanyahu’s detractors one bit.
A Poor Man’s Cause for Rejoicing (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Finally we’ve found a worthy alternative to Netanyahu, who was making us distraught, a leader with something meaningful to say - But what kind of meaning is this? And what kind of joy?
They placed him on the left; in spite of what he said, the voters did not believe in Gantz (Meir Uziel, Maariv) One of the signs a supporter waved at Ganei Hataarucha (where Gantz gave his speech) read: "Yalla Balagantz" (Gantz chaos). Indeed, ‘balagantz’ began in the political system, but at the moment it seems that it is mainly in the leftist camp.
The Team Behind Gantz's Liberal Stance on Religion and State (Judy Maltz, Haaretz+) Benny Gantz, the man seen as the main challenger to Netanyahu in the upcoming election, was unusually forthcoming on issues such as freedom of prayer at the Western Wall and LGBT rights in his maiden speech. Here's why. Referring to the small southern agricultural community where he grew up, the candidate said: “In Kfar Ahim we lived side by side, observant, traditional and secular people, in modesty and with love of the land and the state. These values created who I am. They are what shaped me.” It is worth noting that since launching his political career a few months ago, Gantz has surrounded himself with individuals and advisers who happen to be active in promoting religious freedom and Jewish pluralism. The firm running his election campaign is Ben Horin and Alexandrovitz, a strategic-media consultancy. By chance, it also represents the Reform movement in Israel, as well as its advocacy arm, the Israel Religious Action Center.
Yair Lapid found himself dealing with a genetic cloning of his party (Nadav Haetzni, Maariv) Benny Gantz, who mumbles polished slogans and meticulous formulas in his speech, is trying to reach the same constituency as the chairman of “Yesh Atid.“ There is no doubt that a new drama is at hand.
Despite Campaign Videos, 2014 Gaza War Wasn't Gantz’s Finest Hour (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Army wasn't prepared, Gantz didn't tell this to cabinet, and the lengthy, costly, bloody war's gains were negligible.
One should not take lightly statements about the mass exodus to the streets if Netanyahu is indicted (Yitzhak Ben-Ner, Maariv) The question arises as to why the possibility of indicting the prime minister and his echoes in the Likud of repeated attempts to obstruct and stop the investigation and trial proceedings is not examined.
Dumbing Israel's Elections Down for the Floating Voters (Yossi Klein, Haaretz+) Battalions of pollsters and consultants and experts are after the stupid or 'politically challenged,' the army of the people who do not know how to vote who are worth about 10 Knesset seats.
Gantz presents: Hubris and slogans (Gideon Allon, Israel Hayom) Benny Gantz's 1,662-word speech was replete with hollow statements such as "we are one people, we all share the same flag, anthem and military." He said nothing about his goals or why he is running.

Commentary/Analysis:
I Was a Settler. I Know How Settlers Become Killers (Shabtay Bendet, Haaretz+) I helped establish the illegal West Bank outpost where the suspects in the murder of a Palestinian woman, Aisha Rabi, studied. I've watched the Israeli right wing radicalize to the point of devaluing human life - for anyone who isn’t Jewish.
An Israeli Law That Seeks to Humiliate Arab Citizens (Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, Haaretz+) The nation-state law changed the status of the Arabic language - by defining Jewish tradition as superior the law ranks the cultural values of Jews from the Arab world lower than those from Europe.
Continue the Temple Mount revolution (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) After 50 years, policy is changing and Jews are being welcomed to their people's holiest site rather than being perceived as a threat and a danger to the status quo.
Israel Just Admitted Arming anti-Assad Syrian Rebels. Big Mistake (Daniel J. Levy, Haaretz+) For the first time on the record, a senior official confirmed Israel's secret unconventional war in Syria, aimed at preventing Iranian encroachment. But what did Israel gain from exposing its 'anti-intervention' lie after so many years of denial?
The Ethiopian community cries out: enough! (Titi Aynaw, Yedioth/Ynet) I can say with pride that our protest was staged in the same way we were brought up, with the quiet that is so typical of us, with determination and with our head held high. Labeling us as a violent community is unjust. The only difference between us and you is the color of our skin.
Growth of Israel's Debt Is Kahlon’s Failure (Haaretz Editorial) Israel's finance minister has raised the debt-to-GDP ratio to a dangerous level of 61.2 percent, with the numbers showing that this will only deteriorate throughout 2019 and in the years afterwards.
 
 

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