APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday March 7, 2019


You Must Be Kidding: 
"Those who support terrorists will not enter the Israeli Knesset.”
—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hails decision by Election Commission to ban the Arab Balad party and the Hadash party member Ofer Cassif from running for Knesset, when Netanyahu himself pushed for a right-wing party to merge with the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party, which in its previous incarnation as the Kach party, was banned by the Knesset and labeled a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, the EU, Canada and Japan.*

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Elections 2019 News:
*The big story in today’s Hebrew newspapers was the Elections Committee decision to disqualify the Arab Balad-Raam list, as well as Ofer Cassif, the Jewish member of the left-wing Hadash party, from running for Knesset and to allow the Kahanist, Michael Ben-Ari, to run, despite the Attorney General’s recommendation banning him. Maariv reported that a verbal confrontation broke out during the Committee debate with a committee member calling out to MK Issawi Freij (Meretz): "This is a democracy, they will let you talk. If you were in Syria, they wouldn’t let you talk.” Meretz chairman MK Tamar Zandberg was not indifferent to the remark and shouted, “Let him (the speaker) go to Syria. Freij was born in Israel.” Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit party added: “(Freij) thinks he's on the Mavi Marmara,” and Freij replied, “Shut up." After the hearing, a doctor was called to treat Freij, who felt ill. The tension reached its peak when Ben-Gvir approached MK Stav Shafir (Labor), who was also present at the hearing, and handed her a 500,000 shekel suit against her for calling his party members Nazis. Shaffir refused to accept the document and left the room. In response to the events, Chairman of the Committee, Judge Hanan Meltzer, stopped the debate for half an hour. Shaffir said in response to Ben-Gvir's threats to sue her: "Kahane's followers are accustomed to (using) threatening methods, but this time it will not work for them, they will not threaten me and they will not threaten the citizens of Israel anymore. We will make certain to keep away these violent and inciting racists, Kahane's successors - whom also the Likud compared them with the Nazi laws - from the Knesset of the only state of the Jewish people." The vote against banning the Otzma Yehudit members passed 16:15 and Kulanu party members left the meeting before the vote, for which they were blasted by the opposition parties, Yesh Atid and left-wing parties. Eleven US Jewish groups, including Americans for Peace Now, J Street, and IRAC on Behalf of the Reform Movement, also slammed the Committees decision to let the Kahanist party run.

The other big election news story was that Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid’s Kahol-Lavan party released their 'murky' (Israel Hayom) 'vague' (Haaretz) political platform, which calls for ‘separation’ from the Palestinians, strengthening settlement blocs, amending the controversial Jewish nation-state law, offering public transportation on Shabbat and limiting the term of the premier to eight years or a maximum of three terms.

Also in the news, Hayamin Hehadash supports surrogacy for LGBT parents and a KAN Bet poll found that the Right-wing bloc overcomes the center bloc. According to a new survey, Kahol-Lavan receive 35 seats while the Likud gets 30 seats, but the right-wing bloc rises to 61 and the center drops to 59. (Maariv)

Other News Summary:
The tension on the Gaza border was the other big story and Israeli forces attacked Hamas targets after more incendiary devices were launched over the fence as well as a rocket that set off alarms, but caused no injuries. Barely mentioned was that a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the head and killed by Israeli forces during nighttime skirmishes on the border. According to the Arab media, Israel told Hamas to rein in border violence or face major military action
and Hamas sent a message to Israel: "We are not interested in further escalation in the south." (Maariv) Haaretz+ wrote that months after issuing tender, the Israeli military still has no answer to the aerial arson from Gaza.
 

Quick Hits:

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Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Election 2019: The One Where Liberal Israelis Fantasize About Being Ruled by a Gang of Generals (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Only in Israel can three gruff military men emerge as the last line of defense against Netanyahu and his war to degrade democracy and dismantle the rule of law.
Eric Yoffie’s ad hominen attack, my response (Alan M. Dershowitz, Israel Hayom) Rabbi Eric Yoffie wrote a screed against me for criticizing the proposed indictment of Netanyahu. Shame on Yoffie for hiding his long-term biases against me; shame on Haaretz for refusing to print my response.
The Most Telling Part of Gantz and Lapid's Platform Is What It Doesn't Say (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz+) Kahol Lavan's platform consists of statements that sound good, but lack ideology and a concrete plan – which may be exactly what centrist voters want.
Women should take these elections seriously (Nurit Daboush, Yedioth/Ynet) Some women claim they have no one to vote for during the April 9 vote, because none of the leading parties have a concrete women's rights policy. If, however, we don't get involved in the political discourse and ask the right questions, the situation will never change.
Who runs the persecution (of Netanyahu)? Netanyahu and his pundits don’t provide an answer (Yitzhak Ben-Ner, Maariv) So who the hell are they, those who are conducting a witch hunt campaign and stitching cases again the most successful prime minister in the history of Israel? How are they organized, where are their headquarters and who is funding this expensive project, apart from NIF and George Soros, because all the possible tycoons have been close to the ruling power? And the left-wing parties are weak and the Kahol-Lavan Party is hoping to beat Bibi in the polls (not in court), as he always demanded. Neither Netanyahu nor his pundits provide any clear answer. But they spread a lot of lies, or at least “Fake Alternative Facts," as our nationalist friend Trump. And from the facts, I can pick out the wheat from the chaff and straw mulch and expose the ugly face of monster hiding behind the title of “they”: And indeed, it’s clear: Leftyarivlinnaftalimeninaftaliairbibmninaftaliminhdssonialsiitowardsguyeldadyaniv. Actually everyone. Who finances such an expensive project?  Anyone who deciphers fewer than five names hiding in the plot will be considered a partner in practice. and enough of the wisdom through hints.
In the Netanyahu Cases, the Media Won (Anat Balint, Haaretz+) It only takes a small number of brave reporters and editors to change the tide, no matter how strong the onslaught against them.
The right-wing parties that are shuffling close to the threshold are liable to bring Netanyahu’s fall (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) It is worthwhile for the prime minister to pay those who swing in the balance with a public promise in advance for the tens of thousands of votes that will remain in the right-wing bloc. Moreover, such a promise costs him very little.
The Hypocrisy of Arab Lawmakers in Israel (Abed L. Azab, Haaretz+) Every election, 'Arab cicadas' arise from their slumber to offer reasons to boycott the vote, blaming all but themselves for their ills.
The Left is disguising itself as Right (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The Blue and White party's platform looks like it was copy-pasted from the Labor, Yesh Atid, and Kadima platforms of previous elections.

Commentary/Analysis:
lhan Omar and the Democrats' dilemma: Punish anti-Semitism, or appease it, Corbyn style (Jonathan S. Tobin, Haaretz+) Right now, the Democratic Party isn’t morally equivalent to U.K. Labour’s anti-Semitism run wild. But if they don’t draw a firm line in the sand, if they rely on whataboutism, if they decide condemning anti-Semitism 'privileges' Jews – the signs are ominous
Keep It Up, Ilhan Omar (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Neither Hamas nor a black day, but a glimmer of hope on Capitol Hill.
It’s time to abandon the patriotic onslaught over any Israeli success (Dror Refarel, Maariv) You have to ask every proud person in Israel: For what and why? What is your connection to the spacecraft? Why does your heart leap when you see the (director) Guy Nattiv win (the Oscar) or when Gal Gadot is interviewed on late night TV?
Looking for Jews to kill (Stephen M. Flatow, Israel Hayom) Regardless of the evidence that an attack was perpetrated by terrorists, major Western news outlets look for ways to minimize Palestinian culpability.
The barriers stifling Israeli Arab participation in the job market (Danny Gal, Sami Asaad and Maram Jubran, Haaretz+) Most members of the community have limited exposure to Israeli Jewish society, and that's just the first of their problems.
Syria's Assad Regime Won the Civil War. Can It Survive an Israeli Attack? (Chuck Freilich, Haaretz+) The Syrian conflict has triggered Israel's primal fear: the threat of an entrenched Iranian presence on its borders. If a resurgent, unreliable Russia doesn't step in, then Assad and his army will be Israel's first targets.

 

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