APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday March 27, 2019
 

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Top News:
Despite reports of a ceasefire and after Tuesday was relatively calm, limited exchanges of rockets and missile strikes continued between the Gaza Strip and Israel last night. Yedioth’s and Haaretz’s main photo showed the destruction in Gaza, while Israel Hayom’s and Maariv’s main photos showed called-up Israeli soldiers and tanks near the border. The commentators and analysts gave their views on what needs to be done and what will be done and all agreed that Hamas decides when the round starts and ends. (See Commentary/Analysis below.)

Interestingly, Minister of Transportation and Acting Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz reiterated his plan to give the Gaza Strip an independent exit by sea and he defended the prime minister. "Netanyahu has no political consideration, he will do what is necessary and responsible,” he said. “I argued with the former defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, quite a bit about the plan to defeat Hamas. I told him that if he does not propose a plan to defeat them, then we must separate from Gaza. The security establishment supported my plan. I hope that after the elections my plan will be launched. If we don’t change the rules, the dispute will continue…Egypt is an Arab country that does not want to hear about the possibility of a Gaza crossing to (Egypt). If they were prepared to have one, this problem would not have developed. Therefore, I argued that we must give Gaza an exit from the sea and turn the line (in the sea that Israel doesn’t allow Gazans to cross - OH) into a border. Until then, we are only acting to deter…I think that the prime minister is leading the issue in a determined manner together with the top brass of the IDF and Chief of Staff Kochavi. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are getting very hard blows.” (Maariv) Meanwhile, Ram Ben-Barak, a candidate from the Kahol-Lavan party, which the Likud calls ‘left-wing,’ said: "We have to topple Hamas, we have the infrastructure to do it.”  (Maariv)

And, the IDF Spokesman in Arabic language ‘stung’ (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh: "Don’t forget to let us know where your new office is," he wrote in a Facebook post. Lt. Col. Avichai Adarei addressed the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, whose office was destroyed this week in an IDF attack, and also wrote: "Look right and left and think, was it right to endanger the residents of the Gaza Strip?” (Maariv)

Election Quickees:

Golan Heights Recognition Quickees:

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Will Tel-Aviv's Gorgeous New Velodrome (half paid for by a Jewish Canadian philanthropist) Get Israelis Excited About Cycling?
In Israel, of course, this discussion (about The Giving Pledge, philanthropy and its underlying goals) feels wildly out of place. Can anyone here imagine a local tycoon making a commitment to donate most of his wealth to the public? The combination of the “I’m no sucker” culture, frequent reliance on the generosity of diaspora Jewry, and local tax regulations place that scenario in the realm of science fiction. Wealthy individuals who do donate to public causes, even if less dramatically – think of the Azrieli Foundation or the Ted Arison Family Foundation – were born overseas. Then along came Sylvan Adams, a Canadian billionaire and participant in The Giving Pledge, who decided to use his fortune to promote, in Israel, an activity with many cultural and educational implications – and which happens to be his hobby: competitive cycling. Adams has invested in a velodrome in Tel Aviv that is also an architectural gem. (Dan Handel, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
We Have to Protect Hamas (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Israel - and Egypt, too - needs a group to provide support for its defense policies, take the fall for violence and provide an out for diplomatic negotiations. Hamas fills that void.
Netanyahu is protecting Hamas because he views the Palestinian Authority as an enemy and the terror organization [Hamas] as a productive asset (Ben Caspit, Maariv) …In reality, Israel suffocates the Palestinian Authority, attacks Abu Mazen on a daily basis, turns him into an enemy of Zionism and hopes for the end of his rule. Israel is raising, nurturing, funding and strengthening Hamas. The reason is simple: Netanyahu prefers to live with a Hamas state in Gaza, provided he can annex parts of Judea and Samaria and put an end to the dream of a Palestinian state in Ramallah. It's the truth. This is the central right ideology of 2019. That’s legitimate. It’s possible that Netanyahu, according to his view, may be right. It is better to kill the last of the pragmatic Palestinians and the remnants of the belief in the two-state solution, in order to avoid negotiations. When everyone becomes Hamas, there will be no negotiations and Israel will be able to continue to live by its sword and expand the settlements. The only problem is that Netanyahu (as usual) does not tell that truth to the citizens of Israel, and particularly to the residents of the Gaza perimeter. You are the cannon fodder for the annexation of the West Bank, friends. Deal with it.
The Gaza agreement for calm is coming (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) After telling (Hamas leader) Sinwar that they will not save him from Israeli airstrikes, the Egyptian general brokering a calm period is heading back to the Strip with a memorandum of understanding in hand that will lead to a long period of quiet.
Gaza strikes ruined Hamas’ plans, too (Jack Khoury, Haaretz+) Over the past year Hamas adopted a tactic of “popular resistance,” expressed most prominently in the weekly protest at the Gaza border. Friday is the one-year anniversary and they might have to tone it down.
Hamas continues to dictate the speed (Tal Lev-Ram, Maariv) ...As first reported in Maariv, the security establishment believes that the rocket launched toward the house in Moshav Mishmeret, could have been another glitch of Hamas, but this time that was not said publicly, and the claim that was heard was that in any case - it had no weight (in influencing) the IDF's response of escalation. In actuality, the IDF response Monday and Tuesday was measured, restrained and no different from the previous round of escalation. Like in previous rounds, Hams dictated the beginning and the end of the round and not Israel...It appears that another escalation round is about to end, but actually all the sources of tension still remain. Immediately after the rockets disappeared, again the balךoons arrived, again incidents on the border fence, mines. And all this is while in the background they continue to prepare in Gaza for events on Friday marking Land Day and marking a year since the 'March of Return' protests began. So, in any case, it won't be calm.
A futile endeavor (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel is more than justified in responding harshly to Hamas’ provocations, but it is foolish to embark on yet another military campaign with an inevitable disappointing result we are so familiar with. Israel must first neutralize Hamas’ propaganda capability by generously offering economic benefits for Gaza if Hamas disarms.
As Israel-Hamas Cease-fire Barely Holds, Next Test Fast Approaches (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Israel’s south struggles to return to routine while security officials brace for serious clashes during weekend protests.
Hamas caught in trap of its own making (Shimrit Meir, Yedioth/Ynet) A year has passed since the start of March of Return campaign and Gaza's rulers have nothing to show for it, leading them to make desperate decisions because now it's a matter of political survival.
Hamas misread the map (Dr. Eran Lerman, Israel Hayom) The IDF's response will be harsher than usual, not because Israelis in the center are more valued than those in the periphery but because of the emerging need to show Hamas that it has grossly misjudged.
The IDF is no longer playing by Hamas' rules (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) Israel is ditching its year-long policy of meeting quiet with quiet in Gaza, and the terror group that rules the Strip is beginning to realize that this time it has gone too far and will pay a heavy price.
Gantz’s quintessential ‘Israeliness’ is his secret weapon against Netanyahu (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The prime minister has experience and savvy on his side, but his rival’s Israeli persona strikes fear in his heart, spurring his increasingly venomous bile.
Why Netanyahu Doesn't Need AIPAC Anymore (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Whether or not this was the prime minister’s last speech to conference, it’s hard to ignore the fact that he now takes the pro-Israel lobby for granted.
A soldier, a statesman and a star (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) Benny Gantz's appearance at the AIPAC conference was reasonable if somewhat bland. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet. But when Nikki Haley took the podium, the cheers shook the stadium.
Stop Israel's Coming Annexation (Haaretz Editorial) Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights opens the door to further annexation – over the other territories captured in 1967, mainly the West Bank.
Save the Judean Desert: Israel left the area, the Arabs flocked to it (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) Nature was replaced by illegal quarries, roads that wildly cut mountains, prefabricated cement buildings and industrialized robbery of antiques from caves.
Who wants Israel out of the Golan? (Stephen M. Flatow, Israel Hayom) America's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan is supported by a broad cross-section of the American Jewish community, with the glaring exception of six Jewish ex-State Department officials.
Assad’s New Syria: A Police State With Rampant Poverty and a Playground for Superpowers (Elizabeth Tsurkov, Haaretz+) As the Syrian crisis enters its ninth year, the grievances that caused the initial outbreak of mass protests — corruption, political repression and inequality — have only gotten worse.

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