APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday April 3, 2019
 

Breaking News:
Israeli settler shot and killed a young Palestinian man at a West Bank military checkpoint - conflicting versions of settler and Palestinian witnesses
The Israeli press accepted and presented as fact the version of the Israeli shooter that there was an attempted stabbing attack against him. The shooter, Joshua Sherman, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh and an activist on behalf of the far-right Union of the Right-Wing Parties, shot Muhammad Abed al-Fattah, a young Palestinian truck driver, near Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus. Another  settler filmed al-Fattah while he lay on the ground bleeding and moving, still alive. Al-Fattah was taken by the military to an Israeli hospital where he died. Even Sherman gave conflicting versions. He said in some reports that al-Fattah tried to open his car door to stab him and his daughter and then Sherman got out of his car and shot him. "I was driving to work and heading toward the Tapuah junction. At the intersection, a terrorist with a knife jumped my car and tried to open the car door. I stepped out of the car, and while the terrorist tried to get past me I shot and neutralized him with the assistance of another man who was driving in the car behind me." However, Sherman told Israel Hayom that he shot al-Fattah from inside his car: "He jumped at me with a knife, trying to open the doors, I drew my handgun … rolled down the window and shot at him from inside the car.” Local Palestinian sources told Maan News Agency that an Israeli settler, identified as Sherman, blocked the road with his vehicle, preventing al-Fattah from driving on the road, despite al-Fattah having an Israeli license plate, and shortly after opened fire on him. A Palestinian security source told Reuters that initial information he had indicated the dead man had been trying to cross the road. Maan also reported that an additional Palestinian present at the scene was also injured by Sherman, and he was being treated in Nablus. (Also Maariv)

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Elections 2019 News:
Today’s top story was the recording that revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israeli President Reuven “Rivlin is just looking for an excuse to let Gantz form the next government.” Rivlin responded that this was a shameful injury to the public trust in the decision of the President." Also making top headlines was the tomato thrown toward Netanyahu while he made a quick visit to the Hatikva outdoor market in Tel-Aviv. (Haaretz+ video) Although Netanyahu was greeted by calls of 'Bibi is king of Israel,’ a young woman threw a tomato at him. Maariv reported that following the unusual incident, police checked the security cameras and identified the suspect. They went to her house in Tel Aviv and took her for questioning at the police station. The young woman, who was released to her home after her interrogation, has no connection to the election campaign or any campaign.

Election Quickees:

Other News Summary:
President Reuven Rivlin’s wife, Nechama, was hospitalized in severe condition, for which he cut short his visit to Canada.

Also in the news, were Hamas' demands for Palestinian prisoners. At first, the news websites reported that Al-Quds TV, which has ties to Hamas, said that Israel and Hamas were negotiating a prisoner exchange as part of the long-term deal between them. But Hamas denied that a prisoner swap was in the discussions with Israel and said that the talks are focused on stabilizing the 2014 Gaza truce, Hamas prisoners’ conditions, and the status of the Temple Mount. and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that the Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are at the top of Hamas’ demands and agenda. Hamas gave the Egyptian mediation delegation the three demands ahead of the prisoners’ hunger strike set to begin next week: Removing the cell phone jamming devices, lifting recent sanctions on the prisoners
 and restoring family visits for prisoners. The prisoners plan to stop eating next week in protest over installation of cellphone reception blocking equipment. A Palestinian official said the strike is meant to pressure Israel into prisoner swap. Maariv reported that the Israel Prison Service is preparing for the possibility of a Palestinian attack inside the prison and has warned that the penalties will be severe.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

There's a Hole in the System. Israel Became a Haven for Suspected Jewish Sex Offenders'
The case of Malka Leifer, one of 65 suspected sexual offenders allegedly seeking refuge in Israel, has highlighted how Israeli law and the insular world of the ultra-Orthodox can at times shield them from justice, activists and prison officials tell Haaretz. (Dina Kraft, Haaretz+)

A penalty ball
The Sackler family is one of the strongest Jewish families in the world. They have capital estimated at $13 billion and are known as great lovers of Israel, who built the Faculty of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University and were embraced by Binyamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres. Now the respected family is at the center of a scandal involving huge claims and accusations that their pharmaceutical company has caused an addiction to painkillers in the United States and has killed hundreds of thousands of people. (Tzipi Shmilovich, Yedioth Hebrew)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Likud Voters Are Not Bots (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu believes that his supporters are motivated by feelings of inferiority toward the people Netanyahu calls 'them': 'the media' and 'the left,' and once even 'the elites.’
The condescension behind the 'bot' buzz (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) Social media is the last bastion of the masses, who can finally fight back against the mainstream media, most of which pushes a political and cultural agenda opposed to what the public wants.
They are playing with our minds: the bots succeed in influencing the undecided (Prof. Or Dunkelman, Maariv) Those who follow the path in which conspiracy theories come to the world can see a very clear phenomenon: those who are very uncertain are influenced by the echo of the messages of the Fake News.
Proud to be a right-wing 'bot' (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) With its fake probe about so-called right-wing bots, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper seems to be preparing excuses to use when Blue and White loses the election.
The Sisyphean pursuit of truth (Chen Sror Artzi, Yedioth/Ynet) Suspicions that Likud party has recruited an army of 'fake' social media accounts to disseminate pro-Netanyahu propaganda might never be cleared up since in the virtual world the truth holds no value.
What an Israeli Government of Generals Will Bring (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex. But what about the military-political complex?
Survival of Israel: This or the continuation of the rule of the Bibis or a clean and stately beginning (Yitzhak Ben-Ner, Maariv) Eliminate from your head the calculations of the commentators and decide which is better: another Netanyahu term or to start with a clean democratic government. Think hard how you will live with your decision and then go vote.
Win or lose, Netanyahu has already cemented his legacy (Edo Konrad, +972mag) In his 10 years in power, Netanyahu has engaged in race-baiting against his own citizens, declared the occupation a permanent feature of Israeli reality, and shifted both the national and international conversation on Palestine. It is time to acknowledge that these are no mere trends — but his very legacy.
Putin Is Pulling for Netanyahu as He Did for Trump – but This Time in Broad Daylight (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Thursday’s sudden summit in Moscow appears to be aimed at the crucial 'Russian vote' and is meant to outflank both Lieberman and Gantz.
Netanyahu is LGBT-friendly at AIPAC. At home, he's homophobe-friendly (Amir Tibon, Haaretz+) Jewish American leaders accepted the prime minister’s apology after his racist statement in 2015, so don’t expect anything different if he belatedly apologizes for legitimizing anti-LGBT rhetoric this time around.

Other Commentary/Analysis:
Hamas Pressure Could Force Israel to Deal With Prisoners' Hunger Strike Days Before Election (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The Palestinians expect a prisoner release that would follow the small-scale agreement under discussion for Gaza: an easing of the blockade in exchange for a reduction in violence along the border fence.

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