APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday April 29, 2019
 

Quote of the day:

Haaretz

 

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The tragedy, the heroism and the irony at the San Diego synagogue shooting, where members of an Israeli family that moved to the area from the Gaza border area to get away from rockets were among the wounded, (the 19-year-old shooter posted that Trump was ‘traitorous’ and a ‘Zionist’ and Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan accused the New York Times cartoon of inspiring the shooter), the State Comptroller severe report that found that the Culture Ministry gave out tickets for the big 70th Independence Day event to associates and Likud people, although they were meant for the public, and the Attorney General’s declaration that he won’t postpone the pre-indictment hearing for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, despite his lawyers’ requests were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Also in the news was the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Taub, a Holocaust survivor and ultra-Orthodox rabbi, who was largely known for his efforts to memorialize Holocaust victims. His death came just days before Israel marks Holocaust Day.

*At a Holocaust commemoration event, President Reuven Rivlin had a subtle message for Netanyahu and Israelis in general. At the President’s Residence, Rivlin hosted a special Holocaust commemoration event known as ‘Remembering in the Living Room,’ where a Holocaust survivor shared his chilling story. Yosef Hershkowitz, who was sent to Auschwitz and discovered after the war that his mother and four brothers perished in the Holocaust, said: "I want to say one thing to the younger generation. I say it all the time: you complain, but you do not know what it means not to have a state, that you can come home and go travel wherever you want. There, if you traveled, you did not know if you could ever come back." Yedioth’s Itamar Eichner wrote that “Rivlin hinted that the lesson from the Holocaust should be applied to the establishment of governments in Western countries today.” Rivlin: "I think that Yosef also wanted to convey a message that a person cannot act like an animal. And this message is not only to those who committed crimes against us and did what they did, but to anyone who would abuse others just because they are different and because of racist or nationalist impulses and other thoughts that negate seeing an individual as a person and (to those who) elevate the collective as something that is more important. Today there are entire systems within Europe where neo-Fascist groups have been ignored for almost fifty years by the public among whom they lived, and when we sometimes have to create governments, we sometimes give in and those (groups) become very central people in the governments. These are things that when we were at the level of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in the situation in which we were oppressed, as Joseph said so beautifully, we had no state. But even when we have a state we have to remember that we are first of all human beings. At first you do this [racist acts - OH] to certain people, then towards people you just don’t like or you think you're better than they are." (Yedioth/Ynet Hebrew and JPost) Apropos, a few dozen Israelis protested, demanding Israel let a transgender girl return to school, after other students attacked her verbally and physically, leading to her hospitalization.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Israeli Arab Soccer Team Climbs to a Higher League, Bringing New Hope to a Generation
Representation of the Arab community in soccer is on the rise. The meaning of this goes beyond pure sports. (Or Boker, Haaretz+)
Eating disorders a growing problem in the Middle East, researchers say
Medical expert says issue long been overlooked in region due to lack of awareness and accurate data; Israel recently ranked high on list of nations plagued by high rates of the phenomenon. (The Media Line, Ynet)
Jewish and Palestinian women create together. But don't call it coexistence
A new exhibition features religiously observant Jewish and Palestinian women artists, who are struggling for legitimacy in both societies. (Eness Elias, Haaretz+)
Israeli woman smuggled matzah to grandchildren in Gaza
40 years ago, "Sarah" married a Muslim man from the Gaza Strip. They had two children, and he wound up taking them back to Gaza without her consent. Recently, Sarah learned that she has five grandchildren, and wants them to know about their Jewish roots. (Hanan Greenwood, Israel Hayom)

Commentary/Analysis:
Soldiers Have to Shoot at Palestinians. It's Israel's Way to Keep Them in Check (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Israel admits it: The military is in the West Bank to protect settlements. The notion that we want peace is old fake news.
Why I Don't Give Lectures in Israel About the Occupation (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) What will the tiny handful of Israelis for whom fighting the occupation is paramount do now? What will they do, the people who will not consent to living in an apartheid state? The election results left no room for doubt: Israel lacks a critical mass of opponents to the occupation.
The Israeli Left’s Bleak Lesson After the Defeat (Emilie Moatti, Haaretz+) Did the Kahol Lavan folks really think anyone would believe their “we’re the soft right” nonsense? That people on the generic right would vote for them because they inserted a few backers of the loony nation-state law onto their ticket?
No, it’s not about race (Victor Rosenthal, Israel Hayom) The growth of the right-wing politics in Israel that Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke decry isn't due to racism, it's due to the Israelis finally wising up.
The Baumel deal revealed the way Netanyahu intends to run the country (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The deal to return the soldier missing from the Battle at Sultan Yaakub, took place without the convening of the cabinet and the government, and in hiding from the ministers and the public, creating a precedent that demonstrates the prime minister's lack of fear from neutralizing the proper democratic process in order to promote narrow political goals.
The Left Is Dying. Now What? (Tzvia Greenfield, Haaretz+) The left not only in Israel but almost everywhere in the democratic world has in effect expired. Its influence is now nearly nonexistent. Perhaps it’s hell but there’s no choice but to recognize the facts. If it’s still important to do a post mortem analysis about the left, then there are three main reasons for this.
That Netanyahu Cartoon Wasn’t anti-Semitic (Zeev Engelmayer, Haaretz+) Netanyahu is depicted as a dachshund, which maybe is a compliment because these dogs are great hunters, and despite their natural suspiciousness, they boast an innate ability to make friends. Behind Netanyahu the dachshund walks his good friend Trump, sullenly, a kippa on his head, symbolizing the strength of his ties with Netanyahu. Trump has been photographed wearing a skull cap — near the Western Wall, for example — so it’s not something an artist has put on him without any justification. The choice to illustrate Netanyahu and Trump walking with determination, and even against a blood-red background, hints that they’re not just taking an innocent morning walk. They’re on a survivalist hunting trip. What are they hunting? Foreigners? Leftists? The hostile media? The Star of David on Netanyahu’s collar is totally justified, and there’s a reasonable chance that if Netanyahu had to choose a symbol to wear around his neck, he’d pick this one. Netanyahu is leading Trump, his steps a little tense, but the leadership role is definitely flattering for the head of a small country.
Netanyahu defused three bombs before the election. Now comes the hardest one (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The Palestinian Authority is hanging on the brink, and the West Bank could explode into violence.
Saving international organizations from themselves (Eytan Gilboa, Israel Hayom) When international courts and U.N. agencies become mired in double standards and discrimination, perhaps might really does make right.
Israel's Likely-to-be New Justice Minister Is a Red Flag (Haaretz Editorial) Steps that Yariv Levin is planning have single goal: subordinating the legal system to the political one, and thereby emptying Israeli democracy of its commitment to liberty, equality and human rights.
Gazans' only way out is through Egypt - if they can afford it (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) A two-track system offers wealthier Gazans to pay for expedited exit permits to Egypt through middlemen while all the others are left waiting.
The plague of burning churches on Passover (Yaron London, Yedioth/Ynet) The sight of Notre Dame on fire may have struck sadness in the hearts of those who, as God commanded, do not celebrate the downfall of others, but one rabbi appears to have been carried away with the spirit of the current holiday.
In a Jewish State, the Zionist Left Can Offer the Arabs Nothing but Empty Words (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The Zionist leftists tried everything. They promised peace and security, settlements and two states, Mizrahim and Ashkenazim, and nothing worked. Only one choice remained, the doomsday weapon, the wildest wild card of all: to join with the Arabs. Only thus could they return to power, wrote the pundits. Why didn’t they think of that before? How good and pleasant it is when brothers sit together, center-left with “Israeli Arabs,” as they are popularly called, in denial of them being Palestinians.
The electoral base trap (Limor Livnat, Yedioth/Ynet) In order to avoid the almost inevitable situation in which ministers use their posts to primarily serve their narrow base, Netanyahu should form a coalition with Blue and White so that he is not held hostage to the sectarian demands of his coalition negotiating partners.
Netanyahu Has a Militia (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz) The very man who is responsible for the rule of law is circumventing all the state’s institutions and employing his private militia, over which there is no governmental oversight, and whose only bylaws are the whims and desires of the person who set it up – Netanyahu.
Main problem with Trump's peace plan (Shlomo Pyuterkovsky, Yedioth/Ynet) Israelis have learned through bitter experience to fear peace deals, and whether or not this is the most pro-Israel agreement in history, these things have a habit of exacting a heavy price in blood.
For Trump and Netanyahu, San Diego Synagogue Attack Is an Inconvenience Best Sidelined and Ignored (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Unlike liberal Jews after Pittsburgh, Chabad won’t accuse the U.S. President of complicity or the Israeli prime minister of collaboration.
Israel wants Google, Facebook to pay hundreds of millions in taxes to plug deficit (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) The two multinationals currently pay no income tax in Israel, although they do pay other taxes, such as VAT and wage taxes.
 

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