News Nosh 12.20.20

by APN 12/20/20
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday December 20, 2020

Quote of the day:

"It's easier to buy an M-16 than jeans."
--An Arab-Israeli citizen wrote on social media networks after three Arab-Israeli relatives were shot dead in their town in two incidents within minutes of each other, as murders of Arab-Israelis hits a record high.*


Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • Go get vaccinated!
  • “Give a shoulder: National vaccination campaign against corona sets off
  • A place for pride // Sever Plocker writes that alongside the failures of decision makers in Jerusalem, Israel stands out
  • This is how hope looks // Shira Rosenblum
  • The victory of science // Aaron Ciechanover
  • The gesture that is meant to avoid elections: An annual budget and a clause to ensure rotation (of prime ministers)

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

  • They gave a shoulder (Photo of Israeli Prime Minister and Health Minister getting vaccinated against corona)
  • In the meantime, the infection spreads: 2,814 tested as infected yesterday; Rate of infection stands at 3.7%
  • Ahead of a decision - Netanyahu and Gantz to decide today whether to compromise [on passing of budget] or go to elections
  • The elections of the Binyamins // Ben Caspit

Israel Hayom


Top News Summary:
Campaign to inoculate Israelis against corona launches today and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz need to decide today who will give in - if either of them - over the passing of the annual budget to stave off a fourth elections in two years - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

*Barely making news (front page in Haaretz+, Maariv page 15) was the murder of three Arab-Israeli citizens, a young man and his two uncles in two separate incidents in their town (One social media activist wrote on social media that it was "easier to buy an M-16 than jeans,”) Maariv also printed a two-page centerfold ad by Shapa radio advertising company and Arab-Israeli Nazareth-based ’Nas Radio’ station, which wished - in both Arabic and in Hebrew - listeners a Merry Christmas.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz shunned a compromise and reportedly said that he would go to elections if Netanyahu did not agree to pass a budget before the deadline midnight on December 23.
 
Meanwhile, anti-Netanyahu protesters marked six months of weekly demonstrations Saturday night and anti-anti-Netanyahu protesters vandalized home of anti-Netanyahu protesters, spraying the word ‘traitors’ on their home. Police said Gantz was acting outside his authority when he reportedly asked the police commissioner to limit the number of arrests of people demonstrating outside his home against the government's handling of the coronavirus economic fallout. (Of interest, in an interview last week with a Saudi paper, Gantz said that Palestinians have the right to 'live independently’ and call it ‘a state, or an empire, or however they like.” However, he said, Israel 'will not return to 1967 borders.’ While, Netanyahu rival Gideon Sa'ar's new party aims to encourage West Bank settlement and defend the 'Jewish nation-state.’

 

Quick Hits:

  • Armed Settlers Assault Palestinians After Breaking Into Their Homes in West Bank - In two different villages in the (south) Hebron Hills, settlers broke into Palestinian homes saying they were looking for sheep that had been stolen. The police did not respond to Palestinian villagers' calls, the villagers claimed, but on Saturday police arrested three settlers on suspicion of assaulting a policeman. (Haaretz+)
  • Armed settlers attack homes of Palestinians in Hebron's Tel Rumeida - Dozens of settlers pelted stones at the locals’ homes, shouted profanities and racist slogans at the Palestinian citizens and threatened Saturday to evict them out of the neighborhood. Israeli soldiers accompanying the settlers did nothing to stop it. (WAFA)
  • Bill to provide state support for Israeli West Bank outposts passes preliminary vote - Legislation, which must pass three more votes, would require government entities to recognize illegal outposts for government funding, infrastructure and construction of public buildings. Bill, introduced by Bezalel Smotrich of Yamina and Haim Katz of Netanyahu’s Likud party, got votes Wednesday from 3 Kahol Lavan MKs: Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich, Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata and Knesset member Hila Shay Vazan – who received Gantz’s permission to vote in favor of it in Wednesday’s vote. (Haaretz+)
  • FMs of Palestine, Egypt, Jordan say international legitimacy is the only way to peace - Foreign ministers of Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan affirmed today that international legitimacy resolutions, including resolution 2334,  and the Arab Peace Initiative represent the approved terms of reference for negotiations. (WAFA)
  • Israel's compensation for the false arrest of a Palestinian is a fraction of what Jews receive - A Palestinian minor falsely detained for 13 days is paid the maximum the military court can order – 75 shekels a day. (Haaretz+)
  • Attorney General: Citing Israel's nation-state law in ruling on busing Arab kids was flawed - Two siblings asked the city of Carmiel to reimburse their daily travel expenses to and from Arabic-language schools outside of the town, which has no such schools. (Haaretz+)
  • Over 50,000 Israelis have already visited the UAE since normalization - According to Washington Post report, tens of thousands more Israelis were expected to visit the UAE during the Hanukkah holiday period. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • Israel's chief rabbi makes history with visit to UAE - Rabbi Levi Duchman of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Dubai says the community is honored to host Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and inaugurate new Jewish institutions. (Israel Hayom)
  • “Afraid of freezing": A sharp jump in requests for heaters for the needy - In the last month, the Chesdei Naomi charity organization received 1,200 requests - 130% more than the corresponding period in 2019. 87-year-old Holocaust survivor: "I do not turn on the heater because it is terribly expensive.” (Maariv)
  • Israel's Bedouin Voters Consider What Was Once Unthinkable: Cooperating With Netanyahu - Israel’s Arab parties have historically never sat in coalition governments or worked with right-wing Jewish parties. But some Arab politicians are starting to call for a more pragmatic approach. (Haaretz+)
  • Head of Islamic courts in Israel calls to violate coronavirus restrictions - Kadi Abed al-Hakim Samara called on worshippers to crowd together in mosques, while lashing out at the UAE for 'betraying' Palestinians by normalizing ties with Israel. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli far-right activist called in for questioning after break-in to asylum seeker preschool - Two activists went to Tel Aviv's central bus station, where preschool is located, to protest against medical staffers who were there to treat migrants with no legal status in Israel. (Haaretz+)
  • ‘The integration failed’: Tel Aviv is segregating foreign kids at school - Haaretz finds Tel Aviv sends children of asylum seekers and migrant workers to schools renowned for their poor education standards. Municipality official defends program: 'color encourages racism.’ (Haaretz+)
  • Hundreds of Tel Aviv Parents Demand That Asylum Seeker Kids Be Integrated at School - Following Haaretz’s investigative report on school segregation, the parents have written a letter to the mayor and lambasted the 'black stain on our city’s educational heritage.’ (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli spy tech firm tracked mobile users around the world, investigation suggests - Investigation claims Rayzone used arcane cell network point to ‘track the locations of mobile phones across the world’; network vulnerability may have been exploited to track down UAE Princess Sheikha Latifa in attempted 2018 escape ■ Rayzone denies report. (Haaretz)
  • Head of Islamic courts in Israel calls to violate coronavirus restrictions - Kadi Abed al-Hakim Samara called on worshippers to crowd together in mosques, while lashing out at the UAE for 'betraying' Palestinians by normalizing ties with Israel. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli billionaire Steinmetz sentenced to five years by Romania's top court for bribery - Steinmetz, along with Israeli media consultant Tal Silberstein, was given a five-year sentence, overturning a lower court decision to acquit both in 2019. (Haaretz+)
  • Under auspices of Shtayyeh, Norway and UNICEF sign $6M partnership agreement - Under the auspices of Prime Minister  Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNICEF today agreed on a partnership to strengthen early childhood health care, protection, and development, and to support UNICEF's COVID-19 response activities in the State of Palestine, said a press release issued by UNICEF. (WAFA)
  • Archaeological Trove Spanning Millennia Emerges From Construction Work in Ancient Jaffa - A Bronze Age baby buried in a jar, a Greek call to accept death as part of life and an Islamic headache remedy are just some of the recent discoveries in one of the world’s oldest port towns. (Haaretz+)
  • Saudi TV show shifts perception of Israel-Gulf normalization - Period drama showing co-existence of three faiths was seen by more than 140 million people throughout the Arab world, and hoped to show Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious harmony in the Gulf of the 1940s. (The Media Line, Ynet)
  • Yemen's President, Separatists Announce New Power-sharing Government - The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed more than 100,000 people and caused what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Iran Builds at Nuclear Site as Tensions With U.S. Mount, Satellite Photos Reveal - Construction on the Fordo site began in late September, satellite images reveal, and trigger new concerns about Iran's nuclear development. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Thousands of Jews left in war-torn Ethiopia still waiting to come to Israel - While government says it is preparing to receive 2,000 Ethiopian Jews by Jan. 2021, families are still not given any explanation or information on whether their loved ones are part of those destined to arrive. (Yedioth/Ynet)


Features:

Nour Stepped Out of the Car, Hands Raised. The Order 'Don't Shoot' Was Heard. But It Was Too Late
Stopped at a West Bank checkpoint and found to have no driving license, an East Jerusalem man was shot and killed by Israeli officers. Police forced the grieving family to hold his funeral in the dead of night. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
When Russian Jews tried to steal a plane to reach Israel
The 1970 plan to hijack an aircraft to flee the Soviet Union, aka 'Operation Wedding', failed and the 12 Jewish dissidents received harsh sentences, but international pressure and spy swaps saw their eventual release to fulfill their dream of aliyah. (Shlomit Sharvit Barzilay, Yedioth/Ynet)
'The Prison's Message Is: Cooperate or You'll Go Back to the Cell and Be Eaten Alive by Bugs'
Following recent testimony from a former inmate who served five terms in Israeli prison, here’s what things look like from the guards’ and administrators’ perspective. (Ayelett Shani, Haaretz+)
‘The Iranians Are Waiting for the Israeli Response’: Who Is Behind the Latest Cyberattack on Israeli Firms?
Israel is in the midst of a massive cyberattack by an Iranian group calling itself Pay2Key. The experts who first discovered it share what they know – and explain why they’re concerned. (Omer Benjakob, Haaretz+)
Gantz Talks Iran Threats With Top U.S. General Milley in Israel Visit
According to the defense minister's office, he and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff affirmed that Israel and the United States will 'continue cooperating to face any scenario in the Iranian arena.’ (Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz+)
Golda Meir’s most fateful decision
Blamed for the 'blunder' of the 1973 war, the sole female prime minister of Israel, should be appreciated for her fortitude in preventing a preemptive attack on the country's enemies. (Yechiam Weitz, Haaretz+)

Top Commentary/Analysis:
Israel Has No Sane Right Wing (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) If Meir Kahane rose from the dead and declared his opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the center-left would embrace him warmly and Haaretz would fill up with headlines like “Kahane was right.” If Kahane’s heir, Itamar Ben-Gvir, attended the protests outside the prime minister’s residence with a submarine float on his shoulders, mocking Netanyahu’s links to the “submarine affair,” he’d receive a neighborly welcome as well.
Israel's Left has been rendered hollow (Avi Dabush, Israel Hayom) If the Left wants to return to the political arena, it needs to come up with a meaningful narrative and create a political camp the likes of which Israel has never seen.
'Anyone but Bibi' Must Have Its Limits (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) “A number of the prominent youth activists in the Tehiya movement went on to become judges, senior lawyers, academic, journalists and successful businesspeople. Among today’s well-known politicians are Naftali Bennett, Gideon Sa’ar and Zvi Hauser.” The quote is from the Hebrew-language Wikipedia entry for the defunct political party Tehiya. In short, Israel’s great New Hope (the name of Sa’ar’s new party) is – they are – alumni of Tehiya’s youth movement. Sa’ar, Hauser and Bennett – two parties, one strategy: to outflank Benjamin Netanyahu from the right. It’ll be interesting to observe Israeli voters deciding between two political blocs, one led by Netanyahu and the other by Sa’ar. Which is left and which is right? Which are the Democrats, which the Republicans?
Facebook and lies are killing us (Nadav Eyal, Yedioth/Ynet) You hear lies and conspiracy theories on the street, in the laundromat and from your grocer who shows you the proof on his phone while corporations eyeing profits are slow to remove content that is harmful to public health.
Without intending to, Netanyahu's moves contribute to resolving the conflict with the Palestinians (Ran Edelist, Maariv) For years, the right-wing government has been working to turn the "Arab" into a demon, but the normalization agreements promoted by the prime minister are making a huge contribution to resolving the conflict. As with Hebron and the construction freeze in the West Bank, so too today.
A Social Experiment by Fake Emiratis in Israel (Shani Littman, Haaretz+) Last weekend, Hamada Odeh from Kafr Qasem, Sayf Nader from Jerusalem and Mohammed Issawi from Ramle, three Arab citizens of Israel, all race car drivers, conducted an interesting social experiment. “I got this idea,” Odeh said. The three friends put on spotless white galabiyas and white kaffiyehs and drove to the Herzliya marina, where they introduced themselves as visitors from Dubai. None of the people who were excited to see them could tell that the three were not actually Emirati tourists. Which is not all that surprising. To the average Israeli, an Arab is an Arab. They’re all pretty much the same, unless they are branded differently by an airline, a venture capital fund or a prime minister. “Differently” meaning branded as wealthy and powerful. Nothing more than that. A white galabiya and a luxury car make for very strong branding. It’s unclear whether Odeh, Sayf and Issawi thought about the sophisticated rebranding of themselves or the irony of it.
Hamas prisoner swap talks are going nowhere (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Since there is no change in the Israeli and Hamas positions regarding which prisoners should be included in a future swap, a deal that would see the return of the remains of IDF soldiers and the release of Israeli civilians is unlikely.
Violence in Arab Communities Reaches a Grim Peak, but Prospects for Change Are at All Time Low (Jack Khoury, Haaretz+) The record 95 deaths in a single year have coincided with coronavirus, the growth of extremism in the Jewish community, and the debilitating infighting between their political representatives.
Stop pretending anti-Zionism isn't anti-Semitism (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom) Jews who provide cover for those who wish to eliminate the one Jewish state on the planet aren't defending criticism of Israel; they're legitimizing a dangerous form of hatred.
When Israeli Soldiers Invade Palestinian Houses at Night (Avner Gvaryahu, Haaretz+) At night, while the household sleeps, my team gets ready outside. One person knocks on the door, and almost immediately after, another breaks in. We enter quickly, with force, weapons drawn. Some of us have painted our faces, others are not concealed. Someone gathers the family and locks them in a room. There is shouting. Broken Arabic and rapid Hebrew, and vice versa. “Quickly, quickly, your papers!” Items are moved, sometimes breaking. One of us photographs the rooms or sketches in a notebook. Hours pass, sometimes days. Then we leave, on our way to the next house…I never imagined what goes on in that house as soon as we leave.
Bring our captives home from Gaza now (Aviram Shaul and Avi Kalo, Yedioth/Ynet) Coronavirus pandemic has opened a genuine window of opportunity to secure the return of the Israeli hostages; Hamas has signaled a willingness to compromise and Israel must seize the moment that we may never see again.
Occupiers of the World Unite! (Michael Sfard, Haaretz+) Occupation. Thousands of members of the occupied nation are refugees in the countries of the region. The organization that represents the occupied is illegal, and many of its activists are under arrest. For decades international human rights organizations have been reporting that the freedom of expression of regime opponents in the occupied territory is limited, and that attempting to achieve independence is considered sabotage.
Temple Mount has turned into 'Corona Mount' (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Like so many other laws, coronavirus regulations are unenforced on the politically volatile site, and Jews and Arabs alike are paying the price as new COVID cases soar.
The Threat of Peace With the Arabs (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Slowly a feeling of discomfort with signs of distress is taking over. Not because of the coronavirus, because the vaccines are already here and before we know it, we’ll all be healthy and happy. Schools are already full of the sounds of pupils and patriotic songs blaring from the loudspeakers, and for Purim we’ll go back to the more traditional masks and get ready, as usual, for elections. The problem is all those Arab states that are knocking on our doors and seeking out our friendship, as if we were a soup kitchen that’s meant to provide them with balm and healing for their military and diplomatic problems.
The UN's eternal hypocrisy on Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) United Nations General Assembly last week passed 7 anti-Israel resolutions on the very day we learned Morocco will normalize ties, one even reaffirmed rights of Palestinian refugees but again ignored Jews expelled from Arab lands.
Vaccines for Both Peoples (Haaretz Editorial) While in Israel people are debating whether to be vaccinated, in the West Bank and Gaza it isn’t clear where they will get vaccines from, when they will get them, and who will pay for them. “We’re in a state of uncertainty; it isn’t clear when vaccines will arrive in quantities that can serve most of the population,” said a senior official of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.
A Western Sahara model for Palestine (Solon Solomon, Yedioth/Ynet) Trump has challenged the international community to reevaluate positions favoring national aspirations and independence over peace and stability through economic development; will a future administration adopt the same view?
Biden’s Foreign Policy Challenge: Balancing Iran and Middle East Allies (Jonathan Harounoff, Haaretz+) The new president is also expected to continue the fostering of normalization agreements for Israel while encouraging wider communication between Washington and the Palestinian Authority.
The new relations with Morocco make us fantasize about flights, the question is when (Dr. Orit Miller-Katab, Maariv) Given the normalization of relations, I can already imagine myself galloping through the markets of Morocco. But in practice most of us are far from it these days and are busy looking for a source of livelihood.
How Conservative Thinker Yoram Hazony Manipulates Herzl's Vision to Back a Nationalist Worldview (Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, Haaretz+) Hazony's take on the 'prophet of the Jewish state' sticks to myths and recycles arguments. His new book is an example of appropriating the past to suit today's political and ideological purposes.
Peace deals have made Israel a magnet (Doron Matza, Israel Hayom) The pragmatism of the Abraham Accords is a strong point, not a weakness, as entrenched diplomatic romanticism would have us believe.
Will Israel Help a pro-Iran Hardliner Win Control of Hamas? (Muhammad Shehada, Haaretz+) The challenge for the moderate candidate in Hamas’ upcoming elections is stark enough without Israel putting its finger on the scale on behalf of the pro-violence, pro-Tehran hardliners.
Rising political powers spell bad news for secular Israelis (Michal Shalev-Reicher, Yedioth/Ynet) Gideon Sa’ar, Naftali Bennett, and Rafi Peretz are ideological, dogmatic and conservative politicians, and the non-religious population needs equally strong and determined leaders to meet stand against them in the upcoming elections.
Assassination, bribes and smuggling Jews: Inside the Israeli Mossad's long secret alliance with Morocco (Yossi Melman, Haaretz+) From body bags to bugging summits, cosying up to Franco to counter-insurgency: This is how the Mossad built, and nearly destroyed, perhaps the most steadfast clandestine relationship between Israel and any Arab state.
The agreement with Morocco is full of hypocrisy, but may renew the global attitude towards the "occupation" (Nadav Haetzni, Maariv) In contrast to the image marketed to us in Washington and Jerusalem, the Moroccan deal is only indirectly related to us. But it is interesting to find out which countries support the Moroccan occupation, or refrain from opposing it.
The Arab Spring: Dumping dictators doesn’t make for a revolution (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) The much-vaunted popular revolution was bound to fail because the Middle East problems are less at the top and more at the bottom
Despite the rhetoric, all signs point to integration (Jalal Bana, Israel Hayom) While some members of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee continue to hope it will become an ideological and organizational springboard for a demand for autonomy, the trend of integration into Israeli society has prevailed over the committee's separatist tendencies.
‘Israelis pay to get discharged from the army on mental health grounds’ (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) A senior IDF official described this week the growing numbers of men who do not serve, and the army fears it will only get worse.
Even after the next election, nothing will really change in Israel (Dr. Haim Misgav, Maariv) The demonstrators in Balfour will continue to dislike Netanyahu, and this is what is pushing Bennett, Lapid and now also Saar and Shasha-Bitton towards them. What has been is what will be, and in the next election, this public will move on to the next party.
D. profile: This is Netanyahu's pick for next Mossad chief (Yossi Melman, Haaretz+) Yossi Cohen's replacement, who'll have to deftly navigate between Netanyahu and Biden, has been described as flexible and an 'outstanding' appointment by former Mossad chiefs.
Election of the Binyamins: Netanyahu and Gantz will decide in the next day whether to go to the polls (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The two Binyamins have to make their decision in the next day. Even if an agreement is reached, it is doubtful whether it is possible to stop the rush to the elections through one legislative day in the Knesset. As of this moment, there is no knowing what they will choose.
'Modern Slavery': With Little Enforcement, Israeli Trafficking in Foreign Workers Continues (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) Despite victories against sex trafficking, workers are suffering in farming, construction and caregiving, but the police and other agencies have come up short in both identification and enforcement.
How Saudi Arabia Terrorizes Women (Reem Abdellatif, Haaretz+) Constant abuse forced me out of Saudi Arabia. For other women, it means being thrown into jail. Mohammed bin Salman’s ‘women’s rights’ campaign, and talk of a ‘new’ Saudi Arabia, remains just slick PR.
 

Interviews:
An American director almost died in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing. He now seeks the human side of his attackers
Jack Baxter was injured while making a film about ‘Mike’s Place’ in Tel Aviv when the bar was rocked by a terror attack in April 2003. He examines the motives of his would-be killers in a new documentary. (Interviewed  by Tzach Yoked in Haaretz+)

"I am not rejecting an alliance with Netanyahu": (Arab-Israeli) MK Mansour Abbas changes his attitude
The professional relationship with (Likud MK) Yariv Levin, the assistance from (far right-wing Yamina MK) Betzalel Smotrich, the friendship with Eli Avidar and the cooperation with the Prime Minister. The chairman of Ra’am party speaks in an extensive interview about the new romance with the right-wing. (Interviewed by Sherry Makover-Belikov in Maariv)

Understanding the first Lebanon War, through fresh Israeli eyes
In his new documentary series, director Duki Dror says he hopes to revisit the quagmire of the 1982 Lebanon War with fresh eyes – and fresh material, including new revelations about the massacre at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. (Interviewed by Shany Littman in Haaretz+)

 

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

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