News Nosh 04.22.14

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday April 22, 2014

Quote of the day:
"...it will turn Israel into an isolated vagabond on the world stage."
-Meretz party chairwoman Zahava Gal-On calls on Israeli Prime Minister to heed the Palestinian President and avoid dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.**


Front Page News:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Yiftah was murdered at the night club – This is not how the night out of a Golani Brigades soldier should end
  • US warns Abu-Mazen – Following Yedioth report on his threats to dissolve the Palestinian Authority, the US announced: This is not acceptable to us, the financial aid will be harmed; Meanwhile, Abu-Mazen renews reconciliation talks with Hamas
  • Little Amit drowned in the tzimmer pool
  • After the rockets: muflattas – “Qassams won’t ruin our Mimouna”
  • Checkpoint for thought – What do they say on the Bat-Yam promenade to a young Palestinian girl in need of help?
Maariv
  • Not published today
Israel Hayom

Peace Talk and Security Highlights:
The US sends the Palestinian Authority (PA) a stern warning after a report that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may dissolve the PA, due to the deadlocked peace talks, making a top story in today’s Israeli papers along with a nightclub brawl that ended in a young man being stabbed to death. The Israeli papers noted that Fatah and Hamas are set (again) to meet with the goal of reconciling, but Israel throws a spike into one negotiator’s wheel, while clashes at Temple Mount raise the ire of Jordan, cause the Israeli security establishment to worry and prevent Jewish visitors from visiting on Passover. However, a few rockets from Gaza early Monday did not stop Israelis in the south from celebrating Mimouna.
 
**Last Wednesday Abbas told a delegation of several MKs in Ramallah led by Labor MK Hilik Bar, who heads the Knesset caucus for a two-state solution, that if the peace talks remained deadlocked he would ask Israel to assume responsibility for running the West Bank. “You won’t need tanks,” he said. “Just send in a minor officer and we’ll hand over the keys.” An Israeli official told Haaretz+ that Abbas was 'serious about taking drastic measures.’ The move would leave Israel responsible for two-and-a-half million Palestinians. Senior sources in the IDF's Central Command, who recently met with the heads of the Palestinian security services, confirmed their West Bank counterparts were sincerely debating dismantling and disarming the PA's forces, Ynet reported.
 
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk returned to Gaza from Egypt to resume reconciliation efforts with senior Fatah members, after Israeli-Palestinian peace talks hit a snag, the papers reported. One Palestinian official told Israel Hayom that the process was aimed chiefly at pressuring Israel. The first meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow. The plan is to form a unity government. "We are going to address the formation of a national consensus government, elections and restructuring the PLO in order to maintain Palestinian unity so we can dedicate our efforts to confronting Israeli occupation," said a PLO official based in Egypt.
 
However, Israel denied Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti a permit to enter the Gaza Strip via the Erez crossing from the West Bank, Maan reported. He intends to travel as a member of a delegation to discuss national reconciliation and may enter through Egypt, instead.

**Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s responded to the latest Palestinian reports saying Monday: "Yesterday the Palestinian Authority discussed dismantling, today it is mulling uniting with Hamas. Let them decide whether to dismantle or unite." Meretz Chairwoman MK Zehava Gal-On called on Netanyahu "to heed (Abbas') words…Dismantling the PA will force Israel to create a civilian administration to control the population in the territories, expand the occupation, and open the door to international sanctions on Israel; it will turn Israel into an isolated vagabond on the world stage."

Of interest, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted on his Facebook page that the Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm will be part of the Palestinian state, not Israel.
 
After violent clashes on Jerusalem holy site, Jordan's Foreign Ministry blamed Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest 'Israeli violations.’ Haaretz’s Amos Harel and Nir Hason write that the Israeli security establishment was concerned over how the small handful of far-right Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount has, with the help of various organizations and right-wing MKs, turned into a big wave. They also write that the PA has been responding to the increased presence of Hamas on the Temple Mount . “It seems that Hamas has recognized, rightly so, the Temple Mount’s potential for reigniting an intifada in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, while it upholds the ceasefire on the Gaza-Israel border.” The riots began in the early hours of Sunday morning, soon after the Jerusalem District Police had announced that the Temple Mount compound was open to all visitors, meaning including Jews. Dozens of Arab youth began hurling rocks and firecrackers at the Israeli troops deployed across the compound, wounding two policemen, after which, the police barred Jewish visitors from the compound as a precautionary measure and removed those who were on the premises, effectively shutting out thousands of Jewish visitors who arrived in Jerusalem specifically to visit the Temple Mount, Israel Hayom reported. The most senior Islamic cleric in Jerusalem said Israeli police hurled stun grenades into al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, to quell the clashes. The police denied.

Quick Hits:
  • Journalists: Only Israeli Arabs prosecuted for going to enemy countries - Israeli journalist Itai Anghel says that unlike Majd Kayyal, he didn't get into trouble for visiting countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. (Haaretz+)
  • The New York Times wrestles with Israel's gag orders - Two senior editors at the newspaper say they were unaware of The Times ever agreeing to abide by gag orders in Israel. Acknowledgement followed report on the lifting of a gag order dealing with the arrest of Majd Kayyal, who was held incommunicado for a week after an unauthorized visit to Lebanon. (Haaretz
  • Hundreds protest vandalism of mosque in northern Israel - Assailants had scrawled threatening graffiti and tried to burn the door of the building in the northern Israeli town of Umm am-Fahm. (Haaretz+ and Yedioth/Ynet and NRG VIDEO)
  • Israeli settlers chop down olive trees in Ramallah village - Settlers from a nearby illegal Israeli outpost chopped down more than 100 five-year-old trees in a private Palestinian field Sunday in the central West Bank village of Ras Karkar. (Maan)
  • Firefighters beaten by settlers in Beit El - Ofra station firefighters called to extinguish a fire when settlement youth assaulted them because fire truck was blocking the road. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
  • IAF strikes Gaza terror targets in retaliation to rocket fire - Silence of holiday morning disrupted by seven rockets fired from Gaza; one rocket lands in residential area, RPG rocket fired at IDF soldiers.
    The Israel Air Force struck three terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon, in response to rocket fire at southern Israel earlier Monday.
    Palestinian reports, however, claimed four targets were hit. (Ynet)
  • Dozens hurt from tear gas as Israeli forces raid Nablus village - Over 35 Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation late Monday after Israeli forces raided a Nablus-area village of Awarta. Woman and children hospitalized. (Maan)
  • Israeli forces set up military base in Palestinian home - Soldiers stationed machine guns on the roof and installed cameras at Tuqu village home of Nayef Hussein Moussa to monitor the movement of Palestinians on a road that connects Jerusalem to illegal Israeli settlements in Hebron. (Maan)
  • Israel to U.S.: We'll ease stance on Palestinian-Americans, if we join visa waiver program - A working group on the issue is set to meet in July. (Haaretz+) 
  • U.S. Supreme Court to review Jerusalem birthplace law - A 2002 law designed to allow U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their birthplace has not been enforced by the State Department. (Agencies, Haaretz and Ynet
  • Espionage concerns raised in US visa debate - Inquiry shows that the number of Israelis ages 21-26 denied visas to the U.S. doubled from 16 to 32 percent between 2009 and 2013. Israel and U.S. forming working group to help Israel progress towards being eligible for visa waiver program. (Israel Hayom
  • Jerusalem cracks down on (Palestinians’) Old City bagel stands during Passover - City Hall says stalls were confiscated for licensing issues, but right-wing councilor calls it part of 'Judaize Jerusalem’ campaign. (Haaretz
  • Israeli forces fire tear gas at Christian pilgrims in al-Eizariya - Dozens of Christian pilgrims suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation on Friday after Israeli troops clashing with Palestinian youth fired tear gas canisters as the pilgrims performed religious rites at the Tomb of Lazarus in al-Eizariya in E. Jerusalem. (Maan)
  • Clashes break out as Israeli troops escort settlers to Joseph's Tomb - Clashes broke after hundreds of Jewish Israelis arrived at Joseph's Tomb around midnight Sunday and performed religious rituals at the site on the edge of Nablus, escorted by dozens of Israeli military vehicles. (Maan)
  • Israel to keep Kerem Shalom crossing closed on Tuesday - Only fuel would be allowed through on Tuesday for 'security reasons.' The crossing was closed Friday and Saturday, as usual, in addition to Sunday and Monday for Passover. (Maan)
  • Abbas expected to send message of condolence for Holocaust victims - Palestinian leader to publish statement on Holocaust Memorial Day, says former World Jewish Congress vice president. (Haaretz+)
  • Gaza women protest against 40 days of Rafah crossing closure - Activists protested in front of the Egyptian embassy in Gaza on Thursday in condemnation of the continued closure of the Rafah crossing, demanding Egyptian authorities open the terminal to allow humanitarian cases through. (Maan)
  • Israel’s exports to Far East to exceed those to U.S. in 2014 - The Economy Ministry predicts a 4.7% rise in Israeli exports to Asia this year, the largest increase for any of the world’s regions. (Haaretz+)


Features:
A tale of two teens
Two Israeli and Palestinian teens, both accused of stone throwing, represent the vast disparities in the West Bank's rule of law. (Daniel Estrin and Josef Federman, AP, Haaretz)
Breaking the (road) blocks
A young film director, Itamar Roz, approaches passersby on the Bat-Yam promenade with an unusual request: For a moment, pretend and play the part of soldiers at a checkpoint who stand before a dilemma: Should they give a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, who says her grandmother is ill and dying, permission to pass? Some did not let her pass and broke out crying, but it was the young Likudnik woman who allowed her to pass without any problem. The result: A funny, sad, shaking video clip, that leaves much to think about. (Yedioth ’24 Hours’ supplement, cover)
The Jew, the Muslim and the red female mule
It is almost unbelievable that such a book was published in Syria in these days: Syrian researcher Akram Hassan al-Albi painstakingly raised from oblivion 270 contracts and documents of the Jews of Damascus from the Ottoman Period. (Book review by Hasib Shehadeh, Haaretz Hebrew+) 
1947-1967: Rare archive videos of Israel released
From Ben Gurion's first UN visit to the first tour of the Israel Museum. British Pathé publishes slew of archive videos granting rare glimpse of Israel of yesteryear. (Ynet)
Black humor and plum jam
They cried, they laughed, they forgave. Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian women, members of the Parents Circle – Family Forum, created “Jam Session,” a unique cookbook of recipes for vegetable and fruit preserves. "...there was a desire among the women members to get more closely acquainted...to spend time together and expand the relationship through cooking.” (Haaretz+)
IDF revolution – seismic shift in training methods
Israel's military has overhauled its training apparatus, including the construction of a mock Lebanese village for use by ground troops. (Ynet)
Top-notch intelligence
In recent years, Israel's operation intelligence has been undergoing a revolution that could transform the way Israeli military forces operate in the field. In the next war, troops will know exactly what they face in each sector. (Israel Hayom)
The military program that refuses to abandon IDF deserters
Some 10,000 soldiers were jailed for going AWOL from the IDF in 2013. The return-to-service program wants to get them back in step with the army. (Haaretz+)
Deep in the ground, high in the skies
For the first time, the Israeli Air Force opens its main command post -- "the Pit" -- to a journalist. This is the place where officers and soldiers put together intelligence and process it into operational plans. (Israel Hayom)
From Zionist symbol to Palestinian culture center
Controversy erupts in Haifa as the Chen movie theater in Haifa's Hadar Hacarmel neighborhood will soon become an Arab culture center dedicated to recounting the Palestinian narrative.  Rightists: Arabs are trying to rewrite Zionist history. (Israel Hayom)
Daniel Gordis' Begin biography teaches liberals and leftists can't be trusted
In portraying a saint-like Begin, Gordis is attempting to silence contemporary critics of today's Likud-led government. (Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Playing with fire on the Temple Mount (Haaretz Editorial) Any unilateral action on this site, holy to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, is a surefire recipe for violent confrontation with the Islamic states and for severe tensions with the West.
Palestinian threat to dissolve PA could have serious (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Should Palestinian self-rule end, hundreds of Palestinians would lose their job, and Israel would have to enter the vacuum created as a result, offering Palestinians security, education and welfare services at a cost Israel cannot afford.
The Jerusalem question: Will a U.S. court case trigger WWIII? (Seth Lipsky, Haaretz+) If the U.S. decides to list 'Israel’ as the country of birth of an American born in Jerusalem, the consequences are potentially huge. 
Kerry's clichés (Shaul Arieli, Yedioth/Ynet) US secretary of state has failed in his mission, mainly due to the fact that both sides did not desire its success. But he also did not dare to really push them to succeed.
Even Livni is no longer a beacon of light (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) The nine months that Bennett'gave' Livni have passed, never to return. This unwanted pregnancy produced nothing, but showed that Livni was the only beacon on a barren coast full of hatred.
America, don't do us any favors (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Israel pays many times over for the malicious propaganda spewed against it for wanting to prevent murderous attacks on its civilians. If requiring a visa to enter the U.S. is one of these prices, then so be it.
Why Israel needs Ben-Eliezer as its next president (Sefi Rachlevsky, Haaretz+) Electing Labor's Benjamin 'Fuad' Ben-Eliezer as president may be the country’s last chance to arrest its decline to the racist, antidemocratic right.
The arrest of an Israeli Arab journalist was the ultimate false arrest (Haaretz Sunday Editorial) Majd Kayyal was detained and interrogated on his way back from Lebanon only because he was an Arab. 
Dead wrong (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) srael must stop releasing Palestinian terrorists whenever another round of "negotiations" to "negotiate" is in the air.
His life was not worth more because he was one of 'ours' (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) A Palestinian and an Israeli were needlessly killed, yet the government and the media only seek justice for the latter. 
Put it all on the table (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) Israel should place, for the first time, a very broad range of core issues for discussion on the negotiating table, from the Temple Mount to the Triangle to compensation for decades of Arab warfare.
History repeats itself in Hebron (Avichai Stollar, Haaretz+) The new settlement in the Rajabi house will exact an unimaginable toll on Palestinians living in the city.
US mediation running out of fuel (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet) Just one more day, just one more week, and Kerry will throw in the towel on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
In Swedish, it doesn't sound quite so good (Adi Rubinstein, Israel Hayom) Increasing strength on the far Right, Muslim population growth, and boycotts of Israel are reaching all parts of Europe -- including Sweden. Jerusalem Institute of Justice holds hasbara (PR) event at Uppsala University to give a voice to Israel.
Israel’s army chief is super popular. Uh oh (Yossi Sarid, Haaretz+) A strong army doesn't kill a child searching for edible plants; it doesn't shoot a judge at a border crossing. 
What to call a killer (Gonen Ginat, Israel Hayom) Is a Palestinian who murders a Jew a wild animal or a domesticated beast?
Unconditional Palestinian surrender (Zeev Sternhell, Haaretz+) At the moment there is no change to forge a majority for a fair agreement; the road to South Africa has been paved.

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