APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday May 04, 2014

Quote of the day:

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Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Heads of Arab sector to Netanyahu: Intervene against hate crimes
• (Main photo:) More than 2,100 killed in mudslide in Afghanistan
• David the Nahalawi, Israel's new hero // Gideon Levy
• Video clip: Palestinian held (prayer) beads in his hand
• Remembrance Day for Fallen in pre-schools: Discussions with soldiers and studying symbols of IDF units
• Bereaved family discovered empty grave of son
• Concealed study illustrates the size of the fraud in the Lebanon War
• Where did the (Israeli) flags disappear to?
• Dozens killed in Ukraine, which is marching towards a civil war
• For the 20th time in its history, Maccabi Tel-Aviv is state champion
• 1/4 page ad: Conference in memory of Meir Har Tzion (19.5) "As a commander of a company, a platoon, a brigade commando unit, Meir Har Tzion always took on the hardest missions. Within a short time, he became the most courageous fighter of Paratroopers Unit 101..." For information and registration at Kfar Etzion Field School: www.k-etzion.co.il

• The pain that does not end - Israel unites in commemoration of 23,169 fallen. Events for Remembrance Day for Israel's fallen to begin at 20:00 with one-minute siren
• Fuad (Labor MK Ben-Eliezer) to get liver transplant
• (Education Minister) Piron underwent gastric bypass surgery

• not published today

• Civil war in Ukraine expands: Dozens killed over weekend
• This evening events for Day of Remembrance for Israel's Fallen and Victims of Terror
• Tnuva scandal - How did the Israeli monopoloy get sold to Aipax Fund without the state receiving a single shekel
• Renewed meeting - Abu Mazen and Khaled Maashal to meet this week following reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas
• Cultural bereavement - New study teaches that many widows continue to preserve the memory of their first husband

• We will remember them all - State of Israel unites with the memory of 23,169 fallen
• Icons // Dan Margalit
• On bereavement and on courage - pp. 26-35
• Yellow from happiness - Maccabi Tel-Aviv wins basketball state championships
• Israel Press Council: Opposes attempt to narrow steps of 'Israel Hayom'
• Partner of Shelly Dadon parts from her: "You were my flower"
• The last scene: Asi Dayan to be buried in Nahalal
• US Amb. to Israel, Dan Shapiro, in special Op-Ed for Day of Remembrance and Independence Day

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Peace Talk Highlights:
Today's Hebrew papers were filled with individual stories of courage and bereavement over fallen soldiers and victims of hostile acts ahead of Remembrance Day that begins this evening.

In the back pages, the papers reported on more price tag attacks (see Quick Hits) that took place against Arabs in Israel and on the debate over Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's call to advance a bill making Israel a Jewish state in it's Basic Laws. Over the weekend he said that "Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people only," upsetting prominent Israeli-Arabs. "This country is not only for the Jews, but for all citizens," said Arab actor Mohammed al-Bakri. 
 
Meanwhile, Haaretz+ reported that U.S. envoy Martin Indyk was likely to resign amid the blowup in the peace talks. "In Jerusalem, it is believed that Indyk is the senior American official – anonymously quoted in a report published Friday in the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth – mainly blaming Israel for the failure of the talks," wrote Haaretz's Barak Ravid. The senior official said that “the main damage to the peace talks comes from the settlements,” and that, during the talks, “Netanyahu did not move more than an inch.”
 
And, the Palestinians have become signatories on five more UN human rights conventions, including convention against torture, on elimination of racial discrimination, and on rights of the child. One senior Fatah member said that if Israel prevented the transfer of Palestinian Authority tax money to the PA, the PA would sever ties with Israel and take international action, reported NRG Hebrew. Moreover, said Azzam al-Ahmad, they would act to increase the 'popular uprising' [Palestinian demonstrations taking place across the West Bank. - OH]
 
And, Finance Minister Yair Lapid told the Wall Street Journal that, like the PLO, Hamas could drop terror and recognize Israel. The Journal believed this indicated that "some in the Israeli government [are] saying for the first time that they see signs of moderation among the Islamists, and that negotiations with Hamas could one day become possible if it recognizes Israel."

Quick Hits:

Features:

Where one man’s incitement is another man’s fact
Netanyahu and Israeli experts on Palestinian media charge that incitement against Israel is a major problem. But many Palestinians say don’t blame the messenger: the news simply reflects the grim reality on the ground. (Ilene Prusher, Haaretz+)
Refael's battles
Refael Yakobson, who was switched at birth and then returned to his family in an unbelievable saga, only really found himself once he moved to Israel and became a brave soldier. He died in the 1948 War of Independence while defending Gush Etzion. (Israel Hayom) 
Balancing the scales of justice inside Israel's prisons
The committees that decide whether to release prisoners are being reformed amid accusations that they refuse legal representation to those in need. (Haaretz+) 
At a Tel Aviv corner, young merchants struggle to sell flags
In the countdown to Independence Day, aspiring capitalists search in vain for patriots. (Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:

With demise of talks, attention turns to shaky coalition (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) The loss of a justification for Livni and her Hatnuah party to stay in the government is also making Netanyahu uneasy, and clashes between Habayit Hayehudi and Yesh Atid are a no less ominous sign.
Don’t redefine Jewish state (Haaretz Editorial) Those who wish to set in law that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people are really attempting to remove 'obstacle' of democracy.
F in history (Prof. Avraham Ben Zvi, Israel Hayom) Instead of adopting Kissinger's gradual approach to Middle East peace talks, Kerry modeled his style after the failed Carter method. Kerry didn't realize that even the White House wasn't backing him, and this mistake turned into a resounding failure.
Memorial Day: Fallen Arabs need to be commemorated as well (Eidan Abuhav, NRG Hebrew) Are Bedouin soldiers good enough to defend the Jewish state, but not good enough to be mentioned in an official manner at the central ceremony?
Fear and exclusion of J Street is misguided and destructive (Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, Haaretz+) The Conference of Presidents’ collective failure of leadership in excluding J Street is another sign of a strident, extremist trend restricting the U.S. Jewish community’s necessary dialogue about Israel.
Fringe benefits (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) J Street's exclusion from the Presidents' Conference is the best evidence that even liberals recognize an assault on Israel when they see one. 
J Street’s rejection is a milestone in the growing polarization of American Jews (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) On many issues, the liberal advocacy group is closer to American Jewish views than most of the organizations that voted to keep it out of the Conference of Presidents.
Apartheid (Liat Ron, Globes/NRG Hebrew) John Kerry did not have to apologize for the remark that Israel runs the risk of becoming an apartheid state if negotiations don't take place, because Israel is already an apartheid state. It's a fact. Maybe it's not a South African apartheid, but a unique apartheid of our own, based on the separation of peoples, races if you will, religious beliefs and skin color. Let's stop dealing with the question of whether Israel is an apartheid state, but rather why. 
Apartheid or not, Kerry’s warning was clear (David Landau, Haaretz+) Kerry’s 'apartheid affair’ shows yet again how the political and media noisemakers fixate on a subsidiary issue and the impotent peace camp can’t shift the focus back to substance.
Recapture the Israeli flag (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) Moderate Israelis cannot let Israel's most powerful symbols be dragged though the mud. 
In search of a Plan B (Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom) The reconciliation between PA President Abbas and Hamas has put a damper on peace talks, and in four weeks the sides will decide whether to keep going or give up. Meanwhile, John Kerry holds both sides equally responsible for the collapse of talks.
Hamas' next goal: Al-Najah University in Nablus (Asaf Gabor, NRG Hebrew) Palestinian sources reported that Hamas is preparing for general elections that will be held following the unity agreement (with Fatah). The first test of the movement will be internal elections at al-Najah University in Nablus.
The other Dayan legacy (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The late Assi Dayan positioned himself as an antihero against his father Moshe's military escapades. It's the ethos of the former that the public clings closer to these days.
Who are you, Mahmoud Abbas? (Yoram Ettinger, Israel Hayom) Abbas speaks softly while carrying a horrendous stick of hate education in schools, mosques and media, brainwashing Palestinian society and running the most effective production line of terrorists. 
Netanyahu, hero of the binational state? (Aluf Benn, Haaretz+) Netanyahu chose to avoid the political risk of peacemaking to keep his coalition together and stay in power. But where can Israel go from here?
Americans stand with you (US Ambassador Dan Shapiro, Israel Hayom) From the moment the United States was the first country to recognize Israel's independence, America has shared in Israel's pains and losses, as well as her triumphs and successes.
**Shin Bet can stop 'price tag' activities (Carmi Gillon, Yedioth/Ynet) Former Shin Bet chief urges security service to use every possible resource to destroy Jewish terrorism.
I’m also with David the Nahal soldier (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) David is a soldier. He’s not supposed to ask himself important questions about the occupied territories: what and whom he is serving there, why instead of being an infantryman they turned him into a policeman, and what’s the point of everything.
The New York Times is clueless about Israel - and Orthodoxy (Rabbi Avi Shafran, Haaretz+) Israel’s Haredim don’t want to enforce Jewish observance or annex the West Bank, they just want to be left alone.

Interviews: 

Gabriela Shalev: equality and respect minority that lives within us
"One rule of law you will have, for stranger and for citizen of the country," Shalev, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, reminds (with the biblical order): The Jewish state requires equal rights for the Arab minority, even if they are currently unable to serve in the military "because of the occupation." (Interviewed by Michael Tuchfeld in NRG Hebrew)
  
"...the Arab minority, there is a big problem: how can people determine for themselves who will be their neighbors? I am deeply concerned about calls not to rent apartments to Arab students in Safed/Tsfat. It just shows the gap here between the declarations of equality and the opportunity to live where one wants."
Is this discrimination inherent in the very definition of the Jewish state?
"No. Even the values ​​of Judaism recognize democracy based on equality and I don't think anyone is trying to question that. True, the question of obligations (to the state) also rises in this context, but this is a separate matter. The question of rights passed by law. Interestingly, that in the Basic Law, human dignity and a person's freedom were granted many rights, but the law refrains from defining explicitly the fundamental right to equality. Some believe it was done intentionally. There is a minority that lives among us that is entitled to the full rights and the question of obligations should be examined.
"We can not expect the Arab Palestinians who live here to join the army and fight against their own people. On the other hand, there is a place to demand from them to serve national service, and maybe that will happen in the new recruiting laws. However, there is no place to deny the rights of those who did not serve. As soon as the plight of the people beyond the Green Line ends, which at least according to their view they live under occupation, we can talk about full equality of rights and duties (for the Palestinian citizens of Israel)."

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