APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday May 05, 2014

Note: Note: News Nosh will be off on Israeli Independence Day.

Quote of the day:

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Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Peres: "The testament of the fallen - to be a peaceful people"
• This is how the wives of the missing from Yom Kippur War were left
• The bereaved father opened his home to lone soldiers
• The state that is on the way is still here - The national institutions have completed their historic roles // Anshel Pfeffer, special project on JNF, Jewish Agency, World Zionist Organization, the Unit for Settlement, etc
• Celebrating Independence tonight: 19:45 Torch lighting ceremony at Mt. Herzl; 20:00 celebratory prayer at the Wailing Wall; Tomorrow: At 11:00 World Bible quiz; At 18:00 Awarding of Israel Prize
• Infant died after forgotten hours in a car (in West Bank)
• Government: Israel Broadcasting Authority to close, the (annual) fee to be cancelled
• Obama administration fighting incidents of rape on campuses
• Environment Ministry: Train to Eilat will destroy (nature) reserves

• In their death they gave life - Bowing heads: This morning at 11:00, siren for silence in memory of the fallen; Celebrating independence: Tonight at 20:00 the torches will be lit and the holiday ceremonies begin
• The path of blood // Eitan Haber (Yedioth commentator)
• Naftali Bennett // Our teacher and me (Economy Minister and leader of Habayit Hayehudi)
• First Independence // Meir Shalev (author)
• The Israeli miracle // Ben-Dror Yemini (Maariv right-wing commentator)
• How do you live like this? // Eshkol Nevo (author)
• With this torch // Shachar Peer (tennis champ)

• not published today

• President Peres: "The amazing state of Israel was established on the blood of its sons who fell in wars"
• Putin furious over violence in Ukraine: Threatens to send tank brigades to protect Russian patriots in the area
• Iranian provocation - Iran to West: The Zionists are holding the US hostage
• On the way to closing - The government approved Minister Erdan's plan: The Broadcasting Authority will close
• Forgotten baby - Beit Haggai (settlement): Infant forgotten in car, rescue team found him dead

• The pain and the happiness - Israel celebrates 66 years
• Our forces, that they may return home safely // Chief of Staff Beni Gantz
• Paying a heavy price, for a better future // General Gershon Hacohen
• Israel, a refuge for Jews and a source of hope // Dan Margalit
• At the height of the heat wave, Levy Yitzhak Constantinis, 1.5, was forgotten in a car and died
• Netanyahu: "The Jewish State Basic Law - is not a political issue"
• Hundreds attended funeral of Asi Dayan
• An end to the fee: Government approved reform in Broadcast Authority
• In the nature or at heritage sites: Going out to celebrate independence

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News Summary:

Today is the beginning of the Independence Day holiday in Israel and the papers shared both stories of loss of family members as well as features about Independence Day and what it means. The Prime Minister, President and Defense Minister all spoke at Memorial Day events about the need to live by the sword and how Israelis would not be here if it weren't for those who fell, but only President Shimon Peres spoke of peace as well.
 
Yedioth's Ariella Ringel-Hoffman asked four senior researchers at the Institute for National Security Studies what Israel would look like 'if'. Here are some of the answers:
What if the majority in the UN voted against the creation of the State of Israel in 1947?
Udi Dekel and Dr. Anat Koretz both agreed that war would have broken out between the Jews and Arabs anyway and that Ben-Gurion would have 'found a way to create facts on the ground and establish the state, which the world would have no choice but to recognize."
What if Menachem Begin had not won the elections in '77, would we have bombed the nuclear reactor in Iraq?
Amos Yadlin: "Definitely not. The perception that Israel cannot live with nuclear development in an enemy state that calls for Israel's destruction is originally a perception that Begin led."
What if we did not bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor?
Dr. Anat Koretz: "We would have dealt with a Iran on the way to nuclear power much sooner...We would have been a nuclear Middle East, in a complex balance of terror.
How would the map of settlements have looked had Begin not won the elections in '77?
Amos Yadlin: "Until '77, the settlement in the Territories was very controlled. From '77 it lost control. All that pioneering energy would have gone to the Negev and the Galilee and they would look different. A much more pioneering, ideological, and strong periphery. A different demographic balance that would have strengthened Israel."
What would have happened had Yitzhak Rabin not been murdered?
Amos Yadlin: "He would have lost the elections to Netanyahu in '96 anyway. The public atmosphere in the country was that the Oslo process failed, that the terror attacks of Jihad and Hamas were unbearable, and Rabin himself would have reconsidered Oslo."
Would we have made a peace agreement with Syria?
Amos Yadlin: Yes.
What would have happened had there not been a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (in 2005)?
Dr. Anat Koretz: "Hamas would not be ruling Gaza. We would not have gotten two authorities with a political and geographical division that makes it difficult to make an agreement."
Would we have saved ourselves from Amona, Yitzhar and the hilltop youth?
Sharvit Baruch: "No, it would have happened anyway because of the continued incompetence of all the governments of Israel."
Amos Yadlin: "If it weren't for the disengagement (from Gaza) we would have been responsible for another 1.5 million Palestinians....
What if Sharon hadn't gone into a coma and had continued to serve as prime minister?
Udi Dekel: "Sharon would have opened Gaza to Egypt and allowed the Gazans to build a port. There would not have been a siege by sea, there would not have been the Mavi Marmara incident and we would not be in trouble with the Turks."
Amos Yadlin: "Since Sharon did not believe it was possible to achieve an agreement with the Palestinians, he would have continued the unilateral move and (withdrawn forces and civilians) from Judea and Samaria (W. Bank). Not immediately, and not to the '67 borders, but he would have made a strategic move that would have preserved the political status of the state of Israel and given momentum to a process while preserving Israel's security and its vital interests."
Sharvit Baruch: "The Palestinians would not have accepted that move and we would have entered a difficult period with clashes and problems in the Territories."

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Quick Hits:

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