News Nosh 05.22.14

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday May 22, 2014

Note: News Nosh will not be published Friday, May 23rd, and will resume on Sunday.

Quote of the day:
"This measure puts an enormous budget in places where the nation of Israel, in its democratic way, never intended they should go."
--MK Elazar Stern (Hatnuah) blasts the immunity the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division has from the Freedom of Information Law, preventing the scope of the government’s investment in settlements from ever being known.**


Front Page News:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
Israel Hayom
  • History: Tnuva sold to Chinese
  • Thailand: Soldiers in streets, Israelis unmoved
  • Assessment: PM won't support anyone in race for Presidency
  • Uri Malmilian: I oppose bill against "Israel Hayom"

News Summary:
Today's top stories focused on how Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's man for the Presidency, Minister Silvan Shalom, dropped out of the race after not receiving the premier's blessing and on the sale to China of Tnuva, Israel's largest food producer. Maariv reported that Netanyahu planned to fire Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, but stood down after Finance Minister Yair Lapid intervened and the IDF continues to insist that the video showing the deaths of the two Palestinian teens was forged.
 
The week after Livni's meeting with Abbas in London, Maariv's Ben Caspit reveals the 'backstage drama' that took place. Despite Caspit's earlier report that Netanyahu knew about the meeting and 'agreed' to it, Caspit now writes that Netanyahu only found out about it through someone who was involved in arranging the meeting between Livni and Abbas. When he found out, he told her she was prohibited from meeting with Abbas. She met with him anyway last Thursday and Netanyahu intended to fire her on Saturday night, but shelved the decision at the last moment after consulting with coalition chairman Likud MK Yariv Levine and after receiving signals from Finance Minister Yair Lapid that the dismissal of Livni would bring the downfall of the government.

Caspit writes that Netanyahu called Livni Thursday after returning from Japan and asked if it were true she would be meeting with Abbas that day. She said yes and that she had intended to tell him after the details of the meeting were finalized. Netanyahu told her he vehemently opposed her meeting with Abbas after the government decided to suspend peace talks. She reportedly remained calm and said she disagrees with him and she hadn't intended on holding negotiations with Abbas or discussing such topics. Caspit writes: "She told Netanyahu that since no one met Abbas throughout the last year, and he is chairman of the Palestinian Authority, there is no reason to avoid meeting him. For Livni it was important to clarify with Abbas in what direction he was going, what is the meaning of the union (unity government) with Hamas, and why Abbas torpedoed three times at the last moment an understanding agreement in the framework of the recent negotiations. Abbas' aides say that Livni declared at the beginning of the meeting that she does not come as a messenger of Netanyahu and that the meeting is being held contrary to the opinion of the Prime Minister. Netanyahu, on his part, did not believe that Livni would disobey him and meet Abbas despite him forbidding her to do so. When he found out that the meeting was being held on Thursday night, he almost rose to the heavens in a storm. At that exact same time he sat with Naftali Bennett, and right after that with Yair Lapid. Both of them report that had never seen Netanyahu so agitated."

Netanyahu thought that the Americans were behind the meeting, but found out they were not. Friday morning he planned to fire her, but then contacts were held between Levine, representing Netanyahu, and MK Meir Sheetrit, representing Livni, and with Lapid, "who holds the keys to the government." Lapid made clear to Netanyahu that firing Livni would be a serious political mistake that would bring the fall of the government. Levine agreed saying you can't run a government with a coalition of only 62 MKs and that they would need to go to elections. By Saturday night, Netanyahu "cooled down" and his associates quickly spread the rumor that he knew about the meeting but "swallowed it" somehow.
 
Israel continues to insist that the video showing the Palestinian teens were not involved in any anti-IDF actions when Israeli soldiers shot them dead is a forgery. And now eyewitness reports say the boys were shot by live bullets. Yedioth reported that the Palestinians said that the bullet hole in the backpack of the boy who was shot in the chest shows they were shot with live bullets. In a rare intervention in a West Bank investigation, the State Attorney General instructed the Military Advocate General to update him on investigation, Haaretz+ reported. But Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman rejected calls for an international investigation

Quick Hits:
  • Israel restricts right-wing Jewish activists for Pope's visit - Restraining orders issued against several Jewish extremists, barring them from Jerusalem's Old City due to their intention to carry out "provocative and illegal acts" during the Pope's three-day visit to the Holy Land. (HaaretzIsrael Hayom and Ynet)
  • **Knesset digs but settlement funding still a secret - Discussion of WZO Settlement Division’s transparency in Constitution Committee to be postponed until further notice. But committee chairman, MK David Rotem, said he had no intention of setting a date for the repeat discussion, which could cause idea to be buried. (Haaretz+)
  • Over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to launch solidarity hunger strike today - The one-day hunger strike will be launched today in solidarity with around 100 administrative detainees who have been on hunger strike for nearly a month, protesting their administrative detention without trial or charge. (Maan)
  • Prisoners' families shut down UNRWA office - The families protested the UN's "silence" amid a Palestinian hunger strike in Israeli jails, an official said. (Maan)
  • (Bedouin) Beersheba District Court judge's car set on fire - Police believe the torching of a Beersheba judge's car may have been meant as a threat to the judge, who normally deals with cases involving local crime lords. (Israel HayomHaaretz and Ynet)
  • IDF ombudsman report reveals abuse of power among commanders - Among the 7,158 complaints lodged in 2013 - a commander forcing recruits to drink water till they got sick and an NCO pouring bleach over soldier's head. (Ynet and Haaretz+)
  • Israeli demolitions leave 25 homeless in Jordan Valley - Israeli civil administration forces reportedly arrived in the village of Jiftlik and demolished 20 structures belonging to the Deis family, 13 of which were residential steel structures while seven were steel structures used as barns for animals. (Maan)
  • Settlers from Ariel level Palestinian land in Salfit - Settlers from Ariel on Wednesday used bulldozers to raze agricultural lands belonging to Palestinian farmers from the Salfit town of Kifl Haris. (Maan)
  • Family of slain US activist appeals Israel verdict - Rachel Corrie was crushed to death while attempting to block an IDF bulldozer she believed was razing a home in Gaza. (Ynet)
  • Intelligence service budgets soared by 10% in 2013 to NIS 6.6 billion (about $2.2 billion) - Mossad and Shin Bet allotted $1.9 billion last year, marking eighth straight year budget has risen. (Haaretz+)
  • Abbas: Palestinians not seeking to join more UN agencies for now - Palestinians applied to join 15 UN organizations in April, with UN envoy saying PA could become signatory to up to 550 international treaties. (Haaretz)
  • World Bank grants PA $40 million to support reform -The institution highlighted that the grant was being offered in the context of the "the current stalemate in the peace process and the decline of economic growth and donor aid," and that it was intended to "ease some of the PA's fiscal stress." (Maan)
  • Official: Abbas 'in final stages' of selecting unity govt technocrats - The cabinet will be made up of "15 or 16" minister. Three nonpartisan candidates suggested for each position, Abbas will choose one of the three, said senior Hamas official Ahmad Yousef. (Maan)
  • Construction work exacerbates dire conditions at Bethlehem checkpoint - The result is dangerous overcrowding for the thousands of Palestinian workers trying to enter Israel and reports of physical violence by Israeli forces. (Maan)
  • Israeli forces 'injure farmer' during clash with Gaza militants -  A Palestinian farmer was hit in the head by an Israeli bullet on Wednesday, when Israeli soldiers retaliated against Palestinian militants who had detonated an explosive device, damaging a military vehicle. (Maan)
  • Israeli navy fires at, detains Gaza fishermen - IDF: The "vessel deviated from its designated fishing zone." Israel has controlled Gaza waters since its occupation of the area in 1967, and has kept several warships stationed off the coast since 2008. (Maan)
  • Illegal Palestinian resident charged with attempting to kidnap Israeli civilian - Morad Ali-Hassin, 25, also admits to hurling firebombs at cars in the Misgav Regional Council. (Haaretz)
  • Nahal soldiers further disciplined for Facebook protest - Along with dismissal from combat duties, two soldiers also removed from (shorter) ultra-Orthodox track. The two must now serve entire three years in the army, instead of just a year-and-a-half in uniform with the remainder in a civilian capacity. (Israel Hayom)
  • IAF grounds reserve pilots as part of budget battle - After cancelling training for ground forces reservists, the army makes additional cuts that could hurt Air Force readiness. (Ynet)
  • David's Sling missile shield unlikely to be ready in 2015 - Government freezes funding to missile defense system's manufacturer Rafael as part of measures taken to reduce the defense budget. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • (Former Fatah strongman) Dahlan: I will participate in elections despite 'secret trial' - Dahlan, a former security chief who has lived outside of Palestine since he was ousted in 2011, was sentenced by a Ramallah court to two years in jail Tuesday for "libel, slander, and defamation." (Maan)
  • Pope says Middle East trip will be 'purely religious' - 
  • Francis said the main reasons for the trip -- billed a "pilgrimage of prayer" by the Vatican -- were to meet with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and "to pray for peace in that land, which has suffered so much." (Agencies, Maan)
  • Leno: Israel is 'a little paradise in the Middle East' - TV comedian tells Ynet about life after 'Tonight Show,' his plans for future and his impressions of Israel. (Ynet)
  • Leno shares a laugh with Netanyahu in Jerusalem - American comedian Jay Leno arrives in Israel to host the inaugural Genesis Prize award ceremony. Leno, making his first visit to Israel, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Leno: I'm a huge supporter of Israel and always have been. (Israel Hayom)
  • BDS supporter dumped, then reinvited to Melbourne debate - Palestinian-Australian claims Jewish panelists gave organizers an ultimatum. (Haaretz)
  • Israeli marijuana experts to appear at Jamaica conference - Leading Israeli marijuana experts set to participate in conference for economic development of Jamaica, 'It is an honor to have two medical cannabis research leaders from the medical cannabis research hub of the world, Israel,' organizers say. (Ynet)
  • Pro-Erdogan paper blames mine disaster on the Jews - Focused on deflecting criticism of prime minister for his handling of the tragedy, column declares, 'All info on Soma incident leads us to Israel.' (Haaretz)
  • Mubarak sentenced to 3 years for embezzling public funds - Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak also fined nearly $3 million and ordered to reimburse state treasury $17.6 dollars. Mubarak's sons sentenced to four years in prison on the same charges. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)

Commentary/Analysis:
The crude voices of the expulsion committee (Haaretz Editorial) Common goal of participants in Knesset sub-committee meeting was to clear the Palestinians out of most of Area C, which is forbidden by international law. 
Boycotting J Street is a serious mistake (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Instead of pushing Jewish bodies into arms of demonization campaign, we must strengthen the pro-Israel side which still exists in them.
Kerry failure proves that cuddling Netanyahu doesn’t bring peace any closer (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) In his second term, Obama has tried the 'no daylight' with Israel strategy that American Jewish leaders advised. It hasn’t worked. 
Good intentions don't win wars (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) It is a mistake to turn the military into a beggar at the door. 
Jewish state law will only harm Netanyahu (Shlomo Avineri, Haaretz+) Netanyahu should take a lesson from Menachem Begin, whose insistence on passing the Basic Law on Jerusalem only harmed the very thing he sought to protect.
Winning and the Israeli mentality (Yossi Klein, Haaretz+) If our championship basketball team is made of foreigners who are stronger and faster than all Jewish players in the league, what makes the team Israeli?
What's stopping the Third Intifada? (Jamil Hilal, Maan) A third intifada depends on the interaction of two sets of processes: the collective repressive and dehumanizing conditions of life under occupation and the changes that have taken place within Palestinian society in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as the overall Palestinian political movement. 
Israel cannot afford another lost decade (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) While our startups took off, our wallets swelled and our streets stayed safe, a national leadership that would deal with our number-one national problem in a wise, grown-up manner could not be found.
Down with monopolies (Oded Tyrah, Israel Hayom) Israel Hayom shattered the dovish, Netanyahu-criticizing media monopoly, while simultaneously encouraging economic competition. 
'Spawn of Israel’: Erdogan's anti-Semitic obsessions (Günther Jikeli and Kemal Silay, Haaretz+) The pro-Erdogan Islamist newspaper blaming the Jews for Turkey’s mining disaster is just the tip of the iceberg: The Turkish PM’s anti-Semitism is deeply rooted and is now spreading more widely in Turkey.
Have Israel's universities become schools for collaborators? (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) As long as the universities seek to preserve neutrality and impart that to their students, they will not inculcate true leadership.
What does the superfluous Diaspora Affairs Ministry have to do with Iran’s nuclear program? (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Naftali Bennett should do us all a favor and close the ministry.
The pope of the people (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) Francis is a first-of-a-kind, and not just because he is the first South American and Jesuit pope. His single greatest reform thus far has been his humble and open approach. 
A wholly insignificant papal visit to the Holy Land (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The pope’s visit to Israel, Jordan and the PA might be important, but Francis just wants it all to be over.


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