APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday June 18, 2014

Quote of the day:

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Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Rising fear for lives of three kidnapped youth; Cabinet decided to worsen conditions of Hamas prisoners [Photo of 3 mothers of kidnapped]
• Minors suspected in murder of Shelly Dadon - were held in detention without seeing lawyers (for 2 weeks, then released unconditionally)
• Police to examine the hotline blunder
• MKs call to remove (MK) Hanin Zouebi's immunity
• The secondary goal of the operation has become the main one // Amos Harel
• Israel's plan (to act against Hamas leaders) could backfire // Zvi Bar'el
• US to send hundreds of soldiers to Iraq to protect senior Americans
• State: Africans sent to Holot (detention facility) must be paid severance
• Competition for HOT and yes: Cellcome joins TV (cable/satellite) market

• The children of everyone - Security establishment assessment: "Soon we'll reach the kidnappers" [Photo of 3 mothers of kidnapped]
• Simply to hug them // Tami Arad
• Where was the Shin Bet // Yossi Yeshoshua
• The wisdom of restraint // Gen. (res.) Yisrael Ziv
• "We've had enough of you" - Following MK Zouebi's announcement that the kidnappers are not terrorists: Ministers and MKs call to dismiss her and put her on trial

• United in hope [Photo of 3 mothers of kidnapped]
• Zouebi: "The kidnappers are not terrorists" - She doesn't regret and doesn't apologize
• Brinks robber released from jail
• "The dramatic arrests" - Security forces arrested 6 young Israeli Arabs on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Shelly Dadon. For one week they could not meet their lawyers or family, but after two weeks they were released unconditionally

• Hug of three mothers [Photo of 3 mothers of kidnapped youth]
• In Talmon (settlement, home to one of kidnaped): I saw people like angels // Emily Amrousi
• The biggest operation since Operation Defensive Shield // Yoav Limor
• Look quickly, act carefully // Dan Margalit
• Police's embarrassment: Between real calls for help and hoaxes // Itzik Saban
• The shame of MK Zouebi
• There is no one to talk to // Boaz Bismuth
• The 'Brinks Robber' was released from jail; money he stole is still in its hiding place
• Tomorrow: Middle and high school children begin their summer holiday

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News Summary:
The search for the kidnapped Israeli teens continues to be the top story in Israeli papers and today there was discussion of what other steps the government will take against Hamas - such as measures against Hamas prisoners - and reactions to the statement by Arab MK Hanin Zouebi that the kidnappers "are not terrorists."

The security cabinet convened for the third time in five days and discussed more actions that can be taken against Hamas, which it is blaming for the kidnapping. The IDF said it has Hamas institutions and leaders in its crosshairs.  A senior political source told Israel Hayom, "We are in the midst of a military and diplomatic campaign. The prime minister and the cabinet are dividing their time between the tactical and strategic aspects of undermining Hamas." Israeli Prime Minister Binaymin Netanyahu met with Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair and urged the international community to condemn Hamas. Blair also assumed Hamas was behind the kidnapping and said, "They have a very clear choice to make. There cannot be a choice that has a political engagement on the one hand and violence on the other, and the only way this is ever going to work is if all violence stops – the terrorism, the kidnappings, the killings." Maariv reported that Hamas refused responsibility for the kidnapping and said again yesterday that, "The charges by Israel are a political tool." 

Some 240 Palestinians have been detained since the kidnapping late Thursday night, 180 of them connected to the Hamas movement. Just yesterday, 65 were detained, of which 51 were people released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. Just this week, MK Orit Struck called for those released in the Shalit deal to be re-arrested. At a joint press conference in Gaza, Palestinian militant groups said they won't stand 'handcuffed' during this IDF operation in the West Bank and that they stand by any effort to free the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Meanwhile, Arab MK Hanin Zouebi has sparked an uproar, mainly among right-wing MKs and ministers who are now calling for her immunity to be revoked and for her to stand trial - or even be deported to Gaza - for saying that the kidnappers "are not terrorists" in an interview on Tel-Aviv Radio.  "They are not terrorists," she said. "I don't agree with you. They are people who see no other way to change their reality, so they use and are forced to use these means…at least until Israel sobers up a bit, (and) until Israeli society opens up and feels the suffering of the other."

Kidnapping Quick Hits:

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:

Israel's response to kidnapping aimed at driving a wedge between Abbas and Hamas (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Security forces face a daunting prospect combing West Bank villages in search of three abductees and their kidnappers. 
New front: Which Hamas is Israel facing these days (Jacky Khougy, Maariv) Even if Abbas divorces his partners in government, that is still a tolerable price for Hamas, since the abduction of the boys only improves their status among Palestinians. But the proliferation of factions within the organization raises another question: which Hamas actually committed the act of terror and is it still possible to treat it as a a single entity? 
Gov’t plans to act against Hamas leaders and prisoners may backfire (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) There is little logic to the exiling of the organization’s leadership to Gaza and the retributive measures against jailed Hamas members. 
Don't force feed (Moti Ravid, Yedioth) The government decision to force-feed hunger strikers, and the Prime Minister's statement in response to the opposition by the Israel Medical Association: "We will find doctors who will help feed the prisoners" - is infuriating and dangerous. Hunger-striking is an extreme method that people in distress use to struggle for a significant issue...Force-feeding is a harsh and continuous physical torture. [Ravid describes how it is done. -OH]...It is difficult to deal with hunger-strikers, particularly if the strike is political and there is great social pressure on them preventing them from stopping, even if they are on the verge of death. Nevertheless, force-feeding is not a solution. I don't believe they will find doctors willing to be collaborators in the torture of prisoners and let's hope the government does not try to force-feed without medical supervision. If the prisons force-feed prisoners, the Bus 300 Affair will pale in comparison to the new scandal - and the conclusions of an investigative commission that will be established afterward will be harsh and severe. It's doubtful that those responsible will succeed in evading punishment through a presidential pardon.
The sacred right to hitchhike in the Land of Israel (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Apparently, hitching a risk-riddled ride has also become part of the arsenal of 'an appropriate Zionist response.
Looking only backwards: Nothing new in the Middle East (Salman Masalha, Haaretz+) This entire region is comprised of artificial states that have never managed to create cross-tribal or cross-ethnic national unity, and have always been ruled in the shadow of the bloody, torn past.
Legal barbarism: Israel's moral suicide (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) For Netanyahu, the kidnapping of three Jewish teenagers confirms his paranoid worldview and justifies everything he has done and has yet to do.
Kidnapped: When Psalms are not enough (Samuel Heilman, Haaretz+) Those in Israel’s religious community who think that salvation comes only from prayers fool themselves and those they lead. Faith can’t substitute safe transport for their children. 
Parenting in crisis Where and how is it possible to raise children in this country? (Lior Dayan, Maariv)
Some argue that "parents who raise children in the Territories shouldn't be surprised when they are kidnapped." But behind this criticism, no one really knows what is the right way to raise a child. 
Expelling Hamas militants to Gaza will only harm Israel (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Israel deported 415 Hamas operatives to Lebanon in 1992, giving them a chance to hone their terror skills under Hezbollah’s tutelage.
West Bank operation delivers a strategic blow to Hamas (Ron Ben-Yishai, Yedioth/Ynet) While Islamic organization scores points on Palestinian street for kidnapping three Israeli teens, Israel's operation weakens Hamas' presence in the West Bank, thwarting its goal of taking over territories.
Israel's own known unknowns (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) As search for kidnapped teens settles into routine, Israel is exploiting what it sees as a golden opportunity to undermine Hamas’ power in the West Bank. 
Leftie! Traitors! Mentally ill! (Yael Koren, Maariv) Why did left-wingers become standing targets on the internet and what does this say about our society?
In sectarian Middle East, further state divisions may do more harm than good (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) To explain what’s happening in Iraq and Syria, the West is relying on conservative models and Orientalism, not analyzing the reality.
Let's face it, our neighbors are not like us (Noah Klieger, Yedioth/Ynet) Other states would have turned Abbas' wife into bargaining chip until kidnapped citizens' return.
Complex theater behind Arab teen's pledge of loyalty to Israel (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Video of MK Zoabi's cousin denouncing kidnappers of Israeli teens and declaring 'Am Yisrael Chai' makes one wonder if it was commissioned by Israel's hasbarah. But maybe it's really an antidote to despair.
'Shrapnel in Israel's backside' is bleeding (Yariv Oppenheimer, Yedioth/Ynet) Teens' abduction was expected, as loss of hope on Palestinian side and Israeli unwillingness to compromise are blowing up in our faces.
Security wins another bloated victory (Haaretz Editorial) Yair Lapid has turned out to be a weak minister who makes pacts with the wrong people.

Interviews: 

Cyber War - The battles between right and left are underway. The zone - at this point - is on the social networks. A look from inside
With thousands of followers, many of whom believe in him, Yotam Zamari became the big mouth of the right-wing, who the virtual homes of the leftists. Cyberbullying or basic freedom of expression? Is he a nationalist explainer or an obsessed. (Interviewed by Eyal Levy in Maariv magazine)

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