APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday July 17, 2014

Quote of the day:

---

A humanitarian ceasefire following the IDF killing of four children on a Gaza beach made top headlines in today's Hebrew newspapers. Meanwhile, negotiations are to begin indirectly in Egypt between representatives of Israel and Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is part of the picture.

The Israeli airstrike that killed four Palestinian children on a beach took place right before the eyes of Guardian correspondent Peter Beaumont who was sitting on the beach-side patio of his hotel. Other journalists were present and ran to help the injured children only discovering afterward that four more were killed.

The Israeli papers all put it on their front pages, but some of the titles were so vague it made it unclear that the children were killed by an Israeli airstrike. After numerous calls from reporters, the IDF put out a statement saying it was a 'tragic event' and attempted to indirectly blame Hamas.  Shortly before their deaths, Haaretz posted a video on their website of military analyst Amos Harel saying that Israel is caring more for Gaza civilians than the U.S. did for Iraqi civilians. Speaking a few hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Hamas was committing war crimes and that Gaza must be demilitarized. After the killing of the four children, the UN asked Israel for a humanitarian ceasefire and Israel agreed. Humanitarian organizations had already expressed concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
 
THE CEASEFIRE TO-BE:
Indirect negotiations begin today in Cairo between Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad over the ceasefire, and the Hebrew papers began telling more about Hamas' conditions for a cease-fire: to begin with, an end to the economic siege on Gaza. Ynet writes that Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen is representing Israel in the talks, with both parties sitting in separate rooms and communicating indirectly through brokers.
 
Yesterday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took center stage in the negotiations, possibly posing a problem for Israel. Abbas met in Cairo with Hamas official Moussa Abu-Marzouk and today he meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi. Haaretz's Arab affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el, wrote that this will mean that Israel will have to accept the Palestinian president not just as a mediator but as a party to a ceasefire agreement, which conflicts with its policy of separating between Hamas and Fatah. An Egyptian source told Bar'el that the reason the Egyptian proposal was discussed with Israel and Abbas before it was presented to Hamas was not the tension between Egypt and Hamas, but rather because Cairo now views Abbas as the primary address, which is why in the proposal it referred to “Palestinian factions” rather than to Hamas.  

Haaretz's Barak Ravid reveals that the Egyptian ceasefire document was the result of a phone call between Netanyahu and al-Sisi that was prompted by Quartet envoy Tony Blair. Interestingly, senior Israeli officials and Western diplomats said the reason the Egyptian cease-fire initiative was so short-lived is that it was prepared hastily and was not coordinated with Hamas.

Despite, Israel's hopes that Qatar and Turkey will not have a hand in the negotiations, it appears they will, to the benefit of the Palestinians. On Tuesday Qatari ruler, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, went to Turkey and met with Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, wrote Bar'el. A Turkish source told him “the intent of Turkey and Qatar is not to suggest their own cease-fire, or to pull the rug out from under the feet of Egypt as the mediator, but to offer Hamas economic aid.” This is also why Abbas’ involvement in the negotiations is essential, since it is assumed that he could get Israel to permit Palestinian banks to pay the salaries of about 45,000 Hamas government clerks, to ease the restrictions at the crossings and arrange for a quiet and controlled release of Hamas prisoners, writes Bar'el.

The Palestinians were not the only ones to blast the Egyptian ceasefire draft, which was considered also by Israelis as a pro-Israel document. Haaretz+ reports that pan-Arab media blasted the Egyptian document, saying it put Hamas in a no-win situation and gave a prize to Israel. Azmi Bishara, the fugitive former Knesset member who now heads the Arab Center for Research and Policy in Doha, Qatar, wrote in the pan-Arab alaraby.co.uk that the offer gave no relief to Gaza, nor freedom for the Hamas members recently returned to Israeli prisons. "This Egyptian declaration represents a stab in the back to the resistance and the people of Gaza. … [T]his declaration – which took on the guise of an 'initiative' – was meant to prevent the resistance from securing any political gains. Its result will be to hold the resistance responsible for not agreeing to a ceasefire."
  
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted that if it weren't for Turkey and Qatar, Hamas would have accepted the proposal. “Hamas was ready to consider the Egyptian proposal favorably but Qatar wanted to screw the Egyptians and told them not to accept it,” Lieberman said.    
 
Maariv reported that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are offering a 10-year truce, if Israel fulfills their conditions, the first of which, according to Maariv, is is the withdrawal of Israeli military tanks from the border fence area to a distance that enables Gaza farmers to access their fields and tend them freely.

---

Crisis Quick Hits:

---

Other News:

Commentary/Analysis:

The way to achieve real quiet in Gaza (Haaretz Editorial) Israel should have strengthened Mahmoud Abbas and enables him to become a strong regional leader.  
Hamas' rejectionism helps Israel (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) It is now clear to the world that it is Hamas, not Israel, that wants to continue the fighting.
Would you want to live in the new Israel that is beckoning? (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) It will not tolerate any opinion that is different; the people will speak in unison, like a choir; the media will declaim statements dictated by the government. 
Strike and seek a solution (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Striking Gaza terrorists while seeking a diplomatic solution is the right approach, not the irresponsible suggestions from both ends of the Lieberman-Levy spectrum. 
The only way Israelis can win the PR battle: Die more (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) For now, all Israel can do is continue to hunker down and take comfort in the fact that while its image may be bleeding, its citizens aren’t.
On leadership and courage (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) A true leader must sometimes oppose the whims of the masses.
Is Netanyahu fighting just Hamas or the two-state solution as well? (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) If Abbas had declared that because of the Gaza War he no longer supports two states, American Jewish groups would have screamed with fury.
Cinema Sderot: The world is not with us (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) So what will the world remember? That Hamas fired missiles at Israel? That Hamas breached the cease-fire? No. The world will remember a tweeted picture of Sderot residents watching explosions in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas challenge and Israel's wasted years (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) When the rockets stop falling and the fighter jets stop bombing, we will have to rethink the threats we face.
Israel must not become a paper tiger (Prof. Ron Breiman, Israel Hayom) Squeaking out a draw is not the same as restoring deterrence.
Hamas, not Israel, is the real enemy of the Palestinians (Alan M. Dershowitz, Haaretz+) To Gaza’s innocent civilians: Demand a ‘Gaza Spring’ and rid yourself of Hamas’ violent theocrats and kleptocrats, who love Palestinian children less than they hate Israel. 
Accepting truce was a courageous move (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) Netanyahu did the right thing when he agreed to hold fire. Has Israel's power of deterrence suffered in any way because of a few hours of ceasefire?
Israeli pilots and blind obedience? That’s nonsense (Former IDF pilot Nehemia Dagan, Haaretz+) Gideon Levy should be careful about the way he criticizes our pilots and other troops. After all, we’re fighting for our lives here. 
Rogue MKs beware (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Danny Danon's dismissal as deputy defense minister will afford the prime minister the political calm he needs for the duration of the Gaza campaign.
There are situations that require the use of physical force (Avi Shilon, Haaretz+) Hamas is not going away, and it has proven that it stops only after it has absorbed some blows.
Only Egypt can end the fighting (Shimon Shiffer, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel's intelligence community sees Cairo as only real platform capable of influencing Hamas.
Israel is in no rush to crush Hamas government (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) IDF fears that, without Hamas, Gaza could descend into a Somalia-like situation, in which dozens of gangs or clans would take over various parts of the strip. 
Netanyahu did right by the cease-fire (MK Nachman Shai, Israel Hayom) Collecting political legitimacy points overseas and at home will lend the IDF the support it needs to carry out the mission at hand.
Show support for Israel in the U.S., don't engage pro-Palestinian extremism (Elka Looks, Haaretz+) Pro-Palestinian protestors have a history of extreme rhetoric and hate-speech in the Bay Area, and their recent rallies show they have only become more vocal and vitriolic with time.Iron Dome is a tactical treasure but strategic danger (Israel Harel, Haaretz+) How many more rockets can be intercepted until one slips past and sows death and devastation? Then there will be a ground incursion.
Anatomy of a failure: The cease-fire that wasn't (Haaretz reporters, Haaretz+) Four Haaretz analysts examine this week's abortive attempt to end the fighting.

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