APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday December 29, 2014
Quote of the day:
"As a result of the most recent massacre in Gaza, an atrocity carried out in our name against
nearly 2 million people – half of them children – we choose not to be silent."
--From letter signed by graduates of elite Jerusalem high school calling for a draft refusal.**
--From letter signed by graduates of elite Jerusalem high school calling for a draft refusal.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- Police drafts senior state witness who recorded Lieberman’s associates
- The government of the lobbyists and the machers (Yiddish for shady deal makers) // Gidi Weitz
- Rift between Deri and Yishai deepens
- Ramat Hasharon mayor convicted of fraud
- Suspicion of bribery at Electricity Corp: Senior officials arrested
- (Bank embezzler) Eti Alon to be released from prison 5 years early
- Plane disappeared in eastern Asia, fear for lives of 162 passengers and crew
- Education Ministry running without a minister, annual trips and testing for learning disabilities frozen
- Channel 10 employees darkened the screen: Netanyahu not offering a solution, only three days before the channel will close down
- The investigation expands – Moshe Leon, Avigdor Lieberman’s associate, suspected of brokering bribery and sent to house arrest
- Galant joints Kahlon
- They darkened the screen – Channel 10 employees are fighting for their existence
- “My son is not Jewish, Muslim or Christian. His is an Israeli who is fighting for his country” – The Chilean woman who married a Bedouin: The fascinating story of Blanca Heib, the mother of the soldier who was injured on the Gaza border
- Shas’ hot tape recording - Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: “Deri is too independent, that’s not evil?”
- Member of committee for choosing medicines for health basket: Because of low budget, the decision this year was particularly difficult
- Abu Mazen goes to the UN – Political sources: The new Palestinian proposal is extreme
- Investigation of Yisrael Beiteinu: The offset method – (Minister) Faina Kirschenbaum and others took as commissions ¼ of the monies they transferred to public bodies
- Channel 10 darkened the screen and attacked Netanyahu: “The Prime Minister refuses to find a solution for the channel”
- Moshe Leon is the Lieberman associate interrogated in the affair
- Lieberman is frustrated and is turning Left // Haim Shine
- “Deri? Why should I take a thief” – Uproar in Shas: Tape of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef from 2008 revealed
- Shas’ black box // Yehuda Shelzinger
- Mordechai Gilat on the conviction of the mayor of Ramat Hasharon, Yitzhak Rochberger, of fraud, breach of trust and forgery
- Wave of arrests at Electricity Co: Deputy CEO (Yaakov) Yasha Hain suspected of receiving bribes in Siemens affair; five others arrested
- The woman who stole 250 million on the way home: After 12 years behind bars – decision for early release of Eti Alon
- The Palestinians are going to the UN: Steinitz: “We must consider dismantling the Palestinian Authority”
- (Likud MK) Uzi Landau resigns: “It’s time to move on”
- Good news for public sector: minimum wage to increase
- Female officer, nail colors – order: Red nail polish returns to IDF career women
News Summary:
Corruption was the theme of the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers, from the arrest of the associate of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the investigation of his party members to arrests of top people in Israel Electricity Company and a 2008 recording revealed of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef saying he prefers Eli Yishai over Aryeh Deri because the latter is a ‘thief.’ However, the Palestinian’s UN bid for an end to the occupation only made it into Haaretz and Maariv. Maariv also reported on the petition to annul the amendment to the law that forces the Arab parties to unite in order to be represented in the Knesset.
Israeli political sources told Maariv that the new Palestinian UN proposal states that in the Palestinian state that will be established at the end of two years, (East) Jerusalem will be the capital and there will be no settlement blocs. According to the Israeli sources, the changes were made after Arab states said that the issues of the settlement blocs and the capital needed to be spelled out otherwise it could be assumed differently. Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahar was not appeased by the changes and said Hamas opposes any plan based on 1967 lines and refuses to even consider Jerusalem as a shared capital. [OH: This is surprising, as Hamas has repeatedly said that it agrees to a Palestinian state on the ’67 borders:
5/2006
4/2008
11/2012
2/2013
9/2014
More quotes by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal about peace with Israel here.
According to Maariv, the proposal will be submitted for a vote at the UN Security Council today. But, according to Haaretz+, the Palestinians will continue consultations until Wednesday and then go to the vote even if the US intends to veto the resolution. Ynet reported that a senior Palestinian Authority security official said that despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ threats to cut off ties with Israel should the Palestinian UN bid fail, security coordination 'will still go on in some capacity.'
Maariv reported that Justice Salim Jubran (the only Arab Justice) rapped the amendment to the law that “forces the Arab sector to unite in one list. This is a problem. There are a number of ideologies and a number of worldviews...Could this not result in the Arab citizen not going to vote?” Jubran was one in a nine-judge panel of Israel’s High Court that is examining the petition in the name of the Arab parties to cancel the amendment to the Knesset law that raised the threshold for a party to enter the Knesset from 2% to 3.5% in the elections. But Justice Elyakim Rubinstein said he did not think that uniting the Arab parties was bad for the Arab population and the Arab parties, saying it is all just speculation at this point. MK Dov Khenin of the Arab-Jewish ‘Hadash’ party said after the hearing: “Is a 25% threshold democratic? That is exactly the percentage of threshold that was actually imposed on the Arab public. An Arab political party that does not have 25% of the votes of its sector will not be able to enter the Knesset."
Corruption was the theme of the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers, from the arrest of the associate of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the investigation of his party members to arrests of top people in Israel Electricity Company and a 2008 recording revealed of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef saying he prefers Eli Yishai over Aryeh Deri because the latter is a ‘thief.’ However, the Palestinian’s UN bid for an end to the occupation only made it into Haaretz and Maariv. Maariv also reported on the petition to annul the amendment to the law that forces the Arab parties to unite in order to be represented in the Knesset.
Israeli political sources told Maariv that the new Palestinian UN proposal states that in the Palestinian state that will be established at the end of two years, (East) Jerusalem will be the capital and there will be no settlement blocs. According to the Israeli sources, the changes were made after Arab states said that the issues of the settlement blocs and the capital needed to be spelled out otherwise it could be assumed differently. Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahar was not appeased by the changes and said Hamas opposes any plan based on 1967 lines and refuses to even consider Jerusalem as a shared capital. [OH: This is surprising, as Hamas has repeatedly said that it agrees to a Palestinian state on the ’67 borders:
5/2006
4/2008
11/2012
2/2013
9/2014
More quotes by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal about peace with Israel here.
According to Maariv, the proposal will be submitted for a vote at the UN Security Council today. But, according to Haaretz+, the Palestinians will continue consultations until Wednesday and then go to the vote even if the US intends to veto the resolution. Ynet reported that a senior Palestinian Authority security official said that despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ threats to cut off ties with Israel should the Palestinian UN bid fail, security coordination 'will still go on in some capacity.'
Maariv reported that Justice Salim Jubran (the only Arab Justice) rapped the amendment to the law that “forces the Arab sector to unite in one list. This is a problem. There are a number of ideologies and a number of worldviews...Could this not result in the Arab citizen not going to vote?” Jubran was one in a nine-judge panel of Israel’s High Court that is examining the petition in the name of the Arab parties to cancel the amendment to the Knesset law that raised the threshold for a party to enter the Knesset from 2% to 3.5% in the elections. But Justice Elyakim Rubinstein said he did not think that uniting the Arab parties was bad for the Arab population and the Arab parties, saying it is all just speculation at this point. MK Dov Khenin of the Arab-Jewish ‘Hadash’ party said after the hearing: “Is a 25% threshold democratic? That is exactly the percentage of threshold that was actually imposed on the Arab public. An Arab political party that does not have 25% of the votes of its sector will not be able to enter the Knesset."
Quick Hits:
- Military police investigating possible crimes in Gaza war - Junior officers being interrogated for incidents in which non-combatant Palestinians died during Operation Protective Edge; senior officers may also be questioned. (Ynet)
- **Graduates of elite Jerusalem high school call for draft refusal - Signatory of letter from dozens of Israel Arts and Sciences Academy alumni: 'Gaza war was straw that broke camel's back.' (Haaretz+)
- Jewish settler runs over 7-year-old Palestinian child near Hebron - Hamada Ali Ayish Qareesh from Zif village south of Hebron was hit Sunday morning by a vehicle driven by an Israeli settler and was evacuated by an Israeli army ambulance to Soroka hospital in Israel. (Maan)
- Activists attempt to construct protest village on confiscated lands - Palestinian popular resistance activists in the southern West Bank on Saturday attempted to build a tent village near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in protest against Israeli confiscation of Palestinian lands. (Maan)
- IDF closes Erez crossing with Gaza after clashes with Palestinians - Three Palestinians hurt by army fire, Ma'an reports; IDF says border crossing to remain shut indefinitely. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Hamas prohibits Gaza children from Israel conciliatory trip - Gaza regime cites need to 'protect culture' of minors, prevent normalization. (Agencies, Haaretz and Maan)
- 3 Hebron school employees fall ill after opening suspicious package - The school employees began suffering from nausea and dizziness immediately after opening an envelope that had arrived from Italy. (Maan)
- Internal IDF report: Army must prepare to cancel mandatory draft - High-ranking military officials have discussed the possibility of discontinuing the mandatory draft model, as has been done in other countries. (Haaretz+)
- Channel 10 halts broadcasts, blames Netanyahu - On-screen photo of Netanyahu and warning of imminent closure follows failed last-minute attempt to bail out indebted station. (Haaretz)
- Moshe Leon named as Lieberman associate questioned in probe - Leon was Lieberman's candidate in the 2013 Jerusalem mayoral race; he joins dozens of officials questioned or arrested already in the Yisrael Beiteinu graft affair. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Israel bans jailed leader from receiving visits for another 3 months - Israel banned Ahmad Saadat, the secretary-general of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine party currently being held in detention, from receiving visitors for another three months on top of the three months he has already been banned. (Maan)
- Holocaust yellow badge on Likud candidate's Facebook page wins him no votes - Minister Silvan Shalom takes down photo after commentators weigh in. (Haaretz)
- MK complains after Israeli envoy to U.S. endorses Netanyahu - Meretz lawmaker demands Civil Service Commission take disciplinary action against Ambassador Ron Dermer. (Haaretz)
- Rival Sephardi rabbis unite to protest draft of yeshiva dropouts - Move will embarrass Eli Yishai and Aryeh Deri in their efforts to emphasize ‘Israeliness’ in their election campaigns. (Haaretz+)
- Apartment rental prices in Israel see 60% rise in past decade - From 2004, average monthly rent rose from NIS 2,295 to 3,680. In Tel Aviv, apartment rental prices skyrocketed by 72% in six years. (Ynet)
- Mossad and CIA fueling Sudan opposition forces, country's president says - Rebel and opposition groups have signed multiple accords calling for peaceful transition to democracy. (Haaretz)
- Turkey slams Israel over attempts to 'reduce Jerusalem's Islamic character' - Ahmet Davutoglu was speaking to reporters in the central Turkish city of Konya on Sunday, a day after meeting with exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshal. Said Turkey backs Palestinians on Temple Mount. (Agencies, Haaretz and Ynet)
- The Ottoman Empire strikes back: Turkish telenovela a hit in Israel - Magnificent Century’ has become an international sensation, with Israelis proving particularly avid fans of the soap opera. Set during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, it has even earned comparisons to ‘Sex and the City.’ (Haaretz+)
- Iran could be behind state hacking campaign, Israeli cyber firm says - Recent cyber attacks on Israel, EU military targets perpetrated by state that misused US-made security software to lead attacks; 'they don't have their own capabilities,' expert says. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Leader of African Hebrew Israelites passes away at age 75 - Ben Ami Ben-Israel passes away a year after finally receiving his Israeli citizenship, leaving behind 2,700 followers in Dimona. (Ynet)
- Journalist Chris Hedges disinvited from U. Penn over Israel-ISIS comparison - Former NYT Middle East bureau chief wrote column comparing ISIS' tactics to that of Jewish guerrillas in 1948; organizer says Hedges isn't suitable to speak at peace conference due to 'stance he's taken.' (Haaretz)
- 2014 sees decline in cruise ship traffic to Israel - Overall trend has its roots in November 2012 conflict between Israel and Hamas , when cruise operators began avoiding Israeli ports for their itineraries. (Ynet)
- Two headstones smashed at Dutch Jewish cemetery - Anti-Semitic incidents increased dramatically in the Netherlands during Israel’s summer operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Year of deaths, and firsts: 2014 in the gay Middle East - Mostly bitter news, but some defiantly sweet: the most important LGBT headlines out of one of the world’s most violently homophobic regions. (Haaretz)
- 1907 letter shows Churchill's relative worried he would convert to Islam - But historian says it wasn't in the cards. (Haaretz+)
Features:
Jews vs. Palestinians, landowners vs. trespassers
Israeli security forces have descended over and over again on Ali Moussa’s family compound in the West Bank and demolished the houses he built. Across the way the settlement of Efrat expands, unchecked. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
A war was here
Hamas’ honor. Demolished infrastructure. Electricity blackouts. High unemployment rates. Rehabilitation of tunnels. Four months to the day after the ceasefire, this is how Gaza looks and this is also how Israel's denial mechanism looks. (Jacky Khougy, Maariv)
Israel says beaten activists should blame themselves
This is not the first time Ta’ayush activists have reported violence by IDF soldiers toward the Palestinians and toward them - but this attack was, in their opinion, especially brutal. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
When a 'good Arab' woos Israeli right-wingers
Anett Haskia, who calls herself an 'Arab Muslim Zionist,' is vying for a slot on Habayit Hayehudi’s Knesset slate. So how did she fare last week at a party gathering in a West Bank settlement? (Roy (Chicky) Arad, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Israeli security forces have descended over and over again on Ali Moussa’s family compound in the West Bank and demolished the houses he built. Across the way the settlement of Efrat expands, unchecked. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
A war was here
Hamas’ honor. Demolished infrastructure. Electricity blackouts. High unemployment rates. Rehabilitation of tunnels. Four months to the day after the ceasefire, this is how Gaza looks and this is also how Israel's denial mechanism looks. (Jacky Khougy, Maariv)
Israel says beaten activists should blame themselves
This is not the first time Ta’ayush activists have reported violence by IDF soldiers toward the Palestinians and toward them - but this attack was, in their opinion, especially brutal. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
When a 'good Arab' woos Israeli right-wingers
Anett Haskia, who calls herself an 'Arab Muslim Zionist,' is vying for a slot on Habayit Hayehudi’s Knesset slate. So how did she fare last week at a party gathering in a West Bank settlement? (Roy (Chicky) Arad, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Is there a way out of US-Israel crisis? (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) Israeli and American officials believe next Israeli government's mission
will be to restore Bush-Sharon understandings which were violated by Netanyahu government. But is that even
possible with the direction Israel's political elite is taking?
No longer a people’s army? IDF's future must be debated in open (Haaretz Editorial) Central place of the military in Israeli life means any talk of moving from a mandatory draft to a professional army must take place in the open.
Netanyahu using Peres as his scapegoat (Erel Margalit, Yedioth/Ynet) Prime minister is incapable of taking responsibility for anything. As long as there is someone to lay the blame on, he can continue failing.
Abbas’ twisted logic (Dan Margali, Israel Hayom) Since Abbas does not want to embarrass America, he would like the U.N. vote to take place as soon as possible -- and lose.
Full of Meretz (energy) (Avshalom Vilan, Maariv) The argument that one should vote for one of the center parties rather than for Meretz, and in the name of pragmatism, reflects the loss of values in our political system.
There already is a Palestinian state, and everyone knows it (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Abbas does not want to sign an agreement with Israel, nor is he capable of implementing it if he were to sign one, and he knows it. He prefers to be a phantom at the UN.
When public funds become politicians' pocket money (Amnon Abramovich, Yedioth/Ynet) In a Finance Committee headed by an ultra-Orthodox MK, funds are channeled to haredi bodies and goals. When committee is headed by a settler, money is transferred to settlement enterprise.
Israel hopeful Qatar-Egypt thaw will restrain Hamas (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Based on indirect messages Hamas has been sending in recent days, Israeli defense establishment believes organization’s leadership remains firmly opposed to any flareup.
Late incitement (Cielo Rozenberg, Maariv) Without any real messages, Netanyahu again returns to his intimidation campaign against Leftists and this time places the Wailing Wall in the center. As if he is forgetting which side of the political spectrum were the ones who brought the Temple Mount to us.
The year BDS became the number one concern for American Jews (Debra Nussbaum Cohen, Haaretz+) Last academic year, Jewish groups faced the 'most organized campaign to demonize Israel,' says Hillel CEO. In response, Jewish organizations have shifted their strategy.
Red card for radicals – A Hadash (new) page (Yaron London, Yedioth) London writes about the dilemma of the communist Jewish-Arab Hadash party in the face of the amendment to the law on the threshold to enter Knesset. The new higher threshold (about minimum four mandates) means the Arab parties must unite in order to enter the Knesset. However, Hadash might be able to enter without uniting and hopes to increase to 5 mandates. London writes that half of the party says it must take the safe route and unite with the other parties, but half the party members say that uniting on an ethnic basis – Arab – would shut out its basic principle: being a joint Jewish-Arab party. The party has always reserved one of its four seats in the Knesset for a Jewish member. If it unites then it will receive fewer seats. London points out that “MK Sarsour, former head of the southern Islamic Movement, has as much in common with the communist secular MK Mohammed Barakeh as Shas’ (ultra-Orthodox mizrachi, anti-feminist, right-wing MK) Eli Yishai has with (secular, feminist, pluralist MK and Meretz party leader) Zehava Gal-On.”
Egypt is right, the new Exodus movie is historically inaccurate (Elon Gilad, Haaretz+) The Egyptian censorship board said last week it was banning ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings due to ‘historical inaccuracies.’ Egypt may be right, but that’s no reason to ban Ridley Scott's movie.
Israel's Russian-Arab bond: stronger than the politics of hatred (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Perhaps the exposure of Yisrael Beiteinu's culture of corruption will cause its voters to shake off the 'patriots' eager to use racism for their selfish purposes.
No longer a people’s army? IDF's future must be debated in open (Haaretz Editorial) Central place of the military in Israeli life means any talk of moving from a mandatory draft to a professional army must take place in the open.
Netanyahu using Peres as his scapegoat (Erel Margalit, Yedioth/Ynet) Prime minister is incapable of taking responsibility for anything. As long as there is someone to lay the blame on, he can continue failing.
Abbas’ twisted logic (Dan Margali, Israel Hayom) Since Abbas does not want to embarrass America, he would like the U.N. vote to take place as soon as possible -- and lose.
Full of Meretz (energy) (Avshalom Vilan, Maariv) The argument that one should vote for one of the center parties rather than for Meretz, and in the name of pragmatism, reflects the loss of values in our political system.
There already is a Palestinian state, and everyone knows it (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Abbas does not want to sign an agreement with Israel, nor is he capable of implementing it if he were to sign one, and he knows it. He prefers to be a phantom at the UN.
When public funds become politicians' pocket money (Amnon Abramovich, Yedioth/Ynet) In a Finance Committee headed by an ultra-Orthodox MK, funds are channeled to haredi bodies and goals. When committee is headed by a settler, money is transferred to settlement enterprise.
Israel hopeful Qatar-Egypt thaw will restrain Hamas (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Based on indirect messages Hamas has been sending in recent days, Israeli defense establishment believes organization’s leadership remains firmly opposed to any flareup.
Late incitement (Cielo Rozenberg, Maariv) Without any real messages, Netanyahu again returns to his intimidation campaign against Leftists and this time places the Wailing Wall in the center. As if he is forgetting which side of the political spectrum were the ones who brought the Temple Mount to us.
The year BDS became the number one concern for American Jews (Debra Nussbaum Cohen, Haaretz+) Last academic year, Jewish groups faced the 'most organized campaign to demonize Israel,' says Hillel CEO. In response, Jewish organizations have shifted their strategy.
Red card for radicals – A Hadash (new) page (Yaron London, Yedioth) London writes about the dilemma of the communist Jewish-Arab Hadash party in the face of the amendment to the law on the threshold to enter Knesset. The new higher threshold (about minimum four mandates) means the Arab parties must unite in order to enter the Knesset. However, Hadash might be able to enter without uniting and hopes to increase to 5 mandates. London writes that half of the party says it must take the safe route and unite with the other parties, but half the party members say that uniting on an ethnic basis – Arab – would shut out its basic principle: being a joint Jewish-Arab party. The party has always reserved one of its four seats in the Knesset for a Jewish member. If it unites then it will receive fewer seats. London points out that “MK Sarsour, former head of the southern Islamic Movement, has as much in common with the communist secular MK Mohammed Barakeh as Shas’ (ultra-Orthodox mizrachi, anti-feminist, right-wing MK) Eli Yishai has with (secular, feminist, pluralist MK and Meretz party leader) Zehava Gal-On.”
Egypt is right, the new Exodus movie is historically inaccurate (Elon Gilad, Haaretz+) The Egyptian censorship board said last week it was banning ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings due to ‘historical inaccuracies.’ Egypt may be right, but that’s no reason to ban Ridley Scott's movie.
Israel's Russian-Arab bond: stronger than the politics of hatred (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Perhaps the exposure of Yisrael Beiteinu's culture of corruption will cause its voters to shake off the 'patriots' eager to use racism for their selfish purposes.
Interviews:
Israeli-Palestinian conflict scene cut from 'The Interview'
Alan Blumenfeld and David Diaan talk to Ynet about movie that sparked international controversy, in which they play Israel's prime minister and Palestinian president who can agree on one thing - they both love falafel! (Ynet)
Alan Blumenfeld and David Diaan talk to Ynet about movie that sparked international controversy, in which they play Israel's prime minister and Palestinian president who can agree on one thing - they both love falafel! (Ynet)
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.