APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday March 24, 2015

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Netanyahu and Bennett discussed advancing Jewish Nation State and (anti-human rights) NGOs bills
• Prime Minister: I’m sorry that my statements on Election Day hurt Arabs of Israel
• It’s not an apology, it’s a policy // Barak Ravid
• Obama’s Chief of Staff: “The occupation must end”
• Due to the freezing of Palestinian Authority monies: IDF training ahead of violent conflict in West Bank
• Education Ministry completing process of monitoring textbook prices – starting next study year
• Seven children killed in Brooklyn fire buried in Israel
• Take care of the economy // Haaretz Editorial

• The apology – Netanyahu to Arabs of Israel: I’m sorry for my words
• With great sorrow // Nahum Barnea says apology was not for Arabs
• Herzog: Talk about unity (government) – spin, we will sit in opposition
• Kaddish to 7 children (killed in Brooklyn fire)
• Mommy, stop! Ultrasound shows how fetus reacts to mother smoking

• Netanyahu to Arabs of Israel: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it
• Justified suspicions // Ben Caspit
• Don’t surrender (- don’t agree to a Palestinian state) // Kalman Libskind
• 500 porno video clips found in home of “Little girls hunter”
• ״I sacrificed everything” – Died in Brooklyn, buried in Jerusalem
• Defeating the (Ashkenazi-Mizrachi) division: Educational and social activities on ‘Good Deeds Day’ across the country

• White House intervention is crossing all borders // Boaz Bismuth
• Netanyahu apologized: “I didn’t mean to hurt the Arab public”; Arab List (sic - Joint List): “We don’t accept”; State Department: “Words are not enough, we want action”
• Not skipping Passover abroad
• “7 roses were cut” – 7 children buried after dying in Brooklyn fire 
• Yes, Beni Begin is a man of honor // Dror Eydar
• Race to White House opened: Republican Ted Kruz to run
• IDF preparing for flare-up in Judea and Samaria in coming months

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News Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Israeli Arabs he was ‘sorry’ he offended them, (which neither the Israeli Arabs, the Israeli analysts nor the Americans bought) and received enough recommendations to form a government, while the defense establishment sent him a warning of violence breaking out in the West Bank due to the Israeli government withholding Palestinian Authority monies - making top news in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

**Netanyahu said he was “sorry” that his words (‘warning’ Jewish voters on Election Day that “Arabs were voting in droves” - video with English translation here) were hurtful to Israeli Arabs. That wasn't his intention, he said. What the Israeli commentators noted wryly was that 1.) Netanyahu didn’t apologize for what he said as if it were something wrong, racist, hurtful. He apologized for offending, i.e for it being interpreted as offensive. Boaz Bismuth, reporter and top political commentator at the Netanyahu mouthpiece, Israel Hayom, made that clear when he wrote: “What Netanyahu said was interpreted by Israeli Arabs as a hurtful comment.” Neither Netanyahu nor Bismuth recognized for what it was: a hurtful and racist comment. Maariv’s Ben Caspit wrote that Netanyahu didn’t even really apologize. He only “expressed sorrow.” 2.) Netanyahu spoke before a group of Likud-friendly Arabs, Druze, and Circassian leaders. None of the Arabs elected to Knesset, or central Arab leaders in Israel, were invited to the apology, to which Ayman Oudeh, chairman of the Joint (Arab) List, Israel’s third largest party, said: "We won the votes of 90% of Israeli Arabs, but Netanyahu wants to cherry pick." The Joint List rejected the apology and demanded that Netanyahu act for equality for Arabs in Israel and stop his ‘racist legislation,’ such as the Jewish Nation State bill. Indeed, Haaretz+ reported that Netanyahu met with Habayit Hayehudi's Naftali Bennett and discussed advancing legislation of the Jewish nation-state law. 3.) According to Yedioth’s Nahum Barnea, Haaretz’s Barak Ravid and Maariv’s Ben Caspit, the apology was not for the Arabs, but for the ears of US President Barack Obama, the Jewish American community, and the European leaders.
 
However, the US was not convinced, the Hebrew papers noted. State Department Spokesman Marie Sharf said, “He said diametrically opposing things in the matter of a week...What we're looking for now are actions and policies." And at the J Street National Conference, Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough echoed the lack of trust by the US administration and said that 50 years of Israeli occupation must end. Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker also harshly criticized Netanyahu at the J Street conference in Washington, saying that U.S.-Israel relations were ‘toxic’ and harder to alleviate due to their personal nature. Only Israel Hayom's Boaz Bismuth charged the White House with intervening too much in Israel's internal affairs.
 
That said, Netanyahu will be forming the next Israeli government after garnering 67 recommendations from newly elected MKs in his favor. Zionist Camp and Yesh Atid said they would not join a Netanyahu coalition.  
 
Meanwhile, the Israeli military is preparing for a possible violent uprising in the West Bank, which it expects might breakout due to the economic difficulties faced by Palestinians following Israel’s continued freezing of Palestinian Authority tax revenues. Interestingly, the newspapers all explained today that the reason the IDF and Israel has recently allowed an increase in the number of Palestinian laborers allowed to work in Israel and in the settlements, and an increase in the number of entry visas for Palestinian merchants from the West Bank into Israel was to alleviate the economic hardship in order to avoid it backfiring on Israelis. All the papers reported the same story today suggesting the reporters were together receiving a briefing from the IDF, possibly with the intention of sending a message to Israel’s political leaders. Maariv was most specific, writing that the defense establishment fears that if Israel does not release the Palestinian funds and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ international moves – i.e. joining the International Criminal Court - are blocked, then the West Bank will ignite. 
 
Despite threatening to halt security coordination with Israel over the money, the Palestinian Authority has continued to cooperate. But a Hamas official called on Fatah to halt its security coordination and negotiations with Israel. Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmad Bahr said Fatah should return to "resistance" instead of talks.
 
Meanwhile, the IDF is training soldiers from elite units in tunnel warfare, as part of its lessons from Operation Protective Edge. Interestingly, Maariv reported that the Israeli residents living around the Gaza perimeter deny any danger from tunnels. Contrary to media reports that the noise of excavations can be heard, the Eshkol Regional Council made it clear that the allegations are baseless, "it never happened…Since the war the area has been quiet.” Ynet also noted that the IDF sees a low threat of unconventional warfare, after Syria’s chemical weapons were disposed of.

Quick Hits:

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Features:

J Street U students plot rebellion against Jewish right-wing’s big money
he liberal lobby’s campus activists launch a campaign against right-wing donors’ 'stranglehold' over communal groups, and Hillel is first in line. The students’ newly militant tone is a function of their growing confidence as their numbers continue to swell throughout colleges and universities in the U.S. (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+)
The BDS effect: Should Israeli artists hide where they're from?
Amid the rise of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, actors, musicians and dancers have to decide if they're Israeli artists or artists from Israel. Or maybe they'll hide the fact altogether. (Gili Izikovich, Yair Ashkenazi and Gil Naveh, Haaretz+)
It’s time Netanyahu says in a clear voice that a Palestinian state is not a realistic solution (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) While the US President sticks his nose in the internal affairs of Israel and aims for a vengeful confrontation with the Prime Minister, it’s more appropriate that the latter declare his position, despite all the difficulties. 
The clandestine role Israel played in establishing Singapore’s army
Asian country’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday, broke the silence about IDF involvement in his 2000 autobiography. (Gili Cohen, Haaretz+)
Far-left parties more popular among soldiers, election results show 
Though most soldiers voted for the right, a greater percentage of soldiers voted for the left than they did two years ago. (Judy Maltz, Haaretz+) 

Commentary/Analysis:

Netanyahu's half-apology can't fix the real problem: His policy (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) The sincerity of the prime minister's gesture will be tested by his actions in the upcoming term: Will he allow anti-democratic legislation, or try to treat 20 percent of the population as equals?
There is no abyss between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Extremists on both sides are trying to create a war between ethnic groups, but it's just insanity versus insanity, hatred versus hatred. In reality, Israel has a much more beautiful face.  
The Likud conquered the middle class (Rotem Starkman, Haaretz+) Election analysis: Zionist Union may have gained more seats in 2015 than two years ago, but Shelly Yacimovich was actually a bigger draw among the middle and lower middle classes. 
Dr. Netanyahu and Mr. Bibi: There is a Prime Minister for routine days and there is a campaigner for elections (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The Prime Minister of routine days disavowed the campaigner of the election period, but the Americans did not buy it. Wherever you look, Netanyahu will encounter a concrete wall.
The demise of the arrogant Left (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The aloof Israeli Left has failed because it trampled Jewish nation's dream. 
Is this the last generation of liberal Jews who will love Israel? (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) What should have been a heartwarming performance from David Broza and Peter Yarrow was actually a troubling view of the deepening rift between Israel and the U.S. 
A guide to restoring the US-Israel friendship (Eytan Gilboa, Yedioth/Ynet) Both Obama and Netanyahu must overcome their toxic dynamic, and while it's not going to be easy, the challenges they face and their shared interests mean they cannot allow personal animosity to dictate their actions.
The US bubble: Washington is having difficulty recovering from Netanyahu’s victory (Shmuel Rosner, Maariv) Even the Obama administration and American Jewish organizations misread the voters here. Israel may now need someone  not only to stop Washington from its galloping to an agreement with Iran, but also the US galloping to punish Jerusalem. 
Obama punishes Israel for picking Netanyahu (Isi Leibler, Israel Hayom) Instead of accepting the will of the Israeli people in good faith, the Obama administration has effectively declared war against Netanyahu.
Turkey's Erdogan ratchets up war on the media (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) In the run-up to elections, persecution of journalists and efforts to reenact a draconian law precede the president’s bid to amend the constitution and alter his country’s form of governance.
Obama oversteps (Richard Baehr, Israel Hayom) This week has demonstrated that when the president becomes really upset with someone, his cool facade melts away and he morphs into a very unattractive figure.
Kahlon must not lend credibility to an extremist government (Sefi Rachlevsky, Haaretz+) The leader of Kulanu must build an axis with Zionist Union over socioeconomic issues and avoid joining Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. 
Boehner visiting Israel in effort to blunt Obama's pursuit of Iran (Seth Lipsky, Haaretz+) Boehner's show of support for Jerusalem is in opposition to the U.S. president advancing a new foreign policy at the expense of a key ally and despite Congress' objection.
 

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