News Nosh 10.07.13

by APN 10/07/13
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APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday October 07, 2013

 

Quote of the day:

"When I was 20-years-old, I realized that my first reaction to hearing Arabic on the streets was fear. I wanted it to be different for my son - that Arabic also be a language of joy, fun and coexistence."
--Adva Shay explains why she decided to send her son to a Jewish-Arab bilingual preschool.**


Front Page News:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • The bubble is expanding - Prices of apartments in Israel increased by 72% in 7 years
  • Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's health deteriorates
  • The return to the Gaza border region - A year after Operation Pillar of Defense: 53 new members joined Kibbutz Yad Mordechai
  • Good news: Rise in life expectancy of Israelis
  • Daddy's champion - 12-year-old Riva Hundiashvili climbs to top of tennis elite with photo of her father, who was killed in a terror attack

Maariv

Israel Hayom

 

News Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gives a hawkish speech at Bar-Ilan discussing Iran and the Palestinian issue, questions remain regarding the attack on the girl in Psagot settlement, which Netanyahu blamed on Palestinian incitement. A minister demands Netanyahu share information on the peace talks, another says the talks must continue because they help Israel put pressure on Iran and 14 centrist and left-wing MKs travel to Ramallah to express their support for the peace process. And, Israel Democracy Institute's annual Democracy Index reveals fascinating things about Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs.

There was much talk that Netanyahu would share his vision for Israel ahead of the year 2020 in his second Bar-Ilan speech including a long-term interim agreement with the Palestinians. Instead he repeated things he has said in the past, including his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and give up their demand for the return of refugees. What was new was his claim that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began in an attack on Jewish immigrants in 1921. He also repeated his belief that it was ridiculous to say that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the root of instability in the Middle East.

Regarding Iran he said it wants to control the Middle East and it would not get peace unless it dismantled its nuclear program - something that the West is not demanding. The manhunt for the shooter - or stabber, the security forces are not sure which - of nine-year-old Noam Glick from Psagot settlement continues, and so do the questions. Her injury is considered light. The papers noted that not only is it unclear what was the weapon, but whether the attacker, believed to be Palestinian partly because of a hole in the fence around the settlement, acted alone or with others. Netanyahu blamed the attack on Palestinian incitement by the Palestinian Authority.

Haaretz's Amos Harel noted that right-wing ministers are using the attack to pressure against peace talks. Indeed, numerous Israeli cabinet members expressed their opposal to the peace talks at the Sunday cabinet meeting. Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) demanded from Netanyahu that he report on his talks with the Palestinians and asked him to provide details weekly and said: "I suggest that the prime minister stop, reassess the situation and decide how to move forward." However, according to Haaretz, Netanyahu did not respond and Ariel said he intends to repeat his demand every week. And, 17 MKs from coalition parties - most from Habayit Hayehudi, Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud - sent a letter to Netanyahu against the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Interestingly, (Likud) Minister Gilad Erdan may have revealed the real reason Israel is participating in the talks, when he responded to Ariel. "I don't think we need to stop negotiations," he said. "It's important for Israel on the international level, especially at a time when we're trying to form an international coalition to stop Iran's nuclear program."
 
Nevertheless, some 14 Israeli MKs were not deterred by the attack and travelled today from Jerusalem to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and express their support for the peace process. Minister Yaakov Katz called on them not to go in the wake of the attack in Psagot, as did Deputy Minister Avi Wartzman. But MK Hilik Bar (Labor) said, "The peace process is more important than letting its enemies defeat it. Both sides, the Israeli and Palestinian, cannot let murderers and terror win and perpetuate the conflict between us." Besides MKS from Labor and Meretz, MK David Tzur from Hatuna will join. MKs from Yesh Atid were prohibited from attending by their chairman Yair Lapid. (NRG Hebrew)

A democracy poll among Israeli adults shared numerous interesting facts, such as that almost half of all Israeli Jews believe that Jewish citizens should have more rights than non-Jewish citizens, a majority think that a Jewish majority in Israel is more important than sovereignty over the West Bank and that fewer Jewish Israelis favor policies that encourage Arab emigration out of Israel, compared with the past, but still high at 44%. Arabs no longer top the list of neighbors Israeli Jews would consider undesirable - they took second place to foreign workers. And more than half of Israeli believe that human and civil rights organizations, such as the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and B'Tselem, harm the state. It also found that young Israeli Jews are more patriotic and right-wing in their leanings than their elders. More details from Haaretz, JPost and Maan.
 

Quick Hits:

  • Vengeful' teenage yeshiva students suspected of Jerusalem hate (nationalistically-motivated) crimes - Group of yeshiva students aged 13-16 are suspected of torching vehicles, throwing stones at Arabs. Boys say they acted out of 'hatred for Arabs, revenge for attacks committed against Jews.' The youth pelleted vehicles of Arabs or opened the car doors to assault drivers or spit at them. (Ynet and Haaretz)
  • Palestinian loses testicle, officer won't be jailed - During 2008 operation to apprehend illegal aliens, police officer kicked Palestinian in groin area; doctors forced to remove crushed testicle. Prosecution considers appealing community service sentence. (Ynet)
  • (Day after attack in Psagot settlement) Clashes near Ramallah after settlers attack Palestinians - Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians on Sunday north of Ramallah, when forces entered the al-Zira neighborhood after settlers attacked Palestinians and vandalized several cars. (Maan)
  • Israeli settlers from Ariel raze Salfit agricultural land - Settlers used construction machinery to crush rocks to use for paving stones, leveling the land for construction work to expand the illegal settlement. (Maan)
  • IDF soldiers indifferent to kidnapping threat - Despite escalation of violence in West Bank, surveys conducted within Judea and Samaria Division indicate abduction threat does not concern troops; army fears illegal visits by Israelis to Area A will end with kidnapping. (Ynet)
  • PA security spokesman says West Bank 'under control' - Palestinian Authority forces have security in the West Bank under control and will continue to deal with anyone who violates the law, security services spokesman Adnan Damiri said. (Maan)
  • Western Galilee memorial vandalized, names removed - Pillars listing names of Israelis badly damaged, some plaques defaced, shattered.  Arabic graffiti scrawled. Second such incident since late September. Police launches investigation. (Israel Hayom)
  • IDF mental health chief: Media coverage of suicide figures could spur copycats - Officer says suicides are ever less of a problem: 'In 2012, 14 soldiers committed suicide; there hasn't been a figure like that for 40 years.' (Haaretz)
  • 9 Palestinian prisoners serving 'longest sentences on earth' - Palestinian organization Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights revealed that nine Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails have the "longest sentences" of any imprisoned human being worldwide. (Maan)
  • From Moses to Machiavelli, Shalem College sets up shop as Israel's answer to the Ivy League - Shalem College in Jerusalem offers Israel students an alternative, well-rounded, four-year bachelor's degree program that focuses on learning rather than career training. (Haaretz)
  • **Bilingual education flourishes in Israel, but only in cities' - My first reaction to hearing Arabic on the streets was fear,' says one mother. (Haaretz)
  • How to persuade soldiers to move where their base goes? Army hiring PR firm - A massive relocation from central to the Negev Desert is gearing up. One hurdle: Army evidently worried its people don't want to go. (Haaretz)
  • 44 dead as divided Egypt marks 40th anniversary of Yom Kippur War - Fighting began after supporters and opponents of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Arab and Jewish in special program for negotiation skills heard real-life experiences - Some 300 Arab and Jewish high school students, who spent the past year honing their negotiation skills in a unique program partnering the Amal School Network and Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation heard about a kidnapping and Jewish-Arab proposal for land disputes. (Haaretz)
  • Hezbollah has long-range chemical missiles, says Lebanese MP - The missile bases were built with Iranian help, Khaled al-Dhaher tells Saudi newspaper. (Haaretz)
  • Suspected Iranian spy charged with espionage, aiding enemy in war - Ali Mansouri gave Iran intel on airport security in Israel, photos of U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, indictment says. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Iran says at least four arrested for trying to sabotage nuclear site - Individuals 'were caught red-handed and their interrogations are ongoing,' says head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Young Iranians combat Netanyahu with 'jeans protest' - Israel's prime minister addressed Iran over the heads of the ayatollahs, and its youth responded with anger and ridicule. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Iran FM says powers must pitch new nuclear proposals - 'Previous offer is history,' Zarif insists, referring to proposal requiring Iran to suspend uranium enrichment; deal can be reached to allay international concerns, he hopes. (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:

The Christian Zionists who brought an Israeli agricultural community back to life
Thanks in good part to the influx of members of the industrious Beth El Christian community, who created their own kibbutz in its midst, Moshav Magan Shaul has in the last decade been able to write off debts, offer gainful employment and draw former members who left to come home. (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:

The top 5 times Israeli policy shot itself in the foot (Asher Schechter, Haaretz) Jerusalem's growl in response to the Iranian charm offensive is just the latest episode in classic Israeli PR boomerangs.
Netanyahu may not be wrong, but his threat is hollow (Reuven Pedatzur, Haaretz) In the West, the Israeli prime minister is seen as a troublemaker, trying to sabotage the best opportunity for U.S.-Iran rapprochement since the 1979 revolution. 
The importance of self-doubt (Military Intelligence Director Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Israel Hayom) We must cultivate self-questioning to examine reality from different angles. 
Once there were two friends (Hagai Segal, Ynet) Cracks in Lapid-Bennett alliance threaten to bury several positive government initiatives.
Stop milking Holocaust guilt (Yitzhak Laor, Haaretz) It is said that it is comfortable living here as an Israeli, it's easy to milk the Germans. But the neo-yordim did not learn the skill of milking on their own. The State of Israel is the greatest of all teachers of emotional extortion. 
Palestinians do have options for change and resistance (Mazin Qumsiyeh, Maan) Surely, we as a people can and do chart a path forward. What are our options outside of sloganism or defeatism? That is to say, outside of current policies of endless talk or endless negotiations while weak?
Israel's new Iran policy is the stick and the stick (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz) Netanyahu has nothing new to say - not about an agreement with the Palestinians, not about relations with Iran, not for Israel's middle class and certainly not for its poor. 
Deterrence, not threats (Ami Dor-On, Maariv) Dor-On writes that given the Obama administration's evident disinterest in military action against Iran's nuclear installations, "Israel will, apparently, have to accept the depressing fact that the day is not far off when Iran will have a nuclear weapon." Dor-On calls on the government to draft a new policy based on deterrence and believes that, "Only a clear and credible Israeli signal regarding the awful price that the Iranians would pay for any attempt at a nuclear attack against Israel, will prevent Iran's rulers from planning to use missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads."
The 'other' Yom Kippur War (Khaled Diab, Haaretz) Both Egyptians and Israelis are (separately) marking the 40th anniversary of the same war of 1973, yet are unable to agree on its name nor even its date - let alone its outcome.
Settling old scores at the nation's expense (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Talk of Moshe Dayan's alleged plan to use nuclear warheads during the Yom Kippur War damages Israel's nuclear ambiguity. 
Common factor to Palestinian attacks on little girl and soldier: No advance intel (Amos Harel, Haaretz) Recent acts of West Bank terror fan flames of right-wing indignation over renewed peace talks.

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