APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday April 8, 2015 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Obama: At the end of the agreement, Iran is likely to shorten breakout time
• In the shadow of the diplomatic dispute, Erdogan visits Teheran
• Contacts to rescue thousands of refugees left in the Yarmouk camp in Damascus
• Likud advancing 2-year budget – to ensure a stable Netanyahu government
• For second time in 5 months: Ammonia leak at Emek Hefer factory
• The anti-establishment Republican running for President of US
• Expensive truffles, soon made in Israel

• Tragedy at the river – 40-year-old fell 50 meters to death
• Iran will jump to a bomb at end of nuclear agreement
• After him, the flood // Alex Fishman
• Hilary on edge of declaring: I’m running (for President)
• “Eritrea is not dangerous” – according to a British report; Significance: asylum seekers won’t receive refugee status
• “Probe the bitter battle at Sajaieh (sic- Shujaiyeh) – say families of those killed in APC following testimonies Yedioth revealed

• Sources in Jerusalem: We believe Iran
• US President to US media: Israel’s suspicions against Teheran are justified
• Iranian Foreign Minister: We will reveal the memorandum of the agreement and the lies of the US
• Next week Israel will hold confab for Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with representatives from Arab states
• Battle over Shabbat – Internet game mocking Transportation Minister (who called people who want public transportation on Shabbat ‘Leftists’) was circulated
• Horrors of battle – War photo – 9 months after APC disaster in Sajaiyeh (sic – Shujaiyeh) neighborhood (of Gaza City), during which 7 Golani soldiers were killed from an anti-tank missile, the first photos from the incident were released

• Obama admits: In the future Iran will be able to achieve a bomb immediately
• Steinitz: Nuclear agreement does not give responsibility for even a year
• Tiebreaker in the Senate // Avraham Ben-Zvi
• After him, the flood // Boaz Bismuth
• Medicine for cancer that treats baldness
• Holiday hike ended in tragedy: 41-year-old fell to his death

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News Summary:
The top story in today’s main Israeli newspapers was the statement by US President Barack Obama that 'justified' Israeli concerns: 13 years after the start of the nuclear agreement, Iran could breakout a nuclear bomb in no time. Meanwhile, Hamas fights ISIS in Yarmouk refugee camp and in the Gaza Strip and the French prepare for a new UN proposal for a Palestinian state.

The Israeli papers appeared to be scaring Israelis with today's headlines about Iran's potential military nuclear ability using Obama's quotes about Iran's zero breakout period 13 years from now. Maariv and Haaretz seemed to have gotten the gist of what Obama was saying, noting that he also told NPR in the interview that “we're purchasing for 13, 14, 15 years of assurances that the breakout is at least a year" and that after that period ends: "We have much better ideas about what it is that their program involves. We have much more insight into their capabilities [as a result of tight inspections during the deal]." But Yedioth and Israel Hayom wrote that after the 13 years, the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb “will become the next President’s headache.” Nevertheless, Yedioth noted that the White House explained afterward that the President was not properly understood and he was trying to say that with no deal, the world would be even less equipped to stop a bomb.
 
However, officials in Jerusalem told Yedioth that they believed that once sanctions were removed Iran would be able to produce a nuclear bomb “within a very short time – just a few weeks.” As the US and Iran made contradictory declarations about the contents of the agreement, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reportedly said he would publish the agreement because of the “US lies” about its contents. He also reportedly said that Iran could build a bomb today but isn't doing so because of the Ayatollah's religious decree, not because of sanctions. Officials in Jerusalem told Maariv that they believe Iran when it said it was promised the immediate removal of sanctions. Decision-makers in Jerusalem are giving the cold shoulder to what they are calling the ‘Niceness Attack’ by the US administration. They say the wave of interviews, the promises and the hints to invite Netanyahu soon to Washington are not succeeding, Maariv's Ben Caspit wrote. And Channel 10 News reported Tuesday that Obama sent a message to Jerusalem saying that he is ready to put on the table the other issues that trouble those sitting in Jerusalem, including a US veto against the recognition of a Palestinian state. However, it seems that Israel is not ready right now to cooperate, and continue its efforts to convince the American public and Congress to oppose the approving the agreement, writes Caspit. (Maariv) Indeed, Israel plans to continue its campaign against the nuclear agreement on all fronts: Congress, the US administration and in the international arena where Israel will "flood the subject" constantly, even if it means continuing the escalation against the American administration, writes Caspit.
 
Meanwhile, Maariv’s Yossi Melman revealed that representatives from Arab states that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel will be participating in the five-day convention of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The group hopes to make further progress on proving that it’s impossible to conceal a nuclear explosion.
 
Maariv’s Yasser Oukabi reported on an interesting interview with Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah by a Syrian channel. Nasrallah said the Second Lebanon War "was an American war carried out by Israel.” He also said, "We don't claim that Hezbollah can go to war against Israel or to destroy it in order to free Palestine. We are realistic, but unlike others, we are not submissive. Resistance works from defense. We said if we were attacked, we are able to enter the Galilee. But, not to reach Tel-Aviv or Eilat. That, no. We don't have that capacity." Nasrallah also said: "Our problem is with the Zionists, not the Jews, because it was the Zionists who killed and expelled the Palestinian people, and carried out massacres against the people of the Arab and Islamic nations."
 
Maariv’s Oukabi also reveals that Hamas is fighting ISIS both in Gaza and in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. The disaster at the Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, which was conquered by ISIS last week, is getting much less coverage in the Israeli press. Out of the 170,000 residents of the camp, 150,000 have fled and Oukabi reported that an ‘activist’ said that the 18,000 people still there “are trapped by ISIS. Snipers are preventing them from leaving the camp to use them as human shields." Oukabi also reported that the camp has become a battleground between Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS fighters on one side and local Hamas-affiliated fighters, ‘Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis,’ on the other side. Haaretz reported that supporters of ISIS published photos of two beheaded men who allegedly belonged to the Hamas-affiliated fighters who provided security at the camp. Both pro- and anti-Syrian government Palestinian factions are taking part in the fighting to push back ISIS. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is holding talks with Arab countries and international agencies including the UN, the latter which has demanded humanitarian access to the camp. The PLO says ISIS now holds 60% of the camp. Residents of the camp described the dire situation And in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is also fighting ISIS support. Maan reported that Gaza's Hamas-run security services arrested a radical Salafist sheikh, accusing him of membership in the Islamic State group, a security source said on Monday.
 
France is moving forward with its UN resolution for a Palestinian state. A Fatah member described the proposal as a possible 'backdoor' for negotiations, saying 'all actors, including the Americans, now realize that all other ways have been explored, without success'. The French proposal is based on the pre-1967 borders as a reference point for talks and also includes a requirement for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state.”

Quick Hits:

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Features:

The darkest night of the Gaza conflict
Testimonies from commanders in the field paint a chilling picture of what happened in Saja'iyya on the night of July 19, when 7 IDF soldiers were killed. (Rotem Elizera, Yedioth/Ynet) 
With no space to grow, West Bank refugees look upwards
Nael al-Sharif, 43, says his two-story home is too small for his entire family of around 30 people, so he is looking to add another two floors. In many of the Palestinian camps families that cannot afford to buy new land simply add floors to existing property. (AFP, Maan) 
Has Hezbollah’s cyber spy ring been exposed?
An Israeli report reveals that ‘Volatile Cedar’ has been operating against Israel and other countries since 2012. Investigators suspect the involvement of the Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim group. (Oded Yaron, Haaretz+)
  
Commentary/Analysis:

Fifteen years of quiet is an eternity in Israel (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) Benjamin Netanyahu will keep raging against the nuclear deal with Iran, lest the voices of discontent about welfare and the housing crisis be heard.
Abbas's declaration reveals Benjamin Netanyahu's bluff (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Palestinian Authority Chairman’s declaration that he is ready to talk with Netanyahu exposes the ‘no partner’ bluff. It turns out that the (Israeli) Prime Minister is a poker player who bluffed the whole time.
Palestinians trapped dying in Yarmouk, Syria – a test for the left (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) If, as progressives, we truly care about injustices done to Palestinians, if our goal as leftists goes beyond expressing fury toward Israel, we must raise our voices every bit as forcefully, right now, to try to help the people of Yarmouk.
Bibi, talk to Obama (Shaul Mofaz, Yedioth/Ynet) In the absence of secret understandings between Israel and the United States, and without a close relationship between the leaders of the two countries, Israel will find it hard to influence any future negotiations with Iran.
Netanyahu should embrace the Iran deal as his greatest achievement (Avi Shilon, Haaretz+) One day the archives may reveal that the Israeli threat of an attack and the unremitting campaign against Iran merged with Western interests. 
Netanyahu's work: the great failure in preventing an agreement with Iran (Yitzhak Ben-Ner, Maariv) All the years that the prime minister vowed to devote himself, our army, our nerves, and our money to prevent Iranian nuclear proliferation ended in failure. Also: Doctrine Steinitz to the solution to the conflict.
Memo to Jewish Americans: It’s pro-Israel to find Netanyahu embarrassing (Carlo Strenger, Haaretz+) It is part of the democratic ethos that you are not only allowed to criticize elected leaders, but are obliged to do so if you have good reason to believe they are wrong.
Arab states and the Iran deal - it's complicated (Danny Rubinstein, Ynet) In the battle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, Israel only has a secondary role to play.
Marking "Soda Stream" products as produced in the West Bank: a means of political pressure (Yehuda Sharoni, Maariv) Abroad they relate to the marking of the country of origin of the product as a basic consumer right. Not everyone agrees to buy a sneaker that was manufactured in a country where workers are paid starvation wages…and not all consumers would buy products from the (occupied Palestinian) territories. Against this background came the demand that SodaStream to change the tag marking the place of production of the company's products from Israel to the West Bank. This requirement and others seek to mark a clear line between the State of Israel based on the Green Line and between Israel that includes the territories. This time, the demand came from the state of Oregon following a legal petition, but it may expand to other states…Unilever Group, which acquired Bagel-Bagel Factory, decided to transfer its operations in the Barkan industrial zone (in the West Bank) to Safed/Tzfat and the expectation is that other international companies will follow suit. For more than a year, (Israeli) farmers and flower growers are required by the largest buyers in the EU to mark their (West Bank) products. In addition, some of the international infrastructure companies began to refrain from participating in tenders that include works carried out over the Green Line. However, human rights organizations, political activists and radical leftist organizations are not satisfied with product marking, and are demanding the boycott of Israeli goods. EU authorities are not stopping this phenomenon because it serves their political interests. Europe hopes to reach a diplomatic solution to the problem of the (occupied) territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state. But because they are not succeeding to achieve this through diplomatic means, they will put all the necessary financial pressure. In this matter, the phenomenon is expected to expand beyond the US state of Oregon.
To win broad U.S. Jewish support, Obama must truly tackle Iran (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) The U.S. president argues that the Iran deal offers the best possible means to assure Israel’s security. The problem is that he is not convincing.
The last obstacle: the biggest and most fascinating battle between Congress and Barack Obama (Shmuel Rosner, Maariv) Is Congress really going to act to torpedo or change the Lausanne memorandum ahead of the signing of the agreement with Iran? What tools does it have at its disposal for that purpose, and how is President Obama preparing for the parliamentary battle that threatens to destroy his greatest achievement? 
'Messing' with Israel (Elliot Abrams, Israel Hayom) In his NY Times interview, Obama claimed to fully understand Israel's security problems, but the full text suggests that he does not.
Erdogan in Tehran: Turkey wants to dance at every Mideast wedding (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) From breaking off with Israel and Syria, to the rift with Egypt and confrontations with the U.S., Turkey's foreign policy has suffered blow after blow. Would a nuclear deal with Iran help Turkey reposition itself in the region? 
Joint Arab List must reduce Jews' fear (Yaron London, Yedioth/Ynet) The Arab political leadership's challenge is to convince the Jews that Israel's Arab citizens have adopted a political culture which is different from the culture dominating the countries surrounding us.
Six messes Israel should clean up for Passover (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) The Palestinian question, Iran and ISIS may be too big to clean up right now, but there are a few grimy elements of Israeli life that certainly could use a scrubbing.

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