News Nosh 04.26.15

by APN 04/26/15
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APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday April 26, 2015 
 

Quote of the day:

“In truth, it’s wrong for them to dare to spoil the Jewish homogeneity, and on the eve of Memorial Day yet. Arrogant bastards.”
--Omer Senesh wrote cynically on Facebook after witnessing three young Arab men being barred from entering the posh Tel-Aviv shopping mall where he works.**


Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)

Israel Hayom

  • Earth shook in Nepal
  • Waiting with fear for signs of life from Israelis who have yet to make contact; Families: “Praying for their safety”; Effort to rescue the surrogacy couples and their babies
  • “Israel bombed Syrian and Hezbollah targets near Damascus”
  • Again, another car running-over attack in Jerusalem: 4 (Border) Police injured
  • The issue of the next government portfolios close to solution: Bennett gave up on demand for Foreign Ministry, requesting Education
  • In the line of fire: Two little girls and a youth lightly injured in assassination attempt in Eilat
  • Happy: Israel in 11th place in world happiness index, above US and Germany

 

News Summary:
An earthquake in Nepal killed 1500 and left Israeli surrogate babies stranded, Israel attacked Syrian and Hezbollah military outposts, according to foreign reports, and three Palestinians attacked Border Police soldiers in 24 hours, according to the Israeli Police making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Beyond the tragedy of so many deaths and the concern for the Israelis still missing, the Israeli papers focused on the babies born days before the earthquake to surrogate mothers for Israeli parents, who had no shelter for them or for themselves. Nepal is a ‘baby-making center.’
  
Because it is illegal for the Israeli media to report on Israeli military attacks without IDF permission, the papers all resorted to quoting foreign reports of Israeli Air Force attacks in Syria. According to Al-Jazeera, the IAF targeted 155th and 65th brigades of the Syrian army, which deal with strategic weapons and long-range missiles, on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Al Arabiya reported that Israel attacked two weapons convoys.
 
Three attacks against Israeli Border Police took place between Friday and Saturday night, according to the Israeli police. However, the first of the attacks is in dispute and the third attack appears to be retaliation for the first. On Friday night, Israeli Border Police shot dead Ali Muhammad Abu Ghanem, a 16 or 17-year-old youth from A-Tur neighborhood (Mt. of Olives), at the Al-Zaim military checkpoint on the edge of E. Jerusalem near the entrance to A-Tur. The police said he tried to stab one, which the Israeli papers took as fact. However, Israeli blogger 'o139' wrote that a number of witnesses told a different story: “Ali arrived accompanying a female relative through the checkpoint at night. As she went through the checkpoint, an Israeli soldier made some remarks and insulted her loudly. Ali came to her aid. During the verbal clash the soldier shot him and another soldier joined him.” [The truth is simple to attain. The whole incident was filmed by surveillance cameras, but unlike the stabbing that took place the next day, no footage was released. – OH] (Translation courtesy of Sol Salbe) Only Maariv bothered to speak with the youth’s family, which does not believe that their son arrived from a party armed with a knife to stab police. When the father came to identify the body of his son asked to see where or how many times exactly he was shot, he was not permitted. Ali's father, Muhammad Abu Ghanem said that Israeli intelligence informed him that his son's body would delivered to the family on condition that only 20 people attended the funeral. He refused the pre-conditions and the body is still with the police, Maan and Maariv reported.

Saturday night, three police officers were wounded in a suspected Jerusalem hit and run attack in A-Tur neighborhood after a long day of clashes between police and youths in the neighborhood, as well as in Silwan and the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, that left 20 Palestinians wounded. In between, a Palestinian man attacked an Israeli Border Police officer with a knife near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The attacker, Mohammed Salaymeh, in his twenties, was shot by a soldier at the scene and later died of his wounds at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The officer, who was stabbed five times. Part of the incident was caught by security cameras at the scene.
 

Quick Hits:

  • Israel refuses visa to South African cabinet minister en route to Palestinian Authority - Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande says in response that he will call on all higher education institutions in his country to freeze their contacts with Israeli universities. (Haaretz+)
  • Lieberman slams South Africa after Israel denies minister visa - Foreign minister lashes out at South African Communist Party for 'hypocritical' statements against Israel following its refusal to grant education minister visa to visit Palestinian territories. (Ynet) 
  • Hamas wins Birzeit University student council election for first time since 2007 - Victory seen as indicating a sea change in West Bank political mood, some observers say. (Haaretz+) 
  • Fatah blesses Hamas win in Birzeit elections - The Hamas victory comes only a month after Fatah victories at the Abu Dis campus of Al-Quds University as well as at Bethlehem University, both colleges where Hamas-affiliated students do not participate in the electoral contests. (Maan) 
  • Settlers farming land closed to its Palestinian owners by army - An alleged 5,000 dunams of Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley is under settler cultivation; owners have petitioned High Court asking for land's return. Over the years, and despite the government order not to touch the private land in the area, settlers began to farm it. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli soldiers caught on camera pushing, throwing stone at (Palestinian) photojournalists - 'The behavior seen in the video is reprehensible,' said an army spokesman, 'The matter will be investigated.' Israeli soldiers assaulted a pair of photojournalists near the West Bank town of Nabi Saleh on Friday, video footage of the incident shows. The IDF guidelines allow for free press coverage in general, and specifically during demonstrations. (Haaretz+) 
  • Police arrest settler who struck 4 Palestinians in hit-and-run - Palestinian pedestrians, including two pregnant women, say VW with Israeli plates drove straight at them intentionally and hit them, though they were walking on the far right side of the shoulder. (Haaretz)
  • U.S. court tosses Palestinian lawsuit against charities funding settlements - The court rejected the appeal from a group of 13 Palestinians that sought damages from five US-based (settler-supporting charities), alleging that the charities supported “terrorist attacks” by Jews in the West Bank. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • Lieberman's bodyguards bar Palestinian from harvesting his field - The farmer was taken in for questioning after arriving in his wheat field just outside the settlement where the minister resides. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli soldiers assault Palestinian farmers near Nablus  - Bashir Qadus, 42, one of the three assaulted farmers, was taken to the Rafidiya Governmental Hospital in Nablus for treatment. (Maan)
  • Two Palestinian children injured in blast near Qalqiliya - Locals said that the two children, aged 5 and 6, had been playing close to an Israeli checkpoint when the explosion was heard. (Maan)
  • Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian near Khan Younis - Witnesses said that Israeli forces deployed along the border opened fire on Palestinian farmland, hitting one Palestinian man. (Maan)
  • Israeli army strikes targets in Gaza after rocket fired toward Israel - IDF tanks struck targets in the northern Gaza Strip just before midnight on Thursday, after a rocket was fired from the Strip into the area of the Shaar Hanegev regional council late on Thursday night. Rocket was first to be fired toward Israel for past four months. (Haaretz) 
  • **Tel Aviv shopping mall denies entry to three Arab men - Azrieli mall says they were West Bank Palestinians; human rights lawyer cites ‘racism progressing toward de facto apartheid.’ It is not yet clear if the three men were indeed West Bank Palestinians or Israeli citizens. The story went viral on social networks because employee passing by filmed it. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli Arabs commemorated the Nakba with a march through displaced villages - MK Ahmed Tibi took part in the march Thursday and said, "Neither side can win freedom and liberty if he continues to steal the freedom of another people. Under the rubble there will always be a flower and hope. Ending the occupation and freedom for all is a hope." (Maariv)
  • Bob Dylan 'I hope that you die' lyric causes stir at Memorial Day event - Speaker at Oranim College Memorial Day ceremony sparks outrage by quoting Dylan's antiwar song "Masters of War." Administrators later apologize, saying it reflected "poor judgment." Two soldiers kicked out of ceremony at girls' school due to attire. (Israel Hayom) 
  • Syrian organization: "We hope to celebrate Independence at the Israeli Embassy in Damascus" - In a greetings telegram sent from the opposition organization "Free Syria,” a member of the Political Bureau thanked Israel for its humane attitude toward the revolution in their country: “We look forward to a special relationship with you.” (Maariv)
  • Palestinian lawyer condemns ruling on Jerusalem property - A lawyer representing Palestinians attacked on Thursday a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court that he said could enable confiscation of occupied East Jerusalem property owned by residents of the occupied West Bank. (Maan) 
  • Israeli teen arrested over video showing him throwing dog over fence - A friend of the 18-year-old suspect posted a video of the incident on Facebook; the suspect later apologized in another video, claiming he was drunk at the time. (Haaretz+)
  • Eisenkott: "We will do everything to bring Oron Shaul to burial in Israel" - During the ceremony the President’s outstanding soldiers in honor of Independence Day, the chief of staff mentioned soldier who has been recognized as a fallen IDF soldier and whose place of burial is unknown and said: "He stood here last year as an outstanding soldier. This is a painful reminder.” (Maariv)
  • Palestinian police deployed in East Jerusalem after Israel ban - 90 armed and uniformed officers deployed to three Arab neighborhoods in an attempt to arrest fugitives and combat the rampant trade in drugs and stolen cars. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Israeli man found bound, stabbed in trunk of E. Jerusalem car - Police try to pull over Palestinians from East Jerusalem only to hear man cry for help from inside trunk; police believe incident is criminal and not nationalistic. (Ynet)
  • Haredi soldier attacked: We get humiliated on daily basis - IDF commends Givati officer for restrained response to ultra-Orthodox Jews who attacked him in Meah She'arim neighborhood. (Ynet and Haaretz+)
  • On Memorial Day: Palestinian flags at a student dormitory - Palestinian flags were hung on the roof of two dorm buildings at the Mt. Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. One of the students: "It is clear that the timing was done to make a spectacle." (MYnet)
  • From Hebron, Palestinian scarf resists... Chinese competition - West Bank producers of keffiyehs, which have become internationally popular, focus on quality to fight low-cost foreign factories. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Gay youth group reaches out to Arab minority in Israel - ‘In Jaffa, some people think being gay is a disease,’ says Arab counselor for Israel Gay Youth. (Haaretz+) 
  • Rabbi to female student who dated an Arab, "Dumb girl - Interference in the personal lives of his students. ‘Horror’ stories about young women who went out with Arabs. Segregation from Orthodox society. And attempts to persuade the girls at the religious school. Exclusive recordings obtained by MYnet shed more light on the story of the community of Sanhedria. This is how Aaron Ramati runs a closed institution, so that no one will intervene. (MYnet) 
  • Peres cancels Bank Hapoalim contract after public criticism - Former president says he did not make a penny from the deal, 'my reputation is my only bank.' (Ynet)
  • Druze salute divers who found gold coins on Caesarea seabed - More than 2,500 coins from the Fatimid Islamic dynasty, dating from 11th century C.E. were discovered in February; image imprinted on most of coins is that of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, leading figure in Druze tradition. (Haaretz+)
  • Iran: Yedioth/Ynet reporter not a spy- Yedioth Aharonoth's Orly Azoulay's visit to Iran ahead of nuclear deal sparked anger in Islamic Republic, but now an internal investigation concluded that despite outrage she was not a spy. (Ynet)
  • Israel sentences Belgian-Iranian man to seven years in jail on spy charges - Ali Mansouri convicted of spying that included photographing U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion International Airport. He was arrested in 2013. (Haaretz) 
  • Iran denies responsibility for running spy in Israel - Ali Mansouri was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday. Tehran says claims that he was spying for Iran are 'baseless.' (Haaretz)
  • Don't worry, Israelis are the happiest people in the Mideast - Latest annual World Happiness Report ranks Israel in 11th spot, not far below Switzerland, Denmark and Canada. The Palestinians, however, rank 108. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Hezbollah drone airstrip in Lebanon revealed - IHS Jane's Defense Weekly releases satellite images of military facility in the Bekaa Valley used to launch UAVs at Syrian rebels and possibly Israel. (Ynet)
  • VIDEO: UN chief tries Israeli shakshukah for Independence Day - Israel's Ambassador to UN Ron Prosor gives UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a taste of Israel for Independence Day. (Ynet)
  • Biden, at Israeli Independence Day party: U.S. will deliver new F-35 jets to Israel next year - Deal will make Israel the only country in the Middle East to have the advanced aircraft, VP says. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Top Yedioth columnist Nahum Barnea joins American Academy for Arts and Sciences - Yedioth Aharonoth journalist joins Nobel and Pulitzer laureates as an honorary member of prestigious society. (Ynet)
  • Russia won't deliver S-300 missiles to Iran any time soon - Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says 'a political and legal decision' needs to be reached before the missiles can be shipped. (Haaretz)
  • Obama tells U.S. Jewish leaders: Netanyahu not invited to White House until after Iran talks - Obama reportedly told delegation of U.S. Jewish leaders last week that he was worried Netanyahu would publicly vent his complaints about his administration's Iran policy. (Haaretz)
  • AIPAC opposes push to toughen Iran nuclear bill - US pro-Israel lobby urges Republicans not to back amendments that could turn many Senate Democrats against the 'Iran Nuclear Review Act'. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Armenians mark centennial of genocide still disputed by Turkey - Having experienced genocide, Jews should be the first to recognize it, says MK Zehava Galon at Jerusalem ceremony. (Haaretz)
  • New Zealand seeks UN Security Council resolution to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks - Resolution aims to inject 'new momentum' into negotiations, UN ambassador says. (Agencies, Haaretz) 
  • WikiLeaks shows Sony concerned by IDF's use of its cameras in Gaza bombings - Sony executives were concerned about a news report that showed one of its cameras being used to guide Israeli rockets bombing Gaza, company correspondence shows. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • Israeli army cites rise in number of overseas volunteers joining its ranks - A resurgent desire to defend the Jewish state, along with improved support for recruits from abroad, have boosted the number serving over the past two years.   (Haaretz+)
  • Middle East updates / Powerful former Syrian army general dies in hospital - 115 children killed since start of Saudi-led Yemen offensive; Lebanese army arrests militants, soldier who deserted to join ISIS; At least four Lebanese soldiers have deserted to join militant groups. (Haaretz)


Features:

No exit: An Israeli Arab city’s second-class status
Umm al-Fahm has roads that lead to nowhere and until two years ago no public transportation at all. (Tali Heruti-Sover, Haaretz+) 
Secrets of Templar tunnel under central Tel Aviv revealed
One of the secrets under the restaurants and shops at the Sarona complex is the Templer tunnel that was opened before Independence Day, which connected the cellars of two wineries. The story is being told here for the first time by two veterans of the air force and civil aviation in Israel, who participated in the operation to dismantle, smuggle, renovate and reassemble 15 planes that were used by the pre-state Yishuv before and during the War of Independence. (Zohar Blumenkrantz, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:

Israel's army is sacred, and any criticism is heresy (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The Knesset buries investigations, the National Security Council has no bite and the media prefers heart-rending stories. Debates over the IDF’s preparedness for the next conflict remain only inside the system, if they take place at all. 
I have a dream of Israelis and Palestinians celebrating side by side (Nazir Mgally, Yedioth/Ynet) We cannot continue to be prisoners of the mentality of enmity. Even if our leaders choose to stay in the swamp of the past, we must rebel and break free in order to bring people together, particularly through symbols. 
Israel must free Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar (Haaretz Editorial) Judging by all the evidence, Jarrar is not a terrorist but rather a nonviolent activist who is working to liberate her people from the occupation. 
Boost the defense budget (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) The IDF must be ready for unrelenting combat over the coming decade, and this costs plenty. Israel dare not skimp in this regard. Its independence depends on robust defense readiness.
The disaster that Judaism won’t survive (Tomer Persico, Haaretz+) Both internationally and in Israel itself the distinction between the state’s Jewish character and its democratic regime is growing more acute. 
Ticking time bombs: Hezbollah in Gaza and Palestinians in Syria (Yaron Friedman, Yedioth/Ynet) Hamas betrayed Iran over Syria and then Yemen, finding a new patron in Qatar, but Iran will not give up control so easily, and has now anointed who it hopes will be Gaza's new rulers, and they are even more violent and dangerous.
World According to Netanyahu: Why the Prime Minister highlights only the threats to Israel? (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Israel’s security and strategic situation greatly improved in recent years, but in the words of the Prime Minister, as well as in his public appearances, there is no mention of it… At least four countries in the Middle East are in the process of disintegration: Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen…The largest army facing Israel is Egypt. But its army and security forces are busy trying defeat (quite successfully) jihadi terrorism in Sinai and across the threatening porous border with Libya. Moreover, since it was Gen. al-Sisi came to power in Cairo he has increased security cooperation and intelligence. The two countries also have common enemies: ISIS’ ‘Sinai province’ terrorist group and Hamas in Gaza. In fact there is currently no military threat by any country against Israel. And if there is a country like Iran making threats, it does not possess a military force that can realize them. Iran has hundreds of Shihab missiles capable of hitting Israel, and it can operate by proxies, such as Hezbollah. Israel considers Hezbollah, with its hundred thousand rockets and missiles, its most dangerous enemy, but the Lebanese Shiite organization is bleeding in battles in Syria...Hezbollah is also involved, by sending its experts at the demand of its Iranian lords, to the wars in Iraq and Yemen. If an agreement is reached to reduce Iran's nuclear program, the Israeli security establishment can also consider whether another expenditure of billions is necessary on what has already been invested in preparing the Air Force and intelligence to be prepared for a nuclear threat….
Likud serves notice on High Court’s authority (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) Even if Likud's proposals to curb judiciary's authority don't become reality, just making them is a not-so-subtle threat to Supreme Court justices.
Zionism, not cynicism (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) The biggest miracle is the miracle of our co-existence, our ability to live together despite the historical tendency of this nation to burn down the house. 
Israel, the denier of another nation’s holocaust (Yossi Sarid, Haaretz+)
The country has always had its cost-benefit analyses and global interests to consider — now the issue is Turkey at the Armenians’ expense.
With Iran out of the picture, Hezbollah tops Israel's threat list (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Attacks attributed to Israel come against the backdrop of hints by Hezbollah leader Nasrallah that his group's missile targeting capacities have improved. 
Why does the West apologize to Iran? (Dore Gold, Israel Hayom) The Iranian question is part of a deeper debate about historical truth that has been simmering below the surface in Washington for more than a decade. 
Why I won't be celebrating Israel's Independence Day this year (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) Should we really raise a glass to Israel’s rapid descent into a moral and political abyss?
Memories of presidents: Israel's first ever Independence Day (Reuven Rivlin and Shimon Peres, Yedioth/Ynet)  President Reuven Rivlin and predecessor Shimon Peres recall the hope, joy and fear that accompanied the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. 
But would you celebrate Israel’s Independence Day? (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Nes Ammim rejected an Israeli Arab couple who wanted to join the self-described open, tolerant, multicultural community because they answered the question wrong.
Nes Ammim: A new milestone in Israeli racism (Haaretz Friday Editorial) Nes Ammim, which wanted to raise the banner of communication between the nations living in Israel, can no longer serve as a model.
Sissi wants religious reform in Egypt — as long as he calls the shots (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) The renowned Al-Azhar University is closely linked to the government — so much so that both extremists and respected scholars call it the president's puppet. 
What the Israeli police is doing about its image problem (Maya Lecker, Haaretz+) Big strong cops rescue girls in distress, Arabs don't get along with each other – these are the messages underlying the police's new PR campaign. 
Newly released documents show a darker side of Ben-Gurion (Gidi Weitz, Haaretz+) The minutes of a 1962 discussion about education reveals another facet of the racism of Israel’s first prime minister vis-a-vis immigrants from the Arab states.
You can take the Jews out of exile, but you can't take the exile out of the Israeli right (Gershom Gorenberg, Haaretz+) For all that it sees itself as strutting in pride and glory, the Israeli right does not understand what it means to be here – physically, culturally or morally. 
Israel's hidden depths (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) The delivery of two new submarines not only boosts Israel's naval capabilities, it also provides a more effective 'second strike' nuclear deterrent. 
I swear I won’t boycott the Israeli settlements (Akiva Eldar, Haaretz+) How is it possible to harm Jewish communities that bring us, year after year, the World Cup in international protest and condemnation? 
A very Turkish coup (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) The Erdogan-Davutoglu duo has concocted an ambitious plan to expand the president's authorities. If they succeed, only the sky will be the limit for Sultan Erdogan's power.
Israel at 67: Unsure of itself as ever (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) A country without borders, with one foot stuck in the throat of another nation, is celebrating its success in reaching its 67th year.

 

Interviews: 

Israel's paratroopers want to know they will not die in vain
Ten paratroopers lost their lives since war broke out in Gaza last summer; battalion commanders tell Haaretz what they learned since. Amos Harel interviewed Lt. Col. Ami Biton, commander of the 202nd Paratrooper battalion, two of the company commanders serving under him, Capt. Yoni Hacohen, 27, from Ramat Gan and Capt. Or Peretz, 23, from Ma’ale Adumim.  (Interviewed by Amos Harel in Haaretz+)
'We are destined, not doomed, to live together'
In special Independence Day interview, President Reuven Rivlin discusses the peace process, the Iranian threat and his beliefs in a democratic and egalitarian Israel. (Interviewed by Sara Miller in Ynet)
Israeli Arab leader strives to teach Netanyahu something about suffering
‘To identify with the stories about the Holocaust, we must fight racism and the persecution of minorities,' says Ayman Odeh, chairman of the mostly Arab Joint List. 'And that’s not what’s happening in this country.' (Haaretz+)
 
 

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

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