APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday May 13, 2015
Quote of the day:
"The bodies were checked and they were unarmed. They were still listed as terrorists: they were shot
at, so of course they must have been terrorists."
--IDF soldier explains how killed civilians are labeled 'terrorists' in a testimony about how two Palestinian women were killed in Gaza after being spotted talking on their cell phones in an orchard, nearly a kilometer away from an IDF force.** Such testimonies were read in Knesset yesterday.**
--IDF soldier explains how killed civilians are labeled 'terrorists' in a testimony about how two Palestinian women were killed in Gaza after being spotted talking on their cell phones in an orchard, nearly a kilometer away from an IDF force.** Such testimonies were read in Knesset yesterday.**
Front Page:
Haaretz
- President against Netanyahu: Increasing number of ministers will undermines public confidence
- Former senior in army budget reveals how inflating costs and misleading the Treasury
- Dozens killed in strong earthquake in Nepal
- Court sentenced Rabbi Pinto to one year in prison and a million shekel fine
- Foreign Ministry conducting diplomatic battle to thwart Palestinian initiative to suspend Israel from FIFA soccer association
- Towards the end of an era: 75% of the post office boxes in Jerusalem cancelled
- First chef restaurant in (Bedouin town of) Rahat
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Closing Dimona – protest against wave of dismissals in south goes up a stage
- “I want my life back” – The young woman wounded at the nightclub speaks
- Linoy against State of Israel – Cancer-stricken child from Haifa goes to battle
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Nepal shook again
- Rivlin rejects Merkel’s offer for Israel to join nuclear talks
- Prosecution probing previous files in which Ruth David and Ronal Fisher were both involved
- Sunday: Solidarity strike with Israel Chemical workers in Dimona
Israel Hayom
- The second strike – in Nepal
- “Zero tolerance for sexual attacks in IDF”
- Employment strike in south: Dimona to strike Sunday
- Theater of the absurd: Show glorifying terrorist – publicly funded
- After expansion of government is approved: division of posts
- One year prison sentence and one million shekel fine for Rabbi Pinto; Also, judge criticized the plea bargain
News Summary:
Another earthquake in Nepal and more Israeli surrogate babies to rescue, the latest on big-name Israeli criminal cases and the revealing political meeting of President Reuven Rivlin in Berlin along with the Knesset battle over the bill to expand the government were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, right-wing MKs don’t like listening to testimonies of Israeli crimes and Hamas says Israel can’t be trusted to keep its agreements.
All the MKs of the coalition government will be present again today in the Knesset in order to pass the bill to expand the government – which President Rivlin says will undermine the public’s confidence. Netanyahu needs more portfolios to keep all his coalition and party members happy. A Jerusalem Post/Maariv poll found that most Israelis gave Netanyahu a bad grade on the coalition he built. The Opposition is planning a filibuster and has prepared hundreds of motions with the goal of ridiculing the new coalition so badly it abandons the bill. One bill Meretz will propose is to change the Basic Law – Government to the “law to fortify Netanyahu’s government.” Meretz also proposed an addendum to the clause that would once again permit ministers without portfolios to be appointed; the addendum states that such a minster “can do whatever he wants with no ministerial responsibility.” Commentator Ran Adelist wrote in today’s Maariv that the he relishes in the fact that with such a narrow majority the members of this new coalition won’t ever be able to fly abroad because if any left-wing MK gets word, the left can pass a bill in Knesset.
As nuclear talks with Iran resumed in Vienna, German Chancellor Angela made Israel an interesting offer. Meeting with President Reuven Rivlin in Berlin on the second day of his official visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, she suggested Israel join the talks over the final nuclear agreement with Iran, Maariv reported. However, Rivlin rejected the offer saying that Israel cannot join any binding talks, because it wants to keep all options open in case of an existential threat. [In other words, it wants to be able to attack Iran, therefore it can’t sign an agreement that it won’t attack Iran if Iran abides by the agreement. – OH] The Iranian representative to the talks said that a significant part of the agreement has been completed and agreed upon.
It appears the right-wing members of the Knesset don’t like testimonies. Maariv’s Arik Bender reported that only 3 members of the 61-member right-wing coalition (one of them an Ethiopian-Israeli himself, another a Likud member who criticized the youth) bothered to showed up to an emergency session to hear the testimonies from Ethiopian-Israelis about police brutality and racism and discrimination in Israeli society. Another three of the MKs present were Arab (Zuheir Bahloul, Abdallah Abu Marouof and Aida Toumeh-Suleiman). Joint List MK Dov Khenin, who called for the special session, said that “Behind all these phenomena stands one difficult word: racism.”
**Maariv's Bender also reported that later in the day during the one-minute speeches in the Knesset plenum, a storm broke out when Meretz MKs read from the testimonies of IDF soldiers about the instructions they received to kill civilians during Operation Protective Edge. Yisrael Beiteinu MK Sharon Gal was removed from the plenum after he yelled at the Meretz MKs: “A gang of collaborators, you are criminals, be ashamed of yourselves.” Likud MK Oren Hazan said: "When I hear MKs here, I am suddenly confused as if I were in the parliament of the Palestinian Authority. When we were here on March 31 and said, ‘I commit,’ I meant to the State of Israel and the IDF soldiers. The contempt that you allow yourselves when you sleep peacefully at night while our brothers are risking their lives for you, I will not let this matter slip. (Meretz) MK Gal-On, I'm ashamed of you." Joint List MK Dov Khenin said, “I welcome the reading of the testimonies in the plenum and suggest that all the MKs read them and think. Reality doesn’t change because you refuse to listen.” The testimonies were collected and published last week by the "Breaking the Silence" organization.
**Breaking the Silence was pleased by the uproar. "We want to initiate a discussion on our morality and on the way we fought in Gaza," said Avner Gvaryahu, a spokesman for the group. Tuesday night, Breaking the Silence showed on video some of the soldiers' anonymous testimonies at a presentation in Tel-Aviv, while outside a small group of people protested the event, holding up signs that read: "Breaking the Silence wounds the nation" and "Breaking the Silence – shut up," Haaretz+ reported. Breaking the Silence said it wanted to revive the public debate over the IDF's Gaza war combat policies. "We want Israeli society to take responsibility,” said the spokesman Avner Gvaryahu. “We placed a mirror to the face of Israeli society, and the reflection is not a pretty one."
Ynet ran an AFP report that a Hamas court sentenced an Israeli spy to 15 years in prison. But what was possibly more significant in terms of future diplomacy with Hamas, was the news that Israel had re-jailed five Palestinian men it released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal. Among the group is Samer Issawi, 35, from E. Jerusalem who got the support of Israeli intellectuals when he went on a hunger strike in order to pressure Israel to either put him on trial or release him from jail (which it did in 2013), making international headlines. The military prosecutor told the court that since his release, Issawi had resumed “full terrorist activities.”[Note: Alleged evidence against Palestinians is kept secret by military prosecutors.] Interestingly, before the deal with him was struck, Israel said it was willing to deport Issawi to any EU or UN member country. However, an EU spokesman said Israel never formally approached the EU on this subject." The Palestinian lawyer Jawad Boulos called it a “malicious decision.” Hamas, for its part, said in a statement that the decision to re-imprison the Palestinians is evidence that the Israeli government acts "as a gang that doesn't heed the agreements it had signed." Hamas said this Israel's action "represents a blow that disparages the efforts of the Egyptian mediator that sponsored the deal." Hamas holds the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who died in Gaza and hopes to exchange them for the release of the Palestinians that Israel re-jailed.
Another earthquake in Nepal and more Israeli surrogate babies to rescue, the latest on big-name Israeli criminal cases and the revealing political meeting of President Reuven Rivlin in Berlin along with the Knesset battle over the bill to expand the government were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, right-wing MKs don’t like listening to testimonies of Israeli crimes and Hamas says Israel can’t be trusted to keep its agreements.
All the MKs of the coalition government will be present again today in the Knesset in order to pass the bill to expand the government – which President Rivlin says will undermine the public’s confidence. Netanyahu needs more portfolios to keep all his coalition and party members happy. A Jerusalem Post/Maariv poll found that most Israelis gave Netanyahu a bad grade on the coalition he built. The Opposition is planning a filibuster and has prepared hundreds of motions with the goal of ridiculing the new coalition so badly it abandons the bill. One bill Meretz will propose is to change the Basic Law – Government to the “law to fortify Netanyahu’s government.” Meretz also proposed an addendum to the clause that would once again permit ministers without portfolios to be appointed; the addendum states that such a minster “can do whatever he wants with no ministerial responsibility.” Commentator Ran Adelist wrote in today’s Maariv that the he relishes in the fact that with such a narrow majority the members of this new coalition won’t ever be able to fly abroad because if any left-wing MK gets word, the left can pass a bill in Knesset.
As nuclear talks with Iran resumed in Vienna, German Chancellor Angela made Israel an interesting offer. Meeting with President Reuven Rivlin in Berlin on the second day of his official visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, she suggested Israel join the talks over the final nuclear agreement with Iran, Maariv reported. However, Rivlin rejected the offer saying that Israel cannot join any binding talks, because it wants to keep all options open in case of an existential threat. [In other words, it wants to be able to attack Iran, therefore it can’t sign an agreement that it won’t attack Iran if Iran abides by the agreement. – OH] The Iranian representative to the talks said that a significant part of the agreement has been completed and agreed upon.
It appears the right-wing members of the Knesset don’t like testimonies. Maariv’s Arik Bender reported that only 3 members of the 61-member right-wing coalition (one of them an Ethiopian-Israeli himself, another a Likud member who criticized the youth) bothered to showed up to an emergency session to hear the testimonies from Ethiopian-Israelis about police brutality and racism and discrimination in Israeli society. Another three of the MKs present were Arab (Zuheir Bahloul, Abdallah Abu Marouof and Aida Toumeh-Suleiman). Joint List MK Dov Khenin, who called for the special session, said that “Behind all these phenomena stands one difficult word: racism.”
**Maariv's Bender also reported that later in the day during the one-minute speeches in the Knesset plenum, a storm broke out when Meretz MKs read from the testimonies of IDF soldiers about the instructions they received to kill civilians during Operation Protective Edge. Yisrael Beiteinu MK Sharon Gal was removed from the plenum after he yelled at the Meretz MKs: “A gang of collaborators, you are criminals, be ashamed of yourselves.” Likud MK Oren Hazan said: "When I hear MKs here, I am suddenly confused as if I were in the parliament of the Palestinian Authority. When we were here on March 31 and said, ‘I commit,’ I meant to the State of Israel and the IDF soldiers. The contempt that you allow yourselves when you sleep peacefully at night while our brothers are risking their lives for you, I will not let this matter slip. (Meretz) MK Gal-On, I'm ashamed of you." Joint List MK Dov Khenin said, “I welcome the reading of the testimonies in the plenum and suggest that all the MKs read them and think. Reality doesn’t change because you refuse to listen.” The testimonies were collected and published last week by the "Breaking the Silence" organization.
**Breaking the Silence was pleased by the uproar. "We want to initiate a discussion on our morality and on the way we fought in Gaza," said Avner Gvaryahu, a spokesman for the group. Tuesday night, Breaking the Silence showed on video some of the soldiers' anonymous testimonies at a presentation in Tel-Aviv, while outside a small group of people protested the event, holding up signs that read: "Breaking the Silence wounds the nation" and "Breaking the Silence – shut up," Haaretz+ reported. Breaking the Silence said it wanted to revive the public debate over the IDF's Gaza war combat policies. "We want Israeli society to take responsibility,” said the spokesman Avner Gvaryahu. “We placed a mirror to the face of Israeli society, and the reflection is not a pretty one."
Ynet ran an AFP report that a Hamas court sentenced an Israeli spy to 15 years in prison. But what was possibly more significant in terms of future diplomacy with Hamas, was the news that Israel had re-jailed five Palestinian men it released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal. Among the group is Samer Issawi, 35, from E. Jerusalem who got the support of Israeli intellectuals when he went on a hunger strike in order to pressure Israel to either put him on trial or release him from jail (which it did in 2013), making international headlines. The military prosecutor told the court that since his release, Issawi had resumed “full terrorist activities.”[Note: Alleged evidence against Palestinians is kept secret by military prosecutors.] Interestingly, before the deal with him was struck, Israel said it was willing to deport Issawi to any EU or UN member country. However, an EU spokesman said Israel never formally approached the EU on this subject." The Palestinian lawyer Jawad Boulos called it a “malicious decision.” Hamas, for its part, said in a statement that the decision to re-imprison the Palestinians is evidence that the Israeli government acts "as a gang that doesn't heed the agreements it had signed." Hamas said this Israel's action "represents a blow that disparages the efforts of the Egyptian mediator that sponsored the deal." Hamas holds the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who died in Gaza and hopes to exchange them for the release of the Palestinians that Israel re-jailed.
Quick Hits:
- Meretz petitions High Court against increasing WZO Settlement Division's budget - Meretz questions the legality of coalition agreement between Likud and Habayit Hayehudi, which adds 50 million shekels ($12.9 million) to the division's budget. (Haaretz+)
- Gaza-bound ship departs Sweden, in effort to end blockade - The Marianne of Gothenburg departed on Sunday evening and is the first ship in the Freedom Flotilla III to leave for Gaza. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Merkel: Germany has a 'special obligation to support Israel' - Chancellor defends Germany's arms sales to Israel a day after Israel announces deal to acquire vessels, reiterating support for two-state solution. (Haaretz)
- Knesset speaker urges official recognition of Armenian Genocide - Yuli Edelstein is first Knesset speaker to urge that Israel revisit its position and recognize the Armenian Genocide, a move that would anger Turkey. (Ynet)
- Ayelet Shaked is 'proud' of Israel's Supreme Court - In first comments since being tapped as justice minister-designate, the controversial Shaked stresses preference for judicial restraint over activism. (Haaretz+)
- IDF tests new rocket system in exercise - 'Lance' rocket system designed for precision strikes while offering greater mobility and cheaper costs than Air Force alternatives. (Ynet)
- Put politics aside and dip into International Hummus Day - May 13 is International Hummus Day, a four-year-old initiative that's spreading out - in Israel and beyond. (Haaretz+)
- 'Tourists have stopped coming to Israel' - Despite hopes for a recovery in incoming tourism after Gaza war, the crisis is only getting worse with a 28% drop in tourists' hotel stays in the first quarter of 2015. According to estimates, the industry has already lost hundreds of millions of dollars. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- Israelis drink less than most of the OECD, but it's increasing fast - But the rate of alcohol consumption in Israel is increasing at one of the fastest among industrialized nations, according to new report. (Haaretz)
- How much online porn do Israelis consume? -An Israeli spends an average of 3:29 minutes in each porn site he visits, compared to global average of 3:16 minutes; Iraq is the leading country in terms of net traffic dedicated to porn. (Ynet)
- Ethiopian-led anti-racism protesters march in Haifa - Rally's purpose to redress 'the trauma' of last week's demonstration against racism in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square that turned violent, one organizer says. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Knesset discusses racism against Ethiopian Israelis - Only 14 MKs showed up and only 3 of them from the coalition to hear testimonies about discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis following protest triggered by police violence. (Ynet and Maariv)
- Ethiopian-born parents of IDF troops get taste of army life - IDF offer first generation immigrants a sense of what their children go through during IDF service; community has high level of army dropouts. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- Gideon Saar joins the INSS - The former Likud minister accepted the request of Major General (ret.) Amos Yadlin and will serve as a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. (Maariv)
- Israelis save Nepalese (and Israeli surrogate) newborns, with a little help from WhatsApp- After fresh quake, IsraAID rescue team only found out about preemies who had to be evacuated from their damaged neonatal ward from a radio staffer back in Israel. Israel to evacuate premature surrogate babies from Nepal. (Haaretz and Ynet)
- Gaza engineer seeks solution to water woes - Palestinian develops machine to make seawater potable as only an estimated 5 years remain before there is no available drinking water for the 1.8 million people in Gaza. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Report: Hezbollah leader being treated for heart attack - According to reports, Nasrallah was admitted several days ago to Beirut hospital after suffering medical complications. (Ynet)
- Sweden deputy PM apologizes for comparing Mediterranean refugee crisis to Auschwitz - In her apology, Asa Romson referred to Roma as Gypsies, angering Roma organizations. She later apologized for that, too. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Egyptian 'Jon Stewart' Bassem Youssef to host International Emmys - Arab world's most popular satirists to give Mideast twist to New York gala. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- A third of Egyptian animal mummy cases are empty - Ancient Egyptians used to mummify crocodiles, cats and birds, among others - but only a third of the shrouds had well-preserved remains inside, BBC reports. (Haaretz)
- New archaeological finds challenge ideas of prehistoric Israel - Neolithic fertility goddess figure found in rescue dig could change thinking about ancient cultures. (Haaretz+)
- One in four American Jews are losing their religion, new Pew study finds - And 9 other interesting new findings about American Jews from a newly-released Pew report. (Haaretz)
Features:
The reality exposed by Bedouin women armed with cameras
Mothers and daughters from unrecognized villages empowered through photography. (Vered Lee, Haaretz+)
Diary of an IDF rescuer
'That same sweet Nepalese girl I had met the day before stood next to me at Shabbat dinner table and held me tight. We didn't need to speak each other's languages to know that we felt the same -- that there was someone watching over us.' (Lt. Yoav Sasson, Israel Hayom)
Rare footage shows IDF soldiers saving life of Syrian rebel on Golan Heights
Many of the wounded Syrians recently arriving to Israel in search of medical care belong to Islamic extremist groups, but when Givati troops receive an order, there is only one option: giving the wounded life saving treatment – on the condition that he is not wired with explosives. (Ynet+VIDEO)
Commentary/Analysis:
Mothers and daughters from unrecognized villages empowered through photography. (Vered Lee, Haaretz+)
Diary of an IDF rescuer
'That same sweet Nepalese girl I had met the day before stood next to me at Shabbat dinner table and held me tight. We didn't need to speak each other's languages to know that we felt the same -- that there was someone watching over us.' (Lt. Yoav Sasson, Israel Hayom)
Rare footage shows IDF soldiers saving life of Syrian rebel on Golan Heights
Many of the wounded Syrians recently arriving to Israel in search of medical care belong to Islamic extremist groups, but when Givati troops receive an order, there is only one option: giving the wounded life saving treatment – on the condition that he is not wired with explosives. (Ynet+VIDEO)
Commentary/Analysis:
Court-approved dispossession of Israeli Bedouin (Haaretz Editorial) The government must adopt an egalitarian planning policy that will take
into account both the needs of Arab residents and the injustice that has been done to them.
Flags on Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods (Aryeh Eldad, Maariv) Every year, in honor of of the reunification of Jerusalem Day, a flag dance takes place in the city, organized by members of religious Zionism. Tens of thousands pass through the city singing and dancing and waving flags. In previous years there were a number of incidents while the march passed through the (Old City’s) Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem and this year the Ir Amim NGO petitioned the High Court. Ir Amim is an extremist left-wing NGO that thinks it’s not nice to wave the flag of Israel in front of the Arabs of Jerusalem. They asked that the ‘flag dance’ not pass through there. Because it will bother the Arabs from getting to their homes or at least to their shops. The very act of submitting the petition was outrageous and therefore, the High Court did well by rejecting it, while ordering the police to show zero tolerance if someone shouts 'Death to Arabs'. So even on this Jerusalem Day, the Arabs in Jerusalem will be forced to see Israeli flags. Lots of flags. Happy Jerusalem Day.
Memo to Netanyahu: German largesse won't last forever (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Germany's agreement to sell 4 naval ships to Israel with a substantial subsidy is part of a long-time defense cooperation that must be maintained, despite political differences.
Israel forgave Germany too soon (Noah Klieger, Yedioth/Ynet) Although the new Germany is now one of Israel's supporters in Europe, we must not forget its past and especially its legal institutions' attempt to clear Nazi war criminals.
Test of friendship: Will the great relations between Israel and Germany last? (Former Israeli amb. to Germany Avi Primor, Maariv) During the half century since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Germany has become a vital important partner for Israel. But sympathy for Israel is diminishing in view of the occupation and Israel’s policies in the Territories, and the future of relations is not guaranteed.
How Israel slept through the Palestinian bid to oust it from FIFA (Uzi Dann, Haaretz+) The very fact that the subject of ousting Israel is even on the agenda is an unprecedented Palestinian victory - and point to an Israeli cluelessness.
Boycott? What boycott? (EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel and the European Union enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship in ground-breaking scientific research, and the EU delegation to Israel plays a key role.
The IDF is a moral army (Uri Heitner, Israel Hayom) The blood of the civilians who were killed is on the hands of the terrorist organizations that used them as human shields.
‘The Sopranos’ has a Knesset (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) As prime minister, Netanyahu will be able to call his position a 'no-show job,' the kind that Tony Soprano once handed out to cronies. All he need do is to vote correctly.
German Foreign Minister: "Israel's security is not possible without a Palestinian state" (Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Maariv) On the occasion of the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Steinmeier wrote that "what happened between Germans and Israelis is a real bringing together of the hearts…. Whoever takes a closer look at the Israeli-German friendship and remembers from what hell it grew into glory, will understand that hope is not necessarily an expression of naivete - the opposite is true. Whoever understands this must also adopt in his heart the message of dialogue and reconciliation, which is based in this friendsip, and celebrate it not only in words but also in deeds. This means that in our house here we are commanded to rise up against all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. For those, there should be no place in our society ever. It also means that we will aim for peace between Israel and its neighbors. Israel's security is an historic order for Germany and an unavoidable component of our friendship. The security of the Jewish and democratic Israel is impossible without a viable and democratic state Palestinian state. As difficult as the way to finding a two-state solution, we will continue to support it. To my mind the adage applies that good friendship survives disagreements and the honesty involved in it.
We already had elections (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Recently, the Left has been trying to obscure one simple fact -- the people of Israel voted for the Right.
Even if catastrophe comes, Israelis won’t necessarily blame Netanyahu (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz) Many leftists pin hopes on Leninist maxim ‘the worse, the better’ but it could blow up in their faces.
It's not the government system, it's Netanyahu (Chaim Weizmann, Yedioth/Ynet) Instead of creating a stable, functioning unity government with the Zionist Union and Kulanu, Netanyahu decided to let every single MK become an extortionist.
The unaccountable Left (Eli Hazan, Israel Hayom) Apparently the words "defeat" and "personal accountability" are nowhere to be found in the Left's dictionary.
Yair Lapid’s hypocrisy on government waste (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Yesh Atid’s self-righteous, superficial campaign against expanding the cabinet is almost as infuriating as parties' exorbitant demands for joining the coalition.
Self-test: Do you have what it takes to be prime minister of Israel? (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) Answer wrong, and you're not going to cut it. Hint: If you're thinking democracy here, you're thinking wrong.
Because we love life (Judith Bergman, Israel Hayom) Israel does not engage in rescue missions for reasons of public relations. Rather, it is because in Israel the value of life trumps everything.
What American Jews want from Netanyahu (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) We already know what the prime minister wants from U.S. Jewish leaders. But the relationship is a two-way street.
The skeleton in Lieberman’s closet (Guy Rolnik, Haaretz+) People say he's a man of principle, someone who's teaching Netanyahu a lesson. But a Justice Ministry document about the ex-foreign minister's activities in recent years knocks us back to our senses.
Saudi king's no-show at Gulf summit bodes ill for Obama (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) Move by monarch to miss Camp David confab sends a message that his country will dictate policy and demands America's resolute support of it.
Flags on Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods (Aryeh Eldad, Maariv) Every year, in honor of of the reunification of Jerusalem Day, a flag dance takes place in the city, organized by members of religious Zionism. Tens of thousands pass through the city singing and dancing and waving flags. In previous years there were a number of incidents while the march passed through the (Old City’s) Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem and this year the Ir Amim NGO petitioned the High Court. Ir Amim is an extremist left-wing NGO that thinks it’s not nice to wave the flag of Israel in front of the Arabs of Jerusalem. They asked that the ‘flag dance’ not pass through there. Because it will bother the Arabs from getting to their homes or at least to their shops. The very act of submitting the petition was outrageous and therefore, the High Court did well by rejecting it, while ordering the police to show zero tolerance if someone shouts 'Death to Arabs'. So even on this Jerusalem Day, the Arabs in Jerusalem will be forced to see Israeli flags. Lots of flags. Happy Jerusalem Day.
Memo to Netanyahu: German largesse won't last forever (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Germany's agreement to sell 4 naval ships to Israel with a substantial subsidy is part of a long-time defense cooperation that must be maintained, despite political differences.
Israel forgave Germany too soon (Noah Klieger, Yedioth/Ynet) Although the new Germany is now one of Israel's supporters in Europe, we must not forget its past and especially its legal institutions' attempt to clear Nazi war criminals.
Test of friendship: Will the great relations between Israel and Germany last? (Former Israeli amb. to Germany Avi Primor, Maariv) During the half century since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Germany has become a vital important partner for Israel. But sympathy for Israel is diminishing in view of the occupation and Israel’s policies in the Territories, and the future of relations is not guaranteed.
How Israel slept through the Palestinian bid to oust it from FIFA (Uzi Dann, Haaretz+) The very fact that the subject of ousting Israel is even on the agenda is an unprecedented Palestinian victory - and point to an Israeli cluelessness.
Boycott? What boycott? (EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel and the European Union enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship in ground-breaking scientific research, and the EU delegation to Israel plays a key role.
The IDF is a moral army (Uri Heitner, Israel Hayom) The blood of the civilians who were killed is on the hands of the terrorist organizations that used them as human shields.
‘The Sopranos’ has a Knesset (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) As prime minister, Netanyahu will be able to call his position a 'no-show job,' the kind that Tony Soprano once handed out to cronies. All he need do is to vote correctly.
German Foreign Minister: "Israel's security is not possible without a Palestinian state" (Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Maariv) On the occasion of the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Steinmeier wrote that "what happened between Germans and Israelis is a real bringing together of the hearts…. Whoever takes a closer look at the Israeli-German friendship and remembers from what hell it grew into glory, will understand that hope is not necessarily an expression of naivete - the opposite is true. Whoever understands this must also adopt in his heart the message of dialogue and reconciliation, which is based in this friendsip, and celebrate it not only in words but also in deeds. This means that in our house here we are commanded to rise up against all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. For those, there should be no place in our society ever. It also means that we will aim for peace between Israel and its neighbors. Israel's security is an historic order for Germany and an unavoidable component of our friendship. The security of the Jewish and democratic Israel is impossible without a viable and democratic state Palestinian state. As difficult as the way to finding a two-state solution, we will continue to support it. To my mind the adage applies that good friendship survives disagreements and the honesty involved in it.
We already had elections (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Recently, the Left has been trying to obscure one simple fact -- the people of Israel voted for the Right.
Even if catastrophe comes, Israelis won’t necessarily blame Netanyahu (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz) Many leftists pin hopes on Leninist maxim ‘the worse, the better’ but it could blow up in their faces.
It's not the government system, it's Netanyahu (Chaim Weizmann, Yedioth/Ynet) Instead of creating a stable, functioning unity government with the Zionist Union and Kulanu, Netanyahu decided to let every single MK become an extortionist.
The unaccountable Left (Eli Hazan, Israel Hayom) Apparently the words "defeat" and "personal accountability" are nowhere to be found in the Left's dictionary.
Yair Lapid’s hypocrisy on government waste (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Yesh Atid’s self-righteous, superficial campaign against expanding the cabinet is almost as infuriating as parties' exorbitant demands for joining the coalition.
Self-test: Do you have what it takes to be prime minister of Israel? (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) Answer wrong, and you're not going to cut it. Hint: If you're thinking democracy here, you're thinking wrong.
Because we love life (Judith Bergman, Israel Hayom) Israel does not engage in rescue missions for reasons of public relations. Rather, it is because in Israel the value of life trumps everything.
What American Jews want from Netanyahu (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) We already know what the prime minister wants from U.S. Jewish leaders. But the relationship is a two-way street.
The skeleton in Lieberman’s closet (Guy Rolnik, Haaretz+) People say he's a man of principle, someone who's teaching Netanyahu a lesson. But a Justice Ministry document about the ex-foreign minister's activities in recent years knocks us back to our senses.
Saudi king's no-show at Gulf summit bodes ill for Obama (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) Move by monarch to miss Camp David confab sends a message that his country will dictate policy and demands America's resolute support of it.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.