APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday July 2, 2015 
 

Quote of the day:

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Breaking News:
Border Police shot and killed a Palestinian young man during clashes near Jenin
Mohammed Ahmed Alauna, 21, was shot in the chest with live ammunition during riots that broke out when Israeli Border Police entered the village of Burkin late last night to carry out an arrest. Alawneh is the 16th Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces this year. Israeli forces detained journalist Muhammad Ali Atiq during the raid. (Ynet, Haaretz and Maan)

Front Page:

Haaretz

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News Summary:
The storm over the Locker Commission report on how to reform the security budget was the big story in today’s Hebrew newspapers. The papers also reported on the stormy debate in Knesset over the bill for harsher punishments for Palestinian stone-throwers and the reports made on the 10th anniversary since the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The sweeping reforms recommended in the report submitted Tuesday by the Locker Commission, which is headed by a retired general, had Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in a rage as well as many career soldiers who feared for their pensions, but got the backing of many Israeli security commentators, who approved of the reforms and the need for transparency, but said that the way the report was presented was somewhat insulting to the top brass. (See Commentary/Analysis below by Israel Hayom’s Yoav Limor, Maariv’s Yossi Melman and Haaretz+’s Amos Harel.) Yaalon said the reforms gambled with the lives of Israeli citizens.
 
The Hebrew newspapers reported on the angry debate that took place over the bill to amend the Penal Code and make harsher punishments on stone-throwers. Haaretz+’s Jonathan Lis explains the details about the amendment that was passed, despite the opposition of Joint List and Meretz MKs. Arab MKs called the amendment 'oppression' of the Palestinian struggle, bill's sponsor Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, said, “A stone-thrower is a terrorist.” Most notable, wrote Maariv’s Arik Bender, was that members from the two Zionist left-wing parties, Meretz and Zionist Camp, disagreed. [Note: Zionist Camp faction, which includes the Labor party, is more a ‘centrist party’ than a left-wing one. It’s leader, Isaac Herzog recently said his party is not ‘left-wing.’ – OH] Maariv’s Arik Bender shared excerpts from the heated debate that began in the Knesset and went to blows on Twitter Zionist Camp MKs Itzik Shmuli and Hilik Bar launched an attack against Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg after Zandberg opposed the bill. “We have (Arab) MK (Haneen) Zoabi to badmouth the IDF, why do we need you?" asked (Zionist Camp) MK Hilik Bar. She responded saying they were acting more right-wing than Habayit Hayehudi MK Sharon Gal. 
 
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said that the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a “security mistake.” Speaking at a conference marking the tenth anniversary since the evacuation, the leader of the Labor party and the Zionist Camp faction said he didn’t believe in the ability to make unilateral political moves, but only as part of an agreement with the other side, like the agreements with Egypt and Jordan. At the conference, which was held at Nitzan, an Israeli community made up of evacuees of the south of Gush Katif (Gaza Strip), Herzog also spoke about why he thought a two-state solution was important: "We need to make certain that Israel won’t become a Jewish-Arab state." The solution, he said, was “an agreement that stands up to all the difficulties that exist." On the recent elections he said that it showed that the hatred in Israeli society has not been resolved. (Maariv)
 
Some 43% of Jewish Israeli adults said Israel should resettle Gush Katif, the main settlement bloc that was in the Gaza Strip, while 41% were opposed, according to a poll commissioned by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) at Bar-Ilan University ahead of a conference it is holding today marking 10 years since the Gaza withdrawal. Regarding withdrawing from the West Bank, 46% said they would oppose evacuating settlements, 12% said they would support it, and 39% said it depended on the circumstances, such as whether it was a partial or full evacuation and whether it was part of a peace agreement, JPost and Maariv reported.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

This Day in Jewish History / Irgun blows up British headquarters at King David Hotel
The Irgun, headed by Menachem Begin, tried to warn the British to evacuate the King David in advance. But nobody listened, and 91 people died. (David B. Green, Haaretz+)
Pen pals: Bibi's childhood letters revealed
Ariel Barzilay and Benjamin Netanyahu developed a close friendship during Bibi's summer vacations in Jerusalem in the 1960s, and kept in touch after he returned to America. Now, 40 years after Barzilay was killed in the Yom Kippur War, his family offers a rare peek into the prime minister's teenage years through the letters they wrote to each other. (Elad Zeret, Ynet)
Egyptian-American feminist lifts the veil on misogyny in the Arab world
'Headscarves and Hymens,' by journalist Mona Eltahawy – an inspiring voice to the West during the Arab Spring – is a searing personal, political account. (Marcela Sulak, Haaretz+) 
The right of return: After decades, will the property of the Jews of the Arab countries who were expelled be returned?
A little more than 60 years after 850,000 Jews from Arab lands were expelled from their homes and lost their property, their money and property, there are renewed efforts to sue for it all. (Carmit Sapir-Weitz, Maariv)
'To be a fighter in the Kfir Brigade is to defend our home'
In open letter to new recruits, Kfir Brigade Commander Col. Asher Ben Lulu writes: "Your turn to defend our home has come. ... At the end of your training you will work to eradicate terrorism. ... All of Israel is counting on us." (Col. Asher Ben Lulul, Israel Hayom)

Commentary/Analysis:
I live in Israel, in Iran's shadow. I voted for Obama. I'm glad I did. (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) Thank you, Mr. President, for this deal.

Stop babbling about Iran - and start taking care of the real problems (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) Billions of dollars will be spent and a zillion words will be invested now in the Iranian bomb that does not yet exist, while Israelis continue to die on the roads or because they have no money for medicine. And some explanations why America has had enough of us. 
A once-in-a-lifetime makeover of the Israeli army? (Moti Bassok, Haaretz+) If implemented, the 53 refits proposed by the Locker report could see a saving of $2.5 billion over the next five years. 
Earthquake: the slogan "an army that has a state" may become irrelevant (Yehuda Sharoni, Maariv) The Locker report first provides root canal treatment to the defense budget and to the streamlining of the army, and its success will be measured by its ability to implement it. But past experience has shown: the security establishment is practiced in torpedoing these initiatives.
It's the IDF chief vs. reserves officer in battle over army's future (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Maj. Gen. (res.) Yohanan Locker's committee proposals to reduce privileges and waste in the army could dominate the term of the new chief of staff. 
An opportunity for a socio-economic revolution (Yossi Melman, Maariv) There is a lot in common between the plan presented by Chief of Staff Eisenkot and the Locker Commission report. The problem is that the battle over the Commission’s conclusions for defining the defense budget is not about principles, but about ego.
Supporting Iran deal doesn't make J Street anti-Israel (Brian Reeves, Haaretz+) Expecting the left-wing U.S. Zionist group to hew to the positions of the Israeli left ignores the different political considerations in each country.
The best and the brightest might go (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) Many of the conclusions in the Locker report are right and necessary, but the way it was assembled is causing unnecessary damage.
Netanyahu must force Israeli army to enact crucial reforms (Haaretz Editorial) Locker committee's recommendations are necessary to adapt the IDF to its future security and social challenges, and to stop the financial hemorrhaging that threatens to bury the state budget. 
Just another anti-Israel educational conference (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) When bodies like the Education International World Congress start treating the Palestinians as equal people who should be criticized for incitement, the chance for reconciliation and a compromise will be much bigger.
Iran vows to keep fighting the U.S. post-nuclear deal - and so does Israel (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) 'The struggle against the U.S. will also continue after the agreement,' said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Netanyahu couldn’t have phrased it better.
Responsibility, beyond the numbers (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) The prime minister needs to step in and stop the fight between the commission he established and the IDF chief of staff he appointed.
Locker IDF reforms: More money, more transparency (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz) The government committee proposes a bigger defense budget, but the army will have 
to open its books to the public and accept the National Security Council as a fiscal czar.
The prisoner swap dilemma (Dr. Gabi Avital, Israel Hayom) The time has come for a discussion on the price of freeing captives.
Netanyahu's Congress dilemma: Low profile or aggressive campaign against Iran deal? (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Will Netanyahu personally lobby American lawmakers, making phone calls, private briefings and maybe even flying to Washington to convince them in person?
Halting demolition of Palestinian village will be the exception, not the rule (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Whether or not Sussia is saved from destruction, Israeli bulldozers will continue their work on others. 
Ramadan: The holy month of jihad (Dr. Ephraim Herrera, Israel Hayom) As the month concludes, religious Muslims come out strengthened in their beliefs and determined to participate in jihad.
Could the Iran deal drive Saudi Arabia to go nuclear? (Yoel Guzansky, Haaretz+) Riyadh has good reason to be concerned about what the deal with Tehran will mean, and its response may not be good for regional stability.
The sea is the same sea: the disengagement (from Gaza) and the sword of Damocles that the extreme right-wing is holding over Israel (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The lessons from the Gaza disengagement are clear: the state and the army won, God and the rabbis lost. And that's exactly what will happen in the next disengagement.
Can U.S. Jews be enthusiastic cheerleaders for the Iran deal and still be ‘pro-Israel’? (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Progressive Jewish groups like J Street have launched vigorous campaigns supporting President Obama's position on the nuclear agreement – unsettling even Israeli leftists.
Will Israel save the world a third time? (Mudar Zahran, Israel Hayom) If Iran threatens the world with nuclear weapons someday, those now demonizing Israel, boycotting it and labeling it as an evil state will wish they had supported it instead.
How long can Israel walk the tightrope of existence? (Calev Ben-Dor, Haaretz+) And is there something we can do to prevent the Jewish state from crumbling from within?

 

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