APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday October 8, 2015 
 

Quote of the day:

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Breaking News:
Jewish Man Stabbed in Jerusalem Terror Attack
Incident marks fourth stabbing attack in just over 24 hours.

Front Page:

Haaretz

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News Summary:
The wave of Palestinian violence spread inside Israel with four attacks on Israelis yesterday, making today’s top story in the Hebrew newspapers.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said citizens were now on the front lines and called on Israelis to be alert and the police said that citizens with weapons should carry them. In an attempt to calm the Palestinian winds, Netanyahu also barred Jewish Israeli ministers and MKs from visiting the Temple Mount and Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the (Palestinian) Territories, Major-General Yoav Mordechai, gave an interview to the Palestinian media, assuring Palestinians that Israel is preserving the status quo at the Temple Mount and does not seek to change it.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t clear from the newspapers that the Palestinians’ fears that Israel intends to change the status quo at the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa was the major motive sparking violence. Rather, reading the papers, it seemed like a random wave of violence inspired by incitement and hatred, as Israel Hayom’s Boaz Bismuth described it. Maariv’s Arik Bender wrote that the Palestinian press wrote that the visit to the Temple Mount by far right-wing Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel was another sign that Israel intends to change the status quo on the Mount, which sparked sharp condemnations from Jordan’s monarchy. Times of Israel’s Avi Issacharoff has an excellent report on a series of Israeli measures taken recently that change access to the sensitive holy site and have contributed to increasing tensions and fears of a change to the status quo, even before the spark set off on last month by a group of right-wing activists, led by Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who announced their intentions of going to pray on the Temple Mount, despite regulations against Jewish worship at the site. (One ultra-Orthodox MK called Minister Ariel ‘a real damage’ for his pre- Rosh Hashanah visit to the Temple Mount.) 

Maj.-Gen. Mordechai assured Palestinians that police have restored the situation at the Temple Mount to its previous state, now that the Jewish High Holy Days are over, and that there are currently no restrictions on Palestinians entering the compound. He also addressed the attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the past few days, making it clear that Israeli security forces are monitoring the situation, and that Israel's government will not allow any type of harassment against the Palestinian populace, Ynet’s Elior Levy reported.
 
Ben Caspit wrote a fascinating front page piece in Maariv explaining that Netanyahu is having trouble averting the violence because he doesn’t want to be responsible for making the necessary calls that right-wingers oppose and how Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is doing everything he can to stop the violence – and all the Israeli security officials agree on that. (See Commentary/Analysis below.)

Five Israelis were wounded in incidents Wednesday by ‘lone-wolf’ Palestinians: in Kiryat Gat, outside a shopping mall in Petah Tikva, in Jerusalem’s Old City, and on a West Bank road. A fourth knife attack was averted in Jerusalem. The IDF is bracing for more attacks today. (Another stabbing attack took place in Jerusalem today near the light-rail station across from Police Headquarters.)
 
One Palestinian young man died and over 288 Palestinians were injured across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday as fierce clashes continued for the sixth consecutive day, including 89 by rubber-coated steel bullets and 10 with live rounds and 189 who suffered from tear gas inhalation, wrote Maan, based on Red Crescent data. The IDF is investigating whether the wounds of Ahmad Ahmad, 18, a student at Birzeit University, were the result of soldiers' fire or a thrown stone. He was taken to Hadassah Hospital where he died. [However, his death was likely late at night because it did not make the print papers. – OH] Yedioth printed photos showing IDF soldiers dressed as stone-throwing Palestinian youth apprehending a young demonstrator at a protest near Birzeit. The youth was alive in the photos, but in one photo he had bloody wound to his head. (The photos did not identify the young man, but it was likely Ahmad Ahmad.) Maan reported that Israeli forces shot two of the three youth detained. Yedioth’s Elior Levy wrote that it is rare for the Military Censor to allow publishing photos of the IDF’s Duvdevan Unit in action, but that the IDF wants the Palestinian stone-throwers to feel unsecure when they throw stones. Maan reported that numerous foreign journalists were on the scene, when the arrests and shooting took place. AFP has a video of the incident with the shooting here. Yedioth/Ynet has a partial but long list of security incidents from yesterday here.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Jaffa tensions still in the air, but hummus is still a higher priority
Both Arabs and Jews in the mixed city would prefer to forget Tuesday's anti-Israel demonstration. (Roy Arad, Haaretz+)
Jointly and separately: The danger posed to coexistence by the wave of terror in mixed cities
The Palestinian wave of violence is sweeping the Israeli Arabs with it and it is  threatening co-existence. Clashes in Jaffa, indifidual incidents in Nazareth and Haifa and demonstrations against the state in northern (Arab) communities. Could the security incidents in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem light-up all the mixed Jewish-Arab cities in the country? "The Arab public has no interest in crossing the lines," say sources from the Arab public. (Eyal Levy, Maariv’s magazine supplement, cover)

Commentary/Analysis:

Listen to Mahmoud Abbas (Haaretz Editorial) While the Israeli right is inciting to more and more violence, the Palestinian president is doing everything in his power to instill calm. 
Mr. Security's silence (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) How did Netanyahu succeed in branding himself as the only person capable of giving Israel's citizens a sense of security, while in reality we are moving from one security failure to another?
Even Gandhi would understand the Palestinians' violence (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The injustice can go on for many more years. Why? Because Israel is stronger than ever and the West is letting it run wild.
The Whispering leader: Why doesn’t Netanyahu intervene to calm the winds at the Temple Mount? (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The Prime Minister must know what is going to calm the holy site. So why did he not say that out loud? Because he doesn’t have any one to hide behind. According to a recent Channel 2 report, Netanyahu had his special envoy lawyer Yitzhak Molcho explain to cabinet ministers that it is impossible to declare new settlement construction now because the Americans have set an ultimatum that if Israel allows construction, they won’t veto the French UN resolution when it reaches the Security Council. The problem is that a US State Department spokesman convened journalists and told them there was no American ultimatum. "It tells us something about Mr. Netanyahu's security," Tzipi told Caspit, he wrote. "If he thinks it is not right to build now, say so. That’s what we have a prime minister for. But he always needs to hide behind something or someone. Get an excuse. Invent something. - This is not leadership. Enough already with this. Think, decide, announce, and act." Caspit wrote that during Operation Protective Edge, Netanyahu used an IDF report to explain why it was bad for Israel to re-occupy the Gaza Strip, instead of saying he opposed it. “In that case, he just wanted to hide behind the army. It's not me, it's them,” wrote Caspit. Now in the case of the Temple Mount, “his hands are tied…He has no power or authority over members of the Knesset. He can dismiss ministers. Not MKs. Netanyahu must know what can calm what is happening on the Mount. He knows that the other side completely lost touch with reality and therefore it’s upon Israel (under his lead) to be the responsible adult here. So he's trying to lock the barn. Uri Ariel will have to hold back a few weeks (from visiting again). But why didn’t Netanyahu say that out loud? That could have had a cooling effect on the (Arab) street, and a cooling effect is what we need now, isn’t it? He doesn’t say it out loud, because he has no one to hide behind. So he whispers, and that's how it appears…A final word on (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas. Take note: All Israeli security sources, without exception, agree: the failing Palestinian leader is fighting for his political life, continues to fight terrorism, and is committed to the war on terrorism. This is not a whim or a slogan. Abu Mazen is fighting terrorism. Final. Even his words this week, when he announced loudly that the Palestinians are not interested in escalation, are seen in the Israeli security establishment as an attempt to calm. Subsequently, Abbas sent a sharp and clear directive to the (Palestinian) street. His security forces are working hard to try to deal with the incidents.”
Temple Mount violence rooted in contradictory views and cynical politics (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) How can Israelis and Palestinians agree on the status quo if they can't even settle on the definition of Temple Mount? 
Good Morning Jerusalem: We are facing a different kind of intifada compared to that first intifada (Amos Gilboa, Maariv) Why, despite the thousands of attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank over the last three years, the government woke up only now and why in fact are the real instigators of violence among us Israelis.
Keeping the peace in Jerusalem's complex Old City (Amos Harel and Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz+) A stabbing in Israel's most sensitive precinct gives reporters a front-row view of the challenges faced by police. 
The tragedy and farce of cuts to Israeli government funding for church schools (Daniel Monterescu and Moussa Abou Ramadan, Haaretz+) The unintended consequence of the cut in government funding is an increase in the ongoing frustration among the Arab population who stand with the church educational institutions.
With no solution in sight: Between two national movements (Shlomo Avineri, Haaretz+) There is more than one reason for the failure of the Oslo Accords, but at the basis lies a fundamental difference in how each side views the conflict.
Shlomo Avineri’s three mistakes on Palestinians and the peace process (Yossi Beilin, Haaretz+) Netanyahu, in his wisdom, has succeeded in fooling even such respected and experienced people as Professor Avineri.
The man who knows too much: A reply to op-ed by Shlomo Avineri (Uzi Benziman, Haaretz+) Already in his political science class 50 years ago, there were students who felt that Avineri was presenting a holistic, absolute version of things devoid of doubt.
Between the destruction of the Third Temple and a realistic policy (Shlomo Gazit, Haaretz+) Shlomo Avineri's observation of 'a fundamental difference in the terms in which each side views the conflict' is an essential condition for choosing a new national strategy, setting realistic goals and working resolutely to achieve them.
Israel's center-left must return to Yitzhak Rabin's path (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) If Rabin's political camp has a chance, it must cast off the fabricated image of Rabin the messianic peacenik and return instead to the rough, direct, genuine Rabin.
Some ministerial maturity is needed (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Let us not use collective pain and anger for petty and ridiculous political agendas.
Why Do We Rush to Call Palestinian Violence an 'Intifada?' (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Has another intifada started? Why should the average Palestinian or Israeli care so much what this cycle of violence is called?
A Third Intifada Will Cost Israel Much More Than the First Two (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) As it looks like it's going to happen, the form of the next intifada bears thinking about. Short missile wars is one thing. Can the Israeli economy cope with years of unrest?
Putin is part of the problem, not the solution (Ronen Bergman, Yedioth/Ynet) If the US continues to hesitate and fails to act with a firm hand against Russia, the Syrian crisis will intensify, the Islamic State will grow stronger and refugees will continue flooding the West.
How pro-Israel students should fight BDS if they want to win (Jared Samilow, Haaretz+) Forget advocacy organizations, counter-demonstrations and other self-congratulatory kitsch. Stop BDS from swooping up the moderate left and start building a broad tent of allies and partners.
Syria presents Europe with its moment of truth (Avigdor Lieberman, Yedioth/Ynet) The West needs to act firmly to end the Syrian civil war and curb the rise of radical Islam, otherwise it's done for. 
The United States no longer belongs at the United Nations (Seth Lipsky, Haaretz+) Congress isn’t being treated forthrightly by the institution it heavily funds. Its support should not be taken for granted.
Russian army in Syria: A failure foretold (Yaron Friedman, Yedioth/Ynet) Russia's previous military interventions have led to the death of thousands of civilians and its army has never defeated jihadist terror, yet it will do anything to help the Assad regime, as well as its own strategic and economic interests. How will the Russian adventure affect Israel?
Is Israel Fiscally Ready for a New Intifada? (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz+) The government frittered away the fruits of the laudable economic policies it adopted
a decade ago and doesn’t have the budget flexibility to deal with a slower economy.
 
 

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