APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday October 14, 2015
Quote of the day:
“Not long ago, at the beginning of this decade, there were those who warned us of a political tsunami
"which could lead to a violent tsunami outside. The prophecies of anger proved false and nothing happened. We
went on as usual, sanctifying the status quo, living the good life and convinced that everything was OK. Now
everything is exploding.”
--Maariv’s top political commentator, Ben Caspit, says Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu preferred the status quo, despite warnings of impending danger.
--Maariv’s top political commentator, Ben Caspit, says Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu preferred the status quo, despite warnings of impending danger.
You Must Be Kidding:
“With a practiced movement I pulled out my trusty handgun and fired five times. I aimed at his lower body, of course. That’s what I learned from television. He screamed. The first three bullets struck his lower body. The other two hit him in the head because when he fell to the ground his head was level with his lower body.”
--S. Michael writes a tragic but hysterical piece about the reality in the present security situation.
Front Page:
Haaretz
- 3 murdered and 17 injured in series of attacks; Cabinet discuss siege on E. Jerusalem
- 20,000 demonstrated in Sakhnin in protest of the occupation and gov’t policies at Al-Aqsa
- Former chief Rabbi Metzger charged with accepting $2 million in bribes
- Adelson leans towards supporting Senator Marco Rubio
- No to siege // Haaretz Editorial
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Jerusalem: Soldiers to secure buses
- 4 attacks in Jerusalem and Raanana: 3 killed and dozens wounded
- Stopping terrorists with their hands – Miki Rahbi hit a terrorist with an umbrella, Matan Shukron hit a terrorist with a selfie stick, a private guard killed a terrorist with his gun
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Netanyahu calls up IDF
- The city that was divided // Ben Caspit
- End of the illusions of co-existence // Alon Ben-David
- The time for a closure of the (Palestinian) territories // Eliezer Cheney
- City that doesn’t stop // Ron Kaufman
- Dangers known in advance – Terrorist Ala’ Abu-Jamal, Bezek worker, a year ago lauded his relative for the massacre at the Har Nof synagogue; Bahaa Alian wrote a post a year ago called “10 commandments of the martyr” – Yesterday they both went on a murderous rampage
- 20 years to Rabin’s murder – 35% of citizens believe in the conspiracy theory
Israel Hayom
- IDF to enter cities
- 3 Israelis murdered in bloody day
- A week and a half after the murder of her husband: Adele Bennett and her son Natan were released from hospital
- The combat soldiers, the police and the citizens who endangered their lives for the sake of others
- In the wake of the security situation: losses to businesses in mixed cities
News Summary:
Israel decided to put a siege around E. Jerusalem neighborhoods after three Israelis were killed and 20 wounded in five more attacks by Palestinians from E. Jerusalem, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinian Israelis (Arab Israelis) attended a rally calling for Israel to stop the right-wing Jews from visiting Al-Aqsa. The violence is taking an economic toll and Mizrachi Jews are also feeling the brunt as Jews who want to take revenge take it out on people they think are Arab.
The Israeli government was under pressure to lock down Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, despite Israeli Police Chief Bentzi Sau’s opposition to such a move. “There is no reason for collective punishment," Sau told the Knesset Interior Committee on Tuesday. "We don’t want to close those areas off with checkpoints and limit the freedom of movement of East Jerusalem's Arabs." Sau said the police has already imposed severe restrictions on 54 Jewish settlers, who were endangering the public order, and on 62 Muslim youths, who were identified as causing incitement on the Temple Mount. But Tuesday night, the government cabinet decided to do just that and to send military troops to help the police do the job. Maariv reported that the police have launched an emergency campaign to recruit volunteers in a joint unit of the Border Police meant to protect the public space, due to a lack of forces.
According to the Red Crescent, over 400 Palestinians were injured on Tuesday during clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Maan reported, with at least 31 shot with live fire. Yet, according to the IDF, Palestinian clashes with IDF forces has dropped by 50%.
What was barely mentioned in the Israeli press was the killing by the IDF in clashes of Mutaz Ibrahim Zawahreh, 27, with a live bullet in the chest. Zawahreh was from Deheisheh refugee camp. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 30 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territory by Israeli forces since Oct. 1, 17 of whom were killed during clashes.
Some 20,000 people gathered in the Arab Israeli town of Sakhnin Tuesday in solidarity with the Palestinians and Al-Aqsa. Palestinian Israeli leaders said they had warned Israel’s leaders of what would happen if they let the right-wing run rampant on the Temple Mount and did not end the occupation.
Some masked youth clashed with police. One expressed his fears to Ynet's Hassan Shaalan: "The cops are shooting innocent people like Asraa Zidan Tawfiq Abed who was shot in Afula; Fadi Alloun, who was shot in Jerusalem; and the girl who was shot this afternoon. We’re being treated like ISIS.” The Arab sector also held a general strike, including schools, public institutions and businesses in Arab municipalities, while some Jews made a Facebook initiative calling for the boycott of Arab businesses, Ynet reported. Ynet’s Elior Levy gives examples of how “Arab and Palestinian social media has been abuzz with inciting images which portray the perpetrators of attacks against Israelis as innocent victims of Israeli aggression,” but fails to mention the controversial cases of Fadi Alun and Israa’.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas for the violence, despite Shin Bet’s announcement that that was wrong. "Stop lying and inciting a true leader needs leadership,” said Netanyahu from the Knesset plenum podium. (Maariv) However US Secretary of State John Kerry did not take Netanyahu’s side. "I am not going to point fingers [at the culprits] from afar," Kerry said at a press conference in Washington. "This is a revolving cycle that damages the future for everybody…”
The violence and fear of the other has already had an economic impact on mixed cities. Jerusalem restaurants are emptying out, writes Haaretz+. And the ‘knife effect’ has even reached Tel-Aviv, with fewer people going to malls or out for entertainment, Yedioth reported
Not only are innocent Arabs finding themselves targets of Jewish revenge attacks, but Arab-looking Mizrachi Jews are, too. Maariv reported on the suspicious glances, curses they have received. And yesterday a Jewish Israeli stabbed a Mizrachi Jew in the second ‘failed revenge attack’ in a week.
Israel decided to put a siege around E. Jerusalem neighborhoods after three Israelis were killed and 20 wounded in five more attacks by Palestinians from E. Jerusalem, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinian Israelis (Arab Israelis) attended a rally calling for Israel to stop the right-wing Jews from visiting Al-Aqsa. The violence is taking an economic toll and Mizrachi Jews are also feeling the brunt as Jews who want to take revenge take it out on people they think are Arab.
The Israeli government was under pressure to lock down Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, despite Israeli Police Chief Bentzi Sau’s opposition to such a move. “There is no reason for collective punishment," Sau told the Knesset Interior Committee on Tuesday. "We don’t want to close those areas off with checkpoints and limit the freedom of movement of East Jerusalem's Arabs." Sau said the police has already imposed severe restrictions on 54 Jewish settlers, who were endangering the public order, and on 62 Muslim youths, who were identified as causing incitement on the Temple Mount. But Tuesday night, the government cabinet decided to do just that and to send military troops to help the police do the job. Maariv reported that the police have launched an emergency campaign to recruit volunteers in a joint unit of the Border Police meant to protect the public space, due to a lack of forces.
According to the Red Crescent, over 400 Palestinians were injured on Tuesday during clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Maan reported, with at least 31 shot with live fire. Yet, according to the IDF, Palestinian clashes with IDF forces has dropped by 50%.
What was barely mentioned in the Israeli press was the killing by the IDF in clashes of Mutaz Ibrahim Zawahreh, 27, with a live bullet in the chest. Zawahreh was from Deheisheh refugee camp. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 30 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territory by Israeli forces since Oct. 1, 17 of whom were killed during clashes.
Some 20,000 people gathered in the Arab Israeli town of Sakhnin Tuesday in solidarity with the Palestinians and Al-Aqsa. Palestinian Israeli leaders said they had warned Israel’s leaders of what would happen if they let the right-wing run rampant on the Temple Mount and did not end the occupation.
Some masked youth clashed with police. One expressed his fears to Ynet's Hassan Shaalan: "The cops are shooting innocent people like Asraa Zidan Tawfiq Abed who was shot in Afula; Fadi Alloun, who was shot in Jerusalem; and the girl who was shot this afternoon. We’re being treated like ISIS.” The Arab sector also held a general strike, including schools, public institutions and businesses in Arab municipalities, while some Jews made a Facebook initiative calling for the boycott of Arab businesses, Ynet reported. Ynet’s Elior Levy gives examples of how “Arab and Palestinian social media has been abuzz with inciting images which portray the perpetrators of attacks against Israelis as innocent victims of Israeli aggression,” but fails to mention the controversial cases of Fadi Alun and Israa’.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blamed Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas for the violence, despite Shin Bet’s announcement that that was wrong. "Stop lying and inciting a true leader needs leadership,” said Netanyahu from the Knesset plenum podium. (Maariv) However US Secretary of State John Kerry did not take Netanyahu’s side. "I am not going to point fingers [at the culprits] from afar," Kerry said at a press conference in Washington. "This is a revolving cycle that damages the future for everybody…”
The violence and fear of the other has already had an economic impact on mixed cities. Jerusalem restaurants are emptying out, writes Haaretz+. And the ‘knife effect’ has even reached Tel-Aviv, with fewer people going to malls or out for entertainment, Yedioth reported
Not only are innocent Arabs finding themselves targets of Jewish revenge attacks, but Arab-looking Mizrachi Jews are, too. Maariv reported on the suspicious glances, curses they have received. And yesterday a Jewish Israeli stabbed a Mizrachi Jew in the second ‘failed revenge attack’ in a week.
Quick Hits:
- Selfie sticks to umbrellas: Israelis use unconventional weapons to fight attackers - When confronted with an attack, bystanders are left to subdue the assailant using whatever objects are handy until police can reach the scene. (Haaretz)
- Jerusalem hospital treats attackers and victims side by side - The Hadassah Medical Center prides itself on checking politics at the door and treating Palestinian attackers and Jewish victims alike. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Terror shakes new immigrants who came to Israel to flee anti-Semitism - 'We came here to feel safe. Now my children refuse to walk to school alone, just like they did in Paris,' French émigré says after twin attacks in Ra'anana. (Haaretz+)
- Locals: Israeli settlers shoot live fire at Palestinian homes - Settlers from the illegal Givat Gal outpost opened live fire on homes in Jabal Jalis village east of Hebron. No injuries were reported. (Maan)
- Report details violence by Israel's immigration authority officials - 14 incidents were documented over the past two years in which violence was used agains asylum seekers and foreign workers during an arrest, at a detention facility, attempts to place deportees on planes and in enforcement sweeps on city streets. (Haaretz+)
- 'I was happy when my daughter said she wanted to be a martyr' - Gaza-based columnist describes her joy when her young daughter expressed a desire to sacrifice her life and kill Israeli soldiers. "More than they filled me with fear, my daughter's words filled me with joy," writes Sama Hassan. (Israel Hayom)
- Rise in West Bank settler numbers due to births, not building - The fertility rate in the settlements is 5.01 children per woman - far higher than anywhere else in Israel. (Haaretz+)
- Israeli military strikes Syria targets in response to mortar fire - Earlier, mortar shells were fired into Israeli territory in apparent spillover from Syria war. (Haaretz)
- Iran's parliament backs nuclear deal with world powers - 161 vote in favor, 59 against and 13 abstain, but the deal still needs to be approved by council of senior clerics, who could send it back to parliament to reconsider. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Report: Gulf states to purchase Israel's Iron Dome system - Sky News reports Gulf Cooperation Council wants to protect itself from 'growing arsenal of Iranian missiles.' (Haaretz)
Features:
How an Israeli Jew went from anti-terror vigilante to stopping an Arab-lynching mob
Calls by officials for civilians to arm themselves risk encouraging a culture of vigilantism that targets innocent Arab citizens. (Danna Harman, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Calls by officials for civilians to arm themselves risk encouraging a culture of vigilantism that targets innocent Arab citizens. (Danna Harman, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Et tu, Mayor Barkat? (Haaretz Editorial)
Mayor Nir Barkat's suggestion to seal off neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is more about positioning himself as 'Jerusalem's Rudy Giuliani' than to prevent further attacks.
In the end, it all blew up: Netanyahu sanctifies the status quo and there is nothing new in his step (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The writing was smeared in red letters on the walls, but the Prime Minister did not do anything, except give speeches. Those who don’t do anything on Friday night, eats the porridge that he cooked. Bibi is dividing Jerusalem. This is what is actually happening in these days, after the cabinet decided to impose a “breathing siege” of E. Jerusalem) neighborhoods and impose a wall between us and them that won’t stand even water. After the ‘breathing siege’ dies, a siege that doesn’t breathe will be imposed, and if the situation continues to deteriorate - Israel will consider imposing a curfew. In the end we will have to consider restoring the military government. Other solutions? There aren’t any. This is a popular, widespread, viral, unexpected, immeasurable and uncontrolled phenomenon. Even a thousand Abu Mazens (Mahmoud Abbas’) won’t be able to stop it. These young Palestinians, some of them children, who attack us with axes and pitchforks, living in a completely different world, their drive is completely different, they are realizing the vision of the "Arab Spring" that swept regimes, borders and countries, the Palestinian Fall is sweeping the streets of Jerusalem to Ra'anana, through the Gaza fence. Not long ago, at the beginning of this decade, there were those who warned us of a political tsunami which could lead to a violent tsunami outside. The prophecies of anger proved false and nothing happened. We went on as usual, sanctifying the status quo, living the good life and convinced that everything was OK. Now everything is exploding…. The Palestinians are incited, filled with hate and fantasies. Not only do they act barbarically, they also lie and then turn the murderers into martyrs. All this we know. Our problem is that we ignore our part in the deterioration of the situation. The part of the Messianic right-wing that speaks loudly about building a temple on the Temple Mount, that visits the Temple Mount at an increasing rate and that gives Islamist extremists the underlying factual basis to turn a fly into an elephant or a mountain into a hill. I wonder how many more Intifadas will sprout from the Temple Mount until we learn that lesson.
The intifada of the young and hopeless (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The young male and female murderers flooding Israel's streets are not lunatics from the margins of the Palestinian society; they are part of an army of unemployed academics and hopeless high school students who could care less about the regional political problems.
To quell the terror wave, get ready for increasing Israeli force (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The string of terror attacks is about to dictate a fundamental change in Israel’s response. The army will have to be called in, and the first address will be East Jerusalem.
IDF strategy for the Third Intifada (Yoav Zitun, Ynet) Military simulates incidents spinning out of control and sparking a wider conflagration, and has established a number of principles in the event of an all-out uprising.
Palestinians refuse to learn their lesson (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) The Palestinians continue to test Israel's limits despite their repeated defeats in every round of violence.
Netanyahu’s hatchet woman is targeting an honest man (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Likud’s Miri Regev is abusing former Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and blaming his Yisrael Beiteinu party for the troubles on the Temple Mount.
How to rationally manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Giora Eiland, Yedioth/Ynet) There is a lot of logic in the conflict management approach, which has proved itself since 2002, as long as we understand that it carries consequences and prices like maintaining the status quo and avoiding any unnecessary friction.
Stop, in the name of God (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) Karl Marx was wrong when he termed religion 'the opiate of the masses.' The escalating violence proves that in the Holy Land, religion is the gunpowder of the masses, and elected officials on both sides are putting matches to it.
Between Ankara and Jerusalem: A festival of incitement and blood (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The recent suicide attack in Turkey and the attempt to resume the Palestinian intifada point to one common denominator: Wherever radical Islam raises its head, the result is destruction and bloodshed.
How I got a medal for shooting an Arab waiter dead (B. Michael, Haaretz+) When I saw the black-clad figure with a gleaming knife in his hand in my favorite coffee shop, instincts kicked in; the owner of the coffee shop was in shock. That waiter had worked for him for eight years, and he never suspected him.
More forces in the field (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) We are witnessing a kind of infectious disease of terrorism that is passed from one zombie to another.
Israelis shouldn't be urged to take the law into their own hands (Steven Klein, Haaretz+) Instead of increasing civilians' sense of security, the Jerusalem mayor's call to arms sowed panic in the public and put lives at greater risk.
Mayor Nir Barkat's suggestion to seal off neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is more about positioning himself as 'Jerusalem's Rudy Giuliani' than to prevent further attacks.
In the end, it all blew up: Netanyahu sanctifies the status quo and there is nothing new in his step (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The writing was smeared in red letters on the walls, but the Prime Minister did not do anything, except give speeches. Those who don’t do anything on Friday night, eats the porridge that he cooked. Bibi is dividing Jerusalem. This is what is actually happening in these days, after the cabinet decided to impose a “breathing siege” of E. Jerusalem) neighborhoods and impose a wall between us and them that won’t stand even water. After the ‘breathing siege’ dies, a siege that doesn’t breathe will be imposed, and if the situation continues to deteriorate - Israel will consider imposing a curfew. In the end we will have to consider restoring the military government. Other solutions? There aren’t any. This is a popular, widespread, viral, unexpected, immeasurable and uncontrolled phenomenon. Even a thousand Abu Mazens (Mahmoud Abbas’) won’t be able to stop it. These young Palestinians, some of them children, who attack us with axes and pitchforks, living in a completely different world, their drive is completely different, they are realizing the vision of the "Arab Spring" that swept regimes, borders and countries, the Palestinian Fall is sweeping the streets of Jerusalem to Ra'anana, through the Gaza fence. Not long ago, at the beginning of this decade, there were those who warned us of a political tsunami which could lead to a violent tsunami outside. The prophecies of anger proved false and nothing happened. We went on as usual, sanctifying the status quo, living the good life and convinced that everything was OK. Now everything is exploding…. The Palestinians are incited, filled with hate and fantasies. Not only do they act barbarically, they also lie and then turn the murderers into martyrs. All this we know. Our problem is that we ignore our part in the deterioration of the situation. The part of the Messianic right-wing that speaks loudly about building a temple on the Temple Mount, that visits the Temple Mount at an increasing rate and that gives Islamist extremists the underlying factual basis to turn a fly into an elephant or a mountain into a hill. I wonder how many more Intifadas will sprout from the Temple Mount until we learn that lesson.
The intifada of the young and hopeless (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The young male and female murderers flooding Israel's streets are not lunatics from the margins of the Palestinian society; they are part of an army of unemployed academics and hopeless high school students who could care less about the regional political problems.
To quell the terror wave, get ready for increasing Israeli force (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The string of terror attacks is about to dictate a fundamental change in Israel’s response. The army will have to be called in, and the first address will be East Jerusalem.
IDF strategy for the Third Intifada (Yoav Zitun, Ynet) Military simulates incidents spinning out of control and sparking a wider conflagration, and has established a number of principles in the event of an all-out uprising.
Palestinians refuse to learn their lesson (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) The Palestinians continue to test Israel's limits despite their repeated defeats in every round of violence.
Netanyahu’s hatchet woman is targeting an honest man (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Likud’s Miri Regev is abusing former Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and blaming his Yisrael Beiteinu party for the troubles on the Temple Mount.
How to rationally manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Giora Eiland, Yedioth/Ynet) There is a lot of logic in the conflict management approach, which has proved itself since 2002, as long as we understand that it carries consequences and prices like maintaining the status quo and avoiding any unnecessary friction.
Stop, in the name of God (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) Karl Marx was wrong when he termed religion 'the opiate of the masses.' The escalating violence proves that in the Holy Land, religion is the gunpowder of the masses, and elected officials on both sides are putting matches to it.
Between Ankara and Jerusalem: A festival of incitement and blood (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The recent suicide attack in Turkey and the attempt to resume the Palestinian intifada point to one common denominator: Wherever radical Islam raises its head, the result is destruction and bloodshed.
How I got a medal for shooting an Arab waiter dead (B. Michael, Haaretz+) When I saw the black-clad figure with a gleaming knife in his hand in my favorite coffee shop, instincts kicked in; the owner of the coffee shop was in shock. That waiter had worked for him for eight years, and he never suspected him.
More forces in the field (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) We are witnessing a kind of infectious disease of terrorism that is passed from one zombie to another.
Israelis shouldn't be urged to take the law into their own hands (Steven Klein, Haaretz+) Instead of increasing civilians' sense of security, the Jerusalem mayor's call to arms sowed panic in the public and put lives at greater risk.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.