News Nosh 11.19.15

by APN 11/19/15
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday November 19, 2015 
 
Quote of the day:
“I’ve been shocked to hear claims of anti-Semitism and historical comparisons or analogies to the persecution of Jews in Germany in the ’30s and ’40s...In my mind this is a distortion of history and belittlement of the crimes of the Nazis, and the memory of their victims.”
--European Union Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen said in response to remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
You Must Be Kidding: 
45 days community service.
--The sentence Magistrate’s Court Judge Dana Cohen-Lekach gave to a Border Policeman who was caught on film severely beating an American-Palestinian. The state had requested a seven-month jail term.

Breaking News:
1 murdered in Tel Aviv stabbing attack
Second victim seriously wounded, another moderately in southern Tel Aviv in suspected nationally motivated attack. (Ynet and Haaretz)

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • The aluminum can that blew up the Russian plane
  • 7-hour battle in Paris in attempt to eliminate the planners of the attacks
  • Last-minute crisis on draft bill
  • Yaalon: We need to keep the good ones – Following Yedioth expose about brain drain in IDF
  • From the mourning, life sprouted – New community created to be named after 4-year-old boy killed in 2014 Gaza war and his parents gave birth to baby girl
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
 
News Summary:
The French police raided a Paris suburb, Knesset members stayed up throughout the night voting over the state budget and Israeli-American spy Jonathan Pollard will be set free tomorrow making top news in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
 
Also in the news, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been speaking with world leaders about terror, Israel is considering suing the European Union as part of its campaign against the EU for its decision to label settlement products. One EU representative expressed opposition to the labeling and the EU ambassador to Israel said it cheapened the Holocaust to equate the labeling of Jewish settlement products with the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses. EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen took issue with Netanyahu’s comments and that of other speakers at the ‘Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference,’ where a number of other interesting statements were made.
 
Israeli Air Force commander Amir Eshel spoke about one of the military’s big challenges: using assault to prevent escalation and not create escalation: "We’re like Twitter, which sends (the enemy) sharp messages: ‘This will hurt you, don’t cross this line.’ Here is a situation that creates a big dilemma: How to send a strong message, but not escalate the conflict. These are our two borders, which we are trying to play between. It’s a game of signals and our moves need to have the right impact, in order to prevent escalation.” Eshel also spoke about the new situation in Syria in which other air forces are acting in the region: “The new situation is that the skies are crowded in the Middle East. For us, this is new. There are coalition forces, Russian forces, and more. We need to maneuver in order not to hit people that we don’t want to harm.” (Maariv)
 
Netanyahu spoke about Islamic militancy at the conference saying: “We have to fight terrorism like we fought the Nazis” and said it was "ridiculous" to blame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the turmoil in the region. Separately, he said, there is a century old struggle between Jewish and Palestinian nationalism, with the Palestinians refusing to accept that Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people.“ Lately this Palestinian rejectionism has become confused with militant Islam," he said, adding that Palestinians living in Gaza are now governed by militant Islamists. 

Netanyahu will attend the UN Climate Summit in 10 days as he is interested in speaking with French President Francois Hollande and other leaders attending, Haaretz+ reported. Wednesday he spoke by phone with Hollande and with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone to discuss terror and plans to meet with them both
at the Summit.
 

 
Quick Hits:
  • Cop who beat up Palestinian teen gets six weeks community service - Days after the murder of the teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, policemen were filmed beating his 15-year-old cousin Tariq, a U.S. citizen. (Haaretz+ and Ynet and VIDEO)
  • Israeli minor complains police forced him to strip completely - "I told him that I didn't want to," the youth said. "It was the guy who took me to the cell, before I entered it. He told me that if I didn't do it he'd do it by force. After I had removed my underwear, he told me to bend over. They put me in the cell barefoot. This is my first time in detention." Judge (only) said he found the incident "puzzling, to say the least." (Haaretz+)
  • Israel ignoring construction of two unauthorized West Bank roads, including one on Palestinian land - State says the two new roads have never been challenged in court, so there is no reason they cannot be built. (Haaretz+)
  • (Leader of outlawed Northern branch of Islamic Movmt in Israel) Ra'ad Salah: Ban Doesn’t Worry Us; We’ll Continue to Act Toward Removing Occupation of Al-Aqsa - Islamic Movement’s northern branch leader responds to cabinet’s decision to outlaw his organization: 'The Islamic Movement is not a passing phenomenon, its roots are everywhere.' (Haaretz+) 
  • MKs hail move to outlaw Northern Branch of Islamic Movement - Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon: Northern Branch endangers Israel's security and collaborates with terrorist groups. Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog: This is first step in protecting Israeli democracy. General strike to be held in Arab sector on Thursday. (Israel Hayom)
  • School Tests in Israel Show Gaps Between Rich and Poor, Jews and Arabs - Differences show in all tests and all grades tested — with exception of Hebrew and English exams for fifth grade. For rest of the tests, gaps have not narrowed — and in some cases they have even grown wider. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Israel Passes 2015-2016 Budget in Late Night Vote - With slim coalition majority, budget passes 61-59 after lawmakers vote on 1,500 different pages of objections and reservations. (Haaretz+) 
  • Dead Sea products could be first test of EU labeling rules - The Ahava cosmetics company proves how tricky things can be when some operations are in the West Bank, some in Israel proper. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel Navy to Return Gazan Fishing Boats, Despite Escalation - The boats had been confiscated because they had strayed from the area permitted by security forces. (Haaretz+)
  • JNF agrees to give government $510m over two years - Money go to housing and environmental projects, but agreement also puts off at least until 2021 any fundamental reform of government’s relations with JNF. (Haaretz+)
  • Red Cross: Palestinian Red Crescent was impartial after Hebron terror attack - Israel had alleged that a Red Crescent ambulance intentionally neglected the victims of a West Bank terror attack that left two dead November 13. (JTA, Haaretz) 
  • Demonstrators protest checkpoints, closures in East Jerusalem - Israeli forces detained an 11-year-old Palestinian boy in East Jerusalem on Wednesday as local residents protested against a checkpoint set-up in a Palestinian neighborhood a month ago, witnesses said. (Maan) 
  • Clashes break out in occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood - Clashes broke out Wednesday morning in occupied East Jerusalem during a commemoration of two Palestinians who were killed after carrying out a deadly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue last year, witnesses said. (Maan) 
  • Israeli military fires heavy tear gas, prevents students from school - Palestinian schoolchildren on Thursday were prevented from accessing their school after Israeli forces covered an area south of Hebron’s Old City with teargas and Skunk water, locals said. (Maan)
  • Video on state website slams Rabin for Altalena ‘murders’ - Video includes archival footage showing interviews with Rabin and two other people who tell of the events of pre-state battle in which 'Rabin admits responsibility for the massacre on the Altalena,' (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli Arabs planned to join ISIS - Ring of 7 Islamic State supporters busted by Shin bet in Jaljulia after one flew into Syria by paraglider in October. (Ynet)
  • Poll: 18% of Muslims in Israel say ISIS is not a terror group - One-third of Northern Branch supporters say ISIS is not a radical terrorist group and are not ashamed of its extremist Islamist ideology, according to 2105 Index of Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel. 57% of Muslim Arabs: Islamic Movement represents us. (Israel Hayom) 
  • Israel wants to collect prisoners' voice samples - New bill calls for installation of smart prison telephony system that would prevent call card theft. The state wants to database the samples in the same way it collects fingerprints. (Haaretz+) 
  • EU delegation meets with PA to discuss Gaza reconstruction - Al-Hasayna noted that one of the major challenges to the reconstruction process was getting construction materials into the Strip, due to Israel's ongoing siege on the enclave. Gaza needs at least 7,000 tons of construction materials to complete the rebuild, said Minister of Public Works and Housing Mufid al-Hasayna. (Maan) 
  • Netanyahu 'overreacted' by waging war against Hamas last year, Sanders says - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "overreacted" by launching Operation Protective Edge, the Israeli military offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip last summer, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told Rolling Stone magazine. (JPost)
  • Local committee to fix homes damaged during Nablus demolitions  - Over 50 Palestinian homes in Nablus that were damaged during demolitions carried out by Israeli forces are expected to be refurbished by a local committee. (Maan)
  • Israeli forces open fire at Gaza's al-Maghazi refugee camp - Local sources said Israeli forces opened live fire at Palestinian lands and houses in the camp, but that the fire did not result in any injuries. (Maan) 
  • Hamas slams rumored PA, Egypt 'unilateral' Rafah crossing agreement  - Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the plan a "unilateral arrangement" that "ignored the reality on the ground," and implied that Hamas would oppose any Rafah agreements made without Hamas involvement. (Maan) 
  • Gaza man in shock after being wrongly identified as a Paris attacker - Sami Abu Rus, a journalism student at Al-Aqsa University, told Ma'an that he was shocked after seeing his image posted online by Islamic State media groups praising him as one of the "lions" who attacked Paris. (Maan) 
  • Israel Named Alongside Russia in Anti-doping Crackdown - World Anti-Doping Agency says there is evidence that Russian state security services were colluding with athletes to permit them to dope freely. (Haaretz)
  • Syria Has Used 90 Percent of Its Ballistic Missiles, Says Israeli Official - While most were used against rebels in the civil war, a number of the missiles were transferred to Hezbollah, who has been building up its arsenal since 2006. (Haaretz)
  • US House reps: Pollard will renounce citizenship if necessary - Lawmakers urge U.S. government to let Pollard arrive in Israel after his release this week, noting that he poses no danger. Under the terms of his parole, Pollard has to stay in U.S. for five years and report to probation officer for at least one year. (Israel Hayom) 
  • ISIS supporters stab Jewish teacher in Marseille - Rabbi Tzion Saadon, a history and geography teacher at a Jewish school in the southern French city, is attacked by three assailants. Saadon suffers three knife wounds, transported to hospital for medical treatment. Attackers flee scene. (Israel Hayom)
  • Jordan's king warns of 'third world war against humanity' - "We are facing a third world war against humanity and this is what brings us all together," King Abdullah says, describing ISIS as "savage outlaws of religion." Abdullah: We must act "fast and holistically" to tackle this threat. (Israel Hayom)
  • Iranian president calls for more cooperation in fighting ISIS - Hassan Rouhani reportedly tells French President Hollande that "eradicating terrorism from Syria and Iraq should be our first priority." Iranian minister vows to double oil exports once sanctions lifted; warns "others should be" worried about price. (Israel Hayom)

Features:
Jerusalem's Mabat 2000: Catching terrorists in the act
Meet the Jerusalem Police's surveillance unit, which has been instrumental in identifying terrorists and aiding in their capture using some 400 cameras covering almost every inch of the Old City. (Ynet)
Jonathan Pollard: Blabbermouth, patriot, spy?
After 30 years behind bars, Jonathan Jay Pollard – the American naval intelligence officer who spied for Israel – is being freed from prison. A timeline. (Haaretz)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Make the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch Legal Again (Haaretz Editorial) The outlawing of the northern branch fosters the dangerous illusion that its shutdown will significantly reduce Palestinian terror. 
Decision to outlaw Islamic Movement criminalizes thousands (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) There is no evidence that the northern branch was involved in terrorist activities; banning the organization will serve to radicalize Israeli Arabs. 
That Is Not a Jewish State (Ariana Melamed, Haaretz+) The 'Jewish state' envisioned by the leaders of the Israeli right is a theocratic-fascist-racist regime, served up warm in sanitized language. 
The Middle East Challenge: A Western-Arab-Israeli Pact (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) When the response to Al-Qaida was destroying the old order without replacing it with a new order, a violent, savage disorder ensued. 
Shame on You Sweden for Telling Israel the Truth (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Israel, an occupying state that brutally expels refugees and asylum seekers, is preaching morality to the closest thing there is today to a model state. 
Everyone is in the crosshairs (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) Today Europeans are realizing that a bomb can go off anywhere and at any time. And what did they do to deserve this? They are infidels. 
For U.S. Jews, a Double-edged Holocaust Precedent to Syrian Refugee Clash (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) In pre-World War II America, European Jews were criminals, Communists, anarchists or Nazi saboteurs coming to take over the country.
Something is rotten in the State of Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) President Rivlin's comments about a sick and racist society were well-meaning, but only served to further fan the flames and draw more international criticism; meanwhile, no one in the world press bats an eye at a series of arsons at refugee centers in Sweden.
Passing the Budget: Netanyahu's Government Is Saved, the Israeli Public Be Damned (Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz+) Kahlon, Ya’alon, Dery, Litzman and Gafni won hefty budgets for their constituents, and the threat to the coalition was repelled. Ordinary citizens have less reason to be happy. 
Getting rid of ISIS is not impossible (Noah Klieger, Ynet) The Islamic State has only tens of thousands of fighters, concentrated in two districts in Syria and Iraq. With a planned and powerful offensive, Western forces will be able not only to defeat the enemy - but maybe even destroy it once and for all.
Every Pro-boycott Endorsement Weakens Israel’s Anti-occupation Camp (Harvey E. Goldberg, Haaretz+) The American Anthropological Association’s BDS proposal could have far-reaching consequences: strengthening Israel’s right wing and abetting BDS’s rhetorical pretense regarding its true aims. 
A reckless pyromaniac (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) The decision to outlaw the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement was correct. But was it wise?
Europe should demand Israeli apology for abusive response to settlements labeling spat (Daniel Levy, Haaretz+) Not only is Israel factually and legally in the wrong, it needs Europe much more than vice versa; for the EU, Israel is a problematic ally whose actions too often undermine European interests and drive instability. 
From Tehran with love: Iran's reaction to the Paris attacks (Emily B. Landau, Ynet) The Islamic republic's messages of support to France are hypocritical: Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and has its own reasons for wanting to see Islamic State toppled. 
Israel's experts on liberalism never cease to amaze (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Oh French brothers, behold the Jewish-Israeli liberalism and know how to treat your savages.
 
Interviews: 
'Sweden a big supporter of Israel'
WATCH: Dr. Björn Brenner from the Swedish Defense University speaks to Ynetnews about official Swedish positions towards Israel and controversial remarks made by Foreign Minister Wallström last week. (Ynet) 

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

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