APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday December 20, 2015
Quote of the day:
“I am also breaking my silence.”
--Former commander of IDF's most elite Sayeret Matkal unit and deputy chief of Shin Bet wrote in an ad he took out in Friday's Haaretz, where expressed his support for 'Breaking the Silence' organization and blasted those who want to outlaw it.
--Former commander of IDF's most elite Sayeret Matkal unit and deputy chief of Shin Bet wrote in an ad he took out in Friday's Haaretz, where expressed his support for 'Breaking the Silence' organization and blasted those who want to outlaw it.
Breaking News:
Hezbollah: Samir Kuntar killed in airstrike
Al Manar reports the senior Hezbollah leader was assassinated by the Israel Air Force on the outskirts of Damascus, 36 years after murdering members of the Haran family and police officer Eliyahu Shahar in Nahariya. (Ynet and Haaretz)
Palestinian woman tries to stab soldier at Hebron checkpoint
Givati soldiers shoot attacker and neutralize her; no one hurt on Israeli side; tourist reports being stabbed in village near Bethlehem, police say incident is criminal in nature. (Ynet)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Police recommend to Attorney General to open criminal investigation against (Minister) Shalom
- The Police Commissioner cannot be silent // Yaniv Kobovich
- Interior Minister, go home // Raviv Drucker
- Three injured in attack in Raanana: Couple stabbed while playing with their child in park
- Demonstrators tried to reach home of Shin Bet chief following Duma interrogations
- Security Council adopted guideline for solution for Syria: Dispute over Assad’s future
- (Public Security Minister) Erdan cancels limitations imposed because of murder of women: Guards can again carry weapons home
- On the brink of a diplomatic crisis: Brazil delaying approval of appointment of (former settler chief) Danny Dayan as ambassador already four months
- Teachers in Germany call to teach Mein Kampf
- Improper meetings // Haaretz Editorial on Justice Minister’s involvement in attorney general appointment committee
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Terror in Raanana: “The terrorist stabbed me. I pushed him outside an protected my children like a lioness”
- Storm in Likud: Netanyahu wants to advance primaries
- Survivors: Balfour St. // Sima Kadmon
- Silvan Shalom affair – Two women: We will file complaints with the police if we receive immunity
- Our nerves have had enough of Bar (Refaeli, for allegedly not paying taxes) // Raanan Shaked
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Netanyahu: Advance primaries; (Gideo) Saar: Small politics during time of terror
- Hijacking under fire // Ben Caspit
- Silvan affair: In Attorney General’s hands
- Seinfeld made Tel-Aviv laugh
- Dikla’s heroism – Third terror attack in Raanana in wave of terror
Israel Hayom
- "The terrorist stabbed me in the kitchen, I screamed – and pushed him” – Terror again in Raanana
- Sivan Shalom affair: Fateful day
- Netanyahu considering advancing primaries for head of Likud
- Isolation? Thanks to the gas, we are being courted // Boaz Bismuth on the likely reconciliation with Turkey
- Genius: Even with joke for Israelis only – Seinfeld swept the crowd
News Summary:
The heroism of a woman in Ra’anana, who pushed a young Palestinian on a stabbing spree out of her home, the police recommendation that the Attorney General investigate Interior Minister Silvan Shalom over seven complaints of sexual harassment, and the call by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to hold early primaries for the head of the Likud party were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers – along with the performance of Seinfeld in Tel-Aviv. Also, what’s holding up the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation, and who were the very different groups demonstrating where and why over the weekend. Also, the latest in Israeli-Palestinian violence in the Palestinian Territories.
Fear took over the streets of Raanana, after one man was moderately wounded and two women were lightly wounded in the hand when Mohammed Faisal Mahmoud Basharat, 20, from Tamun village in the West Bank, stabbed them Saturday as he went from place to place in a Raanana neighborhood. When police found him in a yard, (video) one policeman cocked his gun at which Basharat dropped his knife. Maariv reported that in his interrogation, Basharat said he was taking revenge for Israel’s killing of his two uncles, in 2001 and 2002.
Meretz party chairwoman Zehava Gal-On called for a probe into the claims of alleged sexual harassment by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, to which Shalom’s wife, Judy, said. “If only I were a terrorist, she'd love me.” Today, the Attorney General is expected to decide. If he does, Shalom will have to step down. The political establishment wants him to suspend himself.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu says he wants to hold Likud primary elections sooner than planned, which raised the ire of his central opponent for the top job, Gideon Saar, who called it ‘small politics’ for holding the primaries during a time of violence, during which people support the incumbent.
Despite all the headlines Friday over Turkish-Israel reconciliation, Turkey says that Israel has met only one of their conditions for normalizing relations. It still has yet to pay compensation for the nine Turkish citizens Israeli forces killed in 2010 and to lift the blockade on Gaza. [NOTE: These are the same issues that have long been blocking a reconciliation. – OH]
Ahead of the expected reconciliation, Turkish Prime Minister Tayep Erdogan met with Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal.
In Tel-Aviv Saturday night, thousands (Haaretz+) or hundreds (Ynet) of Jews and Arabs protested against incitement President Reuven Rivlin and Israeli human rights NGOs and called Netanyahu to speak out against incitement. Yariv Oppenheimer, Secretary General of Peace Now, said, "We came out tonight to say that we will not let the right wing continue to incite and cheapen the blood of the president and left-wing activists." The night before some 150 supporters stood outside Rivlin’s home and held up signs bearing slogans such as "The people are with you" and "Racism is not Judaism." The demonstration was led by the anti-racism grassroots organization Tag Meir.
And also on Saturday night, hundreds of right-wing Jews, mostly religious, tried to reach the house of Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, to protest the alleged torture of the Jewish suspects in the arson-murder of the Dawabsheh family. They were blocked by police. Haaretz+ reported that at least four of the detained Jewish suspects also hold either US or Australian citizenship. They are members of the extremist group 'The Revolt.' Haaretz’s settler affairs correspondent, Chaim Levinson, reported that the torture described by the Jewish suspects is strikingly similar to descriptions by Palestinian torture victims.
Very little of the weekend Israeli-Palestinian violence that did not affect Israelis made the news. Three Palestinians were killed in different incidents in the Palestinian Territories:
The heroism of a woman in Ra’anana, who pushed a young Palestinian on a stabbing spree out of her home, the police recommendation that the Attorney General investigate Interior Minister Silvan Shalom over seven complaints of sexual harassment, and the call by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to hold early primaries for the head of the Likud party were top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers – along with the performance of Seinfeld in Tel-Aviv. Also, what’s holding up the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation, and who were the very different groups demonstrating where and why over the weekend. Also, the latest in Israeli-Palestinian violence in the Palestinian Territories.
Fear took over the streets of Raanana, after one man was moderately wounded and two women were lightly wounded in the hand when Mohammed Faisal Mahmoud Basharat, 20, from Tamun village in the West Bank, stabbed them Saturday as he went from place to place in a Raanana neighborhood. When police found him in a yard, (video) one policeman cocked his gun at which Basharat dropped his knife. Maariv reported that in his interrogation, Basharat said he was taking revenge for Israel’s killing of his two uncles, in 2001 and 2002.
Meretz party chairwoman Zehava Gal-On called for a probe into the claims of alleged sexual harassment by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, to which Shalom’s wife, Judy, said. “If only I were a terrorist, she'd love me.” Today, the Attorney General is expected to decide. If he does, Shalom will have to step down. The political establishment wants him to suspend himself.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu says he wants to hold Likud primary elections sooner than planned, which raised the ire of his central opponent for the top job, Gideon Saar, who called it ‘small politics’ for holding the primaries during a time of violence, during which people support the incumbent.
Despite all the headlines Friday over Turkish-Israel reconciliation, Turkey says that Israel has met only one of their conditions for normalizing relations. It still has yet to pay compensation for the nine Turkish citizens Israeli forces killed in 2010 and to lift the blockade on Gaza. [NOTE: These are the same issues that have long been blocking a reconciliation. – OH]
Ahead of the expected reconciliation, Turkish Prime Minister Tayep Erdogan met with Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal.
In Tel-Aviv Saturday night, thousands (Haaretz+) or hundreds (Ynet) of Jews and Arabs protested against incitement President Reuven Rivlin and Israeli human rights NGOs and called Netanyahu to speak out against incitement. Yariv Oppenheimer, Secretary General of Peace Now, said, "We came out tonight to say that we will not let the right wing continue to incite and cheapen the blood of the president and left-wing activists." The night before some 150 supporters stood outside Rivlin’s home and held up signs bearing slogans such as "The people are with you" and "Racism is not Judaism." The demonstration was led by the anti-racism grassroots organization Tag Meir.
And also on Saturday night, hundreds of right-wing Jews, mostly religious, tried to reach the house of Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, to protest the alleged torture of the Jewish suspects in the arson-murder of the Dawabsheh family. They were blocked by police. Haaretz+ reported that at least four of the detained Jewish suspects also hold either US or Australian citizenship. They are members of the extremist group 'The Revolt.' Haaretz’s settler affairs correspondent, Chaim Levinson, reported that the torture described by the Jewish suspects is strikingly similar to descriptions by Palestinian torture victims.
Very little of the weekend Israeli-Palestinian violence that did not affect Israelis made the news. Three Palestinians were killed in different incidents in the Palestinian Territories:
- Nashaat Jamal Asfour, 33, from Sinjil was killed by an explosive bullet to the chest during clashes with Israeli forces.
- Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Ayyad, 21, was killed after attempting to run over a group of soldiers with his vehicle in the Ramallah-area village of Silwad.
- Mahmoud Muhammad Saed al-Agha was shot dead near Khan Younis by Israeli military forces, when clashes broke out there in southern Gaza.
Another Palestinian was shot and wounded when he reportedly tried to ram soldiers at the Qalandiya military checkpoint in E. Jerusalem. 96 Palestinians were shot Friday by Israeli military in demonstrations across the West Bank and Gaza, Maan reported.
Worthy of noting, Maan reported on the sentencing of the five ‘Hares Village boys,’ whom Israel accused in 2013 of causing the injury of then three-year-old Adele Biton. Adele’s mother drove into a truck that had stopped on the side of the West Bank highway, after it was struck by a rock. Five boys, aged 16 to 17 at the time, were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Human rights organization saw the sentencing as a failure.
Quick Hits:
- Israel returns body of Palestinian teenager killed (in controversial shooting) after stabbing man in Jerusalem - Hundreds attended the funeral of 14-year-old Hadil Awad after her body was returned to her family, who lives in Qalandiyah, for burial. The policeman has been questioned, due to complaints that he shot Awad (and her cousin) although she posed no danger, as a video shows. (Haaretz+ and Maan)
- Lawyer: Israel to hand over bodies of Jerusalem Palestinians - Palestinian sources told Maariv that all the bodies of youth who carried out the attacks since the current wave of terror will be delivered within 48 hours at request of Palestinian Authority. According to sources, the rest of the bodies will be handed over gradually according to the situation on the ground. Maan reported that an unknown number of the 13 Palestinians shot dead in Jerusalem will be returned, after being withheld due to an Israeli security cabinet decision. (Maan and Maariv)
- Palestinian Sisters Cuffed, Manhandled and Beaten, for Alleged Traffic Offense - Two women, Israeli citizens from East Jerusalem, reveal what happened to them when they asked not to be unnecessarily detained at a checkpoint in Ma’aleh Adumim. (Haaretz+)
- Leading Palestinian pollster: Public opinion becoming more extreme - Dr. Khalil Shikaki gave an interview to Ynet, in which he explained why most Palestinians currently support terror: Alienation from local politics and a feeling that Israeli governments don't want peace among them. (Ynet)
- 17 MKs back bill labeling left-wing NGOs as foreign 'plants' (moles) - 25,000 Israelis on social media support bill prohibiting foreign-funded left-wing NGOs from working with government bodies or the IDF. If bill becomes law, NGOs that fail to divulge foreign funding sources will be fined 100,000 shekels ($25,700). (Israel Hayom)
- Ex-IDF general takes out ad to support Breaking the Silence - Amiram Levin backs NGO that publishes alleged abuses by soldiers, says army should encourage such groups to speak out. (Times of Israel)
- Diplomatic crisis looms as Brazil withholds approval of settler leader's ambassadorship - Israel formally requested Brazil to accept Dani Dayan as ambassador four months ago; Brazilian officials say they will not reject appointment outright, but hope Jerusalem 'gets the hint.' (Haaretz+)
- Women’s Groups Protest as State Relaxes Law on Guards Taking Guns Home - Minister Gilad Erdan reversing guidelines that were introduced in 2013 to tackle number of domestic shootings being committed by security guards. (Haaretz+)
- Ministry of Defense to sue youths who faked kidnapping - The state is suing Niv Asraf and Eran Nagaoker, who faked Asraf's kidnapping in Hebron last April, for NIS 625,000. The incident prompted a massive search by security forces. (Ynet)
- Expected restoration of Turkey ties paves way for natural gas deal - After five-year rift, normalization of Ankara-Jerusalem relations could yield high profit for both countries. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- American football prepares Israeli teens for military combat - A growing number of native-born Israelis have taken to the army-like strategy, camaraderie and collisions of the gridiron and turned America's Game, once a niche expat activity, into a popular fixture in the Holy Land. Some 2,000 Israelis now play the game. (Ynet)
- (Former Labor politician, Haim) Ramon founded a movement that aims to prevent Israel from turning into a binational state - "Saving Jewish Jerusalem" suggests building a fence between Jewish Jerusalem and the Arab villages and to annex Jewish settlements. Ramon: "We will save money because 200 thousand Palestinians cost of three billion shekels a year." (Maariv)
- IDF veteran who backed Netanyahu in international media blasts him in viral Facebook post - Posting a photo of the Israeli prime minister and himself on a 1997 cover of the New York Times, former IDF lieutenant Avi Buskila blasted the PM's 'dictatorial monarchist rule.' (Haaretz)
- Amusement park settles in discrimination case (against Arabs) - Management to compensate Arab schools with 4,000 free tickets after being sued over policy of separate admission days for Jews and Arabs. (Ynet)
- Mother of soldier missing in Gaza wants him declared MIA, not dead - Oron Shaul, who was in an armored personnel carrier that took a direct hit from an RPG, is currently listed as a fallen soldier whose place of burial is unknown. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- UN Security Council Endorses Syria Peace Plan, but No Mention of Assad - Diplomats rushed to overcome divisions on the draft resolution while world powers held the latest talks on how to bring conflict to an end. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Suffering Heavy Losses in Syria, Hezbollah Entices New Recruits With Money and Perks - South Lebanon residents say Shiite group started major recruitment initiative, luring fighters $2,000 paycheck, free education for their children, stipends for families if they are killed. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Obama signs budget with $3.1 bn aid package to Israel - Aid package includes money for Iron Dome for short-range missiles, David's Sling for longer-range missiles and Arrow 2 and 3 anti-ballistic missiles. (Ynet)
- U.S. to Prohibit Banks From Doing Business With Hezbollah - U.S. Congress unanimously passed a bill prohibiting financing the terrorist group; Obama is expected to sign the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 into a law. (JTA, Haaretz)
- US lawmakers slam EU labeling of settlement products - Group of Democrat, Republican legislators initiates resolution stating that EU guidelines encourage boycotts of all Israeli products. Meanwhile, Czech parliament says new guidelines are "motivated by political positioning versus the State of Israel." (Israel Hayom)
- Security Council seeks to stifle Islamic State's cash flow - Top U.N. forum adopts a resolution to disrupt jihadi group's revenues from oil and antiquities sales, ransom payments and other criminal activities • Move, sponsored by U.S. and Russia, officially elevates level of threat attributed to Islamic State. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
- Turkey Says 69 Kurdish Militants Killed in Four-day Offensive - Turkish warplanes taking off from their southeastern base in Diyarbakir bombard PKK camps in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. (Agencies, Haaretz)
Features:
The Israeli Defense Minister Who Stole Antiquities
In 1971, Israeli archaeologists petitioned Moshe Dayan to give up his legally questionable hobby: Uncovering ancient artifacts and claiming them as his own. (Yael Gruenpeter, Haaretz+)
Brave friendship: The (Israeli) Druze organization that helps (Druze) refugees from Syria
Six months ago the "Friendship Fund" announced that is donating half a million shekels to Drzue refugees who fled from Syria to Jordan. This week approved an additional budget of million. (Carmit Sapir-Weitz, Maariv)
Ethics in the face of terrorism
The Israeli Medical Association has reversed a 2008 decision mandating that doctors at the scene of a terrorist attack treat victims before the terrorist, regardless of the severity of the attacker's wounds. The responses, naturally, have been heated. (Ran Resnick, Israel Hayom)
Commentary/Analysis:
In 1971, Israeli archaeologists petitioned Moshe Dayan to give up his legally questionable hobby: Uncovering ancient artifacts and claiming them as his own. (Yael Gruenpeter, Haaretz+)
Brave friendship: The (Israeli) Druze organization that helps (Druze) refugees from Syria
Six months ago the "Friendship Fund" announced that is donating half a million shekels to Drzue refugees who fled from Syria to Jordan. This week approved an additional budget of million. (Carmit Sapir-Weitz, Maariv)
Ethics in the face of terrorism
The Israeli Medical Association has reversed a 2008 decision mandating that doctors at the scene of a terrorist attack treat victims before the terrorist, regardless of the severity of the attacker's wounds. The responses, naturally, have been heated. (Ran Resnick, Israel Hayom)
Commentary/Analysis:
Salute the General Who Dared to Break the Silence (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Amiram Levin exhibited bravery during his years in the Israeli army, just as he
did this weekend when he spoke out in defense of Breaking the Silence.
Don’t shoot down Breaking the Silence, it’s just the messenger (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) As right-wing groups queued up to bash Breaking the Silence last week, it’s interesting to note how the Israeli army itself views the activists who shine a light on its operations.
When freedom of expression becomes freedom of incitement (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) A recent survey found that 70.7% of Israeli Arabs think Israel is a good state to live in, while 54% believe that 'the Israeli gov’t is democratic towards Arab citizens as well' This proves that President Rivlin is wrong - we are not a sick society.
Campaigns to vilify President Rivlin and Breaking the Silence go hand in hand (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Netanyahu, Lapid, Bennett and Ya'alon help turn the president into an enemy of the state; the prime minister's dog bumps staggering poverty figures from the headlines.
All the president's pitfalls (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Between an unfortunate op-ed in The Washington Post, the flag fiasco at Haaretz's conference, and the Breaking the Silence debacle, President Reuven Rivlin's first official visit to the U.S. was not as successful as the media would have you believe.
Breaking the Silence: Why take the message abroad? (Ilan Lior, Haaretz+) The left-wing NGO made up of former soldiers found itself at the center of a public storm and under ferocious attack from across the Israeli political spectrum.
License to incite: "Breaking the Silence" is effective only on condition that their activities are focused inside Israel (Ben Caspit, Maariv) On his visit to the US, Rivlin proved the ideological right does not contradict democratic values, but apparently there are some who do not like his successful meeting with Obama. From there began the countdown till Heritage Channel 20 denounced him.
Im Tirtzu's Pernicious Video Equates Human Rights With Treason (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Only a distinctly anti-democratic organization would consider the efforts of these four left-wing NGOs cause for incitement.
The discourse of hatred: A victory for marginal groups (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) When the public discourse focuses on 'fascists' versus 'traitors,' the more serious, practical debate - which Israeli democracy needs like the air it breathes - is defeated.
The Toxic Roots Of Jewish Terror (Avirama Golan, Haaretz+) The religious Zionist's denial to categorize Jewish terror as such fans the flames of terrorism in the name of Judaism and a Jewish state.
Israeli Left Must Stop Clinging to False Taboos (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The left will continue losing the hearts and minds of the broader Israeli public if it doesn’t acknowledge that their fears are well-founded, even if the conclusions they draw are not.
Israeli Hawks' Call for Transparency Is Hypocritical (Gaby Lasky, Haaretz+) The mask needs to be torn off the attempts to brand peace and human rights organizations. Those efforts are neither transparent not proportionate.
Turkey’s Civil War: The Kurdish Crisis Heats Up (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of people have fled anticipated battles between government and PKK forces
Saudi Arabia's war of independence (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) Their disappointment with Obama has led the Saudis to adopt a sophisticated and aggressive strategy. No longer the world's oil barrel, Riyadh is now using oil prices to remove American companies from the market, punish the Russians for their support of Assad and shatter Iran's hopes of exporting large amounts of oil.
Im Tirtzu and the Proto-fascist Plot to Destroy Israeli Democracy (Chem Shalev, Haaretz+) The group's video portraying human rights activists as terrorist-supporting traitors is a symptom of a rapidly spreading, potentially terminal disease.
Israel's invisible wonder jets won’t defeat knives (Yoel Marcus, Haaretz+) The children who kill and wound us will grow up and multiply. And we’re buying a bunch of stealth fighters.
Zionism on the Edge: What I Saw at HaaretzQ (Miko Zeldes-Roth, Haaretz+) The occupation is not the singular beast gnawing away at the foundations of Israeli democracy. It is a byproduct of more fundamental issues embedded within the legacy of Zionism.
Empty slogans and huddled masses: Sayed Kashua is not in a New York state of mind (Sayed Kashua, Haaretz+) As soon as I entered the hotel where the Haaretz conference was being held, I realized that it was a multiple-casualty event.
Don’t shoot down Breaking the Silence, it’s just the messenger (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) As right-wing groups queued up to bash Breaking the Silence last week, it’s interesting to note how the Israeli army itself views the activists who shine a light on its operations.
When freedom of expression becomes freedom of incitement (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) A recent survey found that 70.7% of Israeli Arabs think Israel is a good state to live in, while 54% believe that 'the Israeli gov’t is democratic towards Arab citizens as well' This proves that President Rivlin is wrong - we are not a sick society.
Campaigns to vilify President Rivlin and Breaking the Silence go hand in hand (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Netanyahu, Lapid, Bennett and Ya'alon help turn the president into an enemy of the state; the prime minister's dog bumps staggering poverty figures from the headlines.
All the president's pitfalls (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Between an unfortunate op-ed in The Washington Post, the flag fiasco at Haaretz's conference, and the Breaking the Silence debacle, President Reuven Rivlin's first official visit to the U.S. was not as successful as the media would have you believe.
Breaking the Silence: Why take the message abroad? (Ilan Lior, Haaretz+) The left-wing NGO made up of former soldiers found itself at the center of a public storm and under ferocious attack from across the Israeli political spectrum.
License to incite: "Breaking the Silence" is effective only on condition that their activities are focused inside Israel (Ben Caspit, Maariv) On his visit to the US, Rivlin proved the ideological right does not contradict democratic values, but apparently there are some who do not like his successful meeting with Obama. From there began the countdown till Heritage Channel 20 denounced him.
Im Tirtzu's Pernicious Video Equates Human Rights With Treason (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Only a distinctly anti-democratic organization would consider the efforts of these four left-wing NGOs cause for incitement.
The discourse of hatred: A victory for marginal groups (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) When the public discourse focuses on 'fascists' versus 'traitors,' the more serious, practical debate - which Israeli democracy needs like the air it breathes - is defeated.
The Toxic Roots Of Jewish Terror (Avirama Golan, Haaretz+) The religious Zionist's denial to categorize Jewish terror as such fans the flames of terrorism in the name of Judaism and a Jewish state.
Israeli Left Must Stop Clinging to False Taboos (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The left will continue losing the hearts and minds of the broader Israeli public if it doesn’t acknowledge that their fears are well-founded, even if the conclusions they draw are not.
Israeli Hawks' Call for Transparency Is Hypocritical (Gaby Lasky, Haaretz+) The mask needs to be torn off the attempts to brand peace and human rights organizations. Those efforts are neither transparent not proportionate.
Turkey’s Civil War: The Kurdish Crisis Heats Up (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of people have fled anticipated battles between government and PKK forces
Saudi Arabia's war of independence (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) Their disappointment with Obama has led the Saudis to adopt a sophisticated and aggressive strategy. No longer the world's oil barrel, Riyadh is now using oil prices to remove American companies from the market, punish the Russians for their support of Assad and shatter Iran's hopes of exporting large amounts of oil.
Im Tirtzu and the Proto-fascist Plot to Destroy Israeli Democracy (Chem Shalev, Haaretz+) The group's video portraying human rights activists as terrorist-supporting traitors is a symptom of a rapidly spreading, potentially terminal disease.
Israel's invisible wonder jets won’t defeat knives (Yoel Marcus, Haaretz+) The children who kill and wound us will grow up and multiply. And we’re buying a bunch of stealth fighters.
Zionism on the Edge: What I Saw at HaaretzQ (Miko Zeldes-Roth, Haaretz+) The occupation is not the singular beast gnawing away at the foundations of Israeli democracy. It is a byproduct of more fundamental issues embedded within the legacy of Zionism.
Empty slogans and huddled masses: Sayed Kashua is not in a New York state of mind (Sayed Kashua, Haaretz+) As soon as I entered the hotel where the Haaretz conference was being held, I realized that it was a multiple-casualty event.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.