News Nosh 02.23.16

by APN 02/23/16
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday February 23, 2016
 
Quote of the day:
"I don’t feel I need to deny my ancestry and my roots for me to declare and prove loyalty to Israel. My recognition of, and pride in my roots does not pose a threat to Israel’s security, nor should it be considered an ‘attack’ on it - it’s just a fact."
--Rita Khoury, a Palestinian citizen of Israel (commonly known as an Arab-Israeli), is a graduate of the Technion and an information systems engineer.

You Must Be Kidding: 
The prosecution for Israel’s military court refused to allow the family of imprisoned Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq to visit him at an Israeli hospital as al-Qiq’s hunger strike reached 90 days because it said they were “dangerous to Israeli security." Yet, it reportedly allowed two Hamas prisoners to visit him, ostensibly to convince him to stop his hunger strike. Al-Qiq is protesting being held without charges.

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Chief of Staff: Starting now, going out (on holidays) with weapons – But it won’t help (Tuviya) Yanai
  • Police Commissioner: There is a difference between our attitude to bereavement and our enemy’s attitude
  • (Former tycoon now in jail) Danny Dankner: This is how I fell
  • Enormous exit for Israeli film Ravello
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only) Israel Hayom
  • Bond of silence: Data on deaths in heart surgery will be collected – and hidden from public eye
  • After the murder of the soldier: Chief of Staff ordered – combat soldiers will go on holiday with weapon
  • Hatred on the Underground in London: “Israel – apartheid”
  • Desert full of water
  • Another cease-fire agreement in Syria – but without Daesh and Al-Qaeda

News Summary:
The IDF Chief of Staff says off-duty combat soldiers must now take their weapons on furloughs, the security establishment speaks of fear of an escalation of violence and the Police Chief says there is a difference between Jewish and Palestinian bereavement, while the Education Minister declares the next school year to be 'Year of Jerusalem Unity' and the Prime Minister asks to remove BDS posters from London subways making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, an Israeli judge makes an unprecedented ruling in favor of Palestinian employees at Israeli companies.

After it was learned that the off-duty Israeli soldier, Tuviya Yanai Weissman, who was stabbed to death in the West Bank by a Palestinian teen last week, was not given permission to take his weapon with him, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot ordered all combat soldiers to take their weapons with them when on furlough.

The papers report on security concerns of three different fronts: the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the West Bank. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters that Israel is preparing for possibility of war with Hamas, despite the 'unprecedented quiet' on the Gaza border. Yedioth’s Alex Fishman reported that Israel is concerned that Daesh is preparing a cell of activists in a village near the Golan Heights border and that could spread across the Syrian side of the Golan. Yesterday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that he didn’t believe a stable ceasefire in Syria was possible, and that the US and Russia recognized Israel's freedom of action in Syria. In the West Bank, the Israeli security establishment believes the violence may develop into a "nightmare scenario" of deadly attacks and sweep  the entire Palestinian population to the streets if the Palestinians are not given a political horizon, Maariv’s Noam Amir reported.
 
Israel’s new Police Chief Roni Alsheik made waves saying that there was a difference between ‘our’ grief and the grief ‘of some of our neighbors.’ "It is impossible not to feel the difference between the grief we see in your faces and the feeling we have been encountering in recent years on [the faces of] some of our neighbors," Alsheikh said at an event for bereaved families in Eilat. “It appears that, while we have chosen to sanctify life and give it meaning, our enemies have chosen to sanctify death.” The comments seem aimed to reject statements by radio presenter Razi Barkai, who caused a storm among the right-wing for saying that parents of killed Israeli soldiers would feel terrible like Palestinian parents if they, too, had to wait for the corpses of their loves ones to be returned to them. 
 
Meanwhile, in his latest controversial move affecting educational programs, Education Minister Naftali Bennett declared that next school year would be 'Year of Jerusalem Unity', and children would receive an expanded curriculum emphasizing the importance of an undivided Jerusalem and its heritage 50 years after the city's reunification. Some Israeli lawmakers slammed the move, with one Joint Arab List lawmaker accusing the minister of ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people. Zionist Camp MK Stav Shafir said, "We actually came here from Egypt" and not Jerusalem, and sparked another storm among the right-wing MKs. 
  
After as many as 500 posters accusing Israel of massacres in Gaza, claiming the BBC was biased and shaming a British security company working with Israel were placed in London's underground trains by a pro-Palestinian activists group as part of Israeli Apartheid Week campaign, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked the UK government to remove them.

Good news for Palestinians working in settlement industrial zones: An Israeli judge made an unprecedented ruling and returned a Palestinian employee to his job at an Israeli auto repair garage, which he lost allegedly for hoisting a Palestinian flag. The Palestinian employee, Hatem Abu Ziadeh, who formed and chaired Tzarfati Garage’s labor union against the wishes of the company, was thrown out of his job after 17 years on the pretext that he hoisted a Palestinian flag at the garage, located in the Mishur Adumim settlement industrial zone in the West Bank. Judge Eyal Avrahami rejected the claim: "Tzarfati Garage tried to blacken the reputation of Hatem Abu Ziadeh and negate his legitimacy." The judge also called for a hearing to examine the question of financial compensation to Abu Ziadeh for the 1.5 years he was unemployed, and to examine WAC-MAAN Worker’s Advice Center’s demand for compensation by the garage for willful infringement of freedom of association. The ruling is of great significance to Palestinians who work in Israeli companies in settlements. (Maariv and The Marker)
Quick Hits:
  • Fresh psych exam finds Abu Khdeir killer legally responsible for murder - While the two minor co-defendants in the trial were already convicted for their part in the murder of the Palestinian child in the summer of 2014, the court has yet to rule on Yosef Haim Ben-David's culpability. (Haaretz+ and Ynet) 
  • Stabbing attack thwarted in northern West Bank - Knife-wielding Palestinian man flees scene after soldiers attempt to arrest him. (Haaretz)
  • Modi'in man charged with incitement after call to 'slaughter Arabs' - 'Guys, we need to take the law into our own hands already and start slaughtering,' wrote Eliyahu Eliav Mualem, 27; 'It's very good that Abu Khdeir was 16. Let's hope the next Arabs who are murdered are younger,' another post reads. He also called to murder MK Hanin Zouebi. (Walla, Maariv and Ynet) 
  • Palestinian detainee, 89 days into hunger strike, enters uncharted medical territory - The strike of Mohammed Al-Qiq, who stopped eating on Nov. 25 in protest of being held without charges, is longer than fasts by other Palestinians or by Irish prisoners in 1981. (Agencies, Haaretz) 
  • Lawyer: Israeli prosecution rejects family visits for hunger-striker - Israeli prosecution claimed that Mohammed al-Qiq’s wife and brothers were “dangerous to Israeli security” and would not be granted permits to leave the occupied West Bank and enter Israel to see the hunger-striking journalist at the HaEmek hospital in Afula. (Maan) 
  • Palestinian sources: Israel allowed Hamas prisoners to visit hunger striker in hospital - Jamal al-Hur and Mahmoud Shritah, serving total of 12 life terms for terror attacks, reportedly held meeting with Mohammad al-Qiq. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israeli college lecturer on High Court justices: 'I hope that they’ll be hanged’ for high treason - Dr. Anat Rimon Or of Beit Berl Academic College posted statement on Facebook after court rejected Palestinian hunger striker's plea to be moved to Ramallah hospital. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israeli High Court judge questions state security clause in forced-feeding law - Judge raises questions about clause that allows courts to take national security into account when considering whether to force feed a hunger-striking prisoner. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian in Gaza - The man, who was shot in his foot east of Gaza City, was evacuated to al-Shifaa hospital. (Maan) 
  • Indictment filed against Dafna Meir's murderer - The 16-year-old terrorist brutally killed her in front of her home; indictment states that he decided to attack after watching inciting videos; upon arriving home after his act he watched a movie with his family. (Ynet) 
  • Israel returns bodies of 3 Palestinians - The two Palestinians from al-Qubieba north of Jerusalem were both shot dead after attempting to carry out an armed attack on Israeli Border Police forces at Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday last week. Also returned to his family was Khalid Taqatqa, 21, from Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, who was killed in clashes last week. (Maan) 
  • Israeli troops remove sign featuring slain Palestinian teen in Hebron - Activists from Youth Against Settlements group put up the memorial at entrance to shuttered al-Shuhada Street in Hebron, in memory of 18-year-old Hadeel al-Hashlamon, who was shot at at least 10 times by Israeli soldiers last September in what Amnesty International called an “extrajudicial execution." (Maan)
  • Bid to increase role of Jewish law in Israel's legal system gains political steam - Justice Committee chair sees ‘greater entry of [Jewish religious] law into court rulings,’ and he's not alone. (Haaretz+) 
  • Proposed bill amended to make it harder for Israeli lawmakers to suspend colleagues - Suspension will be possible for supporting terror, inciting to racism and denying the Jewish and democratic nature of the country - but it will need the support of 90 MKs. (Haaretz+) 
  • 20 former ministers from across political spectrum "oppose the unnecessary suspension law" - A group of former senior politicians, including Dan Meridor, Haim Ramon and Shaul Yehalom, issued a letter of protest to the proposal that would allow ousting an elected MK: "The authority to discuss this issue – is in the framework of criminal law." (Maariv)
  • Lawyer warns MKs against excessive anti-terror measures - Proposal would allow terrorism suspects' assets to be seized without court order. "The defense minister does not have the necessary expertise to determine who has committed a crime. Courts have such expertise," says Knesset committee's legal counsel. (Israel Hayom)
  • Bill to regulate the activities of the Shin Bet and Mossad - MK Ofer Shelah argues that in the current situation because there is no proper ministerial supervision over the secret services, it leads to many deficiencies in decision-making and to deficient oversight. (Maariv and Ynet) 
  • Minister Allegedly Used WZO Division to Funnel Money to Settlements - Almost $20 million earmarked for outlying areas where channeled to religious and settler institutions through the WZO by Uri Ariel, comptroller report alleges. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israeli Arab teacher could be fired for screening an Oscar-nominated Palestinian film - Ali Muasi was attacked by Islamist extremists for showing the movie ‘Omar’ to his students, which they claimed was offensive because it contained nudity. (Haaretz+) 
  • Battle shapes up over proposed site for new Druze town - Gov't plan to build Druze town in Galilee meets criticism over how it could affect archaeological treasures and the natural landscape. (Agencies, Ynet) 
  • In bid to fight lobbyists, Knesset committees can now remove guests during voting - Knesset House Committee approves move, citing need to prevent outside pressure on MKs, but watchdog says move hurts public oversight. (Haaretz+) 
  • EU launches Tubas' first water treatment plant - The 24 million dollar project consists of a wastewater treatment plant, sewage collection network and an irrigation scheme for the reuse of treated water. It is expected to be completed in September 2017. (Maan) 
  • Jerusalem store owners take Shabbat opening issue to court - Under the capital's new program, day of rest laws will be enforced strictly in the city center, which has been defined as a religious area. (Haaretz+) 
  • Arab journalists visit Israel for the first time - Foreign Ministry hosts delegation of four Arab journalists who live in Europe as part of a new initiative to reach out to the Arabic-speaking world. (Yedioth/Ynet) 
  • First shipment of American crude oil to Israel to ship in coming weeks - The shipment will be one of the first to leave the U.S. after the lifting of the decades old ban on crude oil export, the Financial Times reports. (Haaretz+) 
  • Israel, US launch large joint missile defense drill - More than 1,700 U.S. soldiers, civilians and contractors arrive in Israel to take part in Juniper Cobra 16 joint exercise. IDF: Purpose is to improve coordination between two militaries and bolster ballistic missile defense capabilities. (Israel Hayom and Ynet) 
  • New IDF app gives Israelis localized warnings of security threats - 'Home Front Command' allows users to select specific area for which to receive warnings from incoming rockets to earthquakes. (Haaretz) 
  • Flooding carries away cars, causes massive damage in Gaza - The office said flood waters have carried away cars, uprooted trees and entered homes in the besieged Palestinian territory during the past two days of downpour. (Maan) 
  • Lieberman and Lapid join forces "fighting over Israel's status in the world" - Herzog left out: Chairmen of Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beiteinu are organizing a joint conference to be held in the Knesset following the crisis in foreign relations, with the participation of former ambassadors, MKs and senior public relations professionals. (Maariv) 
  • WATCH: 'I Love Israel, but I Could Also Be Critical of It,' Achinoam Nini Says - Singer talks about Israel, claiming stalemate in peace process, and not anti-Semitism, spurring anti-Israeli sentiment in EU. (Haaretz) 
  • Opposition to Speaker of Knesset addressing the British Parliament: "He is a settler who lives on Palestinian land" - Palestinian Authority representative in the UK claimed that Edelstein's invitation legitimizes Israeli occupation. Speaker Edi Yudelstein: "Headlines for cheap populism. I am proud to represent the Knesset and Israel as a resident of Judea and Samaria." (Maariv and JPost) 
  • Spanish city scraps already-passed Israel boycott motion, calling it 'discriminatory' - Aviles city council nullifies motion after a pro-Israel group initiated a discrimination lawsuit against the municipality in connection with that vote. (JTA, Haaretz) 
  • Catholic Church in Israel blames Jewish state for current Palestinian violence - Deputy Defense Minister Ben-Dahan: Latin Patriarchate shouldn’t repeat Palestinian propaganda. (Maariv/JPost) 
  • Assad Regime, ISIS Commit Crimes Against Humanity in Syria, UN Inquiry Says - Commission urges 15-nation Security Council to refer the conflict in Syria to the International Criminal Court in The Hague or an ad hoc war crimes tribunal to ensure justice. (Agencies, Haaretz) 
  • Putin: U.S.-Russia Agreement on Syria Cease-fire a Real Step Toward Halting Bloodshed - Cessation of hostilities to begin this weekend, but will exclude ISIS and Nusra Front. (Agencies, Haaretz) 

Features:
Palestinian night watchmen stand guard in PA's absence
The lives of Walid and the men in the room with him embody the failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to provide security to Palestinians: they are among the watchmen of Qusra’s night patrol. Unarmed and autonomous from the government, the group formed an organized system of self-protection against settler attacks that Israeli authorities are complicit with and the PA has no jurisdiction to prevent. Every night watchman knows there is a chance they could be killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers. They mark one of nearly 90 Palestinian villages in the West Bank currently implementing nightly patrols. (Emily Mulder, Maan)
Letters to the Editor: Bennett's Book Wars and Advice for Israeli Arabs (Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Israeli Military Relinquishes the Role of 'The World's Most Moral Army' (Tal Niv, Haaretz+) The brutal video footage in which Border Policemen empty a magazine into a Palestinian last week proves that the IDF now needs to take 'defense' out of its name. 
Illusions about London: The boycott was made illegal, but it wasn't stopped (Yaniv Halili, Yedioth) The prohibition of making a boycott on Israel did not silence the vociferous opposition on campuses and did not weaken the voices in the political field, that are calling to isolate Israel. Even the decision to label settlement products still stands. 
Israel Must Make Gaza a Priority in Any Diplomatic Efforts With Palestinians (Omer Bar-Lev, Haaretz+) The goal is the Strip's demilitarization in return for a seaport and airport, and its success depends on Hamas and Israel's eagerness for the deal.
The real problem - A policing army for the Land of Israel (Amnon Abramovicth, Yedioth) An army does not exist on slogans and a real fighter does not empty a magazine on a girl with scissors. (Saying) That is within the field of authority solely belonging to the Chief of Staff. The responsibility of the political echelons is to create a situation in which a combat soldier does not even meet a girl with scissors. 
Education Minister Bennett Acting as if Ministry Is Part of His Party (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) The pretext for the resignations of six Higher Education Council members – Bennett's dismissal of the deputy head for no reasonable cause – is a blow to a fundamental building block of higher education. 
Battlefield: We need to deal with BDS using the weapons of hasbara (Ron Prosor, Maariv) We are on the right path regarding the battle in that finally we recognize the problem and allocate resources to it. This is the way to solve it.
For Israeli Arabs, there is no choice but to build illegally (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz+) Blame the lack of land and bank credit, blame weak local governments and the lack 
of planning autonomy — and hope that a new state initiative can be part of the solution. 
Black kippah - sacrilege (Sherry Makover, Yedioth) As a child, the police caught someone who stole from the charity box at the synagogue. We knew him. He was a young ultra-Orthodox, alone, neglected, who was invited to our home occasionally for a hot meal. Until today I remember my shock. An ultra-Orthodox stole? But that is an oxymoron. With all my heart I believed that we, teh representatives of G-d on earth, were clean as snow and here I discovered the painful truth: even ultra-Orthodox steal. Years passed and I learned that theft, like every other move away from the straight path, is a moral perversion that does not depend on religion...'Price-tag' activists degraded, persecuted, harmed and incited in the name of the Torah and in the name of G-d. But the Torah that I grew up on preached compassion, forgiveness and mercy. And the G-d that I prayed to loved everyone that he created.
Why Do Even Netanyahu's Good Ideas Flop? (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) Whatever you may think of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ideas (I, for example, support the Eilat casino plan), the implementation is always faulty. 
National Procrastination: The current generation of leaders refuse to accept the necessary decisions (Uri Savir, Maariv) The current leadership is concerned only with the rejection of important decisions, so as not to put itself at risk making tough and unpopular decisions regarding the identity of the state. This is a serious mistake and an irresponsible approach.
Israel's Left-wing Purists Do Little but Shout From the Bleachers (Emilie Moatti, Haaretz+) Opposition leader Isaac Herzog's proposed 'separation' in lieu of two states may be the only possible solution for now to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
The Israeli Arab Balad Political Party Fights for Equality (Basel Ghattas, Haaretz+) Netanyahu's attempt to project false motives on Israeli Arab lawmakers is intended to bury the humane alternative for equal coexistence of two peoples within the framework of a state of all its citizens. 
A great god and small knives (Amit Halevy, Israel Hayom) The new jihad can be carried out by anyone at any time, and it's time for a war on the parts of Islamic ideology that threaten all of humanity. 
I am a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and I’m not an enemy of the state (Rita Khoury, Haaretz+) Amid constant calls to ‘prove’ our loyalty to the state, I’d like Prime Minister Netanyahu to see that my pride in my Palestinian identity isn’t an attack on Israel’s security - it’s a fact, and one I won’t hide. 
Behind Egypt President Sissi's Strategic Embrace of a Cairo Soccer Team (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Not one to shy away from the use of force, the president seems these days to be more attentive to the voice of the citizens. 
 
Interviews:
UN envoy: Netanyahu-Abbas talks are a 'daydream'
UN envoy Mladenov tells ‘Post’ in candid 45-minute interview that very soon the two-state solution will not be realistic any more, explained the logic behind the Quartet’s new initiative, discusses why he thought it was “daydreaming” to think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could get into a room and negotiate now, and what he thought of Israel’s lack of trust in the UN. (Interviewed by Herb Keinon and Tova Lazaroff in the Jerusalem Post)
"At the end of the day, we look at what is not just the situation on the ground, but what is the most reasonable way forward," Nickolay Mladenov tells the Jerusalem Post. "I will not be convinced that stabbing a person in the street will bring a Palestinian state into existence, but I will also not be convinced that just putting a checkpoint, or moving the army from one area to another area, will strengthen security for Israelis."

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

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