APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday April 07, 2016
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Health Organization: Number of people with diabetes skyrocketed, quadrupling since 1980
• Prison release committee decided not to release prisoner Katsav early: “Sees himself as a victim”
• (Photo of Trump) The winner image is cracking // Chemi Shalev
• Kahlon: Before it was known about the Herzog probe, the Zionist Camp was about to join the government
• Israeli Society for Autistic Children slams father who adopted child and then complained about the death of his son in a hostel: If he were alive, he would have been ashamed of you
• Beitar Jerusalem (soccer team): “We had an Arab player, and an Arab owner”
• Institutionalized racism // Haaretz Editorial
• This is what murder looks like // S. Michael

Yedioth Ahronoth

• “I’m suffering, we must bring Oron to be buried in Israel” – Father of Oron Shaul reveals he got cancer
• Back to the jail cell (Moshe Katsav)
• Rona’s torch – She lost her astronaut husband and pilot son and she will light a torch at Independence Day ceremony
• Woman killed in fire in Hadera
• The embarrassment: Banks aren’t willing to give mortgage to winners of gov’t housing lottery

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• Staying in jail (Moshe Katsav)
• Katsav’s associates: We got a ‘governmental promise’ about a (release) rehab plan
• Kahlon: The probe into the claims against Herzog prevented a unity coalition government
• Rona Ramon’s (Independence Day) torch
• Today: Big cyber attack on Israel
• Inbal Or questioned under warning

Israel Hayom

• “Ex-Mossad agents” got in trouble in Romania – Report: “Meir Dagan was behind the activities in Romania”
• Remains in jail (Moshe Katsav)
• Bound by his own bullying // Dan Margalit 
• Rona Ramon is among 14 people lighting torches on Independence Day Eve; “There is no consolation – but there is great pride”
• Cyber alert: “Anonymous” threatens – today it will attack internet sites in Israel

News Summary:
Israel's rapist ex-president Moshe Katsav was denied early release from prison, an Israeli minister said the probe into the head of the opposition thwarted the establishment of a unity government while the battle between the security establishment and right-wingers over the detention of the Shooting Soldier in Hebron and the storm over the racist statements against Arab by a Jewish Knesset member continued. Also in the news – and prominent in Israel Hayom, was the report of the arrest in Romania of two Israelis who worked for an intelligence company owned by two former Mossad agents – of which former Mossad chief was the honorary president. (Also Maariv) 
 
Members of the Likud Central Committee threatened to politically "assassinate" Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in the next primaries after he called those supporting the Shooting Soldier ‘gangs.’ (Also Maariv). But a Likud activist sent a message of support for Yaalon to Likud activists: "Behind the slander – there are elements that have infiltrated among us." Maariv reported that Yaalon got backing from an activist. Lior Harari, who runs the many Whatsapp groups of the Likud members, sent a message to hundreds of members of the Likud central committee, saying that "The blitz that we are witnessing recently against Ya'alon from within the Likud is not new, and certainly is motivated by personal and political motives for an internal party conflict...We appreciate the security leadership of the country.”
 
The IDF leadership is working to correct the norms and values of soldiers, who may think that shooting dead an injured attacker lying unmoving on the street is acceptable. Israeli Soldiers Get Refresher Course on IDF Values After Hebron Shooting. IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot is worried that soldiers may not have a firm grasp on the military's code of ethics and is giving soldiers a refresher cours on IDF values. He addressed the shooting in a talk at the Tze’elim base saying, “Our understanding is that if we don’t present our standards and norms as an army, we will lose this battle.” Eisenkot said he trusted Kfir commander Col. Guy Hazut's statement in the official inquiry that the shooting contravened professional norms and values. (Maariv) The Military advocate general is to decide whether the Shooting Soldier who shot the prone Palestinian assailant will stand trial.

MK Bezalel Smotrich won’t retract his statements that sparked a fury. He said that the "People of Israel are not racist, they have natural feelings" and that he expressed understanding of the feelings of the (Jewish) people, which feels a distance from the Arabs, when he said he supported segregation of Jews and Arabs in maternity wards. (Maariv) Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai called on the State Comptroller to open immediate probe into whether segregation between Jews and Arabs is in fact taking place in maternity wards. Meanwhile, ‘Tag Meir’ activists handed out flowers to the Jewish and Arab mothers in hospitals at Hadassah. “We didn’t find even one mother who shares the racist perspective of Smotrich,” said Tag Meir Chairman, Gadi Gvariyahu.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Consumer price: what is behind the Palestinian boycott of Israeli companies?
Why did the Palestinian Authority declare a boycott of the products of five Israeli companies? Who is expected to lose from this? Is this a real threat to the trade relations between the two sides? The Palestinian decision was made in response to the Israeli decision to prevent the entry of products of five Palestinian companies into the markets of East Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian company, Hamuda, Israel stopped allowing the Palestinian companies from selling in East Jerusalem prevent Israeli companies from facing external competition. But Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture [run by hardline settler minister Uri Ariel – OH] argued that the decision to ban the import of products from the Palestinian Authority is not political, but for public health concerns in Israel only. (Tamar Dressler and Yasir Ukbi, Maariv)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Why Rabbi Sacks Is Wrong: Palestinians Don’t Have to Be anti-Semites to Be anti-Zionists (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) The former British chief rabbi is a wise and brilliant man, but his recent essay does to Palestinians what anti-Semitism does to Jews: it dehumanizes them.
Smotrich doesn’t demand concentration camps, but he’s got the race theory down pat (Ben Caspit, Maariv) When Prof. Yeshayahu Leibovitz used the term Judeo-Nazis in the early Eighties, the earth trembled. Leibovitz mixed Jews and Nazis, an especially explosive compound, into a new human being. In those days long ago, Leibovitz was perceived as surreal, detached from reality, a big-time exaggerator. So we thought. 30 years have passed, and it turns out that Prof. Leibowitz was a prophet. Isaiah. The wild garden patches have turned into thick forests from which the races like Bezalel Smotrich grew. No, MK Betsalel Smotrich is not a Nazi, but he is the Jew who came closest to this dubious title. Arm’s reach .Smotrich doesn’t demand concentration camps, but he’s got the race theory down pat. Blue and white, Star of David. A million and a half Arabs in Israel are, according to Smotrich, bitter enemies. We are at war against them. Here, there, everywhere all the time. He understands Jewish mothers who do not want to sleep in the same room with an Arab woman in labor, a citizen of Israel with equal rights, just because “maybe in another 20 years, her son will kill my son." He also spoke about the ‘haflot’ (celebrations) of the Arabs in hospitals, but quickly withdrew the comment when people reminded him that not only the Arab sector excels in the field. Also many of us do (so what?)… When we reached Mrs. Smotrich, we started to immediately miss her husband. Revital Smotrich told Rafi Reshef yesterday on Channel 10 that she was not willing for an Arab doctor to deliver her baby. According to her, the moment of birth is so pure, so Jewish, that there is no reason to defile it with Arab hands. A pure Jewish bubble pure they want to establish here, and they are not ashamed to state this. Herzl, Ben Gurion, Begin, Jabotinsky and other Zionist leaders are doing somersaults in their graves. Wild creatures have kidnapped Zionism and now they are dragging it, kicking and screaming, into oblivion. Naftali Bennett took very little time to condemn the Smotrich’s remarks and declare, “Every person is born in the image of G-d." But Bennett, according Smotrich, is a geek who panders to leftists. This is not true. Now, every time we will try to fight a BDS initiative or to convince the world that this is not Apartheid, let's send the Smotrich. He will beat Israeli politeness into them. And what’s most shocking? I'm not sure that his declarations yesterday his electoral status. Yes, Leibowitz ultimately, was right.
The Difference Between Israel's 1948 Generation and Today's (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) My uncle, who we buried this week, fought alongside other children of refugees who believed this was a war for the liberation of their nation. What does today’s 'war' of occupation have to do with that?
Haaretz Called the Beitar Jerusalem Soccer Team Racist. So They Banned Us From Their Stadium (Eyal Gil, Haaretz+) The Israeli soccer team has never fielded an Arab player in its near-80-year history. When Haaretz highlighted their racist hiring practices, Beitar announced it would be imposing 'sanctions' against the paper. But the recent sanctions against this publication’s reporters can’t prevent it from writing about the team’s racist policy.
Abdominal separation: The maternity wards as a metaphor for the depressing reality in Israel (Nurit Canetti, Maariv) The events in hospitals are mirroring what is happening in society. On the one hand, we are galloping toward a binational state, and on the other hand, we are not willing to accept the other nation, even during a moving moment.
Peace will come from the people (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Only when there is no separation can Jews and Arabs perceive each other as human beings, not as enemies.
Arrest and Civil Disobedience: What U.S. Jews Need to Do to Support Religious Freedom in Israel (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) Israel’s religious leaders' appalling behavior has caused U.S. Jews’ frustration to reach boiling point. If we don’t channel that anger to act now, we’ll lose the struggle for the Western Wall for another generation. 
Terror is terror: Why Europeans don’t really care about Palestinian terrorism? (Amos Gilboa, Maariv) There is almost no difference between the workings of jihadist terrorism and Palestinian terrorism. One essential difference makes the European Community distinguish between blood and blood. Jihad organizations do not need excuses and justifications why they kill innocent civilians. They do not need any "legitimacy" in carrying out their atrocities. Palestinians (especially the PLO, with Fatah at its center), have always tried to find a "legitimate" pretext for their atrocities: "We are engaged in a struggle for the ‘national liberation’ and we are struggling against the occupation.”
Why Israelis Should Be Grateful for Their Racist Politicians (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Subtle racism is hard to identify and difficult to battle. But at least blatant declarations, like those recently expressed about Israeli maternity wards, can be denounced and countered. 
The Arab-Israeli conflict: Time to move on (Yoel Meltzer, Yedioth/Ynet) Palestinian refugees are the only refugees in the world who maintain and bequeath refugee status; it is time for Palestinians to be settled in the countries in which they reside. 
Netanyahu Wades in the Swamp of Terror to Stay King (Yechiam Weitz, Haaretz+) Like a magician, the prime minister pulls from his hat an endless variety of anxieties and traumas and brandishes a pessimistic message.
Barghouti says thank you: Remarks like those of Smotrich work against state (Lilach Sigan, Maariv) The boycott movement against Israel is the enemy of all of us, and it is important to eradicate it. But let's start with stopping to provide it with such great material,  such as the remarks of the MK from Habayit Hayehudi. 
Health System Must Stop Segregating Israelis From Birth (Haaretz Editorial) The only thing that could overshadow institutionalized racism and discrimination is even more blatant racism and discrimination bearing the name and face of a Knesset member.
Michael Oren's peace plan (Yuval Karni, Yedioth/Ynet) Kulanu MK Oren has a plan to lay groundwork for two-state solution, one that he believes will 'take the air out of BDS.' However, political infighting threatens his plan, and potentially the two-state solution. 
A Wake-up Call: Celebrating Half a Century of Israeli Occupation (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) At the end of 50 years, it will be clear what our revealed choice has been: We prefer the Land of Israel over the values of Israel.
 

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