APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday May 15, 2016
 

Quote of the day:

"...those who don’t want comparisons to historical periods and the identification of trends, should give up the slogan "One People, One State" formed by the marching (IDF) soldiers with flags.”
--Yedioth's Television reviewer Einav Schiff wrote about the controversial slogan used by the Nazis that appeared in Israel's Memorial Day ceremony.

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• Herzog’s associates: Entering the government still isn’t possible
• Netanyahu’s zigzag // Aluf Benn
• Senior Hezbollah member killed in Syria
• Internal conflict // Amos Harel
• Until Iran is stopped // Zvi Bar’el
• Women who worked with Trump testify about humiliating treatment
• French President: Our support in the UNESCO decision against Israel was a misunderstanding
• Pfizer won’t allow the use of its drug for executions
• The march of folly // Haaretz Editorial
• Victory song // Rogel Alpher
• The important Chinese artist Ai Weiwei tells what he learns from his visit to the West Bank and Gaza

Yedioth Ahronoth

• Once a month: Saturday holiday – Finance Minister’s new initiative
• The double life of the arch-terrorist (Mustafa Badr Al-Din)

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• Herzog: “If I get a serious offer from Netanyahu – I’ll consider it”
• Mystery: Who assassinated the Hezbollah Chief of Staff?
• Moral blow // Yossi Melman
• (Donald Trump:) Harassing (Presidential) candidate
• 200 youth tried to commit suicide in Israel last year after abuse on social media networks

Israel Hayom

• Blow to Hezbollah – and mutual recriminations
• Hezbollah was harmed, but will avoid escalation // Yoav Limor 
• Unity: In Labor they argue, in Likud they call for Lieberman to “return to the right-wing”
• Prime Minister sent reprimand letter to French President: “It’s shameful that you supported the UNESCO decision that negates the connection between Judaism and the Temple Mount”

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News Summary:
The assassination of a top Hezbollah commander, the increasing opposition in the Labor party to a unity government,
and the incredible heat wave were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will tell the French Foreign Minister today that he rejects the French proposal for an international peace conference and Arab Israelis in Israel and Palestinians in the occupied Territories mark Nakba Day today. And on Friday, some Israeli reporters noted with concern the words formed by marching IDF soldiers in the Memorial Day ceremony.

Although initial reports blamed Israel for the attack that killed the Hezbollah ‘defense minister,’ Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hezbollah later blamed ‘takfiris,’ Sunni Islamist insurgents, for the assassination. Nevertheless, the Hezbollah media station, Al-Manar said that the takfiris represented the spearhead of the American-Zionist project in the region.” There were numerous other contradicting reports by Hezbollah about who was responsible, which Yedioth's Smadar Perry said meant that they really had no idea who was behind it. However, the military correspondents of Israel Hayom and Maariv agreed that Hezbollah wants to avoid blaming Israel so as not to be forced into a conflict with it. Maariv’s Noam Amir wrote that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah signaled to Israel that his organization is not interested in a dispute with Israel over the issue. Amir wrote that Israel is a ‘logical target, which also has a motive to kill one of the people who in any case is an IDF target. But the Lebanese Shiite organization prefers to end the incident by transferring the responsibility to an insurgent organization because it is more comfortable to be seen as weak in the Syrian field rather than to enter a frontal battle with the IDF that will completely destroy it.” Meanwhile, in a briefing to the UN Security Council, outgoing UN envoy in Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, reportedly expressed serious concern that not only have Hezbollah and other militias continued their activities since the Security Council ordered them to disband in 2004, "but if anything they have expanded." He also expressed concern at the reported expansion of extremist groups, mostly in Palestinian refugee camps.
 
Today Netanyahu meets French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and tells him that he rejects the French international peace conference proposal and maintains that direct negotiations without preconditions between Israel and the Palestinians is the only way to achieve peace. Last week, ahead of the meeting, French President Francois Hollande said that French government support for a UNESCO resolution, which ignored any Jewish connection to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, was a result of a "misunderstanding." 
 
Interesting were the Friday commentaries in Yedioth and Haaretz about the words spelled out at the Memorial Day torch lighting ceremony last week. “One people, one state,” were the words formed by the bodies of marching soldiers. The slogan was used by the Nazis. Yedioth’s TV reviewer Einav Schiff wrote that the ceremony represented the different faces of society: there were “beautiful and powerful moments” and “there were moments that smelled of blatant flattery (by the amount of close-ups of the Minister of Culture and Sport) and aggressiveness and ignorance - those who don’t want comparisons to historical periods and the identification of trends, should give up the slogan "one nation, one state" formed by the marching soldiers with flags,” he wrote in reference to the controversial speech by the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff comparing “nauseating” trends in Israeli society to those of Germany in the ‘30’s. Einav continued: “This is the essence of the battle going on for the soul of Israel these days: between stateliness and divisiveness, between welcomed cultural, ethnic and gender diversity and alienating and harassing messages. Hopefully at the next ceremony good will win.” Two Haaretz+ commentators wrote incisively about the 'One People, One state:’ slogan at the ceremony.  Asher Schechter wrote that “If an ordinary picture is worth a thousand words, this picture might just be worth a thousand Op-Eds warning about the dangerous decline of Israeli democracy.” And Rogel Alpher looked at the meaning of the words and concluded that they erased the presence of the Arab citizens from the state. (See Commentary below.)
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

This 13-year-old Palestinian is the third intifada's first amputee
The army says Isa al-Muati was shot in the legs because he threw a Molotov cocktail. He says he was just looking for his younger brother. He spent 28 days bound to his Israeli hospital bed with an iron handcuff. (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) 
The IDF as you've never seen it before
WATCH: IDF special forces units are some of the best in the world and are prepared to defend Israel against any and all threats; Watch as these elite soldiers train to keep Israel and all her citizens safe. (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet)
A woman digs for her Circassian family's roots - and plants her own - in the Golan
Eleonore Merza was born to a Jewish mother and Muslim father who was expelled from Kuneitra to Syria in 1967. Her doctoral work on two Circassian villages in Israel led to a historical, and emotional, journey. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) 
'Every few minutes, one of them hit us with a rifle butt'
Three Palestinian teens speak about the abuse they say they endured in Israeli military custody after being arrested during a demonstration along the Gaza border. (Yael Marom, +972mag) 
The only Jew the British executed for killing an Arab
In 1937 British Mandatory Palestine, a Jewish policeman shot an Arab policeman. It’s still not clear if he was glad he did it or if he had been repeatedly threatened by his victim, (but he) eventually urges others not follow in his footsteps. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+) 
In a Jerusalem cellar, traces of 1948 underground fighters
Under an old German orphanage, right-wing Lehi militants left behind graffiti that helps tell the story of Israel’s War of Independence. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) 
A Comprehensive Introduction to Palestinian Art on Show at the Umm al-Fahm Gallery
More than 100 works by Palestinian artists are on view in this exhibition, making a statement of presence that is both the strength of the show and its weakness. (Galia Yahav, Haaretz+) 
Israeli Singer Looks to Provide Voice for Silenced Iranian Women
Actor-model Liraz Charhi is going back to her roots and reinventing herself as a Farsi singer, even fashioning her own take on the Iranian burka. (Dafna Arad, Haaretz+)
  
Commentary/Analysis:
'One People, One Nation': A Visual Representation of the Ignorance That Threatens to Consume Israel (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) If an ordinary picture is worth a thousand words, this picture might just be worth a thousand Op-Eds warning about the dangerous decline of Israeli democracy. 
In the name of ‘Likes’: the Bibi (Netanyahu) version of the Zionist enterprise is beginning to show signs of dementia (Alon Ben David, Maariv) It seems that the Prime Minister has decided to use the army as a doormat to polish his political image, even at the cost of dismantling the last institution that still connects us all. 
One nation, one state: Great minds think alike (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz Hebrew) Torch lighting ceremony included a political-diplomatic statement: no two-states for two peoples, not a bi-national state, but one state for one people. How do you erase a people? There are all kinds of methods. The precedents exist. But it must start with words. "One people, one state" is a well-known Nazi slogan. Only a few days after Netanyahu unequivocally rejected, with a grim upbraiding, the comparison made by the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff of (Israeli) processes to (those of) Nazi Germany, the known Nazi slogan is our new national motto. The Nazi slogan wasn’t used as an inspiration. Probably the ignorant (Independence Day) ceremony creators never heard of it. It’s just an incident of what is referred to in English, as ‘great minds think alike.’ "One people, one state.” That is what they spelled, using the bodies of soldiers marching on the parade ground at Mount Herzl. What does that mean, really? This is a new slogan. We have heard the "Jewish and democratic state" and the "Nation-state of the Jewish people," but what is the meaning of "One nation, one state"? Who is that people that it is referring to? Even on the 68th Independence Day of the State of Israel’s existence, there is no Israeli people living in Israel. There is no such thing as an Israeli people. The Supreme Court ruled on this issue. Israeli citizens are not Israelis. There are no Israelis of Jewish and Palestinian ethnicity. Israel has Jews and Palestinians. Twenty percent of Israeli citizens are Palestinians. With the addition of the occupied territories, about half of the population living under Israeli rule are Palestinians. Or not? After all, the spanking new motto clearly indicates that there is only one people. And here the reference is to the Jewish people. In Israel there is only the Jewish people. And Israel is "one state," says the inscription. This is seemingly self-explanatory. Before us is a logical truth. ‘Israel’ is singular female (in the Hebrew language). Israel is one country. But it stands to reason that soldiers aren’t marching only to confirm basic syntax rules. One country, meaning - is won’t be divided in two. There is no need. There is only one people. One people needs one country. Hence "One people, one state” is exactly the opposite of two states for two peoples.
Memorial Day shows there are two Israels (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Ya’alon warned of the dangers of forgetting Israel’s morals, Bennett claimed those morals already cost Israel in blood.
In Our New Sparta, the Militant Brainwashing Starts at 11 (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Israel's testosterone-happy generals are inculcating their legacy of mostly needless operations to fifth-graders. The results? Maybe by 18 they won't ask any questions. 
I lost my Palestinian flag on the March of Return (Samah Salaime, +972mag) I went down to the Negev to participate in this year’s Nakba Day events. The fact that it’s the 68th year and little has changed depressed me; the sense of unity and the bubbly optimism of some of the activists encouraged me
No fighting in the War Room: Israeli politicians, generals call for unity (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The military and political elites all stated their desire for the country to unite, echoing the previous sentiments of President Reuven Rivlin. And this time, they might actually mean it.
No to unilateral measures (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) While promoting an independent Palestinian state at this time is not a good idea, there is no need to make a bad situation worse.
What's Behind Netanyahu's Pursuit of the Labor Party? Fear, Loathing and a Restive Army (Aluf Benn, Haaretz+) The Zionist Union's leader's motives are clear. But what changed in Netanyahu’s assessment that is now pushing him into Herzog’s arms? Or, in other words, what is he afraid of? Four options come to mind. 
The hazing: The ‘shooting’ on the Deputy Chief of Staff symbolizes the end of stateliness in Israel (Avi Benayahu, Maariv) In some ways the “public attack” that Netanyahu committed against Yair Golan Netanyahu was far more severe than the controversial wording of the remarks by Gen. Golan, whose words were distorted by speedy manipulators. 
As They Celebrate Independence, Israelis Should Remember the Nakba (Mira Sucharov, Haaretz+) Israelis should remember relative Palestinian powerlessness as they celebrate the achievement of their sovereign power. 
Beyond the border: the accepted terms for independence are losing the connection between states and nationalism (Ran Adelist, Maariv) One hundred years after the catastrophe that officials from Britain and France forced on the Middle East, ther terminology is losing its context and even Israeli unity is in a free fall. 
How Israel Missed and Underestimated Threat of Hamas' Terror Tunnels (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) State comptroller's draft report vindicates Habayit Hayehudi leader’s warnings about Hamas attack tunnels prior to 2014 conflict. However, in retrospect, it turned out that army didn’t have detailed plans for dealing with them anyway. 
The Clinton Wonks Forging a Plan for Israel’s Security (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) In about two weeks, the Center for a New American Security will be unveiling its report 'A Security System for the Two State Solution.' Watch that space.
Palestinian Arab refugees -- whose responsibility? (Yair Ettinger, Israel Hayom) The saga of the 1948-1949 Arab refugees has been systematically sustained, distorted and abused.
Netanyahu's March of Folly Is Worthy of Putin (Haaretz Editorial) The Israeli prime minister wants to bring back military parades on Independence Day. He glorifies words and symbols at the expense of security. 
Fear and Loathing in Israel’s Collective Memory (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) Maj. Gen. Yair Golan’s remarks interfered with memory and created a new definition for Israeli identity, on the continuum between victim and perpetrator.
The alchemy of Palestinian nationhood (Martin Sherman, Israel Hayom) Perhaps the most puzzling conundrum regarding discourse on the Middle East conflict is the enduring centrality of an idea -- Palestinian statehood -- that has so little to support it, either in terms of its empirical record or its conceptual plausibility. 
The Politics of Melancholy: Can Peace Grow Out of Israeli Desolation? (Tahel Frosh, Haaretz+) The melancholy individual may be more in touch with reality, but can the perception of the world through the prism of the mournful mind liberate us from violence? 
There's No Reason to Be Proud - or Ashamed - of Being an Israeli (Nissan Shor, Haaretz+) I am a product of this place. Of the amazing grace and of the dreadful crime. And if there is no admission of guilt, there’s no reason to puff out our chests in pride. 
At Independence Day Airshow, Israelis Prefer to Avoid Reality (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) After almost a week of media propaganda of nauseating militarism and equally sickening nationalism and self-victimization, Israelis came to celebrate Independence Day with a superficial flyby. 
Israel's New Civics Textbook Was Born in Sin and Must Be Opposed (Haaretz Friday Editorial) Bennett's theological marketing book should be answered with civil initiatives like alternative textbooks and lesson plans that insist on the very right he tries suppress: the right to question.
Haaretz's act of desperation (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) In every democratic country, those who call for toppling the government are brought to trial. 
If Israel Was a Startup, Would You Buy Shares? (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) While the stocks of 'Sweden' or 'China' might seem more appealing, on its 68th birthday the State of Israel abounds with an enormous potential for improvement. 
Dear Mr. Smith: I'm Wearing Your Uniform in an Israeli Military Prison (Tair Kaminer, Haaretz) Tair Kaminer, 19, from Tel Aviv, was sentenced on May 3 to 30 more days in an IDF prison for refusing to enlist in the Israeli army, after serving 95 days.
Israel's moral compass is just fine (Ruthie Blum, Israel Hayom) Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has no business anointing himself supreme judge of Jewish-state ethics.
Israel Must Recognize Its Responsibility for the Nakba, the Palestinian Tragedy (Saeb Erekat, Haaretz+) For true reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, Israel must recognize what it has done to the Palestinian people over the last 68 years.
Israel and Palestine Without Absolutes (Avraham Burg and Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, Haaretz+) No one has a monopoly on pain and trauma. There was the Holocaust, there was the Nakba, and we are not competing over who suffered more.
How I explained the Nakba to my kids (Noam Rotem, +972mag) Say Dad, what is independence?
An independent person is a person who can do whatever they want. They are free and nobody makes decisions for them. When a state is independent, it means that no one tells it what to do and it can decide for itself what it deems to be good and bad. And what is Independence Day? 
American Jews’ Plea to Netanyahu: Offer an Israeli Peace Initiative Now (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz) No-one, young U.S. Jews, members of Congress, White House officials, even Israel’s senior military leaders, knows where Netanyahu is going or what he wants. That makes it all too easy to assert that Israel doesn’t really want peace.
Who Could Have Killed Hezbollah's Military Chief Badreddine? (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The player who ordered the assassination could have been literally anyone in the region. Here are eight options, ranked by degree of plausibility.
Hezbollah’s Problem Isn’t the Top Command, but Filling Its Ranks With Fighters (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Mustafa Badreddine was said to have many flaws. Either way, the Syrian war will remain a key battleground for the organization.
Elimination of Hezbollah’s "defense minister": An operational strike and a moral blow (Yossi Melman, Maariv) It is still not known who did it, but it is clear that the assassins demonstrated that despite the strict compartmentalization within the terrorist organization, intelligence services can penetrate it - which further undermines the confidence of its leader, Nasrallah. 
Death of Military Chief Deals Biggest Blow to Hezbollah in Syria War Yet (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely after the group in Lebanon blamed Sunni rebels for the killing of its senior commander, but how was Badreddine the only victim of an artillery barrage?
 
 

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