APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday May 19, 2016
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

• On the way to expanding the government: Netanyahu offered Lieberman the Defense Ministry portfolio
• To dwarf the IDF // Yossi Verter
• Good intention // Ari Shavit
• Shock and fear // Amos Harel
• Culture war // Ravit Hecht
• The #2 man // Amir Oren
• Head for the bomb shelters // Gideon Levy
• What isn’t known // Rotem Starkman
• A reckless appointment // Haaretz Editorial
• The government and the gas monopoly reached an agreement: The ‘stability’ clause that was rejected by the High Court was softened
• World Health Organization: The Zika virus could spread this summer to Europe – and to Israel
• Ashkelon mayor suspected of rape and bribery will return to his job
• Arab citizens go to battle: The obligation to import meat that is kosher is religious coercion
• Excluded and exclusion // Maayan Shuv
• Second haircut (for Africa Israel)
• Festival that sparks nostalgia for Yiddish
• Director Yael Kayam wants to battle against discrimination of women in film

Yedioth Ahronoth

• Defense Ministry portfolio is Lieberman’s – Political drama – Yaalon will be dismissed from his position
• Herzog remains out
• A bull for the right-wing // Nahum Barnea
• The cynical choice // Sima Kadmon
• Game of Thrones // Sever Plocker
• Tense IDF Chief of Staff // Yossi Yehoshua 
• Give him a chance // Ben-Dror Yemini

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• The Defense (Ministry) and the insult
• A story that got out of control // Ben Caspit
• (Lieberman:) Aggressive, but one who makes weighed decisions // Alon Ben-David
• The updated gas agreement // Yehuda Sharoni

Israel Hayom

• Shake up - Lieberman in, Herzog out
• Appointing Lieberman as Defense Ministry – serious glitch
• That’s what the voters wanted: a right-wing bloc // Mati Tuchfeld
• Herzog should blame only himself // Haim Shine
• The left-wing cultivated Lieberman – in the opposition // Dror Eydar
• Breakthrough in the gas [monopoly] draft: An agreement was reached over a new ‘stability’ clause
• In the wake of the downsizing: Intel closing its production factory in Jerusalem
• European championship in swimming: Silver medal for Gal Nevo

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News Summary:
In a move that shocked the country and just as it appeared he was making an agreement to bring the opposition Zionist Camp into a unity government, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered the far-right-wing MK Avigdor Lieberman to be defense minister if he joined the government instead. The story and all of its implications and reactions dominated the Hebrew newspapers today, making the report that the gas cartel had revised a key part of its agreement with Israel a side story.
  
Yesterday the front pages announced that a unity government was practically a done deal. Last night, everything changed when, Netanyahu dumped opposition leader Isaac Herzog and offered Lieberman the defense ministry portfolio – dismissing Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, with whom he and other members of the far-right-wing government had ideological differences about issues of purity of arms. The new government expected to be formed by Friday morning, will be the most right-wing in Israel’s history – and the last three governments have consecutively been more right-wing than the previous one. The move was shocking for two reasons. First, because of Netanyahu’s 180-degree ideological change of plan, switching from the centrist Zionist Camp faction, which hoped to make peace with the Middle East, to the Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose controversial leader mainly made headlines for saying things such as Israel needs to bomb Egypt’s Aswan Dam, attack Iran and behead unloyal Arab Israeli citizens. The other shock is that such a radical right-winger would be appointed as Israel’s Defense Minister. Yedioth’s senior political commentator, Nahum Barnea, called it a ‘tragedy dressed as a comedy.’ Likud MK Benny Begin, [apparently the only moderate Likud MK left – OH], called the appointment “surreal” saying, “This move displays a lack of responsibility toward the defense establishment and toward the citizens of Israel.” Even Dan Margalit, the top political commentator of the Netanyahu-supporting tabloid, Israel Hayom, wrote an Op-Ed against the appointment. [It was not translated to English. – OH]
 
Indeed, besides the Defense Ministry, Lieberman demanded a law giving terrorists the death penalty. (Haaretz+ writes: “Such a law would be designed to make it easier for Israel’s military courts, which are empowered to impose the death penalty, to hand down that sentence on convicted Palestinian terrorists. Israeli civil law prohibits the death penalty; the only convict ever hanged in the country was Adolf Eichmann in 1962.”) Lieberman said that getting the Defense Ministry was an achievement for immigrants of the former Soviet Union. However, he dropped one of the key demands of his constituents and party: to advance legislation on matters of religion and state – so that non-Jews could marry in Israel with Jews. 
 
Naftali Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi party was thrilled. A source told the papers that, “Lieberman entering the government is great. This would be a deeply right-wing government, the most right-wing ever in Israel.” A source from the party also said that Defense Minister Yaalon was a ‘security attack’ to the country and they were happy to be rid of him. “(Yaalon) will leave and Lieberman, who took an active role part in the demonstrations for Elor Azaria [the Hebron shooter], will come in his place. He will bring this worldview into the defense establishment.” [And bringing right-wing ideology into the IDF values over purity of arms is exactly what Yaalon was speaking out against. – OH]
 
Yaalon’s associates gave opposing reactions from him. Some said he wasn’t surprised in light of the tensions, while others said he never expected it. Israeli municipal heads of the Gaza area communities issued a statement of support for Yaalon [which is interesting because it shows they are not supportive of Lieberman’s ‘we must re-occupy the Gaza Strip’ idea. – OH] One source close to Yaalon accused Netanyahu of “doing politicking over the most important job in the Middle East." (Maariv) Netanyahu reportedly offered Yaalon the Foreign Ministry portfolio as compensation, but Maariv reported that Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Education Minister Naftali Bennet also want it.
 
**After he was dumped by Netanyahu, Zionist Camp leader Herzog blamed his Labor party rival, MK Shelly Yachimovich, for Lieberman’s appointment and also blamed a “pact” between Yacimovich and Zehava Gal-On, the leader of the Meretz party, calling them ‘radical leftists.’  “The Yacimovich-Galon pact deterred voters because of radical left positions that don’t reflect our positions. We’re a center-left party, not radical left,” he said. Yachimovitch’s response to Herzog's speech: "Zero accountability. Apparently I will run against him (as head of Labor party),” Maariv reported. Some Labor party members are urging Herzog to quit. Others blamed Netanyahu. “Netanyahu beheaded the Defense Minister (Yaalon) on live TV, and the gangs defeated democracy. This is a holiday for the extremists, for La Familia (racist fan group of Beitar Jerusalem soccer team) and for the hilltop youth, and at this rate, the soldier Elor Azariya will be appointed deputy defense minister in Bibi’s government," Zionist Camp MK Erel Margalit said. MK Ayelet Nahmias Rabin (Zionist Camp): "The blood of the soldiers of the next war is on the hands of Netanyahu." (Maariv)
  
And the Egyptians, too, are furious: “We received a real shock: We started with Herzog and we're ending up with Lieberman.” Lieberman holds the record for a politician with belligerent, aggressive expressions, wrote Maariv. besides calling in 2001 to bomb Egypt's Aswan Dam, in 2008 Lieberman was responsible for rising tensions between Israel and Egypt, when he said in a speech in the Knesset that "Mubarak does not agree to come here for an official visit. If he wants to speak to us – he should come here. If he doesn’t want to come – he should go to hell."
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

El Al’s biggest fan
He may have been born before its founding, but over the years Marvin Goldman has become El Al’s number one fan and the biggest collector of the company’s memorabilia; ‘I think the world can be divided into two types of people: those who are collectors and those who like to throw things out.’ (Ynet)
Why Is Pork Disappearing From Tel Aviv Restaurants?
In early-20th-century Jaffa and Tel Aviv, pork was a very popular item in local restaurants. So why is it that a century or so later, a growing number of restaurants are refusing to serve it, even if they aren’t kosher? (Libby Sperling, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Israel Now Torn Between Rule of Law and Rule of Ruthless Power (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) Plots and machinations have been part and parcel of Israeli politics since their early days, like anywhere else in the world. The novelty of the Netanyahu era lies in the reckless and unabashed chasing of short-term opportunism.
With Lieberman as Defense Minister, Israelis Should Head for the Bomb Shelters (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The State of Israel in the hands of someone who could destroy it: a man who threatened to bomb the Aswan Dam and sees Israel's Arab citizens as the enemy. 
Avigdor Liberman's new job: Control over four million Palestinians (Noam Sheizaf, +972mag) Netanyahu may have found an opportunity to take revenge on the old IDF elites, but in doing so has put one of Israel’s most hawkish politicians in charge of the occupation.
A step in the right direction (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative may be sincere, but it will be far from easy; as a former head of military intelligence, he's well-versed in Israeli internal politics. 
Sisi's speech - and then came Bibi's sting (Alex Fishman, Yedioth) The timing of Sisi's public call (for renewing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations), which was almost like Sadat's historic speech, was arranged by Netanyahu. The plan worked like a Swiss clock. But then came the sting: Herzog began making sounds that he would join the government, problems were revealed with the Zionist Camp and Netanyahu charged for Lieberman. From here the plan shockingly and unexpectedly changed: there won't be a summit in Cairo, the tension in the [occupied] Territories will increase, and Sisi got a lesson in Israeli politics.
Israelis Will Pay Dearly for Their Prime Minister's Reckless Appointment (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu has demonstrated that he is prepared to drag the country into a potentially disastrous military adventure, to remove all moral constraints and to encourage blatant racism for the sole purpose of staying in power.
The story got out of control: What led to one of the most exaggerated day in Israeli politics? (Ben Caspit, Maariv) Lieberman is not as crazy as he seems. He acts with officialness and responsibility (when not in the opposition), and he speaks English very differently from Russian and Hebrew. There won't be a war.
Coalition Talks and the Poor Zionist Union Fans (Tel-Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Haaretz+) All these people now find themselves bewildered at the reports about talks of forming a unity government with Netanyahu, and can’t see what the point of it would be. 
Lieberman has already begun recruiting staff officers to get ready for new role (Alon Ben-David, Maariv) Three months ago, Lieberman turned to senior reserve officers: "I'm going to be defense minister. You do not identify with my political views, but you should know that I'm pragmatic." They will really miss Moshe Yaalon in the IDF, and not only there. The IDF does not know what to make of this appointment. After three years, during which the defense minister was not only a pillar of the army, but also gave officers complete support and the IDF can finally pass a multi-year plan, a minister arrives whose familiarity with the military is limited to a short compulsory service in the military government then in Hebron and afterward as a reserve soldier as a storeman (quartermaster). But Lieberman is a thorough person. He is expected to lead to a more aggressive policy in the Territories, and we need to hope it won't restart a wave of terror. Also against Gaza we need to hope the policy he wants won't lead to further unnecessary conflict. But he did not order the attack on the Aswan Dam in Egypt or on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Lieberman's First Battle as Defense Minister Will Be Against the IDF (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The generals didn't see it coming, and if Avigdor Lieberman does become defense minister he can expect a rough ride unless he reins in his most extreme tendencies.
Netanyahu and Herzog’s Blessed Road Not Taken (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) Was there really a willingness to begin talks with the Palestinians and Arab League? Now we get a government that can easily commit a spectacular national suicide. 
To Preserve His Rule, Netanyahu Willing to Stomach Even His Greatest Political Rival (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Following his displeasure with Ya'alon's status as the media's darling, the prime minister backtracks on his refusal to appoint Lieberman as the head of the Defense Ministry. His ultimate goal: To diminish and restrain the military brass.
An attack over nothing: Ya'alon only asked that commanders reflect "I believe" credo of the army since its inception (Amos Gilboa, Maariv) The defense minister needed, while protecting Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan with his body, to make a complete separation between Golan's words on values and between a comparison to Nazi Germany and to make clear that it has no truth.
A Wish for Israel’s 70th Birthday: 12 Million Tourists a Year (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) Why are the tourists still not coming? It’s not just the security situation.
ADL's Armenian genocide recognition sends powerful statement — to Israel (Dahlia Scheindlin, +972mag) A major Jewish-American organization breaking with Israeli policy, especially regarding Jewish universalism and the Holocaust, is a statement in and of itself.
Future Democratic Presidential Candidates Will Be Tougher on Israel (Peter Beinart, Haaretz+) Bernie Sanders did not exploit the great divide between Hillary Clinton and pro-Palestinian liberals.
Victory, not 'disaster' (Uri Heitner, Israel Hayom) There is nothing more repugnant than the "Nakbaism" in our midst, among Jews and Israelis. 
Lost in the Shuffle of the Ben Rhodes Kerfuffle Over Iran: Reality (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The U.S. Congress failed to block the nuclear deal with Iran because of old-fashioned power and politics rather than 1984-style media manipulation. 
Assad must go (Former IDF Military Intel Chief, Amos Yadlin, Yedioth/Ynet)  It's time for Israel to take a stand on the war in Syria: Moral and strategic concerns dictate that we must oppose Assad and work to push him out of power.
Yad Vashem Is Derelict in Its Duty to Free the Shoah From Its Jewish Ghetto (Daniel Blatman, Haaretz+) The Holocaust is a large component of Jewish Israelis’ national identity. It serves the right’s proto-fascist, racist, victim-centered discourse, meant to whitewash the ongoing crime against the Palestinians and to put the Christian world in a position of eternal apology.
 

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