APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday July 13, 2016
Quote of the day:
“We've seen that if things stay bad enough, long enough, people will give up on the freedoms and the rights
of others. After that, over time, they'll even give up on their own.”
--Haaretz commentator Bradley Burston writes that “Never has America seemed more like Israel.”*
--Haaretz commentator Bradley Burston writes that “Never has America seemed more like Israel.”*
Breaking News:
At dawn: Border Police shot dead a young Palestinian in a car and critically wounded his friend
Hebrew press gave conflicting reports about a killing at dawn. Most of the papers claimed that the three young Palestinians driving at dawn in their E. Jerusalem village intended or allegedly intended to make a ramming attack on a Border Police force, which was in Al-Ram village raiding a blacksmith workshop that was allegedly used to make Karl Gustav makeshift guns. The forces killed Anwar Asalayma, 24, critically wounded his friend Fares Khader al-Rishq, 20, and arrested a third friend. Locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces opened fire at three Palestinians youths around dawn, as the three were seemingly unaware that Israeli forces were deployed in the town and conducting raids and had closed the main street. (Also Maariv and Haaretz)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Israeli citizen crossed the fence into the Gaza Strip
- Sanders declared support for Clinton // Chemi Shalev
- Designated Chief Military Rabbi: Kill wounded terrorists, homosexuals are ill, and women are sentimental
- 6,000 shekel fine and community service: This is how building contractors are fined for the death of construction worker
- Police: Holding the gay pride parade on Beersheva’s main street signifies deep harm to religious feelings
- Arabness now // Zvi Bar’el
- Protect Army Radio from the Defense Minister // Nahman Shai (Former IDF Spokesman)
Yedioth Ahronoth
- The Rabbi (Eyal Karim) storm – “…drafting women is absolutely prohibited,” “Orders that are at odds with the Jewish law or prevent upholding a mitzvah must not be followed,” “Women’s sentimental personality prevents them from testifying in court”…
- Torah and practice // Chen Artzi-Sror
- The army is called to Google // Yossi Yehoshua
- The grandmother cried: “What did I do” (forgot baby in car, baby died)
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- Within 6 weeks: 4 infants were forgotten in cars and died
- Designated Chief Military Rabbi gets in trouble again: “It’s permissible to torture POWs”
- Senate Committee: The Administration transferred monies to an organization that supported the V15 NGO, which campaigned to replace Netanyahu in elections
- Sanders and Clinton – Finally together
Israel Hayom
- Summer disasters (grandmother forgot baby in car); Four killed in traffic accidents
- Senate: The V15 campaign to replace Netanyahu in elections – with US funding
- Storm of the Chief Military Rabbi: Chief of Staff won’t discuss the appointment again
- Don’t start blood libels // Dror Eydar
- Another Israeli crossed into Gaza
- Without the word ‘Palestine’: Trump puts pro-Israeli changes into the Republican platform
News Summary:
Another baby died forgotten in a car, more controversial statements by the designated next military chief rabbi came to light just as Elor Azariya’s brigade commander testified against him and the US Senate revealed it funded an organization that tried to replace Netanyahu making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Interesting that only Israel Hayom downplayed and dismissed the latest racist, misogynist, homophobic, immoral and illegal statements made by Rabbi Eyal Karim, which came to light. One of the Israel Hayom's main commentators, Dror Eydar wrote that there was a 'blood libel' against the rabbi. Karim, who was announced earlier this week to be the next chief rabbi of the IDF, had to meet yesterday with the head of the IDF Manpower division to discuss another quote he made in the past: that it was permissible to rape attractive non-Jewish women during war for the sake of keeping up soldiers’ morale. Karim expressed regret and said, "There is no license in times of peace or war to sexually assault women." Israel Hayom wrote that the IDF won’t reconsider his appointment. But that is unlikely. In an interview from 2003 that came to light, Karim said soldiers must refuse an order if it were 'at odds with Jewish law,' they must kill wounded terrorists because they are 'animals' and they can torture POWs. He said homosexuals are 'sick,’ that women are too sentimental by nature so they can’t give testimonies in court and that women should not serve in the army. Israel Hayom reported that the religious-oriented website, 'Kipa.co.il,' that interviewed him in 2003 said, “The statements quoted were not said.” But Israeli politicians called to cancel Karim's appointment, which has yet to be approved by the Defense Minister, and the commentators of the other Hebrew papers were aghast. Both Haaretz’s Yair Ettinger and Yedioth’s military analyst, Yossi Yehoshua pointed to the obvious: Why didn’t the IDF google him? Ettinger wrote that Karim’s appointment “points to a deeper issue within the military rabbinate: Its mission to instill soldiers with biblical fighting spirit.”
Karim's appointment comes just as the IDF is dealing with the very problem that Karim supported: Shooting dead an injured assailant. Yesterday, at the trial of Elor Azariya, the brigade commander testified that Azariya lied. Lt. Col. David Shapira, Sgt. Elor Azaria's battalion commander at the time, said he told Azariya that he had a feeling he 'wasn’t exactly telling the truth… Elor was totally silent. I told him that I considered this an irregular event, shooting a wounded terrorist…and that he was immediately suspended until the matter was clarified.”
Another baby died forgotten in a car, more controversial statements by the designated next military chief rabbi came to light just as Elor Azariya’s brigade commander testified against him and the US Senate revealed it funded an organization that tried to replace Netanyahu making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Interesting that only Israel Hayom downplayed and dismissed the latest racist, misogynist, homophobic, immoral and illegal statements made by Rabbi Eyal Karim, which came to light. One of the Israel Hayom's main commentators, Dror Eydar wrote that there was a 'blood libel' against the rabbi. Karim, who was announced earlier this week to be the next chief rabbi of the IDF, had to meet yesterday with the head of the IDF Manpower division to discuss another quote he made in the past: that it was permissible to rape attractive non-Jewish women during war for the sake of keeping up soldiers’ morale. Karim expressed regret and said, "There is no license in times of peace or war to sexually assault women." Israel Hayom wrote that the IDF won’t reconsider his appointment. But that is unlikely. In an interview from 2003 that came to light, Karim said soldiers must refuse an order if it were 'at odds with Jewish law,' they must kill wounded terrorists because they are 'animals' and they can torture POWs. He said homosexuals are 'sick,’ that women are too sentimental by nature so they can’t give testimonies in court and that women should not serve in the army. Israel Hayom reported that the religious-oriented website, 'Kipa.co.il,' that interviewed him in 2003 said, “The statements quoted were not said.” But Israeli politicians called to cancel Karim's appointment, which has yet to be approved by the Defense Minister, and the commentators of the other Hebrew papers were aghast. Both Haaretz’s Yair Ettinger and Yedioth’s military analyst, Yossi Yehoshua pointed to the obvious: Why didn’t the IDF google him? Ettinger wrote that Karim’s appointment “points to a deeper issue within the military rabbinate: Its mission to instill soldiers with biblical fighting spirit.”
Karim's appointment comes just as the IDF is dealing with the very problem that Karim supported: Shooting dead an injured assailant. Yesterday, at the trial of Elor Azariya, the brigade commander testified that Azariya lied. Lt. Col. David Shapira, Sgt. Elor Azaria's battalion commander at the time, said he told Azariya that he had a feeling he 'wasn’t exactly telling the truth… Elor was totally silent. I told him that I considered this an irregular event, shooting a wounded terrorist…and that he was immediately suspended until the matter was clarified.”
Quick Hits:
- European Union: 'NGO Law' risks undermining Israeli democratic values - Reporting requirements imposed on nonprofits 'seem aimed at constraining the activities of these civil society organizations working in Israel,' statement says. (Haaretz and Ynet)
- Israel releases 14-year-old Palestinian girl early - after 3 months in prison - 14-year-old Palestinian Nuran Mahmoud al-Balboul was detained at the military checkpoint into northern Bethlehem for allegedly carrying a knife in her schoolbag. Nuran adamantly refuted the claim, saying that she was in fact detained for having an argument with a female soldier while trying to enter Jerusalem with her aunt. (Maan)
- Palestinian youth injured by Israeli forces in northern Gaza Strip - A 27-year-old was injured in the arm in the northern Gaza Strip and hospitalized. An Israeli army spokesperson said she was "not aware of anything unusual" and could not comment on the reason for Israeli live fire in Beit Hanoun. (Maan)
- Israeli Arab spotted jumping border fence into Gaza Strip, Israeli army says - The man, identified as a Bedouin, would be the third Israeli to be in the Strip; incident is currently under IDF investigation. (Haaretz and Ynet)
- Fifty Israelis visit Temple Mount with family of slain settler teen - It is the largest group of Jewish visitors permitted to enter the tense holy site in the past year. Some of those in attendance uttered prayers in violation of previous policy [sic – continued policy. Also, Rena Ariel, mother of Hallel Yaffe, who was murdered in her bed, is a Temple Mount activist.]. (Haaretz+, Maan and Ynet)
- Mizrachi Israeli intellectuals reject meeting with Abbas - Despite having two previous meetings with the Palestinian leader, delegation from World Federation of Moroccan Jewry reject invitation to meet with him after failing to condemn murder of 13-year-old Hallel Ariel, refusing to meet with Rivlin, and not keeping promise about meeting with Netanyahu. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- MK Zoabi to Ethics Committee: "Knesset members behave like toddlers in pre-school" - After the uproar she sparked in the Knesset, MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) told the Ethics Committee that all complaints filed against her are irrelevant, because "they rely on a complete misunderstanding of the essence of democracy, and an attempt by the consensus to silence the political position challenging it,” when the MKs of the consensus cannot argue with her politically. (Maariv)
- Shin Bet chief: Attacks down but West Bank still highly volatile - Mahmoud Abbas believes in a negotiated settlement and opposes violence, but doesn't do enough to condemn it, Nadav Argaman tells Knesset defense panel in his first overview. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- IDF spokesman weighs in against Army Radio as defense minister mulls its future - Chief of staff last year called for closing the station or reassigning it from the army to the Defense Ministry. (Haaretz+)
- Western Wall employee denies entrance to Arab TV journalist - Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz apologizes to Channel 10 for incident; says employee involved has been suspended. (Haaretz+)
- Israel Passes Law Setting Prison Terms for Dissuading Christian Arabs From IDF Service - The bill is officially aimed at preventing pressure on any soldier who volunteers to serve in the IDF, but Likud MK Yoav Kish clarified that he had initiated the bill to confront the pressures brought to bear on Christian Arabs who serve. (Haaretz+)
- BDS activists entering Israel on tourist visas operate freely - Christian Empowerment Council investigation finds World Council of Churches sending BDS activists into Israel on tourist visas to evade suspicion. CEC leader Gabriel Naddaf: Activists distort Christianity to promote an extremist agenda. (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Arab Who Wielded Knife in Hopes of Being Killed Sentenced to Six Months in Prison - Suicidal Israeli Arab woman who waved knife at Border Policemen until they shot her doesn't realize gravity of actions, court rules. (Haaretz+)
- Fearing next Lebanon war, Israel makes plans for temporary evacuations - If there’s another round of fighting, Hezbollah will aim to seize a locale for a few hours and fly its flags amid the burning ruins. But the Israelis’ return is all part of the plan. (Haaretz)
- Dave Eggers, Alice Walker Among Literary Figures Calling for Israel to Free Palestinian Poet - Open letter announced Tuesday in support of Dareen Tatour, who has been under house arrest since October, was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and Adalah-NY (The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel). (JTA, Haaretz)
- Israel's Hebrew U. ranked top university in Mideast by Saudi think tank - Other Israeli universities to finish in top 100 were the Weizmann Institute of Science, at 41, and Tel Aviv University, at 81. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Fifteen Israelis stuck in war-torn South Sudan - As fifteen Israeli aid workers and business people are said to be stranded in the country embroiled in a bloody civil war, attempts to rescue them have been unsuccessful; 'I dread the thought that some of my friends were hurt or, God forbid, killed,' says Israeli aid worker. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- World Bank contributes $30 million to PA to allieviate 'urgent budget needs' - The funds, contributed by Japan and Australia, will also provide “support for ongoing macroeconomic and public financial management reforms.” (Maan)
Features:
The Second Lebanon War: 34 days of fighting
And interactive timeline of the Second Lebanon War, which began 10 years ago today. (Haaretz)
Hezbollah: From terror group to midsized army
INTERACTIVE: A look back to the last war in Lebanon, a glimpse at the one that lies ahead. (Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
*God Save America - From Becoming This Israel (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) Do what you have to, America. Don't let hatred win and bigotry take power. Don't take that road, America. We know how it ends.
Not the military’s job – Without a rabbinate, without Army Radio (Aviad Kleinberg, Yedioth) …As part of the perspective that the army is a central tool for shaping the society, it was given tools and authorities that many armies in democratic countries don’t have. The IDF dealt with settlement, education, entertainment, teaching language and conversion. It had its own newspapers and radio stations. But all those tools no longer have a place. Israel is not a small society in the process of establishing itself, but rather a medium-sized society, which has proper civil institutions more or less. Even its goals of unity were not reached, it is impossible to find the solution in the army…And if there is no logic in the existence of Army Radio, there is no logic in the existence of the enormous apparatus that is the Army Rabbinate. The IDF needs to give religious services to soldiers who want them. That does not justify the swollen and ideologically skewed apparatus that grew here. There is no need for a rabbi general, whose views on women are questionable and those serving under him are busy in making religious an army which is mostly made up of secular people. The job of the army is to protect the citizens of Israel. That’s it.
Israel Won the Second Lebanon War. Just Ask the Gazans (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Since 2006, Hezbollah hasn’t done anything whenever Israel has attacked the Strip, and since the 2014 Gaza war the Palestinians there still face life imprisonment.
Report on Israeli Education Reforms Takes Jewish Arabness 'Out of the Closet' (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Biton report, which invites Israel to reconcile with a Jewish culture it considers inferior, could also open a channel to a culture it considers hostile.
Between two soldiers (Chen Artzi-Sror, Yedioth/Ynet) The public's sentiment towards IDF soldiers has not only obscured people's perspective on the importance of civilian life, but has blinded them to the difference between soldiers who act nobly and those who act questionably.
Why Humiliation Became a Routine Tactic in Israeli Prisons (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Is there an order to Israelis stipulating the wasting of the Palestinians’ time? Is there some supreme order: Be cruel, be heartless, humiliate?
Renounce disunity (Rabbi Netanel Shriki, Israel Hayom) Division and disunity will lead us to the edge of the precipice. They serve no useful purpose and only lead to loss and destruction.
Israelis Don't Want the Truth, Certainly Not When It Comes to Palestinians (Kobi Niv, Haaretz+) If, for instance, Channel 2 news reversed course and started showing what's really happening on the Palestinian side, Israeli viewers would change the channel.
Egypt's diplomatic games (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) By sending his foreign minister to Israel, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was showing the world that Egypt means business, that it truely is the strongest player in the region, and that no one, especially not the US, should ignore it.
Stop Trying to Tell Diaspora Jews How to Feel About Judaism and Israel (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Neither Israeli secular leftists like Rogel Alpher nor religious right wingers like Naftali Bennett should dictate how Jews overseas should relate to their religion or the Jewish state.
And interactive timeline of the Second Lebanon War, which began 10 years ago today. (Haaretz)
Hezbollah: From terror group to midsized army
INTERACTIVE: A look back to the last war in Lebanon, a glimpse at the one that lies ahead. (Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
*God Save America - From Becoming This Israel (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) Do what you have to, America. Don't let hatred win and bigotry take power. Don't take that road, America. We know how it ends.
Not the military’s job – Without a rabbinate, without Army Radio (Aviad Kleinberg, Yedioth) …As part of the perspective that the army is a central tool for shaping the society, it was given tools and authorities that many armies in democratic countries don’t have. The IDF dealt with settlement, education, entertainment, teaching language and conversion. It had its own newspapers and radio stations. But all those tools no longer have a place. Israel is not a small society in the process of establishing itself, but rather a medium-sized society, which has proper civil institutions more or less. Even its goals of unity were not reached, it is impossible to find the solution in the army…And if there is no logic in the existence of Army Radio, there is no logic in the existence of the enormous apparatus that is the Army Rabbinate. The IDF needs to give religious services to soldiers who want them. That does not justify the swollen and ideologically skewed apparatus that grew here. There is no need for a rabbi general, whose views on women are questionable and those serving under him are busy in making religious an army which is mostly made up of secular people. The job of the army is to protect the citizens of Israel. That’s it.
Israel Won the Second Lebanon War. Just Ask the Gazans (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Since 2006, Hezbollah hasn’t done anything whenever Israel has attacked the Strip, and since the 2014 Gaza war the Palestinians there still face life imprisonment.
Report on Israeli Education Reforms Takes Jewish Arabness 'Out of the Closet' (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Biton report, which invites Israel to reconcile with a Jewish culture it considers inferior, could also open a channel to a culture it considers hostile.
Between two soldiers (Chen Artzi-Sror, Yedioth/Ynet) The public's sentiment towards IDF soldiers has not only obscured people's perspective on the importance of civilian life, but has blinded them to the difference between soldiers who act nobly and those who act questionably.
Why Humiliation Became a Routine Tactic in Israeli Prisons (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Is there an order to Israelis stipulating the wasting of the Palestinians’ time? Is there some supreme order: Be cruel, be heartless, humiliate?
Renounce disunity (Rabbi Netanel Shriki, Israel Hayom) Division and disunity will lead us to the edge of the precipice. They serve no useful purpose and only lead to loss and destruction.
Israelis Don't Want the Truth, Certainly Not When It Comes to Palestinians (Kobi Niv, Haaretz+) If, for instance, Channel 2 news reversed course and started showing what's really happening on the Palestinian side, Israeli viewers would change the channel.
Egypt's diplomatic games (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) By sending his foreign minister to Israel, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was showing the world that Egypt means business, that it truely is the strongest player in the region, and that no one, especially not the US, should ignore it.
Stop Trying to Tell Diaspora Jews How to Feel About Judaism and Israel (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Neither Israeli secular leftists like Rogel Alpher nor religious right wingers like Naftali Bennett should dictate how Jews overseas should relate to their religion or the Jewish state.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.