APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday November 1, 2016  
 

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

 

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The opening of the winter session of the Knesset was the source of many different news items in today’s Hebrew newspapers. The biggest was about Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s statement that he will not give in to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s intention to shut down the yet-to-go-to-air public broadcasting corporation. Also a top story was the shooting attack by a 25-year-old Palestinian policeman injuring three Israeli soldiers near Beit El settlement and army base. 
 
In a roundabout manner in his opening speech at the first Knesset winter session, Netanyahu made his first public statement about his intention to shut down the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), also called Kan, when he said he would rebuild the former Israel Broadcasting Authority. The latter was to be replaced by the more economically fiscal and journalistically independent IPBC. But Kahlon dug in his heels and said he won’t waste money on shutting down something that so much money was already spent to create. (See Commentary/Analysis section on why some commentators think that money is not actually the issue.) 
 
*Opposition leader Herzog attacked Netanyahu in his speech, accusing him of legitimizing racism and fomenting hatred among Israelis. Just before Netanyahu spoke, Arab MKs walked out of the plenum, boycotting Netanyahu’s speech because his party promised to boycott their speeches. And fulfilling their promise, coalition parties members walked out whenever any Arab member of the Joint List addressed the Knesset – in ‘revenge’ for intentionally not attending Shimon Peres’ funeral. (Two Likud MKs refused to take part in the boycott: Controversial MK Oren Hazan, who Yedioth wrote wanted to argue with them when they spoke, and MK Yehuda Glick, who said he doesn’t boycott anyone.)

And when the Joint List called for a vote of no-confidence, many MKs from the coalition and opposition walked out of the plenum. “The Joint List members took advantage of the situation to hold a prayer in memory of those killed in the Kfar Qassem massacre, the anniversary of which was the day before,” wrote Yedioth’s Amihai Atali. Minister Yariv Levine shouted: This is not a demonstration. Take them out of here. Here we don’t make protests and demonstrations. This is not a mosque, we are not stopping the debate.” MK Esawi Freij (Meretz) who lost family members in the massacre by Israeli Border Police responded: “The massacre, in which members of my family were murdered, is a lie in the eyes of Minister Levine. The murder of 49 innocent people is a lie. Also the echoing statement by Justice Binyamin Halevy that ‘the blatantly illegal order, on which a black flag waved’ was also a lie in the eyes of Minister Levine.”
 
In his speech, Netanyahu also raised the other conundrum the government faces: the High Court order to evict settlers from the Amona outpost. Netanyahu pledged to "continue to take care of settlement in Judea and Samaria," noting that the state asked the High Court that morning for a delay in the eviction.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Iraqi forces marching toward bloodbath with ISIS: Special report from the Mosul front lines
The U.S.-led campaign to retake Mosul will be one of the largest urban warfare operations in recent history. ISIS, meanwhile, is reportedly beginning wholesale executions ■ Part 2 (By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
If Women Voting for Trump Were Jews, They’d Be Called Self-hating (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Imagine if he’d called Jews ugly or hook-nosed, judged them only by their money or said on tape that he likes to whack them every once in a while. 
Liberal Zionists, We Lost the Kids (Sara Hirschhorn, Haaretz+) Diaspora Jewish teens' radical dissociation from Israel is not about the settlements or the occupation. They're ashamed to be associated with Zionism. 
World is silent, except when it comes to Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) Millions are being killed around the world, but nearly all protests, articles and rallies are against Israel; this manipulative and poisonous protest paves the way for the world’s silence in light of the massacres and crimes that are really taking place. 
It's a short path from filtering porn to filtering Zionism (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) In a country that can’t even keep its alleged nuclear bomb a secret, how long will it take these lists of ipso-facto porn addicts to surface? 
Israeli Defense Minister Stands by Beleaguered IDF - Omitting His Own Role in Fanning the Flames (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Avigdor Lieberman is right to defend the IDF from lawmakers' assaults, but overlooks his own involvement in the Elor Azaria affair. 
Netanyahu’s new imaginary enemy (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) When the prime minister turns a marginal issue—the new public broadcasting corporation—into his No. 1 threat, it's possible we are witnessing one of his most serious paranoia attacks. 
The Purity of Our Camp (Assia Ladizhinskaya, Haaretz+) According to the country's right wing, Israel's burning problem is the existence of carriers of impurity: people who bring filth into the homes of the nation. 
A question of price, not principle: Kahlon willing to let Netanyahu shut public broadcaster (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) The finance minister will allow the new media corporation to be closed if Netanyahu can engineer the spreadsheet so as not to show a loss. 
What's Behind Netanyahu’s Battle Against Public Broadcasting? (Eytan Avriel, Haaretz+) In a democracy the role of a public broadcasting entity is to criticize the government. No wonder Netanyahu hates it. 
Do They Have to Play Soccer in the Settlements? (Sari Bashi, Haaretz+) The games in the settlements is not the only issue that sparks anger against Israel - but they are turning Israeli soccer into a target.
 
 

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