APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday November 8, 2016  
 

Quote of the day #1:
“People want Israel to look good and Breaking the Silence prevents the country from looking good. It's very human, I do not mock this feeling. They think erroneously that what makes the country look not good are the people who expose the distortion of morality."
--Renowned novelist Amos Oz explains why so many Israelis slam Israel's anti-occupation and human rights organizations.*

Quote of the day #2:

"I want our adversaries to ponder that moral force is not a luxury, but an existential matter. I would like to tell our adversaries in the country that one of the few reasons to feel good as Israelis is that there is still freedom of speech and freedom of the press and that there are organizations such as Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem and Peace Now. The things that Israel is doing now will not make Israel feel better...It is better to open our wounds as early as possible and as publicly as possible..."
--Renowned novelist Amos Oz explains the importance of Israeli anti-occupation organizations.*
  "It is time to peel the mask off the face of Ilana Dayan, who has proved once more that she doesn't have even a drop of professional integrity. Ilana Dayan is one of the leaders of an orchestrated attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, intended to topple the right-wing government and bring about the establishment of a left-wing government."
--Part of the shocking statement from Netanyahu and which Ilana Dayan read in full on TV at the end of her program's expose on problematic conduct in the Prime Minister's Office.**

Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The US elections today dominated the Israeli papers. The second biggest story was the storm over the jaw-dropping response by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the expose about his conduct by a renowned Israeli TV investigative journalist. Also in the news, Israel said it opposed the French peace initiative and won’t participate in the summit next month, but the Palestinians asked that France go ahead with it anyway and France said it would. And in the closing remarks in the trial of Sgt. Elor Azariya, who executed a wounded and prone Palestinian assailant, the prosecution said he lied repeatedly, changing his version five times and  that that was enough to convict him of manslaughter.
 
**The social media networks were ablaze after one of Israel’s most respected journalists read aloud to the camera the response from the Prime Minister’s Office to her expose on Netanyahu’s conduct. Netanyahu alleged she was leading a campaign to "bring down the rightwing government." He personally and professionally attacked her accusing her of being “radical left” and “without a drop of professional integrity.” Haaretz wrote that she “stole her own TV show.” Maariv online collected some of the responses, translated here:
 
Journalist Dan Margalit: “I saw the inciting and diverting response letter of Bibi in response to Ilana Dayan’s professional criticism of  the managing of the Prime Minister’s Office. Bibi, be ashamed of yourself! And every minister who stays silent.”
Journalist Ben Caspit: “The response of the Israeli Prime Minister to Uvda (investigative TV program), which was read out in full by Ilana Dayan, should be put under observation.”
MK Shelly Yachimovich: “One of the defining moments in the history of the press in Israel. One of the toughest in the history of freedom of the press, and one prime minister who lost it. I salute you, Ilana.”
Journalist Udi Segal: “Netanyahu’s response proves in and of itself the severe performance problems in the Prime Minister’s Office and his problematic judgment.”
Meretz chief MK Zehava Galon: “If anyone had doubts that Netanyahu is unfit to serve as prime minister, his reaction this evening to Ilana Dayan closed that issue.”
Ehud Barak: “He went off the rails completely. Psychologists say: 'It begins with the letter P."
Avihu Sofer: “Hell, now go find an insurance company that agrees to insure a brave Israeli journalist….”
More from Israel Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu paper.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Syrian Jews fighting for their heritage, which is threatened by war
The Jewish community left Aleppo long ago. Now those who left are mourning the fate of the homeland, returning to its glory days and asking the State of Israel to do everything possible to save the holy books. (Sara Leibovich-Dar, Maariv)  
“There is no right-wing, left-wing. This is a struggle for democracy”
Amit Lior, Chairman of the scriptwriters’ association, made headlines when he tore his son’s military service card during “Operation Protective Edge” in protest over the plan to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Today he plans to start hunger-striking across from the Knesset to explain why his battle is not political and why every citizen of Israel should be worried about Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan’s bill to shut down the new Public Broadcasting Corporation. (Noam Barkan, Yedioth’s 24 Hours supplement, cover)

Commentary/Analysis:
The collapsing political triangle linking Adelson, Netanyahu and Trump (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz) Netanyahu is beginning to understand that, after supporting Trump, Adelson has become more of a liability to Israel than an asset. 
The Ilana Dayan storm: Netanyahu wrote the longest toxic talkback in history (Talia Levine, Maariv) Dayan's slow and controlled reading of the response she received to her expose [on Netanyahu's conduct in the Prime Minister's Office] was perhaps the most frightening moment broadcast in the history of Channel 2.
Occupation Has Become a Dirty Word for Israel's Center Left (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) Two important things were missing from the memorial event marking the 21st anniversary of Yizhak Rabin's murder: Palestinians, and recognition of the true problem underlying Israeli society.
The elections as a symptom of the sick of the West – This is just the beginning (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth) The elections in the US reveal the rising dispute within Western countries between the proponents of an open society and between the proponents of a nationalistic perspective.
Israel's right-wing is torn, and it is only a matter of time until the tears will decide its fate (Dr. Revital Amran, Maariv) From the inside, the right-wing projects unity, but a careful look into the depths reveals that it is much more divide than can be seen by the eye. The ideological group is hardly heard while the group that is based on spin threatens the camp.
Elections as a Threat to Democracy (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) The lives of many citizens are characterized by social detachment, economic insecurity, helplessness or, in brief, a life of quiet desperation. They are the most vulnerable to brainwashing. 
Ilana Dayan joined the blacklist of no exit (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The presenter of 'Uvda' ('fact') investigative TV program has joined the group of very few who dared to enter into the fire - and who will forever be accused of persecuting the prime minister and his wife. Her reading of Netanyahu's response was a formative moment of television.
"You can not solve problems with the way of thinking that created them": Why Trump is preferable to Clinton (former Likud MK, Michael Kleiner, Maariv) If the president were elected through a tender, there would be no doubt that the experienced Hillary would win big. But the president is not a CEO of a state, but rather a man of vision and of outlined policy. That is why Trump, who offers a fresh and unconventional spirit, is preferable to Clinton. 
If Stupidity Were a Painful Disease (Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz+) When Likud MK David Bitan said that Rabin's assassination was not political, he scored an own goal into Netanyahu's net. 
Regulation in the name of normalcy (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Amona’s residents are not responsible for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ‘Regulation Bill’ is rational and correct even if it won’t include Amona retroactively. And if it’s all just a spin, the residents should be told—not just by the High Court judges, but by the political echelon as well.  
On Israel, Trump Pledges High and Gives Nothing (Marisa Fox-Bevilacqua, Haaretz) A final request to Jewish Republicans who continue to take comfort in Trump's much-touted 'pro-Israel' credentials: Take a long, hard look at his record of false promises. 
Middle East Leaders Await U.S. Election Results With Bated Breath (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz) The regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria all have good reason to be losing sleep as they monitor the polls. 
Religious Conflict, Walls and Terror: Northern Ireland’s Lessons for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Cliff Savren, Haaretz+) The peace process in Northern Ireland was led by territorial maximalists and hardliners who, unlike today’s Israeli and Palestinian leaders, were willing to consider compromise.

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