APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday January 16, 2017
Quote of the day:
"Our elected officials do nothing to stop the reality of a Palestinian prime minister. Israel has no
plan today. We blame the political and government leadership that is busy with itself."
--Former Mossad director Shabtai Shavit said at a press conference at the start of a new campaign to convince Israelis to support a two-state solution.**
--Percentage of Israelis, Jews and Arabs, who still support a two-state solution, an increase of six percent from two years ago.*
--Former Mossad director Shabtai Shavit said at a press conference at the start of a new campaign to convince Israelis to support a two-state solution.**
Number of the day:
68.
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Attorney General Mendelblit prevented the police from simultaneously interrogating Netanyahu and his wife
- Without punishment, without government // Ido Baum
- Mozes interrogated eight hours on his connections with Netanyahu
- Netanyahu-Mozes affair - Channel 2: Yedioth publisher promised PM “to turn the ship around” and offered to coordinate the PM’s coverage daily with the paper’s editors and with the website he owns
- Peace conference in Paris: world support group, moment before the Trump era // Barak Ravid in Paris
- Attorney General ordered to enforce the ban on polygamy and to request prison time for offenders
- Netanyahu as (convicted politician and presently serving minister) Deri
- There has never been an Israeli movie like this
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Netanyahu: I dissolved a government because of the Israel Hayom bill – PM admits for first time: “I went to elections among other things because of the subversion from within the government to pass the bill”
- Channel 2: Netanyahu and Milchan brokered between Mozes and (Australian) billionaire Packer to bring him in as a partner of Yedioth; Goal: Positive coverage of PM…Mozes interrogated for 8 hours
- Comes to destroy // Sever Plocker writes that Sheldon Adelson established Israel Hayom to destroy Yedioth
- Long live the difference // Raanan Shaked
- I was not censored // Ariella Ringel-Hoffman
- My home // Lior El-Chai
- Expose: The terrorist in the truck was eliminated by shots from soldiers
- Investigation: The hospitals who refuse to perform abortions
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- “Netanyahu brokered between Mozes and business people”
- Take leave // Ron Kaufman
- The evidence test // Adv. Yechiel Guttman
- A swearing-in in dispute – Numerous people announced they will boycott Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony
- “Plastic chairs instead of beds” – Photo of doctor in front of Rambam Hospital emergency ward
- Horror in Petach Tikvah – Infiltrator broke into home and sexually attacked 12-year-old while parents sleeping
Israel Hayom
- PM: The transcripts are filtered, the goal is to bring down the government
- Yedioth publisher Noni Mozes interrogated by police for 8 hours; Netanyahu also expected to be interrogated this week
- You (journalists) knew this was Noni’s method, so don’t roll your eyes // Itsik Saban
- Britain against the Paris (peace) conference: “Held without Israel’s agreement”
- Report: Trump will appoint his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to broker peace negotiations in the Middle East
News Summary:
The latest details from the secret negotiations between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Noni Mozes was today’s top story in the Hebrew newspapers followed by the Paris peace conference “to nowhere.”
Netanyahu reportedly mediated between Mozes and Australian billionaire James Packer in exchange for positive coverage of himself in Yedioth, according to the latest quotes. Netanyahu is to be questioned again this week, but Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit barred police from questioning Netanyahu and his wife at the same time in order to prevent them from coordinating their testimonies, Haaretz+ reported. Netanyahu accused the media of disseminating 'carefully selected excerpts' in order to pressure the attorney general to prosecute the premier and bring his downfall.
Meanwhile, Yedioth readers are seeking a class action suit against the newspaper for misleading readers. And leaders of the parties of the governing coalition assured the country that the Likud-led government coalition is stable and that the Likud is not preparing for ‘the day after’ Netanyahu. Coalition chairman MK David Bitan slammed Likud MKs who are not defending Netanyahu.
Yedioith did not even bother to report on yesterday's Paris peace conference and Maariv called it a conference “to nowhere.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he hoped the conference would convince the incoming U.S. administration that the entire world seeks to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace and a two-state solution. Ayraut slammed US President-elect Donald Trump for his plan to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, calling it a ‘provocation’ with 'serious repercussions.' Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reassured Netanyahu in a phone call that should any UN resolution be put forward in the coming days, the U.S. would oppose it. The concluding statement of the conference was unanimously agreed on following intense negotiations and was considered less harsh than was initially expected. The Palestinian Authority welcomed the statement and called on France to recognize Palestine. Netanyahu called the summit “the death throes of yesterday's world.” Over 1,000 pro-Israel supporters, most of them Jewish, protested against the Paris peace conference, saying: “No one can dictate to Israel.” They booed mentions of a two-state solution and criticized the weak response from French-Jewish community leaders, Haaretz+ reported.
Meanwhile, Trump told the Times of London that he is appointing his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be his broker for Mideast peace. And outgoing US President Barack Obama told 60 minutes that the US abstention from the UN Anti-settlements vote didn't cause a major rupture in ties with Israel: "If you're saying that Netanyahu got fired up, he's been fired up repeatedly during the course of my presidency. That part wasn't new."
Quick Hits:
- *Two-thirds of Israelis still back two-state solution, J Street poll finds - Even among voters from the right-wing Likud and Kulanu parties, most prefer separation to annexation. (Haaretz)
- Water deal reached between Israel and Palestinians - After six years without a functioning Joint Water Committee, the Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories and the PA's Minister of Civil Affairs sign a new water agreement intended to improve the quality of life for the entire West Bank. Joint Water Committee will reconvene for first time in six years. (Ynet)
- Palestinian victim of racist stabbing knifes 2 Jews in revenge - Witnesses to attack, which took place Friday night outside a Tel Aviv nightclub, say group of Jews turned on Muslim man for dating a Jewish woman and one stabbed him • Muslim suspect reportedly fled, then returned and attacked two uninvolved bystanders. (Israel Hayom)
- **Advertising in Arabic, ex-generals urge Israelis to separate from Palestinians and take aim at Bennett’s annexation plan - In new campaign, group of retired security officials warns in full-page poster that soon Palestinians will be majority and if settlement ‘messianists’ have their way and prevent a Palestinian state it threatens Israel’s security and Jewish character. Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh said in response that "this is not a campaign for peace; it's a campaign of hate toward Arabs." (Times of Israel and Israel Hayom)
- Israeli government postpones bill to deport terrorists’ families - New law would almost certainly face High Court scrutiny and might well be overturned. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
- Family, friends of Jerusalem terrorist released from custody - People released after police found that they did not know about Fadi Qunbar’s intention to make an attack. 1 brother, 1 friend still held on suspicion of abetting Fadi al-Qunbar’s deadly truck ramming last week. (Times of Israel)
- Jerusalem terrorist was killed by soldiers, M16 bullets identified in his body - Bullets from an IDF weapon as well as another weapon were found during an autopsy in the body of the terrorist who killed four soldiers. This is contrary to claims that cadets at the scene did not return fire. Police: We cannot know which bullet killed him. (Maariv)
- Approval for Bedouin sector’s development budget postponed: Visiting minister avoids demonstrators -Against the background of lack of approval of the five-year plan for Bedouin, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel came to visit Rahat and needed an escape route to avoid meeting the demonstrators from the village of al-'Araqib, [which has been destroyed dozens of times – OH]. Ariel expressed sorrow that the gov’t did not approve the 3 billion shekel budget to improve the lives of Bedouin in the Negev and said, “I know that this amount, which the sector deserves because it’s their right, not as a favor, is not enough to close the enormous decades-long gap…I came here even though I was recommended not to come.” (Maariv)
- In Israel, calls to up enforcement of anti-polygamy laws - Criminal offense officially carries five-year prison sentence, but indictments are rarely served. Problem is seen as most prevalent among Bedouin community. (Haaretz+)
- Knesset security chief: We take threats against MKs seriously - The Knesset Guard has been on special alert following death threats made to MK Erel Margalit recently [after he said Elor Azariya should not be pardoned. - OH] In a special interview with Israel Hayom, long-serving Knesset Security Chief Yosef Griff discusses how threats to Knesset members are handled. (Israel Hayom)
- Israel aims to criminalize releasing of data on Mossad agents - Transgressors could receive up to life in prison if their goal is to harm national security. (Haaretz+)
- New gov't bill allows for assistance in registering as Aramean - A new bill put forth by MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) and approved by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) allows Israeli-Arabs wishing to change their nationality to Aramean to do so without a fee and complicated paperwork. (Yedioth/Ynet)
- Israeli army strikes Hamas position after force attacked near Gaza border - No Palestinians were wounded in the attack, according to reports in Gaza. (Haaretz+)
- MK Glick: Haaretz publisher sought my help in the Knesset - The Likud MK claimed that Amos Schocken attempted to enlist his help in thwarting legislation that was 'going to deliver a devastating blow to advertising in my paper'; Schocken insists talks were about all newspapers. (Ynet)
- Five Kiryat Arba city council members against east Jerusalem drivers - Five members of the Kiryat Arba city council write and sign a letter protesting the hiring of Arab drivers from east Jerusalem villages such as Jabel Mukaber, Isawyia and Shuafat in light of last week's terror attack. (Ynet)
- Jews on Left and Right Stand With John Lewis Against Trump's MLK Weekend Tirade - 'Yeah. I am with him,' Reform Jewish Movement's Rabbi Pesner tweets after Trump lashes out at civil rights icon at start of MLK weekend. (Haaretz)
- Settler leaders to attend Trump inauguration - Three regional heads from the West Bank have accepted an invitation to attend the US president-elect's inauguration; they intend to bring a gift of agricultural produce from Samaria. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
- Michigan becomes 16th state to pass anti-BDS legislation - Governor Rick Snyder signs into law bipartisan bill that bars state agencies from contracting companies that engage in anti-Israel boycott activities • Pro-Israel groups welcome move, say it ensures double standard against Israel will not be tolerated. (Israel Hayom)
Features:
Living in darkness: Does the protest over lack of electricity mark the beginning of the end of Hamas rule
in Gaza?
Unusually, Gazans took to the streets and protested against the energy crisis affecting them. The terrorist organization blamed the Palestinian Authority and Israel. "The power shortages are killing our children.” (Yasir Okbi, Maariv Magazine supplement, cover)
Weimar Republic on the Hudson: Days Before the Inauguration, America’s Literati Prepare for Fascism
'As Chairman Mao and Joseph Stalin have started by going after the intellectuals whose words might form an opposition, so Trump started by going after us,' says one of the organizers. (Taly Krupkin, Haaretz+ and VIDEO)
Tel Aviv Art Show Shines Spotlight on the Rejects of the Zionist Consensus
An exhibition documents the uprooting of Yemenite Jews
from their farm on Lake Kinneret early in the last century,
and honors Rachel, the iconic poet who, ill with tuberculosis,
was also expelled from the area. (Udi Tzur, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Unusually, Gazans took to the streets and protested against the energy crisis affecting them. The terrorist organization blamed the Palestinian Authority and Israel. "The power shortages are killing our children.” (Yasir Okbi, Maariv Magazine supplement, cover)
Weimar Republic on the Hudson: Days Before the Inauguration, America’s Literati Prepare for Fascism
'As Chairman Mao and Joseph Stalin have started by going after the intellectuals whose words might form an opposition, so Trump started by going after us,' says one of the organizers. (Taly Krupkin, Haaretz+ and VIDEO)
Tel Aviv Art Show Shines Spotlight on the Rejects of the Zionist Consensus
An exhibition documents the uprooting of Yemenite Jews
from their farm on Lake Kinneret early in the last century,
and honors Rachel, the iconic poet who, ill with tuberculosis,
was also expelled from the area. (Udi Tzur, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
Israel's Useless Boycott of the Paris Peace Conference (Haaretz Editorial) By shunning the Paris summit, Netanyahu played into the hands of
those who claim that Israel, like the Palestinians, never misses an opportunity to miss an
opportunity.
We must know everything about Netanyahu-Mozes affair (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) There is no reason for the attorney general to keep the recordings between the prime minister and the Yedioth publisher confidential. It damages the public’s trust in the media and in the PM and allows countless manipulations. As long as the recordings are not exposed, we—Yedioth’s writers and editors—are suspects too through no fault of our own.
Criminal or not, Netanyahu's obsession with the media is pathetic (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Israel’s most powerful politician spends his time fighting off demons that he invents. What a pity, what an utter waste.
Trump Was the Elephant in the Room at the Paris Peace Conference (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Fear of what the president-elect's inauguration will bring was evident in many of the foreign ministers’ speeches; the question that hovered in the air was whether this would be the last peace conference for the next four years.
Paris peace conference: Wrong message, wrong time, wrong place (Ron Prosor, Yedioth/Ynet) Only several weeks ago, the French and Brits raised their hands in favor of an anti-Israel Security Council resolution; now they are convening the world’s countries in Paris for another march of folly aimed at reinforcing that outrageous resolution under the misleading title of a peace-promoting conference.
Netanyahu do everyone a favor and take a vacation (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) The reports on the negotiations that the Prime Minister and publisher of Yedioth held for years leaves a feeling of nausea, and despite what they are trying to sell us, it is not a matter of right and left.
Solidarity Among Israeli Journalists, Especially Now (Ariana Melamed, Haaretz+) The only chance we have to rebuild the character of the Israeli media rests on our shared love of the profession, our shared fear for Israel's future and our desire to be upright citizens.
France's irrelevant initiative (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Despite the flurry of French activity, the gaze of the entire Middle East will be focused on the real event, this Friday in Washington, when Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th president of the United States.
A Musical Interlude or the Horrors of the Occupation? An Israeli Journalist's Dilemma (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Bethlehem hosted an open day of musical events last week, including a master class by a renowned French violinist. If only the Israeli army wasn't so busy creating stories for me to cover.
A Watershed: The Moses-Netanyahu affair could lead to self-improvement (Avihu Sofer, Maariv) We are at special moment in which floating to the surface are our human weaknesses. There is no point in trying to sweep it back under the rug.
The Difference Between Two Apartheid States (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) The leaders of Israel and South Africa both wanted a newspaper that would glorify their policies. But only one of the countries forced its leader to resign over the matter.
Snowball: Countdown of the Netanyahu government has already begun (Dr. Revital Amran, Maariv) If the electricity crisis in Gaza doesn’t blow up in our faces, and another intifada breaks out here, it seems to be the end of an era. It's about time that we rid ourselves of those who think that the country belongs to them.
A Person Without an Opinion Is Not Himself (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) The Umm al-Fahm municipality, whose leaders I admire, erred when they issued a call to boycott Maysaloun Hamoud’s film 'In Between.'
Can a Palestinian Truck-rammer Be Deterred? (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) When a radical Islamist thinks he hears a command from Allah that he should kill a Jew or a Christian, this command overrides all other considerations.
Even Russia understands alleged Israeli strikes in Syria (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Unlike previous incidents, the attack that took place in the Damascus area over the weekend prompted an official Russian representative to say that ‘Israel is naturally fighting organizations jeopardizing its security.’ In other words, even Moscow understands that Israel will not allow the fighting in Syria to spill over to the Golan Heights.
As America's Most Unpopular President-elect, Trump's Not Invincible (Larry Derfner, Haaretz+) Israel has been living through a form of Trumpism for years. But Netanyahu has one enormous advantage over his U.S. counterpart: the public still loves him.
We must know everything about Netanyahu-Mozes affair (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) There is no reason for the attorney general to keep the recordings between the prime minister and the Yedioth publisher confidential. It damages the public’s trust in the media and in the PM and allows countless manipulations. As long as the recordings are not exposed, we—Yedioth’s writers and editors—are suspects too through no fault of our own.
Criminal or not, Netanyahu's obsession with the media is pathetic (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Israel’s most powerful politician spends his time fighting off demons that he invents. What a pity, what an utter waste.
Trump Was the Elephant in the Room at the Paris Peace Conference (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Fear of what the president-elect's inauguration will bring was evident in many of the foreign ministers’ speeches; the question that hovered in the air was whether this would be the last peace conference for the next four years.
Paris peace conference: Wrong message, wrong time, wrong place (Ron Prosor, Yedioth/Ynet) Only several weeks ago, the French and Brits raised their hands in favor of an anti-Israel Security Council resolution; now they are convening the world’s countries in Paris for another march of folly aimed at reinforcing that outrageous resolution under the misleading title of a peace-promoting conference.
Netanyahu do everyone a favor and take a vacation (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) The reports on the negotiations that the Prime Minister and publisher of Yedioth held for years leaves a feeling of nausea, and despite what they are trying to sell us, it is not a matter of right and left.
Solidarity Among Israeli Journalists, Especially Now (Ariana Melamed, Haaretz+) The only chance we have to rebuild the character of the Israeli media rests on our shared love of the profession, our shared fear for Israel's future and our desire to be upright citizens.
France's irrelevant initiative (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Despite the flurry of French activity, the gaze of the entire Middle East will be focused on the real event, this Friday in Washington, when Donald Trump is sworn in as 45th president of the United States.
A Musical Interlude or the Horrors of the Occupation? An Israeli Journalist's Dilemma (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Bethlehem hosted an open day of musical events last week, including a master class by a renowned French violinist. If only the Israeli army wasn't so busy creating stories for me to cover.
A Watershed: The Moses-Netanyahu affair could lead to self-improvement (Avihu Sofer, Maariv) We are at special moment in which floating to the surface are our human weaknesses. There is no point in trying to sweep it back under the rug.
The Difference Between Two Apartheid States (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) The leaders of Israel and South Africa both wanted a newspaper that would glorify their policies. But only one of the countries forced its leader to resign over the matter.
Snowball: Countdown of the Netanyahu government has already begun (Dr. Revital Amran, Maariv) If the electricity crisis in Gaza doesn’t blow up in our faces, and another intifada breaks out here, it seems to be the end of an era. It's about time that we rid ourselves of those who think that the country belongs to them.
A Person Without an Opinion Is Not Himself (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) The Umm al-Fahm municipality, whose leaders I admire, erred when they issued a call to boycott Maysaloun Hamoud’s film 'In Between.'
Can a Palestinian Truck-rammer Be Deterred? (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) When a radical Islamist thinks he hears a command from Allah that he should kill a Jew or a Christian, this command overrides all other considerations.
Even Russia understands alleged Israeli strikes in Syria (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Unlike previous incidents, the attack that took place in the Damascus area over the weekend prompted an official Russian representative to say that ‘Israel is naturally fighting organizations jeopardizing its security.’ In other words, even Moscow understands that Israel will not allow the fighting in Syria to spill over to the Golan Heights.
As America's Most Unpopular President-elect, Trump's Not Invincible (Larry Derfner, Haaretz+) Israel has been living through a form of Trumpism for years. But Netanyahu has one enormous advantage over his U.S. counterpart: the public still loves him.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.