News Nosh 1.31.16

by APN 01/31/17
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday January 31, 2017
 
Quote of the day:
"Assuming, not unfoundedly, that the Trump era will be followed by a strong reaction of all those he stepped on in the name of alternative facts and disregard. What then? Israel will be part of the Trump legacy, a legacy of contempt towards human rights, reciprocity, a balanced global policy—a legacy the next generation will want to renounce. When you place all your money on the gambler, you go down with him. There is a tomorrow."
--Yedioth columnist Aviad Kleinberg writes that US President Donald Trump may be bad for Israel.

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • The vaccine doesn’t work – Expose: Why do we get the flu despite being vaccinated?
  • Natan’s eyes – Boy stabbed by neighbor asks for prayers for his brother who was murdered
  • The Mexican imbroglio
  • This is also our fault? // Sima Kadmon rejects Netanyahu’s accusation that the diplomatic crisis with Mexico was caused by Israeli media
  • Every day our lifespan increases by five hours
  • The ‘Facebook Like’ generation is on trial – Did you see the most-talked about video clip in Israel: “Spoiled, can’t delay gratification, addicted to ‘Likes.’” – What is behind the prophecy of wrath of the American expert who is slamming the Millennium generation
  • We’re addicted // Anat Lev Adler
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
News Summary:
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s crisis with Mexico, his scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump and the Attorney General closed the corruption case against opposition leader and Zionist Camp chief, MK Isaac Herzog, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, the vote on the outpost ‘Regulation Bill’ was postponed to next week after the Opposition proposed hundreds of reservations to the bill that would allow Israel to retroactively expropriate privately-owned Palestinian land that settlers built on. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned it would be revoked by the High Court. Meanwhile, the High Court will discuss today whether to block the State’s deal with Amona outpost settlers to transfer them to other land owned by Palestinians. The High Court has ruled that Amona be evacuated by February 8th. 
 
Netanyahu refused to apologize and declared he did nothing against Mexico when he Tweeted support for Trump’s wall on the Mexican border. Netanyahu claimed the Israeli media manufactured the crisis between Israel and Mexico. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will speak today with his Mexican counterpart Peña Nieto to try to resolve the crisis.
 
A date was set for the meeting: on February 15th, Netanyahu and Trump will meet in Washington and Netanyahu will urge Trump to bring back sanctions against Iran after the ballistic missile test it made over the weekend. Netanyahu insisted that Israel and the Jewish people have 'no better friend' than Trump. And Trump admitted in an interview that though it’s out of character, he and his staff 'are doing very detailed studies' of the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and would decide in the ‘not-too-distant future.’
 
Quick Hits:
  • Israel Police Reportedly Have Messages From Netanyahus Asking for Expensive Items - According to the Walla website, police have emails and text messages exchanged between the parties in which Netanyahu family members made their requests for cigars and champagne using code words. (Haaretz)
  • Palestinian freed after car accident at checkpoint deemed not act of terror - Despite IDF declaring it was an accident, police kept Sanad Shouman in custody. After video of incident is found, judge makes decision to release, who mistakenly ran over security guard's foot. Attorney said it was a miracle the bullets soldiers shot at his car did not kill him. (Haaretz+) 
  • East Jerusalem Palestinian sentenced to life for 2015 Jerusalem car-ramming attack - Khaled Kutina was convicted of murdering Shalom Sherki, 25, and seriously injuring Shira Klein, 20, by running them over at a bus stop in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood. (Haaretz+ and Ynet) 
  • Palestinian youth shot, injured near Tulkarem-area checkpoint - Yahya Omar Ali Sarhan, 19, said he was walking towards Jabara checkpoint, where he sells lighters, when he saw two Israeli soldiers deployed in a nearby field of olive trees and that one of them fired once at him without warning, injuring him in the knee. The youth added that the soldiers ran towards the checkpoint after firing at him. (Maan)
  • Palestinians jailed for planning ISIS-inspired attack [on soldiers] in Jerusalem - Musab Aliyan handed 10 years while accomplice Samir Abed Rabbo gets 9 years in prison after being found guilty of assembling a bomb they planned to detonate against an Israeli security forces vehicle in the capital. (Ynet) 
  • Israeli settlers throw stones at Palestinian vehicles, injuring 1 - Israeli settlers injured a Palestinian man while throwing stones at Palestinian vehicles traveling on the main road between the occupied West Bank cities of Ramallah and Nablus on Monday afternoon. One driver was wounded and ten vehicles were damaged. (Maan)
  • Haifa murder of schoolbus driver was a terror attack - A month after murder of Guy Kfir in Haifa, an indictment was filed against Mohammad Yusef Shinawi, 21, according to which he was determined to kill Jews after a series of negative interactions and after being ridiculed by his girlfriend as a ‘Jew lover’ and a ‘Zionist lover’. (Ynet)
  • Border Policeman Gets Plea Deal After Admitting Negligence in Shooting Death of Palestinian Teen - Ben Dery will not face manslaughter charge after saying he mistakenly fired live bullets, killing 17-year-old Nadim Nuwara in May 2014. Nuwara’s family announced their opposition to the deal last month, stating: “Such an arrangement will be a badge of shame on the Israeli justice system.” (Haaretz+  VIDEO) 
  • Forensic Institute examined the (injured Arab) MK: "It’s likely he was harmed as he claimed (by police rubber bullets)” - Forensic Institute published the results of the examination of MK Ayman Odeh, Joint List party chief, who was injured in the riots in Umm al-Hiran. But Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called Odeh a ‘liar’ and called on journalists not to not verify his version. (Maariv) 
  • Arab Lawyers Union to file objection against new Umm al-Hiran demolition orders - The union said it would attempt to gain a court order, while MPs of the Joint List would head to Israeli Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon to demand that he freeze the demolition orders. Locals also reported that a sit-in tent would be set up in Umm al-Hiran for protesters and “supporters from all over the country.” (Maan)
  • Israeli prosecutors file charges against former (Bedouin) Palestinian MK - Israeli prosecutors on Monday filed a list of charges against Palestinian lawyer and former member of Knesset, Talab al-Sani, accusing him of assaulting Israeli policemen and “obstructing police works” while carrying out its tasks in recent protests against Israeli Prawer Plan, which would forcibly relocate tens of thousands of Bedouin Palestinians in ‘unrecognized’ villages in the Negev. (Maan)
  • Expert: Ammonia Tank in Haifa Bay Could 'Fall Apart Tomorrow Morning,' Kill 16,000 People - 'There are four problematic points in the tank,' Prof. Ehud Keinan tells press, after unveiling report on dangers of direct hit to ammonia ship. (Haaretz) 
  • Tough bill on illegal construction set to get OK from Knesset panel - The bill includes increasing the maximum imprisonment for building violations from two years to three years, and reducing the authority of the court in favor of the Finance Ministry’s enforcement unit. (Haaretz+) 
  • AG considers reopening case against policeman who beat Ethiopian soldier - April 2015: a police officer is filmed assaulting an IDF soldier of Ethiopian descent; the then-AG closes the case against the officer, who is not disciplined; now Avichai Mandelblit is reexamining the case and finding the evidence not to match his predecessor's decision. (Yedioth/Ynet) 
  • Former Israeli chief rabbi convicted of bribery, gets 3.5 years in prison - Yona Metzger also ordered to pay $1.32 million as part of plea bargain. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom) 
  • Submarine affair: Navy officers received bribes from German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp - According to Channel 2 News report, German corporation paid bribes to senior officials in many countries, including Israel, under the section "useful expenses." MK Margalit: "The circle of bribery has been hacked also in Israel, this must move to a criminal investigation.” (Maariv) 
  • Adelsons donate mobility scooters to disabled IDF veterans - Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson donate 160 mobility scooters through Friends of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization • Youngest veteran to benefit is 38, eldest is 90 • "This scooter is my legs," says veteran wounded in 1982 Lebanon War. (Israel Hayom)  
  • Why are Israel's best and brightest shunning IDF combat positions? Haaretz report sparks hearing this week by Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on recruits' preference for tech and cyber roles, rather than tanks, artillery and engineering units. (Haaretz+) 
  • 20% increase in reported sexual assaults in Israeli army in 2016 - 22% of complaints were filed against career officers and noncommissioned officers, with about a quarter of these against relatively high-ranking officers. (Haaretz+) 
  • Families of Palestinians killed in 2014 Gaza war stage protest at PLO office - The head of the PLO association, Muhammad al-Nahal, said that he was “surprised” when tens of slain Palestinians’ relatives entered the office on Monday morning and demanded that it be shut down. (Maan) 
  • Rivlin grants 151 pardons out of 1,948 submitted - Following a request made by the Movement for Freedom of Information, it is revealed that during 2015, President Reuven Rivlin agreed to reduce the sentences of 7.7% of the convicted criminals who petitioned him; Rivlin tends to shorten sentences rather than issue a complete pardon. (Yedioth/Ynet) 
  • Israel to deepen ties with India and China - Israel is forging strong ties with the two Asian powers demonstrated by the first-ever visit of an Indian prime minister to Israel to take place this year and Israel and China completing a free-trade agreement. (Ynet)
  • IDF post on Holocaust Remembrance Day fails to mention Jews - A post on the IDF's English Facebook page mentioned the 11 million Holocaust victims, while failing to mention the six million Jews who perished, rousing infuriated responses on social networks; Following the criticism, the post was altered. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Israeli parliament to hold special hearing on barred Venezuelan Jews - The decision, first reported in Haaretz, to bar a group of nine Venezuelan converts from immigrating to Israel sparked widespread outrage in the Jewish world. (Haaretz+) 
  • Flights to begin between Israel, Morocco - For the first time in 13 years, there will be flights between Israel and Morocco; flights will fly via Sicily, as Israel and Morocco have no mutual flight agreement; flights start at $600. (Yedioth/Ynet) 
  • Trump Plan to Limit Tech-industry Visas Could Be a Boon to Israelis - Meanwhile, Trump's executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries has caused uncertainty for Israeli Arabs. (Haaretz+)
  • Hundreds of Jewish studies scholars urge Congress to block Trump's Muslim ban - 'Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied countries suffered at the hands of our country’s then-newly enacted restrictive immigration policies,' the letter reads. (Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
The Damage of Netanyahu's Needless Tweet (Haaretz Editorial) One can understand Netanyahu’s desire to get closer to Trump, but there is a big difference between a graduated move toward closer relations and self-deprecation, flattery and improper conduct. 
The only truth: the crisis with Mexico was conceived, initiated and created by Netanyahu (Ben Caspit, Maariv) With his own mouth and Tweets, the Prime Minister pushed himself into a firing zone between the US and Mexico. And regarding the investigations: the media is not persecuting him, but rather the opposite – it’s giving him a huge celebrity discount. 
Trump is waging a religious war (Orly Azoulay, Yedioth/Ynet) Had Harry Truman sat in his White House office, hastily signing executive orders and not allowing Jewish refugees from death and concentration camps into his country, there would be no US Jewry today. 
Trump's week of independence (Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi, Israel Hayom) The new U.S. president is trying to erase the past eight years from the public's collective memory and stay true to his campaign pledges. This is admirable, but risky. 
I'm Proud My Daughter Failed Her Jewish Identity Class (Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz+) My 13-year-old daughter doesn't yet realize that the Education Ministry won’t allow her to determine her Jewish identity for herself. 
What we’re missing to lead political change – is an opposition movement which will not come from Yesh Atid or the Zionist Camp, but from the power of the citizens (Uri Savir, Maariv) It is hoped that, like with the Americans, it will be led by women.
Trump's Draining of the Terrorist Swamp (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Will President Donald Trump include the Muslim Brotherhood on the U.S. list of terrorist groups? If so, how would that affect relations between Egypt and Turkey? 
*When Trump falls, Israel will suffer too (Aviad Kleinberg, Yedioth/Ynet) The Trump era will likely be followed by a strong reaction of all those he stepped on in the name of alternative facts and disregard. Israel will be part of the Trump legacy, a legacy of contempt towards human rights, reciprocity, a balanced global policy—a legacy the next generation will want to renounce.
World Waits to See if Trump Will Go Ballistic After Iranian Missile Test (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Tehran conducted two tests over the weekend: one on a long-range missile; the other on how the new U.S. president will react to its provocation.
Rights groups provide jihad with free services (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) As always, European countries are funding bodies that issue reports allegedly about ‘human rights,’ while in fact waging a campaign against Israel’s existence. 
Trump Reports to Putin on Operation MAMA (Make America Miserable Again) (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) 'Ten days that shook the world – and all because of MY tweets and executive orders. AMAZING!'
  
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.

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