APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday July 24, 2017
Quote of the day:
"People told him, 'Why didn't you finish him off?' Going into the house and shooting him in the head is
another case of Elor Azaria. We are not murderers, we are only defenders."
--Rachel Maoz, mother of the soldier who shot through the window and injured the Palestinian who murdered three people, rejected calls that her son should have executed the murderer.*
--Rachel Maoz, mother of the soldier who shot through the window and injured the Palestinian who murdered three people, rejected calls that her son should have executed the murderer.*
Breaking News:
Palestinian stabs Arab Israeli bus driver in Israel, says he 'did it for Al-Aqsa'
32-year-old man stabbed and moderately-to-severely wounded by 21-year-old West Bank Palestinian; victim evacuated for treatment; terrorist apprehended by police. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
Israeli Embassy guard kills 2 Jordanians while being attacked with screwdriver
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak with Jordan's King Abdullah in bid to avert burgeoning diplomatic crisis • Jordan refuses to allow Israeli Embassy guard, who was attacked by carpenter(s) with screwdriver at an embassy staff apartment, to leave for Israel, demanding to question him. (Israel Hayom, Haaretz)
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Cabinet discusses escalation; Abbas: Security coordination will also be ended
- Father of terrorist: I don’t support killing, I blame the occupation
- (Main Photo of fire and people running. Caption: Violent clashes at Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Palestinians report injured)
- In the end they will be removed // Amos Harel
- In the absence of leadership // Jack Khoury
- The power to not continue // Amir Oren
- The first to be exposed // Raviv Drucker
- He deserves a pardon // Haaretz Editorial
- Woman goes to police to testify against her abusive husband – and was arrested because her visa expired
- Expansive protest in Poland against harm to Supreme Court: “The last line of defense for our democracy”
- Singer Amir Frisher Gutman died at age 41 after drowning
- Teva Pharmaceuticals Company preparing to fire 350 employees
- The flow of the Jordan River is weakening, and the kayaks are in danger
- A new monopoly is born? Gett Taxi has taken over the taxi industry
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Tension with Jordan – Storm over metal detectors at entrance to Temple Mount threatens to worsen even more fragile relations with Amman and the King
- In front of three graves – Tova Solomon arrived on wheelchair with visible stab wounds to the funeral of her husband and two children
- Amir Frisher Gutman 1976-2017 – Hero
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
- The fear: Attacks on Israeli targets across the world (Photo of Border Police standing in front of metal detectors at Temple Mount)
- The news and the shock: Amir (Frisher Gutman) died
Israel Hayom
- Israel and Jordan: Relations tested
- Police fear: ISIS will spark conflict by an attack at Temple Mount
- “You are holy” – Some 10,000 people attended funeral of Yosef, Chaya and Elad Solomon, who were murdered in attack in Halamish
- A punch in the stomach, like on the day that my Hillel was murdered // Rina Ariel
- Tragedies get mixed, and there are no words to console // Haim Fogel
- Shock and ache: Parting from Amir Frisher Gutman
- Era of the digital warrior – Chief Communications Officer, Brig. Gen. Netanel Cohen, in a special column to recruits
- Teva Pharmaceuticals Company plans to fire 350 employees in Israel
News Summary:
Thousands paid final respects to the the Salomon family members murdered in their home (while ministers called for the murderer’s execution), high tension with Jordan over the Temple Mount crisis (but only today was the reason revealed - plus the latest developments on the crisis) and a beloved gay Israeli pop singer dies after drowning making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
Yedioth and Israel Hayom reported that the security cabinet met last night to discuss the ‘fever pitch’ tension between Israel and Jordan over the Temple Mount crisis, despite nothing happened on that front yesterday. What they did not reveal was that yesterday an Israeli embassy security guard in Amman shot dead two Palestinian-Jordanian carpenters at an embassy staff apartment, after one of them reportedly stabbed him with a screwdriver. That news came out in bits and pieces today. Israel wanted to bring all of its staff embassy staff back to Israel, but didn’t because Jordan would not agree to allow the Israeli security guard to leave before being interrogated, but Israel hasn’t agreed.
Violent clashes broke out between Muslim Palestinians praying outside the Temple Mount at the Lion’s Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City and Israeli security forces last night over the metal detectors at the Temple Mount and Ynet’s Hassan Shaalan reported they said, “'We'll continue to be here until the death, even if you shoot us.” Israeli police officers told Haaretz that the decision to place them was careless. But police also installed security cameras at Lions' Gate to complement the metal detectors, not replace them. IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said this was a volatile period and that the religious element makes this wave of violence different than the one that broke out in 2015. [Oddly, Eisenkot counted that wave of violence as starting with the killing of a settler couple, but the killers said they were taking revenge for the settlers killing the Dawabsheh family by setting their home on fire. - OH]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he has stopped security coordination with Israel until it removes the metal detectors and warned that Israel would be the party most adversely affected by the move. The papers noted that Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Israel was crossing a red line on the Temple Mount and that the Arab world won't let it and Pope Francis called for 'moderation and dialogue.' The Mideast Quartet has also voiced its concern and Egypt, France and Sweden called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting. Yedioth’s Itamar Eichner reported that Jews in Turkey were under attackover the Temple Mount crisis and Maariv reported that Israel feared that ISIS would attack Israelis across the world.
US President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt and senior advisor Kushner are expected to arrive in the region today to try to deescalate the crisis over the Temple Mount metal detectors.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu pledged to continue to 'build up our land’ - meaning settlements and blamed the murders of the Salomon family on ‘unbridled Jew hatred’ - and not connecting it as everyone else has to the decision to leave the metal detectors on the Temple Mount.
*Israeli ministers, particularly from the far-right-wing Habayit Hayehudi party, have demanded the death penalty for the Palestinian murderer. [NOTE: It was out of the ordinary that he wasn’t executed on the spot. - OH] Interestingly, Rachel Maoz, the neighbor of the murdered and the mother of the soldier who shot the terrorist, but did not shoot to kill and did not do a ‘killing confirmation’ (vidui hariga), slammed back at those who blasted her son for not killing the murderer. "He shot him from outside the house. He acted correctly and neutralized the terrorist. People told him, 'Why didn't you finish him off?’ Going into the house and shooting him in the head is another case of Elor Azaria [the 'Shooting Soldier from Hebron' who was convicted of shooting dead an incapacitated Palestinian assailant - OH]. We are not murderers, we are only defenders. My husband also said that he could not shoot him after (approaching the murderer as) he lay wounded.” (Maariv)
Quick Hits:
- Israeli soldiers shoot two Palestinians in separate West Bank incident - One was shot after cutting the security fence near Qalqilyah and failing to respond to soldiers, the other tried to evade troops and refused orders to stop, army says (Haaretz)
- Israel Police violently throw journalists out of Jerusalem's Old City, Temple Mount - Journalists were temporarily barred from parts of the Old City; police say they are investigating the incident. (Haaretz)
- Six Palestinian journalists injured covering clashes with Israel, press group says - Palestinian journalists’ union says Israeli forces attacked one television crew, blocked another from covering a police raid on a hospital and prevented a third from entering Halamish, site of Friday’s murder of three Israelis. (Haaretz+)
- Settlers set up new outpost in memory of slain Salomon family - Halamish-Neveh Tzuf residents set up tents, tables and chairs at a nearby junction and block eastern road to the settlement to Palestinian movement; they demand the government for new construction, as well as setting up increased security measures already approved and budgeted. (Ynet and Maan)
- As situation in Gaza deteriorates, UN hangs its hopes on private sector - Data from reports show that amid the past decade’s worsening economic, health and education indicators, the world shouldn’t just view Gaza as a humanitarian disaster but also count on its resilient economical capacities. (Haaretz+)
- Palestinian detained for ‘praying for bad things to happen to police’ - The 42-year-old religious figure made the remarks at the Lions’ Gate entrance to the compound as thousands of worshipers prayed outdoors in the city and across the occupied Palestinian territory in an act of civil disobedience against increased Israeli security measures at Al-Aqsa. (Maan)
- PA and Hamas both call for national unity over Al-Aqsa, on their own terms - The PA called on Hamas to immediately respond to PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ invitation to transcend the ten-year conflict with the PA ruling party Fatah and hand over control of the Gaza Strip in the name of broader national interest. (Maan)
- Israeli Journalist Says Army Radio Tried to Spike Investigative Report Into Sheldon Adelson - Avner Hofstein also claims he was threatened with dismissal by director Avi Barzilai if he didn’t reveal his sources. (Haaretz+)
- Uganda’s Jews Down to One Meal a Day Because of African Famine - The 2,000-strong Abayudaya community has been hit hard by a drought, with two infirm people dying of malnutrition. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Democrats in Congress Rethink Anti-boycott Bill in Wake of ACLU Warning - A Kennedy scion is among the first of the bill’s co-sponsors to say he is reviewing his position on the draft law, which would criminalize support for boycotts of Israel or the settlements. (Haaretz)
Features:
What Makes the Temple Mount So Holy? A Brief History
No one disputes the site's importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It's only because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that either side insists to claim the Mount as its own. (David B. Green, Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
Between political and legal fears, any sign of leadership in Israel is absent (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The Israel Police made the assessment that metal detectors were required at the Temple Mount to prevent further deadly attacks there, but it required someone senior to them to see the bigger picture.
Government is stuck: Israel is looking for a way to get off the tree and preserve its dignity (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The decision to place metal detectors around the Temple Mount puts Netanyahu between two difficult options. A capitulation that would be construed as surrendering, or insisting on risking terrorist attacks against (Israelis) around the world.
Israel's Border Police: Winner of the Cruelty Competition (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Perhaps more appalling than the sight of the police pointing their rifles at worshippers and sneering is their vanishing humanity.
Israeli decision makers once again ignored the warnings of bloodshed (Nir Hasson, Haaretz) Israel is trapped on the Temple Mount inside an iron pillory, whose only key is a comprehensive political change.
A responsible adult is needed: the war is knocking and the pyromaniacs are walking around with matches (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The Temple Mount crisis allows many politicians to maintain their position in public opinion, and the prime minister can continue to look out from the balcony instead of initiating a political discussion.
Remove the Metal Detectors From the Temple Mount Now (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu dare not forget that the threats to his coalition are as nothing next to the lurking danger to the state and the entire region if he fails to come to his senses quickly
Not to executing terrorists - the damage by the act is greater than the benefits (Zionist Camp MK Ksenia Svetlova, Maariv) The slogan "death penalty for terrorists" is heard every time you one can profit political capital on the right-wing. But is the price of a (violent) flare up and international damage worth that? The "eye for an eye" approach will not achieve its goal.
Temple Mount Crisis: Israel Attempting to Separate Religion and War (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian posts online have dealt with the violence in recent days, and a relatively high number of young people, both male and female, have threatened to carry out attacks because of the Temple Mount events.
Yes to executing terrorists - this is how to achieve deterrence (Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Rogev, Maariv) Whoever takes the lives of three family members so brutally has no place in this world. The death penalty will not cause an escalation, but will calm the area because this is the language they understand.
A new generation of Palestinians leading Temple Mount protests (Jack Khoury, Haaretz+) The frustration and anger is being led mainly by the generation born after Oslo, the one that was promised a state and self-determination and now sees only the inability to make that dream come true.
Halamish attack: The writing was all over the wall (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Ministers’ attempt to satisfy right-wing voters has been replaced with a fear of a new intifada. Now, terribly late, wisdom has suddenly kicked in: Metal detectors will be removed, the Temple Mount will be opened, and government must pray to Allah and hope things will calm down on the ground.
Netanyahu vs. the West (Tzvia Greenfield, Haaretz+) When Netanyahu paints himself into the far corner of the tainted and the reproached, the responsibility of the opposition’s leaders is to see to a healthy relationship between a sane Israel and Europe and the United States.
Where Israel Shouldn't Strike When the Next War With Hezbollah Comes (David Daoud, Haaretz+) Israel's threatened its next war with the Iran-backed Shiite group will be the most destructive ever. But shattering Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah is a strategy that Israel's already tried - and it failed.
Temple Mount crisis: Israel attempting to separate religion and war (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian posts online have dealt with the violence in recent days, and a relatively high number of young people, both male and female, have threatened to carry out attacks because of the Temple Mount events.
Israel looking for a way out of crisis without compromising pride (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) It’s only a matter of time before metal detectors, which have become a symbol of a religious-national Palestinian struggle, gradually disappear from Temple Mount. Israel is trying to emerge from this crisis with minimum damage to its national dignity—and without a third intifada.
Abbas, Israel's Condemnation Subcontractor (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) It's worth recalling that the status quo Netanyahu has sworn to uphold was destroyed from the first moment of the occupation – at 3 A.M. on June 11, 1967, after the conquest of East Jerusalem, the Mughrabi neighborhood's 135 homes were demolished.
No one disputes the site's importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It's only because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that either side insists to claim the Mount as its own. (David B. Green, Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
Between political and legal fears, any sign of leadership in Israel is absent (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The Israel Police made the assessment that metal detectors were required at the Temple Mount to prevent further deadly attacks there, but it required someone senior to them to see the bigger picture.
Government is stuck: Israel is looking for a way to get off the tree and preserve its dignity (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The decision to place metal detectors around the Temple Mount puts Netanyahu between two difficult options. A capitulation that would be construed as surrendering, or insisting on risking terrorist attacks against (Israelis) around the world.
Israel's Border Police: Winner of the Cruelty Competition (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Perhaps more appalling than the sight of the police pointing their rifles at worshippers and sneering is their vanishing humanity.
Israeli decision makers once again ignored the warnings of bloodshed (Nir Hasson, Haaretz) Israel is trapped on the Temple Mount inside an iron pillory, whose only key is a comprehensive political change.
A responsible adult is needed: the war is knocking and the pyromaniacs are walking around with matches (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The Temple Mount crisis allows many politicians to maintain their position in public opinion, and the prime minister can continue to look out from the balcony instead of initiating a political discussion.
Remove the Metal Detectors From the Temple Mount Now (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu dare not forget that the threats to his coalition are as nothing next to the lurking danger to the state and the entire region if he fails to come to his senses quickly
Not to executing terrorists - the damage by the act is greater than the benefits (Zionist Camp MK Ksenia Svetlova, Maariv) The slogan "death penalty for terrorists" is heard every time you one can profit political capital on the right-wing. But is the price of a (violent) flare up and international damage worth that? The "eye for an eye" approach will not achieve its goal.
Temple Mount Crisis: Israel Attempting to Separate Religion and War (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian posts online have dealt with the violence in recent days, and a relatively high number of young people, both male and female, have threatened to carry out attacks because of the Temple Mount events.
Yes to executing terrorists - this is how to achieve deterrence (Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Rogev, Maariv) Whoever takes the lives of three family members so brutally has no place in this world. The death penalty will not cause an escalation, but will calm the area because this is the language they understand.
A new generation of Palestinians leading Temple Mount protests (Jack Khoury, Haaretz+) The frustration and anger is being led mainly by the generation born after Oslo, the one that was promised a state and self-determination and now sees only the inability to make that dream come true.
Halamish attack: The writing was all over the wall (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Ministers’ attempt to satisfy right-wing voters has been replaced with a fear of a new intifada. Now, terribly late, wisdom has suddenly kicked in: Metal detectors will be removed, the Temple Mount will be opened, and government must pray to Allah and hope things will calm down on the ground.
Netanyahu vs. the West (Tzvia Greenfield, Haaretz+) When Netanyahu paints himself into the far corner of the tainted and the reproached, the responsibility of the opposition’s leaders is to see to a healthy relationship between a sane Israel and Europe and the United States.
Where Israel Shouldn't Strike When the Next War With Hezbollah Comes (David Daoud, Haaretz+) Israel's threatened its next war with the Iran-backed Shiite group will be the most destructive ever. But shattering Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah is a strategy that Israel's already tried - and it failed.
Temple Mount crisis: Israel attempting to separate religion and war (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian posts online have dealt with the violence in recent days, and a relatively high number of young people, both male and female, have threatened to carry out attacks because of the Temple Mount events.
Israel looking for a way out of crisis without compromising pride (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) It’s only a matter of time before metal detectors, which have become a symbol of a religious-national Palestinian struggle, gradually disappear from Temple Mount. Israel is trying to emerge from this crisis with minimum damage to its national dignity—and without a third intifada.
Abbas, Israel's Condemnation Subcontractor (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) It's worth recalling that the status quo Netanyahu has sworn to uphold was destroyed from the first moment of the occupation – at 3 A.M. on June 11, 1967, after the conquest of East Jerusalem, the Mughrabi neighborhood's 135 homes were demolished.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.