APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, August 24, 2017
NOTE: Orly Halpern, editor of News Nosh, is on holiday from August 15th until August 24th, during which News Nosh will be produced as a truncated version and sent later in the day.
NOTE: Orly Halpern, editor of News Nosh, is on holiday from August 15th until August 24th, during which News Nosh will be produced as a truncated version and sent later in the day.
You must be kidding
“We are not going to state what the outcome has to be. It has to be workable to both sides. That’s the best view as to not really bias one side over the other, to make sure that they can work through it.”
-- In critical policy shift, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert says endorsing the two-state solution would be "biased"
Front Page:
Haaretz
- Analysis: one strategic issue uniting US, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey
- Revealed: Nearly 3,500 settlement homes built on private Palestinian land
- Reform leaders urge Netanyahu to denounce Western Wall strip-searches
- "We kept Israel from going to war": outgoing Air Force chief on Iran and conflicts ahead
Ynet News
- Kushner: Trump committed to achieving peace
- High Court allows protesters to return to square
- Salah indicted for inciting terror at terrorists' funeral
- Halamish terrorist initially planned larger attack
Times of Israel
- Halamish terrorist chose home because he heard laughter - indictment
- US says doubts over Iran deal remain after meeting nuke watchdog
- Police allow one-day "trial" for MKs to enter Temple Mount
- Arab-Israeli man charged with aiding Temple Mount terrorists
Israel Hayom
- PM to Putin: Israel is ready to act unilaterally against Iran's presence in Syria
- Indictments handed down over Temple Mount, Halamish attacks
- Lebanese beauty queen stripped of title over visit to Israel
- After more than yearlong ban, MKs to visit Temple Mount
i24 News
- Netanyahu tells Kushner peace is "within our grasp"
- Palestinians in Ramallah protest visit of White House peace delegation
- Israel charges Islamic Movement chief Raed Salah with incitement
- UN backs fighting "pauses" to help civilians flee Raqqa
News Summary:
Today, the US peace delegation, consisting of Jason Greenblatt, Jared Kushner, and Dina Powell, had its first meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today. Kushner reiterated Trump's "commitment to achieving peace" and thanked the prime minister and his team for "engaging very thoughtfully and respectfully in the way the president has asked them." In turn, Netanyahu thanked the Trump administration for its committment and said he believed "peace was in their grasp." On the other side, the delegation is slated to meet with the Palestinian leadership later today in Ramallah, where they will face protests against their arrival.
Amjad Jabarin, an Arab-Israeli from Umm al-Fahm, was indicted for assisting the three gunmen who killed two police officers outside the Temple Mount last month. Jabarin had trained with the the three gunmen and helped transport them to the Temple Mount. Omar al-Abed, who murdered three people in the West Bank settlement of Halamish following the Temple Mount crisis, was also indicted today. He admitted to plotting a larger attack and said that he decided to enter the house after hearing laughter. In related news, Israeli police announced that MKs will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount for one day next week as a "trial" coordinated with the Prime Minister's office.
Quick Hits:
- The Times of Israel features a piece on a lawsuit filed against Germany by Algerian Jews for Holocaust reparations. They argue that although they were not forced into ghettos, Berlin should compensate them for stripping their citizenship and professions under France's Vichy regime. Read more here.
- Haaretz reports that the start of the school year in the West Bank village of Jubbet Adh-Dhib has to be pushed back, because the Israeli Civil Administration confiscated and destroyed trailers and other equipment that were meant to serve as school classrooms. Similar events have happened in three other Palestinian communities in the last two weeks. Read more here.
- Judy Maltz of Haaretz writes in "Racists and rapists: how Israel deals with (or doesn't) its own confederates," that Israel too is grappling with public memorials to controversial and offensive figures via names of schools, hospitals, highways, bridges, parks, city squares, army bases, and streets." Read more here.
- In The Hill Blog, Herbert London argues that "Iran and Israel are poised for war - in Syria," pointing to Hezbollah's increasing military capabilities and anticipating mobilization against Israel once Iran and Iraq are no longer preoccupied with ISIS. Read more here.
- Al Jazeera features a piece on Israel's volunteer soldiers, unpacking what drives foreign nationals to join the Israeli army, both as paid soldiers and unpaid volunteers. Read more here.