APN's daily news review from Israel
Sunday August 27, 2017

Quote of the day:

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Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Some 1,500 to 2,000 people rallied in 17 cities across Israel Saturday against government corruption, more conflicting reports about what was said in the meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US special Middle East envoy Jared Kushner and US Ambassador to the UN, Niki Haley, accused the UN commander in Lebanon of being ‘blind’ to the alleged 'massive flow of illegal weapons' to Hezbollah, just ahead of the arrival today of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, making top stories in Hebrew newspapers today.

Israel Hayom reported that in their meeting last week, Kushner asked Abbas to halt diplomatic initiatives against Israel for four months, during which the US would provide a detailed peace peace and that Abbas agreed. Haaretz reported that the Al-Hayat report that Kushner told Abbas that "stopping settlement construction is impossible because it will cause the collapse of the Netanyahu government," was wrong. A senior White House official said Kushner never said that a settlement freeze would topple Netanyahu. However, Maariv’s US correspondent, Shlomo Shamir, reported that Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America and supposedly a close associate of US President Donald Trump, said that “If (Kushner’s) visit fails, (Trump) will withdraw from the conflict.” According to Klein, “The arrival of Kushner and (Jason) Greenblatt to Israel is the President's last attempt to advance the resumption of negotiations…(he) is disappointed that his declarations of his desire for peace have not had influence.”

Haaretz+ also reported that “Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) attacked President Trump and his administration on Friday for not endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and thus harming their own attempts at reaching a peace agreement.” This followed the the US State Department’s Spokeswoman’s statement that the US is not endorsing any particular solution to the conflict because that could be "biased" towards one side or the other.  Two leading US Jewish organizations, Americans for Peace Now and J Street, blasted the Trump administration for not endorsing the two-state solution. 
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Palestinian's family kept in the dark after Israeli troops shoot him seven times in nighttime raid
Raad Salhi's mother says the Shin Bet threatened to kill him in front of her. He is now apparently in a comma in a Jerusalem hospital, his parents barred from visiting. (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+)
Art Show Projects Gloom Over How 1967 Irrevocably Altered Israel’s History
‘Euphoria,’ a project marking the 50th anniversary of the 1967 war on show at Kibbutz Ein Harod, is a display of nostalgia for a unified, justified Israel, under a cloak of biting critique. (Shaul Setter, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Oh merciful God, show some to victims (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) In the eyes of the state, not just those of the settlers, the just majority in the territories doesn’t exist – only the dispossessing minority.
The right kind of ‘bias’ (Aaron Mann, Deputy Director of Communications at Americans for Peace Now, Times of Israel) By refusing to endorse a two-state solution, the only bias that the Trump administration risks is toward Hamas and the right-wing Israeli extremists who seek full annexation of the West Bank. In reality, an explicit endorsement of a two-state solution is the most unbiased approach that the administration could take.
Israeli Soldier, You Never Had a Chance (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) The video clip shows what you know: It doesn’t matter how polite you are at 1:30 A.M. in a Palestinian house in the occupied territories; you shouldn’t be there at all.
*Barcelona's tales: Palestinian terrorism is not the same as the global jihad (Ran Adelist, Maariv) In contrast to the Israeli argument, there is no similarity between the terrorist attack in Barcelona and the wave of terrorist attacks we are experiencing. The Shin Bet's methods of operation ensure that they will never stop. On the surface, the story is Muslims kill indiscriminately. This is an easy argument for explaining, easy to understand, easy to digest, no need to get involved. His name is Ahmed, right? Usually that's enough. Who hates Ahmed most? Netanyahu, (Yair) Lapid, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Trump ... So come on, we're with you. This is the secret connection of the right-wing politicians with their public. The most dangerous of them are those who disguise themselves as "center,” jump on the wave of personal fear over terror, turn it into "national power and pride" and channel this wave against those that are different and the Other. Jews, Arabs, Christians, Mexicans - anyone who is not us. The difference between Palestinian terrorism and ISIS terror is the motive. In fact, Palestinian terrorism is fighting for the independence and rights of the Palestinian people, and so the Palestinians and some of the nations of the world see it, even when we are fighting and condemning Palestinian terrorism (rightly, we have to defend ourselves against it). The Palestinian motive is first and foremost national, but the terrorist attacks in Europe are the perverted spasms of a dying ISIS’, and this does not mean that Islamic terrorism will disappear with the elimination of ISIS. Two hundred years of colonialism and imperialism created within the Third World traces of historical resentment and animosity toward the white Christian, and they are now magnified by the gaps in the standard of living.
Last Friday…I waited for my turn to go on the set of KAN news [to discuss the ISIS attacks in Barcelona -OH]. In front of me sat a respectable group, half of them friends and half acquaintances. Again, ‘our’ story rose in the face of Islamic terror, as well as tips on how to stop and thwart attacks from people who know how it is done. Having no choice, I made it clear what is the difference between Palestinian terrorism in Israel and jihadist terrorism in Europe: The one responsible for fighting terror in Israel is the Shin Bet, and the IDF is the operational body. Identifying, locating, and thwarting terrorists' intentions ranges from two forceps, which are in fact the iron instructions of the modus operandi of the work of the Shin Bet. One arm is "zero attacks," in other words do everything, but everything possible, so that not one attack will be carried out. The other arm is “When there is doubt, there is no doubt.” In other words, even if the identification and locating are not perfect, they don’t deal with minor things such as human rights, or whether there is doubt whether it is Muhammad or Ahmad. First they detain, arrest or sometimes shoot, and then find out exactly what happened here. These two arms of the forceps are the basis of the profiling work that, by nature, becomes sweeping (his name is Ahmed? etc). This type of work procedure, along with a policeman and soldier in every corner and permanent friction, with the entire population, overnight raids and human and cyber intelligence infiltration, indeed guarantee a minimum of attacks and thank you. But - and this is a big ‘but’ - in the same breath, the sweeping profiling alongside the means used ensure that that the wave of attacks will never stop…There was no applause in the studio. No one on the set was enthusiastic about these arguments, and thanks to Prof. Uzi Rabi who backed me up "in some things," as he said. Aside from that, the attacks must be taken in proportion. This is not what will kill Europe, Israel or the United States. Not the economy nor the culture. Here and there, it will cause damage to tourism, but trust the harmed countries that in the course of a day they wash the blood and run a campaign of tourist happiness. But terrorist attacks, unfortunately, will turn into a kind of natural disaster (human). Obviously we must do everything to defend ourselves - in the right dosage of course, and therefore we need to understand both the proportions and the motives. The problem is the hysterical inflation of the event. The broad coverage is part of the natural relationship between bloodthirsty media and an information thirsty public. Bombastic reporting puts millions into anxiety (sudden anonymous death like this in the afternoon is a recipe for understandable personal anxiety). These fears demand an answer from the politicians, and the usual answer is generous funding of the security services and the erosion of legislation or turning a blind eye to human rights violations. This is how politicians are supposed to ease the demand for personal security and profit in public opinion.
Occupation Tactics Now Used on Israeli Jews (Uri Misgav, Haaretz+) Country's democratic consciousness has become so dim that those protesting Netanyahu’s corruption are being accused of ‘undermining democracy.’
The pressure is off (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) The days when every visit by a high-ranking American official felt like a hurricane that placed Jerusalem on special alert are over. Now these visits feel like a soft summer breeze.
Jewish Memorial Prayer as a Jihadist Text (Rogel Alpher, Haaretz+) El Maleh Rahamim turns fallen Israeli soldiers into shahids. In Islam, its called 'Talab al-Shahada' and it’s martydrom
Sources close to the prime minister are trying to create a false impression that his family is being persecuted by traitors (Ben Caspit, Maariv) In the real reality, this family is chasing a persecuting a handful of journalists who dared to put their hands into the fire. That is, into the lady's affairs [Sara Netanyahu - OH]. Last week the court threw the [Netanyahu's] down the stairs.
Israel's Minister of Religious Indoctrination (Haaretz Editorial) The education minister took issue with Haaretz's report on kids' science textbooks referencing Jewish prayer. But Bennett’s conduct proves he's dedicated to religious-nationalist missionizing.
Twilight of the Two Grumbling Gods (Iris Leal, Haaretz+) A straight line connects Benjamin Netanyahu’s media-bashing address at the rally held for him in Tel Aviv and President Donald Trump’s unhinged mediaphobic speech in Phoenix.
Heroes for a moment: When the distribution of medals of honor meets the interests of the defense establishment (Kalman Libeskind, Maariv) It was important to award a citation of merit to the seargent who shot the terrorist in Halamish, just as it was important to punish the citizen who shot the terrorist from the Armon Hanatziv (attack).
An Iranian, Russian and Israeli Walk Into Syria (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Israel will have to live with an Iranian base in Syria, relying on empty Russian promises and few commitments
Beware the illusion of momentum (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom) Gestures showing that peace is at least theoretically possible may keep the always volatile situation under control, but ultimately could cause more harm ‎than good.
Secular Residents Have Already Lost the Battle for Jerusalem (Neri Livneh, Haaretz+) How Jerusalem's mayor is deepening ultra-Orthodox and secular division in the city.
One Embarrassing Accident Too Many for the U.S. Navy (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Two fatal collisions with commercial vessels in a matter of months have caused heads to roll among the admiralty, but it may not be enough to turn the tide for U.S. Pacific Command.
The steamroller of media tyranny (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) In the U.S. and Israel alike, the left-wing media keeps trying to dictate to a baffled public what to think and how to interpret reality. In the Left's new religion, journalists are priests and President Donald Trump is the Antichrist.
Israeli Left Escapes to Petah Tikva (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The demonstrations in that city against Netanyahu's corruption are the left’s consolation prize, an escape route, a city of refuge. And the left is demonstrating on the periphery, about peripheral things.
 

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