Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
A battle of words between rabbis over the integration of women in combat units and a gun battle in Jenin in the hunt for the Palestinians who murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevah, the likelihood that two of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s closest associates, Att. David Shimron and Att. Isaac Molcho, will be indicted in the Submarine Affair and the likelihood that Israel’s enormous missile deal to India will be renewed, but for much less money, were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also, the latest following the US withholding of $65 million in humanitarian aid for the Palestinians and the angry speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against US President Donald Trump.

Conflicting reports in the Hebrew papers revealed that it wasn’t really clear what happened last night in Jenin except that at least one Palestinian was killed and it was believed that he was Ahmed Jarrar, the man Israel suspected of being involved in the drive-by West Bank murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevah of the Havat Gilad settlement outpost last week. [A Maariv Online report today said that it may have been someone else they killed.] A gun battle broke out and two members of the Yamam special security forces were injured and numerous Palestinians. During the raid, Israeli security forces demolished Jarrar's home as well as his uncle's and two other homes belonging to the extended Jarrar family.

After the controversial Chief Rabbi of Safed (Tzfat) Shmuel Eliyahu called on the IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot to resign over women serving in combat roles, claiming that ‘healthy’ men will be distracted."

Senior religious Zionist rabbis wrote a letter to the Chief of Staff saying, "Thank youfor strengthening the IDF as the people's army…We are confident that you will continue and deepen the important steps that you are leading,” wrote the head of the Yeshivat Or Etzion, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, head of the pre-military academy, Eli Sadan, and head of the Har Etzion yeshiva, Ya'akov Medan, Maariv reported. Rabbi Eliyahu's attack came a day after the comments made by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, who said that "until there is complete separation between men and women in the IDF—it is forbidden to enlist."

Channel 2 News reported that the police are preparing to indicting five of Netanyahu'sclose associates, including his personal lawyer and cousin, David Shimron, and his former special diplomatic envoy, Isaac Molcho, as well as his former chief of staff, in corruption-ridden Submarine scandal, also known as Case 3000. Someone even closer to Netanyahu may also be indicted. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit held a hearing for SaraNetanyahu to decide whether to indict her on fraud, but her lawyers attended instead of her, as she is in India.  

In India, Netanyahu told reporters that the $500 million Spike missile deal was ‘back on the table' with India, but the newspapers said it will probably be a much smaller deal. According to Maariv’s Yossi Melman, the deal will be about $200 million.

Netanyahu also said that the US would transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem within a year. But US President Donald Trump denied that: “By the end of the year?... We’re not really looking at that. That’s no.”

UNRWA-Abbas-Trump Quickees:

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Hummus, kubbe and knafeh: A culinary tour of Tira
Fresh meat and fish, great hummus, a grocery store featuring seasonal produce and a bakery that shouldn't be missed in Tira, an Israeli Arab village-turned-city. (Omri Levy, Haaretz+)
"Palestinians from the Occupied Territories will take care of the elderly"
Low wages, hard work. To cope with the situation in retirement homes, the government decided: We will recruit Palestinian workers. Senior health care professionals object: "Why not train workers from the Philippines?" Ministry of Health: "Deputy Minister opposes plan." The entire country was shocked by the harsh images of battered, bruised and humiliated elderly in an old age home in Haifa. But very little has changed since last year's exposure, and the 22,000 elderly patients in nursing homes in Israel continue to pay the price. In light of the difficult situation, senior Health Ministry officials put forward a new and controversial proposal: Palestinian workers will treat the elderly in old age homes. The Ministry of Health said: "This is a lateral decision by the government to add Palestinian workers to many branches of the economy, including nursing. This is not a decision by the Ministry of Health but by the Ministry of Finance and Defense." (Yedioth)
Christian pilgrims from across the world come to this site in Israel. There's just one problem: It's sitting in a minefield
Despite promises they’ll be cleared away, land mines still dot the area abutting the Jordan River that’s known for the site where Jesus was baptized. (Moshe Gilad, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Abbas Is Right. Why Does Israel Keep Saying He's Wrong? (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) Abbas speaks the truth. Israel's comments against him aren't about reality— they're just nationalistic snarls.
Israel and the Palestinians: So what now? (Nadav Eyal, Yedioth/Ynet) People who have nothing to lose pose a risk to themselves—as Abbas demonstrated in his delusional speech—but to others too; even if Israel wants to keep occupying Judea and Samaria forever, a wise tactic would include some kind of hope for the Palestinians living there.
What really sparked the latest rabbinical attack on the army? (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Just look at the number of religious women enlisting in the IDF to understand the frustration of rabbis.
Keeping the State Archives Secret (Haaretz Editorial) The state’s own chief archivist has condemned the widespread censorship of historical documents containing information that the public has a right to know about.
Ideology is no substitute for policy (Polly Bronstein, Israel Hayom) The desire to annex Judea and Samaria, our biblical homeland and the site of historical Jewish nationalism, although legitimate, if implemented could lead to the destruction of the Zionist enterprise.
For Mike Pence, backing Israel’s occupation is a matter of faith (Zaha Hassan, Haaretz+) In Mike Pence’s eagerness to be the evangelicals’ messiah, he’s happy to boost the occupation, kill the idea of two states and bully the Palestinians, and frame it all as divinely ordained.
After neutralizing tunnels, IDF faces a new threat (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) Only three and a half years ago, Hamas’ underground attack tunnels seemed like an unsolvable threat; but as Major-General Yoav Mordechai said, ‘the Israeli genius and the Jewish mind found a solution.’ Now, the next mission is to find an operational solution to Hezbollah’s heavyweight mortar shells.
Hamas is as much to blame for Gaza's situation as Israel (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) Hamas is a liberation movement that is far too ready to sacrifice everything, including Gazans' well-being, in the name of fighting Israel: There are better strategies for creating a Palestinian state.
The real pressure is at home: Religious young women mobilize (to enlist) despite the position of most rabbis (Tal Lev Ram, Maariv) The religious girls can be found today almost everywhere in the army. Dark opinions and statements by a Knesset member or a rabbi will not stop them from dreaming about being in the role of a squadron commander.
Why Closer Ties Between India and Israel Must Not Become an anti-Muslim Alliance(Shairee Malhotra, Haaretz+) There are many good reasons for Modi and Netanyahu to celebrate warming relations. But if they exploit that closeness to boost a shared narrative of extreme nationalism, exclusion and defining Muslims as the enemy - we, in India, must discredit it.
Yad Vashem Responds to Criticism: North African Jews Were Always Part of the Holocaust Narrative (Irit Abramski, Haaretz+) It is important to understand that this 'competition' over the degree of suffering in the Holocaust leads to a distortion of reality and a loss of proportion.
Two nations, one goal (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) The rock star welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi received in Gujarat shows that Israel is seen as a source of inspiration in many fields.
We're Not Colorblind: Racism Is a Lucrative Industry in Israel (Yossi Klein, Haaretz) We need foreign workers not just because we won't pick cucumbers. We need them to trample on. Once it was Mizrahim, then it was the Russians, always the Arabs and now the blacks.