Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
US Vice President Mike Pence spoke before the Knesset, saying mainly what the right-wing Israeli government wanted to hear, but not before Arab members of Knesset protested his presence and were removed from the plenum making the stop stories of today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the latest on the attempts to prevent Israel’s expulsion of African asylum seekers to Rwanda. And, Maariv revealed that the new department head at Shaarei Tzedeq Hospital fired five doctors - all Arab.

To the rousing applause from right-wing Israeli lawmakers at the Knesset, Pence told Israelis that the US Embassy would be moved to Jerusalem before the end of 2019, called the Iran nuclear deal “a disaster” and repeated US President Donald Trump's warning that if the agreement is not changed, the US will withdraw from it. He also expressed support for a two-state solution, which received less applause. Pence said Trump’s Jerusalem declaration helped make peace.  “By finally recognizing Jerusalem, the United States has chosen fact over fiction—and fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace,” he said. (Full text here.)

Arab parliamentarians who said said they would boycott the speech, held signs that Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and booed at Pence. (VIDEO) But other lawmakers clapped loudly to cover their protest and Knesset ushers pounced on the Arab MKs and removed them from the plenum. (Read the interesting commentaries on that in the Commentary/Analysis section below.) Israeli right-wing ministers vilified the Arab MKs: Environment Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) called them “traitors.” The Arab MKs accused the ministers of “inciting” against the expression of legitimate political opinions and said Elkin should stand trial for his remarks.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Pence’s speech "has proven that the U.S. administration is part of the problem rather than the solution." The Associated Press interviewed Palestinian Christians who slammed Pence's religious ideology.

In the evening, Pence and his wife dined with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, where during a joint statement Netanyahu focused on Iran, saying the Iran nuclear deal should be nixed if not fixed.  Pence said he was visiting to “simply celebrate and affirm the bond between our two peoples.”

Ynet held a debate between MK Tzipi Livni, the leader of Hatnua party, which is part of the Zionist Camp, and former Likud minister Gideon Sa'ar. Livni said she hopes Pence's visit not a 'death certificate for peace.’

While Pence spoke at Knesset, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech to the European Union Parliament asking the EU to recognize Palestine and assuring them that recognition is not an impediment to peace. Abbas said there needs to be broad international mediation in negotiations with Israel. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU ministers and the Palestinian Authority would study ways to back a two-state solution and said direct negotiations were the only route.

The controversy over the planned expulsion of African asylum seekers started making the front pages. (Note: some of the Hebrew papers refer to them as infiltrators and some use the words interchangeably - OH.) Some El Al Pilots said they won’t fly deported Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to Africa - an act they called ‘barbaric,’ and Yedioth reported on Holocaust survivors who joined Rabbi Susan Silverman’s plan, saying they’d hide them in their homes. “It’s our human obligation. Didn’t we learn anything from the Holocaust?” asked survivor Haim Roth, 85. Also, over 400 film and TV artists called on Israel to halt deportation of African asylum seekers. Meanwhile police raided an Israeli in a hunt for asylum seekers who tried to hide and and a couple thousand African asylum seekers demonstrated outside the Rwandan embassy for agreeing to a deal with Israel to accept the asylum seekers in exchange for money.

**The new director of a department at Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital fired five doctors - all Arabs (Maariv)
Prof. David Zadok fired the doctors less than a year after he took over as director of the ophthalmology department. The hospital's response: "The attempt to accuse Professor Zadok of racism is devoid of any basis.”
Among the laid-off workers: a specialist who has been working for more than three decades in the hospital. The doctor, a 33-year-old expert and one of the veteran doctors at Shaare Zedek, was due to retire at the end of December 2018, but was asked a few months ago by Prof. Zadok to finish his work earlier. According to the doctor, Prof. Zadok made it clear to him that he did not want to see him again in the ward. After turning to hospital director Prof. Yonatan Halevy, on the grounds that Prof. Zadok has no right to dismiss him, he agreed with the hospital that he will finish his work at the end of November 2017. He will receive a vacation in December 2018. The doctor will receive a salary by the end of 2018, as a retirement grant. "After you've worked 33 years in the place, they kick you out,” he said. The rest of the doctors were interns, or those who had just completed their internship, and stood before the sub-specialty, as is customary. One of them was fired in July 2017, after a year and a half in his position, even though he had a contract until April 2018. Three Jewish interns were employed in his stead. According to him, and as his colleagues in the department at the time testified, the layoffs were informal and dishonest, with a conversation between the participation of the intern and Prof. Zadok, while the former mistakenly understood it as a warning message. According to the intern, the conversation included incorrect claims that he was late and that his Hebrew level was insufficient. After that conversation Zadok traveled abroad for about a month, during which the doctor tried to call him to understand what he had to do. Since his boss did not answer, the doctor turned to the hospital ward, but she did not know of any dismissal letter. When he returned a month later, Tzadok demonstrated his surprise at the presence of the discharged doctor in the ward and ordered him to leave within two days. Nor did he agree to provide him with a letter of recommendation. "He actually closed all the doors in front of me, I do not have a job, and it's very difficult to get accepted to the internship," the intern told Maariv. Another doctor, who after seven years of specialization received expertise, was sacked in early July, very indirectly, when Zadok conditioned his stay on the fact that one day a week he would have to work for a health clinic in Kiryat Gat. But the intern lives north of Jerusalem and said he could not. A Jewish intern was hired and allowed to work once a week at a health clinic in his area of residence (Modi'in). And another Arab intern was fired between the first and second stages of his internship. Prof. Zadok is an esteemed physician. He was appointed head of the department at Shaare Zedek last February, after the Department of Ophthalmology and the corneal clinic at Assaf Harofeh Hospital. He was the chairman of the Israel Ophthalmologists Association and one of the doctors who was fired told Maariv painfully: "I knew him from afar for years, because of the field. So I was shocked to find out he could do that to me. I thought such a person would only help me develop. I wish someone would explain to me why he did this to me. How come he fired five doctors? Maybe one, two, but five?! My heart tears because I developed at that hospital, I left with a lot of pain because I got up every morning and gave my heart. He hurt me hard, and also the livelihood of others, who were excellent interns."
The Anti-Racism Committee said that the dismissal of Arab doctors at Shaare Zedek raises many questions and whether it was motivated by improper racial motives. It appealed to the deputy health minister to appoint a commission of inquiry to examine the unacceptable behavior of the director of the department and of the hospital administration.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

The price of attending college: Female Arab students in Israel encounter harassment, threats
The stabbing of a student at a university in Jenin highlights the dangers for women who maneuver between the conservative society at home and the liberal atmosphere on campus. (Noa Shpigel, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Lying About Anti-corruption Protesters (Haaretz Editorial) Expecting certain politicians and journalists to behave judiciously is evidently expecting too much these days.
The Israeli Army's Libido to Destroy (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The public accepts any military operation, as long as it ends with Palestinian bereavement and flattened Palestinian houses.
*Pence's visit is the embodiment of the right-wing dream, now we need to understand what we it is want (Ben Caspit, Maariv) He gave our national ego a Thai massage, but our story with the Palestinians will not be solved by the love of the vice president...Unfortunately, there are some other people in the world. Like, say, a billion and a half Muslims. And quite a few Europeans. Or Russians. And also Chinese. And even Indians, who also show love and admiration for the Jewish genius, but still vote against us at the UN. So Mike Pence's remarks in the Knesset yesterday stemmed from his religious faith, but they represent only his community. We also have to get along with the rest of the world. After Pence leaves, and Bibi takes off (today) to Davos, the Arabs will stay here. Yes, those who were (rightly) removed from the plenum yesterday. They represent a million and a half Israeli Arabs, around whom there are another 4-5 million Palestinian Arabs, around whom there are a few hundred million ordinary Arabs. What a pity that it's impossible to replace all the Arabs with evangelicals, and a redeemer came to Zion. In fact, it would be better if they didn't come, because then we would have to convert. But our story with the Palestinians won't be solved by the Jerusalem Declaration or even the love of Mike Pence. We will have to decide what we want to be when we grow up, to mark borders for our country and to take care of the coming collapse of the Gaza Strip. When Purim is over, the masks will be removed and life itself will remain here. But despite everything, it was heartwarming and moving yesterday to hear the Vice President in the Israeli Knesset.
A tale of persecution and darkness (Dr. Eitan Orkibi, Israel Hayom) The former CEO of Breaking the Silence would have us believe the source of popular criticism against the group is an evil government instead of the group's own failed public relations.
Mike Pence's Zionist Sermon at Knesset Casts Him as Hero of Israel, Horseman of Trumpacolypse (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Pence's address heralds an undeniable moment of triumph for Netanyahu and the religious right, with Israel and America serving as its power couple.
Abbas's EU comfort zone (Eldad Beck, Israel Hayom) By coddling the Palestinians and contemplating signing a "partnership agreement" with Ramallah, the EU has established itself as the greatest obstacle to Middle East peace.
The removal of the Arab MKs (from the Knesset) is one of the most regrettable and painful images published by Israel (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz Hebrew+) The attack on the members of the Joint List symbolizes the removal of 20 percent of the population outside the circle of citizens. Formulating or expressing a political opinion is already a privilege for Jews only.
More than a state visit (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is in Israel not only on a diplomatic visit – he is here as a devout Evangelical Christian, representing a movement that believes that the Jews belong in Jerusalem.
Ten seconds and the Knesset was empty of Arabs (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz Hebrew+) Mike Pence was fascinated, Rivlin clapped his hands, and the ranks of the opposition, including Meretz, became mute while MKs from the Joint List were removed. But thousands of Jewish citizens who heard things that are all justifying the occupation and the oppression have found comfort in their protest.
Vice Presidential Throw-down: Is Pence Really a Better Friend to Israel Than Biden? (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz) Netanyahu calls Mike Pence the VP who has shown the greatest commitment to Israel. How quickly he forgets how Joe Biden stuck with Israel through thick and thin for 35 years.
Preacher Pence's speech to Israel's Knesset had everything but fire and brimstone (Noa Landau, Haaretz+) Between the heavenly prophecies and the Christian symbolism, Pence delivered a more earthly message on status quos and 'required compromises' to achieve peace.
Pence came not only to hug, but also to ignite the negotiations (Udi Segal, Maariv) The vice president announced that the embassy would open in 2019 in Jerusalem, but also nailed Netanyahu when he pledged to compromises. If the right-wing does not present a plan that will replace the partition idea, it will prove to be a failure.
Mike Pence Just Confirmed America's Exit From the Mideast Peace Process(Sam Bahour, Haaretz+) When Pence says: 'We stand with Israel. Your cause is our cause, your fight is our fight', it's clear America is only interested in offering Israel blind political support and abandoning the Palestinians. Real peace must now mean circumventing the U.S. administration.
Israel Has a New Religion: Zionism (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Zionism is obviously the liberation movement for two peoples: The Jews are liberated from the Arabs and the Palestinians are liberated from their land.
Those who dare to ruin things are Israel's enemies: Miri Regev pours millions on the 70th anniversary celebrations (Natan Zehavi, Maariv) While the culture minister boasts of the millions that will be spilled over the country's 70th anniversary (celebration): Elderly people are poking through cans, emergency rooms are crowded, and institutions for children are at risk of facing closure.
An independent Israeli policy vis-à-vis Gaza (Giora Eiland, Yedioth/Ynet) Gaza is an enemy state. We should respond to every rocket and mortar fire and destroy the tunnels, but we can’t base our policy entirely on sticks without carrots, and we can’t rely on Abbas to provide the strip with the carrots.
Israeli Pilots Mustn't Cooperate With a Plan for Enforced 'Resettlement' of Asylum Seekers (Shlomo Slutzky, Haaretz+) I thought I had chosen to live in a country in which a civilian pilot, and even a military pilot, who received an order to fly human beings to their death, would refuse.
Trump's First War? Turkey Declares a Military Frontline Against America (Simon A. Waldman, Haaretz+) The U.S.-Turkish relationship had endured for over 70 years. But now Turkey wants to muscle the Americans out the Middle East. On a bogus pretext and backed by Russia, Turkey has launched an incursion into Syria – and a proxy war against the U.S.