Quote of the Day #1:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The continued anger of Israelis over Poland’s bill to prohibit accusing Poland of Holocaust-related crimes and the recording revealed yesterday of Sara Netanyahu losing her temper over a gossip news item that did not mention that she is a psychologist were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, the Israeli army spokesperson published an article on an Arabic-language media website and warned Lebanese civilians of possible war if Iran develops precision weapons in Lebanon and if Hezbollah takes control of the political system there.

On the day that a court rejected an appeal by journalist Igal Sarna to a ruling which a court found him guilty of libel against the Netanyahu couple for writing on Facebook that Sara stopped the prime minister's convoy on Highway 1 because she did not want to stay in the same car as the prime minister, Walla News released a 2009 audio recording of Sara Netanyahu screaming like a banshee at her advisor for the failure of a gossip column item to mention that she’s a psychologist. Some (mostly right-wing) commentators wrote that releasing the audio was an invasion of her privacy. But a number of senior commentators begged to differ, saying that her husband, the prime minister, is under her influence, as is much of what happens in his bureau. (One can listen to the audio without understanding what is said but understand the level of craziness that so many people are exposed to. - OH) Interestingly, in explaining his decision against journalist Igal Sarna, Magistrate's Court Judge Azaria Alcalay wrote that "Because (the prime minister) is a high-level public figure, attributing such an incident to him is offensive, insulting and embarrassing and creates the image of a weak, insecure man who is controlled by his wife” - which is exactly what the analysts wrote happens. (It makes one wonder if the rejection of the appeal spurred the timing of the release of the audio recording. - OH)

There was lots happening on the diplomatic front between Poland and Israel over Poland's Holocaust bill: Israel summoned Poland's deputy ambassador and reprimanded him over Poland’s Holocaust bill, Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart agreed to open an 'immediate dialogue' on the Holocaust bill and the Polish president sought to reassureIsrael by explaining that anyone speaking about their ‘personal memory’ of the Holocaust ‘has full right to this truth’ and will not be punished. Maariv and the Jerusalem Post and Ynet quoted ** Arab MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) saying that the fury over the bill should come as no surprise to Israelis who refuse to look at Israeli crimes against Palestinians: "Failure to take responsibility and fleeing from Poland’s part in the deaths of millions of Jews is a dangerous message to future generations…There is no significance in identifying with any victim, when we do not simultaneously take an unequivocal stand against the criminals. The separation between crimes and the criminals behind them is a continuation of the victory of evil…Those who exploit the Holocaust for oppressive political reasons and sacrifices will not be shocked by its denial, and whoever denies his responsibility for the war crimes he himself perpetrates against the Palestinians should not be surprised by others. The Polish law is nothing more than the Nakba Law in the Polish version.”

**Haaretz+ reported that the the new bill ‘is creating an atmosphere of fear in Poland to talk about these issues’ and will make work of those who research Poland during the Holocaust difficult, if not impossible, while, Israeli guides leading Holocaust tours feared prosecutionover the bill. Jewish-Polish Holocaust survivors were divided about the law, Ynet reported.

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Quick Hits:

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Features:
The Israeli Arab Baker Whose Crowning Glory Is Challah
Amer Masalha’s new place in Kafr Kara, which offers sourdough breads as well as pitas, challah and croissants, looks like part of a boutique bakery trend. (Ronit Vered, Haaretz+)
All the Delicious Things You'll Find in Tira, an Israeli-Arab Village-turned-city
Fresh meat and fish, great hummus, a grocery store featuring seasonal produce and a bakery that shouldn't be missed: A culinary tour of Tira. (Omri Levy, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
International Holocaust Remembrance Day: An Israeli hypocrisy (Daniel Blatman, Haaretz+) If a racism survey were held in Western countries like the one on anti-Semitism, Israel would be near the top of the list.
On the 70th anniversary of its establishment, Israel is in a state of panic over its Jewish identity (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) Neither the Israeli Arabs nor the refugees or immigrants from Africa threaten the Jewishness of the state, but rather turning one’s shoulder to the values that established it in the first place does threaten it.
In Defense of Poland: Israel Cannot Blame the Holocaust on the Poles (Oded Even Or, Haaretz) Poland’s authoritarian curb on debating its complicity in the Holocaust is odious, but the Israeli backlash has been foolish and ignorant - and smells of anti-Polish prejudice.
Under Law and Justice party, Poland is becoming a darker place by the day (Sever Plocker, Yedioth/Ynet) The newly passed Polish legislation fits into the general trend of the country’s nationalist-Catholic-conservative regime, which is making an effort to completely rewrite the history of the German occupation and the Holocaust in Poland in a variety of ways, while immensely exaggerating the scale of the rescue of Jews by Poles.
Memory Cannot Be Legislated (Haaretz Editorial) The Polish government erred and will have to tone down or scrap the bill altogether. Israel’s government would be wise to practice what it preaches
Netanyahu has to be replaced for several reasons - his wife is not one of them (Karni Eldad, Maariv) If Mrs. Netanyahu is abnormal, as the tape reveals, or if Yair Netanyahu despises women, it must be proved that both influence the prime minister in such a way that he can not function and run the country.
Israeli Soldiers in West Bank: Raiding, Arresting, Mapping and Getting Home for Shabbat (Amira Hass, Haaretz) ‘I’d just ruined the night, or the week, for four families – how was it that I didn’t remember their faces? You really suppress it, you suppress the entire situation.'
The recording that was exposed describes the real reality at Balfour (the Prime Minister’s Residence) (Ben Caspit, Maariv) One audio cassette illustrates the regular routine of the "Netanyahu environment,” once called by one of his closest aides, the “Crazy Bubble.”…It's hard for me to understand the colleagues who…claimed that this is a tape with no journalistic value and that it’s an invasion of Mrs. Netanyahu's privacy. When you become prime minister, you give up privacy. Incidentally, the Medical Confidentiality Law does not apply to elected officials. As part of the media's mission to bring to the attention of the public everything that is important and necessary to know, the prime minister's immediate environment is the spearhead of this mission. We work day and night to extract as much detail as possible about what is going on in the aquarium or in the most intimate rooms where decisions are made and destinies are sentenced. Sara Netanyahu is not only living and wandering around these rooms. She also exclusively determines who else walks around in them, who is in charge, who is in charge, who is ousted, who is close to and who is distanced, what’s on the schedule, where they are going, what they say and how they conduct themselves. There is no one in the political establishment who does not know that in order to advance, one must first obtain her approval. There is no one in the journalism establishment who does not know the extent of her dramatic influence on her husband, her total control over the appointments, over the timetables, and as it became apparent this week, in all matters of state ceremonies and symbols of the State of Israel. Because she is not really the ‘First Lady,’ but only two days ago, the Director of Protocol of the Foreign Ministry was dismissed from his job after he insisted on following protocol and not accepting the order (to call SN the ‘First Lady’)…This reality must be exposed as much as possible. Although we have already come a long way, including two conclusive judgments and one recommendation for a criminal indictment, it seems that some of the public has not yet realized that this is all possible. And so, it is possible, and it is happening. And another thing: the craziness scene revealed in yesterday's recording took place following the publication of a negligible, completely positive gossip item about the wife of the prime minister. The terrible crime was that the lady's profession was not mentioned in the item. Shaya Segal, the man who got the sewage bucket poured on his head, died last year. Segal worked most of the time for the Netanyahu family on a voluntary basis. It did not prevent her from screaming at him and humiliating him with such cruelty, when his only crime was that the good news item he had arranged was only very good, not excellent. Now imagine what goes on there everyday, when the family encounters the hardships it encounters. Exposes, gifts, police investigations, indictments, Yair (her son) and his travels among the escort girls of Tel Aviv, and what not. Imagine on the threshold of what volcano is functioning the man to whom our fate is entrusted. Today, unlike yesterday, you already know what it sounds like.
*Listening to her (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth) There is at least one good reason to expose the chilling recording of the wife of the Prime Minister. Simply for all those employees, whose numbers are growing, who were victims of the lady's unhealthy behavior - the same weakened silenced people who were called liars - it's good that this golden evidence was released. And if that's the way she spoke to her veteran advisor, who was strong and independent - imagine to yourselves what her downtrodden employees, who depended on her for their livelihood, suffered from her...So you can feel sorry for the Prime Minister, admire him for operating under impossible conditions - but we must take into account that Netanyahu is a prime minister under influence. Particularly when we know about his wife's involvement in the most critical and fateful decisions of our lives. Now, after we heard it with our own ears, we cannot say we didn't know.
In Israel, Memories of Segregation on a Distant Continent (Niva Lanir, Haaretz) When a Jewish policeman looked through the clothing and belongings of a black migrant in Ramat Aviv last Tuesday, I had a deja vu.
When I was asked to pull down my trousers, I could no longer deal with the insult - and I stayed outs (Yanir Kozin, Maariv) As usual, on Sunday, I reported to the Prime Minister's Office to cover the government meeting for Maariv. This time, security guards waited for me and gave me an invasive examination.
Poland Is Here - in Israel (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz) A government that’s planning to expel 35,000 asylum seekers to the realms of death in Africa – that’s the one to fight fascism in Eastern Europe?
Despite budget approval, coalition’s work is paralyzed (Moran Azulay, Yedioth/Ynet) Finance Minister Kahlon pushed for the budget’s quick approval in a bid to convey political stability ahead of the police recommendations against the prime minister; history shows, however, that a state budget is hardly an indication of a government’s stability.
I Used to Care About Polish Sensitivity to Charges of Holocaust Complicity. Not Anymore (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz) The proposed Polish law that seeks to criminalize anyone linking the Poles with the Third Reich should make journalists even more determined to state the facts about what happened in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Not only for Nasrallah’s ears: The threat posed by the IDF Spokesperson to Lebanon is also intended for the international community (Tal Lev-Ram, Maariv) Tehran and Hezbollah should refer to the unusual article written by the IDF Spokesperson for Arabic websites as a warning, since the army recognizes that the attempt to advance the missile project has been renewed.
Who’s Calling Whom a Fascist? (Moshe Arens, Haaretz) Is it possible that the Joint List MKs who called Pence a messianic fascist have only taken a leaf from the book of some of their Jewish colleagues?
Netanyahu the likely winner in peace talks (Alexander J. Apfel, Yedioth/Ynet) Trump believes he has Netanyahu pacified with his pro-Israel stance and is waiting to solicit concession when the time comes, but knowing Abbas far better than the US president, Netanyahu believes peace talks have broken down before they have started. When Trump, enraged over Abbas's insults, accepts that, the two-state formula may be renounced publicly.
I despise (Yehonatan) Geffen's comparison (of Ahed Tamimi to Anne Frank), but in Israel 2018 democracy must be applied, if only ostensibly (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) You do not have to accept and/or agree, it's not the 16th but 17th sheep that you do not have to admire. So he said, so what if he said? Oren Hazan and Smotrich are also disgusting. Two residents of Lake Muck say things, so what happened?
Why does Michael Oren think American Jewish Democrats need 'conversion therapy'? (Heather Stone, Haaretz+) Israel's former ambassador to the U.S. thinks there's something 'wrong' with Democrats sympathizing with both the Israeli and Palestinian causes, and he wants Israel to spend mega-bucks to re-educate them. That's obnoxious - and doomed to failure.