News Nosh 3.20.18

by APN 03/20/18
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APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
 
Quote of the day:
"I am conservative and a Republican, and I have supported the Likud party since the 1980s. But the reality is that 13 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. And almost half of them are Palestinian."
--President of the World Jewish Congress, Ron Lauder, wrote in an Op-Ed in the New York Times, quoted in the Hebrew newspapers, that the only path forward for Israel is the two-state solution.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
“We don’t say a blessing for every negro … He needs to be a negro whose father and mother are white … if you know, they had a monkey for a son..."
--Israel's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef calls black people ‘monkeys.**

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Netanyahu expected to be questioned also about obstruction (of justice)
  • Foreign film // Ronen Bergman on the movie ‘Antebbe’
  • Choir of bereaved parents will sing at the ‘Yedioth Ahronoth Conference’
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
  • Abu Mazen to the US ambassador to Israel: “Son of a dog, settler”
  • Consulate of terror - Behind the backs of the diplomats: Employee at French Consulate in Jerusalem accused of smuggling weapons from Gaza to the West Bank
  • Bezeq Case diverges: Netanyahu will also be questioned on suspicion of obstruction of justice
  • “We will remain in Yavneh even after the billions (of dollars)” - Orbotech Co. to be sold to US company for $3.4 billion
Israel Hayom
News Summary:
*Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman a ‘son of a dog’ and a ‘settler,’ (while World Jewish Congress leader and Likud supporter Ron Lauder ‘attacked' the Israeli government’s policies (Maariv's headline) and called for a two-state solution in an NYT Op-Ed, while Hamas slammed Abbas for dealing a death blow to Palestinian unity and 'paving the way for chaos,' (which is what Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Abbas of the day before.) A French driver at the French consulate in Jerusalem admitted to smuggling suitcases of weapons from Gaza to the West Bank (but Israeli officials say it ‘won't affect relations with France’) and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be questioned again on alleged obstruction of justice in Case 4000, while Israel’s Orbotech will be sold to a US company for $3.4 billion, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
 
Quick Hits:
  • Ron Lauder: No two-state solution, lack of religious pluralism could endanger Israel’s existence - President of the World Jewish Congress will speak at an anti-Semitism conference in Jerusalem on Monday before Education Minister Naftali Bennett, whose Habayit Hayehudi party rejects two-state solution. (Haaretz)
  • Bennett rebuts Lauder: ‘Assimilation in America is not a result of Israel’s policy’ - At anti-Semitism conference, education minister says he doesn't believe settlement building is morally equivalent to Palestinian incitement. (Haaretz)
  • 'Hebron shooter' Elor Azaria's prison sentence cut by a third - Elor Azaria will be released from prison on May 10, 2018. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • (Former Peace Now head) Yariv Oppenheimer on Azaria: "Only in Israel does one sit 10 months in prison for manslaughter” - The decision to deduct one third of the sentence of the ‘Shooting Soldier’ provoked many reactions. MK Jabareen: “This is a harsh message that the blood of the Palestinian is abandoned.” Culture Minister Miri Regev: “We must release him before Passover.” (Maariv)
  • Israeli settlers spray racist anti-Arab graffiti, puncture tires in Palestinian town - A group of Israeli settlers attempted to raid three houses in the Jerusalem-area town of Hizma. After they failed, they sprayed racist anti-Arab graffiti on walls and vehicles (‘There is no place in the country for foreigners and enemies of G-d’ and ‘Long live the King Messiah’) and punctured the tires of some four vehicles. (Maan+PHOTOS)
  • **Chief rabbi calls black people ‘monkeys’ - Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef uses pejorative term 'kushi' for African Americans in weekly sermon. (Yedioth/Ynet and Times of Israel)
  • Israeli forces tear gas Palestinian school in Bethlehem-area town - Israeli soldiers fired more than 10 tear gas bombs at the school in the village of Tuqu, forcing its staff to close its doors in attempts to prevent soldiers from breaking into the school. (Maan)
  • Israel Mulls Stripping Residency From Palestinian Lawmakers From Hamas - Move by interior minister would see 12 Palestinians involved in terror lose their legal status as part of new law; four are Hamas parliament members. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel punitively revokes permits of family of Palestinian accused of killing 2 soldiers - Israel decided to freeze the Israeli-entry permits for 100 family members of Alaa Qabha, 67 of which are permits to work inside Israel, 26 commercial permits and four permits to work inside settlements. (Maan)
  • Brother of Senior Hamas Member Gets Plea Deal From Israel in Return for Information - Bilal Ghazaineh gets three years for Hamas activities; Shin Bet says he gave them much information on organization. (Haaretz)
  • Israeli Army to Avoid Lectures on Controversial Topics During Soldiers' Training - New guidelines will limit the number of outside groups who can speak to soldiers doing compulsory service, and emphasis will be on activity ‘that unifies rather than divides.’ (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Israeli forces briefly detain Ma'an TV cameraman while filming in Hebron - Muhammad Hamamreh was on a shoot with reporter Duaa Yahiya when soldiers approached the pair and attempted to prevent them from filming. When the pair refused, soldiers detained Hamamreh, taking him inside a military base in the area. (Maan+VIDEO)
  • Israeli court rejects Ahed Tamimi's request for public trial 'for her benefit’ - The military prosecution has stated that it had no objection to an open-door trial, but the court says experience proves minors benefit from closed proceedings. (Haaretz)
  • Weeks after holding body of slain teenage fisherman, Israel returns body for burial - Thousands of Palestinians marched in the funeral of the slain Palestinian fisherman, Ismail Abu Riyala, 18, in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. (Maan)
  • Hundreds attend funeral of Israeli killed in Jerusalem stabbing attack - 'Only from the courage of the people living in Zion will no one move us, from this courage we derive the strength of the soul to move on and to advance,' says MK Uri Ariel at the funeral. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Palestinian demolishes own home in East Jerusalem to avoid Israeli fines - Silwan resident Ishaq Shweiki was forced to demolish his own house avoid paying fines to the municipality of up to $17000. (Maan)
  • Rivlin lauds Israeli economy as it marks its 70th year, but cites two big threats - Poverty of Arabs and ultra-Orthodox, growing social gaps and collapsing middle class pose serious threats to Israel. (Haaretz)
  • 'Our ruling was not a suggestion': Israel's top court in rare rebuke of state - The court said living conditions in Israeli prisons needed to be changed, but Israeli officials have ignored the ruling. (Haaretz+)
  • PM's prize awarded to researchers for work on Mizrahi Jews - Three research projects share $43,000 Prime Minister's Prize for contributions to study of Jewish communities in Libya, Egypt, Yemen. Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel awards prize for second year, says it aims to rectify historic injustice. (Israel Hayom)
  • Yehuda Harel, Prof. Nava Ben-Zvi win Israel Prize - Former MK, founder of Marom Golan kibbutz and one of the early proponents of Israeli communities in Golan Heights, Yehuda Harel wins Israel Prize for Agriculture, while Prof. Nava Ben-Zvi takes Israel Prize in Education. (Ynet)
  • Nobelist laments fact that while Jews win lots of Nobel prizes, Israelis don't - Prof. Dan Shechtman is concerned by the state of education and Israel: 'You have to teach science from kindergarten and make scientists cultural heroes.’ (Haaretz)
  • Israeli Soldiers Working With Radars Face Higher Risk of Cancer, Israeli Study Suggests - Study found risk of developing cancer was higher for soldiers who were exposed to radio frequency radiation and radar. (Haaretz)
  • Justice Minister: Terror Groups Have Switched to Twitter Because Facebook Cooperates With Israel - Justice Minister Shaked says this is the reason behind a bill that would allow Israel to request the removal of social media content in certain cases. (Haaretz+)
  • Deportation day looms for African refugees in Israel - 'We are refugees, we have nowhere to go, and we are going to go on fighting until the Israeli government recognizes this,' says an Eritrean asylum seeker. (Haaretz
  • Israeli draft dodgers given rare opportunity to visit without penalty - Ahead of Israel's 70th independence day, IDF offers temporary six-week reprieve to people who illegally evaded conscription by leaving country, allowing them to visit. Window aims to encourage draft dodgers to resolve their legal status with military. (Israel Hayom)
  • Interior Minister Deri suspected of tax evasion - Investigation into Deri's vacation home finds the land may have been sold to the minister partly in cash and without declaring it to the Tax Authority. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Former Yisrael Beytenu official convicted of bribery - One of the main defendants in the Yisrael Beytenu corruption affair, David Godovsky, strikes plea deal to admit to only some charges of receiving bribes, saying he did not pocket the money but rather served as former deputy minister Kirschenbaum's assistant and acted in favor of the party. (Ynet)
  • Russia needs 'a strong leader,' Israeli-Russian voters say - Some 12,000 Israeli-Russians voted in Sunday's presidential elections in 14 polling stations in Israel, with support for Putin clearly evident. "He will never turn against Israel," says Nadia. Another voter accuses the West of conspiring against Putin. (Israel Hayom)
  • 3 Israeli youths removed from flight in Turkey after joking about bombs - While boarding the plane, the three young men joked 'What would happen here if there was an explosion?' A flight attendant who heard them reported it to the captain, and the flight was delayed by three hours as the Israelis' bags were taken out of the luggage hold and checked. (Ynet)
  • Italian imam heads to Jerusalem for anti-Semitism conference - "For a Muslim, being anti-Semitic means being against one's self," Milan Imam Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini tells Israel Hayom • Ignorance of religion, problems of Muslim immigration in Europe make being a European Muslim "very challenging," he says. (Israel Hayom)
  • Norwegian festival boycotts Israeli artists, cites 'occupation' - Feminine Tripper festival in Oslo rejects 6 Israeli choreographers from participating due to Israeli government's attempts to use culture to 'whitewash or justify its occupation of the Palestinian people'; artists accuse festival of 'reverse-discrimination.’ (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • UN mission on Lebanon-Israel border marks 40th anniversary - Commander of the mission praises UNIFIL for working 'tirelessly to pre-empt a return to conflict, a return to turmoil and loss of life' but warns conflict ‘can start in an instant.’ (Agencies, Ynet)
  • New video game lets you join Hezbollah, fight ISIS - Hezbollah releases new video game for the PC and mobile, which allows players to join in its battle against the Islamic State; Hezbollah says it is 'not just a mere game, but a simulation aimed at documenting a stage of the holy defense confronting the American-Zionist project.' (Ynet)
  • Trump, Saudi crown prince to discuss Iran, proxy wars and peace process on Tuesday - The two leaders will talk about 'Iran's agression' in the Middle East and how to curb it. (Haaretz)
  • Nuclear Power, Qatar Crisis: Saudi Crown Prince Lands in D.C. and This Is His Wishlist - Mohammed bin Salman will spend the next two weeks meeting with U.S. policymakers and corporations on a coast-to-coast tour of the United States, lobbying for the kingdom’s future prospects. (Haaretz)
  • Polish town cancels ceremony with Israeli mayor over mention of Poles murdering Jews - Mayor of Kiryat Bialik was asked to submit the text of his speech ahead of time; Polish officials nixed the part that dealt with the cases of Jews murdered by Poles. (Haaretz and Ynet)

Features:
This American Jew was bated by white supremacists. He sees Israel as part of the problem
In his book ‘(((Semitism))),’ Jonathan Weisman tackles cyberhate against Jews in the age of Trump and comes up with a peculiar solution. (David B. Green, Haaretz+)
“A different angle ": The moshavnik who founded a news agency to fight coverage against Israel
Amotz Eyal was tired of seeing how international media falsified the truth about what was going on in Israel and decided to establish his own news agency. "Our real war is lies," he says. (Ilana Stutland, Maariv)
Israeli Spies, Ukrainian Honey Traps: The Dirty Tricks Used by Cambridge Analytica, the Firm Behind Facebook Data Breach
Cambridge Analytica - that worked on Trump's election campaign and gained improper access to data on 50 million Facebook users - also used bribes to entrap politicians. (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:
Trump's policies towards the Palestinians are based on bad faith, ineptitude and cruelty (Debra Shushan, Haaretz+) The White House says it wants to help Gaza. So it punitively cuts aid to desperate Gazans, adopts one-sided policies in Israel's favor – then blames the Palestinians for 'politicizing' humanitarian assistance.
The Americans, the Saudis and the irrelevant Palestinian leader (Smadar Perry, Yedioth/Ynet) Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ strives to create a moderate neighborhood bloc against Erdogan, Hamas and primarily Iran. Its unfinished draft, which was reportedly presented to the PA intelligence chief by the head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence services, stresses the deal would be implemented with or without the Palestinians' consent.
Israelis who like Arabs, but not as neighbors (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) The frictions in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Vradim over Arabs moving in are going to become more frequent, and Israel is going to have to come up with better answers than 'No.'
Arab Thorns in the Zionist Rose (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) So, my racist brethren in Kfar Vradim, those who object to Arabs buying lots in a new neighborhood being planned there, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags and return to greater Tel Aviv.
Decade of relative calm is behind us (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) The Military Intelligence Directorate has been warning for over a year now that the territories are headed to a major violent outburst. The old order in the Palestinian society is crumbling before Israel’s eyes, and the ‘great return march’ along the Gaza border in late March could set the region on fire.
A New Stage in the Palestinian Struggle for Liberation (Ronit Marzan, Haaretz+) In advance of the Marches for the Palestinian Right of Return, messages are being sent that indicate the transition from a belligerent nationalist and religious approach to a civilian one.
Hamas wary of new wave of terror (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Hamas and the PA have no interest in a new intifada, and the Palestinian public also lacks enthusiasm. At the end of the day, they would be the ones to pay the price for it.
Why The New York Times got the fight against anti-Semitism in America wrong (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Jonathan Weisman compares the reluctance of U.S. Jews to speak out against the hate crime to the European failure to prevent the Final Solution, which is wrong on many levels.
Lauder’s J’Accuse Against Netanyahu’s Israel Is Also a Mea Culpa (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The alarm sounded by the Jewish leader and media magnate in the New York Times is too little and probably too late.
Bring the Jews back to Hagai Street (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) The best response to terror attacks is to bring Jews back to the places from which they were driven by Arab violence nearly a century ago, like Hagai Street in Jerusalem's Old City.
An embarrassment, nothing more: Only in rare cases do foreign diplomats in Israel assist terrorists (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The French Consulate’s case should be taken in perspective. However, it is also desirable not to be surprised: every espionage agency makes efforts to exploit loopholes and fool adversaries - the trick is simply not to be caught.
Ehud Olmert's Scorched-earth Soul Searching (Haaretz Editorial) The only Israeli prime minister to go to prison lashes out at all the people who put him behind bars — except himself.
We Israelis Are Turning Our Backs on African Refugees (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) The question is not, 'Why not deport them?' but rather 'Why not absorb them?' When framed this way, the comparison with 1930s Europe becomes very relevant.

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

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