News Nosh: April 26, 2018

by APN 04/26/18
Share

APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday April 26, 2018
 
Quotes of the day:
First IDF soldier after shooting a Palestinian resident: "I hit him! The son of a bitch."
Second soldier: "Stay professional."
Third soldier: "One live bullet and this would all be over."
Second soldier: "We don't fire live ammunition. We don't need it."
First soldier: "You can't hit with a rubber bullet, you just can't."
--From video clip filmed by B'Tselem at village of Madama near Nablus in the West Bank.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
9 months.
-The prison sentence given to Border Policeman Ben Deri for shooting dead a young Palestinian with a live bullet he wasn't supposed to use and when the boy did not pose any threat.**

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Floods
  • Dr. Alberstein - Brandeis University bestowing honorary doctorate on musician Hava Alberstein  
  • For the first time: Women will also apply for the position of Knesset Rabbi
  • Matriculation exam in road safety will give exemption from driving theory exam
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom

News Summary:
A freaky flash storm that flooded the country and killed two Bedouin teens and the fear that Iran transferred weapons to Syria that threaten Israel and that Russia will transfer the S-300 air-defense missile system that will protect Syria from Israel were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers, but what was glaringly missing from the headlines was the lenient sentence given to Border Policeman Ben Deri, who shot dead a young Palestinian with live bullets he wasn’t supposed to use four minutes after the youth threw a stone.

Russia said it plans to deliver the advanced S-300 new air defense systems to Syria in the near future, to which Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel may strike the Russian-made S-300 in Syria if they are used against Israel. Maariv reported that Israel was concerned about the CNN report that recent Iranian shipments to Syria may carry weapons systems dangerous to Israel. A day earlier, the Russian Security Council chief met separately with Israeli and Iranian counterparts in Sochi to discuss 'Middle East developments.’ Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron told Congress not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal without a different agreement to replace it. Senior UN officials told Maariv’s Shlomo Shamir that "Macron convinced Trump to postpone the decision on the nuclear agreement.” Iranian President Hassan Rohani belittled 'tradesman' Trump, and said that the nuclear deal proved that the US and Israel lied about Tehran's intentions to topple West with nuclear weapons.

**According to the original indictment, at the stone-throwing on Nakba Day in Beitunia four years ago, Border Policeman Ben Deri had two magazines, a red one with rubber bullets and another one with live ammunition and deliberately switched to the lives one, despite knowing it was not allowed. CNN camera caught on film that two youth who hadn’t thrown stones for a few minutes were shot dead, when they posed no threat to anyone. Deri, it was discovered, was the one who shot live bullets and was convicted of the killing of only Nadim Nuwara, 17, because the parents of the other boy did not agree to an autopsy for religious reasons. However, in the plea bargain, the prosecution agreed to consider the switch to live bullets ‘accidental' and to reduce the manslaughter charge to negligent manslaughter. Negligent manslaughter carries a maximum three-year jail term, while manslaughter carries a maximum 20-year sentence as that charge can apply to deliberate killings where there is no clear evidence of premeditation. Yesterday, Judge Daniel Tepperberg sentenced Deri to 9 months. Nadim’s father, Issam, said, “This is not how justice is done. I never expected the Israeli court to do justice for my martyred son, but I had to do all I can to present a solid case and to expose the Israeli judicial system before the world and I did." [NOTE: Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, is serving an eight-month prison sentence for slapping an Israeli soldier who entered her property.] (Ynet, Haaretz, Maariv, Israel Hayom)
 
Quick Hits:
  • Second Gazan journalist shot by Israel during border protest dies of wounds - Ahmed Abu Hussein, 24, was shot in the stomach while documenting the protest on Israel-Gaza border. (Haaretz, Israel Hayom and Ynet)
  • 40 dead, 5,511 wounded: UN releases figures on Palestinian casualties in Gaza's mass protests - Of the injured, 2,596 people were hospitalized in government hospitals, and of them, 1,499 were hit by live ammunition, 107 by sponge-tipped bullets, 408 suffered gas inhalation and 582 suffered other injuries; 2,142 were adults and 454 were minors. (Haaretz)
  • Haniyeh threatens: The March of Return will culminate on May 15 and will continue afterward - Hamas political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, said the March of Return was a success: It achieved great achievements and brought the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of attention. (Maariv)
  • Israeli group takes Hamas to ICC for using kids as human shields - (Right-wing -OH) Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center names three senior Hamas figures as war criminals, says Hamas should be made to answer in International Criminal Court. Case based on Rome Statute clause stating recruiting children under 15 to militant groups is war crime. (Israel Hayom)
  • In B'Tselem clip, IDF soldiers cheer after shooting protester near Nablus - In the video, one of the soldiers is shown taking aim at a Palestinian, shooting, and gleefully exclaiming "I hit him! The son of a bitch." B’Tselem report states that clashes erupted April 13th when a dozen soldiers began shooting at residents of the Palestinian village of Madama, near Nablus, who tried to remove a roadblock placed by the IDF at the entrance to the village. (JPost+VIDEO)
  • 'Jews let's win': Cars burned, graffiti sprayed in hate crimes in three Arab towns -  Cars vandalized Tuesday in Dir Amar town in the West Bank in fourth anti-Arab hate crime reported this week. Grafitti included: "We will take our fate in our hands," and another wishing well to a right-wing activist arrested recently for anti-Arab actions. Two vehicles were found burned in northern Israel village of Iksal in a suspected anti-Arab hate crime. Graffiti read: "Jews let's win." Palestinians reported later on graffiti sprayed in West Bank town of Jalud. Writings included "Let us handle them.” (Maariv, Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • MK Rozin: "The act in Iksal was Jewish terror" - Following the 'price tag' (anti-Arab hate crime) attack in the Galilee village of Iksal, left and centrist party MKs condemned the attack. On the walls of the home of Nur Habashi of Iksal, was anti-Arab graffitti. Habashi: "Just like they burned Mohammed Abu Khdeir, it could happen to anyone, if the police and government don't put an end to these things." (Maariv, p. 7 and Ynet Hebrew)
  • Informant tells security forces of hate crime, they fail to prevent it - An informant, who was involved in a 'price tag' hate crime in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in December, told court that he notified the police before and while the crime was being committed, but the police didn't act to prevent the crime; police reject claims. (Ynet)
  • Rapper convicted of incitement to violence against Arab MK Hanin Zoabi - Recording artist Ron Nesher convicted of 2 counts of incitement to violence, other offenses relating to threats after he called on followers on Facebook to 'cut up Zoabi into small pieces,' expressed desire to 'hit her over head with chair'; Nesher will be sentenced at a later date. (Ynet)
  • Umm al-Fahm man gets two years for burning trash in protest - The charge sheet did not ascribe any nationalist motives to the fires, but the Court noted that the extremely dry weather conditions and strong winds that day created great potential risk. (Haaretz+)
  • Swiss Jewish donors said to nix funding for Israeli program to avoid aiding Arab-Israeli doctor - Family reportedly freezes $5 million payment to outstanding all the young physicians, unless Sheba Hospital drops Arab doctor, saying it has 'no intention' of donating to non-Jewish recipient. Sheba Hospital said it would not cancel its selection of the Arab doctor. (Yedioth and Times of Israel)
  • Czech Republic offers Israeli businessman honorary post in Jerusalem instead of moving embassy there - Offer to appoint Dan Propper as the honorary counsel is seen as a compromise in the wake of Israeli pressure to get the Czechs to follow the U.S. lead. (Haaretz+)
  • Czech president reiterates promise to move embassy to Jerusalem, as honorary consul reappointed - Czechs to move culture center to Jerusalem, name Israeli businessman Dan Propper as consul .Czech government opposes relocating embassy. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Romania leader skips corruption hearing by visiting Israel - Romania's top politico dodges hearing on corruption charges against him by going on a surprise visit to Israel, seemingly at Netanyahu’s behest; the Israeli premier, meanwhile, welcomes Romania's willingness to move its embassy to Jerusalem. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Belgian PM: 'Without Jews, Belgium would not be the same' - Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel says Brussels takes steps to protect its Jewish community, adding his country's 'solidarity in the fight against anti-Semitism is uncompromising and unequivocal'; Macron echoes sentiments, writing on Twitter: 'The French Republic would not be the same without the Jewish people. They belong to the Republic.' (Ynet)
  • Demand to increase security of Attorney General ahead of the decision in the Netanyahu cases - Yossi Chachnover, head of the government's security advisory committee, believes that the security of Avichai Mandelblit should be transferred to the Shin Bet security service or to the personal security unit because of the fear of a violent response to his decision. (Maariv)
  • After they were transferred to the State Attorney's Office, Netanyahu's files were returned to the police to complete an investigation - After having submitted the summaries and recommendations in Cases 1000 and 2000, State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan demanded that the files be transferred back to the police, following the testimony of Nir Hefetz. (Maariv)
  • Israeli Arab activists using boycotts, social media to stop celebratory gunfire at weddings - Community figures and social activists say the amount of people firing guns to celebrate has declined significantly. (Haaretz+)
  • Leah Goldin: Egypt 'hazed' Netanyahu, who 'just gets in the way' - Following Egypt's authorization to allow the entry of slain Hamas engineer into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, Lt. Hadar Goldin's parents blast PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Lieberman; 'They failed, they didn't even contact Sisi. This is another Hamas victory over the Israeli government,' they accuse. (Ynet)
  • Israel to invest $5.6 million in Arab high-tech sector - Ministerial Committee on Arab Sector Affairs approves funds for a program to help minority communities integrate into high-tech labor market. Economy Minister Eli Cohen: Israeli-Arab sector's contribution to the workforce will impact many fields. (Israel Hayom)
  • Despite state pressure, number of asylum seekers agreeing to leave Israel drops in 2018 - In each of the first three months of the year, around 200 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers left Israel, while in 2015 to 2017 the average monthly number was around 255. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel to Close Only Mental Health Clinic for Refugees - Jaffa’s Gesher Clinic provides mental health services to asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants but is chronically underfunded and understaffed. (Haaretz)
  • Behind Congressional Drive to Buy Iron Dome: Money From Raytheon - Letter from 40 congressmen urges U.S. Army to buy Israeli anti-missile system. (Haaretz)
  • Palestinian UN aid still $200 million short after Trump cuts - Gaza still suffers from cut-off in US funding, with UNRWA saying Trump withheld $240 million more than previously reported, putting the coastal enclave at risk of running out of food aid by June. (Agencies, Ynet)

Features:
A historic move: The Jewish-Palestinian faction that plans to run in the elections in Jerusalem
Since the Six-Day War, residents of East Jerusalem have avoided municipal elections. However, in the coming elections this may change. The two founders of the joint faction talk about the vision that could break a 50-year-old taboo…In the framework of the municipal elections to be held in October, an extraordinary move has recently been made: A group of young Palestinians from East Jerusalem plans to travel in the coming weeks to meet with senior Palestinian Authority officials. There they will present a plan to establish a joint faction of Jews and Arabs. The purpose of this meeting is not to receive funding, but rather to get a green light for the residents of East Jerusalem to go out and vote, and even to run on the list, which in an almost historic move is taking shape in these very days. The person responsible for the initiative on the Jewish side is Dr. Gershon Baskin, 61, a researcher in Middle Eastern politics and history, founder and chairman of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information, and who initiated and operated a channel of secret talks with Hamas that led to the release of Gilad Shalit. On the Palestinian side, Aziz Abu-Sara, 37, former chairman of the Bereaved Families Forum and now a tourist company activist on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Maayan Haruni, Maariv Magazine supplement, p. 10)
Is Hamas embrace of 'nonviolence' opportunism or policy shift?
The dire situation in Gaza leaves Hamas little choice but to try and offer Israel an open-ended truce in exchange for lifting the blockade. Hamas "is changing its tactics, but it's not changing its nature and strategies," Palestinian analyst warns. (Fares Akram and Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press, Israel Hayom)
Letters to the Editor: Not in My Name
I had nothing to do with Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. So please don’t thank me, Mr. Netanyahu. (Haaretz)
Was the 2011 Social Protest Movement Too Successful (for the right-wing government)?
Social activists devoted to solving the housing crisis that sparked the 2011 movement have decided to change direction- they now want to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Netta Ahituv, Haaretz+)
The Return of the King: Why are the ayatollahs concerned about a mummy found during renovations in Tehran?
Iran is thunderous over the discovery of a mummified body, a revelation that places the authorities in the Islamic Republic in a dilemma: to hide it and absorb public anger, or to create a place of pilgrimage for their opponents. (Dr. Tamar Eilam Gindin, Maariv)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Hired assassins in Malaysia (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) A state that sends death squads to the ends of the earth isn’t something to be proud of. In the end, they’re hired assassins.
Gaza protests: Hamas preparing its ‘victory picture’ (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) If thousands of Gazans leap to their feet undauntedly from the new tent line and start running towards the fence, the death toll from Israeli fire will grow to hundreds. Those who cross the fence will run amok into Israel to evade the fire. And that’s the exact outcome Hamas is hoping for.
The sniper didn’t kill an 11-and-a-half-year-old boy. He only lost a leg. (Amira Hass, translated in full by Sol Salbe, Haaretz) Our anonymous sniper didn’t execute eleven-and-a-half-year-old Abd-al Rahman Nufal, but he shot his left leg with great accuracy.
Oh Yeah? But Look at Syria (Noa Osterreicher, Haaretz+) The new favorite game of right-wingers has become justifying Israel's misdeeds with the argument that things are much worse in Syria.
From integration of Haredim to the refugees: If we knew how to compromise, we could avoid crises (Shmuel Rosner, Maariv) From the trial of Nisan Shaham to the integration of Haredim into the labor market: If only we knew how to give up, we would succeed in avoiding unnecessary conflicts and processes that never end.
By transferring S-300 to Assad, Putin sends Trump a clear message – and Israel should prepare (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) New Russian missile defense system serves a double role: defensively, it protects Moscow's military assets in Syria; offensively, it is a potent weapon of psychological warfare – and could be a game changer for Israel's air force.
Missiles don't decide wars (Dr. Gabi Avital, Israel Hayom) Missiles are nothing new, however sophisticated they might be, and the public's demand for a "zero-cost" war weakens the government's ability to defend its citizens.
Battle Between 'Trump Whisperer' Macron and 'Bomb Iran' Bolton Will Determine Middle East's Fate (Jonathan S. Tobin, Haaretz+) Even 'perfect' Macron can’t seduce Trump out of his contempt for the authors of the Iran deal. And, when the French president is back in Paris, Bolton will have the crucial last-one-to-talk-to-the-president advantage.
Israelis should trust Pompeo over the Jewish voices opposing him (Benjamin Anthony/Our Soldiers Speak, Ynet) For too long, secretaries of state have demonstrated ambivalence toward the State of Israel in times of greatest need. Some Jewish groups have done the very same. Now comes a candidate steadfast in his friendship. He is the one to trust, not the Jewish voices who oppose him.
Trump's resolve to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal hands Tehran a key diplomatic win (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Trump and Netanyahu's efforts to change the accord drive a wedge between Washington and Europe, help Tehran to be presented as a responsible regime
Good morning, Europe (Eldad Beck, Israel Hayom) Even if it adheres to the nuclear deal, Iran is still pushing ahead with its plan to destabilize the Middle East. Yet many Europeans view Trump as the problem, which attests to their inability to face reality.
Netanyahu Should Return to the Migrants' Deal With the UN (Haaretz Editorial) Israel is not only capable but obliged to contribute to the international effort to deal with the global refugee crisis, as most wealthy, properly-run countries, in whose company Netanyahu boastfully places Israel, are doing.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.

Recent Entries