APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday April 30, 2018
 

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Police raided the Bnei-Tzion pre-military academy over suspicions regarding the decision-making in the flash flood disaster, explosions were reported in Syria, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who snubbed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to the region) said the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal if it isn’t ‘fixed,’ and IDF soldiers killed three more Palestinians at the Gaza fence making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Investigators confiscated the computers and documents of the Bnei Zion pre-military academy, the State Comptroller will be probing the failure to prevent from taking place the hike in which 10 youth were killed by a flash flood and it was revealed that the Education Ministry had given another group of high school teens a green light to hike in the Negev a day earlier, but the group leaders and parents made a change of location due to the danger.

Not all today's Hebrew papers had reports about last night's strike in Syria, which today it was reported was so powerful it registered as an earthquake. As if prophesying, Haaretz reported that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel will continue to operate freely in Syria. Syrian media attributed the attack to U.S. and Britain, but the pro-Assad media blamed Israel for the strike. Between 26 and 40 people were killed and up to 58 wounded.


Soldiers shot two Palestinians trying to either damage the Gaza border fence or cross it (depends on which paper you read) killing one of them, while in a separate incident, two other Palestinians carrying tools meant to damage the border fence and knives were arrested simply attempting to breach the fence. In a third incident, soldiers shot dead two Palestinians throwing firebombs at soldiers. [No mention of whether a fence was between the two sides. - OH] Haaretz+ reported that the Israeli army refuses to disclose open-fire policy for Gaza border protests. And a senior Israeli officer said that most of the killings of Palestinians during the Gaza protests were unintentional.
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Israeli Metal, Arab Fans: Orphaned Land Creates an Alternative Middle East
Israel’s most successful metal band has fans throughout the Arab world. For 27 years it manages to combine guitars and distortions with traditional Middle Eastern music. (Avi Pitchon, Haaretz+)
"Everything is coming back to us again": Tsafit disaster returned the flood survivors of Nahal Dragot to their tragedy
Six people were killed during a hike in Dragot River in 1975. The pictures from the recent disaster brought back the memories and wounds to their relatives. Nahal soldiers, youth doing a year of service before the army and also youth from Kibbutz Hafetz Haim left from the kibbutz to the river. About 20 with two guides. Six did not return.  “I was angry, it should not have happened.” “No lessons were learned, said the brother of one of those who died 43 years ago. (Ilana Stutland, Maariv)
In a Greek Refugee Camp, Syrians and Israelis Find an Unlikely Respite From War
It sounds implausible that people from two countries in a state of war with each other could find common ground. But on an island where Syrian refugees recover from their terrible ordeals, that's happening. (Molly Bernstein, Haaretz+)
The IDF's eyes on Syria: the new system forewarning of Iranian retaliation
Ynet provides a special, exclusive peek at the advanced MSS, or multisensory system, deployed across Israel's northeastern frontier; as each suspicious occurrence is graded on a 1-10 scale, with a flick of their joysticks lookouts can spot rebels deep within Syrian territory down to the gun they're carrying. (Yoav Zitun, Ynet)
Amid Changing Economics, More Israeli Restaurants Opting to Go Kosher
Even celebrity chefs and cities with few religious residents are joining the trend, and most new restaurants opening in the past year are kosher. (Adi Dovrat-Meseritz, Haaretz)
How pro-Israel Jews Became Azerbaijan's Secret Weapon in Washington
Azerbaijan and Israel have enjoyed good relations for decades, with reported arms and oil deals between the two countries. Now, the Central Asian country is leveraging that goodwill to increase its influence in D.C. (Amir Tibon, Haaretz+)
 
Commentary/Analysis:
Anti-Zionist Law (Haaretz Editorial) Knesset sought to make clear that the purpose of the nation-state law is to fundamentally change the balance between Israel as a Jewish state and a democratic one.
Decent Israelis Must Challenge Netanyahu's Attempt to Turn Israel Towards Autocracy (MK Tzipi Livni, Haaretz) The government is proposing legislation to dismantle Israeli democracy from its foundations. We know other elected governments have turned democracy into totalitarian regimes. Israel will not join them.
Ten teens were killed by a national mindset, not flash floods (Alexander J. Apfel, Ynet) The ten teens who were swept away in a flash flood were led to their deaths by the Israeli mindset that is rampant throughout society, according to which even the most unacceptable and dangerous risks are taken in the belief that in the end, 'Yihiyeh B'seder'.
Trust your gut (Ilan Gattegno, Israel Hayom) It was very clear to the students killed in a flash flood last week that they were taking an unnecessary risk; if the adults who decided to approve the desert hike had listened, they would still be safe and sound.
Bennett is trying to display leadership, but remained silent after the Tsafit flood disaster (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) The Minister of Education is a diligent and usually quick-paced squirrel. In the two days before the disaster, he had devoted no less than eight tweets to the importance of the passage of the bill to override the High Court. But just when under his watch 10 teenagers were killed, he became silent.
In first meeting, Pompeo thrills Netanyahu with hawkish talk on Iran – and what he doesn’t say about Palestinians (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) Newly crowned U.S. secretary of state and Israeli prime minister strike up a fine bromance as Pompeo comes out swinging on Tehran.
The websites you must visit to understand Israel's policy toward Palestinians (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) For those who don’t speak Arabic, these sites will put you on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza.
A Jewish future? Only in Israel (Noah Klieger, Yedioth/Ynet) Considering soaring assimilation rates, the Jewish population in many countries around the world will likely disappear completely in six or seven generations. Israel is the only country in the world where the number of Jews keeps growing and the only place where the Jewish people have a future.
Not a takeover attempt: Judicial review is a function of democracy (Oded Mudrik, Maariv) The law forbids a judge to express his opinion in public on a controversial matter, so what is the meaning of the dialogue between Chief Justice Hayut, Netanyahu and Justice Minister Shaked? If the goal is to make the most from the relationship between the authorities, everyone will benefit.
We Muslims Need to Talk About Muslim anti-Semitism (Fiyaz Mughal, Haaretz+) Political polarization, Islamist infiltration and a helping hand from the Corbynite far left is leading more and more young, disaffected Muslims to demonize Jews. We must find the courage to speak out
Leaving the dirty work: Washington's line is bringing a confrontation between Israel and Iran closer (Yanir Kozin, Maariv) The Americans continued their modus operandi in the last major bombing attack, which was attributed to Israel, when the US military officials were quick to deny that it was they who attacked.
Are We Waiting Until America Becomes as Uninhabitable for Jews as France? (Karol Markowicz, Haaretz+) Trump hatred is blinding U.S. Jews to anti-Semitism from the Left. If it’s over for Jews in Europe, we American Jews should worry we aren’t far behind.

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