News Nosh: June 5, 2018

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday June 5, 2018
 
Quote of the day:
"A teenager was shot in the head with his back to the soldiers on his way to the village where he lives. There are no legal orders that permit shooting at the upper body under such circumstances, in which there is no danger to the lives of the soldiers or other people and no danger whatsoever. If there are rules of engagement that permit such shooting, then those rules themselves are illegal.”
--Attorney Gaby Lasky responded to the State Proseuctor's Office plans to withdraw indictments against two former soldiers who were charged with shooting and killing 16-year-old Palestinian, Samir Awad, five years ago. Lasky represents the family in court.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
State Prosecutor's Office dropped plan to file monetary claim against the Jewish terrorists who killed Mohammed Abu Khdeir because they have no real assets. Yet, last year the State Prosecutor sued families of two killed Palestinian terrorists for about $2.8 million, which they did not have.**


Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • “We are battling the fire for the sake of the residents” - Firefighter from Sderot who immigrated from Chile as a lone soldier
  • Mayor of Hadera in police detention
  • And again, Hadera // Guy Lieberman
  • Local corruption // Nadav Eyal
  • Get out of our field // Chen Artzi-Srur against politicians getting involved in soccer games
  • Exclusive: High Court looking for media advisor
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
  • “Israel is examining possibilities to prevent the collapse of the Gaza Strip” (Netanyahu told Merkel)
  • A month after his release: (‘Shooting soldier from Hebron’ Elor) Azaria requested a gun permit
  • For the third time in Hadera: Mayor suspected of corruption
  • Chain of corruption // Ron Kaufman
  • (Housing) Minister Galant presented his plan, “Arrow to the South,’ to save the Negev from “a Bedouin takeover of state lands”
Israel Hayom
  • Merkel: We will act to remove Iran from Syria; Blow to Iran’s economy: Peugot and Citroen freezing activity in the country
  • Third time, Hadera - Mayor suspected of corruption
  • Readers, a love story - Special project: history, Zionism and culture. Ahead of Book Week: Leaders, actors and artists on words that shaped their perspective
  • “The Bible and the Sword”: National home between the pages // Binyamin Netanyahu (Book photo: “Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour” by Barbara Tuchman)
  • Jabotinsky’s Convention: Time to write and time to act // Reuven (Rubi) Rivlin (Book photo: “The Raven - Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe)
  • Public health doctors against the Medical Association: Fat is not an illness
  • Lieberman on the kite terror: “We will close all accounts with Hamas and Islamic Jihad”
  • Severe report revealed: Irregularities in the discharge of polluting substances at oil refineries in Haifa
  • On Eritrean Independence Day: Dozens of infiltrators acted wildly in south Tel-Aviv

News Summary:
Another Israeli mayor was arrested for corruption, this being the third of the city of Hadera, Israel prepared for Naksa Day protests marking 51 years since the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and warned Palestinians against sending more burning kites across from the Gaza Strip, while Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Israel was examining ways to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while he simultaneously pushed for support for sanctions against Iran - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Meanwhile, ‘Israel Hayom’ and ‘Yedioth’ reported that ‘Thousands celebrate Israel at unprecedented Times Square event,’ but Yedioth’s TV critic Einav Schiff wrote that the event was embarrassing to watch, calling it “a childish, shouting and style-lacking demonstration; an expensive chest-thumping the product of a national obsession for hasbara; embarrassing political conduct, which is depressing for the last of the non-cynical.” He noted that a clip of Culture Minister Miri Regev hogging of the microphone went viral. And the Yedioth reporter noted at the end of his article that passersby and local media paid no attention.

Today, the Palestinians mark Naksa Day, which marks the Arab defeat in the Six-Day War and 51 years of occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. But most Naksa Day demonstrations were postponed to Friday, Nevertheless, Israel braced for renewed protests along the Gaza fence. And firefighters continued to battle fires from burning kites and the Israeli army warned that Israel will have to retaliate for the fires soon and is already briefing US officials on the issue. Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to wish him a ‘Ramadan Kareem’ and asked him to speak out against “Gaza terrorism.” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel won't accept burning kites becoming the norm after some 200 out of the 600 that flew over landed in Israel.

Netanyahu was in Berlin yesterday meeting with Merkel about Iran and promised he was working to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In an apparent acknowledgement that Gazans were demonstrating due to the dire economic situation, Netanyahu blamed the Gaza protests on economic troubles, which he said were caused by Hamas. On Iran, Netanyahu accused Iran of aiming to wage a religious war in the Middle East, and added that Israel was developing ties with Arab states against Iran. Today Netanyahu is in Paris to discuss Iran with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been vocal about preserving the Iran nuclear deal.
 
Quick Hits:
  • **Israel won't sue Palestinian teen Abu Khdeir's killers because they're broke - State Prosecutor's Office drops plan to file monetary claim against Jewish killer of Mohammed Abu Khdeir after finding that they have no real assets. (Haaretz+)
  • *Two Israeli soldiers' indictment over Palestinian's death to be quashed - When Samir Awad, 16, climbed back over the separation fence near the Palestinian town of Budrus, a soldier fired two more shots at Awad’s back and an officer fired three, killing him. But since law enforcement officials couldn’t determine which of the two killed him, they decided to charge the defendants only with recklessness and negligence, rather than causing death. Main flaw in evidence was that defendants didn’t actually violate rules of engagement that were in force in that particular part of West Bank, even though they shot an unarmed boy in the back and head. (Haaretz+)
  • Dozens of top Israeli doctors urge Israel to let cancer patients leave Gaza for treatment - Around 45 women waited 6 months or more to be treated in Israel in the last year, says rights group. Delayed treatment, oncologists charge, could lead to worsening of disease and death. (Haaretz+)
  • U.S. ambassador Friedman slams American reporters for critical coverage of Gaza deaths - Friedman says criticism of recent Palestinian death toll in the Strip is aimed mainly at ‘my friends in the United States and one Israeli newspaper I’ve been known to criticize here’ – a seeming reference to Haaretz. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Israeli bulldozers raze lands in northeastern Gaza - Locals told Ma’an that four Israeli bulldozers entered dozens of meters into lands east of Gaza City, and razed and leveled lands as Israeli drones flew overhead.  A similar raid was carried out in eastern Khan Younis. (Maan)
  • Israel resumes digging at ancient Palestinian cemetery in East Jerusalem - Officers of Israel's Nature And Parks Authority (INPA) reportedly resumed digging up graves and land work on Sunday at the Palestinian Bab-al-Rahma cemetery, just outside the walls of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem, “for the benefit of building a national [Israeli] park on parts of the cemetery’s land.” (Maan)
  • Knesset committee: PA's takeover of Area C must be stopped - Under Oslo Accords, Area C of Judea and Samaria is under full Israeli control, but "since 2008, the Palestinian Authority has been ‎making considerable takeover efforts," MK says • Defense Ministry says it is pursuing various measures to foil PA's plans. (Israel Hayom)
  • Housing Minister Galant: "The Bedouin takeover of state lands (in the Negev) is terrorism" - Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Galant presents 'Arrow to the South' plan to battle Bedouin villages the state does no recognize. Galant also aims to facilitate Jewish development in south. He wants to imprison desert populace in ghettos, Arab MK says. (Maariv, p. 10 and JPost)
  • Knesset council bans bill to define Israel as state for all its citizens - Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Deputy Speaker Hilik Bar invoke their authority and block bill submitted by Joint Arab List MKs, arguing that it rejects Israel as a Jewish state. In unusual move, bill disqualified before being discussed on Knesset floor because it 'seeks to deny Israel’s existence as the state of the Jewish people.’ (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Ax-wielding Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces on Gaza border, army says - Second Palestinian shot and wounded before managing to return to Gaza. (Haaretz+, Maan and Ynet)
  • Tel Aviv terrorist convicted of 2 counts of attempted murder - Imad Agbar, 19, from Nablus, stabbed a 70-year-old man with his belt buckle and then a woman and a hotel employee with a cutter and hit a man in the head with a heavy object, confesses to attempted murder and aggravated battery. (Ynet)
  • Israeli defense chief accuses center-left, ultra-Orthodox parties of thwarting 'terrorist' lawmaker's removal from Knesset - Lieberman says the only thing not democratic about the controversy surrounding MK Haneen Zoabi is her 'sitting in the Knesset and working against Israeli soldiers.’ (Haaretz+)
  • Public security, justice ministers snub meeting of police brutality lobby in Knesset - Lobby wrongs hard-working police, says Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan; it isn't the police's job to punish, says lobby founder Ilan Gilon of Meretz. (Haaretz+)
  • Wanted: Media consultant for the High Court - High Court is going out to battle for the public's opinion, in the wake of the attack on the judicial system and the storm over the Overriding Law, High Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut decided to appoint the first external media consultant to help senior justices deal with burning subjects. The goal: To fight for the public's trust and prevent harm to the court's authority. (Yedioth, p. 1)
  • "The most threatened man in Israel": Elor Azaria asked for a weapons license - Despite that Elor Azaria was convicted of killing a neutralized terrorist in Hebron, MK Nava Boker (Likud) sent a request to Public Security Minister Erdan to allow Azariah to receive a permit and carry arms because of his claims that he has received threats from elements affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. (Maariv and Mako)
  • Netanyahu backed Obama's delaying of 2013 Syria strike, former aide says - Former Obama aide Ben Rhodes writes that Israeli prime minister stood by U.S. president's decision to not strike unilaterally following Syria's chemical weapons attack pending congressional authorization. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • Minister: US recognition of Golan as Israeli is best response to Iran - Israeli official confirms GOP efforts to bring U.S. closer to recognizing Israeli control of Golan Heights, disputed by Syria • Coalition for Israeli Golan head urges Israel to take steps to ensure Golan territory is "no longer subject to negotiation." (Israel Hayom)
  • Israeli ambassador to U.S. praises Hungary for 'zero tolerance to anti-Semitism' - Israeli embassy hosted event honoring foreign minister of Hungary, which is under fire for its approach to anti-Semitism – including PM's campaign against Jewish billionaire George Soros. (Haaretz+)
  • For first time ever, American Jewish Committee to hold annual mega conference in Israel - 2,000 participants expected to attend Jerusalem forum. Austrian, Bulgarian leaders will address conference. Excursions include trip to West Bank settlement. (Haaretz+)
  • UK universities oppose boycotting Israeli academia - University union head and President of Exeter University Sir Steve Smith declares official stance of British universities as being opposed to academic boycotts of Israel which are ‘hostile to academic freedom.’ (Ynet)
  • Palestinian soccer chief urges soccer star Messi to boycott Israel - Jibril Rajoub calls on sports fans to burn Barcelona striker Lionel Messi's photos and shirts if he plays in Israel-Argentina friendly match in Jerusalem next week. "Don't come. Don't whitewash the face of racism," Rajoub says in message to Messi. (Israel Hayom)
  • Palestinians called on to burn Messi shirts if he plays in Jerusalem - Palestinian FA chief Jibril Rajoub declares campaign against Argentina, particularly Lionel Messi, vowing to 'target him personally' by calling on Palestinian fans to burn his picture and shirt if he plays in match against Israel in Jerusalem next week. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • "(Israeli Culture Minister) Miri Regev demanded a photo with (soccer star) Messi" - MK Shelly Yachimovich claimed: The money from the Culture and Sport Ministry was transferred in exchange for a photo of the minister with the Argentinian soccer star. Culture Ministry denies. Regev: "I won't force him, we'll see who will shake whose hand." (Yedioth, p. 10)
  • Israeli Reform community waited 15 years for own synagogue. Now it's suing - After being promised a synagogue over a decade ago, members of Kehilat Yonatan are taking legal action against the authorities. (Haaretz+)
  • Eritrean Asylum seekers brawl with Eritrean regime supporters in south Tel Aviv - Thirteen asylum seekers arrested in Tel Aviv and Kiryat Malakhi after scuffle leaves several wounded, including one police officer ■ Melee breaks out following country's Independence Day celebrations. (Haaretz)
  • Arab assailants attack Jewish teen listening to Israeli music in Berlin - "You've been murdering children for 70 years. Berlin is ours now and you won't listen to crappy Jewish music here," Arab youths yell at German Jewish teen • When victim's non-Jewish friends come to his defense, they are hit, one is cut with broken bottle. (Israel Hayom)
  • Jordan protests continue despite resignation of prime minister - Resignation comes after days of mass protests across Jordan against a planned tax increase and other measures to reduce rising public debt • Harvard-educated reformer Omar Razzaz tapped by king as replacement • Israeli minister: Our interest is stability. (Israel Hayom)
  • Iranian forces not planning to leave Syria, top officer says ‎ - Iranian troops are in Syria at President Assad's invitation, says Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Massoud ‎Jazayeri • "There is no ‎bright ‎future for the Zionist regime and the U.S. ‎will also ‎have to leave the region," he declares. (Israel Hayom)
  • Iran urges Europe to stand up to US, save nuclear deal - After U.S. threatens to impose "strongest sanctions in history" if Iran fails to make sweeping changes, top Iranian officer says Iran "will deliver a strong punch" • EU ministers: There is only so much we can do to keep firms in Iran given U.S. sanctions. (Israel Hayom)


Features:
Israel's explainers: "We chose to combine sport with the beauty of the country"
Oren Frenkel and his friends initiated a project that invites internationally recognized fitness and sports instructors to visit Israel. They will meet with athletes, visit sites and share their experiences with their millions of followers. (Ilana Stutland, Maariv)
WATCH: The Jerusalem Artist Who Wants to Give Prince William a Royal Tattoo on His Israel Visit
Wassim Razzouk’s family has given tattoos to Christian pilgrims for centuries, including possibly three British princes in the 19th century. The Duke of Cambridge could be the next while he tours Israel later this month. (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+)


Commentary/Analysis:
Khan al-Ahmar and Gaza: Two Sides of the Same Legal Coin (Hagai El-Ad, Haaretz+) Without a legal system prepared to supply a veneer of decency, Israel couldn’t do what it inflicts on Palestinians.
Residents of the Gaza Strip and the Gaza periphery will continue to be the victims of visionless leaders (Yossi Melman, Maariv) Both Israel and Hamas want to go through the summer safely, and not to go to a comprehensive war. The problem is that without a leadership that will make brave decisions, the "more of the same" approach can get out of control.
Israel's land-grab law is a brazen, decisive step toward annexation (Mordechai Kremnitzer, Haaretz+) If Israel pushes through the so-called 'Regularization of Settlement in Judea and Samaria Law,' it could send the country’s leaders to the dock in the International Criminal Court.
Israel as a democratic dictatorship: without a constitution and with politicians who make noise (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) The coalition is fighting the High Court with determination and boldness many times greater than the government's handling of the phenomenon of the collection of protection fees from residents of the north, by violent means of organized crime organizations.
Miri Regev Found Another Enemy: Bedouin Women With Cameras (Vered Lee, Haaretz+) It’s hard to believe that the culture minister perceives a threat from women who have learned, for the first time, to hold a camera and look at the reality of their lives.
Not terrorists, civilians: It’s in Israel’s interest to recognize the (unrecognized) Bedouin villages (Maor Cohen, Maariv) The "Arrow to the South" plan (by Housing Minister Galant - OH) is another of a series of reports and commissions that have tried to deal with the "problem of the Bedouin diaspora." Its predecessors have evaporated. It is to be hoped that Minister Galant will find a solution to the problem and and that this is not a political move.
Netanyahu's Weapons Against the Former Head of Mossad: Lies, Distortions and Incitement (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Tamir Pardo was tarred and feathered for committing the most cardinal of sins in today's Israel: Speaking out against Netanyahu, the anointed one.
It is not certain that the prime minister is in a position to make major moves (Dr. Revital Amran, Maariv) Given the circles of distrust surrounding Netanyahu, it is no wonder that he is having trouble leading major moves in Gaza. Whether it be a massive attack or a significant humanitarian project in the Gaza Strip.
Anonymous Snipers and a Lethal Verdict (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) We may never know the name of the soldier who killed Razan al-Najjar. But we do know the names of those who gave the order enabling him to kill her.
Spooks should not spill state secrets (Yaakov Ahimeir, Israel Hayom) Officials who slander the prime minister only after leaving their sensitive position undermine the very integrity they wish to convey. In fact, they are hypocritical, serving the media's (and their own) craving for attention.
Netanyahu is in Europe as Trump's lobbyist-in-chief (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The prime minister may be meeting Europe's top leaders this week about the Iran deal, but Netanyahu really only cares about Trump's opinion.
Hamas' next test ‎(Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) Gaza's rulers are invested in provoking ‎violence on the security fence, but it is ‎doubtful that they fully understand the ‎volatile potential of this policy or what consequences it may entail. ‎
The Arab world needs to move on from the liberation of Palestine (Khalaf Al Habtoor, Haaretz+) Israel is going nowhere, and we in the Arab world have to deal with it. That means offering Israelis prosperity, security and friendship; all Israel needs to do is overcome their prejudices and give Palestinians their rights.
The Israeli Right’s campaign against Israel (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) How can anyone complain about the Palestinian Authority, when Israel is single handedly thwarting the chance for a separation? Creating one state serves Hamas and the BDS movement, not the Zionist vision. That’s the problem that is making more and more Jews and friends despair.
Israel Is a Magnet for the World’s Moneybags, and We Need to Stop It (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) The super-rich have been swarming to Israel, for all the wrong reasons, such as law that helps them dodge tax.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.