Quote of the Day #1:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
*The Shin Bet detained prominent Jewish-American journalist, Peter Beinart, at Ben-Gurion Airport and grilled him on his political views (for which both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet later apologized, calling it an ‘administrative mistake’ and Opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni called for an emergency Knesset discussion on the multitude of detentions of left-wing activists questioned over political activity), Netanyahu reportedly secretly met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in May to discuss a ceasefire deal with Hamas (and afterward participated in the breaking of the Ramadan fast before returning to Israel late at night) and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed the right-wing “defamation campaign” against Maj. Gen. Yair Golan by ‘Im Tirtzu’ organization, which is trying to thwart Golan’s candidacy for the appointment as the next chief of staff - making the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the deaths of three more construction workers in a single day. The majority of those working in construction in Israel are Arab-Israel or Palestinians from the West Bank.

Meanwhile, in regards to Gaza Defense Minister Lieberman made some interesting statements. 
1.) Lieberman said that all 168 demonstrators killed by the IDF during the Gaza border protests were Hamas members.
2.) He said that war with Hamas is just a matter of time.
3.) At the same time, Lieberman is considering easing the restrictions on the Gaza Strip, such as opening Kerem Shalom commercial crossing and extending the Gaza fishing perimeter.

This comes as a Hamas deputy returned to Cairo to continue talks on an emerging agreement with Israel. Clearly, Israel is concerned about the humanitarian situation because it actually asked the US to scale back its cuts to the UNRWA aid agency for Palestinian refugees, fearing a health and sanitation disaster in Gaza if UNRWA is defunded. Meanwhile, the World Bank granted unemployed Gazans $17 million in aid. The Gaza unemployment rate was estimated at 48%.

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
Peter Beinart’s Airport Interrogation Proves Something Is Rotting in the State of Bibi (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Netanyahu was quick to distance himself from an incident that was totally outrageous and completely predictable at the same time.
*The spirit of the era: Are there blacklists in Israel over political opinions? (Yossi Melman, Maariv) It is the Shin Bet's apology that should worry us most. Yesterday, the organization published a clarification on the delay and interrogation of journalist Peter Beinart. According to the Shin Bet “the detention was made due to an error in the discretion of the professional agent in the field." From the statement it can be concluded that in Israel a black list was compiled, not of terrorist operatives or people suspected of such activity, but of people based on their political views. We have already become aware of the fact that in Israel an office was established that contradicts the basic principle of democracy. The Ministry of Strategic Affairs, headed by Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan and headed by the former Chief Censor, Brig. Gen. (res.) Sima Vaknin-Gil. In the office, lists of BDS activists or their supporters were prepared in an attempt to curtail their steps abroad and in Israel. Among other things, defamation campaigns are being waged against them, which will ultimately embarrass Israel and cause it damage. At the same time, the rigid policy of the Population and Immigration Authority, which for years has been harassing Jews and non-Jews, who want to visit or live in Israel. But the fact that the Shin Bet is also beginning to be dragged, willingly or unwillingly, into this anti-democratic whirlpool, is beginning to cause concern. In recent weeks there have been at least four cases in which Shin Bet investigators have detained and interrogated Israeli and Jewish political activists. Needless to say, everyone was left-wing. The sequence of events is something to think about, that maybe these are not isolated cases. Last night, the Shin Bet said that the head of the organization, Nadav Argaman, had ordered a probe into the incident. What is needed is for the Shin Bet to go back to being an organization that does not serve the government's agendas and does not flow with the "spirit of the times," but protects Israel's fragile democracy and goes against the anti-democratic stream.
Netanyahu may have walked back Peter Beinart’s airport detention, but what about the leftists who aren’t on CNN? (Noa Landau, Haaretz+) The prime minister’s PR move doesn’t explain why the Shin Bet security service has detained a number of ‘far left’ activists in recent months.
10 questions on secret Israeli report over 2014 killing of four children on Gaza beach (Mordechai Kremnitzer, Haaretz+) Findings raise questions about decision-making process that led to shooting at children when they didn't pose a threat. This requires clarification on use of drones, IDF's open-fire policy and responsibility of those involved.
The demand of the bereaved families (of fallen soldiers) not to appoint Yair Golan as chief of staff is chutzpah (Yossi Melman, Maariv) There is no more appropriate expression than ‘shamelessness’ to define the shocking letter sent by the families identified with the extreme right, and which are guided by the Im Tirtzu movement.
If You Torpedo It (Haaretz Editorial) Campaign being waged against Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, in bid to prevent his appointment as next IDF chief of staff, is a direct outgrowth of the spirit of incitement that has become the hallmarks of the right’s rule.
Hundreds of PLO flags waving in Rabin Square made it clear what the Arabs wanted (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) Many of the opponents of the law, who still define themselves as Zionists, propose that instead of the nation-state law we adopt the Declaration of Independence as a Basic Law, because it mentions civil equality. Even if we forget for a moment that this equality is well anchored in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, how does it help? After all, the Arabs object to the Declaration and its principles. After all, half of our Declaration of Independence deals with the Jewish nation and its right to the Land of Israel. The Arab MKs will vote against the Declaration of Independence, and today I am not sure that all the Jewish Meretz members and UFOs from the radical left who somehow became part of the Zionist Camp will also vote for it. Because it is Zionist and they aren’t any longer. Therefore, thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Arab leaders in Israel who came with the flags of Palestine, in order to give Tel Avivis a private lesson.
The Israeli right’s obsession with flags (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) The fact that the right gets so worked up about the Palestinian flag merely adds to the flag’s legitimacy and drives a deeper discussion of the issue.
Redeeming Palestine, in Tel Aviv (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) For the benefit of those who refuse to see and hear, we examine the clear anti-Zionist positions of the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, the organizer of Saturday's protest against the nation-state law.
The flags at the demonstration of the Arab sector against the Nation-State law were a gift to Netanyahu (Nadav Haetzni, Maariv) The protest organizers, who are fundamentally the enemies of the Zionist idea and the state, provided the Likud and the Prime Minister with a handsome gift now, with the start of serious talk about elections.
What Sort of Equality Do You Mean? (Nave Dromi, Haaretz+) Would Livni and Gabbay agree to change the national anthem or the flag in the name of equality?
The deception of the apologists for Israel's nation-state law (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) The nation-state law is not only an unnecessary law, it is an abhorrent law. Its explicit intentions have been spelled out by each of its architects.
Why 'Unite the Right' Rally Was a Pathetic Flop – and Why That Shouldn’t Matter(Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz+) The racist right may have lost its battle for the streets of D.C., but the war against racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia in America is far from over.
Humanitarian aid is just a ruse (Liora Cohen, Israel Hayom) Foreign governments are blatantly trying to disrupt the Israeli judicial system by weighing it down with as many cases as possible, claiming they are just doing humanitarian work. This is political meddling and a violation of democratic norms.