APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday September 4, 2018

 

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who once compared himself to Hitler, visited Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and a mysterious attack was made in Syria near the Iraqi border - making the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also making headlines was the speech by Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, who in the past warned of fascist elements in Israel, the attempt by the Israeli government to pressure the European Union not to meet with visiting Arab members of Knesset, the outrageous statement made by Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Yogev to Arab MKs at the airport and the ultimatum from the Eurovision to Israel.

Duterte visited Yad Vashem accompanied by two Holocaust survivors who fled to the Philippines. Duterte also met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and said that the two leaders “share the same passion for peace.” Haaretz+ reported that at a closed event Duterte justified his remarks about rape, saying they were 'freedom of expression.’

Maariv reported that possibly out of fear that Duterte would say something awkward, President Reuven Rivlin closed off to journalists Duterte’s controversial visit to the President’s residence. Meanwhile, Israel and the Philippines signed an agreement for attracting foreign investment.

A day after what many said was an Israeli attack on a weapons depot in Damascus, a convoy of Iranian forces in Syria was bombed by air near a US base near the border between Syria, Iraq and Jordan, killing eight people. Haaretz military commentator Amos Harel assumed it was Israel behind the attack as he wrote in his analysis. And at the IDC’s annual counter-terrorism conference in Herzliya, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman signaled that Israel could hit Iranian targets in Iraq, saying,  “We retain total freedom of action, will not limit ourselves to Syria.” KAN News (Channel 1) reported that the US asked Israel not to attack Iranian forces in Iraq and that the message was conveyed to Jerusalem following information received in Washington and not following the deployment of Iranian missiles on Iraqi soil over the weekend. (Maariv) Also yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met on Monday with Syria's President Bashar Assad in Damascus to discuss recent developments in Syria and the region, and prepare for the upcoming summit with Russia, Iran and Turkey. According to a statement released by the Syrian palace, the two leaders agreed that the "threats and pressure on Tehran and Damascus attests to (the West’s) failure to implement the plans it has proposed."

Also speaking at the  IDC’s annual counterterrorism conference in Herzliya, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, said fire and intel alone could not win wars and will not do so in the future. “I hear presumptions that it is possible to discourage the enemy and to subdue him by harming infrastructure and civilians and I think there is nothing to base that presumption on. The most suitable recipe for the citizens of Israel is a short combat in which the threat on the home front is removed in the quickest time possible. Without a sharp force like that we will have trouble to provide the citizens of Israel the security they expect.…Anyone who has dealt with the field of combat understands that the presumption that it is possible to win wars only through intel and fire is a problematic assumption that reduces the art of war to the level of technicians.” Golan, one of four generals shortlisted to become the next IDF Chief of Staff, also said it was wishful thinking that Iran’s regime would fall. At the IDC event, former Shin Bet director Yaakov Peri talked of the main threats to the country. Peri said that Hezbollah was Israel’s biggest security threat, but that the country could also enter an unintentional war with Hamas because the situation is so volatile, tense and unresolved. Peri also pointed to two long-term threats: the internal fight within Israel over the character of the country and the alienation of American Jewry. Lieberman also said that talks with the Palestinians were hopeless and that Israel must act unilaterally and that Arab countries weren’t interested in the Palestinian problem. (Also Maariv, Ynet Hebrew and Channel 10 Hebrew)

**Haaretz+ revealed that over the last few weeks, Israeli officials pressured the European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to cancel her meeting with Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, and other Joint List MKs, who are meeting with EU officials to get help to pressure Israel to cancel the Nation-State law, which many perceive as classifying non-Jewish citizens as second-class citizens. However, Mogherini rejected Israel’s requests and will meet with Joint List MKs. At Ben-Gurion Airport Monday, on the way to Europe to meet with Mogherini, three Arab MKs from the Joint List were harassed by an MK from the far-right Habayit Hayehudi party. MK Moti Yogev was waiting to meet youth who were immigrating when he saw the Arab MKs and walked over to them.
MK Moti Yogev: "We encourage you to leave Israel. We welcome all those who are making Aliyah and welcome you to leave. This isn't your country, this country will always be the State of Israel and all the traitors—out!”
MK Yousef Jabareen: "Enough with your show.”
Turning to Tibi, Yogev said: "Ramallah will also be a part of Israel. Go to Paris, go to the UK, go to your anti-Semitic friends. Go to whoever is willing to have you. Your place is at the departure hall."
MK Ahmad Tibi (who is also a gynecologist): "Yogev, I told you to take your medicine three times a day. You forgot again?"
(Video in MaarivOnline)

In a letter, the European Broadcasting Union demanded that Netanyahu assure that Israel allow all Eurovision people to enter the country regardless of their political opinions, religion, or sexual orientation, that Israel not interfere with content and that the preparations for the contest be allowed to be held on Shabbat. But Minister of Culture Miri Regev has said that she is interested in interfering with the content that will be broadcast and Israel’s new policy rejects the entry of BDS activists into Israel. (Also Maariv)
 

Quick Hits:

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Commentary/Analysis:
A Palestinian State First (Haaretz Editorial) As long as Israel adheres to the policy of preventing the idea of a state, the idea of a confederation will have no chance of success, either.
A Jordan-Palestinian confederation—why not? (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) If Abbas is right and the US administration recommended a peace plan based on a Palestinian-Jordan confederation, it is the right move; however, it is not clear why the PA president insists on including Israel in such confederation; 31 years after the failed London Agreement, the Jordanian option should be back on the negotiating table.
A salute to Joan Peters (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Four years after her death and 34 years after the publication of her bestselling book "From Time Immemorial," Peters' claims about the Palestinian refugees are gaining U.S. government recognition.
The Eviction of Khan al-Ahmar Stinks Up to High Heaven (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) This is a story about Israel that European newspapers would never publish. Who would believe the Jewish democratic state would present non-Jews with two options for where to live, either next to a garbage dump or next to a sewage plant?
Courtesy of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan: Soon we will have “Dying to Die 2" in Tel Aviv, and we deserve it (Ron Kaufman, Maariv) Every guy who took up arms and passed advanced training with a gun 20 years ago when he was a soldier, can now potentially play Michael Douglas [due to Erdan's easing of restrictions to get a gun permit and his encouragement of civilians to carry arms - OH]. There is nothing casual about the stupidity that controls us, everything is planned.
The center will only wake up when the whims of the right make their mark (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) By means of a stubborn struggle, the extreme right is slowly reaping achievements on the ground and establishing facts that make it difficult to establish an independent and united Palestinian entity in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Netanyahu's Education Policy: A Speech and a Brochure  (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) When it comes to the international tests, Israel is very far from being in the top 10, as the prime minister promised a decade ago; it’s usually near the bottom of the list.
Duterte’s visit proved again: Shame has disappeared from Israel's foreign policy (Yossi Melman, Maariv) In an era in which Israel is courted and can be selective in choosing its friends, the government proves that its policy is based solely on interests, without the slightest desire to pay even lip service to morality.
Shed the apathy (Akiva Bigman, Israel Hayom) The fact that the Left is battered, divided, ridiculous and weak doesn't mean it cannot win the next election. Under these circumstances, a loss for the Right would be far more painful.
Anyone who supports the idea of confederation is ready to give up an independent Jewish state (Prof. Arieh Eldad, Maariv) Those who support the idea that Israel will be part of a Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli confederation explicitly state that it waives Israel's full independence as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Israel Signals Lull in Syria Strikes Is Over, Resuming Military Action Against Iran (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Airstrike attributed to Israel and threats made by its leaders suggest Israel may respond to any danger – even if it means deviating from deals made with Moscow.
The end of the Syrian war, a risk for Israel (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) With Assad's emerging victory, a new conflict will begin between Russia and Iran over the spoils. Meanwhile, Israel might be forced to pay a price for the West's efforts to reconcile with Damascus.
Soldiers in the Syrian Civil War Against Their Will (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Syrian government is making it more difficult for young men to go to one of the country's deteriorating universities to evade the draft.
There is fertile ground in the Arab sector for the activities of the major parties (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Even after the enactment of the Nation-State law, Israeli democracy will not be able to accept MKs who swear allegiance to the state, but organize demonstrations with PLO flags and appeal to the UN to intervene in its affairs.
 

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