News Nosh 2.5.19

APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday February 5, 2019


You Must Be Kidding: 
Likud MK Anat Berko's campaign video shows her being kidnapped by a Palestinian militant who later is revealed to be her husband, who flirts with her.*

Front Page:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • Today: Primaries in Likud - We’ll meet at the polling stations
  • Targeted assassination - Sima Kadmon on Netanyahu-Saar
  • The rule of fear // Ben-Dror Yemini on the method
  • Were I a Likud member // Amnon Abramovitz on the candidates
  • Day of celebration for democracy // Yifat Ehrlich on the vote
  • Rolling (cigarettes) gets more expensive
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom
  • Primaries of urges, tension and democracy - Likud votes: 120,000 registered party members will choose their new list
  • Elections 2019 - Leitzman: Burden in the emergency rooms? Elections wrestling; (Habayit Hayehudi leader) Rafi Peretz: Prime Minister is pushing for alliances; (Meretz chairwoman) Zandberg: Union with the Labor party? Only headed by me
  • Family Day: Agricultural dynasty - Today Israel marks ‘Family Day’; The Rosenstein-Ben David family marks five generations in farming
  • The rolled tobacco - the price will double
  • “Hello, Police, can you make me a match?” Exclusive  2 million calls, thousands of bizarre requests
  • This week: A new discussion on the decision to establish a medical faculty at Ariel (University in the West Bank)

Elections 2019 News:
Today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers was the about the primaries being held in the Likud party today, the battle by Prime Minister and Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu to prevent his rival within the party, Gideon Saar, from taking the spot after him and the decision to raise the price of tobacco used for rolling cigarettes to equal the price in regular cigarettes.

Election Quickees:
  • Netanyahu’s son accuses President Rivlin of seeking to oust his father after elections - As premier works to sideline Gideon Sa’ar in Tuesday’s party primaries, Yair Netanyahu writes on Facebook: "My father warned against him (President) and in the end it turned out he was right. If the Likud wins, (the President) will ask Gideon Sa'ar to form the government.” Last October. Israel Hayom reported that sources close to Netanyahu were quoted as saying the scheme was hatched by a former senior Likud member, whom the paper later named as ex-minister Gideon Sa’ar. (Times of Israel and Maariv)
  • Israel's Top Court Dismisses Bid to Block Decision on Netanyahu Indictment Before Elections - Justices say former Likud activist has no right to intervene in the legal dispute over the timing of the attorney general's decision, while the prime minister's lawyers are considering their own petition. (Haaretz)
  • Lapid: Netanyahu is running (for office) to avoid going to prison, he plans to shut down probes - Yesh Atid leader says PM wants elections to focus on his legal woes so he can pass laws that ‘will stop him being investigated.’ (Maariv and Times of Israel)
  • Netanyahu's election season infrastructure bonanza - With two months to go until polls open, prime minister advances projects to improve roads, trains, schools and hospitals costing a total of NIS 200 billion. Nonetheless, given the budget cuts expected to take place once the new government is formed, it is not at all certain that many of the items will ever make it out of the planning stages. (Ynet)
  • Haaretz poll: Gantz keeps momentum, but Netanyahu still comes out on top - Gantz's Hosen L'Yisrael would get 22 seats, second only to Likud's 30. Labor, meanwhile, nearly evaporates with only five seats – just one above the electoral threshold. (Haaretz+)
  • Meretz head calls on leftist Labor MKs to unite around her party - Meretz party leader Tamar Zandberg: Many in Labor are frustrated with party leader Avi Gabbay but afraid to speak out/ Labor party is imploding because, for generations, its leaders have always broken Right, she says. (Israel Hayom)
  • Former IDF Chief Rabbi Replaces Bennett as Habayit Hayehudi Chairman - 'Clearly nationalist,’ Rabbi Rafi Peretz is considered much more conservative than the former leader, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who left to form a new party ahead of the election. (Haaretz+)
  • Coalition head Amsalem sparks ire with Gantz 'autistic' jibe - After accusing former IDF chief and (popular candidate for the premiership) Benny Gantz of 'throwing himself a retirement party that cost NIS 600,000 in tax payer money,' Amsalem calls Gantz an ‘autistic person' for not being aware of how much the party cost; Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, slams the Likud MK. (Ynet)
  • It's Hayamin Hadash or Gantz, Shaked warns - Speaking on a special Israel Hayom-i24NEWS election broadcast, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked says that although the Right has been in power for years, right-wing voters are feeling like they "voted for the Right but got the Left." She warns that if her party, Hayamin Hadash (‘the New Right’), does not receive enough votes to enter into a coalition, Netanyahu will form a leftist government following the election. (Israel Hayom)
  • **WATCH: Primary Election in Israel's Ruling Party = Crazy Campaign Videos - As always, election season brings out the creativity in everyone. Here are Haaretz's picks for the zaniest campaigns and candidates in the Likud primary. (Haaretz)
     
Quick Hits:
  • Palestinian Shot Dead After Throwing Explosive Device at Israeli Soldiers - A second Palestinian who tossed the device at soldiers at Jalameh Checkpoint was moderately wounded, with Palestinian media reports saying the pair were on a motorcycle at the time of the incident. Abdullah Faisal Abu Taleb, 19, from the West Bank village of Jalamah, was killed. (Haaretz+ and Maariv)
  • In response to the indictment on abuse of detained Palestinians - Netzach Yehuda soldiers confessed. Defense: “They were told to escort the collaborators of the murderers of their best friends” - Five soldiers of the (ultra-Orthodox) Netzach Yehuda Battalion confessed yesterday to beating two handcuffed Palestinians. The defense lawyers complained that the soldiers experienced a trauma and were not treated by the military psychiatrist. The indictment accused them of severe abuse and harm (against the Palestinian father and son) who were detained (days after) the shooting in the West Bank that killed two of their fellow soldiers. Judge suggested plea deal. (Maariv, JPost and Times of Israel)
  • Palestinian mosque vandalized in West Bank hate crime - Residents of Deir Dibwan report that graffiti was spray-painted on mosque, including Star of David symbols and sayings such as 'Here they incite to murder Jews' and ‘The People of Israel Live.’ (Haaretz+, Maan and Ynet)
  • Settlers to Palestinian laborers: 'Work with human rights groups and lose your job' - Flyers posted in villages near Gush Etzion warn Palestinian laborers they will be banned from nearby settlements should they cooperate with anti-occupation groups. (+972mag)
  • Israel releases 7 Palestinian women, bans some from Al-Aqsa - Lawyer Khalid Zabarqa added that some of the women who were released from police detention were banned from entering the Al-Aqsa compound for two weeks, while the others were scheduled to have trials that would take place on Monday. They are all Jerusalemites. (Maan)
  • Israel orders 50 Palestinian families to temporarily evacuate homes in Tubas - Palestinian residents of the Jordan Valley regularly face evacuations and interruption due to Israeli military exercises on or near their land. The district of Tubas, meanwhile, is one of the occupied West Bank's most important agricultural centers. (Maan)
  • Right-wing officials back plan to bolster settlements by 2 million - Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and ministers Yisrael Katz of Likud, Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett of New Right, among dozens of ministers and senior lawmakers from the Likud and other right-wing parties who have signed a Nahala Movement petition to promote a settlement plan to abandon two-state solution and establish new Jewish settlements throughout Judea and Samaria. (Israel Hayom)
  • Attorney general orders revote on med school in West Bank settlement - Move due to conflict of interest of member of Council for Higher Education, who has been banned from new debate this week. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Poll: Over half of Israeli Jews believe Nation-State Law must be fixed - Survey ordered by the campaign to amend the controversial legislation finds 52.7% of Jewish public thinks law should include phrase indicating Israel is 'a democracy with equal rights to all citizens of the state.' (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • 14 Israeli citizens killed by police in five years, not a single indictment - Over the past five years, police have shot dead 14 Israeli citizens. The department tasked with investigating the killings has closed all but two of the cases. Almost all the suspects were people of color. (+972mag)
  • 'Israel fiddles while Palestine burns': BDS activists protest Israeli philharmonic in N.Y.C. - Adalah-NY, a group that campaigns for the BDS movement, organized the rally, calling on social media to protest 'Israel art washing,' saying 'Apartheid is out of tune!' (Haaretz)
  • Government poised to deduct 'terror salaries' from Palestinian Authority tax money - The Israeli Diplomatic-Security 'Cabinet' is expected to approve a major cut to the tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), with the amount the PA pays as stipends to the families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel be deducted from the money Israel hands over to the PA, within two weeks. PM Netanyahu says he will enact deduction but worries it will destabilize PA. (Maan and Israel Hayom)
  • Group of bereaved families: "Israel fights terrorists with one hand and finances them with the other hand" - The “Choosing Life" forum convened a press conference in which it called on the government to implement the law of offsetting the salaries of terrorists from Palestinian Authority funds: "The terrorist who murdered my son made a lot of money.“ (Maariv)
  • Netanyahu May Have to Pay Back Unauthorized Defense Funds, Israel's Attorney General Says - Netanyahu received $300,000 from his cousin to cover legal expenses without asking for approval from a State Comptroller committee. (Haaretz+ and Maariv)
  • Report: Dispute between the Attorney General and the District Attorney's Office regarding the Prime Minister’s Residence Case (against Sara Netanyahu) - According to a Channel 12 News report, Attorney General Mendelblit wants to close the case through mediation and not go to trial. Prosecutors in charge of the case demand that Sara Netanyahu confess and be convicted of a criminal offense. (Maariv)
  • Mediator in Sara Netanyahu Fraud Case Proposes She Admit to Breach of Trust, Avoid Trial - Prosecutors have rejected repayment offers that exclude criminal conviction over restaurant meals ordered by Sara at prime minister’s residence despite the availability of a cook. (Haaretz+)
  • District Attorney's Office rejected mediator's proposal in the Prime Minister’s Residence Case - Demanded a conviction for Sara Netanyahu - The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office rejected the mediation proposal and demanded a criminal conviction against the wife of the prime minister. Former deputy CEO of operations at the Prime Minister’s Office, Ezra Seidoff, agreed to the mediation proposal. (Maariv)
  • Amid riots in northern Arab Israeli village, police arrest two (on Friday) with 100 Molotov cocktails - Kafr Manda has been rocked by clashes between families in recent days over results of local election. The arrests took place Friday night. (Times of Israel)
  • 80 Falashmura Land in Israel as Thousands in Ethiopia Wait for Aliyah - This is the first group of Falashmura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, to arrive in Israel as a result of an Israeli decision to bring 1,000 of the 8,000 still waiting in Ethiopia. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Israeli rabbinate accused of using DNA testing to prove Jewishness - 'It is really terrifying thinking where this could lead,' advocate warns. 'Judaism is not about race and blood, as our worst enemies have claimed.’ (Haaretz+)
  • 'Highly irresponsible:' Israeli company claims to have a cure for cancer, but scientists say not so fast - Scientists quickly rejected the claims, calling them 'spurious,' 'unsubstantiated' and even 'cruel.’ (JTA, Haaretz)
  • Israeli-Canadian billionaire to pay for Madonna's Eurovision performance - Sylvan Adams, who brought the Giro D'Italia bicycle race to Israel, will foot the bill for the pop diva's appearance at the prestigious singing competition, which will be held in Tel Aviv in May. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Son of Palestinian imam, friend of Israel, elected president of El Salvador: "We made history" - Nayib Bukele, 37, the former mayor of San Salvador known for being left-wing and fighting corruption, he managed to win in the first round with 53%, and became the youngest president in the country’s history. He ran under the slogan, "There is enough money when no one steals," and promised to reduce poverty, high murder rate and emigration. His victory ended the reign of the two main parties that had dominated El Salvador since the end of its vicious civil war in 1992. He visited Jerusalem in 2018 at the invitation of the Israeli government, prayed at Western Wall. (Walla Hebrew, Haaretz Hebrew, Yedioth/Ynet, Israel Hayom)
  • We share responsibility for Holocaust, Austrian president tells Israel - Ahead of Alexander Van der Bellen's visit, Israel conveys that foreign minister Karin Kneissl, who belongs to the far-right Freedom Party, is unwelcome. (Haaretz+)
  • 'Gaza' documentary film wins 33rd Goya Award - The documentary film "Gaza" directed by Gary Keane and Andrew McConnell, depicts the lives of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip who are under Israeli siege for almost 12-years. It won the "Best Documentary Short Film.” (Maan)
  • Report: Hamas demands guarantees from the UN in exchange for quiet in the Gaza Strip - In a meeting held at the end of last week in Gaza, senior members of the organization demanded that the Egyptian commitments to leave the Rafah crossing open and to transfer commercial materials be upheld. UN Envoy Mladenov undertook to remove the Israeli conditions of (no rioting on the Gaza border -OH) for the Gazans to receive the Qatari money. (Maariv)
  • Israeli forces detain Palestinian near Gaza border - Israeli forces detained a Palestinian youth, on Monday, near the security border fence in the southern besieged Gaza Strip. (Maan)
  • Israeli army conducts military training across Gaza - The Israeli army conducted military training on Monday in various parts of the besieged Gaza Strip. (Maan)
  • Heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad Meet Egyptian Officials for Gaza Talks - Islamic Jihad reportedly seeks to make clear that it will retaliate against Israeli moves in Gaza, while Hamas chief wants approval for a tour of Arab and Muslim countries. (Haaretz+)
  • Hezbollah Leader Brushes Off U.S. Concerns Over Appointed Cabinet Members - In response to U.S. alarm over Hezbollah's presence in Lebanon's new cabinet, the group's leader reassures Washington that its ministers will not use their power to serve the group's agenda. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • US Senate votes to oppose snap withdrawal from Syria, Afghanistan - Senate passes nonbinding legislation that calls Islamists a "serious threat" to the U.S., warns that "precipitous withdrawal" could destabilize the region • U.S. urges coalition partners to repatriate and prosecute fighters captured by Kurdish allies. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
  • U.S.-backed Syrian fighters capture three ISIS militants, including German national - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces says it also captured a Saudi Arabian and an Egyptian. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Iraqi president: Trump did not ask permission to 'watch Iran' (from Iraq) - U.S. troops are in Iraq as part of a U.S.-Iraqi agreement to combat terrorism, and they should stick to that mandate, Iraqi President Barham Salih says • U.S. President Trump to CBS: U.S. troops need to stay in Iraq because "Iran is a real problem." (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
  • Egyptian Court Seeks Death Penalty for Eight Accused of Plotting Murder of Sissi - The military court will transfer the case to Egypt's top religious official, the Grand Mufti, who rarely challenges court decisions. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar Calls on Middle East to 'Embrace' Christians - 'You are part of this nation. You are citizens, you are not a minority,' Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said at an event in Abu Dhabi with Pope Francis. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Saudi authorities at 'highest level' likely responsible for activist's torture, say British MPs - Three British lawmakers on Monday endorsed reports that women activists detained in Saudi Arabia have been tortured - a violation of international law. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Saudi Arabia Pledges to Crack Down on Male Guardianship Abuses - Every Saudi woman is assigned a male relative whose approval is needed to marry, obtain a passport and travel abroad. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Soccer player refuses voluntary extradition to Bahrain - Bahrain has asked for return of former national team player Hakeem al-Araibi to serve sentence for arson attack he denies committing. Amnesty International campaigner: He is at grave risk of unjust imprisonment, torture, ill-treatment if returned. Al-Araibi, 25, a former Bahraini national team player, says he fled his home country due to political repression. He has been living in Melbourne, where he plays for a semiprofessional soccer team. Former Australia national soccer team captain Craig Foster, has been lobbying for al-Araibi's release. Al-Araibi said he believed he was targeted for arrest because of his Shiite faith and because his brother was politically active in Bahrain. Bahrain has a Shiite majority but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
  • The Jews of Dubai are on the map - As the Pope makes an historic visit to the UAE to promote moderate and tolerant Islam, the country has officially recognized the existence of its local Jewish community, which has hopes for a more established presence in the future. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Jews, evangelicals reach out to Sunni Gulf Arab leaders - Arab leaders seek stronger ties with U.S. administration while opening up about their once-secret outreach to Israel • Rabbi Marc Schneier, adviser to the king of Bahrain: Israel is not a "political dimension" for Jews, it's the core of our religion. (Israel Hayom)
  • Ayatollah Khomeini's family mostly absent from Iran politics - Despite his own success, the religious leader behind the overthrow of the Shah deliberately kept his own relatives out of the political sphere, partly due to the alleged corruption of his predecessor, but also due to their more liberal attitudes. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • 40 years later, Iran's revolutionaries share mixed views on uprising - As the anniversary of Iran's 1979 revolution draws near, participants recall the futures they dreamed of, and assess the present reality. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
Tuesday’s Likud Primary Is the First Act in Palace Coup Against Netanyahu (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) There are eight prominent candidates who see themselves as potential future leaders, but the next party head may yet come from a prodigal son or daughter returning to the fold.
Primary elections: Corrupt cronyism or democratic defender? (Dror Liba, Ynet) Not all Israeli political parties choose their Knesset hopefuls by polling their members, some rely on the whim of the party leadership, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular.
For Likud Primary Campaign, Pledging Loyalty to Netanyahu Is Paramount (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) At male-dominated party convention in Jerusalem ahead of Tuesday's vote, shoo-ins and hopefuls courted an array of political veterans, amid excitement over local soccer.
A celebration of democracy (Yifat Ehrlich, Yedioth) On the sidelines, there are still some parties that have internal elections, like the Labor party, Meretz, and Habayi Hayehudi [and Hadash - OH], but unfortunately, these are just fragments of parties, a pale shadow that testifies to the dark majority. Most of the parties in Israel are not democratic…Most of the parties became parties of air established on the basis of a one leader rule. You can mock the Likud, you can scoff at the Likud, but the right thing to do is to respect the only party in Israel which is big and democratic.
Netanyahu, Trump and the league of suspects (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) In a massively public gesture, the Israeli leader has aligned himself with the man who destroyed American influence in the world; the prime minister will do anything to dodge an indictment, but Likud members are finally waking up to a conflict of interests between them and their party leader — and his power won't last forever.
Behind Netanyahu, Gantz and Lapid: The hidden agendas of the advisers whispering in candidates' ears (Nati Tucker, Haaretz+) This election campaign is witnessing a new crop of cases where politicians’ consultants are becoming active players in the public arena – with possible conflicts of interest.
Lapid, do the right thing (Dan Shilon, Yedioth/Ynet) Dear Yair, for seven years, you have worked hard and watched a corrupt and failed leader, while promising a different leadership, a clean and a professional one. But then along came Benny Gantz. So now you must show you are the bigger man, and forgo the leadership of the opposition, for you understand that a foot soldier has no chance against a general.
Netanyahu Isn't Really Afraid of Likud Rival Sa'ar. So Why the Big Guns? (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Netanyahu got used to Likud as his footstool, and hates the notion of other centers of power in politics besides himself.
Haaretz Poll: Half of Israelis Don't Want Netanyahu Reelected (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Undisputed 'Mr. Security' is losing his advantage over his main rival, but the latter is largely perceived as left and the 'Gantz effect' doesn't seem to threat a fifth term for the sitting prime minister after election.
They're Not Jews. They're MAGA People. And They Run Israel (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) I'd be disheartened but for this: I met the one person who should frighten Bibi more than any other in this world.
Why is Netanyahu so nervous? (Yuval Karni, Yedioth/Ynet) Inexplicably asking to secure spots low on the Likud Party list for candidates of his choice and accusing his former friend Gideon Sa'ar of plotting to overthrow him are just two of the irrational moves the prime minister made in recent days. Why is he so worried?
Israel's Left Must Merge (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) Labor's Gabbay refuses to look reality in the eye, and is willing to burn down the house with all its inhabitants.
Israeli Leftists Lurking in the Shadows (B. Michael, Haaretz+) With all the convicted terrorists and murderers, criminal suspects and defendants, and evil, anti-Semitic racists on the right, it’s the ‘left’ that’s a curse word?
The generals got it right (Ron Ben Yishai, Ynet) The IDF is in fact battle ready but the politicians’ fixation on the public’s irrational fear of casualties and potential abductions in a ground operation will have severe consequences in the next war; The IDF must also address the ambiguity with regards to administering and training the ground forces prior to and during battle.
Bibi is not the problem and Gantz is not the solution (Kobi Niv, Haaretz Hebrew and English translation by Sol Salbe) Maintaining the oppression of the Palestinians, using more or less cruel means, is the uniform and shared platform of all the Zionist parties. Bibi did not bring the Occupation with him, so even if Gantz replaces him, nothing substantial will change.
Israel's poverty tsunami (Eli Cohen, Yedioth/Ynet) The country's leaders are ignoring the raging poverty problem: they hide from it, flee to safety or simply stand still hoping to avoid the current. Except this tidal wave has long been coming, and we have to stop ignoring it before it makes landfallץ
Not Just Security: What Could Benny Gantz’s Socioeconomic Directive Be (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) None of the candidate's advisers are economists and none have a record in finance, but potential additions could provide clear direction as tough decisions are badly needed.
Tether your steed, Don Gantzo (Dr. Eitan Orkibi, Israel Hayom) Esteemed commander Gantz, my support for Netanyahu is cognizant and sober; I have applied my own sound judgment and worldview. I don't need you to rescue me from the tyrant's clutches or from myself.
By flocking to Gantz, anti-Netanyahu voters send clear message: We need a hero, not a bloc (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The April 9 ballot is shaping up as a do-or-die duel at high noon that could erase smaller parties and restore the semblance of a two-party system.
Beware of a repeat of '92! (Ariel Kahana, Israel Hayom) Much like 27 years ago, ideological hair-splitting is causing the Right to splinter and the Left is making gains thanks to a candidate with security and defense credentials.
Centrist parties lured by revolution (Mikhael Yigal Maimon, Israel Hayom) In 1977, Labor was not brought down by the Likud but by a new centrist party comprising the old elite. Gantz and the other centrists are now making a similar gamble, which may have unexpected results.

Commentary/Analysis:
Israeli Spaceship's Mission, According to Netanyahu: A Bible on the Moon (Asaf Ronel, Haaretz+) Netanyahu asked the science minister to make sure the spacecraft will carry a Hebrew bible. Little does the prime minister know, the ship already contains one – on a flash drive.
Could an Israeli supermarket king become a Palestinian hero? (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) Rami Levy wants to bring cheap chicken and shopping mall ecstasy as part of his vision of co-existence. His vision is both flawed and hopeless
Forget Tlaib and Omar, Democratic 2020 front-runners should worry Israel more (Amir Tibon, Haaretz+) While the new generation of pro-BDS lawmakers are making news, Democratic presidential contenders' opposition to 'pro-Israel' legislation signals a much deeper shift.
 
Interviews:
Yehuda Biadaga's brother: "The media has done him a crazy injustice, the police need to examine themselves“
In an interview with Maariv, David Biadaga, [whose mentally unstable brother, Yehuda, was shot dead by police while walking around with a knife - OH], returns to his last conversation with his brother, explains why he did not participate in the Ethiopian-Israeli demonstration against police violence and says: "Every citizen should know that there is an institution that is supposed to protect us, and instead, it harms us.” (Interviewed by Carmit Sapir-Weitz in Maariv’s Magazine supplement, cover)

JVP just declared itself anti-Zionist and it's already shifting the conversation
‘We often play the role of being able to say things that the rest of the movement cannot,’ Jewish Voice for Peace director Rebecca Vilkomerson says in a wide-ranging interview about the group’s decision to come out as opposed to Zionism, how to fight the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, and recent attacks on Black-Palestine solidarity. (Interviewed by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man in +972mag)
 
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.