APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday February 26, 2019

 

Quote of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Elections 2019 News:
Top Trump aide Jared Kushner revealed that the ‘Deal of the Century’ will establish a single Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank with defined borders, requiring that Israel give back land and divide Jerusalem, sparking a war within the right-wing and accusations that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will make a coalition with Gantz’s Kahol-Lavan party, Kahol-Lavan’s #2, Yair Lapid, revealed that his party would be willing to make a coalition with the Likud party if Netanyahu lost and stepped down (Maariv), and the Elections Committee may disqualify the Labor party’s #2, esteemed ex-general Tal Russo, making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Kushner’s announcement to Sky Arabia TV came as he and Trump Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt kicked off a visit to the Middle East, where they were discussing the peace plan with leaders of the UAE and Oman. Meanwhile, the leaders of most right-wing parties said they won’t joint a coalition led by former chief of staff Benny Gantz’s Kahol-Lavan. Only Kulanu’s Moshe Kahlon was non-committal.

Election Quickees:

 
Other News Summary:
*The second biggest story in today’s newspapers was the Oscar that Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv won for his short film, 'Skin,’ about racism in America. In his interviews with Israeli media, Nattiv said that the lessons of the film about racism is also applicable to Israel.  “Ultimately, Israel is a microcosm of the United States. You don’t have neo-Nazis in Israel, but there are many other aspects of racism. In the movie, a white guy meets a black guy and plays with his kid in the supermarket, and this leads to a blowup. If the film had been set in Israel, it could have been an encounter between a Jew and an Arab or between an Ashkenazi and a Mizrahi, or between a religious person and a secular person. Just seeing the reaction that Shmulik Maoz got for ‘Foxtrot,’ when people threatened to burn his house down, made me realize how serious the situation is in Israel,” Nattiv said, referring to the 2017 drama in which a couple is told their son was killed in action. “He visited us a year ago and told me that he had received death threats. You could say that I made this film from the vantage point of a foreigner in America who’s already familiar with racism from home.” In an Op-Ed on Yedioth’s front page, Nattiv wrote: “I hope now, after ‘Skin’ received its exposure, more people will see it in the US and in the world - and also in Israel - and will digest its message.” Nativ was also interviewed for KAN Bet radio and compared the film industry in Israel with that in the United States. "It's not easier to make films in Hollywood, it’s just that there is no censorship of what you're doing. We saw what happened with Education, Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, who started censoring our movies, but in the end it did not pass. I hope that filmmakers will create whatever they want without thinking about whether it's too extreme.” (Maariv) Regev published a statement which read: "Good Morning Israel! I was pleased to receive the news of the award of Guy Nativ's film "Skin" for the short feature film in the Oscar, which is another success story for Israeli cinema. "I am grateful to Guy and all those who were partners in his film and I say to him: Guy, I would be happy if you would create in Israel again!" Yedioth’s film critic, Binyamin Tobias, wrote that the same film produced in Israel about Jews and Arabs would have faced problems. “If, and only if, it would have reached a fifth of the status ‘Skin’ reached in the world, they would already be talking in terms of slander and contempt of Israel, and asking why anyone should fund this creation…(The film) streams, it’s amazing, it ends with a punch in the stomach and it mainly proves what talented people grew from the Israeli film industry, which so many elements here in Israel insist must be fixed or cancelled. If we really want Guy Nattiv to return and create in Israel, maybe we need to consider leaving (the Israeli film industry) as it is.”

Also Yedioth’s Itamar Eichner reported that “For the first time, the Reform movement in the US is ignoring Israel”: No Israeli representative was invited to the annual convention of the Reform rabbinical convention, nor will the subject of Israel be discussed there in any way. This comes despite the fact that the movement has made increasing education regarding Israeli issues a major part of the movement. “Israel remains the property of the religious-right-wing sector," senior Israel Foreign Ministry officials told Yedioth, adding that “Jewish organizations feel they are viewed as ATMs. AIPAC's criticism of the merger of ‘Otzma Yehudit’ party (to another right-wing party at Netanyahu’s bidding - OH) was part of that. Israel needs to really beg Jewish organizations not to neglect it. It’s embarrassing.” Yedioth also reported that in light of the conflict between Netanyahu and AIPAC and other Jewish organizations over the merger with the Kahanist “Otzma Yehudit” party, a poll examining Israel public attitudes toward the Diaspora in general and American Jews in particular, on the eve of the elections, was published in Israel and commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation. The majority of Israelis (57%) still see the relationship with American Jewry as good, and only 7% describe it as bad. But most Israelis seem to see American Jewry as a source of money. 34% said that the most significant asset that American Jewry has for Israel is economic. (Ynet Hebrew)
 

Quick Hits:

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Features:

EXPOSE: The tangled web of Israel's extreme right, American Jewry and the US terror blacklist
Former MK Michael Ben-Ari, who heads Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) and could return to Knesset thanks to a Netanyahu-blessed union with Habayit Hayehudi, has ties to non-governmental organizations linked to Meir Kahane's Kach Movement, outlawed in Israel and on US Treasury and State Department blacklists; to make matters worse, some of these NGOs get their funding from US Jews. (Yehuda Shohat, Yedioth’s ’24 Hours’ supplement and Ynet)
Israel's fascist sideshow takes center stage
For the first time in over 30 years, a proper Kahanist party could be entering the Knesset. But is the rise of a party that advocates for Jewish supremacy, theocracy, and ‘total war’ as unprecedented as the outcry has suggested? (Natasha Roth, +972mag)
Netanyahu Indictment Decision Looms, but One Case Still Hangs in the Balance
Everything you need to know about the case involving an alleged deal between the prime minister and a newspaper publisher – and the chance it could be shelved. (Revital Hovel, Haaretz+)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
If Netanyahu and Trump were coordinated, his son-in-law would not bring the political issue back to the campaign (Yanir Kozin, Maariv) "Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump are coordinating not to present the (peace) plan before the elections, so as not to make things difficult for Netanyahu," said Naftali Bennett. Bennett was wrong. Because if Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump were coordinated, the envoy, adviser and son-in-law of the US President, Jared Kushner, would not have done that to Netanyahu. In an interview with Sky News in Arabic, which is tantamount to preparing the hearts of the Arab world for the presentation of the plan, Kushner returned the classic diplomatic issue to the election campaign - and with all his might. Netanyahu tried so hard to play down, even hide, Trump's peace plan during the election campaign. As far as he was concerned, the diplomatic issue could be summed up in video clips of reciprocal visits in Chad, in Liberia, a little at the Visegrad Summit, and at most, mention that the American embassy had moved to Jerusalem. The Palestinian issue? Don’t mention it, except perhaps only to strike opponents. As long as it was Bennett who was making claims about the peace plan, it was possible to wave him off with statements such as "bullshit" and "pressure." But when the person of authority says the words "permanent settlement" and "determining borders" - here is already a real mess for Netanyahu, who is counting on presenting himself as "a strong right." The details provided by Kushner in the interview are not meant to surprise those who have listened to Trump's words or have followed the leaks from the negotiating team over the past two years, during which several times concessions to be made by Israel were mentioned. The politicians on the right preferred to bury their heads in the ground, with a “when we reach that bridge we will see how we will cross it." But Trump is not like his predecessor, Barack Obama, and his patience with those who are undecided or rejecting is not great, to say the least. Netanyahu, the president's closest ally, will have to agree to the plan, even if it includes things he did not dream of agreeing to, such as the division of Jerusalem and separation from parts of Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu can only hope that in the tradition of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will not disappoint and will refuse to let the Americans conduct the negotiations and in that way will bury another American peace plan in the Middle East. Because if not, Netanyahu will have to make a decision - and it will not be easy.
A Softer Palestinian Policy During the Election Campaign Would Help Everyone (Haaretz Editorial) Israel should foster a strong and functioning PA and the economic rehabilitation of the West Bank and Gaza, not its recent hard line on the Temple Mount.
Netanyahu's right-wing problem (Moran Azoulay, Yedioth/Ynet) The prime minister is waging war on Bennett and Shaked, who he sees as a possible threat to his power in a new coalition after the elections, but the two heads of the New Right party have their own plans.
Yitzhak Shamir abhorred Kahane’s teachings, but he too would have brought Itamar Ben-Gvir into the Knesset (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Shamir was remembered as someone who always left the Knesset plenum when Rabbi Kahane rose to speak. Indeed, Shamir abhorred Meir Kahane’s teachings, but I doubt that he would have rejected the rabbi had preserving the right-wing rule been dependent on a single Knesset seat, and especially, that would have prevented territorial concessions in the Land of Israel. From this point of view, it is doubtful whether Netanyahu acted politically differently from what Shamir might have done, certainly while holding his nose. Not out of sympathy with the extreme ideas of this right-wing group, but out of genuine concern: preventing the establishment of an additional Arab country, Palestinians, in our historic homeland.
The attempts to justify unification with Otzma Yehudit are based on lies and racism (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) In order to legitimize the process of making Kahane's heirs Knesset members, the right uses quite a few lies. According to the prime minister, there is no difference between his move, which leads to the entry of the Kahanists into the Knesset, and the blocking bloc of Arab parties that Gantz and Lapid may rely on. Beyond the fact that there is a difference between informal reliance and actively brining in various parties into the coalition, the main problem in comparison lies mainly in the delegitimization by Netanyahu by 20% of the citizens of the State of Israel, who are committed to preserving their equal rights. These are votes that the Likud Party itself is courting in every election campaign. We recall that it was the prime minister who promoted the government's welcome decision to transfer billions of shekels to the local Arab municipalities in order to narrow the (socio-economic - OH)) gaps. And it was his government that tried to enlist the support of the (mostly Arab) Joint List faction for the pass the draft of the gas deal. The attempt to compare Kahane's followers with representatives of the Arab parties in the Knesset is also baseless. Apart from the radical Balad party and the Islamic Movement party, which even the left has no intention of cooperating with, there are Arab parties which it is hard to undermine their legitimacy. This was the case of the Hadash and the Mada parties, which the Rabin government relied on for external support. These are parties that advocate civil equality within the State of Israel and the two-state solution. Rabin did not agree to formal cooperation, but he understood that there was no racism or threat to the existence of the State of Israel. The same can be said today about the Hadash and Ta'al parties. Their aspiration for a state for all its citizens is as legitimate as it is legitimate for some religious Zionists to aspire to a halachic state. This is no reason not to cooperate with them. The Kahanists that Netanyahu brings into the Knesset, on the other hand, are explicitly racist. Some were involved in violent incidents and were also convicted of criminal activity. Gopstein is the chairman of the LEHAVA organization, which called, among other things, to burn churches. Anyone who is looking for anti-Zionism can find it engraved on the foreheads of these people. This was also agreed by the [semi-fascist, nationalist Zionist - OH] Im Tirtzu movement, whose CEO called Gopstein "anti-Zionist." If another right-wing government is formed, Israel will get Betzalel Smotrich [far right-wing MK from Habayit Hayehudi - OH] on steroids. The person who organized the March of the Beasts, the man who he and his wife are deterred by the possibility that an Arab midwife's hand will touch a Jewish baby, will suddenly appear moderate.
Netanyahu's Mussolini-style 'Red Menace' Scare Tactics Threaten Israeli Democracy (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Where criticism is disloyalty and political rivals are stabbers in the nation's back – free elections turn into a ticking time bomb that needs to be neutralized.
Blue and White's economics are deep red (David Hyman, Israel Hayom) Blue and White candidate Miki Haimovich's stance on Israel's gas reserves are an indication that if the Center-Left wins, we will see the most socialist government since the state was founded.
The Real Reason for Netanyahu's Ferocious Attacks on Israel's Arab Citizens (Ron Gerlit, Haaretz+) Netanyahu has always known that anti-Arab incitement pays political dividends. But these elections have witnessed a new level of incitement, triggered by fear of an Arab society that is finding its voice and its identity.
When we celebrate Israeli democracy, we celebrate the violence of occupation (Hagai El-Ad, +972mag) In democratic countries, elections are conventionally described as ‘a celebration.’ But in an undemocratic reality of endless military occupation, they become an overt celebration of the violence of the powerful.

Commentary/Analysis:
Zarif’s Exit Is Good News for Iran’s Radicals, Bad News for the West (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Iranian foreign minister’s resignation could take pressure off President Rohani to step down, or it might intensify it.
Digging in near the Golden Gate (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Despite Israel's unusual step of arresting a Waqf official, it is unlikely that government will be able to keep the Muslims from using the area near the Golden Gate for prayer.
Beyond the Holiness of Israel's Security Forces (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The Al-Aqsa Mosque keeps alive the natural response of a people living under hostile rule: popular resistance.
Security Checks in Israel Are a Jungle in Which Human Dignity Means Nothing (Alexander Yakobson, Haaretz+) An Israeli Bedouin arrived at the memorial ceremony for Amos Oz in Tel Aviv and stood in line to view his coffin. Then he underwent a security check that was appalling and unacceptable.
Katz is not suitable to be foreign minister, but one day he may lead the country (Menachem Ben, Maariv) As soon as he took office, the foreign minister acted like an elephant in a china shop. Why try to extort false profits from the feelings of Polish guilt while seriously harming our true friend?
The Million Dollar Question: With Their Rabbi Gone, Will Evangelicals Still Open Their Wallets to Israel? (Judy Maltz, Haaretz+) Yechiel Eckstein built a billion dollar philanthropic empire by being the first to tap into Christian love for Israel. Will his daughter be able to sustain the momentum now that he's gone?
Why I'm Not a Racist (Peter Hitchens, Haaretz+) The accusation of 'racism' is a crude way to discredit people like me who, against mainstream Western opinion, believe the Syrian opposition groups are worse than the Assad tyranny.
 

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