APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday March 23, 2020
 

Quote of the day:

Haaretz

 

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Top News Summary:
Israeli Health Ministry officials’ predictions of 20,000 dead and a corona climax coming next winter with thousands on respirators, while the number of infected already passed 1,200 and the number of unemployed passed half a million (an all-time record in a country nearing nine million people). The Israeli army offered to manage the crisis, saying it is the only entity in Israel capable of handling an event so "dangerous and complicated,” but Haaretz+ reported that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is controlling it all and sidelining key health ministry professionals. Causing Israel added concern was that Gaza reported its two first corona cases and Israeli doctors called on Israel to help Gaza, warning of the possibility of the collapse of the densely populated Strip, with only 70 intensive care beds and a lack of respirators in a population of over two million. Prof. Eyal Zisser writes in ‘Israel Hayom’ that Israel is responsible for the consequences of the spread of corona in Gaza. (More corona-related news in ‘Corona Quickees’ below.)

The other top story was the big event at the Knesset expected Monday, when the Knesset reconvened, after Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) adjourned it last week, saying it was due to corona virus health restrictions, preventing a vote from being held to replace him as Speaker and from approving the establishment of Knesset committee - most importantly an Arrangements Committee, which will in turn quickly set up an interim Finance Committee and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The High Court ruled last week that, if by Tuesday afternoon there is no subcommittee on secret services set up, the emergency regulations imposed by Netanyahu, which instruct the Shin Bet to collect digital information on corona-infected people and those who were in proximity to them and to forward it to the Health Ministry, will expire. Sunday, at the opening of a High Court hearing of petitions to force Edelstein to hold a vote to replace him, the Knesset legal adviser said choosing a new Speaker now was problematic. Normally, new speakers are chosen after a government is formed. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit wrote “the establishment of committees should not be delayed” and that the Knesset should continue working as usual during the Corona crisis. The High Court said that the health officials' steps to combat corona don't justify the suspension of Knesset activities. Interestingly, former justice minister and a member of Netanyahu's right-wing bloc, Ayelet Shaked (Yamina party), said the Knesset operate despite the corona.

Corona Quickees:

Other Quick Hits:

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Features:

A fascinating documentation: A journey among the voters of the Joint List after the huge achievement in the elections
In the recent elections, the Arab sector came together to vote for the Joint List. At the height of the corona panic, residents of the Triangle explain what the party's secret power is, what Netanyahu's part is, and what MK Hiba Yazbak’s status is. (Eyal Levy, Maariv)
Gaza, like you never knew it
For modern-day Israelis, Gaza is synonymous with terrorism and alienation. But Gaza has a long history of a thriving Jewish presence, explains researcher Haggai Hoberman. (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom)

Elections 2020/Netanyahu Indictment Commentary/Analysis:
Coronavirus Crisis Accelerates Israel’s Slide Into Erdogan-style Authoritarianism (Yossi Melman, Haaretz+) Israel joins an unsavory club of states led by hard right government weaponizing coronavirus fears to target political enemies and settle old scores.
"Crisis of Humanity": Netanyahu's real spin is meant for the dispute between Gantz and Lapid (Ben Caspit, Maariv) No one should envy Binyamin Netanyahu these days. The pressure on his shoulders is unprecedented. His life's work is drowning in great waters. He wants to finish nicely. He wants unity (government) - whatever it costs. It’s a desperate spin: "It's not a spin," Binyamin Netanyahu pleaded, "It's real ... It's a crisis of humanity ... You have to understand this,” and he tried with all his enormous power to convince viewers of the authenticity of his plea to Benny Gantz to throw off the Kahol-Lavan hot air balloon, the "crazy" - Yair Lapid - and rush "under the stretcher" to save the nation. Could he mean the same Gantz who Netanyahu himself, just a few moments ago, turned into a sex pervert, a stutterer, a loser, a collaborator with Hamas, a psychotic, a man who attends terrorist memorial ceremonies, a man who is hesitant and helpless? Yes, it's the same Gantz. So now it’s the time to stir trouble with all his power, loudly and unabashedly, between Gantz and Lapid. In stirring trouble he is outstanding. By the way, yes, it's a spin. Not because the situation is not an emergency. We are in a real emergency, but not one that requires a national unity government overnight. We are not on the eve of Six-Day-War, we are not in the middle of the Yom Kippur War, we are not debating before the Declaration of the State. We don’t need to send three divisions of the IDF into Lebanon, mobilize reserves or attack in Dahiya (Gaza). The plague must be fought. Most of the work is on the shoulders of the professionals. The disputes are internal. Yes tests, no tests. Nothing beyond that. The opposition does not interfere. Kahol-Lavan does not tweet or undermine government decisions. Even the digital media debate has not really delayed them. Netanyahu's (third consecutive) transitional government enjoys complete freedom of action in the Corona war. No one (other than the media, which is its job) bothers it in its decision making. The main reason why Netanyahu is struggling to drag Gantz under the stretcher is simple: So that he'll have someone to blame for this issue. To have someone to share responsibility for the health (system) failures. So that he won’t be left alone at the top, exposed to criticism that will come at some point - unless the rest of the freedom of speech is taken over by then….
Stop the Shin Bet Surveillance (Haaretz Editorial) The harm to personal rights – in this case the right to privacy – by Shin Bet surveillance, added to the other restrictions on movement, on demonstrating, and who knows what will come next, undermines the basic contract between a citizen and his country. Anyone who believes that these weapons, once the government has used them, will be abandoned when the coronavirus crisis abates is being naïve.
Yes, track them (Shalev Julio, CEO and Founder of NSO, Yedioth Hebrew) The use of technological means in the medical context to monitor the spread of the corona virus raises concerns about privacy. But using it properly and proportionately will not compromise privacy and can save lives. The biggest challenges facing the states today are first and foremost, the correct mapping of the infected, the regulation of the tests, the prediction of the future infection and accordingly to that, active and effective preparation of medical services. The decision approved by the Israeli government allows the Ministry of Health to obtain two critical data to help stem the spread - locating the places where the patients were staying and mapping the people who were in their area. All that is needed to conduct the epidemiological investigation reliably and simply is, in the knowledge of the patient, to access the data of cellular companies and understand relatively simply and reliably where the patient had been in the previous 14 days to discover the disease.
Between being hijacked and unity: The democracy we have to save because of the raging virus (Ben Caspit, Maariv) Israeli democracy is dying under the auspices of Corona. This is the time when you have to fight for it. The battle between the Treasury and the Ministry of Health shows that the opinion is the one who with the opinion is the one managing to scare Netanyahu last.
Netanyahu’s Extortion-by-coronavirus Is by Far His Most Shameful and Least Forgivable Offense (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The prime minister cites a national emergency to prove the need for unity but will never relinquish his main goal: Avoiding criminal trial.
The ugly zigzag of Kahol-Lavan shows that a unity government is a cowardly way out (Dr. Haim Misgav, Maariv) Those (Netanyahu) who are willing to connect with those (Kahol-Lavan) who want to rob the Jewish people of their national home [reference to Kahol-Lavan connecting with the Joint List - OH] in exchange for a ruling at the helm should not be interlocutors with my (right-wing) camp.
American Jews Don't Care That Israel's Democracy Is Falling Apart (Charles Dunst, Haaretz+) There’s a disconcerting, and indefensible, ‘no comment’ from every major U.S. Jewish group, politician and public intellectual on Netanyahu’s palace coup. The coronavirus crisis isn’t the only reason.
A minority government will unravel Blue and White (Rabbi Dov Fischer, Israel Hayom) Having experienced the revelation that Blue and White reneged on the core promise not to form a government with Arab parties that would destroy Israel, those chastened voters will have to draw conclusions.
Detour required: As the official opposition, the Joint List will give us a hard time (Yitzhak Levanon, Maariv) The establishment of an emergency government or unity government sounds tempting and on the face of it, most desirable. The difficulty with this solution is that the Joint List party, the third largest party, will become the official Opposition with everything this signifies by the law. Regular political briefings by the Prime Minister to the heads of the Joint List on all issues, including providing answers on sensitive issues. Not least is sitting in Knesset security committees on sensitive issues, such as Israel's fight against Hamas, fighting against Iran's establishment in Syria and Lebanon, extremist terror and the Iranian nuclear program. An Opposition such as the Joint List could create problems that will be hard to avoid…If one has to choose between the Joint List in as the formal opposition in the heart of Israeli politics and between the Joint List giving support (to Kahol-Lavan) from the outside, I choose the second alternative.

Other Commentary/Analysis:
Responsibility for Gaza will fall on Israel's shoulders (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) Hamas is capable of firing rockets at Sderot, but not caring for its civilian population. Israel is already sending aid, both to help the people of Gaza and to head off domestic and foreign criticism.
Coronavirus confirmed in Gaza: This is what Israel must do – now (Shannon Maree Torrens, Haaretz+) The identification of the first two cases of coronavirus in Gaza is a frightening moment for its inhabitants. But there are immense legal and moral ramifications for Israel, the occupying power.
*When there is no real enemy (Poet Yehonatan Geffen, Yedioth Hebrew) The main problem with this sudden epidemic is that there is no one to hate, no one to take revenge on, and no obvious enemy to destroy. If we knew that the virus was being spread by Iran, Syria or Hamas, we would have attacked them without thinking twice, and now all that's left for the prime minister, the scared king who knew how to draw Iran's nuclear capability with a chalkboard at the UN, is to pose with a shabby Kleenex and to ask not to congregate, not to be old and not to cough. I have often thought that everything that holds this stupid, belligerent, leaderless government together is the enemy we are destined to destroy, and I don't even want to think what will happen here if all of a sudden peace breaks out and there are no more wars. And so, the most powerful army in the world is helpless in the face of an unknown enemy, and how exactly can our forces destroy a mysterious virus that strikes us and the world without mercy, and we have no one to blame, and so little intel? Poor Israel Defense Forces. Poor Ronnie Daniel (Israeli military affairs TV reporter infamous for lack of balance in reporting - OH).
Pandemic is no reason to let Iran off the hook (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom) If Iran is suffering from the virus, the blame belongs to terror-supporting theocratic tyrants and Obama's appeasement, not Trump's sanctions.
Economic respirator machine (Sever Plocker, Yedioth Hebrew) If Netanyahu fails to formulate a massive economic rescue plan, it will lead to a historic failure that will never be forgiven. In interviews and speeches, the Prime Minister disseminates dizzying prophecies of destruction. Recently he talked about a global crisis that there was nothing like it since the Middle Ages. But at the same time, Netanyahu voiced his firm opposition to a dramatic increase in the government's budget and a great deal of aid to the economy, claiming that it could cause inflation - a lesson he learned, he said, from the teachings of conservative economist Prof Milton Friedman. The contradiction between the two messages should concern us. For whatever reason, Mr. Netanyahu: Either Israel is galloping toward a biblical disaster, so it is imperative to take all steps to prevent it - or it it needs to save the budget to keep a low deficit and restrain money printing, because there’s a light flickering at the end of the tunnel. The PM's position, which is contrary to the position of the Governor of the Bank of Israel and to the opinion of almost all of the community of economists, is not only wrong. Under the present circumstances, it can cause paralysis and a tragedy forever. Let's look at other countries: In Germany, known for restraining budgetary policy management, the Minister of Finance announced a comprehensive program to save the economy of up to € 600 billion, close to 15% of GDP. But more than the sum is important: the German government is restarting the 2008 fund to buy shares and bonds and provide business credit guarantees to keep them from laying off millions of workers. The German Economy Minister stated: The German government has no red lines and will not hesitate to take over private companies and operate them as government companies. In Trump's US, the White House, Treasury and Congress are working together on an almost $400 billion aid package for businesses, corporations and individuals, about 20 percent of U.S. GDP. The package will include grants, credit guarantees, and the purchase of corporate shares and bonds to save economic and employment activity and to preserve home savings. And us? The government reconciles with the "temporary" dismissal of hundreds of thousands of business sector employees (if the businesses received generous assistance from the state, their employees would go on paid leave), reconciles itself with the absurd budget limit, with severe erosion of public savings and with harm to exports, high-tech, the self-employed and small businesses. The Israeli economy, which is sick with corona, needs an emergency rescue plan immediately, needs a "respirator" on a relative scale equivalent to a US-German ratio of between 150 billion and 200 billion shekels. However, the Prime Minister does not show a willingness to formulate such a plan or even close to it. He intends to aid up to 1.5% of the GDP only, about 20 billion shekels, which is a tenth of what is needed, and he rationalizes his approach with dubious reliance on outdated monetary theories. Likewise, Netanyahu's outrageous economic decisions are influenced by narrow-minded political considerations associated with establishing a new government headed by him. This is a historical failure that is unforgivable.
Coronavirus is not the only deadly disease (Prof. Ariel Finkelstein, Yedioth/Ynet) Many people require ongoing treatment for a host of ailments, but physicians are being told to delay care that Health Ministry officials deem not crucial during a pandemic, and people will die and they too deserve proper care.
Coronavirus and the Jewish community (Isaac Herzog, Israel Hayom) As communities all over the world find themselves paralyzed by their new reality, the Jewish people as a whole and the state of Israel – in particular – must act on the virtue of taking care of each other.
How Special Interests Are Influencing Israel’s Coronavirus Restrictions (Noa Landau, Haaretz+) Away from the public eye, ministers push for exceptions to regulations based on the pressure being brought to bear on them
Coronavirus in Israel Is a Civilian Crisis, but the Army Can Help Turn the Tide (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The Health Ministry refuses to draw upon the army’s resources, while decision-making on a response to the epidemic is in the hands of a threesome led by Netanyahu.
Will coronavirus drive Israel into a recession? (Erab Bar-Tal, Israel Hayom) With massive restrictions imposed on the economy is an effort to curb the spread of the virus expected to remain in place at least until after the Passover holiday, experts believe that the damage the move will inflict on the economy could exceed $12.5 billion, bring project growth for 2020 down to zero.
The 'Butcher' Who Fled Lebanon in a U.S. Helicopter (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Who released a former bigwig in an Israel-backed Lebanese militia and allowed the man, accused of torture, to flee to America as the coronavirus sweeps across Lebanon?
Breaking With Tradition, Israel's State Comptroller Won't Examine Coronavirus Crisis in Real Time (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Insider sources also say the state comptroller, a Netanyahu pick, has softened a number of reports due to come out on Monday.
The long-term consequences of COVID-19 (James Dorsey, Israel Hayom) As the coronavirus spreads, so does its likely political and economic fallout. For authoritarians and autocrats, this could mean complete collapse.
Haaretz and the Coronavirus: How We Are Reporting the News and Staying Safe (Avi Scharf, Haaretz+) Israel is not yet under complete lockdown, and we at Haaretz are ready to continue our journalistic mission and uphold the newspaper’s values at this critical time – not only a health emergency, but also an emergency for democracy during a constitutional crisis.
 

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