APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday February 17, 2014

Quote of the day:

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Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Government approved tax breaks for 35 isolated settlements
• Abbas: There is no need to divide Jerusalem
• Four killed in bus explosion on Egyptian side of Taba crossing
• A message from Jihad to General Sisi // Zvi Bar'el
• 20 (criminal) assassinations in four months and not one was solved
• State on boycott law: Freedom of speech is not absolute - Judges suggested exempting settlements
• Researchers identified 6 new substances that harm child development
• Half a year after development and without a product, the start-up was sold to Google

• The hotel, the money, the apartment - The file that Rabbi Pinto prepared against Superintendent Arabiv is revealed
• To feel like an MK - Knesset invites public for virtual tour
• Jihad on the Eilat border - 4 killed in tourist bus explosion on Egyptian side of Taba border terminal

• Senior EU officials: Doubt if we can reach final agreement with Iran
• Jihad on the fence
• Message to Al-Sisi // Dr. Mordechai Keidar
• "The main problem is public's lack of trust in police, which does not succeed in creating deterrence against the crime organizations" - 3 former senior police officials on the wave of criminal assassinations in recent months
• Official forecast: In another five years, every Israeli will wait another hour daily in traffic jams

• Superintendent Arbiv's minefield - incriminating evidence - or inventions? The deposition of Rabbi Pinto's aide is revealed
• Terror near the border - 250 meters from Israeli territory, bus explosion shakes the Egyptian side of the Taba border crossing
• The crisis in Hadassah worsens: Employees to receive cut salary - and continue to strike
• For the sake of those serving: A new visa card will give benefits to reserve duty soldiers
• In the wake of the wave of crime terror, police changing policy: Less dealing with drugs, more with bombs
• Moment of truth: Sharing the Burden committee begins to vote over ultra-Orthodox draft
• Dror Eydar won "Israeli prize for journalism criticism" [from right-wing media watch org - OH]

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Peace Talk Highlights:
The explosion of a tourist bus on the Egyptian side of the Taba border crossing near Eilat (Egypt refused help from Israeli ambulances) and the seemingly incriminating evidence against the top cop whose job was to fight mobsters were today's top stories. But what was said by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting in his offices with hundreds of Israeli students also made headlines - albeit only Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom ran it in print. Maariv and Yedioth posted the interesting event on their websites. What was particularly interesting was the different issues each paper/website chose to emphasize through the headlines:
Haaretz+: Abbas: Palestinians won't share Temple Mount, but Jews can pray at Western Wall - Palestinian president, addressing Israeli students, says East should go to Palestinians, West to Israel; shows flexibility on refugees issue.
Yedioth's Ynet: Abbas signals flexibility on Palestinian refugees - In most conciliatory statement yet, PA president says he doesn't want to 'drown Israel with millions of refugees.' Also slams Israeli demand for recognition, and admits: 'Incitment (against Israel) exists. 
Maariv's NRG Hebrew: Abu Mazen "Hamas is expected to recognize the agreement with Israel" - In the framework of a meeting with two hundred Israeli students, Palestinian Authority Chairman also discussed Jerusalem, saying "leave it open without borders." 
Israel Hayom: Abbas to Israeli students: I am not a Holocaust denier - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tells group of Israeli students in Ramallah that Palestinians are not interested in seeing a massive return of refugees to Israel • Abbas: Even if the talks with Israel fail, we are committed to nonviolence. 
And the Palestinian Maan News Agency: Abbas: Palestinians want to open, not divide Jerusalem

The event, which had between 200 and 300 Israeli students, depending which media you read, was organized by Labor MK Hilik Bar, who heads the Lobby for the Promotion of a Solution for the Israeli-Arab Conflict and the OneVoice organization, an Israeli-Palestinian group promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
 
Other interesting statements:
In contrast to the Israel Hayom report yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama had agreed to extend the peace talks by a year, Abbas said the talks will come to an end in two months and “Israel has to decide whether it wants peace or not," Maan wrote. NRG noted that Abbas said he "got the impression" from the Hamas leadership that if there were a future agreement with Israel, it would recognize it. Abbas also said that the future agreement would also include the Gaza Strip. Haaretz+ wrote that "Hamas leadership assured him that should a deal be reached that corresponds with the Palestinian consensus Hamas will follow suit." He also talked about incitement and recognizing the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Ynet reported that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warned the Palestinian Authority would collapse if peace talks failed, which would force Netanyahu to take control of West Bank. Erekat made the comments during an interview given to Al-Jazeera last Friday before an audience of hundreds of students at Britain's Oxford University.

Quick Hits:

Features:

On the way to nowhere
When Ismail Khaldi travels in countries abroad and fights against a boycott against us, he represents Israel as a proud diplomat and shows by his own position that minorities in Israel enjoy equal rights. But when he returns home to his Galilee village, Khawalid, not far from Haifa, it turns out that from the point of view of the State, he is just another Bedouin who has no need for his village to be connected to civilization. Now, his friends in the Foreign Ministry have joined his struggle for the paving of a road to his house. (Yedioth, '24 Hours' supplement, cover)
In photos: Rooftop garden flourishes atop Bethlehem refugee camp
A new project in a Bethlehem-area refugee camp seeks to help reverse the history of forced urbanization, after Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes and have faced decades of Israeli land confiscation that severed their ties to the land of what was historically an agricultural society. The project seeks to revitalize connections to agriculture, while at the same time increasing Palestinians' control over their food sources, especially organic vegetables. (Maan)
Gaza bodyguards open first private security firm
As hoards of excited fans scramble to reach Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf, they are pushed back by a group of tough-looking men in shades -- the face of Gaza's first private security firm. Guarding the young singer on a rare trip back to his hometown is the very first assignment for "Secure Land," a newly-formed team of bodyguards whose mandate covers everything from minding VIPs, securing hotels and businesses to ensuring the safe delivery of cash in transit. (Agencies, Maan) 
Army vet from Down Under rises up to IDF challenge
Joe Rasmussen, 22, who served over a year as a combat soldier in the Australian army, will soon conclude basic training with the IDF's Nahal infantry brigade. "The combat experience I gained in Australia I share with my friends," he says. (Israel Hayom)

Commentary/Analysis:

Freedom of expression at stake in Boycott Law deliberations (Aeyal Gross, Haaretz+) Boycott calls may annoy people. but protecting freedom of expression is particularly necessary when that expression is liable to antagonize and be unpopular. 
Anti-boycott law breeds boycotts (Boaz Okon, Yedioth/Ynet) Law considering a boycott call a civil offense is a dangerous attempt by the State to silence people. 
Sapir Sabah: the protected flower of the "Kahane Chai" movement (Shalom Yerushalmi, Maariv/NRG Hebrew) The student (who complained against her teacher, Adam Verete, who allegedly said that the 'IDF is immoral') claimed that her school is not pluralistic, which shows that she has no idea what she is talking about, and you really cannot take her seriously. Sabah became a protected flower of the "Kahane Chai" movement [outlawed as a radical right-wing Jewish terror organization - OH]in its new incarnation, and she receives awards from Michael Ben-Ari, Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir. She walks around with this group of racists and receives compliments, which everyone in this country would be ashamed to get. Such a girl is the last one who can preach pluralism, and we really don't need to give her a stage. 
She lost her way (Merav Betito, Yedioth) Betito writes about the incident this week when the student Sapir Sabah tried to document what was being said inside the teacher' room at a solidarity breakfast the Kiryat Tivon school teachers held for Adam Verete, the teacher Sabah complained had said the IDF was immoral. Sabah said that the school principal pushed her after discovering her outside the door. "...Sabah was the last person who should have been hanging around near the closed door of the teachers' room, trying to document what was said inside...Besides the chutzpah, insolence and tactlessness she displayed, it appears that Sabah has adopted some of the gimmicks of the right-wing organizations when she called the incident an invention of the media - and in this way she has achieved for herself a free life lesson: The Israeli public likes someone who fights for his rights only when he is actually right."
The Jewish-democratic Rubik’s cube (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) The time has arrived for Jewish and Arab democrats to stop dancing to the tune of the right and define the state in which they want to live.
When will Israel recognize the Jewish state? (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Absurdly, we are demanding recognition from the Palestinians but failing to create broad national consensus over the definition of a Jewish state.
That’s the way it was in South Africa (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) I don’t wish us the reality of South Africa, but Bennett and Yogev are making every effort to bring us there, and they are doing so with skill and an impressive ability to navigate.
Not just an Egyptian problem (Alex Fishman, Yedioth) "The Taba-Eilat-Aqaba tourism triangle, which receives over five million tourists a year, is an attractive target for Global Jihad...Yesterday's attack on South Korean tourists is not only an Egyptian problem," even though it took place in the context of the Egyptian military's war against radical Islamic terrorists in Sinai. "Israel is in a frustrating bind. The peace agreement with Egypt is, from its point-of-view, a supreme interest. Any violation of Egyptian sovereignty means a blow to the peace accords. Therefore, Israel is not acting to foil terrorist attacks on Egyptian soil. Its principal line of defense is intelligence gathering, security coordination, using defensive measures such as Iron Dome, and mainly lots of restraint and luck."
Attack on Sinai tourist bus is a test for Sisi (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Strongman wants to be Egypt's president, but has yet to pacify peninsula.
Terror attack's target: Israeli, Egyptian tourism (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) Egypt and Israel are the common enemy of the radical Salafist-jihadist group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, likely responsible for Sunday's attack which left four dead. The group's weapon of choice: Scaring tourists off. 
Disappearing Arab nations (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) Under the dictatorial rule of Hafez el-Assad and later his son Bashar, there presumably was a neighboring nation-state with whom a peace treaty could in principle be negotiated. There is no such partner on Israel’s northern border at the present time.
Kerry's wise peacemaking tricks (Alex Mintz, Ynet) The US secretary of state is successfully maneuvering between the political barriers of Israel and the Palestinians on every issue and in every stage of the negotiations. 
Time to reclaim Rachel's Tomb (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Security needs have turned the once serene place into a fortified compound, reminiscent of a military jail.
Bennett’s horror show: Israel’s retreat from the civilized world (Carlo Strenger, Haaretz+) By overplaying the Holocaust card, the Habayit Hayehudi leader and his minions are putting Israel's friendships at risk.

Interviews: 

**Meretz chief: I oppose boycotting Israel, but won't buy from settlements
Meretz leader Zahava Gal-On sees a direct link between ending the occupation, social justice and economic prosperity for all Israelis. (Interviewed by Sami Peretz and Zvi Zrahiya in Haaretz+)

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