News Nosh 5.4.20

by APN 05/04/20
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday May 4, 2020

Quote of the day:

“There is no justice (for Palestinians) in the (Israeli) courts. Anyone who tells you otherwise there is a liar. I can be arrested for months for a traffic violation, but they (who murdered my wife) have all been released, even though their trial is not over. Nothing has happened for months.”
--Yacoub Rabi, whose wife Aisha, 49, was murdered by settler youth who threw rocks at her car, speaks in an interview about his life since the murder.*


Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • The decision on the premiership - 11 justices convened to make dramatic decision
  • Through the eyes of a nurse - Rare documentation from inside. Nurse at children’s hospital photographed corona crisis from inside
  • Only 23 new sick
  • Welcome to the grandparents
  • It’s happening again - Husband who was jailed in the past for attacking his wife stabbed her to death

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

  • Second round - After hearing in High Court yesterday about whether a person indicted of bribery can form a government, today the second round of the battle begins
  • They came, they learned - First day of opening of school for 1st-3rd grade passed successfully
  • Victims of misery - Social Welfare Ministry warning: Economic-social situation and the closure in homes forced on the public causing psychological damage
  • 50-year-old woman died in apartment in Bat Yam. Her husband: I murdered her when I was drunk

Israel Hayom


Top News Summary:
The High Court began hearing petitions against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu forming a government, the government prepares to greatly relax lockdown restrictions and domestic violence during the corona crisis has led to at least six deaths in Israel - making the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Elections 2020 / Netanyahu Indictment News:
“Nothing in the hearing yesterday in the High Court was routine: The masks on the faces, the glass separations between the justices and the cameras, which broadcast it all live. But in particular, the subject itself, among the most explosive put on the doorstep of the High Court: Whether someone accused of bribery can form a government,” noted Yedioth reporter Yael Friedson. The justices hinted that the petitioners had not persuaded them. Today they discussed whether the Likud - Kahol-Lavan coalition agreement is legal. Their decision on these two issues is expected by the end of the week. If they do decide to prevent Netanyahu from being prime minister or this coalition agreement from being implemented, it could lead to a fourth elections. Yedioth’s political commentator Nahum Barnea, Haaretz’s judicial commentator Mordechai Kremnitzer and Maariv's Matan Wasserman agreed that the question was a moral one, not a legal one and that legally, Netanyahu could form a government and the justices probably won’t intervene in that issue. (See Election Commentary/Analysis below.)

Interestingly, Netanyahu’s lawyers said Netanyahu won’t appoint law enforcement officials. The justices also grilled Netanyahu’s lawyer over why the coalition agreement states no senior appointments would be made in the government's first six months. "What's the connection between the coronavirus and the police commissioner?" she asked. Outside the court house, protesters opposing Netanyahu gathered and watched the hearing on a large screen.

Corona News and Quickees:

Four suicides due to domestic violence since the crisis began, and two murders of wives just in the last week, meanwhile the government introduced new laxer guidelines and prepared to relax lockdown restrictions.

  • Israel's coronavirus death toll up to 234, with 16,237 confirmed cases - Rate of infection appears to be higher in men. Jerusalem still leads with 3,571 cases so far. Some 6,145 Israelis listed as "active" corona cases, with 76 on ventilators. Hospitals continue to close corona wards as virus appears to be on the decline. 582 health care workers in quarantine. (Ynet  and Israel Hayom)
  • Health Ministry reports lowest daily virus diagnoses in over month and a half with just 29 new cases - COVID-19 death tally reaches 232 as three more Israelis succumb to disease; further decline in number of serious patients and patients on ventilators; 9,749 have recovered so far. (Ynet)
  • Druze and Circassian leaders protest government, call for funds - After the Nation-State bill was passed the minority communities claimed they had been made second-class citizens increasing tensions with the Netanyahu government. (Ynet)
  • Palestinians in Israeli-controlled West Bank Fall Through Cracks of Coronavirus Response - Palestinians in small villages of Area C don’t receive the services they need to combat the coronavirus from either Israel or the Palestinian Authority. (Haaretz+)
  • ‘Cries for Help Are Going to Hit Us Like a Tsunami’: Domestic Abuse – the Other Coronavirus Disease - Jewish or Arab, in Israel or in Gaza, there has been a huge uptick in the number of reported incidents of violence against women during the lockdown – and the true figure is likely to be much worse. (Haaretz+)
  • Defense Minister calls to nix obligatory isolation in 'coronavirus hotels' for overseas arrivals - Naftali Bennett says continued operation will cost whopping 250 million shekels per month; returnees will commit to adhere to shelter-in-place orders and only those unable to self-isolate will be taken to hotels. (Ynet)
  • Israel's National Security Council rejects call to add women and minorities to coronavirus expert panel - Only two out of 31 members consulting the government on the crisis are women, none are Arabs, and there is no representation from the fields of education or welfare. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel Postpones LGBTQ Pride Parades Due to Coronavirus - The organizers say they hope the events, which usually take place in June, can be held later this summer; virtual pride events will still be held. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • IAC virtual concert raises $325K for health care workers - Idan Raichel, David Broza, Keren Peles among Israeli stars that participated IAC Care initiative fundraiser concert Sunday. All proceeds are for medical professionals on COVID-19 front lines. (Israel Hayom)
  • Jordan eases coronavirus curfew and reopens more businesses - Amman instated a nationwide curfew nearly 40 days ago that ordered the country's population of 10 million to stay at home. The relaxation in curbs on movement in the capital follows a similar move last week in southern Jordan, including the Red Sea port city of Aqaba. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)

 

Other Quick Hits:

  • Israel's Attorney General Assumes Role of State Prosecutor, Justice Minister Objects - On Thursday, a temporary injunction issued by the High Court of Justice barred extending the tenure of the acting state prosecutor, leaving the responsibilities of the office to the attorney general. (Haaretz+)
  • Bennett Approves Changes at Cave of Patriarchs in Violation of Oslo Accords - Palestinian Authority: Israeli seizure of Hebron municipal powers for installing an elevator is a crime. Shunning the authority of the local municipality over the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Bennett approves structural changes to make the compound handicap accessible. (Haaretz+ and JPost)
  • Five Sudanese Citizens Arrested While Trying to Cross From Lebanon Into Israel - In April, the Israeli security establishment found that the separation fence had been damaged in three different points and attributed the incident to the Hezbollah militia. (Haaretz+ and Times of Israel)
  • Genesis Prize Winner to Donate Proceeds to Fight Coronavirus - Natan Sharansky's $1 million prize will support Jerusalem residents of all faiths, vulnerable people throughout Israel, as well as research and Jewish elderly abroad. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • UK publisher pulls textbook following complaints of anti-Israel bias - "It is very important that children learning about this complex subject are taught in a balanced and accurate manner," stated UK Lawyers for Israel director Caroline Turner. (Israel Hayom)
  • Intel Set to Acquire Israeli Startup Moovit for $1 Billion - Purchase of public transportation app seen as aiding U.S. company’s Mobileye unit in developing driverless taxis. (Haaretz+)
  • Syrian tycoon decries 'inhumane' security forces in unprecedented criticism - Leading businessman and cousin of President Assad says he is being pushed to step down as authorities crackdown on businesses, arrest employees and demand draconian tax payments. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Egyptian police say 18 militants killed in Sinai skirmish - The raid in the town of Bir al-Abed was prompted by intelligence pointing at a suspected terrorist cell using a residential house as local headquarters, according to Egyptian police. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Sudan Moves to Criminalize Female Genital Mutilation - The encouraging first step towards outlawing the practice, to which 87% of Sudanese women have reportedly been subjected, is not a guarantee of success. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Features:

Netanyahu Is 'Confident' in His Annexation Plan. Experts Outline His Next Steps
Israel’s prime minister has spent the last year talking about annexing the Jordan Valley and settlements in the West Bank. the question is no longer 'Can he do it?' but rather, 'Will he?' (Judy Maltz, Haaretz+)
Eli Cohen, in first person                      
A new three-part documentary tries to give viewers a sense of what Israel's legendary "man in Damascus" experienced as a working secret agent and after his capture by the Syrians. (Ariel Bulshtei, Israel Hayom)

Elections 2020/Netanyahu Indictment Commentary/Analysis:
The High Court, Israel's Last Line of Defense (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) In retrospect, signs of a slackening grip on the wheel of opposition to the expanding wave of depravity in the country have already been visible: If the people are OK with corruption, let there be corruption; if the people don’t want Arabs, then let’s not have Arabs. The rule of law is in danger! Come on, stop exaggerating. Slowly and persistently, the tone shifts. There’s a measure of sympathy for Benny Gantz’s defection, and the cry goes out: Don’t sully Amir Peretz and Itzik Shmuli with accusations of treason. In fact, they deserve a seal of trustworthiness. How did Fairouz put it in her song “Mish Kayen Hayk Tkoun”? “The olives were different, and even you, my dear, aren’t what you once were.”…I don’t have any high hopes – after all, justices are only human – but fate has given them an opportunity to be the last line of defense against the complete collapse of the rule of law. Will they hold up? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
The resonant message from the High Court will come, but it’s not clear if it will be intervention on its part (Matan Wasserman, Maariv) The High Court has decided in the past not to interfere with political agreements, which is also why the dry law allows the Prime Minister to continue to serve. Senior judicial officials also expect restraint also in dealing with the current petitions to the court.
The High Court hearing later on Netanyahu's term puts the separation between law and morality to the test (Mordechai Kremnitzer, Haaretz Hebrew) The High Court will have to decide whether any political decision is immune from judicial intervention - even at the cost of immediate and severe harm to the rule of law and at the cost of providing a tailwind to corruption.
Perforated like Swiss cheese, smells like Camembert (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth Hebrew) When I watched the High Court hearing yesterday, I closed my eyes for a moment, imagining not Netanyahu's head lying on the table but Knesset Member Haim Katz’s. Katz’s situation is identical to Netanyahu’s. They are both members of Knesset. They are both are dragging criminal charges. The difference is that everyone has an opinion regarding Netanyahu: Some admire the land he walks on; Others see him as an existential danger. The opinions about him are so charged that they make it difficult to think objectively. Knesset Member Haim Katz sparks less intense feelings. There are some who get confused between him and the other Katz (Yisrael- OH), depends on the number of letters in the crossword. Should the High Court allow Knesset Member Haim Katz to form the next government? In my opinion the answer is yes. Therefore, also Netanyahu. The reason for this is simple: When the Knesset passed the Basic Law, the question came up for debate and it was decided upon. The protocol indicates this. When we have no way of knowing what the Legislature intended, we turn our eyes to the High Court: It interprets the law; It renews. There is a space it can fill, a crack that it can enter through. Unfortunately, this is not the case here. There is, of course, a serious ethical problem in a person indicted on criminal charges sitting in the Prime Minister’s seat. There are also a number of practical problems, the most serious of which is a conflict of interest. But those who expect the top judges to solve all the ethical problems that the politicians create for us are expecting too much. The petitioners against Netanyahu's appointment spoke with deep moral conviction, but the legal basis they relied on was narrow and forced. It was not an easy day for them in court. Today, the judges will hear the arguments for and against the Likud-Kahol-Lavan agreement. The hearing is likely to be different, more detailed, more practical, more legal, closer to the spirit of other High Court hearings. Although they are generally reluctant to intervene in political agreements, they will be happy to dive into the details of this agreement. The agreement is perforated like Swiss cheese, and smells like Camembert cheese. Regardless of the end result, it is worth listening to their comments, to every word…
At Israel's Top Court, Two Contradictory Days of Testimony (B. Michael, Haaretz+) There’s something ludicrous, not to mention absurd and insolent, about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arguments to the High Court of Justice. During the first day’s session Netanyahu and his attorneys made a lengthy argument to the court about why, despite being charged with bribery and the like, he is entitled to be given a mandate to form a new government. He sought to persuade the justices that “under the circumstances created,” only he is worthy of this mandate. His claims, as usual, relied on all kinds of bluffs, vague threats, arrogance, “the voter's decision,” “separation of powers,” and even enlisted a chance remark by Justice Eliahu Mazza, who once used the term “uniquely deserving,” to inform us that Netanyahu, and no one else, is again “uniquely deserving.” But the primary oxymoronic grotesqueness occurrs during the second day of the High Court session, which deals with the bizarre coalition agreement signed between Likud and Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan. As if by waving a magic wand, the “voter’s decision,” “the people’s will,” the “uniquely deserving,” and “chaos” all disappeared, along with all other nonsense presented to the court on the first day. Because on the second day Netanyahu is asking the court to permit him to transfer the lofty position, ostensibly his by right of “the voter’s decision,” to someone else.
Theater of the absurd in the High Court (Jacob Bardugo, Israel Hayom) The rulings of this past year have only strengthened the "Anyone but Bibi" camp, which now can't present valid legal grounds for its petitions against the prime minister.
The Time Has Come for Israel's Top Court Decision, Too Bad It Wasn't Made Before (Carmi Gillon, Haaretz+) Last December, prior to the Likud primary, we - 67 citizens - submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice. We asked the court to weigh an important issue: Whether the formation of the government can be entrusted to an MK accused of serious crimes of corruption involving moral turpitude. Along with the legal arguments, which we won’t discuss here, we raised a “civilian” argument: All voters, and Likud members in particular, have a right to know - if they want to vote for Benjamin Netanyahu - whether Israeli law will enable him to head the next government. The court ruled at the time, with the backing of the attorney general, and with regard to additional petitions we submitted, that the issue was theoretical, and suggested that we petition again when Netanyahu was an actual candidate for prime minister. The group of which I am a member has since expanded. Other group members include scientists and senior physicians, people involved in education and culture, including 17 Israel Prize laureates, six university presidents and leading diplomats and industrialists. The time has come for the court to make a decision, and it will be forced to do so under far more difficult conditions than those it confronted when we first submitted our petitions. The coalition agreement cooked up by Netanyahu and Kahol Lavan head Benny Gantz began with a campaign to destroy democracy in Israel. The court is presently hearing explosive petitions, after the Knesset has already been annihilated.
Coalition deal should be invalidated (Yossi Beilin, Israel Hayom) The High Court's likely intervention in the coalition deal gives us a reason to be proud of our country.

Other Commentary/Analysis:
Once in a while, it is important for Egypt to mention that Israel was and remains an enemy to them (Jackie Khougy, Maariv) The Egyptian drama series that predicts the destruction of Israel is a small and symbolic example of the crooked pattern of the relationship with Cairo. In Jerusalem, they claim it’s warming, but the reality proves the opposite. The heart of the relationship remained as it was…Even in the worst of the crises with Egypt, a scene like the one included in the “End” drama series was not scene. A 30-episode futuristic series for Ramadan, the story of which takes place in a hundred years. The heroine is a history teacher, Egyptian actor Yusuf Elsharif, who drives into his students episodes from the past, and also finds himself at the center of a thrilling contemporary plot. In the first episode, which aired last Friday, he told his students about those - which is these - days. The US, he said, was the main proponent of the Zionist state. Its states began to fight each other and to fall apart. When an opportunity arose to get rid of their sworn enemy, the war broke out, known as the ”War of Liberation of Jerusalem.” It ended quickly with the destruction of Zionist Israel, even before it was 100 years old. Most Jews fled and returned to their countries of origin in Europe and in Arab countries.” You can dismiss this picture with a lot of light explanations. You can say that the series is fictional, that it is just a TV drama, and the destruction is not only just to us, but also of Washington. This is all true if it were a British or Swiss production. When it comes to Egypt, we have an expression of wishful thinking, which can be found in Egyptian political discourse even today. From the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the masses were educated to see Israel as the top enemy. The idea did not go away with the establishment of official relations. At most, it went underground, and from time to time it emerges to remind us of its existence. Despite this, in recent years, Israeli discourse has adopted a positive concept of Egypt. You can understand where it grew. The A-Sisi regime adopted a practical and beneficial policy of relations, and it ceased to be negative towards Israel and to support its defiance of its enemies. Jerusalem embraced the change. For several years now, there has been no bad word about Cairo. Just the opposite. In a series of statements in recent years, Israeli officials have praised the Egyptian regime. At a festive event at the Egyptian ambassador's home in Herzliya, nine months ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu called A-Sisi "a smart leader" and "a brave man." It was the public climax of the embrace given to the regime by the defense and political leadership in Jerusalem. Israeli media rarely challenges this policy, and when necessary, military censorship is being mobilized to prevent reports on contact with the Egyptians. After Washington, Cairo of A-Sisi is the most protected from the media by the government.
Welcome to the era of Coronialism (Oren Yiftachel, 972mag) Under the guise of 'emergency,' states are using COVID-19 to consolidate power, prop up the neoliberal order, and clamp down on the disenfranchised. If we fail to struggle for a new order, regressive forces will recolonize society, notably in Israel-Palestine.
The end of innocence (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Some 100 years after the 1920 riots, which signified the opening shot in the Israeli-Arab conflict, what has changed? A great deal – and very little.
Crisis in the Bedouin Sector: Israel ignores its backyard (Salameh Al Atrash, Maariv) While the government allocates aid budgets to strong municipalities, we Arabs and Bedouins are dealing with increasing collection of food donations to distribute to families who can’t finish the week. This means the dampening and elimination of the welfare and education systems in the sector and a rapid deterioration into the inevitable crime and criminality. Without an immediate allocation of at least half a billion shekels to all the Bedouin communities in the Negev, we won’t be able to function. If the strength of the chain depends on the strength of its weakest link - then the state of society in Israel is extremely difficult and requires rethinking and thinking out of the box. (The writer is the mayor of the Al-Kassum Council in the Negev.)
Israel doesn’t need ‘advice’ against annexation — it needs consequences (Hagai El-Ad, 972mag) Half a century of occupation is ample time for powerful states like Germany to learn that rhetoric without action simply reinforces Israeli impunity.
Trump is doing the world's dirty work (Eran Bar-Tal, Israel Hayom) The US can no longer supply one-third of the entire world's security budget. The US president understands that, and is being criticized by those who don't.
In the Shadow of Coronavirus Lurks a Plague That Kills Off Women (Vered Lee, Haaretz+)I n the shadows of the coronavirus pandemic there are women facing an increasing risk to their lives as victims of domestic violence. Since the beginning of the year six women have been murdered by their partners and one baby by its father. One of the slain women is Mastawal Alaza, 31, a mother of two, who was murdered on the eve of Independence Day.
Exactly the same: the days after the coronavirus will bring no change (Dr. Haim Misgav, Maariv) Anyone who longs for a utopian and hate-free world after the disappearance of the epidemic of our lives does not understand the power of antagonism that many of us have developed towards each other, sector against sector, over the years.
Iran and the Middle East space race (Dr. Shaul Shay, Israel Hayom) As the world grappled with the coronavirus pandemic and oil prices hit record lows, and amid wider tensions with the United States, Iran successfully launched its first military satellite, Noor-1.
From the East, the good will come: Asian countries stand alongside Israel during the coronacrisis (Gilad Cohen, Maariv) The ability to import badly needed medical supplies from Asian countries, as well as those countries opening their gates for Israeli citizens to return home, indicates the tremendous development of relations with the continent.
 

Interviews:
*Jewish terrorists killed his wife. Now he has a message for the world
Aisha Rabi was killed by settlers in the West Bank two years ago. Her husband Yacoub will commemorate her as part of a joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony. (Interviewed by Orly Noy in 972mag)

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

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