News Nosh 8.25.20

by APN 08/25/20
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Tuesday August 25, 2020 

Quote of the day:

"Netanyahu uses accepted and recognizable concepts from previous diplomatic moves with the Palestinians and Arab nations, but intends the opposite of what the international community and previous Israeli leaders sought to achieve. His goal is not to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the help of Arab states, but to decide the outcome on the basis of their support and setting impossible terms for the Palestinians..."
--Col. (ret.) Shaul Arieli writes that, ultimately, Netanyahu's policies will lead to one-state instead of two.*


Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • Until the next crisis  - Budget compromise stopped elections at the last minute
  • Expose - With the knowledge of the Prime Minister: Mossad pressuring over last two years to sell advanced weaponry to the Emirates, security establishment opposes (Hebrew)

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

  • Pompeo: We are committed to Israel’s security
  • Elections on hold
  • “I was raped at age 14” - Manager of hotel in Eilat (where 16-year-old was gang-raped)
  • US again in storm: White policeman filmed shooting a black man seven times in his back from point-blank range

Israel Hayom

  • Until the next crisis - Sources in Likud: “We put on a bandaid, but surgery is needed”
  • Gantz internalized his situation // Mati Tuchfeld
  • One week till school starts: The problems that remained and the battle over the capsules
  • “The goal of Pompeo’s visit: Advancing the regional peace plan”
  • Manager of hotel from the rape case in Eilat: “I was raped at age 14”
  • Despite Hamas and corona: Families who found new lives in the Gaza periphery communities
  • Trump at the Republican Convention: “The most important elections in history”


Top News Summary:
Alternate Prime Minister and Kahol-Lavan chairman Benny Gantz stood his ground and Israeli Prime Minister and Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu compromised so the government didn’t dissolve - at least for now, visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised Israel’s military superiority will be preserved, even if the US sells the UAE arms and on the subject of violence, the Jerusalem police chief backed up his deputy, who was filmed punching an anti-Netanyahu demonstrator, and the police have arrested 11 out of the 14 males suspected of gang-raping the 16-year-old girl in Eilat - making top news in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

Both Gantz and MK Tzvi Hauser warned of ‘bloodshed’ if Israel went to a fourth snap elections (Maariv). The deadline for passing the state budget was Monday night at midnight. Netanyahu was hoping to get more compromises from Gantz at the last minute. But he didn’t and the commentators were impressed. (See Commentary/Analysis below.) Gantz did not agree to compromise on budget changes, he managed to prevent the freezing of senior appointments, to bring the government's bylaws for approval “and also instill in the public conscience that Netanyahu is to blame for the crisis,” wrote Yedioth Hebrew’s political reporter Moran Azulay. In a combative speech, Gantz said he “won't let anyone appoint their puppets.” Netanyahu’s achievement was that he kept the options open for exiting the government and going to the polls. At the last minute, Netanyahu told his Likud party members to vote in favor of the bill to postpone the deadline of the state budget by 120 days. At the same time, MKs and commentators said the existence of this coalition won't last long. Yedioth Hebrew’s Itamar Eichner to mark December 23 in the calendar; it’s the government's new deadline for passing the budget. Until then there are explosive issues that could dismantle the government, Eichner writes. The expected appointments of the police commissioner and the state prosecutor, the manner in which corona is dealt with and the approval for religious, mainly ultra-Orthodox people, to travel to Uman, the peace agreement with the UAE and the annexation plan - all cast a heavy shadow on the coalition's future.

In Jerusalem, at the beginning of his tour of countries likely to normalize relations with Israel, Pompeo assured Netanyahu that Israel will retain its military edge in the Middle East even if and when F-35 stealth fighter jets are sold to the UAE, the sale that Netanyahu said he didn’t know about and which Yedioth’s Nahum Barnea exposed. Yedioth Hebrew got another scoop today when its military analyst Alex Fishman revealed that with Netanyahu’s knowledge, the Mossad has been pushing to sell advanced weapons to the Emirates for the last two years, but the defense establishment has opposed it. In response, the Prime Minister’s Office said: "If there was a request, the Prime Minister would not approve it.” Pompeo gave an exclusive interview to The Jerusalem Post, in which he said that he hopes “one day Iran will normalize ties with Israel.” (Also Maariv.) ‘Israel Hayom’ reported that the US is planning a Mideast peace summit to take place next month in one of the Persian Gulf states. An Emirati official said that Pompeo's five-day visit to the Middle East and Africa is also to prepare for the peace summit.  The US is trying to secure the participation of Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Sudan, and Chad, alongside Israel and the UAE. Indeed, an official Sudanese news agency reported that Pompeo's visit to Sudan will deal with the normalization of relations with Israel. While in Jerusalem, Pompeo will address the Republican National Convention, for which he was accused of mixing official government business with a political event.

Hamas-Israel-Gaza Strip:
Although not making big headlines today, the violent tit-for-tat between Israel and Hamas in and around the Gaza Strip continued. The IDF carried out its 12th strike on Hamas infrastructure in 13 days after more incendiary balloons flew over to the Israeli side of the fence. A Qatari envoy is set to arrive in the Strip to meet the Gaza leadership and afterward to meet with Israeli officials. Gazans are hoping for more Qatari financial aid, and electricity shortages are worsening after Israel stopped fuel imports, wrote Haaretz+ And in the meantime, Gaza also declared a corona lockdown for the first time since the start of the outbreak after four people from the same family were tested positive for the virus in a Gaza refugee camp.
 

Quick Hits:

  • Palestinian Street Vendor Acquitted of Assault in Confrontation With Jerusalem City Inspector - The confrontation occurred after an inspector confiscated and broke the bakery serving tray that Zaki Sabah, a well-known figure at the Jaffa Gate, used to hold the special breads he has sold there for decades. Sabah racked up huge fines for selling without a license, for which inspectors were ordered to confiscate the breads on a daily basis. Judge Ilan Sela ruled that the inspector had broken the law by confiscating Sabah’s rolls and breaking his wooden serving tray. (Haaretz+)
  • A policewoman filmed attacking woman at (anti-Netanyahu) demonstration Saturday was interrogated by  DIP and released - The Department of Police Investigations summoned the policewoman for questioning following a video in which she was seen slapping a woman who was present at the scene of the protest across from the Prime Minister's Residence. At the end of her interrogation, the policewoman was released without restrictive conditions. (Maariv)
  • Amid Claims of Police Violence, Jerusalem Police Chief Says Protesters Came Looking for a Fight - A high-ranking police official who was filmed punching anti-Netanyahu protesters will be returning to demonstrations, Deputy Commissioner Doron Yedid told a Knesset committee. (Haaretz+VIDEO)
  • Jerusalem Court Rules Cop Must Pay Haredi Protester He Slapped Thousands in Compensation - Police officer is ordered to pay 15,000 shekels ($4,400) plus 6,000 shekels in lawyer’s fees to a young ultra-Orthodox demonstrator whom he slapped twice in a 2017 incident. (Haaretz+)
  • Two New Arrests in Suspected Rape of 16-year-old Israeli; Eilat Hotel Manager Released - The manager of the Red Sea Hotel was released subject to restrictions, a day after her arrest on suspicion of obstructing the investigation and failing to prevent a crime. (Haaretz+)
  • Israeli Police Investigating Stabbing as Possible Terrorist Attack - In the incident a week and a half ago, which police initially thought involved a street brawl, witnesses said suspect shouted at victim in Arabic. (Haaretz+)
  • Netanyahu’s lawyers to deputy AG: PM won’t intervene in judicial appointments - A Likud spokesperson, in a statement, doubles down on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that he won’t intervene in the appointment of a state prosecutor and attorney general. Netanyahu’s lawyers met with Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber over the draft of the agreement of conflict of interests regarding the appointment of senior people in the law enforcement system, after the Attorney General rejected his request last week. The rejection means that there is an impediment on the part of the Prime Minister to engage in the appointments of senior law enforcement officers, including: the State Attorney, the Commissioner of Police and later also the Attorney General. (Times of Israel and Maariv)
  • Israel sees most daily coronavirus cases since July - Health Ministry reports slight increase in national daily COVID-19 infection rate compared to recent days; number of severe virus patients drops to 417 after reaching record-high 419. (Ynet and Haaretz+)
  • Health System in collapse: Neurological departments closed for the benefit of Corona patients - Senior doctors warn of danger to the health of those suffering from neurological disease in Israel, who have been pushed back to the regular internal medicine departments since the outbreak of the corona crisis due to the congestion created in hospitals. (Maariv)
  • Health Minister Announces Cooperation With UAE on Pandemic Response - The Health Ministry says Yuli Edelstein and his Emirati counterpart agreed during a phone call on 'initial and immediate cooperation' on pharmaceuticals, medical research and battle against COVID-19. (Ynet)
  • "Kidnapped Yemeni children": Mothers testify for the first time in court - Yesterday, Shoshana Nachshon, Esther Cohen and Salma Ozeri appeared on the witness stand and told for the first time how the nurses claimed in front of them that their children died a few days after the birth and refused to show them the bodies. (Maariv and Ynet Hebrew)
  • EasyJet Sued for Forcing Israeli Woman to Give Up Seat for ultra-Orthodox Men - Flight attendants encouraged British-Israeli plaintiff to complain, according to lawsuit, in the hope that this would force a change in airline policy. (Haaretz+)
  • Cache of Pure Gold Coins From Islamic Period Found in Central Israel - The 24-carat gold weighs 845 grams in total, enough to buy a luxurious house in the capital of Egypt during the Abbasid Caliphate. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Kuwait to rebuild Lebanon's grain silo after Beirut blast - The destruction of the 120,000-ton capacity structure at the port, the main entry point for food imports, meant buyers must rely on smaller private storage facilities for their wheat purchases with no government reserves to fall back on. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)


Top Commentary/Analysis:
Why Netanyahu Keeps His Cabinet in the Dark About Israel’s Most Delicate Decisions (Yossi Melman, Haaretz+) The prime minister is not including his ministers and the security cabinet in important discussions, at best deigning to inform them after decisions are made. He has done it again with the UAE deal.
Chronicles of a coalition's demise (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) If anything, the bill affording the Likud-Blue and White coalition more breathing room only placed the government on life support.
In His Power Struggle With Gantz, Netanyahu Finally Folded First (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Once Netanyahu realized that he would be scorned for dragging Israel into another election at the height of an economic crisis – he caved in.
Netanyahu Has Become All-powerful Even Though Most Israelis No Longer Believe a Word He Says (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Denied glory for his character and despite his achievements, the prime minister is destined to go down in history as a latter-day Israeli version of 'Tricky Dick.’
Six years have passed since then. But Israel hasn’t moved forward (Michael Milstein, Ynet Hebrew) The current tension in the Gaza Strip indicates the return of both sides to the same depressing starting point. The friction over the past two weeks once again illustrates the Gordian knot between the civilian reality in the area and the security situation there. Like on the eve of Operation Protective Edge [3rd Gaza War - OH], Hamas is waging a confrontation whose main purpose is to extract civil concessions that are important to it in light of its sovereignty in Gaza. However, there is also a worrying difference between the current tensions and those of 2014. This time, Hamas is waging a conscious and planned confrontation. There is no longer any ability to resort to "mitigating" descriptions such as "unruly" activity, uncontrollable deterioration and miscalculation (there are currently effective messaging channels between the parties that did not exist in the past). Hamas is promoting a confrontation that, according to it, is "low-intensity" (launching explosive and incendiary balloons), and its purpose is to put pressure on Israel without risking a broad escalation with it. The current tension requires Israel to examine in depth the basic assumptions that have been established in the past year and formed a basis on which the understandings/arrangement with Hamas were formed. One has to wonder whether it is right to continue to describe Hamas as not interested in escalation (although it does not strive for a broad campaign, but does not seek to initiate "limited" violent friction), and whether the movement is ripe for long-term arrangement (Remember that Islamic Jihad operative Bahaa’Abu al-Ata' was assassinated in November 2019, and that he was presented as a "dominant rebel" which made it difficult for Hamas to reach a settlement with Israel). More than everything, the latest tension illustrates how shaky the concept of an agreement with Hamas is: the movement surprisingly violated it when it came to the conclusion that a change in the existing rules of the equation was needed. The political discourse and the transmission of messages that were supposed to be the basic language of the "era of the arrangement“ were replaced by balloon launches and occasional rocket, as well as IDF attacks and civilian sanctions. At the current point in time, Israel must reaffirm the rules of the game that seem to have loosened in the last two weeks, and in particular make it clear to Hamas that it will not be able to repeat a model of initiated friction in order to extract achievements. Israel must refrain from a large-scale campaign in the Gaza Strip at the moment (when it is focused on other issues, such as corona, and the economic and political crises), but it must not in the near future promote significant gestures towards Hamas that would seemingly ensure calm. Such moves could be interpreted by Hamas as a weakness, prompting it to try and repeat the severe precedent of the past two weeks. In the long run, it is worth examining whether strategic achievements can be extracted from the current tension, including the "opening" of the arrangement with Hamas and the integration of components that were absent from it, such as conditioning some civilian assistance on progress on the return of civilian prisoners and corpses of IDF casualties. Later, when the internal storms in Israel subside, it is recommended that the state leadership work vigorously to formulate a long-term strategy for the Gaza Strip, without which we are doomed to be shaken by a prolonged and depressing reality that will move in circles between escalation rounds and short-term arrangements.
What is Europe funding? (Liora Henig-Cohen, Israel Hayom) Teaming with the Palestinian Authority and NGOs, the European Union and additional countries support the filing of thousands of lawsuits against the state in Israeli courts.
*Netanyahu’s ‘Normalization’ Policy Will Turn Israel Into an Arab State (Shaul Arieli, Haaretz+) The fruits of the prime minister’s labors will ultimately propel Israel toward a single-state solution, but not before a long spell as an apartheid regime.
To destroy or not to destroy: How will the High Court address the sensitive issue of demolishing terrorist homes? (Gideon Reicher, Maariv) The court's decision to revoke a demolition order issued against the house of a terrorist who threw a stone over the roof of his house and killed the Golani fighter Amit Ben-Yigal, provoked great resentment. Bereaved parents were furious: "The High Court has abandoned us." According to them, the demolition of houses deters terrorists and saves soldiers. The High Court judges, on the other hand, believed that the terrorist's family should not be left homeless, since it is innocent, and it is not appropriate for the mother and her eight children to be thrown into the street without shelter. The debate that arises is certainly interesting. The demolition of the house, proponents say, will deter other terrorists. On the other hand, there is an argument that was probably accepted by the judges: Why should the rest of the family be thrown into the street, what are they guilty of? They did not know at all about the family member's intention to commit the murder of an Israeli. Will a person convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment also be punished by having his house destroyed and his family left on the street? But the counter-argument certainly makes sense: this sentence has been practiced for several years, and the court has never disqualified it. It apparently saved the lives of many after the family of a murderous terrorist prevented him from carrying out his plot for fear that they would be left without shelter. It also makes sense that this is an unbridled brutal war. An Israeli leaves his house happy and kind-hearted, and he is run over or shot just because he is Jewish? This argument can go on indefinitely. In recent days, several demonstrations have been held on the matter, including a demonstration in front of the home of High Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut calling for a change in the decision, and another demonstration at the Tel Aviv Museum. Following the demand for a further hearing by the Prime Minister and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Zvi Hauser, the High Court may convene an appeals court with an expanded panel of judges. The task of the judges will not be easy: they will have to decide whether to carry out the deterrence, which probably prevents other murderers from carrying out their plot, or whether this panel will seriously consider the counter-arguments that they should not expel a family just because one of its sons has sinned. And perhaps in this way, the decision intended to deter terrorists by punishing their family members as well will be reconsidered. I do not envy the judges who will have to make a decision, which in any case will upset this or that part of the people. It is only to be hoped that the decision as far as this sensitive and explosive matter is made will be excellently reasoned so that no one on the right or left can disagree with it or come out against it. Time will tell.
'We won at Balfour!' (Dr. Eithan Orkibi, Israel Hayom) I respect each and every one of the right-wing protesters countering the left-wing demonstrations, but the truth must be said: it's not working.
Protests Outside Netanyahu’s Residence Won’t Bring Him Down, but They’ve Already Made Him Blink (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) The weekly protests at Balfour Street are an insurance policy for Israeli democracy, and may have contributed to Netanyahu’s decision not to call another early election.
Finally, embracing the Israelis on the other side (Sara Al-Nuaimi, Israel Hayom) It has always been my dream to visit Israel, the mystical, forbidden, and imaginative place. What would it feel like to enter a synagogue, to see a candle-lit menorah, to hear the psalms, to get inspired by a new language, to allow new words and new creative emotional experiences to take place? To sing, dance the horah, and celebrate with Israelis the remarkable turn of a new millennium? As an Emirati woman, in the past, some would react with, "Are you okay? What's wrong with you?" Perhaps the oddest response I have received was, "Are you a Shiite?" (I am Sunni.) Thinking of all the positive aspects of Israel in a way disintegrated all the false beliefs pounded into society that limited my immersive being…Our relationship with Israel is one of timeless harmony. My caring for Palestinians means urging to stop trying to destroy Israel and instead come to terms with it.
UAE’s Betrayal of Palestine Finally Shatters the Myth of the Arab Nation (Seraj Assi, Haaretz+) The 'invented' Arab nationalism once inseparable from the liberation of Palestine died in 1967, and now, together with Israel, the UAE has paid for its headstone.
The countdown in the PA has begun (Dr. Col. (res.) Moshe Elad, Israel Hayom) Exiled Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan is emerging as the Gulf favorite to rule the Palestinian Authority in the post-Abbas era. But his will be an uphill battle.
Is Palestinian Politician Dahlan the Secret Broker of the Israel-UAE Deal? (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) Rumors say Dahlan, adviser to UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, is the middleman of the agreement. He is also a favorite of the Israelis and the Americans, who are planning to crown him the next Palestinian leader.
With Each of Its Arab Neighbors, Israel Has a Different ‘Economic Peace’ (Sami Peretz, Haaretz+) The Palestinian Authority gets enough of a dividend to seek calm, Hamas trades quiet for Qatari dollars, and the United Arab Emirates promises the easiest peace of them all.
Erdogan’s Crumbling Superpower Dreams Make Turkey Even More Dangerous (Simon A. Waldman, Haaretz+) Faced with a determined anti-Turkey alliance in the Mediterranean and beyond, and economic shambles, Erdogan's grandiose, belligerent ambitions are struggling. But Ankara will double down, not back down.

 

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

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