News Nosh 10.19.20

by APN 10/20/20
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday October 19, 2020

Quote of the day:

“This nefarious term, 'the Israeli occupation,' implies all that Israel's enemies wish to convey: that Israel is a colony of the 'white man' in the heart of the Middle East, a European foothold, a foreign entity seizing Arab lands and violating the human rights of the natives, the original people of the land – in other words, the Palestinian Arabs. How does one fight this? How do we express the Jewish people's deeply-rooted connection to this land, which is the backbone of the State of Israel, and undo the image of the heartless occupier? The answer to this question lies in this new treaty and it, similar to "occupation," is predicated on one word: "Abraham.”…It's evident, then, that the phrase "Abraham Accords" fundamentally denotes that the treaty (with the UAE and Bahrain) was forged by the descendants of Abraham's children – Arabs and Jews – and thus redefines Jewish presence in the region as ancient and therefore legitimate.”
—Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesperson for the Jewish settlers of Hebron, explains the thinking behind the official title of the normalization agreements Israel signed with the UAE and Bahrain, as the 'Abraham Accords.'*


Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • The ultra-Orthodox revolt
  • Red rises // Nahum Barnea (Hebrew)
  • Danger to democracy // Yedidiya Stern
  • We are oppressed in our country // Shoshana Chen
  • The oversight: Only 3000 out of tens of thousands of nursery caretakers were checked for corona before the opening of private daycare centers
  • Making peace [Photo of Israel’s National Security Council director shaking elbows with the Bahraini Prime Minister] (Hebrew)
  • Ori’s kaddish (prayer for dead) for Ilana - Singer Ilana Rovina, daughter of actress Hanna Rovina and poet Alexander Penn, died at age 86 of corona. Her (elderly) former husband, Uri Zohar, said kaddish for her in tears

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

  • The ultra-Orthodox revolt - Anger in the government: Ultra-orthodox educational institutions opened in violation of the law
  • Bitter September - 205 thousand newly unemployed, 20.5% of them under age 24, 62.7% are women, unemployment rate in Eilat is 39.3%

Israel Hayom

  • Signing history [Photo of Israel’s National Security Council director shaking elbows with the Bahraini Prime Minister]
  • Together, against the radicals // Ahdeya AlSayed (President of the Bahraini Journalists Association)
  • Celebration in the skies: The Emirati “Greenliner” will land today at Ben-Gurion Airport
  • “We will cut funding to institutions that opened” - Minister Edelstein warned ultra-Orthodox institutions that opened in violation of the guidelines
  • Obeying the guidelines is a religious obligation // Haim Shine
  • Due to the epidemic, demand for nursing studies jumps due to corona
  • Blessing life - Parents of Amit Ben-Yigal memorialize their son, who fell in operational activity in Judea and Samaria (West Bank)
  • Iran boasts: “After a decade, the arms embargo on us was removed”
  • Lost generation: Soon 1 million unemployed, a fifth of them under age 24
  • The Hapoel Haifa soccer team doctor: “By the end of the season, they’ll all get corona”


Top News Summary:
Fury in Israel after ultra-Orthodox flout corona restrictions and return to religious studies (a few ultra-Orthodox people attacked a JPost/Maariv photojournalist documenting it in Jerusalem and a Ynet crew in Beitar Illit)  and the police do little about it, the Education Minister threatens to cut ultra-Orthodox educational funding, as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s popularity continues to drop, according to a Sunday poll and despite the signing of a joint declaration with Bahrain (but not a peace agreement) in the Gulf country on Sunday. (The head of the Israeli delegation opened his remarks in Arabic, calling for change in the region for the benefit of both nations and invited Bahraini officials to a reciprocal visit in Israel.)

Meanwhile, the UAE and Israel are busy with cooperation agreements. The two countries finalized a deal to allow 28 weekly commercial flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Last week, it was announced that Abu Dhabi's national airline launched a Hebrew-language ticket sales site. And the two countries are working on a double tax treaty to encourage investment. Also, the UAE Jewish council announced the appointment of a senior rabbi, who was born in Beirut so is fluent in Arabic.

Other news from the region was not as positive for the Israeli government. The UN arms embargo on Iran expired, despite US objections. UN travel bans on certain Iranian military and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard members also ended Sunday.
 

Quick Hits:

  • Jewish National Fund Seeking to Revise Report That Cites Spending, Other Irregularities - Draft version was completed in 2018, but company has sought to keep it under wraps as findings are revised.(Haaretz+)
  • Right-wing, ultra-Orthodox parties accused of plotting 'hostile takeover' of key Zionist institutions - World Zionist Congress scheduled to vote Tuesday on agreement that would strip non-Orthodox movements and center-left parties of positions of power in institutions it controls. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel sees 3.5% infection rate as country inches out of lockdown - Military Intelligence task force warns morbidity still high even while outbreak now contained, calls for exit plan be implemented more slowly with specific closures for virus hot spots and some parts of economy shuttered for prolonged period. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
  • Almost Twice as Many Women as Men Lost Jobs in Israel's Second Lockdown - 205 thousand newly unemployed in September, 20.5% of them under age 24, 62.7% are women, an all-time high, while men accounted for just 37.3%. Unemployment rate in Eilat is 39.3%. (Haaretz+ and Maariv)
  • PA's Erekat in critical condition with COVID, on ventilator in Jerusalem hospital - Hadassah Medical Center says veteran Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, was stable Sunday night after he was transferred to an Israeli hospital, but he is now intubated and sedated 'due to respiratory distress', warns virus treatment 'poses a huge challenge' for someone who underwent a lung transplant. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • Occupation forces tear down residential tent near Hebron - Israeli occupation forces tore down today a residential tent housing that a Palestinian family in the Bedouin locality of Masafer Yatta set up  after occupation forces demolished his house at the end of last September. (WAFA)
  • The Civil Service Commissioner approved the establishment of a search committee for State Prosecutor - Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz reversed his position that no committee to name a state attorney can currently be formed due to bureaucratic difficulties, following a letter sent to him by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt, who wrote that the difficulties in convening the committee dwarfed the difficulty in not filling the position. Gantz: "We promised and we kept. Next step - appointing a Police Commissioner.” (Maariv and Times of Israel)
  • Israeli Town Sued for Refusal to Enroll ‘non-Jew’ in Its Religious School - The Ramle school turned away the boy on the grounds that his mother, who immigrated to Israel from Azerbaijan 19 years ago, is not Jewish. (Haaretz+)
  • Corruption watchdog finds Israel excels in fighting international bribery - Transparency International's global index ranks Israel in its highest category with respect to enforcing laws barring the bribery of foreign officials. (Israel Hayom)
  • Kohelet Policy Forum, Shiloh Policy Forum, Israel Hayom to host conference on Abraham Accords - Titled "The Abraham Accords: Towards a New Middle East?" the virtual symposium will be held on Oct. 21-22. Keynote speakers include PM Benjamin Netanyahu, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz. (Israel Hayom)
  • Iran-linked Hackers Targeted Prominent Israeli Organizations in ‘New Phase’ of Cyberwar - Israeli cyber security firms say hacker team who in the past worked with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards led a new campaign against Israeli targets called ‘Operation Quicksand.’ (Haaretz+)
  • Trump adviser spars with top U.S. general over Trump's Afghanistan troop withdrawal tweet - Seeking to clarify a series of confusing statements about the American footprint in Afghanistan, Robert O’Brien appeared to take a shot at Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Top Commentary/Analysis:
The Arabs Extend Their Hand in Peace (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) Today, it’s possible to ask sane Israelis this question: Why do Israeli Arabs occasionally make extremist statements? An honest analysis would lead to the understanding that the source of this extremism lies in what is happening to their people in the besieged Gaza Strip, in the closed-off West Bank, in the Palestinian refugee camps in Arab states – and even here, with incitement and discrimination. As a rule, I try to avoid bringing examples from the Nazi period. I think the Holocaust was the most horrifying tragedy in human history, and there’s no room for comparisons. But when statements exceed the boundaries of good taste (if good taste even exists here), and when it becomes clear that what’s happening here resembles those dark days, it’s necessary to put things in their proper context.
Joining forces against extremism (Ahdeya Alsayed, Israel Hayom) We are witnessing the rise of a new future in Bahrain-Israel relations – one that can prove extraordinarily prosperous.
The less brilliant emissary of Benjamin Netanyahu (Dr. Baruch Leshem, Yedioth/Ynet Hebrew) MK Miki Zohar is probably the only politician in Israel - and perhaps also in the world - who threatened a defamation lawsuit against journalists for calling him a "fool." In a letter sent by his lawyer to several senior journalists about two and a half years ago, he demanded that they take back the names they said: "clown, foolish and stupid," otherwise they would have to compensate him with 150,000 shekels for “questioning his fairness and wisdom and making him contemptible to the public.”” One can questions Zohar's wisdom only for his desire to conduct a trial on the question of whether he is stupid. A basic rule in political marketing is not to recycle negative images. I remember Richard Nixon's statement during the Watergate affair: "I am not a crook.” And what did the Americans remember from this sentence? The word “crook” And what would the Israelis remember if Zohar did file his defamation lawsuit? The word "stupid." …A good question is why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is definitely a smart man, chose someone who is not the sharpest pencil in the pencil case, to serve as his spearhead in the media. It is today the most important political arena for him … The Prime Minister is working so hard to blacken the name of the Attorney General, and here comes the coalition whip, Miki Zohar, and in the face of an unintelligent threat, he turned the Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt from an alternative defendant into a victim…Despite all the caution, Zohar appeared on Radio 103 and severely damaged Netanyahu's campaign against the Attorney General. After all, the task given to Netanyahu's boxers was to constantly challenge the status of Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt as the one who stitched cases against the prime minister. Netanyahu also says this in his own voice…And here, despite all the caution, Zohar appeared on Radio 103 and severely damaged Netanyahu's campaign against the Attorney General. After all, the task incumbent on Netanyahu's boxers is to constantly challenge the status of Avichai Mendelblitt as the one who sewed cases for the prime minister. Netanyahu also says this in his own voice. But from the moment Zohar used a blatant threat, saying that if Mendelblitt did not resign and close the cases against Netanyahu, more recordings of him speaking would be revealed, Zohar turned Mendelblitt from an alternative defendant into a victim…
A Tale of Two Hospital Visits, and Two Sets of Morals (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel is a sensitive, compassionate man. Last week he paid a visit to the COVID-19 ward at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva and afterward posted on Twitter what he saw: “A man about my age, a father of four, lies in intensive care, on a ventilator between life and death. His family cannot visit him. The only thing left is to pray.” The day before, the minister of mercy and humanity saw the picture of a different patient, also a man around his age, also teetering between life and death. His family, too, cannot visit and can only pray for his survival.  This time, the cabinet minister was less shaken by the sight. Much less. In fact, he was not shaken at all. The fate of this dying man did not move him; perhaps he even rejoiced in his suffering. Standing at the bedside of the hunger striker Maher Akhras was MK Ofer Cassif, who had come with fellow Joint List lawmaker Yousef Jabareen to bolster that patient’s spirits. This is what Hendel wrote about this hospital visit: “This is exactly why there is no chance I will agree to a partnership with the Joint [List]. I am a Zionist who supports the full absorption of Israeli Arabs, and not the absorption of those who support [Israel’s] enemies. A reminder to those who have lost their way.”
The Knesset is drowning in vulgarity (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) The crudeness and mafioso-like attitude we have all recently been exposed to by several of our elected officials only serves to drag Israeli politics and the public discourse down to dangerous new depths.
Larger, Smarter and Still Angry: Lockdown Only Bolstered anti-Netanyahu Protests (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+) The restrictions led tens of thousands more Israelis to join the protests, which resumed on Saturday with renewed strength – and new tactics.
The trials of Benjamin Netanyahu (Limor Livnat, Yedioth/Ynet) The PM sees people in his own camp turn against him and arch enemy Naftali Bennett for posing a real alternative to his leadership; with his criminal prosecution due to begin soon, he may not be able to save himself this time.
(Author) Meir Shalev's speech: extreme statements wrapped in polished language (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv)  Meir Shalev proved in his submarine voyage that even a carefully crafted speech does not transcend lowly posts against a legitimate government or against a leader in which anything he is accused of has yet to be proven.
Red rises (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth Hebrew) "Surrender," was the headline across the front page of Yedioth Ahronoth yesterday. The headline gave appropriate expression to the sense of insult that gripped the masses of Israelis in the face of the government's folding before the ultra-Orthodox rabbis. According to the latest zigzag of the government, the ultra-Orthodox red cities will be able to act as if they are green. Educational institutions will be closed throughout the country, but in the red cities they will be open. The traffic light turned upside down: green means stop; red means step on the gas: this is what Rabbi Kanievsky ordered.
Netanyahu Is Giving the Thugs a Wink (Haaretz Editorial) Attacks on people protesting against the prime minister have become routine and are growing worse from week to week. Gangs of Benjamin Netanyahu’s young supporters are chasing and assaulting demonstrators. The violent incidents aren’t isolated cases, nor is there any symmetry between these acts and any alleged violence by the protesters, as the prime minister had the chutzpah to assert instead of condemning the attacks. And really, why should he condemn them? As always, Netanyahu is reaping the fruit of the incitement he has sown.
Demonstrations are important, but they will not lead to change - the strength of the message is key (Yitzhak Levanon, Maariv) Two leading parameters are the size of the demonstration that makes it powerful, and the message of protest: the shorter the message, the better chance it will be absorbed.
Israel needs elections right now (Haim Ramon, Yedioth/Ynet) The country must hold a snap vote to put an end to Netanyahu's dangerous and incompetent handling of the pandemic and save itself from the total national catastrophe to which the prime minister and his policies are leading us.
The distrust doom loop (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) We must not let coronavirus tear Israeli society apart.
After the ultra-Orthodox Rebellion, Netanyahu Looks Weaker Than Ever (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Holding an early election, when the entire Israeli public is witnessing how he’s being held hostage by a merciless ultra-Orthodox leadership, is now unthinkable.
'Only terrorists need apply' for Palestinian NGOs (Sean Durns, Israel Hayom) It is both damning and revealing that many Palestinian civil-society organizations either have links to or vocally support, those whose stated aim is the destruction of world's sole Jewish state.
Hezbollah poses greater threat, but IDF prioritizes Gaza amid growing instability (Ron Ben Yishay, Ynet) While the coronavirus pandemic makes any conflict with heavily-armed Hezbollah less likely, the IDF is worried the growing political and financial instability in the Gaza Strip may flare up tensions.
The Iranians are not celebrating the end of the embargo, but rather are waiting for an offer from Trump (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) The Iranians are not going to take advantage of the end of the embargo against them to rush and get arms deals. The embargo on arms sales to Iran ended today. The reactions from Tehran are jubilant. According to Western ambassadors and diplomats in New York, the rejoicing is moderate, restrained. "They, Iran's leaders, have not gone out of their way to demonstrate the end of the embargo against them. Although it is a development that reveals the United States' precarious position in the international arena," the deputy head of a Western delegation to the UN said. The reason given for Iranian restraint is interesting. Tehran is waiting for the results of the US presidential election. The assessment is that the Iranians are expecting and hoping for a huge arms deal with the US, especially if the winner of the election will be Donald Trump. They
believe one of the first things Trump will do if he wins and stays in the White House for another four years will be a political initiative with Iran that includes changes to the old nuclear deal that Iran can live with without much difficulty.
Erekat's hospitalization in Israel exposes PA's hypocrisy (Elior Levy, Yedioth/Ynet) Despite Ramallah cutting security and defense ties with Jerusalem many months ago, stranding many Palestinians in need of advanced medical aid, it seems the rules are different when it comes to senior Fatah officials.
Where are the borders of the State of Israel? Why they refuse to demarcate it? ( Majdi Khald, Senior Diplomatic Advisor to Palestinian President, WAFA) The announcement by the Israeli government, on the day the Israeli Knesset ratified normalization agreements with Arab countries, of the plan to build five thousand new settlement units, and the statements of its Prime Minister and his Cabinet Members that the land-for-peace formula has fallen, and that an independent Palestinian State will not be established alongside the State of Israel, and that unified Jerusalem will remain fully united under Israeli sovereignty, is the best evidence of the occupation state's determination to go ahead with its colonial plans to gain control of most of the occupied Palestinian territory, far exceeding the armistice lines of 1949. Israel no longer fears anyone and acts as an authority above international law, because it is simply not afraid of the consequences, but rather gets rewards through “opening doors” to it in some countries of the world, and some Arab countries respond to it by establishing normalization relations under pretexts, all of which are not convincing…
A vision becoming reality (Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Israel Hayom) One cannot overestimate the magnitude of the achievement marked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in singing peace treaties with moderate Sunni states.
In Washington, Trump and Netanyahu Established a Binational State (Dmitry Shumsky, Haaretz+) We can assume that the right wing’s schadenfreude after the peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, recently signed in Washington, is premature. Because the process of normalization between the Arab countries and Israel, while ignoring the perpetuation of the occupation and apartheid, could spur the Palestinian public to formulate a new strategy in the struggle for their national rights.
A noble ideal for peace beyond Nobel Prize (Michael Laitman, Israel Hayom) Why, despite so many efforts, does humanity repeatedly fail in its attempts to make true peace?
Israel’s Peace Camp Needs New Arab Allies: In the Gulf (Katie Wachsberger, Haaretz+) As normalization sweeps the Gulf, Israeli anti-occupation activists advocating for Palestinian rights face a new fight for relevance and influence in an unfamiliar, often dissonant social and political environment. This is what they need to know.
*Abraham returns to forge peace among his descendants  (Yishai Fleisher, Israel Hayom) The phrase "Abraham Accords" fundamentally implies that the peace treaty between Israel and the UAE was made by the descendants of Abraham's children, Arabs and Jews, thus redefining Jewish presence in the region as ancient and therefore legitimate.
The Foreseeable Death of an Egyptian Peace Activist (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Left-wing intellectual and writer Amin al-Mahdi fearlessly aimed barbs at sacred cows like Egypt's regime and army. When friends warned of the consequences, he'd say: 'What can they do? Arrest me? Kill me?'

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

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