News Nosh 10.20.20

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

You Must Be Kidding: 
After attacking Palestinian journalists who were reporting on a pool settlers were building on privately-owned Palestinian land, a settler guard from Yakir settlement called the Israeli army, which sent soldiers who expelled the journalists and the Palestinian landowner and allowed the settler to stay.*

Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • 19 women murdered since beginning of year - Two women killed within two hours, one stabbed with a knife and the other hammered with a hammer (Hebrew)
  • Female generals are needed // Chen Artzi-Srur
  • Don’t be silent about the lawlessness // Ben-Dror Yemini on the ultra-Orthodox’s revolt
  • Burying they’re head in the sand // Shimrit Meir on the US elections
  • Going for the jackpot // Yuval Karni on Gantz’s threat
  • This is the last call for passengers - TO ABU-DHABI - Our correspondent flew yesterday on the first UAE commercial flight that left from Ben-Gurion Airport

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

  • The ultra-Orthodox and the (corona restriction) violations
  • Domestic violence: Two women murdered
  • Flights of peace - History: UAE commercial flight landed in Israel for the first time

Israel Hayom

  • Coming for peace - For the first time ever: Official UAE delegation will land today at Ben-Gurion Airport
  • Within two hours: Two women were murdered
  • The next murder is only a matter of time // Anita Friedman
  • Two weeks till elections in Israel
  • The cabinet’s dilemma: Opening classrooms - or stores
  • The Abraham Accords - Towards a New Middle East? First International Conference held by Kohelet Forum, Shiloh Forum and Israel Hayom, October 21-22
  • “Computer glitch at the Health Ministry”: Minister Gamliel lied in her epidemiological investigation
  • Netanyahu to ‘Israel Hayom’: “I’m not concerned that Bennett is getting stronger in polls”
  • The cost of unemployment payouts since beginning of crisis: 16 billion shekels


Top News Summary:
The first commercial national airline flight from Abu Dhabi lands in Israel today, two husbands murdered their two wives within two hours of each other Monday, the Kahol-Lavan party gave the Likud a deadline and the ultra-Orthodox continued to send their sons to religious schools in violation of the guidelines (and Haaretz+ reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a secret verbal agreement with an ultra-Orthodox leader to allow them to open religious schools with limited enforcement, but that he later also dropped that idea) - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.

An official Emirati delegation lands today in Israel on Etihad Flight 9607 and its members will sign a deal today in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to allow 28 weekly commercial flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. Moreover, the two countries will sign a mutual visa waiver agreement. The visiting delegation plans to visit Jerusalem, where many future Gulf tourists will visit, particularly the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif).

‘Israel Hayom’ is hosting Saudi speakers at a virtual conference on the subject of the ‘Abraham Accords,’ the name given to the normalization deals with the two Gulf Arab countries. Keynote speakers include Netanyahu, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz, as well as Saudi TV-moderator Sukina Al-Meshekhis, Bahrain-based British-Arab researcher and commentator Amjad Taha, Saudi academic researcher and columnist Dr. Najat al-Saied and other Arabs.

Also, the Kahol-Lavan party has declared an ultimatum to the Likud party, which is stalling for time over the subject of passing the state budget for 2020 and for 2021. “If this does not change, it is all over,” said Kahol-Lavan #2, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, threatening that if the government does not end the ongoing impasse over the state budget by the end of the October, Kahol-Lavan will bring down the coalition government, thereby triggering elections. And, Netanyahu and opposition leader, MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) slammed each other in the Knesset over Israel’s response to the epidemic. Netanyahu said he acted “courageously,” Lapid said Netanyahu was “out of touch” and accused him of playing politics with the pandemic. Netanyahu, meanwhile, dismissed his decreasing popularity in polls.


Corona Quickees:

  • Israel posts 1,479 new virus cases, with 3.7% infection rate - Health Ministry says tally of active patients currently ill with COVID-19 now stands at 23,347, much lower than nearly 68,000 that was recorded at the start of October; death toll increased to 2,268. (Ynet)
  • Attorney General: No grounds to investigate Netanyahu in submarine affair - Movement for Quality Government, who petitioned the high court to investigate Netanyahu's role in the submarine sales, said the state’s response in the case is 'embarrassing and shameful.' (Haaretz+)
  • Attorney General clears minister accused of lying to tracers about breaking lockdown - Attorney general says there is no evidence supporting claims that Gila Gamliel tried to cover up the fact that she caught coronavirus after traveling to Tiberias for Yom Kippur. (Times of Israel and Haaretz)
  • Israel no longer has significant 'red' hotspots, health officials say - Ahead of ministerial meeting to discuss next stage of exiting the nationwide lockdown, coronavirus czar says predominantly ultra-Orthodox communities of Bnei Brak and Elad are eligible to have restrictions lifted from them. (Ynet)
  • Report: unemployment payouts since outbreak of virus quadruple annual average - According to National Insurance Institute, the state has paid over NIS 16 billion in unemployment benefits between March and September - the highest such sum ever paid to the country's unemployed since its inception. (Ynet)
  • Daily coronavirus report in Palestine: Eight dead, 481 new cases and 513 recoveries - Seven of the deaths were in the West Bank, where a 31-year-old man was among them and the rest were over 60 years of age, and one in the Gaza Strip. (WAFA)
  • Saeb Erekat's family says his condition is critical but stable - Erekat is suffering from pneumonia after he contracted the novel COVID-19. He was rushed to an Israeli hospital after his situation worsened and he required an ECMO machine, which no Palestinian hospitals has. Israeli right-wing politicians protested over Erekat's admission to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, despite the fact that the move was approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz. (Israel Hayom, WAFA and Ynet and Ynet Hebrew)
  • IMF: Nearly all Mideast economies hit by pandemic recession - International financial body warns global economy will shrink by 4.4% in 2020, the worst annual plunge since the Great Depression, projects Israel's GDP will shrink by 5.8%, more than any other developed economy. (Agencies, Ynet)


Quick Hits:

  • Settlers flood Palestinian farmland north of Nablus with sewage - Mayor of Sebastia village, Mohammad Azzam, confirmed that settlers from Shavei Shomron flooded Palestinian-owned land of olive and apricot trees, which means that farmers are incurred with heavy material losses. (WAFA)
  • Settlers kick Palestinian farmers out of their lands near Nablus - A group of settlers from Elon Moreh assaulted Palestinian farmers as the latter were picking their olive trees to the north of Deir al-Hatab village, east of Nablus city. (WAFA)
  • **Israeli settlers attacked WAFA staff reporting in West Bank town of Salfit - One of the guards of Yakir settlement of Yakir, located north of the town, attacked him and his colleagues as they were attempting to report on settlers’ encroachment on a plot of land, upon which settlers have built a swimming pool.  Afterward, the settlers summoned Israeli soldiers, who detained then expelled the journalists. (WAFA)
  • After visiting Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills, European diplomats warn against demolitions, evictions - Heads of Mission and representatives from the European Union, and 16 European countries visited the villages of Umm al-Kheir and Khirbet al-Majaz, in the South Hebron Hills, and warned against Israeli demolitions and evictions in these communities. (WAFA)
  • Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem intends to demolish 13 Palestinians houses in East Jerusalem - The municipality ordered the demolition of the houses under the pretext they were built without a permit, but there are also unauthorized houses taken over and illegally inhabited by Israeli settlers in the same area that did not receive demolition orders, Fakhri Abu Diab, member of the Silwan Defense Committee, explained. (WAFA)
  • Diplomatic Bullying: Israel Won't Renew Visas to UN Workers in Gaza - Israel stopped renewing work visas for members of the international staff at the UN Human Rights Office in Gaza, forcing them to leave the country. (Haaretz+)
  • Japan contributes approximately $4.3 million for food assistance to Palestine refugees - This important contribution will enable UNRWA to continue to provide food assistance to 99,000 Palestine refugees in Gaza, aiming to mitigate the impact of poverty and food insecurity of those most in need, especially under the current COVID-19 pandemic. (WAFA)
  • IDF cordons off Gaza border area, cites engineering work - The military on Monday cordons off roads and agricultural areas near the Israel-Gaza Strip border, citing engineering work. An IDF official stressed that the communities near the border were under no special instructions and could continue with their daily routine. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
  • PCHR Calls on Egyptian Authorities to Release Fisherman Yaser Al-Za’zou’ - Palestinian Centre for Human Rights calls on Egypt to release fisherman Yaser al- Za’zou’, 18, sole survivor among his siblings who were killed by Egyptian naval forces’ fire on their fishing boat when it crossed Palestinian-Egyptian water boundaries on 25 September 2020. Yaser’s mother, Nawal, 55, said family received the bodies of her dead sons on 27 September, but have not received any word about Yaser. (IMEMC)
  • Israeli Man Indicted for Assaulting anti-Netanyahu Protester in Tel Aviv - Police say they've filed 'string of indictments' related to dozens of cases of violence against anti-gov't protesters, but only two people have been charged with such offenses. (Haaretz+)
  • The protester who attacked a right-wing activist at Balfour: "I asked him to stay away from me and he ignored me” - After right-wing activist Israel Meir told Erel Segal last night that he was attacked when he arrived to film the latest demonstration, today, the demonstrator, Dan Borovich, provided his version of events. (103FM/Maariv)
  • IDF not prepared for chemical attack on Israel, state comptroller finds - Latest report by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman into wartime readiness says military units in charge of dealing with potential attacks involving weapons of mass destruction are ill-prepared. (Israel Hayom and Ynet)
  • Admiration in Azerbaijan: "Israeli drones are better than Iranian prayers" - Requests from the Embassy for Israeli flags and a variety of publications in support of the social media networks: During the war with Armenia, the Azeris highlight their Israeli weapons and ties to the Jewish people. (Ynet Hebrew)
  • Pandemic prompts World Zionist Congress to hold first online conference - The main themes of the Oct. 20-22 event will be aliyah, the effect of COVID-19 on global Jewish communities and growing anti-Semitism. (Israel Hayom)
  • Palestinian Telecom ministry condemns decision granting Israeli phone company a license to operate in West Bank - Israel gave Bezeq a license to operate in the occupied West Bank. Palestine considers it a step to undermine and sabotage the Palestinian economy and its control over its airwaves. Israel already manipulates the Palestinian airwaves and illegally establishes communication towers in the Palestinian territories in contrast to bilateral and international agreements. (WAFA)
  • Israel Gives Palestinian Authority Control Over Three West Bank Power Stations - The move, hailed by Palestinian Authority despite diplomatic standstill, should stabilize power supply in the West Bank, which is plagued by frequent outages. (Haaretz+)
  • Record Number of Holocaust Survivors in Need as State Fails to Allocate Funds, Report Says - In 2018-2019, the Welfare Ministry had used only 30 percent of 30 million shekel budget allocated to help survivors on welfare. (Haaretz+)
  • Sources in Israel: Removing Sudan from the list of supporters of terrorism will normalize relations - Trump has announced that he will remove Sudan from the list of countries that support terrorism because it has agreed to pay compensation to victims of terrorism, but he didn’t mention Israel. Sources in Israel told Ynet that normalization may also be on the way. According to assessment of experts, Sudan is not yet at the point where it’s ready to sign an agreement, due to tribal disputes. (Ynet Hebrew)
  • Israel's Top Court Orders State to Give Migrant Workers Enough Time to Prepare for Expulsion Hearings - 'In light of the human complexity that arises in such cases, the migrants and their counsels should be given a reasonable chance to present their positions,' One justice says. (Haaretz+)
  • Biden’s Lead Over Trump Among American Jews at All-time High, New Poll Finds - With election day looming, an American Jewish Committee poll finds 75 percent of Jews will vote for Joe Biden, but also reveals dramatic polarization between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. (Haaretz+)
  • Advisor to Trump's headquarters in Israel: "Trump will unequivocally win" - Ariel Sander, an adviser to Trump’s Israeli election campaign headquarters, stated in an interview with Army Radio that he is convinced that Trump will win: "The one who wins is not the one who leads the polls but the one who has momentum." (Maariv)
  • Russian fighter jet shadows Israeli passenger plane from Greece - Sukhoi Su-27 approaches and flies alongside Israir Airbus A320 heading from Greek island of Rhodes to Tel Aviv until Cypriot air control warns him away, no injuries or damage reported. (Ynet)
  • Trump official made a secret trip to Syria seeking Americans' release - At least four other Americans are believed to be held by the Syrian government. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Turkey Withdraws From Base in Northwest Syria, Sources Say - The dismantling of the base in Morek is being described as Turkish efforts to 'consolidate ceasefire lines' reached in a March agreement with Russia which halted the heaviest fighting in years around Idlib. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Features:

Exclusive: Documents reveal decades of close cooperation between JNF and Elad settlement NGO
The Jewish National Fund has allowed settlement group Elad to pursue legal actions on its behalf since the 1980s, an internal report reveals. The collaboration has led to the eviction of Palestinians while bolstering Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. (Uri Blau, 972mag)
Fred and Donald Trump's Jewish connection
In the 1950s, Fred Trump, the president's late father, donated the plot of land where the Beach Haven Jewish Center was built in Brooklyn and contributed towards its construction. He affectionately referred to Rabbi Israel Wagner, who approached the elder Trump for help, as "My Rabbi." (Ariel Kahana, Israel Hayom)
A wine-tasting postponed 2,000 years
Cutting-edge scientific techniques could soon allow us to sample the same wines King Herod drank, but it's not certain we'll enjoy them. Food archaeologist Dr. Tziona Ben-Gedalya discusses recreating the flavors of the past. (Ariel Bulshtein, Israel Hayom)


Top Commentary/Analysis:
Trump Is the Best U.S. President for Netanyahu – but for Israel, He Might Be the Worst (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The direct benefits of his first term are outweighed by the general decline in America’s global prestige and its indifference to Israel’s declining democracy.
Who is it going to be, Trump or Biden? (Avi Bareli, Israel Hayom) The American system is less conservative, less fixated to a stationary center, and more reflective of movements in the center than some would have you believe.
Trump Is Bullying Sudan Into Embracing Israel. It Won’t End Well (Yonatan Touval, Haaretz+) Trump has zeroed in on Khartoum for another diplomatic ‘win’ before November. But his maximum pressure campaign is a disaster in the making – both for Sudan and for Israel.
Leaders, the way you behave will be the way the people will behave (Talia Levin, Maariv) No one should expect sensible behavior from someone where there is no sense. The first rule in being a good leader is to understand what is written above. Then, perhaps for this disobedient but wonderful people, there will be more hope…It is impossible to explain the spasm that comes out of the corner of my mouth irrationally every time I hear that one of our senior government members - a minister, a Knesset member or some public figure - violated the draconian corona guidelines that he himself voted in favor. These violations only advance my contention that no one should be expected to engage in sensible behavior in a place where there is no logic. And let's really admit, without getting into the depths of filthy politics, there is no logic in the guidelines, no matter how we look at them. And regardless, we Israelis have undoubtedly failed the great test that the history of the country has placed on us - or some would say humanity - that expected its citizens to receive a passing grade, but due to one of the most striking features of the people sitting in Zion, insolence (chutzpah), it failed bitterly. It happens to people who in the blink of an eye caused all this irrational situation just because they missed their parents or extended family and hosted them in the sukkah.And the excuses? Well, really. Two years ago today, I was in Norway. I was standing in line at a neighborhood supermarket, and someone who could have passed ahead of me did not do so but waited patiently and without making faces until I bothered to stop writing on WhatsApp. Kindness and politeness are something contagious. As an Israeli, if someone does something nice for you, it immediately looks suspicious. I remember frightening myself for a moment and clenching my palm in my pocket with my wallet, because it occurred to me that what was happening was part of a super-plot designed to pocket tourists who get lost in the supermarket. It usually takes me 48 hours to get used to a new situation. In the case of travel abroad, it is to a different kind of peace of mind. All the existential war I have in Israel against others is canceled. I become a lioness who keeps her cubs when I stand in lines. What's our thing about always getting on a plane first? Or getting out of it first? Why the hell do people rush on their way to vacation? And if the doctor's appointment is booked in advance and your name is written on the door, why be alert like a dog sleeping with one eye open in case the owner opens the fridge? I wonder how long it takes to transfer the rebellious mind to a quick and effective training to stop living in this alertness, the one that is just waiting to yell at the one who will cut ahead of her: “Who do you think you are?" Because really, who do you think you are to go ahead of me? And really, why are you telling me to sit at home? Why are you the one who says you can swim, but can't wade? And who am I not to cut corners when you yourself understand that it is impossible otherwise. Since I am a law-abiding citizen, I do not tend to cut corners too often. I'm always uncomfortable. My major crimes amounted to fake health certificates for high school physical education classes, and some glorious escapes after I killed several relatives who had already died anyway to get to the funeral. On the other hand, I like the fact that Israelis are not an obedient people. It is this disobedience that makes us a start-up nation, people who think outside the box and know how to ask the right questions, achieve objections and not accept one truth as the real one. Because there is none. And yet, if you look at what's going on in the underground coffee sale scene in cities, you'll understand that Israelis can be very obedient if there is a logical basis for a request. They will follow the instructions they receive from the businesses, and will not cut any corner, so as not to get the business that secretly gives them coffee into trouble. The fraternity of coffee drinkers has become the most exciting thing I have seen in the city in a while. Such solidarity you would be dying to see in the whole country. Quietly giving phone numbers, payment through an app and a spare mask. Brotherhood of the warriors in the field. Real Israelis. Laughter, laughter, but the bottom line is that anyone planning to run for public positions in the country in the future - I’m just convinced and I a little hope that these will not be the same people we see today - will internalize that the first law in being a good leader is to understand the way you behave is the way the people will drive. That the personal example should be the supreme value alongside the common good. Then, perhaps for this disobedient but wonderful people, there will be more hope.
Hallel Rabin, Prisoner (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) With her privileged background, Hallel Rabin could have done military service in intelligence. Or at Army Radio. Or in any non-combat unit that is prestigious enough to enhance her future career. But Rabin, who is just over 19, comes from the anthroposophical community of Harduf and has never tasted meat, chicken or fish, refuses to be drafted because she opposes violence of any kind. She could have found ways around the draft to get an exemption. She could have pretended to be religious or gotten released on mental health grounds. But instead she is seeking to have the Israeli army recognize the legitimacy of her conscientious objection…She is expected to be judged on the spot and sent again to Prison 6. The first time she refused, she was jailed for a week, and the second time, for two weeks.
Blue and White is waving nothing more than a toy pistol (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Rather than respond to the increasingly desperate threats from Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, Prime Minister Netanyahu is stepping up his attacks on Naftali Bennett to improve his own position.
Turkey Seeks to Replace Egypt in Palestinian Arena – and Israel Should Be Worried (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz+) The Palestinian Authority has embroiled itself in a power struggle between two rival Mideast coalitions: One comprises Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. The other includes Turkey, Qatar and, at a distance, Iran.
A party must adapt to changing circumstances and conditions (Zalman Shoval, Maariv) Likud is not the same Likud as when it was founded. I, too, am not always proud of the Likud Knesset members and would have preferred, for example, that the coalition whip MK Miki Zohar be a little less "vigorous" in his statements. I also regret that the Likud primaries system, which is positive in itself, has sometimes created inappropriate centers of power and corruption. Nor do I like the incessant quarrels between some of the ministers and members of the Knesset in order to advance, so to speak, their status. Likud is not a perfect party, just as no political party in the country or in the world is perfect in altruistic or philosophical terms, in part because political life has its own laws, and the goal of politicians is not only ideological but also to ensure their survival in the political system. A question could arise as to whether the Likud's path today always faithfully reflects the intentions of its founders. The Likud is essentially a center-right party, or as it was said at the time of its founding, a national-liberal party, and its main base is not the settlers, but large sections of the periphery and the urban and rural middle class. This was the trend in 1973 when Ariel Sharon, Yigal Horowitz and I sat in a cafe in north Tel Aviv and drew the lines for the establishment of the new political body that would later be called the "Likud,” and which Menachem Begin would head. Netanyahu, in his actions and worldview, is also a center-right man. In some respects, the Likud adapted to Mapai's (later called the Labor party) government’s path; Ben-Gurion, the wisest of all leaders, sought to place his party at the center of the political map and realized that only the center could be controlled and so he made sure that a right-wing movement will be to his right, ‘Herut’ party, and he liked to exaggerate about it’s radicalness, and to the left "Mapam" with the worship of Stalin’s ”Son of the Peoples.” To stabilize his rule, he made a historic alliance with the religious. The Likud also succeeded in this way: it shed its extreme right-wing fringes, and like Mapai at the time, realized that without a strategic alliance with the religious camp it would not be able to advance its political, security and economic goals. Some of the ultra-Orthodox and their representatives today are doing the opposite, thereby harming both their main partners and the principled justification of this alliance.
With anti-Palestinian Hostility Surging, Can Israel’s Peace Camp Find Allies in the Gulf? (Katie Wachsberger, Haaretz+) As normalization sweeps the Gulf, Israeli anti-occupation activists face a new fight for relevance, influence and partnerships in an unfamiliar, often dissonant environment. It won’t be easy.
The Ramallah lynching was our warning of what was to come (Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Yedioth/Ynet) The dark suspicion, separation and iron hand that categorizes Israel's relationship with the Palestinians today can all be traced back to the brutal murder of two IDF reservists in a West Bank police stations exactly 20 years ago…In exchange for their brutal attempt at genocide against us, the Palestinians set back their own cause by decades. Twenty years later, their devastated economy, lack of any sovereign institutions, impotent and divided leadership and abandonment of hope is the harsh price they deservedly pay for believing they could murder and terrorize Jews into submission…While Arab states all across the Middle East both openly and covertly are establishing relations with Israel, the Palestinian leadership is still holding onto their ‘pay to slay’ policy and their support for terrorism. [NOTE: Darshan-Leitner is the director of a right-wing legal organization that works with the Israeli government. - OH]
The conflict moves in mysterious ways (Dr. Col. (res.) Moshe Elad, Israel Hayom) PA official Saeb Erekat, who over the years has spread some of the most ludicrous lies about Israel, is sick with COVID-19 and receiving the best medical treatment Israel has to offer.
Selective Enforcement Will Destroy Israel’s Trust in Its Police (Mordechai Kremnitzer, Haaretz+) By facilitating coronavirus violations in some communities while cracking down on protesters, the police sides with Netanyahu's political interests, giving Israel the markings of an authoritarian regime.
 

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

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