APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday October 26, 2020 

Quotes from the High Court:

"We cannot interpret the international conventions that the State of Israel has signed in isolation from the particular aspect of the war on terror, which we experience, sadly, day in and day out; we are beings who want life, and we will not die for the sanctification of the Geneva Convention.”
--High Court Justice Noam Sohlberg wrote in his ruling to approve the demolishing of the home of a Palestinian man who murdered an Israeli man. Justice Meni Mazuz objected to the demolition of the house.*

"The demolition of the home of an innocent family is shameful to the State of Israel and it is a pity that the High Court is giving a hand to it. The judgment does not make justice and does not provide any deterrence."
--HaMoked, an Israeli human rights organization, which represented the Palestinian family's in the petition.*

Front Page:

Haaretz

• Corona cabinet approved: 1st through 4th grade return to classes next week
• Due to the corona crisis: 80% of asylum seekers don’t work and are not eligible for medical insurance
• Government seeks to give police access to epidemiological information in criminal investigations
• Museum of Islam (in Jerusalem) plans to sell rare and priceless artifacts and is sparking great criticism
• Don’t expel // Haaretz Editorial (on Sudanese refugees)
• Waiting for Biden // Zvi Bar’el on Egyptian leader
• (Actor) Yehuda Barkan played the role of Mizrachi Jews with love and not with ridicule. And he was Ashkenazi

Yedioth Ahronoth

• 3 days at school, 3 days at home - The corona cabinet’s plan for 1st-4th graders that is making parents crazy
• They don’t care about us // Chen Artzi-Srur (Hebrew)
• “The F-35 affair is more serious than the submarine affair. The culture of lies and making decisions alone is dangerous” - General (res.) Amos Gilad makes serious criticism against the government’s conduct
• There is no one to investigate // Nahum Barnea
• Death of the cigarette seller from the Warsaw Ghetto
• The terrible night in my life // Journalist Araleh Barnea on the death of Eitan Haber

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• There is no money for pods: 1st and 2nd grades will be in class three days a week
• They clapped for the last time
• Likud initiative: Run Gantz for the Presidency in exchange for him giving up on Prime Minister rotation

Israel Hayom

• 1st and 2nd graders: 3 days in class, 3 days at home
• Doctors at Wolfson Hospital: “Corona patients are neglected - and are dying”
• “Dad, is this a prank?” - Funeral of actor and prankster Yehuda Barkan
• A green island in the sea: This is how hotels in Eilat and at the Dead Sea will open
• Air and mountain tops: For the first time at Mt. Hermon - Arrival by pre-registration
• The secret channel was revealed: Weekly talks between Israel and Sudan - behind the back of the dictator
• Likely: IsraAir will operate direct flights to Morocco

Top News Summary:
No money for pods, so first and second graders will return to school only three days a week and the plan to start clinical trials of an Israeli COVID vaccine next week were top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Maariv also reported that the Likud wants to offer Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz to be President in exchange for giving up on the rotation for the premiership.

What the papers did not report, with the usual exception of Haaretz, was that killing of a Palestinian teen in a foot chase with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Amer Snobar, 18, was struck repeatedly in the neck by a rifle butt. But the Israeli army claimed Snobar fell and hit his head and died at the scene and that the soldiers had no contact with him before he lost consciousness. For the Palestinians Snobar’s death and it was a big story. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry demanded an international probe into Snobar’s killing. PLO official Hanan Ashrawi called his killing a “monstrous act of brutality motivated by hate.”

Sales of weapons were also top stories. Yedioth interviewed former senior Defense Ministry official, Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, who said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s hidden approval of the sale of F-35s to the Emirates was even more problematic than his concealed approval of the sale of submarines to Egypt. Maariv reported that the Israeli security establishment doesn’t expect the F-35 deal to be approved by Congress before the election. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz also caused concern when told Israeli media, “I have no doubt that if they want it and are willing to pay, sooner or later they will get it.” Israel Hayom thought he was talking only about Qatar, but Ynet thought Steinitz was talking about both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In any case, it was a cause of concern to senior Israeli defense establishment officials, due to Qatar’s links to Iran and Hamas.

The Israeli government ratified the joint declaration with Bahrain, Channel 12 News said that Oman may be the next Arab country to announce normalization with Israel, possibly before US election day and Israel is sending $5 million worth of wheat to its newest Arab friend, Sudan, as part of the normalization agreement. Sudanese and Israeli delegations will meet in the coming weeks to discuss trade and migration deals. MK and former defense minister Moshe Yaalon said that the normalization agreements with the Arab states are related to Netanyahu’s trials. "As soon as [the agreements] happened, I said I was afraid of the timing and background. Because those countries recognized that Binyamin Netanyahu was in political distress, it was important for him to make a political achievement, to blur the discussion about the investigations and trials."


Corona Quickees:

• Israel Seeks to Give Police Unrestricted Access to COVID Contact Tracing Data - Proposed legislation would allow information on patients' movement and contacts, as collected by the Health Ministry and army, and possibly the Shin Bet security service, to be used for criminal investigations. (Haaretz+)
• After 24 hours with no update, Israel posts 559 new coronavirus cases - The Health Ministry failed to report the data recorded on Saturday due to a technical malfunction; contagion rate now stands at 3% after 27,323 tests had been conducted over the past two days. (Ynet)
• Israel to start clinical trials of COVID vaccine next week - Institute for Biological Research, tasked with developing the vaccine, says clinical trials of the 'BriLife' would begin on November 1, with the aim of 15 million dozes for Israelis and country's 'close neighbors.’ (Haaretz+, Ynet and Israel Hayom)
• Some 80 Percent of Asylum Seekers in Israel Are Out of Work, Lack Health Insurance - Aid organizations warn of a looming humanitarian crisis, citing data that indicates a significant surge in domestic violence, requests for food aid and other assistance since March. (Haaretz+)

Quick Hits:

• Israel's Top Court Suspends Administrative Detention of Palestinian Hunger Striker - Maher Akhras, striking for more than 90 days, remains at an Israeli hospital after justices rule that the remainder of his detention will be reconsidered upon his release from treatment. (Haaretz+)
• *The High Court ruled: The house of the murderer of Rabbi Shai Ohayon will be destroyed - The petition by Khalil Doikat, 46, from Nablus, who murdered Rabbi Ohayon in Petah Tikva last August, was rejected by the High Court. Justice Sohlberg ruled: ""We cannot interpret the international conventions that the State of Israel has signed in isolation from the particular aspect of the war on terror, which we experience, sadly, day in and day out; we are beings who want life, and we will not die for the sanctification of the Geneva Convention.” Justice Menny Mazuz objected to the demolition of the house. HaMoked, which represented the terrorist's family in the petition, responded: "The demolition of the home of an innocent family is shameful to the State of Israel and it is a pity that the High Court is giving a hand to it. The judgment does not make justice and does not provide any deterrence. The (right-wing) Im Tirtzu organization reacted to the position of Judge Menachem Mazuz, who opposed the demolition: "Judge Mazuz ruled for the tenth time against the demolition of a terrorist's house. We call on Chief Justice Esther Hayut to stop including Judge Mazuz in discussions on the demolition of terrorist homes. His rulings are political and not legal.” (Maariv)
• Undercover Cops Routinely Track and Arrest Us, anti-Netanyahu Protest Leaders Say - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has requested that the attorney general halt the use of undercover officers against demonstrators, calling it a 'serious blow' to civil liberties. (Haaretz+)
• Religious Schools' Lesson Plan on Rabin Assassination Skips the Incitement Factor - Lesson plan for third through sixth graders says Rabin's 'agreement with the Arabs' stirred disagreements, but aftermath of his murder bred division 'that turned into unity.’ (Haaretz+)
• IDF launches massive drill simulating war with Hezbollah - Army says the military exercise is the biggest of 2020 even though it had been significantly scaled back due to coronavirus pandemic; IDF says there will be increased presence of jets, army vehicles and troops across the country. (Ynet and Israel Hayom)
• WATCH Arab-Israeli travel blogger Nas Daily denies report that he is a tool of Israeli government - Nuseir Yassin, who grew up in Israel but moved to Singapore last year, has gained millions of social media followers through his travel videos. (JTA, Haaretz)
• Jerusalem's Museum of Islamic Art to Auction 268 Precious Items, Despite Outcry - (Allegedly) Financially strained, the L.A. Mayer Museum is auctioning off dozens of rare items, despite harsh criticism: 'They’re going for the easy way out.’ Five percent of the Jerusalem museum's collection will be auctioned at Sotheby's London, including rare Breguet watches. (Haaretz+)
• Israel ships humanitarian aid to Azerbaijan amid Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - Jerusalem supplies Baku with medical equipment as Azerbaijan and Armenia continue clashing in the contested territory, claiming more victims on both sides; Israeli envoy 'prays for a peaceful solution.’ (Yedioth/Ynet)
• Thousands rally in Iraq to mark one year of anti-government protests - More than 500 people were killed during the months-long movement that brought tens of thousands of Iraqis into the streets, expressing anger at corruption, high unemployment rates and dire public services. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Iraqi forces, anti-government protesters clash in Baghdad, injuries on both sides - Renewed anti-government rallies converge to mark one year since mass unrest over corruption and widespread deprivation that left over 500 dead. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Booby traps set by ISIS in Sinai kill at least 14 in 2 weeks - At least 10 more wounded by explosives placed in Islamic State attacks on town of Bir al-Abd in July. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
• UN: Nuclear weapons ban treaty to enter into force - The 50th ratification came on the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the U.N. Charter which officially established the United Nations and is celebrated as UN Day. (Agencies, Haaretz)

Features:
Bed of Roses: The Way Zionist Pioneers Solicited Money From Baron De Rothschild
A forgotten 10-page letter exposes the method with which Zionist pioneers persuaded Baron de Rothschild to give them money: they found his weakness. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz+)
They were really there, and they are not happy: "Lock Hour" the real story
The series about the northern front of the Yom Kippur War went on the air last week and is already causing a stir among the fighters who experienced it firsthand. Some claim: "We were not complacent." The film takes us to the early days of the Yom Kippur War. The plot takes place mainly on the northern front in the Golan Heights, at the Hermon outpost of the 8200 intelligence unit (then 848), which was occupied by the Syrians, and to the battles in which 13 IDF soldiers were killed and 31 soldiers were captured. Also featured in the series is, among other things, the Battle of the Bakaa Valley, one of the most difficult battles that took place in the early days of the war. (Dudi Fatimer, Maariv supplement, cover)
COVID-19 Brings East Jerusalem Palestinians and Israeli Authorities Closer. Will It Last?
The army’s Home Front Command has worked with the community to curb the spread of the virus in most Palestinian neighborhoods, but not on the other side of the separation barrier. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+)

Top Commentary/Analysis:
Israelis Who Pillage Palestinian Olive Harvesters Are Not My Brothers (Michael Sfard, Haaretz+) In recent years, Israeli and Palestinian rights groups have made a breakthrough discovery that may one day earn them a Nobel Prize in physics. Their researchers have observed that along with the speed of light and the laws of gravity, nature has given us two more universal physical constants: despicable settler criminality, which surges during the olive harvest, and collaboration by Israeli law enforcement that just lets it happen. Time may expand or shrink, space may swell or contract, but the speed of light will always remain 300,000 kilometers per second. It will never change – nor will the criminal activity of settlers. In times of peace talks or annexation conspiracy, normal times or pandemic times, times of economic growth or recession, the theft of olives, the cutting down of trees and assaults on the olive harvesters persist as always. The army’s show of weakness and indifference, the prizes to the assailants and their aggression against the weak, awarded by the security forces, are also as reliable as the sunrise every morning…
Sealing a Room at a Palestinian Family's Home With Concrete? For Israel, It's 'Urgent Security Needs' (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) On October 21, early Wednesday morning, IDF soldiers sealed a room in a meager three-room apartment in Yabed, where Suheila Abu Bakr and her eight children live. The oldest is 19, the youngest almost two. To seal a room means to fill it with concrete. The sealing was done with the permission of the High Court of Justice. But the undisciplined concrete spilled over and blocked the hallway too, the bathroom and part of the kitchen. Young people from the extended family worked for a long time and removed the hardening concrete from the parts of the apartment that the honorable justices allowed the family to continue using. The father, Nazmi Abu Bakr, is charged with murdering IDF soldier Amit Ben Yigal. On May 12, Ben Yigal returned with his comrades from a routine operation to make arrests in the village of Yabed. They marched on the narrow road that leads to the military base in the settlement of Dotan. At least two of the four people arrested that same night were marched along with them. The Abu Bakr home stands at the beginning of the road. Young people from the neighborhood threw rocks at them. There was shouting. The indictment was filed on June 25. It stated that Abu Bakr threw a brick from the roof of the building on Ben Yigal. In other words, according to what we learned in our civics classes in grade school, Nazmi Abu Bakr is presumed to be innocent because he has still not yet been proven guilty. But not in the only democratic Jewish state in the world. We act according to Regulation No. 119 of the Emergency Regulations from 1945 of the British Mandate, and these allow the military governor to confiscate a structure and demolish it if he suspects it was used to commit a crime.
Why is Netanyahu denying his peace deals have a price? (Yuval Karni, Yedioth/Ynet) Losing a bit of technological superiority in the region and forfeiting plans of West Bank annexation are all reasonable enough prices to pay for peace, but PM continues to deny that recent normalization accords have side effects.
After Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates: the time has come to make peace in our home as well (Gideon Reicher, Maariv) Peace agreements are being happily signed these days with former enemies, my hope is that all our elected representatives will make the decision to replace insults and unbridled accusations with a moderate and respectful language.
How Israel's String of Peace Deals Triggered a Mideast Arms Race (Hagai Amit, Haaretz+) Peace typically means less defense spending, but the latest deals are defying that logic – Israel is spending more of its GDP on defense than it has in years.
How Sudan's wall of hostility crumbled (Oded Granot, Israel Hayom) Before signing the peace treaty with Israel, Sudan's leaders first had to overcome three obstructions that threatened to suffocate and ruin the vast country.
The results of the US election will affect Israel's place in the administration's priorities (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv) If Trump wins, the chances are that Israel will continue to be at the top of his political agenda. If Joe Biden is elected, Israel will likely fall to one of the lowest places on the list of issues to be addressed.
Race to the White House: Trump against the rest (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) In New Hampshire on Sunday, the president told the naked truth: In this race, he's running against Silicon Valley, the leftist media, and pro-Biden censorship. A fatigued Biden, meanwhile, looks like he just wants this to all be over.
Erdogan Is Planning a New World Order in Which Turkey Is the Rising Star (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Anyone hoping for a turnabout in international policy that would bend Erdogan’s will has received his loud and clear message: Turkey will be everywhere and nobody will stop it.
Erdogan's calamitous authoritarianism (Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, Israel Hayom) The Turkish president's escalating rhetoric indicates he is dangerous. Who's to say he won't seek to acquire nuclear weapons?
Gideon Levy: Reciprocity in International Law Is About Rights, Not Conditions (Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Haaretz+) As I have stated on the record, in both interviews and on Twitter, I am proud to be living in a country in which the defense minister enables the treatment of Saeb Erekat; a country that does not condition its own morality on the morality of its foes or its allies. Any inference or suggestion that attributes otherwise to me is either a misunderstanding, a mistake, or misleading. Leaving aside the disrespectful and false personal attacks made in the article, the very premise of it is based on an incorrect interpretation of reciprocity as opposed to conditioning…
There is no one to investigate (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth Hebrew) There are flashlights that are project backwards: Netanyahu's empty denials over the arms deal between the United States and the United Arab Emirates shed new light on his conduct in the submarine affair. Perplexity connects to perplexity, discomfort connects to discomfort. As for the Emirates, the facts are quite clear: Netanyahu hid from the top of the defense establishment the talks leading up to the tripartite agreement. The arms deal was a condition set by the Emirates' rulers to the Americans. They signed the normalization agreement with Israel after being assured that Israel would not oppose. Netanyahu, who called the news on this subject "absolute Fake News," told a lie. When the defense establishment opened negotiations with the Trump administration, in an effort to repair damage, Netanyahu acted as if the negotiations did not concern him. He brought peace; Gantz brought up the price…
Lebanon’s Woes Will Only Get Worse Now That the Guilty Are Back in Power (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) The economy is in free fall and half the population is impoverished, but the power elite isn't going anywhere.
In Israel's Mass Protests, Leave the Horses Out of It (Miki Gur, Haaretz+) The use of horses to disperse demonstrators is a cruel remnant of wars of the past and should have stopped a long time ago.
Peace is from Allah (Dr. Shuki Friedman, Israel Hayom) Clerics have a great impact on matters of state in most Arab countries. Without them, even if normalization is achieved, it cannot evolve into warm and close relations – something that was once fantasy and now seem more real than ever. 
Stop the Jerusalem Islamic Art Museum From Selling Off Its Treasures (Sefy Hendler, Haaretz+) The Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem is a rare wonder: an art institution that for almost 50 years has been displaying the incredible richness of Islamic art to an Israeli audience. Vera Salomons, the donor who placed the collection and the building at the disposal of the general public, added to her donation the rare watch collection of Lord David Salomons, one of the world’s most import watch collections. The combination of Islamic objets d’art that the donor wanted exposed to the Israeli public, and the breathtaking watches, creates one of the rarest collections in Israel, God’s little acre in a city that desperately needs such places. The past years have been good years for the museum: Its exhibition was updated, the research activity benefited from an increase in cooperative projects with universities, and the exhibitions were highly praised. The group responsible for all these successes is the museum staff, headed by director Nadim Sheiban. That’s why all those who love the museum were shocked to learn about its administrators’ decision to sell 268 items from its collections at a public auction, which is being presented as designed to rescue the museum, when it’s not at all clear that the museum is in need of such a “rescue.”…It is evident that the objects were chosen by a master and by the world’s greatest experts. These are not negligible works that were gathering dust in the storeroom, they are the finest items in the collection
Don’t Deport the Sudanese (Haaretz Editorial) The normalization agreement between the State of Israel and the Republic of Sudan does not automatically pave the way toward resolving the issue of the Sudanese asylum seekers here, who number 6,285 people, a fifth of the asylum seekers in Israel.

 

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