APN's daily news review from Israel - Monday December 28, 2020

You Must Be Kidding: 
 “We didn’t know they were Jews.”
— Said by one of the four Israeli police officers who were questioned as suspects after the car they were chasing in the West Bank flipped and a Jewish Israeli settler teen who was inside was killed. The other settlers who were in the car, all of whom were reportedly throwing stones at passing Palestinian cars, claimed the police detectives crashed into them deliberately from behind.*

Front Page:

Haaretz

• Knesset decided: All children will go to school
• Decade since the Arab Spring broke out, the revolution is still happening // Zvi Bar’el
• Tight election timetable could lead to death of party primaries
• Netanyahu demanded cancelling the indictment, claiming that his investigations were not approved in advance
• Attorney General: Nature and Parks Authority acted without authority to allow gender-separate bathing
• Police who were involved in incident in which (settler) youth in West Bank was killed were defined as under threat
• New wind // Zvi Bar’el on conciliatory spirit between Israel and Muslim countries and among those counties
• While in the world culture is in a severe crisis, Israeli TV has had an unprecedented blossoming

Yedioth Ahronoth

• “The third lockdown is a deathblow” - Business owners don’t know how they will survive it (Hebrew)
• The politicization of the pandemic // Nahum Barnea
• 2020 - The year of corona
• And they declared a lockdown (Aerial photo of heavy traffic on highways after lockdown went into effect)
• Record shots: Meet the nurses who vaccinated 1,300 Israelis

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

• Third lockdown began
• They left - Benny Gantz said he would lead Kahol-Lavan and parted from two more MKs
• Netanyahu’s immortalized - PM plans to save spots on Likud list for Ron Dermer, Gal Hirsh and Haim Bibes

Israel Hayom

• Assessment: Vaccine campaign could shorten lockdown
• The committee of teaching employees: “We are teaching, vaccinate us”
• History: Moroccan delegation in Israel
• Prime Minister to court: “Attorney General did not approve in writing to investigate”
• Fear in Emek Hefer: “Giant snake escaped, danger to children”
• Worrying report: 21 out of 25 women murdered this year - because they were women
• The sounds of corona: The lost year of music

Top News Summary:
The corona lockdown began, the massive vaccine campaign continues, businesses fear collapse, and the Knesset overturned a government cabinet decision to send students in the fifth to tenth graders home during the lockdown - while the papers declared that Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Kahol-Lavan party was disintegrating. Also making news, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made another attempt to get out of his corruption cases, and he may approve another batch of settler homes before US President-elect Joe Biden enters office, Jerusalem Post’s Tovah Lazaroff reported, and Israel and the UAE are working together to terminate UNRWA, the UN organization that aids Palestinian refugees.

Elections 2021:
Kahol-Lavan leader Gantz dismissed the two party MKs who  refused to vote in favor of a motion postponing the deadline for the government to present a state budget and his partner, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi is considering his next steps ahead of the March 2021 election. Gantz insisted he will continue to lead the party, but he may not have a party to lead after the next election. According to the latest poll, Kahol-Lavan plunges to just four mandates, the minimum to make it into the Knesset. Likud still leads with 28 Knesset seats. But the anti-Netanyahu bloc has gained more seats - 63 out of the Knesset’s 120, which would prevent Netanyahu from forming the next government.

Corona Quickees:

• Israel Enters Third Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown - Lockdown began Sunday at 5 P.M. with 1-kilometer distance limit, and shuttering of retail and leisure activities. (Haaretz and Ynet)
• IDF rolls out COVID vaccination drive - The Israeli military launched a mass vaccination drive Monday, planning to immunize some 6,000 soldiers and officers within one week. (Israel Hayom)
• Israel posts 3,498 daily virus cases, with 4.9% infection rate - Health Ministry says the contagion rate is the highest it has been over the past 7 days; Jerusalem boasts the highest infection rate in the country with 11%; 6 more patients die over the past day. (Ynet)
• Knesset Education Committee: School will continue for all grades during lockdown - Members of the Knesset Education Committee who sit on the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee overturned on Sunday a cabinet decision to send students in the fifth to 10th grades home during the third lockdown, which starts at 5 p.m. Sunday. (Israel Hayom)
• Wave of Business Failures in Israel Is Expected to Continue Into 2021 - The number of businesses is expected to shrink next year not only because the rate of closures is to remain high, but because fewer new businesses are expected to open, Dun & Bradstreet projects. (Haaretz+)

Quick Hits:

• Netanyahu may approve last burst of settler housing plans prior to Biden - The number rises to 12,159 if one includes the advancement of 3,196 homes this year in the highly contentious E1 section of the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement. (JPost/Maariv and Israel Hayom)
• Settlers: If Netanyahu wants votes, he must legalize outposts - A vote to regulate the outposts passed an initial reading in the Knesset. Settlers demonstrated outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem Sunday. (JPost)
• One more case of COVID-19 among (E. Jerusalem) Palestinians in Israeli detention - Israeli occupation authorities had informed the Beit Hanina Services Center in occupied Jerusalem about the infection of Ahmad Manasrah, 18, with COVID-19, but the authorities provided no details about his health condition and the family did not know where their son was being detained. Over 140 Palestinians in Israeli jails have contracted corona. (WAFA)
• Israel to demolish four houses, greenhouse in Jenin-area village - Israeli forces distributed notices for the demolition of four houses, including three under construction, and a greenhouse belonging to Palestinian residents in the village of Ta'anak, purportedly for being built in an archaeological site and for lacking an Israeli-issued permit. (WAFA)
• **Cops Involved in Israeli Settler Teen's Car Chase Death Assigned Protection - Police suspect right-wing activists vandalized police cars in response to the killing of Ahuvia Sandak, 16-year-old Israeli from the Bat Ayin settlement in Gush Etzion. (Haaretz+)
• Policeman Filmed Hitting Protester After Police Say He Assaulted the Officer - The confrontation occurred in Jerusalem at a protest over the death of Ahuvia Sandak, who was killed when his car overturned in a police chase over suspicion he had been throwing stones at Palestinians. (Haaretz+)
• Hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox Block Traffic in Central Israel to Protest Draft Dodger's Arrest - Thirteen protesters have been arrested and one police officer was injured after a rock was thrown at him, striking him in the face. (Haaretz+)
• In troubling spike, report finds 25 women fell prey to femicide in 2020 - In 17 of the 18 cases where police had a suspect in custody immediately, the killer was a male relative, and in 13 cases it was the victim's spouse. So far, only seven indictments have been filed over these murders. (Israel Hayom)
• Palestinian Authority rumbling after youths party at mosque - Online users incandescent after party which featured alcohol and co-mingling of men and women; Palestinian PM announces commission of inquiry into events leading to party at holy site. (Ynet)
• Israel, Morocco sign first economic agreement - Chief Economist Shira Greenberg says agreements on financial cooperation have potential to increase trade with Morocco by around half a billion dollars a year. Finance Minister Israel Katz hails important "step toward turning Israel from an island economy into a leading regional economic center, with economic and trade ties throughout the Middle East." (Israel Hayom)
• Hezbollah Says It Has Doubled Its Arsenal of Guided Missiles Aimed at Israel - Israel has in recent months expressed concern that Hezbollah is trying to establish production facilities to make precision-guided missiles. (Agencies, Ynet)
• Turkey Says It Killed 15 Kurdish Militants Preparing Attack in Northeast Syria - The so-called Peace Spring Operation offensive, which was widely condemned by Ankara's Western allies, was halted after striking deals with Russia and the United States. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Gulf Arab Ministers to Discuss Steps to Resolve Diplomatic Dispute - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of backing 'terrorist' groups. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Iran: Israeli sub in Gulf will be met with 'strong and massive' response - After report of Israeli vessel entering Suez Canal, Tehran says Jerusalem 'looking for excuses to drag the region into a tension that creates chaos in the last days of the Trump presidency', threatens Arab states with new Israel ties. (Ynet)

Commentary/Analysis:
This Incredible Story Proves Netanyahu Has No Limits (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) When Netanyahu called James Packer's shrink.
With the time left for Trump in the White House, Israel must correct the mistake that was made (Yitzhak Levanon, Maariv) In the agreement with Morocco, Israel must demand that diplomatic relations must be made at the highest level and openly, because, at the moment, the biggest beneficiary of the renewal of diplomatic relations with Morocco is King Muhammad VI…The enthusiasm shown in the country for the official renewal of ties with Morocco is understandable due to the fact that it is Morocco and everything it symbolizes to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who come from this beautiful green country. We had official relations with Morocco in the mid-1990s [following the signing of the Oslo Accords - OH], and as the person in charge of cultivating mutual relations, I visited many times and even hosted, together with the then foreign minister Ehud Barak, the palace of King Hassan II. I have only pleasant memories from then. Without hurting the elation over the renewed connection, the enthusiasm must be cooled to look at reality. As mentioned, despite the special relationship that lasted for many years between the two countries and included cooperation at all levels, including sensitive issues, it should be remembered that with the outbreak of the Second Intifada, Hassan II, the current king's father, did not hesitate to sever ties with us. So that sounds like an excuse to us. In the current round, which is completely different from what it was in the 1990s, after the Oslo Accords, it is not clear to me why there is still talk of opening interests offices and leaving the opening of embassies to a future date. After all, in exchange for the resumption of diplomatic relations, the United States recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. This is a very significant step for Morocco, which requires a parallel step on its part for open relations, and at the level of embassies, with us. The attempt to use different terms to evade explicit agreement on opening embassies raises questions. The connection made publicly between the recognition of the Sahara and the renewal of ties with Israel is, in my view, a tactical as well as a strategic mistake. After all, Western Sahara is part of an internal Moroccan conflict to which Israel has no affiliation, and it would have been better to keep us out of it. Our leaders who dealt with the issue could have asked that things be done separately and in two steps: the first step would be the renewal of relations, and a month later the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty. At least ostensibly it could be said that there is no connection between the two, and the secret understandings reached by all parties are not important. Western Sahara is in the soul of Morocco. The conflict has not yet been resolved, and there is a chance that the violence there will resume. What will Israel do if the king demands that Israel support the UN in Morocco's position on this issue? Our Foreign Ministry officials will have to find a redemptive formula that will allow us to eat the cake and leave it intact. I trust them. There is no guarantee that countries in the world will follow the US decision, and many will probably prefer to see what the position of President-elect Joe Biden will be. The least that can be said is that the Sahara issue is not at the forefront of Biden's mind. What is at the forefront of his mind, as well as that of King Muhammad VI, is the Palestinian issue. With the time left for Trump in the White House, Israel must correct the mistake that was made and insist on diplomatic relations at the highest level and openly. The king received what he asked for in the Sahara, he can reward us with responding to our request.
The seeds of the agreement with Morocco were planted about two and a half years ago (MK Ram Ben Barak, Maariv) With all due respect, this is not a peace agreement brought by the current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The seeds were planted when I received an inquiry regarding the state's desire to have its control of Western Sahara recognized.
Where Will the Middle East’s Normalization Roulette Land Next? (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) An air of reconciliation isn't confined to relations between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries, but it is also sprouting between Arab countries themselves.
An important lesson from our Arab allies (Prof. Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom) While the radical Islamic forces in the Arab world are in something of an existential crisis, in Gaza, Hamas continues to flourish thanks to Israel's support and encouragement. The day will come when we are made to pay a heavy price for allowing Hamas to build a missile system directed at Israel unhindered and under our watch.
Call the Palestinian Police, for the Israeli Police Aren't Helping Arabs (Odeh Bisharat, Haaretz+) The state’s hatred for its Arab citizens is reaching insane heights. Generations of Jews grew up on the slogan “A good Arab is a dead Arab.” So why bother trying to save them when they’re doing the job themselves? Especially when, time after time, they choose “supporters of terror,” as most of the leaders of the Jewish parties put it, to represent them in the Knesset? The Or Commission, which investigated the October 2000 killing of 13 Arabs, noted that the police treated Arabs like the enemy. The policemen killed, but none were charged with a crime.
The Saudi crown prince is getting vaccinated with his eyes toward Washington (Smadar Perry, Yedioth Hebrew) Look at what's in one photo published over the weekend in the headline of all Saudi newspapers. Regent Muhammad bin Salman, 35, exposes his right arm to receive the corona vaccine. As with us, he too received the Pfizer vaccine. One moment a shot, the photographers are ticking, and immediately after him the nurse - not a local but from the Far East, approaches the ruler to carefully rub his arm, and he throws at her a smile that says "everything is fine.” A young Saudi nurse would not dare, and the crown regent would also take care to keep her distanced, so as not to get entangled with his evil groves in the kingdom. Ben-Salman is the first - and only - Arab leader to document immunization and distribute it to the newspaper systems. Not al-Sisi in Egypt, not Abdullah King of Jordan or Muhammad VI King of Morocco. Those, one might guess, do not need what Ben-Salman wants to win in the photo at the clinic. What does he achieve? First of all, Saudi Arabia stands in line with the two leaders who were vaccinated in front of the cameras: Joe Biden in the United States and Binyamin Netanyahu in Israel. In addition, Saudi Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabia is quick to thank the Crown Prince for his efforts in obtaining corona vaccines. It should be kept in mind that the numbers are high in Saudi Arabia: So far, 371,000 people have been registered as infected, 6,000 dead, and tens of thousands more whose condition is unclear, due to their distance from medical centers. Following the dissemination of the photo of the regent in the bare sleeve, a huge increase of more than half a million people registered for the vaccine was detected at once. Saudi hospital administrators, university heads and chairmen of all unions rushed to congratulate Bin-Salman on his "personal mobilization," urging residents not to be afraid, to stop spreading false rumors, to follow the ruler, and to receive the shot. It is the vaccine picture that is intended to pad Bin-Salman's path to the new US president's administration. To prove to him, as it were, that the Saudi people, especially the young, are standing behind the ruler. President Trump is taking advantage of his last days in power to pave the way for Ben-Salman to the White House. Following the Khashougi assassination case, a new affair has now emerged: an attempt to assassinate senior Riyadh intelligence chief Saad al-Jabari, who is hiding under strict guard in Canada. According to the Washington Post, Bin-Salman sent him an assassination squad the week after Khashougi’s shocking assassination. Canadian intelligence was able to stop them. But al-Jabari's brother and his two children are being held hostage. Trump is now striving to get Bin-Salman a pardon, to clean his way to the White House. If he succeeds, Trump will start doing business with the Saudi leader after he retires. "I saved his ass," Trump said of Bin-Salman in his extroverted style in an interview for a book to be published in the United States. “He should thank me." Overall, the situation in Saudi Arabia is very bad: 2,886 were infected yesterday (Sunday). Only a few hundred were able to recover, according to their reports, from corona. The elder Salman, King of Saudi Arabia, has been isolated for weeks. The government is not convening. They are waiting for a miracle that will get them out of the pandemic, and get life back on track. Even the new desert city, Neom, is paralyzed because of corona. There is no exit and no entry at land ports and airports. Saudi Arabia is closed. The royal house in Riyadh can only take comfort in the fact that in Iran, the sworn enemy, the situation is much worse.
The Israeli Parliament Finally Steps Up (Haaretz Editorial) Plenty has been written about the lifeline that Kahol Lavan chief Benny Gantz has provided to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s indicted prime minister. Less has been written about the noose the two of them have wrapped around the Knesset’s neck.
Unsettled by Hebron (Jerold S. Auerbach, Israel Hayom) Historically myopic, ignoring millennia of Jewish history in Hebron, an author can only discern the "colonial backdrop" of a "land takeover" with "Jewish observance and forms of direct violence in order to erase the presence of an existing Palestinian population.
Buying Hanukkah Candles in Ramallah (Umm Forat, Haaretz+) 'I’m a Jew married to a Palestinian,' I told him, with a smile that I hoped was courteous, pluralistic and also conversation-ending ■ Post #27.
I was a supporter of Gideon Saar. But not anymore (Eran Rosenzweig, Ynet Hebrew) He cancelled more than a million Likud voters, pulled strings to advance elections and gave unclear messages to attract left-wing voters. I have been supporting him for 15 years, but in recent weeks he is not the same Gideon Saar.
Turns out, you need a politician to beat a politician (Michal Aharoni, Israel Hayom) The moment Benny Gantz began his flirtations with Netanyahu, the outcome was inevitable. Netanyahu is a hunter who smells blood from a mile away; Gantz was easy prey.
Israel's Lockdown Calculus: Saving as Few as 500 Lives Will Cost $8 Billion (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz+) That’s the price the coronavirus cabinet agreed to pay by imposing a third lockdown. That’s a lot more of a question of values than of economics, but it has to be asked. We can’t ignore the claim that human life can’t be measured in money terms, but the fact is, that’s what the government’s health basket committee does (annually). If someone proposed to the committee to spend 10 billion shekels to save the lives of 1,400 people, the committee wouldn’t hesitate for a moment in rejecting the idea.
Not just cheerleaders: Journalists’ role in covering UAE-Israel normalization (Ben Lynfield, Times of Israel) Media on both sides can work together, telling the story warts and all to ensure leaders take public feedback on their actions into account.
Why is it only when Jews attack Arabs that the media takes note? (Sara Ha'etzni-Cohen, Israel Hayom) Don't believe the consciousness engineers who claim things are heating up due to Jewish violence. That's a lie. Judea and Samaria are at a boiling point due to hundreds of incidents of attempted murder of Jews whose only crime was driving home.
The Nation-State Law had its day in court, as did the farce of Israeli democracy (Orly Noy, 972mag) During the hearing, the High Court justices saw no problem with demoting the status of Arabic and claimed that 'equality' is something best left for the future.
'Tis the season to nail Israel (David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom) This should be the season for a global defense campaign for beleaguered Christians in the Middle East. Instead, the Western media purveys the false impression that Christians are under assault by Israelis … and intersectionality has risen to smash Israel for Christmas.
Gal Gadot Is the U.S. Ambassador Israel Doesn’t Deserve (Adrian Hennigan, Haaretz+) A ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ of Lior Raz’s scrappy body and Bar Refaeli’s cold soul would be a more apt reflection of modern Israel than ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ star Gal Gadot, whose superpower is her unwavering affability.

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