News Nosh 1.28.21

by APN 01/28/21
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday January 28, 2020

 

Number of the day:

13.
--Percentage of settler population growth during the Trump era (not including in E. Jerusalem). During the same period, Israel’s population grew by around 8% to reach nearly 9.3 million, according to the government.*


Front Page:

Haaretz

  • (IDF Chief of Staff) Kochavi claimed that the agreement with Iran was bad for Israel, but his view has no basis // Zvi Bar’el (Hebrew)
  • Biden administration reviewing sale of jets to the UAE
  • Negotiations between the parties failedand the Joint List is breaking up
  • Government expected to discuss today extending lockdown; Health Minister Edelstein: Exiting it would be negligent
  • Israelis who were not in contact with people who returnedfrom South Africa were infected with the S. African variant
  • The law enforcement agencies had ’new’ informationabout the business connection between Netanyahu and his cousin since 2017
  • Attorney General Mendelbitt awards Netanyahu preferential treatment even after he deceived him // Mordechai Kremnitzer
  • Social Welfare Ministry report about female sex workers:30% of them tried to commit suicide, one out of seven is a minor
  • New hope// Aluf Benn writes why Lapid is the person on the left to replace Netanyahu
  • The virus from within // Roni Linder on need for budget to help mental health institutes during corona
  • The bill to advance collection of royalties for (Israel’s) natural gas will allow the companies to delay transferring it for years

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • The corona ward’s war for life - Yedioth reporters and photographers with the staff fighting the epidemic (Hebrew)
  • The Military Police Investigations unit’s method is revealed: Manipulations, aggression, blackmail, threats and psychological pressure - on how the unit drafts soldiers to turn against their friends and become sources of intel (Hebrew)

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom



Top News Summary:
The battle in the government over the whether to extend the third lockdown again will be decided today, the threatening speech by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi against Iran continued to make shockwaves, while the response was reported on differently among the papers and US President Joe Biden froze the deal to sell F-35’s to the United Arab Emirates  - making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers along with the news thatIsrael has been ranked even more corrupt than it was in the past. 

Also, members of the Next Generations Association of Descendants of Holocaust Survivors demanded that the government enforce the law banning the use of "Nazi." (Maariv) The call was in response to the recent use of the term by ultra-Orthodox Israelis against the police with whom they are clashing over their violation of corona restrictions. But worthy of note, was that yesterday, the new Israel ambassador to the US, Amb. Gilad Erdan, wrote an Op-Ed calling Iran a ‘Nazi’ state.

The reactions both in Israel and from Iran came quickly after Israel’s military chief Aviv Kochavi attacked the possible US return to the Iran nuclear agreement, declared that military action “should be on the table” and that he was already preparing that option, and suggested that he would, if necessary, go it alone. What was interesting was what angle each newspaper took. Haaretz focused on the shock and embarassment in the Israeli security establishment that the top military man would both berate the US and threaten Iran in a public speech (“There’s never been anything like this”) and take Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political line. Senior officials said Kochavi should not have made the statement at such a sensitive time, with an election in two months and as the Biden administration was just entering the White House and had not yet held official meetings with Israel. Haaretz also ran on its front page an analysis by Zvi Bar’el declaring that Kochavi wasn’t even accurate in saying that the nuclear agreement was bad for Israel. Maariv reported that Opposition and Yesh Atid party chairman may have tried to convey to Kochavi that he went out of bounds. Speaking at the same Institute for National Security Studies conference, where Kochavi made his speech, Yair Lapid said that the way to bring Israel's security issues to the US negotiating table was not through problematic “statements that upset the new administration.” Maariv focused on Iran’s message to US President Joe Biden that “the US won’t have unlimited time to return to the agreement.” Iran responded to the speech saying "the threats made by Israel are nothing but psychological warfare.” But Israel Hayom focused on an aggressive declaration by the Iranian army spokesperson: “We will level Tel Aviv if Israel makes slightest mistake.” The Netanyahu-supporting paper also noted that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas accused Teheran of “reckless behavior.”

In terms of US-Israel diplomacy, Yedioth noted that it has been over a week since Biden was sworn-in and he has yet to call Netanyahu. Yedioth diplomatic affairs correspondent, Itamar Eichner wrote that Biden’s supposed snubbing of Netanyahu stems from the new administration's reluctance to hand Netanyahu achievements that may boost his reelection bid in the coming March polls. For comparison, former President Donald Trump called Netanyahu three days after entering the White House. And Biden has already called the leaders of Canada, Mexico, Britain, Germany, France and Russia. In contrast, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazion Wednesday, a day after his confirmation as President Joe Biden’s secretary of state. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Ashkenazi and Blinken discussed Iran, “widening the circle of peace” and other topics. Meanwhile, Biden has frozen the sale of F-35 stealth jets to the UAE and munitions sales to Saudi Arabia. In an interview with 103FM/Maariv former IDF intel chief and present director of the Institute for National Security Studies, Amos Yadlin that the decision “will not affect the agreement with the Emirates.” Yadlin also said that although Biden may be unhappy with Netanyahu, they share common interests regarding Iran.


Elections 2021: 

  • Alliance of Israeli Arab Parties to Split Ahead of March Election- Rift between the religious United Arab List and other member parties of the Joint List results in split, with final configuration of election slates still unclear. (Haaretz+)
  • In favor of alliance- MK Ofer Shelach, who left the Yesh Atid party, is moving toward an alliance between the Labor party and Ron Huldai’s ‘Israelis’ party. In an interview with "Israel Hayom” to be published tomorrow, the chairman of the Tnufa party criticizes his former partner, Yair Lapid: “He acts as if Yesh Atid is his toy.” After leaving Yesh Atid, Shelach founded an independent party, the Tnufa party, and he understands that he is far from the crossing the threshold to enter Knesset - and wants to make order. (Israel Hayom Hebrew)
  • Fearful of alliances- MK Hagit Moshe, the new chairwoman of Habayit Hayehudi, does not want to ally with (extremist right-wing MK of National Union party) Itamar Ben-Gvir: “Not our type.” About Yamina Chairman: “(Naftali) Bennett used us and threw us out; I'm not a Bibist." Moshe is not moved by her situation in the polls, and shoots bundles of criticism to the right and left. Declares: "I am in favor of French law."  "If Saar or Bennett go with Lapid, we will not go with them." (Israel Hayom Hebrew)
  • Labor party: Chairwoman to choose two people for top spots and five women to be in top 10 spots- Chairwoman of Labor party, Merav Michaeli, promised full gender equality in the party's whole list of representatives. (Maariv, p. 10)

Quick Hits:

  • No Indictments After a Month of Settler Assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank- Even those attacks that get reported to police have led to nothing, as Palestinians take the brunt of Israeli settlers' anger over the death of an Israeli teen. (Haaretz+)
  • Settlers plow Palestinian farmlands near Jerusalem and east of Bethlehem- Scores of settlers, under the military protection, ploughed dozens of dunams of Palestinian farmland belonging to the Zawahreh and al-Wahsh families in al-Badiya Ash-Sharqiya town, as a prelude to seize them. (WAFA)
  • After settlers attack Palestinian farmers'sheep and crops,Israeli forces uproot trees, raze, land and demolish wall wall - Israeli occupation forces uprooted dozens of grown olive trees, razed large tracts of Palestinian-owned land, and demolished retaining walls at Wad Rahal village in southern part of West Bank. Two days earlier, a group of hardcore settlers broke into the same area with their sheep and destroyed the crops before the villagers and farmers were able to kick them out. (WAFA)
  • *Pro-settler group: Israel's settler population surged during Trump era, data shows- According to "West Bank Jewish Population Stats," the number of settlers, which does not include 200,000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem, grew by some 13% since 2017 to reach 475,481, while Israel's entire population only grew by 9%. (Agencies, Ynetand Times of Israel)
  • Israel demolishes structures northeast of Bethlehem- Israeli forces stormed As-Sawahira Ash-Sharqiya town, tore down a residential structure and a livestock shack belonging to Isma‘il Saray‘a and seized the equipment. (WAFA)
  • Israeli forces demolish mosque south of Hebron- Israeli forces dawn Wednesday demolished a mosque in Bedouin community of Azwadeen, east of Yatta town. Meanwhile, soldiers seized a tin-sheet health unit in Khirbet al-Rakiz hamlet in Masafer Yatta in the south Hebron Hills. (WAFA)
  • Israeli forces dismantle two structures in Khan al-Ahmar- Israeli military force stormed the community, and dismantled two structures used for cattle breeding and seized their contents, without even handing the owners any demolition notices in advance. (WAFA)
  • Palestinian Prisoner Society: 38 new coronavirus cases confirmed among Palestinian prisoners in Israel- At the Israeli Rimon prison alone, there are now 111 cases since the first case was confirmed on January 11. Palestinian Prisoner Society accused the Israel Prisons Service (IPS) of neglecting the pandemic situation in the prison, where some 40 prisoners who are elderly or with chronic diseases are serving life sentences. (WAFA)
  • South African COVID Strain Spreading Domestically in Israel, Testing Indicates- Three cases detected in random sampling of COVID tests show the more infectious variant has managed to break through Israel's testing and isolation screenings. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel to close all land border crossings over rapid virus spread- PM says Israel managed to 'hold back' UK mutation, responsible for the surge in new cases, and needs to make sure other variants don't enter country; Deri confirms closure of Jordan River, Taba and Arava crossings until January 31. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  • Palestinian government to close West Bank crossing with Jordan to contain spread of virus variants- Palestinian government, in coordination with Jordan and Israel, closed the only crossing for Palestinians in the West Bank to Jordan, the Karama/King Hussein/Allenby border crossing, for one week in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus variants. (WAFAand Maariv, p. 9)
  • Report: PA plans to buy 100,000 of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine- Abdel Hafiz Nofal, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Russia, said Moscow would provide 10,000 free doses of the vaccine. (Israel Hayom)
  • Law Enforcement Had 'New' Info on Netanyahu's Legal Defense Funding Since 2017- Attorney General Mendelblit said new material convinced him to change his decision on Netanyahu's funding. (Haaretz+)
  • High Court to hear petitions on opening probe into Netanyahu over submarine case- Watchdog groups ask court to compel AG to order investigation of PM’s alleged involvement in scheme surrounding purchase of naval vessels, as well as his sale of stocks. (Times of Israel)
  • Shameful: Israel Slips to 35th Place in Global Corruption Index- New Zealand and Denmark took the top spots for the best reputation while Syria, Somalia and South Sudan scored worst in the ranking by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International. (Haaretzand Maariv)
  • Glorifying martyrdom, east Jerusalem school marks 'Shahid Day'- Waqf-run elementary school for girls has students explore, venerate the phenomenon of deadly terrorist attacks. (Israel Hayom)
  • Convicted in an Israeli Military Court, This Palestinian Activist Is Also Being Persecuted by the PA- Issa Amro, founder of the Youth Against Settlements group, was convicted earlier this month of minor offenses from about a decade ago. At the same time, the Palestinian prosecution is accusing him of insulting senior officials and endangering public order. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel-Sudan signing ceremony to take place in Washington within months, minister says- Following Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen’s statement, there was no immediate comment from Sudanese officials or from the US embassy in Israel. (Israel Hayom)
  • Abraham Accords inspire first Arab-led commemoration of Holocaust- Participants from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia joined viewers from North America, Europe and Israel in more personal kind of diplomacy. (Israel Hayom)
  • Abrahamic Business Circle to hold members workshop in Dubai- The event provides members with a global network of contacts to raise capital, buy and sell companies, locate potential investments, joint ventures, distribution, and new clients. (JPost/Maariv)
  • Biden's pick for UN envoy pledges to combat anti-Israel bias, BDS- Linda Thomas-Greenfield assures US Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Biden administration will work to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon. (Agencies, Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • Biden administration to review sanctions on International Criminal Court officials- Trump administration last year accused Hague-based tribunal of infringing on US national sovereignty and so he targeted court officials, including chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, with asset freezes and travel bans. The US is not a member of the court. (Israel Hayom)
  • Jordan announces resumption of restoration at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following Israeli obstruction of work- Jordan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, announced today the resumption of restoration work at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after Israel prevented the Islamic Waqf department, a Jordanian government agency, from carrying out the renovation and restoration work on the Islamic holy place. (WAFA)
  • Amid crisis, Hezbollah 'bank' is lifeline for some Lebanese- As Lebanon's economic crisis continues to deepen, an increasing number of people are turning to the financial arm of the Iranian-backed militant group for help, receiving small, interest-free loans in dollars at a time of desperate need for hard currency. (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:

7 Things to Know About Gilad Erdan, Israel’s New Ambassador to the U.S.
From telling Donald Trump about a terrorist attack that was actually a road accident to waging war on indoor smoking in Israel, these are the key moments in Erdan's political career. [NOTE: In an Op-Ed in Wednesday’s ‘Israel Hayom,’ Erdan called Iran a ‘Nazi’ state. - OH] (Ben Samuels, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
The nuclear deal with Iran is not perfect, but Kochavi's criticism of it is far from reality (Zvi Barel, Haaretz Hebrew) The clauses of the agreement do not allow Iran to enrich large amounts of uranium, and in fact they have kept it away from the "nuclear breakthrough point." Kochavi's concern about violations of the agreement and the nuclearization in the Middle East is largely related to Trump's policy.
The Iranians know Israel means business (Yossi Kuperwasser, Israel Hayom) Officials in Tehran are likely taking IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi's announcement he had ordered the IDF to make plans for possible offensive action against Iran more seriously than they would like us to believe.
We will always have Iran: Ahead of 2021 elections, Netanyahu and Gantz can agree on a budget (Orit Lavie-Nashiel, Maariv) What do vaccines, the economic crisis and the Iranian threat have in common? They will all star in a leading role in the Likud campaign, and Netanyahu will raise and lower the flames of each of them according to his needs.
Renewed Nuclear Deal Offers Hope to Iran's Fragile Economy (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The Biden administration couldn't come soon enough for the country beset by raging COVID-19 and sanctions, but a questionable pact with China could provide Iran an alternative route. The messages from both Iran and the United States can in fact be interpreted as a mutual willingness to open negotiations on a return to the international Iranian nuclear agreement of 2015, from which the United States withdrew three years later. Notable is the Biden administration’s appointment of Wendy Sherman and Robert Malley – who led and directed the negotiations with Iran during the Obama administration – to senior State Department posts.
Israel not the only one troubled by Iran's belligerence (Avi Dabush, Israel Hayom) By convincing President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear agreement, Israel has undermined the pragmatic and moderate forces whose goal is to resolve problems in the agreement, in the region, and in the world.
Israeli Military Chief's Iran Comments Are Way Out of Line (Haaretz Editorial) “This is bad and wrong strategically and operatively,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said about the nuclear deal with Iran at a lecture Tuesday. If Kochavi were not IDF chief of staff, his opinion might be considered a legitimate assessment, or an educated guess. The problem and the damage in the chief of staff’s remarks when he reveals that he has directed the army to prepare an operative plan against Iran, “in addition to existing ones,” he greatly exceeds his authority and his words are an intentional shot at Biden and an open threat that Israel’s military might act independently against Iran.
Governance without law (Former deputy attorney general Dina Zilber, Yedioth Hebrew) Constant active disregard for the provisions of the law and the Attorney General is not an expression of governmental power, but a sad testament to a blatant leadership weakness. We will all find ourselves facing a broken trough…Violation of the law is pouring down on our heads and flooding water and there is no blessing in this rain. Challenges to the Attorney General and the law enforcement system are growing, giving lawbreakers to superficial popularity and passing false glory. The boasting over artificial confrontations with the law enforcement system is a sad substitute for making truth, but in the short run it probably results in cheap popularity.
Strengthen the gatekeepers, zero tolerance for corrupt people who have been caught (Prof. Yoram Margaliot, Maariv) Corruption everywhere, and also in Israel, has many causes and the key to improving the situation is a change in political culture. When voters don’t care that the leader in charge is corrupt because they think he is corrupt "in their favor" - they are wrong. Government corruption harms all aspects of life and lowers the standard of living of all residents, even those who believe that "their leaders are corrupt in their favor." For law-abiding citizens no good grows from corruption.
Four reasons for Hamas' consent to the Palestinian election (Hani Al-Masri, Yedioth Hebrew) The US administration, Fatah's weakness, the desire for internal Palestinian legitimacy and the fear of a confrontation with Israel. The question is whether elections will indeed take place, and if so - will Hamas accept their results. [NOTE: In the last election, 15 years ago, it was Fatah which could not come to terms with losing to Hamas. - OH]
Arab List's collapse marks revolution no one expected (Jalal Bana, Israel Hayom) Beyond reducing Arab representation in the next Knesset, the Joint Arab List's demise could also incentivize the Zionist parties, mainly from the Right, to "pounce" on Arab voters in an attempt to siphon mandates.
Three Reasons Yair Lapid Will Lead Israel's Center-left (Aluf Benn, Haaretz+) Former army chiefs have been replaced by former army reporters as leaders of the left-wing camp. Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid worked for Bamahane magazine during his military service, while Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz and Labor chief Merav Michaeli worked for Army Radio. The three are in their 50s, secular, Ashkenazi and Tel Aviv residents with a decade of politics behind them. The three resemble their voters and understand their hopes and fears. They will certainly dispute this claim, but their differences are smaller than their similarities. Lapid deserves to lead the bloc because of three correct decisions he made. The first was his vote against the nation-state law. It’s true that he never reached out to Arab voters, and he’ll never live down his derogatory "Zoabis" comment about Arab lawmakers. But at the moment of truth, when Israel had to decide if it was an egalitarian state with equality between all its citizens or a state of Jewish supremacy, Lapid’s finger pressed the right button…
Right's leaders must shed their apathy (Sara Ha'etzni-Cohen, Israel Hayom) Put an end to your games of ego and inane rhetoric, come together and fight for our votes. Too much hangs in the balance.
Will first woman leading Habayit Hayehudi be able to get it back on tack? (Yehuda Shlezinger, Israel Hayom) The appointment of Hagit Moshe as the leader of Habayit Hayehudi political party is not only crucial because she became the first woman to lead the religious Zionist party but also because her victory might kindle a bloody battle that will determine the next government's very essence.
Biden's Holocaust Remembrance Message Is Different Than Trump's. For a Start, It Mentions Jews (Ben Samuels, Haaretz+) 'The Holocaust was no accident of history,' Biden says, comparing the rhetoric heard during the rise of Nazism to that of the 2017 Charlottesville rally.
The Reform's dangerous mixed message on anti-Semitism (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom) The movement is signaling its discomfort with standing up against left-wing anti-Semites and its commitment to prioritizing partisan politics over communal safety.

 

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

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