News Nosh 1.31.21

by APN 02/01/21
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Sunday January 31, 2021

 

Quote of the day:

"The question that should keep IDF commanders from sleeping is whether, from an ethical, legal and operational point of view, is whether it is appropriate for IDF soldiers in compulsory service to engage in the eviction of Palestinians, and in missions that it is doubtful they are security or policy related."
--Former chief military censor, Brig. Gen. (res.) Rachel Dolevi, currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Commanders for Israel Security Movement, describes the concern that evicting Palestinians from their homes and land harms the ethical resilience of the IDF.*

 

Front Page:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

  • A week of decisions - Thursday deadline for closing lists of political factions; Today decision likely to extend lockdown
  • Black January: One dies of corona every half hour
  • Fury in Ethiopian (-Israeli) community: “The rabbinate is changing the method for investigating whether someone is Jewish”
  • Ethiopian Israelis fume over alleged discrimination by Religious Services Ministry
  • Truth’s distant location // Eithan Orkibi
  • The immediate suspect: Iran - Increased security at Israeli embassies around world after what appeared to be a terror attack near the embassy in New Delhi
  • Families of SMA patients petitioned the High Court: “Medicines committee against a life-saving medicine for children”
  • Lockdown effect: Members of Medicine Committee don’t want to meet on zoom - committee not convening
  • You acted with racism and also took over // Avishai Ben-Chaim on the character assassination of Mizrachi politicians



Top News Summary:
Just days before the deadline and none of the political parties have made alliances or closed their party lists, the government is to vote to again extend third corona lockdown and an explosive device close to the Israeli embassy in New Delhi points eyes towards Iran making top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers.
 
Also, Jordan’s King Abdullah criticized Israel for not providing Palestinians with the corona vaccine, then Israel approved a transfer of 5000 vaccines to healthcare workers in the West Bank – but not in Gaza.
 
And two noteworthy demonstrations took place with different police reactions. For the first time in months, police used a water cannon against some of the 1000 demonstrators who participated in the weekly Saturday night protest against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. One person was hospitalized after being hit in the face by a water jet. And in the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, police used stun grenades and ‘skunk’ water against some 250 men and women protesting for the third week against the government for not dealing with the rampant violence in Arab society. Locals said it was a non-violent protest and Hadash party MK Yousef Jabareen, a resident of the city, Tweeted that “five people were violently arrested…Skunks and stun grenades were used against demonstrators, with undercover agents snatching protesters. Police beat detainees in their van (one is hospitalized).” Haaretz+ noted that in Jaffa alone, 10 murders of Arab-Israelis have taken place since 2019 and police haven't solved one. This week a prominent accountant was murdered.

The New Delhi police believe that the minor explosion Saturday near the Israeli embassy was meant to ‘create a sensation,’ while the Israelis are treating it as a terror incident and linking it to Iran via a proxy Hindu group. On Friday, air raid sirens went off in Teheran and an official said it was a ‘technical mishap.’ But residents of the Iranian capital thought it was Israeli war jets. These incidents come after Israel Defense Forces chief Aviv Kohavi said Tuesday that the Iran nuclear deal was bad for Israel, even if it changes were made to it, and that he had directed the military to develop fresh operational plans to strike Iran to halt its nuclear program. Yedioth’s Yossi Yehoshua reported that a source said that Mossad chief Yossi Cohen opposed Kochavi’s position on the Iran nuclear deal. According to another report, Cohen will potentially meet US President Joe Biden in his upcoming US visit. In a very informative article, ‘Israel Hayom’s' Ariel Kahana reported that Jerusalem hopes to avoid the kind of public disputes over setlements and E. Jerusalem seen underformer President Barack Obama and seeks to hash things out with the new administration behind the scenes.


Elections 2021:

  • Netanyahu’s party broke privacy law with election app, Justice Ministry says - Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud are accused of collecting data on voters through the Elector app without their consent. (Haaretz+)
  • The political rounds of Levi-Abukasis - She served as a Knesset member in Yisrael Beiteinu, founded the Gesher party, allied it with the Labor party, ran on the same list with Meretz and supported Benny Gantz, and this week - as first reported in Yedioth Ahronoth - is expected to receive a spot reserved by Netanyahu on the Likud list. Gal Hirsch may also join the Likud. (Yedioth Hebrew)
  • Maariv/JPost poll: Lapid can build coalition, Netanyahu cannot - Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party continues to climb in the polls ahead of the March 23 election, solidifying its place as the likely second-largest party in the next Knesset. (JPost)
  • 'Israel Hayom' Poll: Political turmoil takes toll on right, left-wing blocs - Israel Hayom poll sees Likud maintain the lead with 28 Knesset seats, but various mergers, splits and political newcomers are likely to see an untold number of precious votes squandered. (Israel Hayom)

 

Quick Hits:

  • 13-year-old Palestinian Says Israel Police Tased and Beat Him During Arrest - M. was held by police for 12 hours before he was released to house arrest for five days and said he was interrogated in the absence of his parents, which is generally prohibited by law. (Haaretz+)
  • Privacy and sunlight: This East Jerusalem COVID ward is unlike any other - St. Joseph Hospital is easing the load on Israeli hospitals and taking on Jewish patients, too, but Israel’s Health Ministry has no plans to allot it more beds in the coming decades. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel's Education Ministry holds hearing for high school principals over B'Tselem lecture - Dozens hold a rally Thursday in support of the principal of Hebrew Reali School, who decided to allow B’Tselem director Hagai El-Ad to talk to students. The Education Ministry held a hearing Thursday for the principal and the managing director of the school (Haaretz+)
  • Gantz threatens to enlist all Haredim unless his national service plan advances - Defense minister, who has been feuding with ultra-Orthodox parties, says he won’t extend military exemption which ends next Monday. (Times of Israeland Maariv)
  • Today: Another hearing in the trial of the (Jewish) shooter from Arad (of the Bedouin car thief); His family raised 700,000 shekels for his legal protection - Aryeh Schiff's family opened up crowd funding for his defense. Indictment against Schiff was filed after the prosecution decided to dismiss all the claims he raised at the hearing, including the self-defense claim. The indictment states that the defendant “recklessly caused the death of the deceased by firing at the vehicle, at the area where the deceased was sitting, taking an unreasonable risk of the possibility of causing the result while hoping to prevent it."  (Maariv and VIDEO of shooting)
  • Hezbollah proxy penetrates telecom systems worldwide, Israeli cybersecurity firm says - More than 250 servers in the United States, Britain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and the West Bank have been breached, ClearSky Cyber Security says. (Haaretz+)
  • Abbas tightens his control over the Palestinian court system - New presidential decrees, which empower the PA president to appoint senior judges and allow arbitrary dismissal of judges, have sparked protest in the West Bank. (Haaretz+)
  • UN says U.S. aid for Palestinian refugees won't cover shortfall - UNRWA spokeswoman says even if Biden administration renews financial aid to the UN agency, it still faces possible collapse since 'improved income will not cover the huge liabilities that UNRWA already has.' (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Israel May Let Gas Companies Postpone Royalty Payments - Amendments to legislation aimed to publicize millions in tax revenue collected from natural gas companies may in fact delay the process, some lobby groups claim. (Haaretz+)
  • Archaeologists find remains of ‘royal’ garments from King David’s time – in a mine - 3,000-year-old textiles unearthed in the copper mines of Timna were dyed with purple extracted from seashells, said to have been used by biblical kings and priests. (Haaretz+)
  • Turkey Hopes U.S. Will Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal - After the U.S. then ramped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on i ts nuclear development. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Dubai is blamed for coronavirus spikes abroad as questions swirl at home - Since late December, Israel has required those coming from the UAE to go into a two-week quarantine, but authorities say returnees created a chain of infections numbering more than 4,000 people. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Israel sorry for health official's comments on 'deadly' Dubai flights - Apology comes after Public Health chief Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said that 'more people died in two weeks of peace with Dubai than in 70 years of war with them'; Israeli officials said the remarks were 'a bad joke.' (Ynet)
  • Torn apart by conflict, Yemeni Jewish family reunites with UAE help - Israel Fayez fled to the UK with his brothers and parents more than two decades ago while his grandparents and uncle remained behind; their tearful reunion in Abu Dhabi came after a rescue that was 'like a CIA mission.' (Ynet)
  • NBC Removes Story on Biden Official’s Ties to $500,000 in AIPAC Donations - The article quoted only anonymous sources, including multiple who suggested that Neuberger’s ties to AIPAC donations 'would raise a lot of eyebrows' about her impartiality
  • JTA, Haaretz)
  • Biden lifting of U.S. travel ban offers hope, uncertainty for some Muslims - President Biden’s repeal of the ban brought a sigh of relief from citizens in the countries covered by the measure. But amid the celebrations are tales of broken dreams. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Tense Calm Follows Violent Clashes in Tripoli Amid Lebanon's Worst Economic Crisis Ever - The protests in the northern Lebanese city came as Lebanon grapples with both the coronavirus pandemic and a dire economic crisis. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Features:

An Israeli Hospital Discharged a Palestinian Who Was Shot at a Checkpoint. Soon After, He Was Dead
Abdel Nasser Halawa, a deaf man with mental disabilities, died of his wounds four months after being shot at a checkpoint. His brother accuses a Jerusalem hospital of releasing him despite his dire condition. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+)
Freedom, Nature and Training for War: A Boy's Diaries Offer Poignant Glimpse Into 1940s Kibbutz Life
A rare window into the early life of the generation that fought Israel’s wars and built the country. (Meirav Moran, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
*Doesn't increasing Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria harm the IDF's resilience?  (Brigadier General (Res.) Rachel Dolev, Maariv) The fact that the next soldier to serve his country was forced to quarrel with Palestinians over a generator and take part in house demolitions - not done due to terrorism) may create reservations among many young people…For those who are trying to forget the return for the Abrahamic Agreements, we will mention that Israel undertook not to annex territories from Judea and Samaria [West Bank] without US consent, thus effectively removing the issue from the agenda. In practice, however, the Knesset and the government continue to work hard to apply the creeping annexation of Judea and Samaria through the training of illegal outposts, in a way that would frustrate the possibility of a two-state solution. Attempts are being made in the Knesset to regulate [legalize - OH]  land [taken by settlers - OH], where it is being laundered to continue taking over state lands and privately-owned Palestinian land. This is despite the repeal of the Regulation Law by the High Court. While the future of Judea and Samaria is a clear political matter, the one who bears the burden of holding the Territories is the IDF, which must be outside any political field. Recently, during an (IDF) attempt to confiscate a generator, which was apparently used for the illegal construction by Palestinians, one of the Palestinians was shot in the neck, and remains paralyzed. Both in terms of the shooter and in terms of the victim, their previous lives are over, and will no longer be similar to what they were. I am sure that the Military Police Investigations unit will thoroughly investigate the case, so I will not refer to the case in question, the facts of which have not yet been clarified. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the question that needs to be asked is: How is it IDF soldiers are sent on missions to demolish buildings and engage in issues of illegal construction and clash with Palestinians over a generator? Judea and Samaria have been occupied territory since 1967. The sovereign of the military-occupied territory is the (Israeli) military commander. Under international humanitarian law, it is incumbent on the occupying power to defend itself and ensure order and security for the benefit of the citizens of the occupied power. In the narrow sense, the evacuation of illegal construction by Palestinians is in line with the role of the military commander, since he must take care of the whole of life and public order, including not settling on state lands and not building without a license. But in the broadest sense, the lands in Judea and Samaria are not the lands of the State of Israel, and therefore the military commander must act for the benefit of the citizens of the occupied power. In practice, according to the Movement for the Freedom of Information, 99.76% of the state lands in Judea and Samaria were allocated to Jews, and only 0.24% were allocated to Palestinians, and these too in many cases due to the establishment of settlements. Be that as it may, an extremely discriminatory use is made of the resource of land by the military commander, who is supposed to act for the benefit of the population of the occupied territory. In an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Jewish Settlement, headed by Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, began to engage in settlement in Judea and Samaria, and even provided settlers with drones to identify illegal construction of Palestinians. Recently, Minister Hanegbi is even trying to approve the regulation (legalization) of three Bedouin villages in the Negev [that are unrecognized by Israel and receive no services - such as being connected to power grid and water - OH] in exchange for regulating (legalizing) the illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria. Such intervention by the minister in regards to Settlement in Judea and Samaria, which is is not through the military commander who is the sole sovereign in Judea and Samaria, endangers the State of Israel. The question that should keep IDF commanders from sleeping is whether, from an ethical, legal and operational point of view, is it appropriate for IDF soldiers in compulsory service to engage in the eviction of Palestinians, and in missions that it is doubtful they are security or policy related. A concern arises that IDF soldiers are not engaged in significant military missions that are consistent with the law. The main concern is the operational and ethical resilience of the IDF. It has already been written about the severe damage to the IDF's operational capabilities, which became a police army in the Territories. The fact that the next soldier to serve his country will be forced to spar with Palestinians over a generator and take part in house demolitions (not against the background of acts of terrorism) could create reservations among many young people. The Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense will think about where we are leading the People's Army. Don’t the missions of increasing Jewish settlement and excluding the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria harm the IDF's resilience and morality? (The author is a former Chief Military Censor, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Commanders for Israel Security Movement.)
Hey Shin Bet, Can You Really Torture Someone ‘In a Statesmanlike Manner'? (Tal Steiner, Haaretz+) Toward the end of September 2019, a Palestinian named Samer Arbid was hospitalized at Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, with what seemed to be a heart attack. He arrived there unconscious with multiple broken ribs and kidney failure, straight from the interrogation room at Jerusalem’s Russian Compound police station. Two days earlier, when he was arrested by the security services, he was completely healthy. Arbid was unconscious for two weeks, and when his condition stabilized, he was returned to the Shin Bet security service. He was ultimately indicted for involvement in the murder of Rina Shnerb; the trial is still in progress…Ostensibly, according to the decision the attorney general released Sunday (and improperly delivered to the media even before it was sent to Arbid’s lawyers at the Addameer rights group), the matter was taken seriously. The Justice Ministry department that investigates police misconduct carried out a criminal investigation in which the interrogators were questioned as suspects and an opinion was obtained from the Institute of Forensic Medicine. These steps alone distinguish Arbid’s case from more than 1,300 previous complaints filed against Shin Bet interrogators. Almost all of those were closed after a “preliminary review”; such reviews almost automatically result in the case being closed. But one piece of evidence that certainly wasn’t examined during the probe was footage from Arbid’s interrogation room. Unlike police interrogations of people suspected of serious crimes, Shin Bet interrogations aren’t videotaped. Closed-circuit cameras broadcast, albeit not continuously, from the Shin Bet’s interrogation rooms to a secret control center; that is supposed to provide interrogees with sufficient protection. The system certainly didn’t prove itself in Arbid’s case. Either way, the final outcome of the investigation, which we were informed of on Monday, proved that we were wrong. This time, too, the decision wasn’t to indict anyone involved but to suffice with “internal lesson learning.” This sends a resounding message to every Shin Bet interrogator: It doesn’t matter what you do during the interrogation, how much violence you use against the interrogee or what the results are, the system will defend you, give you de facto immunity from trial and even praise your integrity. This is what Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman did, saying to the interrogators “did their job professionally, according to the law and in a statesmanlike manner.” Is it really possible to torture someone in a statesmanlike manner? We condemn Rina Shnerb’s brutal murder and, like all Israelis, share her family’s demand that the people responsible for her horrible death stand trial. At the same time, we insist – as do the international conventions Israel joined decades ago – that torture is always unconditionally forbidden. It corrupts our society’s humanity, and not only does it not increase any chance of justice or security, it thwarts it. (Attorney Tal Steiner is the executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.)
State-sanctioned Pogroms Ravage Palestinians After Settler Teen's Death (Friday Haaretz Editorial) According to information released by the B’Tselem organization on Thursday, over the last five weeks its researchers have documented 49 violent incidents, including 28 physical attacks on Palestinians that wounded 15 of them, including four children. Palestinian cars were torched, thugs invaded their homes, dogs were sicced on them and people were deliberately run over. In at least one case, an elderly man was beaten with a baton until he bled. ll this happened as Israeli soldiers and police officers, who are supposed to maintain law and order in the territories and protect residents and their property, in most cases looked on without lifting a finger against the assailants. Nobody has been indicted, despite dozens of incidents. In at least 26 cases, members of the security forces were present and watched the violence, yet B’Tselem said that instead of arresting the rioters, the security forces attacked the victims, shooting at them and wounding them. In 21 other cases, they didn’t do enough to stop the attack. The Palestinians thus find themselves helpless against their attackers. The Palestinian police are forbidden to intervene, while the Israeli police are a police force for Jews only…
A Lesson From History: Principals' Hearing Was Intended to Deter All Israeli Educators (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) Threatening disciplinary action against Haifa school that hosted B'Tselem's director, Gallant is the latest of several education ministers who betrayed their duty and sought to restrict thought through censorship and reprimands.
Failed grade in citizenship (Smadar Perry, Yedioth Hebrew) I trust one hundred the Reali Haifa high students that they know how to decide what to accept, who to believe and with whom it is necessary and important to have an argument. An Op-Ed regarding the delusional hearing at the Education Ministry with the Reali Haifa High School principal after he allowed a lecture given by B'Tselem's director to be given to the students.
Schools Should Invite El-Ad (Haaretz Editorial)  The hearing the Education Ministry held last Thursday for the heads of Haifa’s Hebrew Reali School, simply because they dared to invite the executive director of B’Tselem to talk to their students, was meant to intimidate educators and deter them from engaging with the reality of the occupation and the routine of military control over the Palestinians, which the right-wing government denies. From start to finish, this was a political hearing that sought to “reeducate” teachers and principals, and it’s doubtful whether there was any legal basis for it. There should be no mistake about the message sent by Education Minister Yoav Gallant’s actions: Teachers and principals are expected to fall in line with the right’s political positions by either obeying them or keeping silent.
It’s Alright to Be an anti-Zionist (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Historian and commentator Gadi Taub returns to the roots of Zionist propaganda: one cannot but espouse Zionism. There is no need to persuade or be persuaded, to believe in it or show it to be unfounded. When it comes to the most hallowed of ideologies, a totally blameless one, any criticism is illegitimate. Anyone expressing reservations is subject to one fate, to be condemned as an antisemite. Taub knows no other way of contending with moral arguments raised against Zionism. Zionism thus becomes, in the hands of intellectuals such as Taub, a tyrannical ideology which cannot be rejected. It would be hard to think of better proof of the need to reevaluate the justice of Zionism, its victims and its relevance than this aggressive Zhdanovism. You’re not a Zionist, ergo, you’re an antisemite. If Zionists such as Taub were more convinced of the justice of their cause, they would not be so alarmed by every expression of criticism or question. In that respect, Zionism is more akin to a zealous religious creed than a worldview. Just as with the ultra-Orthodox, with Zionists too one must not question anything. If they didn’t sense that something in Zionism’s past and present was burning beneath their feet, Zionists would not be waging such a fierce battle against their opponents. That’s how it is when your arguments are weak: delegitimization is the Zionist’s last refuge.
Iran nuke deal is not perfect, but Israeli army chief's take is far from reality (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Both U.S. and Israeli intelligence communities agree that Iran began to violate the nuclear agreement in a measurable manner only a year after Trump withdrew from it.
Perhaps it is time for Israel to reconsider the issue of the Iranian threat (Assaf Rosenzweig, Maariv) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi stated that returning to the nuclear agreement is a bad idea and clarified that the IDF continues to prepare for a military attack. Is this the only option left for the top security policy in Israel?…Along with the Israeli interest in torpedoing and harming the Iranian nuclear project, another important interest is to make sure that it is not left alone in its opposition to it. Netanyahu and Israel's adherence (backed by Kochavi) to the position of opposing the nuclear agreement has not proven itself in the past, and has only led to a worsening of relations with the US administration. Further, it is doubtful that it will be able to prove itself in the future - the Biden administration has just taken office, and has four long years in power, so it is worth considering how to maintain good working relations with it, which Israel needs to influence US policy on the Iranian nuclear issue. The Israeli government must take past events and relations with the Obama administration and examine how to achieve much better results now…
Israel and Sunni states must work together as Biden brings change (Michael Milshtein, Yedioth/Ynet) In the face of a Iranian common enemy and the fear of shifting D.C. policies on Tehran, new regional allies must provide the White House with considered objections to moves empowering the Islamic Republic, not anger and panic.
The Top Commander’s Admonishment (Israel Harel, Haaretz+) The IDF chief of staff’s objection to the expected announcement of the United States’ return to the nuclear accord with Iran was necessary, and it is good that it was stated in public. The anger it provoked (“He exceeded his authority!”) among former defense officials as well as in the media only underscores the correctness of the shift that Aviv Kochavi has been trying to bring about since the start of his tenure, the gist of which is to shake off this habit of containment and acceptance of enemy initiatives – on the operational as well as the declarative front – that has characterized Israel’s defense policy in the last decades.
Pursuing Normalization With Iraq, Israeli Digital Diplomacy Plays the Heritage Card(Jonathan Shamir, Haaretz+)
Unlike its online outreach to the Gulf states, the Foreign Ministry's ‘Israel in the Iraqi Dialect’ Facebook page draws on Iraq’s rich Jewish history. Could it help secure the unlikeliest Arab accord of them all?
Chronicle of Corruption: Everything we are not noticing in the Submarine Affair (Ran Adlelist, Maariv) Inflating the Iranian threat, wild security-related shopping, ideology and politics, greed, the buried investigation, the big money. Are headline-making affairs, like pouncing on the crumbs of submarines acquisitions, nothing more than a distraction?…The real problem with the procurement of submarines and naval ships is that the business corruption attributed to the people directly involved in the affair is negligible compared to the scandalous conduct of the military and the political establishment. The bulb of the onion is a combination of militant ideology, personal political survival and the built-in enthusiasm of an army that seeks contact at all costs, literally. The onion skins between the shell and the bulb function regardless of the intensity and validity of the great threat - Iran - and the accompanying threats: the Palestinians, Syria and Hezbollah. All together and individually none of them have the ability to attack Israel without being hit twice and multiplied. And they also have no intention of attacking Israel, even if they were dying to do so, literally. They have enough troubles of their own. Palestinians have reasons to maintain security tension, which can be dismantled through political dialogue. The Israeli government is refraining from it for fear that it will be required to make concessions. With Hezbollah and Syria, this is the kind of balance of terror we are playing with [reference to bombings and assassination hits in Syria - OH] on the verge of getting burned. The Iranian threat in general is the product of an intra-Israeli campaign that needs justification for the occupation and an existential enemy, a constant preoccupation with definitions. This is a situation that requires strategic arms like F-35s in the air, submarines at sea and a commando division in order to take over the Iranian proxies around us - if and when the Great War breaks out. Supposedly, the desire to be bigger and more sophisticated is a sign of the desire to be better and more efficient. The question is just how much it costs and whether the threat justifies the price. This question is supposed to be answered by politicians, but they are unable to get the security establishment to put things in perspective and finance officials are unable to wage an intelligent struggle against the politicians. Another skin of the onion in the real affair of the submarines is the alarmist interpretation of the Intel establishment, which is attentive to the political needs of the top brass. When Netanyahu wants a lot of submarines and bends the defense establishment, it is an inspiration - and now go try to sue the head of state for an inspiration. The Americans are trying to organize an indictment for Trump in the kind of inspiration that motivated the onslaught on the Senate. In Israel, attempts are being made to organize a state commission of inquiry against Netanyahu, but the road to him being questioned under warning is blocked by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblitt. He does this because he does not have convicting evidence, and the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, who was supposed to investigate at the beginning of the affair, ruled back in 2010 that there is no criminal suspicion here, when he is actually investigating himself……
Israel's Center-left Has One Last Week to Come Together (Yossi Verter, Haaretz+) Unless its small parties unite, their wasted votes will reelect Netanyahu.
Bibism Is Bigger Than Bibi (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) These are strange times, politically speaking. Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn crowned Yair Lapid the leader of Israel’s left. Leftist icon Gideon Levy supports Benjamin Netanyahu. The political movement threatening Netanyahu’s continued rule is to the right of the prime minister. The anarchist torch is wielded on the street by the Haredim, important partners in the coalition. The Joint List is splitting up over a new grouping of Arabs who seek an alliance with Netanyahu. Netanyahu and his government are “tossing money out of helicopters,” while the left – parroting Netanyahu’s economic policy circa 2003 – is beside itself over the handouts to the Haredim.
Maher Bitar and Israel's ideological elections (Caroline B. Glick, Israel Hayom) US President Biden's choice to name an anti-Israel political activist as senior director for Intelligence at the National Security Council may place Israel in a precarious position.
Erdogan Winks at Israel and Expects a Door to the White House (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) With Biden in charge, the Turkish president suddenly faces someone who cares about things like human rights. So Ankara is talking about restoring full diplomatic relations with Israel.

 
 

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

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