News Nosh 03.24.14

by APN 03/24/14
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APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday March 24, 2014
 

Quote of the day:

"The right wing says you can't talk to [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas. Maybe without the ruckus of the tractors building settlements you could hear him better?"

--Merav Galili, host of 'State of the Nation' Israeli comedy talk show, interviews Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.**


Front Page News:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv

  • not published today

Israel Hayom

 

Peace Talk Highlights:
The top story in Hebrew papers continues to be about the plan for VAT exemption for first-time homebuyers, to deal with the soaring housing prices. On the peace process front, both the Palestinians and Israelis are waiting to see what happens to the talks when two critical deadlines arrive: the release of the fourth round of Palestinian prisoners on March 29th and the end of the nine-month peace talks period on April 29th.

Channel 2's political Udi Segal said, "negotiations are about to explode, as no breakthrough has been made." Indeed, the US fear of the imminent collapse of the peace talks is the reason, according to Israel Radio, which the US is considering releasing US spy for Israel, Jonathan Pollard, to get Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to agree to release the Israeli Arab prisoners. Israel has already prepared a list of hundreds of settlement home tenders for E. Jerusalem and the West Bank in case it does decide to go ahead with the prisoner release, according to Maariv's NRG Hebrew website. US officials continue to meet with Israelis counterparts in a final attempt to prevent the collapse of the talks. Over the weekend, US Special Envoy Martin Indyk and US Ambassador Dan Shapiro met with Israeli Justice Minister and chief negotiator Tzipi Livni Saturday, according to Israeli Walla news website. Maariv's NRG Hebrew reports that despite the tension following the derogatory remarks about the US by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller is expected to come to Israel heading a US delegation on shared dialogue on security and political matters. In addition, she will tour IDF bases and meet with senior officers.
 
Next week, the 25th Arab League Summit will be held in Kuwait and Arab officials said they are considering withdrawing the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. An Arab official in Kuwait told Ma'an that the initiative "would not remain forever an exhibition for Israel to watch." But, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is hoping the Arab League will reaffirm its commitment to the 2002 Arab peace plan and back the Palestinian position in negotiations with Israel, Haaretz reported. According to senior Palestinian officials, Abbas' call is aimed at deflecting US pressure on the PA not to withdraw from the negotiations with Israel. Among the Palestinian positions is the refusal to declare recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, but even the pro-Israel US lobby J-Street said the Jewish state demand was not realistic at present. Chief Palestinian negotiator slammed Israel for prioritizing settlements over peace, as well for its 'systematic' attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque. 
 

Quick Hits:

  • Man injured as settlers attack Palestinian farmers near Burin village - Dozens of settlers from nearby Bracha settlement attacked Palestinian farmers in fields of Burin Sunday morning. The farmers fought back and clashes broke out as both sides hurled stones at each other. Munir Qandus, 30, was injured and evacuated to hospital. (Maan) 
  • Israeli forces raid Burin village after Molotov attack -  
  • Israeli forces fired dozens of tear-gas canisters Sunday evening at Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails at a car belonging to a settler at the junction near Burin village and Yitzhar settlement. (Maan) 
  • Right-wing Israeli flies a drone above Al-Aqsa (Temple Mount) - A right-wing Jewish Israeli on Sunday took photos of the Al-Aqsa Mosque using a small drone with cameras that he flew from the cemetery near the Golden Gate.  Al-Aqsa compoun guards notified Israeli police who arrived and detained the settler. (MaanPHOTO)
  • Activists shut Beit El checkpoint in protest against Jenin killings - At the checkpoint, commonly known as "DCO," protesters carried Palestinian flags and pictures of the three men killed in Jenin refugee camp, and chanted slogans demanding an end to the Israeli occupation  (Maan)
  • UN body to vote on settlement-boycott resolution - With Foreign Ministry on strike, Israel does nothing to fight resolution, whose wording seems similar to recent BDS campaigns. (Haaretz)
  • Britain: New settlement construction plans harm peace efforts - Minister for Middle East denounces approval of tenders, says UK views settlements as illegal. (Ynet) 
  • Israel PM vows no let-up after deadly West Bank raid - Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday that the army would use force against anybody plotting attacks against Israel, after troops killed three Palestinians in a West Bank raid. (Maan) 
  • School children 'beat up' settler after he wandered into Burqa village - A settler from the illegal Israeli outpost of Homesh "accidentally" walked into village west of Nablus Sunday. Locals intervened and took him to the Palestinian liaison office. In recent months, armed Jewish settlers have been trickling back to the evacuated outpost. (Maan)
  • Two Border Guard officers (and 8 Palestinians) wounded in Rachel's Tomb - Forces pelted with stones, IEDs in riot in Palestinian refugee camp north of Bethlehem, sustain light to moderate injuries. (Ynet and Maan) 
  • IDF on high alert across Judea and Samaria - Military on high alert following killing of three wanted Palestinians in Jenin over the weekend. (Israel Hayom)
  • Price for slander: Sheftel will pay one hundred thousand shekels to man he called "Fanatic radical left-winger" - A week after Yoram Sheftel a right-wing radio host and lawyer had a stormy debate with listener Amnon Holtzman about the Oslo Accords and the 1929 Arab riots on a local Israeli radio station, Sheftel called Holtzman a vile, contemptible, despicable fraudster , who got on air as an emissary of the Arab enemy." Court said he must pay Holtzman 105,000 shekels ($30,000) for libel. (Yedioth, p. 24)
  • EU, UNICEF to build desalination plant in Gaza - 10 million euro project will help provide good quality water to 75,000 Palestinians in the Strip. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Hamas: Israel to pay 'very high price' if it attacks Gaza - 
  • "We tell the enemy and (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Lieberman, who is threatening to reoccupy Gaza, that the time for your threats is over. Any aggression or crime or stupidity you commit will cost you a very high price," Gaza's premier Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel Sunday. (Maan)
  • Hamas remembers slain leader: Palestinians united in resistance - Marking ten-year anniversary of assassination of Hamas' spiritual leader Sheikh Yassin, Hamas holds massive rally in Gaza, slams Israel, Abbas, Egypt. (Ynet) 
  • Israeli politician convicted of assaulting right-wing activist at 2006 protest - (Arab MK) Mohammed Barakeh is found guilty after judge rejects defense of parliamentary immunity. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • State widens health insurance to include foreign spouses-kids of Israeli citizens - The primary beneficiaries of the new regulation are Palestinians who are married to Israeli Arabs and who live in Israel with their spouses and children under the “family reunification” arrangements. (Haaretz)
  • "Jerusalem Post" mulls acquiring "Makor Rishon" - "Israel Today" and "Yediot Ahronot" are also interested in buying the (nationalist- religious) newspaper. (Globes)
  • Foreign journalists in Israel blast threatening 'Hamas' text messages - 'Journalists are not part of the Middle East conflict. They are observers who should be treated as such,' group says. (Haaretz)
  • **On Israeli comedy show, Netanyahu says Iran no laughing matter - Hosts sting PM on settlements, housing reform and Iran's nuclear program. The latter prompts a stern response. (Haaretz)
  • Foreign Ministry workers announce general strike: 103 embassies shut down - For the time in Israel's history, Foreign Ministry workers will close down all embassies, consulates delegations around the world due to fierce labor dispute. FM Lieberman: 'Miserable decision' that harms State. (Ynet)
  • Egypt court sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death -
  • Court charges supporters of ousted Islamist president with murdering a policeman and attacking police. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Merkel receives ADL human rights prize - Jewish group presents German chancellor with its distinguished Joseph Prize in recognition of her 'abiding commitment' to protecting human rights of Jews, defending Jewish religious freedom. (Ynet)
  • Israeli-German group to build northern rail lines - Israeli and German companies win 800 million shekel ($230 million) bid for construction work on Haifa-Beit Shean and Acre-Carmiel rail lines. A new line linking Kfar Saba with Herzliya is also being constructed. (Israel Hayom)


Features:

What made Canada recognize Jewish refugees from Arab countries?
'The narrative that somehow only Palestinians have been victims of the conflict has to be challenged,' says Jewish leader. (Haaretz)
The long walk to despair: David Grossman's new book elevates grief
Unlike 'To the End of the Land,' which depicts, finally, an anguished hope, Grossman’s latest novel reads like an elegy. (Haaretz)


Commentary/Analysis:

The Palestinian prisoners' dilemma (Don Futterman, Haaretz) Israeli Jews can't accept how Palestinians lionize the freed terrorists who committed deliberate murder. But there's a nonviolent Palestinian narrative, too. 
Ya'alon's words are not void of reality (Rabbi Eliezer Schonwald, Israel Hayom) Is U.S. outrage genuine or a strategic move to prevent the defense minister from speaking out against the framework agreement? 
Ya'alon is simply setting the record straight (Hagai Segal, Ynet) US should admit that Israel's defense minister is reading regional map much better than Secretary of State Kerry.
A rabbi, a Palestinian and the seed of peace (Rabbi Yehoshua Looks, Haaretz) 'Suffering on both sides can’t be erased, but we can choose not to be defined by the crimes of the past.’ It started with a question at a Shabbat meal. “Have you ever spent time with a Palestinian?”
Poor choice of words, poorer outcome (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon should apologize for his gaffe, particularly because U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry believes his prestige will ultimately boil down to his handling of the peace talks.
The Christian-Israeli revolution and its enemies (Uri Shenhar, Haaretz) Many Israeli Christians realize that only a strong Israel can ensure them freedom and prosperity. So young people in the community seek to join the army.
The Palestinians want to buy time (Dr. Ronen Yitzhak, Israel Hayom) They have no interest in resolving the conflict -- rather they seek to draw it out while winning Israeli concessions.
Israel should stop its dependence on the U.S. (Amnon Lord, Maariv's NRG Hebrew) From a historical perspective, the Obama administration's conduct in the Middle East and on the Russian front is a reason Israel should seriously consider transferring to a neutral policy.
Is Sara Netanyahu's conduct affecting PM's performance? (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth/Ynet) When our prime minister doesn’t sleep at 3 am, it should be because of red phone, not because he has to take care of a bag of milk.
Hamas has not disappeared (Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom) For Israel, there is no substitute to applying continuous pressure on Palestinian terror operatives.
The visible rejectionism of Ari Shavit (Amos Schocken, Haaretz) Those who present themselves as supporters of the two-state solution, but who insist on demanding recognition of a nation-state, are acting to perpetuate the occupation and settlement.

 

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

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