APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday August 17, 2014

Quote of the day:

---

Israel and the Palestinians rejected the Egyptian 'final proposal' for a long-term agreement, Israel fears an expanding European Union boycott on settlement products, and thousands showed up for an anti-war and anti-racism rally in Tel-Aviv. Meanwhile, Yedioth's top military analyst explains in the Friday paper how a series of mistakes led to Operation Protective Edge.

The Palestinians and Israelis said a deal was unlikely by the end of the ceasefire, Monday night, after both rejected Egypt’s 'final proposal’ for an agreement over Gaza. Israel said "it won't compromise on its security needs". Also, the wording of the proposal implies Israel's full recognition of the Hamas-Fatah unity government, something it has not given. According to Yedioth, a source involved in the Israeli cabinet discussions said that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu understands that he won't be able to pass the Egyptian proposal in the security cabinet because 'Hamas presents achievements,' and that is perceived by ministers as 'legitimizing terror.'

The Palestinians rejected the proposal, reportedly because it denies them the right to act militarily against Israel within Israel and it leaves the issue of building ports to later negotiations. Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders see the Egyptian proposal as defeat.
Israel Hayom wrote that Palestinian officials in the talks were reportedly furious with Qatar for urging Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal not to compromise.

Israeli officials have said that if the Cairo talks fail, Western powers will likely seek a truce via the UN Security Council. At the same time, Israel is likely to unilaterally declare an end to the military operation and the introduction of a de facto cease-fire and it will ease some restrictions for the Palestinians, such as opening crossings. One Hamas official said that if the demands of the Palestinian people are not met, Israel should prepare itself for a prolonged war of attrition. Haaretz has an excellent review of live updates from yesterday about the Gaza-Israel crisis.
 
Israel fears that a boycott of settler poultry products could expand. So far, say Israeli officials at the Foreign and Agriculture Ministries, no serious economic damage has been done, with diversion to the local market solving the problem. But Israel is worried that the decision, which will take effect at the beginning of next month, will spread to other industries and sectors, including wine. One Foreign Ministry official admitted: "We can not do anything about it." The opposition has attacked the government: "The writing was on the wall." The damage is estimated at around 70 million shekels. (Haaretz+ and Maariv)
 
**Thousands attended a peace rally in Tel-Aviv's Rabin Square, organized by Meretz and Hadash parties along with Peace Now and Combatants for Peace, Saturday night, under the banner of "Changing direction: Toward peace, away from war." [Interestingly, the Labor party and its chairman, Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog, were absent. - OH] The rally called for a diplomatic approach to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of war and for an end to the hatred towards Arab citizens. Meretz party chief Zehava Gal-On called for Netanyahu's resignation. (Israel Hayom, Maariv, Haaretz+, Ynet) Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan posted a sharp Facebook status against David Grossman this morning, accusing him of "adopting the narrative of Hamas," Maariv reported.

In Friday's Yedioth Ahronoth's, military affairs analyst Alex Fishman lays out how Israel and Gaza got to where they are now and says it was by mistake. "A series of misunderstandings by both sides, along with mistakes in the IDF's intelligence estimates, led to a great confrontation." To begin with, he notes that the kidnapping of the three yeshiva teenagers surprised the Hamas leadership, which was not looking for an escalation in Gaza. But Israel's response of arresting Hamas MPs in the West Bank was not acceptable to them and they felt especially bad about the re-arrest of those released in the Shalit deal, Fishman wrote. He goes on to explain that until June 30th, there was no discussion of a military conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas even denied shooting any of the rockets. But that night, Israel responded to rocket fire and attacked 34 sites in Gaza and killed, apparently by mistake, a Hamas activist, which Hamas saw as a provocation against the organization and it responded with rockets for the first time. On the 2nd of July, the Palestinian youth Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and murdered and in response rockets were shot at Ashkelon and Beersheva. "Israel saw the increasing rocket fire by Hamas not as a response to what was happening in the West Bank or as revenge for killing one of its activists, but as preparations for a massive terror attack that was [supposedly - OH] supposed to take place under heavy fire. That was an error," writes Fishman. "In response to the rocket fire, Israel attacks numerous sites on 6 July, including tunnel shafts, in an attempt to thwart the massive terror attack. Hamas people are killed, their friends go wild and shoot dozens of rockets (at Israel). Israel no longer has any choice and it begins Operation Protective Edge. In retrospect, it is understood in Israell that there was an over assessment of Hamas moves and that the sites that Israel attacked were not part of that big (terror) event that Israel was waiting for." Fishman later writes, "Today it is completely clear that despite the great danger, none of the tunnels leads to any kibbutz. Most of the tunnels are known, and there was prior warning about most of the infiltrations from the tunnels. With proper military leadership, most of the casualties from the tunnels could have been avoided."

---

Quick Hits:

---

Features:

Palestinian with an Israeli ID card
(Israeli Arab actress) Salwa Nakra was invited to perform "Cappuccino in Ramallah" at the Hanover Festival in Germany, a one-person play in which the plot takes place during Operation Defensive Shield. "Sea Wind," a play she performs in at the Haifa Theater, which describes the period between the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead - was cancelled during Operation Protective Edge. But despite the situation, she does not allow herself to give become desolate. "At a demonstration (against Operation Protective Edge) in Haifa, we yelled, 'From Gaza to Sderot, the girls want to live,' and we got beaten. These are the demonstrations of 2014," she said.(By Galit Adut in Maariv Magazine, pp. 10-11)

Commentary/Analysis:

Mohammed Deif’s mole in Jerusalem (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Recent reports on the dangers of re-occupying Gaza were based on confidential information that originated from Netanyahu's inner cabinet.
Israel must not lose the U.S. (Haaretz Editorial) Netanyahu must ease the tension with Washington and act to repair the rift with Obama, who will remain in office for the next two and a half years.
This is how Benjamin Netanyahu harmed relations with the US, again and again, step by step (Ben Caspit, Maariv) Yes, Americans are schlemiels. Yes, they made here a thousand and one errors. But there is small difference between us and them: they can afford to lose Israel. We can not afford to lose America. {Caspit writes that he does not think a state inquiry commission should be opened over the events of Operation Protective Edge. He does think one needs to be established to investigate how Israel's strategic relations with Israel were destroyed and who was responsible for this. Caspit blames Prime Minister Netanyahu and doesn't expect a commission to be established. He points to the Wall Street Journal report that the US delayed shipping Hellfire missiles for Apache helicopters to Israel and writes, "Let it be clear: there is no IDF without the Americans.
Nothing will come of Israel’s quiet (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The dead died and the killers killed in Gaza only to ensure another brief interlude of quiet for Israelis.
Who is stringing whom along? (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) The Israeli people do not dance to the beat of the Hamas drum and there is no reason to fall prey to optical illusions -- Hamas is dancing toward its oblivion.
Israel's witch hunt against leftist organizations is McCarthyism in action (Friday Haaretz Editorial) B’Tselem does not act against the state or its army, on the contrary: It tries to maintain its moral image, therefore fulfilling an important mission.
Obama's inventory (Ran Adelist, Maariv) Anyone who knows the subject of military inventory should be filled with anxiety and should pressure Netanyahu to reach an a big political agreement (with Hamas). There is a direct relationship between the American refusal to consider the application of re-stocking the military inventory (of Hellfire missiles for Apache helicopters) and the surrender of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu in negotiations with Hamas. Surrender, that is, agreeing to the principles of a post-cease-fire arrangement, took place in Cairo the day after the public report in The Wall Street Journal (that the US had delayed the missile shipment). In order to understand the meaning of surrender, which is shameful from the right-wing perspective and welcome by the left-wing, one needs to understand the meaning of Israel's dependence on the United States.
An open letter to Penelope Cruz (Yehonatan Geffen, Haaretz+) If artists and intellectuals have a social role, and sometimes I’m quite doubtful about that, it is to be familiar with the facts and to confront them.
US Jewish leaders' deafening silence (Isi Leibler, Israel Hayom) Jewish community leaders are failing to fulfil their mandate if they remain silent as the White House derides Israel while it fights genocidal terrorists.
It’s not anti-Semitism when you’re lying down with lepers (Avraham Burg, Haaretz+) Unqualified supporters of Israel would do better to question some Jews’ identification with Europe’s most nationalist, xenophobic and Islamophobic groups. 
Why did Hamas change its tune? (Ron Ben-Yishai, Yedioth/Ynet) Palestinian delegation to Cairo talks toughened negotiating positions because they have nothing to lose.
Friendship trumps disputes (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) This isn't the first time the strategic relationship between Israel and the U.S. has been tested.
For Hamas, Egypt's truce proposal is a bitter pill (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) The gestures harbored within the Egyptian offer come with a heavy price, as far as Hamas is concerned: Renewed, reinforced presence of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza.
What harms the US harms Israel (Orly Azoulay, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel needs bipartisan support in America and Netanyahu's meddling in internal politics threatens the allies' relationship, not only today but into the next presidency.
Where do we go from here? (Mira Awad, Haaretz+) Recognition of the past is important, but I’m not willing to be stuck with it all my life, to collapse under its weight and become its victim. 
Gaza: How we got here and what next? (Donna Robinson Divine and Asaf Romirowsky, Yedioth/Ynet) Any post Gaza reconstruction is going to highlight the pursuit of a fake justice for a virtual Palestine, or alternatively generate concrete opportunities for the next generation's future.
We admire Netanyahu’s spiel, but nobody else buys it (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) It’s our turn to say what our suggested peace solution is. And if Israel’s stand is that the current situation is the best of the solutions, let’s admit that and stop deluding. 
Despite the accent, Netanyahu clueless about America (Alon Pinkas, Yedioth/Ynet) Though he markets himself as an expert on US, prime minister responsible for deterioration in ties to Israel's closest ally.
My plea to the people of Israel: Liberate yourselves by liberating Palestine (Desmond Tutu, Haaretz+) Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, in an exclusive article for Haaretz, calls for a global boycott of Israel and urges Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land. 
Israel stands to lose from boycotting UN commission (Frances Raday, Yedioth/Ynet) Israel must maximize opportunity to present evidence of its efforts to avoid disproportionate damage to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

'Why be a soldier in the US when I can do it in Israel?'
Descended from a long line of American soldiers, Josh Harris shocked his family when he announced that he was moving to Israel and enlisting in the IDF. Now in Israel, he says: "I am capable of one day becoming chief of staff." (Interviewed by Michal Yaakov Yitzhaki in Israel Hayom)
 

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