APN's daily news review from Israel
Tuesday September 02, 2014
Note: In the translation yesterday of Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer's Op-Ed in Maariv, it should have read that 4000 dunams (998 acres) of West Bank land were appropriated for Israeli construction.
Note: In the translation yesterday of Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer's Op-Ed in Maariv, it should have read that 4000 dunams (998 acres) of West Bank land were appropriated for Israeli construction.
Quote of the day:
“There’s a clash between the theory in the books and what the children see on the ground...They see
that Jews get democracy and they get only the theory.”
--High School Principal Fawzi Abu Ghosh at Amal high school in East Jerusalem, where Mohammed Abu Khdeir studied, had to cancel the annual trip to concentration camps in Poland.**
--High School Principal Fawzi Abu Ghosh at Amal high school in East Jerusalem, where Mohammed Abu Khdeir studied, had to cancel the annual trip to concentration camps in Poland.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- Stormy dispute in cabinet over lack of diplomatic moves following the military campaign
- Criticism in the world on (Israeli) declaration of state lands in West Bank
- Interrogation documents of senior Hamas official raise suspicion: Was there really a plan to make a coup in the West Bank?
- Despite the promises, the psychometric exams won't be cancelled
- In Abu Khdeir's class, it's hard to talk about co-existence
- Because of 280 meters: Elementary school near Gaza Strip won't get protective shelter
- A tin wall between secular and ultra-Orthodox children in Beit Shemesh
- At the Bi-lingual (Hand in Hand) School they insist: We are not (living) in a bubble
- Furious battles close to border between Assad and Al-Qaeda; mortar fell in Israel
- Deputy State Prosecutor ran over and killed a jogger
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Record crowding - Israel is among the three countries with the most crowded classrooms
- The budget cut starts from inside // Nahum Barnea
- Gravestone: "Killed on the outskirts of Morag (former Gaza settlement)"
- Embarrassment of the stars - Storm in Hollywood after private nude photos of three stars leaked to Internet
- Will Berlin have a Palestinian mayor?
- My eyes - Israelis whose bodies were paralyzed and only blinking connected them to the world
- The great Cohen - At age 80 Leonard Cohen releases a new disc
- "I felt depressed" - Yarden Gerbi, deputy world champion in Judo, can't forget her lowest period
- Budget cut alert - A highway without traffic jams to Jerusalem? The new budget cuts will force you to forget that
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
- European Union threatens all-out boycott
- US and Britain condemn appropriation of land in Gush Etzion
- The political tsunami is already here // Ben Caspit
- Assad's counterattack in the Golan Heights
- Returned to class - School year opened yesterday began as it should
- Who did Netanyahu sting? Prime Minister to pupil who likes snakes: "I'll give you a few"
Israel Hayom
- Police Commissioner: "Difficult findings" in Ashkenazi affair - Likely: Police recommendations to be published in coming days
- In Quneitra they are fighting, in Israel "We are following (it)"
- The Beit Shemesh Wall - After day of clashes, Education Ministry announced ultra-Orthodox school city is establishing in its secular part is illegal - and will close
- Prime Minister's sting: "Snakes? Come, I'll give you a few," he tells pupil who likes snakes
- Shula Zaken and the diaries return to court
- Students of the future: Notebooks and pens are out, digital gadgets are in
News Summary:
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is angry at the government and its decisions and the fighting in Syria gets furious and close to the Israeli border making top stories in Hebrew newspapers today. Meanwhile, Haaretz revealed that the Shin Bet has no smoking gun in its statement that Hamas was plotting to make a coup against the Palestinian Authority, which nevertheless has caused a rift between Fatah and Hamas.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon faced off vociferously last week over whether to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, now that the war in Gaza is over. Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid are pushing for talks, but are in the minority, Haaretz+ reported. Interestingly, Maariv wrote that the London newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about the possibility of resuming negotiations with the Palestinians. A Palestinian source said that suggested Israel return to the negotiating table in exchange for gestures to the Palestinians, including the release of the fourth round of prisoners. According to the report, Netanyahu did not respond positively to the suggestion.
Livni also attacked yesterday the decision to appropriate an enormous amount of West Bank land for building for Jewish Israeli citizens in Gush Etzion, saying the decision "weakens Israel, Maariv reported. She wasn't alone. The UK, France, and Egypt followed the US in denouncing the appropriation of 998 acres, a move which Peace Now said was the biggest such takeover in 30 years.
The Shin Bet's announcement of an alleged Hamas coup plot against the Palestinian Authority makes headlines again, this time because there's no known evidence that it's true. Haaretz reporters Chaim Levinson and Amos Harel received transcripts from the interrogation of Riad Nasser, who was the alleged Hamas operative in the West Bank and who, according to the Shin Bet, established terror infrastructure to implement the coup. However, Nasser told his interrogators that Hamas did not intend to initiate the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, only to be prepared to take over if it happened. Moreover, the money was not for a coup, but for the political establishment. Israel also claimed that Hamas operative Salah Arouri, who is based in Turkey, had planned the kidnapping and murder of the three yeshiva youth. However, Harel writes that the interrogation shows that "the abduction of the teens, which was carried out by an independent cell with no direct link to Arouri." Nasser's lawyers say he was tortured.
Nevertheless, Israel's announcement led to a rift between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar cited transcripts of the recent meeting in Doha between Abbas and Mashaal during which Abbas reportedly accused Mashaal of breaching the reconciliation and orchestrating a coup. Mashaal quareled with Abbas for having adopted the Israeli version of events and believing everything Israel told him.
The Lebanese report also reveals that Abbas told Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani that he told an Israeli official: "The peace process failed after 20 years, so our new strategy is that the United States and Israel agree to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital in a limited amount of time, and that both sides immediately begin determining the borders. If both sides agree we will continue the talks about the rest of the core issues. And if not, we will take the following measure: Cessation of the security coordination and transfer of responsibility for PA territory to Netanyahu, who will bear the responsibility for them," Haaretz+ reported.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is angry at the government and its decisions and the fighting in Syria gets furious and close to the Israeli border making top stories in Hebrew newspapers today. Meanwhile, Haaretz revealed that the Shin Bet has no smoking gun in its statement that Hamas was plotting to make a coup against the Palestinian Authority, which nevertheless has caused a rift between Fatah and Hamas.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon faced off vociferously last week over whether to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, now that the war in Gaza is over. Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid are pushing for talks, but are in the minority, Haaretz+ reported. Interestingly, Maariv wrote that the London newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about the possibility of resuming negotiations with the Palestinians. A Palestinian source said that suggested Israel return to the negotiating table in exchange for gestures to the Palestinians, including the release of the fourth round of prisoners. According to the report, Netanyahu did not respond positively to the suggestion.
Livni also attacked yesterday the decision to appropriate an enormous amount of West Bank land for building for Jewish Israeli citizens in Gush Etzion, saying the decision "weakens Israel, Maariv reported. She wasn't alone. The UK, France, and Egypt followed the US in denouncing the appropriation of 998 acres, a move which Peace Now said was the biggest such takeover in 30 years.
The Shin Bet's announcement of an alleged Hamas coup plot against the Palestinian Authority makes headlines again, this time because there's no known evidence that it's true. Haaretz reporters Chaim Levinson and Amos Harel received transcripts from the interrogation of Riad Nasser, who was the alleged Hamas operative in the West Bank and who, according to the Shin Bet, established terror infrastructure to implement the coup. However, Nasser told his interrogators that Hamas did not intend to initiate the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, only to be prepared to take over if it happened. Moreover, the money was not for a coup, but for the political establishment. Israel also claimed that Hamas operative Salah Arouri, who is based in Turkey, had planned the kidnapping and murder of the three yeshiva youth. However, Harel writes that the interrogation shows that "the abduction of the teens, which was carried out by an independent cell with no direct link to Arouri." Nasser's lawyers say he was tortured.
Nevertheless, Israel's announcement led to a rift between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar cited transcripts of the recent meeting in Doha between Abbas and Mashaal during which Abbas reportedly accused Mashaal of breaching the reconciliation and orchestrating a coup. Mashaal quareled with Abbas for having adopted the Israeli version of events and believing everything Israel told him.
The Lebanese report also reveals that Abbas told Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani that he told an Israeli official: "The peace process failed after 20 years, so our new strategy is that the United States and Israel agree to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital in a limited amount of time, and that both sides immediately begin determining the borders. If both sides agree we will continue the talks about the rest of the core issues. And if not, we will take the following measure: Cessation of the security coordination and transfer of responsibility for PA territory to Netanyahu, who will bear the responsibility for them," Haaretz+ reported.
Quick Hits:
- President furious over silence of gov't cabinet members: We are on a racist volcano - In a speech at the Israeli Bar Association, President Ruvi Rivlin blasted the government for its silence and its indifference to rampant anti-Arab racism, which are destroying the democracy in Israel. "The abusive slogans, like 'Death to the Arabs' were not spray-painted in the dark of night on abandoned walls, but said in a clear and loud voice, in the bright of day...The political violence in Israeli society is also present in the seemingly legitimate borders of freedom of speech." (Yedioth, p. 26)
- EU boycott of Israeli poultry and dairy products postponed - Israel asked the EU for an extension to show it has a veterinary method that distinguishes between coop products - poultry, eggs and milk - derived from settlers and those who are within the '67 borders. EU agreed, but threat intensifies. (Maariv)
- UN schools in Gaza to open in mid-September - UNRWA-run schools will run on a double-shift basis to accommodate some 241,000 children, in wake of destruction in Gaza. (Haaretz)
- Gravestone: "Killed on the outskirts of Morag (former Gaza settlement)" - In a controversial decision, the Defense Ministry approved the request of the family of former commander of the Givati reconaissance unit, Captain Baniya Sarel, to note on his gravestone the name of the Israeli settlement evacuated in the disengagement. Nevertheless, the request to include the words 'will be built and (re-)established" was not approved. Sarel, from Kiryat Arba settlement, was killed in Rafah. (Yedioth, p. 1)
- Geologists warn: Oil shale project may pollute West Bank groundwater - The pilot site inside the Green Line will produce the oil, which involves heating to 350 degrees Centigrade the layer of rock containing the shale 200-300 meters underground. (Haaretz+)
- Turkey's new PM: No hope of 'normalizing' Israel ties until Gaza blockade ends - Turkey was once Israel's closest regional ally in the region, but former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a strident critic of its treatment of the Palestinians. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Mortar shell from Syria lands in Golan Heights in spillover from civil war - Heavy fighting over Quneitra border crossing erupts early Monday morning between Syrian army and rebels; photos show al-Qaeda flag mounted on captured UN vehicle. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Jordan to NATO: ISIS terrorists have infiltrated our borders - Iraqi troops with U.S. air force backing are trying to lift a two-month siege against the mostly Turkmen Shiite town of Amirli. Australia drops weapons to Kurdish fighters in Iraqi army. UK ambassador: We'll help Jordan against foreseeable threats. (Israel Hayom)
- Upsetting the Golan Druze apple cart at Quneitra - The capture by rebel forces of the border crossing between Syria and Israel's Golan Heights jeopardizes apple exports and the passage to Damascus of Druze college students. (Haaretz+)
- Israeli army opens more combat roles to women - Six female recruits inducted into special unit in the artillery corps are already undergoing basic training. (Haaretz+)
- Strike over murder of Tayibe principal prevents school year from opening - 'I'm afraid to send my children to school,' says one of the parents. Locals accuse law enforcement of failing to put a stop to the extensive crime in the city. (Ynet)
- Israeli, Palestinian children play for peace - Peres Center opens school year with launch of its annual 'sports for peace' program, bringing together Gaza-border children with West Bank kids. (Ynet)
- Israel takes center stage at Venice Film Fest, finding humor in death - Israeli film The Farewell Party, about a mercy-killing machinem premiered at the Venice Film Festival last week. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Israel's Channel 2 to split into two 24/7 stations after March 31 - Communications Ministry issues draft legislation for reform of television. (Haaretz+)
- Report: Azerbaijan buying Israeli coast-guard vessels - Jane's confirms that Muslim nation purchased 12 boats, based on photographs on website of Azerbaijani president. (Haaretz)
- Syria rebels issue three demands for release of Fijan peacekeepers - Philippine military chief calls for investigation of Golan Heights UN peacekeeping commander for allegedly asking Filipino troops to surrender to Syrian rebels. (Haaretz)
- Filipino force defied UN commander during Syrian Golan crisis - Philippine military says UN peacekeeping commander on Heights should face investigation for asking troops to surrender to rebels. (Agencies, Ynet)
- Ireland demands review of UN Golan Heights mandate - Island nation may not replace forces, the largest contingent of the UN's multinational mission, until UN does proper review, says defense minister. (Agencies, Haaretz)
Features:
**Palestinian teen’s murder shakes East Jerusalem school’s faith in coexistence
Mohammed Abu Khdeir's high school was uniquely sensitive to Jewish tragedy, but that’s changed now. Unlike most schools in East Jerusalem, it follows the Israeli curriculum rather than that of the Palestinian Authority and it is the only school in East Jerusalem whose students participate in the annual trip to the death camps in Poland to learn about the Holocaust. This year the trip has been cancelled. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+)
Who is the woman known as 'Lady Al-Qaida?'
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence in a U.S. prison; the Islamic State and the Taliban are prepared to free hostages to get her released. (Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
Mohammed Abu Khdeir's high school was uniquely sensitive to Jewish tragedy, but that’s changed now. Unlike most schools in East Jerusalem, it follows the Israeli curriculum rather than that of the Palestinian Authority and it is the only school in East Jerusalem whose students participate in the annual trip to the death camps in Poland to learn about the Holocaust. This year the trip has been cancelled. (Nir Hasson, Haaretz+)
Who is the woman known as 'Lady Al-Qaida?'
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence in a U.S. prison; the Islamic State and the Taliban are prepared to free hostages to get her released. (Haaretz)
Commentary/Analysis:
You don't know me anymore, Lord. Not after Gaza (Bradley
Burston, Haaretz+) Wherever we find ourselves this Rosh Hashanah, 450 children will be sitting
beside us, uninvited. They will neither squirm nor feel restless. But we will. They were alive last year, and
now they are dead.
A return to the United Israel Appeal (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Israel is now at a crossroads between self-pity and rising to the occasion.
The political tsunami is here, it's disguised with technical issues (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The new European threat, as reported today by Aviram Zino and Arik Bender, is unbelievable. If the European Union is not convinced that Israel has a reliable mechanism to separate between veterinary supervision in Israel and in the "Territories" (everything beyond the Green Line, including the Golan Heights), it is possible that the EU will decide to completely halt imports of dairy products and animal products from Israel as a whole. This is the realization of a catastrophic scenario no one dreamed of Jerusalem at such an early stage. I think the chances of this happening are close to zero, in the meantime. The Europeans brought the elephant into the room so they could take it out in the final stage. There is only a goat remaining in the middle of the living room, which is the boycott of products originating in the Territories. This is grave in and of itself... The political boycott is already here. It is disguised with bureaucratic, veterinary, technical and logistical reasons, but it is alive, existing and kicking us in the head. One thing needs to be clear, this business has been planned. And it's not just the Europeans. Behind them, the Americans are hiding. Ahead of Obama's second term, the one the prime minister tried to thwart, a new course of action was decided upon between the Obama administration and the European Union against the Netanyahu government, on the assumption that it would continue its rejectionism. The United States cannot impose real sanctions on Israel. Congress will not allow that to happen...
The UN, an empty presence (Dr. Gabi Avital, Israel Hayom) How are there still public officials who believe that U.N. troops should be the ones supervising, for example, the border crossings with the Gaza Strip?
Media self-reflection on Gaza war coverage is necessary, but unlikely (Richard Miron, Haaretz+) Was the coverage of the Gaza conflict tainted by prejudice or moral cowardice? Was there a clear line where reporting ended and emoting began? There aren’t clear answers – and the media won’t be running to scrutinize itself.
Debunking claims of failure in Gaza (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) The recent Gaza conflict has already been called World War III: an asymmetric battle between western democracies and guerrilla warfare and terrorism. They can always claim to have won. But we can beat them, and we're on the right track - it just takes time.
For peace you need Buji (Isaac Herzog), not Bennett (Uri Savir, Maariv) In order to take advantage of the political momentum created at the end of the fighting, Netanyahu must remove Habyait Hayehudi from the government and bring in the Labor party. In Gaza, Hamas must accept the Quartet's conditions to the government basic guidelines. Nonsensical slogans like "The defeat, submission, and destruction of Hamas. Occupation and pounding (of Gaza)" are shattered by a relatively small terrorist force, proving that in modern warfare, the weak can cause the destruction of his enemy's routine way of life, no less than strong side can. And national conflicts cannot be solved by force. Calling out "Let the IDF win" does an injustice to the army in an era that only diplomacy, along with deterrence and international support, can change the reality.
Obama's Middle East strategy exists – and it's what America wants (Peter Beinart, Haaretz) Obama's critics are wrong when they accuse him of having no strategy against IS. He simply has tunnel vision against Middle East terror, only unsheathing his sword against people he thinks might kill American civilians.
Hamas was defeated -- until the next time (Prof. Efraim Inbar, Israel Hayom) Israel's goal of "mowing the grass" in Gaza was achieved.
Israel should have drawn its red line with Hamas far sooner (Steven Klein, Haaretz+) Israel's best strategy should Hamas renew the violence is not escalation but responding in equal measure, for only tit-for-tat creates a power symmetry that induces cooperation.
Ban Ki-moon's Israel-condemnation addiction (Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Israel Hayom) The citizens of the world deserve a U.N. chief who can, at the very least, distinguish between right and wrong.
Israel, a state of armed robbery (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The Israeli regime is based on grabbing land and nurturing the apparatus that secures the plunder — the army, in the local argot.
Israel as a "front stronghold against barbarism" (Dr. Rafi Mann, Maariv) Netanyahu, in the spirit of Herzl, is trying to present to the world Hamas as part of the terrible storm that includes the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. But it seems that in the meantime, the world is not adopting his thesis. The first reason relates to what is called in the study of media 'framing' - the format of interpretation by which the facts are sorted and given meaning. In recent decades, all of Israel's actions are framed in one major context - the conflict with the Palestinians. The media coverage in the world thus frames Operation Protective Edge as a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, not a war against radical Islam. The second reason is the nature of the images from which the world public opinion was fed in Operation Protective Edge. Most of the graphic representation of the conflict was through videos that came from Gaza: destroyed homes, wounded and killed, including many children. This is a result of both the firepower of the Israeli operation, especially aerial attacks, and of Hamas's media policy. The double exploitation of civilians in Gaza, both as human shields for Hamas and as representatives exported of the reality exported to the world, inspires mainly compassion for the hundreds of thousands of refugees, nearly two thousand dead and more than ten thousand wounded. The people of Gaza, in television representation, are the victims, not the aggressors. There is also a practical third reason: when Obama and Kerry work to form an international coalition against radical Islam, they need first and foremost the active cooperation of most of the moderates in the Arab world. Including Israel will only further complicate the already complex task of establishing such a coalition. Under these circumstances, the marketing of (Israel as) 'the civilized front stronghold against the barbarism' has difficulty being accepted by the world.
Netanyahu's government is not serious about peace (Haaretz Editorial) The prime minister's conduct during most of his time in office makes a mockery of his various slogans and declarations concerning new diplomatic opportunities.
A return to the United Israel Appeal (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Israel is now at a crossroads between self-pity and rising to the occasion.
The political tsunami is here, it's disguised with technical issues (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The new European threat, as reported today by Aviram Zino and Arik Bender, is unbelievable. If the European Union is not convinced that Israel has a reliable mechanism to separate between veterinary supervision in Israel and in the "Territories" (everything beyond the Green Line, including the Golan Heights), it is possible that the EU will decide to completely halt imports of dairy products and animal products from Israel as a whole. This is the realization of a catastrophic scenario no one dreamed of Jerusalem at such an early stage. I think the chances of this happening are close to zero, in the meantime. The Europeans brought the elephant into the room so they could take it out in the final stage. There is only a goat remaining in the middle of the living room, which is the boycott of products originating in the Territories. This is grave in and of itself... The political boycott is already here. It is disguised with bureaucratic, veterinary, technical and logistical reasons, but it is alive, existing and kicking us in the head. One thing needs to be clear, this business has been planned. And it's not just the Europeans. Behind them, the Americans are hiding. Ahead of Obama's second term, the one the prime minister tried to thwart, a new course of action was decided upon between the Obama administration and the European Union against the Netanyahu government, on the assumption that it would continue its rejectionism. The United States cannot impose real sanctions on Israel. Congress will not allow that to happen...
The UN, an empty presence (Dr. Gabi Avital, Israel Hayom) How are there still public officials who believe that U.N. troops should be the ones supervising, for example, the border crossings with the Gaza Strip?
Media self-reflection on Gaza war coverage is necessary, but unlikely (Richard Miron, Haaretz+) Was the coverage of the Gaza conflict tainted by prejudice or moral cowardice? Was there a clear line where reporting ended and emoting began? There aren’t clear answers – and the media won’t be running to scrutinize itself.
Debunking claims of failure in Gaza (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) The recent Gaza conflict has already been called World War III: an asymmetric battle between western democracies and guerrilla warfare and terrorism. They can always claim to have won. But we can beat them, and we're on the right track - it just takes time.
For peace you need Buji (Isaac Herzog), not Bennett (Uri Savir, Maariv) In order to take advantage of the political momentum created at the end of the fighting, Netanyahu must remove Habyait Hayehudi from the government and bring in the Labor party. In Gaza, Hamas must accept the Quartet's conditions to the government basic guidelines. Nonsensical slogans like "The defeat, submission, and destruction of Hamas. Occupation and pounding (of Gaza)" are shattered by a relatively small terrorist force, proving that in modern warfare, the weak can cause the destruction of his enemy's routine way of life, no less than strong side can. And national conflicts cannot be solved by force. Calling out "Let the IDF win" does an injustice to the army in an era that only diplomacy, along with deterrence and international support, can change the reality.
Obama's Middle East strategy exists – and it's what America wants (Peter Beinart, Haaretz) Obama's critics are wrong when they accuse him of having no strategy against IS. He simply has tunnel vision against Middle East terror, only unsheathing his sword against people he thinks might kill American civilians.
Hamas was defeated -- until the next time (Prof. Efraim Inbar, Israel Hayom) Israel's goal of "mowing the grass" in Gaza was achieved.
Israel should have drawn its red line with Hamas far sooner (Steven Klein, Haaretz+) Israel's best strategy should Hamas renew the violence is not escalation but responding in equal measure, for only tit-for-tat creates a power symmetry that induces cooperation.
Ban Ki-moon's Israel-condemnation addiction (Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Israel Hayom) The citizens of the world deserve a U.N. chief who can, at the very least, distinguish between right and wrong.
Israel, a state of armed robbery (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The Israeli regime is based on grabbing land and nurturing the apparatus that secures the plunder — the army, in the local argot.
Israel as a "front stronghold against barbarism" (Dr. Rafi Mann, Maariv) Netanyahu, in the spirit of Herzl, is trying to present to the world Hamas as part of the terrible storm that includes the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. But it seems that in the meantime, the world is not adopting his thesis. The first reason relates to what is called in the study of media 'framing' - the format of interpretation by which the facts are sorted and given meaning. In recent decades, all of Israel's actions are framed in one major context - the conflict with the Palestinians. The media coverage in the world thus frames Operation Protective Edge as a conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, not a war against radical Islam. The second reason is the nature of the images from which the world public opinion was fed in Operation Protective Edge. Most of the graphic representation of the conflict was through videos that came from Gaza: destroyed homes, wounded and killed, including many children. This is a result of both the firepower of the Israeli operation, especially aerial attacks, and of Hamas's media policy. The double exploitation of civilians in Gaza, both as human shields for Hamas and as representatives exported of the reality exported to the world, inspires mainly compassion for the hundreds of thousands of refugees, nearly two thousand dead and more than ten thousand wounded. The people of Gaza, in television representation, are the victims, not the aggressors. There is also a practical third reason: when Obama and Kerry work to form an international coalition against radical Islam, they need first and foremost the active cooperation of most of the moderates in the Arab world. Including Israel will only further complicate the already complex task of establishing such a coalition. Under these circumstances, the marketing of (Israel as) 'the civilized front stronghold against the barbarism' has difficulty being accepted by the world.
Netanyahu's government is not serious about peace (Haaretz Editorial) The prime minister's conduct during most of his time in office makes a mockery of his various slogans and declarations concerning new diplomatic opportunities.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.