News Nosh 09.03.14

APN's daily news review from Israel
Wednesday September 03, 2014

Number of the day:
61.
--Percentage of Palestinians who would choose former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister, almost double what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received.**


Front Page News:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)
Israel Hayom

News Summary:
The police recommendation to indict a former chief of staff and the beheading of another US journalist were top stories in the Hebrew newspapers today. Meanwhile, the calls by leading Western nations for Israel to reverse the decision to appropriate land in the West Bank and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's peace plan were either ignored or buried deep in the newspapers - with the exception of Haaretz, which made it front page.

The US has now called on Israel to renounce its decision to appropriate almost 1000 acres of land belonging to Palestinian villages. According to Haaretz, US Secretary of State John Kerry even called Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to protest. Peace Now said this was the largest seizure of West Bank land in 30 years. In the first official US condemnation, U.S. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki called on Israel to reverse the move and said it was “contrary to Israel’s stated goal of a two-state solution.” Norway, Japan and the European Union echoed the call, the latter stressing it won't recognize any changes made to the 1967 borders.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid joined Justice Minister Tsipi Livni in slamming the decision - actually the timing of the decision - and saying it would harm relations with the international community: "What good does this do at a time like this? However, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the appropriation of land in Gush Etzion reflected the wide consensus in Israeli society that this remain part of Israel in any future peace deal.
 
The top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majid Faraj are in Washington set to meet with Kerry to discuss Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secret diplomatic plan: talks focusing on borders coupled with legal actions against Israel should it drag its feet. The plan is for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within 3 years. More details here from YnetHaaretz+ and Israel Hayom.
 
Meanwhile, Israel Hayom reported that it was Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen who reportedly met with Abbas last month and gave him information on an alleged Hamas coup attempt against the PA. The information was allegedly gleaned from interrogations of a senior Hamas operative, but Haaretz+ got transcripts that showed no smoking gun. See Amos Harel's piece in Commentary/Analysis below.

Quick Hits:
  • **Poll finds support for Hamas rises after Gaza war - In first large post-Gaza conflict poll, 61 percent of Palestinians say they would vote for Hamas' leader Haniyeh to lead Palestinians, over 32 percent who said they would back moderate Abbas. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Gazans demand right of passage to West Bank - Ahead of Cairo talks on easing restrictions at border crossings, residents of Strip want end to 'checkpoint visas.' (Haaretz+)
  • Palestinian schools educate students to buy local - In bid to support local economy, fight Israel, more and more Palestinians heeding call to buy local and use non-Israeli products: 'With our money, we were putting bullets in their guns.' (Ynet)
  • Israeli army sets up new unit to fight legal onslaught over Gaza war - Military expects post-Gaza op struggles in court, rather than battlefield. (Haaretz+)
  • PM: UN should investigate Hamas, not Israeli soldiers - UN investigation committee probing Gaza war met for first time. It appears Israel does not plan to cooperate. Netanyahu: 'We will stand against all attempts of hypocritical organizations who attempt to criticize soldiers.' (Israel Hayom)
  • Knesset committee set to review Operation Protective Edge - Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Zeev Elkin tasks subcommittees with review of defense establishment's performance during the Gaza campaign. Knesset to hold special session Thursday to discuss financial aid to southern Israel. (Israel Hayom)
  • [Man] accused Hamas of abusing Fatah members during Gaza war - Fatah government employee living in Gaza says Hamas men harassed, beaten and at some cases killed Fatah members; some of those executed as 'collaborators' said to be Fatah supporters. (Ynet)
  • 'Israeli economy will take minor hit from Gaza campaign' - Finance Minister Yair Lapid predicts Operation Protective Edge will have a small impact on Israel's economy. Finance Ministry cites blow to tourism industry in short-term growth decrease projections. Lapid seeks to raise 2015 deficit target. (Israel Hayom)
  • Ya'alon: It's 'expensive' to fight terror, Gaza op cost $9b. - At cost of $100,000 per interceptor, defense minister says Iron Dome is expensive, but prevented greater economic losses. (Ynet
  • Golan Druze: "Annex Syrian village to prevent murder of residents" - The border crossing is now controlled by the rebels and villagers living near the border are very much concerned about the fate of their brothers on the Syrian side. (Druze) former MK Ayoub Kara: "Everyone is scared. Most families are split on both sides of the border." (Maariv, p. 14)
  • IDF soldiers open fire on Palestinian trying to burst through West Bank checkpoint - Driver of vehicle carrying believed illegal workers in serious condition after shot while attempting to run down soldiers. [Only Maariv wrote that it was a 'suspected' attempt to run over soldiers - OH.] (Haaretz+, Ynet and Maariv)
  • Two arrested after bomb scare in central Israel - Fears of possible terror attack quelled after police arrest two men in central Israel, earlier police shut down major roads, set up road blocks after learning of possible terror attack. (Ynet)
  • Israel halts work on illegal road through West Bank nature reserve - Activists, Palestinian residents claim construction was part of a broader attempt to deepen settlers’ hold in natural area. (Haaretz+)
  • IDF sees 60% rise in volunteers with mental-based exemptions - First half of 2014 also sees large number of volunteers, according to report in IDF magazine Bamahane. Mental-based exemptions apply to those with mental and emotional disorders, drug addicts, people prone to violence or anxiety, or even Down syndrome. (Israel Hayom)
  • Wounded IDF soldiers begin daunting road to rehabilitation - IDF soldiers seriously wounded during Gaza op came together to play a round of basketball, begin new life as IDF vets, but recall friends who fell in Gaza. (Ynet)
  • Peres to meet on Thursday with Pope Francis at the Vatican - Meeting follows former Israeli president's participation in June interfaith prayer service with Abbas, patriarch of Constantinople. (Haaretz)
  • A joint Israel-Palestine group rolling to peace - Seven Israelis and seven Palestinians decided to overcome the continued conflict, the language difficulties, the cultural differences and the distance and set up a basketball team for handicapped in wheelchairs. After 4 years of activity, group sets off for tournament in Germany at invitation of mayor. (Yedioth, p. 30)
  • Petition to Livni: Remove the nomination of Prof. Barak Medina for High Court - [Far right-wing organization - OH] Im Tirtzu opposes the possibility of the appointment of the former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University: "He supported (allowing) the Nakba Day ceremony at the University of Haifa." (Maariv
  • Russia orders deportation of Israeli Chabad rabbi - Local media claim Asher Krichevsky is suspected of spying for Israel. (Haaretz)
  • Talansky case returns to haunt convicted ex-PM Olmert - Case in which former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of breach of trust but acquitted of corruption charges reopened over alleged new evidence found during trial of his former bureau chief. Court has yet to rule on evidence's admissibility. (Israel Hayom
  • U.K. Jewish film festival relocates after rejected by theater over Gaza conflict - Tricycle Theater had demanded that organizers give up funding from Israeli embassy. (Haaretz)
  • U.K. charity to investigate Israeli claim that it funds Hamas - Islamic Relief Worldwide, barred from operating in the West Bank, says it will investigate to ensure that its procedures are proper. (Haaretz)
  • US, Iran join forces on battlefield against ISIS, report says - U.S. Air Force bombed ISIS positions last weekend in effort to liberate besieged Iraqi city, while Iranian-funded and trained militia forged a lifeline into the city, New York Times reports. British PM: Suspected Islamists will be stripped of passports. (Israel Hayom)
  • Defense Minister Ya'alon: Iran's fingerprints can be seen in Syrian Golan Heights - Analysts say al-Qaida affiliated group the Nusra Front, which has major presence near Israel's frontier with Syria, is poised to charge past the border. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Israel worried by increasing Islamist presence on Syria border - Retired intelligence officer says now that al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra is in the Golan, it's 'only a matter of time' before Islamists engaged in Syria fighting turn attention towards Israel. (Agencies, Ynet)
  • Israeli team heading to U.S. for intel exchange ahead of Iran talks - Jerusalem fears 'creative ideas’ that mean major concessions to Tehran: Israeli official. (Haaretz+)
  • Iran unveils new surface-to-air missile, radars - Iranian General Farzad Esmaili says new Talash-3 surface-to-air missile will enable Iranian forces to "shoot down any hostile target," even at high altitudes. Two radar systems -- the Arash-2 and the Kayhan -- also inaugurated. (Agencies, Israel Hayom)
  • Bomb kills 11 Egyptian policemen in Sinai - Days after Egyptian troops raid Sinai village of el-Wefaq, killing six militants, bomb hits police vehicle traveling nearby. (Ynet)  
  • Ancient Israelites imported lead coffins from Tyre, say archaeologists - A fragment forgotten and stashed away in a kibbutz turns out to be identical with metal coffins found in Lebanon. (Haaretz+)


Features:
As conflict hovers, Jerusalem's Arab-Jewish school says it’s not just a marginal trend
Against Israeli grain, teachers and students believe in change despite someone writing 'death to Arabs’ on its wall this summer. (Or Kashti, Haaretz+) 
For Israeli kids just over 7 km away from Gaza, school is a scary place
'Back to school' has a frightening connotation for some children living within Hamas rocket range. (Haaretz+) 
Arab voice 
He was a symbol of the Palestinian struggle, he hung out with Amos Keinan and Dan Ben-Amotz, he believed in co-existence until his last day, and his death made the Arab world stand still. The Druze poet, Samih al-Qassem, died in his village in the Galilee during Operation Protective Edge, but his call for peace will continue to echoe in his poems. (Eyal Levy, Maariv Magazine supplement, p. 6)
Israeli Christian community, neither Arab nor Palestinian, are fighting to save identity
With fellow Christians under attack around the Mideast, the campaign by Israel’s Aramean community to gain formal minority status has become more urgent. Meanwhile, some of its teens are joining a pre-army program. (Haaretz+) 

Commentary/Analysis:
Netanyahu's Jewish state must stop itself from becoming like ISIS (Sefi Rachlevsky, Haaretz+) Our children should come to know Judaism, Christianity and Islam that one flourished here, and philosophy, ethics and free thought should again be the foundation. 
Sacrifice, values ​​and faith won (Dr. Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Operation Protective Edge proved that Israeli society as a whole is now in a process of deep and meaningful self-correction. 
The not chosen people: Why are Jews disappearing from from the US legislature (Shmuel Rosner, Maariv) From year to year, from election to election, the number of Jews on Capitol Hill ever drops. At the upcoming mid-term elections in November, that is expected to happen again. Are the great days of the Jewish candidates for Congress behind them, and how does this relate to Obama? 
The real threat from Islamic State isn't in the Middle East (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Eliminating Islamic State will take years; for now, Western governments must up their cooperation if they hope to deal with the thousands of their citizens who flock to radicals' arms.
 Which side is UNRWA on? (Elliott Abrams, Israel Hayom) The agency is permeated by Hamas and perpetuates the refugee problem. It's time for a change.‎
A war without the High Court (Avigdor Feldman, Haaretz+) Once there was a High Court, where one could take a tortured soul and hear a few comforting words – words like 'proportionality' and 'morality of war.'
Misplaced frustration (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) Operation Protective Edge has achieved its goals and decision-makers did well to stand their ground despite pressure from both politicians and the public. 
Harpaz Affair: The corrupt escaped as usual (Ben Caspit, Maariv) In the end, people are not convicted on television programs, but in front of the evidence. There was no putsch at IDF headquarters, no rebellion of the colonels, no collecting materials against the defense minister. What did happen? Beheading of the former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi in the town square? Everything is orchestrated, directed and financed by political and personal interests. 
The real threat in Israel has been discovered (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Only a frightened nation sees the minority’s language as a threat. Only a racist government seizes on language as a pretext for excluding about a fifth of the country’s population.
Giving up before reaching the starting line (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Yesh Atid ministers have oddly surrendered their respective budgets with enthusiasm instead of doing their jobs and asking Yair Lapid: Where were you during Operation Protective Edge?
Israel’s land appropriation: Foolish, ill-timed and self-destructive (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Haaretz+) Nothing unites the world against Israel like settlement building. Even Israel’s staunchest supporters abroad, trying to make Israel’s case to a skeptical public after the Gaza war, are asking: Why undermine us now?
Don't be rattled by the condemnations (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) t is absolutely clear that Israel cannot for any practical reason give up Judea, Samaria or the Jordan Valley.
Despair won’t advance liberal Zionists’ agenda (Brent Sasley, Haaretz+) The laments for liberal Zionism, and the sharp attacks on the viability and legitimacy of their positions, reflect an unhealthily romanticized vision of Zionism and Israel that never existed in reality. 
Ashkenazi made mistakes, but should he be indicted? (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Whoever trusts chiefs of staff's discretion on matters of life and death must respect their discretion when it comes to disclosing information to journalists. 
Stop the pretense: There’s no consensus among Diaspora Jews on Israel (Keith Kahn-Harris, Haaretz+) Those attacking the mainstream institutions of UK Jewry for its stance during the Gaza conflict have come not just from the Israel-critical left - but also a newly combative and vocal pro-Israel bloc. 
Middle Eastern muck, Obama stuck (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) U.S. President Barack Obama, who in his words still lacks a strategy, needs to go on the attack before a small problem becomes a very big one.
War against the N.Y. Times and the new 'my way or highway’ Jewish theology (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) A leading Reform rabbi’s post-Gaza divorce from the Grey Lady questions the integrity of the Times but highlights the intolerance of its critics.
The end of the procrastination era (Yoel Esteron, Yedioth/Ynet) Calcalist publisher Yoel Esteron speaks at the National Economic Conference 2014: A two-nation settlement with moderate Palestinians or ongoing terrorism and fighting – it's time to make a choice and end this national waltz called 'conflict management.' 
Notes from an interrogation: How the Shin Bet gets the lowdown on terror (Amos Harel, Haaretz+) Hundreds of documents from the investigation of Hamas operative Riad Nasser offers a glimpse into the security service's methods.


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