News Nosh 09.08.14

APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday September 08, 2014

Number of the day:
30.
Percentage of Israelis who would seriously consider leaving Israel if they could, according to a poll commissioned by Israel's Channel 2.**


Front Page News:
Haaretz
Yedioth Ahronoth
  • "The weapon that will stop the Islamic State: Targeted killings" - The US' #1 spy, former CIA chief Michael Heiden, in an interview with Yedioth
  • The next Chief of Staff: Opening shot
  • The Bulgarian Oscar - Two Israeli actors in movie that will represent Bulgaria in the competition
  • By force or by 'Ratzon' (name of former cult leader and also means 'desire' in Hebrew) - Today ruling in court case of Goel Ratzon: Did he enslave 18 women?
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
Israel Hayom

News Summary:
Who is more dangerous, Islamic State or Iran? Has Hamas begun repairing tunnels or not? These questions were top stories in today's Hebrew newspapers. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made headlines talking about Hamas.
 
US President Barack Obama said the Islamic State is more dangerous than Iran. Unnamed Israeli politicians told Yedioth, "He fell into the trap the Iranians set up, when they presented themselves as part of the solution and not part of the problem." Obama's statements in an interview with NBC came following reports of military cooperation between the US and Iran against IS and expanded US aerial attacks in Iraq. Yedioth noted that Israel avoided giving an official response to Obama's statement regarding Iran, but politicians are 'very worried.' Israeli analysts noted that the Islamic State is not a threat to Israel at this point (see Commentary/Analysis).

Speaking to numerous Israeli newspaper reporters, an unnamed senior politician said Hamas has begun repairing Gaza tunnels and is already preparing for the next confrontation with Israel through the resumption of arms smuggling and rocket production. However, senior defense ministry officials, also unnamed, denied the claim, saying no information existed to support this claim. Israel Hayom called it a 'sources' war.  [The tunnel claim was probably made by a right-wing opponent of the prime minister who opposed the ceasefire. - OH] Israelis living near the Gaza border said tunnel reconstruction is a cause for war and blamed the Netanyahu administration. Tunnels or no tunnels, Hamas is still focused on lifting Israel's siege. Israel Hayom also reported that Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, issued an ultimatum on Sunday, threatening to resume rocket fire against Israel on Sept. 25 if the blockade of Gaza is not lifted.

 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the news after speaking to a group of diplomatic correspondents. Lieberman said there would not be demilitarization in Gaza, that he was pessimistic about reaching any long-term agreement with Hamas and that Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif is likely dead.

Quick Hits:
  • Palestinians clash with E. Jerusalem police after teen's death - Riots erupt after Mohammed Sunuqrut, 16, dies of head wound sustained at protest last week. (HaaretzMaarivIsrael Hayom and Ynet
  • Palestinian teen shot by Jerusalem police dies of wounds - Family says Mohammed Sunuqrut, 16, was shot with a rubber bullet at close range; police: He was shot in the leg with a sponge-tipped bullet, fell and hurt his head. (Haaretz+)
  •  'Investigate transfer of funds to settlements' - Herzog and Cabel urge investigation of 'blatant and systemic budget discrimination' against residents of southern and northern communities as opposed to Israelis living in settlements. (Yedioth/Ynet)
  •  **Poll: One-third of Israelis think about leaving - Poll by Israel's Channel 2 after Gaza war reveals sense of despondency among many residents. As for the stigma that in the past attached to those who left the country, only 36% said they viewed emigrants negatively. The rest said they viewed emigration positively or were indifferent. (GlobesHaaretz and Channel 2)
  • After Gaza conflict, Israel's Arabs fear rising discrimination - During the war, some 1,500 Arab-Israelis were arrested for involvement in protests against Israel's policy. (Haaretz
  • Former Mossad chief: "Israelis may have already joined the Islamic State" - Efraim Halevy stressed in an interview with Army Radio that he does not think there is a real danger from the organization on Israel's borders. "We should not rush to intervene in Syria or northern Iraq. The job is being done by others." (Maariv
  • Arab Israeli IS supporters: 'They are the solution' - Citizens of country's Arab sector claim that despite Islamic State's brutality, the group follows Islam religious principles: 'Slaughter is a method of executing infidels.' (Ynet
  • Israeli army lags in reforming probes into Palestinian deaths - The IDF has yet to imply key recommendations issued by a commission held a year and a half ago, dedicated to improving the way Israel investigates suspected violations of the laws of war. (Haaretz+) 
  • Groups vie over nature of Rabin's memorial rallies - Nonprofit led by son Yuval Rabin to hold 19th annual event promoting regional peace accord in memory of the slain prime minister; youth groups to organize nonpolitical rally. (Haaretz+)
  • New submarine to stop at sea for Dakar memorial service - INS Tanin, the latest German-made addition to the 7th Flotilla, will arrive in Haifa after its 20-day voyage. (Ynet)
  • Israel refuses to share New Zealand ambassador with Palestinian Authority - Israel’s objections led the new ambassador to cancel his planned trip to Israel, and are threatening to create a diplomatic crisis with the Commonwealth country. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • On Golan, Israelis grab a front-row seat to the war in Syria - For some, war-watching is a sort of a spectator sport; others – and these clearly represent the majority – are deeply concerned. (Haaretz+)
  • Syrian children travel by donkey to seek medical help from Israel - After a 12-year-old boy sustained serious wounds in his arms and legs and lost his vision during fighting near Damascus, his brother seated him on a donkey and led him to IDF border post. (Ynet)
  • Anti-Israel entity boasts of hacking 100 Israeli websites - List of mostly anonymous sites published on Facebook with warning that it is 'just the beginning.' (Haaretz)
  • Report: Israeli troops saved Irish peacekeepers on Syria border - Members of force serving in the UN in Syria would have been killed or kidnapped if it weren't for Israeli military intervention, says Irish paper. (Haaretz)
  • Jordan delays terror verdict on radical Islamist cleric - Abu Qatada is accused of plotting attacks against Israelis, Americans and other Westerners. (Agencies, Haaretz)  
  • 'Iran has not abandoned nuclear weapons ambitions' - Yuval Steinitz: IAEA report is clear evidence of Iran's contrived nuclear antics. Iran's conduct toward IAEA casts a heavy shadow on the possibility of reaching a satisfactory comprehensive agreement on the country's nuclear program. (Israel Hayom
  • Arab League vows to take 'all necessary measures' against Islamic State - Though U.S.-led campaign not officially endorsed, diplomats say statement could be read as a tacit agreement to back Washington's efforts. (Agencies, Haaretz)


Features:
'Cinderella’ Palestinian soccer team still hoping for fairy-tale ending
The Israel-Gaza war may be over for now, but its effects are still being felt, even on a soccer field in the faraway Philippines. (Haaretz+) 
The Jewish journalists who interview jihadists
Working as a journalist during the second intifada compelled me both to acknowledge my Jewish identity and to obliterate it - a disguise mechanism with which Steven Sotloff would have been all too familiar. (By Joanna Chen, Haaretz+)

Commentary/Analysis:
Death of Israeli child reveals Netanyahu's hypocrisy (B. Michael, Haaretz+) Netanyahu recently told two U.S. congressman that Hamas, Hezbollah and other Islamist groups are defying all international norms. So said the man who has just finished killing some 2,100 people. 
Creating a strong axis for peace (Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher and Orni Petruschka, Yedioth/Ynet) Lack of vigorous activity for a reality of two states for two people is Israeli leadership's main failure in past decade.
Otherwise Occupied / The reversible blockade (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) As a service to the Palestinian negotiators and the diplomatic intermediaries, here is a list of major components of the siege of Gaza that the Palestinians should demand to have lifted.
Mahmoud Abbas' next move (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) As Palestinian leader turns 80, he is losing his fear of his political rivals, of Hamas and of Israel – and has nothing to lose as he turns to UN.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the reluctant leftist (Asher Schechter, Haaretz+) No, Bibi probably hasn't changed his spots, but he's been flanked on the right and has nowhere else to go. Don't hold your breath for peace talks, though.
ISIS flips the script (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The light bulb has gone on for Obama, and perhaps for the Europeans as well, while Iraq and Iran's armies are expected to coordinate on the ground and Turkey is with the good guys in NATO.
Hey right-wingers, the Arabs are staying (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The ultra-nationalists are dreaming about ethnic cleansing, Armageddon, anything. Any miracle will do. But no miracle will happen.
Israel shouldn't underestimate ISIS (Eitan Haber, Yedioth/Ynet) IDF is good at scoring achievements in big wars, but is not that successful in small wars, retaliation operations and minor tactics warfare.
Netanyahu's comment on regional diplomacy was only a passing flirtation (Ravit Hecht, Haaretz+) The prime minister's real home is Habayit Hayehudi, and he doesn’t want to leave it.
The Islamic State campaign: Netanyahu's new trick (Ran Adelist, Maariv) The comparison by the prime minister between Hamas and the Sunni extremist organization (Islamic State) is an unfounded slogan, the latest excuse to stop Abbas' peace offensive.
Obama's dilemma (Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi, Israel Hayom) Will Obama, who does not want to be responsible for another tragic misadventure in Iraq, let this reluctance carry the day and trump all other issues?
The Islamic State will go as quickly as it came (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) How a pumpkin plant grows: Within days it reaches the height of a palm tree, but within days it’s back on the ground. That was the fate of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and that will be the Islamic State’s fate in Iraq and Syria.
The Islamic State is still not a threat to Israel (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The war in Gaza hardly ended and already the media is looking to turn something else into a sensation. The Islamic State organization "has no presence on our borders, and its support in Gaza and the West Bank is marginal. Still, it's good the world is beginning to wake up well to face the danger to Western civilization. 
One state - two languages (Moshe Arens, Haaretz+) I would suggest to learn from the writings of Ze'ev Jabotinsky: 'The Hebrew and Arabic languages shall enjoy equal rights and equal legal validity. Both Hebrew and Arabic shall be used with equal legal effect in parliament, in the courts, in the schools and in general before any organ of the state.'
The Palestinians have lost themselves (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) Tensions between PLO and Hamas officials are on the rise amidst an exchange of mutual recriminations.
Who needs the UN observers, anyway? (Aryeh Eldad, Haaretz+) The billions they cost could have been used to resettle Palestinian refugees or to feed the starving in Africa. The time has come to end this farce.


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