APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday September 15, 2014
Quote of the day:
"The Unit 8200 refuseniks are trying, for the first time, to establish a clear distinction between
spying on Israel's enemies – hostile states and terror organizations – and on ordinary Palestinian
citizens."
--Haaretz+'s Anshel Pfeffer analyzes why the letter by members of the Military Intel Unit 8200 is so powerful compared to previous letters by soldiers refusing to serve.**
--Haaretz+'s Anshel Pfeffer analyzes why the letter by members of the Military Intel Unit 8200 is so powerful compared to previous letters by soldiers refusing to serve.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- Netanyahu: We need to add many billions more to the security budget
- Senior IDF officer: In (future) war, Hezbollah will try to grab land in Galilee
- German leaders at rally in Berlin against anti-Semitism
- Police to examine information on sexual harassment by district judge and senior police officer
- Tear on the seam - Wave of violence at climax and Jerusalem experiencing renewed disconnect between East and west
- Turnaround in Sweden: Left returns to rule after 8 years
- Study: Censorship in China actually allows expansive freedom of expression
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Lapid: There is no reason for elections - Budget crisis: Gaps between sides still large
- They are not liars // Nahum Barnea on the storm over the Unit 8200 letter
- Between the people and one's conscience // Yaron London
- The grass is greener (Opening in Jerusalem of largest sports arena in Middle East with soccer game between Maccabi Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin)
- First woman to file complaint with police against (President of Nazareth District Court) Judge Yitzhak Cohen
- ISIS from Boston - The young American who is behind the horror video industry of the terror organization
- You went in? You got fined - Fine for driving in public transportation lane will soon rise to 1000 shekels
- Furious reactions to Bar Refaeli's new eyeglasses ad: "She humiliates women"
- Shuk with chic - Not just veggies: Trip to the centers of food and entertainment in Shuk HaCarmel outdoor market in Tel-Aviv
Maariv This Week (Hebrew links)
- Getting closer to agreement - Gap between the sides over budget getting narrower after another meeting between Prime Minister and Finance Minister
- War games // Yehuda Sharoni writes there will be a compromise over the budget
- IDF in message to refuseniks: "The disciplining in the Unit 8200 affair will be sharp and clear"
- Price-tag for refusing (to serve) // Kalman Libskind
- Preparing for budget discussions? Northern Command: "Instability could lead to war." Senior officer: "Hezbollah will try to attack from Israeli territory"
- Nothing new in the north // Yossi Melman
- British Prime Minister on beheading of aid worker: "They are monsters, we will hunt them"
Israel Hayom
- Netanyahu: More (budget) for security; Lapid: Increase the deficit
- Israel Air Force Commander: The planes are old and maybe they will need to fly to Teheran
- Economy? It's all politics // Mati Tuchfeld
- No choice: Give to security // Dan Margalit
- Today: High Court to determine whether Olmert will be jailed before his appeal
- They waited for Lador in the corner // Mordechai Gilat on coverage of Judge Yitzhak Cohen affair
- Option of buying an apartment getting further away? Bank of Israel to put further limitations on mortgages
- Horror from beheading of British volunteer; Kerry: Arab states must also attack ISIS
- Lacking culture: Pro-Palestinians broke into performance of Lea Koenig in Holland
News Summary:
The battle over the budget and whether military declarations of threats from the north are meant to help get more of the budget along with the formation of the coalition to battle ISIS and more anger and discussion over the refusal to serve letter from members of Unit 8200 were the top stories in the Hebrew papers.
It's not clear whether the same unnamed 'senior IDF officer' spoke with all the Israeli newspapers yesterday or whether it was different people, but the message was the same: the IDF needs more money to prepare for a future war with Hezbollah. The Mayor of Kfar Havradim, a Jewish village near the border with Lebanon, told Maariv that the threat is not new, but until now they subject of budgetary needs for the northern border has been neglected. Moreover, the commander of the Israel Air Force said that money was needed for newer planes because they might have to fly to Teheran, Israel Hayom reported.
In Paris, officials met today at a conference to plan the fight against the Islamic State, the day after the organization released a video claiming the beheading of UK aid worker David Haines. Arab states have offered to join an aerial strike campaign against ISIS, but the Obama administration warned that the Islamic State does not pose an imminent threat to the continental US, while the ISIS has world's attention, but it's the Nusra Front that poses greatest threat to the US.
On the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic front, the Palestinian Authority is concerned that the international attention on ISIS is harming the Palestinian cause. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the current extremism was triggered by the Israeli occupation and the suffering of the Palestinian people. But the Palestinians are still moving forward with their plan. The Palestinian delegation to the UN began talks with the members of the UN Security Council over submitting a resolution based on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' peace plan: recognizing a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and setting a clear timetable for the end of the Israeli occupation. Abbas is due in New York next week and will address the UN and submit the resolution, Haaretz+ reported.
Meanwhile, sanctions on Russia could affect Israel, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told Haaretz+. Tuomioja
said that after the European Union offered Israel mainly 'carrots' to bring about peace with the Palestinians, it may turn to 'sticks.' “If a country invades and occupies and annexes part of another country this is clearly illegal and being followed by sanctions of the EU and other countries. So the question that many people are asking, this is fine and we accept it, but how come the Palestinian territories have been occupied for 47 years and there are no sanctions? Nobody has proposed, but we are aware that there is a link with the Ukraine Crimea crisis. So this will come up in the discussions,” he said, noting that “One of the countries that did not vote on the resolution condemning the annexation of Crimea was Israel.”
The battle over the budget and whether military declarations of threats from the north are meant to help get more of the budget along with the formation of the coalition to battle ISIS and more anger and discussion over the refusal to serve letter from members of Unit 8200 were the top stories in the Hebrew papers.
It's not clear whether the same unnamed 'senior IDF officer' spoke with all the Israeli newspapers yesterday or whether it was different people, but the message was the same: the IDF needs more money to prepare for a future war with Hezbollah. The Mayor of Kfar Havradim, a Jewish village near the border with Lebanon, told Maariv that the threat is not new, but until now they subject of budgetary needs for the northern border has been neglected. Moreover, the commander of the Israel Air Force said that money was needed for newer planes because they might have to fly to Teheran, Israel Hayom reported.
In Paris, officials met today at a conference to plan the fight against the Islamic State, the day after the organization released a video claiming the beheading of UK aid worker David Haines. Arab states have offered to join an aerial strike campaign against ISIS, but the Obama administration warned that the Islamic State does not pose an imminent threat to the continental US, while the ISIS has world's attention, but it's the Nusra Front that poses greatest threat to the US.
On the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic front, the Palestinian Authority is concerned that the international attention on ISIS is harming the Palestinian cause. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the current extremism was triggered by the Israeli occupation and the suffering of the Palestinian people. But the Palestinians are still moving forward with their plan. The Palestinian delegation to the UN began talks with the members of the UN Security Council over submitting a resolution based on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' peace plan: recognizing a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and setting a clear timetable for the end of the Israeli occupation. Abbas is due in New York next week and will address the UN and submit the resolution, Haaretz+ reported.
Meanwhile, sanctions on Russia could affect Israel, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told Haaretz+. Tuomioja
said that after the European Union offered Israel mainly 'carrots' to bring about peace with the Palestinians, it may turn to 'sticks.' “If a country invades and occupies and annexes part of another country this is clearly illegal and being followed by sanctions of the EU and other countries. So the question that many people are asking, this is fine and we accept it, but how come the Palestinian territories have been occupied for 47 years and there are no sanctions? Nobody has proposed, but we are aware that there is a link with the Ukraine Crimea crisis. So this will come up in the discussions,” he said, noting that “One of the countries that did not vote on the resolution condemning the annexation of Crimea was Israel.”
Quick Hits:
- IDF spokesperson: Discipline of Unit 8200 refuseniks will be sharp and clear - Army spokesperson responds to letter of conscientious objection sent by 43 mid-rank soldiers and officers, says no room for refusal in IDF. (Haaretz and Ynet)
- Netanyahu: letter by refuseniks from elite intel unit 8200 was 'baseless slander' - Speaking at a cyber security conference at Tel Aviv University, prime minister also says Iran helped Hamas' cyber attacks against Israel during Gaza war. (Haaretz+)
- Intel soldiers respond to critics: Unit's activities go well beyond self defense - After reservists in IDF's top intelligence unit sign letter saying they'll will not report for duty related to occupation, they reiterate decision to stay anonymous, say 'unit's activities in Palestinian arena are an inseparable part of military rule under which Palestinians live.' (Ynet)
- Tears, devastation as Gaza children back to school - As hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children returned to school in Gaza on Sunday, teachers and principals said classes would focus first on dealing with the emotional trauma many of the children are still suffering. Gaza's education ministry says 24 schools were destroyed by Israeli bombardments, with another 190 partially damaged in the impoverished enclave, in which almost 45 percent of the population of 1.8 million is under 14 years of age. "We had to merge classes -- instead of 35 pupils per class, we now have 60," the principal of a school in Shujuaiyeh said. (AFP, Maan)
- Israel denies education minister entry to Gaza - Israeli authorities on Sunday morning denied Palestinian Minister of Education Khawla al-Shakhshir entry to the Gaza Strip, where she was expected to take part in the official inauguration of the new school year. (Maan)
- Gaza awaits floating electricity generator - The deputy head of the Palestinian energy authority said the Turkish offers to provide the Gaza Strip with a floating electricity generator for three months was still in the works. Meanwhile, a scheduled six hours of electricity a day would continue as long as there was not enough fuel, but will return to the eight-hour schedule once more was available. (Maan)
- At least 15 Gaza migrants killed as boat capsizes in Mediterranean - Ship, bound for Italy, may have carried as many as 160 people, 72 have been rescued. As the joint Israel-Egyptian siege on the Gaza Strip tightened over the last year, over 100,000 Palestinians have attempted to flee to Egypt and make the dangerous journey to Europe in search of a better life since the beginning of 2014, one of the highest numbers in recorded history. (Haaretz and Maan)
- 43 Palestinian migrants detained near Alexandria - Egyptian border authorities in Alexandria on Sunday stopped a ship headed to Italy that was carrying over 150 undocumented migrants, including 43 Palestinians, security sources said. (Maan)
- Palestinian detained after crossing Gaza border fence - An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that a the man crossed into Israel into the central Gaza Strip "armed with a knife." (Maan)
- Serious incident at Tze'elim military base: Soldier shot Bedouin citizen of Israel and injured him - According to the initial testimonies, the soldier shot the Bedouin in the back, seriously wounding him, after an argument broke out between soldiers and the Bedouin who was riding an ATV in a closed military zone near the base. The Bedouin pulled out a knife and the soldier felt threatened and shot him. [What the reporter does not ask is how the soldier could have felt threatened if the Bedouin's back was facing him. - OH] (Maariv)
- Public Defender's Office Report: Growing number of false convictions and arrests - Report for 2013 reveals many problems in the law enforcement establishment, including preventing people being interrogated from obtaining legal advice and restricting the possibility of retrials. (Maariv)
- B'Tselem wins 2014 Stockholm Human Rights Award - Human-rights advocate gives `a voice to victims' and demands accountability, award's sponsors say. (Haaretz)
- The first Arab judge to israel's High Court died - Abd-El Rahman Zu'bi died at the age of 82 after fighting a serious illness. He also has served as a district judge in Nazareth and was a founding member of the Abraham Fund for co-existence between Arabs and Jews in Israel. The Abraham Fund: "We are committed to commemorating his memory by deepening our activities to promote trust, integration and equality between Jews and Arabs." (Maariv)
- High-ranking Kuwaiti official visits Palestine for 1st time since 1967 - Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khalid al-Ahmad al-Sabah is scheduled to visit Ramallah Sunday, marking the first visit by a high-profile Kuwaiti official to Palestine since 1967. (Maan)
- Kuwaiti FM meets Palestinian president in West Bank -
- The two discussed regional issues including the preparation of Arab leaders to propose a resolution at the UN Security Council on setting a timeline to end the Israeli occupation and establish a Palestinian state. (Maan)
- Right-wing deputy Knesset speaker enters Aqsa compound - Knesset speaker Moshe Feiglin entered the (Temple Mount) compound with a group of “Jewish extremists” and a cameraman and performed religious rites at the Dome of the Rock. Separately, Israeli police shut down all the compound’s main gates to Palestinians except three of them since dawn prayer. They denied all women as well as men under 40 entry. (Maan)
- Druze and Circassians promise: "We will toughen the fight over the budget" - Community leaders on Thursday announced a general strike to protest the ongoing disregard for the needs of residents - according to community leaders - and a chronic shortage "of electricity infrastructure, roads and sewers." (Maariv)
- Father, son injured in collision with Israeli military jeep in West Bank - Palestinian security sources told Ma'an that 55-year-old Wajih Hamid Amer and his son Huthayfa, 12, from the Salfit-area village of Masha, sustained minor to moderate wounds as a result of the crash. (Maan)
- Approved: Additional Palestinian workers for the construction industry - Socio-economic Cabinet accepted the recommendation of the Minister of Housing to allow 5,000 Palestinian workers into Israel: "The move will help accelerate the construction." (Maariv)
- Hollywood stars attack Hamas in NY Times ad - The likes of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seth Rogen, Aaron Sorkin, Roseanne Barr, Sherry Lansing, Sarah Silverman and Kathy Ireland said ' Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities.' (JTA, Haaretz)
- Israel appoints its first female ambassador to an Arab state - Einat Shlain to replace Daniel Nevo in Jordan; Nevo is thought to have developed best relationship with monarchy of any Israeli diplomat. (Haaretz+)
- Egypt: Qatar ordered Muslim Brotherhood out within 2 months - Group's s senior members said they will leave 'to avoid embarrassing' Qatar. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- 'Qatar paid ransom for release of Fijian peacekeepers' - Syrian opposition sources say 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers were freed after Qatar paid $20 million to captors from the al-Qaeda-linked group Nusra Front in Syria. (Ynet)
- Spanish cities celebrate their Jewish heritage - 15th European Day of Jewish Culture is focused on the contribution of Jewish women. (JTA, Haaretz)
Features:
Uncovered: U.K. intel encouraged Arab armies to invade Israel in 1948
Intelligence obtained by the French secret services in the Middle East sheds new light on Britain’s role in the Arab-Israeli War of Independence. (Meir Zamir, Haaretz+)
Espionage, theft, virtual war: Good news for Israel’s cyber industry
Israel has emerged as a center for defending people, organizations and even countries against cyber attacks. The question is how to maintain the edge. (Haaretz+)
We hereby refuse
The revolt by the members of Unit 8200 is another climax in the continuing chronicle of refusing to serve of both the right-wing and left-wing. (Arik Bender, Maariv Magazine supplement, cover)
1947: Natan Hofshi, establishes the (Israeli) Association of war objectors for conscientious reasons.
1948: Some of the artillery soldiers ordered by prime minister David Ben-Gurion to bomb the Altanela boat, refuse orders.
1953: Lawyer Amnon Zichroni, member of the ' Association of war objectors for conscientious reasons,' requests to be released from military service for conscientious objection reasons. After a long struggle, prison and hunger strike, he is released from military service.
1967: Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin orders Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren to remove from the Cave of the Patriarchs the Israeli flag, the holy ark and the Torah scrolls that he put in there. Later Rabbi Goren said: "I told him I would not do that."
1967: Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Hacohen Kook, leader of religious Zionism, opposes returning Judea and Samaria to Jordanian control and claims that "there is an obligation by every person in the Israeli military to prevent and to delay this with all his courage and strength."
1970: the 'First High School Students' Letter' written to prime minister Golda Meir saying they protest Israel's policies in the Territories.
1971: letter written by four high school student members of Matzpen, 'the radical left-wing organization,' to defense minister Moshe Dayan saying they won't be drafted to the IDF as long as it is an 'occupation army.
1978: The 'Officers' Letter' sent to prime minister Menachem Begin by 348 soldiers and officers calling on Begin to choose peace with Egypt over Greater Israel.
1979: The 'Group of 27 Letter,' written by 27 high school students declaring to defense minister Ezer Weizmann that they refuse to serve in the occupied territories.
2001: The 'High School Students Letter' (Michtav Hashministim) written by 62 high school students to prime minister Ariel Sharon declaring they are pacifists who refuse to serve in the occupied territories. As a result, the 'Refuseniks Trial' was held and some of them were sent to jail for a year.
2003: 'Pilots' letter' signed by 27 pilots, who declared "opposition to illegal and immoral actions that Israel is committing in the Territories." (During the Second Intifada)
2005: The 'Orange High School Students Letter' written by 100 who declared they won't be drafted to the army because of its role in evacuating settlements.
2009: Some soldiers from the Shimshon company protest at their swearing in ceremony against the evacuation of Homesh settlement.
2014: 43 members of Unit 8200 send letter declaring they refuse to continue to help "harm millions of innocent Palestinians."
Commentary/Analysis:
Intelligence obtained by the French secret services in the Middle East sheds new light on Britain’s role in the Arab-Israeli War of Independence. (Meir Zamir, Haaretz+)
Espionage, theft, virtual war: Good news for Israel’s cyber industry
Israel has emerged as a center for defending people, organizations and even countries against cyber attacks. The question is how to maintain the edge. (Haaretz+)
We hereby refuse
The revolt by the members of Unit 8200 is another climax in the continuing chronicle of refusing to serve of both the right-wing and left-wing. (Arik Bender, Maariv Magazine supplement, cover)
1947: Natan Hofshi, establishes the (Israeli) Association of war objectors for conscientious reasons.
1948: Some of the artillery soldiers ordered by prime minister David Ben-Gurion to bomb the Altanela boat, refuse orders.
1953: Lawyer Amnon Zichroni, member of the ' Association of war objectors for conscientious reasons,' requests to be released from military service for conscientious objection reasons. After a long struggle, prison and hunger strike, he is released from military service.
1967: Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin orders Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren to remove from the Cave of the Patriarchs the Israeli flag, the holy ark and the Torah scrolls that he put in there. Later Rabbi Goren said: "I told him I would not do that."
1967: Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Hacohen Kook, leader of religious Zionism, opposes returning Judea and Samaria to Jordanian control and claims that "there is an obligation by every person in the Israeli military to prevent and to delay this with all his courage and strength."
1970: the 'First High School Students' Letter' written to prime minister Golda Meir saying they protest Israel's policies in the Territories.
1971: letter written by four high school student members of Matzpen, 'the radical left-wing organization,' to defense minister Moshe Dayan saying they won't be drafted to the IDF as long as it is an 'occupation army.
1978: The 'Officers' Letter' sent to prime minister Menachem Begin by 348 soldiers and officers calling on Begin to choose peace with Egypt over Greater Israel.
1979: The 'Group of 27 Letter,' written by 27 high school students declaring to defense minister Ezer Weizmann that they refuse to serve in the occupied territories.
2001: The 'High School Students Letter' (Michtav Hashministim) written by 62 high school students to prime minister Ariel Sharon declaring they are pacifists who refuse to serve in the occupied territories. As a result, the 'Refuseniks Trial' was held and some of them were sent to jail for a year.
2003: 'Pilots' letter' signed by 27 pilots, who declared "opposition to illegal and immoral actions that Israel is committing in the Territories." (During the Second Intifada)
2005: The 'Orange High School Students Letter' written by 100 who declared they won't be drafted to the army because of its role in evacuating settlements.
2009: Some soldiers from the Shimshon company protest at their swearing in ceremony against the evacuation of Homesh settlement.
2014: 43 members of Unit 8200 send letter declaring they refuse to continue to help "harm millions of innocent Palestinians."
Commentary/Analysis:
**Unit 8200 refuseniks shed light on ethics of Israel's intel gathering (Anshel
Pfeffer, Haaretz+) What makes this latest letter unique is how it breaks down the once sacrosanct
barrier between actual combat service – the ground soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip or the pilots
dropping bombs there – and those sitting safely far from the battlefield and taking part in the supposedly
clinical field of electronic intelligence gathering. This is the first time that the ethical and political
aspects of military SIGINT have come to the surface in the Israeli public sphere...The Unit 8200 refuseniks
are trying, for the first time, to establish a clear distinction between spying on Israel's enemies – hostile
states and terror organizations – and on ordinary Palestinian citizens. They say the intelligence gathering
"harms innocents and serves for political persecution and sowing discord in Palestinian society." By not
exiling like Snowden, the signatories were willing to pay the price of their actions...
Refusinks do not represent 8200 (Amos Yadlin, Yedioth/Ynet) Former Military Intelligence chief says refusal letter's signatories took advantage of the unit's phenomenal success in order to make a politically controversial argument.
Revolt of the pampered (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Perhaps the soldiers in Unit 8200 should patrol the Gaza border for a few months.
Listen to the Unit 8200 objectors (Haaretz Editorial) What should be causing a public storm is not the reservists' act of refusal, but rather the practices that spurred it.
Right and the left, we must not fear insubordination, but learn how to deal with it (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) A clear cost must be established in advance to refusal to serve for all refuseniks, from all sides. Want to protest? Want to be a conscientious objector? Meet the basic conditions and be willing to pay the price that society demands of you.
Leaving their posts (Uri Heitner, Israel Hayom) Misguided intelligence reservists are trying to force their political views on the military while still enjoying the benefits of the army's enormous investment in their training.
The protest song is dead: Why aren't Israeli rockers more political? (Ben Shalev, Haaretz+) No less than trenchant lyrics, noise in music is a lethal instrument of protest. Why is so precious little of it heard on the airwaves?
Deal harshly with the 'objectors' (Zvika Fogel, Israel Hayom) Those who have refused to carry out their mission have done serious damage.
The added value of a Jewish life (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Israel treats attacks on Jews as real estate transactions: An abducted and murdered Jew costs the Arabs 1,300 dunams of land. What if this blood currency was valid on the Palestinian side?
There's no courage in refusing from afar (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Those waiving the right to influence from within the system in the name of insubordination are the same people who will later complain that the army is becoming too rightist or too religious.
Israel's make-believe military investigations (Ziv Stahl, Haaretz+) In the past four years (2010-13), only 2.2 percent of military investigations of alleged offenses by soldiers against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have led to indictments.
Quiet at the moment: Nothing new on the northern border (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The briefing by a senior army source was not related to the battle over the defense budget, but there was also was no real startling development revealed.
Primary concerns in the Knesset (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) The fact that there is no law requiring medium-sized and large parties to hold a primary among their members creates an anomaly that gives undemocratic Israeli parties an advantage.
The white flag is safely tucked away (Dr. Ronen A. Cohen, Israel Hayom) ISIS has already understood very clearly that the U.S. military plan, limply supported by Arab states, will not bring it to its knees and force it to surrender.
We have to be prepared (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) The rules of the game will be decided by our response to the first instances of rocket fire, so it is important to really think about what we will do when that happens.
Free world caught in misconceptions about Muslim world (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) In past few decades, West has been trying to appease Muslim Brotherhood, hoping it would develop a moderate Islam. The result is thousands of European and American recruits joining jihad.
Signs of concern in Tehran (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The Iranians know that war is a fluid proposition, and that someone along the way may find it appropriate to take out their nuclear program along with ISIS.
Delusions of grandeur in the race to lead Israel’s army (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Yoav Galant’s reappearance as a candidate for chief of staff isn’t serious, though his self-worship is consistent with Israel’s national character.
Refusinks do not represent 8200 (Amos Yadlin, Yedioth/Ynet) Former Military Intelligence chief says refusal letter's signatories took advantage of the unit's phenomenal success in order to make a politically controversial argument.
Revolt of the pampered (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Perhaps the soldiers in Unit 8200 should patrol the Gaza border for a few months.
Listen to the Unit 8200 objectors (Haaretz Editorial) What should be causing a public storm is not the reservists' act of refusal, but rather the practices that spurred it.
Right and the left, we must not fear insubordination, but learn how to deal with it (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) A clear cost must be established in advance to refusal to serve for all refuseniks, from all sides. Want to protest? Want to be a conscientious objector? Meet the basic conditions and be willing to pay the price that society demands of you.
Leaving their posts (Uri Heitner, Israel Hayom) Misguided intelligence reservists are trying to force their political views on the military while still enjoying the benefits of the army's enormous investment in their training.
The protest song is dead: Why aren't Israeli rockers more political? (Ben Shalev, Haaretz+) No less than trenchant lyrics, noise in music is a lethal instrument of protest. Why is so precious little of it heard on the airwaves?
Deal harshly with the 'objectors' (Zvika Fogel, Israel Hayom) Those who have refused to carry out their mission have done serious damage.
The added value of a Jewish life (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Israel treats attacks on Jews as real estate transactions: An abducted and murdered Jew costs the Arabs 1,300 dunams of land. What if this blood currency was valid on the Palestinian side?
There's no courage in refusing from afar (Yoaz Hendel, Yedioth/Ynet) Those waiving the right to influence from within the system in the name of insubordination are the same people who will later complain that the army is becoming too rightist or too religious.
Israel's make-believe military investigations (Ziv Stahl, Haaretz+) In the past four years (2010-13), only 2.2 percent of military investigations of alleged offenses by soldiers against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have led to indictments.
Quiet at the moment: Nothing new on the northern border (Yossi Melman, Maariv) The briefing by a senior army source was not related to the battle over the defense budget, but there was also was no real startling development revealed.
Primary concerns in the Knesset (Uzi Baram, Haaretz+) The fact that there is no law requiring medium-sized and large parties to hold a primary among their members creates an anomaly that gives undemocratic Israeli parties an advantage.
The white flag is safely tucked away (Dr. Ronen A. Cohen, Israel Hayom) ISIS has already understood very clearly that the U.S. military plan, limply supported by Arab states, will not bring it to its knees and force it to surrender.
We have to be prepared (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, Israel Hayom) The rules of the game will be decided by our response to the first instances of rocket fire, so it is important to really think about what we will do when that happens.
Free world caught in misconceptions about Muslim world (Ben-Dror Yemini, Yedioth/Ynet) In past few decades, West has been trying to appease Muslim Brotherhood, hoping it would develop a moderate Islam. The result is thousands of European and American recruits joining jihad.
Signs of concern in Tehran (Boaz Bismuth, Israel Hayom) The Iranians know that war is a fluid proposition, and that someone along the way may find it appropriate to take out their nuclear program along with ISIS.
Delusions of grandeur in the race to lead Israel’s army (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) Yoav Galant’s reappearance as a candidate for chief of staff isn’t serious, though his self-worship is consistent with Israel’s national character.
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.