APN's daily news review from Israel
Monday December 22, 2014
Quote of the day:
Quote of the day:
“Even if they are carrying a knife, it’s not to attack, but for ‘defense’ along the
way."
--IDF reveals that the number of Gazans trying to leave the Strip and infiltrate into Israel since the devastating summer war rose 25% and the purpose is not to attack Israelis.**
--IDF reveals that the number of Gazans trying to leave the Strip and infiltrate into Israel since the devastating summer war rose 25% and the purpose is not to attack Israelis.**
Front Page News:
Haaretz
- Since end of Operation Protective Edge: Rise in number of Gaza residents breaking through the fence in an attempt to cross into Israel
- With no way out // Amira Hass
- Rulers of Egypt and Qatar declared reconciliation between states following 1.5 year dispute
- US report: Assad responsible for explosion in which his brother-in-law was killed
- (Radical) Rabbis of Tkuma party getting closer to Eli Yishai, but still officially support their party list
- Demand to return his position the Givati commander who revealed the (sex) scandal
- Disability benefits revoked with receipt of summons to Holot detention facility
Yedioth Ahronoth
- Elections economy – There’s money for a visitors center in the Territories and millions for settlements;
- For this there is no money: according to the annual poverty report – every fourth child goes to bed hungry
- Senior military intel officer suspected of sexual relations with 10 15-year-old pupils
- How did the campaign to bring people together turn into a Sabbath war
Maariv This Week
- Suddenly there’s money: Netanyahu government distributing billions
- Generous on our expense // Yehuda Sharoni
- The extent of poverty is expanding – Week after the annual poverty report was released, alternative poverty report reveals the situation is much more severe: almost 1/3 of Israelis live in poverty, 930,000 of them children
- Revenge in NY: Policemen murdered on the basis of race
Israel Hayom
- Minimum wage: the elections catch – PM: Raise the minimum wage to 5,000 shekels; Attorney General: Not now. What is allowed and what is prohibited during an elections campaign? The Attorney General will determine
- It doesn’t matter what Netanyahu does – it’s not good? // Haim Shine
- From the Carmel disaster to the Likud party list
- Likely: Givati ‘Tzabar’ battalion commander won’t return to job
- Prize for (poet) Yitzhak Laor? The committee dismantled
- Revenge in NY: Black man shot to death two white policemen
- Happy holiday: Tonight – 7th Hannukah candle
News Summary:
Storm rages in political arena after the right-wing distributes money and the left-wing accuses them of acting to get votes as the cost-of-living emerges as the key issue in the 2015 Israel elections and makes the top story of the day. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel was under attack by Hamas terrorism and the Palestinian Authority diplomatic effort.
Netanyahu moved to raise minimum wage, but Attorney General said that will likely have to wait. In the Knesset, Likud and Habayit Hayehudi parties approved $3.3 million for a visitors' center in a settler industrial zone in the West Bank (for Israeli use) and the Attorney General ordered a revote. Meanwhile, a new report on poverty reveals that 2.6 million Israelis live in poverty, almost one million of them children, showing that the official government report released last week vastly under-measured the state of Israel's poorest.
Storm rages in political arena after the right-wing distributes money and the left-wing accuses them of acting to get votes as the cost-of-living emerges as the key issue in the 2015 Israel elections and makes the top story of the day. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel was under attack by Hamas terrorism and the Palestinian Authority diplomatic effort.
Netanyahu moved to raise minimum wage, but Attorney General said that will likely have to wait. In the Knesset, Likud and Habayit Hayehudi parties approved $3.3 million for a visitors' center in a settler industrial zone in the West Bank (for Israeli use) and the Attorney General ordered a revote. Meanwhile, a new report on poverty reveals that 2.6 million Israelis live in poverty, almost one million of them children, showing that the official government report released last week vastly under-measured the state of Israel's poorest.
Quick Hits:
- **Number of Gazans trying to enter Israel rose after Operation Protective Edge - 25% increase in number of Palestinians apprehended. Most are young, unarmed and simply wanted to get out of the Gaza Strip. Minors are returned to the Strip. Palestinian apprehended a month ago carrying grenade also did not plan to make attack. (Haaretz+)
- 51 Palestinian migrants detained in Egypt released - Egyptian authorities on Saturday released 51 Palestinians who had been detained in the North Sinai city of El-Arish after they attempted to travel to Europe by taking boats from the Egyptian coast. (Maan)
- Israel Police arrests four more anti-Arab activists from rightist group Lehava - An additional four were detained on suspicion of incitement to violence. Four were released home. Move comes after the arrest of Benzi Gopstein, head of the right-wing anti-Arab organization. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Five Israelis arrested on suspicion of planning attack on Palestinians - The five, including four minors, had collected rocks in a Jerusalem park and were caught carrying two knives. They previously participated in activities of the extremist Jewish group Lehava. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Settlers tour Palestinian areas near Bethlehem - The area toured by settlers and Israeli troops is classified as Area A according the Oslo Accords and is thus technically under full Palestinian control and prohibited for Israelis to enter. (Maan)
- Palestinians throw stones in West Bank, injure 4-year-old (Israeli) boy - Incident near Bethlehem. (Agencies, Haaretz)
- Israel makes mosque a museum, while 10,000 have nowhere to pray - Authorities in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba have recently converted an historic mosque into an Islamic museum despite the fact that 10,000 local Muslims still have nowhere to pray, locals said. (Maan)
- Palestinian prisoner hospitalized after falling into coma - Jafar Awad from Beit Ummar was taken to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in serious condition. The circumstances of his decline in health were not immediately clear. (Maan)
- Anti-Israel graffiti found at Ariel University - Anti-Israel graffiti was found sprayed in English and Hebrew on a building being constructed at Ariel University. Samaria District Police have opened an investigation. (Ynet)
- NGO demands Ya'alon reinstate whistleblower Givati officer - Deputy battalion commander of Givati's Tzabar battalion was removed from his post after reporting suspicions that his superior was guilty of sexual harassment. (Haaretz+)
- After large-scale operation: IDF arrests 292 draft-dodgers and deserters, some from Operation Protective Edge - After days of blackout, the army announced the arrests. Some of the deserters demonstrated violence against police officers and even threatened suicide. (Maariv)
- IDF soldiers give their lunch to hungry Palestinian children - Paratrooper writes that children approached the soldiers asking for food after searching through dumpsters in the area. (Ynet)
- After 177 days in prison, Israeli conscientious objector gets draft exemption - Uriel Ferera, a religious Jew, to start civilian national service in summer. (Haaretz+)
- 6,000 Palestinians strike over 'daily humiliation' at checkpoint crossing - Palestinian workers who use the crossing daily say construction to create pedestrian crossing is not progressing and making conditions worse, citing long waits and humiliating treatment at the Tul Karm crossing. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
- Livni: Western Wall will stay under Israeli sovereignty forever - At Kotel Hanukkah ceremony, former chief negotiator with the Palestinians Tzipi Livni says Israeli rule over Jerusalem is expression of 'the historic link between a people and its land.' (Haaretz+)
- Ya'alon: Herzog and Livni would turn West Bank into 'Hamastan' - Defense Minister says Israel's bombing of Gaza on the weekend was aimed at a factory building supports for tunnels. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
- Efforts for united Arab Knesset list gain momentum, but agreement remains elusive - Recent talks among factions aim to bridge ideological disagreements. (Haaretz+)
- Palestinian worker dies after falling at construction site in Israel - Muhammad Mahmoud al-Hallaq, 20, died on Sunday morning after he fell from the seventh floor of a construction site in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Israeli police launched an investigation. (Maan)
- Israeli state-run video service to launch in 2015 - Government Press Office says the English-language service will cover a wide spectrum of topics, from daily news to scientific and medical innovation. (Haaretz)
- MK Zoabi's office broken in to in suspected political burglary - Unknown vandals broke into the Nazareth office of firebrand Arab MK, steal computers in what seems to be political burglary. (Ynet)
- Israeli forces close major checkpoint on Bethlehem-Ramallah road - Although there are numerous other roads available to Jewish settlers to move between the two regions, for Palestinians the road is a crucial north-south link, and checkpoint closures can cause delays of many hours for commuters. (Maan)
- Former Palestinian negotiator joins Washington think-tank - Ghaith al-Omari, who until recently directed the American Task Force on Palestine, is joining the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a senior fellow. (JTA, Haaretz)
- Tourism to Bethlehem lower than expected - Palestinians hoped for banner year after pope's visit, but officials say summer fighting has put a damper on hospitality business, leading to drop in visitors. (Ynet)
- Syria claims to down Israeli drone near border - Syrian state media says Israeli drone was flying above the Quneitra area when it was downed. IDF says it is "unaware of the incident." Quneitra area has seen heavy fighting between Assad regime forces and rebels. (Israel Hayom)
- Suez Canal officer gets 10 years for spying for Israel - Two Israelis - described as Mossad officials - were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in the same trial. (Haaretz)
- Iran official tells Hamas daily: Willing to arm West Bank Palestinians too - Iran-Hamas relations on the mend as head of Iranian Parliament's Palestine Commission calls Hamas 'front line' of Palestinian resistance against Israel. (Haaretz+)
- Egypt drops anti-Islamist hardliner intel chief - After Egypt and Qatar begin to bury hatchet over past bad blood over Muslim Brotherhood, hardliner intel chief known for crackdown on Hamas and Islamists removed from top position. (Ynet)
- Egypt, Qatar announce mending of relations - Egypt, which should be the primary benefactor from the rapprochement, can now expect Qatar to end its assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood, at least officially. (Haaretz+)
- Lebanon PM: UN vote over Israeli compensation 'victory' - PM Salam lauds decision asking Israeli to pay Lebanon over $850 million in damages for 2006 oil spill, expresses hope vote will be followed by more charges against Israel for 'war crimes'. (Ynet)
- Lebanese official claims U.S. blocking resolution of gas dispute with Israel - Unlike Cyprus and Israel, Lebanon has been very slow in exploiting maritime gas reserves. (Haaretz)
- Janet Jackson, in West Bank as UNICEF envoy, tweets: Peace... Beautiful Palestinian students - Accompanied by her billionaire Qatari husband, Wissam al-Mana, Jackson crossed from Jordan into the West Bank on Wednesday. (Haaretz)
- Middle East Updates: Jordan hangs 11 people after lifting 8-year execution ban - Kurds push into Sinjar; Iraqis battle for airport; U.S. sends four Afghan Guantanamo prisoners home. (Haaretz)
Features:
The battle over Shabbat/Sabbath
The declared goal of an ‘Israeli Friday’ campaign, which was launched on TV and through signs across the country at a cost of millions, was to ‘bring people together’ and call on the secular people to make a blessing (kiddush) on Sabbath eve (Friday). But the result on the ground was the complete opposite: Claims of religious coercion, complaints to the Broadcasting Authority and angry responses on the Internet. Examples of an Israeli Friday: The original campaign: “Soccer in the afternoon, kiddush in the evening. Go the market in the morning, say kiddush in the evening.” The angry response by secular people: “Say kiddush in the evening, make a ‘price-tag’ attack (against Arabs) at night. Challahs in the evening, beatings at night.” (Yedioth ’24 Hours’ supplement, cover)
Towers in the air
Four months after Operation Protective Edge, the plans to rehabilitate Gaza are stuck. More than 50,000 residents still have no home to return to. Only 3% of the construction materials have entered the Gaza Strip. And the states who promised to donate $5.4 billion have transferred only $100 million. But there is also a reason to be optimistic: When the construction moves forward, the Gazan economy will receive a shot of energy and in Israel dozens of companies are expected to rake in a fortune from the cement, metal and faucets that will be sold to the neighbors. (Oded Shalom, Ofer Petersburg and Elior Levy, Yedioth’s Friday ‘Musaf L’Shabbat’ supplement)
The 'false information' that got one man refused entry to Israel
The story of a meticulous border inspector and the obedient coordinator of government activities in the territories. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
The declared goal of an ‘Israeli Friday’ campaign, which was launched on TV and through signs across the country at a cost of millions, was to ‘bring people together’ and call on the secular people to make a blessing (kiddush) on Sabbath eve (Friday). But the result on the ground was the complete opposite: Claims of religious coercion, complaints to the Broadcasting Authority and angry responses on the Internet. Examples of an Israeli Friday: The original campaign: “Soccer in the afternoon, kiddush in the evening. Go the market in the morning, say kiddush in the evening.” The angry response by secular people: “Say kiddush in the evening, make a ‘price-tag’ attack (against Arabs) at night. Challahs in the evening, beatings at night.” (Yedioth ’24 Hours’ supplement, cover)
Towers in the air
Four months after Operation Protective Edge, the plans to rehabilitate Gaza are stuck. More than 50,000 residents still have no home to return to. Only 3% of the construction materials have entered the Gaza Strip. And the states who promised to donate $5.4 billion have transferred only $100 million. But there is also a reason to be optimistic: When the construction moves forward, the Gazan economy will receive a shot of energy and in Israel dozens of companies are expected to rake in a fortune from the cement, metal and faucets that will be sold to the neighbors. (Oded Shalom, Ofer Petersburg and Elior Levy, Yedioth’s Friday ‘Musaf L’Shabbat’ supplement)
The 'false information' that got one man refused entry to Israel
The story of a meticulous border inspector and the obedient coordinator of government activities in the territories. (Amira Hass, Haaretz+)
Commentary/Analysis:
**Seeking way out of a decimated Gaza, residents increasingly turn to smugglers (Amira
Hass, Haaretz+) The risks involved - and the Gazans’ readiness to take them - are matched by the
pressing reasons they had to leave.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict won't resolve itself (Shimon Shiffer, Yedioth/Ynet) Instead of initiating negotiations for a regional agreement, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ya'alon are insisting there is no solution and that all we can do is 'manage the conflict.'
Israel's society, still shaped by military arrogance (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) A new play recently opened in Tel Aviv about a Yom Kippur general shows that nothing has really changed: We are still permitted to do anything, in the army and in civilian life, then and now.
Serial subverter (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has a great new hope, in the form of Tzipi Livni.
IDF must stop turning a blind eye to criminal conduct amid its ranks (Haaretz Sunday Editorial) Israel's army has once again made the mistake it made in its founding years: The belief that courage in battle justifies sweeping home front criminality under the rug.
Palestinians trying to extort achievements (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) Palestinian Authority's political maneuvers come at the expense of the West and the moderate Arab nations' efforts to counter radical Islamist terrorism.
Why the U.S. shouldn't intervene in Israel's elections (Aaron David Miller, Haaretz+) This time, it will likely backfire.
Test of strength: the difference between Obama and Netanyahu (Uri Savir, Maariv) Obama's approach, which renewed ties with Cuba, contradicts that of Netanyahu who believes in demonizing the other. No wonder the US-Israeli relations are at a low.
The right's new tactic for Israeli Arabs - unify and conquer (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Many think the right wing inadvertently did the country's Arabs a favor by raising the electoral threshold and forcing the Arab parties to unite. They should think again.
Serbian-Israeli relations flourish, as if the 1990s never happened (Yair Auron, Haaretz+) The speeches during Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Israel this month contained not a word about Serbia's crimes during the 1991-95 civil war in the former Yugoslavia.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict won't resolve itself (Shimon Shiffer, Yedioth/Ynet) Instead of initiating negotiations for a regional agreement, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ya'alon are insisting there is no solution and that all we can do is 'manage the conflict.'
Israel's society, still shaped by military arrogance (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) A new play recently opened in Tel Aviv about a Yom Kippur general shows that nothing has really changed: We are still permitted to do anything, in the army and in civilian life, then and now.
Serial subverter (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has a great new hope, in the form of Tzipi Livni.
IDF must stop turning a blind eye to criminal conduct amid its ranks (Haaretz Sunday Editorial) Israel's army has once again made the mistake it made in its founding years: The belief that courage in battle justifies sweeping home front criminality under the rug.
Palestinians trying to extort achievements (Dr. Reuven Berko, Israel Hayom) Palestinian Authority's political maneuvers come at the expense of the West and the moderate Arab nations' efforts to counter radical Islamist terrorism.
Why the U.S. shouldn't intervene in Israel's elections (Aaron David Miller, Haaretz+) This time, it will likely backfire.
Test of strength: the difference between Obama and Netanyahu (Uri Savir, Maariv) Obama's approach, which renewed ties with Cuba, contradicts that of Netanyahu who believes in demonizing the other. No wonder the US-Israeli relations are at a low.
The right's new tactic for Israeli Arabs - unify and conquer (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) Many think the right wing inadvertently did the country's Arabs a favor by raising the electoral threshold and forcing the Arab parties to unite. They should think again.
Serbian-Israeli relations flourish, as if the 1990s never happened (Yair Auron, Haaretz+) The speeches during Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Israel this month contained not a word about Serbia's crimes during the 1991-95 civil war in the former Yugoslavia.
Interviews:
Peres recalls declaration of independence: We didn't have time to celebrate
Part II: In honor of Yedioth Ahronoth's 75th anniversary, former Israeli president sits down for interview, recalls headlines of Israelis establishment, offers glimpse into true story behind them: "Ben Gurion told me "today, everyone's happy. Tomorrow, blood will be spilled".' (Interviewed by Amira Lam in Yedioth/Ynet)
Part II: In honor of Yedioth Ahronoth's 75th anniversary, former Israeli president sits down for interview, recalls headlines of Israelis establishment, offers glimpse into true story behind them: "Ben Gurion told me "today, everyone's happy. Tomorrow, blood will be spilled".' (Interviewed by Amira Lam in Yedioth/Ynet)
Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.