APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday December 28, 2014

Quote of the day:

---

Front Page:

Haaretz

• Investigation of Yisrael Beiteinu expands: More ministries to be probed
• What does the deafening silence of the heads of the largest parties indicate? // Raviv Drucker
• Arrests made in firebomb attack; Condition of 11-year-old still serious
• Terror attack on central oil terminals in Libya
• Internal military document: IDF needs to prepare to end mandatory draft in Israel
• State to High Court: Continuation of injunction on detention (of African asylum seekers) to Holot will bring about closure of detention facility in about one month
• Closure of (Holot detention) facility is not a threat, but the right move // Aeyal Gross
• Journalist Inon Magal is in contact to join Habayit Hayehudi party; Possible that he will be reserved a spot on chairman Bennett’s list
• Religions Ministry approved additional budget for additional projects for the Authority for Jewish Identity
• Egypt prohibited screening ‘Exodus’ film because of ‘Zionist perspective’

• The terrorists were caught – Shin Bet and Duvdevan arrested those who threw firebombs on car of Shapira family; On Friday, two Border Policemen were stabbed in Jerusalem
• “I don’t know where I got the power from” – Mother of Ayala, the child who was severely burned from a firebomb, tells about the moments after the attack
• The charities, the functionaries and the method – This is how the monies were suspected of being channeled in the Faina Kirschenbaum affair (Yisrael Beiteinu)

• Senior official in police: “Even without a state witness – we are on firm ground” – Investigators (in Yisrael Beiteinu corruption scandal) still trying to persuade former Tourism Minister Staz Miseznikov to cross to sides
• Lieberman yes, (former Netanyahu residence house manager) Naftali no? // Ben Caspit
• Iran exhibited: “Suicide drone” meant to attack targets in air, sea and land
• Perpetrators of firebomb attack arrested
• Inon Magal in contact with Habayit Hayehudi

• The (two Palestinians) who threw the firebombs on 11-year-old Ayala were caught
• Palestinians: The proposal to “end the occupation” – tomorrow in the UN Security Council; Israel: We will reject all coercion
• “On the Iranian issue – Congress will follow Netanyahu” – promised Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in meeting with Netanyahu yesterday
• Land of milk and honey – Without a cloud in the sky: International space station posted amazing photos of Israel on its Facebook page that were photographed by astronaut Barry Wilmore from 431 km altitude
• Corruption in Yisrael Beiteinu: This week another wave of interrogations
• Yisrael Beiteinu affair? Avramovitch is trying to forcibly involve Netanyahu // Itsik Saban
• Today: Marathon of fateful debates about 2015 HMO medicine basket
• Dangerous game in Haifa: 15-year-old jumped between balconies on 4th floor – fell and was seriously injured

---

News Summary:
More discussion of the enormous Yisrael Beiteinu graft scandal and the arrest of two Palestinians, one 16-years-old, who admitted to throwing the firebomb Thursday at the Israeli car near their West Bank village that seriously injured an 11-year-old Israeli girl were the top stories in the Hebrew newspapers today. Meanwhile, the Palestinians will bring their proposal for an end to the occupation to a vote at the UN Security Council Monday, Qatar will reportedly stop supporting Hamas, Israel takes Palestinian orphans from Gaza for a week ‘to air out’ in Israel, 250 Israeli actors and artists sign a petition for a joint Arab-Jewish front in the upcoming elections and a Santa Claus at a West Bank protest gets a bad rap.
 
The two arrested Palestinians were found after initially 12 Palestinians were arrested in the village early Friday. 
 
Foreign Minister and leader of Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman said he is “sure of the innocence of all our friends” and suggested that the case was intended “to hurt us ahead of elections.”
 
The Palestinians say they are likely to go to the UNSC with their draft proposal tomorrow, to which Netanyahu responded after a meeting with Republic Senator Lindsey Graham that Israel won’t be coerced to do anything. Graham, an ardent supporter of (right-wing proponents of) Israel declared, "If the United Nations intervenes in the peace process, we will freeze its budget." Graham also said that “if France or Jordan try to take over the negotiations, there will be a huge backlash." (Maariv)
Netanyahu said the two greatest challenges Israel faces are from Iran and the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu also misspoke when he said, “The chief of the Palestinian negotiation team Saeb Erekat compared Israel to ISIS.” Actually, Erekat compared Netanyahu to the leader of ISIS in an interview in September, saying: “Netanyahu is trying to disseminate fear of the Islamic State led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but Netanyahu forgets that he himself leads the Jewish state. He wants us to call Israel the Jewish state and supports terrorist settlers who kill, destroy and burn mosques and churches … like Baghdadi’s men kill and terrorize.”
 
Some 250 Israeli intellectuals and politicians signed a petition calling for a joint Jewish-Arab front. Among the signatories of the petition were actor Mohammed Bakri, playwright Yehoshua Sobol, singer Mira Awad, and former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg. The petition states that the "dissolution of the Knesset brought the end of a bad government, perhaps the worst in the history of Israel, which expanded the colonial project in the occupied territories, deepened the economic gaps in Israeli society, and expanded the exclusion of Palestinian citizens of Israel from the public domain. It was also the most racist government in the history of the country, a government that has blatantly discriminated in the allocation of resources between Jews and Arabs, turned a blind eye to hate crimes, and anchored in numerous laws the discriminatory reality in Israel." (Maariv) Yedioth also ran an interesting feature in its daily supplement interviewing teens who will be voting for the first time. [See Interviews below.]
 
Yedioth had an interesting report that Palestinian children in Gaza who became orphaned during Operation Protective Edge are making a one-week trip to Israel after receiving a green light from the Shin Bet. According to the report, the (declared) “purpose of the visit is to allow the children ‘to get some fresh air’ from the siege (on Gaza) and also to meet with children their age in Israel and to meet the other side.” The 37 children between the ages of 12-15 who lost their fathers - some of them even Hamas fighters - in the recent war will first visit Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip who were at front of the fighting and meet with school children there. They'll also visit the Arab-Israeli village Kufr Kassem and make a trip to the Ramat Gan Safari with Bedouin children from Rahat. On Saturday they will meet with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) in Ramallah then return to Gaza. 
 
Santa Claus showed up last Friday to the weekly protest over Israeli land confiscation from the West Bank village of Bilin and a photo of him appeared in Yedioth with a neutral caption saying he did not come with presents but with a gas mask and a sling, which he used to throw back a tear gas canister Israeli troops shot at him. Times of Israel shared the photo and titled the article negatively: “No Xmas spirit at West Bank protests.” The British ‘Daily Mail’ called him a ‘Bad Santa.’ Bilin has become a symbol of Palestinian objection and non-violent resistance to Israel’s security barrier through non-violent means.
 
According to reports in Maariv and Yedioth, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida reported that Qatar will temporarily end its support of Hamas as part of the new page in relations between Qatar and Egypt. The report has not been confirmed by any side. 

Quick Hits:

---

Features:

Parted by life, parted by death: Palestinian loses child without ever meeting him
Bakr Hafi is in Gaza and his wife and children are in the West Bank. Last week his infant son died, but Hafi has also been barred from attending the funeral. (Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, Haaretz+) 
U.S. rabbis protest racism, preach compassion
Jewish activists demand police accountability and reform following spate of deaths of unarmed African Americans. (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:

Razing the Amona outpost: Returning what was stolen (Haaretz Editorial) Palestinian landowners have waited too many years for Israeli wheels of justice to turn. 
**World can survive without Israeli innovation (Kobi Richter, Yedioth/Ynet) From a successful state and role model in inventiveness, Israel has turned into an outcast country due to right's nationalism and aggression.
False arrests won't stop us covering Israel's occupation (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) The allegations against us: violating an emergency order and insulting a soldier. The law books contain no statutes about insulting a journalist.
Military Intelligence foresees threats to Israel in 2015 (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Top Shin Bet assessment predicts Middle East will remain dangerous and unstable: There is no international landlord, states are disintegrating, and enemies are honing tactics.
Corruption scandal in Lieberman's party could redraw political map (Yossi Verter, Haaretz) Overall, the right-wing camp could be the principal beneficiary of Lieberman’s public-opinion collapse. The Likud, however, seems dead in the water.
Quiet, we’re voting: Israel must prevent an escalation before the elections (Avi Benayahu, Maariv) Israel cannot let the war scenario of election days be repeated, and for this Israel must join the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
The plight of the Palestinian laborer (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) Poverty and unemployment in the West Bank - a direct result of the occupation - drive Palestinian laborers to endure the pain and humiliation of working in Israel.
Clock ticking fast towards next round of Gaza fighting (Yossi Yehoshua, Yedioth/Ynet) The worse Hamas' financial distress becomes – and the later international aid arrives – the more the organization will fire at Israel.
Is there a solution? (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) The dispute between most of the Right and most of the Left boils down to one question: Do we believe the Palestinians or not?
When 'justice' is an Orwellian term (Kobi Niv, Haaretz+) Your honors of the High Court of Justice, what 'security reasons' could have made you forbid a father, Palestinian as he may be, to go to his baby son’s funeral?
Crime and Punishment: Fear and corruption in the Company for the Development of Samaria (settler council) (Kalman Libskind, Maariv) This is what the corruption looks like in the company, led by Gershon Mesika and Haim Ben Shushan. And so the District Court rejected the law suit of Joel Neuman, a member of the company’s board of directors, who led the exposing of the money laundering. 
Why are Israeli politicians silent on corruption? (Raviv Drucker, Haaretz+) The top contenders in the upcoming elections have scarcely said a word about the Yisrael Beiteinu graft probe.
The objective: Murder (Emily Amrousi, Israel Hayom) Palestinians who throw rocks and firebombs aren't just bored, they want to see dead Jews.
Yes, I call on the world to intervene (Akiva Eldar, Haaretz+) If only 1 million Israelis, instead of 1,000, would sign the petition calling on European parliaments to recognize Palestine and save Israel from the occupation's wickedness.
Iran's 'suicide drone' no game-changer (Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet) Iran wants to flaunt its capabilities, but this drone appears large and slow enough to easily intercept, and limited in flight range, but should drone be supplied to Hezbollah or Hamas, it will present a problem.
Israel's politicians must be clear and truthful about their policies (Carolina Landsmann, Haaretz+) Any party that doesn’t formulate and present a clear policy dealing with all the core issues is unworthy of proposing itself as a potential candidate to lead Israel.
Hamas is not due for another confrontation (Alon Ben-David, Maariv) The restraint that the organization decided to take upon itself this week is encouraging, but Israel has no illusions – a percentage of the aid money will be transferred to the rehabilitation of tunnels and rocket factories. 
End the blockade of the Gaza Strip (Haaretz Friday Editorial) The time has come to end Israel's failed policy of closure and give hope to despairing Gazans. 
Israel and Gulf states: Secret cooperation to lead to reconciliation? (Yoel Guzansky, Yedioth/Ynet) The Gulf states will pay a steep price in Arab public opinion if they were to have open relations with Israel, which is why they currently enjoy the benefits that come from the unofficial ties. At the same time, Operation Protective Edge opened up a new diplomatic possibility that is not being taken advantage of. 
The failed promise of Israel 2014 (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) Summer was a warning siren, autumn a wake-up call, and the last six months tell us loudly that the past will not turn into the future, that the status quo is unsustainable. 
Tzipi Livni as forest zombie and other scenes from the Israeli right’s 'war on women' (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) The text is ideological and political but the subtext is that women should know when to shut their mouths.

How are high School students going to vote? 
You thought that high school students are only busy with going out and matriculation exams? They also thought so, but then they were informed about early elections. We asked 10 youth who will celebrate their 18th birthday exactly on the 17th of March about their election plans. (Yedioth, 24 Hours supplement, cover)
Inbar Goldstein, Haifa: 
Q: Does the fact that you will be drafted soon affect your vote?
"No, actually not. But I know many friends whose military service is soon and it it does affect them. It's important to them for example that the prime minister was formerly a military man, it's important to them to know that the security budget will grow."
Shirley Hajaj, Kochav Hashachar settlement:
"I live in the Territories and I am right-wing, so it's important to me that the party I vote for will be in favor of (keeping) the Territories and won't want to return them to the Palestinians and given them too many rights."
Q: Did you decide who you'll vote for?
"Not yet, but many around me are voting for Habayit Hayehudi...Mainly I want that whoever is elected unites all the parts of the nation. Until now, in the Netanyahu government, they fought each other and it's not for the good of the nation or the state."
Shir Biran, Kfar Saba:
Shir wants a left-wing-center coalition running the government. 
"If there will be a normal coalition like that, this will be a wonderful birthday present for me."
Every election year a sample polling station is set up at the Democratic School, where she learns.
"Because we are a left-wing school, Meretz always is chosen for the premiership. I also voted Meretz. It's the ideology I was educated on since birth and which my parents support. We are a pluralistic house in our views. We talk about it, but not in an effort to convince, but only in the name of a democratic debate. I don't listen only to my parents, but that's the base for me. I'm sick of the mess in the country and I support anyone who will change the present situation, especially from a security aspect."
Gali Amit, Yuvalim:
"I would be very happy if the culture of discussion on social media networks, and in the country in general, would change, including how people treat those who are different. Sometimes I feel that certain people forget that also people who aren't Jewish are human beings and they deserve rights like others."
"I decided to give my vote to the Labor party. Around me most people are voting center-Left, but I know some voting Likud, Lieberman and Bennett."
Q: Does your approaching draft affect your vote?
"I'm only going to the army in another two years, but I don't want to be drafted in a country where I am not at peace with its diplomatic-security decisions. We must hold negotiations. The security situation won't calm down until there is a real peace agreement or a valid ceasefire."

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