Americans for Peace Now

News Nosh 01.26.17

by APN 01/26/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday January 26, 2017

You Must Be Kidding:
Jared Kushner's name appeared on the website of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces as a member of the national board until just two days ago. Kushner is the son-in-law and personal advisor of the US President. A day after Haaretz submitted questions both to the organization and to a spokeswoman for the Kushner family about his continued involvement on the board, it was suddenly removed.**

News Nosh 01.25.17

by APN 01/25/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday January 25, 2017

Quote of the day:

“Was the war really conducted in a negligent manner, or perhaps Netanyahu and (former defense minister Moshe) Ya'alon actually demonstrated responsibility and caution? After all, they knew and understood, as well as the chief of staff and his generals, that fast moves - as (Minister Naftali) Bennett urged: "Be galloping horses" - will cause many deaths that Israeli society finds difficult to deal with… And there is another truth that must be admitted: neither Hamas nor its tunnels pose a strategic threat to Israel's military power.”
--Maariv’s Intel commentator Yossi Melman writes that while the State Comptroller’s report may make look Minister Naftali Bennett look good for exposing that information was kept from the security cabinet, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Bennett was strategically right in pushing for the destruction of the Hamas tunnels.*

APN Update - A must read Alpher, don't be a "freier," whose side are you on? the Inauguration and more

by APN 01/24/17

Americans for Peace Now: January 24, 2017

"When quoting President Trump we are dealing with a highly inflated ego, a totally unique take on truth and facts, and someone who changes his position at the flick of a tweet."

Yossi Alpher, Israeli security expert, in this week's Hard Questions, Tough Answers (see below).

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

January 23, 2017 - Trump and Israel: the beginning

Q. We’re having this discussion barely three days after the inauguration. What can we say at such an early stage regarding Trump and Israel?

A....he and his young administration have already said things we cannot ignore when it comes to America and Israel...

Q. Start with the inauguration speech.

A....Trump’s dramatic inaugural address must be understood as a foundational document of his administration...

Q. But hasn’t Trump already pledged that his son-in-law would tackle the peace process? And hasn’t his administration declared it was beginning to deal with moving the US embassy to Jerusalem?

A. ...the likelihood of Kushner successfully brokering Israeli-Palestinian peace is low, if not zero...As for the embassy move, could Trump actually be listening to the warnings from the Arab world?...

Q. Where do “alternative facts” enter the US-Israel picture?

A. ...we have to ask ourselves what the Trump team’s world of alternative facts means for the most sensitive dimensions of the Israeli-American partnership...

Peace Now Settlement Watch: Government Announces Promotion of 2,500 Housing Units in the Settlements

by APN 01/24/17

News from Peace Now:

Today, January 24 2017, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement announcing the promotion of approximately 2,500 housing units in the settlements. This is the largest announcement since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's negotiations efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

Peace Now: "Netanyahu is taking advantage of the presidential transition in the United States in order to appease the settlers, a small minority of the Israeli public, and score political points with his right flank. Instead of jeopardizing the two-state solution, it is time for Netanyahu to take responsibility for the future of Israel by halting settlement construction and assuring the future of Israel as both Jewish and democratic."

Press Release: APN to Trump: Don't be a "Freier"

by APN 01/24/17

Americans for Peace Now (APN) is alarmed by a series of West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements-related measures that the Government of Israel is taking, or has indicated it intends to take, in the wake of the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

APN warns President Trump that acquiescing to such measures would send a dangerous message of weakness to the region and the world, right at the outset of his tenure in the White House. It would signal to America's allies and adversaries alike that this new president lacks the ability or the interest to recognize and defend core U.S. national security interests in the Middle East. It would announce to the world that on a critical issues like this – on which U.S. policies reverberate across the globe – the Trump Administration cannot or will not stand up to pressure from a narrow constituency of zealots and ideologues who prioritize an ideological, messianic Middle East agenda over national security and best interests of both the American people and Israel.

News Nosh 01.24.17

by APN 01/24/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday January 24, 2017

Comparison of the Day:

Yesterday, Abed Dawiat, a 20-year-old Palestinian from E. Jerusalem, got an 18-year prison sentence - the longest given in Israel for manslaughter from stone-throwing. Dawiat threw a stone at the car of an Israeli man, who lost control, crashed into a pole and died.
Today, the Israeli military prosecution is expected to seek a 3-5 year sentence for Sgt. Elor Azariya, 20, who was convicted [only] of manslaughter. Azariya extra-judicially shot in the head and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian assailant who had already been laying on the ground incapacitated, wounded and unmoving for 11 minutes.

January 23, 2017 - Trump and Israel: the beginning

by APN 01/23/17

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

This week, Alpher discusses what we can say at such an early stage regarding Trump and Israel; the inauguration speech; Trump's pledge that his son-in-law will tackle the peace process and that his administration will move the US embassy to Jerusalem; and where “alternative facts” enter the US-Israel picture.

News Nosh 01.23.17

by APN 01/23/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday January 22, 2017

Quote of the day:

"Almaleh was fired because she did something much more dangerous and subversive: the courage to not make a distinction between Jew and Arab. Almaleh sees people without reference to their ethnicity or national affiliation. That is a genuinely intolerable sacrilege. Khen Almaleh is Satan. 'I too would have run if I were being forced out of my home in order to build a community for people more powerful than I,' she wrote. Whoa! She doesn’t care if the perpetrator is Arab. She doesn’t care if the “more powerful” people are Jews. She doesn’t care about the Zionist enterprise. She has empathy for the underdog, despite his being Arab and her being Jewish. That is not merely justifying the murder of a policeman. That is genuinely dangerous.”
--Haaretz commentator Rogel Alpher writes about the firing of an Army Radio DJ for expressing sympathy with a Bedouin man who ran over a policeman who had come to demolish his home. (Later, the autopsy revealed that he was shot in the leg which likely caused him to lose control of the car and hit the policeman.)**

News Nosh 01.22.17

by APN 01/22/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday January 22, 2017

You Must Be Kidding:
"I hate leftists more than I hate Arabs. Arabs are supporting their people and their land. Leftists are Jews who hate their own people, they are against their own people, this is why I hate leftists. They are self-righteous and they don’t live in the reality. But in their heart, they know that it’s not possible for there to be equal rights between Jews and Arabs."
--Sapir Sabah, the high-school student who brought about the firing of her left-wing teacher, gave an interview to Mako.**

News Nosh 01.20.17

by APN 01/20/17

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APN's daily news review from Israel

Friday January 20, 2017

Quote of the day:

"Superhuman self-discipline is the order of the day."
--Haaretz+ political commentator, Yossi Verter, writes that frustrated Likud ministers see there is now a possibility of moving up the party ladder, due to the investigations into their party leader, but they cannot say anything that would imply disloyalty toward Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu while he fights for his political life because they will immediately be denounced as traitors.

You Must Be Kidding:
The man who heads the Finance Ministry department that enforces planning and construction laws lives in an illegal West Bank settlement outpost.
--Avi Cohen is that man: a settler who lives in Palgei Mayim, an outpost of the Eli settlement.**

Front Page:

Haaretz

Milchan: The Netanyahu couple demanded the cigars and champagne; the orders were made through code names – ‘pinks and leaves’
For them it’s over // Yossi Verter
The Mossad chief headache // Amir Oren
Head of the unit for enforcement of illegal construction lives in an illegal home (in West Bank outpost)
The running over (of a policeman) in the south: Police officers testified that they shot at the car and not in the air (Hebrew)
Police revealed that public funds raised by (Housing Minister Uri) Ariel were transferred to a private (Israeli) company in the West Bank – and the minister was not investigated about it
The security establishment warns about canceling the nuclear agreement (with Iran)
Donald Trump will be sworn-in today as the 45th president of the USA // Chemi Shalev and Amir Tibon
In the fire department report on the wave of fires, there is no evidence of mass arson
“Ashkenazi or a fair Mizrachi”: A peek into the adoption market in the 40’s and 50’s

Yedioth Ahronoth

The Trump era
Good luck, Mr. President // Eitan Haber
Cancerous growth removed from IDF Chief of Staff’s body
Justice Minister initiating: Limiting term of Prime Minister in exchange for postponing investigations

Maariv Weekend (Hebrew links only)

The Trump era
Time for new ideas // Gideon Saar
Cancerous growth removed from Chief of Staff
Last honor – Thousands of Israelis fulfilled the request of the mother of Sgt. VIazsalav Gregory and attended his funeral. He was killed Monday while doing maintenance on an APC
Cabinet approved the arrangement for defense from suits against Israeli banks that work with Palestinians
The investigations effect – Only 26% believe that “there will be nothing because there was nothing” [Netanyahu said about investigations]; Yesh Atid party continues to lead in the mandates
The rule-fortune-newspaper affair – State Prosecutor: “There is a difference between evidence for investigation and evidence for an indictment”
Hassan Beck: Hezbollah’s updated targets bank has been exposed
The Jerusalem question: What do the ’67 liberators think about the attack in 2017?
You just wait: The professor decided that Yair Netanyahu is the next thing // Liora – the gossip section

Israel Hayom

Salute on the way to swearing-in [Photo of Trump and wife]
Cancerous prostrate growth removed from Chief of Staff
Ahead of the stage of statements for punishment: Prosecution considering demanding 3-5 years prison for Elor Azariya
Military bands cost hundreds of thousands of shekels a year. Are they really needed?
The pain that doesn’t end – Family of Erez Orbach, who was murdered in an attack in Jerusalem, lives with the mourning for 50 years
With a strong hand – Eliad Mizrachi was born with limitations to his hand and fought to serve as a combat soldier – until he won
The 45th President: A new era begins in Washington // Boaz Bismuth and Avraham Ben-Zvi

News Summary:
The beginning of the Trump era, the removal of a cancerous tumor from the IDF Chief of Staff and the latest on the Netanyahu investigations were today’s top stories in the Hebrew newspapers. Also in the news, Channel 2 revealed that in the deadly incident in the Bedouin village of Um al-Hiran this week, police officers testified that they did shoot first at the car of the Bedouin man before it rammed into a police officer, in contrast to police statements otherwise; his family is demanding an investigation. And the military prosecution wants convicted soldier Sgt. Elor Azariya to serve 3-5 years in prison.

Yedioth’s Orly Azoulay on the Trump era:
“Today a President who made history will leave the White House and in his stead will enter a President who made a completely different kind of history. The intellectual charisma of Barack Obama will be replaced by the confidence and aggressiveness of Donald Trump, the light and effortless style will be replaced by a short fuse and a big mouth.”

On the Netanyahu investigations:
Haaretz+’s Yossi Verter writes that “The political arena is in the meantime gearing up for elections next September-October. The prevailing view is that a decision about whether to indict the premier will be made in May-June, the Knesset will be dissolved and elections held about 100 days later. That’s the working assumption of three coalition party leaders who regularly exchange views.” Also, the State Attorney will decide whether to launch a probe against Mossad director Yossi Cohen for receiving illicit gifts from Australian billionaire James Packer. Haaretz+’s Amir Oren writes that as “Yossi Cohen's ties to Netanyahu's rich friends come to light, shadows lengthen over the night he was tapped to lead Israel's spy agency. If a link could be established, Israel may see both its prime minister and its Mossad chief gone in one fell swoop.”

And on Netanyahu’s son, Yair, Yedioth’s Nahum Barnea writes that the claim by Netanyahu’s PR people that the gifts that Netanyahu and his family received “were between friends” and were reciprocated is ridiculous. “(Arnon) Milchan and (Australian tycoon James) Packer don’t make visits (to the PM). And when the supply of cigars and champagne empties, whoever needs to make a call to whoever needs to be called, a new monthly order is made, the driver of the giver or the receiver makes the transfer, and the bill is written accordingly.” Barnea writes that Israelis are not so stupid to believe Netanyahu’s son, Yair, who testified before police this week that his father has no connection to his own friendship with Packer and that his father had no idea that the Australian tycoon is funding Yair with first class flights, yacht trips, living in his luxury apartment, and enormous plates of sushi delivered to the office of the IDF Spokesman’s Unit, while Yair served there, among other things. “The claim that the gifts were given without getting in return is ridiculous,” writes Barnea. “Even billionaires don’t give presents in those amounts. And the absurd is that statement that Netanyahu did not know about the gifts to his son. Who is the idiot who would shower on Yair all that good without his father – and more importantly his mother – knowing.”

A Maariv survey found that 57% of the public believe there is a basis to the suspicions against Netanyahu. Only 28% believe Netanyahu that there is nothing behind them. Yesh Atid party is leading with 26 mandates if elections were held now and Likud trails with 23. The Labor party would get only 9, but if it were led by former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi it would get 15 seats.

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

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News Nosh 01.26.17

News Nosh 01.25.17

APN Update - A must read Alpher, don't be a "freier," whose side are you on? the Inauguration and more

Peace Now Settlement Watch: Government Announces Promotion of 2,500 Housing Units in the Settlements

Press Release: APN to Trump: Don't be a "Freier"

News Nosh 01.24.17

January 23, 2017 - Trump and Israel: the beginning

News Nosh 01.23.17

News Nosh 01.22.17

News Nosh 01.20.17

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