News Nosh 8.20.20

by APN 08/20/20
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APN's daily news review from Israel - Thursday August 20, 2020

 Quote of the day:"I am sitting in government with a defendant in three indictments - isn't this a huge compromise?"
-Alternate and Defense Minister and Chairman of Kahol-Lavan party, Benny Gantz, responds to Likud accusations that his party is to blame if Israel goes to a fourth election.*


You Must Be Kidding: 
"Get help from a relative or anyone else who speaks Hebrew."
--The Israeli Employment Service's response to complaints that it is not allowing online forms to claim unemployment be filled out in Arabic, which may result in thousands of unemployed people losing their stipends.**


Front Page:Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

  • On the way to elections 4
  • Stop // Sima Kadmon
  • Why isn’t he in jail? - Transcript of the interrogation of father of (teenage pop singer) Adi Beaty are revealed
  • Suspicion: 30 men raped a 16-year-old girl in a hotel in Eilat
  • Tuli daycare center: The worrying testimonies
  • Netanel returned to life - Doctors didn’t believe that Natanel Filber would survive the injuries from the attack at Givat Asaf 1.5 years ago - but thanks to the rehab dog, Sheba, he is able to move his hand and pet and brush the dog

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

  • The elections delusion - Prime Minister to Likud MKs: “From now on - act as if we’re going to elections”
  • (Former US special envoy to Mideast, Jason) Greenblatt: “Sovereignty is not a question ‘if,’ but rather ‘when’”
  • Winter alert: Paramedics will help in hospital ER
  • Mobilization needed from everyone to prevent closure // Prof. Ran Belicer
  • Ghost force - First peek at the new multi-dimensional ‘Ghost’ unit
  • “Horror daycare center” in Holon: Storm in court, detention of suspects extended
  • It was Trump who stole the show: Our correspondent reports from the Democratic Convention
  • Pedals to history: Guy Niv will compete in the Tour d’France


Top News Summary:
A very possible fourth elections in the offing, more questions about the sale of F-35 stealth fighters to the UAE, unwanted responses from Saudi Arabia and Sudan to Israeli expectations for normalization, a gang rape in Eilat and the trial of daycare center workers suspected of abusing toddlers were the top stories in today’s Hebrew newspapers. Also, the latest on the escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

*Four days left to avoid a fourth election. If the two main parties, Likud and Kahol-Lavan, don’t reach an agreement on the state budget or to extend the August 25th deadline, the Knesset will dissolve. The Finance Committee dispersed without a vote on extending the deadline. The political correspondents say that is Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s goal. Yedioth Hebrew’s Yuval Karni wrote that it is obvious that Netanyahu has already begun campaigning, when he made a “media tour” Wednesday to the Mahaneh Yehuda outdoor market in Jerusalem, known for being a Likud stronghold. A senior Likud official said that Netanyahu has moved to “campaign mode,” it seems that we are on the way to a fourth election. Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, Alternate and Defense Minister and Kahol-Lavan Chairman, have not spoken in over a week. The Likud has begun to accuse Kahol-Lavan of other reasons for the schism to explain why the Likud would want to go to elections. An unnamed Likud official told Yedioth that while elections “would be terrible, but letting this situation persist seems even worse to me,” he said. He accused Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Kahol-Lavan) of trying to stop Israel from “extending sovereignty over Jewish West Bank settlements,” saying “He did not miss a single chance to tell any international actor why this should not happen.” [NOTE: A peculiar claim at a time when Netanyahu himself made an agreement with the UAE not to annex West Bank land, at least for now. - OH] Yedioth’s Karni wrote that Kahol-Lavan senior members said that their party was "Willing to compromise on issues in dispute, but not on justice (reforms).” Netanyahu has moved to “campaign mode,” it seems that we are on the way to a fourth election. Gantz presented his red lines in negotiations last night and accused Netanyahu of striving for election: "I am sitting in government with a defendant in three indictments - is this not a huge compromise?" Meanwhile, another sign of another election: Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud) said he will wait for the outcome of the budget crisis between Likud and Kahol Lavan and only if the country does not go to elections will he appoint the new police commissioner.

If there is a fourth election soon, a Maariv poll found that the historic normalization agreement with the UAE brought did not translate into more seats for Netanyahu, if elections were held now. The leading Opposition party, Yesh Atid- Telem party, is right behind Likud. The poll was taken after the reports about the sale of F-35s to the UAE and the dismissal of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman for declaring too soon that his country was making peace with Israel.
Likud: 29 seats - 2 seats more than the last poll, “but far less than the dividend expected following the agreement with the UAE. From May till yesterday, Likud lost 12 seats of the 120 in the Knesset.
Yesh Atid- Telem - 20 seats.
Yamina - 19 seats
Joint List - 14
Kahol-Lavan -  9
Yisrael Beiteinu - 9
Shas - 8
United Torah Judaism - 7
Meretz - 5, two less than the last poll.

Israel expected more Arab states to follow the UAE’s footsteps, but as of yesterday, Sudan fired its spokesman who confirmed peace talks with Israel, Oman fired its foreign minister after he spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenzi. Moreover, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud finally made a comment about the deal, saying it “‘could be viewed as positive,” because it halted the unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory. Instead of expressing support for the deal, he said that Saudi Arabia was committed to the Arab Peace Plan, which is a single agreement of peace with all the Arab states in exchange for an end to the occupation. [Saudi Arabia presented the plan, also known as the Saudi Initiative, in 2002, offered it again in 2007 and again in 2017, but Israel always ignored it as a way of rejecting it without saying so - OH]. Al-Saud further said, "The kingdom considers any Israeli unilateral measures to annex Palestinian land as undermining the two state solution.” This contradicts senior US President’s advisor Jared Kushner’s statement that “it’s unavoidable that Saudi Arabia and Israel will completely normalize relations.” And while Netanyahu denied agreeing the US end its arms embargo against an Arab state, US President Donald Trump contradicted Netanyahu saying that the Emiratis expressed interest in purchasing 'quite a few' fighter jets and that 'they have the money.’

The papers have been talking about how Netanyahu has been sidelining the ministers from the Kahol-Lavan party. Maariv’s Tal Lev-Ram noted that contrary to procedures, Netanyahu asked the head of the National Security Council to talk to Israeli Air Force commander General Amikam Norkin about the corps' position regarding the possible acquisition of F-35.s by additional countries. But such a step should go through the defense minister, wrote Lev-Ram, writing, “Here, too, Gantz was not updated.”

Hamas-Israel and the Gaza Strip:
After the Egyptians tried, now the Qatari Ambassador is in Gaza in talks to prevent an escalation between Hamas and Israel.  On Wednesday, Israel hit Hamas positions after more incendiary balloons from Gaza ignited more fires in Israel near the Gaza border. Egyptian officials reportedly warned Hamas of assassinations if the situation continued to escalate. Netanyahu said that he is treating incendiary balloons like rockets and that Israel was preparing for another round - i.e. full military campaign against the Gaza Strip. Then Hamas threatened today that "Tel-Aviv will burn from thousands of missiles.” (Maariv)Quick Hits:

  • Israeli Police Detain Five in Brawl at Beach, Witness Says Teens Shouted 'Death to Arabs' - People threw stones as cleaners hid in a prefab structure, witness says. Brawl began after (Arab) cleaners asked (Jewish) teenagers to lower music, investigation finds. (Haaretz+)
  • **Israel's Employment Service Fails to Provide Forms in Arabic, Tells Applicants to 'Get Help From Relatives' - This could result in thousands of unemployed Israelis losing their payments. (Haaretz+)
  • High Court Rejects Petition Against anti-Netanyahu Protests in Jerusalem; Black Flags movement: “We will continue” - Disruption of residents' lives is the price for living in a democracy, court rules, but calls to 'effectively enforce' noise law. (Haaretz+ and Maariv)
  • Minister Announces Reform to Israeli Police Oversight Agency, but It Already Faces Hurdles - Justice Ministry seeks 'full separation' from the police, yet 16 officers will continue in the department. (Haaretz+ and Ynet)
  • Woman reportedly arrested for allegedly threatening US ambassador to Israel - A woman has been arrested for allegedly threatening outside branch of embassy in Tel-Aviv to inflict physical harm on US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Channel 12 news reports. (Maariv and Times of Israel)
  • Israeli High-tech Firms Make Good Money in Dubai but Don't Want to Talk About It - Fearing boycott and competition, Israeli cybersecurity companies have been courted by the UAE for some time, but they keep mum about it. (Haaretz+)
  • Israel reaches 719 virus fatalities as Health Ministry says elderly death data missing - Confirmed cases top 95,000, with record number in serious condition. Testing on Tuesday showed infection rate of 6.2%; health officials investigating why care facility data not recorded in pandemic statistics; Israeli Arab panel reports 1,600 new cases in a week. 401 people currently in serious condition, with 118 connected to ventilators. (Haaretz and Ynet)
  • Health Ministry blames care home operators for undercounting COVID-19 deaths - According to ministry, discrepancy stems from private geriatric institutions reporting their deceased separately from state-run institutions; all unreported deaths occurred in July, August - no prior incidents found. (Ynet)
  • Border officials fear coronavirus test results forged to travel overseas - Audit reveals that dozens of forms were allegedly issued by the same doctor at the same Jerusalem clinic, raising concerns many of them were forged; clinic denies any wrongdoing. (Ynet)
  • To Save Money, Israel Wants to Quarantine Foreign Workers in Deserted Detention Camp (instead of hotels) - Critic says keeping workers 'in jail, in tents in the middle of the desert' in order to make it less expensive for employers seems 'especially cynical.’ (Haaretz+)
  • Some 30 Rare Artworks Stolen From One of Israel's Oldest Museums - There is a feeling of 'violence and evil' after looting, says director of the Wilfrid Israel Museum of Asian Art and Studies  n Kibbutz Hazorea. (Haaretz+)
  • El Al Won't Fly Until at Least the End of September, Yet Still Attracts New Investor - In the wake of the decision, unpaid leave extended for 6,080 employees of Israel's national carrier. (Haaretz+)
  • Pompeo Expected to Seek Reimposing Iran Sanctions in Thursday Meeting With UN Chief - Washington looks to invoke 'snapback' mechanism, after Security Council rejected U.S. request to extend arms embargo last week. (Haaretz+ and Israel Hayom)
  • U.S. Imposes Iran-related Sanctions on UAE-based Companies - Treasury freezes assets, bans Americans from dealing with UAE-based contractors alleged to provide support to Iran's Mahan Air. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Merav Ben-David, an Israeli-American Scientist, Wins Wyoming’s Democratic Senate Primary - Now, the 61-year-old professor who speaks with a thick Israeli accent faces an uphill battle in a state that is the most Republican in the nation. (JTA, Haaretz)
  • The Israeli patient who moved the Democratic Convention - Ady Barkan, whose parents emigrated from Israel in the 1970s, has ALS. Under the heading "Be a Hero" he is working to expand American healthcare insurance. Last night he called to vote for Biden and shared a video he shot for his son: "We live in a country rich in history, and yet we do not guarantee ourselves the basic right to medical care.” (Ynet Hebrew)
  • UN Tribunal's Hariri Verdict Does Not Concern Us, Hezbollah Lawmaker Says - Standing firm on the group's refusal to admit any responsibility in the 2005 killing of Lebanese prime minister, Hezbollah representative says his movement does not recognize the court's authority. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Israel demands action against Hezbollah following Hariri verdict - Foreign Ministry statement accuses Iran-backed terror group of being complicit in the 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese PM and of obstructing justice, says organization 'in the service of foreign interests.’ (Ynet)
  • Israel pushes for changes in UN's Lebanon peacekeeping force - Israeli diplomatic and military officials say the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been largely ineffective and see the upcoming vote on extending its mandate as an opportunity to make reforms. (Israel Hayom)
  • Hezbollah Procured Hundreds of Tons of Ammonium Nitrate From Iran, Report Says - Qassem Soleimani oversaw three sales of the explosive chemical to Hezbollah in 2013 and 2014. However, there is no information linking the smuggled goods to the Beirut blast. (Haaretz+)
  • Iran Unveils Locally Made Ballistic and Cruise Missiles Amid U.S. Tensions - Iranian Defense Minister Amir said, 'The surface-to-surface missile, called martyr Qassem Soleimani, has a range of 1,400 km and the cruise missile.’ (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • As Water Grows Scarce, Egypt's Farmers Fear Impact of Ethiopia's Dam - It is estimated that a permanent drop of 5 billion cubic meters of Nile water to Egypt would cause the loss of 1 million acres of farmland, or 12 percent of the country’s total, former irrigation minister says. (Agencies, Haaretz)
  • Russian opposition figure Navalny in coma after poisoning - Navalny's spokeswoman says Putin's outspoken critic is in a 'grave condition' after falling ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow; she says the plane made an emergency landing after Navalny allegedly drank poisoned tea. (Agencies, Ynet)


Features:Where is biblical Bethsaida, where Jesus walked on water? The case of this Jordan River mound
The location of the ancient town of Bethsaida has been lost in the fog of time. Prof. Rami Arav proposes a leading candidate for the place where, according to the New Testament, Jesus performed miracles. (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz+)

Top Commentary/Analysis:
Ignore Netanyahu's Salesmanship: UAE Agreement Was Another Land-for-peace Deal (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) Some Israelis’ attitude toward the peace agreement being worked out with the United Arab Emirates is like that of kibitzers who look at a bride and groom and wash their hands of the whole affair with scorn, even disgust. “What the devil did she see in him? What kind of prize did she catch? And what on earth is all the rejoicing about?”…All of a sudden, the longing for peace agreements with Arab countries has been forgotten, and the excitement over secret meetings with “a state that doesn’t have relations with Israel” has died away. All of a sudden, every agreement has become trivial, as if a long list of Arab suitors were standing in line to make peace with Israel, and all it had to do was choose. Who still remembers the flood of verbiage written after the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, published his astounding op-ed in the daily Yedioth Ahronoth? Or the emotional articles urging the Israeli government to take the bull by the horns and change its policy, lest the chance for peace with an Arab state be lost? Israelis and Palestinians ought to remove the obstacles to negotiations themselves, rather than complaining about the crown prince, who did to the Palestinians exactly what Benny Gantz and his Kahol Lavan party did to their voters…
The peace entrepreneur (Ari Shavit, Yedioth/Ynet) In the summer of 2020, Yousef al-Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Washington, conceived, formulated and initiated the agreement between Israel and the UAE.
Pushing Palestinians Back to Armed Struggle (Sam Bahour, Haaretz+)  Israeli and American Jews would be well-advised to rethink where Trump and Netanyahu are taking them – and remember that we Palestinians are going nowhere.
Israel and UAE have been doing secret defense deals for years (Alex Fishman, Yedioth/Ynet) Jerusalem's public objection to the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi is just the normal course of action in covert Mideast diplomacy, with past deals posing no security threats and only benefiting Israel in the long run.
How Netanyahu’s Huge Diplomatic Achievement Turned Into a Self-made Political Fiasco (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) An unforced error by the prime minister has now turned his master stroke of diplomacy into a potentially explosive scandal that involves national security concerns.
This is not about annexation. It's about the planes (Alon Pinkas, Yedioth Hebrew) The issue of the sale of F-35s to the United Arab Emirates is a mock crisis based on Netanyahu's management pattern that is all prone to wild exaggeration: everything he does is historical and dramatic. There are several fundamental points within the imaginary and fake crisis that Israel has created around the sale of F-35 aircraft from the United States to the UAE that need clarification. First, the United States intends to sell F-35 stealth aircraft to the UAE. It's part of the deal. Muhammad bin Ziad has been requesting the planes for about five years. No planes - probably no deal. It is not the annexation, but the planes. Whoever denies, claims that he did not know or was not told, or that it is not part of the deal at all, tells a number of fictions and sells a false presentation that is easy to refute. It's likely that the sale is not an integral clause in the agreement between Israel and the Emirates, because it does not belong to a bilateral agreement between countries and Israel is not the seller. It will appear as an appendix, or a side letter, or a written statement of intent. This is always the case. Since the sale is probably conditional on the signing of the agreement, it is definitely part of the broader agreement. Secondly, Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu cannot approve the deal, nor can he veto it. It is very likely that he expressed reservations, it makes sense that he sought to postpone the implementation subject to the observance of the agreement. It is possible that the US really considered his position and politely rejected it. His promise to the cabinet to "fight against Congress' approval" is hollow. Just going into such a battle means that the agreement will not be signed. Worse, Netanyahu really has no leverage in Congress. He systematically and deliberately destroyed his relationship with the Democratic Party for a decade. Here a simple question is asked: Who thinks Netanyahu will go to Congress against a $ 3 billion arms deal from a giant company like Lockheed-Martin, a deal that Trump wants to approve? Really? There is a question here focused on Netanyahu's style and management pattern. A built-in tendency to wild exaggeration: everything he does is historical, dramatic, high-quality more than everything done before him. Here, historical peace, "peace for peace" and not "territories for peace" like the inert left. Here, I broke paradigms about the Arab world. Here, look and see, instead of the failed and impossible model of the "two states," Israel and a Palestinian state, I present to you the "model of the 22 states": normalization with the Arab world. Thirdly, his default is not telling the truth. Annexation? Of course it will happen, just postponed a bit. Selling an F-35 to the UAE? What? No way? There is no such thing in the agreement, I objected, "Fake News." Fourth, there is no need for staff work. These are just national security issues. He knows everything. Two former chiefs of staff, Defense Minister Gantz and Foreign Minister Ashkenazi, may, God forbid, leak (the news of the agreement). We will separate them from the process and not consult them on the issue. UAE Crown Prince Ben-Ziad, National Security Adviser Tahnun Ben-Ziad, Foreign Minister Anwar Garagash and UAE Ambassador to the US Yosef al-Utayba are very serious people. For no reason and with no benefit to Israel and its security, Netanyahu puts their seriousness about Israel to the test.
From the margins to the center: this is how the Middle East country benefits from the agreement with Israel (Dr. Moran Zaga, Maariv) The historic normalization agreement between Israel and the UAE serves as another pillar in the Emirates’ soft power initiatives, and serves its desire to stand out in the field and become a regional power in the Middle East.
UAE Deal Is an Economic Opportunity, but Perhaps Not of the Kind Israelis Think (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz+) The agreement being formed with the Gulf state creates opportunities in several areas – but it's also worth paying attention to the fine print.
The Israeli Left has no clothes (Erez Tadmor, Israel Hayom) The masquerade ball is over. It appears there are no higher values behind the Left's pathos of sanctimonious outrage – just propaganda hatchets to be wielded when it suits.
Why Is the U.S. Playing Along With Israel's Veto Over American Weapons Sales? (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Reality is crazy; it surpasses any fiction. A tiny country that relies on the kindness of a global superpower is giving orders to said superpower, the most powerful on the planet, and to other powerful Western countries, about to whom it should sell weapons, or mainly, to whom it shouldn’t. The facts are unbelievable. The U.S. Congress passed special legislation that requires the United States to hold a “consultation” with its ostensible ward, Israel, before signing arms deals in the Middle East. In other words, Israel has something close to veto power over America, rather than the opposite.
Democratic National Convention Should Make Israel's Center-left Intensely Jealous (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Estranged from minorities and devoid of coherent social commitment, Netanyahu’s opponents can only dream of forging the kind of unity that might lead Biden to defeat Trump.
ADL targeted for not being woke enough for extremists (Jonathan S. Tobin, Israel Hayom) Leftists eager to silence it for speaking out against anti-Semitism cancel a liberal group that dropped bipartisanship to help Democrats.
I’m an Israeli in Berlin and I Have the Right to Protest About Israel (Marianne Matyash, Haaretz+) I live in Berlin, where we have learned that it is impossible to separate different segments of a people who want to live together. Ultimately all walls fall. I will shout from every corner of the earth that I want a home where there is open and pluralistic dialogue, where people are capable of hearing a multiplicity of opinions without leveling accusations of betrayal: I want a country where it’s not legitimate to call someone a traitor only because their actions are based on contrary views. A country where there is no chance that a “traitor leftists” sign would be hung opposite the residence of the prime minister, with his consent. I am demonstrating abroad, but I’m not washing anyone’s dirty laundry in public here. Israel isn’t North Korea. People around the world know exactly what is happening in Israel, and when they see me demonstrating my love of my home and my concern for democracy there, they see that there are people in Israel engaging in lively democratic debate…
Center of gravity has shifted under Palestinians' feet (Sarah N. Stern, Israel Hayom) It has taken 72 years and the Iranian threat, but the icy-cold chill of the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East has begun to thaw.
A Democratic Country Must Protects Its Artists, Even if They Slaughter Sacred Cows (Haaretz Editorial) The assault on our democratic foundations hasn’t skipped over freedom of artistic expression. The focus this time is a television program called “The Jews Are Coming,” which is make up of satiric skits. Protests against it reached a peak this week, when around 1,500 people demonstrated against it outside the public broadcasting corporation’s offices in Jerusalem.  The demonstrators showed up at the behest of Rabbi Tsvi Tau, founder of the Har Hamor Yeshiva and one of religious Zionism’s leading rabbis. “The program in question is just one of many examples of incessant attempts by a tiny, impertinent minority that works ceaselessly, in cooperation with foreign states and organizations, to confuse the Jewish public’s thinking,” he said in a statement. Fourteen other prominent rabbis signed the statement. The protest also has partners in the Knesset. The show’s creators, Assaf Beiser and Natalie Marcus, posted a response on Facebook in which they defended their right as Jews to create satire about the Bible and its heroes. “The Bible belongs to all of us,” they wrote. “All of us have the right to read it, think about it, love it and get angry at it.” Biblical stories and their heroes, they added, “aren’t somebody else’s sacred cows. They’re our flesh and blood, and we’re their flesh and blood.”…
State prosecutor Liat Ben Ari is as honest as they get and the tiled roof installed in her home instead of a patio covering will not change my mind (Moshe Nestelbaum, Maariv) The publications against Adv. Liat Ben-Ari include the same rehashed material, which does not mean that she will not be able to continue in her role as prosecutor in the Netanyahu trial..
Israel's High Court Ruling on Admitting Yeshiva Students Signals Shift on Public Petitions (Ido Baum, Haaretz+) Justices reasoned that the attorney filing the petition against students being let into Israel was not hurt himself, and therefore does not have the right to appeal.
The Danger Turkey's Bullying Poses to Mediterranean Natural Gas (David Rosenberg, Haaretz+) Erdogan is increasingly aggressive about enforcing Ankara’s exaggerated maritime claims and that spells a deadlock for Mediterranean gas.

Interviews:
'I hope sovereignty is a matter of when, not if,' says former US envoy
Israelis who opposed the suspension of Israel's sovereignty initiative in parts of Judea and Samaria in favor of peace with the United Arab Emirates should "reconsider their approach," former US Special Representative for Middle East Affairs Jason Greenblatt tells Israel Hayom.

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

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