Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 9, 2017

After weeks of hype and coverage from every angle and then some, the controversial bill legalizing outposts built unknowingly on private Palestinian land made it into law late Monday, and papers are already chomping at the bit to preview the next fights over the law Tuesday morning, as well as mop up Monday nights remaining donnybrooks.

Now to the High Court, screams a headline on the front page of Yedioth Ahronoth. Unfortunately, the paper offers little on what the court battle will entail, writing only that one assumes that Palestinians whose land is slated to be expropriated from them will petition the High Court against the law and thus will begin another battle between the Knesset and the Supreme Court.

Reporting on the actual vote, the paper also includes various high jinks, such as protesters being booted for waving black flags after the measure passed and Knesset guards trying to hunt down a weed-smoking aide as the smell of marijuana wafted through the parliaments august halls during the debate.

As high as the grass-smoker got, theres no way he could have gotten higher than Jewish Home head Naftali Bennett, who can show off the law to his voting base as a major victory.

Haaretz reports, though, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still tried to harsh his mellow Monday.

Bennett sought to address the Knesset during the deliberation on the bill, but was rebuffed by the Prime Ministers Office. Sources in the Knesset claimed that PMO officials feared that Bennett would claim credit for the bills passage in the absence of Netanyahu, on his way back to Israel after meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in London, the paper reports.

But even if Netanyahu won a point against Bennett, its clear to see Bennett came away from the affair looking like a formidable foe, and the broadsheets lead editorial writes that that doesnt bode well for the prime minister.

Its quite possible that he will pay a heavy diplomatic price for being unable to withstand pressure. If Netanyahu cant stand up to Bennett, how will he represent Israels interests vis a vis its enemies? How does his flaccidity before a coalition rival make him look to leaders like US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin? And most important of all, what kind of leader is willing to work against the interests of his country just because he fears for his political life, the paper writes.

The law may be struck down, but Israel Hayoms Haim Shine doesnt see it as the stillborn child of political jockeys but rather the fruit of Israels very womb. Calling its passage a historic day, Shines column compares it to Israels conquering of the West Bank and Jerusalem in 1967.

The Knesset said with a loud voice that Israels settlers and redeemers are pioneers making the Zionist vision a reality, he writes. A clear statement on our basic right to the Land of Israel, a right that many nations have denied, including an attempt to claim we have no link to Jerusalem. The statement yesterday was made in a pure voice that will echo throughout the world. We do not apologize on our return against all odds.

One mans vision is anothers Band-aid, which is what Yoaz Hendel calls the bill in an op-ed for Yedioth, in which he accuses the government of lacking an actual plan.

In a decade, the cabinet hasnt had a single discussion of the future of the West Bank. Thats amazing when you think about the amount of time devoted to a small settlement like Amona or nine homes in Ofra. Dozens of hours of talks, but not once has the government or cabinet sat and decided what their goal is for the West Bank, he writes.

That dithering was also evident as Netanyahu met with UK counterpart Theresa May on Monday, both as he stood awkwardly outside the street of 10 Downing Street (captured on Yedioths front page) and as he met with the British leader, according to Haaretz, which reports that he refused to commit to a two-state solution.

Netanyahu told May that he shares her desire for peace in the region, but avoided voicing an explicit support of the two-state solution, the paper reports.

Israel Hayoms view of the meeting is a mirror-image of Haaretzs, with a headline proudly showcasing Netanyahus statement that the two see eye to eye on Iran.

We see eye to eye on the great danger coming from Irans strengthening and aggression and from its spread throughout the region. We had a discussion over what will happen if Irans aggression doesnt stop, the paper quotes Netanyahu saying. We also spoke about Syria, Hezbollah and the Iranian army there. We agreed that its important to halt that situation in different ways.

One subject the two apparently didnt discuss was Hamas, but the Gaza-ruling terror group made its way onto front pages anyway after a day of cross-border exchanges with the Israeli army brought on by a rocket attackfrom the Strip that was met by several waves of Israeli airstrikes.

In Yedioth, Yossi Yehoshua pulls the same tired analysis out of his back pocket saved for any time theres a flare-up, giving a roundup of possible scenarios and writing that nobody wants an escalation in hostilities, but it can happen anyway. However, he also notes that unlike past incidents in which Israel hit Gaza hard for a single rocket attack, this time it was slightly different.

This time they didnt hit quality targets as they did a few months ago, those that Israel sees in the context of risk-management as ones which they must take into account that can break the calm if they hit them, he writes. Sometimes an escalation gets out of hand even if both sides dont want it to. Thus its recommended to act with caution, even if we think we know everything.

Original post:
Outpost-Zionism - The Times of Israel

Category: Zionism
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