www.peacenow.org

*APN's daily news review from Israel*
Wednesday December 20, 2020

*Quote of the day:*
*"With the beginning of the Joe Biden era in the White House, the era of 
Israel's status as a US protectorate has ended and Israel returns to its status 
as a regional power in the Middle East. The amazing thing is that many in Israel 
find it difficult to come to terms with that."*
--Maariv's US correspondent, Shlomo Shamir, writes about the change Israelis 
will need to go through following the end of the Trump era.*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Front Page:*
*Haaretz*

  * The ministers approved: Lockdown
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=90e0636b96&e=f02de68997>
    to be extended by 10 days
  * The sanctification of the autonomy // Anshel Pfeffer
  * Under heavy security, Biden inaugurated today as 46th US President
  * Desperate Middle East awaits Biden, who will need to quickly decide on the
    issue of the Iranian nuclear issue
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e7861f06be&e=f02de68997>
    // Zvi Bar’el
  * Trump may have mediated the agreement with the UAE, but he also defended
    anti-Semitism and spread conspiracies // Alon Pinkas
  * After negotiations with Likud and (Gideon) Sa’ar,
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=460df40103&e=f02de68997>
    head of the self-employed protests, Abir Kara, joins Bennett’s party
  * (Minister) Itzik Shmuli: I won’t run in primaries for head of Labor party
  * Gantz did not oppose
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e8e4ccbdc6&e=f02de68997>
    and the government is discussing Netanyahu’s proposal to legalize six
    outposts and settlements
  * Government ministries arguing: When and how will Israel commit to the battle
    against the climate crisis?
  * No justification // Sami Peretz on Shin Bet tracking of corona infected
  * Discrimination
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=52fc8b83bf&e=f02de68997>
    // reporter Nati Tucker writes that he was always proud of being
    ultra-Orthodox, but now during corona crisis he’s ashamed of it
  * Observers in the gallies // Alon Lee-Green writes that left-wing campaigning
    focusing on Netanyahu, not on economy and health
  * Storm over book of Ilana Bernstein is ridiculous. Why isn’t Bernstein
    allowed what A. B. Yehoshua is? // Eli Kornetzky

*Yedioth Ahronoth*

  * End of the Trump era (Hebrew
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=d9e8ec2bdf&e=f02de68997>)
  * A piece of normalcy // Nahum Barnea (Hebrew
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=fddb4fc184&e=f02de68997>)
  * The honey and the sting // Sivan Rahav-Meir on Donald Trump and what he did
    for Israel and about who he is
  * Lockdown extended by 10 days (Hebrew
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=a8329246c0&e=f02de68997>)

*Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)*

  * Entering a (lockdown) extension
  * Health Ministry recommends vaccinating pregnant women
  * Forming (political) lists
  * From today: The Biden era
  * Din rodef
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=65f4214bcd&e=f02de68997>(“law
    of the pursuer”- provision in Jewish law permitting extrajudicial killings):
    (Maariv commentator) Ben Caspit responds to Prime Minister Binyamin
    Netanyahu’s (accusations against him)

*Israel Hayom*

  * The swearing-in alert - A ceremony like we have never seen: Our
    correspondent Erez Linn reports from Washington
  * Thank you, dear friend!
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=dd67dcce00&e=f02de68997>//
    Dr. Miriam Adelson to Trump
  * “Biden’s return to the agreement with Iran - an existential threat to
    Israel”
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=74daca39bd&e=f02de68997>
    // Pro-Israeli senator Ted Cruz in a special interview
  * The lockdown will be extended by 10 days
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=1711837804&e=f02de68997>
  * Saluting the angels: The nurses behind the vaccine campaign
  * (Gideon) Sa’ar’s advisor (Steve Schmidt): “You transferred the embassy to
    Jerusalem - ignorance that helped terror”
  * Hagit Moshe is the new chairperson of Habayit Hayehudi party; In the Labor
    party: Shmuli in negotiations with Kahol-Lavan, Merav Michaeli probably the
    next chairperson


*Top News Summary:*
The two-week long corona crisis lockdown was extended 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=598fe95428&e=f02de68997> 
for another 10 days, angering the self-employed, while anger boils towards 
ultra-Orthodox, who are one-third of those ill with corona and many continue to 
violate the restrictions. But the big story was that Joe Biden is in and Donald 
Trump is out. The Hebrew papers, with the unsurprising exception of the Trump 
supporting newspaper, ‘Israel Hayom,’ seemed to be celebrating that fact, but 
they all focused with concern on the question of what Biden will do regarding 
the Iran nuclear issue.

*What was interesting to note was the reporting in ‘Israel Hayom,’* the freebie 
daily newspaper which is funded by Sheldon and Miri Adelson, Trump’s biggest 
campaign donors. (Sheldon passed away last week and now Miriam Adelson is the 
head honcha.) To begin with, the correspondent sent to report on the 
inauguration in Washington was not editor-in-chief Boaz Bismuth, who attended 
Trump’s inauguration, interviewed him on numerous occasions, and went to the US 
to report on the elections and even recently on the elections in Georgia, but 
rather foreign affairs reporter Erez Linn. Also, today’s headline was “See you 
later, Trump, Hello Biden” and not, “Goodbye, Trump.” *What may be a sign of who 
Miriam Adelson will choose to spend her millions* on in the next US elections is 
the man chosen to interviewed in today’s newspaper: 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=782d119401&e=f02de68997> 
Ted Cruz. Bismuth and Linn interviewed Cruz and the headline read, “Biden’s 
return to the agreement with Iran - an existential threat to Israel.” Just a day 
before the presidential inauguration, ‘Israel Hayom’ ran an interview with 
outgoing US ambassador to Israel, the pro-settler David Friedman, who warned 
that, “If the US rejoins the Iran 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=80771c5b08&e=f02de68997> 
nuclear deal, it will hurt peace deals.” The Adelson’s are ardent supporters of 
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his views on Iran.

*Elections 2021: *

  * *Minister Shmuli Won't Run for Labor Leadership, Urges anti-Netanyahu
    Parties to Unite* - Former PM Barak, outgoing chairman Peretz already said
    they would not seek nomination, leaving Labor Party Knesset member Meirav
    Michaeli as the only high-profile candidate candidate for leadership of the
    party. ■ Netanyahu-backed candidate elected Habayit Hayehudi chair, first
    woman to lead the far-right party. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=a9017975b6&e=f02de68997>+)
  * Shmuli's announcement in a Facebook post The current leader of the party,
    Amir Peretz, had previously announced that he would step down from the post
    and that he would not run for the Knesset in the upcoming elections. (Maariv
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=575d1e7011&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Netanyahu's Party Maintains Lead Even With Potential Center-left Merger,
    Poll Finds* - Although Likud clinches 30 seats, according to Channel 12 News
    poll, its potential coalition still hovers under 61-seat majority. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=c19812a3d5&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Netanyahu: (Maariv journalist) Ben Caspit's efforts to overthrow a strong
    right-wing prime minister will fail* - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
    Tuesday attacked journalist Ben Caspit on Twitter. Netanyahu claimed that
    Caspit initiated and pushed the investigations against him: "Caspit has been
    writing with an obsessive hatred against Netanyahu for 20 years." (INN
    Hebrew
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=fcd974688d&e=f02de68997>)

*Quick Hits:*

  * *Israeli army teargas kills baby, before she was even born* - Misk's heart
    stopped last Thursday evening after her mother's health deteriorated and she
    suffered severe bleeding and poisoning as a result of inhaling and
    suffocating from teargas fired by the Israeli occupation army at her home in
    the village of al-Mughayyer, east of Ramallah. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=7b2e5a2350&e=f02de68997>)
  * *UN: 2020 marks a 4-year high in demolitions and displacements* - Just in
    December 2020, Israel demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized 67
    Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including E. Jerusalem,
    resulting in the displacement of 50 people, including 30 children, and
    otherwise affecting the livelihoods or access to services of over 400
    others. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=359a80fa09&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Israeli High School Principal Faces Disciplinary Action Over B'Tselem Talk
    to Students* - Talk by B’Tselem director came after Education Ministry
    banned schools from hosting people from groups ‘that treat IDF soldiers with
    contempt and call Israel an apartheid state.’ (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=4c8201dbf5&e=f02de68997>+)
  * *Israeli forces conduct military drills in northern Jordan Valley, destroy
    crops* - Israeli army forces conducted military training in al-Farisiya,
    Sahl al-Burj, and al-Maleh areas, destroying agricultural crops and land
    planted with wheat. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=0145aa8816&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Palestinian injured during an Israeli army shelling of a location in the
    Gaza Strip* - An artillery shell fired by an Israeli tank stationed behind
    the common borders with Gaza hit a house in Maghazi refugee camp injuring
    one resident who was hit in the leg with shrapnel. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=a8ae9d6dbc&e=f02de68997>)
  * *One hundred olive saplings uprooted by Israeli settlers in the Yatta area
    of the occupied West Bank* - A group of settlers broke into a
    privately-owned Palestinian land in an area known as Shaab al-Batm where
    they uprooted nearly 100 olive saplings planted by a local resident. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e73ac3e5d7&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Israeli navy targets Palestinian fishing boats off Gaza shore* - The
    fishermen were sailing three nautical miles into the sea when Israeli navy
    boats attacked them by opening water hoses at them, forcing them to return
    to shore. (WAFA
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=43702310bb&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Israeli* *Students in Arabic-language High Schools Still Have to Submit
    Research Proposals in Hebrew* - Final paper may be in Arabic, but not the
    proposal, state says. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=8516026932&e=f02de68997>+)
  * *In health, education and work: the quality of life of Jews is 80% better
    than that of Arabs in Israel* - According to a report published by Israel’s
    Central Bureau of Statistics, the quality of life of Jews in Israel is
    superior in 50 measures to that of Arab citiziens, compared to only nine
    measures that the opposite ratio. Among other things, significant
    disparities were found in infant mortality, matriculation eligibility rate
    and life expectancy. And yet, trust in the health care system is much higher
    among Arabs. (*Maariv* p. 15 and Walla News Hebrew
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=4316c06fa9&e=f02de68997>
    and JPost
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=4669169f81&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Israeli Court Reverses Freeze on Tender for New Jerusalem Settlement
    Project* - Palestinian petition alleges discrimination, as 40% of planned
    homes in neighborhood outside pre-1967 borders are part of
    government-subsidized program only open to citizens. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=bd173f5296&e=f02de68997>+)
  * *Tlaib calls Israel 'racist' for not supplying virus vaccines to
    Palestinians* - Palestinian-American Congresswoman claims Israel denies
    Palestinians the vaccine 'due to belief that Palestinians are not equally
    human' despite PA saying on multiple occasions it is obtaining its own
    vaccines from Russia. (Agencies, Ynet
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=7e335fc253&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Citing debt, UN strips Iran, 6 other members of voting rights* - The UN
    Charter calls for such a voting rights suspension for countries whose
    arrears equal or surpass the amount of the contributions due from them to UN
    coffers in the previous two years. Similar sanctions imposed on Niger,
    Libya, the Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, South Sudan, and
    Zimbabwe. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=0b8a9cae35&e=f02de68997>+)
  * *Trump Pardons Israeli Colonel Who Helped Recruit Spy Jonathan Pollard* - A
    White House statement says the request for clemency for Aviem Sella, who
    introduced Pollard to his Mossad recruiter, was supported by Netanyahu,
    ambassadors and Miriam Adelson. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=090140ac5a&e=f02de68997>+,
    Ynet
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e704655cbb&e=f02de68997>
    and Israel Hayom
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=1a2d0c9e1e&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Inscription to Jesus, Dedicated by the ‘Miserable Thomas', Found in
    Northern Israel* - A piece of the door-frame of an early church was reused
    in the wall of a luxury house in the late Byzantine or early Islamic period
    and has now been found during road work. (Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=727c0f0b08&e=f02de68997>+)
  * *Egypt unearths 3,000-year-old treasures in ancient Memphis* - More than 50
    wooden sarcophagi dating to 16th-11th centuries BCE were found in a burial
    shaft. (Agencies, Israel Hayom
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e16b39c919&e=f02de68997>)
  * *Reconstructed Ottoman Bridge in Israel Raises Hackles Over Politicization
    of Archaeology* - The stone structure over a river was built on top of a
    Roman bridge for a single use: Kaiser Wilhelm’s 1898 visit to the Holy Land.
    (Moshe Gilad, Haaretz
    <https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e429d6a1df&e=f02de68997>+)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Features:*
*How Do You Say 'Urban Renewal' in Arabic? In Israel, You Don't*
A collapsing infrastructure is a starting point in most Arab cities, and the 
government is not managing to find the means or cultural sensitivity to address 
it, new study finds. (Gili Melnitcki, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e2b389ddcc&e=f02de68997>+)
*Politictok - Tiktoking elections*
Not just Bibi: This is how Tiktok turned into the hottest and newest zone of the 
Israeli politicians ahead of elections. WIth various social media network 
challenges and humorous video clips, will the application associated with yout 
also bring votes? (Dudi Fatimer, Maariv 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=e3b21cd8c7&e=f02de68997> 
magazine supplement, cover)
*A Book Collector, a Community Leader and a Doctor: Three of COVID’s Latest Victims*
A hunter of Jewish manuscripts, a doting doctor and the first settler in an East 
Jerusalem neighborhood are three of the recent victims of the coronovirus, which 
has caused the death of more than 4,000 people in Israel. (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=5d140d33c2&e=f02de68997>+)

*Commentary/Analysis:*
*After Four Frenetic Years, It's Biden’s Turn* (Haaretz Editorial 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=5699420d7e&e=f02de68997>) 
…While Biden’s victory in November was perceived by most of the world as a fresh 
breeze of rationality and humanity, the Israeli government and Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu were seized by grief and fear. After a president who 
enthusiastically adopted every caprice of Netanyahu’s, cut off his ties with the 
Palestinians, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the Golan 
Heights as part of its sovereign territory – and even gave a green light, at 
least a flashing one, to annexing the territories – a U.S. president with 
starkly different views is assuming office. Biden sees the settlements as an 
obstacle to peace and a violation of international law, believes in the 
two-state solution and opposes violations of human rights. That’s why Biden’s 
ascendance to the presidency ought to please every peace-seeking Israeli with a 
liberal worldview. But every Israeli, whether on the left or right, who expects 
any U.S. administration to pull Israel’s chestnuts out of the fire is doomed to 
be disappointed…
**The inauguration of Biden as president marks the end of an era of Israel's 
status as a US protectorate* (Shlomo Shamir, Maariv 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=643bda8548&e=f02de68997>) 
Those who ask, as many are philosophizing over the question, how will the Joe 
Biden administration be to Israel? Good or bad? In Israel, they are concerned 
about Israel and what is expected for it following the exchange in the White 
House and a new administration for the next four years. But they don't 
understand, they are finding it difficult to internalize the true meaning, the 
essential nature of the change of government in Washington. They aren’t guilty. 
Four years of the presidency of Donald Trump, who even senior Republicans agree 
today, was the worst president in modern history, put them in a spin, created in 
their Israeli eyes what can be defined as a false and misleading "American 
front.” In fact, with the beginning of the Joe Biden era in the White House, the 
era of Israel's status as a US protectorate has ended and Israel returns to its 
status as a regional power in the Middle East. The amazing thing is that many in 
Israel find it difficult to come to terms with that. Many in Israel enjoyed 
Israel's status as Donald Trump's protégé so much, they loved his caresses and 
hugs so much, they got so inebriated from the gestures he showered on Israel. 
They did not notice or did not care that Israel had become a protectorate, a 
spoiled child, the preferred consumer of the White House, of a failed, 
inappropriate president, who with every day and week in office became a 
ridiculous and repulsive figure. Israel has made tremendous achievements, 
demonstrated tremendous capabilities, demonstrated exceptional qualities in 
various fields many, many years before Donald Trump's name was even known to 
many outside his family. But in the eyes of many Israelis, it was Donald Trump 
who made Israel a political presence, a political entity, a social entity in the 
Middle East and the international community. It is true and true that the 
outgoing president and his senior adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, promoted 
and achieved the normalization agreements with the Persian Gulf countries and 
with Morocco. The infrastructure for these agreements had been established, 
created, nurtured and empowered for years, secretly, wisely and efficiently, by 
Israeli people and entities that operated in the capitals of the Gulf states as 
representatives of a regional power. But Israel loved the final American chord, 
the seal of Jared Kushner, the move that reaffirmed Israel status in Washington 
as a protectorate. That’s over. Not just Donald Trump went. His son-in-law, 
senior adviser Jared Kushner, also left. Even the man who served as Israel's 
Acting Foreign Minister, Mike Pompeo, left. Even Trump's ambassador to the 
settlers, David Friedman, is returning to the United States. In the eyes of 
President Joe Biden, in the eyes of his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in 
the view of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, in the eyes of CIA Director 
William Burns, the State of Israel is first and foremost a regional power, a 
modern and progressive Western democracy, a country with enormous achievements 
in various fields. In other words, a strong and stable country, which does not 
need special pampering, caresses, friendly gestures. All of the above people are 
known as Israel fans. Senior Jewish community leaders in New York who know the 
Secretary of State, the National Security Adviser and the CIA presiding officer 
personally and closely, speak in praise of them and note their long-time support 
for Israel. This does not mean, of course, that there will be no tensions 
between Israel and the White House or with the Secretary of State. But the 
tensions, if any, will be in the context of talks, of consultations, of 
discussions, of cooperation. A senior Democrat, who is one of Joe Biden's 
associates, told me in a non-attributable conversation that "on the future of 
the nuclear deal with Iran, Blinken, Jake Sullivan and William Burns, who was 
involved in drafting the nuclear deal, will cooperate with Israel. "They will 
listen and take into account any opinion and advice they hear from Prime 
Minister Netanyahu." But, the man added, "Netanyahu must be very careful and 
restrained in his relations with President Biden's security team and show 
maximum restraint in the opinions he will voice regarding the future of the 
agreement with Iran. Netanyahu must be careful not to stretch the rope or push 
moves." This is exactly what is required from the head of a state that is 
considered a regional power and accepted as such in the White House and at the 
top of the State Department.
*Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, dear friend!* (Dr. Miriam Adelson, Israel 
Hayom 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=a098edcf5c&e=f02de68997>) 
As President Trump leaves the White House, we must remember that we, as 
Israelis, as Americans, and as proud Jews owe him our gratitude.
*With Biden, Israel has a true Zionist in the White House *(Ben-Dror Yemini, 
Yedioth/Ynet 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=c0772ba4d3&e=f02de68997>) 
President-elect and his VP Kamala Harris are true supporters of a democratic and 
Jewish State of Israel, with not too much drama expected from the man who made 
his name by being a pragmatic negotiator.
*Not only in the United States: Attempts to restrict freedom of speech are also 
in Israel* (Attorney Aharon Papu, Maariv 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=0c6531cdba&e=f02de68997>) 
The dangerous phenomenon of silencing certain views in discourse, exists not 
only in the United States, but here in the local arena. After the blocking of 
Trump (on social media networks), there are those in Israel who have already 
called for taking the freedom of speech from Israel’s Prime Minister.
*Will Biden's presidency be Obama's third term?* (Amnon Lord, Israel Hayom 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=498973a449&e=f02de68997>) 
There is one surefire way to succeed in the Middle East, and it certainly does 
not run through Tehran.
*A Demoralizing Middle East Awaits Biden, With Iran as His Most Important Test* 
(Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=cdedafbff5&e=f02de68997>+) 
Another question is whether Biden is seeking to repair the world or whether he 
will get sucked into the whirlpool that Trump bequeathed him and just try to fix 
a few things.
*The increasingly divided Joint Arab List *(Jalal Bana, Israel Hayom 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=33aa8aa088&e=f02de68997>) 
Arab parties will need to work a lot harder this election campaign to make sure 
their constituents don't heed the promises of the Likud and Netanyahu.
*Can the 'Menachem Begin Project' Drive Netanyahu Crazy Like the Lincoln Project 
Did to Trump? *(Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=1722597945&e=f02de68997>+) 
The prime minister is a master campaigner with decades of experience in 
shrugging off criticism. How can Gideon Sa’ar’s hired guns get under Netanyahu’s 
skin?
*Just the syringe is left* (Sima Kadmon, Yedioth Hebrew 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=ea1ba23414&e=f02de68997>) 
Netanyahu showcases the syringe with which he was vaccinated as if it were a 
bullet taken out of his body after a battle for which he received a Medal of 
Honor - this is how Netanyahu presents the syringe that vaccinated him about a 
month ago against corona. Tucked away in a box of wood and glass, the syringe 
leans upward like a plane taking off, or like the same hand gesture the prime 
minister makes at every press conference or election video. A tense, tight palm 
that leans into the sky as if to say: Here, we are ascending…He wants us to 
remember the vaccines, everything else is much less important. The public will 
pay the price of his government's negligence.
*I have no codes of silence, Mr. Netanyahu. On the contrary *(Ben Caspit, Maariv 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=7171070050&e=f02de68997>/Walla 
News 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=4c7c3aac80&e=f02de68997>) 
The person who wrote the (Twitter and Facebook) posts of unbridled incitement 
against me, who allows the letting of the blood of a journalist in Israel, is 
not the mighty leader you could be, but the dangerous mutation you have become. 
And here's the news: I will continue to publish materials that about suspicions 
of corruption. In a democracy the code of free communication is exposure.
*The Education Minister Is Afraid of the Truth: Israel Is an Apartheid State 
*(Hagai El-Ad, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=90ff6357b5&e=f02de68997>+) 
Part of the battle against any unjust situation is fighting attempts to conceal 
the injustice. In the letter in which the education minister, Maj. Gen. (res.) 
Yoav Gallant, tried this week to give orders to the education system, he claimed 
to be against “lies” and in favor of a “Jewish and democratic” Israel. Yet 
Gallant is clearly the one who is lying, because Israel is neither Jewish nor 
democratic. The reality here is binational, with demographic parity but Jewish 
supremacy – apartheid.
*Apartheid? The Problem Isn't How You Call the Occupation, but the Fact It 
Exists *(Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=f83e90dc7d&e=f02de68997>+) 
The director-general of the B’Tselem human rights group, Hagai El-Ad, made much 
noise while taking the easy way out in wrapping Israel and the territories it 
occupied in 1967 under one mantle, considering them as being one big entity, 
lying between the Mediterranean and Jordan River, all subject to an apartheid 
regime (Haaretz, January 12). In one stroke he annexed the territories and 
granted the Palestinians a status of second-class citizens of the State of 
Israel, with its borders stretching from sea to river. Sterling examples of 
democracy, which Israel is not, have conquered countries and territories 
before…(Inside Israel) the culture of apartheid against Israel’s Arab citizens 
(is) well entrenched. The abolition of the military administration did not cover 
up the alienation towards and segregation of the country’s Arabs or the fear and 
hostility felt by Jews towards them. These are elements in the composition of 
Jewish national identity, elements which only underwent further refinement over 
time. Thus, the supremacy of one group over another does not necessarily require 
an occupation, just as it’s wrong to see every occupation as apartheid. 
Moreover, using a broad brush with which to paint Israel and the occupation in 
the same shade allows one to ignore the fact that in every occupation one group 
imposes an inferior status – political, cultural, economic – on another, under 
the umbrella of international law…The gravest flaw of those defining Israel as 
an apartheid state lies in presenting the Palestinian problem as a humanitarian 
one, one of human rights and equality before the law. According to this 
viewpoint, if the Palestinians could only build houses as they wished, if only 
the roadblocks were removed and family reunification was allowed, the occupation 
would vanish and morality would heave a sigh of relief. This is the crux of the 
bluff, since the problem is not the nature of the occupation but its very 
existence. Bemoaning the transition of the occupation into an apartheid regime 
is self-deception at best, since according to this view, an occupation can be 
“enlightened.” The ready answer to this argument is that in order to get rid of 
the scourge of apartheid, Israel needs to become a binational state. But this 
illusion, if fulfilled, will turn Israel into a permanent apartheid state, 
presented as a shining example of a solution to a national conflict…
*Interviews: *
*'Biden's policy on Iran could pose existential threat to Israel'*
Senator Ted Cruz warns of new US administration's attempts to appease Iran as it 
renegotiates a nuclear deal with the ayatollah's regime, pledges "America will 
continue to stand alongside Israel.” (Interviewed by  Boaz Bismuth and Erez Linn 
in Israel Hayom 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=26abfabaed&e=f02de68997>)

*'The Defeat Turned Trump Into a Tragic Figure. I Have Empathy for Him'*
American-Israeli artist Iddo Markus couldn't stop painting Donlad Trump. Now he 
deals with people reacting with anger and disgust to his work. (Interviewed by 
Naama Riba in Haaretz 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=2d18e0b09e&e=f02de68997>+)

*'If the US rejoins the Iran nuclear deal, it will hurt peace deals'*
Outgoing US Ambassador to Israel: The Abraham Accords are young agreements, very 
important to Israel and the region, that could change the Middle East in the 
next 100 years. (Interviewed by Ariel Kahana in Israel Hayom 
<https://peacenow.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8dc4822ca41e3938eb4a03c73&id=df3997b79b&e=f02de68997>)
/Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in 
Jerusalem./

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