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Media Summary

Swiss Court says vault of Kafka papers must be given to Israel

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The Financial Times and Reuters report that the Israeli President has asked Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next Government. The Financial Times reports that President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday handed the task of building a governing coalition to Netanyahu after two days of face-to-face talks with representatives of the 11 parties that won seats in last week’s parliamentary elections. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party emerged as the winner from the often-bitter contest and the Prime Minister now has a month to build a governing coalition with religious and nationalist allies who collectively won a total of 65 seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

Jewish News reports that UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in his Passover message that the modern State of Israel is “a huge achievement for all humanity”. He added: “At Passover we look at the arc of history from ancient Egypt, to the Holocaust and the freedom of the modern State of Israel, a thriving democracy, and a huge achievement for all humanity. As once again we face rising antisemitism, we must redouble our efforts to build mutual understanding, compassion and respect in our society, and honour the universal human right of Freedom of Religion or Belief for all.”

The Independent reports that a powerful jihadi group in Syria is promoting the use of bitcoin to its followers, calling it one of the most important inventions of the last decade. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a coalition of rebel groups that includes a former affiliate of al-Qaeda, extolled the virtues of the cryptocurrency in its weekly magazine released over the weekend. The article lists a number of advantages of using bitcoin, arguing that it is “safe” because of the anonymity it provides and that there are no restrictions on its use. HTS currently controls most of Idlib province in northern Syria and is the most powerful remaining opposition force still committed to ousting President, Bashar al-Assad. The group receives most of its funding through taxes and tariffs on residents in areas under its control, but is also relies on a steady stream of funding from private Gulf donors, according to the Counter Extremism Project. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is not the only militant group to see the benefits in cryptocurrency. Over the past few years, many have called for donations through virtual currencies. As early as 2014, ISIS supporters had posted tutorials online about how to make bitcoin donations to the group. In November 2018, a Pakistani-American woman was jailed for using bitcoin to launder money for ISIS.

In the Guardian, Simon Tisdall writes that “Trump’s veto over Yemen is a scandalous abuse of Presidential power,” arguing that the US could have distanced itself from a murderous war, but instead, Trump’s unholy alliance with the Saudis continues.

The Financial Times and Independent report that Turkey’s main opposition party claimed a symbolic victory on Wednesday as its candidate was confirmed as the winner of the Istanbul mayoral contest, despite President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party pushing ahead with efforts to overturn the result. The Financial Times reports that Ekrem Imamoglu, a unity candidate backed by a group of opposition parties, was called to a courthouse in Turkey’s largest city to collect his election certificate — his official mandate to govern — after two and a half weeks of election recounts were finally completed.

In the Times, Michael Burleigh writes: “Saudis can’t spend their way out of this crisis”, referring to last year’s murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, and arguing that the murder fits a pattern of reckless behaviour by Riyadh rather than being an exception. The Crown Prince and his father, writes Burleigh, hope that their billions will make this crisis go away. But the murder of Khashoggi is clearly part of a pattern of behaviour that exposes the dark heart of Saudi Arabia, rather than an isolated tragedy that will simply fade away.

The Guardian reports that Iraq’s parliament has voted to ban popular online video games including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, citing their “negative” influence, especially on the young, in a country long plagued by real-life bloodshed. MPs approved a resolution that mandated the government to bar online access to the games and ban related financial transactions. The ban came “due to the negative effects caused by some electronic games on the health, culture, and security of Iraqi society, including societal and moral threats to children and youth,” the text of the resolution read.

Reuters reports that on Thursday Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said that Iranian armed forces were not a threat against any regional country, as Tehran held an Army Day military parade to unveil its latest military equipment amid rising tensions with the US. In a ceremony in Tehran, broadcast live on state television, marching soldiers passed a podium where Rouhani and top military commanders were standing, and locally-designed and produced fighter jets took part for the first time in an air display. Iran also unveiled missiles, submarines, armoured vehicles, radars and electronic warfare systems. It also showed off its Russian S-300 missile defence system. “I want to tell the regional countries that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not against you and your national interests. They stand against invaders… the roots of our problems are the Zionist regime and American imperialism,” Rouhani said.

The BBC reports that an Iranian woman, who became the first from her country to contest an official boxing match, says she has cancelled her return home from France after hearing a warrant had been issued for her arrest. Sadaf Khadem beat the French boxer Anne Chauvin in an amateur bout on Saturday. She had planned to fly to Tehran with her French-Iranian trainer this week. Khadem was quoted by a sports newspaper saying she believed she was accused of violating Iran’s compulsory dress code by boxing in a vest and shorts. Iranian officials have not commented, but the head of Iran’s boxing federation denied that Khadem would be arrested if she came home.

The Telegraph reports that long-hidden trove of Franz Kafka’s unpublished writings could soon be unveiled following a legal battle that has taken literary investigators from a cat-filled apartment in Tel Aviv to secret bank vaults in Switzerland. In a nightmarishly complex case that could have sprung from the Czech writer’s own pen, a Swiss court has ruled that thousands of Kafka documents hidden inside safe deposit boxes in Zurich must be sent to Israel’s national library. Some scholars have speculated that the papers could include endings to some of Kafka’s unfinished works. Others say the cache is unlikely to contain new writing, but hope it will shed light on the author’s life and how his surreal stories of struggles against a maddening bureaucracy came to be published after his death in 1924. Kafka published only a few works before he died at the age of 40 and in his will he instructed his friend Max Brod, a fellow Jewish writer, to burn all of his unfinished work. Among them were the manuscripts that would later become The Trial and Amerika.

Reuters reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made his first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office six months ago. He met with King Salman during the stop, as part of a regional tour that has included visits to Cairo and Tehran in recent weeks. Abdul Mahdi said Iraq would maintain strong ties with Iran, but also with the US and regional neighbours, many of which, like Saudi Arabia, consider Tehran a foe.

All the Israeli media report that President Reuven Rivlin has formally invited Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government. Netanyahu said: ‘‘This is the fifth time I accept the responsibility of forming the government of Israel; there is no greater privilege than that in democratic life. I am as excited today as the first time, in a certain way even more so, and will do everything in my power to justify the trust that the citizens of Israel have placed in me.”

Both Yediot Ahronoth and Maariv focus on the President saying: ‘‘The days of them and us are over. From now on, it’s only us.” According to the commentary in Yediot Ahronoth “the days of ‘them and us’ aren’t over. Netanyahu experts note that he never says anything unintentionally. His statements at the Likud’s victory celebrations on Tuesday were an indication that he intends to appoint Yariv Levin as justice minister, said a senior Likud figure. He all but committed to doing so. Given the options that Netanyahu has, either Smotrich or Levin, it would only be natural for him to choose Levin, who ranks high on the Likud’s list and is one of the people closest to Netanyahu.” The paper also speculates about Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman: “Likud figures are certain that he is trying to extort from Netanyahu his integration into the Likud … Anyone who is banking on Lieberman becoming the next Kahlon — the guardian of the secular liberal bloc — ought to sober up fast, one senior Likud figure said to me this week. Lieberman wants one or two senior ministerial portfolios, and to be integrated into the Likud’s ranks. He’s trying to achieve that by means of threats and presenting conditions that, if not met, will keep him out of the coalition. That isn’t going to happen, said the senior Likud figure.”

Yediot Ahronoth notes: “Once the new government is formed, Netanyahu will be obliged to report all of his stock holdings and other financial investments to the Dispensations Committee in the State Comptroller’s Office, like all other cabinet ministers. If he has any stock holdings or other investments, he will be obliged to place them in a blind trust so as not to be in a conflict of interest. Two months ago the Dispensations Committee reported that Netanyahu never reported to it about the stocks that he bought and sold in the context of an arrangement he had with his cousin, Nathan Milikowsky. The Dispensations Committee, which is headed by the retired  judge Shalom Brenner, formally asked Netanyahu’s lawyers this week to itemise his business relations with Milikowsky, in the event that Netanyahu were to demand once again to be allowed to use a donation from Milikowsky to help pay for his legal costs.”

Maariv follows the speculation that the US administration’s peace plan will be presented in early June, after the new Israeli government is sworn into office and after the month of Ramadan is over. The paper quotes United Right Party Bezalel Smotrich saying that the party would demand that the government guidelines clearly stipulate in writing that there would be ‘‘no withdrawals [from the West Bank]”. When asked whether the party members might be willing to contemplate the notion of a land swap, Smotrich replied: ‘‘No way. The one is ours and so is the other. We won’t withdraw from even a single millimetre.” Smotrich added: ‘‘I have no problem sitting in the government as long as that doesn’t really happen. If it’s just idle talk, that’s the prime minister’s business and I have no way of stopping that. But if it looks like something is beginning to advance, we won’t stay for a single minute. If we see that withdrawal plans are being advanced, we’ll topple the government at the first step. We won’t let the government prepare plans so that we’ll quit at the last moment and Benny Gantz will enter in our place, as happened to the National Religious Party with disengagement. No. we’ll leave at the first moment.”

Israel Hayom leads with an exclusive interview with “an Israeli hero: a Muslim female IDF [Israel Defence Forces] combat soldier”. She serves in the Jordan Lions Battalion in the Jordan Valley, among her duties is arresting suspects in Palestinian villages. She is quoted saying: “I do not stop to think that these people are Arabs like me. I keep telling myself that they brought themselves to this situation where they face Israeli soldiers, and I do the job properly, it does not matter where I come from and to whom I pray every day or what I wear when I go home. I have to stand in it to protect my friends, my country, that’s why I enlisted.” She is a religious Muslim who routinely prays five times a day and performs mostly night shifts during the Ramadan fast. Before going home, to the Muslim village in the north where she lives, she takes off her uniform, gets on civilian clothes and wears a traditional hijab that covers her hair and neck. She cannot return to the village in uniform or with weapons. “There are people in the village who understood that I was in the army and started threatening my family with violence. They tried physically to hurt my family, and it’s frightening and even though my parents support me, every time someone threatens them, they take a step back. I have an education of love of man, no matter what religion or beliefs. They lived here on the same land, but when there were attacks and Jews died, the neighbours said they deserved to die, and I did not understand how things like that could be said.”

Kan news reveals the IDF will establish a new multi-dimensional combat unit. The unit will consist of infantry, engineers, artillery and tanks, alongside IAF (Israel Air Force) and IDF Intelligence Branch forces. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi decided to establish the new unit in the context of the IDF’s new multi-annual plan. IDF sources said that the new unit would serve as a model for future manoeuvring units. The chief of staff also decided to establish a new joint administration for the IDF Intelligence Branch and the IAF so as to improve the IDF’s ability to locate targets for attack, improve the IDF’s digitisation and operational internet capabilities, and allocate resources to upgrade combat accessories, such as laser gun-sights for combat troops.