Media Summary
The Independent and Reuters report that Israel’s Defense Ministry on Thursday said it has begun talks to sell an advanced missile defense system to Germany.
The Independent and Reuters report that Israel’s Defense Ministry on Thursday said it has begun talks to sell an advanced missile defense system to Germany. The announcement came two weeks after Israel said it was selling another missile defense system to NATO’s newest member, Finland.
The Guardian reports that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has nominated a far-right politician who once boasted that she is “proud to be a racist” as his country’s top diplomat in New York. The appointment of May Golan was swiftly denounced by Israeli and American former diplomats, and the head of the largest Jewish denomination in the US, as an affront to the US and damaging for Israel. A group of former Israeli ambassadors said they were “shocked” by the move.
The Economist reports on Arab tourism to Israel, saying: “The indigo festival near the seaside southern foot of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula sounded jolly enough. Its organisers promised five days of “psychedelic music, sun and sea” in a mood of peace and love. Yet the fiesta has proved controversial, largely because the show was being run by Israelis. The Egyptian branch of a global campaign to boycott and divest from Israel denounced the organisers as “racist Zionist occupiers”. After Israeli police recently clashed with young Palestinians near Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, the festival was axed. Israeli-Arab tourism is still blighted by politics and tensions over Palestine.’
The Times reports on our main story, that Israel will open an embassy in Turkmenistan, a mere 15 miles from the border with its arch-foe Iran. In a sign of closer ties with the secretive, energy-rich nation, Eli Cohen, the foreign minister, will inaugurate the embassy in Ashgabat, the capital, in the first visit by an Israeli minister in nearly 30 years.
Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed jitters over his government’s judicial overhaul drive that have scared away some investors, calling it an opportunity to make money by betting on what he described as sound economic fundamentals. “The momentary fluff, the momentary dust that is in the air is just that – dust,” he told U.S. business broadcaster CNBC late on Wednesday, responding to a question about falling investment by citing strong growth and a low deficit.
Reuters also reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed on Thursday to Israeli politicians from his government and the opposition to keep protests at his judicial overhaul plan away from annual remembrances for slain soldiers and victims of militant attacks. Meanwhile, an organiser of the televised 75th Independence Day ceremony in Jerusalem that will follow Memorial Day next week said cameras would cut away from anyone trying to disrupt it.
All the Israeli media cover the latest statistics, published every year that in total of 24,213 Israelis have fallen in battle since 1860. A total of 59 have died since last Memorial Day, and 86 disabled veterans who died as a result of their disability have been recognised as fallen soldiers. A total of 4,255 civilians have been killed in terror attacks since 1851. A total of 31 civilians have been killed in terror attacks since last Memorial Day.
All the Israeli newspapers are dominated by concerns that next week’s Memorial Day ceremonies will be disrupted by protesters objecting to the presence of cabinet ministers. Israel Hayom quotes Defence Minister Gallant who wrote to MKs and government ministers urging them, “in the spirit of unity, to deliver stately and Zionist messages in their speeches at the cemetery memorial services that emphasise the State of Israel’s rise from the ashes and the value of partnership and unity alongside declarations of respect and admiration for the fallen and standing shoulder to shoulder with the bereaved families who paid the highest price of all.” He continued: “At this time, more than ever, we must send a unifying message to Israeli society. The fallen of Israel’s wars, [representing] every sector of the society and the nation, who gave their lives for this country, are buried in the military cemeteries. We are all aware of the public discourse for and against having elected officials participate in Memorial Day ceremonies and military cemeteries on this holy day.”
Israel Hayom also hails “a rare moment of unity a moment before the holy days,” with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defence Minister Gallant, Opposition Leader Lapid and National Unity Party leader Gantz having announced that they will sign a joint call to the public to make every effort to uphold the sanctity of Memorial Day. The paper also advanced the request made by memorial organisation Yad Lebanim, whose Chairman Eli Ben-Shem wrote: “Our beloved State of Israel is experiencing very difficult times. A deep rift, of a kind we have never known in our 75 years of independence, is tearing all of us from within, including us, the members of the bereaved families. I have no interest or outside motivating factors other than the moral duty to preserve the memories of the fallen on this holy day.”
Maariv cites the concerns of bereaved families in Beer Sheva who intend to protest the presence of Minister Ben Gvir, taking exception that he is an extremist that never served in the army. Similarly, Kan News reports that fifty bereaved families from Beer Sheva are planning to sing in protest during the time when Ben Gvir is scheduled to speak at the cemetery. The families issued a statement asking those who join the protest to refrain from using symbols of the movements opposing the judicial legislation or waving signs and flags. While Yediot Ahronot notes that security arrangements have been increased for the arrival of Ben Gvir, Justice Minister Levin, who will attend a memorial ceremony in Ofakim in the South, and Finance Minister Smotrich.
Likud’s Minister for Science Ofir Akunis told Channel 12 News, “I will not enter into a confrontation with bereaved families, if there is a request that I not speak at the ceremony, I will respect that.” In the interview, he also related to the talks at the President’s residence regarding the legal reform, where he praised Benny Gantz who has shown “an impressive national responsibility in recent months, I must point this out in the spirit of unity, we will reach a broad agreement at the president’s house.” The paper speculated if this was a message to Prime Minister Netanyahu to bring Gantz’s party into the government.
Haaretz covers the latest fatality from the Arab-Israeli community after unknown gunmen shot and killed Adir Wahib Ghanem, a 25-year-old resident of the village of Maghar in northern Israel who was the bodyguard of Taibe Mayor Shuaa Masarwa Mansour. The police investigation determined that three masked gunmen opened fire on Ghanem and critically injured him. He was pronounced dead in a hospital. To date this year, 49 people in Arab society have been murdered. This morning Kan News also reports that a young man believed to be 20 years old was fatally shot last night in the Shuafat refugee camp, located northeast of Jerusalem, in what was likely a criminal matter. Police entered the camp in order to investigate the circumstances of the incident.
Haaretz also includes comments by IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi making his first public remarks on the government’s plan to pass a law lowering the draft exemption age for the ultra-Orthodox. Halevi said, “The people’s army model has proven itself to have no substitute for 75 years. This is the secret to the IDF and the nation’s strength,” adding that “we will wear uniforms and leave differences outside the army so that Israeli citizens and youth will know we have one broad and strong common denominator – the security of the state.”