Oct 18: Arab poverty on the rise, Barak’s problems

Oct 18: Arab poverty on the rise, Barak's problems

The Headlines: Guilt and Innocence

> The State Attorney has decided not to retroactively acquit Margalit Harshefi, who was convicted for knowing in advance about the intention to assassinate Prime Minister Rabin in 1995, and doing nothing to stop it. Influential columnist Nahum Barnea suggests reopening the whole issue: what was the role of hard-right leaders and rabbis in the incitement that preceded the murder? (Yedioth)

> Pressure is mounting to reopen the investigation against Defense Minister Barak (Labor) for employing an illegal migrant. The case was closed, supposedly because the migrant could not be found. However, yesterday, she was interviewed by an Israeli radio station, and is clearly traceable, raising concerns that Barak received favorable treatment from the authorities. Making his conduct more egregious is the fact that the Knesset will soon vote on a government bill to stiffen the penalties on employers of illegal migrants (Yedioth).

> A new report on poverty reveals: wage gaps in Israel are extremely high, in comparison to EU countries; half of its Arab citizens report that they were forced to consume less food because of economic difficulties. Social advocacy groups call for government action to tackle this problem.

> Netanyahu has refused to renew the settlement “freeze”, and construction has indeed picked up since it lapsed last month. However, he is still delaying approval to the construction of 1,300 apartments in East Jerusalem, and 3,600 apartments in the rest of the West Bank (Yedioth).

The Sidelines: Gaza War II – Lesson Unlearned

> Israel’s incoming Chief of Staff, Yoav Galant, warns that if Hamas kidnaps another Israeli soldier (they have been holding Gilad Shalit for over four years), the response will be on an even larger scale than the Gaza war that took place two year ago (Yedioth). Netanyahu confirmed that indirect negotiations with Hamas, regarding Shalit’s release, have been resumed.

> The father of a severely disabled Druze soldier, injured during the Gaza war, claims that bureaucratic pettiness over needed renovations has delayed his son’s return home from the hospital (Yedioth).

> The Director of Mossad has managed to prevent an external investigation of a “significant security affair”. Censorship does not allow the newspaper to report what this “affair” was, but it clearly hints it refers to the assassination of a Hamas terrorist in Dubai (Ma’ariv). The assassins’ use of foreign passports has harmed Israel’s diplomatic relations.

> President Peres cancelled a visit to Morocco, because the King refuses to meet him. The likely reason: Israel’s declining international standing, particularly in the Arab world.

> British film director Mike Lee cancelled his visit to Israel because of the proposed loyalty oath bill, and the Gaza flotilla.

> The settlement of Tapu’ach, long identified with the Jewish supremacist Kahanist movement, and home to murderous Jewish terrorists, is undergoing a makeover [Heb], trying to shed its extremist image and attract new residents.

> Holocaust survivors who endured forced labor are finally receiving compensation from the German government (Yedioth).

> An 81-year old holocaust survivor is trying, so far in vein, to get back from “Yad Vashem” a journal written by her cousin (who was killed by the Nazis) that she recovered after the war (Ha’aretz).

> The grandson of a holocaust survivor is finding [Heb] it very hard to marry in Israel. Jews can only marry through the Chief Rabbinate, an official state agency controlled by ultra-orthodox rabbis. They have a tendency of making it very hard for relatively recent immigrants to prove that they are Jews. Without such proof they cannot marry. In this specific cases, they sent the intended groom to Yad Vashem, talked to his mother on the phone in Germany, and even wanted the names of the people who rescued her during the holocaust.

> Senior ultra-orthodox Rabbis adamantly refuse [Heb] to allow closer inspection of their state-funded schools. They particularly object to attempts to impose a “core curriculum”, which includes subjects such as English and mathematics.

> The policy of building apartments for the ultra-orthodox in peripheral regions, including areas lacking relevant jobs, could deepen the already severe underemployment in that sector.

> The Yisrael Beitenu Party’s rhetoric against Israeli Arabs, and its increasing endorsement by the government, are boosting extremism and alienation from the state among them.

> With relatively modest resources, it would be possible [Heb] to significantly increase the labor market participation of Arab women, which is currently abysmally low.

> A fascinating profile of a British woman who married a Bedouin, and lives in his community in the Negev, working to elevate women’s rights and animal rights, while being fiercely loyal to the Bedouin community and its interests (Yedioth, 24 Hours).

> A Knesset committee approved a bill that would equate benefits to widowers with benefits to widows (Yedioth, Mamon).

> A rabbi and head of a charity criticizes budget cuts to the poorest municipalities (Ma’ariv, Hamagazin).

> Non-profits in Israel are increasingly funded by the government, thus losing their independence and ability to criticize official policy (TheMarker).

> Several groups are re-launching a campaign to reduce the level of co-payments in Israel’s health system.

> Two thirds of Israeli schools have no gyms [Heb].

> The State Comptroller will review [Heb] the issue of drilling license allocations.

> Exports are plummeting [Heb] due to the rising Sheqel.

> A kibbutz will not remove [Heb] one of its members, accused by another member of pedophilia and rape.

The Bottom Lines: Gentiles are not Welcome Here

> Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the gaffe-prone spiritual leader of Shas (an ultra-orthodox Sephardic party) thinks [Heb] that the gentiles’ only purpose is to serve Jews.

> The chairman of his party, Interior Minister Eli Yishay, has granted [Heb] citizenship to a South-African Jew, serving a prison sentence in Thailand for drug offences. This is the same Eli Yishay who will not rest until every migrant child in Israel is deported.

> A 23-year old migrant, who has live in Israel since the age of 4, cannot get residency status [Heb] because the Interior Ministry demands to see his birth certificate, which cannot be traced. Because of that, this young man cannot legally work, has no ID and no health insurance.

> A disabled refugee from the genocide in Darfur cannot be rehabilitated [Heb] because he is not eligible for medical services.