Bummer and avarice

Forget Bummer and Lazarus, the two 19th century dogs beloved for their rat chasing ability. Hebrew papers Tuesday feature the twin curs of bum raps and greedy goings on. In fact, there’s more raw deals than a kosher sushi joint in the Hebrew-language press, though the papers each focus on different supposedly bad turns of events.

In Yedioth Ahronoth, which has been pushing out all the bad news it can about the housing market lately as part of its anti-Netanyahu campaign, the fact that one out of every six new Israeli homes is being built across the Green Line is the cause of much protestation.

Haaretz focuses on the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, rendered even more powerless by an “unprecedented” electricity cut by the Israeli power company.

And Israel Hayom leaves no room for doubt about how it feels about an agreement coming together between the US and Iran, calling it a “bad deal” on its front page without even pretending it’s not taking an editorial stance on the issue.

The paper also describes the agreement, which would see a freeze in enrichment for 10 years (though Israel Hayom misreports it as five), followed by ramped up activity, as “America folding,” and reports that Israeli officials are not hiding their worry over the news.

“The deal that’s coming together now is a great danger to peace in the Western world, and threatens the security of the State of Israel,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon is quoted saying.

The paper’s Boaz Bismuth gets in on the action too, tooting his paper’s horn for being the only one to report on how bad the deal was all along (never mind that they were just assuming the deal was bad most of the time) and looking at how Iran is treated vs. Israel’s place as America’s greatest regional ally.

“It’s already been said that in the age of [US President Barack] Obama, its preferable to be an enemy of America, and it seems it’s even better to be an enemy who is also an ayatollah,” he writes. Elsewhere in the paper, Rueven Barko doffs a Purim theme, comparing Obama to the bumbling King Ahashverosh, who doesn’t realize he’s been taken in by his evil Persian vizier.

In Haaretz, Zvi Barel takes a somewhat sunnier view of the deal, calculating that it’s pretty much wrapped up but for a few loose ends and writing that the sides now have to each figure out how to present it back home as a victory, which it could be. While Iran makes bombastic statements about its respect and interests, “The ‘marketing’ problem also presents itself to the American government, which will be forced to get approval from Congress, calm Israel and embark on a new relationship with Iran,” he writes. “Some of the clauses already have an answer to this dilemma, like the presence in Iran of an intrusive oversight regime, much more than what is demanded by the nuclear proliferation treaty it’s already signed to.”

Lights out

Haaretz is more concerned, though, with goings on closer to home, specifically along the energy front. The paper continues its muckraking into the massive oil spill in the south months ago and the secretive company and even more secretive agreements that allow it to operate the Eilat-Ashdod pipeline.

According to Haaretz, then-finance minister Yair Lapid extended the term of the company’s CEO by two years just weeks before the spill, a move that allowed people connected to Lapid’s Yesh Atid party to keep working in outside positions for the pipeline firm.

The broadsheet also points to the Israel Electric Company’s decision to cut off some Palestinian areas from power over an unpaid debt. While the move was not coordinated with the government, the paper sees Jerusalem as being at fault for leaving the power company high and dry and refusing to deal with the issue vis-à-vis Ramallah.

An official is quoted saying IEC turned to the government several times, but were just told to sit tight over the NIS 2 billion debt.

“Although the electric corporation has been warning about the rising Palestinian debt for almost two years, the PMO and government ministries have not entertained the options of covering the debt or waiving the debt. Every time the electric corporation threatened to cut the power flow, the PMO has simply responded that this was a diplomatic matter and that it would not allow such a move,” the paper reports.

Now, after the cut raised a firestorm, will an emergency meeting finally be held.

Yedioth is hoping its front page story, on housing going up over the Green Line, will also jolt Jerusalem into action, or at least jolt the electorate into voting for regime change.

The tabloid reports that plans are under way for 48,000 new units to go up in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, not to mention 15,000 units planned for Jewish areas of East Jerusalem, versus 279,000 units for the rest of the country.

“The Housing Ministry under Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) has prepared a beautiful present for the prime minister on the eve of his trip to Washington,” Nahum Barnea writes, dripping with sarcasm.

The report comes two days before the expected release of a report from the state ombudsman on the government’s inability to rein in the housing crisis, which the paper has been touting as the next big thing since last week’s report on the prime minister’s spending.

Poor Bibi and creepy neighbors

Not that the Netanyahus’ spending report has been forgotten. Yedioth is one of a number of outlets to jump on the TV expose from a day earlier that the Netanyahus tried to get the state to pay for renovations to their private mansion in Caesarea. Benny Keren, the contractor who did the work, and who the report is based on, is quoted recalling a conversation he had with Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife.

“I sat with her next to the pool, and what did she say? That the prime minister makes NIS 13,000 a month, and is on a salary, and they are not rich enough to pay like their friends. And so she told me ‘I’m paying you because the government didn’t pay – but the state will pay. They have to.”

The paper also quotes a spokesperson for the Netanyahus protesting their innocence and calling the claims “lies and gossip.”
One place you won’t find that story is Israel Hayom, which instead reports that Ezra Saidoff, the official in charge of the Netanyahu’s assets, who also sought to have the state pay for work to the manor, claims he saved the state money.

The tabloid also reports on a claim against Menny Naftali, the disgruntled custodian leading a legal battle against the Netanyahus for abuses, that a neighbor saw him bringing crates of all sorts of goodies, like cleaning supplies, to his in-laws, the implication being that the crates were filled with goods stolen from the Prime Minister’s Residence. “I used to stand by the window of my house and see Mr. Naftali and the goods that were in the crates that he would carry, some to his brother-in-law, and some to his sister-in-law,” the creepy neighbor spy is quoted saying.

In Haaretz’s op-ed page, Uzi Baram tries out a bit of reverse psychology, telling the prime minister everything he wants to hear in the most sarcastic way possible.

“Go, Bibi, go, even though you know your trip harms Israeli interests. Go, and don’t listen to those who think you should stay home. Because how will you look? Like a responsible Israeli leader, or a coward fleeing the battlefield? Go, Bibi, go, and prove to those who want you to present an economic and social agenda that such an agenda is worthless. The people aren’t interested; the people’s eyes are on you and the Republican Congress. Go, because then your opponents won’t dare to raise social or economic issues,” he writes. “Go, Bibi, go, because in your heart you hope that all your problems will be solved with one moving televised appearance in Congress. Go, Bibi, go, so that when you return, you’ll understand that not everyone is deaf, dumb and blind. Go, Bibi. Stand tall, and make us feel small.”