A not topsy-turvy day

A year ago (on the Hebrew calendar) a soldier named Elor Azaria showed up at the scene of a Hebron stabbing attack and shot a wounded assailant dead, setting off a weird and terrible trip for himself, the state, and countless others.

In the 12 months since then, things have just seemingly gotten stranger and stranger. Losers like Cleveland, the Cubs, and Israel’s baseball team, became winners; a loudmouthed magnate found himself in the White House; the two-state solution got a question mark added to it; bomb threats at Jewish centers in the US became de riguer, every celebrity died, “fake news” became a thing, “La La Land” won the Oscar for “Best Picture,” and on and on.

It has gotten to the point that on the one day things are supposed to be turned upside down, everything suddenly seems to flipped backside right up, at least for now.

So as Israelis are dressing up in all manner of costume, getting drunk and otherwise celebrating the holiday of Purim, the news is filled with things being how one might think they should be. This includes that selfsame US president calling Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and making an opening gambit for peace negotiations, as US presidents do, and a health system being put back on its feet, both of which dominate the news agenda in Sunday morning’s Hebrew language papers.

That’s not to say that everything is totally right side up. Haaretz, reporting on the phone call between Donald Trump and Abbas, notes that it was only 10 minutes long, according to Palestinian sources, and that not much of substance was discussed, but Ramallah took heart anyway.

“It was a preliminary conversation meant to break the ice,” a source is quoted saying. “Trump didn’t talk about one state or two states or a specific arrangement, nor about the embassy issue. These details will come up in talks with the professional teams and perhaps in a meeting between the two at the White House. What’s important is that this conversation was the White House’s initiative, and for us that’s a pretty clear message that President Abbas is a partner and that the Palestinian issue is at the top of the agenda of Trump and his staff.”

Yedioth Ahronoth uses sources from the White House to report on movement toward a possible regional peace conference – with Trump himself possible making a visit to the region to help it along.

“According to those close [to the White House], Trump told his advisers that if they tie up loose ends and they make sure that the conference won’t just be bombastic but also will lead to practical results – he is prepared to come to the Middle East to take part in it. The White House is attempting to gauge the possibility of adding the Saudis to the conference, whom the American president sees as important partners,” the paper reports. “The White House is also looking into an alternative of making do with a tripartite meeting between Trump [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Abbas, where they will announce the opening of direct talks between the sides, with the US working closely alongside them. This option is being worked on by Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner, who is trying to reach agreements with the sides to ensure success.”

Israel Hayom buries the story, and in what little it has, plays up Trump appearing to cotton to the Israeli position by saying direct talks are the only way forward, and also includes a smattering of vox politician, including from minister Ze’ev Elkin, who has some specific requests of Trump when Abbas comes calling.

“I hope that during the visit of Abbas to Washington the US president will be heard making a unmistakable demand to halt anti-Israel incitement, to stop the war against Israel in international bodies, and to cancel payouts to terrorists and the anti-Semitic law levying the death penalty on anyone who sells land to Jews,” he’s quoted saying.

What the paper does play up – aside from a two-page package of Purim party pabulum – is an exclusive on a Health Ministry plan meant to cut down on waiting times for surgery.

Basing its report on what it calls an “unprecedented” draft of new rules to be published in a Health Ministry circular, the paper reports that officials believe the long lines have an easy solution which are not being implemented, thus causing health problems to worsen. To solve the problem, a new system will force hospitals to schedule procedures within a certain number of days, or pay for the patient to be transferred to a hospital that can accommodate them sooner.

The paper reports, though, that the Finance Ministry still has to look over the new rules, which may not be realistic cost-wise.

“The logic of the new rules is very nice and very impressive, but the rules are populist and can’t be implemented without a significant increase in budgets for public hospitals,” one hospital officials is quoted telling the paper.

The straits that hospitals already find themselves in has been brought to the fore over the last week by a crisis in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center, where the entire senior staff of a pediatric cancer ward quit over the fact that the hospital was combining the ward with the adult unit, which the hospital said was necessary because of a lack of beds.

Yedioth reports that coming to the rescue is a rich anonymous donor identified only as a “well known businessman” who offered the hospital $1 million. The hospital, though, proved that beggars can be choosers.

“After management claimed they needed more money to add the needed amount of beds to allow the continued functioning of the pediatric ward, the donor responded that he would donate up to $1 million to add 8-12 beds,” the paper reports. “His only condition: the medical staff that handed in their resignations last week stay in the ward and don’t leave.”

The paper adds that the unit head has already been replaced, but efforts are being made to keep the other five senior doctors on board given the offer.

As mentioned before, much of the topsy-turviness of the last year was sports-related and that was somewhat punctuated by a crazy last-second comeback by Barcelona FC in the UEFA Champions League last week. Haaretz’s Amir Oren uses the game as a jumping-off point, writing in the paper’s op-ed page that while in soccer, as in much else, one team’s miraculous victory is another’s tragic loss, in statesmanship, the goal is for both sides to win – a tie – something that Trump is already struggling with.

“The chances for that right now are down 2-0, thanks to two own-goals in the Trump and his diplomatic mission to Israel tournament. With his ascendancy to the presidency, Trump was left stuck with two campaign promises – the promise to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem and the commitment to nominate David Friedman as ambassador. Friedman is about to be approved; but Trump is unlikely to be happy [on the other count] since if he doesn’t move the embassy, it will damage trust in him, but if he makes good on his hasty promise, he’ll risk regional instability.”