Clash of the titans

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has gotten on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s bad side. The leader of the Jewish state is enraged, outraged, and upset over his fellow party member’s recent speech in which he urged IDF officers to continue speaking their minds, even when their views do not fall in line with official government policy. That, at least, is the narrative the country’s main Hebrew-language papers attempt to promote, and the main headlines are sprinkled with loaded words such as “rift,” “rebuke,” and “tension” to describe the current state of affairs between the two statesmen.

Netanyahu summoned Ya’alon for a “clarification conversation” regarding the latter’s comments, which seemed to be a criticism of the prime minister and of his condemnation of recent political statements made by top IDF servicemen. But while officials at the Prime Minister’s Office stressed the talk was not a “reprimand,” nobody, not even Israel Hayom — considered all but a mouthpiece for the prime minister — buys that version. The sweeping dismissal of the officials’ statements suggests that the altercation between Ya’alon and Netanyahu is very real, and that the defense minister may have overstepped his bounds.

Ya’alon’s remarks Sunday were a veiled reference to comments made by Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan nearly two weeks ago, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, that seemed to liken “certain trends” in Israel to pre-Nazi Germany. Golan’s speech was fiercely criticized by Netanyahu.

Israel Hayom’s analysts and reporters paint Ya’alon as the villain, urging him and the IDF top brass to focus on security and refrain from discussing social issues. “IDF officers are not experts regarding topics of morality and society; they do not have the professional training for that,” writes Haim Shine, a frequent contributor to Israel Hayom. “Their feeling of togetherness doesn’t give them any superiority above any other citizen of the state.” Shine’s point, at least in this op-ed, is that security personnel should stick to security concerns, and not tread on other territories. Shine, it should be noted, however, has in the past on more than one occasion referred to the IDF as the “most moral army in the world.” In that light, it is curious how Shine believes the Israeli army came to be so exquisitely moral, as according to him IDF officers lack the proper skills to make ethical judgments.

In Yedioth Ahronoth, analyst Sima Kadmon explains that Ya’alon’s words to the army’s officers indicate that someone else, namely, Netanyahu, is trying to prevent them from speaking their minds. Kadmon determines that Ya’alon’s behavior indicates the defense minister has decided to stick to his principles, and to hell with the ramifications. These ramifications, according Kadmon, may amount to a removal of Ya’alon from the defense minister post. By highlighting the sacrifices Ya’alon may face for voicing his opinions, the center-left oriented Kadmon — and, by proxy, Yedioth at large — signals that she is warming up to the right-wing defense minister, perhaps because he has positioned himself as an opponent of Netanyahu. Or maybe, the paper is pushing Ya’alon to break with the Likud party, and indicating to him that the daily will have his back should he choose to do so.

The Netanyahu-Ya’alon affair leads Haaretz as well, but the paper focuses on a myriad of other reports as well.

Among the more interesting stories covered by the paper today is an upcoming vote by the student union at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to determine whether Orthodox Jewish women will be allowed to set up a separate space at the law faculty’s annual ball and dance alone, hidden from the eyes of their male classmates. The issue, as one student explains, is not isolated and should be viewed in context with other incidents that have taken place over the last years in Israel, such as a mass walkout of Orthodox army cadets during a performance by female soldiers. Those who oppose granting women a separate dance space claim the move would set a precedent and would further contribute to the religionization of the public sphere, thus harming secular society and its principles. On the other hand, those who are for the arrangement argue that the women are not harming anyone by choosing to express themselves separately from men, and that the point of the ball is for students to have fun, so why force them to act in a way that is not consistent with their religious worldview?

Finally, Yedioth gives its readers another reason to be excited over singer-songwriter and all-around epic performer Sir Elton John’s upcoming concert in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. According to the paper, the winner of Channel 2’s successful cooking show “Game of Chefs” will be awarded, among other prizes, the opportunity to cook the 69-year-old English performer a celebratory meal. The paper notes that the dinner will included five main courses comprising vegetarian dishes, Israeli-themed foods, meat, and fish, in accordance with Elton John’s preferences. The meal will also include four dessert plates, hot and cold. Hard to believe Elton John will still be standing after all that.