Gas-fed grief and police beef

Wednesday’s Hebrew papers remind us that ongoing crises never really go away no matter how much politicians might wish them away, with disagreements over the controversial gas deal and further scandal within Israel’s police force taking center stage, again.

When newly departed antitrust commissioner David Gilo said in December 2014 that he was considering breaking up the Noble-Delek partnership — a comment that led the companies to freeze development of the gas fields they had invested in — sources in the Prime Minister’s Office assessed that the issue would be resolved “within six weeks.”

Almost exactly a year later, and after countless delays, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to persuade the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee Tuesday of the virtues of the controversial gas deal, with still no clear end in sight.

“Rockets were fired on our power stations,” shouts the headline on the front page of the daily Israel Hayom, quoting one of Netanyahu’s reasons for the need to resolve the stalemate and thereby ensure a source of energy other than one threatened by missiles from Gaza.

The paper, often criticized for espousing overtly pro-Netanyahu positions, quotes long verbatim paragraphs of the prime minister explaining why the gas deal should be considered an issue of national security and therefore expedited.

Israel Hayom chief financial analyst Hezi Sternlicht questions the strong opposition expressed in Tuesday’s committee meeting, saying there are in fact relatively few MKs who do not agree with the deal.

“I think that no small number has been persuaded that the deal is the right thing for the Israeli market, but oppose the prime minister just because they thought they had to,” he said. “We have heard endless claims against the deal and had to suffer countless heated debates about its shortcomings. But in the end, we now have a deal that has had rigorous oversight by anyone’s standards. All that remains is to let the ship set sail and see if it stands up to expectations.”

Haaretz praises the prime minister for not using the committee as a press conference and presenting real policy considerations, but its financial editor Zvi Zrahiya says the debate was ultimately “a dialogue of the deaf.”

“Netanyahu was smiling and full of self-assurance. He prepared well for his committee appearance and throughout his remarks and in nearly all of his answers to committee members’ questions, he took pains to mention security and foreign policy considerations in approval of the policy plan, as they are the only grounds on which the law allows the economy minister to override the Antitrust Commission,” he said.

“But Netanyahu only answered the questions that he wanted to, although he insisted he was responding in full. He will not be deterred from proceeding with the plan.”

Yedioth Ahronoth gives less focus to the gas deal, featuring just a small box on its front page directing readers to the financial supplement. Nonetheless the modest-sized headline speaks volumes about the paper’s opinion of Netanyahu’s Knesset appearance.

“The gas is on its way to the High Court” focuses not on the prime minister’s lengthy deposition on the deal but on opposition leader Isaac Herzog’s comment to Army Radio after the debate, in which he declared the battle not yet over, and said he would now be challenging the deal in the courts.

Instead of gas, Yedioth leads its front page with hot air, featuring Israel’s police echelons claiming they are all lying about one another, in yet another controversy to hit the scandal-ridden force.

The story details a complicated web of blackmail, claiming former police chief Yohanan Danino was forced to appoint Roni Ritman, recently accused of sexual misconduct, to head the force’s special investigation unit because another senior officer was threatening to release information about Danino. That officer, Guy Nir, has now been suspended because of ostensibly separate claims against him.

The article inside the paper is titled “The unending scandal.”

Haaretz‘s coverage of the story looks at how newly appointed Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich is already having to deal with errant behavior by his senior officers.

“The internal committee established to look into Nir’s conduct recently submitted its preliminary findings to Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich. The findings, which indicate that Nir may have committed disciplinary offenses, prompted Alsheich to put Nir on forced leave,” the paper reports.

Israel Hayom’s Dan Margalit, a long time critic of the police’s handling of its internal crises, suggests Alsheich use the scandal to send a clear message to his senior officers.

“I propose that they all be removed,” he says, referring to those involved in this particular scandal. “They may not all be guilty of misconduct but none of them have worked to fix the problems in the police. Alsheich should get them all out of the force, then work to get to the bottom of the claims in order to prevent this again.”