Critics divided over Netanyahu’s speech
PM’s planned address to Congress continues to make waves; Israel gets a taste of Argentinian-style justice; and Likud unveils its slogan
To speak or not to speak, that is the question. Or at least it is in Sunday’s Hebrew press.
The controversy surrounding Netanyahu accepting an invitation to speak before a joint session of the US Congress without telling Obama continues to rankle some in the press, while others rush to defend it.
Haaretz is decidedly against the speech, with its front page warning, “American sources: Netanyahu is playing politics at the expense of the relationship with America; Kerry was insulted.” Administration officials are especially incensed that Israel’s ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, met with Kerry for two hours on Tuesday and didn’t mention Bibi’s speech (which was announced the next day). This after Kerry made calls to world leaders to persuade them not to support the Palestinian’s bid to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
It’s not just politicians who are warning Israel about Bibi’s speech, but also military officials. Retired US Army Major General Paul D. Easton told Haaretz that he worries that Netanyahu’s move would hurt both countries. He said that the speech undermines both the president and the peace process negotiators. “This is a very tough negotiation, with significant mistrust on both sides. We need to do everything we can to prevent undermining our negotiators,” he said.
To get the other side of the story, one must only look at Netanyahu-friendly Israel Hayom. Its front page quotes a source in Netanyahu’s office: “It’s essential that the prime minister speaks to prevent a bad deal” on Iranian nukes. The source says that Israel’s security concerns trump the elections. “The speech is to Congress is a speech about diplomacy and security only,” the source said.
The paper also seems a bit hurt that Obama said he wouldn’t meet with Netanyahu when he arrives in Washington because the White House doesn’t want to interfere with the Israeli elections. But the paper points out that Obama met with British Prime Minister David Cameron (who is up for reelection in May) on January 16.
Columnist Dror Idar doesn’t have any qualms about the speech, saying it is “The right speech at the right time.” Idar calls Obama’s policy towards Iran “appeasement” and Netanyahu will go to Washington to speak the truth. Idar says that the Democrats’ losses in the mid-term elections show that Americans feel they don’t have a representative of the free world in the White House. “Netanyahu will stand in the House of Representatives and say things clearly to the American people,” he writes. He concludes with a quote from a user comment on a news site (see, we do read them!): “While the White House hopes to save face, Netanyahu hopes to save Israel (and the free world).”
Over in Yedioth Ahronoth, the paper has a short article about the speech but focuses its anti-Bibi message on the old “Bibi-tours” scandal/non-scandal. The paper quotes from a report released by the High Court of Justice alleging that the PM got special treatment due to his status, and that was the reason that a case was never brought against Bibi.The report blasts the prosecutors who handled the case and said they “proceeded with caution with Netanyahu.” One person who was interviewed in connection with the case said, “There was never any intention to open a real investigation.”
Argentine justice?
Israeli crime families seem to have taken a page from the Argentinian Intelligence Services (or whoever killed Alberto Nisman). Yedioth’s top story is the car bombing of a witness who was set to testify against the head of an Israeli crime family. “The witness is silenced forever,” reads the front page headline, and the paper fears that the case against the crime boss could now fall apart without the witness’s testimony.
While the police will undoubtedly be busy investigating the bombing, they will have one less person in charge. Israel Hayom reports on yet another top cop resigning because of an improper relationship with a female officer under his command. Kobi Cohen, police commander in Judea and Samaria, announced his resignation after being questioned for nine hours on Thursday about his relationship with a subordinate. Cohen is the fifth police commander to resign in recent years over inappropriate relationships.
It’s us or whom?
On the election front, it looks like the various Israeli-Arab parties have finally united under one list. Yedioth celebrates the news with a op-ed by journalist and author Nazir Majali which is printed side-by-side both in Hebrew and Arabic. In it, he writes that the united list is good for both Arabs and Jews because it enfranchises Israeli-Arab voters and Israel will have a real democracy where everyone takes part. As for Israeli-Arabs, they will finally have a unified list that will represent them in Knesset.
Likud voters still don’t know who will represent them in the Knesset, despite the fact the primaries were held at the end of December. Israel Hayom reports on the never-ending primaries as Tzipi Hotovely and Avi Dichter fight it out for the 20th spot on the list. The count was so tight that the Likud Central Committee has ordered a recount of all the primary ballots.
Meanwhile, Likud has released its campaign slogan, “It’s us or them” (the ‘them’ is referring to Zionist Camp’s Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni). As the paper points out, “The campaign is identical to the Zionist Camp’s slogan, ‘It’s us or him’” (the ‘him’ is Bibi). Stay tuned to find out if the other parties will be using the “it’s us or…” format.
