Out of comptrol

The deep link between Israeli patriotism, military service and society is on full display Tuesday morning, the day after medals of honor were handed out to 67 soldiers for their conduct during the summer war with Gaza.

The somewhat jingoistic coverage is balanced, though, by the news that the state comptroller will release a report detailing possible criminal activities in the management of the Prime Minister’s Residence. That story finds itself on all three main front pages, with Haaretz the only paper to put the story front and center.

Both Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel Hayom run nearly identical A1 headlines on the medal ceremony (“In salute”) along with pictures of army brass and newly decorated soldiers, though Yedioth doubles down by employing a rare and festive sideways configuration, usually reserved for weekend papers and massive news.

Inside, both papers are also nearly indistinguishable, with laudatory text accompanied by large photos of people saluting and cheering at the glitzy awards ceremony in each.

In Yedioth, Yossi Yehoshua waxes grateful for the soldiers’ work over the summer, writing that their prowess and bravery on the battlefield showed them to be much more than “spoiled” youths.

And as for the soldiers who controversially ran into a Hamas tunnel to try and rescue the body of a comrade, Yehoshua writes that they and their Givati Brigade, which has suffered harsh criticism over a series of scandals, was finally able to bask in the warming glow of appreciation for their action.

“Proud of them all, as if he was talking about his own sons, was Givati Brigade commander Ofer Winter, who gave the young officer the okay to go into the tunnel. Winter absorbed no small amount of criticism since the fighting ended, not always justly, but yesterday he could be proud of himself. Thirteen of the soldiers who received citations were under him, and even the Tzabar unit of dismissed Lt. Col. Liran Hajabi got an award from the GOC Southern Command. Thus Givati became the most decorated unit of Protective Edge.”

Where Yedioth and Israel Hayom branch off though, is coverage of the upcoming comptroller report, surrounding the hubbub over the so-called Bottlegate (or Bottleghazi, take your pick) scandal regarding possibly pocketed bottle return deposits.

While Yedioth gleefully highlights the criminal suspicions hinted at by watchdog Yosef Shapira, Israel Hayom focuses on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lackluster response, namely that he will respond once the report comes out.

The tabloid’s Haim Shine, a staunch defender of Netanyahu, writes that the media’s obsession with the scandals surrounding the way the residence is run and its spending reminds him of a carnival game where you try to knock down bottles to get a prize (see what he did there, bottles and bottles?), and alleges that after they failed to fell the Netanyahus, the media went after the comptroller and attorney general in a bid to force their hand against the prime minister.

“Without blinking or hesitating, the media accused them of foot-dragging, feebleness and idleness,” he writes. “And indeed, in a short time, the comptroller found his agility and announced he would release the report, exactly a month before elections. The timing is puzzling by all accounts, since these things took place years ago. Yet the rule of law is above all, and thus a basic and deep probe is needed. Thus it is important that the knights of the rule of law in the media, prophets of human respect, scholarship and the presumption of innocence allow a fair, serious and responsible investigation, which will clear once and for all the cloud the media has thrown into the air.”

If the media is obsessed with Netanyahu, then it’s fair to say that the Netanyahus are equally obsessed with the media, at least according to a front page expose in Haaretz which finds that state funds are being used for the Netanyahus to keep close tabs on what is being reported on them.

The paper reports that the state public diplomacy office, which keeps track of how Israel is being portrayed in the media, was ordered in 2011 to focus on coverage of Netanyahu’s personal life, including his wife Sara and his kids.

“In addition to the main current affairs programs, you must always look out for items relevant to us, even during programs considered ‘entertainment’!” a document obtained by Haaretz reads. “Often, there are personal items about the prime minister’s family that are more important than any informative report that appears in the news reports or any other current affairs program!”

Debate club

As happens every time elections roll around, Yedioth reports on efforts to get the main candidates together for a live debate, a feat that hasn’t been managed since 1999, when Netanyahu debated politician Yitzhak Mordechai (though both ended up losing to Labor’s Ehud Barak).

The paper writes that the drive is being pushed by world debate champ Yoni Cohen Idov, who has lined up a location and even has Zionist Camp head Isaac Herzog on board. But Netanyahu, as in years past, has declined to respond to his request. “We are the bosses of the 120 people who represent us and work for us, we pay their salaries,” Idov tells the paper. “Has anyone ever heard of somebody who wants to get a job and refuses to answer questions to his boss about his work?”

With a Haaretz poll published in Tuesday’s paper showing Likud inching ahead of the Zionist Camp, Netanyahu may have the most to lose by trying to engage in a public debate. The broadsheet’s Yossi Verter, though, wonders whether the scandals rocking the house of Netanyahu won’t take their toll on his party’s numbers and tries to figure out why they haven’t already.

“There are two possible explanations for this. One is that the affair hasn’t yet penetrated the collective consciousness and, once it does, it will then influence public opinion,” he writes. “The other is that the excessive media coverage of the issue, to which Likud has responded with a fairly effective strategy of crying persecution on one hand and lashing out at the media on the other, has caused Netanyahu’s base – right-wing voters who hate the hostile media – to rally around him.”

Don’t look for election coverage on Israel Hayom’s op-ed page, unless you count a cartoon showing the campaign devolving into rats diving into a lake of garbage. Instead pen jockeys take a world tour of woe, from worrisome Iran, to worrisome Greece to worrisome Egypt. There, Reuven Barko charges the US of being apathetic or worse to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s fight against Islamist terror.

“Despite what is happening in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has yet to be blacklisted in Europe or the US. Leaders still believe they are a legitimate political movement, with the knowledge that they carry out terror in the ‘new Mideast’ and this despite the fact that many Arab countries have outlawed the group and its subsidiaries. Arab countries, unlike the West, well understand Arabic,” he writes. “This fact raises the suspicion that the US has lost interest in our region, has resigned itself to the takeover by radical Islam and is sacrificing its allies in the region.”