Red yawn: 6 things to know for December 19

1. Russian dolls: Some newspapers have brave war correspondents who dodge mortars and landmines to bring readers stories happening on the front lines. Some have reporters who make strange and magical journeys, to Antarctica, deep inside secret societies or to a decrepit castle in the heart of a Delhi jungle, and come back to tell readers the tales of their adventures.

• And then there is Yedioth Ahronoth’s brave correspondent Itamar Eichner, who barely survived being stuck in a Moscow airport for several hours on Wednesday, part of a tit-for-tat diplomatic struggle being waged unbeknownst to him and some 45 other passengers held up.
• “It feels like a kind of ambush,” reads the massive headline on the paper’s lead story, splashed in giant letters and promising an exclusive.
• What follows is an in-depth account of the Kafkaesque situation in which the Israeli group is questioned by cops, though “it seemed the cops, most of them young, didn’t understand what they were questioning us for.”
• The story, as it turns out, is connected to a meeting scheduled for Thursday in which Moscow is expected to complain to Israel about Russians being turned away at the airport, and the sides will also discuss jailed backpacker Naama Issachar.
• “Were we pawns in a diplomatic game being waged between Israel and Russia? Possibly. But one thing is clear, Israel-Russia relations have hit a new low and I and 46 other Israelis paid the price,” he writes, placing his being held up at an airport as a more serious crisis than actual deadly spats between the two countries over Syria and Egypt.

2. Dr. Zhiva-go away: Israel Hayom’s Eldad Beck, who was also among those detained but does not make a federal case out of it, is less equivocal.

• “The message to Israelis: You are not wanted in Russia,” he writes.
• Haaretz also states that the detentions were a “message” ahead of the yearly meeting between the country’s diplomatic staffs.
• According to the paper, the issue has been simmering for some time, but Israel says that it allows in thousands and only rejects people if it has a reason to do so.
• “According to the authority, sources familiar with the data said that among the Russian nationals barred entry to Israel were asylum seekers and work immigrants, adding that Russian citizens, whose tourist visa expired, are currently residing illegally in Israel,” the paper reports.
• It also notes that Foreign Minister Israel Katz brought up Issachar and the airport barring at a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Rome.
• Kan quotes a Russian diplomat complaining that Moscow is not only annoyed at the high numbers of people turned away but also how they are treated, though the source denies any connection between the detentions in Russia and those being turned away in Israel.
• The outlet says Russians have “received claims from tourists of being yelled at, and sometimes interrogated, at times without a translator.”

3. Not quite a Moscow mule: Yedioth’s Eichner notes that at the end of his questioning he was asked to sign a statement, but refused because it was in Russian. They eventually let him go without signing, but it could be backpacker Naama Issachar was not as savvy.

• “I didn’t know I signed a statement of guilt,” reads the top headline on Channel 12 news’s website.
• Walla’s account of the case changes her quote slightly to accuse Russians of forging the confession.
• “She returned to court … and claimed that she does not understand what she did, does not know the language and that her previous lawyer misled her and forged her confession.”
• The site says that Issachar is also claiming that Russians saw the drugs in her bag and compelled her to go through passport control so she could be accused of smuggling.
• Issachar’s case is at the top of most Hebrew news pages as her hearing is going on Thursday afternoon, garnering wide attention in the press.
• How much of a cause celebre has she become? The religious Srugim website includes a section asking readers to say Psalms on her behalf.

4. Whoa, Naama: Israeli authorities may not be doing her much better. Days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to return her, officials close to him are walking back the vow slightly.

• “He meant to say that he’s committed to bringing her home. It will take time,” Yedioth quotes someone near him saying.
• Channel 13 news reports that the sources are trying to “lower expectations.”
• Asked about the comments, Issachar’s mom Yaffa remains mum: “Netanyahu said it confidently and decisively, and that was that for me. I’m optimistic about tomorrow. Beyond that, I’m not going to speak about what his spokesman said,” she tells the channel.

5. Better lawyer up: Battles are still being waged in the press over state attorney pick Orly Ginsberg Ben-Ari.

• Pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom splashes “The prosecution is not your private courtyard,” as its top headline, quoting from Justice Minister Amir Ohana.
• Columnist Pinhas Marinsky writes that the High Court that froze her appointment is on shaky ground and should watch its step and “be extra careful” about making sure it is objective.
• The paper also complains about the fact that outgoing prosecutor Shai Nitzan did not mention Ohana or Ginsberg Ben-Ari once in his 30-minute speech.
• Haaretz’s lead editorial mentions Ohana and says he is the one that should step back and be careful to try to restore public trust to the system.
• “If Ohana is truly motivated solely by professional considerations and wants to reduce the level of public suspicion, he would do well to withdraw the controversial appointment, avoid the legal drama it will generate and choose one of the candidates proposed by Mandelblit. This would be a confidence-building move restoring stability to the judicial system and the relationship between the justice minister and the attorney general.”

6. Someone to run against: There is also electoral drama still swirling around, especially surrounding Likud ahead of its leadership primary.

• Both Netanyahu and challenger Gideon Sa’ar have claimed Blue and White supports their rival. To Israel Hayom’s Mati Tuchfeld, it is not a question. “Blue and White’s dilemma, how to help Sa’ar without hurting him,” reads a headline on an article by him.
• “The choice of Saar at the top of Likud would open new horizons for Benny Gantz that were blocked with Netanyahu there,” he notes.
• Yedioth Ahronoth, which has been pumping up its upcoming interview with Sa’ar and his journalist wife Geula Even-Saar, reports that Shas head Aryeh Deri is throwing his weight behind Netanyahu big time.
• The paper reports that the party has come out with a campaign under the slogan “Aryeh needs a strong Bibi,” which is pretty close to what it had before, only now if the party chooses Sa’ar it will be up Shas creek.
• Doubling down, the party on Thursday unveils a giant billboard on the side of a building at the entrance to Jerusalem showing Deri and Netanyahu side by side.
• Democratic Camp MK Stav Shaffir tells Army Radio she will run as her own party in the March 2 election, after a nasty split with Meretz. The former Labor MK and protest leader says her yet-to-be-named party will “sit in any government that respects its values, including that of Likud,” she says, though she rejects teaming up with Netanyahu.
• “He has corrupted the system,” she says.