Teetering on the edge of an intifada

With the building tensions and riots in Jerusalem over the past week, Tuesday’s editions of Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth both see dark clouds on the political horizon. But over in Israel Hayom, there is a more existential threat to deal with.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s front page features a quote from a Palestinian protester in Jerusalem, “One more death will ignite an intifada.” Yedioth’s reporter meets with a few of the demonstrators who explain the situation from their point of view. One tells the paper, “It’s like a ticking time bomb here [in East Jerusalem]. The people here feel they’re being pushed up against a wall, one step at a time.”

Another told the paper, “The Jews came to us and live in our neighborhoods and not the opposite, so what do you expect we do, sit and be quiet? Israel is providing the reason for terror.”

For its top story, Haaretz strays outside of Jerusalem, but not far. It reports that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has requested that the Defense Ministry explain why Palestinians are being banned from some Israeli buses in the West Bank. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said, “The directive was issued but no military source has said that Palestinian travel on buses is a security risk; rather, he [Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon] caved to pressure from the settlers.”

Underneath its top story, Haaretz returns to Jerusalem with an article about how the United States had some harsh words for the most recent building announcement. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said of the recent announcement, “Moving forward with this sort of action would be incompatible with the pursuit of peace.” The European Union isn’t happy either, as the paper reports the EU has requested clarification on the announcement, but said if true, the building would be “ill-judged and ill-timed.”

While the EU and US are criticizing Israeli policy, and Jerusalem may be teetering on an outbreak of violence, Israel Hayom focuses on an entirely different topic: itself. It has been a few months since the paper attacked a possible Knesset bill that would outlaw free newspapers, but as the bill may be brought to a vote as soon as Wednesday, the paper goes on the full offensive. “They want to take away your newspaper,” reads the article headline. The paper describes how Knesset member Eitan Cabel said that he was considering bringing the bill to a vote early, bypassing committee and going straight to the Knesset for a vote.

In an op-ed, Gonen Ginat attempts to embarrass Cabel by calling him out for praising Israel Hayom when he needed the paper’s help in 2011, but now his tune has changed. Ginat writes sarcastically that “the time has come to sing the praises of the legal thinker, philosopher, revolutionary and ground-breaking MK Eitan Cabel” and to that end, the paper includes five identical pictures of Cabel smiling. Ginat also writes that they will be handing out pictures of him so that every family in Israel can know his face.

In the second half of the piece, Ginat ditches the sarcasm and goes on the attack. “Here is a representative of the public who spits on the will of the public,” he writes and adds, “Here we fight against higher prices and he wants you, the reader, to spend more money.”

Back in session

While there is tension on the streets of Jerusalem, the opening of the winter session of the Knesset also displayed some classic political tension. Yedioth splits its coverage in half with Bibi on one side, and opposition leader Isaac Herzog on the other. “I’m not a prime minister who says ‘it’ll be ok,’” the paper quotes from Netanyahu’s Knesset speech. In the speech, he also talked about the possibility of peace, saying “Israel will not agree to a Palestinian state that doesn’t recognize us as the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

Herzog criticized Netanyahu for being “out of touch.” Herzog laid it on thick when it came to the budget, saying, “this budget is yours, Prime Minister. A budget that the government under your control approved… the problem with the budget is the decisions you made will be paid by our children, paid in the rent of our citizens, and by the high cost of living for all of us.”

If that wasn’t enough drama coming out of the Knesset, Israel Hayom reports that a bill aimed at easing the process of converting to Judaism passed its first reading, setting it on a path to become law. The bill, sponsored by Eliezer Stern of Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party, had some recent problems as Netanyahu recently withdrew his support for it. The bill would give municipal rabbis the power to establish conversion courts, giving potential converts more options. Stern said of the bill, “Thousands of Israelis will soon be able to convert to Judaism in a considerate and respectful manner. This [bill] is a correction of a moral and ethical failure.”

Finally, Haaretz’s editorial takes a moment to offer praise for President Reuven Rivlin and his visit on Sunday to Kafr Kassem. The paper writes that his presence at the village’s memorial event was a “worthy contribution toward healing the rift between Arab society and the State of Israel.” It also praises Rivlin’s comments during the opening Knesset session where he said that over the summer Israel was able to unite against external threats, but “unfortunately spent a lot of time marking internal ones.” The paper concludes by saying that Rivlin’s words should serve as a reminder that “there isn’t a contradiction between being a member of the right and the obligation to demonstrate respect and equality for minorities.”