Israel media review

The mission and the madness: 10 things to know for May 14

Monday is expected to see new heights of Trump love and new heights of violent protests along the Gaza border as the US embassy makes Jerusalem its home

By Joshua Davidovich 14 May 2018, 2:24 pm
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Joshua Davidovich is The Times of Israel's Deputy Editor

An American flag flowerbed planted next to the compound of the US consulate in Jerusalem, which will host the new US embassy on May 13, 2018, AFP PHOTO / Ahmad GHARABLI
An American flag flowerbed planted next to the compound of the US consulate in Jerusalem, which will host the new US embassy on May 13, 2018, AFP PHOTO / Ahmad GHARABLI

1. Call it showing respect or call it brown-nosing, but official Israel’s love affair with US President Donald Trump is reaching its apex Monday with the official dedication of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

  • On paper at least, it looks like all of Israel is united in feting the US president and his historic move planned for Monday afternoon, with Jerusalem’s Beitar soccer team adding “Trump” to its name only the tip of the iceberg.
  • Philoamericanism seems everywhere, including the red, white and blue projected on Jerusalem’s Old City’s walls and displayed on the front page of Israel Hayom, recalling the fealty of the city to past emperors.
  • Dr. Miriam Adelson, whose casino mogul husband Sheldon owns the paper, calls Trump “the Truman of our days” in a column published in both the Israeli paper and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, also owned by her husband.
  • The Jerusalem Post runs a full page ad on page 1, though it’s not clear from whom. “Promises made, promises kept. Thank you, Mr. President, Your friends…” reads the ad, in front of a picture of Trump flashing two thumbs up.
  • Even Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai is getting hyped up about the embassy leaving his city, writing in Yedioth Ahronoth that he always tells ambassadors in his city that he is somewhat hurt that they refuse to move to Jerusalem.
  • “Tel Aviv-Jaffa is proud of the growing recognition it receives from the international community as a world city, a city thought of as an economic, cultural, scientific and tourism hub, which breaks out of its country’s borders and many times is mentioned in the same breath as other important world cities. But the first Hebrew city will always be second to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” he writes.

2. In reality, though, Israeli public opinion is not entirely united in a desire to fete Trump over the move; even if there is wide bipartisan support for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, some balk at what can only be called a form of sycophantism for the president on display.

    • Several protests by Israelis are planned for Monday, and a number of left-wing groups are reiterating their opposition.
    • In what may be a protest of the move, or recognition of its mostly symbolic nature, Haaretz leaves the embassy transfer almost totally off its front page, concentrating on more domestic matters. The paper’s lead editorial, though, is a good example of the conflicted feelings many have, calling the move the correction of a “historical anomaly,” but fearing that it will only entrench Israeli stances vis-a-vis peace talks with the Palestinians.
    • “The grandiose celebrations that the government has organized to mark the event, which will reach their peak in the ceremony that will take place today in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, are meant to stress Israel’s exclusive hold on Jerusalem and glorify the prime minister’s recent series of victories,” the editorial reads.

3. How symbolic will the move be? Yedioth reports that the building in Tel Aviv which will now be a consulate will still be the address for Israelis and Israeli-Americans to go to for visas, passports and other services.

  • And despite the supposed love affair between the countries, Washington is still refusing to grant Israels for visa-free entry to the US.

4. Israel Hayom runs an interview with US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (featuring a picture of editor Boaz Bismuth interviewing him, natch) in which Mnuchin points to North Korea as proof that despite all the problems with the Palestinians emanating from the move, a “sustainable peace deal” is possible.

  • “There are many things where it was said that it’s impossible to do them, not many people thought six months ago that the US and North Korea would sit down for talks and that North Korea would agree to dismantle nukes,” he says.
  • Bizmuth ends the interview with a Nerf softball placed on a tee, asking Mnuchin how he would react if told that “Many Israelis think this administration is the greatest thing to happen to Israel in decades.”
  • Mnuchin’s answer: “Undoubtedly.”

5. The festivities are expected to culminate with the ceremony opening the embassy, at which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jared Kushner and Ambassador David Friedman will be the main speakers.

  • Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the top cabinet member to attend, will carry out a mostly symbolic role, while Ivanka Trump will seemingly just be eye candy.
  • The party kicked off Sunday night with a party hosted by Israeli foreign ministry. Times of Israel correspondent Raphael Ahren reports that foreign envoys attending “looked somewhat lost in what, at times, seemed like a big reunion of Israeli and American ‘machers’ who have known each other for years.”
  • Chef Segev Moshe, best known for serving visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dessert in a shoe, followed up that faux pas by serving American guests at a state dinner hosted by Netanyahu the classic American dish of French fries wrapped in newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth — the paper the fries were wrapped in — reports.
  • Unlike the shoe incident, this time around Moshe has an explanation for why he included the decidedly English dish in a meal meant to celebrate American and Israeli cultural traditions, telling the paper he wanted to note Netta Barzilai’s Eurovision win, and the paper features her on its cover. Just serving chicken would have been too obvious?

6. On Twitter, Israeli reporter Barak Ravid notes that the event will be decidedly partisan, with no Democrats even attending.

  • Another Israeli reporter, Tal Schneider, says at least some were not invited, but yet a third, Ariel Kahane, claims South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson offered to add any Democrats to the delegation and the Democratic leadership refused to let any go.

7. Gazans aren’t waiting for the official ceremony of the embassy being moved or or the actual start of Nakba Day on Tuesday to begin long-feared mass riots on the border with Israel.

  • The army, which has been gearing up for the donnybrook for weeks, spent Sunday and early Monday warning Gazans to stay away from the border, dropping leaflets from planes.
  • The air force also dropped bombs on piles of tires meant to be burned in the protest to create a smokescreen, trying to use up the fuel before demonstrators could get to them, Hadashot news reports.
  • The army expects some 100,000 and possibly up to 200,000 protesters to try and storm the border over two days of clashes, and has been building up its forces along the border.
  • Israel Hayom calls it the largest buildup since Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war Israel fought with Hamas-led fighters in Gaza.

8. Israel also fears violence in the West Bank and other hotspots to mark the embassy opening and Nakba Day, beefing up forces and halting exercises to move troops to areas where they could be needed, Yedioth reports.

  • Haaretz reports that Palestinians are calling for wide protests and marches on Monday in Ramallah, Hebron, and other West Bank cities toward Israeli checkpoints, though “it’s not clear how many Palestinians will answer this call, or to what extent the Palestinian Authority is willing to allow clashes with Israel.”

9. While much of the coverage of the protests seems focused on numbers, The New York Times’s Declan Walsh gives a personal account of seeing a woman critically injured by an apparent Israeli bullet during protests.

  • “An ambulance raced along the bumpy ground, and emergency workers scooped the woman up and raced off, trailed by crying women. My colleague and I gave three of them a lift to the hospital. They did not seem sure who the woman was, only that she had been standing alongside them. They scolded themselves for getting too close. They cursed the Israeli soldiers. They prayed that the woman would survive,” he writes.
  • Asked about the shooting, an IDF spokesman tells the paper that it can find no record of a shot being fired at the time and place described.

10. In The Times of Israel, Judah Ari Gross looks at the recent phenomenon of Gazans blowing up gas pipelines feeding the Strip, wondering what they can possibly be thinking and coming up with two explanations provided by the Israeli defense community.

  • One reason is financial: By destroying the Kerem Shalom crossing, which allowed goods into Palestinian Authority-taxed goods into Gaza, Hamas gave itself a monopoly on what can come into the Strip and what can be taxed.
  • Secondly, by increasing Gazans hopelessness, they ensure a steady stream of protesters with little to lose.
  • “They are playing with their people, putting pressure on their people and then ‘exporting’ that pressure toward Israel, the PA, and the international community,” an officer says.

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