Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 20/13 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 03. – 17. Dezember 2013

1. Zum Tod von Nelson Mandela The absence of Israel's senior leadership from Man- dela's funeral […] can be seen as a symbol of Is- Der Tod des ehemaligen südafrikanischen Präsiden- rael's increasing diplomatic isolation." ten und Freiheitskämpfers Nelson Mandela wurde in HAA 111.12.13 den israelischen Medien intensiv behandelt. Thema- tisiert wurden auch Israels Verhältnis zum südafri- By avoiding Mandela's memorial, Netanyahu kanischem Apartheidsregime – Israel kooperierte digs Israel's PR grave lange mit Johannesburg und erhob Sanktionen erst "Netanyahu has reinforced the belief of many that 1987, später als alle westlichen Nationen – sowie he never misses an opportunity to miss an oppor- Mandelas Affinität zur PLO und dem palästinensi- tunity. schen Freiheitskampf. […] Netanyahu’s excuse that the price of travelling Der israelische Premierminister Benjamin Netanya- to South Africa prevented him from attending today’s hu kündigte zunächst seine Teilnahme an der Trau- memorial lies nothing short of pathetic. […] erfeier für Mandela in Johannesburg an, sagte dann The reality is that the decision not to attend was jedoch aufgrund angeblich zu hoher Kosten ab. Da political in nature. Netanyahu felt that a letter of Präsident krank wurde, wurde Israel condolence and sending a low level delegation von Parlamentssprecher Yuli Edelstein in Südafrika would be enough. Why attend the memorial of a repräsentiert. man who supported the Palestinian cause? […] In den vergangenen Jahren ist Israels Besatzung Yet by acting as he did, Netanyahu critically dam- der palästinensischen Gebiete immer wieder mit aged Israel’s image. […] einem "Apartheidssystem" verglichen worden, unter If Netanyahu had attended the memorial of Man- anderem von dem südafrikanischen Erzbischof dela, despite the political awkwardness, Israel would Desmond Tutu, einem Weggefährten Mandelas. have stood shoulder to shoulder with the other coun- tries of the world." A symbolic absence Neil Lazarus, TOI 10.12.13 "Given the generous budget for travel […] and given that Mandela’s doctrine and legacy […] are evidently The dearly departed not the pillar of fire that guides Netanyahu, it’s not "The only ones who got angry that Netanyahu and unreasonable to suspect that the spending issue Peres did not attend the memorial ceremony in provided Netanyahu with a pretext to escape a vex- South Africa were a few Israeli journalists. We may ing event he didn’t want to participate in. […] think that the whole galaxy revolves around us, but Mandela […] symbolized the idea of equality among the Africans showed no anger." all human beings and opposition to the apartheid Gonen Ginat, IHY 13.12.13 regime. […] Israel under Netanyahu’s leadership, in which segregation, racist legislation and discrimina- Mandela and Israel tion on the basis of nationality are flourishing virtual- "Mandela voiced his vehement opposition to Israel’s ly undisturbed, cannot say it respects Mandela’s control of the territories it had 'occupied' in the Six heritage. […] Day War, and he urged it to concede land to the Palestinians and Syrians, […] for the sake of peace. […] 1 He did, however, acknowledge Israel’s legitimate lenge: Turning South Africa into a democratic coun- security concerns […]. try. Mandela had an ambivalent, almost love-hate rela- Even after 27 unbearable years in prison, Mandela tionship with Jews and Israel. Like […] Gandhi be- remained a man of peace, a man of compromises, a fore him, his first job had been with a Jewish law man of forgiveness. He always saw the best in peo- firm in Johannesburg, and some of his closest ple and believed that every person could be per- friends, political advisers and business associates suaded. were Jewish. […] In the past few years, as we saw Middle East lead- Many South African Jews had supported him, but ers abusing their citizens, I thought to myself more others had openly backed or implicitly endorsed than once that they could use some private lessons apartheid. […] from Nelson Mandela, precisely at a time when He supported Israel’s right to exist as a democratic these lessons could no longer be delivered." Jewish state, yet felt closer to its enemies: the Alon Liel, JED 07.12.13 PLO’s Yasser Arafat, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Iran’s Mohammed Khatami and Misrepresenting Mandela Syria’s Hafez Assad. Nevertheless, he praised his "Imagine a person who planned acts of sabotage Israeli hosts for their warm reception and peace- and incited violence, resulting in the deaths of inno- making efforts." cent civilians and damage to public property. A man Steve Linde, JPO 06.12.13 who embraced brutal dictators throughout the Third World, such as Libya’s Gaddafi and Cuba’s Castro. Mandela is not yet free […] A person who hugged Yasser Arafat at the "President Shimon Peres […] who was involved up height of the intifada. […] Picture all this and […] you to his neck in the disgraceful cooperation between will be staring at a portrait of Nelson Mandela. […] Israel and apartheid South Africa […] is suddenly By painting Mandela solely in glowing terms and admiring the man who symbolized the struggle with ignoring his violent record, the media and others are that regime. falsifying history and concealing the truth. […] Neither Peres nor Netanyahu have any right to eu- To gloss over or ignore his failings and flaws is hag- logize Mandela; both are responsible, more than any iography, not history." other statesmen in the free world, for undermining Michael Freud, JPO 09.12.13 his legacy and establishing the (nonidentical) twin of the regime he battled. […] Netanyahu's Mandela manipulation Mandela said he was not liberated as long as the "Netanyahu described him as 'a man of vision, a Palestinians were not free. Those in Israel who seek fighter for freedom who rejected violence.' to eulogize him can’t continue to ignore this." Really? […] Gideon Levy, HAA 08.12.13 For Mandela, violence was a means, not an end. He operated peacefully as long as he could, until the South Africa's true test begins now apartheid regime closed off every peaceful avenue. "Different from Gandhi, […] who from the beginning When he had no other option, he adopted violent of his endeavors negated the option of using vio- resistance — and he paid for it with 27 years in lence, Mandela eventually became a protagonist of prison. […] Mandela knew that there was a time for armed struggle, guerilla tactics, and terrorism -- after violence, but that it would always, inevitably, be believing that all other nonviolent methods of re- followed by a time of peacemaking. […] sistance were exhausted. […] It’s a pity that Netanyahu […] tried to manipulate In contrast to Arafat, Mandela knew how to make Mandela for his own purposes. It might be comfort- the career change from terrorist to statesman, to ing to contrast the supposedly peaceful anti- man of peace, and he understood that sincerely apartheid legend with the obviously nonpeaceful extending his hand was the only way toward political Palestinians – but that’s not the way it was or is." progress." Roy Isacowitz, HAA 09.12.13 Boaz Bismuth, IHY 08.12.13 We need Mandelas On charisma and humanity "Our region, more than others, is in need of a Man- "Mandela clearly saw Israeli-Palestinian peace as a dela. […] mission of the same magnitude of his life's chal- 2 An Israeli Mandela, one can assume, would first and Früchte getragen. Deswegen hat die amerikanische foremost tell his people the truth – that the occupa- Regierung ihre Strategie geändert: Statt als passiver tion of another people, taking away their freedoms, Mediator zu agieren, will Washington nun eigene is immoral, impossible and self-defeating. […] An Vorschläge präsentieren. Israeli Mandela would speak directly to the Palestin- So unterbreitete Kerry den Konfliktparteien einen ians in their parliament in Ramallah about his full Vorschlag für Sicherheitsarrangements in der West- respect for their human and natural rights and their bank nach Errichtung eines palästinensischen Staa- desire for freedom and self-determination, without tes. Laut diesem Vorschlag würden israelische ever giving up on his own pride, identity and inter- Truppen für zehn Jahre in einem Sicherheitspuffer ests. […] an der jordanischen Grenze stationiert sein. Die A Palestinian Mandela would also tell his people the palästinensische Führung lehnte diesen Plan jedoch truth – that Israel is here to stay, that it must, for ab. their own good, be turned from enemy into a neigh- Kerry kündigte außerdem an, in den kommenden bor […]. He would express understanding and sup- Wochen ein Rahmenabkommen präsentieren zu port for Israel’s security needs in a hostile region. wollen. Durch die Vorlage eines amerikanischen […] Friedensplans sollen Israelis und Palästinenser Well, unfortunately there are no Mandelas on the dazu gebracht werden, die wichtigsten Konfliktpunk- Israeli or Palestinian horizon." te zu verhandeln, statt sich hinter Vorbedingungen Uri Savir, JPO 12.12.13 zu verschanzen.

Why Israel supported South Africa's apartheid Crunch time for peace talks regime "The Americans were not surprised by Palestinian "Starting in the 1950’s, Israel developed close ties opposition to the security plan devised in Washing- with African states. […] Israel supported the struggle ton. They found two advantages in Mahmoud Ab- of weaker African states for freedom and prosperity, bas' intransigence. First, it allows the administration and avoided establishing ties with South Africa at a to align itself with Israel following the fresh wound of time when other Western countries had good rela- the nascent Iran deal in Geneva. Second, when tions with Pretoria. […] Mahmoud Abbas accepts the main points of the How did Israel […] become a friend of the apartheid U.S. security vision, it will be hard for Israel to reject regime, to such an extent that by 1986 it was the them. […] only Western nation that did not take part in sanc- The round that starts today with Kerry's visit, brings tions imposed on South Africa? […] each side closer to a situation where they may have Among the many reasons was the 1973 war […] that to make concessions. This is the first time when led most African countries to break off their ties with they cannot fall back on general statements, but are Israel, yielding to Arab pressure and the embargo on under pressure from America […] to talk about terri- oil […]. Isolated, and possibly due to its nuclear tory, about the essentials and the substance." requirements, Israel was cornered into seeking Dan Margalit, IHY 11.12.13 relations with South Africa. This obviously does not remove the moral stain. The historic truth, however, Wacko in Washington is that Israel never willingly supported the apartheid "Kerry […] advocates the patently preposterous regime, and is far from being the villain in this com- precept that the key to regional tranquility and de- plex saga." velopment is Israeli withdrawal to indefensible bor- Avi Shilon, HAA 11.12.13 ders […]. As implausible as this idea was in the dizzying days 2. Israelisch-palästinensische Frie- of the ‘90s, when there was a semblance of regional densverhandlungen stability and a sense of US credibility and influence, today in the tectonic post-'Arab Spring' upheavals Vor vier Monaten haben direkte israelisch- and accelerating erosion of America’s standing, any palästinensische Gespräche unter der Ägide von such notion is so detached from reality as to be US-Außenminister John Kerry begonnen. Doch die borderline deranged. Verhandlungen zwischen der israelischen Justizmi- It is difficult to know what would be more disconcert- nisterin Zippi Livni und dem palästinensischen ing, that the secretary of state of the United States Chefunterhändler Saeb Erekat haben bisher keine 3 believes the tripe he is disseminating, or he doesn’t, no one can banish people from their homes. This and is disseminating it anyway." includes Jews." Martin Sherman, JPO 12.12.13 Dr. Ron Breiman, IHY 09.12.13

American bayonets for a Palestinian state The politics of subversion "Kerry’s proposal to allow Israel to maintain its secu- "Unfortunately, Israel cannot trust the US. Kerry and rity interests over the Green Line for an extended the Obama administration as a whole lost all credi- period is a non-starter for the Palestinians. […] bility when they negotiated the deal with Iran last Our obsession with our own security dilemma, albeit month. […] understandable, blinds us to the Palestinian position The fact that Kerry had the nerve to show up here that any Israeli occupation of their land violates their with 'security guarantees' regarding the Palestinians sovereignty and embitters their lives. After more two weeks after he agreed to effectively unravel the than 45 years of occupation, they cannot trust that sanctions regime against Iran in exchange for no any deal allowing Israel to maintain its forces legiti- concrete Iranian concessions […] shows that he mately in the temporarily won’t become holds Israel in contempt. permanent. But then, even if Kerry had all the credibility in the The best and perhaps singular way to break this world it wouldn’t make a difference. The real prob- Gordian knot is to introduce third-party forces to lem with the notion of an Israeli withdrawal to inde- replace withdrawn Israeli troops from the West fensible borders is that those indefensible borders Bank. […] If the Americans and Palestinians can will be insecure. Both the PLO and Hamas remain come to agreement on this issue, they could begin committed to Israel’s destruction. to rally international pressure on Israel to accede, […] So the whole peace process is doomed. Kerry’s which will be a Herculean task itself. Anything short attempt to dictate security arrangements is a waste of that, […] won’t be good enough. of time." Steven Klein, HAA 17.12.13 Caroline Glick, JPO 12.05.13

Time to leave the bunker The al-Qaeda takeover "The Israeli government […] is agreeing to allow "The 'security arrangements' the Americans are foreigners, even if they are Americans, to prepare a talking about may have been relevant for the 1980s. defense plan for it […]. That is weakness." [But] the Salafi Spring changed everything. The Israel Harel, HAA 12.12.13 Salafi gangs, al-Qaeda terrorists, have turned into one of the main threats. […] No force of 'peace' or Security isn't everything 'security' will stop these terrorists.[…] Their pro- "Officials seem to believe that security will be solved claimed aspiration is to establish Islamic caliphates through technical means: cameras, warning sta- all across the Middle East. […] tions, international observers, U.S. guarantees. In Let's just imagine a reality in Judea and Samaria other words, a folk remedy which has proved to be without the permanent presence of the IDF and the nothing but a fraud.[…] defense establishment. Why, within several days the Security arrangements are not a recipe for promot- territory will turn into Salafland. […] ing peace. […] Netanyahu alone understands that So please bring security which is relevant to the peace cannot grow out of a diplomatic process de- present time; not to history." signed to extend the diplomatic horizons for the Guy Bechor, JED 08.12.13 enemy, not for the Jews. […] Israel should not be proud of starting negotiations without preconditions. No more excuses The enemy understands this. The Palestinians laid "Kerry, in his hectic efforts to advance the negotia- out strict conditions that, under the American auspi- tions, is imposing quite a difficult problem on Netan- ces, have transformed into directives. […] Israel yahu. The military plan devised by a huge team of needs to learn from its adversaries how to set pre- experts […] robs Netanyahu of the immediate argu- conditions. ment he has raised every time he was required to The first necessary condition […] is that if a Palestin- discuss the outline of the future border between ian state is formed […] it must absorb Arab refu- Israel and Palestine: Security arrangements. Now gees. […] Another necessary condition […] is that there are security arrangements. […]

4 [So] Netanyahu skipped the security argument. He Building and talking preferred to withdraw to the next defense line: The "There is some hope that against all odds the pre- Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish sent talks will actually lead to a substantial break- state. […] The demand to recognize Israel as a through. […] The fact remains that a majority of both Jewish state was first raised by in Palestinians and Israelis realize that a negotiated the Sharon government. Livni believed that at the two-state solution is the only option." end of the negotiations, as part of the declaration on JPO 02.12.13 Editorial ending the claims, there is room for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahu has turned it 3. Medienquerschnitt into a precondition. " Nahum Barnea, JED 09.12.13 Die Vielfalt der in Israel relevanten Themen kann in einem Medienspiegel nicht umfassend wieder- American aid for Netanyahu gegeben werden. Um den deutschen LeserInnen "The talks are stuck in place and there is fear that dennoch einen Einblick in das breite Themen- Netanyahu is not at all willing to reach an agreement spektrum, das in den Medien behandelt wird, zu that will be acceptable to the other side, but just gewähren, veröffentlichen wir in dieser Schlag- continues the show for the sake of reducing the lichtausgabe wieder eine kleine Auswahl an weite- international pressure. […] ren Themen, die in den vergangenen zwei Wochen He decides only under pressure, as if he is only die israelische Gesellschaft bewegten. capable of showing how the decision was forced on him by the president of the United States, or by Über ungewöhnlich kaltes Dezemberwetter, das public outrage. […] Netanyahu will make progress in in Jerusalem zu tagelangen Stromausfällen, the peace process only if he is forced to accept or Verkehrchaos und eingeschneiten Menschen führte: reject a proposal from the American mediator. The security plan for a final agreement that U.S. Secre- Written on ice tary of State John Kerry presented to him on Thurs- "How is it possible that in a storm which in Europe is day is an important precedent on the road to an considered a regular winter day, here there is a overall settlement. Now the Americans must present multi-system failure? How is it possible that hun- an outline for the border between Israel and the dreds of thousands of people sit in the dark and cold Palestinian state. Without this, Netanyahu won’t for so many hours with no one to turn to? And how move forward." is it possible that all those who should be taking HAA 06.12.13 Editorial responsibility somehow emerge from this story as heroes, from the Electric Corp to the local authorities Between negotiations and reality – until the conclusions of the commission of inquiry "The Palestinians speak of peace but their intentions […], which will anyway buried in the cemetery of are sinister. Their unwillingness to recognize Israel commissions of inquiry. […] as a Jewish state, abandon their demand for 'return' Perhaps we should simply stop whining about being or end their incitement […] makes this abundantly among the backward countries in the Western world, clear.[…] The national narrative repeatedly voiced and start taking pride in the fact that we are among by the leaders of the Palestinian 'nation'[…] is the the advanced countries in the Third World. promise […] to liberate all of 'Palestine.' […] After all, it's all a matter of perspective." While the Palestinians are divided in their hostility Sima Kadmon, JED 15.12.13 toward each other, and while most consider Abbas an illegitimate figure, they are, incidentally, unified in Have we gone mad? their desire to destroy Israel. The sad part of this "Such wildly intense natural events happen from story is the naivete of many Israelis, who yearn to time to time in countries around the globe. […] So sign a peace deal that no one among the Palestini- what are we complaining about? ans, including those who sign it, intends to or will be It is unpleasant to find yourself cut off from electricity able to honor." for even one hour, let alone 48. But when thousands Reuven Berko, IHY 10.12.13 of trees across the country topple under the weight of snow and bring down power lines with them, who is there to complain to? The Israel Electric Corpora- tion is generally deserving of public criticism, but in 5 this case, IEC employees stood out there in the cold and sector and language and economic status and trying their best to restore power. […] religious lifestyle has become a norm. Ahh, the wise guys in the media say, why not bury […] The civilian rage is clearly rising in me in light of all power lines in the ground? […] Wouldn't this be a the daily injustice suffered by immigrants of Ethiopi- waste of money? If we were about to enter a new an descent, even before they donate blood. But in ice age, the idea might make sense. But if the next order for us not to forget this headline, and for it to storm of such size is not coming for another 100 become a thing of the past, Israel needs a commis- years, then not so much. […] sion on civil equality issues. One which will gather It was cold and unpleasant, but good people did all the discriminations and injustices the abuses and their jobs […] and in the end we received a lot of humiliations and begin repairing them for the sake water from the skies, which is a good thing." of all of us." Gonen Ginat, IHY 15.12.13 Ariana Melamed, JED 14.1213

Über die -Abgeordnete Pnina Tamnu-Shata, HAA = ; JED = Jedioth Ahronoth; JPO = Jerusa- deren Blutspende abgelehnt wurde, weil sie aus lem Post; IHY = Israel HaYom; TOI = Times of Israel; Äthiopien stammt: GLO = Globes

Blood scandal Veröffentlicht im: Dezember 2013 "An unfortunate incident occurred in Israel’s parlia- ment on Wednesday. MK Pnina Tamnu- Verantwortlich: Shata […] sought to donate blood at a […] donation Dr. Werner Puschra, station at the Knesset. She was turned away be- Leiter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel cause the organization rejects donations from Israe- lis born in Ethiopia. […] Redaktion: The organization argues that this is an issue of Maike Harel public health and that it applies to anyone who was Judith Stelmach born or lived in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean before 1977. […] Homepage: www.fes.org.il The AIDS excuse for rejecting blood from Ethiopian- Email: [email protected] born Israelis has never had solid scientific backing and it has often been part of a stereotyping cam- paign subjecting this group to discriminatory and secret policies. There was no evidence that those like Tamnu-Shata, who made aliya in 1984, were more likely than other Israelis […] to have the dis- ease; and yet there has always been a policy defin- ing them as a risk group. The essence of equality is having the same criteria for people, regardless of skin color and country of origin. […] It is patently illogical to reject the blood of people who have been citizens of Israel for almost 30 years and who are no more likely than average to have blood-born diseases." JPO Editorial 12.12.13

Equality? It's complicated "A Knesset member of Ethiopian descent cannot donate blood. […] I can already imagine many people saying, well, Ethiopians carry diseases. […] They will say that and wash their hands in justification, in a society where discrimination based on ethnicity and gender

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