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Established 1919 8FEOFTEBZ "QSJM HAARETZ8FEOFTEBZ "QSJM 8FEOFTEBZ "QSJM ]*ZBS 7PM English Edition www.haaretz.com National obsession / Amalia Rosenblum Navel gazing, IDF chief Benny Gantz to Haaretz: Israeli-style Pressure on Iran starting to bear fruit Independence Day celebrations, which begin this evening, will feature all the hallmarks they do every year: the ceremo- By Amos Harel politicians are so fond. nies, the cars festooned with Israeli flags made in China, the Asked whether 2012 is also barbecues with meat from South America − and our infatuation “If Iran goes nuclear it will decisive for Iran, Gantz shies with surveys about what it means to be Israeli. have negative dimensions for from the term. “Clearly, the As fascinated as we are by the Central Bureau of Statistics’ the world, for the region, for more the Iranians progress annual figures on population growth − we now number 7.88 mil- the freedom of action Iran the worse the situation is. will permit itself,” Chief of This is a critical year, but הוראות לעידכון התאריך: -lion, by the way, and 14 of our cities have more than 100,000 resi dents − we seem to be more curious about what makes us Israeli. Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz not necessarily ‘go, no-go.’ One book on this topic is sociologist Gad Yair’s “The Code of told Haaretz in an Indepen- The problem doesn’t neces- ,dence Day interview. sarily stop on December 31 1. עדכון התאריך ב3- השטחים Israeliness,” which addresses issues like “why do we improvise instead of planning?” and “why are we all brothers here?” On That freedom of action 2012. We’re in a period when television, the series “Who is an Israeli” tried to answer the might be expressed “against something must happen: Ei- us, via the force Iran will ther Iran takes its nuclear 2. בחירת כלי חץ שחור )question by discussing Israeli symbols, heroes and beloved He- )F1 brew songs. Opinion polls, meanwhile, ask respondents to name project toward its clients: program to a civilian footing Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islam- only or the world, perhaps 3. בחירה מהתפריט: the song and symbol they consider most Israeli − and even the File > Export most Israeli occupant in the “Big Brother” house. ic Jihad in Gaza. And there’s we too, will have to do some- Then there are the attempts to define Israeli Hebrew; books also the potential for an exis- thing. We’re closer to the end tential threat. If they have a of the discussions than the 4. בחירה באופציה PDF )זה בדרך כלל נמצא best-seller במצב hit the הזה(.on this subject and slang lexicons sometimes list. Anyone who still doesn’t believe that this is an obsession bomb, we are the only coun- middle.” need only remember that a frequently read newspaper column, try in the world that some- Gantz says the interna- one calls for its destruction tional pressure on Iran, in 5. החלפת הקובץ בקודם )by political newcomer Yair Lapid, is called “Being Israeli.” .)iht.pdf But is the passion for opinion polls a real attempt to crack and also builds devices with the form of diplomatic and the code? Or do we have other reasons? After all, we don’t need which to bomb us. But de- economic sanctions, is be- polls to know which is the best-selling car in Israel, all we have spair not. We are a temper- ginning to bear fruit. “I also to do is look in our parking spot. We’re driving a Mazda 3, watch- ate state. The State of Israel expect that someone is build- ing the satire show “A Wonderful Country,” supporting Prime is the strongest in the region ing operational tools of some Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and planning to lose weight this and will remain so. Decisions sort, just in case. The mili- summer. can and must be made care- tary option is the last chron- So if we know the answers, what’s the attraction of the opin- fully, out of historic respon- ologically but the first in ion polls? Maybe it’s just a pleasant narcissistic pastime. Maybe sibility but without hysteria,” terms of its credibility. If it’s the surveys are a quick and efficient way to make sure we’re do- Gantz said. not credible it has no mean- ing and thinking what everyone around us is doing and thinking. Both 2012 and 2013 are ing. We are preparing for it And maybe it’s a desire to bolster our faith that something out seen as critical with regard in a credible manner. That’s there can be called “Israeliness.” If there is, that’s pretty cool, to Iran’s nuclear program. my job, as a military man.” because most of the time we notice our differences more than At his rare public appear- Iran, Gantz says, “is go- our similarities. ances Gantz has taken a cau- ing step by step to the place But maybe these opinion polls don’t quite reflect us, but tious approach to the issue where it will be able to de- rather, what we would like to be. After all, in the polls, no one − mentioning the military cide whether to manufacture asks “Who would you most like to get into a fight with: your option, whose development a nuclear bomb. It hasn’t yet romantic partner, a stranger at a traffic light, a fan at a soccer and preparation he oversees, decided whether to go the ex- match or an Arab?” The truth is, we often read them in the Michal Fattal while leaving the door open tra mile.” hope that they’ll underscore old values, like brotherhood and to international negotiations As long as its facilities are “family-ness,” and that old Israeli favorite, the kombina − the ISRAEL REMEMBERS ITS FALLEN with Iran. His language is far not bomb-proof, “the pro- dodgy solution on the sly. from the dramatic rhetoric gram is too vulnerable, in But whether we’re kissing ourselves in the mirror or truly Soldiers at the Western Wall bowing their heads during last night’s one-minute siren marking the start of Memorial Day. of Prime Minister Benjamin Iran’s view. If the supreme trying to understand who we are, we can surely add to the list Israel will mark the day with ceremonies across the country and a two-minute siren will sound at 11 A.M. Celebrations for Netanyahu, and is usually religious leader Ayatollah that the most Israeli person is the one who loves surveys that Independence Day, marking Israel’s 64th birthday, kick off at 8 P.M. (Nir Hasson) free of the Holocaust com- tell us what we already know about ourselves. parisons of which Israeli See GANTZ, Page A3 Inside today Navigating Hebrew news just Hamas votes got a little harder for novices Group elects Easy-Hebrew newspaper Sha’ar La’matchil Haniyeh as Gaza has published its final edition politburo chief By Talila Nesher stint as premier, “Who, News, Page A2 more than you, readers of Newcomers to Israel will now Sha’ar La’matchil, know have to wade through sophisti- about the pains and dif- Kidron cated Hebrew in order to get their ficulties inherent in the news in their new homeland’s effort to assimilate into clean-up mother tongue. The Hebrew a new society. Despite all newspaper Sha’ar La’matchil these difficulties, it can Politics and price (literally, a gate for beginners ), be said that Israel’s soci- which provided news in easy ety has succeeded in this mean valley may Hebrew, will no longer be pub- effort to absorb new im- stay polluted lished. migrants. The newspaper The final edition of the paper Sha’ar La’matchil definitely Zafrir Rinat, Page A4 came out in the first week of contributed to this success. April, and as per a note in the Its distribution around the penultimate edition, the pa- world enhances another un- per will not be published any- dertaking which the State of Israeli firms more, “until further notice.” Israel has assumed, the proj- The note went on to “thank all ect of teaching Hebrew in the Tnuva and Osem readers, teachers, and administration staff Diaspora,” added Netanyahu. in Israel and overseas for the love they’ve Sha’ar La’matchil was created in the Educa- top list of ‘most shown for the newspaper during its 50 years tion Ministry’s “Department for Spreading the Israeli’ companies of existence, and also thank you to those who Language” in March 1956. “On this page we contacted us in recent weeks and expressed want to tell you about our life in the country, in Ora Coren, Page A9 concerns and support for us.” simple language,” the first edition explained. The first edition of Sha’ar La’matchil hit “We invite you to read this page until you are the stands 56 years ago, as palpable evidence able to read a daily newspaper in Hebrew.” of the state’s commitment to the absorption of The newspaper quickly developed a regu- more than a million new immigrants. lar, weekly format; it was marketed via sub- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote scriptions in Israel and overseas, and also to the weekly’s readers on the occasion of its 1000th edition in June 1998, during his first See HEBREW, Page A6 Police probing theft of Kafka manuscripts By Ofer Aderet to them. The National Library’s collection includes rare Kafka The Israeli police unit that manuscripts, which are se- investigates major interna- cured in a safe.