1. ISRAELI AMBASSADOR IN WASHINGTON WARNS: BILATERAL RELATIONS AT LOWEST EBB IN 35 YEARS
In emergency telephone briefing, Ambassador Michael Oren asked Israeli consuls general in US to begin diplomatic-information campaign. Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, said that Israel's actions were intentionally carried out in order to hurt peace process. White House Spokesman: PM Netanyahu's apology is not enough. American administration's demands on Netanyahu to restore relations: Cancellation of decision to build in eastern Jerusalem Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, investigation into circumstances regarding publication of plan during Biden's visit, implementation of gestures toward Palestinians so as to enable resumption of diplomatic process, official Israeli statement that negotiations will deal with all core issues.
MA’ARIV
1. SENIOR MINISTER: "OBAMA IS TRYING TO TOPPLE NETANYAHU"
Senior Likud official, close to Netanyahu, accuses: "American President is bashing the Prime Minister's head." On list of demands delivered by Secretary of State Clinton: Complete cancellation of construction in Ramat Shlomo, immediate gesture to Abu Mazen "this week" and Israeli commitment to discuss all core issues.
2. TEMPLE MOUNT ALERT: PREPARING FOR RIOTS IN JERUSALEM
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. Israeli Ambassador in Washington admits:
"CRISIS WITH US OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS"
Yesterday, Netanyahu called it "innocent event" – but Michael Oren, whom PM appointed as Ambassador to US, revealed true dimensions of diplomatic crisis: "Worst since 1975."
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. OBAMA USING INSULT TO DEMAND CONCESSIONS FROM ISRAEL.
White House on attack: Construction freeze in Jerusalem, negotiations on core issues, release of prisoners as gesture to Abu Mazen.
2. HIGHEST ALERT OVER "HURVA."
Today: Synagogue that was rebuilt after 62 years to be dedicated in Jewish Quarter. Islamic Movement and PA call on eastern Jerusalem Arabs: Go up to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Large forces deployed throughout city due to concern over flare-up.
3. BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT DOES NOT WANT TO LAY WREATH AT HERZL'S TOMB – BUT WILL VISIT ARAFAT'S TOMB.
WALLA!
1. CRISIS WITH US: "ISRAEL WILL PAY A PRICE."
Former senior Foreign Ministry officials tell Walla! News that this is harsh crisis. "Israel is liable to be hit with UN condemnation; Goldstone report is likely to go to the Security Council."
2. RABBI OVADIA YOSEF CALLS AGAINST GOING UP TO TEMPLE MOUNT.
In wake of escalation and tension in Jerusalem, Minister Eli Yishai spoke with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and declared: "Severe ban on going up to Temple Mount."
3. POLICE COMMISSIONER: REFRAIN FROM STATEMENTS THAT WILL PROVOKE ESCALATION IN JERUSALEM.
Police Commissioner David Cohen says that, "Extremist and inflammatory remarks do not jibe with facts on the ground." He called on various elements to show responsibility in order to avoid escalation.
4. BILIN AND NILIN TO BE DECLARED CLOSED MILITARY ZONES?
Palestinians reporting that masked IDF soldiers entered Bilin and Nilin villages and posted orders declaring that village lands will be defined as closed military zones every Friday for six months.
5. RELATIONS WARMING UP: ASHKENAZI LEAVES FOR TURKEY.
After bilateral relations suffered steep decline in past year, Chief-of-Staff Ashkenazi left for visit to Turkey, first visit by Israeli Chief-of-Staff since 2005.
6. AIPAC: "WORRIED BY ADMINISTRATION'S ATTITUDE TOWARD ISRAEL."
Pro-Israel lobby issues statement calling on White House to put relations with Israel back on track. This, in light of statements by senior administration officials in recent days, in condemnation of Israel.
NANA10
1. IDF: BILIN AND NILIN – CLOSED MILITARY ZONE ON FRIDAYS.
IDF Central Command trying to prevent disturbances along fence route.
2. ALERT IN EASTERN JERUSALEM DUE TO CONCERN OVER RIOTS.
Thousands of police deploy out of concern over clashes against background of reopening of synagogue.
3. CHIEF-OF-STAFF LEAVES ON WORKING VISIT TO TURKEY.
Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi to attend NATO counter-terrorism conference.
4. "HAMAS USED CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS."
According to new report, organization established rocket launching installations and command centers in over 100 Gaza Strip mosques and hospitals during Operation Cast Lead.
[Headlines for Walla! and Nana10 are from their websites as of 10:30]
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SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot professes that, "Israel is losing the liberal branch of the American Jewish community…But unlike in Israel, the liberals, what is possible to call in Israeli terms, the 'moderate Left', are an absolute majority of the Jewish public." The author remarks that while, "Netanyahu can become inebriated as much as he likes from the support of the Jewish Right, he cannot alter the political reality: Obama will sit in the White House for at least three more years, surrounded by a group of liberals, some of whom are Jewish. The vociferous ovations that will precede Netanyahu at the AIPAC conference will not help him in his future contacts with the White House."
Ma'ariv argues that, "President Obama is under political siege and it seems to him that Netanyahu is exploiting that fact a bit too much." The author further contends that, "The calamity that Clinton launched at Netanyahu is a move not based on political wisdom, but rather insensitivity and vengeance."
Yisrael Hayom recalls that, "The Hurva synagogue had seen days of glory, until 1948, when the Jordanian Legions arrived and expelled the Jews from the Old City and destroyed this thing of beauty. The author purports that, "While it [the US] and the Palestinians know that even if Israel agrees to some solution based on two states for two peoples, it will include the Old City's Jewish Quarter in its territory, with the Hurva at its center…The Hurva is a focus point in a line of new American demands. Now it is clear what was being hinted at in the past few days: The US was not offended by the serious mishap which greeted Joe Biden, but rather is riding its wave in order to force Benjamin Netanyahu to go to Canossa and to reconcile with conditions less comfortable than those that were agreed upon for entering into the proximity talks."
The Jerusalem Post discusses the symbolism of Jerusalem's twice destroyed and twice rebuilt Hurva synagogue, for which a dedication ceremony will be held today, and terms it "a symbol of the Jewish people’s tenacious insistence on returning to its rightful land against all odds." The editor states that "This refusal to be deterred by setbacks, this unfailing hope for redemption – whether physical or spiritual – is the secret of the miracle that is the Jewish state."
Haaretz declares that "Netanyahu's rhetoric over policy is jeopardizing Israel," and states that "Israel is not America's strategic asset, but America is the source of Israel's strength, and it is essential to rein in the lunacy that threatens to shatter the link between the two countries." The editor adds: "The government headed by Netanyahu is now emerging as a strategic threat. It is essential to remove that threat by adopting an open and responsible policy that will include an undertaking to withdraw from the territories and a total freeze on construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem."
[Nahum Barnea, Shmuel Rozner and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv, and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]