Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 11/12 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 17. – 30. Juni 2012 1. Präsidentenwahlen in Ägypten In Ägypten ist der Kandidat der Muslim Bruderschaft, Mohammed Morsi, zum Präsidenten gewählt worden. Er setzte sich knapp gegen Ahmed Shafik, den letzten von Ex-Präsident Hosni Mubarak ernannten Premierminister, durch. Zuvor hatte das Militär, das Ägypten seit Beginn der Revolution regiert, jedoch das von Islamisten dominierte Parlament aufgelöst und die Macht des Präsidenten weit eingeschränkt. So können die Generäle nun ihr Veto gegen eine neu auszuarbeitende Verfassung einlegen und behalten die Kontrolle über Außen- und Verteidigungspolitik. "Israel begrüßt den demokratischen Prozess in Ägypten und respektiert das Ergebnis der Wahlen", kommentierte Premierminister Benjamin Netanyahu den Wahlausgang. In einem Brief an den Präsidenten brachte er zudem seine Hoffnung zum Ausdruck, dass beide Staaten weiterhin das Friedensabkommen einhalten würden. The neighbor’s commitment “Morsi's election as Egypt's president is the result of a revolution that[…] gave the Egyptian public the right to make a real decision.[…] Morsi[…] symbolizes the desire- held by secular and liberal Egyptians as well- to demolish the remnants of the old regime. For this democratic move[…] Egypt deserves high praise.[…] Egypt needs and deserves international support, massive aid and good will.[…] Israel's government would do well to show that it wants to be a partner to Egypt's success. That is what good neighbors do.” HAA 26.06.12 Editorial Morsi a disaster for Egypt "There is no doubt about it: This Morsi is not only bad for Israel, he is mostly bad for his countrymen. People of his type[…] end up stoning women who 'committed adultery' at the same square where the masses now celebrate. Indeed, these people tend to impose a dark Islamic regime premised on fear and hatred for Israel, and when they find themselves with their backs against the wall they butcher their countrymen mercilessly. […] For precisely this reason, former President Hosni Mubarak was wise enough to throw him in jail. Indeed, if Morsi is a product of the Arab Spring, the Middle East can expect many more difficult years to come." Amos Shavit, JED 28.06.12 Voters forced to choose the rock or the hard place "The paradox is that those who support the democratic process, the regime change,[…] cannot support Shafik. But anyone who aspires to a liberal, secular state cannot give their vote to the Muslim Brotherhood. And so activists from the protest movement – young, educated, secular – find themselves casting their votes[…] for Morsi'for the sake of the revolution'." Zvi Bar'el, HAA 17.06.12 Congratulations Egypt "The task of ruling a country like Egypt is not about ideology, it is about being able to feed, employ, educate, provide health care and human dignity to its 82 million citizens. The Egyptian economy has been largely built[…] on tourism and foreign investment. Both have taken a huge blow since the revolution ousted the dictator Mubarak.[…] Whoever rules Egypt needs stability. That means no war on bikinis and beer. It also means that relations with the United States and the West are strategic. It also means that peace with Israel will remain." Gershon Baskin, JPO 25.06.12 1

Egypt vote: The day after "The picture at this time isn’t as bleak as it is sometimes being portrayed. […] The generals have already declared explicitly that the new president has no authority to declare war or make decisions on major international affairs, such has the peace treaty with Israel.[…] In short, the generals have economic interests[…] coupled with secular ideology that motivates them to prevent a complete Muslim Brotherhood takeover. The army also possesses military power that the Brotherhood fears. Hence, for the time being at least, the generals are Egypt’s real rulers, despite the Islamist election victory." Ron Ben-Yishai, JED 25.06.12 Egypt's generals wanted Morsi's victory "It sounds like a paradox, but the election of[…] Morsi as Egypt's new president was a successful and right move by Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.[…] Shafik's victory would have raised suspicions that nothing had changed on the banks of the Nile.[…] By appointing Morsi, the generals have achieved long-term stability, which will enable them to grow Egypt and bring back the tourists who have fled, the personal security on the streets, and the capital whose flow has stopped. So what if they meddled a bit behind the scenes.[…] Morsi will[…] be a president with clipped wings[…]. He will be a moderate president, not an Islamist with a knife between his teeth.[…] If he shows too much independence, they will know how to rein him in." Jacky Hougy, GLO 25.06.12 Wishful thinking in Egypt “The U.S. and even Israel[…] hope that Morsi will exhibit responsibility and maturity, as his lofty new post demands. This is why the Americans, apparently, pressured the military council to sway the results in his favor. We can only hope that[…] it won't be the Islamists who have the last laugh. In Turkey, after all, the generals who anticipated Erdogan's political demise after he won the premiership are now sitting behind bars. Israel hopes that Morsi honors the peace treaty, thus providing it with a legitimacy it had lacked under the Mubarak regime. However, if Egypt's military fails to restrain and control Morsi and his colleagues, it will be more difficult to continue upholding the relationship between Israel and Egypt as it was originally formulated and preserved over the years, even after Mubarak's fall.” Eyal Zisser, IHY 25.06.12 The Islamists wanted too much “The Muslim Brotherhood doesn't need to launch an armed campaign: The Islamists in Egypt currently possess electoral power, efficient organizational ability, the dependency of the depressed population, and[…] diplomatic ties with key Western countries. […] Perhaps that is why it has responded rather sedately to the Egyptian military's power grab on the eve of the presidential election.[…] The Muslim Brotherhood wanted too much, too fast. Eventually it will get everything it desires, only at a slower pace.[…] The Muslim Brotherhood's constitutional takeover of Egypt is just a matter of time. The army does have a lot of power, but the brotherhood has a different kind of power: It has the street and it has Allah.[…] One thing is certain: Things are not going to be calm.” Boaz Bismuth, IHY 19.06.12 Here comes the Islamic Republic of Egypt “Incredibly, some Westerners have greeted the news with inexplicable optimism[…], cheerfully celebrating the free expression of the Egyptian public’s popular will while blithely ignoring the horrifying choice they have made.[…] Morsy and his comrades are a band of extremists and fanatics bent on religious, social and political domination whose agenda does not stop at the Egyptian border. Their victory[…] will undermine the already tenuous stability of the region, further embolden radical forces throughout the world, and buoy Hamas, which[…] maintains close ties with the organization.[…] Don’t be surprised if within a decade, we once again find ourselves confronting the Egyptian army, as Cairo steadily drifts ever deeper into intolerance and zealotry.” Michael Freud, JPO 27.06.12 A loyal citizen is a threatened citizen “Sinai was also ungovernable during the Mubarak era.[…] It was actually the Muslim Brotherhood which realized that potential attacks from the peninsula posed a threat to the movement as well as to Israel. Its representatives were in a hurry to visit the Bedouin tribes before the parliament and presidential elections, and to promise them a better life than they had under Mubarak.[…] Naturally, one cannot predict if the Muslim Brotherhood can succeed where Mubarak failed, but it would be silly to presume that it has any intent to heat up the Sinai front or the Israeli border.[…] The Muslim Brotherhood[…] will continue to be a political and ideological opponent. But there is a huge difference between an opponent and a violent 2

threat, and even more so when one considers the public declarations of its leaders, which since the start of the revolution have not included threatening Israel or backing off from the peace accords.” Zvi Bar’el, HAA 20.06.12 2. Wiederkehr der sozialen Proteste Knapp ein Jahr nachdem zehntausende Israelis im Sommer 2011 auf die Straße gegangen waren um gegen soziale Missstände zu demonstrieren, sind die Proteste erneut aufgeflammt. Zunächst hatten Demonstranten versucht, eine neue Zeltstadt im Herzen von Tel Aviv zu errichten, waren jedoch von der Polizei teils gewaltsam daran gehindert worden. Eine der Anführerinnen der Bewegung, Dafni Leef, war mit gebrochenem Arm verhaftet worden. Tags darauf kam es zu Ausschreitungen zwischen der Polizei und tausenden Demonstranten. Während die Behörden den Demonstranten Gewalt und Vandalismus vorwarfen, bezeichneten Teilnehmer dies als vereinzeltes Phänomen, das auf die Brutalität der Polizei zurückzuführen sei. 85 Demonstranten wurden festgenommen, auf Anordnung des Gerichtes jedoch zwei Tage später wieder freigelassen. The protest is dead, long live anarchy “A year after the social protests erupted,[…] it would be difficult to overstate its achievements. The Trajtenberg Committee's report marked the start of a process that has already begun to lower housing prices. A reform in the funding of preschool education is due to take effect with the new school year. Food prices have declined.[…] But the violent riots of Saturday night[…] could even bring about the end of the protest as a mass movement.[…] Most of the movement's supporters the middle-class people who last year abandoned their living rooms for the street- will stay away from now on. Clashing with the police is not part of their social and political agenda.[…] They are against demanding the introduction of a wasteful, irresponsible, welfare economy.[…] But that is precisely what those who smashed windows in Tel Aviv on Saturday night do not understand.” Israel Harel, HAA 28.06.12 If this seems familiar “The demonstration on Rothschild was totally nonviolent. What made it violent was the brutality used by the inspectors and police forces. Simply put: They started it.[…] The regime's violence is suppressing the protest, but en route it is making it illegitimate in the eyes of the rest of the public. And the moment the protest is defined as violent and illegitimate, there is no point in taking its content and demands seriously, since after all, the government of Israel doesn't talk to terrorists or anyone who's‘not nice’. Last year's‘nice’ protests didn't achieve anything either. The Yonah-Spivak committee's report[…] details how even the conclusions of the Trajtenberg committee were basically not applied, even though that committee was set up by the government itself, not even threatening to change the rules.” Merav Michaeli, HAA 25.06.12 Anti-social protests "The friction surprised no one. It likely was the desired effect, the spark that was aimed at reigniting the lost excitement. Yet thereby the organizers[…] managed[…] to sabotage their own cause in one reckless weekend. They seemed to have lost sight of the secret to their success yesteryear. That secret was ambiguity. As long as they weren’t politically identifiable and seemed to attract disparate segments of the population, they could claim to voice the disaffection of ordinary workaday Israelis.[…] After this past weekend, though[…] the ringleaders had exposed their motives and thereby alienated Mr. and Ms. Average Israeli. […] But whether future protests are fueled by zealous anarchists or a more garden variety of socialists, they will be grasped as left wing and outside the consensus." JPO 27.06.12 Editorial Occupy Herzl Street "During the social protests in the summer of 2011 […] the call to the streets was met with remarkable sympathy across the political spectrum.[…] Most mainstream Israelis were willing to ignore the fact that most of the leaders were dogmatic leftists who by no means represented the average Israeli. […] In recent months there has been an increase in coordination with Occupy Wall Street and other farleft and anarchist movements in Europe. The results of such ideological bonding could be seen in the recent violent protests in Tel Aviv, where the'social protesters' revealed their true colors.[…] Yes, the Israeli'social protest' movement has found new allies – the American and European leftists and the Egyptian protesters, who have been revealed to be none other than the radical Muslim Brotherhood. 3

[…] Hopefully, the Israel public will see through the façade and will respond appropriately, and'We won’t be fooled again.'” David Rubin, AS 27.06.12 Protest season 2012 "The protesters are welcome and should be commended, but anyone who assaults a police officer or litters in the streets, or smashes the windows of businesses and banks, should faced the strong arm of the law. The cries of police brutality […] are intended as a means of preventing the police from doing its job in the next wave of protests. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Danino would be wise to instruct the police to exercise judgment and restraint, but stress that allowing anarchy to reign would constitute a huge public failure." Dan Margalit, IHY 27.06.12 Violence sponsored by the state “The police's violent suppression of a demonstration […] clearly reflects the government's intent to prevent more social protests this summer. The inability to come to terms with legitimate protest is another worrisome stage in the government's disparaging approach to protecting democratic society.[…] If the police and the minister in charge of them do not understand that they must respect the protest, […] the attorney general must make clear to the authorities that protest is an inseperable part of democratic life.” HAA 24.06.12 Editorial Protest needs real leaders "The bottom line is that at this time, a year after it emerged, the social protest has failed. It managed to change the public discourse, but not the agenda, and certainly not the situation. The cost of living is still skyrocketing, working citizens are increasingly suffocating, and the public health, education and welfare systems are weak and defeated.[…] This is no'Israeli spring,'[…] because Israel is not Egypt, Libya or Yemen. In these countries, there is no other choice but to embark on a violent revolution. Here, there is a choice; we have elections. How can the social protest blame others for not sweeping the masses?[…] If these leaders cannot mature, shift to a new phase and turn into political leaders[…], they should move aside and leave the stage for those who can do it." Ziv Lenchner, JED 27.06.12 From protest to power “At the basis of the violent events of Protest 2012 is the frustrating sense that Protest 2011 was in vain. This harsh feeling is unjustified.[…] The social-democratic agenda is today more central and influential than it has been for 30 years.[…] But it will require a long, profound process for this cognitive-conceptual change to turn into a real change.[…] At the beginning of this summer the protest leaders' job is not to try to reconstruct last summer's onetime success.[…] Instead, the protest leaders must now move the protest from the boulevards to the political parties and from the city squares to the government ministries. They must make sure that in the next election the protest is translated into a political power capable of political action.” Ari Shavit, HAA 28.06.12 3. Eskalation am Gazastreifen Einmal mehr ist es zu einer Eskalation am Gazastreifen gekommen. Der jüngste Schlagabtausch begann mit einem Angriff auf den im Bau befindlichen Grenzzaun zwischen Israel und Ägypten, bei dem ein Israeli getötet wurde. Das israelische Militär antwortete mit Luftschlägen auf den Gazastreifen, wo mehrere Palästinenser getötet wurden. Daraufhin wurden Ortschaften im Süden Israels mit Raketen beschossen. Erstmals seit einem Jahr zeichnete sich dafür die in Gaza regierende Hamas verantwortlich. Vorher hatte sie radikalen Kleingruppen die Angriffe auf Israel überlassen. Auch nachdem mit Hilfe Ägyptens ein Waffenstillstand ausgehandelt worden war, kam es zunächst zu weiterer Gewalt. Cast Lead 2 just a matter of time "The rocket-launching terrorists may have acted under the assumption that Egypt's new president will come from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas(which is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood) believes the rules have changed. This is why on Tuesday, for the first time since Operation Cast Lead at the very end of 2008, it fired 30 Qassam rockets into the Negev. […] The eventual outcome is clear – another Cast Lead-like operation in the Gaza Strip." Dan Margalit, IHY 20.06.12 They started it “This time there is no argument- they started it. This time one can say with certainty that Gaza Kindergarten started the brawl and Israel Kindergarten in the south continued.[…] 4

There is something appallingly childish in the recurring cycle of blood and destruction. They start and we react, they react and we react more harshly. The attacks on Israel are senseless and the Israeli revenge is no less senseless.[…] Israel's right to react is indisputable. But is there any sense in reacting?[…] After every violent Israeli reaction comes the Palestinians' counter-reaction. The south goes into bomb shelters, life is disrupted, terror grips the residents. Is it really inevitable?” Gideon Levy, HAA 21.06.12 Eyeless in Gaza, and Cairo "We should be disturbed by the increasing frequency of these bouts of violence and by the ever-shorter periods of calm between them. We cannot ignore the increasing correlation between attacks on the Israel-Egypt border and escalation in the Gaza Strip. Perhaps this is a positive step, in terms of fingering Hamas as the culprit behind attacks from Sinai, but it also grants any resident terrorist in Egypt the keys to escalation with Israel. To neutralize these threats, Israel needs not only to maintain deterrence over Gaza, it must also quietly pave inroads to the new regime in Cairo. As of now, this is the only way to preserve the quiet in Gaza, which will allow Israel to concentrate on real problems, like Iran and Syria." Yoav Limor, IHY 24.06.12 New Gaza policy needed "The fact that the Egyptian president is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood is an advantage, as his influence on the Gaza government will be much greater than that of the previous Egyptian regime. Morsi will need extensive American aid(on top of the military assistance, the US also provides Egypt with wheat,) and ending this aid will cause real hunger in Morsi’s country. No Egyptian president at the beginning of the road will risk that. Hence, the American ability to press Egypt is very high. American financial aid must also be conditioned on vigorous work by Egypt’s president to restrain the aggression from Gaza and improve the state of security in the Sinai Peninsula." Giora Eiland, JED 27.06.12 Target Hamas leadership "A massive offensive in Gaza would incur irreparable damage, likely causing the deaths of innocent civilians and serving to intensify the hatred between the two sides. […] We are now paying the price for the Israeli notion that Hamas' leaders should be immune from attack because they are the ones who moderate and curb the more radical groups in Gaza, and that it is Hamas which is in fact protecting the citizens of Israel.[…] That notion has been disproved, as this past weekend clearly demonstrated. […] Israeli decision makers need to change course and decide that the Hamas leaders are legitimate targets, and lift the immunity from Israeli attacks that they have been afforded until now." Shai Hermesh, IHY 24.06.12 Principle and pragmatism demand an end to Gaza blockade "Though Israeli concerns over the safety of communities bordering Gaza are valid, how exactly does banning tinned fruit while permitting tinned meat and tuna protect Israel?[…] There are those who argue that the blockade is in place to contain or even destroy Hamas. If that is the intention, then the plan has dramatically backfired.[…] Economic destitution and despair usually lead to greater radicalization and extremism, not the opposite.[…] Far more productive, as even a growing number of Israelis are now arguing, would be to engage with Hamas and empower the pragmatists within the movement who are willing to accept a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders." Khaled Diab, JPO 20.06.12 4. Medienquerschnitt Die Vielfalt der in Israel relevanten Themen kann in einem Medienspiegel nicht umfassend wiedergegeben werden. Um den deutschen LeserInnen dennoch einen Einblick in das breite Themenspektrum, das in den Medien behandelt wird, zu gewähren, veröffentlichen wir in dieser Schlaglichtausgabe wieder eine kleine Auswahl an weiteren Themen, die in den vergangenen zwei Wochen die israelische Gesellschaft bewegten. Über den Besuch des russischen Präsidenten Vladimir Putin in Israel und die Rolle Russlands im Nahen Osten: Putin's visit "There has been a dramatic improvement in IsraeliRussian relations over the past two-and-half decades.[…] The points of dispute between the two countries are primarily a byproduct of Moscow’s desire to counter US influence in the region, and have little if anything to do with Russia’s intentions with regard to Israel. Indeed, there are numerous factors that have helped bring the two countries closer, most notably the population of approximately one million Russianspeakers living in Israel.[…] Yet,[…] it is highly 5

unlikely that Israel will succeed in influencing in the least Russian policy vis-à-vis Iran and Syria.[…] Russia wants good relations with both Muslim states and Israel, but will pursue its own interests.[…] Still, Israel must make it clear to Putin that all options are still on the table. If Putin does not want Israel to reach the point where it feels cornered, the newly reelected Russian president would do well to use his influence with the Islamic Republic to stop its nuclear quest before it is too late." JPO 24.06.12 Editorial Putin must get tougher with Assad “Russia continues arming Bashar Assad's army while rejecting foreign intervention.[…] But someone who can stop a massacre and doesn't[…] could be considered a partner to that massacre. This partner has just been Israel's guest. Unfortunately, this is the same partner Israel needs to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium. Horse trading in interests and morality is part and parcel of foreign policy, and it's impolite to throw the faults of a guest country in its face[…]. But that doesn't mean Israel should remain silent in the face of the tragedy going on in a neighboring country.” HAA 27.06.12 Editorial Über den Untersuchungsbericht zum einem verheerenden Waldbrand im Carmelgebirge im Jahr 2010 und die Verantwortlichen in der Politik: Who got cold feet? “Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz has no grounds to bemoan his fate, and the same is true of his brother and rival in distress, Interior Minister Eli Yishai. This is not because State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss refrained from judging them harshly. […] He ascribed‘special’ or‘general’ responsibility for serious lapses to various ministers, including the prime minister. But when the time came to draw conclusions from his findings, he suddenly fell silent. […] He merely sent the ministers to give their accounting to the Knesset and the public.[…] The written report is final, but Lindenstrauss still has a chance to add some oral commentary to it[…]. If, for instance, he thinks one of the ministers should resign, he should say so.” Amir Oren, HAA 20.06.12 Carmel's lesson "The many faults of the understaffed and inadequately equipped firefighting forces have been well known.[…] So why was nothing done?[…] It was not for a lack of government decisions.[…] […] Israeli governments are ineffectual. In large part this is due to our extreme proportional representation electoral system. The low 2-percent threshold for election to the Knesset encourages the creation of political parties with radical or narrow agendas representing only a fraction of the population. […] Even if governments manage to survive the full length of their terms – a rare occurrence in Israeli politics – they are preoccupied more with selfpreservation than with implementing policy decisions.[…] Restricting the lessons learned from the fire to an indictment of Yishai and Steinitz will do nothing to change the underlying factors that have led to the sorrowful state of our firefighting services – and might lead to yet another tragedy." JPO 21.06.12 Editorial HAA= Haaretz; JED= Jedioth Ahronoth; JPO= Jerusalem Post; IHY= Israel HaYom; GLO= Globes; AS= Arutz Sheva Veröffentlicht am: 6. Juli 2012 Verantwortlich: Dr. Ralf Hexel, Leiter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel Redaktion: Maike Harel Anita Haviv Homepage: www.fes.org.il Email: fes@fes.org.il 6