Which Tycoons Are Using Their Media Holdings to Promote Israeli Views?
July 16, 2012 14:49 by Pesach Benson
Everything you need to know about today’s coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Join the Israel Daily News Stream on Facebook.
Today’s Top Stories:
1. AP: Egypt’s new government is keeping Hamas at arms length — fully opening border would undercut Palestinian unity and put us down the path to a three-state solution. AP writes:
A strong trade bond with Egypt could break Gaza’s last tentative ties with the West Bank, further hurting Abbas’ efforts to establish a state in both of those territories, along with east Jerusalem.
“This is a very dangerous step,” Abbas aid Mohammed Ishtayeh, said of Hamas’ appeal to Egypt. “It would be the end of the two-state solution,” he said.
2. Tycoons like Ron Lauder, Patrick Drahi, and Sheldon Adelson are using their media holdings to promote Israeli views. Haaretz wonders if there’s a pattern.
3. The International Red Cross formally declared the Syrian conflict to be a “civil war.” AP explains what this has to do with the proverbial price of eggs:
On Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it now considers the Syrian conflict a civil war, meaning international humanitarian law applies throughout the country.
Also known as the rules of war, humanitarian law grants all parties in a conflict the right to use appropriate force to achieve their aims. The Geneva-based group’s assessment is an important reference for determining how much and what type of force can be used, and it can form the basis for war crimes prosecutions, especially if civilians are attacked or detained enemies are abused or killed.
Israel and the Palestinians
• A Palestinian security official told the Israeli media that Arafat was murdered by other Palestinians. Maan News writes:
Shabana said that two Palestinian figures were involved in Arafat’s death, a security figure from the Gaza Strip and a political figure who helped cover up the crime.
The Palestinian leadership has information on the death of Yasser Arafat which it will never make public, Shabana said, adding that the Al-Jazeera’s report aimed to end President Abbas’ political career.
• A Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel — in the form of selling land to Jews — committed suicide. The Jerusalem Post explains why the PA’s especially shocked by Osama Hussein Mansour:
The source said Mansour had been in charge of a department that was created by the PA to prevent Palestinians from selling lands to Israelis.
“We discovered that the man who was responsible for thwarting such land deals was himself involved in such transactions,” the source told The Jerusalem Post.
The source pointed out that PA law bans Palestinians from conducting real estate deals with Israelis – a crime punishable by death in the Palestinian territories.
• President Obama concedes he has failed to move the Mideast peace process forward. He told WJLA TV News:
“I have not been able to move the peace process forward in the Middle East the way I wanted. It’s something we focused on very early. But the truth of the matter is that the parties, they’ve got to want it as well.”
It’s at the 1:51 point of the full interview.
• Welfare dependency (i.e., the UNRWA) harms the Palestinian people. So argues Asaf Romirowsky.
jeb stuart
3:54 pm
Jul 16, 2012
The Geneva report belies the many repoorts that the “activists” are well armed miliaitas and still fails to identitfy who these “activists” and rebels are. The one good thing that might come out of this is a clearer picture of who the rebels are and if we can continue to assume that what comes after Assad must be better than having Assad. I don’t expect to get the facts from the news they have been largely a “activist” Islamist proganda dissemination point.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
4 
0
Barry
5:11 am
Jul 17, 2012
so true! just mention the words “free elections” here in the west and everyone drools with excitement, never considering the fact that Arabs in their lands, don’t necessarily think the way we do when it comes to what we refer to as “activism”. the cultural gap is too massive. the US insisted on free elections in Gaza. gee, that worked out well. and throwing Mubarak under the bus in the name of “free elections”, resulting in the jeopardizing the Egyptian peace with Israel as well as Egyptian relations with the USA. not all peoples have the mentality for freedom as we know it. their idea of freedom is the freedom to oppress “others” they don’t like, like Coptic Christians and non Muslims.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
5 
0
Jerry
4:37 pm
Jul 16, 2012
Not moving the peace process forward. This is a joke of course, when did he ever make an unbiased effort doing so? And when was the last time he was in Israel? His attitude, has been like the idiots in the UN., i.e., Israel has to appease its enemies by giving up more. That is his solution!
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
11 
0
Barry
11:52 pm
Jul 16, 2012
damn right! a bad precedent has been set and is now seen as the panacea to all the ills of the middle east. when else in world history has a country, who has come out victorious in a defensive war had to make “good will gestures” toward the aggressors (and losers), or trade “land for peace”? what was the status of “peace” before the lands were exchanged as a result of the wars? what were all the problems before the Arabs lost the lands that weren’t theirs to claim to begin with?
if one looks at the history of conflict around the world, one is left with the unquestionable conclusion that Israel alone is singled out for what would otherwise be acceptable behavior in the face of such actions.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
6 
0
Nigel
4:42 pm
Jul 16, 2012
“Welfare dependency (i.e., the UNRWA) harms the Palestinian people. So argues Asaf Romirowsky.” Australia’s A$90 over five years probably much cheaper and much less problematic than agreeing to take in some Pal ‘refugees’? Australia already has significant law and order issues with Arab gangs.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
5 
0
Moll
7:14 pm
Jul 16, 2012
RE: Tycoons like Ron Lauder, Patrick Drahi, and Sheldon Adelson are using their media holdings to promote Israeli views. Haaretz wonders if there’s a pattern. Haaretz SHOULD know that what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander too. Haaretz uses its status as a hard-left of center liberal rag to flog it’s relativistic secular humanist philosophical apologetics to stand in solidarity with enemies of the State of Israel. Why wouldn’t others use what is in their control to manage the message to stand in solidarity with the State of Israel against the rising anti-semitism? The State of Israel is the only safe haven left on the face of this earth for persecuted jews.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
12 
0
Which Tycoons Are Using Their Media Holdings to Promote Israeli Views? | Blogs about Israel aggregation
9:25 pm
Jul 16, 2012
[...] Continued on Page 2 [...]
Agree or Disagree:
1 
0
a e friedman
6:09 am
Jul 17, 2012
JEWS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE THEIR MONEY TO INFLUENCE EVENTS!
Agree or Disagree:
0 
0