Headlines: Yedioth leads with yet another expose on Remedia, a milk-substitute for babies, citing a new research that shows children have suffered even worse developmental damage than previously thought. The moratorium on settlements is relegated to a smaller headline, and the newspaper predicts the cabinet will vote for the moratorium. Well, why wouldn't they. Ma'ariv leads with a part taunting, part tut-tutting headline, chiding Obama for congratulating Netanyahu on launching another moratorium before the cabinet actually voted on the matter. Appropriately, the banner runs:" Obama already decided there's a freeze," and the headline calls out for "The blessing and the…

Some dailies believe Netanyahu supports the American deal on another settlement "freeze", while others are skeptical; a witch hunt to silence settlement boycotters, that would make McCarthy proud; and creative suggestions in East Jerusalem The Headlines: The American Deal and its Prospects > The US has proposed a deal to Netanyahu, that requires Israel to "freeze" settlement construction (excluding Jerusalem) for three months, including a halt to building that began since the end of the previous freeze, six weeks ago (in those six weeks settlers have managed to begin construction of more housing units than in all of 2009, when…

The Roundup: Ma'ariv calls on Israel and AIPAC to team up to release American spy; Israel's most important columnist denounces "Appartheid Law"; IDF General thinks conflict with Hama is "inevitable" The Headlines: Israeli-American Relations > Ma'ariv is calling upon Israel to act now – with AIPAC's help - to facilitate the release of the American spy Jonathan Pollard, who has spent the last 25 years in a federal prison, after being convicted of gathering intelligence for Israel. More details on this can be read in the Columnists' Corner, below. > Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Clinton met for 7…

+972's daily media roundup:  Jerusalem police believes that a Jewish gang is responsible for the attacks on Arabs that occurred in Jerusalem recently; Mutiny within Labor against Defense Minister Ehud Barak continues; F-16 crashes during a training mission, two pilots are dead. The Headlines All three tabloids have the same couple of stories on their front pages: the crash of an Israeli F-16 jet fighter during a training mission in the south; and the murder of two girls by their mother in a Tel Aviv suburb. The F-16 crash occurred very late and at the time it wasn't known if…

The Daily Media Roundup: Jerusalem is testing Obama after the midterms; Kadima strongman is out of the Knesset - for now The Headlines: Fool me Twice, Obama? > Obama to Netanyahu: Construction in East Jerusalem hurts the peace process. Netanyahu: oh, no it doesn't. US: it does to! As usual, for this government, no lessons have been learned (or is it a test to the president's determination after the midterms?). > The story of ex-minister and power broker, Tsahy Hanegby (Kadima) lives on, but this time at least the newspapers bother to explain why it is important. The judges ruled…

The Headlines: East Jerusalem Becomes More Palestinian AND More Jewish > The US is furious (Yedioth) or enraged (Ma'ariv) or disappointed (Ha'aretz, Yisrael Hayom) with the intent to construct 1,300 housing units in East Jerusalem settlements. Ma'ariv is shocked [Heb] that Palestinians in that part of the city, which Israel has illegally annexed, receive services from the Palestinian Authority, and hang signs with the image of deceased Palestinian President Arafat. The settlement of Ariel is also planning an expansion. > Newspapers are fascinated, for some reason, with the fate of Tzachi Hangebi (Kadima), an ambitious power broker and former minister.…

The Headlines: Bedouins, Settlements, Terrorists, Iran, and Refugees > A mosque in the Bedouin city of Rahat, built without a permit, was demolished by the Israeli authorities. The regional police commander is immensely satisfied with the brilliant use of the "element of surprise", and vows to pursue locals who protested the demolition. Reconstruction of the mosque has already begun (Yedioth). The Bedouins, who are strongly loyal to Israel and, unlike other Israeli Arabs, serve in the military; nonetheless live in deplorable conditions, suffering discrimination and neglect by the authorities. In related news, right-wing extremists in Jerusalem brutally assaulted a Chilean…

This is one of the rare days when all four of the Israeli dailies lead with completely different headlines. Haaretz leads with Netanyahu's trip to the United States; the PM is "set to discuss a package of benefits in exchange for extending the temporary settlement freeze." Senior administration officials slovenly remind his highness that the benefits are still on the table. This, in a nutshell, is Obama's "tough love" for Israel: When the carrot doesn't work, try... more carrots. Haaretz notes in passing the PM's flight will cost us taxpayer one million dollars. Other headlines of interest include the police…

Hebrew media roundup: Ehud Barak fires back, while the search for someone to replace him continues; Yedioth: Government was blackmailed by high-ranking official > Defense Minister Barak fires back at the Labor insurrection against his leadership (more on the move against Barak here). In their desperate search for a candidate to replace Barak, some MKs are mulling [Heb] a bill that would shorten the “cooling-off” period and allow the outgoing chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, to compete in the next elections As Labor's head. Ashkenazi became Barak’s bitter rival when the two fell out over the appointment of Ashkenazi’s successor,…

972 magazine's daily media roundup: an insiders' attack on defense minister Ehud Barak; Pro-Netanyahu tabloid celebrating the Democratic defeat in the midterms Ahabal (אהבל): Slang (org. Arabic) for a fool, an idiot. It's time to learn a new word: Ahabal. That's the term union leader and Labor strongman Ofer Eini has chosen to describe his party boss, defense minister Ehud Barak. Eini was interviewed for channel 2, and when referring to Barak's latest scandal – his wife's hiring of an illegal immigrant – he said, in what became an instant iconic political moment: "You are a minister. [How are] you…

The Headlines: Bad for Israel > Israel’s outgoing chief of Military Intelligence (and future head of Mossad?), Maj Gen Amos Yadlin, warns Israelis not be fooled by the “unprecedented” security they have enjoyed recently. The IDF’s own Jeremiah predicts that the “next military conflict” will happen on multiple fronts and may incur more fatalities. As I have written here in the past, the importance of such assessments is not derived from the predictive power of Israeli intelligence, which has often proven quite poor. Rather, what worries me is the IDF’s tendency to produce self-fulfilling prophecies: by reacting to every event…

The Headlines: American voters elect Israel’s government > Today’s American congressional elections are front pages news in the Hebrew media. Israelis, so dependent on the US, are fascinated by its politics. But even so-called experts display shocking ignorance of the basic facts, often repeating silly partisan talking points. The general tone is schadenfreude towards the predicament of Obama, which the right considers unfriendly towards Israel. The notable exception is Ha’aretz, which also sensibly notes that Democratic losses are inevitable in a mid-term election during an economic crisis. > University students protest against the intention to award benefits to yeshiva students,…

The Headlines: First Segregation, Now This? > Every year, the Knesset votes on an “economic arrangements” package that accompanies the budget bill. These are supposed to be measures that have a budgetary impact, but the Finance Ministry uses the bill to try and pass reforms that will not otherwise have a majority in the Knesset. This year, however, ministry officials have outdone themselves. They are trying [Heb] to sneak into a law a measure Israel’s own Supreme Court has labeled “modern slavery”. The proposal will reinstate a practice, ruled illegal by the courts, by which a migrant worker can lose…