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Friday, Jan. 22 '16, Shevat 12, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. WATCH: NEW HEVRON HOMES EVICTED
2. HEAVY FALLOUT OVER YA'ALON'S EVICTION OF HEVRON JEWS
3. HEVRON STRIKES BACK AGAINST 'ANTI-JEWISH RACIST POLICY'
4. NETANYAHU BLASTS EU'S 'DOUBLE STANDARDS'
5. US INDICATES ABBAS LIED ABOUT PEACE TALKS
6. DID THE US PAY IRAN $1.7 BILLION IN RANSOM?
7. AFTER SANDSTORM, ISRAEL BRACES FOR MEGA SNOWSTORM
8. VIDEO MOCKING SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER GOES MEGA-VIRAL
1. WATCH: NEW HEVRON HOMES EVICTED
by Hezki Ezra
Large Security forces gathered on Friday morning and evicted the roughly 200 Jews who took up residence the day before in two new buildings in Hevron, which they noted were bought in full from an Arab seller.
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Credit: Chaverim L'shat Tzara
The eviction concluded not long after it began, and ended without incident.
It comes after sources close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) said Thursday that in order to populate a house in Hevron, it is necessary to receive approval for the purchase, have security clearance and also receive approval from the political echelon.
None of the three conditions were met, the sources claimed, adding that the residents will likely be evacuated from the buildings soon.
Several MKs in the coalition have voiced opposition to the eviction, with MKs Oren Hazan, Ayoub Kara and Bezalel Smotrich sending a message on Friday to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The Likud MKs and Jewish Home MK warned that if the two buildings are evacuated, the three will not view themselves as obligated to coalition discipline any longer, and will work to bring down the government.
Netanyahu's coalition stands at 61 MKs, the smallest majority possible, meaning that if even one MK were to leave the government they would bring it down. It remains to be seen if the three MKs will follow through on their threat.
The two new buildings, called Beit Rachel and Beit Leah, are strategically located between the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, where the Jewish presence in the city was reestablished after the city was liberated from Jordanian occupation, and the Cave of Machpelah, where the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs other than Rachel are buried.
Jews have extreme limitations placed on them in Hevron, both in terms of movement, obtaining building permits and a variety of other rights, with no new residents allowed into the Jewish neighborhoods.
2. HEAVY FALLOUT OVER YA'ALON'S EVICTION OF HEVRON JEWS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
An outpouring of criticism combined with threats to the coalition government followed the eviction on Friday morning of 200 Jews from two buildings in Hevron, which they purchased in full from an Arab buyer and took residence of on Thursday.
Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) demanded that the Security Cabinet be convened on the matter, and condemned Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) for the decision. Sources close to Ya'alon said Thursday that the purchase did not receive required political approval.
"It cannot be that we speak about collective responsibility of all the ministers, and in practice one minister decides for all the ministers, without holding a prior discussion in the Cabinet," said Elkin.
"The decision of Boogie (Ya'alon) to evacuate the homes is a serious mistake. I tried to stop the decision and did not succeed, and now the obligation is on Boogie to show that the establishment can act quickly so that those Jews can return to their homes in Hevron. Instead of focusing the war on settlers, the security establishment needs to give them security, and also to Arabs who are ready to sell homes to settlers."
Deputy Regional Development Minister Ayoub Kara (Likud), Likud MK Oren Hazan and Jewish Home MK Bezalel Smotrich on Friday warned the Prime Minister that they would buck coalition discipline and bring down the government, unless the Jews were returned to the strategic buildings.
"Enforcing the law"
Ya'alon on Friday afternoon responded to the criticism, claiming that by evacuating the residents who had purchased the buildings in full he was enforcing the law.
"The state of Israel is a state of law, and I do not intend to compromise when the law is breached. In the case of the buildings in Hevron, the law was systematically breached. In order to enter a home several legal activities are required, and none of them were conducted. Therefore the squatters were evicted," said Ya'alon.
The "legal activities" mentioned refer to the draconian limitations placed on Jews in Hevron, who are required to receive approval for purchases, have security clearance and also receive approval from the political echelon before buying a new home.
Ya'alon said, "I call on the ministers, MKs and public representatives to act with responsibility, to restrain their statements and back the rule of law - and not to encourage taking the law in ones hands and breaching it. That's a sure recipe for anarchy. The conduct and statements of several politicians on this topic border on abandonment, and harms our national strength."
He concluded by claiming "the settlements are important to me and I work for them, but I will not compromise on the law. The claim of purchasing the homes will be checked, as will security and political aspects, before permission to populate (the buildings) is given. Those who act by breaching the law will not aid the settlements but rather will seriously harm them."
"Bennett can't be coalition and opposition"
Earlier on Friday, the Jewish Home party came out with a statement against the decision, saying, "in the midst of a terror wave, the Defense Minister is working firmly, uncompromisingly and inflexibly precisely to throw Jews from their homes. This is a lack of responsibility, a mental fixation and stirring up the tensions without any clear reason."
"The Defense Minister should turn that flame and firmness against Arab terror and obvious illegal construction in the towns of the terrorists. A check of the purchase documents can be done without throwing Jews from their homes."
Meanwhile the Jewish Home Forum in Samaria showed frustration with their own party, demanding that Jewish Home chairperson Naftali Bennett do something against the eviction.
Joining the criticism of Bennett for his inaction was nationalist activist attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit, who lives in Hevron.
"Naftali Bennett needs to do a self examination and decide where he's going," said Ben-Gvir. "You can't sit in a government that expels the settlers and treats terror with kid gloves, and at the same time give criticism like the leading member of the Opposition. Bennett can bring down Defense Minister Ya'alon, and not only criticize his failures. The time has come to stop talking and start doing."
Ben-Gvir noted that the coalition government is made up of a minimum 61 MK majority, meaning one MK could bring it down.
"Bennett has the power, and when the situation is such that the Defense Minister cancels all criticism and represents a policy that is appropriate to a Defense Minister in the government of (Zionist Camp head Yitzhak) Herzog, then Bennett and his MKs should raise their fingers and show Boogie the door home."
3. HEVRON STRIKES BACK AGAINST 'ANTI-JEWISH RACIST POLICY'
by Ari Yashar
After security forces evicted 200 Jews on Friday morning from two buildings in Hevron, which they purchased in full from an Arab buyer and took residence of on Thursday, the Jewish community in Hevron spoke out against the move.
"The problem is that the government is conducting a policy in Hevron of anti-Jewish discrimination, and preventing Jews from any possibility to build or buy," read a statement from the Hevron Jewish community spokesperson unit.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) tried to justify the eviction on Friday in the face of an outpouring of condemnation, saying the residents "breached the law." He referred to the draconian limitations placed on Jews in Hevron, who are required to receive approval for purchases, have security clearance and also receive approval from the political echelon before buying a new home.
"In Hevron there is absolutely no possibility for Jews to develop the community due to racist reasons," charged the Hevron spokesperson. "Then when Jews succeed in buying a home, they throw them out like dogs. Unfortunately, that's the bitter truth."
"Oded Ravivi, who with God's help has building going on all the time, doesn't understand and doesn't feel the distress," the statement added, referencing the Efrat local council head who came out in defense of Ya'alon.
The council of the Jewish community in Hevron also issued a statement against the eviction, saying, "the government continues its serious and inhumane policies by preventing Jews from any possibility of developing the community in Hevron."
"At a time when Arabs are building without limitations, Jews are discriminated against in a harsh manner, and are not allowed to realize their basic human rights like the right to purchase and build, which were taken as foregone conclusions for hundreds of years."
"The eviction is a draconian and anti-democratic measure, it is a moral, Zionist and security bankruptcy, and gives a tailwind to terror," concluded the Hevron council. "We demand that the government do some self examination and change its hostile and anti-Zionist policies in Hevron and in the entire country."
4. NETANYAHU BLASTS EU'S 'DOUBLE STANDARDS'
by Ben Ariel
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday sharply criticized the European Union's (EU) double standards when it comes to Israel.
Netanyahu's comments came during a meeting in Davos with the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
"Netanyahu told Mogherini that the European Union must adopt the policy of the moderate Arab states toward Israel," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement following the meeting, according to Haaretz.
"The improvement in relations with them [the Arab states] will lead to an improvement with the Palestinians," added the statement.
Mogherini reportedly stressed that the EU isn't boycotting Israel. She also told Netanyahu she had received and even watched the video Israel sent earlier this week to all EU foreign ministers regarding incitement in the Palestinian media.
Haaretz noted that Thursday's meeting between Netanyahu and Mogherini took place less than two months after Netanyahu ordered the Foreign Ministry to suspend all talks with the EU on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process following the EU's decision to label products from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
The Prime Minister's Office declined to say whether this meeting, Netanyahu's first with Mogherini since issuing that order, marks the end of the suspension.
The meeting also took place after the EU's passing of a resolution earlier this week stipulating that all agreements between Israel and the EU not apply to any areas over the 1949 Armistice borders.
5. US INDICATES ABBAS LIED ABOUT PEACE TALKS
by Nitsan Keidar
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had his claims Thursday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu snubbed his efforts for peace talks further denied, as the American administration clarified it is not aware of Abbas's supposed initiative.
State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner made clear that the US is not familiar with Abbas's alleged attempts two months ago to meet with Netanyahu.
"I'm not aware that there were requests on the matter," said Toner. "We are open to any attempt by Abbas to meet with Israeli representatives unconditionally."
Abbas had told Israeli reporters that "there were contacts for a meeting with Netanyahu two months ago, but his people evaded meetings in advance meant to agree on the meeting."
Netanyahu's staff responded to the claims, saying, "he (Abbas) has already claimed this in the past, and we denied it. ...It isn't correct. This is an attempt by Abbas to evade his responsibility for the absence of negotiations. Even today in Davos Netanyahu called on Abbas to return to negotiations without preconditions."
The PA head also said, "I don't incite, in contrast to the claims of the Israeli ministers. I call on them to show me where exactly I incited."
Such examples in fact abound, as just last month Abbas called the murder of innocent Israelis a "peaceful uprising." His Fatah faction and PA have constantly aired pro-terror incitement in various media forms.
In early September he is viewed as having kicked off the current terror wave, when he blessed every drop of blood shed in Jerusalem "for Allah" and called to stop "filthy" Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. Then in early October as the terror wave began gaining steam, Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said that murdering Jews is a "national duty."
6. DID THE US PAY IRAN $1.7 BILLION IN RANSOM?
by Ari Yashar
In the wake of a prisoner swap between the US and Iran on Sunday, that took place the same day America gave Tehran $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds, concerns are high that the transfer was a ransom payment, reports the Wall Street Journal late Thursday.
At nearly the same time that the Islamic regime in Iran released five US prisoners in return for seven Iranian prisoners from America, the US Treasury Department wired the massive funds to Tehran. Shortly afterwards the controversial nuclear deal was implemented, with Iran receiving a windfall in sanctions relief that US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted Thursday will go to terror.
The $1.7 billion payment ended a 35-year-old legal battle over a $400 million arms contract with Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which was never delivered due to the Islamic revolution of 1979. The White House agreed to pay a whopping $1.3 billion in interest on top of the original contract, claiming by doing so it was avoiding a greater financial loss at The Hague.
US President Barack Obama tried to justify the transfer on Sunday, saying, "Iran will be returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount Iran sought."
However, Gen. Mohammad Reza-Naghdi, commander of Iran's paramilitary Basij force, on Wednesday told state media that the transfer was a key factor in the decision to release the American prisoners, indicating it was indeed ransom pay.
"Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies and doesn't have to do with the (nuclear) talks," said Reza-Naghdi. "The way to take our rights back from the arrogants (Americans) is to become powerful, and we must grow stronger and stronger every day."
The White House has claimed that talks to settle the arms contract payment and prisoner swap talks were kept separate.
However, top State Department diplomats including Kerry and Middle East specialist Brett McGurk worked to ensure the $1.7 billion payment was ready by last weekend in time for the prisoner swap, according to sources involved in the matter who spoke with the Wall Street Journal.
McGurk was reportedly involved in getting the payment completed as early as a month ago, and Kerry announced the settlement on Sunday at nearly the same time as the release of the American prisoners.
Republican lawmakers have responded by demanding an inquiry, and also noted that Iran received far more in the prisoner swap deal by getting seven Iranians freed and extradition proceedings on another 14 dropped, in exchange for five Americans.
"There's no way the recent events occurred randomly," said Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS), who wrote to Kerry this week about the payment. "We will do our best to find out if this was in our interest."
Some lawmakers have also asked why the White House didn't use the $1.7 billion to compensate US terror victims, given that Iran has lost many US court cases over terror attacks it supported and funded, but is refusing to pay up.
7. AFTER SANDSTORM, ISRAEL BRACES FOR MEGA SNOWSTORM
by Ari Yashar
Israel is still recovering from the major sandstorm that hit on Monday, bringing with it dust particulates and air pollution for at least two days, but now the country is facing a new storm replete with snow, thunder, howling winds and all the rest of the bells and whistles.
The storm is to start building on Saturday morning, with local rain anticipated from the north of the country to the northern Negev, even as temperatures drop. Thunderstorms are predicted, and there are flood warnings in the Judean Desert and Dead Sea region, with a possibility of snow on Mount Hermon, Israel's only ski site.
Then on Sunday things will take a turn for the worse, as gale-force winds of 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph) with bursts of 90 kilometers per hour (56 mph) beat down on Israel, and the sea will roil in waves up to eight meters (26 feet) in height.
Snow is to come cascading down on Mount Hermon, the Golan Heights, as well as the mountainous regions in the center of the country, such as in Samaria and the Hevron region. Light snow is also possible in Jerusalem.
A cold wave of air from Russia apparently is the culprit behind Sunday's stormy fluctuations, and will bring with it hail and thunderstorms in addition to rains from the north to the Negev.
Temperatures in Tzfat (Safed) in the north are to drop as low as 3° C (37° F), Jerusalem 4° C (39° F), while the coast will remain slightly warmer, as Haifa and Tel Aviv are predicted to hit a maximum temperature of 12° C (53° F).
Then on Monday the rains will continue to fall, although they will be focused more on the center of the country and the south. The winds will die down gradually, although the temperature will remain bitingly cold. Snow may fall, mainly on the peaks in the mountainous regions, with sleet possibly coming down on Jerusalem.
Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has been gearing up for the storm by placing additional support on its 103 phone hotline, where citizens can report downed electric wires and get information.
IEC teams are preparing for rapid deployment nationwide, and likewise generators have been placed in Tzfat, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem in anticipation of potential power outages. The IEC has in recent weeks been working to cut back trees from power lines.
8. VIDEO MOCKING SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER GOES MEGA-VIRAL
by Gil Ronen
The Knesset held a tense discussion Wednesday afternoon over Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's recent demand to investigate Israel for the alleged extrajudicial "executions" of Palestinian terrorists.
Science Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) called Wallstrom's remarks "insane," and said they gave a boost to terrorism.
An Israeli copywriter named Guy Ordever used humor to fight Wallstrom, creating a video based on a Swedish TV broadcast with Hebrew subtitles, that has received 730,000 views in four days. The huge number corresponds to about 9% of Israel's total population.
A version of the video with English subtitles has been uploaded by a new NGO called FightBack to its Facebook page. It is embedded above and can be viewed with a click.
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