Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Sunday, Feb. 14 '16, Adar 5, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. THE END OF ISRAELI AIR SUPERIORITY OVER LEBANON?
2. UK TO BAN PUBLIC BODIES FROM BOYCOTTING ISRAEL
3. IDF ELIMINATES TWO TERRORISTS IN SAMARIA FIREFIGHT
4. STABBING ATTACK THWARTED OUTSIDE JERUSALEM
5. EHUD OLMERT TO BEGIN FIRST DAY IN PRISON
6. REPORT: EGYPT CANCELS NETANYAHU VISIT AFTER MINISTER'S REMARKS
7. PEACE NOW REPORTS LESS CONSTRUCTION IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA IN 2015
8. WATCH: PREGNANT ISRAELI REPORTER SHAMES LONDON UNDERGROUND USERS
1. THE END OF ISRAELI AIR SUPERIORITY OVER LEBANON?
by David Rosenberg
The radical Islamic terror organization Hezbollah has deployed advanced air defense systems and is laying the foundation for a comprehensive anti-air network, IDF officials revealed to Walla! News on Sunday.
Defense officials noted that Israeli aircraft are now being tracked by advanced radar systems operated by the Hezbollah terror group. The revelation signals a dramatic increase in the capabilities of the organization.
The report is unwelcome news for Israel and its Western allies who have suffered from Hezbollah attacks in the past. Apart from its long and bloody history of attacks against Israel, the Iranian proxy organization claimed responsibility for, among other things, the 1983 bombing of an American military installation which killed 241 US marines and 58 French paratroopers.
The deployment of advanced anti-air defense systems could seriously impair the ability of Israeli forces to defend its citizens from Hezbollah missile attacks.
More important, however, are the greater implications of the increasing cooperation between Russia, Syria, and Hezbollah. With high grade Russian military equipment flowing into the region, Hezbollah's capabilities are rapidly increasing, reducing Israel's historic technological advantage over the fundamentalist Islamic group.
Nor is it clear how far Russia is willing to go with its support. Hezbollah recently claimed Moscow is supplying them with sophisticated weaponry, but the Kremlin itself has strenuously denied those claims to Israel.
The new weapons have also apparently boosted Hezbollah's confidence in its ability to confront Israel. The organization is openly displaying its new capabilities, targeting Israeli planes and letting them know they're in Hezbollah's sights.
"This connection between Hezbollah and Syria to Russia has completely changed the rules of the game" an Israeli defense official told Walla! News. "Hezbollah is signaling to Israel that it's ready for the next round."
2. UK TO BAN PUBLIC BODIES FROM BOYCOTTING ISRAEL
by Ari Soffer
The British government is to announce measures aimed at preventing local councils, unions and other public institutions from launching boycotts against the State of Israel this week.
Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock told The Times the new guidelines were important to prevent discriminatory boycotts against the Jewish state, which he said both stoked anti-Semitism and harmed the UK's valuable trade relations with Israel.
The guidelines would enable the government itself to take action against organizations which boycott Israel, as well as empowering other bodies to take boycotters to court.
They would prevent any public body from promoting a boycott of country signed up to the World Trade Organization's government procedural agreement, the paper reported.
Recent years have seen far-left-dominated unions and several local councils embarking on highly politicized, controversial campaigns to boycott the Jewish state - campaigns Jewish rights groups say have helped fanned anti-Israel hysteria which often spills over into acts of anti-Semitism.
Such boycotts have also been criticized by others as a waste of resources and utterly irrelevant for local bodies which don't actually play any role in foreign policy. In most cases, such moves are launched at the initiative of extreme anti-Israel groups, who encourage activists to infiltrate otherwise apolitical organizations and table and lobby for anti-Israel boycotts.
"We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts," said Hancock.
"The new guidance on procurement, combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested, will help prevent damaging and counterproductive local foreign policies undermining our national security."
3. IDF ELIMINATES TWO TERRORISTS IN SAMARIA FIREFIGHT
by Ari Soffer
IDF forces killed two terrorists in Samaria on Sunday morning, after coming under fire while on patrol.
According to the army, IDF forces were fired upon while patrolling near the Jewish village of Hinanit, close to Jenin in northern Samaria, as they went to respond to reports of a rock-throwing attack.
When forces reached the site of the incident one of the terrorists ambushed them and opened fire. Soldiers returned fire and killed the two terrorists.
The attackers were found to have been armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a knife.
No IDF soldiers were injured in the incident.
In a statement released shortly after the incident, the IDF said: "The force responded to the shooting and fired towards the attackers, resulting in their deaths."
The Palestinian Authority health ministry named those killed as Nihad Waked and Fuad , both 15 years old.
It follows two terrorist attacks over Shabbat in which several people were injured.
In the first, an Arab woman stabbed and lightly injured an Israeli soldier, and moderately wounded a Palestinian man who tried to stop her, in an attack in Hevron. She was shot dead by soldiers.
Later, an Arab terrorist injured four Border Police officers in a car ramming attack near Maalei Adumim. Other officers responded by opening fire on the car, injuring three Arab occupants.
Raphael Poch contributed to this report.
4. STABBING ATTACK THWARTED OUTSIDE JERUSALEM
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2012512]
Border Police officers thwarted a stabbing attack at the Mizmoriya checkpoint between Tekoa and Har Homa, south of Jerusalem, early Sunday afternoon.
During a routine vehicle inspection a police officer manning the checkpoint noted a suspicious Arab man running at the checkpoint, and quickly reported it to Border Police.
When the officers noticed the suspect was running with a knife in his hand, one of them opened fire, fatally wounding him before he was able to injure anyone.
The terrorist was later identified as Naim Safi, a 17-year-old resident of an Arab village near Bethlehem.
The incident came less than two hours after terrorists opened fire on an IDF patrol in northern Samaria.
Soldiers returned fire and killed the attacker and an apparent accomplice, who were armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a knife. They had apparently lured the patrol by staging a rock-throwing attack just prior to the ambush.
5. EHUD OLMERT TO BEGIN FIRST DAY IN PRISON
by Steve Weizman
(AFP) Israel's Ehud Olmert on Monday becomes the country's first ex-prime minister to sit behind bars as he begins a 19-month prison term for separate counts of bribery and obstruction of justice.
The 70-year-old will report to Maasiyahu prison in the central Israeli town of Ramle, where former Israeli president Moshe Katsav is also serving a seven-year prison term for rape and sexual harassment.
The Israeli Prisons Service says that Olmert will be admitted to the prison's special block 10, "which is intended to house prisoners who for various reasons cannot be placed with the general prison population."
He will join four other unidentified inmates in block 10, which has a maximum capacity of 18.
"Due to his position, he is subject to various threats and is in danger," the prisons service says.
The start of Olmert's prison term will close a chapter in his long legal odyssey since leaving office in 2009.
He was initially given six years' prison in May 2014 for taking bribes in the early 2000s in connection with the construction of Jerusalem's massive Holyland residential complex, but the sentence was later reduced to 18 months.
Last week, an Israeli court handed him an additional month for obstructing justice. He admitted to the crime as part of a plea bargain in that case.
His prison sentence could still be extended further. The Supreme Court is still debating his appeal against a third sentence of eight months for fraud and corruption.
Born near the port city of Haifa, Olmert was elected to parliament in 1973 as a member of the Likud party and was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.
He later served as a cabinet minister, holding the trade and industry portfolio as well as several others.
He broke off from Likud with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon to form the Kadima party in 2005 and became premier in 2006 after Sharon slipped into a coma.
He is in part known internationally for relaunching peace efforts with the Palestinian Authority, including offering massive concessions - which were rejected by Mahmoud Abbas - at the Annapolis conference in the United States in 2007, but the corruption charges against him have come to define his legacy.
After the Supreme Court upheld one bribery conviction in December related to campaign financing but acquitted him of another linked to the residential complex, a tired-looking Olmert maintained he had not taken any bribes.
"A heavy weight was lifted from my chest today, when the Supreme Court exonerated me of the main charge, of Holyland," he told reporters outside the courtroom.
"I was never offered bribes, nor did I ever take any."
No stranger to VIPs
Olmert's stay in prison will be somewhat more luxurious than the average inmate.
The prisons service says that block 10 has six cells, each with three beds, ensuite shower and toilet, a closet and a table, chairs and television.
There are public telephones in the corridor, classrooms and a block recreation room, a visiting room, two rooms for consultations with lawyers, a room used as a synagogue, a library, sports equipment, dining room, and yard.
On admission Monday, Olmert, like any other prisoner, will be photographed, searched, given a medical examination and interviewed by various officials, including a social worker.
Inmates are allowed to bring from home four pairs of underpants, four pairs of socks, two towels and two sweatshirts without hoods or lining.
They can also bring with them one blanket (not a duvet), two sheets, a pillowcase, and religious books and articles.
The prison, named for the biblical gatekeeper of the Jewish temple, is no stranger to VIPs.
Current interior minister Aryeh Deri spent 22 months there after being convicted in 2000 for taking bribes during a previous term in the same post from 1988 to 1993.
He returned to the interior ministry in January this year after his predecessor Silvan Shalom resigned over allegations of sexual harassment.
His one-time rival in the haredi Shas party, former health minister Shlomo Benizri, served six months in Maasiyahu after being convicted of bribery, fraud and obstruction of justice.
Arutz Sheva staff contributed to this report.
6. REPORT: EGYPT CANCELS NETANYAHU VISIT AFTER MINISTER'S REMARKS
by Netanel Katz
Saudi Arabian media reported on Sunday morning that Egypt has cancelled a scheduled visit of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Cairo.
According to the reports, the reason that Egypt gave for canceling the visit is in order to show their dissatisfaction with recent comments made by the Israeli Minister of Energy Yuval Steiniz, who said that Egyptian security forces flooded Hamas terror and smuggling tunnels at the request of the Israeli government.
Steinitz a week ago said that: "coordination of security issues between Egypt and Israel is at an all time high." The minister incurred the wrath of the Egyptian government when he later said that the flooding of the tunnels "is a good solution to the southern security issues. While it is not a solution for a border that continues for 60-70 kilometers, if Sisi did so it was partly because we asked him to."
Steinitz's remarks earned harsh criticism from security personnel in Israel, and now according to the report it seems that the Egyptians didn't take kindly to his remarks either.
The Israeli government has refuted the report of the planned cancellation. The Prime Minister's Office said "Netanyahu did not have a scheduled trip to Egypt."
7. PEACE NOW REPORTS LESS CONSTRUCTION IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA IN 2015
by Arutz Sheva Staff
According to a report published by the left-wing extremist organization "Peace Now", the government initiated 40 percent less building in Judea and Samaria in the year 2015 then they had previously. The report listed 1,800 building initiatives having taken place during 2015, as opposed to over 3,100 that took place in 2014.
The report also mentioned that more than 70 percent of these initiatives took place in distant town and only 30 percent took place in more settled areas. Those ho compiled the report said that 348 building permits were given in spite of a promise by the government to freeze building plans in Judea and Samaria.
During 2015 a total of 63 public buildings such as kindergartens, synagogues and others were constructed, along with 42 industrial or agricultural buildings and 1,547 domiciles were built. Another 253 movable buildings were put in place over the course of the year as well.
According to the report, "since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's 2009 term in office began, 7,683 domiciles were built which accounts for 61 percent of all the construction in Judea and Samaria." The report also estimated the number of people who can live in those homes at 35,000. "Netanyahu's government has built homes for more than 35,000 new 'settlers', which Israel will have to remove in a permanent agreement. The Israeli government, with its own hands, is creating very serious problems for achieving peace, and is establishing facts on the ground that will exact a heavy toll."
The organization claims that three of the programs that were ratified during 2015 were the recognition of the town of El-Matan, Sansana, and Shvut Rachel. "During 2015 the government also notified the High Court of Justice, during various cases, that it plans to officially recognize the towns of Adi Ad, Eish Kodesh, Keida, Ahiya, Mitze Dani, and Neve Erez."
The report accuses the government of sending the message of "build now and we will legalize it later" to the residents.
Director of the Judea and Samaria Council, Shilo Adler, said that the numbers that were published by Peace Now show that the government has frozen building within Judea and Samaria amid outrageous discrimination when compared with the rest of society.
8. WATCH: PREGNANT ISRAELI REPORTER SHAMES LONDON UNDERGROUND USERS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Miri Michaeli Schwartz, Israel's Channel 10 News correspondent in Europe, has exposed the behavior of passengers on the London Underground who ignore heavily pregnant women and do not give up their seat.
Michaeli Schwartz, who is in the ninth month of her pregnancy, took a hidden camera onto the train in order to show the number of people who ignored her, despite her wearing a "Baby on Board" badge.
The "Baby on Board" badge, an initiative launched in 2005, is meant to signal to passengers on the train that the wearer is pregnant, even if she is still at an early stage of her pregnancy.
But, as Michaeli Schwartz's video shows, the commuters do not appear to care even if a woman is in the later stage of her pregnancy.
"Almost 9 months of commuting in the tube with the 'Baby on board' badge have come to an end," she wrote on Facebook in a post accompanying the three-minute video of her on the Underground.
"At first I thought it is a brilliant London invention. How will other people know it's not easy traveling with morning sickness if I don't yet have a real big baby bump? Proudly and happily I wore my badge, hoping people will notice and offer me the priority seat when I need it. That didn't happen. Then, I thought Londoners get up only for ladies who are later on in their pregnancy. I was frustrated I don't 'look pregnant' enough. That fact did not change how pregnant I felt. It was awful.
"Now, from the top of 38 weeks of pregnancy, when there's absolutely no way to ignore my huge bump (with a cute little baby girl inside of it!), I can tell you- London tube commuters just don't care," wrote Michaeli Schwartz.
"That's why I decided today to take a hidden camera with me in order to show you how one day of my life looks, standing sometimes for long periods of time on the tube, swollen, exhausted and afraid of sudden brakes. Commuters see me, they see my bump, sometimes even stare but don't get up, even if they are getting off of the train at the next station or are seating in the priority seat with a sticker of a pregnant lady as a reminder above their heads," she added.
The video has gone viral and has been picked up in Britain by The Daily Mail and the Evening Standard. Outlets in Belgium, Slovakia and Norway, among others, have reported on the video as well.
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