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Friday, Feb. 19 '16, Adar 10, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. WATCH: DAMASCUS GATE STABBING - RAW FOOTAGE
2. 'YOU FOUGHT WITH YOUR HANDS, WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART'
3. TWO WOUNDED IN STABBING AT DAMASCUS GATE
4. TRAGEDY IN HAR HEVRON: 1-YEAR-OLD BABY DROWNS
5. 'WE NEVER EMPTIED A MAGAZINE INTO A CHILD!'
6. POLL: LIKUD STUMBLES, ZIONIST UNION CRASHES
7. WATCH: TERRORISTS HUNT VICTIMS IN THE SUPERMARKET
8. TRUMP: WHAT OBAMA DID TO ISRAEL IS A DISGRACE
1. WATCH: DAMASCUS GATE STABBING - RAW FOOTAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City on Friday morning was caught on film and published by Al Jazeera, showing how Border Police officers shot the Arab terrorist dead after he stabbed two of them.
Viewer discretion is advised.
[youtube:2012698]
In the attack one officer was lightly wounded and another lightly to moderately wounded, after the terrorist snuck up on them from behind and launched his attack.
A 50-year-old Arab woman was also lightly wounded as shrapnel sent flying by the gunfire hit her leg.
"A terrorist attacked a squad of officers from behind, stabbed and wounded them lightly, the squad responded with fire and neutralized the terrorist," police said in a statement, identifying the dead terrorist as a 20-year-old from Kafr Aqab, located to the north of Jerusalem.
Reportedly the terrorist held a blue teudat zehut ID card, indicating permanent Israeli residency. The wounded officers were evacuated to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Damascus Gate has become a central hot spot for attacks during the current wave of Arab terror that began last September, with Friday's attack marking at least the fourth attack or attack attempt at the site this week alone.
A stabbing was prevented at the site on Tuesday, on Monday a 15-year-old female Palestinian Arab was arrested after a knife was found on her by alert security officers, and a shooting attempt by two Arab terrorists took place at the site on Sunday night.
The two on Sunday were shot by security personnel before they were able to inflict any injuries, and one of the assailants was later identified as a Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Force member.
Sunday night's shooting attempt was a repeat of an attack two weeks ago on Wednesday, when three terrorists armed with sub-machine guns, bombs and knives opened fire on security personnel at the Damascus Gate, killing female Border Police officer Hadar Cohen before being eliminated.
Friday's stabbing comes in the shadow of another stabbing the day before at a Rami Levy supermarket in Sha'ar Binyamin, in which 21-year-old Tuvia Yanai Weissman was murdered and 36-year-old Avi Avital was moderately wounded by two 14-year-old Arab terrorists.
2. 'YOU FOUGHT WITH YOUR HANDS, WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART'
by Ari Yashar
The funeral of Staff Sergeant Tuvia Yanai Weissman, the 21-year-old combat soldier of the Nahal Brigade who was murdered while shopping by knife-wielding 14-year-old Arab terrorists on Thursday, began at 8 a.m. on Friday at Har Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.
While shopping for Shabbat at a Rami Levy supermarket in Sha'ar Binyamin northeast of the capital, the young father of a four-month old baby girl was stabbed by the terrorists from nearby Bitunia. He was critically wounded and succumbed to his injuries after being evacuated to Shaare Tzedek Hospital.
In the attack a 36-year-old man later identified as Avi Avital was also stabbed and moderately wounded; he remains under treatment at Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.
Weissman was a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade and grew up in Ma'ale Mikhmas in the Binyamin region of Samaria. He studied at a high school in Jerusalem and at a pre-military academy in Kfar Eldad in Judea. He enlisted in the Nahal Brigade and got married during his military service. Weissman leaves behind his wife Yael, a four-month-old daughter, his parents and three brothers.
At the funeral on Friday, Weissman's father Dana eulogized his son, saying, "you loved your daughter Neta so much. You took her to see the flowers in the Negev a day before you were murdered. No hatred and no enemy will end that (love)."
His mother Orli said, "I release you to God, but I don't know if I'll be able to release the love. You were very independent and went on your path."
"You ran and I waited for you"
Weissman's bereaved widow Yael said, "you were always full of endless giving, if you hadn't run there (to stop the terrorists) you wouldn't be the Yanai that I know and fell in love with. If only you could have been with Neta more, how many dreams we had."
"Before we entered the supermarket I asked you when we will be a normal family and you said it won't be long," she said, in a reference to his ongoing intense army service.
"My beloved, who would believe that I would write to you while you are no longer with me, in the short time we had on the weekends you made sure to take care of everything. You heard that something happened and you ran and I waited for you."
"We managed so much in two years of marriage even though we weren't together a lot."
"Yanai you are a true hero of all the nation of Israel, you knew that you had no weapon and nevertheless you ran. I want to thank you, I merited to learn from a talented and special man. Thank you for our Neta," concluded Yael.
"You fought with your heart"
Rabbi Shmuel Natanzon of the Yedidya academy where Weissman studied eulogized him, saying, "Yanai with his great conquering smile, Yanai of uncompromising truth, Yanai of Yael, father of Neta, Yanai of his family and friends. Since last night Yanai of all the people of Israel. How much light you had, our beloved Yanai, how much light you knew to give to others."
"We had many debates until the small hours of the night because you were a man of truth. You had doubts as to whether to go to (a) command (role) or continue in combat, I knew that you could be a role model and symbol. How proud you were of your wife Yael, of Neta, how many pictures you sent us of you and the children."
"Yael told me yesterday that you were in a different aisle, you heard the shouts, she bent over Neta (to protect her) and you disappeared. You couldn't hear shouts and just stand there, that's how you were, you didn't have a weapon...you fought with your hands, with your body, with your whole heart," said the rabbi.
Ma'ale Mikhmas Spokesperson
Security cameras at the Sha'ar Binyamin shopping center revealed the terrorists being stopped for questioning by a security guard at the entrance to the center. After roughly a minute-and-a-half of questioning they were let in - with the lethal knives hidden on their bodies.
Other footage revealed the two walking freely in the Rami Levy store for a full 20 minutes as they hunted for victims before attacking.
After stabbing their two victims, the terrorists were shot by two armed civilians in the store, and then brought in for treatment at Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.
Following the attack, the IDF decided to close the Sha'ar Binyamin Industrial Zone to Arab entry, aside from employees with work permits at the site. It was also decided that a route connecting Al-Ram and Adam will be closed to Arab traffic, and that security checks on Arabs coming out from the Ramallah region will be intensified.
Tuvia Yanai Weissman and his wife Yael No credit
3. TWO WOUNDED IN STABBING AT DAMASCUS GATE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A stabbing attack took place at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City on Friday morning.
Two Border Police officers were lightly to moderately wounded in the attack with stab wounds to the upper body, and the terrorist was eliminated. A 50-year-old female Arab passerby was lightly wounded in the leg by shrapnel as the terrorist was shot.
"A terrorist attacked a squad of officers from behind, stabbed and wounded them lightly, the squad responded with fire and neutralized the terrorist," police said in a statement, identifying the dead terrorist as a 20-year-old from Kafr Aqab, located to the north of Jerusalem.
Reportedly the terrorist held a blue teudat zehut ID card, indicating permanent Israeli residency.
Magen David Adom (MDA) teams provided medical treatment to the wounded at the site prior to evacuating them to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in the city.
MDA paramedic Guy Gonen and MDA emergency medic Noam Ra'av who treated the wounded said, "when we arrived at the scene we saw two youths around 20 years of age fully conscious, they were walking around, one suffering a wound to the limbs and his friends who were with him immediately bandaged him."
"The other (victim) suffered several stab wounds to the upper body," said the medics. "We put the two in the emergency medical vehicle and while evacuating them to the hospital we gave them medical treatment, with one defined as in light to moderate condition and the other light, they were stable and communicated with us on the way."
Nachum Bernstein, deputy Jerusalem branch head of the United Hatzalah emergency medical group, said, "when I reached the scene I came across two youths fully conscious after knife stabs to the upper body, and another passerby in light condition who was injured in the leg due to the gunfire towards the terrorist who conducted the attack."
"The quick actions of the security forces with the grace of God prevented the terrorist from harming other civilians."
Four Damascus Gate attacks in one week
Friday's stabbing comes in the shadow of another stabbing the day before at a Rami Levy supermarket in Sha'ar Binyamin, in which 21-year-old Tuvia Yanai Weissman was murdered and 36-year-old Avi Avital was moderately wounded by two 14-year-old Arab terrorists.
Damascus Gate has become a central hot spot for attacks during the current wave of Arab terror that began last September, with Friday's attack marking at least the fourth attack or attack attempt at the site this week alone.
A stabbing was prevented at the site on Tuesday, on Monday a 15-year-old female Palestinian Arab was arrested after a knife was found on her by alert security officers, and a shooting attempt by two Arab terrorists took place at the site on Sunday night.
The two on Sunday were shot by security personnel before they were able to inflict any injuries, and one of the assailants was later identified as a Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Force member.
Sunday night's shooting attempt was a repeat of an attack two weeks ago on Wednesday, when three terrorists armed with sub-machine guns, bombs and knives opened fire on security personnel at the Damascus Gate, killing female Border Police officer Hadar Cohen before being eliminated.
4. TRAGEDY IN HAR HEVRON: 1-YEAR-OLD BABY DROWNS
by Uzi Baruch
An infant boy aged one-year-and-three-months-old drowned on Friday in a tub of water and died in Shima, in the Har Hevron regional council at the very southern edge of Judea.
Magen David Adom (MDA) medics and paramedics provided the baby with medical treatment and continued advanced resuscitation, but in the end were forced to pronounce the infant's death.
The baby was pulled out of the tub of water after having been trapped inside it for an unknown period of time. The Judea and Samaria district police emphasized that there is no suspicion of criminal activity in the incident.
Welfare teams of the town and Har Hevron regional council arrived at the family's home and are accompanying them through the tragic death.
MDA paramedic Elyashiv Amitai who lives in an adjacent town and who treated the infant said, "this is a serious tragedy. Outside of the home we saw the baby unconscious and not breathing, with no heartbeat."
"An MDA volunteer from the town started basic resuscitation activities and immediately we gave him life-saving medical treatment and advanced continued resuscitation with the help of a pediatrician from the adjacent town," said Amitai.
"After repeated efforts we were forced to determine his death."
5. 'WE NEVER EMPTIED A MAGAZINE INTO A CHILD!'
by Hezki Ezra
Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) on Friday rebuffed IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, who made controversial statements on Wednesday discouraging the use of "excessive" force against terrorists.
Speaking to high schoolers in Bat Yam, Eizenkot had said IDF soldiers must not "empty magazines" into a 13-year-old female terrorist wielding scissors and trying to stab victims. He also disparaged a famous Talmudic maxim, saying "the IDF cannot speak in slogans like 'when someone comes to kill you – kill him first.'"
Erdan struck back on Friday, saying the situation of a 13-year-old terrorist having an ammunition magazine emptied into her simply never happened.
"One thing was missing in the storm over the Chief of Staff's comments about not needing to empty a magazine into a 13-year-old female youth with scissors: no one noted that it never happened," emphasized the minister.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) also attacked the comments on Thursday, after two 14-year-old Arab terrorists armed with knives murdered 21-year-old Tuvia Yanai Weissman and moderately wounded 36-year-old Avi Avital as they were shopping.
"I hope that the Chief of Staff's statements condemning automatic fire were not mistakenly interpreted and caused hesitation and an endangerment of life," said Katz.
Eizenkot's comments caused anger among senior police officials, and MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) asked Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) to summon Eizenkot in for a talk over the statement. However, Ya'alon on Thursday defended the IDF Chief of Staff's controversial statements, saying "we cannot...lose our humanity."
Regarding the open-fire orders, last August the protocols were made even tighter, mandating soldiers in Judea and Samaria to only fire in the air, and not even shoot the lower extremities of an attacker other than in extreme cases of imminent life-threatening danger. In May, it was reported that IDF soldiers were told to avoid killing terrorists, even if they spot them as they are about to throw a potentially lethal firebomb or rock at a car.
The Talmudic dictum of "when someone comes to kill you – kill him first" was recently quoted by Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef last October, when he praised soldiers who kill attacking terrorists and lauded them for performing a mitzvah.
A week earlier senior Sephardic Rabbi Meir Mazuz urged Israeli bystanders to kill terrorist attackers rather than capture them alive, and Tzfat (Safed) Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu likewise warned not to let terrorists "survive their attacks," to prevent their ability to be freed and return to attack again.
6. POLL: LIKUD STUMBLES, ZIONIST UNION CRASHES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A new poll published on Friday shows a slight drop for the ruling Likud party, and a complete free fall for the leftist Zionist Union which challenged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the last elections.
The poll, conducted this week for Maariv by the Panels Politics research institute, indicates Likud dropping from its current 30 mandates down to 27.
The loss is minimal in comparison with the Zionist Union led by MK Yitzhak Herzog, which is predicted to fall from 24 seats down to a mere 15.
MK Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid is the biggest winner in the poll, jumping from 11 seats to 18 and becoming the second largest party in the Knesset, outpacing Zionist Union.
The Arab Joint List party drops slightly from 13 mandates to 12 in the poll, while Jewish Home rises from eight to 12. MK Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu nearly doubled, shooting up from six to ten mandates.
MK Moshe Kahlon's new Kulanu party fell sharply from ten to six seats, while Shas remained at seven.
United Torah Judaism rose from six to seven, while the far-leftist Meretz party increased from five to six seats.
7. WATCH: TERRORISTS HUNT VICTIMS IN THE SUPERMARKET
by Yoni Kempinski
Video from the security cameras at a Rami Levy supermarket in Sha'ar Binyamin captured the two 14-year-old Arab terrorists who stabbed 21-year-old Sergeant Tuvia Yanai Weissman to death Thursday, and moderately wounded another 36-year-old shopper.
[youtube:2012683]
The video shows the two terrorists from nearby Bitunia walking around the store hunting for a victim.
An initial investigation has revealed the two got past security at the store with knives they brought from home, and then were able to walk around freely for a full 20 minutes before launching their stabbing attack.
They were shot by two armed civilians in the store and arrested; the terrorists were brought in for treatment at Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.
Rami Levy was summoned for questioning to be conducted on Sunday by the police regarding the incident.
Weissman, a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade, leaves behind his wife Yael, a four-month-old daughter, his parents and three brothers. His funeral will take place on Friday at 8 a.m. at the Har Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.
8. TRUMP: WHAT OBAMA DID TO ISRAEL IS A DISGRACE
by Nitsan Keidar
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday slammed President Barack Obama for being a "disgrace" in his treatment of Israel, just a day after Trump raised concerns for promising to be "neutral" and "unpredictable" in forcing peace talks on Israel.
[youtube:2012689]
Speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News, the real estate mogul said, "Israel is so important. What Obama has done to Israel is a disgrace. How they even talk to us is hard to believe. How do they talk to Obama? You know, I have friends who support Obama, I said, How do you do it? It's almost like they do it out of habit. They agree he's been terrible."
"You look at what he's done to Israel, with just this Iran deal, which is such a terrible deal. He's been the worst thing that's ever happened to Israel," said Trump.
"Now, a lot of my friends that are Jewish do not support him any longer. But I still have some that do. I say, How can you do it? ...You know what? I think it's habit. They do it out of habit."
Regarding Jewish support for Obama, in 2008 when he defeated John McCain American Jews backed Obama 78-22, while in 2012 against Mitt Romney they backed Obama 69-30. The most Republican Jewish vote came in 1980, when Jimmy Carter still got 45-39 support over Ronald Reagan.
Even while making public statements of support for Israel, Trump has made other comments that cast doubt on what his policy will be.
Last month when asked if he backs the initiative of his competitors Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to finally move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump said he was for it "100%."
However, back in December while speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition he refused to rule out dividing Jerusalem as part of peace talks he said he plans to foist on Israel.
He also placed the onus for the lack of peace on the Jewish state, saying in an interview, "a lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal - whether or not Israel's willing to sacrifice certain things."
Trump has been the Republican frontrunner in the race for the presidential nomination, but a national poll Thursday showed Senator Ted Cruz beating him out for the lead, for the first time.
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