Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
Monday, Mar. 28 '16, Adar Bet 18, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. BENNETT: BIBI WANTS TO PLEASE B'TSELEM BY SACRIFICING SOLDIERS
2. IDF HAS 11TH MOST POWERFUL MILITARY IN THE WORLD
3. CANADA TO UN: DON'T PUT OUR ANTI-ISRAEL PROF IN KEY MIDEAST POST
4. DANI DAYAN APPOINTED AS ISRAEL'S NY CONSUL GENERAL
5. REPORT: NSA CHIEF MADE SECRET VISIT TO ISRAEL
6. ISIS CELL PLANNED TO BOMB SECURITY FORCES IN JERUSALEM
7. MAZAL TOV: TRUMP WELCOMES JEWISH GRANDSON
8. WATCH: ISRAELI JUDOKA SEIZES GOLD MEDAL GLORY
1. BENNETT: BIBI WANTS TO PLEASE B'TSELEM BY SACRIFICING SOLDIERS
by Shimon Cohen
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) laid heavy criticism against the Prime Minister and Defense Minister over his handling of the controversy surrounding the shooting of an injured terrorist in Hevron.
"A serious injustice occurred here. Thursday morning there was a difficult incident in which two terrorists went out to murder and were killed during and after the incident. I am not ignoring the shooting. There was a shooting incident and it is controversial," Bennett said.
"By that afternoon, leaders in the government and the opposition, Bougie [Herzog] and [Yair] Lapid on the left, as well as the Prime Minister and Defense Minister - everyone hurried to judge the soldier who made a mistake, and (said he) acted in an illegal and immoral manner. All this occurred before the regional command's investigation and before the military police investigation. Then after everyone pronounced the sentence, they gave it to the military police investigators and told them to investigate. What sort of investigation can there be after he's already sentenced?"
He continued: "Put yourselves in the military police investigator's shoes - you get a file for investigation on Thursday night after the country's leadership already sealed the soldier's fate. It's very hard to ignore this. This is an unnecessary attack and we should not do so on the basis of a partial B'Tselem YouTube video. In the video we don't hear the voices asking about a suicide vest like you do in other videos."
"We're talking now while it's raining outside and thousands of soldiers are guarding us on our borders and in Judea and Samaria. We need to support them. I as a company commander made mistakes and received support, and my soldiers also made mistakes and I supported them. This is what we need: to support the IDF soldiers. That's the minimum."
When asked why he believes the Prime Minister and Defense Minister made their remarks, Bennett answered, "There is some desire here to please the world, the media, B'Tselem and the justice system. I don't know who to please but we must first figure out who is good and who is bad.
"The good ones here are the State of Israel and the bad ones are the terrorists who come to murder us. We are in a war against murderous terror that kills our children every day, and to throw around murder charges against a soldier... is irresponsible."
2. IDF HAS 11TH MOST POWERFUL MILITARY IN THE WORLD
by Shoshana Miskin
Israel's military is the eleventh strongest in the world, according to the international defense site Global Firepower (GFP).
GFP only factored into account conventional military capabilities when assembling its list of 126 countries. In doing so, it including 50 other relevant criteria, such as economic strength, natural resources and geographical size. It did not, however, consider nuclear capabilities or the total number of weapons each military possesses.
The United States topped the list, followed by Russia and China in second and third place, respectively.
India and the United Kingdom rounded off the top five.
Israel's conventional military strength exceeded other countries in the region, including Egypt (18th), Iran (23rd), Syria (42nd) and Jordan (65th).
The Jewish state also ranked higher than some European countries, including Italy (16th), Switzerland (30th), and Spain (38th).
The full list can be viewed here.
3. CANADA TO UN: DON'T PUT OUR ANTI-ISRAEL PROF IN KEY MIDEAST POST
by Shoshana Miskin
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion has joined the chorus of voices calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to review its appointment of a Canadian law professor with an alleged history of anti-Israel bias to a key Middle East position.
Western University law professor Michael Lynk was named on Thursday the UNHRC's special rapporteur on human rights in "Palestine". The following day, Dion tweeted his government's concern at the appointment.
"We call on UNHRC President to review this appointment & ensure Special Rapporteur has track record that can advance peace in the region." Dion stated adding that the human rights council should appoint a "professional, neutral and credible" candidate.
Canadian MPs Michael Levitt, Tony Clement and Peter Kent of the Conservative Party in Canada have also called for the professor to be disqualified from the position over his alleged anti-Israel bias.
"(Michael Lynk) has demonstrated repeatedly that he is unsuitable to fulfill this position through his long record of anti-Israel activity," said Levitt according to the Canadian Jewish News. "Given the concerns that I and others have expressed to Minister Dion, I am pleased that he instructed our ambassador to Geneva to reach out to the president of the council to underscore the importance Canada assigns to ensuring that the chosen candidate meet appropriate criteria of professionalism and neutrality."
Furthermore, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs denounced Lynk saying he "has been significantly involved in anti-Israel advocacy in Canada, including signing anti-Israel petitions, calling for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing, addressing conferences promoting one bi-national state, and serving as a leader of a group that promotes Israeli Apartheid Week."
Lynk declined further comment but said he would speak further once at the appropriate time to "correct the misleading statements that have been said about me and my views".
4. DANI DAYAN APPOINTED AS ISRAEL'S NY CONSUL GENERAL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Monday morning the formal appointment of former Yesha Council head Dani Dayan as Israel's Consul General in New York.
Dayan will replace Foreign Ministry career official Ido Aharoni, who is completing his term.
The surprise announcement comes after eight months of deadlock with Brazil, which had refused to accept Dayan's appointment as Israeli Ambassador to Brasilia.
Speaking with Arutz Sheva, Dayan said, "Back in August, when the Prime Minister gave me the position in Brazil, I asked for the position in New York. I believe I can make a revolution in Israeli outreach in North America, and New York is its beating heart. I will know how to hold a respectful dialog with all layers of American Judaism - Orthodox and Reform, liberal and conservative - and with the supporters of both political parties. I will do so while faithfully presenting Israel's positions."
It currently remains unclear whether Israel will choose to send an ambassador to Brazil, or choose to leave the embassy without an ambassador as a protest.
5. REPORT: NSA CHIEF MADE SECRET VISIT TO ISRAEL
by Ben Ariel
The head of the United States' National Security Agency (NSA), Admiral Michael Rogers, was secretly in Israel last week for a working visit that dealt with forging closer cooperation in the cyber field with the Israel Defense Forces' Intelligence Corps Unit 8200, especially against attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, a senior Israeli official told Haaretz on Sunday.
The NSA is the largest agency of the American intelligence community and deals with signal intelligence through monitoring, interception and analysis of communications such as telephone conversations, emails, communications between computers and other sources. The NSA is also responsible for protecting the computer and communications networks of the U.S. government from cyberattacks by hostile forces. It also carries out its own cyberattacks on countries or individuals that are considered intelligence or operational targets.
A senior Israeli official told Haaretz that Rogers came to Israel as a guest of the commander of Unit 8200, but also met with senior officials from other Israeli intelligence agencies.
Rogers did not meet with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot or the director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi in the course of his visit.
Rogers is also head of the U.S. Army's Cyber Command. One of the subjects that apparently came up in his discussions in Israel was the IDF cyber arm, the creation of which Eisenkot announced last June, and that will bring together all the various IDF cyber entities under its aegis.
The senior Israeli official noted that one of the subjects that Rogers discussed while in Israel was cooperation in the field of cyber defense, particularly in the face of attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.
A few days before Rogers' arrival in Israel, noted Haaretz, the U.S. Justice Department filed indictments for the first time against a group of Iranian hackers on charges of carrying out cyberattacks on banks and essential infrastructure in the U.S. three years ago at the behest of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Israel has also faced cyberattacks from Iran and Hezbollah, which according to senior IDF officers were prominent during the fighting with Hamas and its allies in Gaza in the summer of 2014, but have risen in intensity in recent months.
A senior IDF official said last month that cyberattacks against Israel - while still ongoing - were down overall in 2015 compared to previous years, though he added that there is still room for improvement in the IDF's ongoing battle against cyber warfare.
A book by New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger has claimed that the NSA and Unit 8200 cooperated on an offensive cyber operation against the Iranian nuclear program that was given the code name Olympic Games. As part of the operation, carried out between 2008 and 2011, the two agencies allegedly created the computer worm dubbed Stuxnet and planted it in the communications networks of Iran's uranium enrichment facilities.
Following the Stuxnet virus, the Flame virus which was reportedly related to Stuxnet also surfaced in 2012 and disrupted computers in several Arab countries, including Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and Sudan.
Iran also claimed later that Israel and Saudi Arabia had teamed up to launch another virus, similar to the Stuxnet virus, to disrupt its nuclear program.
Cooperation between the NSA and Unit 8200 is deep, intimate and has been ongoing for decades, noted Haaretz. NSA documents leaked by former agent Edward Snowden disclosed the extent of this cooperation. For example, a top-secret NSA memorandum from April 2013 that was published in August 2014 on The Intercept website said the NSA was maintaining far-reaching technical and research ties with Unit 8200 and was sharing information with it on access, interception, goals, language, analysis and reporting.
6. ISIS CELL PLANNED TO BOMB SECURITY FORCES IN JERUSALEM
by Uzi Baruch
Charges were filed today (Monday) at Jerusalem District Court against two residents of Tzur Baher in eastern Jerusalem who planned a terror attack on behalf of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
According to the charges against them, Muasab Alian, 23, and Samir Abed Rabo, 38, had planned to carry out a car bombing attack against security forces in Jerusalem.
Both were charged with conspiracy to aid the enemy in wartime. In addition, Alian was indicted on charges of membership in and activity on behalf of an illegal organization, membership in a terrorist organization, providing support to a terrorist organization and attempting to leave the country illegally.
Abed Rabo was also charged with supporting a terrorist organization and making contact with a foreign agent.
The charge sheet against them outlines a familiar pattern among Israeli-Arab ISIS recruits, many of whom have been jailed in the past and at least dozens of whom are currently in Syria and Iraq fighting for the so-called Islamic State.
According to the indictment, Muasab Alian began his affiliation with ISIS in early 2014, and between 2015-2016 took part in Islamic study sessions which included - among other things - instruction in the ISIS ideology.
By the start of 2015 he had sworn allegiance to ISIS, and decided to travel to Syria to fight among its ranks.
In October 2015 he traveled to Jordan, hoping to make his way from there to Syria via Turkey. However, he was arrested by Jordanian security forces and interrogated for several days before being deported back to Israel.
Undeterred, Alian worked to raise money in Israel to help him appeal to the Turkish Embassy to allow him to enter the country. At the same time he looked into the possibility of reaching Syria via Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where ISIS has an active branch.
During the same period, Samir Abed Rabo had begun his own affiliation with ISIS, and was actively seeking out other members and sympathizers online. Eventually, he met Alian, and the two began plotting to carry out a bombing attack targeting Israeli security forces stationed in Jerusalem along with another, unnamed individual.
Abed Rabo, who had some knowledge of bomb assembly, was recruited by Alian to construct the explosives.
The terrorists bought a cellphone to use as a remote detonator, and began gathering other elements necessary to construct the bomb. All three met regularly to discuss and plan their attack - before Alian and Abed Rabo were arrested and eventually charged.
The security services have requested the two be held in custody pending their trial.
7. MAZAL TOV: TRUMP WELCOMES JEWISH GRANDSON
by Shoshana Miskin
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump became a grandfather for the eighth time Sunday night.
The billionaire business mogul's daughter Ivanka "Yael" Trump, who converted to Judaism in 2009, announced via Twitter the birth of her son with husband Jared Kushner.
Baby Theodore James joins brother Joseph Frederick, 2, and sister Arabella Rose, 4, as Trump's Jewish family grows.
Until recently, Ivanka had been on the trail campaigning for her father. She serves as Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions at the Trump Organization. Her husband, Jared, is an investor and real estate mogul.
8. WATCH: ISRAELI JUDOKA SEIZES GOLD MEDAL GLORY
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli judoka Or Sasson brought pride to the nation on Sunday as he won a gold medal at the Judo Grand Prix, held in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Sasson's victory in the over 100 kilogram division can be seen in the following coverage from the final block of day three of the competition. His last bout is at 1:49:45 in the video.
[youtube:2013874]
Before reaching his medal, Sasson went through a serious of difficult matches, which began with his victory over Christopher Sherrington of the UK. In the quarterfinal he defeated Rafael Silva of Brazil, who went on to take the bronze medal.
Sasson shined in the semi-final, where he scored an ippon take-down in just 22 seconds against Andrey Volkov of Russia, sealing his chances for a medal. But he had to fight to win the gold in a last bout with Roy Meyer, a judoka from Holland.
Against Meyer, who is ranked sixth in the world, Sasson made a final push and solidified his gold medal.
Sasson's gold marks the second Israeli medal in the competition, after Gili Cohen managed to grab a silver medal in her own weight class.
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
