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Wednesday, Mar. 23 '16, Adar Bet 13, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. BRUSSELS AIRPORT BOMBERS IDENTIFIED AS BROTHERS
2. THIRD BRUSSELS AIRPORT BOMBER CAPTURED - OR WAS HE?
3. BRITON SURVIVES AIRPORT BOMBING, BOARDS DOOMED METRO TRAIN
4. BELGIAN TERRORISTS CAN ENTER THE US WITHOUT A VISA
5. SOLDIER WHO TRAGICALLY DIED IN TRAINING 'HUMBLE, ASPIRING'
6. NETANYAHU'S LIKUD FEUD CAUGHT ON TAPE
7. PA 'PUNISHES' ISRAEL BY HALTING IMPORTS FROM SIX COMPANIES
8. WATCH: PURIM MEETS MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
1. BRUSSELS AIRPORT BOMBERS IDENTIFIED AS BROTHERS
by Ari Yashar
As Belgium on Wednesday morning marked 24 hours since Tuesday's horrific bombings in the EU capital city of Brussels, security forces are continuing a frantic search for the third terrorist who took part in the lethal attacks at Zaventem Airport.
A full 34 people were murdered and around 250 wounded in the twin blasts at the airport Tuesday morning, as well as in another explosion an hour later at Maalbeek metro station, located right near the EU headquarters. Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the slaughter.
Belgium is currently holding three days of mourning, and a minute of silence will be held on Wednesday at midday.
The fugitive suspect from the airport attack was named by police as Najim Laachraoui, and according to reports he is a bomb maker for ISIS. He is said to have been wanted by police ever since the ISIS attacks in Paris last November.
The two suicide bombers who hit the airport were identified by Belgian authorities on Wednesday morning as the El Bakraoui brothers, who were known to police.
Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui of Brussels were known to police for their criminal records but had not been tied to terrorism until now, a source told the local RTBF as cited by Reuters.
Under a false name Khalid rented an apartment in the Forest suburb of Brussels where police killed a gunman during a raid last week. An ISIS flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam were found in the apartment.
Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later, was a key terrorist in the ISIS attacks on Paris last November in which 130 people were murdered. The finding would seem to solidly link the Paris and Brussels attacks, a connection that has yet to be officially declared.
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US warns against travel
In light of the tense security situation, the US State Department has warned US citizens regarding the "potential risks" of travel in Europe.
The State Department said in a statement that terror groups are planning "near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants and transportation."
Police currently are engaged in an intensive manhunt, trying to track down a man caught on security cameras together with the two suicide bombers at the airport.
He was seen wearing light-colored clothes and a hat while walking with the two who were dressed in black, as all three pushed baggage carts. The two are thought to have detonated explosions in the airport's departure lounge.
Third accomplice at large
Investigators say the third terrorist likely planted a bomb at the airport and then left, although his explosive failed to detonate.
"The third man left a bomb in the airport, but it didn't explode. ...And we are now looking for this guy," Belgium's Interior Minister Jan Jambon said.
All three men were caught on security cameras exiting a taxi and walking through the airport according to two US officials cited by CNN. The third terrorist left the airport shortly afterwards, which the officials said appears to have been a pre-planned move.
A lead in the search came from the taxi driver who took the suspects to the airport. He contacted police after seeing the CCTV images, and told them where he picked the three up, according to the US officials.
Based on that information authorities raided an apartment in Schaerbeek, a suburb of Brussels to the northeast, where they found a nail bomb, chemical products, and an ISIS flag.
Their search in the building continued for hours, but it remains to be seen if any thread to track down the elusive bomber was unearthed.
2. THIRD BRUSSELS AIRPORT BOMBER CAPTURED - OR WAS HE?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The third terrorist who took part in the Islamic State (ISIS) bombing of a Brussels airport on Tuesday was caught on Wednesday according to reports in Belgium, but other local media later contested the version of events.
The terrorist, identified by authorities as Najim Laachraoui, is said to have been wanted by police ever since the ISIS attacks in Paris last November in which 130 victims were murdered.
He was arrested by special forces in Anderlecht, a suburb to the southwest of Brussels, according to RTL and Le Derniere Heure. However, La Libre Belgique and DH later indicated police did not arrest Laachraoui, and that someone else was arrested instead and misidentified.
Laachraoui was caught on security cameras Tuesday morning arriving with suicide bombers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui at the Zaventem Airport in Brussels.
He walked around the airport with them as the three pushed baggage carts, and then left after setting an explosive that failed to detonate.
The El Bakraoui brothers conducted twin suicide bombings, and a total of 34 people were murdered in their attack as well as in an additional bombing an hour later at the Maalbeek metro station located right near the EU headquarters. Around 200 other victims were wounded.
Laachraoui is thought to have been the bomb maker for the assault on Brussels.
The 25-year-old has been wanted under his alias Soufiane Kayal since the Paris attacks, after his DNA was found alongside that of the terrorists who conducted the attacks at a safe house where suicide belts and traces of explosives were found. He rented a hide-out in Auvelais, Belgium, where the ISIS cell prepared for the attacks in the French capital.
Belgium is currently observing three days of national mourning. The US on Wednesday issued travel warnings on Europe, advising that terror groups are planning more attacks in the near future according to intelligence information.
3. BRITON SURVIVES AIRPORT BOMBING, BOARDS DOOMED METRO TRAIN
by Ari Yashar
A tragic story has surfaced regarding David Dixon of Britain, who while on his way to work survived the double suicide bombings at Brussels' Zaventem Airport on Tuesday morning, but then boarded the metro train where a third blast struck an hour later.
Dixon, from Hartlepool, County Durham, remains missing. He told his aunt he was "fine and safe" just minutes after the airport bombings, and then got on the train that was bombed at Maalbeek station, reports KTL on Wednesday. In the attacks, a total of 34 people were murdered and around 200 were wounded.
The UK issued a statement Wednesday indicating Dixon without mentioning his name, in which it said, "we are concerned about one missing British national and we are in close contact with the Belgian authorities. We are aware of four British nationals who were injured in the attacks - three are being treated in hospital, one has already been discharged."
Dixon, a 51-year-old IT technician and former British Airways employee, was unaware of the attacks on the airport until his aunt Ann Dixon texted him from her home in Hartlepool to check in with him.
He told her he was fine, but just an hour later her relief was replaced by distress.
"As soon as I heard on the news about the explosion at the airport I thought of David and I texted him to ask whether he was alright," she said. "It was a relief when he texted back soon afterwards and said he was safe and fine."
"He said he hadn't even realized that there had been bombs going off at the airport, I guess it's because he was getting ready to go to work. He told me I was the first person who had let him know."
Detailing the tragic course of events, she continued, "he traveled into Brussels on the Metro every day and after we'd texted he must have gone straight out and got on the Metro that was attacked. It was only an hour later when that bomb went off."
"Later in the morning my brother-in-law got in touch to say that the Metro had been attacked and that David's brother hadn't been able to get in touch with him."
4. BELGIAN TERRORISTS CAN ENTER THE US WITHOUT A VISA
by Arutz Sheva Staff
In the wake of Islamic State's (ISIS) lethal Brussels bombings Tuesday in which 34 were murdered and around 200 others were wounded, a top US lawmaker has warned Belgian terrorists are still able to enter America without a visa or thorough security checks.
Representative Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon late Tuesday that Congress has warned the administration of US President Barack Obama that Belgium is a terror hotspot, but despite repeated requests the current program has not been changed.
According to the US visa waiver program citizens of Belgium, which is a partner nation in the program, can enter America with minimal background checks - meaning radicalized Muslims can legally travel to the US at will.
"The visa waiver reform, this is something we have been perusing and the (Obama) administration has brushed us off at every turn," DeSantis told Washington Free Beacon.
He noted the current program does not require serious security checks on travelers from terror hotspots, such as the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels that has been a key terror breeding ground.
DeSantis and other lawmakers first raised the warning after the ISIS attacks in Paris in November, in which 130 people were murdered. The core members of the terror cell hailed from Molenbeek, but the US administration has yet to change its policy on the enclave.
"It's the case that if those folks are citizens of Belgium they qualify for the visa waiver program and can hop on a plane and get here. Clearly, that is not adequate given what happened," said the Representative.
He said the Obama administration "even takes the position it's safer to allow someone to come in on a visa waiver than make them get one, it's kind of crazy. You're not going to be able to have intelligence on everyone there because there are so many potential recruits. It's a clear vulnerability."
"Paris attackers could have come here"
DeSantis added that the administration has not been deporting those who overstay their visas, potentially allowing racialized jihadists to disappear in America to plan an attack.
"There's no enforcement once they get here. Hundreds of thousands of people come over and then overstay (their visas). You are not going to be removed under current policy under this administration."
During a hearing on the program back in December, he said, "at least six of the Paris attackers could have attempted to enter the country under this program."
Regarding Molenbeek, he warned the neighborhood "is a hellhole that is filled with Belgian national Islamic radicals who qualify to travel to the US without a visa under the visa waiver program."
Speaking with the Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday, he said that the Paris attacks had made him realize jihadist attacks could come from Europe and not just Syria and other terror bastions.
"The problem was not just people coming from Syria. There was a major vulnerability from places in Europe and this Molenbeek neighborhood was one of the most egregious that I had seen."
Homeland Security: Policy remains the same
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday acknowledged Belgium is indeed still part of the visa waiver program, and no change has been made in the policy following the attacks.
"Though we do not require Belgian citizens to have a visa to travel here for business or tourism purposes, both the Transportation Security Administration and US Customs and Border Protection have procedures in place to identify and prevent travel here from Belgium by individuals of suspicion," DHS secretary Jeh Johnson said in in a statement.
"All travelers arriving in the United States are vetted against the US Terrorist Screening Database, regardless of whether they arrive with a visa or an Electronic System for Travel Authorization," he said.
"We continually evaluate whether more screening is necessary, particularly in light of today's attacks."
However, DeSantis said the screening methods are not sufficient as the US is limited in being able to vet jihadists on the terrorist database, as there is such a large number of radicalized European Muslims.
5. SOLDIER WHO TRAGICALLY DIED IN TRAINING 'HUMBLE, ASPIRING'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Private Yehuda Suissa, the IDF soldier who tragically collapsed and died during training on Tuesday just a day after joining the Givati Brigade, is to be buried on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Har Herzl military funeral in southwest Jerusalem.
Suissa, a 19-year-old from moshav Beit Uziel to the west of Modi'in and a student at the Karnei Shomron hesder yeshiva combining Torah study and military service, collapsed during intensive physical activity at the Givati training base and medical forces were unable to save him.
Rabbi Yehoshua Hever, Suissa's rabbi, issued a statement of mourning at the tragic loss.
"Yehuda z''l was a servant of God, in the eyes of all those who knew him. In his studies at the yeshiva Yehuda would sit, study and invest efforts even when it was hard," said the rabbi.
"Yehuda would take up the yoke with his comrades, and put his shoulder under the stretcher, and make efforts in everything to help everyone out of humility and with a smile and without anyone noticing, and in the same way he would invest efforts in volunteering at the holiday cottage for children with special needs located at the yeshiva."
Rabbi Hever added that "Yehuda was an advanced man - in his traits and personality. He had aspirations for advancing and constantly improving himself, always looking how he could improve and advance. May his memory be a blessing."
The hesder yeshiva union released a statement Tuesday night, saying it "mourns the sudden passing of our beloved student from the hesder yeshiva in Karnei Shomron, Yehuda Suissa z''l."
"We send strength to the family and the Karnei Shomron yeshiva at this time. May his memory be a blessing."
6. NETANYAHU'S LIKUD FEUD CAUGHT ON TAPE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was recorded in a Likud faction meeting speaking about the party crisis over his decision not to conduct a mass Aliyah mission for the Jews remaining in Ethiopia.
As a justification for canceling the Knesset decision from November calling for the immigration operation for around 9,100 Ethiopian Jews, he claimed, "there is no money because of the security situation."
"You can't have it both ways, every politician wants it both ways," he said in the recordings. "It is so unpopular to say what I say, but I determine that there are things connected to security and they receive priority, that's the issue."
Likud MK Avraham Neguise, himself an immigrant from Ethiopia, began contesting Netanyahu's statements, saying, "is that based on a decision of the government?"
The prime minister raised his tone in response, saying, "the decisions of the government amend themselves in accordance with needs. Say I accepted the decision and I have a war, just as an example. So will we say we won't change the decision? The needs change in accordance with incoming intelligence and security needs."
Army Radio reports that Netanyahu is angry that MKs from his party, such as Neguise and MK David Amsalem, have boycotted all parliamentary votes since being told the government was canceling its November decision.
He criticized them for "making a Shabbat for themselves" by boycotting the Knesset votes, and warned them against "this behavior," which he said caused the collapse of the previous government.
"You can't maintain a coalition with people that make a Shabbat for themselves and I won't go on like this."
"I told certain members of the previous government that it is impossible to maintain a coalition like this," he said, apparently referencing his falling out with MKs Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni. "They didn't listen to what I said; I ask you to listen well to what I say - it's impossible like this."
7. PA 'PUNISHES' ISRAEL BY HALTING IMPORTS FROM SIX COMPANIES
by Elad Benari
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to "punish" Israel by halting imports to the PA from five major Israeli food production companies, the Ma'an news agency reported Tuesday.
In a statement released after the weekly cabinet meeting, the PA government said the decision was in response to an Israeli ban on products from five Palestinian companies earlier this month.
According to the statement, the Israeli companies whose products will be banned from PA-controlled areas are Tnuva, Strauss, Tara, Soglowek and Tapuzina.
The statement added that the relevant authorities have been instructed "to put the decision into effect after giving Palestinian merchants enough time to sell the products stocked in their stores", according to Ma'an.
The move to boycott Israeli companies comes after on Sunday, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah slammed the recent Israeli decision to ban Palestinian food products from entering Jerusalem as "racist" and claimed it is one of many "attempts to isolate Jerusalem from its surroundings and erase its identity."
Hamdallah described the Israeli decision as an "oppressive, political" decision breaching all commercial agreements and protocols regulating Palestinian and Israeli economic relations, and an effort to "wipe out our national economy and suppress its development", according to Ma'an.
Fadi Abu Hilweh, the director of marketing for Hamoda company -- one of the companies affected by the Israeli decision -- told Ma'an at a protest against the ban on March 13 that about 50 percent of the five Palestinian companies' production goes to Palestinian consumers in eastern Jerusalem and Palestinian communities in Israel.
If the ban continues, he warned, the companies could lose some 1.2 billion shekels ($310 million) a year.
The move is not the first time that the PA has decided to boycott Israeli companies. In March of last year, it declared an "economic war" against Israel and launched a campaign calling to boycott Israeli products.
A month earlier, a national Palestinian committee announced it would prohibit the sale of products by six major Israel companies in areas of Judea and Samaria controlled by the PA.
The 2015 moves were a Palestinian response to Israel's decision to freeze tax funds to the Palestinian Authority as well as other "Israeli violations," which include "appropriation of large tracts of Palestinian land for settlement purposes."
Israeli's move came as a result of the PA's unilateral moves, including turning to the United Nations Security Council for statehood and joining the International Criminal Court in order to lodge a war crimes complaint against Israel.
8. WATCH: PURIM MEETS MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
by Yoni Kempinski
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The acapella group Kippalive on Monday released an inventive new take on the classic Purim hits, in its song "Mission Purimpossible."
The song, which comes ahead of the holiday on Thursday, or Friday for those celebrating Shushan Purim such as residents of Jerusalem, mixes the lyrics praising the salvation of Purim together with the catchy tune of the famous spy movies.
"The rose of Ya'akov thrilled with joy and exulted when they beheld Mordechai garbed in royal blue," sing Kippalive using the words sung at the end of the reading of Megillat Esther which retells the Purim story, together with "for the Jews, there was light, happiness, joy and glory" (Megillat Esther 8:16).
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