Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Monday, Mar. 21 '16, Adar Bet 11, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. MUSLIM POLICE REFUSE TO PROTECT FRENCH SYNAGOGUES
2. REPORT: ISTANBUL TERRORIST FOLLOWED ISRAELIS FROM HOTEL
3. SECRET OPERATION RESCUES LAST GROUP OF YEMEN JEWS
4. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: ISRAEL IS WORSE THAN ISIS, SYRIA, N. KOREA
5. WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR TRUMP AMONG US HASIDIM
6. FEMALE MK BLASTS BNEI BRAK CHIEF RABBI: DON'T HIDE QUEEN ESTHER
7. GOVERNMENT IGNORES ILLEGAL ARAB BUILDING TO DESTROY JEWISH HOME
8. WATCH: ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS THREATEN AIPAC CONFERENCE
1. MUSLIM POLICE REFUSE TO PROTECT FRENCH SYNAGOGUES
by Shoshana Miskin
Muslim police in France refuse to protect synagogues as growing support for Jihad is affecting law enforcement, according to a Gatestone Institute report.
The report claims that a leaked confidential memo from the Department of Public Security, published by Le Parisien, detailed 17 cases of police officers radicalized between 2012 and 2015, noting that the police officers listen to and broadcast Muslim chants while on patrol.
According to the anti-terrorist unit of the French Interior Ministry, as of January 2016, France is already host to 8,250 radical Islamists (a 50% increase in one year). Some have gone to Syria to join ISIS while others have infiltrated all levels of society, including the police and the armed forces.
Some of these police officers have openly refused to protect synagogues or to observe a minute of silence to commemorate the deaths of Jewish victims of terrorist attacks.
The fact that police officers are armed and have access to police databases only intensifies the anxiety among France's Jewish communities.
One policewoman allegedly incited terrorism on Facebook, calling her uniform a "filthy rag of the Republic" while wiping her hands on it. Moreover, after the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Hypercacher kosher supermarket, which left 17 people dead, the same officer wrote on her Facebook page: "Masked attack led by Zionist cowards... They need to be killed."
"This is just the first hint of what is to come," writes Daniel Greenfield of the FrontPage. "At least they're not bombing (the synagogues). Yet."
While the Parisian police headquarters claim that these cases are rare, they decided to review on a weekly basis any behavior that oversteps the principle of separation of church and state, such as that of Muslim officers who appear to be leaning toward radicalization.
2. REPORT: ISTANBUL TERRORIST FOLLOWED ISRAELIS FROM HOTEL
by Yedidya Ben-Or
A Turkish journalist has posted on Twitter that the terrorist who attacked Istanbul on Saturday followed the his Israeli victims from the moment they left their hotel until they reached Istiklal Avenue.
According to the report, the terrorist then waited for the Israelis to finish eating in a restaurant, approached them, and set off his bomb.
The attack left three Israelis dead and another 11 wounded. The dead victims were Simcha Damari, Yonatan Suher and Avraham Goldman.
On Sunday, Turkish security officials revealed that the bomber's identity. He was a 24-year-old ISIS operative named Mehmet Ozturk. Authorities believe he received military training in Syria.
3. SECRET OPERATION RESCUES LAST GROUP OF YEMEN JEWS
by Matt Wanderman
Today (Monday), Israel completed a secret operation to rescue some of Yemen's last remaining Jews.
The plane landed early this morning with 19 new olim, including the heads of the local community. Rabbi Saliman Dahari, who came with his parents and wife, also brought a Torah scroll dating back to the fifteen or sixteenth century. Five of the passengers came from Sana'a, while the other fourteen are from the city of Rayda.
Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky said, "This is a highly significant moment in the history of Israel and of Aliyah. From Operation Magic Carpet in 1949 until the present day, The Jewish Agency has helped bring Yemenite Jewry home to Israel. Today we bring that historic mission to a close. This chapter in the history of one of the world's oldest Jewish communities is coming to an end, but Yemenite Jewry's unique, 2,000-year-old contribution to the Jewish people will continue in the State of Israel."
Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara (Likud), who played a significant role, has also stated: "I am happy to have achieved this very important goal for my Jewish brothers in Yemen to come to Israel. There is no higher purpose than to save lives in Israel.
"We successfully brought Jewish families that were threatened by death and assimilation. I thank the Prime Minister and the head of the Jewish Agency who supported my desire to bring over the Yemenite Jews, whatever the price.
"The aliyah of Yemenite Jews was my top priority during my campaign for the Knesset and I am happy that we have succeeded in achieving this important goal."
The US State Department helped with the project's organization, which took much of the past year.
Though the fighting in Yemen is primarily between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-backed Houthi jihadists, it has been particularly hard on the country's dwindling Jewish population. The Houthis' motto is "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam," and the group has threatened to attack Jews unless they convert.
The Jewish Agency has rescued about 200 Jews from Yemen over the past few years.
Fifty Jews still remain in the country, having declined the offer to come to Israel. All live in a closed compound next to the US embassy. A number are elderly and some have relatives who were forced to marry Muslim men.
4. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: ISRAEL IS WORSE THAN ISIS, SYRIA, N. KOREA
by Matt Wanderman
The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) gathered on Monday to discuss five resolutions about Israel.
Unfortunately, the international body was unable to look into other pressing issues, such as the expansion of ISIS; Iran and North Korea's violations of UN weapons resolutions; and attacks on civilians in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
This is partially due to the body's infamous Item 7, which requires a review of Israel's human rights record during every session. There is no parallel to this for any other country in the world.
According to the schedule, the group will focus on Israeli human rights violations from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Issues as diverse as poverty, the mistreatment of women, xenophobia, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, children's rights, torture, education and more will then be crammed into the three-hour afternoon session.
The HRC was established in 2006 as a replacement for the Commission on Human Rights, partially because of the CHR's strong bias against Israel. Despite the change in structure, the HRC has adopted 61 resolutions against Israel over the past ten years, in comparison with a total of 73 resolutions against all other countries.
Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Eviatar Manor, noted that "In the course of the last three weeks, thousands demonstrated on the Place des Nations demanding the UN's attention. But we are sorry to tell them that they are wasting their time. The Human Rights Council is only obsessed with the fate of the Palestinians, and prefers to close its eyes to other critical Human Rights violations. It consistently disregards the human rights of Israelis. In fact, it does not care for them at all."
He added, "As long as the HRC does not undergo a behavioral therapy to treat its obsession with Israel, we will not cooperate with these biased mechanisms".
5. WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR TRUMP AMONG US HASIDIM
by Gil Ronen
Donald Trump enjoys widespread support within the Hasidic community in the US, according to experts interviewed by VICE news.
Jacob Kornbluh, a New York-based reporter for Jewish Insider, told the news outlet that there is "no question support for Trump is widespread" among Hasidim, and that the majority of Hasidic voters he's spoken to have said they plan on supporting Trump.
Unlike the majority of US Jews, who are exceedingly liberal, nearly two-thirds of haredi Jews say they are politically conservative, while 57 percent of Orthodox US Jews identify with or lean towards the Republican party, according to a Pew survey of Jewish Americans.
There have not been any polls of Hasidic voters ahead of the primary election, reported VICE, but the fact that Trump has done well thus far among evangelical Christians in the primary states is a fairly good indicator of how Hasidim will vote. Since 2000, haredim in New York have voted in national elections in extremely similar patterns to how evangelical Christians voted, Sam Abrams, a political scientist at Stanford University who studies the politics of American Jewish voters, told the news site.
"Among my circle of friends, at least 90 percent [support] Trump," it quoted Yanky Lichtman, who lives in Lakewood, New Jersey, as saying. "I like the way how he says it. He tells you straight what he thinks and that's a big plus."
Lichtman added that he and many of his friends, who are also supporting Trump, are "fed up with the establishment on both sides. [We] gave them a chance and nothing worked."
David Gross, of Brooklyn, said "when Trump decided to run I got excited."
"He is honest, an everyday person," Gross said. "A lot of people I know agree with him, but they just don't want to say it."
Like Brooklyn's Gross, Lichtman says that if Trump is not the nominee he probably won't vote in the general election at all.
Yossi Gestetner, a Hasidic political consultant and commentator, pointed out that "Trump has a long history of being friendly to people in the Jewish community." He also has a personal connection to the Jewish community through daughter Ivanka, who converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2009 and is married to a high-profile Orthodox real estate businessman, Jared Kushner.
And yet, many Hasidim and those who closely track the community noted that the support for Trump may not actually translate into votes. Gestetner agreed there is genuine interest in Trump but he was skeptical whether Hasidim will actually vote for Trump in the New York primary, on April 19.
6. FEMALE MK BLASTS BNEI BRAK CHIEF RABBI: DON'T HIDE QUEEN ESTHER
by Chaim Lev, Shoshana Miskin
This year, like every year, posters signed by the Rabbi of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau, have been plastered throughout the city requesting that women, for modesty purposes, not congregate in the streets during the Purim holiday.
"From experience on what happens on Purim in the street, I am turning to the parents and educators in (the Land of) Israel to warn girls not to congregate in the streets of the city on Purim. They may celebrate indoors in their homes with their families," the poster read.
This year, the poster's message aggravated MK Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union) who demands that the Bnei Brak municipality remove what she calls the "signs of exclusion".
"The Purim miracle would not occur if it happened today, as Esther would be imprisoned in her house and so unable to rescue the people of Israel," wrote MK Svetlova on her Facebook page.
Svetlova claims that the Bnei Brak municipality should remove the posters which degrade Jewish culture, heritage and the great women in history, "Sadly, the prophetess Deborah, Yael the heroine and Ruth the Moabite would not even receive minor recognition should they have lived in today's Haredi communities."
"Another thing to think about: If such behavior were customary during the time of the Megillah, we would not even hear about Queen Esther, and the miracle of Purim would probably never happen. I challenge (the public) to share this (Facebook) post, until the humiliating and excluding signs are replaced with calls for all the women and men of the city to celebrate the holiday. The holiday exists thanks to a woman who did not 'stay away' from the streets," she added.
The poster's in Bnei Brak
7. GOVERNMENT IGNORES ILLEGAL ARAB BUILDING TO DESTROY JEWISH HOME
by Yedidya Ben-Or
Monday morning, the Civil Administration destroyed the Harel family's home, located near the community of Elon Moreh.
Eliezer Harel says that he, along with his wife and their four children, chose to live on the farm out of love for his country. "This is a home that was intended to protect farming land and is located on state land.
"Even though we suffered because of extreme leftists organizations, including Ezra Nawi, it's now the State of Israel that comes and destroys our home. Our home, we who came to support the State of Israel and to help keep the state lands. It's too absurd to describe and it's very painful."
Many people in Samaria are similarly outraged, both by the destruction and by its timing. "This is absurd. Israeli residents in general and Samaria in particular, are dealing with terror now. Yet the government, the Ministry of Defense and the Civil Administration find the time to destroy homes sitting on state land and not bothering anyone," says Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.
"I call on the government to come to its senses. Stop this outrage, and focus on restoring safety and a sense of security for the residents of Samaria and the State of Israel," he added.
The head of the Elon Moreh community, Eliasaf Parshan, stated, "We are against the destructions in Judea and Samaria communities, everywhere and every time. Precisely during these days, in which we see the Palestinian incitement and terror raging across the country, I expect the security apparatus and the government to focus on the truly important things: to ensure the peace of its citizens and to fight terror and incitement."
He continued: "The Defense Minister chooses to destroy an agricultural farm that connects Samaria and the Jordan Valley, completely blind to the illegal Palestinian construction breaking out all over the place, including on the same land where they destroyed the farm. The farm was chosen precisely because of this clear and disconcerting trend."
8. WATCH: ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS THREATEN AIPAC CONFERENCE
by Ari Soffer, Washington DC
Hundreds of far left, Muslim extremist and Neturei Karta (a radically anti-Israel fringe hareidi group) protesters held a vocal anti-Israel demonstration on Sunday outside the Jewish American AIPAC conference in Washington DC.
[youtube:2013653]
The protesters tried to block the entrance before moving on, and succeeded in blocking one entrance completely. Participants in the conference were advised to wait inside the building for their own safety, out of concerns that the aggressive protesters might turn violent.
While the protesters have so far not used violence, they were very clamorous in chanting hate slogans and calling to close down AIPAC.
At one point a group of protesters noticed the kippah on the head of one of the Arutz Sheva reporters covering the event, and began shouting anti-Israel and anti-Jewish slogans and likewise hurled the epithet "terrorist" at him.
Police were forced to get involved to protect the Arutz Sheva team after members of the Anonymous anarchist group tried to initiate a clash.
From their calls it became clear the protesters were angry that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was coming, equating AIPAC with him even though other candidates are to put in an appearance as well. Several Jewish groups plan to boycott his speech.
All presidential candidates from both parties are to speak at the conference, except for the Jewish Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who evidently did not fit the event into his schedule.
More protesters have turned out to demonstrate against the conference this year than in previous years, as it appears the anti-Trump crowd has been brought in as well.
Many of the signs of the protesters featured a link to the anti-Israel group Al-Awda: The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition.
Credit: Ari Soffer
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