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Wednesday, Mar. 09 '16, Adar 29, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. ONE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN DAMASCUS GATE ATTACK
2. NETANYAHU: ABBAS PRAISES US CITIZEN'S MURDERER AS A 'MARTYR'
3. BIDEN VOWS TO 'ACT' ON IRAN MISSILE TESTS - IF CONFIRMED
4. SHIN BET AGENT KILLED IN GAZA OP. IDENTIFIED
5. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TV PRAISES MURDER OF US CITIZEN
6. BABY FORGOTTEN ON BUS, 4 YEAR OLD WANDERS TO KINDERGARTEN ALONE
7. BIDEN SLAMS PA 'LACK OF CONDEMNATION' OF TERROR ATTACKS
8. 'I KNEW I HAD TO FIGHT BACK'
1. ONE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN DAMASCUS GATE ATTACK
by Arutz Sheva Staff
An Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem was seriously wounded in a shooting attack that took place in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, just a short time after a shooting attack near the northern Ramot neighborhood of the capital.
Police are saying the two attacks are connected, revealing that the same terrorists committed both attacks.
[youtube:2013290]
In the second attack, which occurred on Hatzanchanim Street which runs parallel to the Old City on its northern edge at a site near the Damascus Gate, the two Arab terrorists began opening fire on passing cars near the Damascus Gate light rail station.
Ironically the victim of their attack was an Arab man, and not a Jew. The terrorists were neutralized and wounded by security forces.
The victim, aged around 50, was shot and seriously wounded in the attack, with Magen David Adom (MDA) medics providing him treatment for wounds to the upper body before evacuating him to Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.
The police officer who eliminated the terrorists later reenacted the incident, saying, "I saw them, they tried to aim their weapons at me and shoot me. I took out a handgun and shot them from five meters away as they tried to escape."
One of the terrorists was later pronounced dead at the hospital's emergency room.
In the first attack of the morning, an Egged bus at Ramot Junction came under fire in a drive-by shooting, before an armed civilian shot at the terrorists and caused them to flee the scene in their car.
During searches for the terrorists their car was identified near the Damascus Gate, at which point they launched their second attack.
2. NETANYAHU: ABBAS PRAISES US CITIZEN'S MURDERER AS A 'MARTYR'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
At the beginning of his meeting with the visiting US Vice President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday greeted Biden while noting the Palestinian Authority's (PA) lauding of a lethal attack which killed a US citizen the day before.
In an attack in Jaffa (Yafo) on Tuesday night, an Arab terrorist conducted a mass stabbing, wounding 10 victims and murdering American tourist Taylor Allen Force. Police said Biden's visit, which began Tuesday, may have been a catalyst for the wave of attacks in the past two days.
Netanyahu thanked Biden for visiting with his wife Jill, his daughter-in-law Hallie, and his grandchildren Natalie and Hunter. He added, "I want to thank you personally for your, for our personal friendship of over 30 years. We've known each other a long time. We've gone through many trials and tribulations. And we have an enduring bond that represents the enduring bond between our people."
"As you well know, the last 24 hours have been very difficult for Israel, including this morning. Twelve people were injured in five terrorist attacks. An American citizen, Taylor Force, was murdered. Taylor was a graduate of West Point, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, a graduate student of Vanderbilt University. And I want to extend our deepest condolences to his family and wish the injured a speedy recovery. And I know I speak for you because you've said these very words."
Netanyahu said he appreciated Biden's condemnation of terrorism, but noted that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas "has not only refused to condemn these terrorist attacks, his Fatah party actually praised the murderer of this American citizen as a Palestinian martyr and a hero."
"Now, this is wrong. And this failure to condemn terrorism should be condemned itself by everybody in the international community," stressed Netanyahu.
Earlier on Wednesday Biden implicitly criticized the PA himself, when he said the US "condemns the failure to condemn these attacks," and slammed the "rhetoric that incites violence."
At the start of their meeting, Netanyahu continued, saying, "we have taken many steps in recent months to fight Palestinian terrorism, and we're taking even stronger measures now. I believe that to fight terror, all civilized societies must stand together. And while Israel has many partners in this decisive battle, we have no better partner than the United States of America."
The prime minister outlined challenges in the joint war on terror, noting the incitement in Palestinian society, as well as the collapse of states in the Middle East.
He then said there are also "great opportunities," arguing that "the first opportunity is to deepen ties between Israel and the moderate Arab states, and this could help us build a solid foundation for peace and stability. We can also make Israel energy independent, an exporter of natural gas to the region and beyond."
3. BIDEN VOWS TO 'ACT' ON IRAN MISSILE TESTS - IF CONFIRMED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
US Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would take action against Iran - if its long-range ballistic missile tests widely reported in Iranian media were confirmed by the US.
"I want to reiterate, as I know people still doubt, if in fact they break the (nuclear) deal, we will act," Biden said during a visit to Israel.
"All their conventional activity outside the deal, which is still beyond the deal, we will and are attempting to act wherever we can find it."
Iran fired two more long-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday as it continued military tests in defiance of US sanctions and fresh warnings from Washington.
Coming just weeks after the implementation of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, this week's multiple missile tests were described by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards as a show of force in the face of US pressure.
After similar tests on Tuesday, Washington warned it could raise the issue with the UN Security Council and take further action after US sanctions were imposed in connection with Iran's missile program in January.
Even as it tested its nuclear-capable missiles, IRGC chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari on Tuesday said Israel is "in range of most of our missiles." The missile tests are part of an ongoing stance of hostility towards the West by Tehran, and come in breach of UN resolutions and US sanctions.
The controversial nuclear deal saw international sanctions lifted in a windfall for the leading state sponsor of terror, but did not extend to limiting Iran's missile program.
Biden spoke after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who forcefully opposed the nuclear accord with Iran, which has long vowed to destroy Israel.
AFP contributed to this report.
4. SHIN BET AGENT KILLED IN GAZA OP. IDENTIFIED
by Uzi Baruch
Security services have released for publication the identity of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency/ISA) agent killed during an operation near the Gaza Strip early Wednesday morning.
Amir Mimuni, a resident of the town of Zohar in the western Negev, was killed in unclear circumstances.
The military is currently investigating whether Mimuni was killed by friendly fire after being accidentally identified as a terrorist by IDF forces stationed at the tense border with Hamas-ruled Gaza.
A media gag order had been placed on Mimuni's identity to ensure his family was properly informed of their loss.
Mimuni will be laid to rest at Moshav Nogah cemetery in the Negev.
5. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TV PRAISES MURDER OF US CITIZEN
by Ari Soffer
The Palestinian Authority's official TV station has praised the terrorist who murdered an American citizen and wounded 10 others in a stabbing spree in Jaffa, just a few hundred meters away from where US Vice President Joe Biden was attending an event at the time.
The attack Tuesday evening near Jaffa port was the third of a series of Arab terrorist attacks in Israel.
The 22-year-old terrorist - identified as Bashar Masalha from the PA city of Qalqilya - was eventually shot dead by police, after striking at three separate locations, following a brief chase. In video footage from the incident, the terrorist can be seen stabbing at motorists as he runs from police, before a second video shows him lying fatally wounded.
The US government condemned the attack, which claimed the life of 29-year-old US citizen and army veteran Taylor Force, as well as previous stabbing and shooting attacks in Petah Tikva and Jerusalem, while the Hamas terrorist group heaped praise on the attackers.
But Hamas was also joined by the "moderate" Palestinian Authority, whose official TV station reported on the attack in glowing terms.
The broadcasts were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In its reports on the Jaffa attack, PA-controlled Palestine TV repeatedly referred to he murderer as a "martyr," and in one report a newswoman refers to his attack on innocent civilians - including both Israelis and foreign tourists - as "a complex operation ...carried out by a martyr."
In both reports translated by MEMRI, the victims were all referred to as "Israelis" - despite many, including the fatality, being foreign nationals - or "settlers", despite the attack having taken place within the so-called "Green Line."
6. BABY FORGOTTEN ON BUS, 4 YEAR OLD WANDERS TO KINDERGARTEN ALONE
by Ido Ben-Porat
No fewer than three young children were forgotten and left unsupervised in the city of Modi'in Illit on Wednesday.
An infant girl aged one-and-a-half years old was located on a bus in the city after being forgotten by her parents.
Police officers scrambled to locate the day care center where the baby girl is enrolled, and she was transferred to the authority of the local caregiver.
After investigating the incident further, it was found that the girl's parents forgot her on the bus.
Even as authorities were working to resolve the first incident, a ten-year-old boy walked up to police officers and said that his four-year-old brother had gone missing.
The officers began searching for the boy but eventually found that he had managed to make his way alone to his own kindergarten.
But that wasn't it for Modi'in Illit, as shortly afterwards police found a barefooted four-year-old boy left wandering around the city with no parental supervision. The officers managed to locate his mother.
In all three of the cases, the parents of the children were summoned for an investigation on suspicions of negligence.
7. BIDEN SLAMS PA 'LACK OF CONDEMNATION' OF TERROR ATTACKS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
US Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday implicitly criticized Palestinian Authority leaders for not condemning attacks against Israelis, as an upsurge in terrorist attacks marred his visit to Israel.
"The United States of America condemns these acts and condemns the failure to condemn these acts," Biden said after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
"The kind of violence we saw yesterday, the failure to condemn it, the rhetoric that incites that violence, the retribution that it generates, has to stop."
Six separate attacks have taken place shortly before or after Biden's arrival on Tuesday, including a stabbing spree on along the Tel Aviv/Jaffa waterfront by an Arab terrorist who killed an American tourist and wounded 12 people.
That attack took place a mere few hundred meters from where Biden was attending an event with former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Biden said his wife and grandchildren had been having dinner on the beach not far from the site of the stabbings.
"It just brings home that it happens and it can happen anywhere at any time," he said.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly praised the ongoing campaign of terror as, perversely, "peaceful resistance" or "popular resistance," and has not condemned any of the wave of knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October.
But apart from not condemning the violence, Palestinian Authority official TV even praised the Jaffa attack.
The PA's rivals, Islamist terror group Hamas, also hailed the latest attacks.
Biden will travel to the PA headquarters in Ramallah later Wednesday to meet Abbas.
AFP contributed to this report.
8. 'I KNEW I HAD TO FIGHT BACK'
by Yoni Kempinski
The Jewish man who was attacked by an Arab terrorist in Petah Tikva on Tuesday and managed to kill his attacker with his own knife even after being stabbed spoke with the media about his ordeal.
[youtube:2013288]
The victim, aged in his 40s, pulled the knife from his own neck after being stabbed and then stabbed the terrorist to death. He was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in the city for treatment, while suffering from moderate wounds.
"Everyone imagines that it could happen to him, I think," he said from his hospital bed. "Everyone imagines that but it doesn't take hold of you. You don't look around you all the time. Sometimes but not all the time."
"But when it happened to me, I thought I would die. I thought that was it. I think it took me a little time but I got a hold of myself. When I realized it was a terrorist I said to myself that I have to fight him. So he doesn't kill me or others."
The man recalled saying to himself the famous adage of the Jewish sages: "if I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am only for myself, what am I? That is, even if I act on my own behalf, if God did not want me to be here, I wouldn't be here. We learned from the tzaddik to always think about our last day. The truth is that after the stabbing, I thought this was my last day. But here I am thanks to God."
The attack was one of three major attacks on Tuesday, aside from a shooting in Jerusalem in which two officers were seriously wounded and a stabbing spree in Yafo in which an American tourist was murdered and 12 others were wounded.
A new poll released Tuesday found that 73% of Israeli citizens are not satisfied with the performance of the government in handling the current Arab terror wave, which has been raging since last September.
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