Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Sunday, Mar. 20 '16, Adar Bet 10, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. TWO ISRAELI-AMERICANS AMONG DEAD IN INSTANBUL ATTACK
2. DNA CONFIRMS IDENTITY OF ISIS-LINKED ISTANBUL BOMBER
3. MOTHER OF FOUR FROM DIMONA KILLED IN ISTANBUL BLAST
4. ISTANBUL TERROR VICTIMS EN ROUTE TO ISRAEL
5. US COURT RULING SUGGESTS IRANIAN TIES TO 9/11 ATTACKS
6. 'EVERYONE KNEW AN ATTACK WAS COMING'
7. DEATH PENALTY FOR TERRORISTS?
8. FIVE WOUNDED ISRAELIS ARRIVE FROM TURKEY
1. TWO ISRAELI-AMERICANS AMONG DEAD IN INSTANBUL ATTACK
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Two of the three Israelis killed in Saturday's suicide bombing attack in Istanbul were dual Israeli-American citizens, according to US State Department spokesperson John Kirby.
Yonatan Suher and Avraham Goldman were killed when a suicide bomber, believed to be affiliated with ISIS, attacked a popular shopping center.
A 14-member Israeli culinary tour group visiting Turkey was hit by the attack, with three killed and 11 wounded.
A third Israeli victim killed in the attack, Simcha Damari, has also been named.
Suher, a 40-year-old father of two from Tel Aviv, had traveled to Turkey with his wife Inbal to celebrate his 40th birthday. Inbal was wounded in the attack.
After serving in the military police, Suher earned his law degree. A native of Kibbutz Gan Shlomo, Suher worked for a hi-tech firm.
Goldman and his wife Nitza were also part of the culinary tour group visiting Turkey. The 69-year-old worked as a tour guide in Jerusalem. He leaves behind his wife, three children, and eight grandchildren.
Five Israelis wounded in the attack were brought to Israel overnight. All of the five were lightly wounded. Six others, including Suher's wife Inbal, are being treated in Turkey.
An Iranian national was also killed in the attack.
2. DNA CONFIRMS IDENTITY OF ISIS-LINKED ISTANBUL BOMBER
by David Rosenberg
Turkish authorizes reported on Sunday that DNA tests have confirmed the identity of Saturday's Istanbul suicide bomber who killed three Israelis and one Iranian citizen.
Mehmet Ozturk, a 23-year-old terrorist affiliated with ISIS, has been named as the attacker in the deadly blast that rocked a popular Istanbul shopping center.
Initially Turkey had named Kurdish separatists affiliated with the PKK as being suspects, but later shifted their investigation to ISIS members.
The bomber's DNA, found at the scene of the attack, was compared to samples taken from Ozturk's family, confirming the identity of the attacker.
Ozturk was a native-born Turkish national from the southern city of Gaziantep, just 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the Syrian city of Aleppo.
[youtube:2013635]
3. MOTHER OF FOUR FROM DIMONA KILLED IN ISTANBUL BLAST
by Nitsan Keidar
One of the Israelis who were murdered in Saturday's terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey, has been identified as 60-year-old Simcha Damari, a mother of four from the city of Dimona in southern Israel.
Two other Israelis were murdered in the attack, but their names have not yet been cleared for publication. 10 Israelis were wounded in the blast, and Magen David Adom paramedics and doctors are working to bring them home.
Dimona Mayor Benny Biton published a special statement on Saturday night after learning about the death of Damari, whose husband Avi was among those wounded.
"Dimona is in pain and shares the grief of Damari family following the death of their mother Simcha, who was killed today in Turkey by a vile person whose goal was to kill as many Jews as possible," wrote the mayor.
"The Damari is a family that is rooted in Dimona, is well-known for helping the needy and for donating to charities in secret. The city of Dimona under my leadership will do everything in its power to assist the family in these difficult and painful moments," added Biton.
Meanwhile, Walla! News reported on Saturday night that two of Damari's sons had flown to Istanbul to identify their mother's body.
"Dad retired after working his entire life and wanted to spend time with Mom. They traveled a lot around the world," the sons, whose parents were on a culinary tour in Turkey at the time of the attack, said.
"Mom was a preschool teacher in Dimona and always looked after the children. She always looked out for everyone – fed the needy, helped single parents. She did these things all the time," they added.
4. ISTANBUL TERROR VICTIMS EN ROUTE TO ISRAEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The bodies of the three Israelis murdered in Satuday's suicide bombing in Istanbul are on their way to Israel, carried aboard an Israeli Air Force transport plane.
Of the 11 Israelis wounded in the attack, five returned to Israel early Sunday morning, with another five now en route to Israel.
The three Israelis killed in the attack include Simcha Damari, Yonathan Suher, and Avraham Goldman.
Damari, a 60-year-old retired preschool teacher from Dimona and mother of four was among those killed on Saturday, while her husband, Avi, was wounded in the blast.
Suher, a married father of two from Tel Aviv, was celebrating his 40th birthday with his wife during their trip to Turkey. His wife, Inbal, was injured.
Goldman, a 69-year-old tour guide from Herzliya, leaves behind his wife, Nitza, three children, and eight grandchildren.
The first five Israelis to return from Turkey on Sunday morning had been lightly wounded and were transported immediately upon the arrival of two MDA air ambulances from Israel.
The remaining six wounded were in more serious condition, requiring more elaborate measures to safely transport them. MDA officials reported that several of them suffered from severe injuries to their lower bodies, including smashed leg bones.
5. US COURT RULING SUGGESTS IRANIAN TIES TO 9/11 ATTACKS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A federal judge in New York ruled last week that the Iranian regime is liable for damages in the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
The ruling by George Benjamin Daniels, Judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, ordered Iran to pay almost $11 billion in compensation to families of victims killed on 9/11 and to insurance companies who covered those suffering damages in the attack.
The Iranian government failed to defend itself in the lawsuit, and the ruling is a default judgment.
According to court documents publicized by Asharq al-Awsat, a London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Iran helped to facilitate the 9/11 attacks, giving Al Qaeda agents "critical training and support".
The evidence presented in the case also suggests that Hezbollah, a known proxy of the Iranian regime, also aided and abetted Al Qaeda members involved in the 9/11 attacks. According to one report presented in the case "a senior operative of Hezbollah [Imad Mughniyah] visited Saudi Arabia to coordinate activities there. He also planned to assist individuals in Saudi Arabia in traveling to Iran during November".
While Al Qaeda, which is affiliated with the extreme Wahhabist brand of Sunni Islam, has traditionally been seen as irreconcilably opposed to the Shi'ite regime in Iran, documents recovered in the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan revealed Al Qaeda and Iran may in fact have had a working relationship.
At least one top Al Qaeda official, Yunis al Mauritani, is believed to have been allowed to operate in Iran, where he plotted attacks on the West. One memo to bin Laden revealed Al Qaeda's use of Iran as a safe haven and terror training area.
"His plan is: stay around three months in Iran to train the brothers there then start moving them and distributing them in the world for their missions and specialties," a memo recovered in the raid read.
The US found more than a million documents in bin Laden's compound, but has only released a handful to the public.
Iran derided last week's ruling, and has made no indication it plans to cooperate with the ruling.
6. 'EVERYONE KNEW AN ATTACK WAS COMING'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The horrifying suicide bombing that rocked a shopping center in Istanbul on Saturday came as a shock to many in the West and in Israel.
But few in Turkey were surprised by the attack, says Eyal Peretz.
Peretz who heads Arkadash, an organization representing the Turkish Jewish community in Israel spoke to Arutz Sheva about the great fears across Turkey ahead of the attack in Istanbul.
Peretz, who was staying in a Jewish neighborhood in the city of Izmir – home to the second largest Jewish community in Turkey – at the time of the attack in Istanbul told Arutz Sheva that most people in Turkey had anticipated a major attack in Istanbul.
"This is what everyone was talking about on the street," said Peretz. "Everyone talked about how a terror attack was about to happen."
"Malls that should be full of people were empty," he said. "The level of tension was very high [ahead of the Istanbul attack]. Everyone talked about how after the attack in Ankara last week, there was bound to be another one in Istanbul."
Peretz has deep ties with Turkey, both in his capacity as head of Arkadash, and as a consultant advising Israeli companies doing business with Turkey, frequently traveling to Turkey both for business and as a leader of the Turkish Jewish community in Israel.
Speaking of the roughly 15,000 Jews still living in Turkey, Peretz remarked that "the Jews there live in fear, but they do have protection for their institutions and synagogues."
Regarding relations between the former allies, Peretz was hopeful that Israel and Turkey can restore friendly relations.
"Any agreement that can normalize relations between Israel and Turkey will be good for the Jews in Turkey and good for Israel. An agreement with Turkey is important politically, militarily, and economically."
Despite Saturday's bombing attack, Peretz insisted he would continue to travel to Turkey.
"I'll continue to fly there and strengthen the Jewish community, and I hope that the [diplomatic] tensions [between Israel and Turkey] will end soon and an agreement will be reached with Turkey."
Eyal Peretz Yifat Bracha
7. DEATH PENALTY FOR TERRORISTS?
by David Rosenberg
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation is set to discuss on Sunday a controversial proposal from former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that would enable courts to sentence convicted terrorists to death.
Lieberman, who made a campaign slogan promising the death penalty for terrorists, proposed the bill last year.
If passed, the legislation would enable military courts to sentence terrorists convicted of attacks "intended to kill citizens for political, national, religious, or ideological purposes."
The law would also require only a majority, rather than a unanimous decision, to sentence terrorists to death. It would also prohibit reducing the sentence once it has been finalized.
The Ministerial Committee meets every Sunday to discuss pending legislation and to determine the government's official position on specific bills. The Committee can either vote to affirm or deny the proposal government support, which would obligate all coalition members to vote in favor of the bill, all but assuring its passage.
The Israel Democracy Institute blasted the proposal, calling upon the Committee to reject it on Sunday. In a five page statement the IDI argued that permitting the death penalty would put Israel in company with some of the world's most undemocratic regimes and biggest human rights offenders like China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
Israeli law currently includes the death penalty, but judicial barriers have prevented its use since the execution of Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
8. FIVE WOUNDED ISRAELIS ARRIVE FROM TURKEY
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2013619]
A delegation of Israeli doctors and paramedics from Magen David Adom landed in Istanbul on Saturday night, where it will assist in treating Israelis who were injured in the terrorist attack in the city.
The delegation is equipped with advanced medical equipment that enables the doctors to provide treatment to the victims even during a flight.
Three of the wounded Israelis landed in Israel shortly after midnight on Saturday night and were taken to hospitals around the country upon their arrival. A plane carrying two more wounded Israelis left Turkey shortly after 4:00 a.m. and arrived in Israel shortly after 6:00 a.m.
Upon the arrival of the Magen David Adom delegation to Istanbul, they met with representatives of the Turkish Red Crescent and were brought into contact with the three victims who were later flown to Israel. The delegation then went to the three hospitals in Istanbul where the injured are hospitalized in order to examine them and bring them back home as quickly as possible.
Magen David Adom said it continues to be constantly in constant contact with local officials in Turkey, with the Prime Minister's Office in Israel, the Foreign Ministry, the IDF, other relevant government agencies and the International Red Cross.
Magen David Adom Director General Eli Bin said on Saturday night, "Immediately after news of the attack in Istanbul was received, Magen David Adom immediately dispatched a rescue team of doctors and paramedics. We have contingency plans for these situations which allowed us to get organized quickly, and within hours the delegation landed in Turkey. The delegation includes doctors and paramedics who will conduct an initial assessment of the medical condition of the wounded Israelis."
"As the prime minister instructed us, we will fly them home as soon as possible," continued Bin. "We are working in full coordination with the Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Red Crescent. Magen David Adom is doing everything to bring the wounded Israelis home as quickly as possible."
In addition to the wounded Israelis, three Israelis were killed in the attack in Istanbul. One of them was named as Simcha Damari, 60, from Dimona. Her husband, Avi, sustained moderate injuries and is one of 10 Israelis who were wounded in the blast. He suffered leg fractures as well as a punctured lung and underwent an operation in Turkey.
The couple were in Turkey as part of a culinary tour.
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