Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Tuesday, Mar. 01 '16, Adar 21, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. TWO SOLDIERS RESCUED AFTER ACCIDENTALLY ENTERING QALANDIYA
2. EMAILS REVEAL HILLARY'S PLANS FOR ISRAEL
3. QALANDIYA CRISIS INVOLVED TEMPORARY SIEGE, GUNFIGHTS
4. WAZE LED SOLDIERS TO MISTAKENLY ENTER QALANDIYA
5. SENIOR EGGED OFFICIALS UNDER SUSPICION FOR 402 BUS CRASH
6. MK HAZAN THREATENS TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT UNLESS GETS HIS WAY
7. US TO ISRAEL: BUILD IN JERUSALEM FOR ARABS, BUT NOT FOR JEWS
8. ISRAELI SYSTEM REVOLUTIONIZES PARKING GARAGES
1. TWO SOLDIERS RESCUED AFTER ACCIDENTALLY ENTERING QALANDIYA
by Uzi Baruch
[youtube:2013021]
Clashes broke out on Monday evening between Palestinian Arabs and IDF soldiers in Qalandiya, after two IDF soldiers accidentally entered the Palestinian Arab village, located north of Jerusalem.
The two soldiers were attacked by dozens of Arab rioters who threw rocks and firebombs and set their military vehicle on fire.
The IDF called reinforcements into the village, and an exchange of fire ensued , following which the two soldiers were rescued . There were no casualties among Israeli troops.
The soldiers were able to leave the burning vehicle and fled on foot, with one of them making contact with the reinforcements within a short time. The second was found hiding a few minutes later.
Five Border Police officers were injured in the incident, among them one moderately and four lightly. They were taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
On the Palestinians side, several Palestinian Arabs were wounded in the clashes, and one was killed.
2. EMAILS REVEAL HILLARY'S PLANS FOR ISRAEL
by David Rosenberg
How would a Hillary Clinton presidency relate to Israel? Recently released emails between the former Secretary of State and her top foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, shed light on the kinds of demands Clinton would make on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
In the list of "steps" Clinton's office expected the PA to take there are few concessions to Israel. The PA would be asked to stop incitement against Israel, with Sullivan noting that PA hides "behind local officials" whenever the issue is raised. The plan also calls for the PA and Israel to organize classroom forums bringing together Israeli and PA students to help nurture mutual understanding.
In addition, the PA would be required to put Israel on government-issued maps, and the historical Jewish connection with Jerusalem "acknowledged".
The remaining actions for the PA to undertake include more permanent housing for refugee camps and anti-corruption efforts in the PA legal justice system.
Israel, on the other hand, would, in the framework of some larger agreement, be expected to make a number of serious concessions, including the creation of a voluntary compensation fund to encourage Jews to leave Judea and Samaria. The plan notes does note that housing construction would be tolerated within the major settlement blocs, but not beyond.
Israel would also be pressured to open up Area C, which is under full Israeli control, to Arab economic interests, in particular giving them greater to rock quarries.
The outlined plan also included transferring greater security control of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority police, giving them full control of Area B and working to minimize IDF operations in Area A.
3. QALANDIYA CRISIS INVOLVED TEMPORARY SIEGE, GUNFIGHTS
by Matt Wanderman
New information has revealed that last night's incident in Qalandiya was worse than initially reported.
Two IDF soldiers mistakenly reached the refugee camp while following Waze directions from Beit El to the Mitkan Adam base. They were quickly confronted by rioters armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails.
By the time the pair were rescued, a riot had started, their car was burned and five Border Police officers were wounded.
IDF declared the Hannibal Protocol to be in effect, which permits the use of extreme measures to save a captured soldier, even if it endangers the soldier's life.
Special forces units were then called in out of concern for a possible hostage situation. In the meantime, IDF units surrounded Qalandiya and helicopters watched from above.
At one point, the rioters began shooting at the troops outside. Border Police then returned fire. Five officers were wounded, one seriously so, while one Palestinian teen was killed and another 10 wounded.
The incident strongly resembled what turned into the "Ramallah lynch" in 2000, when two IDF reservists accidentally ended up in Ramallah. The two were surrounded by rioters who beat them to death.
4. WAZE LED SOLDIERS TO MISTAKENLY ENTER QALANDIYA
by Uzi Baruch
The two soldiers who mistakenly entered the Qalandiya refugee camp last night (Monday) did so by following directions from the GPS app Waze.
The pair was attempting to travel from Beit El to the Mitkan Adam base and mistakenly turned towards the village of A-Ram.
Military officials say that they were in a private vehicle and were confronted by dozens of Palestinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. The rioters even set fire to the car as the soldiers escaped.
One of the two entered a courtyard near the site of the confrontation, while the other fled towards the community of Kochav Ya'akov. He was found about an hour later without his radio, which raised suspicions in the army.
IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Moti Almoz told Army Radio, "We need to investigate what exactly happened there. We are dealing with the tension between the accuracy of Waze and the fact that sometimes we can end up in situation such as this and with similar results."
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) also commented on the incident, saying, "Two soldiers in a vehicle accidentally went from Jerusalem to Ramallah, through Qalandiya. They were pelted with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Overall, our forces responded quickly to end this difficult situation. They used Waze and I always said that, when using GPS, you also need to know how to navigate with a map."
5. SENIOR EGGED OFFICIALS UNDER SUSPICION FOR 402 BUS CRASH
by Haim Lev
As part of the investigation into the 402 bus crash that killed six people, four senior Egged officials were called in for investigation. Channel 2 reports that the four are suspected of causing death through negligence.
Among the suspects are the director of the company's Jerusalem district, the district's safety officer and the head of the district's human resources.
About two weeks ago, a video was released showing the driver responsible for the accident, Haim Bitton, involved in a similar crash on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway several months prior.
In the filmed incident, Bitton hit a private car without cause and could be seen exchange information with the driver. Egged was then forced to compensate the struck driver to the amount of 15,000 shekels ($3,800 US). Bitton soon returned to work.
Furthermore, it was reported that an Egged evaluation warned of Bitton's dangerous driving and said he posed a danger to the public.
In December 2014, he was involved in yet another accident while driving the 402 line, this time from Bnei Brak to Jerusalem. In this case as well, he struck a truck near Shoresh Junction and several people were injured.
Following the 2014 crash, Egged decided that Bitton would no longer work on intercity routes and he was reassigned to solely inner city lines. He returned to the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv route only a few weeks ago.
Police are currently whether the senior officials bear responsibility for returning him to the intercity line.
6. MK HAZAN THREATENS TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT UNLESS GETS HIS WAY
by Ido Ben-Porat
MK Oren Hazan (Likud) met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last night (Monday), to warn that he would leave the coalition unless his punishment is lifted, Channel 10 reports.
This would leave the coalition without a majority in the Knesset and could quickly lead to the government collapsing.
Hazan was suspended from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for missing Assembly votes. Coalition head MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) claimed that his absences caused a number of bills to fail.
In response, Hazan withdrew his membership from all other committees.
Hazan says that he will present Netanyahu with a list of other Likud Mks who missed Assembly votes without finding someone to fill their place and thereby caused the defeat of coalition bills. He says that this list will include Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Science Minister Ophir Akunis, and Tzachi Hanegbi himself.
Knesset members are elected as part of a party. Once they are sworn in, though, the seats belong to the individuals and any member is permitted to change party affiliations.
Should this come to pass, Hazan claims that he would serve as his own party.
7. US TO ISRAEL: BUILD IN JERUSALEM FOR ARABS, BUT NOT FOR JEWS
by David Rosenberg
US Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Israel next Sunday, and the Obama administration is launching an all-out effort to prevent a repeat of the diplomatic flare-up that marred his previous trip in 2010.
In what is likely to be the last state visit to Israel by a top-level Obama administration official, Biden's visit closes out a rocky relationship between Israel and the White House.
Perhaps the most publicized dispute in that period was the so-called "Ramot Biden" incident in March 2010, when plans for a new housing project in the haredi neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem were announced while Biden was in Israel promoting talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Biden issued a sharp condemnation of the plans, while then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton berated Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a 43-minute phone call.
Today, with the memory of the 2010 dustup looming, US officials are pressing Israel not to build in "sensitive" areas of Jerusalem like Gilo, Har Homa, and Pisgat Ze'ev, NRG reported, citing a high-ranking US official on condition of anonymity.
"We don't want another neighborhood in Jerusalem to be called 'Ramot Biden,'" the official said.
But while the US is moving to block new housing projects in Jerusalem for Jews, the same official noted that of course "construction for Arabs would receive their blessing."
So desperate are Obama administration officials to prevent a repeat of the 2010 visit that they have set aside accepted protocol and expanded their efforts beyond the traditional diplomatic channels, appealing directly to local officials and public figures in Israel, including in the Jerusalem city council, calling on them to shelve new building projects in Jerusalem.
8. ISRAELI SYSTEM REVOLUTIONIZES PARKING GARAGES
by Gil Ronen
[youtube:2012959]
An Israeli company has been offering an automated alternative to the old fashioned parking garage, reported ISRAEL21C Sunday.
The Unitronics Group's parking garage solution does away with having the driver search for available spots throughout the floors of the garage.
Instead, the driver drives the car into a 20-by-20 foot entry bay, turns off the engine, locks the car, takes a ticket and goes on his way. The rest of the process is fully automated.
A Unitronics robot rolls into position under the car and lifts the vehicle using a combination of radar, optical sensors and cameras. It uses automated elevators to transport the car to the destination spot and positions it perfectly.
Unitronics develops industrial automation products, smart warehouses and automated parking solutions for global clients including Danone and BP in Belgium and Coca-Cola in Holland. It built 47 projects in Israel and runs an international network of 165 distributors and sales offices in Europe, the United States, Israel and the Far East. Its US subsidiary recently completed four new-generation automated parking garages in the United States – three in Hoboken, New Jersey, and one at City Hall in West Hollywood, California – plus another in Mexico.
Two other projects in the works are a $4.5 million carpark, planned to open in late 2017 in a luxury apartment complex in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and a very large $24 million project in Calgary, Canada.
Unitronics founder and CEO Haim Shani told ISRAEL21c that while mechanical parking is not a new idea, the Israeli solution does not require any devices or systems aside from the robot and offers revolutionary financial and ecological benefits.
"Our solution is unique and can change the whole game. The developer not only enjoys high-density parking but also lower cost," says Shani.
The Unitronics Group, based in Airport City, went public in 1999 and is listed on the Brussels and Tel Aviv stock exchanges. Employees number about 250 in Israel and almost 50 in the United States.
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