Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Tuesday, Apr. 19 '16, Nissan 11, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. BUS DRIVER: 'I SAW THE TERRORIST IN THE HOSPITAL'
2. 'THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION AND I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING'
3. BIDEN BLASTS ISRAEL JUST HOURS AFTER JERUSALEM BUS BOMBING
4. 'MOM IT HURTS, IT BURNS'
5. YOSEF BEN-DAVID CONVICTED OF MURDERING MOHAMMED ABU KHDER
6. YISHAI SCHLISSEL CONVICTED OF MURDER AT 2015 GAY PARADE
7. TERRORIST'S MOTHER SUGGESTS VICTIM WAS AT FAULT FOR AX ATTACK
8. WATCH: FIRST IMAGES OF HAMAS' EXPOSED TERROR TUNNEL
1. BUS DRIVER: 'I SAW THE TERRORIST IN THE HOSPITAL'
by David Rosenberg
Some 16 people were wounded in Monday's bus bombing in Jerusalem. The identity of the most severely injured person remains unknown, as police try to ascertain whether he was the bomber, or just an innocent bystander.
The driver of the bus, however, has stated that the man was indeed the terrorist, and that security officials at the hospital confirmed as much.
The driver, Moshe Levy, spoke with BeHadrei Haredim on Tuesday, and recalled the incident and his encounter with the alleged terrorist.
"The [bus] ride was normal; I saw the terrorist get on the bus at one of the stations. The terrorist boarded and paid just like everyone else. He didn't look suspicious to me, and he wasn't carrying a strange bag or something. No, I didn't suspect him."
"Then all of the sudden, on Baram Street there was a lot of traffic and then we heard a big explosion. Then another huge explosion."
The bomb, which had been placed at the back of the bus, wounded passengers in the aft section, but left those in the front of the bus, including Levy, relatively unscathed.
"I saw lots of people bleeding and screaming. I ran out of the bus and opened the [emergency] doors. Outside there were people who had been thrown out of the bus [by the blast]. I saw the terrorist lying on the ground, with severed hands and feet. I told the MDA people to treat him."
When I got to the hospital I saw this man lying on the ground in the emergency treatment ward, I understood from the security people there that this was the terrorist. And I had asked them [the MDA medics] to help him."
Police officials have yet to say if the severely injured man in question was indeed the terrorist.
The initial investigation suggests that the bomb was placed beneath the man's legs, and likely detonated prematurely - indicating that he did not intend to be a suicide bomber. The wounded man was carrying no form of identification, and police are attempting to identify him with a DNA test.
2. 'THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION AND I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING'
by Eliran Aharon
Michael Chasin was returning from a krav maga session Monday when a bomb exploded aboard the #12 bus in Jerusalem.
Chasin suffered injuries to his hand, leg, and ear, and is currently listed in light to moderate condition at the capital's Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center.
"I sat in the back row," he recounted to Arutz Sheva. "After two stops, there was an explosion and I couldn't see anything. I ran out of the bus and sat down on the sidewalk."
"I had a phone in my hand and the battery exploded," he added, noting that this is how his hand was injured. "I also have shrapnel in my foot and holes in my ears."
Chasin was one of 16 people injured in the attack, which police confirmed was a terror attack late Monday night.
3. BIDEN BLASTS ISRAEL JUST HOURS AFTER JERUSALEM BUS BOMBING
by David Rosenberg
Vice President Joe Biden spoke on Monday night at a J Street gala in Washington DC, expressing what he said was the Obama administration's "overwhelming frustration" with Israel.
Biden criticism of Israel came just hours after a bomb ripped through a bus in Jerusalem, leaving at least 16 wounded.
"The present course Israel's on is not one that's likely to secure its existence as a Jewish, democratic state – and we have to make sure that happens," Biden said.
The Vice President went on to excoriate Israel over a host of issues. Despite a partial freeze on construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Biden attacked Israeli actions over the Green Line.
"I firmly believe that the actions that Israel's government has taken over the past the past several years — the steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalization of outposts, land seizures — they're moving us and more importantly they're moving Israel in the wrong direction."
In a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Biden offered praise for left-wing MK Stav Shaffir (Zionist Union), expressing openly the hope that the Israeli left win back control of the Knesset.
"May your views begin to once again become the majority opinion in the Knesset," said Biden.
Referring obliquely to the recent terror attack, Biden said the US condemned the use of violence, calling those who perpetrate attacks on civilians "misguided cowards".
Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke at the event, assuring attendees that the Obama administration was still actively pursuing a reboot to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
"I can tell you that for these next nine months we will not stop working to find a way. We will continue to try to advance a two-state solution, the only solution."
Kerry also discussed the Iran nuclear deal, noting that the Iranian regime had thus far received only a small portion of the funds unfrozen as part of the agreement.
"Sometimes you heard some of the presidential candidates putting a mistaken figure out of $155 billion. We never thought it would be that. Others thought it would be about a $100 billion because there was supposedly $100 billion that was owed and so forth. We calculated it to be about $55 billion when you really take a hard look at the economy and what is happening. Guess what, folks. You know how much they have received to date as I stand here tonight? About $3 billion".
4. 'MOM IT HURTS, IT BURNS'
by Hezki Baruch
Sixteen-year-old Eden Dadon, who was moderately to severely wounded in Monday's bus attack, is currently on a respirator at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.
Rachel, her mother who was also in the bus and lightly wounded, saw her daughter this afternoon for the first time since the terrorist explosion.
"I left left Eden's room and was pained by what I saw," she told reporters. "I had a healthy daughter and now it's difficult to look. It's hard for me with this whole situation. It's a very difficult scene. No mother wants to go through something like this.
"I sat two seats behind the driver and Eden sat in the back, where she likes to sit," she recalled. "I wanted to phone my mother and suddenly the whole bus blew up. There was soot and something went up in flames. At the time I was confused, but in a second I remembered my daughter and looked for her.
"Suddenly I saw her with burns and her whole skin peeling. She told me, 'Mom it hurt, it burns.' Eden sat on the floor and couldn't move. She asked me to bring her water but I didn't have any."
It's hard for Rachel to forget what she saw. "Things became dark, everything was darkness and blood. I couldn't get oriented."
Afterwards, she sent a message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take action. "I call on Netanyahu to wake up. Whenever I saw attacks and wounded victims, I prayed for their recovery. But now I am experiencing it. I can't stand it. It's not just me, it's thousands of people who were left disabled and wounded. It's scary to just go outside. I didn't expect to go out to treat my daughter [to something] and come back wounded."
5. YOSEF BEN-DAVID CONVICTED OF MURDERING MOHAMMED ABU KHDER
by Ido Ben-Porat
A Jerusalem court has convicted Yosef Haim Ben-David of murdering Mohammed Abu Khder, as well as a number of other crimes.
The judge accepted prosecutors' claims that Ben-David led his two nephews, aged 17 and 16, in kidnapping 16-year-old Abu Khder, dousing him in gasoline and burning him to death in 2014. They then attempted to destroy any evidence of their crimes.
One of the nephews received a life sentence, while the second was given 21 years in prison.
While the judge rejected Ben-David's plea of insanity, he put off the sentencing in light of the defendant's mental state.
Ben-David admitted to his crime during the police interrogation, claiming that he and his nephews wanted to get "revenge" after the three teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in Gush Etzion.
However, he insisted on his right to remain silent throughout the court proceedings.
Mohammed's father, Hussein Abu Khder, commented on the ruling by saying, "We need justice. We must destroy their home just like they destroy Arabs' homes. I hope he remains in prison for the rest of his life and that he does not receive a pardon."
6. YISHAI SCHLISSEL CONVICTED OF MURDER AT 2015 GAY PARADE
by David Rosenberg
A Jerusalem district court found Yishai Schlissel guilty of murder on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a teenage girl in 2015.
Last July, Schlissel attacked the Jerusalem gay pride parade, stabbing seven participants. One of his victims, Shira Banki, died from her injuries three days after the attack.
Schlissel carried out the attack just three weeks after having been released from prison for a prior stabbing attack.
A father of four from the haredi town of Modi'in Illit, Schlissel had been convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for a similar attack on the 2005 Jerusalem gay pride parade. Three people were wounded in that attack.
Schlissel was released early, however, after a court reduced his sentence by two years.
During his prison sentence for the 2005 stabbing attacks, Schlissel divorced his wife.
Schlissel had refused the services of a state-appointed attorney, claiming that the court had no right to judge him.
The court found Schlissel guilty of murder as well as six counts of attempted murder. His sentence will be determined at a later date.
7. TERRORIST'S MOTHER SUGGESTS VICTIM WAS AT FAULT FOR AX ATTACK
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Saadi Ali Abu Hamad's mother says that her son may have attacked a security guard with an ax because of a previous encounter between the two, Ynet reports.
"I was extremely surprised by this incident," she said on Tuesday morning. "Saadi worked and behaved like any ordinary young person and any interest in attacks was not in his head. Maybe there were earlier problems between him and the security guard. I wish the security guard a speedy recovery and hope that there will be peace."
Hamad's father has also expressed his confidence that there was a reasonable explanation for the attack. The night that his son nearly murdered Tzvika Cohen, he said that Saadi "was supposed to come home but didn't and he didn't sleep at home that night. In fact, I haven't seen him until now. I expect to see him and understand exactly what happened."
The parents' claims align with Hamad's initial justifications. When he was first arrested, Hamad said that Cohen had "insulted" him and thus provoked the attack. Soon afterwards, however, he admitted that he wanted to attack the first Jewish Israeli he could find and Cohen was the unfortunate target.
8. WATCH: FIRST IMAGES OF HAMAS' EXPOSED TERROR TUNNEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The IDF on Monday published video detailing the Hamas terror tunnel found near Gaza, which was revealed earlier in the day.
[video:2014602]
The tunnel breached underground into sovereign Israeli territory to facilitate terror attacks.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday praised the IDF for thwarting future attacks with the find, and said the tunnel was found with a "global breakthrough," indicating a technological wonder to locate the underground paths.
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