Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Sunday, Apr. 10 '16, Nissan 2, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. DID NETANYAHU SIGN AWAY REMAINING JEWISH RIGHTS ON TEMPLE MOUNT?
2. MAJOR TERROR ATTACK AVERTED, 'RUNAWAY' TERRORISTS ARRESTED
3. ZIONIST CAMP ROUNDS ON ARAB MK FOR JUSTIFYING TERRORISM
4. UK LABOUR PARTY COUNCILOR HAILS HITLER AS 'GREATEST MAN EVER'
5. SAUDIS PLAN MASSIVE RED SEA BRIDGE TO LINK EGYPT, BYPASS ISRAEL
6. ISRAEL 'QUIETLY' ADOPTING LEVY REPORT TO LEGALIZE OUTPOSTS
7. FACEBOOK BANS USER FOR CRITICIZING ANTI-SEMITISM
8. LEHAVA HEAD GOPSHTAIN EXONERATED OF ASSAULTING FAR-LEFTISTS
1. DID NETANYAHU SIGN AWAY REMAINING JEWISH RIGHTS ON TEMPLE MOUNT?
by Yediya Ben-Or
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a series of commitments limiting Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount, a report from the International Crisis Group published in Haaretz reveals Sunday, during meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan in November 2014.
Among the agreements exposed in the report:
Netanyahu committed to prevent any MK from ascending the Temple Mount, limit Jewish visitors to the Mount, and prevent or minimize legislation limiting Muslim visitors to the Mount - whether on basis of age or gender;
Abdullah obligated himself to prevent the Waqf Muslim Authority from allowing Palestinian Arab teenagers from staying overnight on the Mount to plan and execute terror attacks on police and civilians.
Netanyahu has kept to those stipulations, the report reveals - based on information given from the Israel Police to the leftist group Ir Amim under the Freedom of Information Act.
In 2015, for the first time in five years, there has been a marked decrease in the number of Jewish visitors permitted to visit the Mount - the holiest site in Judaism. 11,001 Jews ascended the Mount in 2015, compared to 11,724 in 2014. For comparison, 5,658 Jews ascended the Mount in 2009.
Despite its significance in Judaism, Amman's de facto control of the site prevents Jews from enjoying freedom of worship or even visiting the Mount.
Israeli police, in an attempt to appease the Muslim Waqf which was left in charge of the Temple Mount compound after the 1967 Six Day War, ban Jews from praying or performing any other form of worship.
2. MAJOR TERROR ATTACK AVERTED, 'RUNAWAY' TERRORISTS ARRESTED
by David Rosenberg
Tragedy was averted on Saturday when three young Arab men from Judea and Samaria were arrested while preparing to carry out a major terror attack.
The three, who had run away from their homes a few days earlier, were armed with grenades and a submachine gun.
A joint operation of Israeli and Palestinian Authority security forces captured the three, who claimed loyalty to Hamas.
Days earlier the young men were reported missing by their families, who had told Palestinian Authority media outlets that the young men had suddenly disappeared without a trace, and could not be reached on their cellular phones.
Palestinian Authority security officials spotted the three outside an Arab village near Ramallah. Local security officials initially believed the three were Israelis, alerting PA police.
After being taken into custody the three were found to be in possession of grenades and a submachine gun which they apparently were concealing in backpacks.
3. ZIONIST CAMP ROUNDS ON ARAB MK FOR JUSTIFYING TERRORISM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The storm over MK Zouheir Bahloul's (Zionist Camp) controversial comments last week reached new heights on Sunday, with more of the party's leadership piling on with criticism and condemnation.
It all began last Thursday when Bahloul insisted that an Arab assailant who stabbed an Israeli soldier in Hevron was "not a terrorist"
"The word 'terrorist' is becoming all-encompassing and turns every Palestinian into one," Bahloul said during an interview.
"Anyone who struggles for his freedom and for his independence is a terrorist in the eyes of the Israelis," he said, justifying the terror attacks.
"From the point of view of the (Israeli) people, every Palestinian who struggles his struggle in order to remove the injustice of the occupation is thought to be a terrorist."
In spite of the firestorm that erupted after those remarks, Bahloul refused to back down.
During a debate with MK Avi Dichter (Likud) in the northern town of Acre, Bahloul doubled down on his comments, justifying attacks on Israeli soldiers and claiming that Israel was not his country.
"I have said that anyone who attacks innocents, who enters a house where children and women are sleeping, and cut short their lives can be described in any terms, including terrorist. But soldiers? They are the symbol of the occupation. What should Palestinians do after suffering under the occupation for 49 years, after losing their lives, after searching for their freedom and independence and not receiving anything? They see the soldiers are symbols of the occupation."
When Dichter pointed out that Israel was "your country," Bahloul replied: "This is the Jews' country and not the Arabs' country."
On Sunday Eitan Cabel (Zionist Camp) a senior figure within the Labor faction, castigated Bahloul during an interview on Army Radio, arguing that he had placed himself outside of the party.
"As an Israeli citizen I'm not prepared to accept a position like this within my home. Zouheir, a man of words and knows their power chose this of all times to say things like that. He has placed himself outside of the Zionist Camp."
Former Labor Party chief Shelly Yechimovich (Zionist Camp) also joined in, suggesting that Zouheir had no place within her party.
"His terrible comments are a thousand light years from my worldview," she said. "He needs to take a hard look at himself and think if the Labor Party is really where he belongs."
Bahloul did find some support, however, from MK Issawi Frij (Meretz). Frij blasted the Labor faction for its criticism of Bahloul, arguing that his claims were factually correct. The rush to judge him, Frij argued, revealed Labor's hidden bigotry against Israeli Arabs.
"The Labor Party has revealed its true colors when it comes to the Arab sector. Until now it has been quiet, but now the cat is out of the bag. Zouheir Bahloul pointed out the historical fact that the presence of Israeli soldiers in Hevron is occupation. But the MKs in the Zionist Camp aren't really interested, all they want to do is to show that they don't love Arabs, God forbid. The lesson here is that political cooperation between Arabs and Jews can only be in the real left and not in centrist parties that are constantly trying to move to the right."
4. UK LABOUR PARTY COUNCILOR HAILS HITLER AS 'GREATEST MAN EVER'
by Ari Soffer
A local councilor in England has been suspended from the Labour Party after posting a string of virulently anti-Semitic tweets, in the latest in a seemingly unending list of anti-Semitism scandals to hit the left-wing party.
Aysegul Gurbuz's Twitter message lauding Adolf Hitler as the "greatest man in history" was exposed by Britain's Daily Mail, and provoked a storm of outrage.
Gurbuz, a 20-year-old British Muslim, became the youngest ever councilor to be elected in Luton last year.
But the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism unearthed a series of worrying Twitter messages she posted just one year previously, prompting her suspension - though, astonishingly, she has not been expelled.
In one 2013 Tweet, Gurbuz posted: "The Jews are so powerful in the US it's disgusting."
In 2012 she wrote of the then Labour leader: "Ed Miliband is Jewish. He will never become prime minister of Britain."
But perhaps the most shocking Tweet was posted in 2011, when she stated simply: "Adolf Hitler = greatest man in history." She also said she hoped Iran would use nuclear weapons to "wipe Israel off the map."
Gurbuz, a final year university student and events organizer for her student union "Friends of Palestine" society, denies having ever posted the comments, and claimed they were posted under her name by her sister.
Responding to the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, Gurbuz said: "It was a joint account I had with my sister so I don't know if she's gone out and tweeted that, but I'm absolutely appalled right now.
"Where I live we've got very good cohesion with the Jewish community... I'm absolutely shocked."
But Campaign Against Anti-Semitism spokesman Jonathan Sacerdoti remained unconvinced. "These tweets are anti-Semitic. They appear on Aysegul Gurbuz's personal account and there is no defense for that," he said.
A statement from the Labour Party announced Saturday that "Councillor Gurbuz has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation."
As noted, this is just the latest anti-Semitism controversy to hit the leading UK opposition party.
On Saturday, the former Archbishop of Canterbury issued a scathing criticism of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, stating that he and his party are "unfit to govern" until they purge the party of anti-Semitism, after a string of incidents which have left British Jews increasingly concerned.
Even Labour's candidate for Mayor of London has admitted the party has an anti-Semitism problem, as have other senior party leaders.
In March, Vicki Kirby, a party organizer banned for calling Hitler "a Zionist god" and ridiculing Jews for having "big noses," was readmitted into the party - just one of a number of members expelled for anti-Semitism under the previous administration to be readmitted under Corbyn's leadership.
Another party activist, Bob Campbell, was criticized for suggesting that Israel was behind the ISIS terror organization.
More recently, a former mayor of Bradford and Labour member, Khadim Hussain, posted comments on Facebook complaining about Holocaust education and alleging that Israel had armed ISIS.
And in a scandal which reverberated nationwide, the head of the Labour student union at England's prestigious Oxford University resigned, alleging that the "student left" has "a problem with Jews." A probe into rampant anti-Semitism at Oxford is still ongoing.
The above are just a sample of some of the anti-Semitic incidents to have rocked the party since Jeremy Corbyn - formerly a hard-left backbencher who hailed Hezbollah and Hamas as his "friends," and maintained close ties with Islamic extremists and Holocaust deniers - was voted in as leader last year.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has taken aim at the opposition leader over anti-Semitism within Labour, calling on his rivals to "sort out" the problem.
5. SAUDIS PLAN MASSIVE RED SEA BRIDGE TO LINK EGYPT, BYPASS ISRAEL
by David Rosenberg
The Arab world has long sought to link North Africa with the Middle East, bypassing Israel. Now it appears that Saudi Arabia is intent on turning that dream into a reality.
Following a meeting with Egypt's President Abdel al-Sisi, Saudi Arabia's new king, Salman al-Saud, announced a series of measures intended to aid Egypt's sagging economy and bring the two allies closer together than ever before.
King Salman discussed $20 billion in loans to help boost Egypt economically, along with a comprehensive plan to develop the Sinai region priced at $1.5 billion.
The Saudi monarch also touched upon the long-discussed idea of physically linking the two countries, bridging the Red Sea and creating a contiguous link between the eastern and western halves of the Arab world.
The plan calls for a massive 30 mile bridge linking Ras Nasrani near Sharm el-Sheikh to Ras Hamid in northern Saudi Arabia.
If completed the bridge would be one of the longest in the world.
6. ISRAEL 'QUIETLY' ADOPTING LEVY REPORT TO LEGALIZE OUTPOSTS
by David Rosenberg
Nearly four years after the historic Levy Report was presented to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, sources responsible for the document have confirmed that despite refusal to formally adopt the report, the government is quietly implementing many of its proposals.
In the summer of 2012 a legal panel commissioned by the Israeli government to assess the status of Judea and Samaria according to international law produced a set of findings widely referred to as the Levy Report, named after the panel's chief, Edmond Levy.
The report found that the case of Judea and Samaria was sui generis, and as such is not within the penumbra of international laws restricting government action in hostile territory occupied in wartime.
Thus, according to the Levy Report, there was no legal impediment to Israel building in or developing areas of Judea and Samaria.
Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton immediately condemned the report, as did the Israeli Left.
Among the report's suggestions was the legalization of most Israeli communities over the Green Line which lacked full recognition by the state. These communities, often referred to as "outposts", include Givat Assaf near Beit El, Mitzpeh Dani, near Maaleh Michmas, and Esh Kodesh near Shilo.
While Israeli nationalists praised the Levy Report, within months it became clear the coalition did not intend to adopt it proposals as government policy.
In February, however, the far-left NGO "Yesh Din" published a policy paper claiming that the Defense Ministry was quietly implementing key elements of the Levy Report, removing legal barriers to expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and effectively giving retroactive legalization to existing "outpost" towns.
The paper, titled "From Occupation to Annexation", was drafted by Yesh Din lawyers Shlomi Zecharia and Michael Sefarad. The two have in the past been involved in law suits which resulted in the demolition of Jewish communities like Migron and Amona.
According to the Yesh Din report, the years following the publication of the Levy Report saw a significant increase in the number of outposts given legal recognition. Some 30 outpost communities were either fully recognized or put on the road to legal recognition in the past few years.
While Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and ministry officials have refused to comment, Alan Baker, one of the authors of the Levy Report, has confirmed that the government has quietly adopted some of the report's proposals.
Speaking on Friday, Baker claimed that the panel originally charged with drawing up the report never believed it would officially adopted. Rather, he argues, the goal was to provide the legal "tools" for action at a later date.
"Already from when we began to work ok on the report the intention never was that it would be officially adopted by the government. We simply wanted to provide the government's various ministries operating in relevant fields legal tools [for different kinds of policies]. From what I've heard from different sources, I understand that they are gradually implementing [the report]."
"Are they adopted all of the recommendations? I don't know. On the same day that the report was released there were legal experts who called it a disaster. Hillary Clinton condemned it even before it was translated into English."
Baker pointed out that the report was far more limited in scope than what either its critics or supporters often claimed.
"On the left [people] thought it would legalize all illegal construction, while on the right [people] thought the report called for annexing the territories – and that's totally wrong. There aren't any political issues [dealt with] here. The three of us jurists [involved in the report] sat down and worked out the report in the most serious way, without any political biases so that we could put together a professional report."
7. FACEBOOK BANS USER FOR CRITICIZING ANTI-SEMITISM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Facebook temporarily banned an Australian gym called IDF Training after the owner responded to an anti-Semitic message.
The Australian news site The Age reports that someone posted an offensive comment on the gym's Facebook page, calling the owner a "pig f----er" and declaring that "Australia is against israel [sic]."
The owner, Avi Yemini, responded by sharing the post, with the added hashtag "#saynotoracism." An anonymous browser soon reported Yemini's post as offensive and Facebook suspended the account for three days.
"I've spoken to Facebook explaining that it was in fact his vile message that was in breach of their terms, and that I couldn't believe that not only are they siding with the racist user, they are penalizing an advocate for understanding and tolerance," he said.
Yemini returned to Australia and opened IDF Training after serving in the IDF's Golani Brigade. He now teaches people martial arts and self-defense based on the IDF's methods. He has also encouraged the gym's members to join the IDF.
8. LEHAVA HEAD GOPSHTAIN EXONERATED OF ASSAULTING FAR-LEFTISTS
by David Rosenberg
[youtube:2014318]
Bentzi Gopshtain, head of the controversial Lehava anti-assimilation organization, was acquitted on Sunday by a Jerusalem district court of assault charges.
The charges stem from an incident in 2008 in Gopshtain's home town of Hevron. Leftwing activists and local Arabs climbed a security fence separating the Givat Avot community from the surrounding Arab neighborhood.
Among those accusing Gopshtain of assault was radical leftwing activist Ezra Nawi, who has recently been accused of publicizing the names of Arabs who have sold land to Jews, leading to their execution.
Gopshtain was alerted to the infiltration and immediately rushed from his home in Givat Avot to the security fence, where he confronted the infiltrators.
The presiding judge, Dov Pollock, noted that while the film evidence made it clear that Gopshtain had in fact engaged in a physical altercation with the infiltrators, his actions were considered reasonable self defense.
Regarding the background of the incident, in his ruling, Pollock constrasted Gophstain's eagerness to explain to police the context of the incident, while his accusers had refused to comment.
"Those involved in the incident exercised their right to silence during questioning. On the other hand the accused [Gopshtain] explained the context of the situation during questioning. He explained that he saw a number of people trying to climb over the fence into the neighborhood where he resides".
Gopshtain explained his actions, saying that he was worried the infiltrators were trying to attack his community. "I thought they were terrorists," he said.
Gophstain went on to say that if he had known one of the infiltrators was Ezra Nawi, he "would be more afraid of the fact that he's a convicted pedophile."
Nawi was convicted in 1997 over sex crimes committed against an Arab child.
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