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Monday, May. 16 '16, Iyar 8, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. STABBING ATTACK IN JERUSALEM; ONE WOUNDED
2. NETANYAHU REMINDS YA'ALON: THE IDF ANSWERS TO THE US
3. HOMELESS WOMEN LIVING AT BEN GURION AIRPORT
4. IT'S OFFICIAL: LEGENDARY COMIC IS COMING TO JERUSALEM
5. UK UNIVERSITIES REBELLING AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENT HEAD
6. 16 GIRLS INJURED IN CRASH ON WAY TO SCHOOL
7. WILL SHOLOM RUBASHKIN GO FREE?
8. WATCH: INCREDIBLE SUNKEN TREASURE TROVE FOUND ON ISRAEL'S SEABED
1. STABBING ATTACK IN JERUSALEM; ONE WOUNDED
by Ari Soffer
One person has been wounded in a stabbing attack by an Arab terrorist along Jerusalem's Hanavi'im Street, close to Highway 1.
The attacker, a Palestinian Arab in his twenties from Judea and Samaria, has been arrested.
The victim - a Jewish man in his late twenties - is being treated for a stab wound to his shoulder. Magen David Adom paramedics who treated him at the scene say he was lightly wounded; he has since been transferred to Jerusalem's Shaare Tzedek hospital for further treatment.
Police said the perpetrator was seen by officers "stabbing a Jew and fleeing," discarding the knife nearby.
The officers ran and "caught the terrorist, subdued and arrested him," a police statement said.
It marks the first Arab terror attack this week, and follows a number of attacks and attempted attacks last week.
Yesterday evening, security forces announced the arrest of the two terrorists responsible for planting a roadside bomb which left an IDF officer seriously injured last Tuesday.
The officer, who suffered serious head wounds in the attack outside Hizme just north of Jerusalem, is in stable condition, with doctors reporting a slight improvement in his condition.
AFP contributed to this report.
2. NETANYAHU REMINDS YA'ALON: THE IDF ANSWERS TO THE US
by Nitsan Keidar
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) issued a joint statement on Monday, three hours after a meeting in which Netanyahu summoned Ya'alon to clarify his recent controversial statements.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ya'alon met this morning and clarified the statements between them," read the joint statement.
"There is no undermining, and there was no such undermining, of the fact that the army is subordinate to the political echelon, and the officers are free to express their opinion in the appropriate forums."
The meeting at Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem and the showdown between the two centers on controversial statements by IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, who compared Israel and Nazi Germany at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.
On the background of those comments, Ya'alon on Sunday told senior IDF brass to voice their opinions even if they contradict the government, saying, "keep saying what is on your mind. Do this even if it's against the mainstream, and even if it goes against the ideas and positions of senior commanders or the political leadership."
"This is my request of you, senior IDF commanders, and that should be your demand of your subordinates as well: Continue to operate according to your human conscience," added Ya'alon.
Netanyahu's office fired back that "IDF commanders express their opinions freely in the relevant forums on issues under their responsibility. The IDF is the people's army and must be kept out of political debates."
The Prime Minister then summoned Ya'alon for the talk, as leftist and right-wing MKs largely split their support for the two.
Sunday's incident marks the second time that Netanyahu and Ya'alon have sparred over Golan's controversial remarks, which he later clarified. Right after the comments Ya'alon leaped to Golan's defense, slamming his critics as being part of an anti-IDF campaign, and claiming Golan was "charting out a path and ethical standards with the help of (his) moral compass."
An intense telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Ya'alon followed, and afterwards the IDF clarified Golan's statements. Netanyahu later shook Golan's hand and said he put the incident behind him, before Ya'alon raised the matter again.
3. HOMELESS WOMEN LIVING AT BEN GURION AIRPORT
by Shoshana Miskin
At least three homeless women were discovered to be living in Ben Gurion airport, according to a Channel 2 report.
"I am very sick, that's why I'm here," said Yelena explaining how she used to live in a shelter near Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station and has now been living on and off at the airport for over six months. "People are helping me. It is warmer in the bathroom, so I mostly sit there."
Another elderly woman who has been living at the airport for two months described how she usually just walks around pushing a trolley.
The women shower and sleep at the airport and when possible, the worried staff give them food and warm beverages as well.
"I always see them, they come to buy a cup of tea all the time," said a terminal worker. There is also a social worker employed at Ben Gurion Airport who takes care of the Russian-speaking women.
Ori Dikovksy, the airport's shift manager, said that sometimes foreigners "get stuck" at the airport for lack of funds, a problem with their ticket or other such reasons.
"There is someone like that here now, who claims that she was misled as to the time of her flight, so she missed it," said Dikovsky of a woman who had been there for a week.
Dikovsky made reference to the famous 2004 Tom Hanks movie "Terminal" which follows a man who becomes trapped at New York's JFK airport after his home country collapses into revolution. "I think this happens everywhere in the world," he said.
Security guards have no orders or interest to evict the women as long as they do not pose a threat to public order or constitute a nuisance.
4. IT'S OFFICIAL: LEGENDARY COMIC IS COMING TO JERUSALEM
by Ari Yashar
Louis C.K., an award winning stand-up comic, sitcom writer and actor, is heading to Israel for a performance in August, as revealed in a new report on Monday.
C.K. has agreed to perform at the Jerusalem Payis Arena in August, according to Yedioth Aharonoth, with an official announcement of the performance anticipated to be published soon.
The 48-year-old comic, whose actual name is Louis Székely, has Jewish roots through his paternal grandfather, a Hungarian Jew who immigrated to Mexico where he married a Catholic Mexican woman but reportedly kept his Jewish identity.
Sabres Group, which is said to be behind arranging the performance, kept a tight lip in response to the report, saying, "the dates of Louis C.K.'s performances around the world will be published on his website, in accordance with the decisions of his managers."
The revelation comes after the comic himself spilled the beans on his plans to perform in Israel back in April, during an interview with radio host Howard Stern.
"I'm going to Israel, and I'm doing a show in, like, a soccer stadium or something there, and I'll get a lot of money there," C.K. said.
Stern replied, "millions. Yeah, the Jews have money," and playing off the joke C.K. responded, "I'll play anywhere doing my act for money."
Aside from his massively popular stand-up career, C.K. has recently made a name for himself through his award winning TV series Louie that began in 2010, which he writes, directs and stars in.
C.K. has won numerous awards including multiple Emmy Awards and Grammy Awards.
5. UK UNIVERSITIES REBELLING AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENT HEAD
by JTA
Newcastle University became the second British institution of higher learning that cut its ties with the National Union of Students following the election of a Muslim who supports boycotting Israel and Palestinian terrorism against Israelis.
The decision that disaffiliates Newcastle University from the union passed May 12 by a two-thirds majority of 1,469 voters, which constituted a turnout of only 6 percent, The Chronicle Live news site reported.
The vote by the student union of Newcastle follows another disaffiliation vote earlier this month by Lincoln University from the National Union of Students, or NUS, after the election last month of Malia Bouattia as its president. Bouattia has described Birmingham University as a "Zionist outpost" due to the large number of Jewish students there, and has given speeches against the "Zionist-led media."
She also said boycotts against Israel should come in addition to "Palestinian resistance", referring to terrorist attacks. She also opposed a motion condemning the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS), claiming doing so would fuel Islamophobia.
Neither breakaway student body directly named Bouattia's anti-Israel rhetoric or alleged support for terrorist actions as a reason for disaffiliating. Newcastle Student Union President Dominic Fearon said: "It is clear our students feel that the NUS no longer represents their views, does not prioritize correctly and is not effective at achieving change."
The disaffiliations are expected to cost NUS thousands of dollars in revenues.
Several student unions of UK universities are preparing to vote on breakaway resolutions amid dissatisfaction over various policies by the NUS and its leaders, including on Israel.
The NUS controversy comes on the heels of an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism at the Oxford University Labour Club. The allegations emerged when the club's co-president, Alex Chalmers, resigned his post in February after observing that many members of the club and student left-wing activists in general "have some kind of problem with Jews."
In addition to the election of Bouattia, delegates at the NUS convention last month entertained arguments that the Holocaust should not be commemorated separately, but remembered only in the framework of memorials for all genocides. The NUS assembly passed a resolution on commemorating the Holocaust separately but the enthusiastic reception at the convention of arguments against doing so drew rebuke from members of Parliament.
Other controversial votes included the banning of clapping at some NUS events and wearing certain types of fancy dress to them.
6. 16 GIRLS INJURED IN CRASH ON WAY TO SCHOOL
by Yedidya Ben-Or
A woman aged around 30, a shuttle van driver and 16 girls aged between seven and ten were injured on Monday morning, in a car crash that took place between a van shuttling the children to school and a private car.
The accident took place on Highway 436 in a section between Ramot in northwest Jerusalem and Givat Ze'ev just to the north of the capital.
Magen David Adom (MDA) medics provided treatment and evacuated to the casualties to the hospital.
The 30-year-old woman who was the driver of the private car in the crash was moderately injured, suffering injuries to her stomach. She was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
All 16 girls and the shuttle driver were evacuated to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in light condition.
Due to the crash Highway 436 was closed to traffic heading towards Jerusalem.
Ari Nusbaum, a volunteer with United Hatzalah and a resident of Givat Ze'ev, spoke about what he saw at the scene.
"It was a shuttle van on its way from Givat Ze'ev to a school in the Ramot Polin neighborhood," he said. "When I arrived on the scene miraculously all of the children were fully conscious and outside the vehicle that had flipped over, after they were rescued by civilians who stopped to help until the forces arrived."
"Together with other volunteers from United Hatzalah's motorcycle unit we gave them initial medical treatment and afterwards most of them were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem for continued medical treatment and exams."
7. WILL SHOLOM RUBASHKIN GO FREE?
by Chaim Lev
A court in Iowa is anticipated to issue a ruling in the coming days on an appeal filed by the attorneys of Sholom Rubashkin (56), the jailed Iowa kosher slaughterhouse executive sentenced to 27 years in prison for fraud and money laundering.
A month-and-a-half ago Rubashkin's lawyers submitted the appeal asking to reopen the case, after they argued that new evidence was found placing doubt on the manner of his sentencing.
Rubashkin's lawyers say federal prosecutors interfered illegally with the bankruptcy sale of Agriprocessors, Rubashkin's kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa, by ensuring that no members of the Rubashkin family were among the plant's buyers. The company sold for $8.5 million despite its $35 million line of credit.
The 52-page appeal brings evidence to try and prove that there was collusion between the prosecution and the trustee appointed to Rubashkin's factory by the court. Through this collusion they allegedly aimed to prove that Rubashkin caused irreversible damage, and thereby impose the particularly harsh sentence of 27 years on him.
Senior attorneys worked on the appeal for around three years, during which time they succeeded in gathering protocols and conversations between the prosecution team and the trustee. According to Rubashkin's attorneys the findings show they did all they could to ensure the factory would be sold far below its actual value and therefore cause greater damage to the banks, a scenario which landed Rubashkin with the stiff sentence.
"From the evidence submitted it becomes clear that if the prosecution team hadn't gotten involved, it would have been possible to sell the factory and his assets for $40 million, which would not have caused significant damage," reports the haredi paper Hamevaser on Monday.
If he had been allowed to sell the factory for that price, the paper assesses that "in the worst case scenario the accused would have been sentenced no more than 30-37 months in jail, and not 27 years as he was sentenced."
Rubashkin, a Chabad hassid and father of ten, managed a massive kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa for many years and at his peak he employed nearly 2,000 workers.
Three years ago nearly 700 of his workers were arrested in a police and FBI raid on the factory, over accusations that Rubashkin employed illegal foreign workers and minors.
Throughout the trial Rubashkin's lawyer argued that the judge had ulterior motives and that despite the hiding of evidence she decided to convict Rubashkin with the full sentence of 27 years, in addition to a $31 million fine.
Rubashkin was given backing in May, when 100 officials signed a letter of support for him.
8. WATCH: INCREDIBLE SUNKEN TREASURE TROVE FOUND ON ISRAEL'S SEABED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Two divers found an ancient treasure lurking in the harbor at Caesarea National Park, and after they informed the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) they returned with archaeologists to dive down and recover the ancient statues and coins from the depths.
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The find, which is the largest assemblage of marine artifacts to be recovered in the last thirty years, was made by divers Ran Feinstein and Ofer Ra'anan of Ra'anana. They will be awarded a certificate of appreciation and a tour of the storerooms of the national treasures for reporting the discovery.
Feinstein and Ra'anan went diving in the ancient port of Caesarea before Passover, where they found the ancient marine cargo of a merchant ship that sank during the Late Roman period 1,600 years ago.
The two immediately contacted IAA and reported what they had found. IAA archaeologists joined them as they returned to the underwater site, where the ship's iron anchors and remains of its wooden anchors could be seen.
In recent weeks a salvage using advanced equipment helped unearth numerous precious items that were in the ancient ship's cargo.
The artifacts, which were in an extraordinary state of preservation, included a bronze lamp depicting the image of the Roman sun god Sol, a figurine of the moon goddess Luna, a lamp in the image of the head of an African slave, fragments of three life-size bronze cast statues, objects fashioned in the shape of animals such as a whale, a bronze faucet in the form of a wild boar with a swan on its head, and more.
The archaeologists also found fragments of large jars that were used for carrying drinking water for the crew in the ship and for transportation at sea.
A highly unique find was also discovered among the items - two metallic lumps composed of thousands of coins weighing around 20 kilograms (over 44 pounds). The lumps of coins were in the shape of the pottery vessels they were transported in.
The coins bear the image of emperor Constantine who ruled the Western Roman Empire (312-324 CE), and was later termed Constantine the Great, ruler of the Roman Empire (324-337 CE). Other coins feature the likeness of Licinius, an emperor who ruled the eastern part of the Roman Empire and was Constantine's rival until he fell in a battle between the two Roman rulers.
The discovery comes just a year after a treasure of gold Fatimid coins was unearthed by divers and the IAA. The coins are currently on display to the public at the "Time Travel" presentations in Caesarea harbor.
Evidence of an ancient ship crash
Jacob Sharvit, director of IAA's Marine Archaeology Unit, and Dror Planer, the unit's deputy director, spoke about the significance of the find.
"These are extremely exciting finds, which apart from their extraordinary beauty, are of historical significance. The location and distribution of the ancient finds on the seabed indicate that a large merchant ship was carrying a cargo of metal slated recycling, which apparently encountered a storm at the entrance to the harbor and drifted until it smashed into the seawall and the rocks," said the two.
They noted that a study of the iron anchors indicates the sailors tried to stop the ship from crashing by casting anchors into the sea, but the anchors broke, providing "evidence of the power of the waves and the wind which the ship was caught up in."
Sharvit and Planer emphasized that "a marine assemblage such as this has not been found in Israel in the past thirty years. Metal statues are rare archaeological finds because they were always melted down and recycled in antiquity. When we find bronze artifacts it usually occurs at sea. Because these statues were wrecked together with the ship, they sank in the water and were thus 'saved' from the recycling process."
"In the many marine excavations that have been carried out in Caesarea only very small number of bronze statues have been found, whereas in the current cargo a wealth of spectacular statues were found that were in the city and were removed from it by way of sea. The sand protected the statues; consequently they are in an amazing state of preservation – as though they were cast yesterday rather than 1,600 years ago."
Caesarea continues to surprise
The archaeologists note that the find comes as part of an uptick in discoveries at Caesarea's ancient harbor in recent years.
"These finds are the result of two major factors: a lack of sand on the seabed causing the exposure of ancient artifacts, and an increase in the number of divers at the site. In this particular instance, the divers demonstrated good citizenship and are deserving of praise. They will be awarded a certificate of appreciation and invited to tour the storerooms of the National Treasures."
"By reporting the discovery of the marine assemblage to the Israel Antiquities Authority they have made it possible for all of us to enjoy these spectacular remains from antiquity. The public should be aware that it must report any artifacts it finds immediately to the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority in order to maximize our archaeological knowledge about the site," they concluded.
The find was made possible largely due to the maintenance and development of the Caesarea National Park and the harbor, which the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation is funding to the tune of tens of millions of shekels.
IAA continues working with the Rothschild Caesarea Foundation on major projects around the harbor.
Caesarea Development Corporation director-general Michael Kersenti noted that the new discoveries highlight the historical importance of the ancient port city which continues to surprise with new finds.
"The goal is to present as many of these cultural treasures as possible, which will be discovered in the future, to the numerous visitors who come to Caesarea each year," he said.
Ran Feinstein (right) and Ofer Ra'anan The Old Caesarea Diving Center
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