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Wednesday, Jun. 08 '16, Sivan 2, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. 14-YEAR-OLD INJURED IN TEL AVIV EXPLOSION
2. NETANYAHU VOWS: 'SYRIA WON'T BE A LAUNCHPAD AGAINST ISRAEL'
3. ARAB B'TSELEM ACTIVIST TESTIFIES AGAINST ELOR AZARIYA
4. IOWA SENATOR QUITS GOP OVER TRUMP, WONDERS IF HE'LL TARGET JEWS
5. SCANDAL EMBROILED NEW CHANNEL 10 HEAD REFUSES TO QUIT
6. WATCH: TOP ABBAS AIDE PRAISES STABBINGS AT UN SCHOOL GRADUATION
7. 'YONI WAS SHOT WITHIN REACH OF ME'
8. IDF COMPLETES ITS NEXT GENERATION TRAINING JET SQUADRON
1. 14-YEAR-OLD INJURED IN TEL AVIV EXPLOSION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A 14-year-old boy was seriously injured in an explosion in Tel Aviv, according to initial reports.
Magen David Adom paramedics treated the young victim at the scene before transferring him to Ichilov Hospital.
It is not yet known what caused the blast, which occurred next to a local kindergarten along Aliyat Hanoar Street.
MDA sources claimed it was caused by an "object" which exploded, and said the teenage victim was in his home at the time of the blast
Updates to follow.
2. NETANYAHU VOWS: 'SYRIA WON'T BE A LAUNCHPAD AGAINST ISRAEL'
by Nitsan Keidar
After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday held a conference with the leaders of Moscow's Jewish community where he spoke about Israeli activity in Syria.
[youtube:2016034]
The event, which was held during Netanyahu's official visit to Russia, was attended by around 100 community leaders and businessmen including Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and Russian Jewish Federation chief Yuri Kanner.
During the meeting, Netanyahu was asked about Syria and the future of relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is being propped up primarily by Russian and Iran.
"You ask about the future of (Israel's) relations with President Assad? I would ask what is the future of President Assad in general?," replied Netanyahu, noting on the internecine civil war that has raged since 2011.
"We do not interfere in this issue. We're making sure that Syria won't become a launchpad for attacks against Israel."
He clarified that Israel is ensuring it will not be attacked from Syria by taking occasional action, and said the IDF will strike Syrian and Iranian troops or Hezbollah terrorists and members of other Islamist groups in the region if they pose a threat to the Jewish state.
"There are enough enemies. My policy is to take all necessary steps to prevent attacks, and we act from time to time when the need arises," he acknowledged.
The statement is one of the few times Netanyahu has admitted Israeli activity over the border.
While Arab reports had long alleged that Israeli jets conducted airstrikes on arms transfers for Iran's Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah, Israel has remained tight-lipped on the subject. However, last December Netanyahu acknowledged that Israel is active in Syria.
In his remarks on Wednesday regarding Syria, Netanyahu added that, "I also ordered to build a field hospital that helped thousands of Syrians, babies, children, women, and men, with awful wounds. We are treating them there and at our hospitals. Humanitarian aid and a firm stand on our lines for the security of Israel."
Noting on the fractured nature of Syria, he said, "I don't know if it is possible to turn the Syrian omelette back into an egg."
"The countries around us, Syria among them, some of them have already split apart, and therefore a different arrangement is needed. I spoke with President Putin about this at length, and the important thing is that what replaces them (the countries) doesn't bring more tragedies and does not endanger our countries."
While Netanyahu did not elaborate what the "different arrangement" in the Middle East that he spoke with Putin about would consist of, he recently has expressed willingness to hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as states such as Egypt in working on a regional peace deal. Details of what such a deal might entail remain unclear.
Netanyahu also noted on the growing ties between Israel and Russia during the meeting, and thanked the Jewish leaders for being instrumental in making that happen.
3. ARAB B'TSELEM ACTIVIST TESTIFIES AGAINST ELOR AZARIYA
by Ari Yashar
An Arab activist of the radical leftist NGO B'Tselem who filmed Elor Azariya shooting a wounded terrorist in Hevron in March testified against the soldier at the Jaffa military court on Wednesday morning.
The activist, Imad Abu Shamsiyeh, appeared in addition to other Arabs who filmed the event. In the incident Azariya shot the 21-year-old terrorist Abdul Fatah al-Sharif who, together with an accomplice, minutes earlier stabbed and moderately wounded another soldier.
Azariya, who is on trial for manslaughter, has repeatedly argued he shot over concerns the terrorist was moving to detonate a bomb belt. It has been confirmed by numerous sources that concerns the terrorist had explosives hidden under his unseasonably warm coat had not been ruled out.
Abu Shamsiyeh, a Hevron shoemaker who volunteers for B'Tselem, took the stand to testify against Azariya, and in the process an important detail regarding a past connection with the soldier was raised.
As he entered the courtroom Abu Shamsiyeh was photographed repeatedly making the "V" hand gesture for "victory," a hand movement which ironically enough is often made by jailed Arab terrorists.
"My wife and I were at home that morning," he said on the stand. "I heard gunfire, I went out quickly and I grabbed a camera. My wife was behind me. I reached the street and I saw a guy on the ground in a black coat. I heard another voice and I saw another guy lying down."
"I directed the camera at him, I started to film seconds after I heard the gunfire. With this small camera, by Panasonic, I filmed the incident," Abu Shamsiyeh said.
The B'Tselem activist said, "after I filmed the video I told a female B'Tselem activist that I had important footage but I'm in Tel Rumeida - a closed military zone. I sent her the memory card with my small son. CID (the army's Criminal Investigation Division - ed.) called me for an investigation and they asked me to bring the original card."
"I told the CID investigator that day that this is the original material and I didn't add anything. I didn't change anything in the video. I'm not a photographer and my business is in shoes. I volunteer without reimbursement for B'Tselem. My home is around 30 meters (just under 100 feet) from the scene of the incident. I didn't know that an incident like this would happen."
Activist's son arrested by Azariya
Azariya's lawyer Eyal Baserglick then questioned the Arab activist, revealing a connection between the shoemaker and Azariya.
"Is it true that your 17-year-old son Aouni was arrested by the accused (Azariya) and the deputy platoon commander on 2.2.16, even before the incident?," asked Baserglick, mentioning a date in early February predating the incident by just over a month.
Abu Shamsiyeh did not deny the arrest, but claimed he was unaware Azariya was involved.
"My son was arrested and I don't know by who exactly from the army, I don't know what was attributed to him. He returned home after he was arrested. We live in Tel Rumedia so it is expected that every one of us will be arrested. If there was something against my son he would have been tried," claimed the activist.
In his comments Abu Shamsiyeh also tried to explain why the film was broken up into short clips, saying, "I also transferred the video to Reuters. I didn't film continuously because at the start the zoom wasn't in focus. Most of our videos are not continuous."
Baserglick cast doubt on Abu Shamsiyeh's innocence and reliability given the blatant anti-Israeli slant of the radical B'Tselem organization he works for.
At the military court hearing he pointed out that B'Tselem's latest report issued on May 25 was entitled: "The Occupation's Fig Leaf: Israel's Military Law Enforcement System as a Whitewash Mechanism."
4. IOWA SENATOR QUITS GOP OVER TRUMP, WONDERS IF HE'LL TARGET JEWS
by JTA
An Iowa state legislator who quit the Republican Party because of Donald Trump wondered if the candidate's next target would be Jews.
David Johnson, a state senator, told The Guardian on Tuesday that his breaking point was Trump's racially tinged attacks on a judge of Mexican parentage presiding over a lawsuit alleging that a defunct Trump enterprise, Trump University, defrauded clients.
"I haven't supported Mr. Trump at any point along the way but what I am calling his racist remarks and judicial jihad is the last straw," said Johnson, who said he would now register as not having a party.
Johnson, who said his father was among the first soldiers to liberate Nazi prison camps at the end of World War II, said he also was offended by Trump's call to keep Muslims out of the United States, and wondered whether Jews were next.
"I was raised without hearing any racial slur, any racial epithet. It's something that if we're going to exclude Muslims from traveling to the United States, who's next?" he said. "Are we going to come down on Jews?"
5. SCANDAL EMBROILED NEW CHANNEL 10 HEAD REFUSES TO QUIT
by Ari Yashar
Channel 10's new chairman Rami Sadan on Wednesday again denied having made the racist comments attributed to him in a Haaretz report after he took control of the channel's directorate on Monday.
In an interview with Walla, Sadan said he refuses to resign over the scandal which has sparked a backlash, after the paper alleged that in a closed directorate meeting he cast racial aspersions against Mizrahi Jews and said he "hates" the Shas party and its chairperson Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.
He also said that Channel 10 CEO Golan Yochpaz, who came out claiming that Sadan had indeed made the remarks, was motivated by political interests.
"It isn't clear why they prefer to believe one senior employee (Yochpaz - ed.), who has interests and concerns of his own, over all the rest of the members of the directorate, who confirmed that the comments were never made," said Sadan.
The new directorate head is close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while Channel 10 has long been highly critical of the Prime Minister.
His claims of not having made the remarks were given backing by the Director-General of the Communications Ministry on Tuesday night, who concluded after an investigation that the statements were never made.
Speaking to Walla on Wednesday, Sadan emphasized that he has no intentions of resigning from his new post, saying, "you don't resign over libel."
Shas boycott "likely for political considerations"
According to the Haaretz report, Sadan allegedly told Channel 10 directorate members in a closed meeting that "I, like you in the elite, hate the Shas movement and the thief Aryeh Deri."
"But we, as an elite, need to break through the barriers of the channel, to approach the Shas audience, 'Masuda from Sderot,'" he allegedly said, in a proverbial reference to Mizrahi Jews living in the periphery as opposed to Ashkenazi Jews in Tel Aviv.
Shas in response has launched a boycott of parliamentary activity, sparking a coalition crisis. Shas MKs have boycott Knesset committees and vowed to be absent from Knesset votes, hamstringing the government.
Coalition chairperson MK David Biton (Likud) met with Deri on Wednesday in an attempt to defuse the situation, although Shas appears to be remaining adamant and is to consult with its Council of Torah Sages later in the day to decide its course of action.
When asked if Deri's party went too far by boycotting in response to the alleged remarks, Sadan merely said, "ask Shas."
"I estimate that there are also political considerations (involved). I'm not a political man, and not a party member," he added.
Sadan clarified that there is no bad blood between him and the rest of the Channel 10 workers, saying, "we'll sit for a relaxed coffee, and we'll solve the matter."
6. WATCH: TOP ABBAS AIDE PRAISES STABBINGS AT UN SCHOOL GRADUATION
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2016027]
A leading official in Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party recently celebrated stabbing attacks against Israelis, at the graduation ceremony for a UN sponsored school.
Abbas Zaki, a leading member of the Fatah Central Committee, made the speech at UNRWA Ramallah Women's Training Center and Educational Science Faculty's graduation ceremony, which was held at the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters in Ramallah.
His speech - which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) - included glowing praise of fatal knife and rock attacks during the recent wave of Arab terrorism. Scores of Israelis - most of them civilians - and a number of US citizens were murdered in the attacks, which also included a number of shootings, and hundreds more were wounded.
Echoing incitement by Hamas preachers in Gaza, Zaki lionized the attackers for in his words "imposing a curfew on Israel."
"The determination, willpower, and willingness to die for a dignified life are present among the youth who carried a knife after the disappearance of the Arab leadership, including the Palestinian (leadership)," he told students.
"They performed a miracle by imposing a curfew within Israel with knives and rocks," he added, to rapturous applause.
Zaki also touted the PA's unilateral diplomatic moves against Israel, and claimed it had ceased all security cooperation with Israel. The latter claim does not however appear to be accurate, as the IDF and PA security forces have continued to cooperate against perceived mutual threat from Fatah's Islamist rivals.
"Anyone who talks about renewing relations with Israel is not a Palestinian and is not a member of Fatah!" Zaki declared.
7. 'YONI WAS SHOT WITHIN REACH OF ME'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo wrote an article for Yedioth Aharonoth reenacting every step of the legendary rescue operation from his point as view as the communications officer of Sayeret Matkal.
The elite special ops force, led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's heroic brother Col. Yoni Netanyahu, rescued over 100 Jewish hostages from the Ugandan airport on July 4, 1976, after the hostage's plane was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Netanyahu fell in battle during the mission, becoming the only military casualty in the daring rescue.
Ahead of the publication of Pardo's full article, Yedioth Aharonoth published a section from it describing the moments in which Netanyahu was wounded.
"According to the plan we were supposed to arrive with the vehicles at the unloading point adjacent to the terminal, with the first volley of gunfire supposed to be coming at the penetration (of the site)," wrote Pardo.
"But life doesn't work according to plan, and the first gunfire came while (we were) still in movement, on the track, from inside the Mercedes of Yoni Netanyahu and (Moshe) 'Muki' Batzar," he said, noting how some of the element of surprise was lost.
"Another few seconds and we are unloading the vehicles. While running I am sticking to Yoni. Gunfire broke out from the tower, and as far as I remember a Ugandan soldier who was next to the terminal also fired."
"Yoni was wounded within reach of me. A half twist of the body and he fell. I remember that I said on the walkie-talkie: 'Yoni is wounded.' David (Hassin) the doctor came to him and I joined (Giora) Zussman's group."
"On the way I shoot towards the soldier who as far as I understood wounded Yoni at the time. Bullets fired from the tower send asphalt shards flying and scratch my hand."
"I pass next to another terrorist who is lying on the ground. I don't know if he is killed or wounded, and I shoot him. And then it's over, I'm on the communications calling to 'Muki,' and the command transfers (from Netanyahu) to him," concluded Pardo.
8. IDF COMPLETES ITS NEXT GENERATION TRAINING JET SQUADRON
by Kobi Finkler
In a celebratory ceremony held at the assembly line in the Italian city of Varese on Tuesday, the last of a fleet of 30 advanced M-346 training jets dubbed Lavi in Hebrew was acquired by the Israeli Defense Ministry.
The Defense Ministry has now purchased 30 of the agile jets that cost around 20 million euros (over $22.7 million) each, which it began acquiring in March 2014.
The new jets, which are made by the Italian company Leonardo - formerly Alenia Aermacchi - and are capable of speeds of mach 1.15 (roughly 875 miles per hour), will be used to train the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) next generation of ace pilots.
Tuesday's ceremony in Varese was attended by the Defense Ministry's Acquisitions Administration CEO and Chief Director Shmuel Tzucker, as well as Israeli Ambassador to Italy Naor Gilon, and representatives of the Italian Defense Ministry and Leonardo.
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The 30 jets were delivered over a period of roughly two years according to a fixed timeline, at a production pace of around one-and-a-half jets every month.
Since first being received in early 2014 the Lavi jets have been considered a great success, and are viewed as seriously upgrading the capabilities of the IAF in training its future pilots.
Following the ceremony in Italy, Tzucker said, "we saw great importance in arriving here to personally thank every one of the dozens of Italian assembly line workers, engineers and project team, who for four years worked around the clock in order to provide the Air Force with the most advanced training jet in the world."
"We are already seeing the Lavi's contribution in Israel, both in the excellent responses of every pilot who merits to fly it, and also in the many compensations that the deal brought to the Israeli security industries," added Tzucker.
Israel's acquisition of the planes, with a contract to keep and maintain them at least 25 years, came as part of a larger defense deal signed with Italy in July, 2012. For its part, Italy agreed to purchase upwards of 4 billion shekels' worth (just over $1.1 billion) of Israeli military equipment.
The Hebrew name Lavi given to the jet, which means lion, hearkens to a line of Israeli planes cancelled in the 1980s due to their heavy costs.
Receiving the new Lavi Defense Ministry's Acquisitions Administration
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