Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Monday, Jun. 20 '16, Sivan 14, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. INSIDE THE HERZOG-ABBAS AGREEMENT
2. REMEMBERING THE 'PRESIDENT OF JERUSALEM'
3. ETHIOPIAN CHIEF RABBI DISMISSED FROM OFFICE
4. SYRIAN PASSPORT FOR CANADIAN PM?
5. RABBI ARRESTED FOR INTERFERING WITH ARREST OF DRAFT-DODGER
6. JERUSALEM TO GET 'GUSH KATIF SQUARE'
7. GAZA ARABS DEMAND UN STOP ISRAEL'S ANTI-TERROR TUNNEL WALL
8. WATCH: IDF JEEP ATTACKED WITH FIREBOMBS
1. INSIDE THE HERZOG-ABBAS AGREEMENT
by Shimon Cohen
Following revelations on Sunday of a secret letter of understanding between Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in which the two leaders outlined the parameters for a future Palestinian state, Efraim Sneh spoke with Arutz Sheva about the agreement – and what it could mean for Israel going forward.
Sneh, a long-time Labor Party member, served as one of Herzog's principle negotiators during talks with Abbas ahead of the 2015 Knesset election.
The framework agreed upon by the two parties includes the formation of a Palestinian state, which would encompass all of Judea and Samaria. Jerusalem would be divided in two, the eastern portion of which would serve as the capital of Palestine. Israel would also accept some refugees under the "right of return".
The Old City of Jerusalem would also be divided, according to the outline, though as Sneh noted, Israel would retain the Western Wall.
"The most important thing is that the Western Wall remains under Israeli sovereignty. Eastern Jerusalem is divided, separating [predominantly] Israeli neighborhoods from [predominantly] Arab ones, which we don't see as being part of Israel's capital."
The division of the city, Sneh acknowledges, will not be easy.
"We need to change the lifestyle in Jerusalem. [But] it's better to have two separate capitals [in Jerusalem] than a single [united] city ridden with conflict."
Sneh rejected suggestions handing over sovereignty of half of the city would threaten its Jewish majority. "The city is already 37% Arab," said Sneh.
"The idea is to separate, rather than expand, between Arab Jerusalem and Jewish Jerusalem. The unity between Jabel Mukhbar and Talpiot is a false unity, it's not real. Whoever talks about the unity of the city under Israel sovereignty is asking to give Israeli citizenship to 330,000 Palestinians. Who wants that?"
While Sneh mentioned the desire to "separate" from the Arab population of Jerusalem, the Herzog-Abbas agreement includes a provision for joint municipal control of the city, despite being under divided sovereignty.
"We're living in a complicated reality and there are no simple solutions. What I did during the talks was draw a compromise line. We're maintaining the idea of two capitals for two states, but leaving the municipality under joint control."
Sneh also insisted that Herzog's acceptance of some number of Arab refugees into Israel under the "right of return" would allow Israel to retain discretion in the number and nature of the immigration.
"What are we worried about, that Israel will be flooded with Palestinian refugees? That possibility, while it is unlikely, needs to be prevented, and the language of the outline prevents it. Nothing will happen without Israel's agreement."
2. REMEMBERING THE 'PRESIDENT OF JERUSALEM'
by Yoni Kempinski
[video:2016351]
[youtube:2016352]
Jewish-American philanthropist Dr. Irving Moskowitz (z"l) was laid to rest on Monday at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Moskowitz, who was among the most prominent financial backers of Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem and across Judea and Samaria, passed away last Thursday at his home in Florida. He was 88 years old.
Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav, eulogized Moskowitz.
"He was pure life. We are crestfallen. Much can be said about the man and his work, 'the man on the wall' [guarding the city]; the 'president of Jerusalem,' as my father called him, now joins the many great people who worked to restore [Jerusalem] to its former greatness."
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also spoke at the funeral, remembering Moskowitz as a "pioneer" and "man of vision".
"Today we lay to rest a pioneer… a man of vision who saw the rebuilding of Jerusalem as his purpose in life. Irving was one of the first to invest and to donate to the development of Jewish settlement in eastern Jerusalem, [something which] came from an understanding of and belief in its importance and a deep sense of public [service]."
"Today, as we see the City of David – Kfar Shiloah – blossoming, the [Jewish community in] the Old City expanding in all quarters, the neighborhood in Maaleh Zeitim, the neighborhood of Nof Tzion, the Beit Orot yeshiva and other places [across Jerusalem], we can safely say that the Moskowitz family and Irving in particular made a tremendous and critical contribution to the building of, settling of, and unification of Jerusalem."
3. ETHIOPIAN CHIEF RABBI DISMISSED FROM OFFICE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Ethiopian community of Israel, Rabbi Yosef Hadane, was dismissed from his position by the Ministry of Religious Services.
Army Radio reported that the reason for the rabbi's dismissal pertains to his allegations that marriage registration offices, run under the auspices of the Ministry of Religious Services, discriminate against Ethiopians, citing the Petah Tikva office as a notable offender.
Apparently, the Ministry of Religious Services did not like Rabbi Hadane's conduct, and when the Rabbi reached the age of 67, they denied his request to extend his term.
Most rabbis employed by the religious council have their extension application approved at age 67, however, top ministry officials announced his farewell without bothering to update him.
"'Rabbi Hadane is an employee of the ministry and will be treated in the same regard and any state employee who retires at age 67," said the Ministry of Religious Services in response. "The Rabbi may retire in late July even though he crossed the retirement age 7 months ago."
"We are deeply disturbed by the desire to depose Rabbi Yosef Hadane from his position serving the Ethiopian community," read a response statement from Tzohar, a Zionist Orthodox organization of rabbis that bridges the gaps between religious and secular Jews in Israel.
"It is inconceivable that a rabbi should be deposed by political and beurecratic [sic] figures and Tzohar therefore respectfully urges the Ministry to reconsider this decision which stands in opposition to basic ethics and Jewish values."
4. SYRIAN PASSPORT FOR CANADIAN PM?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Monday the United Nations observed World Refugee Day, and called upon nations across the world to bolster their efforts to accept and care for refugees from around the globe.
But concerns about the vetting process for refugees has led some nations to consider reducing, rather than increasing, the number of asylum seekers from war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq.
Critics of open-door immigration policies say that identity theft, forged passports, and a dearth of references or accessible databases in the home countries or asylum seekers makes acceptance of large numbers of refugees a virtual invitation to fraudulent refugee claims and event terror attacks.
A report by CIJnews revealed the extent of the ID counterfeiting industry, and the ease with which convincing forgeries can be obtained.
"It is all a question of money," one Syrian refugee residing in Europe said. "It is possible within a week to arrange a passport."
One discovery in particular, however, highlighted the breadth of the problem.
A recently discovered Syrian passport, believed to have been created from a genuine government-issued blank, bears the name, photograph, and personal details of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The story mirrors that of a Dutch journalist, Harald Doornbos, who in late 2015 acquired a Syrian passport with the picture of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
"Real Syrian passports and other official documents have been fraudulently obtainable since at least the early 1990s," said Tom Quiggin of the Terrorism and Security Experts of Canada Network. "The documents are usually real, but the information in them is whatever the purchaser requests. Part of this system was set up to allow Syrian citizens, like Muslim Brotherhood members, who had poor relations with the government to get such documents."
5. RABBI ARRESTED FOR INTERFERING WITH ARREST OF DRAFT-DODGER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Police arrested a rabbi of the Knesset Hizkiyahu Yeshiva in the town of Rechasim after he allegedly interfered with the military police while they attempted to arrest a draft-dodger in the city on Sunday night.
The military police, accompanied by local police, arrived at the home of the young man in question, who did not appear at the military recruitment office for his Tzav Rishon (First Notice) as part of the Israeli army's mandatory drafting process.
Upon their arrival, police forces encountered protesting residents who claimed that the police had taken unusual measures and were disturbing the public at night. As a result, the police arrested a rabbi for obstructing the police and preventing them from fulfilling their duty.
The renegade was not arrested since he was not at home that night.
Followers of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach purposefully do not report to recruitment offices, and in many cases, encourage provocations.
A few months prior, protesters flipped over a patrol car in Ashdod while police attempted to arrest a renegade, and a few weeks after that, protestors attacked an army vehicle in Bnei Brak belonging to a Gur Hasid soldier who serves in the army rabbinate.
6. JERUSALEM TO GET 'GUSH KATIF SQUARE'
by Hezki Baruch
The Jerusalem Municipality Naming Committee has accepted the recommendation of chairwoman and Deputy Mayor Yael Antebi (Pisgat Zeev on the Map) to dedicate a square on Shaarei Tzedek Street in honor of the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip.
The location of the square was chosen to due to its proximity to the Gush Katif Museum, which is also located on Shaarei Tzedek Street.
The decision to name the square after the bloc of towns demolished in the 2005 Gaza Disengagement is the first official measure taken by the city to remember the Jewish community in the Gaza Strip.
Deputy Mayor Antebi praised the committee's ruling, saying "It's very important to remember that great settlement enterprise which was turned from a blossoming garden to a wasteland, and to remember what processes brought to Gush Katif's destruction."
7. GAZA ARABS DEMAND UN STOP ISRAEL'S ANTI-TERROR TUNNEL WALL
by Dalit Halevi
Construction of an underground security wall along Israel's border with Gaza has prompted an outcry in the Strip, with calls for intervention by international human rights organizations and the United Nations to block the Israeli plan.
The wall, which will run tens of yards into the ground and is intended to block Hamas terror tunnels, will be built entirely on Israel's side of the border.
That hasn't stopped Palestinians from crying foul, however, with claims that the wall would cause environmental damage.
In an interview published on Sunday by the Falastin newspaper, a Hamas mouthpiece, Gaza environmentalists warned that the security wall would block groundwater from Israel moving into the Gaza Strip. This, they claim, would prevent the replenishment of underground aquifers and force Gazans to draw more heavily from alternative sources.
The experts cited in the interview also suggested that the wall could cause cave-ins along the border, and would block the movement of animals across the Gaza-Israel border.
8. WATCH: IDF JEEP ATTACKED WITH FIREBOMBS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Arabs on Sunday threw firebombs at an IDF jeep that was traveling in Dura, near Hevron, during an operation to collect illegal weapons.
A video obtained by Arutz Sheva shows the soldiers in the military jeep, when suddenly firebombs are hurled at them, mainly hitting the front of the armored vehicle.
No soldiers were hurt in the incident.
Warning: May contain offensive language.
[youtube:2016348]
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