Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
Wednesday, Jun. 01 '16, Iyar 24, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. VIDEO: AMBULANCE DRIVER 'PLANTED' KNIFE NEAR HEVRON TERRORIST
2. US 'WELCOMES' NETANYAHU AND LIBERMAN'S COMMENTS ON PA STATE
3. WHO'S TRYING TO STYMIE THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN SHILOACH?
4. FRENCH VESSEL FINDS EGYPTAIR'S BLACK BOXES
5. THE SOLUTION TO INFANTS BEING FORGOTTEN TO DIE IN CARS
6. POLICE TO RELEASE SUSPECTS IN 'NATIONALISTIC RAPE'
7. HALF A YEAR ON, YOUNG TERROR VICTIM'S BITTERSWEET CELEBRATION
8. CARDINAL SCHÖNBORN: 'BDS ISN'T JUST FALSE, IT'S STUPID'
1. VIDEO: AMBULANCE DRIVER 'PLANTED' KNIFE NEAR HEVRON TERRORIST
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Dramatic new video footage has emerged from the scene of the shooting of a wounded terrorist in Hevron last March, which appears to show someone moving the terrorist's knife closer to his body after he was killed.
The video, retrieved by IDF investigators, allegedly shows an ambulance driver kicking the knife towards the terrorist, who moments earlier had been killed by Sgt. Elor Azariya, current on trial for manslaughter.
According to the investigator, immediately after the terrorist was wounded following his attack on soldiers, an officer kicked his knife away to prevent him reaching it.
Not long after, Azariya arrived at the scene and shot the wounded terrorist in the head, in what prosecutors described as an execution but he insists was an act of self-defense, triggered by genuine fears that the terrorist still posed an imminent threat.
The new footage appears to show an attempt by the ambulance driver from nearby Kiryat Arba to alter the scene of the incident moments later, to make it appear as though the terrorist posed a threat at the moment Azariya shot him in the head.
Lead investigator Lt. Ran Keinen, told the court that "you don't need to be an expert to see that the knife was far - and also, note that the terrorist's shirt is partially open [indicating he had been searched for a bomb - ed.] - this is 30 seconds prior to the shooting."
"After the shooting, the knife remained in place. Shortly afterwards, an ambulance arrived at the seen, knocked the knife and moved it towards the terrorist," he continued. "The knife was apparently kicked towards the terrorist by an ambulance driver."
His testimony follows that of the lead prosecutor in the case, who asserted that Elor Azariya had acted in a cold and calculated manner and killed the terrorist despite him posing no threat.
He recounted how, approximately a minute and a half after the shooting, he had texted his father to tell him he had killed the terrorist.
Azariya for his part insists he made a split second decision to eliminate the terrorist, fearing he was reaching for his knife or an explosive vest.
2. US 'WELCOMES' NETANYAHU AND LIBERMAN'S COMMENTS ON PA STATE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
US State Department officials welcomed comments by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reaffirming his support of the two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria – but warned that Israeli leaders must take concrete steps to advance the negotiating process.
Speaking at a State Department press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman John Kirby praised recent statements from Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who said the 2002 Arab Initiative could serve as the basis for a future peace settlement, albeit it with some significant changes.
"We welcome them [such comments]. We welcome their stated support for a two-state solution. As the Secretary himself has said many times, the Arab Peace Initiative can play a critical role in advancing peace in the region."
But Kirby was quick to temper his approval, suggesting that Israeli leaders have done little to actually advance the two-state solution and that their policies must change to reflect their support of Palestinian statehood.
"The Secretary supports all paths forward that could potentially get us to a two-state solution. But again, it requires leadership there at the local level."
Kirby suggested Israel's decision not to attend the upcoming French peace summit showed Israeli leaders were not prepared to go beyond rhetorical affirmations of support for a two-state solution, and slammed plans for Jewish housing in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan (Shiloach).
"[Israel's participant in the French peace summit] is up to the Israeli Government to speak to. It's not about going to please anybody. It's going – it's about being there to be a part of a discussion and to explore ideas and options that might help us get closer to a two-state solution. Obviously… the first and most important thing is that the leaders themselves in the region have got to be leaders. They've got to make some tough decisions. And they have to show in real ways, not just rhetoric, that they're willing to take the steps necessary to get us to a two-state solution, and to date they haven't done that."
Plans by the Ateret Cohanim organization, which looks to reclaim Jewish properties in Jerusalem and revitalize historically Jewish neighborhoods, to build a three-story apartment building in Silwan near the Old City of Jerusalem were condemned by Kirby, who suggested they reflected a failure by Israeli leadership to "do the right thing."
"We strongly oppose all settlement activity, which we continue to believe are counterproductive to the cause of peace. And again, we're looking for both sides here to do the right thing, to show the right leadership, to get us to a better solution."
3. WHO'S TRYING TO STYMIE THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN SHILOACH?
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Jerusalem municipality's planning and building committee has postponed by two weeks its decision on whether to allow a new three-story residential building for the Jewish community of Shiloach (Silwan) in the heart of Jerusalem.
The strategically-important housing project would be constructed opposite the Beit Yonatan building, on building purchased by the Ateret Cohanim foundation, which reclaims Jewish property in Jerusalem seized by Arabs during a campaign of ethnic-cleansing in the first half of the twentieth century.
But the plans have drawn massive criticism from far-left NGOs such as Peace Now, who have been exerting pressure on the municipality to scrap the plans. And it seems someone is listening.
The discussion over the proposal at the committee rapidly descended into a shouting match, which some present saying the confrontation almost came to blows between the opposing camps. At one point, a leftist committee member spilled coffee over municipal councilor Yitzhak Feindruss.
During the hearing, it became apparent that due to immense pressure and intervention on the part of both top-level officials within Jerusalem's administration, as well as from the government itself, had been made in order to thwart the plans. Some suspect Mayor Nir Barkat himself of attempting to block the project.
At the end of the committee, the decision was made to postpone a final decision for two weeks, while green-lighting most other tenders. Supporters of the project fear the postponement is a ploy to eventually smother the initiative in bureaucracy without having to formally reject it and incur the wrath of many locals, as well as right-wing municipal politicians.
Attorney Eldad Rabinovich, who represents the Silwan project applicants, had hard words for the conduct of local officials.
"We would like to express our outrage and protest at the discrimination carried out today by the Jerusalem Municipality against Jews in the capital city," he said. "It is unacceptable that, for purely political reasons, on the eve of Jerusalem Day a legal permit was not approved for building in Kfar Shiloach, in opposition to all professional opinions (over its legality).
"This matter raises the question of the Jerusalem municipality's commitment to the law and to equality."
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Dov Kalmanovich, who supported the project, voiced similar outrage, and warned it was likely a decision would be postponed indefinitely.
"There is not doubt that this is a political decision, and the guarantee that the subject will be back on the agenda in two weeks won't withstand the pressure," he said. "I said in the protocols that we are talking about a political decision, not a technical one."
"The committee did not rule professionally, and I am ashamed that someone who calls himself a part of the nationalist camp won't build in Jerusalem," he added, in an apparent swipe at Mayor Nir Barkat.
The Jerusalem municipality itself, however, released a statement denying any intent to stymie the Jewish community of Shiloah.
"It is not our intention to discriminate in any way against Jewish-owned buildings in Arab neighborhoods," the mayor's office stated.
It claimed that the request for building had been fairly heard, but "it was decided that several technical-professional flaws need to be fixed" before it can be properly assessed, thereby requiring two additional weeks.
The statement also denied that any political considerations were thwarting the project, insisting that for it to have even been raised in the committee such a project would have had to overcome any such potential hurdles already.
It concluded: "The committee will continue authorizing construction in all neighborhoods according to the master plan for Jews and Arabs alike, as in this case."
4. FRENCH VESSEL FINDS EGYPTAIR'S BLACK BOXES
by Tova Dvorin
The French vessel Laplace has picked up signals from downed EgyptAir flight MS804's black boxes, Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry announced Wednesday.
"Black boxes" are the crucial components of any aircraft which record the plane's movements and technical settings at any given time in the Flight Data Recorder, as well as audio from the cockpit in the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
Pings from both boxes sound for 30 days after a crash and could be heard from deep underwater.
The Airbus A320 carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew and security officers disappeared last week over the Mediterranean as it flew from Paris to Cairo. It was flying at 37,000ft when it disappeared from the radar at 2:29 a.m.
However, Egyptian authorities revealed the plane emitted emergency signals some two hours later. At around the same time, sailors in a ship in the Mediterranean claimed they saw a massive fireball streaking through the sky.
Egypt's civil aviation authority confirmed a mid-air explosion had occurred, and after initially saying they weren't ruling any causes out admitted that a terrorist attack was more likely the cause than a technical failure.
International air and naval teams discovered debris of the plane less than two days later, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Alexandria. Among the wreckage: personal belongings of passengers and crew - as well as human remains. A Cairo team is currently carrying out DNA tests on the remains to determine if they belong to those aboard, CBC reports.
Egypt deployed a submarine to look for the black boxes Sunday. Egypt and France, which are both financing the search, had signed contracts with two French companies specializing in deep-water searches, AFP reports - Alseamar and Deep Ocean Search (DOS).
Laplace, part of the Alseamar team, carries DETECTOR-6000 acoustic detection systems - designed to detect pings 4,000-5,000 meters below sea level.
5. THE SOLUTION TO INFANTS BEING FORGOTTEN TO DIE IN CARS
by Ido Ben-Porat
MK Dr. Yifat Sasha-Biton (Kulanu), chairperson of the Children's Rights Committee in the Knesset, has submitted a bill obligating kindergartens and infant day care centers to contact the parents of children who don't show up.
The bill comes in the shadow of an horrific case on Tuesday, in which 15-month-old Eliya Weingott tragically died after being forgotten in an overheated car in Ashdod. Eliya's father told police police that he took his other children to school and forgot his infant son in the car; he only remembered three hours later before rushing to remove him from the vehicle.
According to the new bill, kindergarten teachers and caregivers will be required to contact the parents of children aged 0-6 years old if they do not arrive at the kindergarten or day care center within an hour of starting time.
"In light of numerous cases of children being forgotten in cars, this bill comes to recruit the educational system to aid in preventing the phenomenon," said Sasha-Biton.
"The idea stems from the need for cooperation from all the sources involved in the safety of our children, and to ensure that they arrive safely today at the kindergartens and day care centers. This law has no removal of parental responsibility."
The MK concluded by saying, "I have no doubt that this is a meaningful step in preventing the unnecessary deaths of infants and children and the collapse of their families."
6. POLICE TO RELEASE SUSPECTS IN 'NATIONALISTIC RAPE'
by Ari Soffer
Two Arab men accused of raping a mentally handicapped Jewish girl are to be released from police custody, after their alleged victim suddenly withdrew her complaint.
Police confirmed they will be releasing the men - both from the Palestinian Authority - representing the latest twist in an increasingly strange story.
The girl had claimed that three Arab men, two from the PA and one Israeli Arab, had systematically raped her while hurling anti-Semitic slurs and other abuse at her. However, investigators say they found no evidence that violence or abuse was involved in the incident.
As it stands, one suspect - a minor from the Palestinian Authority - is still to be charged with the lesser offense of being in Israeli sovereign territory illegally.
The second suspect, Imad a-Din Daraghmeh, will have his remand extended for just one additional day, as police struggle to tie him to the incident.
The police are still searching for a third suspect, believed to be an Arab Israeli citizen.
The victim in the case had told police that the three men had raped and abused her, spitting and humiliating her for being Jewish, while filming the incident. The suspects had denied being with the victim at all, but during the course of the investigation police found footage of one of them with her.
This latest twist comes after a series of bizarre zigzags regarding the case by police earlier this week.
After initially refusing to label the allegedly nationalistically-motivated assault as an act of terror, police suddenly opted to include "nationalistic motives" in its charge sheet against the suspects. Minutes later, however, those charges were removed - only to be reinserted shortly afterwards after a senior police commander intervened.
Police have yet to explain, however, how there could be no evidence of rape when evidence corroborating the alleged victim's claims was reportedly found on one of the men's phones.
Even if the sex was "consensual", it may still be classified as rape given the girl's mental disabilities, leaving unanswered questions over why the charges are being dropped entirely.
7. HALF A YEAR ON, YOUNG TERROR VICTIM'S BITTERSWEET CELEBRATION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Half a year ago, two-year-old Natan's picture became an icon of the brutality of Arab terrorism, after a stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City left his young father, Rabbi Aharon Banita-Bennett, dead and him and his mother Adelle injured.
Rabbi Nehemia Lavi was also murdered in the attack, as he attempted to intervene after hearing Adelle's screams.
On Monday, Natan turned three and, as is customary among many Jewish families, received his first haircut or khalakeh.
Friends and relatives packed the hall for the celebration, which was also held in thanksgiving for Natan and Adelle's full recovery from their injuries.
Around 100 family members were present at the event, held in Jerusalem, together with dignitaries including Jerusalem's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyah, the rabbi of the Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, former Israeli minister Eli Yishai, and activists from the OneFamly terror victims support organization.
In addition, a number of leading Israeli artists performed at the event, free of charge, including singer and musician Golan Azulai, singer Itzik Dadia, and radio personality Yehuda Shukrun.
Speaking at the event, Adelle described her strong sense of mixed emotions.
"This is of course a celebration which is mixed with much sadness," she said. "With that, we have much faith, and therefore we are making this event because everything is from God. We feel that Aharon, of blessed memory, was taken for the sake of all the nation of Israel, and we are trying to be happy."
She also told of her difficulty recovering from the attack, both physically and emotionally.
"Every day is very hard, each and every second, the memories and just living," she said. "We want to thank all of those who stood by us, like the OneFamily organization, who are very special people, among others who supported us."
Adelle's mother, Miriam Gal, told of her grandson's trauma and battle to recover physically since experiencing the horrific events over the Sukkot festival last year.
"We continue to face challenges, and we are still making a great effort to help the boy through the treatment he is undergoing. Only when he reaches the age of 20 will we know the extent of his disabilities.
"Every time he undergoes treatment which improves his (condition), then there is a deterioration because he is growing."
"Apart from that, just to cope as an orphan, without a father - it's a daily (struggle)," she added. "We haven't closed any circle - we're in the middle of one, in the middle of this journey. We're just carrying on...
"He knows, he remembers, he cries a lot, he misses his daddy.
"Aharon's image is with us, every day, hundreds of times a day... The boy asks lots of questions and all the time looks at the sky and says 'daddy is in heaven.'"
Aharon's father recounted his memories of his murdered son.
"Here of course we feel a sense of longing, because Aharon is missing from us, but we are happy and comforted that he is now in a good place, in a place of the righteous.
"I feel happy that, thank God, there is a continuation of Aharon, who may have died at a young age but, thank God, he left a son and daughter.
"He was taken to sanctify God's Name - he sanctified God's Name in his life, and in his death."
[album:open
8. CARDINAL SCHÖNBORN: 'BDS ISN'T JUST FALSE, IT'S STUPID'
by Eliran Baruch
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna who is considered second-in-line to Pope Francis, gave a special interview to Arutz Sheva at the sidelines of a convention of the Conference of European Rabbis in Vienna.
[youtube:2015778]
Schönborn began by calling Jews and Catholics in Austria "neighbors" and "friends," noting that "it's less than half-a-kilometer between the synagogue and the cathedral (in Vienna), and that's not only geographical it's also spiritual."
Regarding European hostility to Israel, he said, "I don't think you will hear from the Catholic church such voices. We have such a good and close relation to not only to the Jewish people, but especially to the state of Israel."
"There are political tendencies in Europe...and it's good to stand up against them, (which is) what we try to do, but we have only one voice but I hope that voice is heard," said Schönborn.
In a biting comment on the BDS movement seeking to boycott the Jewish state, the Cardinal said, "I think it is not only false, it's stupid."
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
