Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Wednesday, Jul. 06 '16, Sivan 30, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. STATE DEPARTMENT BLASTS ISRAELI 'SYSTEMATIC LAND SEIZURES'
2. MAN WHO FILMED TERROR ATTEMPT: YOU DON'T SEE THAT EVERY DAY
3. ISRAELI RABBINATE ACCUSED OF 'SLAPPING CONVERTS IN THE FACE'
4. JEWS ARRESTED IN YEMEN RELEASED FROM CUSTODY
5. JERUSALEM PROTEST: 'STOP TREATING DIASPORA RABBIS WITH CONTEMPT'
6. SENIOR OFFICER TESTIFIES: NO JUSTIFICATION FOR HEVRON SHOOTING
7. WATCH: MOVING PRAYER IN MEMORY OF 13-YEAR-OLD TERROR VICTIM
8. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: UGANDAN PRESIDENT'S BONKERS SPEECH
1. STATE DEPARTMENT BLASTS ISRAELI 'SYSTEMATIC LAND SEIZURES'
by Elad Benari
The State Department on Tuesday issued a scathing condemnation of Israel's plans to build new housing units in Maale Adumim and in Jerusalem.
"If it's true, this report would be the latest step in what seems to be a systematic process of land seizures, settlement expansions, and legalizations of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution," said State Department spokesman John Kirby of the plans, which were announced Sunday following last week's terrorist attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria.
"We oppose steps like these, which we believe are counterproductive to the cause of peace. In general, we're deeply concerned about settlement construction and expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank," he charged in his daily press briefing.
Referring to last week's Quartet report, Kirby said it "makes clear [that] these actions risk entrenching a one-state reality and raise serious questions about Israel's long-term intentions."
Kirby stressed that the United States was having "tough discussions" with Israeli leaders about the construction plans.
The plans announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman include 560 housing units in Maale Adumim, as well as the advancement of plans to build 240 housing units in Jerusalem.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized Israel over the construction, saying it "raises legitimate questions about Israel's long-term intentions, which are compounded by continuing statements of some Israeli ministers calling for the annexation of the West Bank."
The condemnations also come after the Middle East Quartet released its report which called on Israel to stop its construction in Judea and Samaria, but also criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) for its incitement to terrorism against Israelis.
2. MAN WHO FILMED TERROR ATTEMPT: YOU DON'T SEE THAT EVERY DAY
by Shai Landesman
[youtube:2016875]
Netanel Peretz never planned on capturing a terror attempt on camera.
The camera mounted in the car driven by Peretz (33), of the Samarian town of Kohav Hashahar, caught an attempted stabbing attack yesterday (Tuesday), in what he said was a purely incidental occurrence. A female terrorist tried to stab two soldiers at a bus stop at the Gitai Evyashar junction just outside of the city of Ariel, with the entire incident clearly visible in the footage caught by Peretz's camera.
"I didn't dream I'd catch something like that", Peretz told Channel 2 news, "I always drive with a camera as insurance in case something happens on the road and I'm in need of evidence."
"I was driving normally and suddenly I saw those soldiers, and I immediately grasped what was happening, a terrorist was trying to stab two soldiers while they train their weapons on her."
Netanel continued driving toward his destination when it was all over. "I thought about stopping but I saw that the soldiers had already taken care of the situation. My heart was beating fast, of course. You don't see something like that every day."
Peretz didn't hesitate to post the footage online. "I think it's very important to show these things for one simple reason: The government isn't doing anything to stop this terror. I am actually on the ground. I drive along all the roads and I see everything is all open," he attested, "This is why the footage has great importance, so that people can see for themselves what we're dealing with."
3. ISRAELI RABBINATE ACCUSED OF 'SLAPPING CONVERTS IN THE FACE'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2016887]
Leaders of a demonstration Wednesday morning outside the officers of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem accused the Rabbinate of violating the Torah command to "love the convert," over its refusal to recognize conversions by a prominent North American rabbi.
Rabbi Seth Farber, Director of the Itim organization which advocates for religious reforms within the Chief Rabbinate, said demonstrators were "fighting for one of the most essential Jewish values: the love of the convert."
Rabbi Farber said that by rejecting conversions by leading American Orthodox rabbis like Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the Rabbinate was unjustly alienating a huge portion of Diaspora Jewry and immigrants from the United States.
"People in this country who make aliyah, they want to feel part of this country, they want to feel fully a part of the Jewish people, and the institution of the rabbinate - which are representatives of the government of Israel - are giving them the proverbial slap in the face," he told Arutz Sheva
"It's unacceptable that the rabbinate continues to reject converts of rabbis like Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, one of the most prominent rabbis in North America - an Orthodox rabbi whose credentials cannot be questioned, and yet here in the holiest city he's not recognized," Rabbi Farber added. "This cannot go on."
Among the dozens of protesters were several prominent Israeli public figures, including Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and Likud MK Yehuda Glick, more widely known for his advocacy for the rights of Jews to worship on the Temple Mount.
Glick told Arutz Sheva that while he is "not a man of demonstrations," he felt the need to speak out and support efforts to make the rabbinate more inclusive.
"We want a rabbinate that opens its arms and hugs the people of Israel, and not a rabbinate that is choosing who to respect and who not to respect."
4. JEWS ARRESTED IN YEMEN RELEASED FROM CUSTODY
by Ari Soffer
Members of the Jewish community of Yemen who were arrested earlier this year over the spiriting of a Torah scroll to Israel along with the recent aliyah of Yemenite Jews have all been released from custody.
The news was reported to Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara (Likud) by Yemenite olim who were part of what was billed as the "final" wave of aliyah from the impoverished, war-torn Middle Eastern state last March.
A tiny handful of Jews - numbering around 50 - opted to remain in Yemen for a variety of personal and commercial reasons, but a number of them, along with several Arabs suspected of helping smuggle the Torah scroll out of the country, were arrested in the weeks that followed. The Yemenite government has claimed that the scroll is part of Yemen's heritage, as opposed to belonging to the Jewish community, and accused them of stealing it.
All those arrested have now been released, Kara said.
The deputy minister revealed the good news at a conference of the Likud party's Netanya chapter.
During his address, Kara - a Druze Arab who maintains extensive links to Arab communities outside of Israel - also confirmed that an a Jewish Israeli citizen is currently being held prison in the Yemenite city of Amran. He said Israel is making every effort to secure his release.
It is not clear whether that prisoner is the 64-year-old Ashkelon resident who disappeared during a trip to Yemen last year.
5. JERUSALEM PROTEST: 'STOP TREATING DIASPORA RABBIS WITH CONTEMPT'
by Rachel Kaplan
Alumni of Ramaz are protesting "against the winds of radicalization, that have been blowing in the Rabbinate in recent years, and against the chief Rabbinate's contempt for the Rabbis abroad and for converts," they wrote in their official statement.
The protest, near the offices of the Rabbinate, comes in wake of the Rabbinate's decision not to recognize any conversions officiated by Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, 87, Rabbi of the New York KJ congregation and principal of Ramaz. Rabbi Lookstein has been a point of some controversy, particularly surrounding his conversion of Ivanka Trump, daughter of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
In light of the government's recent negotiations with representatives of the Reform movement, regarding the Western Wall Plaza and mikvaot (ritual purity pools), the Rabbinate has been taking a hard-line stance against religious reforms.
The protest has drawn broad support, and will be attended by Natan Sharansky, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, Rabbi Dr. Seth Farber of ITIM organization, and MK Elazar Stern.
Sharansky declared to Arutz Sheva: "Every Jew in the world needs to feel that this is his home, and it doesn't matter from which stream [of Judaism] he comes from. The protest doesn't need to be against the Rabbinate; rather, against the government of Israel."
[album:open
6. SENIOR OFFICER TESTIFIES: NO JUSTIFICATION FOR HEVRON SHOOTING
by Uzi Baruch
The outgoing commander of the IDF's Judea Brigade, Colonel Yariv Ben-Ezra, took the stand today as a prosecution witness in the trial of an IDF soldier who killed a wounded terrorist earlier this year.
In his testimony, Ben-Ezra said that he distinctly remembered Sergeant Elor Azariya telling his comrades that terrorists deserve to be killed, and characterized his actions as following through on those sentiments.
The commander - who is responsible for IDF operations in the Hevron area - also addressed the controversial topic of medics providing treatment to injured terrorists. Ben-Ezra said that while the priority is always to treat Israeli victims of attacks before wounded Palestinian attackers, medics are obligated to provide first aid treatment to the wounded regardless of who they are.
He recounted an incident in which an ambulance driver was filmed refusing to evacuate a wounded terrorist for treatment, and said the resulting footage had featured extensively in Palestinian incitement.
The terrorist was one of two Arab knifemen who attacked an IDF patrol in March, leaving one soldier moderately wounded before they were neutralized. While the other terrorist was fatally shot during the initial attack, the second terrorist was still alive and moving when Azariya was filmed firing the fatal shot to his head some minutes later. Azariya's defense team insist he acted out of fears the terrorist was hiding an explosives belt or otherwise still posed a threat, but the prosecution claims his actions were motivated by revenge and constitute a field execution and serious violation of the IDF code of ethics.
Ben-Ezra also corroborated claims that Azariya's immediate superiors had already issued a formal complaint over his actions and initiated an investigation even prior to the emergence of footage from the incident, taken and distributed by the far-left B'Tselem NGO.
"I arrived at the scene, and was approached by Yoni Bleicher, the chief of security of the Jewish community (in Hevron), who said to me that there was a serious (incident involving) gunfire during the event which I needed to investigate," he recounted. "He described to me how after the incident had ended, there was gunfire which was fired without a clear (reason)."
"I called the Shimshon Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Shapira, and told him to check what Yoni told me," he continued.
"After a minute and a half the commander got back to me and said that we are talking about a very serious incident," he said of Azariya's gunfire, adding that Azariya's company commander also described the incident to him in similar terms and that the battalion commander had said that in his assessment there was no justification for the shooting as the terrorist did not pose a threat.
Ben-Ezra's testimony follows that of ambulance driver Ofer Ohana yesterday, which saw a tense exchange with prosecutors over his actions in kicking the immobilized terrorist's knife towards him after Azariya's actions.
Ohana was repeatedly grilled by prosecutors, who challenged that he had done so in order to cover up for Azariya, while Ohana insisted he merely kicked the knife back to where it had been all along after his ambulance had accidentally knocked it away from the terrorist.
7. WATCH: MOVING PRAYER IN MEMORY OF 13-YEAR-OLD TERROR VICTIM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2016884]
8. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: UGANDAN PRESIDENT'S BONKERS SPEECH
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2016850]
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