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Tuesday, Jul. 12 '16, ו' בתמוז תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. VISITING TEMPLE MOUNT IN MEMORY OF HALLEL-YAFFA ARIEL
2. JEWISH DNC STAFFER, 27, KILLED NEAR HIS HOME
3. SHAKED 'WON'T LET ANY RABBINIC JUDGES BE DISQUALIFIED'
4. KAHLON DENIES REPORTS OF CABINET RESHUFFLE
5. BATTALION COMMANDER: 'I SUSPECTED AZARIYA WAS LYING'
6. BDS ACTIVISTS LIE TO ENTER ISRAEL, AUTHORITIES CAN'T STOP THEM
7. CHINA BLATANTLY REJECTS HAGUE COURT RULING
8. 'OUR SOULS ARE BROKEN, BUT IN THE END WE'LL WIN'
1. VISITING TEMPLE MOUNT IN MEMORY OF HALLEL-YAFFA ARIEL
by Yoni Kempinski
Amichai and Rina Ariel, the parents of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel, went up to the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning, along with numerous friends and supporters. Jerusalem police commander Yorem Halevy accompanied the group.
Hallel Ariel was murdered by a terrorist earlier this month. Over the past week, her parents called on the Israeli public to join them in a mass visit to the Temple Mount in order to strengthen the "Jewish people's heart," as they put it.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home), Amichai Ariel's cousin, was forbidden from joining, though he gave a speech to the group before they went up.
Separately, two Jews were detained by police on the Temple Mount on suspicion of violating the site's regulations. This term usually refers to the ban on Jews, and only Jews, praying at their holiest site.
2. JEWISH DNC STAFFER, 27, KILLED NEAR HIS HOME
by JTA
A young Jewish staffer for the Democratic National Committee was shot dead in an apparent robbery near his home in Washington, D.C.
Seth Conrad Rich, 27, was shot early Sunday morning in the Bloomingdale neighborhood, near the Capitol, about a block from his home.
Police in announcing the killing did not ascribe a motive, but his father, Joel, told the Washington Post that the police believe his son may have been the victim of a botched robbery.
"He wanted to make a difference," Joel Rich told the newspaper.
Seth Rich, the voter expansion data director for the DNC, worked on databases to help voters identify polling stations, the Washington Post reported. Collegues told JTA that he was also engaged in Jewish outreach.
"Our hearts are broken with the loss of one of our DNC family members over the weekend," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the DNC chairwoman, said in a statement. "Seth Rich was a dedicated, selfless public servant who worked tirelessly to protect the most sacred right we share as Americans – the right to vote. He saw the great potential of our nation and believed that, together, we can make the world a better place."
Rich, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, was the boating education director and staff programming director at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
"Seth communicated proactively to facilitate the success of the campers with special needs who were in his class and went above and beyond to provide opportunities for all of my campers to participate successfully in the boating program," said a reference on the LinkedIn site from the camp's special needs head, Talia Kravitz.
A colleague and friend, speaking anonymously, said Rich was proud of his Jewish upbringing in Omaha.
3. SHAKED 'WON'T LET ANY RABBINIC JUDGES BE DISQUALIFIED'
by Shlomo Piotrokovsky
A source close to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) says the committee for selecting religious judges will not hold its meeting scheduled for Tuesday night.
The cancellation is due to a lack of agreement between the committee members.
"Minister Shaked will not allow any judge to be disqualified," the source explained.
It should be noted that, even if committee head Yuval Steinitz (Likud) insists on holding tonight's meeting, the lack of consensus would prevent the committee fom making any appointments.
Earlier it was reported that the meeting was put off for at least a week because Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef intends to fly abroad for the week.
The committee has until this Friday before a Supreme Court ruling comes into effect and declares all temporary appointments expired. The Court further declared that the appointments cannot be renewed.
Should that happen, the Supreme Rabbinical Court will be left with only three members, including the two Chief Rabbis. In effect, it would be left paralyzed.
4. KAHLON DENIES REPORTS OF CABINET RESHUFFLE
by Nitsan Keider
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's (Kulanu) office has officially denied reports of an upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.
"Contrary to media reports, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister have not agreed on any changes to the ministries held by the Kulanu party," it said.
The official statement emphasized that, "Despite the picture that interested officials are trying to draw, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Construction Minister Yoav Galant are fully cooperating and have a good working relationship. The fruits of their joint labor can be seen in the results of the 'cost of living' program and addition programs that the two are leading together.
"Changing the ministries held by Kulanu will only occur with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Construction Minsiter Yoav Galant's complete agreement."
According to the earlier reports, Netanyahu and Kahlon met last Saturday night and agreed that Kulanu would receive a limited Economy Ministry instead of the Environmental Protection Ministry, which was held by Avi Gabia until his recent resignation.
Some of the Economy Ministry's role would be transfered to Social Services Minister Haim Katz (Likud), who was promised that his ministry would return to its former designation of Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
5. BATTALION COMMANDER: 'I SUSPECTED AZARIYA WAS LYING'
by Shlomo Piotrokovsky
Lieutenant Colonel David Shapira, the former commander of Elor Azariya's battalion, took the stand on Tuesday morning.
Azariya is on trial for manslaughter after he killed a neutralized terrorist.
Shapira claimed that he noticed signs of distress and pressure in Azariya well before the recent incident. "Elor's father called me and told me that 'Elor's smile had left his face.' From what I understood it was due to the pressure from being the company medic and the radio operator."
He further said the company commander told him that Azariya did not shoot the terrorist because he felt a threat. "From what Tom the company commander described to me, he asked Elor why he fired, and he answered - he's a terrorist, he needs to die."
However, Azariya told the Lieutenant Colonel a different story. "An hour and a half later I spoke with him. He told me that he shot because he saw the terrorist move near a knife. I asked him why he didn't kick the knife away and he said that he felt in danger."
Shapira explained that he immediately told Azariya that he had little confidence in the latest version, and that he suspected it was a lie. He says that Azariya didn't respond to the accusation.
He further stated that, Azariya brought up his concern over the proximity between the terrorist and the knife during the same conversation, but never mentioned the possibility of an explosive on the terrorist's body. Shapira even clarified that no one present expressed concern over a possible explosive, and that he passed next to the terrorist several times without fear.
Shapira, a former company commander in the Paratroopers, famously stopped the terror attack at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in 2008.
6. BDS ACTIVISTS LIE TO ENTER ISRAEL, AUTHORITIES CAN'T STOP THEM
by Matt Wanderman
The Christian Recruitment Forum and the Zionist Foundation for Israel have revealed that a leading BDS organization is acting freely in Israel, despite violating Israeli laws.
Israel Hayom reports that the World Council of Churches (WCC), one of the world's leading proponents of BDS, founded the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) in 2002 with the goal of "ending the illegal occupation of Palestine."
As part of EAPPI, 80 Christians enter Israel as tourists each year. Once inside, they monitor and photograph security forces, then give lectures at campuses around Europe after returning home.
The participants frequently accuse Israel of planting weapons on dead terrorists, indiscriminately slaughtering Palestinian children, harassing Christians in Jerusalem and more. They further claim that any opposition to Israel is silence by the United States' "Israel Lobby."
Over a thousand such activists have already taken part in the program.
The recent study, which began in February 2015, found that the EAPPI activists enter Israel under tourist visas, ignoring the requirements for volunteers and activists.
Father Gabriel Naddaf, the spiritual leader of Israel's Armenian Christians and the head of the Christian Recruitment Forum, told Israel Hayom, "I will continue acting and exposing any organization or program that portrays itself as Christian and that acts against the State of Israel, the safest place for Christians in the Middle East. They are trying to weaken the country in the face of regional terror, while taking advantage of the Christian faith, rewriting history, harming true coexistence and the relationship between Christians and Jews in the country and in the world, and increasing anti-Semitism."
Father Naddaf further added that "The Christian world must know exactly who is behind the masks and who is distorting Christianity in order to advance a radical agenda."
The Population and Immigration Authority denied that it can do anything to stop EAPPI from flouting the law. "If there is no reason to suspect someone's motives when they enter as a tourist, there is no reason to prevent their entrance."
Similarly, a police spokesperson said that "the Population Authority is the body responsible for giving out entrance visas to Israel. If the police are informed of problems with a tourist, we have no way of knowing what they do while in Israel."
Minister for Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan (Likud), however, has promised to take action: "No normal country would allow activists trying to boycott it to enter and act freely. Here, too, we will do all we can to end this despicable phenomenon within the next few months."
7. CHINA BLATANTLY REJECTS HAGUE COURT RULING
by Rachel Kaplan
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China has no historic claim over the waters of the South China Sea.
The ruling came after the Philippines sued for fishing rights, citing the effective Chinese blockade that has prevented Filipino boats from reaching the Scarborough Shoal, at risk of the fishermen's lives and property. 4 years later, the Filipino economy is suffering from the loss of some 30% of its gross national product.
The Philippines also argues that China has violated the country's sovereign rights, as the economic giant drills in the Reed Bank for oil and gas.
The tribunal chastised China for its reckless domination.
"There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the 'nine-dash line'," the court said, referring to a demarcation line on a 1947 map of the sea, which is rich in energy, mineral and fishing resources.
In the 497-page ruling, judges also blamed Chinese law enforcement patrols for risking collision with Filipino fishing vessels, and causing irreparable damage to coral reefs through their construction work.
None of China's reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200 mile exclusive economic zone, the report added.
Beijing, though, has already rebuffed the court:
"The arbitration tribunal made the illegal and invalid so-called final verdict on the South China Sea dispute on July 12. Regarding this issue, China has made the statement for many times that it is against the international law that the Aquino III administration of Philippines unilaterally requested the arbitration. The arbitration tribunal has no jurisdiction on this matter."
China's state-run Xinhua news agency announce, shortly before the ruling, that a Chinese civilian aircraft had carried carried out calibration tests on two new airports in the disputed Spratly Islands.
China's Defense Ministry reported that a new guided missile destroyer was commissioned at a naval base in the Hainan province. Hainan runs all operations the South China Sea.
"No matter what kind of ruling is to be made, Chinese armed forces will firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and maritime interests and rights, firmly uphold regional peace and stability, and deal with all kinds of threats and challenges," China's Defense Ministry said earlier in a bilingual Chinese and English statement shortly before the ruling was made public.
As China flexes her muscles in a total disregard of the Hague ruling, other countries look to the dispute as a precedent for territorial disagreements to come. Will the international court be given arbitrary power, or will might make right?
8. 'OUR SOULS ARE BROKEN, BUT IN THE END WE'LL WIN'
by Eliran Aharon
[youtube:2017078]
Rabbi Aharon Egeltal, director of the Mount Hevron fund, spoke to Arutz Sheva about his close friend Rabbi Michael Mark, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in front of his family.
Rabbi Mark is "the symbol of our entire existence in the land of Israel in general and particularly in Mount Hevron," said Rabbi Egeltal.
"It's a big loss to the Jewish people. The combination we found in Michael – the ability to do things on earth and to keep your mind open to Torah – is very unique," he added.
"Our souls are broken but our spirits are very strong," said Rabbi Egeltal. "I believe that with the help of God almighty and the entire people of Israel, we will get over [these tragic deaths]."
"We face a very problematic situation [in Har Hevron]," he continued. "It is very hard to manage our everyday lives, but the people here are strong. We believe that at the end of the day, we'll build more and more businesses and homes. People will come here and set up their lives here."
"There is a joke among us, that we meet each other at funerals. It's very painful but we know that at the end of the day, we're going to win. No terrorist will break us," declared Rabbi Egeltal.
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