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/
Sunday, Aug. 07 '16, ג' באב תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. HISTORIC LOW: ZIONIST UNION COLLAPSES TO SINGLE DIGITS IN POLL
2. BEZEQ FIRES 'PRO-HAMAS' EMPLOYEE
3. PERES JOINS SNAPCHAT
4. 13-YEAR OLD ARAB CAUGHT WITH GUN IN JERUSALEM SCHOOL
5. GOP CONGRESSMAN BLASTS TRUMP, ENDORSES LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE
6. JEWISH GROUP ENDORSES BLACK LIVES MATTER ANTI-ISRAEL PLATFORM
7. RUSSIAN DRONE INVADED ISRAELI AIRSPACE, IDF FAILED TO DESTROY IT
8. UNMANNED DRONES SAVE LIVES
1. HISTORIC LOW: ZIONIST UNION COLLAPSES TO SINGLE DIGITS IN POLL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A new poll released Sunday has worrying news for the left-leaning Zionist Union, showing the party sinking to its lowest level ever.
The poll, conducted by Geocartographia for Army Radio included 500 respondents.
According to the survey, the Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog falls to the lowest level shown in any polls since the joint ticket, combing the Labor and Hatnua parties, was formed in 2014.
While the party won 24 seats in 2015, it would lose two-thirds of its strength if elections were held today, falling to just 8 seats. Such a result would be the poorest showing for the Labor Party in history, breaking the previous record of 13 seats won in 2009.
Zionist Union chairman Isaac Herzog has faced significant pressure from within the party following his comments suggesting the two-state solution was not relevant at this time, as well as his efforts to form a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The party's poor showing in polling has only heightened frustrations with Herzog, who will face rivals in Labor Party primaries next summer.
Today's polls represent a two-seat drop from the last public poll, also conducted by Geocartographia.
In general, the four parties now in the opposition – the Joint List, Meretz, Zionist Union, and Yesh Atid – who today hold 53 seats, would drop by 5 mandates to 48 according to the poll.
The six coalition members, on the other hand, would rise from 67 seats collectively to 72 if elections were held today.
Meretz and the predominantly Arab Joint List parties would maintain their current strength, at 5 and 13 mandates respectively.
Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid, however, would surge to its highest level ever, doubling its strength from 11 mandates to 22, putting it within striking distance of the Likud.
The Likud would drop 5 seats, falling from 30 to 25. This is an improvement, however, over the party's performance in the previous Geocartographia poll, which showed Likud sinking to 21 mandates.
The Jewish Home would double its strength, going from 8 seats to 16, the same result shown in the last poll.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu gained slightly in Sunday's poll, rising from 6 seats held in the present Knesset and projected in the last poll to 7 seats.
The haredi parties also enjoy a significant bump in the poll, rising from 13 seats in the present Knesset – 7 for Shas, 6 for United Torah Judaism – to 18, with UTJ soaring to 11 seats, compared to 7 for Shas, an increase of 3 mandates over the last poll, which showed Shas barely passing the electoral threshold.
In line with prior polls, Sunday's results show Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu faction losing ground, falling from 10 seats to 6.
2. BEZEQ FIRES 'PRO-HAMAS' EMPLOYEE
by Rachel Kaplan
Israel telecommunications company Bezeq has fired an employee for allegedly supporting Hamas and terrorism.
The employee showed Channel 2 News a letter from the company, which accuses him of "using a poster of the terror organization of Hamas, announcing the 'shahid' deaths of the two terrorists who committed a terror attack at a synagogue in Har Nof...as your Facebook profile picture, for upwards of two and a half years."
The letter continues, "Moreover, you expressed support on and 'liked' the picture of the terrorist, a member of our company, who also murdered innocent people in an attack." Ala al-Jamal, an employee of Bezeq, killed a man when he ran him over in a haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem.
In response, the employee argued that it was his 6 year-old son who changed his profile picture - though a polygraph test indicates he lied.
The employee has been invited to present his side, but in an interview with Channel 2 News, he claimed that he wasn't being given fair treatment.
"Since the time that Ala abu-Jamaal committed an attack while working for Bezeq, members of the security division of Bezeq have been looking at everyone's Facebook accounts, and researching people."
"I was investigated by the security division, they even hired a private investigator," he explained.
"I told them the truth, that I did not put up that picture.
"I don't believe the polygraph, I didn't pass the test, but that doesn't mean that I'm lying. I am 47 years old, politics don't interest me, I need an income, and after 17 years they are throwing me out without a reason," he added.
3. PERES JOINS SNAPCHAT
by Rachel Kaplan
Former President Shimon Peres launched a new Snapchat account (Shimon_Peres) today.
Snapchat is a rising social media platform which allows people to send each other videos - which delete themselves ten seconds after being read. Although it has developed a slightly shady reputation, Snapchat has become a real-time social sharing hub among teenagers across the globe.
Peres intends to use this platform to encourage young people to turn to entrepreneurship, science, creating positive social change. In addition, young leaders can follow Peres to hear first hand as he meets with heads of state, scientists, and other leading individuals.
Peres: "I turned 93 this week, and it seemed like just the right age to join Snapchat. Young people inspire me, and the most important thing for me is to hear what they have to say. Today, all the young people are on Snapchat, and I am happy to be on there with them. I invite you to follow my Snapchat, and to join my new movement, which is based on the understanding that innovation is the key to the future. We must focus on creating a new generation where technology and science are the top priority."
Many teenagers attended the launch of Peres' snapchat account, including YouTube star Guy Podolich (16.5 years old), app wizard Itay Pincas (15 years old), and social media expert Veronica Bogush (17 years old).
In his first Snapchat video Peres told the youth: "Always remember - you have greater potential than you know. Do not listen to your parents or teachers - dream, initiate, dare - I am with you".
4. 13-YEAR OLD ARAB CAUGHT WITH GUN IN JERUSALEM SCHOOL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israel has detained a 13-year-old Arab over possession of a gun and two cartridge clips at a boarding school in Jerusalem, police said Sunday.
"The police carried out a search in the room of a Palestinian minor aged 13 and a half years old living at a boarding school," the police said in a statement.
A court has extended the period of his detention, it said, without providing further details.
Israeli lawmakers last week approved a bill allowing authorities to jail terrorists as young as 12 if convicted of "serious crimes" including murder and attempted murder.
The law was passed following the recent release of several terrorists involved in violent attacks on Israelis.
In 2015 two terrorists, aged 11 and 14, stabbed a security guard on the Jerusalem light rail.
AFP contributed to this report
5. GOP CONGRESSMAN BLASTS TRUMP, ENDORSES LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE
by David Rosenberg
On Saturday Scott Rigell, the Republican congressman who represents Virginia's 2nd congressional district, became the third GOP member of the House of Representatives to pledge not to vote for his party's nominee, Donald Trump.
"I've always said I will not vote for Donald Trump and I will not vote for Hillary Clinton," Rigell said in an interview with The New York Times.
Instead, the congressman said he would be voting for Libertarian candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, despite Johnson's support for abortion on demand and governmental recognition of gay marriage.
Rigell, a staunchly conservative Republican, has a history of defying the party line, refusing in 2013 to endorse E.W. Jackson, then running for Virginia Lieutenant Governor, over controversial comments he had made regarding homosexuals. Rigell was also one of only two House Republicans to oppose the decision to hold then-Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over the "Fast and Furious" gun scandal.
Along with Rigell, New York congressman Richard Hanna and Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger have also indicated they will not vote for the GOP nominee this November.
While Hanna has said he would back Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Trump, Kinzinger has refused to back the former First Lady, suggesting he may write-in an alternative candidate.
6. JEWISH GROUP ENDORSES BLACK LIVES MATTER ANTI-ISRAEL PLATFORM
by JTA
JTA - The 'Jewish Voice for Peace', which supports the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, released a statement unconditionally supporting the newly released platform of the Black Lives Matter movement, which in part accuses Israel of committing genocide.
The platform, published Monday by a coalition of more than 50 groups called the Movement for Black Lives, encompasses a broad set of economic and social policy goals aimed at eliminating racism, mass incarceration and police violence. It includes a section criticizing United States aid to Israel, accuses Israel of practicing apartheid and says Israel is committing "genocide" against Arab residents of the Palestinian Authority.
Several Jewish organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Reform movement, have criticized the platform's statements on Israel. But JVP's statement, published Friday, "endorses the Movement for Black Lives platform in its entirety, without reservation." Regarding the genocide accusation, JVP wrote in a statement sent to JTA that "it is not our role to police the language of the vision for Black lives."
JVP said it was "deeply disappointed" in other Jewish organizations for condemning the platform, calling on them instead to support the Movement for Black Lives.
"These Jewish organizations are rejecting a thorough and inspiring transformational set of policy ideas developed by a broad coalition of Black leaders simply because these Black leaders have explicitly linked the experiences and struggles of Palestinians with their own," the JVP statement said.
"We should all take this opportunity to reflect on the impact of Israeli policy, and the interconnected nature of violence around the world," the organization told JTA.
Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish group focused on domestic social policy, also released a statement Friday, criticizing the platform's Israel language but supporting the movement's racial justice agenda.
The statement acknowledged the "deep pain and outrage" felt in the Jewish community due to the language on Israel, but said that "these differences should not distract from the broad agreement that exists within the progressive and Jewish community on the need for a bold racial justice agenda."
"The Movement for Black Lives has done extraordinary and powerful work raising consciousness about the harms inflicted on Black communities in the United States, and our collective need to transform the systems that perpetuate this violence," Bend the Arc's statement read. "It is our belief that our country will be made more whole, more inclusive, and more just because of this courageous racial justice movement."
7. RUSSIAN DRONE INVADED ISRAELI AIRSPACE, IDF FAILED TO DESTROY IT
by David Rosenberg
A drone which penetrated Israeli airspace three weeks ago was Russian, not Syrian, as initially believed, Haaretz reported on Sunday.
In mid-July, three weeks ago to the day, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crossed into Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights from the Syrian frontier, and managed to fly some 2.5 miles (4 km) into Israeli airspace before turning back.
At the time, an IDF spokesperson acknowledged that a drone had entered Israeli airspace, but gave no indication as to who was behind the incident. Shortly thereafter, the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon claimed responsibility.
But in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the drone was in fact Russia's, claiming that the airspace violation was an accident, the result of human error.
The senior Israeli official cited in the report added that despite three attempts to shoot down the Russian drone, the IDF failed to destroy the intruder.
Two US-made surface-to-air Patriot missiles were fired at the drone, as well as an air-to-air missile launched from an IAF fighter sent to intercept the UAV. Despite the attempts to shoot it down, the drone eventually returned to Syrian territory safely.
8. UNMANNED DRONES SAVE LIVES
by Rachel Kaplan
[youtube:2017894]
The US government has given the start-up company Zipline rights to operate unmanned aircraft to drop medical supplies in rural locations.
Since unmanned aircraft changed from war machines to hobby toys, companies around the world have been fighting to use the relatively inexpensive planes. Most countries in the world refuse to grant commercial permission, out of concerns for excessive air-traffic, as well as a worry that such aircraft would be used for more devious purposes.
Zipline, though, has received the green light to operate in hard-to-reach locations in Nevada, Maryland, and Washington state, especially Native American reservations.
Zipline has already proved its medical worth by dropping packages in Rwanda, Africa, and by the end of August is expected to service all areas of the country.
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
