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, Oct. 26 '16, כ"ד בתשרי תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. UNESCO PASSES NEW ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTION
2. 'AZARIYA ACTED CORRECTLY, THE TERRORIST COULD HAVE HAD A BOMB'
3. IRAN IMPRISONS AMERICAN SUPPORTER AND 80-YEAR-OLD FATHER
4. KNESSET MEMBERS, IDF GENERAL STAFF IN SERVICE OF THE KGB
5. AMONA: WE'RE NOT MOVING ANYWHERE
6. WILL US RECLASSIFY ISRAELIS FROM WHITE TO MIDDLE EASTERN?
7. DID OBAMA LIE ABOUT CLINTON EMAILS?
8. UNDERSTANDING THE WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE OF THE US ECONOMY
1. UNESCO PASSES NEW ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTION
by David Rosenberg
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre passed a new resolution Wednesday morning denying the historic Jewish ties to holy sites in the Israeli capital, including the Temple Mount.
The measure was passed by a margin of 10 to 2, with 8 abstentions. Tunisia and Lebanon proposed the resolution on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, neither of which are voting members in the World Heritage Centre.
Like other recent resolutions by UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, the new measure refers to holy sites in Jerusalem, including the site of the two Jewish temples, exclusively in terms of the Islamic faith, using their Arabic names.
While the resolution drops the phrase "occupying power" to describe Israel, it accuses the Jewish state of the "intentional destruction" of Jerusalem's holy sites and demands Israel halt archaeological work in the area.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon castigated UNESCO for the move, calling "disconnected from reality."
"The absurdity continues, and UNESCO has adopted yet another ridiculous decision that is completely disconnected from reality."
"UNESCO embarrassed itself by marching to the tune of the Palestinian pipers. All attempts to deny our heritage, distort history and disconnect the Jewish people from our capital and our homeland are doomed to fail."
2. 'AZARIYA ACTED CORRECTLY, THE TERRORIST COULD HAVE HAD A BOMB'
by Uzi Baruch
The security coordinator for the Jewish community in Hevron, Yoni Bleichberd, took the stand this morning at the military court in Yafo, as the trial of Elor Azariya continued.
Bleichberd described the scene of the incident in question: "The whole scene was a giant mess. Something we weren't used to. I'm not the Chief of Staff, but I've been at many incidents like this...I identified the terrorist moving in his black coat, and I corrected my report, that there was one terrorist alive. And then there was the shot. I reported it as a justified shooting."
He related that "conduct was correct. As far as we were concerned, fears of an explosion were over [and] the incident was finished."
Regarding the apparent contradiction between his testimony to military police and the testimony of the Brigade Commander, Bleichberd said: "At the moment of shooting, I stood by Azariya, a meter, half a meter from him. The Brigade Commander, Yariv Ben-Ezra, arrived, I briefed him on the situation and told him that the two terrorists had not been killed simultaneously, rather one had been killed first and then the second - the one with the bomb - over the course of several minutes, with the intention that, if a video of the event would come out, they would know that the two terrorists were not killed simultaneously, so there wouldn't be embarrassment later.
"I have no interest in explaining the Brigade Commander. I had no idea that Elor was the company medic, as the Brigade Commander testified. I explained to the Brigade Commander that there was shooting at the beginning and additional shooting some time later. I assess that he had already received that report, because he arrived about half an hour after the incident."
"If they had been managing the scene correctly, nothing that happened would have happened. A live terrorist is a frightening thing. I must confess, it is very frightening. It is not pleasant. A terrorist who is going to die will do everything to take as many innocent civilians along with him."
Later today, the pathologist Dr. Maia Gips is also to return to the stand, in an attempt to disprove the dramatic testimony of Prof. Yehuda Hiss during which he claimed that pathological evidence showed that the terrorist had died from an air bubble in his heart, and not - as had been previously been assumed - from Azariya's bullet.
3. IRAN IMPRISONS AMERICAN SUPPORTER AND 80-YEAR-OLD FATHER
by Hillel Fendel
Iran has sentenced two Iranian-Americans to 10 years in prison – an apparent outgrowth of the recent payment by the U.S. to Iran of $1.7 billion on the day Iran released several American hostages.
The two imprisoned Americans are Baquer Namazi, aged 80, and his son Siamak. The Clarion Project reports that the two were imprisoned on "spurious" charges of espionage; the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) called them "trumped-up."
Siamak was arrested last September, shortly after the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was accepted. The elder Namazi, a retired official with the United Nations, was arrested in February while visiting his son in jail.
Ironically, Siamak was connected to the National Iranian American Council, a pro-Iranian regime lobby group in Washington, D.C. A businessman, he spoke out against U.S. sanctions on Iran and advocated for closer business ties between the countries.
As WSJ noted, however, the recent payment by the U.S. to Iran – some call it a ransom ­– "has created an incentive for them to imprison more Americans to trade for some future concession."
Even considering Siamak was promoting the Iranian regime, the paper writes, "the mullahs put their need for U.S. hostages above gratitude for such political assistance. Revolutions tend to devour their foreign sympathizers."
4. KNESSET MEMBERS, IDF GENERAL STAFF IN SERVICE OF THE KGB
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Documents now revealed to Yediot Achronot from the so-called "Mitrokhin Archive" show that, during the period of the Soviet Union's regime, the KGB successfully infiltrated many levels of Israeli governance, including the Knesset, senior engineering positions on classified defense projects - and even the Army General Staff.
According to Yediot Achronot, the Mitrokhin Archive listed no less than three MKs as KGB agents, including the poet and politician in the now defunct radical left-wing Mapam party, Elazar Granot.
In addition, the archive listed an agent in a classified position in the aeronautical industry who was involved in plans for the development of the Lavi fighter jet, as well as another agent who reported to his KGB handlers on developments in the Israeli Merkava tank.
Another mysterious intelligence figure, code-named "Melinka," apparently worked as an agent from within the counterintelligence branch of Israel's secret service, the Shin Bet.
Possibly most shocking is the revelation that a general in the IDF General Staff was a KGB agent. In 1993, when the Mitrokhin papers arrived in London, the British secret service revealed the general's name to the Shin Bet.
"The Shin Bet didn't reveal to me the name of the general," said a veteran intelligence officer active at the time, according to Yediot Achronot. "But I understood from them how much of a shock it was to get the update from the British. In light of the health situation of said general, and, in my opinion, because of the embarrassment that publicizing the revelation would cause the IDF and the State of Israel, it was decided not to prosecute the general."
"To the best of my knowledge, he died a short while afterward."
5. AMONA: WE'RE NOT MOVING ANYWHERE
by Hezki Baruch
Residents of Amona made clear last night, in a letter sent to the PM, their opposition to the conception outlined in a petition for the postponement of the destruction of Amona that the government is set to hand to the Supreme Court.
The letter, signed by Amona's rabbi, Secretary and head of the Staff for the Struggle in Amona, notes: "It was brought to our attention that the State of Israel is set to hand a petition requesting a postponement of the implementation of the verdict on Amona to the Supreme Court. This petition assumes the need to complete preparations at the 'alternative site' in Shevut Rachel."
The letter goes on to state that "the residents of Amona are not interested in this 'alternative' or any other one; the relocation of the community to Shevut Rachel or any other place is totally out of the question; we will not cooperate with any plan of this nature."
"Contact was never made with us regarding 'the Shevut Rachel solution.' We never appointed a representative to judge on this matter in our name. Any contact that was made in this matter was not in accordance with our wishes and is unacceptable to us."
The residents also sent a thinly-veiled threat, whereby, "if need be, we will voice our opinion to the court as well."
Nevertheless, the residents hinted that they would be ready to accept the 'absentee property plan,' whereby demolition of the community is contingent on the completion of housing adjacent to the current location of the community and which, at this stage, seems to have gotten stymied: "We will be happy to deliberate with relevant authorities on any solution whereby Amona will stay in place - within the context of the State's obligation to carry out the verdict."
"In summary, we give our thanks for the efforts to regulate the status of Amona; we are certain that the matter is in your hands, and that you are aware of the unneeded injustice inherent in the destruction of a Jewish community and the expulsion of its inhabitants, and the difficult ethical, public, political, and even humanistic implications inherent in such destruction," the three representatives concluded.
6. WILL US RECLASSIFY ISRAELIS FROM WHITE TO MIDDLE EASTERN?
by ILTV
[brightcove:2020264]
7. DID OBAMA LIE ABOUT CLINTON EMAILS?
by David Rosenberg
While President Obama has in the past denied have prior knowledge of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system, the latest Wikileaks email release is calling that claim into question – and potentially exposing the president in a televised lie.
After news of Clinton's personal email server first broke in March, 2015, President Obama was asked about her use of the system during her tenure as Secretary of State and whether he was aware she had used it for official business.
In the March 7th, 2015 interview, President Obama denied knowing about the system, saying he first heard about the system "the same time everybody else learned it through news reports."
After an investigation in the House of Representatives subpoenaed the emails, Clinton campaign chief John Podesta sent an email to senior Clinton aide Cheryl Mills noting the existence of Clinton emails "to and from" President Obama, and suggesting they be withheld from the investigation via executive privilege.
"Think we should hold emails to and from POTUS [President Obama]? That's the heart of his exec privilege."
Now, in the latest Wikileaks dump, a March 7th, 2015 email from Mills to Podesta has been released to the public, confirming that President Obama did in fact have emails from Mrs. Clinton's private email server.
"[W]e need to clean this up," Mills warned to Podesta, "he has emails from her - they do not say state.gov."
That email was sent by Mills to Clinton's campaign manager the same day President Obama claimed he had no prior knowledge of Clinton's email system, despite the fact that her email address did not, as Mills noted, end in state.gov, indicating a government issued email from a state server.
8. UNDERSTANDING THE WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE OF THE US ECONOMY
by ILTV
[brightcove:2020262]
------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/
