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Sunday, Dec. 11 '16, י"א בכסלו תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. LEFTIST CRITIC 'DISAPPOINTED, CONCERNED, BUT STILL BELIEVES'
2. SECURITY FORCES PREVENT HEVRON TERROR ATTACK
3. MK GLICK: I WANT ARABS TO VOTE FOR ME
4. HEZBOLLAH DENIES IT WON'T RESPOND TO IDF ATTACKS IN SYRIA
5. KNESSET SPEAKER TO STUDENTS: DON'T LEARN FROM THE MKS
6. GAZA MAN SELLS DIGGING TOOLS TO HAMAS
7. TRUMP NAMES EXXON CEO AS SECRETARY OF STATE
8. CAIRO EXPLOSION KILLS 25
1. LEFTIST CRITIC 'DISAPPOINTED, CONCERNED, BUT STILL BELIEVES'
by Hezki Baruch
In a Channel 2 interview at the Saban Forum, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who is known as a fierce critic of Israel, spoke to journalist Dana Weiss regarding President-elect Donald Trump's presidential victory.
Have you gotten used to the idea of President Donald Trump?
I fully recognize he won, he won fair and square, he won more electoral votes. I have no problem saying "President Donald Trump." I'm hoping for the best. But I'll never forget we did something reckless. It may turn out that this reckless thing, this shake of the dice, will have more good impacts than bad, and it may not. But one thing is indisputable to me, we've done something more reckless than we've ever done as a nation in my lifetime. But there you have it - he's our president, and I'm ready now to be open-minded and give him a chance.
Minister Bennett said Trump's election is an historical change for Israel. Many share his view. Should they open champagne bottles or should they wait?
I had a chance to talk a little with Minister Bennett about it. Israel has never been "more home alone" in my lifetime. In terms of not being abandoned, America's friendship is stronger than ever. But in terms of its freedom of action it can do whatever it wants. Israel is home alone. What it chooses to do or not do, more will be on you than ever before. I hope it chooses wisely....I don't see him [Trump] coming out with a speech and demanding Israel freeze settlements.
Do you see him investing time and effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
He has no conception, frankly, of the amount of energy and political capital an American president would have to spend to cut a deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
Should Netanyahu expect an easier four years in Washington, with Trump in the White House and not Obama? It's not a secret that it wasn't the best relationship, between Obama and Netanyahu.
If you look at Israel today on the surface, the waters have never more calm.
But if you look underneath the surface, there are treadlines there, that if Israel doesn't get ahead of them, in a creative and imaginative way, if it just sits back and enjoys the calm and lets the inertia and dynamism of Israeli politics to take its hold and take Israel deeper into the West Bank - it could find itself five years from now saying, "If only we had had a Clinton pushing us when we needed to be pushed."
My viewers can say, "You still don't get it. After you've failed to get what's going on in these elections, you've failed to understand what's going on in Jerusalem."
Maybe they're right. Let's talk in four years. Maybe they're right, and I'm perfectly open to that. Maybe Israel will be better off in fact with a one-state solution. Maybe that is the only solution left. I really don't know. My criticism of Israel is not that she's not withdrawing from the West Bank. I understand the security environment, I've lived in the Arab world and I'm not ignorant, but prudence tells me not that Israel should surrender, should withdraw, should say "yes" to BDS. But it should show a little imagination, when it has such overwhelming power to shape its environment to reduce the odds that these landmines out there may be ignited in the future.
If Israel were stock, I would buy it. Because in the age of acceleration, I think it has a lot of very strong attributes to thrive. But it lives in a neighborhood were you're going to see a lot of collapsing states. I don't think Syria is the last. And the accelerations are like a tornado... The biggest fence you're going to have to build is not to Palestinians, and not even to the Arab world. It's going to have to be to the masses of people who want to get out of the world of disorder into the world of order... Look what's happened to Europe - and that's just the beginning.
Friedman has voiced strong anti-Israel opinions in the past, even going so far as to say Washington was "surrounded by Zionist conspirators" who held former President George Bush under "house arrest." His current interview may well reflect a change of thinking influenced by the end of US President Barack Obama's term in the White House.
2. SECURITY FORCES PREVENT HEVRON TERROR ATTACK
by Ido Ben Porat
Israeli security forces managed to arrest at a security checkpoint an Arab who intended to carry out a stabbing attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Mearat Hamachpela) in Hevron.
An initial body search of the suspect found no weapons, and the 22-year-old Hevron resident was taken for questioning.
Police Foreign press spokesman wrote, "Border police arrested a suspect who was planning on carrying out an attack at the Cave of the Patriachs in Hevron. The suspect was arrested after concrete intelligence was received and border police responded in proportion to the threat.
"The suspect, a 22 year old resident of Hevron, was arrested and is being questioned. He was stopped before he managed] to carry out the attack. Security measures by police and border police are on the alert and continue to prevent terror attacks from taking place."
Just last Friday, Israel Police and the Shabak arrested eight Jerusalem Arabs who planned to carry out a shooting attack on an IDF base in northern Jerusalem.
3. MK GLICK: I WANT ARABS TO VOTE FOR ME
by Reut Hadar
MK Yehuda Glick (Likud) attacked coalition chairman David Bitan (Likud) for saying on Saturday that he preferred Arabs not vote in Israeli elections.
"The hope that there will be those who do not vote stems from a lack of self-esteem. I don't want the Arabs to refrain from voting for me," Glick told Galei Zahal Radio. "I suggest we all refrain from generalizations, and focus on wanting everyone to take part in Israeli democracy."
Glick also warned, "Woe is us if there is a sector of Israeli society who does not feel they have any part in democracy and has no desire to participate in Israeli elections."
Though Bitan has received much criticism for his statement, he stands behind his words.
"I don't think this needed to be rephrased, I think I said correctly and I think it was the right thing to say. The Joint Arab List does not represent the identity of Israeli Arabs, even though 97% of Arab voters voted for the Joint Arab List," he explained.
4. HEZBOLLAH DENIES IT WON'T RESPOND TO IDF ATTACKS IN SYRIA
by Shlomo Vile
The Lebanese network Al-Manar TV, affiliated with Hezbollah, read a statement from the organization denying that it would refrain from responding to Israeli attacks in Syria.
"The publications of websites and various media outlets quoted by the enemy are not true. Hezbollah is under no obligation to Russia to not respond to Israel's shelling of targets in Syria. What was published is not true and is completely false," the statement said.
Earlier it was reported that the El-Mezzeh military airport in Damascus had been attacked by the Israeli forces.
Hezbollah has previously attacked Israel in response to previous reported Israeli strikes. In January, 2015, following a reported Israeli strike on a convoy of Hezbollah and Iranian military forces on the Golan Heights, Hezbollah shot a volley of guided missiles at an Israeli convoy near the Lebanese border, killing a soldier and a commander in their vehicle.
Russia is heavily backing the Assad regime and their Hezbollah allies in the Syrian Civil War. The rumors, denied by Hezbollah, were that Moscow ordered Hezbollah to show restraint in its attacks on Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF are reported to have been in close contact with Russian President Putin and the Russian Defense Ministry over new coordination procedures for ensuring that the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft batteries in Syria are not used against Israeli forces.
5. KNESSET SPEAKER TO STUDENTS: DON'T LEARN FROM THE MKS
by Hezki Baruch
"I hope you don't learn from the Knesset members who are not acting appropriately," Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) told students who visited the Knesset on Sunday. "I hope you will tell your representatives that you expect them to act properly."
"I have no easy solutions. I have an ethics committee and a hammer, but if the public would speak out against verbal abuse, things would be different," he continued. "There is a committee who makes the decisions. It doesn't look good for people to be discussing their own salaries, and it's hard to find a balance. I think Israel's president should elect a committee which will meet every few months and decide how much the Prime Minister and the judges should be earning."
Edelstein also spoke about how the government is elected.
"We've tried to switch to direct elections. I think politics are more complicated. Even though it's unstable, only the system we have ensures everyone is represented in the Knesset. I am against raising the number of seats required to enter the coalition. it's not healthy and it's not right," he said.
6. GAZA MAN SELLS DIGGING TOOLS TO HAMAS
by Shlomo Pyutrikovsky
The South District Attorney's office submitted on Sunday an indictment to Hashalom Court in Be'er Sheva against Ra'ad Shemlach, citing numerous security offenses.
Shemlach, who is a Gaza merchant, reportedly used his entry permits into Israel to connect with another Gaza merchant for the purposes of smuggling into Gaza mechanical engineering equipment during the year 2016.
The indictment also says Shemlach sold tunnel digging equipment to Hamas, with the knowledge that Hamas would use the equipment to dig terror tunnels into Israel.
Shemlach was granted entry into Israel for business purposes. He is being charged for providing services or goods to terror organizations, as well as several other crimes.
The District Attorney requested Hashalom Court immediately detain Shemlach until all proceedings were successfully completed.
Shemlach is not the only Gazan abusing his entry permit into Israel. Last month, an indictment was filed against a Gaza fisherman who smuggled terror equipment for Hamas, and in September, a Gaza merchant was charged with smuggling diving equipment to Hamas' military wing.
7. TRUMP NAMES EXXON CEO AS SECRETARY OF STATE
by Chana Roberts
According to a report by NBC News, US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Exxon Mobil Corp CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next Secretary of State.
According to the reports, Trump met with Tillerson on Saturday morning.
Tillerson has faced significant criticism as a result of a 2011 business deal with Russia's largest state-owned oil company and reports that he has close ties with the Russian government.
Trump and Tillerson met last Tuesday, and may meet again over the weekend.
Sources caution nothing is official until Trump announces it himself, as he is expected to do next week.
Previously, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former UN Ambassador John Bolton were thought to be leading candidates for the position.
Though Giuliani withdrew himself from consideration, Bolton is expected to become Tillerson's Deputy Secretary of State.
8. CAIRO EXPLOSION KILLS 25
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2021889]
Egyptian officials have reported an explosion near the Coptic cathedral in Cairo killed 25 people and injured 38 others.
The explosion happened during prayers, around 10am local time.
According to reports, dozens of the injured are women and children who were at the cathedral at the time of the explosion.
Though it is not yet clear what caused the blast, Egyptian media reports an unidentified woman placed a device containing 6 kilograms of explosives inside the cathedral, then detonated it by remote control. Experts also say the severity of the attack may point to a suicide operation.
This attack comes only two days after an explosion killed six Egyptian policemen near the Giza pyramids.
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