Arutz Sheva Email Newsletter for Print and Mobile: January 2017

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

A7News: Amona residents ordered to evacuate

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Tuesday, Jan. 31 '17, ד' בשבט תשע"ז

HEADLINES:
1. AMONA RESIDENTS ORDERED TO EVACUATE
2. FATAH: HOW DARE UN CHIEF SPEAK OF JEWISH TEMPLE IN J'LEM?
3. 'I ACTED BECAUSE I CARE'
4. NY TIMES REFUSES TO CORRECT ERRORS IN MIDDLE EAST REPORTING
5. NETANYAHU: 'WALL' TWEET WAS NOT AN INSULT TO MEXICO
6. WATCH: NETANYAHU SAYS IRAN'S AGGRESSION MUST NOT GO UNANSWERED
7. POLL SHOWS STRONG BACKING FOR TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER
8. TESTIMONIES OF THE FORGOTTEN REFUGEES

1. AMONA RESIDENTS ORDERED TO EVACUATE
by David Rosenberg

Residents of the embattled town of Amona in Samaria have been ordered to abandon their homes and evacuate by the end of the day.

An army order posted in Amona Monday night warns that a general closure on the town will be imposed within 48 hours.

According to the order, all property must be removed by residents before Wednesday.

"After 48 hours, no person will be allowed to enter this area or permitted to stay in it. After 48 hours, every person located in this area will be obligated to leave."

"Owners… of any property found in the area declared [closed by this order] will be obligated to remove it."

Earlier on Monday, residents spotted army engineers preparing a new access road from Route 60 directly to Amona – apparently the first step in the planned evacuation of the town.

As part of a compromise agreement worked out by Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the 42 families of Amona were to peacefully evacuate their homes in exchange for two things: one, passage of the Regulation Law, which would protect other Jewish communities from expulsion over ownership claims made years after their construction.

In addition, the agreement provided for the relocation of 24 of the 42 families to alternative plots on the same hill where Amona currently stands. New homes and public buildings were promised as part of the deal, as well as a new community for the remaining 18 families, who would be resettled near Shilo.

Amona residents voted to accept the agreement, and the Supreme Court granted a delay in the implementation of the evacuation orders, pushing back the demolition from December 25th to no later than February 8th.

Since the inking of the deal, however, residents say no work has yet been done on the new neighborhood promised under the agreement. Amona residents have nowhere to go.

Last week, the Supreme Court intervened, placing a temporary restraining order barring work on the plots allotted for the new neighborhood due to leftist NGOs claims that the land was private Arab land.

Supporters of Amona demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday against the upcoming expulsion. Among those protesting the planned demolition were Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, former MK Aryeh Eldad, Nobel laureate Dr. Israel Aumann, and Rabbi Haim Druckman.

In a further blow to the Amona deal, the Knesset announced on Tuesday that voting on the Regulation Law, a key component of the agreement, would be delayed yet again. While the bill was set to be voted upon this week, the Knesset declared no moves would be taken on the proposal prior to February 6th.

2. FATAH: HOW DARE UN CHIEF SPEAK OF JEWISH TEMPLE IN J'LEM?
by Hillel Fendel

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Saturday night that it is "clear" to him the Holy Temple destroyed by the Romans over 19 centuries ago was a Jewish Temple. He made the remarks in an interview with a reporter from Reshet Bet, a Voice of Israel radio channel.

Fatah did not tarry in responding with fury. The Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Faiz Abu Ita, appeared on Palestinian Authority Television shortly afterwards and said that this declaration is "infuriating" and "unjustified" from "ethical, humanitarian, and political" standpoints. Abu Ita went further and said that such remarks are a "direct attack on the Palestinian nation [sic] in Jerusalem" and are a "display of admiration for the occupying power."

Although Arab spokesmen have taken to denying the Jewish People's historic connections with their Holy City in recent years, it wasn't always this way – and in fact, even Jerusalem's Muslim Waqf does not agree with this groundless claim. Back in 1925, the Supreme Moslem Council – i.e., the Waqf, which has overseen Temple Mount activities on behalf of Islam for hundreds of years - boasted proudly that the site is none other than that of King Solomon's Temple.

A copy of the booklet in which this claim is made is in the possession of the Jerusalem-based Temple Institute. On page 4, the Waqf states that the Mount's "identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute." It then quotes the Biblical book of Samuel II indicating that it is also the spot, "according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the L-rd...'"

3. 'I ACTED BECAUSE I CARE'
by Nitzan Keidar

The sentencing phase of the trial of soldier Elor Azariya continues today with the testimony of Kfir Brigade commander Guy Hazut and National Union Head Ofir Sofer.

Sofer previously mediated a meeting between Hazut and Azariya's father, Charlie, during which Hazut attempted to convince Charlie not to appeal the court's verdict and to replace Azariya's defense team.

Hazut will testify at the request of Azariya's defense team, who had claimed that Hazut's words to Charlie manifested an obstruction of justice. The court had rejected the claim of the defense on grounds that the conversation between the two had taken place after the verdict had already been handed down.

Nevertheless, the Commander is to be called to the stand in order to ascertain whether words that were spoken during the meeting have any bearing on the sentence to be given to Azariya.

Speaking in the military court, Sofer said, "I acted of my own accord because I care. I tried to help, out of an understanding that the verdict was harsh."

Sofer testified that he had not spoken with other senior military officials to clarify how to prevent Azariya from appealing.

Azariya's team asked Sofer if he was ready to hand over his cell phone to allow verification that he was speaking the truth. Sofer responded, "I need to consult an attorney, but I am speaking the truth. The phone serves me at work, and I am not sure that I want to expose it."

Sofer criticized the press as well as the defense team representing Azariya's family. "[In the Azariya's,] I met a family with a completely different public presence [than is projected by the media]. A family that loves the Army and the IDF, and which, despite all the pain it is going through now, still is loyal to the State and the Army."

4. NY TIMES REFUSES TO CORRECT ERRORS IN MIDDLE EAST REPORTING
by Hillel Fendel

While the New York Times boasts of its "fact-based journalism," the CAMERA media watchdog organization reports on several examples of misinformation the newspaper has reported in recent weeks regarding Israel and the PA – yet refuses to correct.

The issues, in brief, are these:

1. The Times wrote, on Dec. 29, that "most governments and world bodies have set achievement of the two-state solution as official policy, including the United States, the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel."

However, in fact, many PA leaders refuse to accept this solution. Nabil Shaath, for instance, said, "The story of 'two states for two peoples' means that there will be a Jewish people over there and a Palestinian people here. We will never accept this." Mahmoud Abbas has made similar statements.

CAMERA – The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting – states, "New York Times editors have refused to set readers straight with a correction — despite repeated requests from CAMERA that they do so."

2. On January 16, the Times reported that Donald Trump has "vowed to support Israel no matter what." When asked to provide a source for this claim, the newspaper told CAMERA it had no specific vow in mind, but rather was referring to Trump's "collective positions." The newspaper has refused to correct the misinformation, CAMERA reports.

3. The Times calls Judea and Samaria "Palestinian territory," instead of referring to it as "disputed territory," as it does in many other cases around the world. Formal agreements between Israel and the PA state that the status of Judea and Samaria is still to be determined in negotiations between the parties, yet the Times insists that it is justified in calling them "Palestinian."

4. Finally, The Times' report on the recent Paris conference resolution is wrong on two accounts. It stated that the participating countries issued a joint communiqué calling for "a return to the 1967 boundaries between the Israelis and Palestinians, including the removal of Israeli settlements from the West Bank."

In fact, however, the communiqué says not a word about a removal of settlements, but rather calls on the parties to "reverse the current negative trends on the ground, including continued acts of violence and ongoing settlement activity."

Similarly, the resolution does not mention "boundaries" at all. It calls for a solution that should "fully end the occupation that began in 1967," but diplomatic declarations of this sort generally come with statements that there will actually be changes to the former dividing line. Even ex-Secretary of State John Kerry recently called for both a full end to the occupation and a withdrawal to something other than the 1967 boundaries.

5. NETANYAHU: 'WALL' TWEET WAS NOT AN INSULT TO MEXICO
by David Rosenberg

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke out Tuesday on the recent diplomatic flap with the Mexican government, regarding a tweet by Netanyahu widely perceived as an endorsement of President Trump's proposed barrier along the US-Mexico border.

Speaking at CyberTech conference in Tel Aviv, the Prime Minister said he wished to "clarify" his tweet, noting that he had not addressed Mexico, America's relationship with Mexico, or his own government's ties with that of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Netanyahu said that his comment had merely affirmed the success of Israel's own border barrier, which Trump has often cited in his arguments in favor of an American border wall.

"I take this opportunity to explain or clarify what I did and did not say in my tweet the other night," said Netanyahu. "I thought you'd be interested in that. I did point out the remarkable success of Israel's security fence. But I did not comment about US-Mexico relations."

"We've had, and will continue to have, good relations with Mexico. And I believe our ties are much stronger than any passing disagreement or misunderstanding. And in fact, I've had a long, fruitful and very friendly relationship with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and it will continue."

In an interview last week with Fox News, Trump pointed to Israel's use of physical barriers on its border with Egypt to reduce illegal immigration.

"It's not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation," Trump said. "All you have to do is ask Israel. They were having a total disaster coming across, and they had a wall. It's 99.9% stoppage."

"A proper wall...I'm talking about a real wall...and even that, of course, you'll have people violate it, but we'll have people waiting for them when they do."

On Saturday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded in a tweet, affirming the efficacy of Israel's border wall and wishing the US good luck in building similar a barrier.

"The wall I built all along Israel's southern border stopped the illegal immigration from that direction. Good luck, it's a great idea."

Netanyahu's tweet sparked a diplomatic backlash from the Mexican government, which has criticized Trump's plan to build a wall on the US-Mexican border.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray later demanded an apology from Netanyahu, saying the tweet "felt like an aggressive act".

The Prime Minister refused, but after reportedly being pressed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas), agreed to "clarify' his Twitter post.

6. WATCH: NETANYAHU SAYS IRAN'S AGGRESSION MUST NOT GO UNANSWERED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

[youtube:2023895]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded on his Facebook page to the report that Iran had test-fired a ballistic missile in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

The Prime Minister wrote: "Iran has launched a ballistic missile again. This is a flagrant violation of a UN Security Council resolution. At my upcoming meeting with President Trump in Washington, I intend to raise the renewal of sanctions against Iran in this context and in other contexts. Iranian aggression must not go unanswered."

7. POLL SHOWS STRONG BACKING FOR TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER
by David Rosenberg

While a sweeping executive order signed by President Trump last Friday drew furious protests from the left and condemnation from Democratic governors and foreign leaders, American voters strongly back the move, a new poll by Rasmussen Reports shows.

Fulfilling a campaign promise to temporarily halt the entry of asylum seekers and citizens of countries identified as high-risk centers for terrorism, Trump signed the executive order suspending America's refugee program at the end of his first full week in office until vetting procedures are in place.

Under the new directive, no asylum seekers will be permitted into the US for a period of 120 days. In addition, the order creates a general ban on refugees from Syria for an indefinite period of time. Also, all foreign nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – including green-card holders – would be barred from entering the United States for 90 days.

The order elicited vocal protest from the left, which held demonstrations at airports across the United States.

But according to a pair of new polls released on Monday, American voters approve of the executive order.

A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 likely voters shows 57% back the temporary ban on refugees from the seven Muslim countries named by the order, while just 33% oppose the move. Similarly, 56% support the temporary entry ban for visa-holders from those same seven nations. Thirty-two percent oppose this measure.

Overwhelming majorities of self-identified Republicans and independents back the refugee ban, while most Democrats oppose it. Eighty-two percent of Republicans said they favored the ban, along with 59% of independents. Democrats were split 53% - 34% against the ban.

A second poll, conducted by Quinnipiac, also suggests Americans back the executive order, albeit by a narrower margin.

According to the Quinnipiac survey of registered voters, 48% back suspending immigration from "terror prone regions", including refusing entry to refugees from those areas, while 42% opposed such a move.

Broken down by partisan affiliation, 72% of self-identified Republicans say they supported the ban, along with 49% of independents and 24% of Democrats. By contrast, 66% of Democrats, 42% of independents, and 17% of Republicans say they opposed the move.

8. TESTIMONIES OF THE FORGOTTEN REFUGEES

[קישורים:4:]

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Monday, January 30, 2017

A7News: Will Trump's executive action block Israelis from entering US?

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Monday, Jan. 30 '17, ג' בשבט תשע"ז

HEADLINES:
1. WILL TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ACTION BLOCK ISRAELIS FROM ENTERING US?
2. 'HER BODY EXPLODED IN THE ZIONISTS' FACES'
3. IVANKA TRUMP, KUSHNER HOST TRUMP CABINET MEMBERS FOR SHABBAT
4. WATCH: 'FROM PALESTINE TO MEXICO, ALL THE BORDERS GOT TO GO!'
5. COMING SOON: MIXED-GENDER IDF BOOT CAMP
6. SHAKED TO GERMANY: NO REASON TO DEMOLISH 'SETTLEMENTS'
7. LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR MURDERER OF SHALOM SHERKI
8. RELIGIOUS ISRAELI TV STAR'S RECIPE FOR SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE

1. WILL TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ACTION BLOCK ISRAELIS FROM ENTERING US?
by Arutz Sheva Staff

The Israeli government is reaching out Monday to Trump administration officials for clarification regarding the implications of Friday's sweeping executive order restricting refugees and the entry of citizens of seven countries into the United States.

According to the order, nationals of Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia will be banned from entering the United States for 90 days, giving the administration time to assess terror threats and revamp the vetting process for entry into the US.

But it was unclear if this directive would impact tens of thousands of Jews living in Israel who were born in any of those seven countries.

Israel is home to around 140,000 people born in the seven countries covered by the decree, including around 45,000 Iranians and 53,000 Iraqis, according to official statistics.

The majority are over the age of 65 and many fled persecution. Their Israeli passports say where they were born.

The US Consulate in Jerusalem referred a question by AFP to the US State Department, which was still unable to clarify whether the ban includes Israeli Jews several hours after being asked to respond.

The Israeli authorities were also seeking clarification, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP.

Michael Wildes, a partner at the Wildes and Weinberg immigration law firm in the US and a former public prosecutor, said the wording of Trump's order was unclear.

He explained that the order refers to "aliens from countries" but does not explain how citizenship is defined.

"Either Congress is going to legislate or the president is going to clarify the executive order but until then I advise anybody who hails from those countries against travelling."

David Bier, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, agreed it was unclear how the law would be enforced.

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli and professor of Iranian politics at Israel's IDC Herzliya University, said Israelis born in those countries were "concerned" by the uncertainty.

"It shows the chaos and lack of preparation (in the US)."

Some US allies say they have received partial exemptions, allowing their citizens to travel to the US regardless of their place of birth.

Britain announced late Sunday its citizens had been given a partial exemption from the ban, allowing them to travel even if they originally come from one of the seven countries.

The clarification came after Mo Farah, a Somali born four-time British Olympic gold medalist, was advised he might not be able to return to his home in the US despite not having Somali citizenship.

AFP contributed to this report

2. 'HER BODY EXPLODED IN THE ZIONISTS' FACES'
by David Rosenberg

The ruling Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority published a series of posts on social media outlets praising terrorists responsible for the murder of Israeli Jews, the Palestinian Media Watch organization reported on Sunday.

Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, commemorated Wafa Idris on Friday, noting she was the first female suicide bomber to attack Israelis.

The Facebook post, which was prominently displayed on Fatah's official page, praised Idris as a "martyr" and glorified her January 27th, 2002 suicide bombing which killed 81-year Pinhas Tokatli and wounded more than 100.

"Today is the 15th anniversary of the first martyrdom-seeking operation of the Al-Aqsa Intifada which was carried out by martyrdom-seeker Wafa Idris, a daughter of the Fatah Movement. She planted an explosive belt on her body on Jaffa Street in occupied Jerusalem, so that her pure body would explode into pieces in the Zionists' faces. One Israeli was killed in the operation and an additional 90 were wounded [sic., over 100]."

Earlier this month, Fatah honored another terrorist with a post commemorating the 15th anniversary of the death of Raed Al-Karmi, Palestinian Media Watch reported.

Al-Karmi, who was praised by Fatah as "the settler hunter", murdered Etgar Zeituni, Motti Dayan, and Elie Naaman in two attacks in 2001. He was also responsible for planning the murder of six others.

Fatah noted approvingly that Al-Karmi had been inculcated with anti-Semitic ideas since he was a child.

"He loved the game 'Jews and Arabs,' a game that children of the neighborhood would play. He always played the role of the Arab who, with his simple weapon, attacked the treacherous Jew who occupied his homeland and settled in it."

After he was killed by IDF forces in 2002, Fatah claims Al-Karmi inspired a new wave of terror attacks against Jews, including a murderous suicide bombing at a Bat Mitzvah celebration.

Fatah post commemorating Wafa Idris Palestinian Media Watch
Fatah post commemorating Raed Al-Karmi Palestinian Media Watch

3. IVANKA TRUMP, KUSHNER HOST TRUMP CABINET MEMBERS FOR SHABBAT
by JTA

JTA - Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump hosted several members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet for a Shabbat dinner this past Friday.

The London-based Daily Mail published photos of food and caterers, flowers and a makeup artist arriving at the Kushner's new home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington DC. Local Chabad rabbi Levi Shemtov also was photographed outside of their house on Friday afternoon.

Photos showed Secret Service agents inspecting boxes of food as well as floral arrangements, and the delivery men who brought them, as they arrived at the couples' home.

Photos taken clandestinely by the Daily Mail also showed guests arriving including: Department of Commerce nominee Wilbur Ross and his wife Hilary Geary Ross; Trump Strategic Communications Director Hope Hicks; Ivanka Trump's unofficial adviser Dina Habib Powell also joined the celebration; former president of Goldman Sachs and top economic policy adviser Gary Cohn; and Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin and his partner Louise Linton.

The gathering is the first indication of how the Kushner-Trump power couple will combine their White House roles with the demands of Shabbat.

Ivanka Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism before her marriage to Jared Kushner in 2009.

The couple reportedly was given rabbinic permission, for security reasons - which override Shabbat in Jewish law - to ride in a car to and home from inaugural events that took place on Friday night after the start of Shabbat.

4. WATCH: 'FROM PALESTINE TO MEXICO, ALL THE BORDERS GOT TO GO!'
by David Rosenberg

[twittervideo:2023821]

Roughly 1,000 anti-Trump demonstrators converged on the San Francisco International Airport on Saturday to protest an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday temporarily banning asylum seekers from entering the United States and placing restrictions on other entrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Similar demonstrations took place across the country following the signing of the order, and news Friday evening that two Iraqis carrying US visas had been denied entry into the United States.

Along with anti-Trump rhetoric and criticism of the executive order itself, protesters also criticized plans by the president to expand the barrier along America's southern border. Walls and fences currently span some 600 miles of the 2,000 mile US-Mexico border, and Donald Trump has pledged to expand those barriers to cover the remaining 1,400 miles.

Protesters also lashed out at the State of Israel, comparing its security barrier, built following a wave of massive suicide bombing attacks, to the wall Trump has proposed for America's southern border, with chants of "From Palestine to Mexico all the borders got to go!"

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee trashed the executive order, calling it "disgusting", while California Lieutenant Governor and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom participated in the SFO protest.

5. COMING SOON: MIXED-GENDER IDF BOOT CAMP
by Hezki Baruch

The IDF is planning to establish a joint male/female basic training and maneuvers base for combat training.

Brig. Gen. Eran Shani, Director of IDF Planning and Human Resources, made the revelation at a Knesset meeting on the integration of women into combat roles. The base to be set up will be used for basic and more advanced stages of training, and will serve male and female soldiers together.

A number of months ago a storm erupted over the IDF decision to examine extensive integration of women into combat units, including infantry.

Brig. Gen. Avigdor Kahalani was at the time interviewed by Kalman Libskind on Galei Yisrael radio and said that "the role of a woman is to be a mother and have children." Kahalani also said during the interview: "There is no reason in the world to take women to drive tanks or storm the battlefield with a knife between her teeth."

Chief of Staff Gad Eizenkot criticized the comments at a meeting with high school students: "Kahalani is a hero in Israel and he was my commander. But if this statement was truly said it is unworthy and does not characterize the IDF."

The Chief of Staff argued then that opening combat professions to women will not be at the expense of religious soldiers. "The outcry was unnecessary at the time and was not right. It does not add anything," said Eizenkot.

[video:2023865]

6. SHAKED TO GERMANY: NO REASON TO DEMOLISH 'SETTLEMENTS'
by Hezki Baruch

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked met Monday morning with a delegation from the Judiciary and Consumer Protection Committee of the German parliament.

At the meeting held at the King David Hotel, the Justice Minister was asked why she supports the Regulation Law.

Shaked replied: "It is enough that today we have aerial photos of Route 60 that show cultivated land, and left-wing organizations jump all over the find and claim Palestinian ownership, while nobody's claiming the land''.

She said, ''This situation causes destruction of homes and beyond that, nothing happens. Then there is an evacuation instead of paying for these lands and rectifying the legal situation".

Minister Shaked stressed that "the international community should no longer stand idly by and act against this infuriating law - the death penalty hangs over the heads of those who sell land to Jews, which violates their basic human rights. The community must intervene and act to enable Palestinians wishing to sell those lands."

7. LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR MURDERER OF SHALOM SHERKI
by Ido Ben-Porat

The Jerusalem District Court sentenced Khaled Kutina today (Monday) to life plus 20 years in prison for the murder of Shalom Sherki in a terror attack in Jerusalem.

Kutina was convicted of murder and attempted murder. His indictment indicates that he acted out of nationalist motivations aiming to avenge the difficult lives, he claimed, of Shuafat refugee camp residents.

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2015, Kutina drove his car on Highway 1 in Jerusalem northbound toward Pisgat Ze'ev, reaching Police National Headquarters, stopping at a red light. When the light changed he revved his engine, swerved from the left lane quickly toward the right path over the curb and hit the two young Jews standing at the bus stop. Sherki was killed in the attack, which left one other person injured.

Immediately afterwards Kutina reversed his car and collided with a traffic pole. Jerusalem police and Border Police arrived at the scene and arrested him. Investigation of the attack was performed by Jerusalem police's Special Duties Squad in cooperation with the General Security Service.

A few months ago, scores of people attended the murderer's hearing in the Jerusalem District Court. The murderer tried arguing during the trial that he remembers nothing about the attack.

8. RELIGIOUS ISRAELI TV STAR'S RECIPE FOR SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE
by Uzi Baruch

An appreciation dinner was held on Sunday in honor of mothers of Bnei Akiva yeshiva students at Neve Herzog in Nir Galim, near Ashdod.

"This evening is dedicated to giving thanks to those mothers who work constantly, yet because of our busy routine we just don't get to stop and say thank you," said Shimon Iluz, manager of the yeshiva.

[youtube:2005541]

The evening opened with a long row of stalls, all intended for mothers including cosmetics, clothing, and toiletries. In addition, mothers were treated to a luxurious dinner in their honor. Afterwards the women gathered for a talk with the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Meir Edri.

TV host and actress Eden Harel told the women how she left home in the north of the country at 17 and began to integrate into the Tel Aviv scene as a bartender. Then, without too many expectations, she went to audition for the role of presenter for MTV, beating 700 competitors, some of whom were very well-known figures in the worldwide entertainment industry.

Once she received the coveted post, Harel says she still felt something was missing. "I realized that I needed to seek spiritual answers so I started learning yoga in London, looking for the essence and purpose of my life and to try to understand what I'm really doing here in the universe."

Harel's search for spirituality led her to leave the entertainment world and travel to far-off India. "Through yoga I found a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in London, a bit similar to Judaism."

When she reached the monastery she hoped to draw the spirituality that she was so urgently seeking, but a surprise awaited her: "I came to the head of the monastery and told him I wanted to be a Buddhist nun. He laughed and asked me,'What, are you Jewish?' I replied: 'Yes, there is a problem?' He replied: 'I have no problem, but you have a real problem: You don't belong here. So I spent a year in an Indian monastery, but I felt like this isn't it; I'm missing something."

Returning to Israel she met Oded Menashe on a television program. They married and today have a religious Jewish home with five children. Harel marvels at Judaism. "We must tell everyone about Shabbat and family purity; this is the recipe for a good relationship. If everyone would know about family purity there would be less divorce in Israel. It does magic for a relationship".

[youtube:2023863]

A particularly moving moment of the evening occurred when letters written by the children in advance were waiting for the mothers in one of the classrooms.

Quite a few mothers were moved to tears. "It's so exciting and satisfying to take part in an evening dedicated entirely to us mothers. When I read the letter my son wrote, I could not help but cry," said Yifat Nahari, a mother, adding, "In today's world, the importance of interpersonal communication is very significant."

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Sunday, January 29, 2017

BABA SALI's special blessing

The hilula (yahrtzeit) of the holy

BABA SALI, RAV YISRAEL ABUCHATZEIRA zt"l, is this coming Tuesday. (CLICK HERE)

YAD L'ACHIM HAS ARRANGED FOR TALMIDEI CHACHAMIM, INCLUDING GRANDSONS OF BABA SALI TO DAVEN AT BABA SALI'S KEVER ON THE DAY OF HIS YAHRTZEIT – TEFILLOS CAN BE FOR

SHIDDUCHIM, PARNASSAH, HEALTH, CHILDREN AND ALL PERSONAL REQUESTS

The Baba Sali zt"l was very close to Yad L'Achim and encouraged us in our work every step of the way. Shortly before his passing, he penned a letter of great inspiration and encouraging Klal Yisrael to support Yad L'Achim. He included a bracha (blessing) to all who support Yad L'Achim – from the letter -

הנה בא לפני גודל המעשים של ארגון יד לאחים. . וה' הטוב יביא ברכת טוב על כל המחזיקים ידם"

… and Hashem, who is kind will bring good blessings to all who support their hand"

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A7News: Netanyahu: US Embassy needs to be in Jerusalem

Friday, January 27, 2017

A7News: 'Germany dishonoring the memory of the murdered Six Million'

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Friday, Jan. 27 '17, כ"ט בטבת תשע"ז

HEADLINES:
1. 'GERMANY DISHONORING THE MEMORY OF THE MURDERED SIX MILLION'
2. TWO KILLED IN BUS ACCIDENT IN THE BINYAMIN REGION
3. SECOND VICTIM FROM DEADLY BUS ACCIDENT IN SAMARIA IDENTIFIED
4. GERMAN JOURNALIST: ASSASSINATION OF TRUMP WOULD END 'TRAGEDY'
5. WATCH: TRUCK SMASHES DOZENS OF CARS IN TEL AVIV - THEN FLEES
6. HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY: DISTORTION IN HOLOCAUST MEMORIALIZING
7. TRUMP: I'VE FIXED OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
8. 'HE WAS AN EXEMPLARY FAMILY MAN'

1. 'GERMANY DISHONORING THE MEMORY OF THE MURDERED SIX MILLION'
by David Rosenberg

The government of Germany is providing financial backing to a radical anti-Israel non-governmental organization working to promote the view that the establishment of the Jewish state was a "disaster".

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, activists from the Im Tirtzu organization released a new report documenting foreign aid for "Zochrot", a far-left NGO working to "decolonize" Israel.

A tireless promoter of anti-Zionism, Zochrot advocates for a "right of return" for descendants of Arabs who left Israel during the 1948 War of Independence.

Nor does the group limit its support to a symbolic "right of return", but calls for all so-called "Palestinian refugees" to be absorbed into Israel – a policy which would mark the end of the Jewish state.

Zochrot aims to perpetuate the anti-Zionist "Nakba" narrative, which portrays the establishment and existence of the Jewish state as a "disaster".

According to the group's website, Zochrot mission is to "promote acknowledgement and accountability for the ongoing injustices of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 and the reconceptualization of the Return as the imperative redress of the Nakba."

The group's mission statement makes no mention of the expulsion of 900,000 Jews from the Middle East and North Africa and their loss of property.

In 2014, Zochrot chief Eitan Bronstein and other group officials participated in the production of a video which dubbed the Holocaust "the best thing that ever happened" to the Jewish people.

But despite the group's radical anti-Israel positions, the Im Tirtzu report reveals the German government is one of Zochrot's biggest financial backers.

Based on data gathered by the Israeli Corporations Authority's non-profit registrar, from 2012-2016 the government of Germany gave over 1,100,000 shekels ($290,000) to Zochrot.

The funds were transferred via two German foundations, Misereor and Rosa Luxemberg Stiftung, both of which are funded primarily by the German government.

This despite the fact that an organization established by the German government - the Memory, Responsibility and Future Fund (EVZ) – cut off funding to Zochrot nearly five years ago because of the group's political agenda.

Zochrot engages in a wide variety of activities to delegitimize the Jewish state and promote the anti-Zionist "Nakba" narrative. The group worked with anti-Israel groups on campuses around the world to offer what was dubbed the "Film Festival on Nakba and the Right of Return" during "Israeli Apartheid Week".

The group also released the "iNakba" smartphone application, which was promoted by the Qatari state-funded Al Jazeera media outlet.

While Im Tirtzu has contacted the German Ambassador to Israel over the funding, the German government has yet to issue a response.

"The idea that Germany in 2017 is funding an organization that brazenly seeks to destroy the Jewish character of the State of Israel is a disgrace," Im Tirtzu chief Matan Peleg said.

"This funding not only dishonors the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, but is anti-democratic at its core. This is another painful example of foreign governments working to impose their unwanted policies on the State of Israel from within via anti-Israel NGOs."

2. TWO KILLED IN BUS ACCIDENT IN THE BINYAMIN REGION
by Arutz Sheva Staff

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An Egged bus overturned and fell into a pit 300 meters deep overnight Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven.

The accident took place on Highway 60, on the road to Maaleh Levona, located southwest of the city of Ariel in the Binyamin region.

Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene treated seven victims, among them three with serious injuries, two with moderate injuries and two more who were lightly injured.

The victims were evacuated to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, the Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer and the Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

Fire crews who were called to the scene are searching for passengers who may have been trapped under the bus.

A large number of volunteer paramedics from United Hatzalah rushed to the scene as well.

Menachem Leff, Head of the Binyamin region of United Hatzalah, said, "United Hatzalah first responders who arrived at the scene have requested that lighting be brought, as well as search and rescue crews, fire rescue crews and helicopters be dispatched in order to help reach those on the bus. Due to the extreme nature of the incident, volunteers have also been dispatched from the Jerusalem and Samaria chapters of United Hatzalah."

Michael Chai Cohen, a volunteer from United Hatzalah who arrived at the scene of the accident, said that reaching the overturned bus proved to be very difficult.

"I came from the community of Adam and when I arrived at the scene on foot, together with other volunteers, we had to walk for 10 minutes in the rain and mud until we got to the bus. Unfortunately, upon arrival we found several victims who were unconscious and without a pulse," he said.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said this week that 378 people were killed on the roads in Israel in 2016, an increase of 6% from 2015.

In the last week alone, 11 people were killed in road accidents across the country.

3. SECOND VICTIM FROM DEADLY BUS ACCIDENT IN SAMARIA IDENTIFIED
by David Rosenberg

The identity of the second victim of Thursday's deadly bus accident in Samaria was released to the public Friday afternoon, hours after Avishai Kroani was named as a victim.

Ofir Rahmanov, a 23-year old resident of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem, was killed late Thursday night, when the Egged 462 line bus he was travelling on from Jerusalem to Ariel overturned and fell off a cliff.

The other fatality was the 37-year old bus driver, Kroani, a resident of Ariel. He is survived by his wife, Idit, and their five children.

Seven passengers were injured in the accident.

Victims of the accident were evacuated to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, the Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer and the Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

Of the seven, three are listed in serious condition, another three in moderate condition, and one in light-to-moderate condition.

The accident occurred off of Route 60, on the Maaleh Levona access road. After overturning, the bus slide off the edge of the road and down a cliff, falling some 1,000 feet (305 meters).

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4. GERMAN JOURNALIST: ASSASSINATION OF TRUMP WOULD END 'TRAGEDY'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Josef Joffe, the publisher and editor of the German newspaper Die Zeit, known for its left-wing views, criticized the new administration of US President Donald Trump and implied that the President should be assassinated.

During the television program Media Club on the ARD network, the studio asked guests if it was possible for the citizens of the US to vote Trump out of power to "end the tragedy of Trump," as he termed the now week-old administration.

The first guest on the program, former Die Zeit editor Constanze Stelzenmüller, said that under the US Constitution, "there must be a majority of two thirds in the Senate to impeach the President from office. These legal and political hurdles are very high. A lot needs to occur for this to happen. We are very far off from it."

During her answer, Joffe interrupted with a quicker solution. "Murder in the White House, for example."

US media rushed to report the to the Secret Service that the editor of a German newspaper had called for the murder of the President. The Secret Service informed the American news website Breitbart that they are aware of the comment and that it is under investigation. It is still unclear whether the German police intend to open an investigation against the editor for incitement to murder against the president.

5. WATCH: TRUCK SMASHES DOZENS OF CARS IN TEL AVIV - THEN FLEES
by Arutz Sheva Staff

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A truck driver smashed dozens of parked cars in Tel Aviv Thursday afternoon, causing extensive damage before fleeing the scene.

Part of the incident was filmed by onlookers and forwarded to authorities.

Police units have been deployed to the area and are attempting to locate the driver.

No injuries were reported in any of the accidents stemming from the incident. Police say the incident does not appear to be nationalistically motivated.

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6. HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY: DISTORTION IN HOLOCAUST MEMORIALIZING
by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld

Dr. Gerstenfeld, considered the foremost expert on anti-Semitism in the world today, is former chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and recipient of the LIfetime Achievement Award (2012) of the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism. He founded and directed the Center's Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism program. His latest book is The War of a Million Cuts: The Struggle against the Delegitimization of Israel.

Friday, the 27th of January, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The memorialization of the Holocaust over the decades has led to many controversies. A small, fairly random selection of issues from seven countries will illustrate some facets of this subject.

Currently, a major debate is going on in the German extreme-rightwing AfD Party as well as in German society at large. Bjorn Hoecke, the AfD leader in the federal state of Thuringia, has said that Germans are the "only people in the world who planted a memorial of disgrace in the heart of their capital." He is referring to the stone slabs memorial in Berlin. It opened in 2005 and commemorates the six million Jews of Europe murdered by Germany. The AfD in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg wants to stop the state's subsidy for the French memorial site of the Gurs internment camp, where the Jews of Baden-Württemberg were initially deported.

The first Holocaust monuments in the formerly Nazi-occupied countries were often placed within Jewish environments – synagogues, Jewish institutions, and cemeteries. There was often no interest by authorities, and sometimes even opposition, to having them located in the public domain.

In the Netherlands, the situation has been rather awkward. The first Holocaust-related monument in Amsterdam reflected the distorted attitude of Dutch society in those years. This was a monument of recognition for the gentiles who helped Jews during the war, and was established in 1950. The surviving Jews had apparently been told by the authorities that it would be desirable to put up such a monument.

I passed this monument every day on my way to the Jewish high school. I was, however, too young to understand what was wrong with its establishment at that point in time. In recent years more publicity has been given to this scandalous attitude of the authorities.

Even worse: the Amsterdam authorities opposed the establishment of a monument for the murdered Jews in the main square of the destroyed Jewish quarter. This monument would have been dedicated to the Jewish population of Holland, a majority of whom had been murdered - with Dutch assistance, upfront, in arresting, transporting, and guarding therm.

To add insult to injury, a monument called the "Dockworker" was erected in 1952 in that square, in memory of the two-day solidarity strike with the persecuted Jews by the Amsterdam population in February 1941. The truth is that after those two days, almost all strikers left the Jews to their fate. When the "Dockworker" was put up, M.H. Gans, then editor of the NIW, the Dutch Jewish weekly, wrote: "It is like a monument to anti-aircraft defense on the grave of those who were killed by the bombardment."

Only now, more than seventy years after the war, is there a plan to erect a monument in Amsterdam with the names of the 102,000 Dutch Jews and additional citizens murdered in the Holocaust. In many Dutch towns whose Jews were killed, Holocaust monuments have finally gone up in recent years, and some more are being planned.

When Communist governments ruled in Eastern Europe, they did not allow special monuments for Jews in the public domain. They considered that there should be no differentiation between those killed, even though only Jews were specifically targeted for extermination. Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, mentions that in Lithuania, local officials opposed the inclusion of the phrase "and their local accomplices" on a memorial monument at Ponar (Paneriai), the site of the mass murder of the Jews of Vilnius. Therefore, it attributed the killings only to the Nazis and ignored their willing Lithuanian helpers.

Though less permanent and tangible, memorial days and ceremonies have also been a point of contention, and often used as occasions to make political statements. Under Muslim influence, the local council of the British town of Bolton did not hold Holocaust Memorial Day in 2007, and replaced it with a Genocide Memorial Day. The following year they marked both.

One might call memorializing Kristallnacht "pre-Holocaust memorialization." These ceremonies have frequently been occasions for distortions. In 2010, Frankfurt's then Christian Democrat mayor, Petra Roth, invited Holocaust survivor Alfred Grosser to deliver a dubious Kristallnacht speech in the Paul's Church. This German-born French Jewish intellectual is a notorious anti-Israel hate-monger and has maintained that Israel's politics are the reason for anti-Semitism.

In Helsingborg, Sweden, the Jewish community refused to participate in the 2012 Kristallnacht memorial ceremony. The local paper Helsingborgs Dagblad noted that the community's leader, Jussi Tyger, said that the memorial was organized by left-wing parties and Muslims, who are known to be the most racist against Jews.

The Croatian Jewish community has announced that it will boycott this week's national Holocaust memorial as a protest against the country's downplaying of its extreme Holocaust crimes.

A former Yugoslavian Jewish leader, Ivan Ceresjnes, now living in Israel, has pointed out that the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the past decades provides a case study of many aspects of the process of destruction of memory. The successor-states to Yugoslavia are rewriting their histories, during which their collective memories change. The memory of the Holocaust is thus also fragmented according to the current national context.

A single article can only mentions a few of the many ways Holocaust memory can and has been publicly distorted. Unfortunately, it is likely that additional ones will occur in the future.

7. TRUMP: I'VE FIXED OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
by David Rosenberg

[youtube:2023745]

(Pertinent segment begins at 26:30)
The damage caused by eight years of tensions between the White House and Israel has already been repaired, President Donald Trump claimed in a sit-down interview with Fox News Thursday evening.

Speaking with Sean Hannity, President Trump said that Israel had been mistreated in the past, but that the US-Israel relationship had already been repaired.

While Trump did not directly reference his predecessor, President Obama, whose rocky relationship with the Israeli government often manifested itself in public spats between the White House and Israel, he suggested that the departure of Obama on inauguration day last Friday marked an end to the frayed ties between Washington and Jerusalem.

"It's repaired [already]. It got repaired as soon as I took the oath. It's repaired. We have a good relationship. Israel has been treated very badly. We have a good relationship with them," Trump said.

Trump refused to comment on the potential relocation of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, a move past presidents have pledged to make but none has fulfilled.

"I don't want to talk about it, it's too early," Trump said in response to questioning by Hannity on the subject.

The president slammed the Iran nuclear deal, signed by the Obama administration in 2015, calling it "one of the worst deals I've ever seen."

"Why Kerry didn't get out of the chair and leave is hard to believe," Trump said.

Trump also referenced Israel while discussing America's neighbor to the south, citing Israel's use of border fences and other barriers to block terrorists and reduce illegal immigration from the Sinai desert.

"The Wall is necessary," Trump said. "That's not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation because people want protection and a wall protects. All you've got to do is ask Israel."

8. 'HE WAS AN EXEMPLARY FAMILY MAN'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Authorities have identified one of the two victims killed in Thursday night's deadly bus accident in Samaria as 37-year old Avishai Kroani, the driver of the bus.

Kroani and a second victim were killed when an Egged bus overturned, then fell off of a 1,000-foot (305-meter) cliff off of Highway 60, near the town of Maaleh Levona in Samaria. Seven others were injured in the accident.

A resident of the city of Ariel in central Samaria, Kroani leaves behind his wife and the couple's five children.

The bus in question was part of Egged's 462 line, and was making its way from Jerusalem towards Ariel.

Ariel Mayor Eliyahu Shviro issued a statement Friday morning in response to the tragedy.

"The entire city of Ariel is with the Kroani family, who lost their father, Avishai, the driver of the bus which fell off the cliff into the chasm. Avishai, who was 37 years old, married to Idit, and a devoted father of five, was an exemplary family man."

Menachem Leff, Head of the Binyamin region of United Hatzalah, said, "United Hatzalah first responders who arrived at the scene requested that lighting be brought, and that search and rescue crews, fire rescue crews and helicopters be dispatched in order to help reach those on the bus. Due to the severe nature of the incident, volunteers have also been dispatched from the Jerusalem and Samaria chapters of United Hatzalah."

Michael Chai Cohen, a volunteer from United Hatzalah who arrived at the scene of the accident, said that reaching the overturned bus proved to be very difficult.

"I came from the community of Adam (near Jerusalem, ed.) and when I arrived at the scene on foot, together with other volunteers, we had to walk for 10 minutes in the rain and mud until we got to the bus. Unfortunately, upon arrival we found several victims who were unconscious and without a pulse," he said.

Victims of the accident were evacuated to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, the Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer and the Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

[youtube:2023743]

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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

A7News: Bennett: Time to advance the Regulation Law

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Wednesday, Jan. 25 '17, כ"ז בטבת תשע"ז

HEADLINES:
1. BENNETT: TIME TO ADVANCE THE REGULATION LAW
2. ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTERS CAUSE HAVOC IN WASHINGTON
3. EU AGENCY: RIGHTS OF INVADER'S CHILDREN TRUMP STATE SECURITY
4. LIBERMAN: SERIOUS MISTAKES WERE MADE
5. GERMANY RAIDS OVER PLOT TO ATTACK REFUGEES, JEWS
6. HEALTH MINISTRY PROPOSES NEW ANTI-SMOKING LAWS
7. EUROPE BLAMES ISRAEL FOR GAZA'S HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
8. LEFTIST MK: WE DON'T WANT BDS, WE WANT DIALOGUE

1. BENNETT: TIME TO ADVANCE THE REGULATION LAW
by Uzi Baruch

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) instructed Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky on Wednesday to pass the Regulation Law by the end of next week.

Bennett's announcement comes just after the residents of Amona announced their intention to renew their battle against the upcoming eviction. Previously, they had come to an agreement with the government, but since the agreement was signed, the government has not begun construction on alternative housing for the residents as it promised to do. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has frozen the government's outline for the "new" Amona.

Amona Council Head Avichai Boaron said, "We have no choice but to renew our fight to prevent the destruction of Amona.

"Today, 36 days have passed since the agreement was signed. In another 14 days, the government will destroy our homes. In violation of the agreement, nothing has been signed and no construction has begun. The agreement failed and the government has not kept its word."

As soon as the Regulation Law has received the approval of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, Bennett is expected to work to pass it in the Knesset.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) have continuously opposed the law, which they claim will harm Israel internationally.

2. ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTERS CAUSE HAVOC IN WASHINGTON

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3. EU AGENCY: RIGHTS OF INVADER'S CHILDREN TRUMP STATE SECURITY
by Mordechai Sones

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) issued an "Opinion" today (Wednesday) attacking a proposal to revise the rules governing the EU's large-scale biometrics database, Eurodac.

According to the "Opinion", the proposed revision "may jeopardise or enhance the rights of migrant children". It examines the impact on children and suggests greater emphasis on child protection, to ensure they are not coerced to give fingerprints, they understand what is happening to them and their right to asylum is not affected.

The full text of the "Opinion" can be seen here.

The European Parliament asked the Agency to provide its "Opinion" on the fundamental rights impact of the proposals on children. Some of the suggestions to ensure the Regulation fully respects the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights and international human rights treaties include:

Replacing the term illegal immigration with 'irregular immigration' throughout the proposal to avoid the use of criminalizing language.
Avoiding force when taking fingerprints which should also be carried out in a child-friendly and gender-sensitive manner;
Adequately informing children in an age appropriate manner so that they understand what is happening and why.

Eurodac was created to help determine which EU Member State should examine asylum applications for international protection. It currently stores the fingerprints that all asylum seekers and migrants apprehended at the EU's external borders must provide. It allows Member States to check if someone has already elsewhere applied for asylum or been apprehended when crossing external EU borders. Law enforcement authorities can also access it to help fight serious crime and terrorism.

The European Commission has proposed revising the Eurodac Regulation to expand the scope so it can also be used to control illegal immigration and movement within the EU. Facial images and personal data would also be stored instead of just fingerprints and basic data such as gender and Member State. Personal data would also be kept for longer (ten years for international protection applicants and five years for those who have been apprehended) and the age for capturing data from children would be lowered from 14 to 6.

4. LIBERMAN: SERIOUS MISTAKES WERE MADE
by Uzi Baruch

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman sent a letter to soldier Elor Azariya's attorneys following a meeting between the Kfir Brigade Commander and the father.

"I regret how the affair unfolded; from the start until now I have believed and said more than once that serious mistakes were made that led the incident to a place it never should have reached.

"As you know my position on the issue was and remains that ultimately one must remember that this is an outstanding soldier on one hand, and a terrorist who came to kill soldiers on the other," he stressed.

"I am not a lawyer and I'm not going to address the professional functioning of the prosecution, the defense, or the court and I have no ability to assess the outcome of the appeal, assuming it will be submitted.

"As Defense Minister, I feel like most citizens of Israel, uncomfortable with the verdict. I think about Elor's best interest and feel compassion for him and his family while ensuring the strength and values of the army for Israeli unity."

The Minister concluded, "What is needed now to bring this sorry episode to a close is to allow the security forces to operate quietly and without interruptions. I believe that we should wait and stop media coverage of the subject that only hurts."

5. GERMANY RAIDS OVER PLOT TO ATTACK REFUGEES, JEWS
by AFP

German authorities on Wednesday carried out dawn raids against far-right suspects accused of plotting attacks on refugees, Jews and police, federal prosecutors said.

Police swooped on 12 homes and other sites in six states "as part of a federal investigation on suspicion of forming a right-wing extremist organization," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Six suspects, "connected primarily via social media," are accused of founding the group "and in early 2016 beginning plans for armed attacks against police officers as representatives of the state, asylum seekers and members of the Jewish community."

Another seven people are believed to have offered assistance to the group including acquiring weapons.

"The aim of today's raids is to gather evidence of the formation of a group as well as suspected crimes and potential material for use in those crimes," it said. "There is not as yet any evidence of specific attack plans."

Around 200 police officers took part in the coordinated raids.

The prosecutor's office in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe declined to provide further details.
But news agency DPA said the group was believed to belong to the "Reichsbuerger" (citizens of the Reich) movement, a shadowy far-right outfit blamed for shooting dead one police officer and wounding three others during a raid in the southern town of Georgensgmuend in October.

And in August, a member of the group - a former Mister Germany pageant winner - opened fire on police carrying out an eviction order at his house in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The 41-year-old gunman was seriously wounded and three police officers suffered light injuries.

The Reichsbuerger group does not recognize the legitimacy of the German republic and believes in the continued existence of the German empire or "Reich."

As a result, many members refuse to pay taxes and fines owed to the state. Authorities believe the movement has several thousand members.

A report Wednesday in Berlin's daily Tagesspiegel newspaper citing security sources said that the number of far-right extremists in Germany believed to be violent had increased to 12,100 last year, up from 11,800 the previous year.

6. HEALTH MINISTRY PROPOSES NEW ANTI-SMOKING LAWS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Director of Public Health Services Prof. Itamar Grotto submitted to the Knesset on Wednesday a list of proposed steps intended to reduce the number of Israeli citizens suffering from second-hand smoking.

"Israel once had the best smoking laws, but we've fallen behind. The Health Ministry intends to fix this, and we have already drafted several law proposals," Grotto said.

Israel has anti-smoking laws and smoking is forbidden in many public areas, the laws are not always enforced. In practice, if a given municipality chooses not to enforce the laws, it is up to the private citizen to call the police - and often, by the time the police arrive, the smoke has already left the area.

Grotto continued, "These proposals and initiatives are things which the Health Ministry intends to advance, such as raising the tax on electronic cigarettes to match that of regular cigarettes, limiting tobacco advertisements in all media, enlarging the areas in which smoking is forbidden, and others.

"We want to forbid smoking in public areas such as open stadiums, and enlarge the no-smoking radius around preschools and playgrounds. Regarding smoking with children in the car - this is something we are working on, because its' much harder to enforce. Maybe it can be added into the Transportation Ministry's laws, there are disagreements on it.

"It will also be forbidden to smoke in zoos and at open-air shows, and we want to close smoking areas in places like restaurants and the Knesset."

Grotto also said these laws can be advanced quickly and without going through the usual legislative process.

Even though smoking was on the decline in 2016, nearly 40% of Israelis are smokers by the time they finish their mandatory IDF service.

7. EUROPE BLAMES ISRAEL FOR GAZA'S HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
by Hezki Baruch

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Tuesday voted by a majority of 46 to 12, with two abstentions, to approve a report blaming Israel for the humanitarian situation in Gaza and accusing Israel of "systematic and illegal" killings of Gazans.

The report accuses Israel of being involved in "incidents in which individuals who did not constitute an immediate danger to human life were killed deliberately, which constitutes a modus operandi of killing which is allegedly systematic and illegal."

It further states: "We call on the EU to support the possibility of a formal investigation of the International Criminal Court, if the findings show there are reasonable grounds to do so."

The report calls for the removal of the blockade on Gaza, to ensure that vital and medical goods are received by the residents of Gaza, to allow Palestinian Arabs to look for work in Israel, and to prepare a multi-year plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"Since Israel's military operation in Gaza in 2014, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly; 17,650 families, comprising about 100,000 people, have been displaced," the report claims.

It also makes demands of the Palestinian Authority, including the need to prevent and denounce acts of terrorism against Israel.

The report was approved despite efforts by Israeli MKs to prevent the move. MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), head of the Knesset delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, spoke before the vote and demanded that the report be rejected.

"This is a misrepresentation which selectively distorts reality," said MK Lavie, adding, "The report is based on rumors and not facts. We took our citizens and even our dead out of Gaza in 2005, and in return we were immediately attacked with missiles. Israel provides a third of Gaza's electricity free of charge, 130,000 Palestinians received free medical treatment in Israel last year, including relatives of [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh, and yet we're being accused of causing a humanitarian crisis."

Lavie continued, "Where are the millions of dollars sent by the Council of Europe to the Palestinians to rebuild Gaza? Where did the money go?"

MK Elie Elalouf (Kulanu), who together with MK Lavie represented Israel in the discussions in the Council, said, "Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors. Gaza is not under siege but is being supervised in order to protect the citizens of Israel, Jews and Arabs alike. I hope that one day we will be able to discuss these issues seriously in order to build a better future for the region together."

8. LEFTIST MK: WE DON'T WANT BDS, WE WANT DIALOGUE
by Yoni Kempinski

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Attending the EIPA (Europe Israel Publc Affairs) conference in the EU Parliament, which was titled "Israel: include. Invest. Involve. 3 Is to counter B. D and S," MK Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) said, "The BDS is not a movement of protest against Israel. The BDS is wisely appealing to many young people, good people, naïve people with good intentions. And they are appealing to them with slogans that may charm them: Slogans about justice, peace and love.

"But the truth is, that it is a sophisticated way of hiding its true goal, which is the destruction of the state of Israel and the delegitimizing of its very right of Israel to exist.

"I'm highly committed to an Israeli-Palestinian peace, I'm leading the two-state-solution caucus at the Knesset, I belong to a very big majority of Israelis who advocates for two nation states for two people.

"But it is the BDS movement that has nothing to do with peace or with the efforts to create 2 states - nothing. On The contrary, the BDS movement essentially views the very fact of Israel's creation
as the root cause of the problem.

"And since its activists' chants frequently include the lines, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!', it is reasonable to assume that for the BDS Movement - no amount of territorial
disengagement would be enough to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, short of dismantling Israel itself.

"Ladies and gentlemen we don't want BDS, we want dialogue. We don't want to put distance between the two peoples, we want to bring them closer. In two states for two people, living peacefully next to each other. We don't want hate, we seek for partnership, cooperation and peace.

"Most of the Israelis are committed to peace - I am committed to peace. Being Jewish and being an Israeli shaped my never ending desire for peace. Peace between us – and our neighbors. Peace that will replace fear, blood and tears, With respect, cooperation, and a better future for our children. Peace is always my first choice.

"BDS activities are profoundly counterproductive, and completely disruptive towards EU-Israeli relations AND towards Palestinian-Israeli peace. Casting an exceedingly negative influence
on the prospects of achieving a lasting peace in the region - BDS activity is profoundly counterproductive to peace.

"Involvement, cooperation, dialogue and openness should be our message. Closer diplomatic ties, regular cultural and scientific exchanges, promotion of free trade, Shared values of freedom, significantly amplified investments– this is the future.

"And we should create, together, exactly this kind of future – and we should do it against and despite the BDS movement and their partners – who's aim is to take us back to a very dark eras.

"Let's work together, not to divest, not to close up, not to shut off one side or another. Let's work together to BUILD BRIDGES. To build bridges for peace prosperity and security, for all the peoples in the Middle East - and here in Europe," Bar concluded.

The EIPA conference took place in cooperation with EJA and the Israeli Mission to the EU.

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