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Thursday, Jan. 19 '17, כ"א בטבת תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. 50 KILLED IN TEHRAN BUILDING COLLAPSE
2. AERIAL VIDEO PROVES: CAR RAMMED FORCES
3. 'THERE WERE UPS & DOWNS. US AND ISRAEL ARE BEST FRIENDS'
4. BENNETT ON BBC: PA ENVOY TO US A HOLOCAUST DENIER
5. 'TRUE FRIEND AND LOVER OF ISRAEL' ELECTED EU PRESIDENT.
6. 'THE UN ALREADY KNOWS THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE'
7. 63-YEAR-OLD LIES INJURED OVERNIGHT IN SYNAGOGUE
8. SHAPIRO: I PREPARED MY ENTIRE LIFE TO BE AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL
1. 50 KILLED IN TEHRAN BUILDING COLLAPSE
by Uzi Baruch
[youtube:2023440]
Dozens of firefighters were feared trapped under rubble after Iran's oldest high-rise, the 15-story Plasco building in downtown Tehran, collapsed on live TV Thursday following a fire.
State television said 200 firefighters had been called to the scene and "tens" may have been inside when the building collapsed. Many had already been hurt before it came down, and initial figures said between 30 and 40 firefighters had been injured and seven hospitalized. Dramatic images showed flames pouring out of the top floors of the building, which dated from the early 1960's and included a shopping center and clothing workshops.
"The building's caretaker and some firefighters were inside when the building collapsed," said Ahmad, a shop owner in the building. "I've lost my entire stock. Thousands of families have been ruined," he added. The steel frame of the building could be seen bending down to the ground as about 100 fire engines and dozens of ambulances surrounded the area.
"A friend of mine has a shop there. I keep calling him but there's no answer. I think he's been trapped," said Mohsen, an onlooker. Police evacuated the area around the building, fearing secondary explosions caused by gas leaks, and worked to clear crowds that were blocking access for rescue services."There are a number of people inside but we don't know how many and the fire brigade organization is going to announce how many were there," Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia told AFP.
"Even one would be too many," he added. Fire brigade spokesman Jalal Malekias said the building was known to breach safety standards. "We had repeatedly warned the building managers about the lack of safety of the building," he said, adding that it lacked sufficient fire extinguishers.
"Even in the stairwells, a lot of clothing is stored and this is against safety standards. The managers didn't pay attention to the warnings," he told state television.
The Plasco building was the first high-rise and shopping center in Tehran and was the city's tallest building when it was finished in 1962, before being dwarfed by the construction boom of later years. It was built by Habibollah Elghanian, a prominent Iranian-Jewish businessman who was arrested for ties to Israel, sentenced to death, and executed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The fire is thought to have begun on the ninth floor and spread quickly to workshops above. Firefighters were initially able to bring it under control but it quickly flared up and the building fell four hours after the fire had started, at around 11:30 am.
2. AERIAL VIDEO PROVES: CAR RAMMED FORCES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2023395]
Footage taken on by a police helicopter of operations on the ground shows clearly the terrorist's vehicle in the Umm Al-Hiran ramming attack.
In the video, it can clearly be seen that the terrorist drove with no lights and then increased his speed to ram directly into the policeman at the scene.
An Israel Police spokesman said, "At this time, Israeli Police Forces are working together with the Border Police and the Israel Land Authority to complete the court-ordered demolition of the illegal Arab settlement Umm Al-Hiran.
"Earlier, a terrorist rammed his jeep into police forces, crushing two policemen. As a result, we were forced to declare the death of Sergeant Major Erez Levy, and to transfer an additional officer to the hospital. The terrorist, who was associated with the Islamic Jihad terror group, was neutralized.
"Israel Police and the Border Police arrived in Umm Al-Hiran, near Hura, late last night, in order to secure the area, after extensive discussions with the settlement's residents.
"We will continue investigating the attack, as well as the terrorist's possible connection to ISIS.
"Israel Police call on the Bedouin sector to condemn the attack and purge from within it anyone who is ideologically extreme or connected in any way to terror," the spokesman concluded.
3. 'THERE WERE UPS & DOWNS. US AND ISRAEL ARE BEST FRIENDS'
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2023374]
Arutz Sheva spoke on Tuesday with Dan Shapiro, the outgoing United States ambassador to Israel, who will step down on Friday when President-elect Donald Trump takes office but will stay in Israel for a few more months as his children finish their school year.
The conversation came on the sidelines of a farewell event that Shapiro held at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv. In his remarks, Shapiro spoke with great excitement about his time as ambassador.
Shapiro told Arutz Sheva that the experience was "amazing" and "a job I loved and my family loved".
"There were some ups and downs. No relationship is perfect, even relationships between best friends, and we are. The United States and Israel are about as good friends as you can have between two countries," he admitted.
Despite the disagreements, Shapiro said he is not focusing on that, but rather on his own personal experiences.
"We've enjoyed every moment. We've felt warmly embraced by the Israeli people, we've tried to give that back in equal measure, and I believe we've accomplished amazing things in strengthening the relationship in security, technology, intelligence, and economic relations. And that happened all during the same period in which we had disagreements. So I look back with great fondness and a sense of satisfaction."
Asked if he has any recommendations for the next ambassador, David Friedman, Shapiro replied, "I hope he will enjoy the job as much as I did and I hope he will get to know the Israeli people, all of them all over the country the way we did, but every ambassador and every administration has to decide how they want to conduct their diplomacy and do their job, so I will respect that and wish him well."
Speaking to the crowd at the Rabin Center, Shapiro had said, "When other observers and maybe former ambassadors write about this period, I think the correct record will show that in every respect the U.S.-Israel relationship grew stronger."
He added that the embassy in Israel tries very hard "to connect with every part of Israeli society: Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Druze, Bedouin, Orthodox, haredi, national religious, secular – it doesn't matter who the Israeli citizen is. We want to know them, we want them to know us, we want them to connect to the values that bind our two countries. That has dramatically increased during the five-and-a-half years we've been privileged to do this job."
Shapiro stressed that the "two-state solution" to solve the Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) conflict is a "common commitment and a common bond we share."
4. BENNETT ON BBC: PA ENVOY TO US A HOLOCAUST DENIER
[youtube:2023421]
5. 'TRUE FRIEND AND LOVER OF ISRAEL' ELECTED EU PRESIDENT.
by Yoel Domb
Antonio Tajani who served in recent years as the deputy and acting president of the European Parliament was chosen Tuesday to serve as president of the European parliament.
63-year-old Tajani defeated his left-wing rival by a significant margin and will serve for the next 2.5 years in place of Martin Schultz who served the two previous terms.
The Conference of European Rabbis welcomed Tajani's election. The head of the Conference, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinhas Goldschmidt said that Tajani is a "true friend and lover of Israel who has proved in his actions and declarations that he is 'good for the Jews'".
In a speech before senior European rabbis and rabbinical judges and leaders of Jewish organizations from 32 European countries in Toulouse, Tajani said that "the children murdered in Toulouse were murdered for the same reason that Jews were murdered 70 years ago in Europe. The rise in anti-Semitic acts to 851 in 2014, double that of previous years must cause us to lead a determined fight against it and to eradicate it.
"We in the European Parliament will fight for the right to live on this continent as Jews. We respect the precepts of your faith and will fight without compromise for this right. The Jews are and were an important part of Europe's history, present and future and we will continue cooperation between the EU and the Conference of European Rabbis and its representatives in foiling anti-Jewish legislation and fighting anti-Semitism," said Tajani.
The Conference's representative in the EU, Belgian Chief Rabbi Avraham Gigi said that Tajani will balance the EU's attitude towards Israel as a "true friend of the Jewish nation."
6. 'THE UN ALREADY KNOWS THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE'
by Nitzan Keidar
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon attended yesterday the final session of the UN Security Council before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, which he believes will mark a tremendous change for Israel.
"In a few days there will be a new administration which will change the US agenda." Danon said in an interview with Arutz Sheva.
Danon said that he showed the Security Council what its 'success' in passing Resolution 2334, which declared all Jewish presence over the 1949 armistice lines to be illegal and did not explicitly condemn Arab incitement and terrorism, truly meant.
"I showed them the pictures of the victims of the attack at Armon Hanatziv." he said. "I told them that their decision only encouraged the Palestinians to continue their incitement and terror. The Palestinians continue their path of incitement, terrorism and engagement with international organizations. The Palestinian representative also said they are not satisfied with the Resolution 2334. They are trying to ignore Israel and to achieve [their goals] without negotiations."
Do you still fear that the Security Council will try to implement Resolution 2334?
"There is no doubt that the Palestinians will try to give the decision [some teeth], by asking for reports every three months, to strengthen the boycott movement against the industries of Judea and Samaria. We are preparing for their efforts [in this area[] to increase in the near future. However, we anticipate a new era at the UN and the Security Council and we hope that the Palestinians will internalize that."
Did the Obama Administration realize that allowing another anti-Israel resolution at this juncture is a red line?
"I received phone calls from senior officials in the US administration following the points I made when I said we feared another resolution. They definitely saw our reaction to the disgraceful decision and made it clear that they would not lend a hand to another resolution. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, but we should welcome [their statements] nevertheless."
Can you explain why countries which have good relations with Israel voted against it at the Security Council?
"We have good relations with many countries in the Security Council. But you have to understand something that when it comes to Israel, the US sets the policy and everyone looks at it [to see what it will do]. We are now seeing discussions taking place in the UK and other countries on their relations with Israel, and the crisis with the US has extended to other countries.
This was the last meeting before the change of government in the US. Do you anticipates a significant change in the conduct of the UN soon?
"I have no doubt that after the swearing-in of the President-elect the situation will improve. For example, the new ambassador supports Israel very much, and we believe that we will cooperate closely with them. In the UN they already know that things are going to change."
7. 63-YEAR-OLD LIES INJURED OVERNIGHT IN SYNAGOGUE
by Yedidia Ben Or
A 63-year-old man was found this morning lying injured on the floor of a synagogue in one of the communities in the Binyamin region.
The injured man had gone up to the roof of the synagogue to perform repairs and had fallen from a height of 6 meters. He lay injured for the rest of the night until worshipers who came in the morning found him lying there.
An MDA team summoned to the spot administered medical treatment and evacuated him to hospital in moderate conditions suffering injuries to the head and chest.
MDA Paramedic Rafi Farajoun said that "when we arrived on the scene we found a 63-year-old man fully conscious and in great pain. People told us that yesterday he was working on the roof and fell from a height of 6 meters. They found him in the early morning hours.
"We gave him initial medical treatment on the scene and transferred him in stable condition to Tel Hashomer hospital suffering from external injuries to his head and chest," added Farajoun.
8. SHAPIRO: I PREPARED MY ENTIRE LIFE TO BE AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2023387]
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