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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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