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Wednesday, Jan. 11 '17, י"ג בטבת תשע"ז
HEADLINES:
1. EDUCATION MINISTER: BREAKING THE SILENCE POISONS OUR CHILDREN
2. WILL THE US AMBASSADOR MOVE TO JERUSALEM WITHOUT THE EMBASSY?
3. BATTLE TO REVOKE DIVORCE OF 'BOUND' WOMAN HEATS UP
4. 'JEWISH HOME TO BLAME FOR UN'S ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTION'
5. IDF WEAPONS' FACTORY RAIDS YIELD RESULTS
6. FINANCE MINISTER: CIGARS ARE REVOLTING
7. POLYGAMY FUELING MASS BEDOUIN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INTO ISRAEL
8. PM: UNEQUIVOCAL EVIDENCE ADMINISTRATION BEHIND UN RESOLUTION
1. EDUCATION MINISTER: BREAKING THE SILENCE POISONS OUR CHILDREN
by Hezi Baruch
The full Knesset approved in an initial vote a law banning left-wing NGO "Breaking the Silence" from entering Israeli schools.
The law was approved after a fiery debate, with 51 voting in favor of the law and 17 voting against it. Meretz party MKs attempted to disrupt the session and had to be removed.
The new law gives Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) the authority to ban individuals or organizations who are not part of the educational system from holding activities in Israeli schools if those activities are meant to impart values opposed to those of the Israeli educational system, or are intended to harm the IDF.
Bennett advanced the law saying, "Breaking the Silence aims not only to poison the world against us, with their hatred of Israel, but also to poison our children and youth. They want to visit schools and poison the students with their ugly lies. Whoever poisons our youth and harms the IDF loses his rights to meet with Israel's students."
"The law we are passing today is not a law opposing something, but a law supporting something. It is a law supporting the State of Israel and supporting the IDF. It is a law supporting true education, values, Zionism, and significant contributions to the IDF.
"This is a law for a simpler Israel. It's a Zionist law which protects Israel and the IDF, and is not willing to make peace the way we made peace in the days of the Second Temple, when people burned storehouses and homes.
"We learned our lesson, and we will not allow anyone to destroy our homes again. Israeli schools will educate students to work together and not harm each other, to appreciate the good Israel's soldiers do for us and not to try to hurt them," Bennett concluded.
MK Shuli Mualem (Jewish Home) said, "Breaking the Silence harms the IDF and then reaps the fruits of the hate it spreads. They receive support from various international organizations, including the BDS movement. They shamelessly slander Israel and aid Hamas in de-legitimizing our country. We have no choice but to prevent Breaking the Silence and similar organizations from entering Israeli schools."
MK Michal Rozin (Meretz) slammed the law and attacked Bennett, saying, "With Bennett around, anyone who dares to criticize the occupation and the complicated situation in the settlements is labeled illegal. Our Education Minister wants to raise a generation which listens to only one voice - his own."
MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), who signed the law, said, "I will not allow anyone to harm IDF soldiers. These children will in the future serve in the IDF, and they don't have to hear false accounts and lies, or see fabricated pictures whose only purpose is to convince them that the IDF is a cruel and occupying army and that Israel is always to blame.
"This factory of lies has Israeli partners as well," Lapid said. "Time after time we see Breaking the Silence telling lies, but their supporters - including those in the Knesset - don't care. In their eyes, Israel is always guilty.
"Public forums are always open to the lies perpetuated by Breaking the Silence, but the State of Israel is allowed to forbid them from entering schools. It's logical. It's normal. It's not the end of democracy or even close to it," he concluded.
Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg welcomed the preliminary passing of the bill to ban Breaking the Silence from schools.
"Passing this bill into law will enable Israeli democracy to defend itself against those seeking to harm it from within. A politically charged propaganda organization like Breaking the Silence has no business in our schools. Lies have no educational value, especially when they are funded by foreign governments," he said.
2. WILL THE US AMBASSADOR MOVE TO JERUSALEM WITHOUT THE EMBASSY?
by Gary Willig
David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for the post of Ambassador to Israel, may work out of Jerusalem while the US embassy remains in Tel Aviv, according to a report by Channel 2.
Friedman and Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway had stated that the incoming Trump Administration would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The pledge to relocate the embassy to Israel's capital pleased Israelis. However, Arab leaders attacked the move. Jordan said that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would "cross a red line" while PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that the move would "have a disastrous impact on the peace process."
In addition, outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry warned that moving the embassy to Jerusalem could cause an "explosion" of violence in the Middle East.
According to the report by Channel 2, the Trump Administration has decided, after extensive talks with all parties, to implement a compromise solution.
Under the proposed compromise, incoming Ambassador David Friedman would take up residence near the American Consulate in Jerusalem and work there, while the US embassy remained in Tel Aviv. This would be an unusual step, as Ambassadors normally live in proximity to their embassies.
Friedman already owns an apartment in Jerusalem, and he has expressed his desire to perform his duties as the US Ambassador to Israel in Jerusalem.
3. BATTLE TO REVOKE DIVORCE OF 'BOUND' WOMAN HEATS UP
by David Rosenberg
A woman who was granted a divorce after her husband entered a persistent vegetative state a decade ago has turned to the Supreme Court to block an effort by a rabbinical court to nullify what some argue was an invalid divorce.
In 2014, S. was given a divorce in a rare move by a religious court in the northern city of Tzfat, seven years after her husband was severely injured in a car accident and left in a vegetative state.
While divorces in Jewish law ordinarily require the consent of both parties, in this instance the husband was physically unable to grant the divorce.
Because doctors described his comatose state as permanent, the Tzfat court, led by Rabbi Uriel Lavi, issued a unique gett zikkui, whereby they acted in the place of the comatose husband to fulfill what is believe to be his will, that his wife should be unbound from him and allowed to remarry, due to his condition.
The decision received the support of some rabbinic figures in the haredi world, including Rabbi Zalman Nehemiya Goldberg, who endorsed the use of the gett zikkui. Others, however, including Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, opposed the ruling.
Shortly after the ruling was issued and the divorce granted, Reuven Cohen, who opposed the decision but is unconnected to the couple in question, filed an appeal with the Supreme Rabbinic Court – the Chief Rabbinate's highest judicial body – to challenge the divorce.
Two months ago, the Supreme Rabbinic Court and the chief rabbis decided to take on the case, in a move blasted by Mavoi Satum – The Organization for the Rights of Abandoned Women.
Mavoi Satum CEO Batya Kahane-Dror turned to the Supreme Court on behalf of the divorced woman to block the Supreme Rabbinic Court from nullifying the lower rabbinic court's decision.
Rabbi David Stav, chairman of Mavoi Satum and a member of the Tzohar organization, defended the divorce issued by the Tzfat court and upbraided those behind the effort to nullify it.
"Throughout history, Jewish religious leaders went out of their way to free women [bound in marriages they wished to leave]. Sometimes they even did things which [on the face of it] appeared to contradict the laws of the Torah."
While Rabbi Stav said a public debate over the methods used in the divorce was valid, the campaign to renege on a divorce already issued was illegitimate.
"You can't take advantage of technical authority [over the lower court] to nullify a divorce that was already approved. According to Jewish law, a court cannot nullify a separate court's decision if it was properly rendered. There is no way that a court will actively work to make a woman bound again to her [former marriage] when neither the husband's family nor the wife made any appeal on the decision. I hope that the case will not be heard [by the Supreme Rabbinic Court] for the sake of the woman, for the sake of Jewish law, and for the sake of all of us."
4. 'JEWISH HOME TO BLAME FOR UN'S ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTION'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
MK and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) slammed supporters of the Regulation Law, accusing them of bringing on the anti-Israel resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council in December.
The Regulation Law, which has passed its first reading in the Knesset, has been pushed by the Jewish Home party and some Likud MKs, who have argued it is a necessary legal protection for towns in Judea and Samaria from ex post facto claims of ownership by alleged absentee land owners.
Speaking with Army Radio, Livni said backers of the bill, not the Obama administration, were responsible, for efforts by opponents of the Jewish state to use international bodies like the UN against Israel.
"They [the Jewish Home] take pride in defending the IDF, but they are the ones who are pushing [the IDF] into the arms of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This already has nothing to do with Obama or what the US will say," Livni said.
"All of Israel will pay a price for the fact that this law passed its initial reading," Livni added. "The UN Security Council resolution which harms Jerusalem and the settlement blocs; the decision that everything over the 1967 line is illegal – that's already been accepted."
5. IDF WEAPONS' FACTORY RAIDS YIELD RESULTS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
As a result of Israel's crackdown on illegal weapons factories in Judea and Samaria and Bedouin caches of stolen weapons, prices for illegal weapons have risen significantly, often doubling or tripling.
Most of the terrorists who used firearms used homemade weapons, which were bought cheaply and easily from relevant Arabs. Weapons factories and caches are usually built under homes, and use the "lift-the-tile" trapdoor method for entry.
Examples of terror attacks in which terrorists used homemade firearms include the shooting in Tel Aviv's Sarona market in June 2016, and the drive-by shooting which murdered Eitam and Naama Henkin in October 2015.
It should be noted the vast majority of illegal weapons are used for criminal activity and not terror activity.
In August 2016, the IDF initiated a large-scale operation to shut down illegal weapons factories. This operation has continued for several months. In addition to the near-constant confiscation of weapons and closing of weapons factories, the IDF also arrests would-be terrorists on their way to collect weapons.
6. FINANCE MINISTER: CIGARS ARE REVOLTING
by Arutz Sheva Staff
In a Haifa Leadership Conference Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) said, "I'm not dealing with politics right now. Unfortunately, when I was Communications Minister, Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Noni Mozes did not contact me. I was Communications Minister, I initiated a reform, I thought the State of Israel needed to lessen its dependence on the media. You need to disconnect the media from the State. There was never such an initiative previously.
"Everyone has his own lifestyle," Kahlon continued. "I don't smoke, not even Marlboro. I won't smoke cigars, because first of all it's revolting. And I only accept presents at weddings."
On Monday, Opposition Head Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should resign from his post as Communications Minister, since "the recent news proves Netanyahu has personal interests invested in the Israel Hayom news paper."
Herzog also threatened to take Netanyahu to the Supreme Court if he did not resign within 48 hours.
In response, the Likud said on Monday night, "Yitzhak Herzog has some nerve demanding the dismissal of the Prime Minister from the post of Communications Minister, when his associate Eitan Cabel promoted and initiated the law to close Israel Hayom in order to gain sympathetic coverage from Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet. Herzog's partner Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) obtained an expert legal opinion funded by Yedioth Ahronoth and acknowledged speaking with Noni Mozes before promoting the Israel Hayom law before the Ministerial Committee for Legislation."
The Likud also noted the Zionist Union and other left-wing parties benefited from millions of shekels worth of foreign funding during the 2015 elections.
Netanyahu was recently accused of taking cigars and champagne as bribes. Nevertheless, Coalition Head David Bitan said even if Netanyahu is convicted, he does not have to resign.
7. POLYGAMY FUELING MASS BEDOUIN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INTO ISRAEL
by David Rosenberg
Nearly 30,000 illegal Bedouin immigrants from the Palestinian Authority and neighboring Arab countries are currently residing in the Negev in southern Israel, including both women involved in polygamous marriages to local Bedouin men and the children born in such relationships.
While technically illegal in most cases, polygamy is both widespread in the Bedouin Arab community and largely overlooked by authorities.
According to a 2013 Knesset report, some 30% of families in the Bedouin sector are polygamous, while other estimates place the figure as high as 35%.
Even some prominent public figures, like Taleb Abu Arar, a sitting Knesset Member (Joint List) remain married to multiple wives.
The phenomenon has often been cited as a women's rights issue, and a challenge to the rule of law in Israel, as nearly all polygamous marriages are not sanctioned by law.
But according to a study by the Lavi organization, the blind-eye turned to Bedouin polygamy also has serious demographic repercussions for southern Israel.
With a natural growth rate of 5.5%, the Bedouin community in the Negev doubles roughly every 13 years, surging from just 11,000 after the establishment of the state in 1948 to roughly 100,000 in 1999 to over 200,000 by 2013. Today, the Bedouin make up approximately 30% of the Negev's total population.
This growth comes in part from the large number of women who immigrate illegally to Israel to marry Bedouin men, often as the second, third, or even fourth wife.
While a security provision in Israel's family reunification law bars most spouses from the Palestinian Authority and Arab states from being granted legal residency, thousands of women currently reside illegally in Israel as the wives of Israeli Bedouin men.
According to the Physicians for Human Rights Israel, 20,000 women from the Palestinian Authority alone currently reside illegally in Israel and are married to Israeli Arab men.
In addition, some 8,000 children born to foreign mothers without legal status reside in Israel illegally, the State Comptroller has reported.
That may just be the tip of the iceberg, say Lavi activists, who note that Israeli state Sharia courts, administered by the Ministry of Religion, often enable polygamists by giving tacit acceptance of fake divorces when validating what are in practice polygamous marriages.
More importantly, state Sharia courts are often used to grant recognition to children from marriages which were officially nullified or are otherwise not registered with the state – including marriages with women illegally residing in Israel. In such cases, the court aids children from these relationships to gain citizenship in Israel, despite the mother's lack of legal residency.
Even the National Insurance Institute (Bituah Leumi) gives de facto recognition of polygamous marriages in the Bedouin sector, allowing women applying for benefits to list their family status as members of "enlarged families".
Despite a 2013 Knesset investigation into polygamy in Israel, law enforcement authorities and government agencies refuse to face the issue head-on.
"Polygamous marriages are a violation of Israeli law," a Lavi spokesperson told Arutz Sheva.
"Beyond that, polygamy in the Bedouin sector contributes directly to the trafficking of women and the smuggling of women from Gaza and Jordan to Israel. Polygamy in the Bedouin sector is growing, and both directly and indirectly harms the general population of Israel, and the time has come for authorities and government ministries to confront [the phenomenon of] polygamy in Israel."
8. PM: UNEQUIVOCAL EVIDENCE ADMINISTRATION BEHIND UN RESOLUTION
by Yoni Kempinsky
[youtube:2023108]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a delegation from AIPAC Tuesday that Israel had proof that the Obama Administration was involved in the planning of the anti-Israel resolution which was passed by the UN Security Council last month declaring all Jewish presence over the 1949 armistice lines to be illegal.
"We have unequivocal evidence that the Security Council Resolution passed in the UN against Israel was led by the Administration. There is no question whatsoever about that." Netanyahu said.
He called the Obama Administration's support for the resolution "a major break with US policy."
He quoted former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who served under former President Bill Clinton. Albright said in response to another anti-Israel UN resolution:"We oppose the specific references to Jerusalem in this resolution and will continue to oppose its insertion in future resolutions. We simply do not support the description of territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war as 'Occupied Palestinian territory."
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