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 כ' באלול תשע"ז / Monday, Sep. 11 '17 Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report -http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe Headlines
1. 'Iran is unquestionably the greatest threat to Israel'by Yoni Kempinski Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Monday participated in International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) 17th annual international conference in Herzliya. "All Islamic terror is supported by Tehran," Liberman said. "This includes Sunni terror, the groups in Yemen, and even Al-Qaeda. And we are all aware of the cooperation between Al-Qaeda and Iran's Revolutionary Guard." "Terror is a radical ideology which abuses the week and supposedly works for their benefit. Brutal methods and a lack of red lines characterize all terror organizations throughout the generations. Another characteristic is the attempt to 'export' the terror, to 'export' the revolution." What enables terror to exist? According to Liberman, the answer is a sovereign government. "Terror will always have a charismatic and stirring leadership," he said. "The most frightening and dangerous organization is the Revolutionary Guard." "The most important characteristic of any terror organization is a governmental framework which supports it, whether openly or secretly. Without this government support, terror could not exist." Liberman then discussed possible courses of action. "Extremist terrorism is practically nonexistent in Russia," Liberman explained. "As long as the Muslim government in Tehran supports the terror ideology - there will be terror. You need to understand that for Tehran, terror is just one way of accomplishing their goals." "Tehran works on four different levels to destroy the State of Israel: In addition to financing terror, Iran also works to acquire non-conventional weapons, to create a large conventional army, and to wage a cyber battle against Israel." "Will Hezbollah continue to exist without Iranian support? Absolutely not. Can Hamas exist without Iran? Certainly not in its current proportions. Certainly, the Islamic Jihad cannot exist without Iran. "We can identify the source, but not always do we say it in public. The main issue today is Iran." 2. Ted Cruz, Hotovely team up to take on UN agencyby David Rosenberg Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) headed to Washington DC Monday morning for meetings with Trump administration officials and members of Congress, in part to promote the Foreign Ministry’s efforts to end the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the special status it has extended to generations of Arabs living across the Middle East. While most refugees supported by the United Nations are aided through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), aid to Palestinian Arabs claiming refugee status has been administered by UNRWA. Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA has permitted Arab refugees to transmit their status to their descendants, creating second, third, fourth, and even fifth-generation “refugees” who born and raised in Arab states including Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, yet categorized by the UN as “Palestinian refugees”. While the UNRWA counted some 750,000 Palestinian Arabs as refugees in 1949, the number has risen nearly sevenfold since, with over 5 million now claiming refugee status through UNRWA. The Israeli Foreign Ministry and some members of Congress have called for an end to the perpetual refugee status accorded to Palestinian Arabs, pushing for UNRWA to be dissolved as an independent agency and incorporated into the larger UNHCR. In June, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused UNRWA of complicity with the Hamas terror organization and called for the agency to be terminated. Hotovely is slated to meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan to discuss American funding for UNRWA, which is projected at $300 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Some in Congress have expressed support for the move to defund UNRWA. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas-R), who earlier this year proposed the US nix funding for the UN over its anti-Israel bias, is scheduled to meet with Hotovely during her Washington trip to coordinate their efforts against the UN agency. “Countries that fund UNRWA have a big role in shaping the character of the organization, and as the primary donor [to UNRWA], the US can take the lead in the important effort to change the reality on the ground, where UN agencies work to perpetuate the refugee problem rather than solve it,” Hotovely said on the eve of her trip. 3. Herzliya Mayor apologizes for Tefillin flapby Tzvi Lev Herzliya Mayor Moshe Fadlon visited the house of Chabad emissary Rabbi Yisrael Halperin, after a member of the Chabad community was fined last Friday for offering to help passersby put on tefillin (phylacteries). Fadlon apologized in a letter he addressed to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, whom he referred to as 'The King Messiah.' "I, Moshe the son of Tony Fadlon, Mayor of Herzliya, inform the rabbi, King Messiah, that unfortunately there was a misunderstanding about the tefillin stand. I want to express my sorrow and announce to everyone that I cherish the activities of Chabad. I request from his holiness a blessing for success and for a sweet and sweet year" he wrote. Last Friday, Yosef Amitai was slapped with a NIS 736 ($209) fine from city municipal inspectors for offering passerby to put on tefillin, which has become a Chabad trademark around the world. The fine caused a furor among the Israeli public, especially on social media. Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the umbrella organization for Chabad emissaries said that "it's hard to believe that out of all the places around the globe where Chabad emissaries help Jews put on tefillin and connect to their parents' tradition, only in Israel will a person be fined or brought to court for it. Not in New York, not in Moscow's Red Square, not in London or at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Only in Herzliya, a city in Israel." For many years, Chabad men have set up stands all over Israel, as well as in many other countries, offering to help Jewish men put on tefillin (the performance of a daily Torah commandment to put words with commandments, placed in small black leather boxes as told to Moses, on one's arm and forehead - symbolizing the heart and the mind turning to God). 4. Beit Shemesh girl hospitalized after choking on hammock stringby Arutz Sheva Staff An Israeli kindergartener was seriously injured Monday after she choked while relaxing in a hammock at her school. The incident occurred just before noon at a kindergarten in the city of Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. Emergency first responders were called to the scene and provided first aid to the girl, who was unconscious by the time paramedics arrived at the school. According to United Hatzalah volunteers who treated her, the girl choked on the hammock’s strings and passed out. United Hatzalah emergency medical responders treated the girl at the scene before she was evacuated to the hospital in serious condition. "The incident involved a young girl who choked in the kindergarten while she was playing with a hammock,” United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Dovy Margolit said. “When I arrived at the scene together with other volunteers from the organization's ambucycle unit, the girl was unconscious. We performed CPR including assisted breathing at the scene, and she is currently in serious condition." 5. Reform petition to allow Shabbat public transit rejectedby Tzvi Lev The Supreme Court rejected a petition on Monday that sought to force the government to allow public transportation on Shabbat. The appeal was lodged by the Reform movement's Center for Religion and State, along with the Hiddush NGO and Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg. Justice Neal Hendel noted that the prohibition on public transportation is explicitly enshrined in the law. Justice Chanan Meltzer rejected the petition on the grounds that according to existing regulations, there must be a company requesting a license to operate on Shabbat. "A distinction must be made between the right of the individual and the right to request a license," he told them. "You cannot appeal in the name of a company which does not exist." The Transportation Ministry congratulated the Supreme Court on its ruling. "The prohibition is based on the Knesset's directive that the minister must take into account Israel's tradition as far as possible regarding the movement of vehicles on Shabbat" it said in a statement. Hiddush deputy CEO Sagi Amnon blasted the decision. "We regret that the High Court of Justice, although it understood the vital need for public transportation on the Sabbath to large parts of the public, accepted the Transportation Ministry's position and chose to reject the petition. " "The Transportation Ministry once again proved that due to pressure from the ultra-Orthodox, it is prepared to sacrifice the needs of most of the country's residents, and to ignore the public's desire." Under the status quo arrangement which has guided public and government policy on issues of religion and state, most public transportation is forbidden in Israel on Shabbat. While certain inter-city bus lines are permitted, mostly for the sake of helping soldiers reach their base, and there is service in Haifa by the agreement, some secular Israelis have pushed to abandon the decades-old status quo. Shabbat observance has become a hot-button issue lately. Prime Minister Netanyahu is attempting to officially sanction soccer games on Shabbat, and the haredi parties have been at loggerheads with Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz over continuing Israel Railways Shabbat desecration. 6. Massive kashrut fraud exposedby Tzvi Lev Police are investigating a case of massive kashrut fraud in northern Israel. According to Behadrei Hareidim, the suspect presented himself as a kashrut inspector using forged credentials, and certified scores of restaurants that in reality did match the necessary standards that Jewish dietary law requires. The Rabbinate's Kashrut Fraud Prevention Unit's suspicions were first aroused when they noticed that several businesses were presenting themselves as kosher, despite their certificate being signed by a rabbi they had never heard of. In addition, in cases where the certificate was signed by a known rabbi, the rabbi in question told the rabbinate that he had never signed any such document. The businesses in question were heavily fined for retaining kashrut certification from a private individual, against Rabbinate policy, which demands that it be done through the local municipal authorities. The report stressed that the fraud was especially egregious, due to his documents being obviously forged. The suspect had presented credentials that were 13 years old, and was signed by Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, who had not yet taken office when the form was ostensibly issued. Other cases of kashrut fraud have surfaced in recent months. In June, Rabbinate inspectors found that a meat plant selling hot dogs under the label 'Beit Shean Meats' had marketed its products for years as kosher, despite not having a kashrut supervisor. The plant, which was owned by Arab residents of Hevron, was shut down, and police opened a fraud investigation. 7. Shaked: Don't hire illegal immigrants - hire Palestinian Arabsby Yoni Kempinski Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) took part Monday in the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) 17th annual international conference, hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, and addressed the long-term security and geopolitical challenges faced by Israel. Among the chief security issues confronting the Jewish state, Shaked stated, are the Hamas terror group in Gaza and the “Shi’ite bloc” extending from Iran to Syria and Hezbollah-dominated areas in Lebanon. “In the south there is a terror organization that rules the Gaza Strip and, unfortunately, is continuing to arm itself,” said Shaked. “The civilian population there is living in a terrible situation. The Hamas organization invests hundreds of millions of shekels on weapons intended to expand [Hamas’] military capabilities. And that [military] expansion comes at the expense of [Gaza’s] civilians.” “In the north, the Shi’ite bloc from Iran to Syria extending up to the border with Israel is very worrisome, given Iran’s [efforts] to establish itself on our border, and the fact that it turns Syria into Iran’s forward base.” In addition, Shaked noted, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group had accumulated “more than 100,000 missiles and rockets over the past decade. Now they’re working on more accurate rockets and strategic [weapons] that are much more dangerous for the State of Israel.” Shaked also discussed Israel’s relationship with the Palestinian Authority, arguing that Israel ought to play a larger role in developing the PA economy. “We need to make much greater efforts to develop the Palestinian economy and the PA.” One example, the Justice Minister offered, was for Israel to encourage business owners to employ more workers from the PA. “I strongly support increasing the number of work permits for Palestinians,” said Shaked adding that she was pushing Israeli restaurateurs hiring illegal immigrants to replace them with PA residents with Israeli work permits. “I spoke with some restaurant owners who had come to me asking what they could do if all of their [illegal immigrant] workers from Eritrea and Sudan were deported. I told them ‘hire Palestinians – they’re people who want jobs and don’t carry out terror attacks.” 8. Atlanta Jews open their homes as Hurricane Irma batters Floridaby Arutz Sheva Staff Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe | |
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