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 י"ג בתשרי תשע"ח / Tuesday, Oct. 03 '17 Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report -http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe Headlines
1. Abbas admits: No Palestinian state in the near futureby David Rosenberg Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas discussed PA aspirations for statehood during an interview with Egypt’s CBC, acknowledging that despite plans by the Trump administration to reboot negotiations for a final status agreement between Israel and the PA, no Palestinian state would be established in the near future. “The time will come for a Palestinian state,” Abbas said Monday, “but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.” A long-time member of the Fatah movement within the PLO who once helped fund the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes, Abbas claimed the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority was focusing on laying the groundwork for a future Palestinian state to be established sometime in the distant future. “We’re building the Palestinian state brick by brick, and it will take time.” For the time being, Abbas continued, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government appears to have effectively blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state. Despite his own insistence that the PA continue to fund Arab terrorists and their families, Abbas blamed the Netanyahu government for the lack of progress towards a final status agreement with Israel. “Standing against us is a right-wing government, and it’s setting the policy right now. That government doesn’t want peace and doesn’t recognize the existence of the Palestinian people.” Abbas recently pledged to continue funding Arab terrorists involved in attacks on Israeli civilians and security personnel, denouncing US demands the PA halt its support for jailed terrorists. "Israel and the US says that this is supporting terrorism...I will not back down on this issue. The families of the martyrs will continue to receive their allowances in full." Abbas said. 2. 'You are all going to die'by Tzvi Lev [youtube:2033571] A woman chillingly proclaimed to concert-goers that "they were all going to die" shortly before the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music concert killed 50. Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada opened fire with automatic weapons Sunday at a Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas from the nearby Mandalay Hotel, killing 50 and wounding over 500, in what is the largest mass shooting in United States history before he killed himself. SWAT officers found an assortment of weapons in his hotel room. According to local Las Vegas media, a woman had warned concert-goers that something bad would happen to them 45 minutes before the shooting. "She had been messing with a lady in front of her and telling her she was going to die, that we were all going to die," said a witness. "They escorted her out to make her stop messing around with all the other people, but none of us knew it was going to be serious.” Las Vegas Police have announced that they are looking for a Marilou Danley in the investigation, who is described as an Asian woman and approximately 4 feet and 11 inches in height. However, Las Vegas Police do not believe there was another shooter. "Right now, we believe it's a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told CNN. 3. Female soldier held in army prison diesby David Rosenberg A female soldier jailed for possession, use, and sale of marijuana died Tuesday, days after she collapsed while being held in an IDF prison in central Israel. The soldier, who served in the Israeli Air Force, was arrested two weeks ago for possession of marijuana, which authorities believed she kept both for personal use and to sell to other service members on the base where she was stationed. Following her arrest, the soldier was transferred to the IDF’s Prison Four, part of the Tzrifin army complex. Last week, the soldier collapsed while being held in custody, and remained unconscious until her death Tuesday. On Monday, the IDF announced that it had opened an investigation into the young woman’s death, and that an internal investigatory committee would probe whether the soldier was treated properly during her detainment in Prison Four. 4. First Israeli Bedouin indicted in polygamy crackdownby David Rosenberg Authorities in southern Israel indicted a Bedouin man accused of polygamy on Monday, the first such indictment since the state declared it would crack down on polygamy in the Bedouin community. While polygamy is illegal in Israel, the practice is common among members of the more than 200,000-strong Israeli Bedouin community. Since Israel formally banned polygamy in 1977, the practice all but disappeared outside of the Arab sector. Yet authorities largely avoided enforcing the law on Israeli Bedouin, turning a blind eye to the phenomenon. Some state institutions, including the National Insurance Institute (Bituah Leumi), even give de facto recognition to such arrangements, allowing women applying for benefits to list their family status as members of “enlarged families”. 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%. In 2015, however, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and then-Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein pushed for enforcement of the anti-polygamy law, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Under new guidelines for law enforcement agencies drawn up in 2016 and put in place this January, authorities have begun investigating cases of polygamy, leading to the first indictment since the new policy was implemented. On Monday, the 36-year-old Bedouin man was indicted in the Beer Sheva Magistrate’s Court after taking a second wife. Aside from Monday’s indictment, police have opened cases into 178 other instances of alleged polygamy since the new guidelines were put in place, Yediot Ahronot reported. 5. Supreme Court justice attends Gush Etzion event despite boycottby Tal Polon A week after the public outcry over the Supreme Court’s refusal to send a representative to the state ceremony in Gush Etzion celebrating 50 years of renewed Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, it appears that a justice of the court had attended the ceremony, after all. Last week, Supreme Court judges had rejected a petition of the Regavim organization demanding that a representative of the court participate in the official jubilee celebration in Gush Etzion marking the Jewish return to Judea and Samaria. The court rejected the petitioner's claim that court participation was obligatory due to the event’s status as an official state ceremony, arguing that sending a representative could be interpreted as an overt political statement contrary to the presumed non-partisan nature of the judiciary. “The decision not to take part in the controversial event which could be interpreted as political in character is necessary in order to maintain the independent status of the judiciary, and in order to maintain public trust in the judicial system,” the judges ruled. The decision was met with condemnation from government officials, including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who wrote a letter to Chief Justice Miriam Naor asserting that the court’s decision would backfire. "Even though you wanted to avoid a political dispute, you missed achieving that goal, and the Movement for Quality Government correctly wrote in a letter to Your Honor today that the matter will most likely play into the hands of those who wish to portray the court as acting in the political sphere, with good intentions leading to bad consequences.” Zionist organization Regavim, which filed the petition, responded that “Despite the Court’s disappointing but not unexpected decision, our petition achieved its purpose by spotlighting the problematic conduct of Israel’s judiciary. This decision is one more example of Supreme Court rulings that blur the boundaries between the three branches of government.” “In this most recent instance, the Court has once again eroded the authority of the executive and legislative branches of Israel’s government, dealing a mortal blow to the concept of the division of powers upon which democratic government is based.” “At the same time,” the organization added, “the Court has caused serious damage to the public’s faith in the impartiality of Israel’s judicial system.” Nevertheless, Army Radio reported this morning, Tuesday, that a court justice had, in fact, been present at the ceremony, despite the court’s decision - although not in an official capacity. According to the report, Justice Noam Sohlberg - himself a resident of Gush Etzion - had attended the ceremony as a private citizen, viewing the ceremony with his family from within the general crowd rather than from within the ranks of honored governmental figures. The report also indicated that Chief Justice Naor knew in advance about Sohlberg’s intention to attend, but said that she “would not interfere with his decision,” apparently wishing to avoid an additional confrontation after all that had already transpired. 6. Police step up efforts against 'scary clowns'by Reut Hadar Police are stepping up efforts against the recent phenomenon of “scary clowns” harassing citizens in recent days at various locations around the country. On Monday, four youths dressed as clowns were arrested in Rishon Letzion in central Israel after they harassed passersby. They admitted to the charges against them and were transferred for further investigation. In addition, a young woman was found in a different region of the city dressed as a clown and was taken in for investigation. Earlier yesterday, two youths dressed as clowns who frightened passersby were arrested in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel. They claimed that they were simply playing a practical joke, but police decided to take them into the police youth department for investigation. These cases come following the opening of an investigation launched last week in Dimona against four 12 -year-olds dressed as clowns who were apprehended after they harassed local residents. In this case, due to their young age, the suspects were transferred to welfare authorities. "Israel Police will continue to prevent public intimidation and harassment which violate public order and disrupt daily routine, and such acts will encounter uncompromising enforcement," police said. 7. 18 more firearms discovered at Las Vegas shooter's homeby Elad Benari [twittervideo:2033580] The death toll in the massacre in Las Vegas has risen to 59, Nevada Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said on Monday evening. 527 people were wounded in the shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Lombardo also told a news briefing that 18 firearms were discovered in the Mesquite home of the shooter, Stephen Paddock. Earlier, officials told The New York Times that at least 20 rifles were found Paddock’s hotel room after the shooting, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Among the guns found were AR-15-style assault rifles, one official said. 64-year-old Paddock was found dead in his room at the hotel following the shooting. The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization claimed that Paddock was a convert to Islam and one of their fighters. However, the FBI later debunked the terror group's claims. Law enforcement officials are still working to determine what may have motivated Paddock, who was described as “aggressively unfriendly”, to commit the mass shooting, Fox News reported. Paddock of was a gambling multimillionaire who made much of his money investing in real estate, according to his brother, Eric, who added that he had no reason to believe the gunman had run into financial trouble. “No affiliation, no religion, no politics. He never cared about any of that stuff,” Eric Paddock was quoted as having told reporters. “He was a guy who had money. He went on cruises and gambled.” He described his brother as a multimillionaire and said they had business dealings and owned property together. He said he was not aware that his brother had gambling debts. “He had substantial wealth. He'd tell me when he'd win. He'd grouse when he'd lost. He never said he'd lost four million dollars or something. I think he would have told me,” said the brother, according to Fox News. 8. President Trump on Las Vegas shooting: 'Act of pure evil'by Mordechai Sones [youtube:2033566] "The FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security is working with local police," Trump says. Trump thanked first responders for their quick reaction to the scene. Trump said "we cannot fathom their pain, we cannot fathom their loss," about families who have lost loved ones in the shooting. To the injured, the President said "we are praying for your full and speedy recovery. We ask God to help you through this very dark period. "Scripture teaches us, 'The Lord is close to the broken-hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.' We seek comfort in those words, for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve," the President said. "To the wounded who are recovering in the hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery." Trump says America always comes together as one. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil." Though we may feel angry, he said, "our love defines us." Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe | |
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