Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Sunday, Mar. 27 '16, Adar Bet 17, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. REPORT: UK BANKROLLING FOGEL FAMILY'S KILLERS
2. TEMPERS FLARE AS BENNETT FACES OFF AGAINST NETANYAHU, YA'ALON
3. IDF REJECTS 'WITCH-HUNT' CLAIMS, SAYS SOLDIER ISN'T PERSECUTED
4. WATCH: 'I NEARLY DIED BECAUSE OF IDF OPEN-FIRE RESTRICTIONS'
5. NETANYAHU DEFENDS IDF AFTER SOLDIER SHOOTS INJURED TERRORIST
6. ARRESTED SOLDIER TOLD FRIENDS: 'TERRORIST STABBERS SHOULD DIE'
7. SANDERS WINS TRIFECTA IN WASHINGTON, ALASKA, HAWAII CAUCUSES
8. BILL MAHER: AFTER ATTACKS MAYBE EUROPE WILL LAY OFF ISRAEL
1. REPORT: UK BANKROLLING FOGEL FAMILY'S KILLERS
by David Rosenberg
Every year, the UK funds the Palestinian Authority to the tune of more than $100 million, including direct cash transfers. According to a new report, much of it goes to supporting terrorists guilty of the worst atrocities.
Despite denials by the UK's Department For International Development (DFID), an investigation by the Daily Mail has revealed that much of the $100 million given to the PA has been used for purposes other than humanitarian aid, including the construction of lavish mansions and funding for terrorists guilty of murdering Israelis.
On Saturday the paper revealed that until last year, the UK had been funding the Palestine Liberation Organization directly, supplying the terrorist group with money it passes on to terrorists and their families.
Among the recipients of these funds are Amjad and Hakim Awad, the terrorist murderers who broke into the Fogel family home in Itamar, slaughtering the parents and three children. The terrorist cousins received $23,000 thus far.
Abdallah Barghouti, a senior Hamas commander and bomb-maker, known as "the engineer", is another beneficiary of the terrorist fund, receiving an estimated $150,000. Barghouti is responsible for a series of deadly suicide bombings, including the bombing of Hebrew University in 2002.
While the UK and EU now transfer funds through the Palestinian Authority, rather than directly to the PLO, there is often little practical difference, as the PLO runs the PA. Cash payments made to the PA are easily passed on to the PLO, and with Hamas a member of the PA unity government, it receives a significant portion of PA funds.
All of this comes despite the fact that the UK's national deficit forced the government to borrow £70 billion (nearly $99 billion) in 2015.
The UK spends more on foreign aid than any other developed country, thanks to a permanent commitment to spend 0.7% of its national wealth on aid - a commitment which forces agencies to spend the money in order to meet the directives regardless of the merit of the projects they spend on. A petition calling on the British government to curb its enormous, often wasteful expenditure on foreign aid has already gained more than 20,000 signatures since the revelations came to light.
he Daily Mail has also found that despite officially handing responsibility for money transfers for convicted terrorists and their families to the PLO, the Palestinian Authority continues to directly fund those involved in terrorism.
The family of two men arrested for terror attacks on Israelis reportedly receives monthly payments from both the PA and PLO.
According to Itamar Marcus, Director of the Palestinian Media Watch organization, the EU and UK had chosen to turn a blind eye to the systematic misuse of funds they give the Palestinian Authority every year.
"There is willful blindness by the UK and EU, who were happy not to even carry out the simplest investigation."
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, openly touts the money transfers to terrorists. "It is not a crime to be fighting occupation," said Amir Nasser, a senior PA official. "These people are heroes. We could be giving them much more money and it would not be enough."
Nasser went on to claim that should the Palestinian Authority win statehood, it would demand even more money from the UK. "You should pay us more money," he said.
2. TEMPERS FLARE AS BENNETT FACES OFF AGAINST NETANYAHU, YA'ALON
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The political fallout from last Thursday's killing by an IDF soldier of a wounded terrorist in Hevron continues to make headlines on Sunday, with fresh criticism aimed at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon.
The incident, which has enflamed passions on both sides of the debate, has divided the coalition government, turning even political allies against one another.
During the government's weekly meeting on Sunday, Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) lambasted Ya'alon's criticism of the soldier involved in the incident, saying it was not the role of the political establishment to judge the accused.
"We cannot determine the fate (in court) of the soldier. We need to support our troops," said Bennett.
"Why rush to judgment before the investigation? You've confused the good-guys with the bad-guys. We're at war against murderous Palestinian terror. At the front line stands the soldier," Bennett continued.
"Why was it necessary to jump on the soldier so fast on Thursday? The investigation of the army Central Command only began on Friday!"
"What message does that send to thousands of soldiers, [sending out a premature] indictment for murder? You've confused the good-guys with the bad-guys! Why is the country's leadership dancing to B'Tselem's tune? We don't know what the soldier was thinking [when he shot]."
Bennett called on the government to support the army "with actions, not words."
Netanyahu quickly responded to Bennett's statement, deriding his comments as political grandstanding.
"Don't politicize everything. You won't lecture me about ethics."
Other ministers also accused Bennett of using the incident to make political capital, including Gilad Erdan (Likud) and Aryeh Deri (Shas).
Some MKs in both the coalition and opposition have expressed open support for the soldier now under investigation, including Science Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud), MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), and former Foreign Minister MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beitenu).
3. IDF REJECTS 'WITCH-HUNT' CLAIMS, SAYS SOLDIER ISN'T PERSECUTED
by David Rosenberg
As supporters and family members of the soldier accused in last Thursday's killing of a wounded terrorist continue to decry what they describe as a "witch-hunt" or "lynch", an army spokesman responded to criticism on Sunday, rejecting claims the soldier was being persecuted.
Brigadier General Moti Almoz took to Facebook, writing that the ongoing IDF investigation of the soldier had only begun several days ago, and investigators were no rushing to judgment.
"We're not investigating this so that we can feel pious about ourselves," wrote Almoz, "we're doing it for our own sake [the army's]."
Almoz also rebuffed claims by supporters of the accused soldier that the investigation was an effort to placate leftwing interests or was a concession to international pressure.
"The incident isn't being investigated because of B'Tselem or because of some international lynch [of Israel]; rather it's for our own sake, our image, and our values."
The leftwing NGO B'Tselem, which publicized a video of the incident, made the incident an international headline. However, a report from the initial inquiry revealed that the circumstances surrounding the shooting were already being assessed by army officials prior to the video's publication.
Almoz also emphasized the distinction between the army's quick response ending the terror attack, and the ethical issues created by a soldier taking matters into his own hands.
"In professional terms, we determined that the soldiers [in Hevron] acted appropriately [in dealing with the terror attack] and we praised them for quickly stopping the terrorists. In terms of [army] ethics, after the initial investigation by our officers, we've determined that there was a serious incident."
"We don't measure or make [our code of ethics] based on comments on the internet; rather [we set them] in the field, when it's difficult, when it's complicated, when things aren't clear. Orders always need to be followed."
The debate over the incident and the army's response quickly spilled over into the Knesset, where nationalist MKs squared off against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon over their comments castigating the soldier's actions. Almoz insisted that the soldier would receive a fair trial, and called for political leaders to leave the army outside of the political debate.
"We won't abandon him, or [subject him] to a drumhead field trial, or [let him suffer] a lynch."
"Let's say it openly: We're [the army] setting the norms here; this was a serious incident and we insist that the army remain above the political debate. What we will do is have a proper investigation, and that's only begun, there's no reason to decide the results already."
4. WATCH: 'I NEARLY DIED BECAUSE OF IDF OPEN-FIRE RESTRICTIONS'
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2013857]
As controversy continues to rage over the fatal shooting of a wounded terrorist in Hevron on Thursday, a former soldier who nearly lost his life in a similar situation has urged the public not to rush to judge the soldier who shot the Arab knifeman in the head.
Dror Zicherman lost his commanding officer and suffered critical injuries when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb vest during a security check in Tulkarem.
The incident took place in December 2005, during a routine anti-terror patrol in the Palestinian Authority city.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Zicherman blamed his commander's death and his own severe injuries on overly-stringent army procedures against opening fire on suspected terrorists. He insisted the actions of the soldier currently under investigation for killing the wounded terrorist - who had stabbed his comrade minutes earlier, and about whom troops in the vicinity had voiced concerns he may have been hiding an explosive device - should be viewed in light of those kinds of split-second, life-or-death scenarios soldiers regularly face.
Recounting his own brush with death, Zicherman described how, as his patrol stopped a taxi for a security check, his attention was immediately drawn to a passenger in the car.
"He wore a leather coat, and it was a very hot day - 25 or 30 degrees (Celcius) - and it was filled with something.
"I looked into his eyes... he looked like he was going to die."
Zicherman immediately aimed his rifle at the suspect, but his commanding officer ordered him to hold his fire, citing army regulations.
As the officer began to check the Arab terrorist he detonated his explosive vest, killing the officer and leaving Zicherman's body peppered with potentially lethal shrapnel. It took him many months to recover from his injuries.
He insists his own experience and the scenario which played out in Hevron on Thursday are "almost the same. I was injured and my officer got killed because we went according to the procedure."
Zicherman acknowledged that, at least from the video released of the incident, it does indeed appear that the soldier broke army regulations. But nevertheless he said it was wrong to automatically presume the soldier's guilt, and slammed the rush to do so in the Israeli and foreign press.
"I don't know what the situation was there, but he didn't murder him, he killed the terrorist because he wanted to save his friends... he's not a murderer.
"The army should check what happened, but it shouldn't be judged on Facebook or in the media."
5. NETANYAHU DEFENDS IDF AFTER SOLDIER SHOOTS INJURED TERRORIST
by Ari Soffer
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened the government's weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, and began with a strident defense of the conduct of the IDF, following the killing of an injured terrorist in Hevron.
During the incident in question, which took place on Thursday afternoon, a soldier shot a terrorist in the head as he lay wounded and apparently neutralized, after having stabbed and moderately injured another soldier.
An investigation is currently underway, and the soldier in question has been suspended pending a military trial. The soldier's defense team claim he feared the terrorist had an explosive belt and acted to neutralize the threat, but prosecutors allege the actions were in fact motivated by revenge - citing in part comments he had made prior to the incident.
Netanyahu emphasized that, whatever the outcome of the trial, the army itself stringently upholds "the highest ethical values."
"Any challenge to the morality of the IDF is outrageous and unacceptable," the PM said. "The soldiers of the IDF, our children, maintain high ethical values while courageously fighting against bloodthirsty murderers under difficult operational conditions.
"I am certain that in all cases, as in the current one, the inquiry takes into account all conditions. We must all support the IDF Chief-of-Staff, the IDF and our soldiers, who safeguard our security."
The prime minister also sent his condolences to the family of the commander of the IDF Civil Administration, who died in a tragic accident on Friday.
"I would like to send condolences to the family of Brig.-Gen. Munir Amar who died in a regrettable airplane crash in the Galilee," Netanyahu stated.
"Munir was an outstanding fighter and commander. He excelled in all his posts, including his most recent one as head of the Civil Administration. He was imbued with a sense of mission to defend the State of Israel, his state, the state of all of us."
6. ARRESTED SOLDIER TOLD FRIENDS: 'TERRORIST STABBERS SHOULD DIE'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The inquiry into last Thursday's fatal shooting of a wounded Arab terrorist has revealed some important clues into the incident that drew sharp condemnations from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon.
According to a report on Israel Army Radio, the initial investigation into the shooting has found that 11 minutes elapsed from the time the terrorist was neutralized, until the fatal shooting in question.
The shooting, which was captured on film by an Arab activist associated with the B'Tselem organization, created an international storm last week after the video went viral.
The report on Israel Army Radio also provided details on the army's handling of the shooting. Contrary to claims made after the video's release, the incident had in fact been reported through the army's chain of command prior to the release of the B'Tselem video, with officers filing a complaint against the soldier even prior to the video's publication.
While the soldier responsible for the shooting has claimed that he believed the terrorist was wearing a suicide bomb, investigators discovered that he had made statements suggesting revenge was the motive.
One soldier reportedly told authorities that the soldier under investigation had earlier said to him that "a terrorist who stabs one of our comrades needs to die". The witness also testified that he tried to calm the soldier involved in the incident, telling him the soldier wounded in the terror attack was lightly injured and would be fine.
After the shooting the platoon commander questioned the soldier, asking him "Why did you shoot?" The soldier responded by saying that "a terrorist who stabs needs to die". The officer then removed the soldier from the scene and reported the incident to his commander.
The soldier's attorney, Eyal Besserglick, responded that people on the scene of the attack "were yelling 'he's still moving, he might have a bomb'." He also noted that the terrorist was wearing a heavy coat on a warm day, often a sign of a concealed explosive device.
"What's more, before this [shooting] there was a stabbing attack, and the person [involved] was there with a coat, so what do you expect? That afterwards this soldier would be killed along with his friends, so that we can mourn our dead?"
"He had no choice but to act as he did, otherwise he [might have] lost his life and those of his comrades, whom he tried to save."
7. SANDERS WINS TRIFECTA IN WASHINGTON, ALASKA, HAWAII CAUCUSES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Saturday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders scored three victories, beating frontrunner Hillary Clinton in contests in Hawaii, Washington, and Alaska.
During an address in Wisconsin, Sanders thanked Alaska for "a resounding victory", and also claimed strong momentum in Washington state.
"We knew things would begin to improve when we moved west," he said to huge applause. The Washington results came in as he spoke, and he drew a deafening cheer when he read the news aloud, according to the newspaper.
With 173 delegates at stake in the three western states, Sanders picked up badly needed momentum as he struggles to close the gap with the former Secretary of State.
Currently, Sanders trails Clinton in the delegate count 956 to 1,234. To secure the nomination, a candidate needs 2,383 delegates.
Clinton's campaign conceded that Sanders had the edge in all three contests Saturday, but claimed that even the largest prize, Washington, will make little difference in the dynamics of a primary contest that she has long been favored to win.
The latest Bloomberg poll of likely Democratic primary voters nationwide shows a tight race, with Sanders edging out Clinton 49% to 48%. Recent polls in Pennsylvania, however, show Sanders losing to Hillary by 25 points. A landslide loss in Pennsylvania would leave Sanders with few paths to the nomination, and would require a sizable Sanders win in California, where he presently trails by 7 points.
A CNN/ORC survey last week gave Sanders a 20-point lead over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in a head-to-head contest. Clinton held a 12-point lead over Trump in the same survey.
Sanders hopes that momentum from his victories Saturday will carry forward to a much-watched contest on April 5 in Wisconsin, which shares borders with two states — Michigan and Minnesota — that Sanders won over Clinton in previous contests.
Both candidates are expected to campaign in Wisconsin over the next few days.
8. BILL MAHER: AFTER ATTACKS MAYBE EUROPE WILL LAY OFF ISRAEL
by David Rosenberg
Warning: This video contains strong language that some viewers may find offensive.
[youtube:2013852]
Liberal comedian and commentator Bill Maher, who has become famous for his profanity-laced riffs on conservatives and organized religion, took aim at European treatment of the Jewish state on Friday.
During a panel discussion on his late-night HBO show Real Time, Maher blasted the UN and scolded Europe for its behavior towards Israel.
"Europe has been real a******s about Israel," Maher said.
"I mean, in general. The U.N. – as of 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council had issued more official condemnations of Israel than the rest of the world's nations combined. I wonder now that Europe has been attacked four times now in a little over a year, and they say ISIS has 400 fighters that they are ready to introduce back into Europe, and they're trying to get a dirty bomb - maybe Europe will have a little more sympathy for what Israel goes through."
Maher has consistently bucked prevalent trends among fellow liberals, and is a strong critic of Islamic radicalism and a staunch supporter of Israel.
In an opinion piece published in the Huffington Post, Maher even expressed support for President George W. Bush - a frequent target on his show - on the issue of Israel, writing "I love being on the side of my president."
"There was no entity of Arabs called "Palestine" before Israel made the desert bloom," Maher wrote.
"If those 600,000 original Palestinian refugees had been handled with maturity by their Arab brethren, who had nothing but space to put them, they could have moved on — the way Germans, Czechs, Poles, Chinese and everybody else has, including, of course, the Jews."
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