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Monday, Sep. 05 '16, ב' באלול תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. 2 DEAD, 17 WOUNDED IN TEL AVIV PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE
2. REPUBLICAN PARTY OPENS SAMARIA BRANCH
3. WATCH: WOUNDED FOUND AMID RUBBLE OF COLLAPSED PARKING GARAGE
4. FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: TIME IS ON OUR SIDE
5. HUNDREDS ATTEND FUNERAL OF FALLEN SOLDIER ORON SHAUL'S FATHER
6. ISRAELI WOMAN FORCED TO RETURN HAREDI SON TO NON-JEWISH FATHER
7. ISRAELI SATELLITE DESTROYED, BUT IAI LOOKS AHEAD
8. ISRAELI COMPANY COMPENSATED FOR SATELLITE LOST IN EXPLOSION
1. 2 DEAD, 17 WOUNDED IN TEL AVIV PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2018835]
An underground parking garage under construction in Tel Aviv collapsed Monday morning, leaving two dead and some 17 people wounded.
The incident occurred in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv, an area with a large number of hi-tech firms.
MDA emergency responders said one person was seriously injured in the collapse. Witnesses say he appeared to be in his mid-20s and was a worker at the site. He suffered serious injuries to head and limbs.
A second victim is moderate condition, with an additional 15 people lightly wounded.
Of the 17 victims treated at the scene, 4 were buried under the rubble and later rescued.
Emergency teams also found the bodies of two victims killed by the collapse amidst the debris.
A foreman at the construction site reported that seven workers were still unaccounted for and may be buried under the rubble.
"There are people buried," said Fire and Rescue spokesman Yoram Levy. "We've rushed in all available teams; more than 60 [fire] fighters have arrived on the scene," he said.
Moshe Levy, a volunteer emergency first-responder with United Hatzalah reported from the scene: "When I arrived I found numerous hurt individuals who were conscious and who extricated themselves from the area of the collapse under their own power."
"It appeared to me that the roof of a parking garage had collapsed in the building site. While members of our ambu-cycle unit who arrived first on scene were treating the injured, reports came in of other people who were unaccounted for and likely still trapped inside. Firefighters and rescue teams are working to extricate them. At this time the wounded we are treating are suffering from minor injuries and are all fully conscious."
Police say the underground parking garage had four floors, three of which collapsed. Rescue teams have thus far been unable to reach the lowest floor.
[album:open
2. REPUBLICAN PARTY OPENS SAMARIA BRANCH
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Republican Party's Israel branch is slated to open a campaign office in the town of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, the first time a major US political party has ever operated in Judea and Samaria.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, attorney Marc Zell, a representative of the GOP's Israeli branch, explained the importance of the event and what it means for the 2016 presidential election and the Republican Party.
Zell began by noting that Trump, working together with party activists and after consultations with Zell, had pushed for changes in the GOP's platform, including explicit opposition to the division of Jerusalem and removal of references to Israel as an "occupier" in Judea and Samaria.
Noting plans for additional offices in Gush Etzion and Beitar Illit in the Judea region, Zell said the changes marked a tremendous accomplishment for the pro-Israel community. Zell added that when questioned regarding Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, Trump responded saying that where Israel chooses to build is an internal Israeli matter, and that the US should not intervene.
"So what we've done in Karnei Shomron is perfectly natural," said Zell, "just as in Gush Etzion and Beitar Illit."
"Trump calls them as he sees them," said Zell. "Every time the US interferes - and we saw it with in the Obama administration, which has been the most hostile towards us – was unsuccessful. Israel is here and this is our issue. If we can reach an understanding with the Palestinian, fine, but if we cannot, we will decide, and not the Americans. They don't dictate to us what to do."
"I say that, in contrast to all of the traditional wisdom, Jewish settlement of Judea and Samaria is not a barrier to peace, rather it is just the opposite."
Regarding the Republican nominee's views on Israel and the future of Judea and Samaria, Zell emphasized Trump's pragmatism in confronting the issue. In contrast to the popular persona projected by the nominee, Zell described Trump as attentive and reticent.
"It interests him a great deal, but his approach is very pragmatic. He doesn't dictate. He listens. He is especially open to the Israeli view, because we are allies of the US. He said that as well."
Zell was quick to clarify that he was giving his own personal opinion, and could not speak for the candidate, but noted Trump's ties to the pro-Israel community.
"I don't know what he will decide after, God-willing, he gets to the White House, but I can say that at this point he doesn't want to respond. In addition, I want to point out that he has a policy staff and ties with Israel, and both chairmen of the staff are Jews – one of them, David Friedman is director of the group American Friends of the Beit El Yeshiva. In other words, it couldn't be clearer, Trump won't tell us to do in relation to the Land of Israel, especially in the heart of Israel."
"I'm speaking as an individual member of the Republican Party and not in the name of the party or the future policies of Trump regarding Judea and Samaria. But what I can say is that based on what was expressed in the platform, the Republicans won't dictate to Israel how to manage the country. They will give us the right to decide our own future – whether to leave, God-forbid, Judea and Samaria, or to apply Israeli sovereignty or to maintain the status quo. All the options are open [for Israel]."
While some have expressed skepticism over Trump's pro-Israel credentials, noting statements of support from other candidates, including Hillary Clinton, Zell claimed most Americans living Israel appeared to be backing Trump.
"Based on the responses we've had in the field, the vast majority of Americans that we meet [in Israel] are supporting Trump. Not everyone is thrilled with him or with his style or way of expressing himself, but everyone understands that between the Republican Party, with the most pro-Israel platform in history, and the Democrats under Clinton and Tim Kaine, the difference is night and day. The Republicans love Israel, while many Democrats do not. If, God-forbid, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine make it to the White House, I think it will mean not only a continuation of the Obama years – which have been the worst years for Israel – but an even worse situation."
3. WATCH: WOUNDED FOUND AMID RUBBLE OF COLLAPSED PARKING GARAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2018826]
Rescue workers have recovered four victims buried under the debris of an underground parking garage that collapsed in north Tel Aviv Monday morning.
They have been extricated from the rubble and are being treated for injuries they suffered in the collapse.
Some of the victims reportedly communicated with rescue workers via their cell phones, which they used even while buried under the rubble.
The parking garage, located in the Ramat Hahayal neighorbood, was under construction when it collapsed, killing two and wounding at least 17, with another seven people still unaccounted for and feared buried beneath the debris.
4. FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: TIME IS ON OUR SIDE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
[youtube:2018819]
A retired Major General in the IDF, Uzi Dayan twice served as National Security Advisor to Israeli Prime Ministers. This week, Dayan sat down with Arutz Sheva to discuss the threats – and opportunities – Israel faces in an increasingly unstable Middle East, as well as the prospects for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli final status agreement.
The two greatest challenges, Dayan argues, are effectively combating terrorism, and the Iranian nuclear program.
"If you don't fight terrorism effectively, you leave the key to any progress, to any solution in the hands of some terrorist," said Dayan. "The second challenge is the nuclearization of Iran. That is unfinished business," he warned.
To properly confront these threats, Israel must preserve what he described as the nation's three "strategic assets" – Jerusalem, defensible borders, and internal unity.
"We are in the midst of a regional war in the Middle East. We are not really a part of it, but it poses a big threat to Israel. What we have to do today is not give up on our strategic assets."
"There are three [strategic assets]. One of them is Jerusalem, which is not only the Israeli capital, it is the capital of the Jewish people."
Defensible Borders
"The second one is defensible borders. We have one in the Golan Heights, another in the Sinai desert because it's demilitarized. And in Judea and Samaria, the eastern border should be the Jordan River and the [surrounding] hills. It has to be a defensible border, because we need strategic depth. We need to be ready to fight against a conventional attack from the outside, and we need to be able to control the envelope to be effective in fighting terrorism."
"The third strategic asset of Israel is our unity. The cohesion of Israeli society and the unity of Israeli society and the Jewish people. When I was the National Security adviser for two Prime Ministers, I was often asked what is the most important strategic asset. I would say it's not the Merkava Mark V, or the F-16i - which is now the F-35i - it is the cohesion of the Jewish people. We are strong enough to fulfill these missions. We are actually stronger than before, and everything is collapsing around us. What we need more than everything today, is unity with the different [worldwide] Jewish communities."
"People who come to visit Israel, people who stay here, sometimes for military service or to study in an Israeli university - it's much more than donating something. It actually contributes to Jewish unity and to the cohesion of the different Jewish communities."
Nor Partner For Peace
"I devoted 50 years of my life not only to security, but to find a solution - a full agreement with the Palestinians. I don't see partner for a full agreement. No Palestinian today will go and sign a paper that will [constitute] an end to the war, [with] no more [Palestinian] claims, because they want much more than we can offer, and when they look around they see the international community in many cases actually supports the Palestinians."
"The Israel-Palestinian conflict is not the root of all evil. What they see - the Palestinians - is that more and more Arab states are dealing with more important issues than the Palestinian issue. So I think that time is working on our side, if we will continue to defend ourselves and to build our Jewish democratic state everywhere."
5. HUNDREDS ATTEND FUNERAL OF FALLEN SOLDIER ORON SHAUL'S FATHER
by Ido Ben Porat
Hundreds attended the funeral of Herzl Shaul, son of fallen IDF soldier Oron Shaul Hy'D whose body is in the hands of Hamas. Shaul died Friday after a protracted illness.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Rivlin are attending the funeral.
Aviram Shaul. son of Herzl, eulogized his father and said: "Why did you go, father? What will we do without you? You promised that you would stay until Oron came back. Stick by your word and come back.
"In the last few years we have unfortunately suffered some difficult times" said Aviram. "My father died of anguish and of regret for having sat Shiva for Oron. Had we been able to turn the clock back, we would not have sat Shiva. Would you sit Shiva on the basis of a hole in a helmet?"
Rivlin also eulogized and promised that Israel would do everything possible to recover the bodies of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin which have been in Hamas hands since the Protective Edge campaign.
"We net a month ago at my residence, you were very sick and had no illusions" said Rivlin. "You looked at the picture of Oron hanging in my office and had difficulty speaking. I'm sorry you didn't merit seeing us complete your mission.
"In your lifetime you didn't merit bringing back your beloved son. Instead I promise what the government, the IDF and the Chief of Staff promised you, that we will continue to work daily to return Oron and Hadar home."
Prime Minister Netanyahu said to the Shaul family that "the entire nation is crying with you and hugging you with love. I came here to be at your side at this painful time when the cup of sorrow had overflowed for you. I came here to give the proper honor to a noble person. our dear Herzl O.B.M. who fought his illness with bravery to his last breath.
"I came here to look in your eyes and say that my obligation and that of the government of Israel, of the IDF and of the State of israel is to bring Oron and Hadar back home. This task is at the top of our minds and we will not desist from it." emphasized Netanyahu.
The Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot, also spoke and reiterated the obligation to return Oron and Hadar to a Jewish grave.
6. ISRAELI WOMAN FORCED TO RETURN HAREDI SON TO NON-JEWISH FATHER
by Arutz Sheva Staff
An Israeli woman who is accused of kidnapping her son while he was staying with his non-Jewish father in Belgium in 2006 gave up the boy in exchange for immunity for her accomplices.
Following the deal between Ronit Bitton and the Israel Police, her son, 17-year-old Solal Georis, was reunited with his father last month after eight years in which she had kept him hidden from authorities in haredi Orthodox circles in Israel, the Belgian Jewish paper Regards reported Friday.
Both a Belgian and Israeli court affirmed the sole custody of Vincent Georis over the boy after the father filed a missing persons report and accused Bitton of kidnapping him.The boy is halakhically Jewish.
The mother claimed she did not know where the boy was despite suspicions that she had accomplices hide him. An Israeli court in 2013 sentenced her to five years in prison for kidnapping. During her interrogation, she claimed that her ex-husband Vincent Georis psychologically abused and intimidated her. She also claimed he was behind the boy's kidnapping and is accusing her of kidnapping him to divert attention from his own actions.
A Belgian court fined Bitton for defamation against Georis, after finding these claims to be false.
Vincent Georis has made countless trips to Israel over the past eight years and hired a local detective. He also launched an appeal in Hebrew, French and Yiddish asking anyone with information concerning Solal to come forward.
Ultimately, though, police in Israel promised to not go after Bitton's presumed accomplices if Bitton consented to allow the boy to remain in contact with his father, Regards reported.
Georis, who has complained of inaction by the Israel Police and has also said that the fact that he is not Jewish made them take him less seriously, approved the deal with Bitton, he told Regards.
"I accepted. I was interested in his well-being above all, even if I was shocked by this amnesty to people who kidnapped a child and denied the existence of his father," he said.
There is another side to the story. A report by Channel 1 presented Vincent Georis as abusive and conniving. Similarly, former MK Moshe Feiglin wrote of him:
"Vincent gave up, by his own will, the right to be a father, and cruelly prevents Ronit from being a mother. He abused the childhood of his son and sentenced him to a life of suffering, he trampled his honor and negated his freedom and money, by means of a dark and degraded connection with bullies and a trampling of the laws of human decency. But reality can't give cover forever, and we believe that the day will soon come when the legal systems in Israel and Belgium, the prosecution and all those complicit in the terrible crime against the poor, helpless mother and son will pay the price."
Following the deal, Solal reported to a Jerusalem police station where DNA tests proved his identity. He and his father are to be reunited in the coming days, after not seeing each other since their last encounter at a Beersheba child services station. Solal was wearing a kippah and a suit of the kind worn by haredi Orthodox children.
7. ISRAELI SATELLITE DESTROYED, BUT IAI LOOKS AHEAD
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:2018803]
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, IAI director-general Yossi Weiss expressed optimism that the Israeli satellite industry could emerge from the debacle of the Amos 6 explosion and continue to build the next prototype of the satellite.
Weiss said that his first reaction was shock at the realization that four or five years work of hundreds of engineers which had been invested in building the satellite had been lost in one explosion.
Weiss realizes that this will tarnish the IAI image and will delay their entry into the African internet market which they had hoped to get involved in with Amos 6.
Yet he believes that with the help of the Israeli government he will be able to speedily initiate the building of Amos 7 and regain Israel's prominent position in the satellite industry.
8. ISRAELI COMPANY COMPENSATED FOR SATELLITE LOST IN EXPLOSION
by JTA
[youtube:2018743]
JTA - Space Communication, which owned the sophisticated Amos-6 satellite lost when the rocket it was to ride into space exploded on the launchpad, is set to receive more than $2 million in compensation from Israel Aerospace Industries.
Israel Aerospace Industries, or IAI, a government-owned corporation, provided the insurance for the satellite.
Space Communication, or SpaceCom, a publicly traded Israeli company, also said that it expects to receive $50 million from SpaceX or "have the launch of a future satellite carried out under the existing agreement and with the payments that have been made."
The company's stock has fallen some 45 percent since Thursday's explosion of the unmanned SpaceX rocket, which was in the midst of routine fueling test for Saturday's scheduled launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral when it exploded.
The rocket was scheduled to hoist into orbit the Amos 6 satellite, built by Israel Aerospace Industries and owned by SpaceCom Ltd. in partnership with Eutelsat Communications of France. It was expected to operate for 16 years in part on behalf of Facebook and bring Internet connectivity to sub-Saharan Africa and television service to providers in Europe and the Middle East. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the project in June 2015.
SpaceX is a private aerospace company found by Jewish entrepreneur, engineer and inventor Elon Musk. It reportedly was to be sold to China's Beijing Xinwei Technology Group, in a deal reported to be worth $285 million, conditional on the successful launch of the satellite. It is not known how the explosion will affect the sale.
The cause of the accident continues to be under investigation.
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