Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
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Thursday, Sep. 15 '16, י"ב באלול תשע"ו
HEADLINES:
1. BARAK SLAMS ISRAEL-US DEFENSE AGREEMENT
2. HAREDI SOLDIER HARASSED BY EGGED BUS DRIVER
3. BREAKING: PROGRESS TOWARDS AMONA ARRANGEMENT
4. EX-AMBASSADOR TO US: ISRAEL COULD HAVE GOTTEN BETTER DEAL
5. DERI: I WOULD NOT OPPOSE SITTING IN A LAPID GOVERNMENT
6. APPEAL FOR RABBI BERLAND'S RELEASE DENIED
7. SYRIAN REFUGEES PARTICIPATE IN JEWISH PARADE IN BERLIN
8. ISRAEL'S LATEST 'SPY SATELLITE' LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
1. BARAK SLAMS ISRAEL-US DEFENSE AGREEMENT
by Arutz Sheva Staff
In an op-ed written by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak that was published Wednesday in the Washington Post, Barak slammed the Prime Minister's leadership, describing the level of mistrust between the United States and Israel.
"Israel will receive $3.8 billion a year," Barak wrote, referring to yesterday's agreement, "an important contribution to our security but far less than what could have been obtained before the prime minister chose to blatantly interfere with U.S. politics."
Barak explained that this agreement is indicative of the level of mistrust between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the American administration and criticized the deal itself saying, "given the more than 20 percent cumulative rise in the cost of arms since the last 10-year agreement entered into force (in 2007), the newly agreed-upon amount represents no greater purchasing power - and even these funds will be conditioned on Israel refraining from requesting additional funding from Congress. Accentuating the degree of mistrust, according to new details reported Wednesday, the administration secured an Israeli written commitment to return any additional money that Congress might provide. In the past, Congress has added - with White House consent - $600 million to $700 million every year for Iron Dome and other defense systems."
Barak criticized the prime minister's leadership, stating that "Netanyahu has consistently nourished fear of existential threats and unleashed ghosts of enemies from within, when domestic realities called for unity and confidence and regional developments required a sober assessment and steady hand."
Barak explained that Netanyahu's leadership has divided the nation and concluded by stating that, "Israel needs a policy that restores credibility to our relations with Washington; prioritizes the unity of the people over the unity of the land; enhances security via cooperation with like-minded nations; and promotes democratic values rather than messianic visions."
Recently, the former prime minister has been harshly critical of Netanyahu, leading people to wonder if he has plans to make a comeback. Criticizing Israeli leadership in a foreign newspaper was once considered beyond the pale but has become commonplace for the left.
2. HAREDI SOLDIER HARASSED BY EGGED BUS DRIVER
by Arutz Sheva
[video:2019184]
Egged spokesperson, Ron Ratner, spoke to Arutz Sheva today regarding a video that features an Egged bus driver yelling at and cursing a passenger who was later revealed to be an IDF soldier.
The bus driver was apparently yelling because the soldier hadn't validated his ticket before entering the bus.
The incident occurred on Jerusalem line 75 in which passengers can board the bus through all doors and validate their cards independently at electric kiosks.
A soldier, who serves in Army Radio and carries a pass that allows him to ride public transportation while not in uniform, boarded the bus through one of the doors. The bus driver yelled at him for not validating his card and the situation escalated from there.
"If the driver had just asked to see the young man's permit, the situation would never have escalated," Ratner stated. Ratner explained that the driver's reaction was not indicative of Egged drivers' behavior in general, emphasizing that this case is quite out of the ordinary.
"These are not the values of Egged drivers," Ratner stated, "this is not how they treat our dear soldiers or citizens."
According to Ratner, the incident had nothing to do with the fact that the soldier is Haredi and he stated that, "The fact that he was Haredi isn't a motive at all. Only after the fact did we discover that the soldier is Haredi."
The recently integrated system allows passengers to board the bus through all of the doors. This is a new system and it occurs too often that passengers don't verify their cards in the machines. That is why we have inspectors. The driver should be focused on driving and not verifying the payment of passengers."
Ratner emphasized that this behavior does not reflect that of thousands of Egged drivers and the company is conducting an investigation and taking this incident very seriously.
3. BREAKING: PROGRESS TOWARDS AMONA ARRANGEMENT
by Hezki Baruch
The Attorney General's office discussed this afternoon (Thursday) the possibility of moving houses in Amona to 11 areas defined as absentee properties with no known Palestinian claimants.
Arutz Sheva has been informed that the main subject of the discussion is the possibility of transferring houses in Amona to these absentee properties which have no known Palestinian claimants.
In the past, Amona residents have expressed their opposition to such an arrangement and insisted that the community be legalized as it stands at present.
The plan to move houses to adjacent lands was devised by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, who issued a directive to investigate candidate plots of land near Amona, and that the plan be publicized, so that objections could be brought forward.
Out of 35 plots, Palestinians raised objections to construction on 24. This leaves 11 plots that do not have any outstanding claims of ownership.
After these developments clarifying the availability of the relevant land, the Justice Ministry began to expedite the process of legally designating the land for the Amona houses to be transferred. The intended plots amount to over 18 acres of land.
4. EX-AMBASSADOR TO US: ISRAEL COULD HAVE GOTTEN BETTER DEAL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Israeli former deputy foreign minister and US ambassador, Danny Ayalon, says in an interview with Arutz Sheva that the foreign aid agreement with the US may look impressive but contains a number of problematic issues.
According to the agreement, Israel must stop purchasing 800 million dollars worth of ammunition from Israeli defense industries within the next five years. Israel will be required to purchase American equipment with the entire sum. This will significantly strengthen American defense industries while weakening their Israeli counterparts. Israel has also obligated itself not to turn to Congress for more aid, even though it usually received 500-600 million dollars more in aid from them.
Moreover, Ayalon claims that Israel could have received much more if Netanyahu had not spoken out against the nuclear agreement with Iran. "Israel asked for much more and the Americans would have been willing to give more if the agreement had been signed before the nuclear agreement was signed in Vienna. Here there was a missed opportunity, as if the Prime Minister had agreed to waive his speech in Congress, we could have asked for more and received weaponry which could have a significant effect on our security."
"There was a mistake made here since anyway there was no chance of changing the administration's viewpoint. It was just a provocation and it would have been preferable to close a deal behind doors with America when we would have achieved a better deal with Iran and more foreign aid. Obama was willing to pay a lot to Israel in return for its withdrawing its public criticism of the nuclear agreement, including providing very advanced weapon systems which are not now being transferred to Israel."
Ayalon says, however, that Netanyahu did well to sign the agreement now and not wait for the new president since "Better a bird in the hand than two in the bush. The American elections are very unpredictable and it's hard to know who will be the next president. If it will be Hillary Clinton she won't change anything from what was agreed with Obama and if it is Trump it's unclear what will happen as he has spoken out a number of times against financial aid to US allies."
Ayalon was elected to the Knesset in 2008 on the Yisrael Beytenu list of today's Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, but was not given a place on the party's list in 2012.
5. DERI: I WOULD NOT OPPOSE SITTING IN A LAPID GOVERNMENT
by Haim Lev
Shas leader Aryeh Deri said today that his party would not oppose sitting in a government headed by Lapid, at least not in principle.
In the past, Yair Lapid has sparred frequently with Haredi representatives over army draft laws and other anti-religious legislation he has tried to introduce. Moreover, Lapid had insisted during coalition negotiations in 2013 that he was not willing to sit with Haredi parties in the government.
"If Yair Lapid would have 61 MK's recommending him to the president besides Shas and the other Haredi MK's and he could form a government - as Rabin did in '92 - and then Lapid would offer us coalition guidelines which we could live with while telling us 'I can form a government without you anyway, will you join or not?', that would be a good question," Deri said to Reshet Bet.
However, Deri does not see such a government as feasible at present. He also emphasized that there is no alliance between him and Lapid, nor is there any friendship beyond the usual courtesies between them.
He also referred to the implementation of the Shabbat law in Tel Aviv which is at present his responsibility to decide as Interior Minister. He noted that he had asked to defer a decision on the matter as he did not want to open another "religious war" at present.
Deri also admitted that the Haredi population has not succeeded in "enamoring" the Shabbat on the secular public. "We failed to explain to the secular public the importance of Shabbat," he concluded.
6. APPEAL FOR RABBI BERLAND'S RELEASE DENIED
by Arutz Sheva
The Rabbi's attorney appealed to the Supreme Court to have the Rabbi released from prison due to Rabbi's worsening medical condition.
Rabbi Berland is a well-known Breslov Rabbi who headed the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Old City. He has long been suspected of serious sexual offenses, and after a long period of fleeing the law, he was extradited to Israel.
The attorney who represents Rabbi Berland claimed that the Rabbi's health has deteriorated and that he must be released.
Judge Yoram Danziger clarified that he isn't convinced enough by the medical documents presented to him.
The judge stated that, in contrast to what Berland's attorney claims, there is no evidence that the Rabbi cannot receive adequate medical attention in prison.
In his decision, he added that "without belittling the Rabbi's medical condition or welfare, I am convinced that he will continue to serve his prison sentence and that his medical well-being will be properly cared for in the future if needed."
7. SYRIAN REFUGEES PARTICIPATE IN JEWISH PARADE IN BERLIN
by Arutz Sheva staff
The Orthodox Jewish community of Berlin celebrated a welcoming of a Torah Scroll into the local synagogue at the beginning of the week.
During the ceremony, led by Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, rabbi of the Jewish community of Berlin, torches were held by children of the local Jewish community and by Syrian refugee children. "We seek to live our lives in peace" stated Rabbi Teichtal in his speech, referring to endless arguments and debates before the upcoming Berlin election day.
"The Torah teaches us to love humanity as a whole and to always reach out to those in need", were the opening words in Rabbi Teichtal's speech. "Unfortunately, we have been witnessing those who try and spread out hate while taking advantage of the fear and disorderly feelings at this time. This kind of manner is one far from the Jewish customs and Jewish values. We mustn't forget that regardless of the time, and no matter what the political arguments are, we must unite as a whole and together look forward to a time of peace".
Later in his speech, Rabbi Teichtal directed his words to the Syrian refugee children "It is an honor for me that you joined us today and celebrated with us. God has brought us all to this part of the world. I wish that we all do our best to allow us all to live in love and peace together".
"Despite the tension in the air in Berlin before the upcoming elections on September 18th, this parade was walking to the beat of a different drummer. The festive night will remain for a long time in the memory of the Jewish community of Berlin as they marched through the city streets carrying the new Torah scroll, calling out in the name of tolerance and love, freedom and hope."
The welcoming of this 10th Torah scroll to the community was another one of many events held by Rabbi Teichtal's community as he celebrates 20 years of communal work in the Jewish community of Berlin. At the parade, 150 members of the Jewish community joined the march along with the honored guests, the 10 refugee children, and their families. "This parade today is an alliance between God and us all to live our lives together in harmony" concluded Rabbi Teichtal.
8. ISRAEL'S LATEST 'SPY SATELLITE' LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
by ILTV
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