A7News: How was an illegal PA city established in the Hevron hills?

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Tuesday, Nov. 20 '18, י"ב בכסלו תשע"ט



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HEADLINES:
1. HOW WAS AN ILLEGAL PA CITY ESTABLISHED IN THE HEVRON HILLS?
2. TRANSCRIPTS FROM KHASHOGGI RECORDINGS RELEASED
3. BEDOUIN COUNCIL HEAD: 'I SUPPORT POLYGAMY, RELIGION ABOVE LAW'
4. ACTOR REFUSES TO READ TERRORISTS' LETTERS
5. SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO INDICT SHAS CHIEF, POLICE SAY
6. FEMALE SOLDIERS LEFT BEHIND, ARE HOUNDED BY PALESTINIAN ARABS
7. JEWISH HOME TO REMAIN IN NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT
8. POLL: LIKUD REMAINS ON TOP, LIBERMAN STRENGTHENED


1. HOW WAS AN ILLEGAL PA CITY ESTABLISHED IN THE HEVRON HILLS?
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Training Ground 917 in the southeastern Hevron Hills area is a strategic firing ground located between the Jewish communities of Carmel and Ma'on, the descent to the Dead Sea, and the Arad Valley.

This morning, the Supreme Court will hear a petition submitted by the Regavim organization against the Civil Administration's failure to enforce the law in this area.

In 1999, Training Area 917, comprising some 55,000 dunams (13,600 acres), housed over 500 illegal Palestinian Arab-built structures. Rather than enforcing the law and evacuating the squatters, the Civil Administration marked off the area and set aside thousands of dunams of land, creating a no-go zone and effectively legalizing the illegal construction.

In the years that have passed since then, Palestinian Arabs have taken over more and more sections of the IDF training grounds through mass-scale illegal construction. More than 1,000 additional Arab homes have sprung up in Training Zone 917, hundreds of them outside of the legally-questionable no-go zones set aside by the Civil Administration. The infrastructure that services the residents of these homes –the power grid, the water system, roads, as well as public structures including educational and religious institutions – are made possible by generous foreign support, such as that from the European Union and the United Arab Emirates.

This large-scale construction and development has taken a massive bite out of a strategic IDF training area and expropriated a massive swath of state land. For all intents and purposes, a new, illegal Palestinian Authority city has been allowed to spring into existence, with the tacit consent of the Civil Administration.

Today, the Justices of the Supreme Court will hear a petition submitted by Regavim calling for building-code enforcement and a halt to the rampant illegal construction that continues to undermine the rule of law on territory set aside for IDF training in the southern Hevron Hills.


2. TRANSCRIPTS FROM KHASHOGGI RECORDINGS RELEASED
by Guy Cohen

A Turkish news site published quotations from two recordings made in the final minutes of the life of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The site relied on Turkish security sources.

According to the Habertürk report, there are two recordings. The first took place in Unit A of the Consulate, which includes the visa department, and is about seven minutes long.

It begins from the moment the Saudi assassination team captures Khashoggi at 1:14 pm on October 2. Khashoggi can be heard saying to those who grab hold of him: "Let go of my hand, what do you think you are doing?"

The second recording took place in the administrative Unit B and lasts about 4 minutes. It also includes noises of physical struggle, and then beatings and torture.

According to the report, the voices of seven people are heard in the recordings, in addition to Khashoggi. The Turks identified one of them as Maher Abdul Aziz Mutrib, head of the assassination team and close associate of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

More than an hour later, the voice of the Saudi engineer who disguised himself as Khashoggi to create the impression that Khashoggi had left the consulate is heard saying, "It's strange to wear the clothes of the one we killed 20 minutes ago," and complaining that Khashoggi's shoes are small on him.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told the BBC that Turkey had not bugged the consulate, but declined to say where the tapes came from.


3. BEDOUIN COUNCIL HEAD: 'I SUPPORT POLYGAMY, RELIGION ABOVE LAW'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

The head of the Lakiya local council in southern Israel, Salem Abu Ayish, said Tuesday in an interview with Mendi Rizel on Radio Darom that he supports polygamous marriage and that the Justice Ministry's struggle against the phenomenon is a lost cause.

In recent months, the Ministry of Justice has issued a firm line on the issue of polygamy. Last month, a memorandum of law was published by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked which seeks to impose economic sanctions on Bedouin women who declare themselves fraudulently as 'single mothers' but are, in fact, married.

When Abu Ayish was asked what message he had to convey to Shaked, he replied: "I tell her - she will not succeed and it is a matter of religion and we will not give up our religion."

Transcript of the interview:

Do you have this phenomenon (polygamy) in the community, in the sector?

"Of course, you call it polygamy, we call it Sharia and legal, religious, real, written in the Koran."

Are you in favor of polygamy?

"Yes."

And the fact that the state legislates laws against it is coercion?

"It can legislate, but it cannot change our religion ... We are Muslims and you are Jews, we have a religion and you have a religion and everyone follows his own 'halacha' [religious law]. We are allowed, according to our religion, to marry up to four women."

If you have a message to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who fights polygamy, what message do you have to convey to her?

"I tell her - she will not succeed and it's a matter of religion and we will not give up our religion."

And you say there is no problem, we do it even if the state does not allow?

"I do not say that, but we do it."

Even if the law does not permit it, you say the Muslim religion is above the law on this issue.

"Look, religion is above the law. That's what I think."

[audio:2049937]


4. ACTOR REFUSES TO READ TERRORISTS' LETTERS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Israeli actor Gavri Banai made it clear Tuesday afternoon that he would not attend an event of the extreme leftist Machsom Watch at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, which is due to take place next month.

Banai was invited to read letters written by terrorists during the event. However, his name was removed from the event website after a report by Arutz Sheva.

Banai stated that he was never to participate in the event and did not know how his name appeared on the website.

Earlier today, Banai had a heated exchange with radio host Gali Yisrael.

Yisrael said in a phone conversation: "You're going to read terrorist letters at the Cinematheque, I'm trying to understand what the matter is."

Banai responded by yelling an obscenity at Yisrael and hanging up,


5. SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO INDICT SHAS CHIEF, POLICE SAY
by David Rosenberg

Israeli police say they have sufficient evidence to charge Shas chief and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri with a series of corruption charges and tax violations.

In an announcement Tuesday morning, investigators said they had formed the basis for an indictment against Deri on charges of fraud, breach of trust, tax violations involving millions of shekels, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and having provided a false statement to the State Comptroller.

"The findings of the investigation are that there is an evidentiary basis against Deri that he committed fraud and breach of trust in connection with his conduct while serving as a minister," the police department said in a statement Tuesday.

The police recommendation to indict Minister Deri comes after an in-depth investigation of the Shas chief and his brother, Shlomo Deri, along with other suspects in the case.

The preliminary probe was first opened in late 2015, following suspicious bank activity in accounts tied to Deri and several family members.

Police revealed the probe in March 2016, which was subsequently upgraded to a full criminal investigation.

Deri's office responded Tuesday in a statement noting that some of the most serious accusations, including bribery, had been dropped, and expressed confidence that no indictment would ultimately be filed.

"We are happy to see the end of the police investigation, which has lasted nearly three years. It was with satisfaction that we saw the more serious charges of receiving bribes had been dropped, along with accusations of stealing from organizations, which were the original basis for the investigation. We believe that when the prosecution analyzes the matter, the remaining charges will be dropped and it will be found that Minister Aryeh Deri did not break the law."

Deri, who served as Interior Minister in the 1990s, was forced to resign from his position in 1993 amid charges of bribery. He was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in 1999 on corruption and obstruction of justice charges.

After serving 22 months in prison, Deri was released early in 2002 for good behavior, but was barred from returning to politics for seven years.

In 2013, Deri was elected to the Knesset on the Shas list, and was reappointed party chairman.


6. FEMALE SOLDIERS LEFT BEHIND, ARE HOUNDED BY PALESTINIAN ARABS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

A group of five female IDF soldiers were left behind in the field overnight recently, after battalion commanders forgot them following an operation in the Jordan Valley near the border with Jordan.

According to a report Sunday by Kan, the five female soldiers were accidently left behind in a grove in the Jordan Valley one night for roughly three hours, with no radios, cellular phones, or other communication devices.

After being forgotten in the grove, the group of soldiers made their way to a nearby road – only to be chased by a gang of Palestinian Authority residents driving in two vehicles.

The five soldiers were chased by the gang for some 20 minutes. During the chase, the soldiers reportedly attempted to hide behind several trees, and called out to the gang to stop chasing them, to no effect. At one point, the Arabs managed to steal three of the soldiers' helmets.

The two vehicles drove off only when one of the soldiers drew her weapon and pointed it at her pursuers, causing them to flee, with the helmets still in their possession. According to the report, up until that point, the soldiers had been unable to remove barrel blockers from their weapons and prepare them for use.

Eventually, the five soldiers reached a gas station, and from their called their commander and arranged to be brought back to base.

According to an IDF spokesperson, the incident, which occurred at the beginning of last week, is under investigation. In the meantime, both the soldiers and their commanding officers have been reprimanded.

"As a result [of the incident], the soldiers and their commanders have been reprimanded. The mission briefing was not given to the soldiers properly, and during the incident the soldiers did not behave in the manner expected of combat soldiers."


7. JEWISH HOME TO REMAIN IN NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT
by David Rosenberg

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/254932

Jewish Home ministers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked will remain in the coalition government, the two said Monday, despite the Prime Minister's refusal to appoint Bennett as Defense Minister.

The two Jewish Home leaders addressed reporters at a press briefing Monday morning, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's announcement Sunday night that he would serve as Defense Minister, following Avigdor Liberman's departure last week.

The Jewish Home had demanded that Netanyahu appoint Bennett as Defense Minister, threatening to bolt the government if Netanyahu refused.

On Monday, Bennett said the government had lost its direction, claiming that Israel was in the midst of a "security crisis".

"The State of Israel is in the midst of a security crisis," said Bennett at the press conference. "But our cruel enemies are nothing new. The situation hasn't changed since Netanyahu worked to take down his own government."

Bennett suggested that the crisis was rooted in a lack of leadership, not any new external threats, and played down comments by Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel is currently in a sensitive security situation, and cannot afford early elections.

"There is no apocalypse on the horizon. There are challenges, enemies," said Bennett.

"Our soldiers are more afraid of prosecutors than of Yahya Sinwar, referring to the Hamas chief.

Echoing some of the criticisms levelled by former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman during his resignation announcement last week, chiding the government over its failure to evacuate the illegal Bedouin town Khan al-Ahmar east of Jerusalem.

Khan al-Ahmar, Bennett said, remains standing "despite all the Supreme Court rulings, because of fear over what Europe will say."

Bennett also pointed to the over 100 homes of terrorists which the IDF prepared for demolition, but which remain standing, despite Israel's long-standing policy of demolishing homes of terrorists involved in violent attacks on Israelis.

"There are at this moment 102 terrorist homes which the IDF has measured and prepped for that are standing."

Despite their criticism, Bennett and Shaked said they would not be resigning from the government.

"What the Prime Minister has called 'responsibility' has been interpreted by our enemies as indecision, and there's a thin line between them. Israel's national security has been heading in a bad direction for the past decade, and that's dangerous. When Israel wants to win, we will go back to winning, we aren't fated [to lose]. We joined politics in order to offer an alternative, to replace indecision with decisiveness, weakness with strength," said Bennett

"I'd like to announce that at this moment we drop our political demands, and we will help the Prime Minister win [against Hamas]. I know that I will lose political points, but it doesn't matter. I'd rather lose to Netanyahu than have the State of Israel lose to [Hamas chief] Yahya Sinwar."

"Our role in the government is too important to take our hands off the wheel," said Shaked.

"It might cost us politically, but it is the responsible thing to do for the sake of the nation."



8. POLL: LIKUD REMAINS ON TOP, LIBERMAN STRENGTHENED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

A poll conducted by Professor Camille Fuchs for Channel Ten News following the announcements by ministers Bennett and Shaked that they will remain in the coalition showed that the Likud Party remains below the threshold of 30 mandates, but would still be the largest party in the Knesset if elections were held today.

According to the figures, had the elections been held today, the Likud would have won 29 Knesset seats. The Yesh Atid party would place second with 17 seats.

The Zionist Union party and the Joint Arab List would receive 14 seats each. The Jewish Home would receive nine seats. The Yisrael Beitenu party would strengthen to eight seats from its current five. Meretz and Orly Levi Abecassis' party would receive seven seats apiece. United Torah Judaism would receive six mandates.

The Kulanu party would lose half of the seats it currently has, dropping from ten seats to five. Shas would fall from seven seats to just four, barely passing the electoral threshold.

The poll also examined the state of the political system if a party led by Benny Gantz ran for the Knesset.

In such a situation, the Likud party would win 27 mandates, Gantz's party 15, the Joint Arab List 14, and Yesh Atid would fall to 12 Knesset seats.

The Zionist Union would drop to ten seats, while the Jewish home would remain at nine, Yisrael Beiteinu at eight, UTJ at six, and Meretz received six seats.

Orly Levi Abecassis' party received five seats, Kulanu four, and Shas would remain with four seats.




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