A7News: Number of infiltrators leaving Israel surges

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Tuesday, Jul. 09 '19, ו' בתמוז תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. NUMBER OF INFILTRATORS LEAVING ISRAEL SURGES
2. AUSTRALIA: JEWISH CAFE OWNER WON'T CAVE TO ANTI-SEMITISM
3. NETANYAHU: NUCLEAR DEAL PAVED WAY FOR IRAN TO MAKE NUKES
4. WATCH: POLICE CHASE MOTORCYCLIST
5. LIKUD SOURCES: SHAKED MAY JOIN TECHNICAL BLOC WITH LIKUD
6. ANALYSIS: HOW IRAN IS TRANSFORMING IRAQ INTO A SECOND LEBANON
7. REPORT: PA RECONSIDERING BOYCOTT OF US
8. PA OUTRAGED BY NETANYAHU'S STATEMENT


1. NUMBER OF INFILTRATORS LEAVING ISRAEL SURGES
by Arutz Sheva Staff

New statistics presented by the Israeli government to the Supreme Court show that there has been a significant increase in the number of infiltrators leaving Israel after the Deposit Law took effect, Israel Hayom reported.

The statistics were presented as part of an appeal to force the State to cancel the Deposit Law.

The Deposit Law deducts 20% from infiltrators' salaries, in an attempt to encourage them to leave Israel of their own accord. The infiltrators receive this money when they agree to leave Israel.

The law aims to end the flow of cash via remittances from the infiltrators to their families abroad, thereby reducing the gain from remaining illegally in Israel.

According to Israel Hayom, since Israel began enforcing the law in May 2017, there has been nearly a sevenfold increase in the number of infiltrators redeeming their money when they leave Israel. In 2017, 12 infiltrators redeemed their money each month, while in 2018, the number jumped to 52 infiltrators per month. In the first half of 2019, 82 infiltrators left Israel each month, for a 57% rise since 2018.

According to the statistics, 1,135 infiltrators redeemed their money, which totaled 12,800,576 NIS ($3,592,226), or approximately 11,500 NIS ($3,227) per infiltrator. The average deposit, including the employer's share, was 2,446 NIS ($686) per month. A total of 300 million NIS ($8,4190,500) has been deposited so far.

The statistics also show that the success comes despite the fact that the law is only partially enforced: Deposits were made for only 17,000 of the 34,000 infiltrators, and most employers make the deposits for only a few months. Regular and consistent deposits beginning in May 2017 were only made for 68 infiltrators.

Israel Hayom quoted Yonatan Jakubowicz, Executive Director of the Israel Immigration Policy Center, who initiated the bill: "These statistics prove that the law is achieving its goal, and that the more time passes and the more the money adds up, we see an even more significant number of those leaving. After we closed the Holot detention center, the law became even more important, since it became the only tool to remove infiltrators from Israel. In addition, one-third of Eritrea's gross national income comes from the money sent by expatriates around the world, and a total of 300 million NIS ($8,4190,500) collected i the fund may well bring about a change in the Eritrean government's policy. The government must invest all the resources necessary in order to enforce the law."


2. AUSTRALIA: JEWISH CAFE OWNER WON'T CAVE TO ANTI-SEMITISM
by Marcy Oster, JTA

A Jewish-owned café in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia was hit with anti-Semitic graffiti twice in one week.

On Saturday, the back fence of Aliza's Place Café was painted with "The Holocaust didn't happen but it should have," and a large blue swastika. It came two days after the same fence was painted with the words "The Holocaust is a lie."

The owner, Aliza Shuvaly, told the Australian Jewish News after the first attack that many members of her family were Holocaust survivors.

"I cannot ignore this symbol," Shuvaly told the newspaper. "All my family were Holocaust survivors – my mother's parents, my husband's parents – and for me it's hurting twice. I started to shake, I didn't know what to do."

She said she would not allow the attack to force her to close the café.

Victoria Police is investigating the incidents.


3. NETANYAHU: NUCLEAR DEAL PAVED WAY FOR IRAN TO MAKE NUKES
by Gary Willig

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265676

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the opening plenary of the 2019 Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit Monday.

Addressing the audience in Washington DC from Jerusalem, Netanyahu thanked Pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of CUFI.

"I want to greet all of you from Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of Israel. It will never be divided again," Netanyahu said.

"Pastor Hagee, I want to thank you for your enduring, tremendous support. For decades, you've been leading the effort to strengthen support for Israel within the Christian community. I remember when you began. Once you were one of a handful of brave voices in the wilderness. Thanks to your leadership, now there are millions and millions of devout Christians who stand with Israel.

"So I want to thank you on behalf of all the people of Israel, and I want to thank the thousands of you who have come to Washington from across America to stand with Israel. You came to Washington DC, and I salute you from Jerusalem, DC: Jerusalem, David's capital."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265676

When Pastor Hagee expressed CUFI's concerns over Iran's recent violations of the 2015 nuclear deal, Netanyahu responded: "They're right to be concerned, but I think we should take some perspective on this."

"The deal was always based on a lie that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons. We exposed that lie when we sent our brave operatives to the heart of Tehran and brought back the secret atomic archive of Iran. And it just showed that they've been working on developing atomic bombs as early as 20 years ago.

"The deal was not only based on a lie, it's a terrible deal because it gave Iran a path to getting a nuclear arsenal when the restrictions on Iran's nuclear programs were removed. It didn't block Iran's path to the bomb. It paved it. It failed to solve the one problem it was supposed to solve. It made other problems worse by removing sanctions on Iran, thereby helping Iran fuel its war machine in the region."

He thanked US President Donald Trump for renewing sanctions on Iran and called for the international community to increase pressure on Iran to end its aggression.

"It's time for Europe to do what they promised to do. They promised to leave the deal and snap-back sanctions if Iran did this. And I said that's the way you stop aggression."


4. WATCH: POLICE CHASE MOTORCYCLIST
by Mordechai Sones

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265678

A motorcyclist in his 30's led police on a merry chase when he refused to obey instructions from a cruiser to halt and ignored repeated public address system calls urging him to stop and not cause an accident.

The chase, that police calling in for backup reported led to the Arab village of Ibelin, was not a high-speed pursuit but a slow, obstinate effort to prevent the offending driver from escaping into side alleys or fields.

Police called out to the driver: "Stop; you'll just cause an accident," but the motorcyclist appeared to be pretending not to hear, neither speeding up nor stopping.

The motorcyclist continued his leisurely evasion until the police car overtook and stopped him. Police report he was driving without a license and had dangerous materials on his person.


5. LIKUD SOURCES: SHAKED MAY JOIN TECHNICAL BLOC WITH LIKUD
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Sources in the Likud proposed a compromise between Ayelet Shaked and the Likud: Instead of joining the Likud, Shaked would join a technical bloc with her own party, and together they would run in one list in the upcoming elections, Kan Bet reported.

According to the report, however, sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claim that the opposition to Shaked among the Netanyahu family is so great that the chances of the move succeeding are slim.

Earlier on Tuesday, MK David Bitan (Likud) told Army Radio: "Ayelet Shaked will not be in the Likud elections, the issue is closed. What will she do? It's already up to her."

And MK Miki Zohar (Likud) said senior Likud members are working to thwart any possibility of the inclusion of former minister Ayelet Shaked on the Likud list, and told the Knesset channel that if Shaked did make connections that would not be good for the Likud, since it could bring an end to the party's rule.

Meanwhile, internal polls by the United Right show that Shaked is the only one capable of bringing the list to a double-digit number of seats.


6. ANALYSIS: HOW IRAN IS TRANSFORMING IRAQ INTO A SECOND LEBANON
by Yochanan Visser

The government of Iraq appears to be playing a double game with the United States and Iran over the influence of the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi umbrella organization of predominantly Shiite militias in the country.

Almost three years after a law was passed making Hash al-Shaabi integral part of the Iraqi security forces Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a decree ordering the Iranian-backed organization to integrate fully into the Iraqi military and abandon previous affiliations.

Mahdi issued an ultimatum which said the offices of Hasd al-Shaabi affiliated militias had to be closed down before July 31 while the militias also must end their practice of erasing checkpoints in areas where they want to increase their influence.

Militias failing to comply with the order will be considered illegal organizations while Mahdi gave them the option to transform into political parties after abandoning their weapons.

At first sight the move appeared to be the result of American pressure to curb the Iranian influence in Iraq. However, if we take a close look at what is actually going on in Iraqi Iranian relations we will see that the decree benefits Iran and that Iraq is playing a double game.

The US Administration of President Donald J. Trump started to pressure Iraq over curbing the activities of Hashd al-Shaabi after a series of attacks on US-related targets in Iraq by militias affiliated with the umbrella organization.

The State Department, furthermore, concluded that it was the Iranian proxy in Iraq and not the Ansar Allah (Houthi) militia in Yemen which was behind a recent drone attack on Saudi Arabia.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported the State Department "said it had evidence that drones used in the attack originated from southern Iraq, an area filled with pro-Iran Shia jihadist groups (Hashd al-Shaabi) that fight under the command of the Islamic (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."

The conclusions of the State Department came after a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Iraq where he discussed the Iranian activities in the country.

After meeting with Iraqi leaders Pompeo said he had "urged the Iraqi government, for its own security, to get all of those forces [the militias] under Iraq central control."

Mahdi's decree was welcomed by some Hashd al-Shaabi militias while the powerful Hezbollah brigades did not take a clear stance on the decision and instead urged the Iraqi government to crack-down on alleged spy-rings in Iraq starting with the US Embassy in Baghdad.

The Hezbollah brigades last week published audio recordings and WhatsApp chats between Mahmoud al-Falahi, the commander of Iraqi army operations in the al-Anbar Province and an unnamed CIA agent which showed that al-Falahi had given the CIA detailed coordinates of military bases in the region of the Iranian border.

Fars News, an IRGC controlled media outlet in Iran, said al-Falahi had endangered Iraq's national security and claimed he had also delivered sensitive information to the Israeli spy agency Mossad.

Other Hashd al-Shaabi leaders defiantly vowed that they would ignore Mahdi's order and boasted the prime minister and Americans "are dreaming" if they think they can implement the decision.

The leaders of the largest Hashd al-Shaabi factions such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization welcomed Mahdi's decree, however.

The reason these groups are in favor of incorporating Hashd al-Shaabi as an integral part of the Iraqi military is that it would effectively transform Iraq into a second Lebanon where Hezbollah is doing Iran's biding and is calling the shots.

Being a part of the Iraqi military would give Hashd al-Shaabi the same status as the IRGC in Iran and would give them access to sophisticated American weapons.

The US has provided over $22 billion in military aid to Iraq since 2005 and has delivered modern M1A1 tanks to the Iraqi army, for example.

There are other signs Iraq is turning into an Iranian proxy-state where the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani is taking the real important decisions.

Iraq succeeded in obtaining waivers on the (oil) sanctions imposed on Iran despite being one of the most oil-rich countries in the world.

In addition, Iraq is currently establishing a new financial system which will bypass US sanctions by creating a copy of the EU's Instex.

"The Iraqi government will continue to pay Iran for gas by depositing money into a special bank account inside Iraq, in Iraqi dinars," an Iraqi government official announced.

Last week, Iran, Iraq and Syria also signed a deal which will create a "multimodal transport corridor" from Tehran to Damascus. The deal will allow Iran to complete its land bridge from the Iranian border in the Nineveh Province in Iraq to the Syrian Golan Heights.

Then there is the big increase of Iranian exports to Iraq which have increased 20 percent over the past 100 days compared to the same period last year.

A staggering $25 million worth of goods were exported by Iran to its neighbor every day over the last three months while the Islamic Republic tries to import Iraqi products with the help of the Central Bank of Iraq.

The two countries are also in the process of establishing industrial zones near border crossings in both Iran and Iraq which will further boost economic ties.

So, does Mahdi's decree help the United States or Iran?

The Iraqi Prime Minister owes his appointment to Hashd al-Shaabi which is part of the so-called Fatah-block and issued the order after consultations with his new chief of staff, Mohammed al-Hashimi, also known as Abu Jihad.

Al-Hashimi is affiliated with Hashd al-Shaabi and reportedly takes his orders from Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force.


7. REPORT: PA RECONSIDERING BOYCOTT OF US
by Elad Benari

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are re-thinking their boycott of the US administration, the Israel Hayom newspaper reports.

A senior official in Ramallah told the newspaper that mutual messages have been sent recently between Ramallah and Washington in order to straighten things out and end PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' boycott of President Donald Trump and his representatives - Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt. The PA has been boycotting the US since December of 2017, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

According to the source, a delegation of senior officials from Ramallah headed by Majid Faraj, head of the PA security services, is expected to depart for Washington soon for discussions with senior US officials, and that secret contacts and talks have recently taken place between Trump's associates and Abbas' associates.

"The two sides have presented a positive attitude and progress has been made towards the possibility of renewing relations," the senior PA official told Israel Hayom.

According to the report, one reason for the PA's change of heart could be its disappointment with the Arab countries which agreed to participate in the US-led Bahrain conference, despite Abbas' pleas to boycott it. Given that one of the goals of the conference was to exert pressure on Abbas to end the boycott, it seems that the move succeeded.

Another reason is the assessment in Ramallah that the political aspect of the "Deal of the Century" will be unveiled after the elections and the establishment of a government in Israel, and the Palestinian Arabs are interested in stabilizing relations with President Trump and his people before that happens.

Proof of the thaw in the relationship between Ramallah and Washington was evident in an extensive interview given by Greenblatt to the Ramallah-based newspaper Al-Ayyam on Monday.

"Greenblatt and Friedman are persona non-grata in the PA, and the interview with Greenblatt is intended to soften the Palestinian public's position towards returning to the negotiating track and accepting the Trump administration as an intermediary between us and Israel," a close associate of Abbas told Israel Hayom.

In the interview with Al-Ayyam, Greenblatt said, "President Trump has not yet decided when the full peace plan will be published. He is weighing the options based on the Israeli elections and the decision to publish the plan will be made soon."

Greenblatt noted that Trump and his administration are aware of the difficulties in the "Deal of the Century", but are determined to move forward with the regional peace plan.

"We are not surprised by the difficulties in the peace plan and by the fact that there are those who do not accept it. Those who do not understand it do not understand the nature of the conflict. At the same time, all the parties must understand that it is impossible to present a perfect plan. We have to sit together and talk about the issues and obstacles in negotiations so that there will be an agreement," added the US envoy.

Greenblatt did not spare the PA leadership from criticism and told the Ramallah-based newspaper, "The Palestinian leadership must internalize that the success of the conference in Bahrain shows that there are those who believe in peace and in the ability of the Palestinian people to create a good and prosperous economy with the help of many investors. This is an opportunity that the Palestinian leadership must not miss."

At the same time, he stressed that Trump does not intend to "impose his positions on Ramallah or buy the Palestinians with money."

"If there is a peace agreement, the Palestinians will have a dream economy, because we believe that without a serious economic plan that includes investments and various projects, there will be no feasibility for a successful peace agreement," explained Greenblatt.


8. PA OUTRAGED BY NETANYAHU'S STATEMENT
by Dalit Halevi

The Palestinian Authority's (PA) "foreign ministry" condemned a tweet by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel.

Netanyahu, in a series of tweets, had linked to articles on a new study which confirmed that the origin of the Philistines is in southern Europe and that there is no connection between the Philistines and present day Palestinian Arabs.

"The Palestinians' connection to the Land of Israel is nothing compared to the 4,000 year connection that the Jewish people have with the land," he wrote.

"There's no connection between the ancient Philistines and the modern Palestinians, whose ancestors came from the Arabian Peninsula to the Land of Israel thousands of years later," Netanyahu noted in another tweet.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265702

The PA's foreign affairs bureau noted that Netanyahu's "misleading" remarks were an attempt to deny the "national existence of the Palestinian people in its homeland of Palestine" and seek to establish colonialism on the soil of the state of "Palestine" and turn the political conflict into a conflict of a religious and ethnic nature.

"The conflict in Palestine is between a foreign settler who conquered our land, expelled our people by force, and carries out the most abominable type of ethnic cleansing against our people and tries to accommodate foreign settlers in their place," the bureau said in a statement.