A7News: Bennett: We need a unified Right

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Sunday, Jul. 21 '19, י"ח בתמוז תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. BENNETT: WE NEED A UNIFIED RIGHT
2. FATHER SEVERELY INJURED IN ROUTE 7 CAR CRASH PASSES AWAY
3. 'SLAUGHTER THE JEWS' PAINTED ON SECTION OF WESTERN WALL
4. PM PRESSURING RAFI PERETZ TO STEP ASIDE FOR AYELET SHAKED
5. RESIDENT OF RAHAT PLANNED ATTACK ON ISRAELI HOTEL
6. BRITAIN: IRAN'S SEIZURE OF TANKER A 'HOSTILE ACT'
7. US BRIEFS ISRAEL ON NAVAL RESPONSE TO IRAN
8. WATCH: PRAYERS FOR FAST OF TAMMUZ AT WESTERN WALL


1. BENNETT: WE NEED A UNIFIED RIGHT
by Arutz Sheva Staff

New Right chairman and former Education Minister Naftali Bennett hinted Sunday afternoon that he will be turning over leadership of the New Right party to his long-time ally and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

In a tweet published shortly after Shaked's spokesperson announced she would be making a statement Sunday night regarding her future in politics, Bennett wrote that "The country is more important that self-advancement, and the country needs a united Right."

Ayelet Shaked is expected to announce at the 8:10 p.m. press briefing Sunday that she will be assuming leadership of the New Right.

In addition, it is expected that Shaked will declare her intentions to form an alliance with the United Right party – under her leadership.

The New Right and Zehut parties failed to cross the electoral threshold in the April election, while the United Right enter the Knesset with five seats.

United Right chairman and Education Minister Rafi Peretz has rebuffed demands that Shaked lead a unified right-wing ticket, offering her to take the second spot on the list instead – despite polls showing Shaked the favored candidate among right-wing and national-religious voters to lead the United Right.

Peretz is expected to meet with Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the National Union faction within the United Right, at 4:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The two are expected to plan their response to Shaked's announcement Sunday evening, and agree to a list of principles for negotiations with the New Right.


2. FATHER SEVERELY INJURED IN ROUTE 7 CAR CRASH PASSES AWAY
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Petah Tikva's Rabin Medical Center on Saturday announced the death of Rodrigo Rostasky, who was critically injured last week when a truck rammed into the family's car in southern Israel.

The crash, which occurred near Gedera on Israel's Route 7, killed Rostasky's wife Sophia, 28, and their two-month-old son Itai. The family's 3-year-old daughter, who was lightly injured in the crash, was released from the hospital last Friday and is now at her grandparents' home.

Rostasky, who was in his 40s, was an officer in Israel's Air Force. His organs have been donated.

Rabin's Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev said: "The injured man was brought from Kaplan Medical Center to Beilinson with a critical head injury. During the week, he underwent a number of operations. Over the last few days his situation deteriorated significantly and unfortunately, despite the efforts of the staff in the neurosurgical department, he passed away this morning."

The driver of the truck, Ashkelon resident Yossi Cohen, 32, was placed under house arrest on Sunday. It has not been found that he was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

However, during his interrogation Cohen said that just before the collision occurred his cigarette fell to the floor of his vehicle and he bent down to retrieve it. As he bent over, he lost control of the vehicle, swerving from his lane and directly and forcefully rear-ending the Rostasky family's vehicle.


3. 'SLAUGHTER THE JEWS' PAINTED ON SECTION OF WESTERN WALL
by Marcy Oster, JTA

"Slaughter the Jews" was spray painted on the Kotel HaKatan, or "little Western Wall," a section of the Western Wall located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The vandalism took place on Saturday. At least one Arab girl was arrested on Saturday night in connection with the incident. The graffiti, written in Arabic, was covered with more red paint to hide its message.

The Kotel HaKatan is located about 200 yards south of the Western Wall Plaza next to the Iron Gate in a narrow alleyway, and only a few rows of its stones are exposed. It is considered the second closest place to the Holy of Holies outside of the Temple Mount, with the closest being inside the Western Wall tunnels.


4. PM PRESSURING RAFI PERETZ TO STEP ASIDE FOR AYELET SHAKED
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has invited Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz (United Right) to a meeting Sunday to discuss the future of the United Right party and a possible alliance with the New Right.

With Ayelet Shaked expected to announce that she is taking control of the New Right party, following an agreement with incumbent chief Naftali Bennett, right-wing party officials say the Prime Minister will pressure Peretz bring together other small right-wing parties into the United Right.

To this end, Netanyahu is expected to ask Peretz to step aside as chief of the United Right ticket, and allow Shaked to lead the unified Knesset slate of the United Right, New Right, and possibly other factions.

Recent polls show Shaked is the favored candidate of both right-wing voters and the national-religious sector to lead the United Right, leading Peretz by double digits.

In addition, several polls released last week showed the United Right and the right-wing bloc as a whole receiving more seats under Shaked's leadership, as compared to under Peretz's.

Ayelet Shaked is expected to announce at the 8:10 p.m. press briefing Sunday that she will be assuming leadership of the New Right, along with her plans to form an alliance with the United Right, with her at the top of the ticket.

Current New Right chief Naftali Bennett hinted Sunday afternoon at his acquiescence, enabling Shaked to lead the New Right.

"The country is more important that self-advancement, and the country needs a united Right," Bennett tweeted.


5. RESIDENT OF RAHAT PLANNED ATTACK ON ISRAELI HOTEL
by Uzi Baruch

An indictment was filed today, Sunday, in Beer Sheva District Court against Adel Abu Hadayeb, a resident of Rahat who was arrested on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack.

Upon the filing of the indictment, it was cleared for publication that Abu Hadayeb was arrested for interrogation in June as part of a joint effort by the Shin Bet and Israel Police.

The Shin Bet interrogation revealed that Abu Hadayeb began supporting the Hamas terror organization after being exposed to the organization's propaganda on the Internet.

The investigation also revealed that Abu Hadayeb had tried to prepare a bomb to be used to carry out an attack in a hotel in Israel he had known from his work nearby as a gardener.

He also tried to prepare a rocket, and even purchased various materials for this purpose. In the course of the interrogation, Abu Hadayeb handed over five grenades (2 tear gas grenades, 2 stun grenades and a smoke grenade), as well as a Carlo rifle in his possession.

"The Shin Bet views with severity the involvement of Israeli civilians in terrorist activity, some of whom are influenced by Hamas propaganda disseminated on social networks and through Palestinian media," the Shin Bet said in a statement.


6. BRITAIN: IRAN'S SEIZURE OF TANKER A 'HOSTILE ACT'
by Ben Ariel

Britain on Saturday denounced Iran's seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, rejecting Tehran's explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident, Reuters reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing speedboats pulling alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its name clearly visible. Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled to its deck from a helicopter, the same tactics used by British Royal Marines to seize an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks ago.

British Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt called the incident a "hostile act", while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed "extreme disappointment" by phone to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Britain also summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in London.

A spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif, said Tehran had seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz despite the "resistance and interference" of a British warship which had been escorting it. No British warship was visible in the video posted by the Guards.

Iran's Fars news agency said the Guards had taken control of the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored.

In a letter to the UN Security Council on Saturday night, Britain said the tanker was approached by Iranian forces when it was in Omani territorial waters exercising its lawful right of passage, and the action "constitutes illegal interference."

"Current tensions are extremely concerning, and our priority is to de-escalate. We do not seek confrontation with Iran," the letter said. "But it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to threaten shipping going about its legitimate business through internationally recognized transit corridors."

Another oil tanker, the Mesdar, was also boarded by Iranian personnel on Friday and temporarily forced to divert toward Iran, but later was allowed to continue on its route through the strait.

On Saturday, Algeria's APS news agency said the Mesdar was owned by Algeria's state oil company Sonatrach.

Friday's incident came two weeks after the British naval force seized an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on suspicion that it was carrying crude oil to Syria, in violation of EU sanctions.

The detention of the tanker angered Iran, which condemned the move as an "illegal interception" and summoned the British ambassador in protest.



7. US BRIEFS ISRAEL ON NAVAL RESPONSE TO IRAN
by Gary Willig

This morning, an Israeli representative was reported to have participated in a briefing and discussion by US Special Envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, on the naval defense operation in the Persian Gulf that the US administration is undertaking in response to recent acts of Iranian aggression.

The briefing was attended by representatives from various countries who were briefed on "Operation Sentinel." The American goal is to establish a multinational force of countries to protect ships in the region, It is still not clear which countries will join the force.

"American representatives are working with elements from the Middle East, Europe and Asia to formulate the details," the Centcom Central Command said in a statement.

The invitation of the Israeli representative could a signal that Israel will be invited to the second Bahrain conference in the fall which will deal with securing the sea lanes in the Gulf region. This is a continuation of the Warsaw Conference in February, to which Prime Minister Netanyahu was invited.

Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) addressed the possibility of a confrontation between Israel and Iran over the reaction of the United States and Britain to Tehran's recent actions in the Persian Gulf, including the seizure of two British oil tankers.

Hanegbi said that over the last two years, Israel has "beaten the Iranians hundreds of times in Syria. Sometimes we admit it, and sometimes foreign publications expose it."

Minister Hanegbi added, "The Iranians are very limited in their responses, it's not because they do not have capabilities, it's because we are very firm about our national security."

"The Iranians have not retreated from the plans to establish themselves in Syria, and this campaign has not ended yet, but they know exactly who to not mess with and who can be upset," Hanegbi said.


8. WATCH: PRAYERS FOR FAST OF TAMMUZ AT WESTERN WALL
by Yoni Kempinski

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/266254