Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Friday, May. 24 '19, י"ט באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. THERESA MAY TO STAND DOWN IN JUNE
2. 'THE TOMMY ROBINSON VIDEO EVERY JEW MUST WATCH'
3. FIRE NEAR NEGOHOT, RESIDENTS EVACUATED FROM THEIR HOMES
4. ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI ON STATEN ISLAND SYNAGOGUE
5. NIKKI HALEY RECEIVES THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER'S HIGHEST HONOR
6. 16 HOMES DESTROYED, THOUSANDS EVACUATED AS FIRESTORMS RAGE ON
7. TOWNS ACROSS CENTRAL ISRAEL EVACUATED AS FIRES SPREAD
8. REPORT: NETANYAHU CONSIDERING GOING TO NEW ELECTIONS
1. THERESA MAY TO STAND DOWN IN JUNE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263631
British Prime Minister Theresa May will stand down as Conservative leader on 7 June.
Speaking to her countrymen outside Downing Street, May said her decision was a result of her failure to convince Britain's Parliament to back Brexit.
"I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal," she explained. "Sadly I have not been able to do so."
"I am proud of the progress we have made over the last few years. We have helped more people than ever secure a job."
Emphasizing that her position has been "the honor of her life," she added, "Our politics may be under strain but there is so much that is good about this country. So much to be proud of. So much to be optimistic about."
2. 'THE TOMMY ROBINSON VIDEO EVERY JEW MUST WATCH'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263584
3. FIRE NEAR NEGOHOT, RESIDENTS EVACUATED FROM THEIR HOMES
by Yoni Kempinski
A fire broke out Friday morning near the settlement of Negohot at Mount Hebron. Residents of the Booster neighborhood were evacuated from their homes.
Teams of firefighters, Magen David Adom and the IDF are on their way to the scene.
The Nature and Parks Authority asked the public not to travel in open areas, even on bicycle tracks, because of the extreme weather.
Earlier, Route 44 from Rishon Lezion to the Nahshon Junction was blocked for vehicular traffic in both directions due to a fire in the woods in the area. Traffic police officers are at the checkpoints.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) participated in the assessment of the situation in the command post established at Tel Hadid, north of the Ben Shemen Forest.
Netanyahu said during the assessment that he intends to implement the recommendations to improve the firefighting system, which was severely criticized by the state comptroller five months ago. "We will prepare better and implement the decisions to improve the firefighting system this year," the Prime Minister promised.
4. ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI ON STATEN ISLAND SYNAGOGUE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Anti-Semitic graffiti was found scrawled on a Staten Island synagogue Thursday morning, SI Live reported.
The synagogue, which is run by Chabad of Staten Island, had the words "synagogue of Satan" scrawled on its side. Across the street, the letters "SOS" were spray-painted on the side of the island's Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel.
According to Chabad of Staten Island's Mendy Katzman, local police believe the graffiti was scrawled at around midnight, and that it was discovered by yeshiva students at approximately 3:00a.m.
He also said students often study in the synagogue throughout the night, and that the fence - and door - are often left open.
"It's a very high-traffic area," SI Live quoted Katzman as saying. Katzman added that he would have to increase security. "We need to keep doing what we're doing."
"We are having attacks on our synagogue, people are writing, 'synagogue of Satan.' But we're still going to go out and be prideful and stand strong."
An NYPD spokesperson said police are investigating the incident.
5. NIKKI HALEY RECEIVES THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER'S HIGHEST HONOR
by Sara Rubenstein
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) granted its highest honor to former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday in Chicago. The Center selected Haley to receive the Humanitarian Laureate Award for "her courage and compassion in protecting global human rights and the state of Israel."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263632
Haley received the award at the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) Midwest Region's 2019 Spirit of Courage Benefit dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. "Nikki Haley personifies the legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, who reminded the world that freedom is not a gift from heaven, rather, it is something that we must fight for each and every day," Rabbi Marvin Hier, SWC Founder and Dean said.
"There is true evil in the world and we must come together to fight for human rights around the world," Haley said upon receiving the award. Haley also shared with the audience about her experience being an "other" in American society, growing up in an immigrant family from India. She said that her experience being different strengthened her and led to her taking true pride in being an American.
Haley later shared her award on her Twitter account, saying, "A great night. Thank you."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263632
Haley unexpectedly resigned from her position as US Ambassador to the UN in 2018. She was a strong supporter of Israel during her term as ambassador and outspoken critic of the UN's corruption and vilification of Israel.
6. 16 HOMES DESTROYED, THOUSANDS EVACUATED AS FIRESTORMS RAGE ON
by David Rosenberg
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263603
Thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from their homes and at least sixteen houses destroyed Thursday as fires rage out of control in central and southern Israel.
Eighty firefighter units, twelve planes, and two helicopters have been deployed in an effort to contain the two largest fires currently raging – one in the Jerusalem corridor west of the capital, near Kibbutz Harel 4.5 miles north of Beit Shemesh; the second in the Ben Shemen forest near Route 443.
Homes have been reported as destroyed in both Kibbutz Harel and Mevo Modim, which sits near the Ben Shemen forest and just off of Route 443.
Residents from Harel, Mevo Modim, and a number of towns near Mevo Modim – including Gimzu, Kfar Daniel, and even Shilat – have been evacuated in part or entirely. Current estimates put the number of evacuated residents at about 3,500.
Officials say the Ben Shemen forest, a major nature preserve near the densely-populated coastal region, suffered "massive damage" in the fire.
"Massive damage not only to the forest but also to the animals," said Gilad Mastai, the Jewish National Fund's regional manager. "A very wide area of the forest was burned."
"We never expected such a terrible blow after we spent all night going through the forest removing people who had lit bonfires. It is difficult to estimate how many trees were destroyed and burned. This is one of the worst fires ever to hit a forest in central Israel."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the Public Security Ministry, National Security Council, and even the Foreign Ministry to coordinate efforts to bring aerial assistance - potentially including help from abroad - to extinguish the fires.
Earlier on Thursday, fires were also reported in southern Israel, including near the Gaza-border town of Karmia.
Earlier on Thursday, the town of Beit Haggai in the Mount Hebron area was partially evacuated and six residents injured from smoke inhalation after a large fire broke out near the town.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263603
7. TOWNS ACROSS CENTRAL ISRAEL EVACUATED AS FIRES SPREAD
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263591
[Fire in Ben Shemen]
Israeli police evacuated residents from a number of towns in central Israel and the western Negev Thursday afternoon, as multiple blazes burned out of control, threatening residential areas.
Kibbutz Harel, located west of Jerusalem and about four-and-a-half miles north of Beit Shemesh, was completely evacuated Thursday afternoon after a large fire broke out in the area, threatening homes inside the kibbutz.
Fires also raged in the Ben Shemen forest near the town of Mevo Modim off of Route 443, prompting authorities to evacuate residents from Mevo Modim and the nearby towns of Gimzo and Kfar Daniel.
Police have closed Route 443 to traffic in both directions near Gimzo.
Firefighters are operating in the area to contain the blaze, and are using air units to aid in their efforts.
In addition, residents from the western Negev towns of Karmia, just north of the Gaza Strip, were evacuated Thursday after a fire broke out in the area. The fire prompted the closure of Route 3411.
Earlier on Thursday, the town of Beit Haggai in the Mount Hebron area was partially evacuated and six residents injured from smoke inhalation after a large fire broke out near the town.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263591
8. REPORT: NETANYAHU CONSIDERING GOING TO NEW ELECTIONS
by David Rosenberg
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering dissolving the new Knesset and heading to snap elections, sources in the Likud said Thursday, in a thinly-veiled threat to Yisrael Beytenu chief Avidgor Liberman.
Coalition talks broke down this week, amid a failure to reach a break through with Yisrael Beytenu, the secular right-wing party which draws most of its support from immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Netanyahu, who was tapped by President Reuven Rivlin to form the next government, passed the original 28-day deadline to build a new coalition, and is set to reach the new deadline on May 29th. If the prime minister fails to build a majority government by that date, he will lose the mandate to form a government.
The relationship between Yisrael Beytenu and the haredi parties, who clashed during the previous government over issues of religion-and-state – in particular the future of the draft deferment program for yeshiva students – remains the most difficult issue preventing the creation of a new government.
While Netanyahu's previous government was able to form initially with a narrow 61-seat majority without Liberman, following last month's election, the right-wing – haredi bloc was left with a narrower 65-seat majority in the Knesset, with five seats going to the Yisrael Beytenu party. That means that Netanyahu will be unable to reach the 61-seat majority without Liberman.
On Thursday, the Likud accused Liberman of preventing the establishment of a new government, noting that he had already been offered the Defense Ministry, one of his key demands.
After the failure to win Liberman's support, Netanyahu called party leaders in for an urgent meeting at 8:00 p.m. – a meeting Liberman refused to attend.
Given the current impasse, Netanyahu said in a closed-door meeting that he is seriously considering dissolving the new Knesset and taking the country to snap elections, according to Likud officials Yediot Ahronot reported Thursday night.
The claim, widely seen as a veiled threat to Yisrael Beytenu, was accompanied by a barrage of criticism from Likud lawmakers who cited the party's endorsement of Netanyahu for the premiership ahead of last month's election. The Likud also warned that Liberman's refusal to join the coalition could lead to the establishment of a left-wing government.
"Liberman promised his voters that he would back the formation of a right-wing government led by Netanyahu," Likud officials said Thursday. "Now he's using every excuse possible to block the establishment of that very kind of government, making it possible for the establishment of a left-wing government."
Friday, May 24, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
A7News: Fury in Judea and Samaria: 'Complete abandonment of human life'
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Wednesday, May. 22 '19, י"ז באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. FURY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: 'COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF HUMAN LIFE'
2. COALITION TALKS WITH UNITED RIGHT STALL AS GOV'T DEADLINE NEARS
3. LIKUD MAKES 'NO PROGRESS' IN TALKS WITH SHAS, NIXES UTJ MEETING
4. LIKUD MK: I HAVE NO DOUBT THEY'LL TARGET RIGHT-WING MKS
5. STARBUCKS FACING LAWSUITS FOR USE OF PESTICIDES
6. US DEFENSE SECRETARY: IRANIAN THREATS 'ON HOLD'
7. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
8. POLLARD: ISRAEL DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME
1. FURY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: 'COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF HUMAN LIFE'
by Mordechai Sones
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan attacked the defense establishment decision to approve the transfer of armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority by the European Union.
The vehicles, which were transferred to the Palestinian Authority security services as a gift from the EU, were reportedly sent to Judea and Samaria through Jordan.
Dagan said the armored vehicles transfer is "total abandonment of human life and taking an unacceptable risk both of the lives of IDF soldiers and of the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria."
"Any reasonable person understands that the supply of armored vehicles with machine guns for terrorists in uniform is a decision that could cost a lot of blood," Dagan says. "Many terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, in which Jewish soldiers and civilians were murdered, were carried out by or with the help of Fatah soldiers or policemen of the Palestinian Authority, Ido Zoldan, Rabbi Meir Hai, Ben Yosef Livnat, Eviatar Borovsky, and many others were murdered by Palestinian policemen or by the Palestinian GSS," he said.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan
Flash 90
"It's amazing that those people who participated in the 'Don't give them guns' demonstrations during the Oslo days are now giving them armored cars. I've called on those who made this unfortunate decision to regain their wits. They also give the enemy armored cars. Unbelievable," said Dagan.
The last time PA armored vehicles aroused controversy was in 2000 when a paper published by the Ariel Center for Policy Research identified the PA armored threat to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, saying "Because the IDF limits yishuv self defense to small arms, the growing armor vehicle capability of the PA would render the assault troops it carries invulnerable to yishuv defenders. The IDF gate guards do not have anything to stop these vehicles. The standard sliding gates for all yishuvim would buckle under the impact of such armored vehicles, and many yishuvim lack even this 'obstacle' – such that the only thing separating between the attacker and the yishuv is a moving aluminum arm painted red and white."
The report went on to say that "The PA armored vehicle force is not capable of challenging the IDF, but would be unstoppable in a first strike on yishuvim. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that that is their purpose.
"Although it is possible to gain sudden entry into yishuvim by using commandos or even less prepared troops - as the examples of Ariel and Ofra show - armored vehicles provide a rapid capability to do so that ground troops cannot match." The report can be seen in the original Hebrew here.
At that time, the IDF justified PA armored vehicles according to Oslo saying Arafat needed them to protect his government from Arab extremist elements, while at the same time trying to deny their existence.
2. COALITION TALKS WITH UNITED RIGHT STALL AS GOV'T DEADLINE NEARS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Coalition negotiations between the Likud and the Union of Right-Wing Parties have stalled as talks to form a new government enter the final week.
Last week, President Reuven Rivlin granted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu an extra two weeks to secure agreements with coalition partners giving him a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. Netanyahu now has until May 29th to reach coalition deals with the five parties expected to form the next government with the Likud: Kulanu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Union of Right-Wing Parties.
While the Likud's negotiating team is focusing its efforts to reach a compromise which would enable both the haredi factions – Shas and UTJ – and Yisrael Beytenu to join the coalition together, officials in the Union of Right-Wing Parties say Netanyahu is ignoring the party, apparently leaving it for the end of the negotiating period.
Over the past week, the Likud negotiating team has met with UTJ officials three times over the past week, but has not met once with representatives of the Union of Right-Wing Parties once since last Wednesday – nor have any new meetings been scheduled.
According to a report by Israel Hayom on Wednesday, United Right officials accused Netanyahu of abandoning the National-Religious sector after last month's elections.
"As usual, Netanyahu embraced the Religious Zionist movement during the elections, but leaves it for the end of the negotiations."
During earlier negotiations with the Union of Right-Wing Parties, Netanyahu refused to commit in the coalition agreement not to undertake any withdrawals from Judea and Samaria. The Prime Minister has also thus far refused United Right demands for coalition agreements requiring the government to combat Palestinian Authority efforts to effectively seize control of territory in Area C – which is under Israeli administration – as well as plans for a new Regulation Law to normalize the legal status of additional Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria.
"People got angry at us for going public with our demands," the United Right officials said, "but what are the other [coalition] partners talking about? Liberman held a press briefing, and [the Likud] is still taking with him like normal. Yisrael Eichler [an MK from UTJ] said that he has no problem with new elections. Did anyone cut off contact with him? Do the Likud people want to wait until the very last minute?"
"We won't give in. We have reasonable requests. Liberman, with his five mandates, is getting the Defense Ministry, and Kahlon who lost most of his mandates is keeping the Finance Ministry. Why do we have to be the unwanted stepchildren who get cheated?"
3. LIKUD MAKES 'NO PROGRESS' IN TALKS WITH SHAS, NIXES UTJ MEETING
by David Rosenberg
A meeting planned between the Likud's negotiating team and representatives of the United Torah Judaism party was cancelled Wednesday, after talks between the Likud and the Shas party failed to achieve a breakthrough a week before the deadline for forming a new coalition government.
Facing a May 29th deadline for securing support from 61 MKs for a new governing coalition, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's negotiating team has met repeatedly with representatives of the two haredi factions – Shas and United Torah Judaism – and the Yisrael Beytenu party over the past week in a bid to reach a compromise over core issues of religion and state which will enable both sides to enter the next government.
Netanyahu's haredi partners have pushed for the Likud to agree to pursue legislation which would protect the existing system of open-ended army draft deferments for full-time yeshiva students from Supreme Court rulings. A 2015 draft law passed at the behest of the UTJ and Shas parties was struck down in 2017 by the Supreme Court, forcing the government to consider new legislation to either bypass the court's decision or to limit the draft deferment system.
Yisrael Beytenu has pushed for added measures in the draft deferment program to encourage haredi enlistment, including monetary sanctions for yeshivas which fail to reach draft quotas. That demand has set the largerly secular right-wing party at odds with the two haredi factions.
All three parties are needed if Netanyahu is form a majority coalition in the Knesset, forcing the Likud to pressure both sides to accept some kind of compromise deal.
At Wednesday's meeting with Shas leaders, however, talks failed to achieve any kind of breakthrough, Shas officials told Kikar HaShabbat, leaving negotiations effectively stalled.
"We're at the beginning of the process, there hasn't been any significant progress," one Shas official said. "Only after we solve the draft law issue can we get on to the matter of cabinet positions."
After the talks with Shas failed to yield progress, a meeting slated for Wednesday with UTJ leaders was cancelled, while talks with Yisrael Beytenu are still expected to take place.
A Likud official accused the UTJ of not taking the negotiations seriously, telling Kikar HaShabbat that the talks with UTJ "aren't professional."
"They're wearing us out with these clauses and subsections that don't need to be in a coalition agreement. Just their demands regarding the housing crisis would take two weeks to deal with."
4. LIKUD MK: I HAVE NO DOUBT THEY'LL TARGET RIGHT-WING MKS
by 103FM
Likud MK Miki Zohar on Wednesday morning spoke to Radio 103FM about why he is working to advance the Immunity Law, which would protect Knesset members and ministers from being prosecuted.
"I've been working to advance this for a very long time, since the previous Knesset, and I renewed the bill during this Knesset, already on April 30. The legislative approval for the law placed the law [on the table] two days ago," Zohar said.
"This is an important law, that we as Knesset members need, first of all in order to protect ourselves and certainly in light of the revolution we want to make in the courts, where it's clear that all of us will become targets."
Zohar explained that he believes the attempts to pass the Override Clause, which would allow the Knesset to reenact a law that was rejected by the Supreme Court, will be met by attempts to open investigations on involved MKs.
"I am very very concerned for the right-wing individuals who want to advance the Override Clause, myself included," he said. "I have no doubt that they will try to harm right-wing people and to make up all sorts of stories about all sorts of people, the main thing is to try to stop the Override Clause from passing. And so the Immunity Law is a lot more important and a lot more relevant, certainly in light of the reforms we intend to pass."
Zohar also tossed out the reports that the Immunity Law's primary function is to protect Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from possible indictment.
"That's what they say in the media, but it's clear that that's not true," he said. "We promised our voters that we would change things in the legal system, especially after we saw the decision to leave Ofer Cassif, who plants evil and really really ugly things against the State of Israel, but on the other hand because there's a right-wing person who's a little more extreme than others, Michael Ben-Ari - him the Supreme Court did invalidate."
He also said that the reason such laws had not been passed previously was because "we did not have the coalition ability to do it, we didn't have the necessary majority." In the 20th Knesset, then-Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) opposed it, and previously Blue and White leader MK Yair Lapid blocked it, he added.
"It's comfortable for people to think" that the Immunity Law is connected to the suspicions against Netanyahu, he explained.
5. STARBUCKS FACING LAWSUITS FOR USE OF PESTICIDES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Two lawsuits filed against several NYC Starbucks branches claim customers were exposed to a toxic chemical.
In one class action suit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan, ten customers claimed to have been exposed to DDVP (Dichlorvos) after purchasing products in multiple stores in the past three years.
The chemical was emitted into the air via Spectrum Brand Holdings' Hot Shot No-Pest Strips, which the Manhattan stores allegedly use to avoid infestations. Though the chemicals aim to harm insects only, the lawsuit claims they are also harmful to humans.
According to the lawsuit, CDC guidelines mandated that DDVP-containing pesticides should be used in enclosed spaces only when people are either not present or are provided with a respirator or other breathing equipment. And Hot Shot's site warns not to use the product in "kitchens, restaurants, or areas where food is prepared or served."
"Starbucks stores throughout Manhattan have for many years been permeated with a toxic pesticide called Dichlorvos, which is highly poisonous and completely unfit for use in proximity to food, beverages and people," it emphasized. "On numerous occasions over the last several years, Starbucks' employees and third-party exterminators have informed regional and district management – both verbally and in writing – about the improper and dangerous use of No-Pest Strips throughout stores in Manhattan."
"Needless to say, Starbucks has closely held this information and has not disclosed to the public that DDVP has poisoned the environment in its stores."
DVP can cause difficulty breathing, nausea, paralysis, muscle tremors and weakness, and loss of bladder control. In severe cases, exposure may result in coma or death.
CBS News quoted Paul D'Auria, a licensed pest control technician for AVP Termite & Pest Control, who said the strips were hidden under stacks of bagels and near pastry displays "within virtually each of the more than 100 stores that he serviced" between 2013 and June 2018.
A Starbucks spokesperson said the company does not serve the food from its display cases, CBS noted.
"The lawsuits filed by the plaintiffs and their attorneys we believe lacks merit and is an attempt to incite public fear for their own financial gain," the spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
"We go to great things to ensure the safety of our partners and customers and we are confident they have not been put at risk." He also denied claims that anyone had been fired for voicing concerns.
The customers, who experienced distress and anxiety regarding whether "they would develop serious health issues," are seeking damages.
The second lawsuit was filed by a former Starbucks employee who claims he was fired in February last year after he complained about the strips' misuse. Both he, a technician, and a supervisor, are seeking unspecified damages.
Starbucks ended its contract with the pesticide company in June 2018.
A Starbucks spokesperson said the pesticide strips were used "in violation" of company policy and that the company ceased using them when it became aware of the issue, NBC News reported. The spokesperson also emphasized that an expert hired to assess the risks had concluded that neither the company's employees nor their customers were at risk of health issues.
Spectrum Brand Holdings did not immediately return NBC News' request for comment.
6. US DEFENSE SECRETARY: IRANIAN THREATS 'ON HOLD'
by Elad Benari
Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Tuesday credited the deployment of US military weaponry with preventing potential attacks by Iran or its proxies in the Middle East.
"We have put on hold the potential for attacks on Americans" by Iran or its allies, he told reporters at the Pentagon, according to Politico.
"I just hope Iran is listening," Shanahan added. "We're in the region to address many things but it is not to go to a war with Iran."
He later added that the threats from Iran and its proxies haven't been eliminated.
"There haven't been any attacks on Americans. I would consider that a hold," he said. "That doesn't mean that the threats that we've previously identified have gone away. Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate. I think our response was a measure of our will and our resolve that we will protect our people and our interests in the region."
Shanahan's comments follow the US military's deployment of an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Middle East. US officials said the move was made to counter "clear indications" of threats from Iran to American forces in the region.
While President Donald Trump has urged Iran's leaders to talk with him about giving up their nuclear program, he has also made clear he could not rule out a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Trump said that Iran would be met with "great force" if it attempted anything against US interests in the Middle East, though he stressed he was willing to have talks with Iran "when they're ready."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later said that he favors talks and diplomacy but not under current conditions.
"Today's situation is not suitable for talks and our choice is resistance only," said Rouhani.
7. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263414
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
8. POLLARD: ISRAEL DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263485
Jonathan Pollard criticized the Israeli government for failing to do enough to secure his release.
Pollard, who served 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, said in an interview with News 12 on Tuesday, that he is disappointed with the state and its handling of the case of himself and his wife.
"If you don't care about someone like myself who spent 30 years in prison on behalf of the land and people of Israel, then how much concern can you actually show, exhibit or feel towards anybody in the country ... from our soldiers to our civilians?" Pollard asked.
In March, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said she was working behind the scenes so that Jonathan Pollard could immigrate from the United States to Israel.
"I as the justice minister and Netanyahu as prime minister, have been making great efforts in recent years to allow him to immigrate to Israel," Shaked told an election panel of the religious kibbutz movement.
"We actually tried to shorten the term of his imprisonment under which he is obligated to pay all his debts in the United States. If it ever ends, it will certainly be joyous and desirable.
Shaked refused to specify exactly what actions she took behind the scenes to help Pollard. "I'm not detailing at the moment, but we've been working on this issue and I hope we will succeed one day. We've been trying to make it happen for a few years."
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Wednesday, May. 22 '19, י"ז באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. FURY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: 'COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF HUMAN LIFE'
2. COALITION TALKS WITH UNITED RIGHT STALL AS GOV'T DEADLINE NEARS
3. LIKUD MAKES 'NO PROGRESS' IN TALKS WITH SHAS, NIXES UTJ MEETING
4. LIKUD MK: I HAVE NO DOUBT THEY'LL TARGET RIGHT-WING MKS
5. STARBUCKS FACING LAWSUITS FOR USE OF PESTICIDES
6. US DEFENSE SECRETARY: IRANIAN THREATS 'ON HOLD'
7. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
8. POLLARD: ISRAEL DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME
1. FURY IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: 'COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF HUMAN LIFE'
by Mordechai Sones
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan attacked the defense establishment decision to approve the transfer of armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority by the European Union.
The vehicles, which were transferred to the Palestinian Authority security services as a gift from the EU, were reportedly sent to Judea and Samaria through Jordan.
Dagan said the armored vehicles transfer is "total abandonment of human life and taking an unacceptable risk both of the lives of IDF soldiers and of the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria."
"Any reasonable person understands that the supply of armored vehicles with machine guns for terrorists in uniform is a decision that could cost a lot of blood," Dagan says. "Many terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, in which Jewish soldiers and civilians were murdered, were carried out by or with the help of Fatah soldiers or policemen of the Palestinian Authority, Ido Zoldan, Rabbi Meir Hai, Ben Yosef Livnat, Eviatar Borovsky, and many others were murdered by Palestinian policemen or by the Palestinian GSS," he said.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan
Flash 90
"It's amazing that those people who participated in the 'Don't give them guns' demonstrations during the Oslo days are now giving them armored cars. I've called on those who made this unfortunate decision to regain their wits. They also give the enemy armored cars. Unbelievable," said Dagan.
The last time PA armored vehicles aroused controversy was in 2000 when a paper published by the Ariel Center for Policy Research identified the PA armored threat to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, saying "Because the IDF limits yishuv self defense to small arms, the growing armor vehicle capability of the PA would render the assault troops it carries invulnerable to yishuv defenders. The IDF gate guards do not have anything to stop these vehicles. The standard sliding gates for all yishuvim would buckle under the impact of such armored vehicles, and many yishuvim lack even this 'obstacle' – such that the only thing separating between the attacker and the yishuv is a moving aluminum arm painted red and white."
The report went on to say that "The PA armored vehicle force is not capable of challenging the IDF, but would be unstoppable in a first strike on yishuvim. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that that is their purpose.
"Although it is possible to gain sudden entry into yishuvim by using commandos or even less prepared troops - as the examples of Ariel and Ofra show - armored vehicles provide a rapid capability to do so that ground troops cannot match." The report can be seen in the original Hebrew here.
At that time, the IDF justified PA armored vehicles according to Oslo saying Arafat needed them to protect his government from Arab extremist elements, while at the same time trying to deny their existence.
2. COALITION TALKS WITH UNITED RIGHT STALL AS GOV'T DEADLINE NEARS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Coalition negotiations between the Likud and the Union of Right-Wing Parties have stalled as talks to form a new government enter the final week.
Last week, President Reuven Rivlin granted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu an extra two weeks to secure agreements with coalition partners giving him a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. Netanyahu now has until May 29th to reach coalition deals with the five parties expected to form the next government with the Likud: Kulanu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Union of Right-Wing Parties.
While the Likud's negotiating team is focusing its efforts to reach a compromise which would enable both the haredi factions – Shas and UTJ – and Yisrael Beytenu to join the coalition together, officials in the Union of Right-Wing Parties say Netanyahu is ignoring the party, apparently leaving it for the end of the negotiating period.
Over the past week, the Likud negotiating team has met with UTJ officials three times over the past week, but has not met once with representatives of the Union of Right-Wing Parties once since last Wednesday – nor have any new meetings been scheduled.
According to a report by Israel Hayom on Wednesday, United Right officials accused Netanyahu of abandoning the National-Religious sector after last month's elections.
"As usual, Netanyahu embraced the Religious Zionist movement during the elections, but leaves it for the end of the negotiations."
During earlier negotiations with the Union of Right-Wing Parties, Netanyahu refused to commit in the coalition agreement not to undertake any withdrawals from Judea and Samaria. The Prime Minister has also thus far refused United Right demands for coalition agreements requiring the government to combat Palestinian Authority efforts to effectively seize control of territory in Area C – which is under Israeli administration – as well as plans for a new Regulation Law to normalize the legal status of additional Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria.
"People got angry at us for going public with our demands," the United Right officials said, "but what are the other [coalition] partners talking about? Liberman held a press briefing, and [the Likud] is still taking with him like normal. Yisrael Eichler [an MK from UTJ] said that he has no problem with new elections. Did anyone cut off contact with him? Do the Likud people want to wait until the very last minute?"
"We won't give in. We have reasonable requests. Liberman, with his five mandates, is getting the Defense Ministry, and Kahlon who lost most of his mandates is keeping the Finance Ministry. Why do we have to be the unwanted stepchildren who get cheated?"
3. LIKUD MAKES 'NO PROGRESS' IN TALKS WITH SHAS, NIXES UTJ MEETING
by David Rosenberg
A meeting planned between the Likud's negotiating team and representatives of the United Torah Judaism party was cancelled Wednesday, after talks between the Likud and the Shas party failed to achieve a breakthrough a week before the deadline for forming a new coalition government.
Facing a May 29th deadline for securing support from 61 MKs for a new governing coalition, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's negotiating team has met repeatedly with representatives of the two haredi factions – Shas and United Torah Judaism – and the Yisrael Beytenu party over the past week in a bid to reach a compromise over core issues of religion and state which will enable both sides to enter the next government.
Netanyahu's haredi partners have pushed for the Likud to agree to pursue legislation which would protect the existing system of open-ended army draft deferments for full-time yeshiva students from Supreme Court rulings. A 2015 draft law passed at the behest of the UTJ and Shas parties was struck down in 2017 by the Supreme Court, forcing the government to consider new legislation to either bypass the court's decision or to limit the draft deferment system.
Yisrael Beytenu has pushed for added measures in the draft deferment program to encourage haredi enlistment, including monetary sanctions for yeshivas which fail to reach draft quotas. That demand has set the largerly secular right-wing party at odds with the two haredi factions.
All three parties are needed if Netanyahu is form a majority coalition in the Knesset, forcing the Likud to pressure both sides to accept some kind of compromise deal.
At Wednesday's meeting with Shas leaders, however, talks failed to achieve any kind of breakthrough, Shas officials told Kikar HaShabbat, leaving negotiations effectively stalled.
"We're at the beginning of the process, there hasn't been any significant progress," one Shas official said. "Only after we solve the draft law issue can we get on to the matter of cabinet positions."
After the talks with Shas failed to yield progress, a meeting slated for Wednesday with UTJ leaders was cancelled, while talks with Yisrael Beytenu are still expected to take place.
A Likud official accused the UTJ of not taking the negotiations seriously, telling Kikar HaShabbat that the talks with UTJ "aren't professional."
"They're wearing us out with these clauses and subsections that don't need to be in a coalition agreement. Just their demands regarding the housing crisis would take two weeks to deal with."
4. LIKUD MK: I HAVE NO DOUBT THEY'LL TARGET RIGHT-WING MKS
by 103FM
Likud MK Miki Zohar on Wednesday morning spoke to Radio 103FM about why he is working to advance the Immunity Law, which would protect Knesset members and ministers from being prosecuted.
"I've been working to advance this for a very long time, since the previous Knesset, and I renewed the bill during this Knesset, already on April 30. The legislative approval for the law placed the law [on the table] two days ago," Zohar said.
"This is an important law, that we as Knesset members need, first of all in order to protect ourselves and certainly in light of the revolution we want to make in the courts, where it's clear that all of us will become targets."
Zohar explained that he believes the attempts to pass the Override Clause, which would allow the Knesset to reenact a law that was rejected by the Supreme Court, will be met by attempts to open investigations on involved MKs.
"I am very very concerned for the right-wing individuals who want to advance the Override Clause, myself included," he said. "I have no doubt that they will try to harm right-wing people and to make up all sorts of stories about all sorts of people, the main thing is to try to stop the Override Clause from passing. And so the Immunity Law is a lot more important and a lot more relevant, certainly in light of the reforms we intend to pass."
Zohar also tossed out the reports that the Immunity Law's primary function is to protect Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from possible indictment.
"That's what they say in the media, but it's clear that that's not true," he said. "We promised our voters that we would change things in the legal system, especially after we saw the decision to leave Ofer Cassif, who plants evil and really really ugly things against the State of Israel, but on the other hand because there's a right-wing person who's a little more extreme than others, Michael Ben-Ari - him the Supreme Court did invalidate."
He also said that the reason such laws had not been passed previously was because "we did not have the coalition ability to do it, we didn't have the necessary majority." In the 20th Knesset, then-Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) opposed it, and previously Blue and White leader MK Yair Lapid blocked it, he added.
"It's comfortable for people to think" that the Immunity Law is connected to the suspicions against Netanyahu, he explained.
5. STARBUCKS FACING LAWSUITS FOR USE OF PESTICIDES
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Two lawsuits filed against several NYC Starbucks branches claim customers were exposed to a toxic chemical.
In one class action suit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan, ten customers claimed to have been exposed to DDVP (Dichlorvos) after purchasing products in multiple stores in the past three years.
The chemical was emitted into the air via Spectrum Brand Holdings' Hot Shot No-Pest Strips, which the Manhattan stores allegedly use to avoid infestations. Though the chemicals aim to harm insects only, the lawsuit claims they are also harmful to humans.
According to the lawsuit, CDC guidelines mandated that DDVP-containing pesticides should be used in enclosed spaces only when people are either not present or are provided with a respirator or other breathing equipment. And Hot Shot's site warns not to use the product in "kitchens, restaurants, or areas where food is prepared or served."
"Starbucks stores throughout Manhattan have for many years been permeated with a toxic pesticide called Dichlorvos, which is highly poisonous and completely unfit for use in proximity to food, beverages and people," it emphasized. "On numerous occasions over the last several years, Starbucks' employees and third-party exterminators have informed regional and district management – both verbally and in writing – about the improper and dangerous use of No-Pest Strips throughout stores in Manhattan."
"Needless to say, Starbucks has closely held this information and has not disclosed to the public that DDVP has poisoned the environment in its stores."
DVP can cause difficulty breathing, nausea, paralysis, muscle tremors and weakness, and loss of bladder control. In severe cases, exposure may result in coma or death.
CBS News quoted Paul D'Auria, a licensed pest control technician for AVP Termite & Pest Control, who said the strips were hidden under stacks of bagels and near pastry displays "within virtually each of the more than 100 stores that he serviced" between 2013 and June 2018.
A Starbucks spokesperson said the company does not serve the food from its display cases, CBS noted.
"The lawsuits filed by the plaintiffs and their attorneys we believe lacks merit and is an attempt to incite public fear for their own financial gain," the spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
"We go to great things to ensure the safety of our partners and customers and we are confident they have not been put at risk." He also denied claims that anyone had been fired for voicing concerns.
The customers, who experienced distress and anxiety regarding whether "they would develop serious health issues," are seeking damages.
The second lawsuit was filed by a former Starbucks employee who claims he was fired in February last year after he complained about the strips' misuse. Both he, a technician, and a supervisor, are seeking unspecified damages.
Starbucks ended its contract with the pesticide company in June 2018.
A Starbucks spokesperson said the pesticide strips were used "in violation" of company policy and that the company ceased using them when it became aware of the issue, NBC News reported. The spokesperson also emphasized that an expert hired to assess the risks had concluded that neither the company's employees nor their customers were at risk of health issues.
Spectrum Brand Holdings did not immediately return NBC News' request for comment.
6. US DEFENSE SECRETARY: IRANIAN THREATS 'ON HOLD'
by Elad Benari
Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Tuesday credited the deployment of US military weaponry with preventing potential attacks by Iran or its proxies in the Middle East.
"We have put on hold the potential for attacks on Americans" by Iran or its allies, he told reporters at the Pentagon, according to Politico.
"I just hope Iran is listening," Shanahan added. "We're in the region to address many things but it is not to go to a war with Iran."
He later added that the threats from Iran and its proxies haven't been eliminated.
"There haven't been any attacks on Americans. I would consider that a hold," he said. "That doesn't mean that the threats that we've previously identified have gone away. Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate. I think our response was a measure of our will and our resolve that we will protect our people and our interests in the region."
Shanahan's comments follow the US military's deployment of an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Middle East. US officials said the move was made to counter "clear indications" of threats from Iran to American forces in the region.
While President Donald Trump has urged Iran's leaders to talk with him about giving up their nuclear program, he has also made clear he could not rule out a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Trump said that Iran would be met with "great force" if it attempted anything against US interests in the Middle East, though he stressed he was willing to have talks with Iran "when they're ready."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later said that he favors talks and diplomacy but not under current conditions.
"Today's situation is not suitable for talks and our choice is resistance only," said Rouhani.
7. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263414
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
8. POLLARD: ISRAEL DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263485
Jonathan Pollard criticized the Israeli government for failing to do enough to secure his release.
Pollard, who served 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, said in an interview with News 12 on Tuesday, that he is disappointed with the state and its handling of the case of himself and his wife.
"If you don't care about someone like myself who spent 30 years in prison on behalf of the land and people of Israel, then how much concern can you actually show, exhibit or feel towards anybody in the country ... from our soldiers to our civilians?" Pollard asked.
In March, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said she was working behind the scenes so that Jonathan Pollard could immigrate from the United States to Israel.
"I as the justice minister and Netanyahu as prime minister, have been making great efforts in recent years to allow him to immigrate to Israel," Shaked told an election panel of the religious kibbutz movement.
"We actually tried to shorten the term of his imprisonment under which he is obligated to pay all his debts in the United States. If it ever ends, it will certainly be joyous and desirable.
Shaked refused to specify exactly what actions she took behind the scenes to help Pollard. "I'm not detailing at the moment, but we've been working on this issue and I hope we will succeed one day. We've been trying to make it happen for a few years."
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
A7News: Is the Palestinian Authority faking its financial crisis?
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Tuesday, May. 21 '19, ט"ז באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. IS THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY FAKING ITS FINANCIAL CRISIS?
2. MAN STABBED TO DEATH IN JERUSALEM
3. EXTREME HEAT WAVE TOWARDS END OF WEEK
4. IDF DROPS TRADITIONAL PARENTAL IDENTIFICATIONS
5. GREENBLATT: PEACE PLAN IS NOT ONLY ECONOMIC
6. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
7. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
8. WATCH: COLLEGE STUDENTS GET A HUGE SURPRISE
1. IS THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY FAKING ITS FINANCIAL CRISIS?
by Maurice Hirsch, N.J. Zilberdik
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is currently facing a financial crisis, the World Bank reported.
The crisis, however, is self-induced and caused as a direct result of a decision by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to drag the Palestinian economy into an abyss, in order to preserve the PA's policy of encouraging terror and rewarding terrorists with generous salaries.
The sole reason for the economic crisis is the refusal of the PA to accept the tax revenues that Israel collects and transfers to the PA. These tax revenues - over 8 billion shekels in 2018 - account for, on average over the last five years, 50% of the PA's annual operating budget.
The PA is refusing to accept the taxes due to the decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet, taken in February this year after the rape and murder of Ori Ansbacher, to deduct 502 million shekels (in twelve equal deductions each in the sum of approximately 42 million shekels) from them. The amount the government decided to deduct is the amount that the PA publicly admitted that it paid in salaries and various benefits to imprisoned terrorists and released terrorists in 2018.
The refusal of the PA to receive the remaining amount of tax money was made clear immediately after Israel's decision to deduct the funds, as explained by Riad al-Maliki, Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of foreign affairs:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
In the video, al-Maliki can be heard saying, "It was agreed yesterday in a meeting with His Honor the President [Abbas] to send an official message to the Israeli side, according to which we will not agree to accept any partial amount of the tax money that is to be officially transferred to the Palestinian side. This message has been conveyed to the Israeli side in a clear manner." [Official PA TV, Feb. 21, 2019]
Even if it were possible to argue that specifically the deducted funds caused the economic crisis, figures obtained by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) following a request to the Ministry of Finance under the Freedom of Information Law prove that even after Israel deducted from tax transfers the amount the PA spends on salaries to terrorist prisoners, the PA would have still received more money in the first two months of 2019 than it received on average per month in 2018. Tax revenues in the first two months of 2019 increased by a total of 109 million shekels, while the amount of the deduction was only 42 million shekels - a positive difference in favor of the PA of 67 million shekels.
In January 2019, before the Cabinet's decision to make the deduction, the taxes collected for the PA amounted to more than 743 million shekels, and in February, the taxes collected amounted to more than 728 million shekels.
In 2018, the tax revenues amounted to an average of 670 million shekels per month. In other words, even after deducting the 42 million shekels, the tax revenues in February totaled more than 686 million shekels, 16 million shekels more than the monthly average in 2018.
Credit: Palestinian Media Watch
Abbas' decision to refuse the tax revenues from Israel is based on the PA's basic principle that the terrorists - all of them, without distinction between stone throwers and murderers, between members of Fatah or Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, etc. - did not carry out acts of terror but only did what the PA "ordered them to do":
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "I demand [the release of] prisoners because they are human beings, who did what we, we, ordered them to do. We - the [Palestinian] Authority. They should not be punished while we sit at one table negotiating. Besides, they spent many years in prison. How much longer? Do they have to spend all their life in prison and even die there?" [Official PA TV, Feb. 14, 2005]
The PA goes even further when it sees the terrorists - all of them - as their "soldiers." Nabil Abu Rudeina, Deputy Chairman and the PA official in charge of information, recently reiterated this position in a meeting with Israeli journalists. Referring to the financial crisis and the demand that the PA stop paying the salaries of the terrorists Abu Rudeina said:
"This is a red line and Israel needs to understand this. It is impossible to send a soldier to war and then not take care of his family. We are talking about someone who acts on our behalf and receives orders from us." [Kan (Israeli TV), April 16, 2019]
Recently, Abbas himself defended the policy of paying salaries and explained:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We have been paying salaries to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded since 1965. This is because they were killed, imprisoned, or wounded because of a national interest and for the sake of a national interest, and not for personal reasons." [Official PA TV, April 21, 2019; speech at the Arab League conference in Cairo]
It was this dogma - to see murderers and other terrorists as soldiers of the PA - that brought the PA to institutionalize and establish, even in legislation, the entitlement of imprisoned and released terrorists to receive a monthly salary. It is this dogma that is behind the PA terrorist pay scale according to which the longer the terrorist is held in prison (similar to the worker who accumulates seniority in his workplace), the higher his salary.
It is now being argued that the PA is in danger of economic collapse only because of Israel's implementation of the law to deduct from the tax revenues. This claim is baseless. The PA's financial crisis is not the result of the deduction of the funds by the Israeli government. The financial crisis is a direct result of the decision of the PA to insist not only to continue to encourage terror and reward terrorists but also to demand that the State of Israel be a partner to this pugnacious policy and allow the PA to make the payments out of the tax revenues that Israel collects and transfers to it. It is also the result of the PA leadership's own decision to cripple the Palestinian economy - all in order to continue to paying generous salaries to terrorists.
It is important to remember, that while there were various proposals during the legislative process what to do with funds that were deducted from the PA taxes, the final decision was that the funds would be temporarily "frozen" and returned to the PA if it abolishes its policy and stops paying salaries to the terrorists.
The law that authorizes the deduction is the "Law to freeze money that the Palestinian Authority has paid in connection with terrorism from the money transferred to it by the government of Israel, 2018." The law was widely supported by the coalition and the opposition.
According to the law, the defense minister is supposed to prepare an annual report on PA payments transferred to imprisoned terrorists, released terrorists, wounded terrorists and families of killed terrorists (so-called "Martyrs"). After the approval of the report by the security cabinet, the Israeli government will deduct the amount the PA spent on payments to terrorists in the previous year from the taxes that Israel collects and transfers to the PA in the current year.
It is also important to note that the new law allows for the deduction not only the funds paid by the PA to imprisoned terrorists and released terrorists, but also the deduction of funds paid by the PA to wounded terrorists and families of dead terrorists. However, since the amount of the PA payments of this group has not yet been ascertained, the Cabinet has not yet decided to deduct them from tax revenues.
2. MAN STABBED TO DEATH IN JERUSALEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A man roughly 60 years of age was found stabbed to death Tuesday morning in Jerusalem, police reported.
The victim was found in an apartment on Bar Yohai Street in the capital in an apparent murder.
Police have taken one male suspect into custody. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the killing, but say the incident appears to be criminal, rather than terror-related.
MDA emergency first responders arrived at the scene, but were forced to declare the victim dead at the scene.
"When we arrived at the scene," said MDA paramedic Yehonatan Pindrus, "we saw a man about 60 years of age lying at the entrance to an apartment. He was unconscious, had no heartbeat and was not breathing, and had a wound in his upper torso. We performing medical checks on him, but there were no vital signs, and we were forced to declare his death."
3. EXTREME HEAT WAVE TOWARDS END OF WEEK
by Chana Roberts
Tuesday will be clear or partly cloudy, with a significant rise in temperatures. Inland and mountainous areas will be warmer than seasonal average and may suffer a heat wave.
From Wednesday until Friday Israel's weather is expected to be extremely hot and dry, with the heat reaching its peak on Thursday and Friday and temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across most of Israel. Humidity will be low and strong winds are expected to blow.
Israel's Health Ministry called on the public, elderly, and chronically ill to avoid exposure to heat and the sun, avoid unnecessary physical exertion, drink enough water, and stay in air conditioned places.
On Sunday, the National Fire and Rescue Authority warned Israelis to refrain from lighting bonfires on Lag B'Omer in potentially dangerous areas due to the expected heat wave.
On Monday evening, Fire Commissioner Dadi Simchi issued a statement banning bonfires in most of Israel.
"Due to the extreme weather conditions, which raise the change of fires, I forbid the lighting of bonfires, including lighting fires in open areas," Simchi wrote. The statement added that bonfires may be built only in areas pre-approved by local authorities, and in the Negev south of Route 25.
4. IDF DROPS TRADITIONAL PARENTAL IDENTIFICATIONS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
After an ongoing campaign by "LGBT" organizations, the IDF has decided to make a revolutionary change and relinquish the definitions of "Mother" and "Father" in favor of "Parent 1" and "Parent 2", so as to prevent embarrassment during the stages of recruitment.
Galei Tzahal Army Radio reported that for years the army refrained from changing documentation so as not to get involved in political disagreements: In doing so now, the IDF is essentially giving official recognition to the existence of "LGBT" families.
The IDF Spokesperson stated that "The IDF updates and changes the questionnaires from time to time in accordance with the comments received and the needs that arise during the screening process."
The "Torat Lehima" group, which works to strengthen the Jewish character of the State and the IDF, said in response, "It is shocking to see how the IDF has succumbed to the progressive dictates and constructs of the LGBT organizations. Will Galei Tzahal now change its Friday program to 'The Voice of Parent 2'? [Galei Tzahal currently runs a program called 'The Voice of Mother.'] The IDF must stop dealing with constructs. It is inconceivable for Israeli culture to be shaped by the army without public debate - this is not its role."
5. GREENBLATT: PEACE PLAN IS NOT ONLY ECONOMIC
by Elad Benari
Jason Greenblatt, the US Representative for International Negotiations, on Monday rejected reports claiming that the Trump administration's peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would only be economic in nature.
"To those falsely claiming our vision is just economic peace: we've been clear that the economic vision we present can't exist without the political component, and the political component can't succeed without the economic. Don't believe rumors the plan is only economic. It's not," he wrote on Twitter.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263440
Senior White House officials said on Sunday that the Trump administration is planning to release the economic component of its upcoming Middle East peace plan in late June, adding that it would break up the release of the much-anticipated plan.
The first half of the plan, dubbed the "Deal of the Century" by President Donald Trump, will be released at an international summit in Manama, Bahrain on June 25 to 26. The US is playing down the summit, however, and is calling the event a "workshop".
The announcement that the plan would be released in two stages had led to speculation that it was solely economic in nature.
Meanwhile on Monday, the PA announced that it would boycott the economic conference.
PA "information minister" Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the conference would be a meaningless meeting that was part of a meaningless plan.
"An economic agreement, with no political discussion on its side, will fail miserably, and we will not accept any proposal that does not include the basis for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," he declared.
Talks continue regarding the details of the political portion of the peace plan, which is widely rumored not to include provision for the establishment of a Palestinian state – a massive departure from previous American-led peace efforts.
While the Trump administration has largely remained mum on the details of the upcoming Middle East peace plan, some senior officials have hinted that the plan indeed will not provide for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Last month, senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner emphasized that the new peace plan would be try something "different" with regards to the two-state solution.
"If people focus on the old traditional talking points we will never make progress. What we will put out is different."
Last week, Greenblatt said that the peace plan would be released after the Ramadan and Shavuot holidays, which end on June 4 and 9 respectively. No prior mention was made of splitting the plan's release.
6. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263414
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
7. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Supreme Court Justices Noam Solberg, Yael Vilner and Ofer Grosskopf rejected Sunday the petition filed by Ir Amim and a number of academics and Jewish intellectuals against the Jerusalem Day Flag March.
In an exceptional move, the justices decided to require the petitioners to pay the respondents NIS 10,000 in sums to be divided between the police, the Jerusalem municipality and the "Am Kalavi" organization, which has been organizing the event for years.
In the judgment, the justices noted that it may have been possible to reject the petition without having to deal with the petitioners' arguments at all, since they lack standing.
"We argued over the issue of the petitioners' right of standing in the petition, claiming that tens of thousands of residents of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City were damaged by the flag dance parade, but none of them saw fit to file a petition with the court. The petitioners, seeking their welfare, did so in their stead. The petitioners' attorney claimed that Muslims in the Old City were afraid of petitioning. It is difficult to accept this argument while we are hearing the petitions of the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem every day," said the head of the panel, Judge Solberg.
Later on, the justices held that the merits of the petition should also be rejected, in light of the fact that the police are properly preparing for the incident and are giving their opinion about all consequences.
"The state of things properly balances between the freedom of speech and the rights of those marching in the flag parade on the one hand, and the public and private interests of the residents of the Old City on the other," Solberg said.
According to him, "The police are preparing with large amounts of forces for the flag parade, in what pertains to the maintenance of public order, the safety and security of the marchers, while preserving the fabric of life of the residents of the Muslim Quarter."
The petitioners will pay the organization 10,000 NIS in compensation for their legal fees.
Adv. Nati Rom, representing the Am K'Lavie association that organized the flag parade said: "We congratulate the Jewish People on the rejection of petition by the extreme-Left organization Ir Amim to cancel the flag dance on Jerusalem Day.
"The court accepted our position in its entirety and even charged Ir Amim with expenses, testify to the vindication of our path.
"We hope the Petitioners will also join us and the more than 100,000 celebrants who will participate in the march," said Rom, who represented the association together with Adv. Hillel Barak.
Atty. Nati Rom
Lev HaOlam
8. WATCH: COLLEGE STUDENTS GET A HUGE SURPRISE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263407
Billionaire Robert Smith stunned Morehouse College graduates during his commencement address: He pledged millions of dollars to pay off every penny of student debt for the class of 2019.
"This is my class," he said, "and I know my class will pay this forward."
The announcement came as a surprise to Smith's staff and to the staff at Morehouse, and elicited the biggest cheers of the morning.
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Tuesday, May. 21 '19, ט"ז באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. IS THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY FAKING ITS FINANCIAL CRISIS?
2. MAN STABBED TO DEATH IN JERUSALEM
3. EXTREME HEAT WAVE TOWARDS END OF WEEK
4. IDF DROPS TRADITIONAL PARENTAL IDENTIFICATIONS
5. GREENBLATT: PEACE PLAN IS NOT ONLY ECONOMIC
6. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
7. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
8. WATCH: COLLEGE STUDENTS GET A HUGE SURPRISE
1. IS THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY FAKING ITS FINANCIAL CRISIS?
by Maurice Hirsch, N.J. Zilberdik
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is currently facing a financial crisis, the World Bank reported.
The crisis, however, is self-induced and caused as a direct result of a decision by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to drag the Palestinian economy into an abyss, in order to preserve the PA's policy of encouraging terror and rewarding terrorists with generous salaries.
The sole reason for the economic crisis is the refusal of the PA to accept the tax revenues that Israel collects and transfers to the PA. These tax revenues - over 8 billion shekels in 2018 - account for, on average over the last five years, 50% of the PA's annual operating budget.
The PA is refusing to accept the taxes due to the decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet, taken in February this year after the rape and murder of Ori Ansbacher, to deduct 502 million shekels (in twelve equal deductions each in the sum of approximately 42 million shekels) from them. The amount the government decided to deduct is the amount that the PA publicly admitted that it paid in salaries and various benefits to imprisoned terrorists and released terrorists in 2018.
The refusal of the PA to receive the remaining amount of tax money was made clear immediately after Israel's decision to deduct the funds, as explained by Riad al-Maliki, Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of foreign affairs:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
In the video, al-Maliki can be heard saying, "It was agreed yesterday in a meeting with His Honor the President [Abbas] to send an official message to the Israeli side, according to which we will not agree to accept any partial amount of the tax money that is to be officially transferred to the Palestinian side. This message has been conveyed to the Israeli side in a clear manner." [Official PA TV, Feb. 21, 2019]
Even if it were possible to argue that specifically the deducted funds caused the economic crisis, figures obtained by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) following a request to the Ministry of Finance under the Freedom of Information Law prove that even after Israel deducted from tax transfers the amount the PA spends on salaries to terrorist prisoners, the PA would have still received more money in the first two months of 2019 than it received on average per month in 2018. Tax revenues in the first two months of 2019 increased by a total of 109 million shekels, while the amount of the deduction was only 42 million shekels - a positive difference in favor of the PA of 67 million shekels.
In January 2019, before the Cabinet's decision to make the deduction, the taxes collected for the PA amounted to more than 743 million shekels, and in February, the taxes collected amounted to more than 728 million shekels.
In 2018, the tax revenues amounted to an average of 670 million shekels per month. In other words, even after deducting the 42 million shekels, the tax revenues in February totaled more than 686 million shekels, 16 million shekels more than the monthly average in 2018.
Credit: Palestinian Media Watch
Abbas' decision to refuse the tax revenues from Israel is based on the PA's basic principle that the terrorists - all of them, without distinction between stone throwers and murderers, between members of Fatah or Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, etc. - did not carry out acts of terror but only did what the PA "ordered them to do":
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "I demand [the release of] prisoners because they are human beings, who did what we, we, ordered them to do. We - the [Palestinian] Authority. They should not be punished while we sit at one table negotiating. Besides, they spent many years in prison. How much longer? Do they have to spend all their life in prison and even die there?" [Official PA TV, Feb. 14, 2005]
The PA goes even further when it sees the terrorists - all of them - as their "soldiers." Nabil Abu Rudeina, Deputy Chairman and the PA official in charge of information, recently reiterated this position in a meeting with Israeli journalists. Referring to the financial crisis and the demand that the PA stop paying the salaries of the terrorists Abu Rudeina said:
"This is a red line and Israel needs to understand this. It is impossible to send a soldier to war and then not take care of his family. We are talking about someone who acts on our behalf and receives orders from us." [Kan (Israeli TV), April 16, 2019]
Recently, Abbas himself defended the policy of paying salaries and explained:
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263461
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: "We have been paying salaries to the families of the Martyrs, to the prisoners, and to the wounded since 1965. This is because they were killed, imprisoned, or wounded because of a national interest and for the sake of a national interest, and not for personal reasons." [Official PA TV, April 21, 2019; speech at the Arab League conference in Cairo]
It was this dogma - to see murderers and other terrorists as soldiers of the PA - that brought the PA to institutionalize and establish, even in legislation, the entitlement of imprisoned and released terrorists to receive a monthly salary. It is this dogma that is behind the PA terrorist pay scale according to which the longer the terrorist is held in prison (similar to the worker who accumulates seniority in his workplace), the higher his salary.
It is now being argued that the PA is in danger of economic collapse only because of Israel's implementation of the law to deduct from the tax revenues. This claim is baseless. The PA's financial crisis is not the result of the deduction of the funds by the Israeli government. The financial crisis is a direct result of the decision of the PA to insist not only to continue to encourage terror and reward terrorists but also to demand that the State of Israel be a partner to this pugnacious policy and allow the PA to make the payments out of the tax revenues that Israel collects and transfers to it. It is also the result of the PA leadership's own decision to cripple the Palestinian economy - all in order to continue to paying generous salaries to terrorists.
It is important to remember, that while there were various proposals during the legislative process what to do with funds that were deducted from the PA taxes, the final decision was that the funds would be temporarily "frozen" and returned to the PA if it abolishes its policy and stops paying salaries to the terrorists.
The law that authorizes the deduction is the "Law to freeze money that the Palestinian Authority has paid in connection with terrorism from the money transferred to it by the government of Israel, 2018." The law was widely supported by the coalition and the opposition.
According to the law, the defense minister is supposed to prepare an annual report on PA payments transferred to imprisoned terrorists, released terrorists, wounded terrorists and families of killed terrorists (so-called "Martyrs"). After the approval of the report by the security cabinet, the Israeli government will deduct the amount the PA spent on payments to terrorists in the previous year from the taxes that Israel collects and transfers to the PA in the current year.
It is also important to note that the new law allows for the deduction not only the funds paid by the PA to imprisoned terrorists and released terrorists, but also the deduction of funds paid by the PA to wounded terrorists and families of dead terrorists. However, since the amount of the PA payments of this group has not yet been ascertained, the Cabinet has not yet decided to deduct them from tax revenues.
2. MAN STABBED TO DEATH IN JERUSALEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A man roughly 60 years of age was found stabbed to death Tuesday morning in Jerusalem, police reported.
The victim was found in an apartment on Bar Yohai Street in the capital in an apparent murder.
Police have taken one male suspect into custody. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the killing, but say the incident appears to be criminal, rather than terror-related.
MDA emergency first responders arrived at the scene, but were forced to declare the victim dead at the scene.
"When we arrived at the scene," said MDA paramedic Yehonatan Pindrus, "we saw a man about 60 years of age lying at the entrance to an apartment. He was unconscious, had no heartbeat and was not breathing, and had a wound in his upper torso. We performing medical checks on him, but there were no vital signs, and we were forced to declare his death."
3. EXTREME HEAT WAVE TOWARDS END OF WEEK
by Chana Roberts
Tuesday will be clear or partly cloudy, with a significant rise in temperatures. Inland and mountainous areas will be warmer than seasonal average and may suffer a heat wave.
From Wednesday until Friday Israel's weather is expected to be extremely hot and dry, with the heat reaching its peak on Thursday and Friday and temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across most of Israel. Humidity will be low and strong winds are expected to blow.
Israel's Health Ministry called on the public, elderly, and chronically ill to avoid exposure to heat and the sun, avoid unnecessary physical exertion, drink enough water, and stay in air conditioned places.
On Sunday, the National Fire and Rescue Authority warned Israelis to refrain from lighting bonfires on Lag B'Omer in potentially dangerous areas due to the expected heat wave.
On Monday evening, Fire Commissioner Dadi Simchi issued a statement banning bonfires in most of Israel.
"Due to the extreme weather conditions, which raise the change of fires, I forbid the lighting of bonfires, including lighting fires in open areas," Simchi wrote. The statement added that bonfires may be built only in areas pre-approved by local authorities, and in the Negev south of Route 25.
4. IDF DROPS TRADITIONAL PARENTAL IDENTIFICATIONS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
After an ongoing campaign by "LGBT" organizations, the IDF has decided to make a revolutionary change and relinquish the definitions of "Mother" and "Father" in favor of "Parent 1" and "Parent 2", so as to prevent embarrassment during the stages of recruitment.
Galei Tzahal Army Radio reported that for years the army refrained from changing documentation so as not to get involved in political disagreements: In doing so now, the IDF is essentially giving official recognition to the existence of "LGBT" families.
The IDF Spokesperson stated that "The IDF updates and changes the questionnaires from time to time in accordance with the comments received and the needs that arise during the screening process."
The "Torat Lehima" group, which works to strengthen the Jewish character of the State and the IDF, said in response, "It is shocking to see how the IDF has succumbed to the progressive dictates and constructs of the LGBT organizations. Will Galei Tzahal now change its Friday program to 'The Voice of Parent 2'? [Galei Tzahal currently runs a program called 'The Voice of Mother.'] The IDF must stop dealing with constructs. It is inconceivable for Israeli culture to be shaped by the army without public debate - this is not its role."
5. GREENBLATT: PEACE PLAN IS NOT ONLY ECONOMIC
by Elad Benari
Jason Greenblatt, the US Representative for International Negotiations, on Monday rejected reports claiming that the Trump administration's peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would only be economic in nature.
"To those falsely claiming our vision is just economic peace: we've been clear that the economic vision we present can't exist without the political component, and the political component can't succeed without the economic. Don't believe rumors the plan is only economic. It's not," he wrote on Twitter.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263440
Senior White House officials said on Sunday that the Trump administration is planning to release the economic component of its upcoming Middle East peace plan in late June, adding that it would break up the release of the much-anticipated plan.
The first half of the plan, dubbed the "Deal of the Century" by President Donald Trump, will be released at an international summit in Manama, Bahrain on June 25 to 26. The US is playing down the summit, however, and is calling the event a "workshop".
The announcement that the plan would be released in two stages had led to speculation that it was solely economic in nature.
Meanwhile on Monday, the PA announced that it would boycott the economic conference.
PA "information minister" Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the conference would be a meaningless meeting that was part of a meaningless plan.
"An economic agreement, with no political discussion on its side, will fail miserably, and we will not accept any proposal that does not include the basis for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," he declared.
Talks continue regarding the details of the political portion of the peace plan, which is widely rumored not to include provision for the establishment of a Palestinian state – a massive departure from previous American-led peace efforts.
While the Trump administration has largely remained mum on the details of the upcoming Middle East peace plan, some senior officials have hinted that the plan indeed will not provide for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Last month, senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner emphasized that the new peace plan would be try something "different" with regards to the two-state solution.
"If people focus on the old traditional talking points we will never make progress. What we will put out is different."
Last week, Greenblatt said that the peace plan would be released after the Ramadan and Shavuot holidays, which end on June 4 and 9 respectively. No prior mention was made of splitting the plan's release.
6. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263414
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
7. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Supreme Court Justices Noam Solberg, Yael Vilner and Ofer Grosskopf rejected Sunday the petition filed by Ir Amim and a number of academics and Jewish intellectuals against the Jerusalem Day Flag March.
In an exceptional move, the justices decided to require the petitioners to pay the respondents NIS 10,000 in sums to be divided between the police, the Jerusalem municipality and the "Am Kalavi" organization, which has been organizing the event for years.
In the judgment, the justices noted that it may have been possible to reject the petition without having to deal with the petitioners' arguments at all, since they lack standing.
"We argued over the issue of the petitioners' right of standing in the petition, claiming that tens of thousands of residents of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City were damaged by the flag dance parade, but none of them saw fit to file a petition with the court. The petitioners, seeking their welfare, did so in their stead. The petitioners' attorney claimed that Muslims in the Old City were afraid of petitioning. It is difficult to accept this argument while we are hearing the petitions of the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem every day," said the head of the panel, Judge Solberg.
Later on, the justices held that the merits of the petition should also be rejected, in light of the fact that the police are properly preparing for the incident and are giving their opinion about all consequences.
"The state of things properly balances between the freedom of speech and the rights of those marching in the flag parade on the one hand, and the public and private interests of the residents of the Old City on the other," Solberg said.
According to him, "The police are preparing with large amounts of forces for the flag parade, in what pertains to the maintenance of public order, the safety and security of the marchers, while preserving the fabric of life of the residents of the Muslim Quarter."
The petitioners will pay the organization 10,000 NIS in compensation for their legal fees.
Adv. Nati Rom, representing the Am K'Lavie association that organized the flag parade said: "We congratulate the Jewish People on the rejection of petition by the extreme-Left organization Ir Amim to cancel the flag dance on Jerusalem Day.
"The court accepted our position in its entirety and even charged Ir Amim with expenses, testify to the vindication of our path.
"We hope the Petitioners will also join us and the more than 100,000 celebrants who will participate in the march," said Rom, who represented the association together with Adv. Hillel Barak.
Atty. Nati Rom
Lev HaOlam
8. WATCH: COLLEGE STUDENTS GET A HUGE SURPRISE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263407
Billionaire Robert Smith stunned Morehouse College graduates during his commencement address: He pledged millions of dollars to pay off every penny of student debt for the class of 2019.
"This is my class," he said, "and I know my class will pay this forward."
The announcement came as a surprise to Smith's staff and to the staff at Morehouse, and elicited the biggest cheers of the morning.
Monday, May 20, 2019
A7News: 'Don't negotiate on our behalf'
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Monday, May. 20 '19, ט"ו באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'DON'T NEGOTIATE ON OUR BEHALF'
2. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
3. THE YELLOW BADGE MARKING JEWS BEGAN IN BABYLONIA
4. CHICAGO SYNAGOGUE TARGET OF ARSON ATTACKS
5. SENIOR PA OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF SHOOTING ATTACKS NORTH OF J'LEM
6. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
7. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
8. WATCH: HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING WEDDING CEREMONY
1. 'DON'T NEGOTIATE ON OUR BEHALF'
by Arutz Sheva Staff, AFP
The Palestinian Authority leadership said Monday it was not consulted over an economic conference next month in support of Washington's Middle East peace plan and no party was entitled to negotiate on its behalf.
The White House announced Sunday it would co-host the June 25-26 conference with Bahrain focusing on economic aspects of the long-delayed peace plan, with the declared aim of achieving prosperity in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip.
"We were not consulted by any party on the announced meeting to take place in Manama, Bahrain," Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement.
"We have not mandated any party to negotiate on our behalf."
The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017.
The Trump administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month.
Washington has yet to commit to an exact timetable on political aspects of the plan.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is the chief architect of the proposals.
Sunday's joint statement from the US and Bahrain called the event a "pivotal opportunity... to share ideas, discuss strategies and galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement".
The Palestinian Authority views this as offering financial rewards in exchange for accepting a final status agreement that does not include the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Attempts at promoting an economic normalization of the Israeli occupation of Palestine will be rejected," Erekat said.
"This is not about improving living conditions under occupation but about reaching Palestine's full potential by ending the Israeli occupation."
The US peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
2. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
3. THE YELLOW BADGE MARKING JEWS BEGAN IN BABYLONIA
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Monday, the Dahan Center and the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center hosted a conference focusing on the Jews of Bavel (Babylonia).
The conference focused on the new age and the Jews' contribution to Babylonia from the time they were exiled from ancient Israel until Ezra and Nehemia led them back home.
Dr. Shimon Ohayon, Director at Bar Ilan University's Dahan Center, said, "Not many know, but the yellow badge to mark Jews began in Babylonia. There was a magnificent community, a few of them immigrated to Israel after Cyrus' announcement, but most of them remained in Babylonia. We have merited one of the most magnificent creations in history, written by Babylonia's Jews - the Babylonian Talmud. Unfortunately, today we are focused mostly on a few Today we will focus mostly on which level math students learn. That's important, but it's no less important to recognize our history as the Jewish nation scattered all around the world and returned to its land after 2,000 years of exile."
Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Director of the Research institute Director at The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, said, "Ezekiel's grave, which was one of the symbols of Babylonia's Jewish community, has not yet been destroyed, but it has been turned into a mosque and Jews are not allowed to enter. It has been made part of a mosque's complex. They erased the nearby synagogue. Today in order to reach the gravesite, you need to pass through the mosque. They don't allow Jews to enter mosques, because in their eyes, Jews are impure."
"We at the Babylonian Jewish Heritage Center are proud to work with the oldest of Israel's communities, the Babylonian Jewish community, and to spread its work and contribution to others. It's an honor for us to work together with Bar Ilan University and the Dahan Center to spread the glory of Babylonian Jewry," Professor Efrain Sadka, Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center chairman said.
4. CHICAGO SYNAGOGUE TARGET OF ARSON ATTACKS
by Marcy Oster/JTA
An unknown arsonist attempted twice to set on fire a synagogue building in downtown Chicago, while vandals smashed the windows of cars parked outside of a synagogue on the far north side of the city.
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told reporters on Sunday that Chicago Police Deputy Superintendent Anthony Ricci ordered that synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish-owned businesses receive "special attention" while the suspected hate crimes are investigated.
Two attempts were made at around midnight on Saturday to set alight the Anshei Sholom B'nei Israel synagogue located in the Lakeview neighborhood. The remains of several Molotov cocktails were found outside of the synagogue building. There was no damage to the synagogue building.
The synagogue's surveillance cameras filmed the arson attempts and Chicago police told local media that they have identified two suspects.
Anshei Sholom B'nei Israel Rabbi David Wolkenfeld wrote in a letter to his congregation that: "Someone attempted to violate the sacred space that serves as the beating heart of our vibrant community. Our response must be to rededicate ourselves to honoring the sanctity of our shul. We will celebrate Shabbat as a community, and take advantage of other times to engage in prayer during the week. We will stand together and support one another when we are frightened or in need of help."
Meanwhile, Chicago police also are investigating a rash of vandalism early Sunday morning outside of at least one synagogue in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, including the smashing of windows of cars parked outside of the synagogue buildings.
5. SENIOR PA OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF SHOOTING ATTACKS NORTH OF J'LEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A senior Palestinian Authority official who was once granted amnesty by Israel following a history of terrorism has been accused of involvement in a series of shooting attacks near the Israeli town of Beit El, north of Jerusalem.
In late February, Zakaria Zubeidi – a senior official in the PA's Prisoners Ministry and a former leader of the Fatah party's terrorist operations in the Jenin district – was arrested, along with Israeli-Arab attorney Tarek Barghout in Ramallah in connection with what Israeli security forces called "serious and current terrorist activities".
During the arrest, police seized a vehicle owned by Barghout, who has often represented terrorists charged in Israeli courts. Authorities also seized an M-16 during the raid.
On Monday, the Shin Bet revealed that Zubeidi and Barghout were arrested in connection with a string of shooting attacks north of Jerusalem, and that intel information gathered on the two suspects had linked them to the attacks.
The two were arrested while in the midst of planning another terror attack, the Shin Bet said, by a joint operation of the Shin Bet internal security agency, the IDF, and Yamam special police force.
According to the Shin Bet investigation, Zubeidi and Barghout carried out two shooting attacks on Israeli buses near the town of Beit El.
The two allegedly used Zubeidi's personal vehicle – which had been provided to him by the Palestinian Authority in his capacity as a senior prisoner affairs official – during the attacks and during reconnaissance operations.
The shooting attacks include the December 27th 2018 attack on a bus en route to the town of Pisagot, south of Beit El. No injuries were reported in the attack.
The pair also opened fire at an Israeli bus on January 5th 2019 in the Beit El area. The two were in the midst of planning an additional attack when they were arrested on February 27th 2019.
The Shin Bet revealed Monday details from its investigation, including details on how the two planned and carried out the attacks. In preparation for the attacks, the two went over the chosen target areas, carried out observation of potential targets and gathered other information.
Barghout confessed, the Shin Bet said, to a November 19th 2016 shooting attack on an Israeli police car at the Zeitim checkpoint near Jerusalem. The police car was damaged, but no injuries were reported.
"That a senior Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry official and an Israeli attorney who worked for the Prisoners Ministry carried out severe terrorist attacks while using an official PA vehicle is very grave. Intelligence and operational activity by the security forces immediately after the attacks and in the ensuing weeks, including in Ramallah, is what led to the exposure of the cell and the foiling of other terrorist attacks in the future," a senior Shin Bet official said Monday, according to the Shin Bet's announcement.
Zubeidi, who once was on Israel's most-wanted list over his leadership of the Jenin region's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, accepted a 2007 Israeli offer of amnesty in exchange for renouncing terrorism. Zubeidi accepted the deal, which was revoked in December 2011.
Zubeidi made headlines in 2004, when a female Israeli admirer, Tali Fahima, traveled to Jenin to serve as a human shield for him. Fahima, who was latered jailed for her aid to the terrorist leader, converted into Islam in 2010.
6. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Supreme Court Justices Noam Solberg, Yael Vilner and Ofer Grosskopf rejected Sunday the petition filed by Ir Amim and a number of academics and Jewish intellectuals against the Jerusalem Day Flag March.
In an exceptional move, the justices decided to require the petitioners to pay the respondents NIS 10,000 in sums to be divided between the police, the Jerusalem municipality and the "Am Kalavi" organization, which has been organizing the event for years.
In the judgment, the justices noted that it may have been possible to reject the petition without having to deal with the petitioners' arguments at all, since they lack standing.
"We argued over the issue of the petitioners' right of standing in the petition, claiming that tens of thousands of residents of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City were damaged by the flag dance parade, but none of them saw fit to file a petition with the court. The petitioners, seeking their welfare, did so in their stead. The petitioners' attorney claimed that Muslims in the Old City were afraid of petitioning. It is difficult to accept this argument while we are hearing the petitions of the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem every day," said the head of the panel, Judge Solberg.
Later on, the justices held that the merits of the petition should also be rejected, in light of the fact that the police are properly preparing for the incident and are giving their opinion about all consequences.
"The state of things properly balances between the freedom of speech and the rights of those marching in the flag parade on the one hand, and the public and private interests of the residents of the Old City on the other," Solberg said.
According to him, "The police are preparing with large amounts of forces for the flag parade, in what pertains to the maintenance of public order, the safety and security of the marchers, while preserving the fabric of life of the residents of the Muslim Quarter."
The petitioners will pay the organization 10,000 NIS in compensation for their legal fees.
Adv. Nati Rom, representing the Am K'Lavie association that organized the flag parade said: "We congratulate the Jewish People on the rejection of petition by the extreme-Left organization Ir Amim to cancel the flag dance on Jerusalem Day.
"The court accepted our position in its entirety and even charged Ir Amim with expenses, testify to the vindication of our path.
"We hope the Petitioners will also join us and the more than 100,000 celebrants who will participate in the march," said Rom, who represented the association together with Adv. Hillel Barak.
Atty. Nati Rom
Lev HaOlam
7. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263339
Israeli Eurovision contestant Kobi Marimi performed his song "Home" - and broke into tears.
At the end of his performance, Marimi thanked the crowd, saying, "Thank you very much, thank you to the amazing audience in this hall, who supported and encouraged me. I couldn't help feeling your amazing energy."
"Thank you also to all those watching from home. I'm very happy to have performed this and honorably represented Israel."
Earlier Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Marimi to encourage him.
"Millions are watching you now and you know that the entire country is supporting you," Netanyahu said. "It's important that you believe in yourself, Kobi. Do the best you can. That's what you expect from yourself, and that's what we expect from you. We're all supporting and embracing you. I'll be watching you also. Much success to you and our country."
Kobi Marimi at Eurovision 2019 Finale in Tel Aviv
Orit Penini / KAN 11
8. WATCH: HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING WEDDING CEREMONY
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263375
The wedding participants seen in a video filmed in Brazil could not believe their eyes.
They awaited the bride who was supposed to arrive at the chuppah (wedding canopy) in a helicopter, but to their horror, seconds before the touching the ground the helicopter crashed.
Both bride and pilot managed to escape from the aircraft, which had started to burn, and fortunately the incident ended without casualties - just with one helicopter smashed on the ground and a wedding that will never be forgotten.
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Monday, May. 20 '19, ט"ו באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. 'DON'T NEGOTIATE ON OUR BEHALF'
2. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
3. THE YELLOW BADGE MARKING JEWS BEGAN IN BABYLONIA
4. CHICAGO SYNAGOGUE TARGET OF ARSON ATTACKS
5. SENIOR PA OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF SHOOTING ATTACKS NORTH OF J'LEM
6. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
7. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
8. WATCH: HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING WEDDING CEREMONY
1. 'DON'T NEGOTIATE ON OUR BEHALF'
by Arutz Sheva Staff, AFP
The Palestinian Authority leadership said Monday it was not consulted over an economic conference next month in support of Washington's Middle East peace plan and no party was entitled to negotiate on its behalf.
The White House announced Sunday it would co-host the June 25-26 conference with Bahrain focusing on economic aspects of the long-delayed peace plan, with the declared aim of achieving prosperity in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip.
"We were not consulted by any party on the announced meeting to take place in Manama, Bahrain," Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement.
"We have not mandated any party to negotiate on our behalf."
The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017.
The Trump administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month.
Washington has yet to commit to an exact timetable on political aspects of the plan.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is the chief architect of the proposals.
Sunday's joint statement from the US and Bahrain called the event a "pivotal opportunity... to share ideas, discuss strategies and galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be made possible by a peace agreement".
The Palestinian Authority views this as offering financial rewards in exchange for accepting a final status agreement that does not include the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Attempts at promoting an economic normalization of the Israeli occupation of Palestine will be rejected," Erekat said.
"This is not about improving living conditions under occupation but about reaching Palestine's full potential by ending the Israeli occupation."
The US peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
2. ICELAND FACES CRITICISM AFTER VIOLATING EUROVISION STANDARDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) called for Eurovision to disqualify Iceland's Eurovision entry.
"Icelandic Hatari (Hate) singers did not keep their commitment. Reykjavik must be disqualified from 2020 contest," they said in a statement.
On 17 April, the Wiesenthal Centre had joined with UKLFI in writing to Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) executive supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, to demand depoliticization of this year's contest in Tel Aviv, which concluded this week-end.
This request specifically applied to Iceland's Hatari band, which had been proclaiming its anti-Israeli prejudices and threats "in contravention of both the spirit and the rules of Eurovision."
The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that "the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) umbrella body for Eurovision had responded that Iceland's Broadcaster would keep its commitments under Eurovision Song Contest Rule 2.6... "No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC."
"This commitment was offensively violated by Hatari (meaning 'Hate' in English), which lived up to its name in inciting to anti-Israel hatred by unfurling Palestinian banners during the vote for winner of the event," the Centre said.
Samuels added that "responsibility be addressed to the Icelandic Broadcaster, which must accordingly be disqualified by the EBU from the 2020 Eurovision Contest in Amsterdam."
"We will be monitoring the situation in the context of campaign against BDS, the anti-Semitic Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said, "In the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final, Hatari, the Icelandic act, briefly displayed small Palestinian banners whilst [they] sat in the Green Room."
"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest's rules. The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group (the contest's executive board) after the contest."
3. THE YELLOW BADGE MARKING JEWS BEGAN IN BABYLONIA
by Arutz Sheva Staff
On Monday, the Dahan Center and the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center hosted a conference focusing on the Jews of Bavel (Babylonia).
The conference focused on the new age and the Jews' contribution to Babylonia from the time they were exiled from ancient Israel until Ezra and Nehemia led them back home.
Dr. Shimon Ohayon, Director at Bar Ilan University's Dahan Center, said, "Not many know, but the yellow badge to mark Jews began in Babylonia. There was a magnificent community, a few of them immigrated to Israel after Cyrus' announcement, but most of them remained in Babylonia. We have merited one of the most magnificent creations in history, written by Babylonia's Jews - the Babylonian Talmud. Unfortunately, today we are focused mostly on a few Today we will focus mostly on which level math students learn. That's important, but it's no less important to recognize our history as the Jewish nation scattered all around the world and returned to its land after 2,000 years of exile."
Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Director of the Research institute Director at The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, said, "Ezekiel's grave, which was one of the symbols of Babylonia's Jewish community, has not yet been destroyed, but it has been turned into a mosque and Jews are not allowed to enter. It has been made part of a mosque's complex. They erased the nearby synagogue. Today in order to reach the gravesite, you need to pass through the mosque. They don't allow Jews to enter mosques, because in their eyes, Jews are impure."
"We at the Babylonian Jewish Heritage Center are proud to work with the oldest of Israel's communities, the Babylonian Jewish community, and to spread its work and contribution to others. It's an honor for us to work together with Bar Ilan University and the Dahan Center to spread the glory of Babylonian Jewry," Professor Efrain Sadka, Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center chairman said.
4. CHICAGO SYNAGOGUE TARGET OF ARSON ATTACKS
by Marcy Oster/JTA
An unknown arsonist attempted twice to set on fire a synagogue building in downtown Chicago, while vandals smashed the windows of cars parked outside of a synagogue on the far north side of the city.
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told reporters on Sunday that Chicago Police Deputy Superintendent Anthony Ricci ordered that synagogues, Jewish schools and Jewish-owned businesses receive "special attention" while the suspected hate crimes are investigated.
Two attempts were made at around midnight on Saturday to set alight the Anshei Sholom B'nei Israel synagogue located in the Lakeview neighborhood. The remains of several Molotov cocktails were found outside of the synagogue building. There was no damage to the synagogue building.
The synagogue's surveillance cameras filmed the arson attempts and Chicago police told local media that they have identified two suspects.
Anshei Sholom B'nei Israel Rabbi David Wolkenfeld wrote in a letter to his congregation that: "Someone attempted to violate the sacred space that serves as the beating heart of our vibrant community. Our response must be to rededicate ourselves to honoring the sanctity of our shul. We will celebrate Shabbat as a community, and take advantage of other times to engage in prayer during the week. We will stand together and support one another when we are frightened or in need of help."
Meanwhile, Chicago police also are investigating a rash of vandalism early Sunday morning outside of at least one synagogue in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, including the smashing of windows of cars parked outside of the synagogue buildings.
5. SENIOR PA OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF SHOOTING ATTACKS NORTH OF J'LEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A senior Palestinian Authority official who was once granted amnesty by Israel following a history of terrorism has been accused of involvement in a series of shooting attacks near the Israeli town of Beit El, north of Jerusalem.
In late February, Zakaria Zubeidi – a senior official in the PA's Prisoners Ministry and a former leader of the Fatah party's terrorist operations in the Jenin district – was arrested, along with Israeli-Arab attorney Tarek Barghout in Ramallah in connection with what Israeli security forces called "serious and current terrorist activities".
During the arrest, police seized a vehicle owned by Barghout, who has often represented terrorists charged in Israeli courts. Authorities also seized an M-16 during the raid.
On Monday, the Shin Bet revealed that Zubeidi and Barghout were arrested in connection with a string of shooting attacks north of Jerusalem, and that intel information gathered on the two suspects had linked them to the attacks.
The two were arrested while in the midst of planning another terror attack, the Shin Bet said, by a joint operation of the Shin Bet internal security agency, the IDF, and Yamam special police force.
According to the Shin Bet investigation, Zubeidi and Barghout carried out two shooting attacks on Israeli buses near the town of Beit El.
The two allegedly used Zubeidi's personal vehicle – which had been provided to him by the Palestinian Authority in his capacity as a senior prisoner affairs official – during the attacks and during reconnaissance operations.
The shooting attacks include the December 27th 2018 attack on a bus en route to the town of Pisagot, south of Beit El. No injuries were reported in the attack.
The pair also opened fire at an Israeli bus on January 5th 2019 in the Beit El area. The two were in the midst of planning an additional attack when they were arrested on February 27th 2019.
The Shin Bet revealed Monday details from its investigation, including details on how the two planned and carried out the attacks. In preparation for the attacks, the two went over the chosen target areas, carried out observation of potential targets and gathered other information.
Barghout confessed, the Shin Bet said, to a November 19th 2016 shooting attack on an Israeli police car at the Zeitim checkpoint near Jerusalem. The police car was damaged, but no injuries were reported.
"That a senior Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry official and an Israeli attorney who worked for the Prisoners Ministry carried out severe terrorist attacks while using an official PA vehicle is very grave. Intelligence and operational activity by the security forces immediately after the attacks and in the ensuing weeks, including in Ramallah, is what led to the exposure of the cell and the foiling of other terrorist attacks in the future," a senior Shin Bet official said Monday, according to the Shin Bet's announcement.
Zubeidi, who once was on Israel's most-wanted list over his leadership of the Jenin region's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, accepted a 2007 Israeli offer of amnesty in exchange for renouncing terrorism. Zubeidi accepted the deal, which was revoked in December 2011.
Zubeidi made headlines in 2004, when a female Israeli admirer, Tali Fahima, traveled to Jenin to serve as a human shield for him. Fahima, who was latered jailed for her aid to the terrorist leader, converted into Islam in 2010.
6. HIGH COURT REJECTS PETITION AGAINST JERUSALEM DAY PARADE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Supreme Court Justices Noam Solberg, Yael Vilner and Ofer Grosskopf rejected Sunday the petition filed by Ir Amim and a number of academics and Jewish intellectuals against the Jerusalem Day Flag March.
In an exceptional move, the justices decided to require the petitioners to pay the respondents NIS 10,000 in sums to be divided between the police, the Jerusalem municipality and the "Am Kalavi" organization, which has been organizing the event for years.
In the judgment, the justices noted that it may have been possible to reject the petition without having to deal with the petitioners' arguments at all, since they lack standing.
"We argued over the issue of the petitioners' right of standing in the petition, claiming that tens of thousands of residents of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City were damaged by the flag dance parade, but none of them saw fit to file a petition with the court. The petitioners, seeking their welfare, did so in their stead. The petitioners' attorney claimed that Muslims in the Old City were afraid of petitioning. It is difficult to accept this argument while we are hearing the petitions of the residents of the Old City of Jerusalem every day," said the head of the panel, Judge Solberg.
Later on, the justices held that the merits of the petition should also be rejected, in light of the fact that the police are properly preparing for the incident and are giving their opinion about all consequences.
"The state of things properly balances between the freedom of speech and the rights of those marching in the flag parade on the one hand, and the public and private interests of the residents of the Old City on the other," Solberg said.
According to him, "The police are preparing with large amounts of forces for the flag parade, in what pertains to the maintenance of public order, the safety and security of the marchers, while preserving the fabric of life of the residents of the Muslim Quarter."
The petitioners will pay the organization 10,000 NIS in compensation for their legal fees.
Adv. Nati Rom, representing the Am K'Lavie association that organized the flag parade said: "We congratulate the Jewish People on the rejection of petition by the extreme-Left organization Ir Amim to cancel the flag dance on Jerusalem Day.
"The court accepted our position in its entirety and even charged Ir Amim with expenses, testify to the vindication of our path.
"We hope the Petitioners will also join us and the more than 100,000 celebrants who will participate in the march," said Rom, who represented the association together with Adv. Hillel Barak.
Atty. Nati Rom
Lev HaOlam
7. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263339
Israeli Eurovision contestant Kobi Marimi performed his song "Home" - and broke into tears.
At the end of his performance, Marimi thanked the crowd, saying, "Thank you very much, thank you to the amazing audience in this hall, who supported and encouraged me. I couldn't help feeling your amazing energy."
"Thank you also to all those watching from home. I'm very happy to have performed this and honorably represented Israel."
Earlier Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Marimi to encourage him.
"Millions are watching you now and you know that the entire country is supporting you," Netanyahu said. "It's important that you believe in yourself, Kobi. Do the best you can. That's what you expect from yourself, and that's what we expect from you. We're all supporting and embracing you. I'll be watching you also. Much success to you and our country."
Kobi Marimi at Eurovision 2019 Finale in Tel Aviv
Orit Penini / KAN 11
8. WATCH: HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING WEDDING CEREMONY
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263375
The wedding participants seen in a video filmed in Brazil could not believe their eyes.
They awaited the bride who was supposed to arrive at the chuppah (wedding canopy) in a helicopter, but to their horror, seconds before the touching the ground the helicopter crashed.
Both bride and pilot managed to escape from the aircraft, which had started to burn, and fortunately the incident ended without casualties - just with one helicopter smashed on the ground and a wedding that will never be forgotten.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
A7News: Regev: 'Kan' bears responsibility for PA flags at Eurovision
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, May. 19 '19, י"ד באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. REGEV: 'KAN' BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PA FLAGS AT EUROVISION
2. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
3. SA'AR: INTIMIDATION, THREATS WON'T DETER ME
4. TODDLER IN MODERATE CONDITION AFTER SNAKE BITE
5. 'I WAS DETAINED FOR 4 MONTHS'
6. BOSTON CHABAD: DON'T BE SCARED OF THE DARK - LIGHT A CANDLE
7. SYRIA CLAIMS ISRAEL ATTACKED TARGETS NEAR DAMASCUS
8. 4 KILLED AFTER CRANE COLLAPSES IN YAVNEH
1. REGEV: 'KAN' BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PA FLAGS AT EUROVISION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev called on the 'Kan' broadcasting authority to take responsibility for the display of Palestinian Authority flags at the Eurovision finale in Tel Aviv Saturday night.
"There was a wonderful production and a good word for the corporation comes to mind, but it is impossible to ignore the flags that were in the event that the corporation is responsible for. And the government has no way of supervising it. In any other country it would not have happened, we saw videos saying that Judea and Samaria are not part of the state. One should also say: One of the people in the production was killed and someone has to be punished," Regev said.
"Politics should not be involved in a cultural event, and such things should not happen, with all due respect to Madonna," she added.
The Culture Minister also addressed the controversy over the possible passage of a law which would grant the prime minister immunity from prosecution.
"The media is trying to convince itself that the law was not part of the coalition negotiations, but if you can get points on Netanyahu's head, then why not?" Regev attacked.
According to her, "there is currently one task, which is to end the coalition negotiations. At the end of the day, that will be the responsibility of the large and small parties, especially the small ones. "
In response to a question about incitement against Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar, Regev said Saar "made a mistake in his conduct. The minister understands the sensitivity in the negotiations and knows that we should not say things that hurt the negotiations. His statements were out of place."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263356
2. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263339
Israeli Eurovision contestant Kobi Marimi performed his song "Home" - and broke into tears.
At the end of his performance, Marimi thanked the crowd, saying, "Thank you very much, thank you to the amazing audience in this hall, who supported and encouraged me. I couldn't help feeling your amazing energy."
"Thank you also to all those watching from home. I'm very happy to have performed this and honorably represented Israel."
Earlier Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Marimi to encourage him.
"Millions are watching you now and you know that the entire country is supporting you," Netanyahu said. "It's important that you believe in yourself, Kobi. Do the best you can. That's what you expect from yourself, and that's what we expect from you. We're all supporting and embracing you. I'll be watching you also. Much success to you and our country."
Kobi Marimi at Eurovision 2019 Finale in Tel Aviv
Orit Penini / KAN 11
3. SA'AR: INTIMIDATION, THREATS WON'T DETER ME
by Arutz Sheva Staff
MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) claimed that in recent days there has been a wave of incitement against him following his remarks against the "Immunity Law."
"One of many examples of incitement that has raged on the Internet since the weekend, methods of incitement, intimidation and threats will not work," Sa'ar said in response on Twitter.
The post showed a picture of Sa'ar wearing a kaffiyeh with a caption calling him a traitor. The post also calls for "to fight and denounce domestic enemy Sa'ar because he is worse than Iran."
On the other hand, Sa'ar received support from former Likud leader Limor Livnat, who expressed support for his position in an article published in Yedioth Ahronot.
MK Yair Lapid said on Twitter that "a lot of political courage is needed to oppose Netanyahu. I support Sa'ar and call on Knesset members from the coalition to join Gideon."
In an interview on the weekend, Sa'ar said that "such a law would harm the Likud and not be effective for the prime minister, which is useless legislation with maximum harm.
"Someone gave the prime minister bad advice," he said.
4. TODDLER IN MODERATE CONDITION AFTER SNAKE BITE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A toddler of about a year and three months was evacuated this morning to the emergency room at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital after she was bitten by a viper near the community of Aderet.
Dr. Sa'ar Hashbaya, director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hadassah Ein Kerem, spoke of the treatment given to the toddler.
"As soon as she arrived at Hadassah, the child received a serum against venom and supportive care. Her condition is moderate, she is partially conscious," he said.
"After initial stabilization in pediatric ER, her condition improved and she is being transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit," the doctor added.
5. 'I WAS DETAINED FOR 4 MONTHS'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Attorney Eldad Yaniv called Saturday for civil disobedience following the intention to pass laws limiting the power of the judicial system in an interview with Radio 103 FM.
Following the call, Erel Segal and Roi Idan spoke with Director of the Zehut party, Shai Malka, who was arrested following a similar call during the Disengagement.
Malka spoke about their call for nonviolent civil disobedience and about the response of the legal system: "During the expulsion from Gush Katif, I was 20 years old, we saw that no effective protest against the expulsion was taking place.
"We called for civil disobedience rather than violence. The response of the system was not long in coming. I was detained for four consecutive months."
6. BOSTON CHABAD: DON'T BE SCARED OF THE DARK - LIGHT A CANDLE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Galei Tzahal spoke with Boston Chabad Rabbi Avi Bukiet, whose Chabad center was lit on fire twice in the past week.
"We're personally ok, but we've been rattled, it's a bit unsettling, I've been up unable to sleep for the past few nights but, Baruch Hashem, the Arlington Police have somebody parked here day and night until this matter comes to a close."
"I grew up in Boston and I always had my doors wide open, I never imagined that this would come here. It has been a complete shock to us and the community.
He said he could not see "any other explanation" for the arson except that they were hate crimes.
"The fact that we've been targeted because we have the sign of Beit Chabad - I understand why the police are reserved in [calling the arson hate crimes] because they need to find evidence or the culprit so they can get a confession, so they are not legally allowed to say that it's a hate crime. But in their heart of hearts they know what this is, and this is the second time in one week that [this has happened]. It seems like all signs point [in that direction]."
Asked if he considered leaving Boston, he said "Absolutely not. It's Motsei Shabbat and I had just talked about leaving until police finish the investigation, but my wife turned to me and said, 'Avi, let's stay, let's invite the community to our home.' I will tell you the entire day, the community just came in droves, coming to show their love and support. Our approach is to have open doors, and we don't run away from this stuff. That's the right attitude."
"This is what it's all about. One mitzvah leads to another and we need to tell everybody, we gotta keep doing good. A little light repels a lot of darkness, that was the Rebbe's theme to the entire world. Don't be scared of the darkness, just light a candle, and that will ultimately push away any darkness that was there."
7. SYRIA CLAIMS ISRAEL ATTACKED TARGETS NEAR DAMASCUS
by Elad Benari, Canada
Sounds of explosions were reportedly heard in the vicinity of the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday evening.
Syrian media claimed the explosions were the result of an Israeli air strike on the country.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that the country's aerial defense systems targeted "luminous objects coming from occupied territories, shooting down a number of them."
Syrian TV aired footage of what it claimed were the "luminous objects" that were fired from Israel.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263321
A Syrian military official said, "Our anti-aircraft systems monitored hostile targets that came from the direction of Quneitra and intercepted them."
Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in recent years.
Last month, Syria accused Israel of carrying out an air strike on military bases in the city of Masayef, in the province of Hama.
Satellite photos later showed that a factory for the manufacturing and precision of surface-to-surface missiles, which was built as part of the Iranian missile precision project in Syria, was destroyed in the air strike.
(Arutz Sheva's North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
8. 4 KILLED AFTER CRANE COLLAPSES IN YAVNEH
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263352
4 people were killed when a crane collapsed at a construction site on Jabotinsky Boulevard in Yavneh.
Rescue forces worked to rescue an injured worker who was trapped on the crane, but his death was ultimately confirmed.
MDA Paramedic Alon Malma said: "This is a large construction site with two residential buildings with a crane in the center, the rear part of the crane broke down and collapsed on the ground."
"Workers who were nearby were severely injured in all parts of their bodies, and during operations to evacuate them we carried out medical examinations, but they were without signs of life and we had no choice but to determine their deaths," he said.
"Another worker who was trapped on the crane at a height of dozens of meters is being rescued at this moment by the firefighters who arrived at the site," Malma added but, as mentioned, the worker later died of his injuries.
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Sunday, May. 19 '19, י"ד באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. REGEV: 'KAN' BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PA FLAGS AT EUROVISION
2. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
3. SA'AR: INTIMIDATION, THREATS WON'T DETER ME
4. TODDLER IN MODERATE CONDITION AFTER SNAKE BITE
5. 'I WAS DETAINED FOR 4 MONTHS'
6. BOSTON CHABAD: DON'T BE SCARED OF THE DARK - LIGHT A CANDLE
7. SYRIA CLAIMS ISRAEL ATTACKED TARGETS NEAR DAMASCUS
8. 4 KILLED AFTER CRANE COLLAPSES IN YAVNEH
1. REGEV: 'KAN' BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PA FLAGS AT EUROVISION
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev called on the 'Kan' broadcasting authority to take responsibility for the display of Palestinian Authority flags at the Eurovision finale in Tel Aviv Saturday night.
"There was a wonderful production and a good word for the corporation comes to mind, but it is impossible to ignore the flags that were in the event that the corporation is responsible for. And the government has no way of supervising it. In any other country it would not have happened, we saw videos saying that Judea and Samaria are not part of the state. One should also say: One of the people in the production was killed and someone has to be punished," Regev said.
"Politics should not be involved in a cultural event, and such things should not happen, with all due respect to Madonna," she added.
The Culture Minister also addressed the controversy over the possible passage of a law which would grant the prime minister immunity from prosecution.
"The media is trying to convince itself that the law was not part of the coalition negotiations, but if you can get points on Netanyahu's head, then why not?" Regev attacked.
According to her, "there is currently one task, which is to end the coalition negotiations. At the end of the day, that will be the responsibility of the large and small parties, especially the small ones. "
In response to a question about incitement against Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar, Regev said Saar "made a mistake in his conduct. The minister understands the sensitivity in the negotiations and knows that we should not say things that hurt the negotiations. His statements were out of place."
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263356
2. EUROVISION: ISRAELI PERFORMER BREAKS INTO TEARS ON STAGE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263339
Israeli Eurovision contestant Kobi Marimi performed his song "Home" - and broke into tears.
At the end of his performance, Marimi thanked the crowd, saying, "Thank you very much, thank you to the amazing audience in this hall, who supported and encouraged me. I couldn't help feeling your amazing energy."
"Thank you also to all those watching from home. I'm very happy to have performed this and honorably represented Israel."
Earlier Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Marimi to encourage him.
"Millions are watching you now and you know that the entire country is supporting you," Netanyahu said. "It's important that you believe in yourself, Kobi. Do the best you can. That's what you expect from yourself, and that's what we expect from you. We're all supporting and embracing you. I'll be watching you also. Much success to you and our country."
Kobi Marimi at Eurovision 2019 Finale in Tel Aviv
Orit Penini / KAN 11
3. SA'AR: INTIMIDATION, THREATS WON'T DETER ME
by Arutz Sheva Staff
MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) claimed that in recent days there has been a wave of incitement against him following his remarks against the "Immunity Law."
"One of many examples of incitement that has raged on the Internet since the weekend, methods of incitement, intimidation and threats will not work," Sa'ar said in response on Twitter.
The post showed a picture of Sa'ar wearing a kaffiyeh with a caption calling him a traitor. The post also calls for "to fight and denounce domestic enemy Sa'ar because he is worse than Iran."
On the other hand, Sa'ar received support from former Likud leader Limor Livnat, who expressed support for his position in an article published in Yedioth Ahronot.
MK Yair Lapid said on Twitter that "a lot of political courage is needed to oppose Netanyahu. I support Sa'ar and call on Knesset members from the coalition to join Gideon."
In an interview on the weekend, Sa'ar said that "such a law would harm the Likud and not be effective for the prime minister, which is useless legislation with maximum harm.
"Someone gave the prime minister bad advice," he said.
4. TODDLER IN MODERATE CONDITION AFTER SNAKE BITE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A toddler of about a year and three months was evacuated this morning to the emergency room at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital after she was bitten by a viper near the community of Aderet.
Dr. Sa'ar Hashbaya, director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hadassah Ein Kerem, spoke of the treatment given to the toddler.
"As soon as she arrived at Hadassah, the child received a serum against venom and supportive care. Her condition is moderate, she is partially conscious," he said.
"After initial stabilization in pediatric ER, her condition improved and she is being transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit," the doctor added.
5. 'I WAS DETAINED FOR 4 MONTHS'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Attorney Eldad Yaniv called Saturday for civil disobedience following the intention to pass laws limiting the power of the judicial system in an interview with Radio 103 FM.
Following the call, Erel Segal and Roi Idan spoke with Director of the Zehut party, Shai Malka, who was arrested following a similar call during the Disengagement.
Malka spoke about their call for nonviolent civil disobedience and about the response of the legal system: "During the expulsion from Gush Katif, I was 20 years old, we saw that no effective protest against the expulsion was taking place.
"We called for civil disobedience rather than violence. The response of the system was not long in coming. I was detained for four consecutive months."
6. BOSTON CHABAD: DON'T BE SCARED OF THE DARK - LIGHT A CANDLE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Galei Tzahal spoke with Boston Chabad Rabbi Avi Bukiet, whose Chabad center was lit on fire twice in the past week.
"We're personally ok, but we've been rattled, it's a bit unsettling, I've been up unable to sleep for the past few nights but, Baruch Hashem, the Arlington Police have somebody parked here day and night until this matter comes to a close."
"I grew up in Boston and I always had my doors wide open, I never imagined that this would come here. It has been a complete shock to us and the community.
He said he could not see "any other explanation" for the arson except that they were hate crimes.
"The fact that we've been targeted because we have the sign of Beit Chabad - I understand why the police are reserved in [calling the arson hate crimes] because they need to find evidence or the culprit so they can get a confession, so they are not legally allowed to say that it's a hate crime. But in their heart of hearts they know what this is, and this is the second time in one week that [this has happened]. It seems like all signs point [in that direction]."
Asked if he considered leaving Boston, he said "Absolutely not. It's Motsei Shabbat and I had just talked about leaving until police finish the investigation, but my wife turned to me and said, 'Avi, let's stay, let's invite the community to our home.' I will tell you the entire day, the community just came in droves, coming to show their love and support. Our approach is to have open doors, and we don't run away from this stuff. That's the right attitude."
"This is what it's all about. One mitzvah leads to another and we need to tell everybody, we gotta keep doing good. A little light repels a lot of darkness, that was the Rebbe's theme to the entire world. Don't be scared of the darkness, just light a candle, and that will ultimately push away any darkness that was there."
7. SYRIA CLAIMS ISRAEL ATTACKED TARGETS NEAR DAMASCUS
by Elad Benari, Canada
Sounds of explosions were reportedly heard in the vicinity of the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday evening.
Syrian media claimed the explosions were the result of an Israeli air strike on the country.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported that the country's aerial defense systems targeted "luminous objects coming from occupied territories, shooting down a number of them."
Syrian TV aired footage of what it claimed were the "luminous objects" that were fired from Israel.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263321
A Syrian military official said, "Our anti-aircraft systems monitored hostile targets that came from the direction of Quneitra and intercepted them."
Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in recent years.
Last month, Syria accused Israel of carrying out an air strike on military bases in the city of Masayef, in the province of Hama.
Satellite photos later showed that a factory for the manufacturing and precision of surface-to-surface missiles, which was built as part of the Iranian missile precision project in Syria, was destroyed in the air strike.
(Arutz Sheva's North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
8. 4 KILLED AFTER CRANE COLLAPSES IN YAVNEH
by Arutz Sheva Staff
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263352
4 people were killed when a crane collapsed at a construction site on Jabotinsky Boulevard in Yavneh.
Rescue forces worked to rescue an injured worker who was trapped on the crane, but his death was ultimately confirmed.
MDA Paramedic Alon Malma said: "This is a large construction site with two residential buildings with a crane in the center, the rear part of the crane broke down and collapsed on the ground."
"Workers who were nearby were severely injured in all parts of their bodies, and during operations to evacuate them we carried out medical examinations, but they were without signs of life and we had no choice but to determine their deaths," he said.
"Another worker who was trapped on the crane at a height of dozens of meters is being rescued at this moment by the firefighters who arrived at the site," Malma added but, as mentioned, the worker later died of his injuries.
Friday, May 17, 2019
A7News: Gaza border protest canceled due to heat, Ramadan, Eurovision
Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Friday, May. 17 '19, י"ב באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. GAZA BORDER PROTEST CANCELED DUE TO HEAT, RAMADAN, EUROVISION
2. JEWISH BABY, BORN IN ISRAEL IN SECRET, CIRCUMCISED AT KOTEL
3. SWEDEN STABBER'S MOTHER: SON IS SUFFERING 'PSYCHIATRIC CRISIS'
4. FACEBOOK BANS ISRAELI FIRM OVER FAKE ELECTION POSTS
5. 'PA CAN PAY ITS HOSPITAL BILLS IF IT STOPS PAYING TERRORISTS'
6. LOCAL ARAB DENIES JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DUMA ARSON
7. NETANYAHU DECRIES 'IMPOSSIBLE' COALITION DEMANDS
8. AMERICAN WOMAN SAVES BROTHER IN ISRAEL
1. GAZA BORDER PROTEST CANCELED DUE TO HEAT, RAMADAN, EUROVISION
by Sara Rubenstein
Hamas has ordered Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip who regularly participate in the weekly March of Return protests to stay home this Friday, according to a report on Army Radio on Friday morning.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, former head of the Defense Ministry's security-policy headquarters said on Army Radio that "Hamas is quieting the demonstrators so that Eurovision will pass calmly."
Channel 13 News reported on Friday that according to Palestinian media sources, the weekly protest has been canceled due to the current heatwave in Israel as well as the daily Ramadan fast.
Meanwhile, Israel Police and Border Police are on high alert in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, as Ramadan prayers take place for the second week on the Temple Mount.
The roads in the Old City have been closed to make rooms for the crowds ascending to pray at the Temple Mount.
2. JEWISH BABY, BORN IN ISRAEL IN SECRET, CIRCUMCISED AT KOTEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
While every Bris Milah is emotional, the one held recently in the Old City of Yerushalayim was particularly poignant. Behind the event is the story of Tzipora (a pseudonym), a young Jewish woman from a Paris suburb who escaped by the skin of her teeth from a cruel, abusive Muslim partner.
Tzipora, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, had to get out of France quickly with her infant son because her mate was threatening to kill her. "If you give the baby a bris, like you did with his older brother, I will kill you," he screamed at her when she raised the subject.
Tzipora didn't respond, but two days later she was on an El Al flight to Tel Aviv, with her mother and infant son sitting at her side. They took few possessions as they left France forever.
Immediately on her arrival in Israel, Tzipora contacted Yad L'Achim, an organization she remembered from a talk one of its representatives had delivered to her Jewish high school. The organization's French department met with her and settled her in a secret safe house, together with her mother and infant son.
Just one week after landing in Israel Tzipora gave birth to her second son. As she hadn't had a chance to take out Israeli citizenship or get health insurance, Yad L'Achim covered her hospital bill and medical expenses. Its dedicated staffers put together a large package of clothing, diapers and cosmetics for baby and mother.
"Tzipora was profoundly moved by her experience of reconnecting with the Jewish people and asked that we arrange a Bris Milah for her son in a hall near the Kosel, with a minyan of Yad L'Achim activists and local avreichim," related Mrs. Karen Barda, head of the organization's French department.
"The tears that poured down Tzipora's cheeks said it all. They told the story of a another Jewish woman that we succeeded in reconnecting to the people and G-d of Israel, together with her young children."
3. SWEDEN STABBER'S MOTHER: SON IS SUFFERING 'PSYCHIATRIC CRISIS'
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
The man suspected of stabbing a Jewish woman in Sweden did not commit a hate crime, targeting her randomly amid a psychiatric crisis, his mother said.
The 29-year-old man, who has an extensive criminal record for assault, was released from 12 days at a psychiatric institution one day prior to the attack Tuesday in Helingborg, according to Expressen.
Several Israeli media reported that he is Muslim, though this has not been confirmed.
"I do not share the image that is spread in the Israeli media though I understand the concern and do not want in any way to downplay it," prosecutor Linda Seger told the Helsingborgs Dagblad daily.
"This does not have anything to do with religion," the suspect's mother told Expressen. Neither she, her son nor the victim have been named. The Expressen report did not say whether the suspect is in fact Muslim.
The suspect delivered near-fatal blows to the woman, a leader of the local Jewish community, very close to her home on a busy street. He approached her from the back, plunging a large knife into her upper body. The assault was over within seconds and he fled the scene, police said.
The suspect then crossed the border to neighboring Denmark and checked into a local hostel, where police arrested him on Wednesday, according to Expressen.
On Thursday, a Muslim umbrella organization from Malmo condemned the attack. "Whatever the motive," the Malmö Muslim Network wrote, "we Muslims know the insecurity such an attack can lead to for the entire Jewish community of Helsingborg."
4. FACEBOOK BANS ISRAELI FIRM OVER FAKE ELECTION POSTS
by AFP
Facebook, facing criticism for enabling disruption of elections worldwide, said it was taking down hundreds of accounts linked to an Israeli political consultancy.
The social media platform said it was banning the Israeli company, Archimedes Group, which on its website boasts of "winning campaigns worldwide."
The US giant said Thursday it had removed 265 accounts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, Facebook Pages, Groups and events "involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior."
The sites' activity focused on several African countries and on Latin America and Southeast Asia, and was intended to sway voters by peddling misinformation.
The individuals behind the fake network tried to hide their identities but some of the activity linked back to Archimedes Group, which Facebook said had "repeatedly violated" its policies.
"This organization and all its subsidiaries are now banned from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist letter," the US company's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in a blog post.
There was no immediate comment from Archimedes, which says it is a leader in "large-scale campaigns worldwide" through its expertise in consulting, lobbying and social media.
About 2.8 million individual accounts followed one or more of the banned pages, and $812,000 was spent on related ads on Facebook from 2012 to April this year, Gleicher said.
Nine public events were organized by the pages, most recently this month, but Facebook said it could not confirm whether any of the events had actually occurred.
Facebook has been trying to address the criticism that it has long turned a blind eye to political actors abusing its platforms to sway elections, including the 2016 presidential vote in the United States.
"We are making progress rooting out this abuse, and, as we've said before, it's an ongoing challenge," Gleicher said.
5. 'PA CAN PAY ITS HOSPITAL BILLS IF IT STOPS PAYING TERRORISTS'
by Elad Benari
Jason Greenblatt, the US Representative for International Negotiations, said on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) could pay its own hospital bills if it stops paying salaries to terrorists and their families.
Greenblatt was replying on Twitter to an inquiry by Channel 13 News reporter Barak Ravid, who asked Greenblatt why the US stopped funding PA hospitals in eastern Jerusalem.
"The PA incurred bills at the hospital and assumed someone else would pay. We want those patients to receive the best care - the PA could easily pay its own bills to the hospital by ending incentive payments to terrorists/their families and use the money to care for their people," Greenblatt wrote in response.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263275
PA officials have remained defiant and have made clear that the PA will never cease paying terrorists' salaries, despite calls by Israel and the US to stop doing so.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has in the past called the PA's continued payments to terrorists a "red line" that would not be halted under any circumstances.
Israel's security cabinet recently approved the freezing of 507,697,000 shekels ($140,350,300) from the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA over the PA's payments to terrorists who carried out attacks against Israelis and their families.
The PA then angrily announced that it had returned the tax revenues to Israel after it deducted 41 million shekels from them. PA officials made clear that it would be "all or nothing", that is they will receive the full tax revenues from Israel or will accept none.
The US announced in September of 2018 it would cut $25 million in aid to six Palestinian Authority-run hospitals in Jerusalem, noting the funds would be directed to "high-priority projects elsewhere."
In August of that year, the US administration announced a $200 million cut in the funding given to humanitarian needs and the development of infrastructure in Gaza and PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
6. LOCAL ARAB DENIES JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DUMA ARSON
by Ido Ben Porat
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263258
Four years after three Palestinian Arabs were killed in a fire in the village of Duma in Samaria, a neighbor has gone on record denying that Jews were responsible for the deadly blaze.
One July 31st, 2015, a fire broke out in the home of the Dawabsheh family in the village of Duma in the middle of the night, killing 18-month old Ali, and leaving three other members of the family injured. Weeks later, both of the parents, Said Muhammaned Hassan Dawabsheh and Riham Hassan Dawabsheh, succumbed to their injuries.
Hebrew graffiti was found at the site, including the word "Revenge" in Hebrew, leading Israeli investigators to treat the arson as an act of Jewish terrorism.
Police claimed a group of Israeli youths hurled firebombs at the Dawabsheh home, sparking a fire which eventually consumed much of the house.
New testimony from a neighbor of the Dawabsheh's, however, contradicts claims by Israeli police, suggesting that the fire was not set by Jewish arsonists.
The man, an Arab resident of Duma who lived next door to the Dawabsheh family, told a private investigator his recollection of the incident, saying it was "nonsense" that Jews were involved. He claimed that the fire was sparked in connection to a separate arson in Duma, by locals who were involved in an internal dispute with another resident of the village.
The neighbor claimed that after sparking a fire in another house in Duma, owned by their rival, the Arab arsonists believed the Dawabshehs had spotted them, and sought to kill them, to ensure there would be no witnesses.
Neighbor: "That's nonsense, forget it."
Private Investigator: "What do you mean nonsense? What happened there? It wasn't the Jews that did it I think."
Neighbor: "No not at all, there's nothing. The first arson wasn't for them. Not for them at all."
Investigator: "What do you mean 'not for them'?"
Neighbor: "They [the Arab arsonists] didn't come for them to burn their house initially. There was another man who was working with Jews, who was a thief, and made all kinds of problems. Now he bought a house in Shechem [Nablus]. He had told people that he's in Shechem, in some restaurant called such and such. So people knew his house [in Duma] was empty. So they went out to torch his house."
A second house in Duma was targeted by arsonists during the same night the Dawabsheh home was hit, which the neighbor interviewed by the private investigator claims was the primary target of the Arab arsonists he blames for the fires.
Neighbor: "At the same time [as the first arson], they [the Dawabsheh family]…were going back to their home to go to sleep. They turned on the light. The people who were setting the fire thought that they [the Dawabsheh family] had seen them and knew they were the arsonists."
"They thought that they saw and knew who had made the fire, so they burned" the Dawabsheh home, "so they wouldn't reveal who burned the house. You get what I mean?"
The neighbor also claimed that Israeli investigators failed to take the testimonies of Duma residents.
A video recording of the interview with the Duma resident has been forwarded to the Honenu organization, which has assisted in the defense of the Israeli youths accused in the arson.
A string of subsequent fires in Duma, including some in homes owned by members of the Dawabsheh clan, have not been linked to Jews.
7. NETANYAHU DECRIES 'IMPOSSIBLE' COALITION DEMANDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took part in a ceremony marking the centenary of the death of Aaron Aaronsohn, head of the Nili spy ring, and referred to the coalition talks and the fact that no agreement has been signed with any of the potential coalition partners.
Netanyahu said that coalition negotiations are "a mission that seems absurd" and that he "prefers to be here more than in the coalition negotiations, and all the factions demand demands that clash with each other."
"One faction asked for four positions for each of its four MKs. The budgetary requests are reasonable, if we had a budget like the US. We don't have that, and we can't collapse Israel's economy," he stressed.
Channel 12 reported that the prime minister and his associates have informed several Knesset members that they will fight with all their might over legislation that would grant immunity to Netanyahu and prevent him from being prosecuted.
"The citizens of Israel deserve a full-time prime minister," Netanyahu said in one of the briefings. ""After I finish my job I will deal with the trial. The citizens of Israel knew what my situation was and chose me. If I thought about my personal good, I would submit to the trial when I was prime minister and not as a private citizen, but I understand that this is not in the best interest of the state."
8. AMERICAN WOMAN SAVES BROTHER IN ISRAEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A 50-year-old man from Israel collapsed during a video call with his sister from New York.
The sister, who is a nurse, immediately understood the situation and called Magen David Adom in Israel. An ambulance was quickly dispatched to the man's house in Bat Yam.
MDA forces who arrived at the scene entered the apartment within a short time, with the help of firefighters who broke down the door. MDA paramedic David Weimpaimer and the rest of the emergency medical team immediately began tests and determined that the man had suffered a severe heart attack. They gave the man advanced life-saving medical care, including medication, until his condition stabilized and he regained full consciousness. The team then evacuated him to the Wolfson hospital intensive care unit.
MDA paramedic Naomi Zvi stated: "We received a report from the MDA center about a man who lost consciousness in his apartment in Bat Yam. The firefighters arrived quickly and opened the door, and we could enter the apartment."
"When we entered the apartment, we saw a light in the bedroom, and we ran in. In bed, a man of about 50 was unconscious. His sister was still in a video call to his cell phone and was upset at her brother's condition. We gave him advanced medical treatment, while updating the intensive care unit in the hospital. After a few dramatic minutes, his condition stabilized and he returned to full consciousness. Then, we evacuated him in an MDA intensive care unit directly to Wolfson Hospital, where the doctors in the unit are prepared to receive him," said Zvi.
To sum up the unique case, Tzvi said: "I have been a Paramedic for many years in MDA, and I do not remember such a case. It's really saving a life from across the world."
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
Friday, May. 17 '19, י"ב באייר תשע"ט
HEADLINES:
1. GAZA BORDER PROTEST CANCELED DUE TO HEAT, RAMADAN, EUROVISION
2. JEWISH BABY, BORN IN ISRAEL IN SECRET, CIRCUMCISED AT KOTEL
3. SWEDEN STABBER'S MOTHER: SON IS SUFFERING 'PSYCHIATRIC CRISIS'
4. FACEBOOK BANS ISRAELI FIRM OVER FAKE ELECTION POSTS
5. 'PA CAN PAY ITS HOSPITAL BILLS IF IT STOPS PAYING TERRORISTS'
6. LOCAL ARAB DENIES JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DUMA ARSON
7. NETANYAHU DECRIES 'IMPOSSIBLE' COALITION DEMANDS
8. AMERICAN WOMAN SAVES BROTHER IN ISRAEL
1. GAZA BORDER PROTEST CANCELED DUE TO HEAT, RAMADAN, EUROVISION
by Sara Rubenstein
Hamas has ordered Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip who regularly participate in the weekly March of Return protests to stay home this Friday, according to a report on Army Radio on Friday morning.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, former head of the Defense Ministry's security-policy headquarters said on Army Radio that "Hamas is quieting the demonstrators so that Eurovision will pass calmly."
Channel 13 News reported on Friday that according to Palestinian media sources, the weekly protest has been canceled due to the current heatwave in Israel as well as the daily Ramadan fast.
Meanwhile, Israel Police and Border Police are on high alert in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, as Ramadan prayers take place for the second week on the Temple Mount.
The roads in the Old City have been closed to make rooms for the crowds ascending to pray at the Temple Mount.
2. JEWISH BABY, BORN IN ISRAEL IN SECRET, CIRCUMCISED AT KOTEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
While every Bris Milah is emotional, the one held recently in the Old City of Yerushalayim was particularly poignant. Behind the event is the story of Tzipora (a pseudonym), a young Jewish woman from a Paris suburb who escaped by the skin of her teeth from a cruel, abusive Muslim partner.
Tzipora, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, had to get out of France quickly with her infant son because her mate was threatening to kill her. "If you give the baby a bris, like you did with his older brother, I will kill you," he screamed at her when she raised the subject.
Tzipora didn't respond, but two days later she was on an El Al flight to Tel Aviv, with her mother and infant son sitting at her side. They took few possessions as they left France forever.
Immediately on her arrival in Israel, Tzipora contacted Yad L'Achim, an organization she remembered from a talk one of its representatives had delivered to her Jewish high school. The organization's French department met with her and settled her in a secret safe house, together with her mother and infant son.
Just one week after landing in Israel Tzipora gave birth to her second son. As she hadn't had a chance to take out Israeli citizenship or get health insurance, Yad L'Achim covered her hospital bill and medical expenses. Its dedicated staffers put together a large package of clothing, diapers and cosmetics for baby and mother.
"Tzipora was profoundly moved by her experience of reconnecting with the Jewish people and asked that we arrange a Bris Milah for her son in a hall near the Kosel, with a minyan of Yad L'Achim activists and local avreichim," related Mrs. Karen Barda, head of the organization's French department.
"The tears that poured down Tzipora's cheeks said it all. They told the story of a another Jewish woman that we succeeded in reconnecting to the people and G-d of Israel, together with her young children."
3. SWEDEN STABBER'S MOTHER: SON IS SUFFERING 'PSYCHIATRIC CRISIS'
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
The man suspected of stabbing a Jewish woman in Sweden did not commit a hate crime, targeting her randomly amid a psychiatric crisis, his mother said.
The 29-year-old man, who has an extensive criminal record for assault, was released from 12 days at a psychiatric institution one day prior to the attack Tuesday in Helingborg, according to Expressen.
Several Israeli media reported that he is Muslim, though this has not been confirmed.
"I do not share the image that is spread in the Israeli media though I understand the concern and do not want in any way to downplay it," prosecutor Linda Seger told the Helsingborgs Dagblad daily.
"This does not have anything to do with religion," the suspect's mother told Expressen. Neither she, her son nor the victim have been named. The Expressen report did not say whether the suspect is in fact Muslim.
The suspect delivered near-fatal blows to the woman, a leader of the local Jewish community, very close to her home on a busy street. He approached her from the back, plunging a large knife into her upper body. The assault was over within seconds and he fled the scene, police said.
The suspect then crossed the border to neighboring Denmark and checked into a local hostel, where police arrested him on Wednesday, according to Expressen.
On Thursday, a Muslim umbrella organization from Malmo condemned the attack. "Whatever the motive," the Malmö Muslim Network wrote, "we Muslims know the insecurity such an attack can lead to for the entire Jewish community of Helsingborg."
4. FACEBOOK BANS ISRAELI FIRM OVER FAKE ELECTION POSTS
by AFP
Facebook, facing criticism for enabling disruption of elections worldwide, said it was taking down hundreds of accounts linked to an Israeli political consultancy.
The social media platform said it was banning the Israeli company, Archimedes Group, which on its website boasts of "winning campaigns worldwide."
The US giant said Thursday it had removed 265 accounts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, Facebook Pages, Groups and events "involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior."
The sites' activity focused on several African countries and on Latin America and Southeast Asia, and was intended to sway voters by peddling misinformation.
The individuals behind the fake network tried to hide their identities but some of the activity linked back to Archimedes Group, which Facebook said had "repeatedly violated" its policies.
"This organization and all its subsidiaries are now banned from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist letter," the US company's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in a blog post.
There was no immediate comment from Archimedes, which says it is a leader in "large-scale campaigns worldwide" through its expertise in consulting, lobbying and social media.
About 2.8 million individual accounts followed one or more of the banned pages, and $812,000 was spent on related ads on Facebook from 2012 to April this year, Gleicher said.
Nine public events were organized by the pages, most recently this month, but Facebook said it could not confirm whether any of the events had actually occurred.
Facebook has been trying to address the criticism that it has long turned a blind eye to political actors abusing its platforms to sway elections, including the 2016 presidential vote in the United States.
"We are making progress rooting out this abuse, and, as we've said before, it's an ongoing challenge," Gleicher said.
5. 'PA CAN PAY ITS HOSPITAL BILLS IF IT STOPS PAYING TERRORISTS'
by Elad Benari
Jason Greenblatt, the US Representative for International Negotiations, said on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) could pay its own hospital bills if it stops paying salaries to terrorists and their families.
Greenblatt was replying on Twitter to an inquiry by Channel 13 News reporter Barak Ravid, who asked Greenblatt why the US stopped funding PA hospitals in eastern Jerusalem.
"The PA incurred bills at the hospital and assumed someone else would pay. We want those patients to receive the best care - the PA could easily pay its own bills to the hospital by ending incentive payments to terrorists/their families and use the money to care for their people," Greenblatt wrote in response.
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263275
PA officials have remained defiant and have made clear that the PA will never cease paying terrorists' salaries, despite calls by Israel and the US to stop doing so.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has in the past called the PA's continued payments to terrorists a "red line" that would not be halted under any circumstances.
Israel's security cabinet recently approved the freezing of 507,697,000 shekels ($140,350,300) from the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA over the PA's payments to terrorists who carried out attacks against Israelis and their families.
The PA then angrily announced that it had returned the tax revenues to Israel after it deducted 41 million shekels from them. PA officials made clear that it would be "all or nothing", that is they will receive the full tax revenues from Israel or will accept none.
The US announced in September of 2018 it would cut $25 million in aid to six Palestinian Authority-run hospitals in Jerusalem, noting the funds would be directed to "high-priority projects elsewhere."
In August of that year, the US administration announced a $200 million cut in the funding given to humanitarian needs and the development of infrastructure in Gaza and PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
6. LOCAL ARAB DENIES JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEADLY DUMA ARSON
by Ido Ben Porat
📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/263258
Four years after three Palestinian Arabs were killed in a fire in the village of Duma in Samaria, a neighbor has gone on record denying that Jews were responsible for the deadly blaze.
One July 31st, 2015, a fire broke out in the home of the Dawabsheh family in the village of Duma in the middle of the night, killing 18-month old Ali, and leaving three other members of the family injured. Weeks later, both of the parents, Said Muhammaned Hassan Dawabsheh and Riham Hassan Dawabsheh, succumbed to their injuries.
Hebrew graffiti was found at the site, including the word "Revenge" in Hebrew, leading Israeli investigators to treat the arson as an act of Jewish terrorism.
Police claimed a group of Israeli youths hurled firebombs at the Dawabsheh home, sparking a fire which eventually consumed much of the house.
New testimony from a neighbor of the Dawabsheh's, however, contradicts claims by Israeli police, suggesting that the fire was not set by Jewish arsonists.
The man, an Arab resident of Duma who lived next door to the Dawabsheh family, told a private investigator his recollection of the incident, saying it was "nonsense" that Jews were involved. He claimed that the fire was sparked in connection to a separate arson in Duma, by locals who were involved in an internal dispute with another resident of the village.
The neighbor claimed that after sparking a fire in another house in Duma, owned by their rival, the Arab arsonists believed the Dawabshehs had spotted them, and sought to kill them, to ensure there would be no witnesses.
Neighbor: "That's nonsense, forget it."
Private Investigator: "What do you mean nonsense? What happened there? It wasn't the Jews that did it I think."
Neighbor: "No not at all, there's nothing. The first arson wasn't for them. Not for them at all."
Investigator: "What do you mean 'not for them'?"
Neighbor: "They [the Arab arsonists] didn't come for them to burn their house initially. There was another man who was working with Jews, who was a thief, and made all kinds of problems. Now he bought a house in Shechem [Nablus]. He had told people that he's in Shechem, in some restaurant called such and such. So people knew his house [in Duma] was empty. So they went out to torch his house."
A second house in Duma was targeted by arsonists during the same night the Dawabsheh home was hit, which the neighbor interviewed by the private investigator claims was the primary target of the Arab arsonists he blames for the fires.
Neighbor: "At the same time [as the first arson], they [the Dawabsheh family]…were going back to their home to go to sleep. They turned on the light. The people who were setting the fire thought that they [the Dawabsheh family] had seen them and knew they were the arsonists."
"They thought that they saw and knew who had made the fire, so they burned" the Dawabsheh home, "so they wouldn't reveal who burned the house. You get what I mean?"
The neighbor also claimed that Israeli investigators failed to take the testimonies of Duma residents.
A video recording of the interview with the Duma resident has been forwarded to the Honenu organization, which has assisted in the defense of the Israeli youths accused in the arson.
A string of subsequent fires in Duma, including some in homes owned by members of the Dawabsheh clan, have not been linked to Jews.
7. NETANYAHU DECRIES 'IMPOSSIBLE' COALITION DEMANDS
by Arutz Sheva Staff
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took part in a ceremony marking the centenary of the death of Aaron Aaronsohn, head of the Nili spy ring, and referred to the coalition talks and the fact that no agreement has been signed with any of the potential coalition partners.
Netanyahu said that coalition negotiations are "a mission that seems absurd" and that he "prefers to be here more than in the coalition negotiations, and all the factions demand demands that clash with each other."
"One faction asked for four positions for each of its four MKs. The budgetary requests are reasonable, if we had a budget like the US. We don't have that, and we can't collapse Israel's economy," he stressed.
Channel 12 reported that the prime minister and his associates have informed several Knesset members that they will fight with all their might over legislation that would grant immunity to Netanyahu and prevent him from being prosecuted.
"The citizens of Israel deserve a full-time prime minister," Netanyahu said in one of the briefings. ""After I finish my job I will deal with the trial. The citizens of Israel knew what my situation was and chose me. If I thought about my personal good, I would submit to the trial when I was prime minister and not as a private citizen, but I understand that this is not in the best interest of the state."
8. AMERICAN WOMAN SAVES BROTHER IN ISRAEL
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A 50-year-old man from Israel collapsed during a video call with his sister from New York.
The sister, who is a nurse, immediately understood the situation and called Magen David Adom in Israel. An ambulance was quickly dispatched to the man's house in Bat Yam.
MDA forces who arrived at the scene entered the apartment within a short time, with the help of firefighters who broke down the door. MDA paramedic David Weimpaimer and the rest of the emergency medical team immediately began tests and determined that the man had suffered a severe heart attack. They gave the man advanced life-saving medical care, including medication, until his condition stabilized and he regained full consciousness. The team then evacuated him to the Wolfson hospital intensive care unit.
MDA paramedic Naomi Zvi stated: "We received a report from the MDA center about a man who lost consciousness in his apartment in Bat Yam. The firefighters arrived quickly and opened the door, and we could enter the apartment."
"When we entered the apartment, we saw a light in the bedroom, and we ran in. In bed, a man of about 50 was unconscious. His sister was still in a video call to his cell phone and was upset at her brother's condition. We gave him advanced medical treatment, while updating the intensive care unit in the hospital. After a few dramatic minutes, his condition stabilized and he returned to full consciousness. Then, we evacuated him in an MDA intensive care unit directly to Wolfson Hospital, where the doctors in the unit are prepared to receive him," said Zvi.
To sum up the unique case, Tzvi said: "I have been a Paramedic for many years in MDA, and I do not remember such a case. It's really saving a life from across the world."
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