Israel News for December 1, 2015

Arab Terror
At around 8:00am today, a Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli man at the Gush Etzion junction but was shot and killed by soldiers at the scene. A bystander was hit in the hand and lightly wounded by a piece of shrapnel from the shooting. The junction has been the site of ten previous terrorist attacks.

Just moments later, a 25 year old man was stabbed in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem. He said his attacker was an Arab man. Police are searching for the attacker.

Later this morning, a Palestinian woman was found near the settlement of Efrat with a knife in her bag. She was taken in for questioning.

Also today, a Palestinian woman tried to stab an IDF officer at a checkpoint near the West Bank settlement of Einav. She was shot and later died.

For further reading click here.

Jewish Terror
Israeli police and the Shin Bet have revealed that they have made significant progress in the investigation of one of the worst recent Jewish terror incidents, and that they are optimistic that they will solve the case and bring the perpetrators to justice. Since the case is under a strict gag order, the details of the investigation are barred from publication. According to Channel 2 News, the gag order is likely to be lifted in the next couple of days. Any guesses as to what terror incident they’re referring to?

For further reading click here.

The Handshake
In their first face to face encounter since 2010, PM Netanyahu and PA President Abbas shook hands at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris yesterday.

The two found themselves in the same row in a group photo of leaders. Only New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key stood between them. After the group photo, they shook hands and exchanged a few words. No one thinks the handshake represents any improvement in relations between the men.

The PM also had a 10-minute conversation with U.S. President Obama, which U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined toward the end.

For further reading click here.

Minister to Resign
Knesset Member Yinon Magal of the Bayit Yehudi party informed party leader Naftali Bennett yesterday that he would resign from the Knesset.

Police are investigating harassment complaints filed by four women against Magal relating to when he was editor-in-chief at Walla news.

Magal told Bennett that he was sure that there was no criminal aspect to anything he had done, but that he understood that there were those who had been hurt by his behavior in the past and he therefore wanted to resign from the Knesset.

In response Bennett said, “I have received the notice of Yinon’s resignation, and this is the right thing to do. I hope that the proceedings in which he finds himself will be concluded as swiftly as possible, and that he will be able to devote himself to his family and to his future career.”

Avi Wurtzman, the former deputy education minister, will take over Magal’s Knesset seat.

For further reading click here.

Arab MK to US
The chairman of the Joint List, Ayman Odeh, is set to visit the US on the first diplomatic visit ever for an Arab Knesset member. The Joint List is the unity party formed by the individual Arab political parties in order to gain more seats in the Knesset. The party is currently the third largest faction in the Knesset. That makes Odeh the defacto leader of the Arab Israeli population, and worthy of an invitation to Washington.

Odeh is expected to meet with senior White House and State Department officials. His staff is still attempting to arrange meetings with other highest-ranking Washington personalities. During his stay in Washington, Odeh is scheduled to attend a special event in his honor, hosted by billionaire Daniel Abrahams. Dozens of ambassadors from around the world are expected to attend. Odeh is also expected to visit UN headquarters in New York and meet with a number of UN ambassadors.

Odeh said, “The issues that matter to Israel’s Arab citizens are hardly represented in international dialogue. I’m going to the US to bring that voice with me to influential sources and opinion leaders, and to create contacts and connections with the progressive and civil rights movements.”

He added, “I go so that I may tell the hard truth about Netanyahu and the government in Israel, which rose to power through racist incitement against Arab citizens.”

For further reading click here.

ISIS and Israel
This could be embarrassing. According to reports in the Arab and Russian media, Israel is the major buyer of oil produced and sold by ISIS. The terrorist state produces between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels a day in Iraq and Syria, generating between $1m and $1.5 million in profits.

The oil is transported to the Kurdish city of Zakhu, near the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. From there the oil is smuggled to the Turkish city of Silop, marked as originating from Kurdish regions of Iraq and sold for $15-$18 per barrel to an Israeli broker. The market price for crude oil is currently between $41 and $45 per barrel.

Back in August we quoted the “Financial Times” report that Israel obtained 75% of its oil supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan. Well, a nice chunk of that oil is made in the Islamic State.

If these reports are true, Israel is indirectly supporting ISIS to get oil for less than half the market price. And of course, ISIS is also bolstering the Jewish State.

Let’s hope the reports are false.

For further reading click here.

German Boycott
According to Israel’s Channel 10 news, Galeria Kaufhof, one of Germany’s largest department store chains, has removed Israeli products from its shelves in response to the new EU labeling regulations. The store has over 100 branches and 21,000 employees.

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Google Denies
Yesterday we reported that the Foreign Ministry had announced that it had reached an agreement with Google for the company to cooperate in removing videos that incite terrorism. Well, after hearing the news, Google denied reaching any agreement with the Foreign Ministry, or with any government, to do anything beyond what it already does to police YouTube.

The Foreign Ministry corrected its original statement but reiterated that Israel was, “extremely grateful for the good relations with Google. Our common objective is to remove dangerous incitement to violence on social media. We have full confidence in the Google teams dealing with this removal.”

For further reading click here.