Israel News for March 23, 2017
Cop Gone Wild
On Tuesday afternoon an Arab truck driver in East Jerusalem hit the bumper of a parked car while attempting to back out of his space. He then left the scene. Unfortunately for him, a security camera caught the event on video and the car belonged to a police officer in a special patrol unit.
Early Thursday morning the police officer showed up at the man’s truck and demanded he get out. When he did, the officer beat the heck out of him. Unfortunately for the cop, there were witnesses (some of whom the cop also assaulted) and the beating was captured on video.
The police officer was suspended and the Police Investigation Unit launched a probe.
The Police statement said, “This behavior is grave, abnormal and is not in line with the kind of behavior expected of police officers. When we received the video, the police officer was immediately put on forced leave and will be summoned for a disciplinary hearing at a later stage. The Police Investigations Unit is examining the matter.”
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan praised the decision to suspend the officer, saying his behavior “was very grave and worthy of condemnation. This kind of behavior hurts the entire police force.”
To view the video click here.
Lebanese Threats
According to the Lebanese media, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri said that Israel’s intentions to annex an 860 kilometer maritime area claimed by Lebanon could trigger a war between the two countries.
Berri said, “This is a new assault by Israel on Lebanese sovereignty. What has been revealed by Israeli media was not arbitrary, but rather reveals a path taken by Israel in a bid to control Lebanon’s gas and oil wealth within Lebanese economic borders. Anyway, if the Israeli disposition is correct, which I tend to believe, it is tantamount to a war sparked by Israel. It is another maritime Shebaa Farms Conflict which opens the situation to many dangerous possibilities.”
For further reading click here.
Men Only
In light of the move by the IDF to integrate women into combat units, the IDF told a group of religious-zionist rabbis that it will create gender separate officer training courses starting this summer. Religious soldiers who wish to will be able to serve in the all men companies while others will be able to remain in co-ed units.
The change is expected to be minor. The IDF’s co-ed battalions— Caracal, the Lions of Jordan, Bardelas and the new 47th Battalion—only have a handful of religious soldiers, while there are also very few female cadets in the co-ed companies at the IDF officers’ training course.
For further reading click here.
Coke Fined
The Israel Antitrust Authority slapped a NIS 62.7 million on the Central Bottling Company Group, which manufactures Coca Cola in Israel. In addition to owning the Coca Cola brand in Israel, the company also owns brands like Kinley, Fanta and Sprite as well as full ownership of the Tara dairy, Neviot mineral waters, Prigat fresh juices and the license to brew the Tuborg, Carlsberg, Stella Artois, Guinness and other beer brands in Israel.
The company allegedly offered discounts on its monopoly soft drink products like Coca Cola to retail chains, institutional customers and cafes prepared to buy Tara dairy products. At the same time, the company allegedly threatened institutional customers that if they did not buy Tara dairy products, they would not receive discounts on Coca Cola products. Such cross-marketing involving a monopoly product is a criminal offense.
For further reading click here.
Yemenite Images
New photos have been released of Yemenite immigrants to Israel in the 1950’s. See view some of the photos click here.
