Israel News for December 14, 2016
Terror in Jerusalem
A terrorist approached police officers in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and stabbed a 35 year old police officer in the head with a screwdriver. Another officer shot and wounded the terrorist, neutralizing him. A 12 year old male resident of East Jerusalem was brought to paramedics at the scene with a head injury that he claims he got from the terrorist, but the exact cause of the injury is still not clear. The wounded police officer, terrorist and boy were all taken to Hadassah Hospital.
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Amona Demonstration
Thousands of people gathered outside of the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem last night to protest the evacuation of Amona, which is scheduled to take place on December 25th. Protestors waved flags and held signs that read “the land of Israel is not up for debate” and “we don’t give up Israel!”
The government has presented a compromise agreement by which the 40 families residing in Amona would move to an adjacent plot of land on the same mountain, on the condition that they agree to evacuated their current homes. Residents will meet today to decide whether to accept the compromise agreement.
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PM Diplomacy
PM Netanyahu signed a series of agreements yesterday with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during Netanyahu’s official visit to the country, which has a Muslim majority.
Israel already exports $4.5 billion of military equipment to Azerbaijan and imports oil. Israel hopes to export more technology, particularly in the field of agricultural.
The PM and his wife met with representatives of Azerbaijan’s Jewish community at a Chabad school. There are less than 10,000 living in the country, with six synagogues and the Chabad center. There are 70,000 Azerbaijani Jews living in Israel.
The PM continued his trip with a visit to Kazakhstan today, where he met with the countries and president and urged him to support Israel’s bid to gain a non permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
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Right to Remain Silent
The right to remain silent, part of the Miranda law, is a privilege of anyone arrested in the US. Now Israel might finally give its citizens the same right.
Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked drafted a new law that would protect suspects from self-incrimination, giving them the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. The proposed law, called the Suspect interrogation Law, will be submitted for government approval next week.
The law includes wording saying, “before an interrogation of a suspect, an officer will be required to clearly state to the suspect—to the extent possible under the circumstances—the main facts concerning the allegations against the suspect along with general rights to avoid self-incrimination: ‘You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be documented and used as evidence in court, but know that the court can take your silence into account. It is your right to consult with an attorney before your interrogation, subject to the restrictions prescribed by law, and it is your right to consult with a public defender if you are entitled under the law.'”
Included in the law are regulations relating to interrogations. The regulations stipulate that suspects have the right to sleep, eat and drink, take breaks during interrogations, communicate with loved ones and practice their religion.
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