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Israel News for June 14, 2016

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Peace Proposal
In recent weeks, as the French sponsored international peace summit took form, reports circulated about the openness of PM Netanyahu to a 2002 Saudi Arabian sponsored peace proposal adopted by the Arab League. Newly appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman also seemed to indicate hope in a potential peace agreement. The Egyptian president announced his intention to organize a peace summit in Cairo that would bring the Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table using the Arab League proposal as the framework. The PM reacted enthusiastically. He invited opposition leader Isaac Herzog to join the government to take part in the historical opportunity to make peace.

Hold on. At a meeting with Likud MKs last night, the PM made it clear that unless the Arabs maKe major changes to their proposal, it was a non starter. He said, “If the Arab nations grasp the fact that they need to revise the Arab League proposal according to the changes Israel demands, then we can talk. But if they bring the proposal from 2002 and define it as ‘take it or leave it’ – we’ll choose to leave it.”

Netanyahu was positive about the fact that the Arabs were interested in a peace deal with Israel, but rejected the conditions of their proposal, which include Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan and the West Bank (with minor adjustments) and the return of Palestinian refugees.

The Saudi foreign minister recently said in an interview that he rejected any dilution of the Arab League proposal saying, “Why should the Arab Peace Initiative be changed?”

Is this just the beginning of a negotiation or the end to another false hope for peace?

For further reading click here.

UN First
For the first time since the establishment of the UN, Israel’s Ambassador has been appointed to head a UN committee. After months of behind-the-scenes diplomatic struggles, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon was elected to head the UN Legal Committee yesterday. The committee deals with sensitive topics including fighting global terrorism.

Despite fierce anti-Israel lobbying by the Palestinian and Iranian UN representatives, 109 nations voted in favor of appointing Danon. His appointment was strongly supported by the US and most European countries.

For further reading click here.

Israel and Russia
PM Netanyahu has spoken in the most positive terms about his recent visit to Moscow and his work deepening Israel’s relations with Russia. But based on an article in Pravda, one of Russia’s premier newspapers, Netanyahu’s recent Moscow visit “created the impression of failure.”

The Pravda commentator pointed out that despite protests by Israel, Russia has continued to supply weapons to Lebanon, which are being used by Hezbollah. Moscow sees Hezbollah as part of the legitimate government of Lebanon and “an essential element of structure of the Middle East.” He also points out other issues which show the tension between Israel and Russia.

The truth probably lies somewhere between the PM and Pravda.

For further reading click here.

Flag Fine
The Knesset Interior and Environment Committee has approved a substantial hike in the fine for desecrating the Israeli flag from the current 300 lirot (the old Israeli currency) to 58,400 shekels ($15,137). The committee is also discussing increasing the prison sentence for flag desecration. Under current law, the maximum punishment for debasing the flag of a foreign country is three years imprisonment, while desecrating the Israeli flag, besides the fine, carries a punishment of only one year.

Zionist Union MK Zouheir Bahloul attacked the measure, sating, “I’m against undermining freedom of expression and I think a year is a proportionate sentence. Why make it three years? It’s strange that in an enlightened nation, one of the most enlightened in the world, the flag is turned into idolatry. Soon we’ll reach the point where whoever doesn’t kiss the flag every morning will be punished.”

Israeli flag burners beware.

For further reading click here.

Temple Mount
PM Netanyahu has lifted the ban on Knesset Members and cabinet ministers visiting the Temple Mount. The ban had been in place for eight months, and applied to both Jewish and Arab Knesset Members. The Knesset’s Ethics Committee is expected to end its own ban on Temple Mount visits today.

Arab MKs had vowed to visit the Temple Mount during the current Ramadan holiday. Now they’ll be able to do so legally. Now they’ll be able to do so legally.

Will Jewish MKs resume visits as well? If they do they might be treated to a sermon by preacher Ali Abu Ahmad who was recently recorded preaching to hundreds of followers on the Mount and ending his sermon with this sweet prayer: “Oh Allah, protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews! Oh Allah, annihilate all the Jews! Oh Allah, enable us to kill them!”

For further reading click here.

Israel News for May 31, 2016

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Terror in TA
A 19 year old soldier was stabbed in the head and upper body by a 17 year old Arab terrorist using a screwdriver. The attack took place near IDF headquarters as the soldier was returning to his home. The terrorist was arrested.

For further reading click here.

Only Son
The IDF has issued a new regulation that impacts the parents of only sons. Parents with only one son have always had the right to prevent them from serving in combat units. In the event that the parents gave their son permission to serve in a combat unit but later decided to change their minds and retract their permission, the IDF was required to retrieve the son from his combat role. If this happened during a war or combat operation, the IDF would have to send a team into combat to retrieve the son (something like what happened in the movie Saving Private Ryan).

During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the IDF had to send forces as far as 2 kilometers into the battlefield on nine separate occasions to bring out soldiers whose parents had changed their minds. To avoid endangering the lives of the soldiers who would need to be sent in to retrieve the sons, the IDF has ruled that parents who permit their only sons to serve in combat can no longer change their minds and retract their permission.

Another new IDF regulation concerns private donations to IDF soldiers. Until now civilians could drive down to an army base or position and donate stuff directly to the soldiers. This was prevalent during Operation Protective Edge. Now all donations will have to go through special centers run by the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers (AWIS, also known as Ha’aguda Lema’an Hachayal).

The new regulation is meant to protect civilians from getting too close to the battlefield and also to prevent waste as a result of an overflow of unneeded or unused donations. The donation centers will be able to properly allocate donations to where they are most needed.

For further reading click here.

Arab Peace Plan
In response to the Egyptian president’s call for Israel and the Palestinians to pursue negotiations based on a peace plan proposed by the Arab League, PM Netanyahu said yesterday that, “The Arab peace initiative includes positive elements that can help revive constructive negotiations with the Palestinians,” and that, “We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states on revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in the region since 2002 but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples.”

The Arab plan demands that Israel return all of the land captured in 1967, but it allows for the possibility of land swaps between Israel and the Palestinians.

Netanyahu’s speech came after the official swearing in of Avigdor Liberman as Defense Minister. Lieberman echoed the PM’s remarks saying, “President Sissi’s speech was very important; it creates a genuine opportunity that obligates us to pick up the gauntlet. I certainly agree that there are some very positive elements in the Arab Peace Initiative that will enable us to conduct serious dialogue with our neighbors in the region.”

Lieberman also said that he was in favor of a two-state solution as supported by PM Netanyahu in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University.

For further reading click here.

Landmark Legal Decision
Tel Aviv Magistrates’s Court Judge Itai Hermelin has ruled that under certain conditions the operation of a brothel can be legal.

Hermelin imposed restrictions on the operations of a Tel Aviv brothel. However, these were subject to the state committing to avoid prosecuting sex workers who use their own apartments or locations that are rented by several women together for the purpose of prostitution, or at a location rented by one woman who then invites other women to share it.

The penalty for operating premises for the purpose of prostitution can be up to five years in jail. But the judges landmark ruling might help women avoid that punishment.

According to Israeli law, prostitution is legal, but organized prostitution in the form of brothels or pimping is prohibited. In other words a prostitute can sell her services on the street, but not in the relative security of an apartment.

In his ruling judge Hermelin wrote, “As long as prostitution is permitted in Israel – with men allowed to buy sex from strangers for money – it is incumbent upon the state to minimize the risks these women face.”

He added that “pushing these women onto the street violates their dignity in an unacceptable manner. As a result, interpreting the law in a way that criminalizes prostitution taking place in a building is unconstitutional and must be rejected.”

Based on testimony heard in the case, Hermelin also harshly criticized the police, writing that, “The attitude of the police was depicted as degrading and harmful, sometimes bordering on violent abuse. There were repeated descriptions of women being chased out of buildings naked during police raids, with abusive language being used by policemen.”

For further reading click here.

Road Trip
If you’re looking to do a road trip from Tel aviv to Beersheva, you might want to make a few interested stops along the way. To check out what there is to see, click here.