Israel News for November 2, 2015
More Terror
On Sunday afternoon a Palestinian driver rammed his car into three Border Police officers near the Palestinian village of Beit Anun near Kiryat Arba, which is near Hebron.
Two male and one female officers, all in their twenties, were injured in the attack. One suffered severe wounds to his head, while the other two were lightly injured.
Soldiers opened fire at the car, but the driver fled the scene. Hours later he turned himself in to the police claiming it was an accident. He was arrested and transferred to Shin Bet custody for interrogation.
Earlier on Sunday, a Palestinian man attempted to stab an IDF soldier during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians, also near Beit Anun. A Border Police officer shot and killed the assailant. None of the soldiers were wounded.
PA President Abbas has ordered military funerals for all terrorists. He also ordered a financial grant to be given to the families of terrorists, and permitted the waving of the Hamas flag at funerals. So much for trying to restore calm.
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Haredim Go Arabic
On Friday we reported that the Haredi magazine, Mishpacha, published a message in Arabic pleading with Arabs not to murder members of the Haredi community, since they are not permitted to visit the Temple Mount. This message unleashed a storm of protest from everyone with a sense of Jewish unity. Some people tried to defend the magazine by saying that the message didn’t really mean what it said. Well, those folks are gonna have to rethink their apologetics.
The Badatz, which is the ruling council of the Edah Haredit (the Haredi Community), has launched a campaign to get the message across to the Arabs that Haredim don’t visit the Temple Mount and therefore should not be harmed. The campaign is being spearheaded by a group from the Satmar hasidic sect and will include advertisements in the Arabic press in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
There’s nothing ambiguous about this campaign. The message is clear: if you’re going to murder Jews, please make sure they aren’t Haredi. They really are not to blame.
Upshot
Besides the obvious, disgusting and divisive message that the Haredi leadership is sending, do they really believe that Arab terror is based on Jews visiting the Temple Mount? Does anyone believe that Arab terror would stop if Jews stopped visiting the Mount?
The terror didn’t start only after the 1967 Israeli reunification of Jerusalem. The underlying goal of Palestinian terror is to drive the Jews out of the entire land of Israel. That includes Haredim.
The targets of Palestinian terror are Jews, regardless of whether they pray three times a day or go to the beach on Saturday morning. No PR campaign will change that.
The Haredi leadership is still living in an era when the Jews of Israel lived in ghettos and were defenseless and at the mercy of their Arab rulers. Times have changed. Israel no longer begs for Arab mercy. Neither should the Haredim. Doing so divides the Jewish people and weakens it in the eyes of its enemies. Just stop.
For further reading click here.
Deri Resigns
Economy minister Aryeh Deri of the Shas party has resigned from the cabinet. Deri was seen as a stumbling block to the approval of a deal to develop Israel’s recently discovered offshore gas resources by private companies.
The deal had been stalled by the anti-trust commissioner who ruled that the government was giving too much power and control to a conglomerate of private energy companies at the expense of the citizens of Israel. Deri, as Economy Minister, had the power to overrule the anti-trust commission but refused to do so. With his departure, PM Netanyahu will take over the Economy Ministry portfolio and will push the deal forward.
Is this a good thing for the people? PM Netanyahu thinks it is. Let’s hope he’s right.
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Shalom Chaver
Saturday night marked the 20 year anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Approximately 100,000 people gathered in Rabin Square, where he was murdered, to commemorate the event and pay tribute to his memory.
In an effort to give the event a non-partisan appeal, no sitting politicians were invited to speak. Former President Bill Clinton addressed the crowd and encouraged them to carry on Rabin’s legacy saying, “He refused to give up his dream of peace in the face of violence.”
In a video message, President Obama called Rabin a leader who “understood the dangers Israel faces, but he also said the Palestinians are not to be ruled over forever by force.”
“Yitzhak speaks to us still,” Obama said. “Let us demonstrate that we oppose violence and extremism of any kind, and let us exhaust every opening for the peace we know is just and possible.”
Shalom Chaver.
For further reading click here.
Henkin Memorial
Hundreds of people participated in a service to commemorate the one month anniversary of the murder of Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin. The couple was shot to death by Palestinian terrorists while driving with their four children on a highway in the West Bank.
Rabbi Yehuda Henkin, the father of Eitam, presented a new book that his son had just completed on the Laws of Shabbat. Naama’s mother, Hila Armoni, spoke about raising her grandchildren and the challenges of dealing with their feelings of sorrow and loss.
The warmth and solemnity of the evening was disrupted when Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the head of the Yeshiva Kisey Rachamim (seat of mercy) in Bnei Brak, addressed the crowd and said that the murder of the Henkins was Divine punishment for the gay pride parade in Jerusalem earlier this year. He also warned people not to visit the Temple Mount.
It’s unclear where the Rabbi got his insight into the cause and effect of Divine punishment. Maybe he should check back with his sources.
For further reading click here.
Tough Girl
Everyone knows Israeli women can be tough. Now it’s been proven in the ring. Israeli kickboxer Nili Block won the World Kickboxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday, after defeating her Croatian opponent in the finals of the women’s under 60kg category.
Do not mess with Nili!
For further reading click here.
Israel Events
On Sunday, November 22, the Ma’aleh Adumim Youth Orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall. The orchestra, part of The George W. Schaeffer Music Conservatory in Ma’aleh Adumim, is composed of musicians who are handpicked from school music programs and invited to continue their musical education, and are taught by the some of the country’s leading artists. The event is organized by the Bnai Zion Foundation. Proceeds from the event will benefit Ma’aleh Adumim.
For more info click here.
