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1. Hamas Accuses Israel of Assassinating Arch-Terrorist
by Avi Yellin
Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chief Moussa Abu Marzouk has accused the Mossad of responsibility for the January 20 assassination of Hamas founder and military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The Hamas statement released from Damascus on Friday did not mention how the assassination was carried out. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was responsible for the kidnappings of IDF solders Ilan Sa'adon and Avi Sasportas more than 20 years ago.
The arch-terrorist’s body arrived in Damascus Thursday night after he was found dead on January 20 in Dubai, where he had served as a representative of the Hamas military wing abroad. Al-Mabhouh had been expelled from Israel in 1989 for involvement in terrorist activities against the state. Hamas has announced that it has opened an investigation into the circumstances of his death and that the Islamic group is working closely with local authorities to catch who they believe to be an agent of the Israeli Mossad.
In eulogizing al-Mabhouh, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told mourners in the northern Gaza region that the slain terrorist was the first to plan the act of abducting Israeli soldiers, a reference to captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit who is currently being held captive by the Hamas regime in Gaza.
Both Avi Sasportas and Ilan Sa'adon were kidnapped and killed during the year 1989 by Hamas fighters loyal to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Sasportas was kidnapped at the Hedaya junction while on his way home to Ashdod. He was shot in the head and then buried on the side of the road. Three months later, Sa'adon was captured at a junction near Kiryat Malachi. The day after searches began for Sa'adon, the body of Sasportas – then considered missing – was discovered. Sa'adon's body was found seven years later buried eight meters deep under a paved road south of Rishon L’Tzion.
Israel has not yet confirmed or denied involvement in al-Mabhouh’s assassination.
2. The Arutz-Sheva Stories That Others Don't Cover
by IsraelNN Staff
The popularity of the Arutz-Sheva e-mail letter and the IsraelNationalNews.com website soared by 100 percent in 2009 as people seek to read the news that other media distort or bury.
In addition to the large number of readers subscribing to the e-mail and viewing stories directly from the website, Israel National News rates as number one on Google and AOL news searches for news from Israel, often outdistancing the Jerusalem Post as well as Haaretz and Ynet.
The reporting of news without a negative bias against Israel, as well as wiping away the whitewash from news in the media, are behind the surge. One blatant example is our staying true to the old adage that “a rose is a rose is a rose” when it comes to reporting on terror. Major media in Israel call terrorists “militants" as does most media in the United States and elsewhere, except when a terrorist strikes in their home country.
U.S. President Barack Obama has changed his predecessor’s “war against terror" to one against “a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.” At Arutz Sheva, a terrorist remains a terrorist, as was seen when we reported the terrorist kidnapping of an Israeli in Nigeria. The terrorists complained to foreign media and the Israel Foreign Ministry about having been described as such.
Two examples among dozens of significant events that other media did not allow their readers to know were an Arab terrorist who targeted a Jewish driver’s vehicle, firing more than a dozen bullets at six Jews in his car. Israel National News was the only news source that informed the public of the near-fatal attack.
Similarly, the world’s media virtually ignored a shipment of 500 tons of Iranian weapons bound for Hizbullah and intercepted by Israel. An anti-Obama rally in Jerusalem was almost exclusively reported by us, and was then posted by the Drudge Report. This tradition did not start last year; way back, it was Arutz Sheva that was first to publicize the web presence of a "secret document" of a high-level meeting regarding Shin Bet agent provocateur Avishai Raviv.
These articles, as well as more described below, are the reason for Thursday’s Shevathon - the annual project to encourage contributions by readers that in effect are contributing to themselves by enabling us to enrich our coverage and present the news on Israel and Judaism truthfully.
Among the guests on the Shevathon show, broadcast live, are Knesset Members, including Aryeh Eldad and Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz, national religious rabbis, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, journalists and professors.
Exposés
Arutz Sheva-Israel National News exposed stories over the years that otherwise would have remained buried by the run-of-the-mill media. A series of articles revealed the U.S. government’s blunder of allowing its Jerusalem consulate to sell off at an auction file cabinets containing thousands of semi-classified documents, some of them containing personal financial information. The documents also revealed a long-standing American policy of undermining a Jewish presence in eastern Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
News of the massive USAID program for the Palestinian Authority schools where children learn incitement and that the State of Israel does not exist was first published by Arutz Sheva. Our team of journalists has also brought you news of the Torah and Jewish world found nowhere else. Full coverage was given last year to the dedication of eight Torah scrolls in memory of the Jews who were massacred in the terrorist attack two years at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
We also published an exclusive report on a father and his daughter praying on the Temple Mount several hours before her marriage.
Among dozens of articles about Israel that even the Israeli media bury, we have reported the ongoing struggle of one man to retain his Jerusalem property that is legally his but which has been taken over by Arabs who have ignored eviction orders issued by the court.
Our writers also have covered Iran and reported news that most media skip over, such as the story of a highly influential Shiite religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, who apparently told followers that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime.
Our readers found exclusive coverage on the trial in Japan of three yeshiva boys who were tricked into carrying drugs. We also “connected the dots” that other media ignore and reported on the Arab buyout of American and European banks and businesses during the financial crisis.
This week, Arutz Sheva-Israel National News exploded the myth that Jews in Judea and Samaria do not help Arabs and reported on a grassroots Gush Etzion charity drive for Arabs. We also have provided ”good news” on Israel such as the kibbutz solar farm that President Shimon Peres said helps fight terror by reducing the world's dependency on Iranian oil.
We have offered frequent and exclusive reports on Israeli research and innovations in the field of health, such as a new dressing for wounds that dissolved when the skin is healed.
Our opinion section gives readers insights on current events that are not found elsewhere, such as an in-depth understanding of the connection between New Year’s Day and anti-Jewish pogroms, the truth about J Street as well as a quiz on how much you really know about the Israel-Arab conflict.
This week's Arutz Shevathon Fundraiser provides our readers with the opportunity to give back to Arutz Sheva, helping Arutz Sheva continue to voice the truth and to expand into new horizons. Leave a message with your donation by calling 1-800-270-4288. Click here to donate online.
3. Israeli Majority Skeptical About PA's Intentions
by Avi Yellin
The Knesset television station released the results of a poll on Thursday revealing that 79 percent of Israelis believe that the possibility of the Jewish state reaching a peace agreement with the American-backed Palestinian Authority is next to zero. The poll, conducted by the Panels organization on behalf of the Knesset Channel, said that the vast majority of citizens polled were highly skeptical of an agreement. Only 1% of Israelis believed that there was a “good chance” that peace with the PA could be achieved.
A similar number, 76 percent, believe that the PA’s current Fatah leadership led by Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad is not even interested in achieving peace with Israel, while only 17% of Israelis believe it is.
The poll caused Israeli activists to raise questions regarding the government of Israel's continued attempts to take a diplomatic path that they claim has been proven clearly disastrous for the two decades since the signing of the Oslo Accords.
"Our leaders are clearly under pressure from foreign governments,” said veteran activist Benny Katz of the L’Herut Tzion (For the Freedom of Zion) organization. “During Netanyahu’s first couple months in office he refused to use terms like ‘Palestinian state’ or ‘two-state solution’ but after serious arm twisting from [United States President Bara Obama and [US Middle East Envoy Geor Mitchell, our prime minister began to cooperate with their Middle East agenda.
"The Americans and Europeans want Israel to surrender Judea and Samaria. That agenda keeps being promoted regardless of the reality on the ground. The problem is that while this poll showed that the vast majority of Israelis don’t trust the PA and don’t believe we’re achieving peace, they also don’t believe Israel can survive without American money or political support. If we can get Israel to start seeing itself as an independent country, we will be able to translate the sentiments that everyone is feeling today into practical policies that advance the Jewish national interest."
4. Court Allows Arabs/Left's Demonstration at Shimon HaTzaddik
by Gil Ronen
The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruled Thursday that demonstrations by Arabs and the Israeli Left at Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood were legal even if they had not received a permit from police, and that the police should not therefore have dispersed them.
Judge Gad Ehrenberg ruled, however, that there was reasonable evidence to justify the arrest of 18 demonstrators who were arrested last Friday because they had entered the traffic lane and stood in front of a police barricade illegally.
The court said however that up the protest itself was not an illegal gathering because the law does not require a police license for a gathering that does not include speeches or lectures.
“The fact that others who oppose the gathering and its aims might disturb the public peace is not enough to turn the gathering into an illegal one,” Judge Ehrenberg determined. He added that even if the crowd holds signs or voices slogans through a loudspeaker, the gathering does not require a police permit.
Land of Israel activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday that also they plan to go to Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood on Friday, after the court decision.
The two said, "At first, we thought to asking for a permit from the police. However, in the wake of the court decision, we'll arrive without a permit. What's good for the leftists is good for us."
5. Obama Hints Israeli Nationalists Hinder Peace
by Gil Ronen
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition partners are preventing him from going as far as he would like to in peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, US President Barack Obama said Thursday.
Obama was speaking at a town hall meeting in Tampa, Florida. Answering a question on the subject, he explained to the audience that the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are both being held back by more extremist elements in their nations.
He said that he believes PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas truly wants peace but needs to deal with Hamas, which does not recognize Israel and believes in the use of violence. Obama said that the US is currently making an effort to reinforce both sides of the process, so that they can resume peace talks.
He declined under questioning to condemn Israel for actions against the Palestinians. He said Israel is a strong U.S. ally and that he will “never waver from helping Israel keep its people safe” in the hostile Middle East.
Obama said the situation facing the Palestinian people is one that needs attention, too.
6. Yitzhar Rabbi Released after Judge Denies State Appeal
by Gil Ronen
Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira, dean of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in Yitzhar, was released Thursday from detention, two days after he was arrested and one day after a Magistrates' Court judge ordered him freed. The prosecution had appealed the Magistrates' Court decision and the rabbi had to stay in jail for a second night Wednesday. On Thursday, District Court Judge Yoram Noam decided to uphold the Magistrates' Court ruling and to let the rabbi go free.
Judge Noam determined that there was no evidence showing that the rabbi was complicit in the vandalizing of a mosque in Kafr Yasouf , an Arab village in Samaria, on December 11. The vandalization involved some spray painted messages and a rug that was set on fire.
"After examining all of the [eviden material I reached the conclusion that it does not have enough substance to support a reasonable suspicion that the defendant carried out the offense of arson which is attributed to him,” the judge wrote. “The classified material from the Shin Bet also contained a qualification regarding the question of the defendant's involvement in the actual arson. The police investigators, too, thought that there was no reasonable suspicion that the defendant was involved in the arson.”
A 180 degree turn
Representatives of the Shin Bet and prosecution told the court Thursday that they do believe the rabbi was involved in the arson itself, and not just in knowing about it. Judge Noam replied and said: “You are turning the case around by 180 degrees. This goes against everything that you claimed before the Magistrates' Court.”
Rabbi Shapira's lawyer, Attorney Naftali Wirzberger, harshly criticized the prosecution and Shin Bet. “The zeal of the Shin Bet and prosecution to keep Rabbi Shapira under arrest is very impressive and one can only wonder at the motives for this,” he said. “I cannot understand why they continue to make fools of themselves in front of the courts. I am sorry to say that the settlers' claims regarding intentional persecution by the prosecution and Shin Bet are buttressed by their behavior in this case.”
MK Ya'akov (Ketzaleh) Katz, Chairman of the National Union, called Thursday for the disbanding of the Jewish Affairs section of the Shin Bet, following the release of Rabbi Shapira. Katz said that the activities of the unit were "disproportional" and had one goal: "to give the residents of Yesha (Judea and Samaria) a bad name, to clear the ground for the criminal idea of the final expulsion of all the Jews of Yesha."
Similar sentiments were expressed by the Rabbinical Council of Yesha and Chairman Gershon Mesika of the Samaria Regional Council.
7. Pollard Asks: Save 'Beit Yehonatan' in Eastern Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel
A meeting last month between the Dean of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, and Jonathan Pollard in the latter’s US Federal prison cell may have consequences for Jewish – and Arab - construction in eastern Jerusalem.
Rabbi Shapira visited Pollard in his jail cell five weeks ago, together with Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who is Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel. At one point, when Rabbi Shapira asked him what specifically he can do for Pollard back in Israel, Pollard answered, “I am very concerned for Beit Yehonatan. It needs to be looked after and made sure that not only is it not destroyed or evacuated, but that it becomes a center of Torah and prayer.”
Rabbi Shapira later spoke with Jerusalem settlement veterans from the Ateret Cohanim Jerusalem Settlement Foundation and expressed willingness to give classes there, and even possibly bring students there for the purpose.
Rabbi Shapira took over the helm of the Jerusalem yeshiva founded by the saintly Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook in late 2007, after the passing of his father, the renowned late Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira.
Targeted From the Left
Beit Yehonatan is a Jewish-owned building in Jerusalem "Yemenite Village" neighborhood, named in honor of Jonathan Pollard. It has been declared illegal, largely because it exceeds the permitted height limit. The legal counsel of the Jerusalem Municipality, Attorney Yossi Havilio, has targeted the building, and demands that it be razed.
Even left-wing Meretz party members on the municipality council feel that Havilio is going too far, however. Dr. Meir Margalit of Meretz, as well as others much further to the right of him, say that there are many dozens of illegal Arab structures in the area, and that it is folly to pursue just one Jewish building and ignore the Arab ones.
The Yemenite Village, located below and just to the southeast of the Temple Mount, was owned by and home to many Jewish families, mostly from Yemen, from the 1880's until 1938. Following a period of Arab riots, pogroms and looting, in 1938 the British evacuated the last 30 families from the neighborhood.
"The British gave assurances that the 'Jewish refugees' would shortly return," according to Daniel Lurie, Executive Director of the Ateret Cohanim Jerusalem Settlement Foundation, "but of course, this never happened"- until April 2004, when several Jewish families moved back in. The building has been occupied ever since.
Michael Wasserteil, who took part in the visit as translator for Rabbi Shapira, related afterwards that though Pollard is not allowed internet access in jail, he reads Arutz-7/Israel National News articles, among other reports, and is very well informed on Israeli current events. He further said that Rabbi Shlomo Aviner writes to Pollard weekly. The visit ended both with words of Torah, as Pollard requested, and song and dance, as Rabbi Shapira suggested.
Pollard's Request: More Steam
“Mayor Barkat wants to makes sure that Beit Yehonatan is not touched,” Lurie told Israel National News. “He wants to ‘kosher’ the whole area, including the Arab structures, in the knowledge that the current situation cannot continue. He has taken separate legal counsel on this matter, because he realizes that Havilio is not looking at the big picture but rather honing in on only one thing.”
It is assumed that a four-floor limit will be placed on all structures in the area – leaving the top 1.5 floors of Beit Yehonatan in limbo. “They are currently not populated in any event,” Lurie said, “but we don’t know if they will have to be sealed up, or possibly taken apart brick by brick. We will see... But the main thing is to remove the threat hovering against the entire building – and Pollard’s request has given this goal extra steam power.”
