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1. Israeli-Arab Arrested for Seeking to Establish Hamas Terror Cell
by Hillel Fendel
Released
for publication: An Arab from the Israeli town of Furadis, between
Haifa and Zikhron Yaakov, has admitted intending to establish Hamas
terror cell and planning attacks.
Islam Amin Mahmad Mar’i, 26,
was arrested a month ago in a joint Shabak-police operation. He was
recruited by Ibrahim Kassab, 26, a known Hamas operative from a village
near Jericho.
News of the arrest comes just days after the
Israel Democracy Institute released a report showing that 86% of the
Jewish public believe that critical decisions for Israel should be taken
by a Jewish majority, and that 53% maintain that Israel is entitled to
encourage Arabs to emigrate.
Mission: Find a Suitable Place for a Terrorist Attack!
Mar’i
and Kassab studied together in the Islamic University in Hevron, where
they were both members of the school’s Hamas student organization,
outlawed by the government. Mar’i told his interrogators that Kassab had
asked him to locate crowded areas in Israel appropriate for terrorist
bombings, bring a suicide bomber and explosives into Israel, bring raw
materials for explosives to areas under PA control, and to recruit
Israeli-Arabs for military activity.
Mar’i in fact began to
recruit people for a Hamas terrorist gang before his arrest. He then
tried to incriminate two others during his interrogation; the Shabak
arrested and questioned them, but released them after finding that they
were not involved in the plot.
The indictment handed down
against Mar’i yesterday in the Haifa District Court attributes to him
the crimes of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and aiding the
enemy in time of war.
2. Rivlin: By Building in Hevron We’ll Preserve Jerusalem
by Elad Benari
Knesset Speaker MK Reuven Rivlin took part on Wednesday in a Chanukah
candle lighting ceremony in Hevron. The ceremony was attended by the
commander of the Judea Brigade, soldiers, community leaders, and
students of the yeshivot in the city.
During his speech, Rivlin said that Hevron is the place from which the
right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel began, a right which he
said is the challenge of the Jewish people even today.
“The kingdom of Israel began in Hevron and on Chanukah the kingdom
returned to Israel,” said Rivlin. “Our right to the land was established
in Hevron and it is a moral right over which there is no question. It
was our right in those days, and it is our right during this time.”
Rivlin added that “Today it is clearer than ever that if we ignore our
3,800-year-old right, it will be difficult for us to protect our
62-year-old independence. If, G-d forbid, we stop believing that we are
sitting in our own land based on a moral and just right; if, G-d forbid,
we think we are here only because of force or because of favors by
world countries – it is doubtful that we will be able to continue to
hold our land. If, G-d forbid, we are tempted to think that we overtook a
foreign land and that we own foreign property – in Hevron, Ariel, Maale
Adumim, Gush Etzion and Jerusalem our capital – it is doubtful that we
will be able to continue maintaining our country.”
He said that “Today we are celebrating the victory of faith over doubt.
We are not trespassers, we are not robbers, and Hevron is not a
currency. Our enemies cannot beat us. On Chanukah we raise the banner of
Jewish independence. Hevron was, and remains, an unparalleled symbol of
the Jewish foothold and independence in our country. By building Hevron
- Jerusalem will also be built.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Rivlin lit the first Chanukah candle in the
village of Elazar in Gush Etzion in the presence of the heads of the
Yesha Council. Also participating in the ceremony were the chairs of the
Knesset’s Land of Israel, MKs Aryeh Eldad and Zeev Elkin. The event was
held as part of a Chanukah Candle Lighting Festival,
sponsored by the Yesha Council, at sites throughout the Judea and
Samaria area where important events in the history of Chanukah occurred.
MK Elkin said: “The best men in the country are today living in sites
and places where the Maccabees fought thousands of years ago. The Judea
and Samaria region has an ancient heritage, thanks to which the people
of Israel returned to their land and built the country after thousands
of years of exile.”
MK Eldad called on Israel’s government to continue construction in
Judea and Samaria: “The people of Israel have the right to build and
develop anywhere in the land of Israel and especially in places where
our ancestors lived. We call on the Prime Minister to exercise this
right of building and development in Judea and Samaria and resume
construction in full swing.”
3. First Candle of Chanukah Lit at Kotel
by Gil Ronen
The Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Minister of Education
Gideon Saar and Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich lit the first candle of
Chanukah at the Kotel – or Western Wall – Wednesday evening.
Saar referred to the Palestinian Authority's latest claim denying that
the Kotel is truly a Jewish holy site. “The Palestinians are busy
denying the history of this land and of Jerusalem,” he said. “He who
denies history is not interested in building a peaceful future.”
He added: "The present government rejects [former Prime Minister Ehud]
Olmert's offers to cede Israeli sovereignty in the heart of Jerusalem –
at the Temple Mount, the Old City and the Mount of Olives – and hand
them over to international control.”
In a report last week, Taha Al-Mutawakil, Deputy Information Minister of the Palestinian Authority, wrote that there was no historical evidence
that the Western Wall was the retaining wall for the ancient Jewish
Temple; instead, he wrote, it is a Muslim relic called the Al-Buraq
wall, where Mohammed tied his donkey before ascending to heaven from the
Temple Mount. “This wall has never been a part of what is called the
Jewish Temple,” the report said. “It was Islamic tolerance which allowed
the Jews to stand before it and cry over its loss.”
The Western Wall is known to be part of the wall that surrounded the
Temple compound and not claimed as part of the Temple itself. It is,
however, the only remnant of that compound that was not destroyed by the
Romans who burned down the Temple in 70 A.D. so as to prevent Jewish
resurgence..
The Kotel is not the holiest Jewish site. However, the holiest site –
the Temple Mount itself,– has been under the Muslim
religious authority's occupation since the seventh century
CE. Israel conquered the Temple Mount in the 1967 Six Day War, but
control over the area was given up by Israel's government, at the
request of then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, and handed to the Muslim
religious authority, known as the Wakf,. Jews who ascend the Mount today
are not allowed to pray there.
4. After Wikileaks Revelations, Cartoon Explains Obama Policy
by Gil Ronen
Documents leaked and published on the Wikileaks website show that
several Arab leaders are very anxious for the U.S. to take decisive
against Iran, to curb its aggressive behavior. A cartoon by Omri Ceren
attempts to explain how the U.S. responds to this challenge.
5. MKs Petition for Sovereignty in Ariel
by Maayana Miskin
Thirty-five Members of Knesset are calling on the government to make
the Samaria (Shomron) city of Ariel officially, fully Israeli by
declaring Israeli sovereignty. While successive Israeli governments have
stated that Israel will maintain control of Ariel and other Jewish
cities in Judea and Samaria under any peace deal with the Palestinian
Authority, no prime minister has officially declared the city to be a
sovereign part of Israel.
The MKs, led by freshman Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely, signed a petition
calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to secure Ariel's status
once and for all. Members of every major party except Labor, the
4th-largest in the Knesset, signed. The only other parties in which no
MKs signed were Meretz, the Jewish-Arab communist party Hadash, and the
two Arab parties, the four of which hold a total of 14 seats.
Every member of Ichud Leumi (National Union) signed, as did the
majority of the MKs in the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) faction.
The petition to Netanyahu states:
We the undersigned Members of Knesset,
members of various political factions, call on the government under your
command to implement full Israeli sovereignty in the city of Ariel, as a
fitting response to the calls to boycott and de-legitimize the
Jewish community in Ariel.
The extremist voices heard recently,
which see Ariel as a settlement in a foreign land and occupied
territory, must be countered by a declaration of principle made by the
government of Israel proclaiming that Ariel is an indivisible part of
the sovereign state of Israel.
Such a move would reflect the widespread
Israeli consensus regarding Ariel, and would halt the attempt to erode
the legitimacy of Jewish settlement in the land of Israel.
MK Hotovely said, “The Knesset is asking for this, the nation wants it,
and now it is time for the Prime Minister to put in force Israeli
sovereignty in the Samaria city of Ariel.” Declaring sovereignty will
demonstrate Israeli consensus “in the clearest possible way,” she said,
and in addition, “will prevent future infighting in the Israeli public.”
The subject of Ariel's status made headlines recently as dozens of
actors announced that they would boycott the city's new cultural center.
The boycott was denounced by many MKs, several of whom called to cut funding for the boycotting artists, and by Prime Minister Netanyahu. It also led to a counter-boycott. In the event, the Ariel cultural center opened as planned, and the first performances staged drew a full house.
The following MKs are among those who signed the petition for
sovereignty in Ariel: Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Yariv Levine (Likud),
Carmel Shama (Likud), Yitzchak Vaknin (Shas), Zevulun Orlev (Jewish
Home), Moshe Matalon (Israel Our Home), Yulia Shmuelov-Berkovitz
(Kadima), Michael Ben-Ari (National Union), Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz
(National Union), Uri Orbach (Jewish Home), Alex Miller (Israel Our
Home), Robert Ilatov (Israel Our Home), Avraham Michaeli (Shas), Nissim
Ze'ev (Shas), Tzion Pinyan (Likud), Chaim Katz (Likud), Marina Solodkin
(Kadima), David Azulai (Shas), Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Leah Ness
(Likud), Amnon Cohen (Shas), Gila Gamliel (Likud), Orli Levy-Abukasis
(Israel Our Home), Anastasia Michaeli (Israel Our Home), Uri Ariel
(National Union), Stas Misezhnikov (Israel Our Home), Ayoub Kara
(Likud), Miri Regev (Likud), Hamad Amar (Israel Our Home), Fania
Kirshenbaum (Israel Our Home), Danny Danon (Likud), Ze'ev Elkin (Likud),
Robert Tiviaev (Kadima), and Menachem Eliezer Moses (United Torah
Judaism).
6. Amish: From Now On, We Support Israel
by Hillel Fendel
Close to 50 members of Amish Christian communities in the U.S.and
Switzerland visited Israel last week for one reason: To apologize to the
Jewish People.
The Ministry of Tourism announced that Bishop Ben Girod, of the Amish
community in Idaho, led the delegation in submitting an official apology
for having rejected Israel and the Jews.
In addition to touring various sites in Israel, the visitors met with
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Naomi
Tzur, Yad Vashem’s Shaya Ben-Yehuda, and Holocaust survivor Eliezer
Ayalon. Many of the Amish looked almost hareidi, with their white
shirts, black vests, and beards – though no mustaches.
The Amish are famous for shunning modern technology, yet they waived
this restriction by boarding cars and an airplane in order to arrive in
Israel for their apology. Both in the U.S. and Europe, the Amish have
had a history of anti-Semitism, believing that Jews have been “replaced”
by Christians and even that Hitler was G-d’s agent in punishing the
Jews for their rejection of Jesus.
“We are here to say we are sorry,” Girod told Israel’s Channel 2 News
during the group's visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “We no longer
want to reject you or look at you as not being G-d’s people. You were
G-d’s people long before we were.” Another Amish member said, “Our
people have had some bad attitudes toward the Jewish people and have
rejected the Jewish people to a certain extent, and we have come to
restore that and apologize.”
A declaration of apology and commitment, beautifully printed on
parchment, was presented to Rabbi Rabinovitch on behalf of the entire
Amish community. In the declaration, the Amish ask Israel’s forgiveness
“for our collective sin of pride and selfishness by ignoring the plight
of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.”
The document states that the Amish will, from now on, speak out strongly in support of the Jews and the Jewish state.
This was not the first time Amish and Jews have made group contact. In
April ‘09, a Chabad-Lubavitch community in New York City took a
delegation of Amish from Pennsylvania on a walking tour of their
neighborhood.
7. Katz: Freeze Outweighs Efforts to Restrain Housing Prices
by Hillel Fendel
While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans frequent periodic steps
to lower housing prices, opponents say the construction freeze trumps
all such measures.
MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), head of the National Union party, says the
ongoing de-facto construction freeze in Jerusalem and much of Judea and
Samaria renders the government's attempts to lower housing prices "as
effective as cupping-glasses for the dead" [very ineffective – ed.].
Speaking to a convention of journalists this week, Netanyahu said he
plans additional measures to put an end to the skyrocketing housing
prices in Israel. "Over 90% of the state lands were held, until a year
ago, by the Israel Lands Authority," Netanyahu said. "We have great
density, and we have to increase the supply of land both in the long
term and the short term."
He added that the government will be investing 30 billion shekels over
the course of the coming decade in improving transportation from the
Galilee and Negev to the center of the country. Another planned measure
are reforms in the Planning and Construction Committee. "We have
announced three steps lately," Netanyahu told the Globes business news
service, "and we will announce new ones from time to time, every few
weeks. We will make sure to either stop or slow down the rate of the
housing price jumps. I have also nullified a ban by the previous
government on construction in the center of the country."
Katz: Nothing Will Help While Freeze Continues
MK Katz says it's all a waste of time. "I congratulate the Housing
Minister [Ariel Attias of Shas] who told the Knesset and the Finance
Committee that since this government began its term in office [20 months
ago], not one single construction tender has been issued in Judea and
Samaria," Katz said sarcastically.
Katz also quoted Attias as having said that under the present
government, construction in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria is at the
lowest it has ever been, and that housing prices have jumped 42%.
"Freezing Israel's capital and a fifth of Israel's population,"
Ketzaleh said, "is a death blow to the real estate market… Netanyahu's
incomprehensible addiction to [Ehud] Barak and his partners on the
radical left in perpetuating the obsessive freeze in metropolitan
Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria render the actions of the Finance
Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Israel as effective as
cupping-glasses for the dead."
8. PA Arabs Upset Over Chanukah Menorahs
by Gil Ronen
The local Jewish leadership in Judea and Samaria has put up oversized
Chanukah menorahs throughout the land of the Forefathers – and the local
Arabs don't seem to like it.
The "WAFA" Palestinian Authority News Agency reported Wednesday about a
new large menorah put up at Tapuach Junction, near Shechem, on its
Arabic-language website.
“Witnesses said that the menorah was set by a crane near the Za'tara
triangle [Tapuach Junction], a few kilometers south of Nablus [Shechem],
and pointed out that this region is a center to a number of extremist
Jewish settlements.
"The menorah is often used in Jewish religious rituals, and it seeks to
impose settler ideology in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] through
these actions," WAFA complained.
David Ha'ivri, Director of the Shomron Liaison Office, said in
response: “Chanukah is one of the most nationally identifying holidays
of the Jewish people. We celebrate the amazing victories of the
Maccabees who fought against all odds and succeeded in freeing our holy
city Jerusalem from the Greek invaders and re-lit the candles of the
Menorah on the Temple Mount.”
“Historically, all of the battles of the Jewish army under the
leadership of Yehudah Maccabee took place within the areas of Judea and
Samaria and the most famous of them all was the purification of the
Temple Mount.
“Those are the events that we celebrate for eight days starting
tonight. Around the world, Jews will hold public displays of the candle
lighting but there is no place more significant for showing the light of
Chanukah than Judea and Samaria.”
The Yesha Council, an umbrella group of the Jewish local authorities in Judea and Samaria, is holding public candle-lighting ceremonies on every night of Chanukah except Friday and Saturday evenings, at different sites of Maccabean victories.
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