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1. Investigation Shows Which Ministers Stood Up for Yesha Residents
by David Lev
So which ministers in the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu voted to deny Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria housing benefits extended to hundreds of thousands of Israelis? It took a great deal of effort to find out – but an investigation by Arutz Sheva yielded the information as to who within Netanyahu's government sided with Judea and Samaria residents, and who didn't.
The investigation surrounded an informal “straw poll” that Netanyahu was said to have conducted last week. Last Sunday, the government approved the inclusion of several hundred communities to the list of towns whose residents can receive special benefits when buying a home. The updated list came after criticism last year by High Court judge Dorit Beinisch that the previous list did not include any Arab towns or villages. With the updated list, residents of 91 towns and cities, along with 55Sheva kibbutzim, moshavim, small towns and Arab villages, are now eligible for the benefits.
Eligible residents of cities and local authorities can receive up to NIS 75,000 in a development grant at low, government-subsidized interest rates for the purchase of a home, while residents of kibbutzim, moshavim, small towns and Arab villages can receive up to NIS 150,000 in subsidized loans.
Originally, some 70 towns in Judea and Samaria – including Kiryat Arba, Efrat, Ariel, Beit El, Beitar Ilit, and many others - had been included in the list, but after criticism by leftist groups, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanayahu conducted a telephone poll of ministers, seeking their permission to amend the government decision. As a result, residents will only be able to get the benefits if “political officials” sign off on the requests. The most likely candidate for that job is Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whom Judea and Samaria residents have long accused of doing everything possible to slow Jewish population growth in Judea and Samaria, with his consistent refusal to allow for construction of new homes, building permits, etc.
Arutz Sheva sought to find out which ministers decided in the telephone poll that residents of Judea and Samaria did not deserve the benefits. According to the information discovered, the following ministers told Netanyahu in the phone poll that the benefits should apply to Judea and Samaria residents: Gideon Sa'ar, Limor Livnat, Gilad Erdan, Daniel Hershkowitz, Silvan Shalom, Avigdor Lieberman, Stas Mesheznekov, Yitzchak Aharonovich, Sofa Landver, and Uzi Landau. The first four are Likud members and the latter five are from Yisrael Beiteinu, while Hershkowitz is from the Bayit Yehudi party.
Those who voted to deny Judea and Samaria residents the housing benefits included all members of Shas in the government – Eli Yishai, Ariel Atias, Ya'akov Margi, and Meshlam Nahari – as well as Ehud Barak and other current and former Labor ministers.
Likud minister Yossi Peled said he had not been asked his opinion. Yisrael Katz, Yuval Steinitz, Benny Begin, Ya'akov Ne'eman, and Moshe Kachlon did not respond to Arutz Sheva's request for information on how they voted. Minister Yuli Edelstein abstained.
Sa'ar, who voted against removing the benefits, called on Netanyahu to conduct an open vote on such an important issue. Speaking Saturday night, Hershkowitz said that “with all due respect to the U.S., Israel is not the 51st star on the American flag. It is the right of an independent country to set up its own preference zones without outside interference.”
Comment on this story
by David Lev
So which ministers in the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu voted to deny Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria housing benefits extended to hundreds of thousands of Israelis? It took a great deal of effort to find out – but an investigation by Arutz Sheva yielded the information as to who within Netanyahu's government sided with Judea and Samaria residents, and who didn't.
The investigation surrounded an informal “straw poll” that Netanyahu was said to have conducted last week. Last Sunday, the government approved the inclusion of several hundred communities to the list of towns whose residents can receive special benefits when buying a home. The updated list came after criticism last year by High Court judge Dorit Beinisch that the previous list did not include any Arab towns or villages. With the updated list, residents of 91 towns and cities, along with 55Sheva kibbutzim, moshavim, small towns and Arab villages, are now eligible for the benefits.
Eligible residents of cities and local authorities can receive up to NIS 75,000 in a development grant at low, government-subsidized interest rates for the purchase of a home, while residents of kibbutzim, moshavim, small towns and Arab villages can receive up to NIS 150,000 in subsidized loans.
Originally, some 70 towns in Judea and Samaria – including Kiryat Arba, Efrat, Ariel, Beit El, Beitar Ilit, and many others - had been included in the list, but after criticism by leftist groups, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanayahu conducted a telephone poll of ministers, seeking their permission to amend the government decision. As a result, residents will only be able to get the benefits if “political officials” sign off on the requests. The most likely candidate for that job is Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whom Judea and Samaria residents have long accused of doing everything possible to slow Jewish population growth in Judea and Samaria, with his consistent refusal to allow for construction of new homes, building permits, etc.
Arutz Sheva sought to find out which ministers decided in the telephone poll that residents of Judea and Samaria did not deserve the benefits. According to the information discovered, the following ministers told Netanyahu in the phone poll that the benefits should apply to Judea and Samaria residents: Gideon Sa'ar, Limor Livnat, Gilad Erdan, Daniel Hershkowitz, Silvan Shalom, Avigdor Lieberman, Stas Mesheznekov, Yitzchak Aharonovich, Sofa Landver, and Uzi Landau. The first four are Likud members and the latter five are from Yisrael Beiteinu, while Hershkowitz is from the Bayit Yehudi party.
Those who voted to deny Judea and Samaria residents the housing benefits included all members of Shas in the government – Eli Yishai, Ariel Atias, Ya'akov Margi, and Meshlam Nahari – as well as Ehud Barak and other current and former Labor ministers.
Likud minister Yossi Peled said he had not been asked his opinion. Yisrael Katz, Yuval Steinitz, Benny Begin, Ya'akov Ne'eman, and Moshe Kachlon did not respond to Arutz Sheva's request for information on how they voted. Minister Yuli Edelstein abstained.
Sa'ar, who voted against removing the benefits, called on Netanyahu to conduct an open vote on such an important issue. Speaking Saturday night, Hershkowitz said that “with all due respect to the U.S., Israel is not the 51st star on the American flag. It is the right of an independent country to set up its own preference zones without outside interference.”
Tags: Yesha ,Yesha housing ,Likud ,ministers
More on this topic
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Hotovely: I'll Lead the Struggle to Legalize the Outposts -
Dayan: Govt. Discriminates Against Judea-Samaria Residents
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Danny Dayan: Proud to be Part of an Influential "Pressure" Group
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Feiglin Claims Victory in Netanyahu Landslide
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Likud Primaries: Netanyahu Implores His Base to Vote
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Likud Primaries: Feiglin Asks for Polling Extension
Comment on this story
2. Maale Adumim Terror Suspect Arrested
by Chana Ya'ar and Uzi Baruch
Security personnel have made an arrest in connection with the terror stabbing of a guard at the entrance to the Jerusalem suburb of Maale Adumim in December 2011, it was released for publication Sunday.
Ala'a Hanaish, 21, was taken into custody in a joint Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and police operation a week and a half ago.
The security guard, who stood at the entrance to the city, was injured although not seriously.
Hanaish is a resident of the Samariah village of Qabatiyeh and a student at the Preachers College of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem. According to the ISA, the attack was nationalist in nature.
Hanaish confessed under interrogation that on the day of the attack, December 11, 2011, he showed up at the entrance to the community, and there he waited for residents of the community to arrive.
After waiting for half an hour, however, residents were not arriving as he had expected, and so instead he moved towards the barricaded entrance to the community, where he stabbed the guard, who was slightly injured.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar and Uzi Baruch
Security personnel have made an arrest in connection with the terror stabbing of a guard at the entrance to the Jerusalem suburb of Maale Adumim in December 2011, it was released for publication Sunday.
Ala'a Hanaish, 21, was taken into custody in a joint Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and police operation a week and a half ago.
The security guard, who stood at the entrance to the city, was injured although not seriously.
Hanaish is a resident of the Samariah village of Qabatiyeh and a student at the Preachers College of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem. According to the ISA, the attack was nationalist in nature.
Hanaish confessed under interrogation that on the day of the attack, December 11, 2011, he showed up at the entrance to the community, and there he waited for residents of the community to arrive.
After waiting for half an hour, however, residents were not arriving as he had expected, and so instead he moved towards the barricaded entrance to the community, where he stabbed the guard, who was slightly injured.
Tags: Stabbing Attack ,Jerusalem ,Maale Adumim
More on this topic
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3. Al Qaeda Group Attacks Egyptian Gas Line to Israel
by Chana Ya'ar
The Al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Jihad terrorist group in northern Sinai has claimed responsibility for attacking the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan overnight Saturday. It was the 12th such attack in a year's time.
The group claimed the attack was carried out in “revenge for the death of its leader in an Egyptian prison.”
Ansar al-Jihad swore allegiance to international Al Qaeda terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a statement issued by the group on January 25, the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square Revolution.
The statement was posted on the Sinam al Islam jihadist web forum, translated by the SITE intelligence group and signed by “Your soldiers in Ansar al-Jihad in the Sinai Peninsula.”
It announced the group's “allegiance for obedience in good and bad, in difficulty and ease, and altruism...” and was addressed to their “beloved Mujahid Sheikh Abu Muhammad Ayman al Zawahiri.”
The group has become the military arm of Al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, and has cemented ties with Salafi terrorist organizations in Gaza, according to SITE.
The group has vowed in past flyers translated by the SITE group circulated in northern Sinai to wage a war against what it calls “the corrupt [Egyptian] regime and its Jewish and American backers.” It has also stressed adherence to the doctrine of “the martyr Imam Osama Bin Laden,” according to an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.
According to a December 21 2011 alert by the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE), an organization that monitors jihadist movements., Ansar al-Jihad also announced its intentions to launch attacks on Egypt's ruling military council, as well as U.S. interests abroad.
The group claimed responsibility for a series of bombing on the pipeline in December, and also claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on Eilat in August 2011.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
The Al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Jihad terrorist group in northern Sinai has claimed responsibility for attacking the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan overnight Saturday. It was the 12th such attack in a year's time.
The group claimed the attack was carried out in “revenge for the death of its leader in an Egyptian prison.”
Ansar al-Jihad swore allegiance to international Al Qaeda terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a statement issued by the group on January 25, the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square Revolution.
The statement was posted on the Sinam al Islam jihadist web forum, translated by the SITE intelligence group and signed by “Your soldiers in Ansar al-Jihad in the Sinai Peninsula.”
It announced the group's “allegiance for obedience in good and bad, in difficulty and ease, and altruism...” and was addressed to their “beloved Mujahid Sheikh Abu Muhammad Ayman al Zawahiri.”
The group has become the military arm of Al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, and has cemented ties with Salafi terrorist organizations in Gaza, according to SITE.
The group has vowed in past flyers translated by the SITE group circulated in northern Sinai to wage a war against what it calls “the corrupt [Egyptian] regime and its Jewish and American backers.” It has also stressed adherence to the doctrine of “the martyr Imam Osama Bin Laden,” according to an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.
According to a December 21 2011 alert by the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE), an organization that monitors jihadist movements., Ansar al-Jihad also announced its intentions to launch attacks on Egypt's ruling military council, as well as U.S. interests abroad.
The group claimed responsibility for a series of bombing on the pipeline in December, and also claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on Eilat in August 2011.
Tags: Ayman al-Zawahiri ,SITE ,Ansar al-Jihad ,Egyptian gas ,Egyptian gas pipeline ,Al Qaeda ,Sinai Peninsula
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US Attacks Al Qaeda in Yemen, 12 Terrorists Killed
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Yemen: Airstrikes, Assassination Attempts, and Kidnappings
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Axis of Evil May Twin Al Qaeda and Iran
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Power Price Rise on the Horizon for Israelis in 2012
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Sinai Bedouin Smuggling ‘Thousands’ of Missiles to Gaza
Comment on this story
4. Another Gas Discovery for Delek, Noble Energy!
by Chana Ya'ar
Noble Energy and the Delek Group announced on Sunday another significant discovery of a natural gas field off the coast of Haifa.The field, located in the Mediterranean waters 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of Israel's northern port city, reportedly totals about 1.2 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet.
Gas-bearing strata some 40 meters thick was discovered at a depth of 5,500 meters in the offshore Tanin 1 (Crocodile) well. That strata is part of the Tamar sands structure, according to a report published by the Globes business news service. It is divided into two prospects, Sand A and Sand B.Tests are currently being conducted by Noble Energy as the firm stabilizes the borehole that was created during drilling.
The company will conduct wireline, electrical, seismic and magnetic testing as well as logging tests to check the composition of the rocks, liquids and the natural gas at the site, officials said.The share of the Tanin license owned by Delek is through Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP. The Tanin field is reportedly slightly larger than the Yam Tethys reservoir, which is rapidly depleting and which has been an expensive alternative to Israel's Egyptian gas supply that has been repeatedly disrupted over the past year.
In a separate development, according to Globes, Delek, Isramco Ltd. and Ratio Oil Exploration have decided not to develop the Or natural gas prospect located in the Med Yavne offshore license.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
Noble Energy and the Delek Group announced on Sunday another significant discovery of a natural gas field off the coast of Haifa.The field, located in the Mediterranean waters 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of Israel's northern port city, reportedly totals about 1.2 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet.
Gas-bearing strata some 40 meters thick was discovered at a depth of 5,500 meters in the offshore Tanin 1 (Crocodile) well. That strata is part of the Tamar sands structure, according to a report published by the Globes business news service. It is divided into two prospects, Sand A and Sand B.Tests are currently being conducted by Noble Energy as the firm stabilizes the borehole that was created during drilling.
The company will conduct wireline, electrical, seismic and magnetic testing as well as logging tests to check the composition of the rocks, liquids and the natural gas at the site, officials said.The share of the Tanin license owned by Delek is through Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP. The Tanin field is reportedly slightly larger than the Yam Tethys reservoir, which is rapidly depleting and which has been an expensive alternative to Israel's Egyptian gas supply that has been repeatedly disrupted over the past year.
In a separate development, according to Globes, Delek, Isramco Ltd. and Ratio Oil Exploration have decided not to develop the Or natural gas prospect located in the Med Yavne offshore license.
Tags: natural gas ,oil and gas ,gas discovery ,Gas Fields ,Tanin ,Noble Energy ,Delek ,Avner Oil and Gas ,Yam Tethys ,Med Yavne ,Or natural gas prospect ,Ratio Oil Exploration ,Isramco Ltd.
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Egyptian Gas Pipeline Blown Up for 12th Time
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Power Price Rise on the Horizon for Israelis in 2012
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Egyptian Military Foils Attack on Gas Pipeline
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Netanyahu to Become 1st Israeli PM to Visit Cyprus
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Jordan's Solution to Unreliable Egyptian Gas Supply: Qatar
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Report: Israel Offers to Export Natural Gas to India
Comment on this story
5. Fatah-Hamas Meeting in Qatar
by Chana Ya'ar
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is meeting Sunday with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal in Qatar.The meeting, postponed from a meeting cancelled last Thursday, is intended to further a discussion on the formation of a Palestinian Authority unity government that technically was to follow an agreement signed last May.
Both men flew to Qatar on Saturday from Amman in order to be ready to start talks on Sunday. Each had met privately with Jordanian King Abdullah II prior to their departure.Abdullah has been actively involved in trying to get final status talks between Israel and the PA back on track.
The two men are also expected to discuss the general political situation in the region, and how that has affected the status of the PA vis a vis talks with Israel.Hamas deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk told reporters that Abbas had been the one to request Doha as the venue for the talks, but did not say what his reason had been.
In the past, the two men have met in Cairo to negotiate over a formation of a PA unity government, but for years have been unable to follow up any agreement they have reached.Hamas is still unwilling to meet the conditions of the Quartet of peacekeeping nations – the U.S., Russia, the United Nations and the European Union – that call for the terror group to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and to uphold agreements signed by previous PA governments.
The Hamas rulers of Gaza, who seized control of the region from their Fatah rivals in June 2007, are unwilling to change the group's charter, which calls for the elimination of the “Zionist entity” and does not recognize the State of Israel.Although Fatah appears to the West to be more moderate, in reality it is not much different. Fatah provides material support to terrorist entities via salaries to Gaza, and moral and media support as well through children's television programs on PA TV that glorify terrorists as heroes.
Its government in the PA-controlled Samaria capital of Ramallah also sponsors special public events plainly honoring bloodthirsty terrorists responsible for the murders of Israelis and others, all in Arabic, while PA Chairman Abbas claims in English abroad to “support peace.”
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is meeting Sunday with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal in Qatar.The meeting, postponed from a meeting cancelled last Thursday, is intended to further a discussion on the formation of a Palestinian Authority unity government that technically was to follow an agreement signed last May.
Both men flew to Qatar on Saturday from Amman in order to be ready to start talks on Sunday. Each had met privately with Jordanian King Abdullah II prior to their departure.Abdullah has been actively involved in trying to get final status talks between Israel and the PA back on track.
The two men are also expected to discuss the general political situation in the region, and how that has affected the status of the PA vis a vis talks with Israel.Hamas deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk told reporters that Abbas had been the one to request Doha as the venue for the talks, but did not say what his reason had been.
In the past, the two men have met in Cairo to negotiate over a formation of a PA unity government, but for years have been unable to follow up any agreement they have reached.Hamas is still unwilling to meet the conditions of the Quartet of peacekeeping nations – the U.S., Russia, the United Nations and the European Union – that call for the terror group to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and to uphold agreements signed by previous PA governments.
The Hamas rulers of Gaza, who seized control of the region from their Fatah rivals in June 2007, are unwilling to change the group's charter, which calls for the elimination of the “Zionist entity” and does not recognize the State of Israel.Although Fatah appears to the West to be more moderate, in reality it is not much different. Fatah provides material support to terrorist entities via salaries to Gaza, and moral and media support as well through children's television programs on PA TV that glorify terrorists as heroes.
Its government in the PA-controlled Samaria capital of Ramallah also sponsors special public events plainly honoring bloodthirsty terrorists responsible for the murders of Israelis and others, all in Arabic, while PA Chairman Abbas claims in English abroad to “support peace.”
Tags: Mahmoud Abbas ,Khaled Mashaal ,Doha ,Qatar ,Amman ,Abdullah II
More on this topic
Comment on this story
6. Hotovely: I'll Lead the Struggle to Legalize the Outposts
by Elad Benari, Canada
Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely gave an interview to this week’s edition of the Besheva Hebrew magazine, in which she discussed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s victory in the Likud leadership race this past week, as well as the struggle to legalize some of the young communities (known as “outposts”) in Judea and Samaria which are facing a demolition threat.
Your party, the Likud, gave Netanyahu a 75 percent approval rating this week. This apparently means the party backs the two-state solution he is promoting.
“There is one significance to the support for Netanyahu, in that there is no other leader in Israel today who presents the required set of skills to contend for the premiership but Netanyahu. Likud members do not choose someone who they think represents all the pure values of the land of Israel, but rather a Prime Minister. So it was not a vote of confidence on the two-state solution. The Prime Minister may be suitable for the job, but our role as MKs and ministers is to set and maintain his boundaries. It’s very clear in the Likud today, just because of the 25 percent Moshe Feiglin received, that there is a renewed confirmation of this idea. To me, Feiglin’s 25 percent are the interesting figure of this election, because they are indicative of the underground forces that operate and affect the Likud’s MKs and ministers.”
How do you see the fact that no Likud ministers saw fit to run against Netanyahu?
“I think there’s a nice side to it. The Likud to date has had four leaders, and most of the ministers are relatively young, in their second term as ministers, and they look around and see a person with experience in the international arena, with approval in the economic field, who learned from his previous mistakes as Prime Minister, and they say to themselves with a degree of modesty, if that is allowed in politics, that they cannot run against him. It can be said to the Likud’s credit that it is not dragged into ugly battles such as what is going on between Livni and Mofaz [at Kadima].”
The team being formed to find ways to legalize the outposts will probably not help Migron or Givat Assaf, because the Attorney General opposes the idea of giving the team the power to deal with places over which the Supreme Court has already ruled.
“You have to remember that the Supreme Court’s decision was based by the State’s problematic answers. There are now four points of conflict over which the threat of demolition hangs: Migron, Amona, Givat Assaf and Givat Ulpana in Beit El. Each one is a different legal story and people confuse between them. The Prime Minister has appointed the team and the next public campaign will be to give them extensive powers, and I can say that if necessary, I will lead that struggle against the Prime Minister. Even before the team starts working we need to take care of Migron, because the demolition date decided upon by the Supreme Court is quickly approaching.”
This means that the outpost bill proposed by MK Orlev must be approved. But the Prime Minister has threatened to fire any minister who will vote in favor of the bill.
“The only reason the legislation on Migron was not implemented is because intense negotiations are being held with the residents, which include legal regulation and construction of a new community. Orlev's law is a correct statement but not a practical one, because time which we don’t have must pass in order for a law to be written into the legal books. This law is right on a moral level, but it will not help Migron.”
Can you understand the Prime Minister’s opposition to let the ministers vote freely?
“From a value level I think it’s inappropriate not to allow members to vote freely. The ministers must fight for it and tell him that the story of Amona cannot be repeated under a Likud government, and they cannot be a rubber stamp. This is not what they were elected for. As for Netanyahu’s position I had a serious talk with him and he really sees legalizing of settlements in terms of finding ground that is not problematic in the eyes of the Supreme Court. That is his way to develop the settlement enterprise. After all, under this government there has been more construction in Judea and Samaria than under previous governments, even though it is not enough as far as I’m concerned and I think we should apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari, Canada
Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely gave an interview to this week’s edition of the Besheva Hebrew magazine, in which she discussed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s victory in the Likud leadership race this past week, as well as the struggle to legalize some of the young communities (known as “outposts”) in Judea and Samaria which are facing a demolition threat.
Your party, the Likud, gave Netanyahu a 75 percent approval rating this week. This apparently means the party backs the two-state solution he is promoting.
“There is one significance to the support for Netanyahu, in that there is no other leader in Israel today who presents the required set of skills to contend for the premiership but Netanyahu. Likud members do not choose someone who they think represents all the pure values of the land of Israel, but rather a Prime Minister. So it was not a vote of confidence on the two-state solution. The Prime Minister may be suitable for the job, but our role as MKs and ministers is to set and maintain his boundaries. It’s very clear in the Likud today, just because of the 25 percent Moshe Feiglin received, that there is a renewed confirmation of this idea. To me, Feiglin’s 25 percent are the interesting figure of this election, because they are indicative of the underground forces that operate and affect the Likud’s MKs and ministers.”
How do you see the fact that no Likud ministers saw fit to run against Netanyahu?
“I think there’s a nice side to it. The Likud to date has had four leaders, and most of the ministers are relatively young, in their second term as ministers, and they look around and see a person with experience in the international arena, with approval in the economic field, who learned from his previous mistakes as Prime Minister, and they say to themselves with a degree of modesty, if that is allowed in politics, that they cannot run against him. It can be said to the Likud’s credit that it is not dragged into ugly battles such as what is going on between Livni and Mofaz [at Kadima].”
The team being formed to find ways to legalize the outposts will probably not help Migron or Givat Assaf, because the Attorney General opposes the idea of giving the team the power to deal with places over which the Supreme Court has already ruled.
“You have to remember that the Supreme Court’s decision was based by the State’s problematic answers. There are now four points of conflict over which the threat of demolition hangs: Migron, Amona, Givat Assaf and Givat Ulpana in Beit El. Each one is a different legal story and people confuse between them. The Prime Minister has appointed the team and the next public campaign will be to give them extensive powers, and I can say that if necessary, I will lead that struggle against the Prime Minister. Even before the team starts working we need to take care of Migron, because the demolition date decided upon by the Supreme Court is quickly approaching.”
This means that the outpost bill proposed by MK Orlev must be approved. But the Prime Minister has threatened to fire any minister who will vote in favor of the bill.
“The only reason the legislation on Migron was not implemented is because intense negotiations are being held with the residents, which include legal regulation and construction of a new community. Orlev's law is a correct statement but not a practical one, because time which we don’t have must pass in order for a law to be written into the legal books. This law is right on a moral level, but it will not help Migron.”
Can you understand the Prime Minister’s opposition to let the ministers vote freely?
“From a value level I think it’s inappropriate not to allow members to vote freely. The ministers must fight for it and tell him that the story of Amona cannot be repeated under a Likud government, and they cannot be a rubber stamp. This is not what they were elected for. As for Netanyahu’s position I had a serious talk with him and he really sees legalizing of settlements in terms of finding ground that is not problematic in the eyes of the Supreme Court. That is his way to develop the settlement enterprise. After all, under this government there has been more construction in Judea and Samaria than under previous governments, even though it is not enough as far as I’m concerned and I think we should apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Tags: Tzipi Hotovely ,Outposts ,demolitions ,Binyamin Netanyahu ,Likud
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Investigation Shows Which Ministers Stood Up for Yesha Residents
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Officer: Army 'Heartless' When it Come to Outpost Demolitions
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Netanyahu to UN: No New Construction Freeze in Judea, Samaria
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Feiglin Claims Victory in Netanyahu Landslide
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Netanyahu Wins Likud Leadership, Says General Elections Far Off
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Likud Primaries: Netanyahu Implores His Base to Vote
Comment on this story
7. Senior IDF Officer Suspended for Leaving Soldier Behind
by Elad Benari, Canada
The commander of an IDF mechanized infantry unit has been suspended for leaving one of his soldiers behind in a village near Ramallah.
The incident occurred earlier this week following the unit’s operation in the village of Budrus, which included searches. Shortly after the operation ended and the unit departed, a lone soldier was left standing at the gate of the village.
Some of the local Arabs, fearing the soldier would be lynched, aided him in reaching an area under IDF control where another unit picked him up and returned him to the base.
The decision to suspend the soldier’s commander came following an investigation into the incident by the IDF, which was ordered by Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.
The suspension was agreed upon following a consultation between the heads of Central Command and Northern Command. The unit’s commander was notified of the decision to suspend him on Friday. The investigation into the incident will continue the coming days, according to an IDF statement.
On Thursday, the IDF rejected the reports in the media that the soldier was helped by local Arabs.
The IDF said that an investigation into the incident by the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division found that the soldier who was left behind was found by local Arabs but refused to accept their help. He was rescued within a few minutes, the IDF said.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari, Canada
The commander of an IDF mechanized infantry unit has been suspended for leaving one of his soldiers behind in a village near Ramallah.
The incident occurred earlier this week following the unit’s operation in the village of Budrus, which included searches. Shortly after the operation ended and the unit departed, a lone soldier was left standing at the gate of the village.
Some of the local Arabs, fearing the soldier would be lynched, aided him in reaching an area under IDF control where another unit picked him up and returned him to the base.
The decision to suspend the soldier’s commander came following an investigation into the incident by the IDF, which was ordered by Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.
The suspension was agreed upon following a consultation between the heads of Central Command and Northern Command. The unit’s commander was notified of the decision to suspend him on Friday. The investigation into the incident will continue the coming days, according to an IDF statement.
On Thursday, the IDF rejected the reports in the media that the soldier was helped by local Arabs.
The IDF said that an investigation into the incident by the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division found that the soldier who was left behind was found by local Arabs but refused to accept their help. He was rescued within a few minutes, the IDF said.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
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8. Fayyad Faces Protests Over Austerity Plans
by Elad Benari
About 1,000 Palestinian Authority Arabs marched in Hevron on Saturday in protest of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s austerity plans.
AFP reported that in the largest protest to date against economic measures announced last month, the demonstrators chanted, “Salam Fayyad, get out! You are an agent of the United States and Israel.”
The protesters also carried signs which read “No to a government that brings us poverty and unemployment,” AFP reported. Further south, in Bethlehem, a few dozen people staged a rally as well.
The protests come after Fayyad announced in early January a number of measures, among them tax hikes and early retirement for civil servants, in a bid to reduce what is forecast as a $1.1 billion (853 million euro) 2012 budget deficit.
He later said he would put the tax rise on hold until February 15 and “open a dialogue with all institutions and factions,” AFP said.
In December Fayyad said he plans to drastically reduce his government's reliance on foreign aid next year and hopes to be able to pay for day-to-day operations with local revenues by 2013.
The decision was spurred by what he described as the Palestinian Authority's worst financial crisis since its inception in the mid-1990s.
The current financial crisis in Ramallah, which has lasted more than a year, comes amid an ongoing corruption probe that has diminished confidence in Fayyad's administration and a downturn in foreign aid dollars from donor countries.
The United States temporarily froze some $200 million in aid to Ramallah, leading its senior financial officials to say bankruptcy was on the horizon. Later, Israel struck even deeper by freezing tax revenue transfers to the PA following its acceptance into UNESCO.
The Netanyahu government later reversed the decision to freeze the tax money, following international pressure.
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by Elad Benari
About 1,000 Palestinian Authority Arabs marched in Hevron on Saturday in protest of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s austerity plans.
AFP reported that in the largest protest to date against economic measures announced last month, the demonstrators chanted, “Salam Fayyad, get out! You are an agent of the United States and Israel.”
The protesters also carried signs which read “No to a government that brings us poverty and unemployment,” AFP reported. Further south, in Bethlehem, a few dozen people staged a rally as well.
The protests come after Fayyad announced in early January a number of measures, among them tax hikes and early retirement for civil servants, in a bid to reduce what is forecast as a $1.1 billion (853 million euro) 2012 budget deficit.
He later said he would put the tax rise on hold until February 15 and “open a dialogue with all institutions and factions,” AFP said.
In December Fayyad said he plans to drastically reduce his government's reliance on foreign aid next year and hopes to be able to pay for day-to-day operations with local revenues by 2013.
The decision was spurred by what he described as the Palestinian Authority's worst financial crisis since its inception in the mid-1990s.
The current financial crisis in Ramallah, which has lasted more than a year, comes amid an ongoing corruption probe that has diminished confidence in Fayyad's administration and a downturn in foreign aid dollars from donor countries.
The United States temporarily froze some $200 million in aid to Ramallah, leading its senior financial officials to say bankruptcy was on the horizon. Later, Israel struck even deeper by freezing tax revenue transfers to the PA following its acceptance into UNESCO.
The Netanyahu government later reversed the decision to freeze the tax money, following international pressure.
Tags: Salam Fayyad ,PA economy ,foreign aid
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