JNS news briefs: December 15, 2014

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Hamas marks 27th anniversary with vow that Zionist entity will disappear

(JNS.org) The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Sunday celebrated the 27th anniversary of its founding with military parades and a display of weapons and ammunition, including a drone manufactured in Gaza.

A film clip screened at one of the demonstrations showed a silhouette that the Palestinians claimed was of Hamas’s military commander, Mohammed Deif, whom Israel tried to assassinate during Operation Protective Edge this summer. Deif’s actual status remains unknown. The film clip did not feature Deif’s voice, but only a recording of him speaking in 2012.

Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said, “Anyone who thinks that Israel is here to stay is mistaken. All of occupied Palestinian will be freed, and the Zionist entity will disappear.”

Earlier in the weekend, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar described the group’s plans to conquer the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank.

“Just as we liberated Gaza, just as we established a real national government there, just as we built a victorious army, just as we built a protective police force, and just as we have created security apparatuses with which to fight the enemy, we will repeat the same steps in the West Bank as preparation for our arrival in all of Palestine,” al-Zahar said.

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Israeli government approves $47 million investment in Druze and Circassian communities

(JNS.org) The Israeli government on Sunday approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to appropriate 185 million shekels ($47 million) in development funds for Druze and Circassian towns in Israel.

The decision sets in motion the first phase of a five-year plan that will see the investment of 2 billion shekels ($512 million) in Druze and Circassian communities nationwide. The resources allocated Sunday will go toward ongoing projects, while the allocation of the remainder of the funds will be finalized once a new government is sworn in following next March’s elections.

“This is a wide-ranging plan relating to infrastructure, employment, education, and other issues, and it will do two things,” Netanyahu said. “First, it will help bridge the gaps between this sector and the population at large. Second, it will demonstrate our appreciation for the unique role of Druze and Circassians play in our armed forces, who are our flesh and blood, who fight and fall in defense of our people. I think that this is one of the ways to express this gratitude.”

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Palestinian suicide bombing plot in Tel Aviv thwarted

(JNS.org) Israeli security forces arrested five Palestinians in October and November who were plotting to carry out a suicide bombing in the Tel Aviv area, the Shin Bet security agency said Monday.

The suspects include Jenin resident Yasmin Sha’aban, who was the designated suicide bomber. She planned to obtain an entry permit into Israel for medical reasons and to wear an explosive belt hidden under her clothes while disguised as a pregnant Jewish woman. The other four suspects are all men who reside in the Tulkarm area in the West Bank.

Following the arrests, a homemade M-16 rifle, a hunting rifle, ammunition, and explosive materials were confiscated by Israeli security forces. The suspects admitted they were in contact with a terrorist operative from the Gaza Strip, who instructed them on how to assemble the explosive belt. Hamas and Islamic Jihad planned to claim joint responsibility for the suicide attack, the Shin Bet said.

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Israeli cabinet approves Gadi Eizenkot as next IDF chief of staff

(JNS.org) The Israeli government on Sunday approved the nomination of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot as the IDF’s next leader. He is expected to take office on Feb. 15, once current IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz completes his four-year term.

“Eizenkot is the right man at the right time,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “He can lead the IDF through the substantial challenges we face. These challenges are relentless and I am convinced that by exercising responsible and firm policies we can overcome them all.”

The 54-year-old Eizenkot rose through the ranks in the IDF Infantry Corps, beginning his military service in the Golani Brigade, which he would eventually command from 1997-98. In 1999, Eizenkot was named military secretary to the prime minister and defense minister, a role that was followed by his appointment to head the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Brigade.

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Hamas leaks classified IDF video footage on Operation Protective Edge

(JNS.org) Hamas on Saturday leaked a second video in a span of three days showing footage from Israel’s Operation Protective Edge this summer.

On Thursday, a Palestinian website leaked a classified Israel Defense Forces (IDF) report on a Hamas naval commando attack during Operation Protective Edge, including specifics on the weapon systems the IDF used to foil the attack. The most recent video shows an incident that took place on July 19, in which terrorists infiltrated Israel in the area of the Be’eri Forest and attacked an army jeep from the 188th Brigade.

The video appears with Arabic subtitles. The IDF was still investigating the source of the security breach and declined to comment on the latest video. Following Thursday’s leak, the IDF called the video an “internal IDF debriefing report, whose leak is a serious incident that will be investigated and dealt with accordingly, not through the media.”

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New U.S. spending bill boosts military aid to Israel

(JNS.org) The $1.01 trillion Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, approved Friday in an 89-11 vote by the Senate, includes the largest-ever U.S. military aid package for Israel.

The spending bill provides for $3.7 billion in military aid to the Jewish state, including $3.1 billion in regular annual aid and  $619 million for missile defense ($351 million for the Iron Dome system and $268.8 million for the David’s Sling, Arrow-2, and Arrow-3 systems), a boost of more than 20 percent.

Additionally, the bill stops U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it unilaterally becomes a member state of the United Nations or U.N. agencies without reaching a peace agreement with Israel. The PA is currently a non-member observer state in the U.N.

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Portugals parliament becomes latest European legislature to back Palestinian state

(JNS.org) Portugal’s parliament on Friday became the latest European legislature to support the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The Portuguese motion proposed to “recognize, in coordination with the European Union, the State of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state,” adding that “only [Israeli-Palestinian] negotiations can ensure security and peace in this region,” AFP reported.

The move comes a day after the French Senate and Irish Parliament each passed non-binding measures advocating the recognition of Palestinian statehood. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the Irish Parliament was giving a voice to “statements of hatred and anti-Semitism directed at Israel in a way which we have not heard before,” the Associated Press reported.

The Swedish government officially recognized “Palestine” at the end of October. Danish lawmakers will vote on the Palestinian statehood issue in early January, while symbolic votes on the issue recently took place in the parliaments of Britain and Spain.

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Egypts El-Sisi makes first official state visit to Jordan

(JNS.org) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Jordanian counterpart King Abdullah on Dec. 11 in his first official state visit to Jordan. The leaders, amid the growing threat they face from Islamic terrorism, discussed “boosting the brotherly and historic Jordanian-Egyptian ties and strengthening strategic cooperation,” a Jordanian government statement said.

El-Sisi has sought to crack down on the Islamic State-aligned terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula and on the Muslim Brotherhood, which he declared a terrorist organization. Abdullah has experienced increased tension with the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and also faces terror threats stemming from the instability in Iraq and Syria.

Both Egypt and Jordan are U.S. allies and have peace treaties with Israel. During their meeting in Jordan, El-Sisi and Abdullah discussed possible ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

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Palestinian man attacks Israeli family with acid

(JNS.org) Six people, including an Israeli family of five with young children, were wounded Friday after a Palestinian man attacked their car with acid in Judea and Samaria.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the family’s car stopped at a hitchhiking post on a road known as the Hosen Bypass, which leads from el-Khader Junction to Beitar Illit. The attacker, Jamal Abu Riadah, threw acid at the mother driving the car and her four daughters. Moshe Claude Kamun, who was waiting for a ride at the hitchhiking post, was also hit by the acid.

“The car stopped and an Arab came up from my right, asked what time it was, and threw—I think it was a cup or a small bottle—at me,” Kamun said from his bed at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, according to Israel Hayom. “It hit my eyes. I sensed I was in danger and started to run away.”

Abu Riadah, a resident of the village of Nahalin, was eventually subdued and apprehended by the Israeli Border Police. He had been imprisoned from 2004-2007 for jihadist activity.

The mother and her four girls, ages 8 to 10, were lightly wounded and taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

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