Terrorist punished for giving interview to Hamas radio from Israeli jail
(JNS.org) Hamas “military wing” commander Abdullah al-Barghouti, who is serving 67 life terms in Israel’s Ramon prison, has been placed in solitary confinement for speaking to Hamas radio on a smuggled mobile phone.
In the radio interview, Barghouti, known as the Palestinian terrorist group’s “engineer,” urged Hamas and its Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades to take their time when negotiating any future prisoner swap deal with Israel.
Barghouti, who was furious at Hamas for excluding him from the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner swap (in which 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for the Israeli soldier, who was captured by Hamas in 2006), said, “We are willing to stay in jail as long as it takes, even if it’s another thousand years—Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades should not be hasty in reaching a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.”
Palestinian sources told Israel Hayom that the Israel Prison Service has taken disciplinary measures against Barghouti and that he has been placed in solitary confinement.
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Israeli minister Benny Begin resigns from cabinet after only 17 days
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli minister MK Benny Begin (Likud) resigned from the country’s government just 17 days after being inducted, in a move that was needed to maintain the size of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 20-minister cabinet following Likud MK Gilad Erdan’s appointment as strategic affairs and public security minister last week.
Begin, the son of former prime minister Menachem Begin, tendered his resignation to Netanyahu on Friday, but it was not announced until it came into effect 48 hours later. Begin, who had been named a minister without portfolio and a member of Israel’s diplomatic-security cabinet, will continue to serve as a Knesset member.
Netanyahu said he hoped to again include Begin in the government in the future.
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Hamas paves road near Gaza border for attack against Israel
(JNS.org) Former Hamas interior minister Fathi Hammad admitted Saturday that the Palestinian terrorist group has been paving a new road near the Israeli border with northern Gaza.
According to Hammad, the road, located southeast of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, was intended for the use of Hamas’s Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades in future conflicts with Israel.
“The road has been secretly built under heavy security and will be used when the time is right for us to launch an attack against our enemy,” Hammad said during a speech in Khan Younis.
“The Zionist occupier will be surprised at Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades’ capabilities in the next military confrontation,” he added. “Since the last round of fighting, Hamas’s military wing has been reinforced. The Zionists haven’t got the slightest inkling of what surprises await them.”
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Report: Israeli weapons intercepted at Saudi embassy in Yemen
(JNS.org) A large shipment of Israeli weapons and ammunition was intercepted inside the Saudi embassy in the Yemenite capital of Sana’a, Iran’s Fars news agency reported Sunday.
According to the report, the weapons were discovered when Iran-backed Houthi rebel forces gained control of the compound, defeating the Yemenite security forces guarding the embassy.
The Houthis claimed that they also seized documents proving that the U.S. planned to establish a military base in Saudi Arabia to monitor the Bab el-Mandeb strait (between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea) “in order to protect American interests and protect Israel,” the report stated. The Houthis also claimed that Saudi Arabia had asked Israel to send advanced weapons to help forces loyal to Yemen’s deposed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
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Cyprus police arrest alleged Hezbollah operative planning attack on Israelis
(JNS.org) Police in Cyprus last week arrested a man who they suspect of planning to target Israeli interests on the island country following the discovery of two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in his basement.
Ammonium nitrate can be used as an explosive, which was the case in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The 26-year-old suspect was born in Lebanon but held a Canadian passport and was detained by Cypriot police on May 27, Reuters reported. Local newspaper reports indicate that the unnamed suspect may have close links with Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah is widely believed to be behind the 2012 bus bombing in the Bulgarian city of Burgas that killed five Israeli tourists and their bus driver. In 2013, a Swedish citizen was arrested in Cyprus for planning to attack Israeli targets. Cyprus is a popular tourist destination for Israelis.
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Palestinians drop bid to have Israel suspended from FIFA
(JNS.org) The Palestinians on Friday dropped a motion to have Israel suspended from FIFA, world soccer’s governing body.
“I decided to drop the suspension but it does not mean that I give up the resistance,” Palestinian soccer official Jibril Rajoub told the 65th FIFA Congress in Switzerland.
A new Palestinian proposal that was passed by the FIFA Congress calls for the formation of a committee to look into the freedom of movement of Palestinian soccer players and the status of Israeli soccer teams located in Judea and Samaria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts of Israel’s delegation at the FIFA Congress, saying, “Our international effort has proven itself and led to the failure of the Palestinian Authority attempt to oust us from FIFA.”
Netanyahu added that continued unilateral steps by the Palestinians in international bodies will “only push peace further away instead of bringing it closer.”
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U.K. education secretary calls for inquiry into Hasidic sect’s female driving ban
(JNS.org) British Education Secretary Nicky Morgan called for an inquiry into the Belz Hasidic sect’s purported ban on female drivers.
In a letter to families last week, the sect’s rabbis said female drivers go against “the traditional rules of modesty in our camp” and that children would be barred from their schools if they are dropped off by their mothers in cars.
“If schools do not actively promote the principle of respect for other people, they are breaching the independent school standards,” Morgan said. “Where we are made aware of such breaches we will investigate and take any necessary action to address the situation.”
Ahron Klein, chief executive of London’s Belz Boys’ School, wrote in a letter to Morgan that it was “never our intention to stigmatize or discriminate against children or their parents for the sole reason that either of the parents drives a car,” London’s Jewish Chronicle reported.
“We accept that the choice of words was unfortunate, and if a negative impression was created by our letter, then we unreservedly apologize for that,” Klein wrote, adding that his community has “no intention” of changing its policy on female drivers.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.
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