Israel arrests Palestinian Authority-linked terrorist who killed hiker
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli authorities said Wednesday that they have arrested a Palestinian Authority-linked terrorist who shot and killed Israeli hiker Danny Gonen near the community of Dolev in Samaria last month. The Shin Bet security agency, together with the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces, also arrested a number of other Palestinians suspected of assisting in the attack.
The suspect has been named as Mohammed Abu Shahin, 30, a resident of the Qalandiya refugee camp. The arrest was made after Shahin called the Israel Police about a week and a half after the June 19 attack and said in Arabic that he had killed Gonen. The recording of the phone call was handed over to the Shin Bet, and Shahin was arrested two days later.
In the past, Shahin was active in the Palestinian Fatah faction’s commando and special operations unit known as Force 17. He received a regular salary from the Palestinian Authority. Between June 2006 and December 2008, Shahin was imprisoned in Israel after confessing to planning terrorist attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the Shin Bet for making the arrest.
“On the day of the murder I declared that we would apprehend this despised, despicable murderer,” Netanyahu said. “The Shin Bet, the IDF, and the police have done just that within a short period of time, while it was obvious that this was a Palestinian Authority man. Those who don’t attack terrorism are bound to be attacked by terrorism.”
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Israel strikes Gaza terror targets in response to rocket fire
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli Air Force struck terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning in response to a rocket fired overnight from Gaza into southern Israel.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it holds the Gaza-ruling Hamas terrorist group responsible for all attacks emanating from the area.
“We will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens,” the IDF said.
Sirens sounded in several sites across southern Israel around 2 a.m. Thursday. A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an open area in the Ashkelon region. No injuries or damage were reported. Security forces searched for the remnants of the rocket.
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J Street promoting Iran deal through ‘multimillion dollar national campaign’
(JNS.org) The left-wing Jewish lobby J Street said Wednesday that it is building support for the Iran nuclear deal through a “multimillion dollar national campaign.”
“J Street wants Congress to know that, despite some loud opposition to the deal coming from Jewish organizational leaders, our polling suggests that a clear majority of Jewish Americans agrees with us and backs the deal,” J Street said in its announcement of a campaign “to make the case to lawmakers that the agreement reached yesterday advances both US and Israeli security interests.”
The campaign, according to J Street, “will launch with a 30-second advertisement highlighting the unprecedented inspections and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear and military sites under the agreement.”
Lori Lowenthal Marcus, the U.S. correspondent for The Jewish Press, noted in an article summarizing American Jewish organizations’ reactions to the Iran deal that while every other Jewish group which praised the negotiators who reached the agreement “did so for their (the negotiators’) efforts,” only J Street praised the actual content of the deal. On Tuesday, J Street called the deal “a major step forward that will make the world appreciably safer.”
Well-known Jewish journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who has gained a large following from his series of exclusive interviews with President Barack Obama on Israel-related issues, tweeted on Tuesday, “If Israel’s elected leader, and the head of the opposition, oppose the Iran deal, can J Street support it and still call itself pro-Israel?” Goldberg’s comments refer to both J Street’s self-identification as the “political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans” and the consensus unfavorable view on the Iran deal among Israeli politicians. In a rare display of cooperation, Israeli Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is willing to work with Netanyahu’s governing coalition to thwart the nuclear agreement.
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AIPAC says Congress should reject Iran nuclear deal
(JNS.org) In its second statement since the announcement of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said Wednesday that Congress should “reject” the agreement and “insist on a better deal.” The move to defy the Obama administration on the Iran deal is a noteworthy one for the staunchly bipartisan pro-Israel lobby.
AIPAC said the Iran deal “has significant flaws” in five areas: it “does not ensure ‘anytime, anywhere’ short-notice inspections;” “does not clearly condition sanctions relief on full Iranian cooperation in satisfying International Atomic Energy Agency concerns over the possible military dimensions of Tehran’s program;” “lifts sanctions as soon as the agreement commences, rather than gradually as Iran demonstrates sustained adherence to the agreement;” “lifts key restrictions in as few as eight years;” and “would disconnect and store centrifuges in an easily reversible manner, but it requires no dismantlement of centrifuges or any Iranian nuclear facility.”
According to a source who participated in an AIPAC conference call, the organization’s national board unanimously voted to reject the Iran nuclear deal, with AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr saying on the call that defeating the deal in Congress is both the most important task the group has ever faced and the reason AIPAC was created.
The nuclear deal, AIPAC noted in its official statement on Wednesday, “not only fails to achieve its objectives in the nuclear arena, but it releases Tehran in a matter of years—regardless of Iranian behavior—from ballistic missile sanctions and an arms embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council.” That “late, unexpected concession” will “provide additional arms for terrorism and proxy wars, while strengthening Iran’s capabilities against our regional allies,” AIPAC explained.
While the deal’s supporters “will argue that the only alternative to this agreement is military conflict,” in reality “the reverse is true,” according to AIPAC.
“A bad agreement such as this will invite instability and nuclear proliferation,” the lobby group said. “It will embolden Iran and may encourage regional conflict.”
On Tuesday, AIPAC’s previous statement about the nuclear deal took a softer tone and refrained from calling on Congress to reject the agreement. At the time, AIPAC said it would “issue a fuller assessment” upon a closer examination of the deal, and Wednesday’s follow-up statement apparently represented that assessment.
“Congress should reject this agreement, and urge the administration to work with our allies to maintain economic pressure on Iran while offering to negotiate a better deal that will truly close off all Iranian paths to a nuclear weapon,” AIPAC said Wednesday.
AIPAC also launched an online petition titled “Urge Your Member of Congress to Reject the Nuclear Agreement with Iran.”
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British-Jewish publisher funds rescue of 2,000 Christians in Syria and Iraq
(JNS.org) A British-Jewish publisher is funding the rescue of 2,000 Syrian and Iraqi Christians who are being threatened by the Islamic State terror group, in an effort to thank those members of the Christian faith who helped him escape the Nazis just before the Holocaust.
Lord Weidenfeld, 95, had arrived in England just prior to the beginning of World War II and founded the Weidenfeld and Nicolson publishing business. He later received the British aristocratic title of “life peer.” Weidenfeld is currently leading the Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund, which last week transported 150 Syrian Christian refugees on a private flight to Poland. More rescue missions are expected, and the fund will offer 12-18 months of financial support to the refugees.
“I had a debt to repay,” Weidenfeld said. “It applies to so many young people who were on the Kinderstransports (rescue-by-train missions during the Holocaust). It was Quakers and other Christian denominations who brought those children to England. It was very high-minded operation and we Jews should also be thankful and do something for the endangered Christians.”
Yet some countries, including the U.S., have refused to participate in Weidenfeld’s project on the grounds that it is being supported by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Critics have also pointed to the fact that the initiative does not aim to help the Muslims who are also being terrorized by Islamic State.
Weidenfeld defended his project, stating, “I can’t save the world, but there is a very specific possibility on the Christian side,” the UK Independent reported.
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Snowden-leaked document claims that Israel killed Syrian commander
(JNS.org) A document leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden shows that the elite Israeli naval unit Shayetet 13 had infiltrated Syria in 2008 and shot a Syrian general during a dinner party at his villa.
The general, Muhammad Suleiman, has been accused of being involved with developing Syria’s Ali Kibar nuclear facility, which was destroyed in airstrike attributed to Israel in media reports. Suleiman also allegedly had a role in the training of Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has not responded to inquiries about the document outlining the death of Suleiman. But sources from The Intercept, a website run by journalist Glenn Greenwald that has been reporting on Snowden’s leaks, said the U.S. government has long been monitoring Israel’s espionage efforts in Syria.
“We’ve had access to Israeli military communications for some time,” said a former U.S. intelligence official. Another retired U.S. intelligence officer said that for Israel, the killing of Suleiman is “not only payback, but mitigates future [terrorist] operations.”
“They will take a target of opportunity if it presents itself,” the second officer said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
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British Foreign Secretary Hammond slams Israel’s opposition to Iran deal
(JNS.org) British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who played a key role in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, slammed Israel’s response to the agreement, alleging that the Jewish state prefers a “permanent state of standoff” on the issue.
“The question you have to ask yourself is what kind of a deal would have been welcomed in Tel Aviv. The answer of course is that Israel doesn’t want any deal with Iran,” Hammond said, The Guardian reported.
“Israel wants a permanent state of standoff and I don’t believe that’s in the interests of the region. I don’t believe it’s in our interest,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hammond said Wednesday that the U.K. hopes to re-open its Iranian embassy before the end of the year. The British embassy in Tehran was shuttered in 2011 when Iranian protesters stormed it. Hammond also said he has spoken with British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne about the “quite substantial” business opportunities arising from the Iran deal.
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Arab Knesset member reprimanded for taking part in latest Gaza flotilla
(JNS.org) Bassel Ghattas, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, was reprimanded by a Knesset Ethics Committee for his participation in an illegal flotilla to Gaza last month.
Ghattas, a member of the Joint Arab List party, traveled on the Swedish ship Marianne en route to Gaza with several other activists before the boat was peacefully intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces last month and redirected to Ashdod.
“MKs must make a clear difference between leading a battle to change policies, which is an inseparable part of their job and is under their broad freedom of speech, and publicly declaring that they want to break the law as part of their battle,” the Knesset Ethics Committee decision stated, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“It is known that entering the Gaza Strip by land or sea is forbidden for citizens of the country and is a crime, and breaking the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip has the potential to harm [Israel’s] security,” the committee added.
Despite participating in an illegal activity, Ghattas escaped any further punishment because this was his first recorded offense.
Ghattas is not the first Arab MK to actively participate in a mission to Gaza. MK Haneen Zoabi was on the Mavi Marmara vessel in 2010 when violence broke out between Turkish militants and Israeli commandos.
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‘Bookkeeper of Auschwitz’ Oskar Groening sentenced to 4 years in jail
(JNS.org) Oskar Groening, 94, who was known as the “Bookkeeper of Auschwitz,” was sentenced to four years in prison by a German court on Wednesday.
In his sentencing, German judge Franz Kompisch said Groening “is found guilty of accessory to murder in 300,000 legally connected cases.”
A former Nazi SS officer, Groening sorted and counted money taken from those who were killed or used as slave labor at the Nazi death camp in Poland, before sending the money back to Berlin. During the sentencing, Groening expressed remorse for his role in the Holocaust, saying that he was “very sorry” and that “no one should have taken part in Auschwitz,” AFP reported.
Groening said during the trial that he was horrified by what he saw at Auschwitz when he arrived in 1942, and had asked to be transferred three times, a request that was not granted until 1944.
Jewish groups welcomed the prison sentence for the former Nazi bookkeeper. World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said that “there must never be impunity or closure for those who were involved in mass murder or genocide.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff, said the verdict was “critical” because “this is the first case brought where the prosecution charged a person who wasn’t involved in the physical side of mass murder,” the Associated Press reported.
Zuroff added that he hopes the verdict will “pave the way for additional trials of individuals who do not literally pull the trigger but who were part of the implementation of the Final Solution.”
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IDF soldier stabbed and wounded in Palestinian terror attack
(JNS.org) An Israel Defense Forces soldier was stabbed in the back by a female Palestinian terrorist near the Jewish community of Nahliel in Judea and Samaria on Wednesday, the IDF said.
Paramedics from Magen David Adom treated the wounded 20-year-old soldier, who sustained light-to-moderate stab wounds, the Jerusalem Post reported. The soldier was on routine security duty at the time of the stabbing.
According to the IDF, the terrorist arrived at the military post and then took out a knife to begin stabbing the victim. The terrorist has been taken into custody and will be questioned by authorities.
There were six Palestinian terror attacks last month in Judea and Samaria as well as Jerusalem. Two Israelis were killed during the attacks, which has prompted the IDF to step up patrols, intelligence gathering, and mobile checkpoints.
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