Two Israeli homes damaged by ‘stray fire’ from Gaza
(JNS.org) The Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas training base in northern Gaza late Wednesday night, hours after gunfire from the base hit two homes in the southern Israeli border community of Netiv Haasara.
The initial Israel Defense Forces assessment was that the Israeli homes had been hit by “stray fire” from the Palestinian terrorist group’s base. Both homes suffered damage and two bullets were found. In one of the homes, a bullet penetrated a glass door and struck a television as two children were watching it. The father of the children said it was a “miracle” that they emerged unscathed, Israel Hayom reported.
Following the gunfire, Netiv Haasara residents were cautioned to stay away from windows and doors facing Gaza. Yair Farjun, head of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, said, “We can no longer put up with real threats to our lives. I demand that the government take immediate steps to eliminate all threats to the lives of Israeli citizens.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a suspicious individual tried to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza via the sea in the Zikim area. After calling on him to halt and firing warning shots in the air, IDF troops in the area shot the man in the lower part of his body. He was arrested, given medical treatment, and taken in for questioning.
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Israel’s $108 billion state budget passes first Knesset reading
(JNS.org) Israel’s 2015-16 state budget bill passed its first Knesset reading Wednesday, following a marathon session that ended with 57 MKs voting in favor and 53 MKs voting against it.
At 424.8 billion shekels ($108.2 billion), the two-year plan is the largest budget in Israel’s history. It includes NIS 103 billion ($26 billion) to cover government debts, NIS 56 billion ($14 billion) for defense spending, NIS 48 billion ($12 billion) for education, and NIS 29 billion ($7 billion) for health care.
The Knesset’s Economics Committee will prepare the bill for its second and third Knesset readings, scheduled for coming weeks.
Wednesday’s vote was held as part of a special session called during the Knesset’s summer recess, as Israel has been functioning without a state budget throughout this year because elections were called and the last Knesset was dissolved in December 2014. The elections stopped the 2015 budget discussions in their tracks, and they resumed only in early April, after the current Knesset was sworn in. Throughout this year, government ministries have had to manage with month-to-month budgets.
Under Israeli law, once a coalition is formed, the finance minister needs to present the budget bill within three months, but Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon was granted an extension when the government decided to pursue a biennial budget.
“The Israeli public deserves a change,” Kahlon said Wednesday, Israel Hayom reported. “How many years has it been since we’ve seen a budget that imposes nothing, and expands on education, health, and welfare? My vision includes reducing social gap using more than infrastructure—we’ll narrow these gaps by investing in equal opportunities.”
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French prosecutors drop investigation into Yasser Arafat’s death
(JNS.org) French prosecutors have announced that they have decided to drop the investigation into the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
A probe into Arafat’s death was launched in 2012 at the urging of his widow, Suha Arafat, who has argued that his 2004 death in a French hospital was the result of a poisoning. While the official cause of Arafat’s death was a stroke, Swiss forensic experts claimed that samples they had tested from Arafat’s body indicated radioactive polonium poisoning, though not definitively. But further testing by French forensic scientists and Russian experts did not find evidence of polonium poisoning.
Suha Arafat will challenge the prosecutors’ decision in an appeals court, her lawyer told Reuters.
As the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Arafat drew world attention to the Palestinian cause through the use of terrorism throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Later, Arafat allegedly disavowed terrorism, signing the 1993 Oslo Accords with Israel, which established Arafat as the president of the newly formed Palestinian Authority. But Israel long accused Arafat of supporting terrorism post-Oslo and blamed him for launching the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000.
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Iranian leader vows to increase military capability to defeat Israel
(JNS.org) Hours after U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced that she would back President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, ensuring enough supporting votes to prevent an override of a presidential veto of any Congressional rejection of the pact, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said the Islamic Republic will continue strengthening its military capabilities until it has defeated Israel.
“They (the U.S. and Israel) should know that the Islamic Revolution will continue enhancing its preparedness until it overthrows Israel and liberates Palestine,” said Brigadier General Mohsen Kazzemeini, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.
“We will continue defending not just our own country, but also all the oppressed people of the world, especially those countries that are standing on the forefront of confrontation with the Zionists,” he said.
A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded Wednesday to the news of Obama clinching Congressional support of the nuclear deal, stating that “the prime minister said before addressing the Congress in March that it is his duty to present Israel’s grave concerns about the deal with Iran to the American people and their representatives,” the Times of Israel reported.
“The American people get it. They understand the dangers to Israel. They understand the dangers to the United States. That’s why a clear majority believe the deal should be rejected, which is also reflected in Congress, where a clear majority seems prepared to reject the deal,” said the source.
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Film on Rabin assassination competes for major prize at Venice Film Festival
(JNS.org) A film by Israeli director Amos Gitai about the 1995 assassination of former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is competing for the Golden Lion award at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, held Sept. 2-12.
“Rabin, the Last Day” user real live footage in combination with actors to tell the story of the last night of Rabin’s life through the rally during which he was shot by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir.
“It’s a portrait of Israeli society at that time and a lot of the figures are still active today,” Gitai told the Screen Daily.
“Israeli society is still feeling the shockwaves of his killing even if it’s already 20 years ago. It’s an open wound,” added Gitai.
Gitai’s film is competing against the Russian film “Francofonia” about the Louvre museum and the Italian vampire-themed movie “Blood of My Blood.” Another Israeli film being screened at the festival is “Mountain,” the story of religious Jewish woman living with her family on a desolate section of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives.
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Netanyahu: ‘zero tolerance’ policy for stone and firebomb throwers
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened top security officials on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing security situation in Jerusalem and on a major highway leading to Israel’s capital following a spate of recent Palestinian terror attacks.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu made it clear that that he cannot accept the current situation in which stones and firebombs have been thrown along the main route to and within Jerusalem.
“The policy is zero tolerance for stone-throwing and zero tolerance for terrorism,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu ordered that additional police units be placed along Highway 443, along with stepped-up intelligence and observation efforts. The government is also looking into adding cameras and lighting along the route to Jerusalem.
Also under consideration is changing the open-fire orders regarding stone and firebomb throwers as well as raising the minimum sentences for those offenses.
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Maryland senator’s backing of Iran nuclear deal blocks veto override
(JNS.org) U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced on Wednesday that she would back President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, becoming the 34th senator to support the deal and ensuring enough supporting votes to prevent an override of a presidential veto of any Congressional rejection of the pact.
“No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said in a statement. “I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal. However, Congress must also reaffirm our commitment to the safety and security of Israel.”
Congress is in the midst of a 60-day period to review the Iran nuclear deal. Virtually every Republican in the Senate (there are currently 54 Republicans among the 100 U.S. senators) has come out against the deal, as have two Democrats—U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). But while the Senate is likely to reject the deal with a simple majority, Obama has said he will veto any such Congressional disapproval. The Senate would have needed a two-thirds majority of 67 votes against the agreement to override that veto, but Mikulski’s support for the deal ensures that such a scenario will not materialize.
Earlier this week, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) became the 32nd and 33rd supporters of the deal in the Senate, respectively.
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