Israel’s Shin Bet exposes Islamic State-inspired terrorist cell
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Seven Israeli Arabs were indicted before the Nazareth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday on suspicion of setting up an Islamic State terrorist cell and planning to attack police and military bases. The suspects face multiple counts of security violations, including conspiracy to commit an act of terror and criminal possession of firearms.
The suspects, all residents of northern Israel, were arrested in August by the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit, and the Northern District Police’s Minorities Division. The investigation was placed under a comprehensive gag order, which was partially lifted once the suspects were officially charged.
The Shin Bet said the suspects “conspired to form an Islamic State terrorist cell in Israel.” The Israel Police said they had been in contact with Israeli Arabs who had already joined Islamic State operatives in Syria, and that these alleged handlers had encouraged them to gather intelligence on police and military operations in northern Israel.
One of the defendants, Ahmed Ahmad, 26, from Nazareth, is already serving a life sentence for the 2009 murder of Israeli taxi driver Yafim Weinstein. The other six were identified as Mahmoud Sarif, 22, from Nazareth; Ahmad Mahajana, 20, from Yafia; Muhammad Jazala, 23, from Yafia; Ibrahim al-Jawabreh, 35, and his brother Ali, 32, from Fureidis; and Baha Naaran, 22, from Yafia.
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22 lawmakers visiting Israel pledge to buck boycotts of Judea and Samaria
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Foreign lawmakers visiting Israel announced Wednesday that they plan to pursue a bill stating that boycotts against products manufactured in Judea and Samaria communities are in violation of international trade and commerce laws.
Speaking with reporters at the Binyamin Regional Council’s industrial park, the delegation—comprising 22 parliamentarians from the European Union (EU), Africa, and Central and South America—stated that its members adamantly oppose the EU’s decision to label Judea and Samaria-made products and that they plan to pursue measures to counter that designation.
The MPs further stated they are opposed to any form of economic sanctions that may be imposed on Israel by European countries, and that they support Judea and Samaria communities’ business ventures.
“I’m proud to be here and to see the collaboration between Arabs and Jews in Binyamin,” European Parliament MP Bas Belder of the Netherlands said, adding that the delegation “will stand steadfast against any boycott of Israeli products.”
Israeli Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel said, “Those who promote boycotts against Israel only escalate the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, because they fail to understand that real peace begins with economic peace.”
Avi Roeh—head of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria—said “reality is stronger than all those who are trying to undermine Israel.”
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Red, white…and green and black? Palestinian flag raised at U.N. for first time
(JNS.org) The Palestinian flag was raised at United Nations headquarters for the first time on Wednesday afternoon in New York City, accompanying Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech to the world body on the same day.
At a flag-raising ceremony, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the event a “day of pride for the Palestinian people around the world” and said it is time “to restore confidence by both Israelis and Palestinians for a peaceful settlement and, at last, the realization of two states for two peoples.”
Yet on the same day, Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly that the PA would stop abiding by the 1993 Oslo Accords, which intended to create peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas’s speech was “deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East.”
The Palestinians have “non-member observer state” status in the U.N., a designation they secured in 2012.
“For 70 years the United Nations has raised only flags of full member states,” said Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor, who had called the campaign to get the Palestinian flag raised “another cynical misuse of the U.N. by the Palestinian Authority,” Reuters reported.
Despite recognizing a “State of Palestine” through its ratification of a treaty this past May, the Vatican in August requested that it be removed from a Palestinian-prepared U.N. General Assembly resolution that called for the flags of “Palestine” and the Holy See to be flown at U.N. headquarters. The resolution was prepared without consulting the Vatican.
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In his speech Abbas accused Israel of halting the withdrawal of its forces from disputed territories as stipulated by the peace agreement.
“As long as Israel refuses to commit to the agreements signed with us, which render us an authority without real powers, and as long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them,” Abbas said.
Israel did unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Since then, the terror group Hamas has taken over control of the coastal enclave, leading to thousands of rockets being launched at the Jewish state. The latest such rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the Israeli city of Ashdod on Wednesday. Israeli officials have expressed concern that a similar situation could arise in Judea and Samaria should Israel withdraw from that region completely.
Abbas also accused Israel of exacerbating tensions on the Temple Mount holy site because of “extremist Israeli group incursions on the Al-Aqsa mosque” at the Jerusalem compound.
“We will not accept this, and the Palestinian people will not allow the implementation of this illegal scheme,” he said.
The Temple Mount is administered by the Islamic Waqf, a Muslim trust overseen by Jordan that limits non-Muslim visitation and bans Jewish prayer. An increase in Jewish visitors has been led by Jewish activist groups such as the Temple Institute, which have been calling for greater Jewish access to the Temple Mount.
Earlier this month, Israel blasted a United Nations Security Council statement about the ongoing tension at the Temple Mount, saying the statement “completely ignores” both Palestinian violence and Jewish history at the holy site. In recent weeks, Palestinians have been rioting in the Old City of Jerusalem by throwing rocks and pipe bombs at Jews. On Rosh Hashanah eve, a Palestinian stone-throwing attack killed a 64-year-old Jewish man while he was driving home.
“In contrast to the Palestinians, Israel is strictly maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount and is committed to continuing to do so in accordance with the agreements between us and the Jordanians and the Waqf,” Netanyahu said in reaction to Abbas’s U.N. speech.
Abbas had said, “The Israeli government insists on continuing its destruction of the two-state solution and on entrenchment of two regimes on the ground: an apartheid regime that is currently imposed on the territory of the State of Palestine.” Netanyahu countered: “We expect and call on the [Palestinian] Authority and its leader to act responsibly and accede to the proposal of the prime minister of Israel and enter into direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions.”
The PA, said Abbas, will begin ignoring the Oslo Accords “by all peaceful and legal means. Either the Palestinian National Authority will be the conduit of the Palestinian people from occupation to independence, or Israel, the occupying power, must bear all of its responsibilities.” Netanyahu said the fact that Abbas “time and again” has refused to negotiate directly with Israel “is the best possible proof of the fact he does not intend to reach a peace agreement.”
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Russia notifies Israel ahead of first Syria airstrike
(JNS.org) Russia notified Israel ahead of its first airstrike in Syria against the Islamic State terrorist group, marking a new chapter in the ongoing bloody Syrian civil war.
Russian warplanes on Wednesday struck Islamic State military equipment, communication centers, vehicles, and ammunition near Homs, Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said. U.S. officials disputed the claim, saying the airstrike near Homs did not target Islamic State, but instead other rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Senior Israeli defense officials, including National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, were notified of the airstrike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sept. 20 to discuss Russia’s new military endeavor in Syria.
According to Netanyahu, both sides “established a mechanism” in order to “prevent misunderstandings” between Israeli and Russian forces in the region. This includes the establishment of a working group that would coordinate Syria-related activities in aerial, naval, and electromagnetic arenas, Israeli defense officials said.
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Mass Sukkot blessing takes place near Temple Mount amid tension
(JNS.org) Fifty-thousand people gathered to pray at Jerusalem’s Western Wall on Wednesday as part of a priestly blessing for Sukkot.
The Birkat HaCohanim (Hebrew for “priestly blessing”) takes place each year on Chol Ha’moed (intermediate days) during both the Sukkot and Passover holidays. For the past 45 years, the blessing has been conducted as part of a mass gathering at the Western Wall (or Kotel). The event is regularly attended by Israel’s chief rabbis, currently Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau, as well as the rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel Shmuel Rabinovitch.
The mass blessing at the Western Wall took place this year despite ongoing tension and violent altercations at the nearby Temple Mount. Jerusalem police deployed extra forces around the Old City, vowing to show zero tolerance for any rioters. A day before the blessing, police continued arresting Palestinian stone-throwers as part of an Israeli government crackdown against anti-Jewish violent rioters.
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