Palestinian terror wave continues in Jerusalem, Kiryat Arba, Afula
(JNS.org) A Palestinian terrorist stabbed a 16-year-old Israeli man in Jerusalem on Friday, and within less than an hour another Palestinian stabbed a policeman in Kiryat Arba as the wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks continued to spread throughout Israel.
The 16-year-old Jewish victim in Jerusalem was stabbed in his upper body and was lightly injured. He did not immediately realize he had been stabbed and tried to chase his assailant, who fled, only to be apprehended by police who were combing the area. The victim was taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment, Israel Hayom reported.
Minutes later, police received word of the second attack, in Kiryat Arba. An Israeli policeman was lightly wounded when his attacker tried to snatch his service weapon, but the terrorist was killed before he could succeed. Later Friday, a female Palestinian terrorist tried to stab a security guard stationed at the entrance to the Afula central bus station. The terrorist was shot and seriously hurt. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The ongoing string of Palestinian terrorist attacks also sparked Jewish retaliation on Friday, as a Jewish perpetrator from Dimona stabbed four Arabs, three of them municipal workers in the southern city. Two of the victims were lightly injured and two were moderately-to-seriously hurt in the attack. The attacker, who has a history of drug-related arrests, was apprehended.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying, “I categorically condemn any attempt to hurt innocent Arabs….Israel is a state of law and order. We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who engages in violence and violates the law, on either side.”
In contrast, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has praised the Palestinian “struggle to defend Al-Aqsa mosque,” rather than condemning Palestinian terrorism.
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Violence won’t stop global astronautical conference from landing in Jerusalem
(JNS.org) Some 2,000 participants from 60 countries, among them the heads of every space agency around the globe, are expected to attend the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) that begins Monday at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.
Despite the current tensions and wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks across the country, particularly in Jerusalem, no participant has cancelled their attendance. Israeli Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis said this was “a vote of confidence and certificate of recognition for Israeli science.” The conference is being hosted by the Israel Space Agency.
“The State of Israel is perhaps ‘only’ 68 years old, but it stands in the front row of global entrepreneurship and innovation,” Akunis said,Israel Hayom reported.
International Astronautical Federation President Kiyoshi Higuchi said, “The IAC is returning to Israel 21 years after Jerusalem hosted the 45th Congress. Despite being a small country, Israel is regarded internationally as a global leader in space science and technology. With its diverse space industrial facilities and technical expertise, Israel has much to offer to the international space community.”
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Israel calls on YouTube and Facebook to pull videos inciting violence
(JNS.org) Israel has written a letter to YouTube and Facebook that calls on the companies to remove videos the Jewish state says have been inciting Palestinian violence.
“The videos depict recent terror attacks, praise the assailants, and present Jews and Israelis in a hateful and racist manner, and since their publishing, three more attacks have taken place so far,” a letter from the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
Hamas uploaded a video earlier this week encouraging Palestinians to launch knife attacks on Jews. The video depicts a Palestinian man stabbing someone dressed as a religious Jew and called on Palestinians to launch a new intifada.
On Wednesday, YouTube pulled the video from Hamas’s channel on the video site, citing a violation of hate speech.
“YouTube has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech, and incitement to commit violent acts, and we remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users,” said Google spokesman Paul Solomon, Reuters reported.
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PM blames Palestinian Authority and Islamic Movement for inciting terror
(JNS.org) Amid the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a press conference on Thursday to address the deteriorating security situation.
“This terrorism did not begin today,” said Netanyahu. “It has accompanied the Zionist enterprise from its beginning.”
“We will chase them and we will overcome them,” he added.
Netanyahu was joined by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, and interim Police Chief Bentzi Sau.
The prime minister blamed the violence on a campaign of incitement by Hamas (a terror group whose charter already includes bringing about Israel’s destruction), the Islamic Movement in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Middle East governments, saying that they are spreading lies about Israel seeking to change the status quo on the Temple Mount when the Jewish state is not planning any such changes.
“We will take aggressive steps against the Islamic Movement in Israel and other inciters,” Netanyahu said.
During the press conference, Netanyahu also encouraged the Israeli Knesset’s opposition leader, Zionist Union party head MK Isaac Herzog, to join a national unity government, saying “there is reason for a wider government” given the instability in the Middle East.
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9 Israeli police officers injured in clashes
(JNS.org) Palestinian violence in Israel persisted throughout Thursday, including clashes that injured nine Israeli police officers.
According to Magen David Adom, two Israelis were stabbed in Afula on Thursday, including a 21-year-old Israeli soldier, by a Palestinian terrorist who was pinned to the ground by civilians until police arrived. A video of the scene shows bystanders attempting to subdue the terrorist, with police eventually using tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces on Thursday afternoon in the Shuafat refugee camp in eastern Jerusalem. Nine Israeli police officers were injured and one Palestinian was shot dead. The police were attempting to raid the home of a terrorist who stabbed a yeshiva student earlier in the day in Jerusalem.
Rather than advocating an end to Israeli-Palestinian tension, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday voiced support for the so-called “peaceful popular resistance” of Palestinian rioters.
“We won’t be dragged to their (Israel’s) square. We won’t use violence or force. We believe in peace and peaceful popular resistance, which is our right and must continue as long as there is aggression,” he said.
Abbas also told Israel to “stay away from our Islamic and Christian holy sites. We want peace and our hands will continue to be extended towards peace despite all our suffering at your hands.”
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Netanyahu: Temple Mount ban applies to Jewish and Arab Knesset members
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an effort to calm escalating tensions over the Temple Mount—evident by a string of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis in recent days—by banning Knesset members and government ministers from visiting the holy site in Jerusalem. While originally applying the decision only to Jewish Knesset members, Netanyahu has subsequently added Arab politicians in the ban.
Israel gained eastern Jerusalem along with its holy sites from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. But the Temple Mount is administered by the Islamic Waqf, a Muslim trust overseen by Jordan that limits non-Muslim visitation and bans Jewish prayer. A recent increase in Jewish visitors has been led by Jewish activist groups such as the Temple Institute. The groups have been calling for greater Jewish access to the Temple Mount.
Based on recommendation from Israel’s National Security Council, Netanyahu’s original decision on Wednesday applied only to Jewish Knesset members in an effort to reduce provocation in the volatile area of Jerusalem’s Old City. But the decision drew criticism from Israeli government ministers.
“I believe this is a mistake—why does this not include MKs on the Joint [Arab] List”? No one incites more than Joint List MKs,” Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin told Army Radio on Thursday.
The Arab MKs, said Elkin, “propagate lies saying Israel is changing the status quo [on the Temple Mount], they are the ones who are stirring up the people, they are the ones who are clashing with police on Temple Mount. We have all seen the pictures of [MK Jamal] Zahalka, we have all heard [MK] Haneen Zoabi, so I think If Israel wants to have quiet here, the first that should be banned from visiting the Temple Mount are the Joint List’s MKs.”
Following the criticism, Netanyahu made it clear on Thursday that the Temple Mount ban applies to both Jewish and Arab Knesset members, a revision that was swiftly condemned by Arab lawmakers.
“Neither Netanyahu nor the [political] right can stop us from entering our Al-Aqsa mosque,” said Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi, according to Israel’s Channel 2.
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Israeli team first to sign launch deal in Google Moon race
(JNS.org) An Israeli team competing in a Google-sponsored rocket launch race to the Moon has signed a deal with the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX with a plan to launch a rocket in 2017, officials said.
Sixteen teams are competing in the rocket launch race for a $20 million first-place prize. To win the race, a privately funded team must have an unmanned spacecraft reach the surface of the Moon, explore 500 meters (1,640 feet), and transmit high-definition video and photos back to earth.
Israel’s SpaceIL is the first team to have its launch agreement approved by XPRIZE, the organization overseeing the race.
“The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated,” said XPRIZE President Bob Weiss, Israel Hayom reported. “This is the official milestone that the race is on….They’ve lit the fuse, as it were, for their competitive effort.”
According to the CEO of SpaceIL, Eran Privman, the agreement with SpaceX comes on the heels of a long search for an affordable way to launch a rocket without government financing, especially because his team’s spacecraft is smaller than the majority of those being used by SpaceIL’s competitors. The SpaceIL rocket is about 1.5 meters (4 feet, 11 inches) tall and wide, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher is equipped to carry 20 small satellites whose fares will offset the cost of the launch.
“Other teams are trying to find such solutions,” Privman said.
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