Israel Police names first Muslim deputy commissioner
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan plans to establish new division within the Israel Police to promote law enforcement in Israel’s Arab sector and recruit Arabs to serve in the police force. Jamal Hakroush, currently an assistant police commissioner, will head the new division, becoming the first Muslim Arab in Israeli history to rise to the rank of deputy commissioner.
Hakroush currently serves as the deputy chief officer of Israel’s Coastal Police District. He was the first Muslim Arab to receive the rank of assistant commissioner and the first to serve as a deputy chief officer.
The new division is the brainchild of Erdan and Israel Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Roni Alsheikh, and has been designed to boost cooperation in the Arab sector as well as to fight the high crime rate in Arab villages and towns. The division will be tasked with establishing new police stations in Arab districts and recruiting cadets from within the Arab sector.
Hakroush joined the Israeli police in 1978 and served in numerous roles, including commander of the immigration police in the Haifa district, commander of Afula and Nahariya police stations during the Second Lebanon War, and commander of the Zevulun Station in Haifa. He is from the village of Kafr Kanna, where he still resides with his wife and four children.
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Netanyahu to Israeli opposition: stop criticizing Israel abroad
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for the Knesset members of the Israeli opposition to support Israel’s government in the international arena.
Speaking at a Knesset meeting convened by the opposition, Netanyahu said the opposition was undermining Israel’s standing in the world.
“I heard [opposition leader] MK [Isaac] Herzog tell the president of France that it is impossible to realize a two-state solution,” he said. “Perhaps now you will stand united with us in the face of international efforts to impose dangerous solutions on us. We will resist any attempt to force solutions on us.”
Commenting on an idea recently floated by Herzog, who suggested that Israel disengage from the Palestinians in the absence of peace negotiations, Netanyahu said, “All the talk about separation with an agreement or without, or security separation—is not suitable. Israel must be the one responsible for security on the ground and the one to implement the demilitarization.”
“Mutual recognition and demilitarization are two fundamental values, without which there cannot be an arrangement,” he said.
Netanyahu said members of Herzog’s Labor party “determined that it is impossible to achieve a two-state solution in the current situation. Good morning, Bougie (Herzog’s nickname). I’m happy you woke up. Welcome to the Middle East….Not only were you not quick to pick up on the situation—you were the last to recognize the reality.”
Herzog responded to Netanyahu, “Unlike you, I am not prepared to accept the notion that ‘by thy sword shalt thou live’ (Genesis 27:40).” The far right believes that annexing the territories and their Palestinian residents is the solution. Who is stopping you from doing that?”
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14-year-old Palestinian girls charged with attempted murder
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Central District Prosecutor’s Office in Israel indicted two 14-year-old Palestinian girls who carried out a recent stabbing attack at the Ramla Central Bus Station on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, and possession of a knife.
The two girls were charged in juvenile court. According to the indictment, which was filed by attorney Reut Abiri, the girls met up about a month before the attack and decided that they would become “martyrs” by stabbing and trying to kill Jews.
The indictment further reveals the role that the recent wave of Palestinian terror attacks played in influencing the girls and other would-be attackers. Following a recent stabbing attack at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, in which three terrorists were shot and killed, the two girls decided to meet the next day, equipped with kitchen knives, to carry out a stabbing attack.
According to the indictment, on the morning that they would carry out the attack, one of the girls said she preferred to wait until after school, while the other convinced her to do it in the morning, instead of going to school.
They hid knives in their school bags and decided that they would launch the attack at the shopping center near the Ramla Central Bus Station. They approached the area three times, looking for victims, but were unable to find IDF soldiers. Ultimately, they decided to attack the security guard at the shopping center’s entrance.
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Israel and EU quietly talking over product labeling
(JNS.org) Israel is discreetly holding talks with the European Union (EU) in an effort to resolve a diplomatic crisis following the EU’s recent decision to remove “Made in Israel” labels from products originating beyond Israel’s 1967 lines.
The EU and Israel are jointly working on ways to restore relations so that negotiations can resume in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Israel Radio.
A delegation led by Helga Schmid—the EU’s deputy secretary general for the External Action Service and a senior adviser to EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini—last week secretly met with Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold, representatives of the Israeli National Security Council, and other officials in Israel, according to Haaretz.
“We told them that the decisions of the EU’s council of foreign ministers and the decision on the labeling of products [beyond the 1967 lines] were unilateral and in fact adopted the Palestinian narrative. That’s no way to conduct a respectful dialogue,” an unnamed Jerusalem official was quoted as saying.
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Iran says supporting terrorist groups is state policy
(JNS.org) Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said that it is Tehran’s policy to support terrorist groups, Iran’s Tasnim New Agency reported.
The Iranian government sponsors terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both sworn to Israel’s destruction.
“Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution [in 1979], the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared that supporting the Palestinian nation and the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) is among its fixed policies and has continuously taken some measures on this path,” Ansari said.
Ansari’s statement follows media reports that a senior political member of Hamas claimed the group has not been receiving support from Tehran since 2009.
Senior Hamas leader Kalil Abu Leila told the Tasnim News Agency in early February that Iran has always supported the Gaza-ruling Palestinian terrorist organization.
“We appreciate Iran for the support it has provided for the resistance,” Leila said.
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New Israeli army spy camera can detect terrorists moving through fog
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has developed a new spy camera that will detect and identify people moving through fog, haze, or heat waves, providing greater protection against terror attacks on soldiers’ bases.
Operators of the high-resolution “Savir” camera can see people, moving trees, or plants from a distance of more than 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) and other images up to a distance of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles).
The Savir system can be used on land or sea, and as a day camera or a night-vision camera. Savir’s precision is better than IDF cameras’ existing radar imaging, which often proves inaccurate in detecting movement.
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2017 U.S. defense budget calls for $146 million for Israel
(JNS.org) The U.S. Defense Department’s fiscal year 2017 budget has asked for about $146 million to go towards Israeli defense, including for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and other missile defense systems, Pentagon documents released this week have revealed.
The Iron Dome system protects Israelis against short-range missiles and rockets that could be launched by Palestinian terror groups from Hamas-ruled Gaza on Israel’s southern front, or by Lebanon-based Hezbollah on the northern front. David’s Sling is a medium-range missile interceptor set to be implemented this year along with the Arrow ballistic missile interceptor. All three systems are meant to collectively protect Israel from multi-lateral threats along its borders, especially those from Iranian-sponsored terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The 2017 U.S. defense budget predicted spending $540 million on Israeli defense and cooperative programs over the next five years, with no additional funding for the Iron Dome expected after 2017.
According to the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Vice Admiral James Syring, the agency is currently working with Israel on the Iron Dome system through a co-production agreement. A share of the production work that is “not insignificant” has been passed on to several U.S. firms, said Syring, Reuters reported.
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‘Aliyah Day’ bill passes first Israeli Knesset reading
(JNS.org) A bill designating the 10th day of the Hebrew month Nissan as “Aliyah Day” passed a preliminary reading in the Israeli Knesset on Wednesday.
The bill is intended to create a day dedicated to immigrants to Israel (olim) and their contributions to Jewish state. The day would be marked around the country in schools, the Israel Defense Forces, the President’s Residence, and the Knesset. Israeli Members of Knesset Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beiteinu), Miki Zohar (Likud), and Avraham Neguise (Likud) proposed a number of bills intended for this purpose.
If the Aliyah Day bill passes second and third readings to become law, the legislation would increase public appreciation for the sacrifices of olim toward the Zionist dream, Ilatov said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
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France v. Israel: ambassadors tweet off on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
(JNS.org) French Ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer faced off on social media about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Araud, who was formerly an ambassador to both Israel and the United Nations, retweeted French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’s comment about the Syrian civil war that, “There can’t be a political negotiation when one side is murdering the other.”
Dermer tweeted back to Araud, questioning “if that wisdom will one day be applied to when Jews are being murdered in Israel.”
Although Araud did not respond to Dermer directly, he later tweeted, “Israel/Palestine. So predictable that any pretext leads one side to declare that the other one is evil.” This tweet elicited a number of responses from Twitter users, which led Araud to tweet again on the subject, “A tweet on Syria. An unrelated reaction on Israel/Palestine and an outpouring of one-sided tweets without any link with the first tweet.”
“Israel/Palestine. Feeding the passion instead of analyzing the situation from both sides is a good way to escape the real issues,” tweeted Araud.
When Araud was France’s ambassador to Israel in 2004, he complained in a radio interview that Israelis are anti-French, claiming that while anti-Semitic incidents around the world are not addressed in Israel, those that occur in France immediately make headlines, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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