Editor’s Note: Coverage shall resume on the Monday following Rosh Hashanah
Muslims riot on Temple Mount before Rosh Hashanah
(JNS.org) Hours before Rosh Hashanah started in Israel, hundreds of Muslim worshippers threw rocks at police officers and Jewish visitors at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Wednesday morning, according to Israel Hayom. A large police force was summoned to the scene to calm the situation, and no injuries or damage were reported.
The officers managed to subdue the rioters, some of whom were wearing face masks. Many fled into nearby mosques when the police arrived. A large police presence remained on site, and entry to the Temple Mount was not restricted.
Police sources said that they were not surprised by the violence and that police had advance knowledge of plans to riot on the Temple Mount. Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said he planned to closely monitor the deployment of police units in the area over the course of the holiday.
The rock-throwing incident occurred one day after the head the northern chapter of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, was arrested on his way to a press conference in eastern Jerusalem. Police suspect that Salah meant to incite his followers to instigate violent clashes on the Temple Mount during the Jewish holiday.
Salah’s arrest was apparently in response to a speech the sheikh gave at Kafr Qara near Haifa. The outspoken cleric had accused Israel of being behind the recent political crisis in Egypt and throughout the Arab world. He also said the Jerusalem police force planned to torch the Temple Mount during the High Holy Days.
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Defense Minister Ya’alon: Israel should focus on deterrence, not peace deals
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met Tuesday with the leaders of the Judea and Samaria communities and said that a future agreement with the Palestinians was unlikely to include the eviction of Jewish communities beyond the 1967 lines. He added that Israel should focus on “creating deterrence, not peace deals.”
“We have somehow become accustomed to the fact that just hearing the word ‘peace,’ just hearing it, instinctively spells ceding territory,” Ya’alon was quoted by the Walla news website as saying during the gathering, which was held in the Shomron Regional Council community of Barkan.
“The Middle East is about interests, not signed agreements, and interests are based on carrots and sticks,” he said. “In the Middle East it is actually carrots and clubs. Judea and Samaria are Israel’s homefront and therefore we must make them stronger.”
Ya’alon added, “Contrary to popular belief, the demographics are in our favor.”
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Syrian teen gets prosthetic leg in Israel hospital
(JNS.org) A Syrian teenager who was seriously wounded in the Syrian civil war was released from the Ziv Medical Center in Israel’s northern city of Safed on Tuesday, after more than a month of surgery and rehabilitation, Israel Hayom reported.
The 15-year-old girl was brought to the hospital by the Israel Defense Forces with serious shrapnel injuries to her left leg and stomach, after Syrian field medics amputated her right leg.
Israeli doctors succeeded in saving her left leg, and found a donor to cover the costs of getting a prosthetic leg for her. She was released on Tuesday in good condition.
“I wish the Israeli people a happy new year and I hope there will be peace and we will be able to meet again in a more sane Middle East,” the girl’s mother said. The two will return to their homes in the Daraa region.
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Jewish groups support ‘strong response’ to Syria’s use of chemical weapons
(JNS.org) The umbrella organization representing more than 50 Jewish groups on Tuesday issued a statement saying that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his people requires a “strong response.”
Prior to the statement by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the White House held a conference call to brief Jewish leaders on the situation in Syria.
“The use of such indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction represents moral challenges that require a strong response,” the Conference of Presidents said.
Morton A. Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of American (ZOA), participated in the White House conference call and told JNS.org that his organization “supports a military response to Syria because it will help maintain America’s credibility, especially when it comes to the threats from Iran, which is a close ally of Syria.”
But Klein added one caveat to his support.
“If [the U.S. military or Syrian rebels] are successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, who will take over? Will it be a Muslim Brotherhood-style regime like we experienced in Egypt after the fall of [former President Hosni] Mubarak? That is a deep concern for [ZOA]. But given everything, we nonetheless support action against Syria to get rid of the chemical weapons,” Klein said.
After the conference call, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) urged Congress to grant Obama the ability to authorize military action against Syria. Obama will seek approval for military action after Congress reconvenes on Sept. 9.
“The civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons, particularly against an innocent civilian population including hundreds of children,” AIPAC stated.
The Conference of Presidents said taking action against Syria would send a message to Iran.
“Those who possess or seek weapons of mass destruction, particularly Iran and Hezbollah, must see that there is accountability,” the statement said.
A source with knowledge of the White House’s conference call with Jewish leaders told JNS.org that the Obama Administration on the call assured Jewish leaders that it would not permit Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, and that America would take military action against the Islamic Republic if necessary.
The source—who requested to remain anonymous—added that White House officials said on the call that America would use military force to defend Israel against an attack by Iran or Syria.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org