Two Israeli police officers wounded in Jerusalem car-ramming attack
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Two Israeli Border Police officers were lightly wounded on Wednesday when an Arab terrorist rammed his vehicle into them in Jerusalem’s A-Tur neighborhood.
The attacker was shot dead by another border policeman at the scene. Palestinian sources identified the dead terrorist as 41-year-old Amran Abu Dhaim, a resident of Jerusalem’s Jabel Mukaber neighborhood. The wounded Border Police officers were transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Moshe Edri said the border policeman who neutralized the terrorist “did what was expected” of him by preventing further casualties. Following the attack, unrest broke out in the A-Tur neighborhood. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat arrived at the scene of the attack to be briefed on the details of what happened.
The incident is the latest in a string of Arab car-ramming attacks against Israelis. Last week, 22-year-old Palestinian man Muhammed Arfaaya of Hebron injured four Israelis ages 16-25 when he intentionally drove into a bus stop outside the Jewish community of Alon Shvut in Judea and Samaria. He confessed that he wanted to hurt Jews. Israeli Arab man Majdi Mahmed Salah is suspected of carrying out an April 25 car-ramming terror attack that wounded three Israeli police officers in A-Tur. Also in April, Arab man Khaled Koutineh deliberately drove into a bus stop in Jerusalem’s French Hill junction, killing 26-year-old Jewish man Shalom Yohai Sherki.
*
Israel nixes plan for separate bus lines in Judea and Samaria
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A pilot program launched Wednesday that sought to make separate bus lines available for Jews and Palestinians across Judea and Samaria was suspended several hours into the trial run, following blistering criticism.
The decision to suspend the pilot program was made following consultations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who had initially approved it. The program planned to have Palestinians entering Israel though major checkpoints across Judea and Samaria return to their homes from the exact same checkpoint, effectively barring them from sharing bus lines with Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria.
The pilot program was meant to take place over the course of three months, after which point its results would be evaluated by the Defense Ministry.
But the program was met with scathing criticism. Before the suspension was announced, former Israeli interior minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) said, “The [program] is wrong, it undermines the settlement enterprise, and it seriously harms Israel’s international image.” Zionist Union party leader Isaac Herzog posted on Facebook, “The separation between Jews and Palestinians on public transportation is an unnecessary humiliation; it taints Israel and the Israeli public’s image, and it adds fuel to the fire of hatred against Israel worldwide.”
Member of Knesset Moti Yogev (Habayit Hayehudi), however, dismissed criticism of the program as “hypocrisy.”
“Those who criticize this decision are unfamiliar with the reality on the ground, and their irresponsible statements are riddles with lies and hypocrisy,” Yogev said. “The reality is that the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria have better lives than anyone in the neighboring Arab countries.”
*
Israeli deputy FM to Norway: pressure Palestinians to recognize Jewish state
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Newly appointed Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) met with visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende on Tuesday. She told Brende, “We expect you to put pressure on the Palestinian leadership to recognize the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.”
On the future of Jerusalem, Hotovely said, “The Norwegian government has to realize that there is an Israeli consensus regarding the unity of Jerusalem.”
Hotovely called on European nations, including Norway, not to support unilateral steps by the Palestinians. She also thanked Brende for Norway’s fight against anti-Semitism and for his visit to Israel during Operation Protective Edge last summer.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini kicked off a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday, during which she will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
*
Vatican: Pope Francis meant no offense with Abbas ‘angel of peace’ remark
(JNS.org) Vatican spokesman Father Frederico Lombardi said that Pope Francis meant no offense in his purported description of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as an “angel of peace.”
“It is clear that there was no intention to offend anyone,” Lombardi told Reuters on Tuesday.
Pope Francis, who canonized two 19th-century nuns from what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine, met with Abbas on Saturday at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, where he presented the Palestinian leader with a bronze medallion.
There have been different accounts of what exactly Pope Francis said in Italian during an exchange with Abbas, with initial reports suggesting the pontiff called Abbas an “angel of peace.” Other reporters present said the statement could be translated as “you are a bit an angel of peace.”
The pope’s comments angered many pro-Israel observers who have questioned Abbas’s commitment to peace and his links to terrorism. Last week, the Vatican also came under fire for referring to the “State of Palestine” in a bilateral treaty between the Vatican and the Palestinians.
*
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: U.S. commitment to Israel ‘must be absolute’
(JNS.org) New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who may enter the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said that the current administration of President Barack Obama has not taken its relationship with Israel seriously enough.
“Our commitment to Israel must be absolute. Israel is a beacon of freedom in a sea of autocracy and our friendship should be unshakeable. Over the last few years this administration has taken our Israeli partners for granted and it is shameful how the president has treated them,” he said in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Christie, who in the past has come under fire from some pro-Israel observers for his remarks on the Jewish state and for one of his New Jersey judicial appointment’s ties to radical Islam, added, “Israel and its people must be supported by the United States and the American president—its existence and its security is non-negotiable, and the Iranians and others who think otherwise must be reminded by America of that simple fact.”
*
Israeli customs officials discover Islamic State rings in shipment at airport
(JNS.org) Customs officials at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport recently confiscated 120 rings bearing Arabic inscriptions pertaining to the Islamic State terror group.
The silver rings were reportedly made in Turkey and ordered by an importer in the de facto Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah. Israeli authorities plan to destroy the rings.
“The thought that there are people who affiliate themselves with a murderous agenda like ISIS is simply shocking,” said a customs source, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Tuesday.
“A large number of rings mean that there are buyers. It’s scary and shocking to know that in the lands of the Palestinian Authority there are those who support that murderous organization. And who knows? Maybe with our help they’ll discover a cell or ideological organization of ISIS,” a customs security employee said.
*
Israel criticizes U.S. for allowing Iran to violate sanctions
(JNS.org) An Israeli official has criticized the U.S. for allowing Iran to purchase aircraft that violated international sanctions.
Iranian media recently reported that Tehran had purchased 15 used commercial planes manufactured by Airbus, a European conglomerate. While the sale of aircraft spare parts was eased under the interim nuclear deal with Iran, planes are still restricted under the current sanctions.
“Israel learned from intelligence sources about this very significant breach of the sanctions in advance of it occurring,” an anonymous Israeli official told Reuters.
“We flagged the issue to the U.S. administration,” the official added. “Unfortunately, the deal still went through and there was no success in preventing it.”
According to the Israeli official, the airline involved in the sale had ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Hezbollah terrorist group.
*
American hiker found dead after fall near Israel’s Masada
(JNS.org) A 20-year-old American hiker was found dead on Tuesday after apparently falling while on a hike up a path to the Masada mountain near the Dead Sea in Israel.
According to reports, Briana McHam of Pompano Beach, Fla., who was participating in a Florida State University (FSU) summer program, fell about 26 feet near Masada’s popular Snake Path trail. The group she was with did not notice that she was missing until an hour later. When she fell, she hit her head and went unconscious in the searing heat.
“She was showing no signs of life and injuries across her body and paramedics had no choice but to rule her dead at the scene,” Magen David Adom paramedic Uri Tzahi said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our students, who was at the beginning of a life of discovery broadening her horizons,” said Dr. James Pitts, director of FSU International Programs. “Our hearts go out to her family, and we will assist them in any way we can, as well as other FSU students who might be affected during this difficult time.”
Separately, a group of women in their late teens had to be evacuated from the Dead Sea after suffering from dehydration. Temperatures had approached 118 degrees in the Dead Sea region on Tuesday.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.