Family of fallen IDF soldier believed to be held by Hamas demands answers
(JNS.org) Marking a year and a half since IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul was killed in action during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, and subsequently classified as a fallen soldier whose burial place is unknown, Shaul’s parents Zahava and Herzl held a press conference at their home in northern Israel to call for answers.
Shaul’s body is believed to be held by the Hamas terror group.
“Despite the efforts that have been made or not made, we have not seen a change in the situation and Oron has not been returned home,” Zahava said, Israel Hayom reported. “To this day, the family has no concrete and verifiable evidence that Oron is alive or not, wounded or dead, and we are in a situation of complete uncertainty.”
Addressing the Israeli government, she said, “A year and a half and the situation remains the same. This situation cannot continue.”
She also addressed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, saying, “Ismail Haniyeh, I am turning to you again…I want to believe you. Give me concrete evidence on the true condition of Oron.”
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Israeli lawmaker seeks to label foreign-funded NGOs as ‘plants’
(JNS.org) Member of Knesset Yoav Kisch (Likud) on Sunday introduced legislation seeking to label nongovernmental organizations operating in Israel while receiving the majority of their funding from foreign governments as “plants” or “agents” of the governments funding them.
The bill seeks to bar such NGOs from fostering collaborations with Israeli government ministries and the military, unless that activity is specifically authorized by the Justice Ministry. The proposal states that any infringement by NGOs of the new guidelines will incur a $26,000 fine.
Kisch’s legislation states, “There are various associations operating in the State of Israel that receive support and funding from foreign political entities, making them ‘plants’ in the midst of Israeli society….There is a clear phenomenon in Israel by which these foreign interests undermine Israel’s ability to defend itself and/or jeopardizes its Jewish and democratic character. While these associations promote foreign interests, they still qualify for various exemptions, despite the fact the Israeli public is harmed, directly, by their actions.”
“A democracy has to be able to defend itself,” Kisch said. “It’s inconceivable that foreign-funded NGOs use those funds to spread lies and anti-Israel propaganda worldwide.”
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Haaretz forum removes Israeli flag during Palestinian official’s address
(JNS.org) The organizers of the “HaaretzQ with New Israel Fund” conference in New York City removed the Israeli flag from the stage ahead of chief Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb Erekat’s speech on Sunday, sparking harsh criticism.
Many participants called the decision was “miserable” and “unfortunate.” In an official statement, Haaretz said, “Mr. Erekat’s team requested he not be made to speak next to the Israeli flag, and we honored his wishes.”
Speaking with Army Radio on Monday, Haaretz Publisher Amos Schocken said, “Haaretz doesn’t hold conferences against the backdrop of the Israeli flag….We did not place a Palestinian flag on the stage during Erekat’s speech. We had no intention of placing any flag on the stage. We placed it on stage at President [Reuven] Rivlin’s request, and removed it at Erekat’s request.”
While on stage, Erekat insisted that the PA “has recognized Israel’s existence and its right to peacefully exist within the 1967 lines.” He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “destroying the two-state solution and promoting apartheid.”
Israeli Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) said the flag incident “proves, yet again, that the problem we have with the Palestinian leadership is not a territorial dispute, but it lies with their inability to recognize a Jewish state within any lines.”
Elkin said the incident “disgraced Haaretz, which defines itself as an Israeli newspaper and is willing to champion any right—except the right to place the Israeli flag on its stage.”
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PM on Israeli’s release from Egypt: ‘Israel takes care of all its citizens’
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shed light on the recent prisoner exchange that saw Israeli citizen Ouda Tarabin released from an Egyptian prison and returned to Israel after a 15-year incarceration.
Netanyahu said Sunday that he “gave my word [to Egypt] that [Tarabin] did not spy for Israel.”
Tarabin, an Israeli Bedouin from the city of Rahat in southern Israel, was released after completing his 15-year sentence for espionage.
“I worked with three Egyptian presidents—[Hosni] Mubarak, [Mohamed] Morsi, and [Abdel-Fattah] El-Sisi—in efforts to get him out,” Netanyahu said. “A year and a half ago I sent attorney Isaac Molho, my emissary, to ensure that [Tarabin] is released on time. In exchange, we agreed to release six Egyptian prisoners—three who have completed their sentences and three others that did not commit security-related crimes.”
“The state of Israel takes care of all its citizens, without exception,” added Netanyahu.
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Palestinian terrorist charged with killing 2 Israelis in Tel Aviv
(JNS.org) The Israeli State Attorney’s Office on Sunday indicted a Palestinian terrorist from the village of Dura for stabbing and killing two Israelis in Tel Aviv last month.
The man, Raed Khalil, was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. According to prosecutors, Khalil arrived at a Tel Aviv office building after taking a nine-inch knife from a nearby restaurant. He fatally stabbed a man near a makeshift synagogue on the fourth floor and then killed another passerby who rushed toward the scene of the attack. Khalil tried to force his way inside the synagogue, but those inside closed the door on him. He went down two floors and continued his rampage, and was ultimately overpowered by several passersby who hit him with a metal rod and held him in a storage facility under until law enforcement arrived.
The two Israelis killed were 51-year old Reuven Aviram, from Ramla, and 32-year-old Rabbi Aharon Yesiab, from Tel Aviv. Khalil was in Israel on an expired permit that allowed him to visit the Jewish state for “personal reasons.”
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