16 aug 2015
Inquiry commission into Jerusalem Pride Parade stabbing to submit findings
The police inquiry commission formed following the murder of Shira Banki at the Jerusalem Pride Parade was expected to submit its findings on Sunday to Acting-Commissioner Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau, and later to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.
The commission, headed by Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yair Yitzhaki, examined among other thing the intelligence failure that allowed stabbed Yishai Shlissel to commit the exact same crime he did ten years ago.
The police inquiry commission formed following the murder of Shira Banki at the Jerusalem Pride Parade was expected to submit its findings on Sunday to Acting-Commissioner Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau, and later to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.
The commission, headed by Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yair Yitzhaki, examined among other thing the intelligence failure that allowed stabbed Yishai Shlissel to commit the exact same crime he did ten years ago.
Danino reportedly asked Northern District head to provide police escort to military ambulances transporting wounded Syrians, 12 hours before Syrian killed in mob attack on ambulance.
Even though then-police commissioner Yohanan Danino ordered police escort for ambulances carrying wounded Syrians for treatment in Israel, such escort was not provided on the night of June 22, resulting in the lynching of one Syrian and critical wounding of another.
The lynching occurred on the same day as a similar incident in which an ambulance carrying wounded Syrians through the local council of Hurfeish in the Upper Galilee was attacked by a mob of Druze, angry at the slaughter of their people in the war-torn Syria. The angry mob hurled stones at the military ambulance and tried to block its path, demanding to know who was on the ambulance. The incident ended without harm to those in the ambulance, but a 54-year-old Hurfeish native was moderately hurt when the ambulance hit him while fleeing the mob.
The morning after the incident in Hurfeish the Israel Police held its weekly meeting of the high-ranked command, during which they discussed the attack on the ambulance. Then-commissioner Danino said the mob attack was a "grave" incident and asked Northern District Commander, Maj.-Gen. Zohar Dvir, to coordinate with the IDF in order to provide police escorts to the ambulances.
Danino asked to ensure "there won't be any surprises" and, according to one of the officers present in that meeting, asked Dvir to inform Police Operations Chief Aharon Aksol if extra forces were needed to provide security for the ambulances. That evening, an ambulance was making its way from the Golan Heights to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, accompanied by only one jeep of Military Police. Near Majdal Shams, the ambulance encountered 150 Druze rioters who attacked it, chasing it to Neve Ativ and hurling stones at it.
The two wounded Syrians on board, who were in serious condition when arriving to Israel, were critically wounded. One of the Syrians later succumbed to his wounds.
The troops in the Military Police jeep were helpless facing the mob. And so, only 12 hours after the meeting of the police's top brass, a mob once again attacked a military ambulance, hurting not just the Syrian patients on board, but also two soldiers. Police laid the responsibility for the lynching on the army.
The IDF, meanwhile, claimed that since the attack was committed by lawbreaking civilians inside the borders of Israel, it was the police's responsibility to stop them. The Israel Police did learn from the attacks on June 22, and now military ambulances are regularly escorted by police. Less than two months later, Dvir became one of the three final candidates for police commissioner. "This is an outrage," said one high-ranking officer.
"There was an inquiry commission after the stabbing at the pride parade, and there the police didn't know what could happen, while an incident in the north that police actually held a discussion about - with the entire top command - is swept under the rug."
The Police's Northern District said in response: "Contrary to the claims raised in the report, there was no wrongdoing found in the conduct of the district in both incidents. The district acted in line with the law, its authorities and the instructions it received. This also appears in the protocol of the Israel Police senior command meeting.
We regret that interest groups are slandering us while ignoring the fact there was no wrongdoing found in the district's conduct, including its conduct after the incident, which included the arrest of dozens of suspects and bringing the perpetrators to justice."
Even though then-police commissioner Yohanan Danino ordered police escort for ambulances carrying wounded Syrians for treatment in Israel, such escort was not provided on the night of June 22, resulting in the lynching of one Syrian and critical wounding of another.
The lynching occurred on the same day as a similar incident in which an ambulance carrying wounded Syrians through the local council of Hurfeish in the Upper Galilee was attacked by a mob of Druze, angry at the slaughter of their people in the war-torn Syria. The angry mob hurled stones at the military ambulance and tried to block its path, demanding to know who was on the ambulance. The incident ended without harm to those in the ambulance, but a 54-year-old Hurfeish native was moderately hurt when the ambulance hit him while fleeing the mob.
The morning after the incident in Hurfeish the Israel Police held its weekly meeting of the high-ranked command, during which they discussed the attack on the ambulance. Then-commissioner Danino said the mob attack was a "grave" incident and asked Northern District Commander, Maj.-Gen. Zohar Dvir, to coordinate with the IDF in order to provide police escorts to the ambulances.
Danino asked to ensure "there won't be any surprises" and, according to one of the officers present in that meeting, asked Dvir to inform Police Operations Chief Aharon Aksol if extra forces were needed to provide security for the ambulances. That evening, an ambulance was making its way from the Golan Heights to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, accompanied by only one jeep of Military Police. Near Majdal Shams, the ambulance encountered 150 Druze rioters who attacked it, chasing it to Neve Ativ and hurling stones at it.
The two wounded Syrians on board, who were in serious condition when arriving to Israel, were critically wounded. One of the Syrians later succumbed to his wounds.
The troops in the Military Police jeep were helpless facing the mob. And so, only 12 hours after the meeting of the police's top brass, a mob once again attacked a military ambulance, hurting not just the Syrian patients on board, but also two soldiers. Police laid the responsibility for the lynching on the army.
The IDF, meanwhile, claimed that since the attack was committed by lawbreaking civilians inside the borders of Israel, it was the police's responsibility to stop them. The Israel Police did learn from the attacks on June 22, and now military ambulances are regularly escorted by police. Less than two months later, Dvir became one of the three final candidates for police commissioner. "This is an outrage," said one high-ranking officer.
"There was an inquiry commission after the stabbing at the pride parade, and there the police didn't know what could happen, while an incident in the north that police actually held a discussion about - with the entire top command - is swept under the rug."
The Police's Northern District said in response: "Contrary to the claims raised in the report, there was no wrongdoing found in the conduct of the district in both incidents. The district acted in line with the law, its authorities and the instructions it received. This also appears in the protocol of the Israel Police senior command meeting.
We regret that interest groups are slandering us while ignoring the fact there was no wrongdoing found in the district's conduct, including its conduct after the incident, which included the arrest of dozens of suspects and bringing the perpetrators to justice."
15 aug 2015
Jewish man armed with knife and Molotov cocktail arrested in Beit Shemesh
A Jewish man armed with a knife and a Molotov cocktail was arrested on Saturday at a commercial center in Beit Shemesh. The suspect pulled out a knife at police forces that arrived at the scene following reports of an armed man.
A police officer drew out his weapon, causing the suspect to lower his knife.
A Jewish man armed with a knife and a Molotov cocktail was arrested on Saturday at a commercial center in Beit Shemesh. The suspect pulled out a knife at police forces that arrived at the scene following reports of an armed man.
A police officer drew out his weapon, causing the suspect to lower his knife.
14 aug 2015
Loav Bakri, 31
A gang of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian worker who was repairing a traffic light in an illegal Israeli settlement near Jerusalem Thursday, landing the worker in the hospital with a broken hand and a number of other injuries, according to local sources.
The worker, Loav Bakri, 31, works as an electrical contractor, and was sent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev to fix a broken traffic light.
When he arrived on the worksite, he was attacked by a gang of six extremist settler youth who beat him severely with metal rods, fists and boots.
Bakri suffered multiple injuries in the attack, and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.
This attack follows a series of escalating attacks on Palestinian civilians by armed Israeli paramilitary forces, who have burned churches, vandalized mosques, beaten numerous civilians including children, and firebombed homes.
The most serious of the recent attacks was the firebombing of a home in the northern West Bank village of Douma, in which an 18-month old baby was burned to death. The rest of the family suffered critical burns all over their bodies - the father died a week later, while the mother remains comatose, along with the four-year old brother of the baby.
No Israeli settlers have been charged with the burning of the family in Douma.
As for the beating of the worker in Pisgat Ze'ev Thursday, two Israeli settler youth were detained, but have not been charged with any crime.
A gang of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian worker who was repairing a traffic light in an illegal Israeli settlement near Jerusalem Thursday, landing the worker in the hospital with a broken hand and a number of other injuries, according to local sources.
The worker, Loav Bakri, 31, works as an electrical contractor, and was sent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev to fix a broken traffic light.
When he arrived on the worksite, he was attacked by a gang of six extremist settler youth who beat him severely with metal rods, fists and boots.
Bakri suffered multiple injuries in the attack, and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.
This attack follows a series of escalating attacks on Palestinian civilians by armed Israeli paramilitary forces, who have burned churches, vandalized mosques, beaten numerous civilians including children, and firebombed homes.
The most serious of the recent attacks was the firebombing of a home in the northern West Bank village of Douma, in which an 18-month old baby was burned to death. The rest of the family suffered critical burns all over their bodies - the father died a week later, while the mother remains comatose, along with the four-year old brother of the baby.
No Israeli settlers have been charged with the burning of the family in Douma.
As for the beating of the worker in Pisgat Ze'ev Thursday, two Israeli settler youth were detained, but have not been charged with any crime.
11 aug 2015
Israel police questioned and freed, on Tuesday, a Jewish extremist leader who condoned torching churches amid an uproar over recent attacks carried out by Israeli settlers, including the deadly firebombing of a Palestinian home.
Benzi Gopstein, who heads far-right group Lehava, has not been linked to any recent attacks, but his comments regarding churches came at a time of heightened sensitivity over Jewish extremism and drew outrage from Roman Catholic officials.
Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri said Gopstein had been called in for questioning "about his comments regarding the burning of churches."
He was later allowed to go free, she added.
During a debate with religious students last week, Gopstein defended the idea of burning churches, reportedly invoking a medieval Jewish commandment to destroy places of idol-worship, according to a widely broadcast recording of the event.
A formal complaint to Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein was later filed by the body in charge of Catholic properties in the Holy Land.
In a letter seen by AFP Monday, the Custodian of the Holy Land called for Gopstein to be prosecuted and for Lehava to be outlawed.
"To our utter dismay, recent years have witnessed an alarming and frightening increase in violent attacks against Christians, Christianity and Christian institutions in Israel," the letter said, denouncing an "atmosphere of de facto impunity," the letter read.
Gopstein's lawyer Itamar Ben Gvir, speaking on public radio, said "our client has been summoned to interrogation in the wake of pressure from the Vatican."
"I ask myself what the next step will be. Will the pope decide to file charges?"
Gopstein, who lives in the flashpoint occupied West Bank city of Hebron, has previously faced police questioning. He was one of 10 Lehava members detained last year over an arson attack on a mixed Jewish and Palestinian school in Jerusalem.
Lehava claims to fight for Jewish identity, in particular by opposing marriages between Jews and non-Jews. Gopstein's summons Tuesday followed attacks, attributed to Jewish extremists, on Palestinians and Christian holy sites in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
A Palestinian 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha was burned alive and his father was fatally injured when alleged Jewish extremists firebombed their home at the end of last month.
Hours earlier, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed six people at a Gay Pride march in Jerusalem, mortally wounding a 16-year-old girl.
On June 18, an arson attack occurred at a shrine on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel where Jesus is believed to have performed the miracle of loaves and fishes.
While Israeli prosecutors have charged three Israeli extremists in the Sea of Galilea arson attack, officials reported Monday that all suspects detained in a probe into the deadly attack on the Dawabsha home had been released.
The suspects had been detained during raids in Jewish outposts nearby the family's village.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled the arson attack as "terrorism" and pledged to use all legal means to track down the perpetrators, critics argue the legal system is not capable of properly prosecuting Israeli settlers.
Palestinian leadership and rights groups say that Israeli government policies -- including support for settlement expansion and frequent impunity for settlers -- allow such attacks to take place.
Head of far-right group under police investigation
Bentzi Gopstein, chairman of radical anti-assimilation group Lehava, drew law enforcement's attention after recent recording in which he said church arson was legitimate under Jewish law.
Police have been investigating the chairman of the far-right Lehava group, Bentzi Gopstein, for possible incitement, Judea and Samaria District Police said Tuesday.
According to the police department's spokesman, Gopstein was summoned for questioning at the division for nationalistic crimes, where he was asked about his statements about church arsons.
Gopstein's lawyer said the police had submitted to the will of the Vatican, which on Monday called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to indict Gopstein.
Just last week, Gopstein was recorded at a haredi panel saying that burning churches was legitimate under Jewish law.
"Do you support burning churches in Israel, yes or no?" by Benny Rabinowitz, a writer for the ultra-Orthodox daily newspaper Yated Ne'eman, Gopstein replied that Maimonedes had ruled that churches should be burned. "Are you for Maimonides or against him?" he asked, rhetorically.
The debate occurred about a month after an arson attack caused extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the Church of Loaves and Fish on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in June. Hebrew graffiti was found at the scene that denounced the worship of idols. Gopstein's statements at the debate shocked many attendees. Rabbi Moshe Klein told Gopstein, "You are on camera and being recorded. If this lands in the hands of the police, you will be arrested." Gopstein answered, "That’s the last thing that worries me. I'm willing to sit in prison for 50 years the truth."
Immediately after the meeting, Rabinowitz exposed Gopstein's remarks on Twitter, igniting a social media frenzy.
Gopstein denied the report, saying he was merely quoting Maimonides as a part of a theoretical debate over Jewish law.
Benzi Gopstein, who heads far-right group Lehava, has not been linked to any recent attacks, but his comments regarding churches came at a time of heightened sensitivity over Jewish extremism and drew outrage from Roman Catholic officials.
Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri said Gopstein had been called in for questioning "about his comments regarding the burning of churches."
He was later allowed to go free, she added.
During a debate with religious students last week, Gopstein defended the idea of burning churches, reportedly invoking a medieval Jewish commandment to destroy places of idol-worship, according to a widely broadcast recording of the event.
A formal complaint to Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein was later filed by the body in charge of Catholic properties in the Holy Land.
In a letter seen by AFP Monday, the Custodian of the Holy Land called for Gopstein to be prosecuted and for Lehava to be outlawed.
"To our utter dismay, recent years have witnessed an alarming and frightening increase in violent attacks against Christians, Christianity and Christian institutions in Israel," the letter said, denouncing an "atmosphere of de facto impunity," the letter read.
Gopstein's lawyer Itamar Ben Gvir, speaking on public radio, said "our client has been summoned to interrogation in the wake of pressure from the Vatican."
"I ask myself what the next step will be. Will the pope decide to file charges?"
Gopstein, who lives in the flashpoint occupied West Bank city of Hebron, has previously faced police questioning. He was one of 10 Lehava members detained last year over an arson attack on a mixed Jewish and Palestinian school in Jerusalem.
Lehava claims to fight for Jewish identity, in particular by opposing marriages between Jews and non-Jews. Gopstein's summons Tuesday followed attacks, attributed to Jewish extremists, on Palestinians and Christian holy sites in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
A Palestinian 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha was burned alive and his father was fatally injured when alleged Jewish extremists firebombed their home at the end of last month.
Hours earlier, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed six people at a Gay Pride march in Jerusalem, mortally wounding a 16-year-old girl.
On June 18, an arson attack occurred at a shrine on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel where Jesus is believed to have performed the miracle of loaves and fishes.
While Israeli prosecutors have charged three Israeli extremists in the Sea of Galilea arson attack, officials reported Monday that all suspects detained in a probe into the deadly attack on the Dawabsha home had been released.
The suspects had been detained during raids in Jewish outposts nearby the family's village.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled the arson attack as "terrorism" and pledged to use all legal means to track down the perpetrators, critics argue the legal system is not capable of properly prosecuting Israeli settlers.
Palestinian leadership and rights groups say that Israeli government policies -- including support for settlement expansion and frequent impunity for settlers -- allow such attacks to take place.
Head of far-right group under police investigation
Bentzi Gopstein, chairman of radical anti-assimilation group Lehava, drew law enforcement's attention after recent recording in which he said church arson was legitimate under Jewish law.
Police have been investigating the chairman of the far-right Lehava group, Bentzi Gopstein, for possible incitement, Judea and Samaria District Police said Tuesday.
According to the police department's spokesman, Gopstein was summoned for questioning at the division for nationalistic crimes, where he was asked about his statements about church arsons.
Gopstein's lawyer said the police had submitted to the will of the Vatican, which on Monday called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to indict Gopstein.
Just last week, Gopstein was recorded at a haredi panel saying that burning churches was legitimate under Jewish law.
"Do you support burning churches in Israel, yes or no?" by Benny Rabinowitz, a writer for the ultra-Orthodox daily newspaper Yated Ne'eman, Gopstein replied that Maimonedes had ruled that churches should be burned. "Are you for Maimonides or against him?" he asked, rhetorically.
The debate occurred about a month after an arson attack caused extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the Church of Loaves and Fish on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in June. Hebrew graffiti was found at the scene that denounced the worship of idols. Gopstein's statements at the debate shocked many attendees. Rabbi Moshe Klein told Gopstein, "You are on camera and being recorded. If this lands in the hands of the police, you will be arrested." Gopstein answered, "That’s the last thing that worries me. I'm willing to sit in prison for 50 years the truth."
Immediately after the meeting, Rabinowitz exposed Gopstein's remarks on Twitter, igniting a social media frenzy.
Gopstein denied the report, saying he was merely quoting Maimonides as a part of a theoretical debate over Jewish law.
10 aug 2015
The Custody of the Holy Land asks AG to indict radical right-winger for saying church burning complies with Jewish law.
The Custody of the Holy Land, the Vatican's representative body in Israel, called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to indict high-profile Jewish supremacist Bentzi Gopstein on charges of incitement to racism.
In a letter to Weinstein, the Custody's legal adviser cited comments Gopstein made at a panel discussion last week, where he said that burning churches complies with Jewish law.
"I implore you to employ all the legal measures at your disposal," Adv. Farid Jubran wrote on behalf of the Vatican. "Mr Gopstein's incitement puts churches and Christian communities in a clear and present danger."
During a panel discussion at Jerusalem's Netivot Hochma on Wednesday, Gopstein said that "burning idolatry" is a legitimate Jewish practice that was stipulated by Maimonides, the Medieval Jewish sage.
Gopstein is the chairman of Lehava, an organization that seeks to prevent the "assimilation" of Jewish Israelis.
The Custody of the Holy Land, the Vatican's representative body in Israel, called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to indict high-profile Jewish supremacist Bentzi Gopstein on charges of incitement to racism.
In a letter to Weinstein, the Custody's legal adviser cited comments Gopstein made at a panel discussion last week, where he said that burning churches complies with Jewish law.
"I implore you to employ all the legal measures at your disposal," Adv. Farid Jubran wrote on behalf of the Vatican. "Mr Gopstein's incitement puts churches and Christian communities in a clear and present danger."
During a panel discussion at Jerusalem's Netivot Hochma on Wednesday, Gopstein said that "burning idolatry" is a legitimate Jewish practice that was stipulated by Maimonides, the Medieval Jewish sage.
Gopstein is the chairman of Lehava, an organization that seeks to prevent the "assimilation" of Jewish Israelis.
Israel has released all suspects detained in raids as part of a probe into the firebombing of a Palestinian home which killed an 18-month-old child and his father, Israeli authorities said Monday.
They did not provide the number of those detained in the raids, early Sunday, in Jewish settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, near the Palestinian village of Douma, where the July 31 firebombing occurred.
Outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are notorious for housing young Jewish hardliners, referred to as 'hilltop youth'.
"All those arrested yesterday for interrogation have been released," a spokeswoman for the Shin Bet domestic security agency told AFP, without providing further details.
The raids came as Israel seeks to crack down on Jewish extremists following the firebombing that also critically wounded the toddler's mother and four-year-old brother.
The attack has led to pressure on the government to act against Jewish extremists accused of being behind a series of hate crimes and nationalist attacks, including a stabbing attack at a Gay Pride parade in West Jerusalem, last month, which killed a 16-year-old girl and wounded five people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has labelled the firebombing "terrorism" and pledged to use all legal means to track down the perpetrators.
However, many Palestinians have pointed out that Israeli government policies -- including support for settlement expansion and frequent impunity for settlers -- allowed for the firebombing to take place.
In addition to Sunday's raids, three alleged Jewish extremists have been placed in a controversial form of detention without trial usually used for Palestinians.
Over 85 percent of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictments, Israeli rights group Yesh Din says.
The 100 or so Jewish outposts in the occupied West Bank are not officially recognized by the Israeli government but receive support and assistance from government ministries.
Since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has built over 125 Jewish-only settlements across the territories with a settler population of over 500,000, in contravention of international law.
They did not provide the number of those detained in the raids, early Sunday, in Jewish settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, near the Palestinian village of Douma, where the July 31 firebombing occurred.
Outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are notorious for housing young Jewish hardliners, referred to as 'hilltop youth'.
"All those arrested yesterday for interrogation have been released," a spokeswoman for the Shin Bet domestic security agency told AFP, without providing further details.
The raids came as Israel seeks to crack down on Jewish extremists following the firebombing that also critically wounded the toddler's mother and four-year-old brother.
The attack has led to pressure on the government to act against Jewish extremists accused of being behind a series of hate crimes and nationalist attacks, including a stabbing attack at a Gay Pride parade in West Jerusalem, last month, which killed a 16-year-old girl and wounded five people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has labelled the firebombing "terrorism" and pledged to use all legal means to track down the perpetrators.
However, many Palestinians have pointed out that Israeli government policies -- including support for settlement expansion and frequent impunity for settlers -- allowed for the firebombing to take place.
In addition to Sunday's raids, three alleged Jewish extremists have been placed in a controversial form of detention without trial usually used for Palestinians.
Over 85 percent of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictments, Israeli rights group Yesh Din says.
The 100 or so Jewish outposts in the occupied West Bank are not officially recognized by the Israeli government but receive support and assistance from government ministries.
Since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has built over 125 Jewish-only settlements across the territories with a settler population of over 500,000, in contravention of international law.
Golan Heights man (22) and woman (48) charged with murdering a man they suspected was associated with Islamic rebel group that massacred Druze communities in Syria.
Two residents of a Druze town in the Golan Heights were indicted on Monday on charges of murdering wounded Syrian men while they were being taken to an Israeli hospital.
According to the indictment, dozens of residents of Majdal Shams ambushed an Israel Defense Forces ambulance carrying two lightly wounded Syrian nationals last June. While driving through the town, the ambulance was stopped by a number of ATVs, and soon surrounded by an angry mob. The medical staff locked themselves inside the ambulance, and the accompanying military police told the rioters that the patients are soldiers. Rejecting the claim, the mob manhandled the ambulance and smashed one of its windows.
Two residents of a Druze town in the Golan Heights were indicted on Monday on charges of murdering wounded Syrian men while they were being taken to an Israeli hospital.
According to the indictment, dozens of residents of Majdal Shams ambushed an Israel Defense Forces ambulance carrying two lightly wounded Syrian nationals last June. While driving through the town, the ambulance was stopped by a number of ATVs, and soon surrounded by an angry mob. The medical staff locked themselves inside the ambulance, and the accompanying military police told the rioters that the patients are soldiers. Rejecting the claim, the mob manhandled the ambulance and smashed one of its windows.
Also according to the indictment, the driver escaped the mob and drove to the nearby village of Neve Ativ, where it was seized again and the two Syrian patients were attacked. One of them was killed and two IDF soldiers were wounded.
The victims, who were allegedly affiliated with the Islamist rebel organization Nusra Front, were attacked in revenge for attacks perpetrated by the organization against Druze communities in Syria.
The lynching was partially filmed by one of the perpetrators. They are seen to be shouting, stomping the wounded men and beating them with a stick.
The defendants were identified as 22-year-old Amal Abu Saleh and 48-year-old Bashira Mahmoud.
"We have found clear evidence against the defendants," said Superintendent Eli Fuchs of Israel Police's Northern District. "We have pictures showing the female defendant hurling stones at the victims and the male defendant beating one of them with a stick." "The defendants have not justified their act," he added. "However, the female defendant said that her relatives had been killed in Syria by ISIS and Nusra Front. She said: 'If your family had been raped and murdered, how would you have reacted?'"
According to Superintendent Fuchs, the victims weren't affiliated with any rebel group. "The wounded Syrian was repatriated after giving evidence. He didn't recall much from the incident."
Mahmoud's lawyer told Ynet that his client was not involved in the attack. "We will show clear-cut evidence that she had nothing to do with the murder," he said.
The victims, who were allegedly affiliated with the Islamist rebel organization Nusra Front, were attacked in revenge for attacks perpetrated by the organization against Druze communities in Syria.
The lynching was partially filmed by one of the perpetrators. They are seen to be shouting, stomping the wounded men and beating them with a stick.
The defendants were identified as 22-year-old Amal Abu Saleh and 48-year-old Bashira Mahmoud.
"We have found clear evidence against the defendants," said Superintendent Eli Fuchs of Israel Police's Northern District. "We have pictures showing the female defendant hurling stones at the victims and the male defendant beating one of them with a stick." "The defendants have not justified their act," he added. "However, the female defendant said that her relatives had been killed in Syria by ISIS and Nusra Front. She said: 'If your family had been raped and murdered, how would you have reacted?'"
According to Superintendent Fuchs, the victims weren't affiliated with any rebel group. "The wounded Syrian was repatriated after giving evidence. He didn't recall much from the incident."
Mahmoud's lawyer told Ynet that his client was not involved in the attack. "We will show clear-cut evidence that she had nothing to do with the murder," he said.
Former Shin Bet official outlines problems with relying on imprisonment without trial as an ongoing solution to Jewish extremism in the West Bank.
Former Shin Bet official Lior Akerman warned Sunday that the recent wave of administrative detentions dealt to Jewish activists suspected of terrorism may herald a significant shift in government policy, but won't solve the legal problem facing authorities in dealing with extremist Jewish groups in the West Bank.
Over the course of the last several days, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has approved administrative detention (jail without trial) for three radical right-wingers: Meir Ettinger, the grandson of the late Jewish supremacist Rabbi Meir Kahane and a high-value target for the Shin Bet, Evyatar Slonim and Mordechai Meyer.
Akerman, a former brigadier-general who served as a division head in the Shin Bet, says that while administrative detention is an efficient policy that helps prevent attacks, it can't be used as tool en masse. "It's a very efficient tool on the Palestinian front," he said.
"Factually, there are few administrative detentions and if you take a small group, dominant and central, and put it behind bars, that dramatically decreases their activities." But according to Akerman, administrative detention is not realistic as a permanent solution. Instead, he said the solution may be a change in legislation to speed up the legal process to bring strong cases against "hilltop youth," the radical fringes of the settler movement.
"The young people who run on the hills and were already involved in attacks against Arabs, torching cars and uprooting orchards and no one called their actions terror, receive motivation to continue," said Akerman. "We must define what it means to be involved in terrorism and not".
"We should have started enforcing the law against these guys - a group of fundamentalist ideological criminals that see no justice," continued Akerman. "They don't recognize the law of the land. If we don't give them a hit on the head it will continue to grow." Akerman explained that legally, the imprisonment of Jews and Arabs are two different realities.
"Every Arab who agrees to join Hamas and goes to a meeting in a mosque can be arrested and investigated for organizing terror - which doesn't exist among the Jewish population. Therefore, these guys are organizing, acting, going out, throwing fire bombs, beating Arabs, publishing incitement on internet blogs in ways you wouldn't believe - and that's not considered terror or a security risk in legal terms."
But the problems don't end there, explained Akerman. "This makes it really difficult for the Shin Bet to arrest them and even if they are arrested, it makes it hard to extend their prison time and makes it hard for the prosecution to present evidence to bring them to trial." Akerman suggested that the act of networking with Jewish extremists be placed under a law against "unlawful association," similar to that in place against Arab terror organizations.
"This demands a very wide process, not by the Shin Bet who knows how to do what it knows to do, but by the attorney general, the prosecutors, the prime minister and the justice minister."
Former Shin Bet official Lior Akerman warned Sunday that the recent wave of administrative detentions dealt to Jewish activists suspected of terrorism may herald a significant shift in government policy, but won't solve the legal problem facing authorities in dealing with extremist Jewish groups in the West Bank.
Over the course of the last several days, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has approved administrative detention (jail without trial) for three radical right-wingers: Meir Ettinger, the grandson of the late Jewish supremacist Rabbi Meir Kahane and a high-value target for the Shin Bet, Evyatar Slonim and Mordechai Meyer.
Akerman, a former brigadier-general who served as a division head in the Shin Bet, says that while administrative detention is an efficient policy that helps prevent attacks, it can't be used as tool en masse. "It's a very efficient tool on the Palestinian front," he said.
"Factually, there are few administrative detentions and if you take a small group, dominant and central, and put it behind bars, that dramatically decreases their activities." But according to Akerman, administrative detention is not realistic as a permanent solution. Instead, he said the solution may be a change in legislation to speed up the legal process to bring strong cases against "hilltop youth," the radical fringes of the settler movement.
"The young people who run on the hills and were already involved in attacks against Arabs, torching cars and uprooting orchards and no one called their actions terror, receive motivation to continue," said Akerman. "We must define what it means to be involved in terrorism and not".
"We should have started enforcing the law against these guys - a group of fundamentalist ideological criminals that see no justice," continued Akerman. "They don't recognize the law of the land. If we don't give them a hit on the head it will continue to grow." Akerman explained that legally, the imprisonment of Jews and Arabs are two different realities.
"Every Arab who agrees to join Hamas and goes to a meeting in a mosque can be arrested and investigated for organizing terror - which doesn't exist among the Jewish population. Therefore, these guys are organizing, acting, going out, throwing fire bombs, beating Arabs, publishing incitement on internet blogs in ways you wouldn't believe - and that's not considered terror or a security risk in legal terms."
But the problems don't end there, explained Akerman. "This makes it really difficult for the Shin Bet to arrest them and even if they are arrested, it makes it hard to extend their prison time and makes it hard for the prosecution to present evidence to bring them to trial." Akerman suggested that the act of networking with Jewish extremists be placed under a law against "unlawful association," similar to that in place against Arab terror organizations.
"This demands a very wide process, not by the Shin Bet who knows how to do what it knows to do, but by the attorney general, the prosecutors, the prime minister and the justice minister."
9 aug 2015
Legal report of events in 2014 shows 629 drug cases were opened; troop desertions decrease to 3,359.
An internal legal report from the IDF released Sunday, revealed a 50% increase in indictments of soldiers in 2014 for crimes involving drugs including selling, producing and trading.
According to the released figures, 629 cases were opened for drug related crimes compared to 416 in 2013. Accordingly, 66% of military police investigations involved drug crimes compared to 50% in 2013.
The accusations against soldiers included a wide range of crimes, from refusal to undergo a drug test to actively dealing drugs. The increase in cases can be partially explained by a change in the IDF's legal procedures to include prosecution for those who've admitted to using semi-legal substances like Mr. Nice Guy despite not appearing on the IDF's list of dangerous drugs. The new figures include several cases that were appealed and even some that were dropped.
The report also revealed a decrease in the number of troop desertions over the course of 2014, though the figure still remained at over 3,000 soldiers
Specifically, 3,359 cases of desertion were opened in 2014 compared to 3,862 in 2013. The report said that 64% of those cases were opened by the central division of the military prosecution. Just 19% were opened by the southern division and another 17 in the north.
An internal legal report from the IDF released Sunday, revealed a 50% increase in indictments of soldiers in 2014 for crimes involving drugs including selling, producing and trading.
According to the released figures, 629 cases were opened for drug related crimes compared to 416 in 2013. Accordingly, 66% of military police investigations involved drug crimes compared to 50% in 2013.
The accusations against soldiers included a wide range of crimes, from refusal to undergo a drug test to actively dealing drugs. The increase in cases can be partially explained by a change in the IDF's legal procedures to include prosecution for those who've admitted to using semi-legal substances like Mr. Nice Guy despite not appearing on the IDF's list of dangerous drugs. The new figures include several cases that were appealed and even some that were dropped.
The report also revealed a decrease in the number of troop desertions over the course of 2014, though the figure still remained at over 3,000 soldiers
Specifically, 3,359 cases of desertion were opened in 2014 compared to 3,862 in 2013. The report said that 64% of those cases were opened by the central division of the military prosecution. Just 19% were opened by the southern division and another 17 in the north.
Police arrest Meir Ettinger
Shin Bet Israeli security service, with Israeli police, arrested nine settlers Sunday morning, as part of a crackdown on suspected Jewish terrorists, Haaretz said, according to the PNN.
Two West Bank settlers were arrested at the Adei Ad outpost near Douma village where Sa’ad Dawabsha and his baby son Ali were burned to death by Zionist Jewish extremists. Security forces also searched seven houses.
Haaretz added that forces also raided outpost Baladim in the northern West Bank near and arrested seven people.
Following the arson attack, the Israeli police announced they were unable to identify the Douma arson attacker, and asked for help to find leads to the suspect.
However, the Knesset passed an “anti-terrorism” bill which allows six-months administrative detention of the attackers.
Haaretz said that one of those detained is 18-year-old Mordechai Meyer of Ma’aleh Adumim settlement. Meyer was jailed in Rimonim Prison for six months after an administrative detention order was issued against him. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who issued the order, said that Meyer was suspected of involvement in recent violence and terror attacks as part of a Jewish terror group.
Another detainee is Eviatar Slonim, suspected of belonging to an extremist group that sought to harm Arabs and replace the government in Israel with a Jewish kingdom. Slonim had been previously arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Palestinian home in the South Hebron Hills in November 2014.
Last week, Israeli Channel 10 said that security sources have pointed the finger towards an illegal outpost in the eastern Shilo area in the West bank which, according to the sources, have “a history” of hostility with the Palestinian villages in the area.
While the police arrested far-right activist Meir Ettinger, he has not been named as a suspect in the attack, said i24.
Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Arab movement Kach, was arrested on Monday “because of his activities in a Jewish extremist organization,” a spokesman for the Shin Bet internal security service told AFP.
The court prolonged the incarceration of Meir Ettinger until at least Sunday, judicial sources said.
Police said Ettinger, who is aged around 20, was suspected of “nationalist crimes” but did not accuse him of direct involvement in last week’s firebombing of a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, in which a toddler was burned to death.
Haaretz additionally reported that Ettinger was linked to last month’s arson attack on the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The church was damaged and two people injured.
The “anti-Jewish-terrorism” process began after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man named Yishai Schlissel, stabbed six people at Jerusalem’s annual Gay Pride Parade, on July 30, accompanied by terrifying images of the attack, turning heads towards the growing extremism.
In 2005, Schlissel told police that he was planning “to kill in the name of God” and that “such abomination cannot exist in Israel,” reported the BBC. He was later convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison. During that attack, police said that Schlissel dodged in between marchers, stabbing at random until he was pinned down by the police.
Update 9 aug 2015: Video, what happens when a gay couple walk down Jerusalem street?
Israel places two radical right-wing suspects in administrative detention
Police raid West Bank outposts in crackdown on 'hilltop youth,' as part of recent efforts to curb Jewish violence against Palestinians in wake of the deadly arson attack on the Dawabsheh family last month.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon issued on Sunday administrative detention orders for two radical right-wing suspects, Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim.
Their remand was scheduled to be extended on Sunday, but following Ya'alon's edict they could remain in custory for up to six months without being brought before a judge.
The two, who are in their early 20s, were arrested last week. Another suspected Jewish extremist, Mordechai Mayer, was placed under six-month administrative detention last week.
Last week, the Security Cabinet approved the use of harsh measures to combat the trend, including administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold suspects for lengthy periods without charge. The measure has been mainly used against Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist groups, and rarely against Israelis.
The Shin Bet security agency has accused Ettinger of leading an extremist Jewish movement responsible for encouraging attacks on Palestinian property and Christian holy sites, including an arson attack on a well-known church near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel that marks the New Testament story of the miracle of the loaves and fish.
Adv. Aharon Roza of Honenu said on behalf of his clients that "it is unacceptable that Ettinger and Slonim's administrative detention will substitute their court hearing today. It seems like the judicial process is just a charade." The Defense Ministry said that the decree was issued following the recommendation of Shin Bet security services.
Israeli human rights activists who advocate on behalf of Palestinians, as well as lawyers for the Israeli suspects, criticized the use of administrative detention, portraying it as a draconian measure intended to appease an Israeli public shocked at the firebomb attack.
"It is carried out based on an administrative order only, without indictment or trial, and the detainee cannot defend himself against the allegations as the evidence is classified," a statement by human rights group B'Tselem said.
"This measure is dangerous...for the entire legal system and for democracy," said Aharon Rozeh, a lawyer for Ettinger and Slonim, who said his clients were innocent.
Israeli security forces raided the settlement of Kokhav HaShahar and the surrounding area in the West Bank late Saturday night and made a series of arrests, settlers said Sunday morning.
Israel Police's nationalist crimes unit also operated at the nearby Adei Ad outpost in the Binyamin area in the wake of the arson attack on a Palestinian home in the village of Duma that claimed the lives of a baby, Ali Dawabsheh, and his father, Saed Dawabsheh, and left the 27-year-old mother and her second child, aged 4, in serious condition. A gag order has been imposed on the investigation.
Settlers claimed that some of the search warrants were issued in the middle of last week, while others were issued a week ago. The Shiloah Valley area, which has seen repeated clashes between Jews and Palestinians, is considered a main stomping ground for the so-called hilltop youth, a radical faction of the settler movement.
A statement issued by Honenu, an organization offering legal advice to Jewish hate crime suspects, said that at least 15 "hilltop youths" have been arrested across the Binyamin region and taken for questioning. Some have already been released after being questioned by the Shin Bet.
Defense lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir said that the arrests are "meant to assuage politicians' anxieties. I hope that next time they'll use a tranquilizer instead of sending police to impinge on people's liberties."
"I only hope that Arab terror will produce a similar public backlash that will lead police to arrest terrorists preemptively," he added.
On Saturday, Saed Dawabsheh, who was injured in the Duma arson attack last month, was laid to rest after succumbing to his wounds. Hundreds attended his funeral, which was followed by clashes with Israel Defense Forces troops. Not a single Palestinian Authority official attended, as opposed to dozens of Hamas operatives who were conspicuously present.
In a statement published following the news of Dawabsheh's death, the Islamic organization said: "Dawabsheh's death highlights the crimes perpetrated by the Zionists. Resistance has become our right, our duty and the only way to defends ourselves in the West Bank. The only way to deter the settlers is to engage proactively against them, rather than wait until they attack our villages and homes. Our people in the West Bank are left with no choice but to launch an all-out attack against Israel, without further ado.
Shin Bet Israeli security service, with Israeli police, arrested nine settlers Sunday morning, as part of a crackdown on suspected Jewish terrorists, Haaretz said, according to the PNN.
Two West Bank settlers were arrested at the Adei Ad outpost near Douma village where Sa’ad Dawabsha and his baby son Ali were burned to death by Zionist Jewish extremists. Security forces also searched seven houses.
Haaretz added that forces also raided outpost Baladim in the northern West Bank near and arrested seven people.
Following the arson attack, the Israeli police announced they were unable to identify the Douma arson attacker, and asked for help to find leads to the suspect.
However, the Knesset passed an “anti-terrorism” bill which allows six-months administrative detention of the attackers.
Haaretz said that one of those detained is 18-year-old Mordechai Meyer of Ma’aleh Adumim settlement. Meyer was jailed in Rimonim Prison for six months after an administrative detention order was issued against him. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who issued the order, said that Meyer was suspected of involvement in recent violence and terror attacks as part of a Jewish terror group.
Another detainee is Eviatar Slonim, suspected of belonging to an extremist group that sought to harm Arabs and replace the government in Israel with a Jewish kingdom. Slonim had been previously arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Palestinian home in the South Hebron Hills in November 2014.
Last week, Israeli Channel 10 said that security sources have pointed the finger towards an illegal outpost in the eastern Shilo area in the West bank which, according to the sources, have “a history” of hostility with the Palestinian villages in the area.
While the police arrested far-right activist Meir Ettinger, he has not been named as a suspect in the attack, said i24.
Ettinger, whose grandfather Meir Kahane founded the racist anti-Arab movement Kach, was arrested on Monday “because of his activities in a Jewish extremist organization,” a spokesman for the Shin Bet internal security service told AFP.
The court prolonged the incarceration of Meir Ettinger until at least Sunday, judicial sources said.
Police said Ettinger, who is aged around 20, was suspected of “nationalist crimes” but did not accuse him of direct involvement in last week’s firebombing of a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, in which a toddler was burned to death.
Haaretz additionally reported that Ettinger was linked to last month’s arson attack on the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The church was damaged and two people injured.
The “anti-Jewish-terrorism” process began after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man named Yishai Schlissel, stabbed six people at Jerusalem’s annual Gay Pride Parade, on July 30, accompanied by terrifying images of the attack, turning heads towards the growing extremism.
In 2005, Schlissel told police that he was planning “to kill in the name of God” and that “such abomination cannot exist in Israel,” reported the BBC. He was later convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison. During that attack, police said that Schlissel dodged in between marchers, stabbing at random until he was pinned down by the police.
Update 9 aug 2015: Video, what happens when a gay couple walk down Jerusalem street?
Israel places two radical right-wing suspects in administrative detention
Police raid West Bank outposts in crackdown on 'hilltop youth,' as part of recent efforts to curb Jewish violence against Palestinians in wake of the deadly arson attack on the Dawabsheh family last month.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon issued on Sunday administrative detention orders for two radical right-wing suspects, Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim.
Their remand was scheduled to be extended on Sunday, but following Ya'alon's edict they could remain in custory for up to six months without being brought before a judge.
The two, who are in their early 20s, were arrested last week. Another suspected Jewish extremist, Mordechai Mayer, was placed under six-month administrative detention last week.
Last week, the Security Cabinet approved the use of harsh measures to combat the trend, including administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold suspects for lengthy periods without charge. The measure has been mainly used against Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist groups, and rarely against Israelis.
The Shin Bet security agency has accused Ettinger of leading an extremist Jewish movement responsible for encouraging attacks on Palestinian property and Christian holy sites, including an arson attack on a well-known church near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel that marks the New Testament story of the miracle of the loaves and fish.
Adv. Aharon Roza of Honenu said on behalf of his clients that "it is unacceptable that Ettinger and Slonim's administrative detention will substitute their court hearing today. It seems like the judicial process is just a charade." The Defense Ministry said that the decree was issued following the recommendation of Shin Bet security services.
Israeli human rights activists who advocate on behalf of Palestinians, as well as lawyers for the Israeli suspects, criticized the use of administrative detention, portraying it as a draconian measure intended to appease an Israeli public shocked at the firebomb attack.
"It is carried out based on an administrative order only, without indictment or trial, and the detainee cannot defend himself against the allegations as the evidence is classified," a statement by human rights group B'Tselem said.
"This measure is dangerous...for the entire legal system and for democracy," said Aharon Rozeh, a lawyer for Ettinger and Slonim, who said his clients were innocent.
Israeli security forces raided the settlement of Kokhav HaShahar and the surrounding area in the West Bank late Saturday night and made a series of arrests, settlers said Sunday morning.
Israel Police's nationalist crimes unit also operated at the nearby Adei Ad outpost in the Binyamin area in the wake of the arson attack on a Palestinian home in the village of Duma that claimed the lives of a baby, Ali Dawabsheh, and his father, Saed Dawabsheh, and left the 27-year-old mother and her second child, aged 4, in serious condition. A gag order has been imposed on the investigation.
Settlers claimed that some of the search warrants were issued in the middle of last week, while others were issued a week ago. The Shiloah Valley area, which has seen repeated clashes between Jews and Palestinians, is considered a main stomping ground for the so-called hilltop youth, a radical faction of the settler movement.
A statement issued by Honenu, an organization offering legal advice to Jewish hate crime suspects, said that at least 15 "hilltop youths" have been arrested across the Binyamin region and taken for questioning. Some have already been released after being questioned by the Shin Bet.
Defense lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir said that the arrests are "meant to assuage politicians' anxieties. I hope that next time they'll use a tranquilizer instead of sending police to impinge on people's liberties."
"I only hope that Arab terror will produce a similar public backlash that will lead police to arrest terrorists preemptively," he added.
On Saturday, Saed Dawabsheh, who was injured in the Duma arson attack last month, was laid to rest after succumbing to his wounds. Hundreds attended his funeral, which was followed by clashes with Israel Defense Forces troops. Not a single Palestinian Authority official attended, as opposed to dozens of Hamas operatives who were conspicuously present.
In a statement published following the news of Dawabsheh's death, the Islamic organization said: "Dawabsheh's death highlights the crimes perpetrated by the Zionists. Resistance has become our right, our duty and the only way to defends ourselves in the West Bank. The only way to deter the settlers is to engage proactively against them, rather than wait until they attack our villages and homes. Our people in the West Bank are left with no choice but to launch an all-out attack against Israel, without further ado.
