APN's daily news review from Israel
Thursday, December 13, 2018
*Please note that News Nosh will be truncated and limited to the English Israeli media through Thursday, December 13, while Orly Halpern is away.
*Please note that News Nosh will be truncated and limited to the English Israeli media through Thursday, December 13, while Orly Halpern is away.
Quote of the day:
"The absence of the horizon of peace is what led to this series of violence, which we condemn and reject, and for which both sides pay a price."
-- President Mahmoud Abbas in a statement condemning the recent West Bank attacks
FYI:
Front Page:
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Front Page:
Haaretz
- West Bank spirals into violence as Hamas ups efforts to orchestrate attacks
- Disabled Palestinian slowly walked away. Israeli army shot him in the back of the head.
- Palestinian president, condemning West Bank attack, blames violence on Israeli policy
- Israeli justice ministry opposes adding women's murder to category of worst forms of homicide
Israel Hayom
- 2 Israelis killed, 2 critically wounded in Samaria shooting
- After 2-month manhunt, IDF eliminates Barkan terrorist
- IDF nabs cell involved in deadly Ofra shooting, ringleader killed
- Israel, Russia agree to improve cooperation in Syria
Times of Israel
- 2 soldiers killed in West Bank terror shooting; civilian serviceman hurt
- Some terrorists from Sunday's Ofra attack may still be at large, officer says
- Top court rules for gay parents in birth certificate fight
- Threatening to bolt coalition, hawkish faction demands Palestinian road ban
Ynet News
- 2 soldiers killed, 2 others hurt in West Bank shooting attack
- Holocaust survivor, writer Noah Klieger dies at 92
- Natalie Portman: Israel's Nation-State Law is racist
- Baby born after West Bank attack on pregnant mother dies
i24 News
- Israeli forces block Palestinian city of Ramallah after fatal attack
- Two Israelis killed in West Bank shooting in suspected copycat attack
- Ofra shooter killed by Israeli forces in West Bank was a Hamas member
- Knife-wielding Palestinian assailant shot dead in Jerusalem's Old City
News Summary:
Two IDF soldiers were killed and two were seriously wounded in another drive-by shooting attack in the West Bank, at a bus stop near the Giv'at Asaf outpost. The gunman is still at large, and the IDF has closed down the area, including the Palestinian city of Ramallah. A Haaretz report says "the recent series of incidents is a recipe for escalation, due to the possibility that there could be additional attempts to duplicate the success of the terrorists and generate a cycle of revenge attacks."
After a massive manhunt throughout the West Bank, Israeli security forces caught and killed Salih Omar Bargouti, the ringleader of the terrorist cell responsible for the Ofra shooting earlier this week. Afterward, Hamas released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack and that Bargouti was a Hamas operative.
Additionally, Israeli forces killed Ashraf Na'alowa, the gunman in the Barkan terror attack in October that left Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi dead. The Shin Bet says Na'alowa was planning a second attack. Some of his relatives and accomplices were also detained and indicted.
In a public statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed the PA's rejection of violence and condemned both the militants for the recent attacks and Israel for creating a climate conducive to violence. The statement said that their "permanent policy is to reject violence, incursions and terror of the settlers, and the need to stop incitement and not to create an atmosphere that contributes to the aggravation of the situation."
Quick Hits:
- On Wednesday, the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee voted to impose automatic life sentences on men convicted of murdering their wives. This amendment to Israel's penal code will likely be presented to the Knesset for a full vote in the coming days. Yesh Atid MK Yael German said, "There is no doubt that the murder of women reflects a distorted worldview that we must act against by means of tougher punishment. Allowing the law to stand as-is would be an unacceptable miscarriage of justice."
- In response to Airbnb's decision to pull listings from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, two US-born Israelis launched OlehStay, a new online rental service that welcomes listings from "anywhere in Israel." One of the creators, Joseph Sokol, said they were on a mission "to be the alternative Airbnb in Israel and eventually around the world.”
- Haaretz interviewed Dr. Ari Engelberg about his study of Lehava, an organization that fights Jewish-Arab intermarriage in Israel. When asked whether the recruits are driven by a desire to protect the Jewish religion or to batter Arabs, Dr. Engelberg said he doesn't "think there’s much of a difference, to them. Their hatred of Arabs stems from their perception of them as a threat and as a danger to the Jewish religion... I connect it with Zionism, with Jewish history, with the memory of the injury done to Jews as individuals and as a group, simply because they were Jews."
- A new film, “The Apollo of Gaza,” tells the story of a statue of Apollo from the Hellenistic period that was found off the coast of Gaza by Palestinian fisherman Jawdat Abu Ghurab. The film focuses on the origins and fate of statue but also serves as an "allegory for the situation of Gaza and its residents." It will be screened on Friday at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque as part of the 48mm Film Festival