News Digest — 4/22/24
Passover Eve: 3 Wounded In Ramming Attack In Jerusalem, Terrorists Flee The Scene
Three pedestrians were wounded in a ramming attack in Jerusalem on Monday morning (22nd) Israel Police reported.
In their announcement, police stated:
“This morning at approximately 8: am, a report came in regarding a car accident and the injury of three pedestrians on Techelet Mordechai Street in Jerusalem. Thankfully the pedestrians sustained minor injuries. However, the situation took a dangerous turn when two armed terrorists emerged from the vehicle involved in the incident. Despite their repeated attempts, they failed to inflict harm with their weapons and hastily fled the scene, discarding their firearms as they made their escape.”
Upon receiving the report, forces from the Jerusalem District swiftly responded to the scene, initiating extensive search operations. The weapons were successfully located.
Superintendent Doron Turgeman, commander of the Jerusalem district, conducted an immediate assessment on site. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, he ordered the mobilization of all available resources, including special units, with the primary objective of swiftly apprehending the fleeing terrorists.”
Magen David Adom (MDA) arrived at the scene and provided the following statement: “at 07:52, a call was made regarding two people that were hit from what would seem the same vehicle in two different locations.”
“Also a pedestrian was hit on Yirmiyahu Street in Jerusalem. Two pedestrians were mildly injured, and one was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical center.
MDA provided them all with initial medical treatment, “We were close by the scene and arrived within minutes,” said MDA paramedics Yitzhak Hakesef and Daniel Levy, The two explained that an 18-year-old male was seen with a head injury, and was very agitated. We provided him with medical treatment and evacuated him to the hospital in mild condition,” they added.
The paramedics further explained that “People at the scene told us that while the man was burning chametz before Passover, the vehicle hit him at the entrance to the parking lot between two buildings.”
Police are continuing the search for the terrorists.
Netanyahu Hints At Rafah Operation; Vows To Free Hostages
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the IDF would soon launch a military operation in Rafah as he vowed to free the remaining 133 hostages held in Gaza, in a special address to the nation in advance of the Passover holiday, which begins on Monday night (22nd).
“In the coming days we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory,” Netanyahu said on Sunday (21st).
“Until now, all proposals for the release of our hostages have been rejected by Hamas outright,” Netanyahu explained as he blamed the terror group for the failed talks for a hostage deal.
“Instead of withdrawing from its extreme positions, Hamas is counting on a rift among us. It draws encouragement from international pressure being directed at the government of Israel,” Netanyahu stated.
“As a result of this, it has only hardened its conditions for the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
In light of the international pressure on Israel for a unilateral Gaza ceasefire that is divorced from a hostage release, Israel has very few pressure levers to free the hostages short of a Rafah operation.
In language reminiscent of the Passover story in which Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to allow the Jewish slaves to leave Egypt, Netanyahu said that Hamas was “hardening its heart and refusing to let our people go.”
“Therefore, we will strike it with additional painful blows – and this will happen soon,” Netanyahu vowed.
He spoke as Jews around the world prepared to celebrate the Passover holiday starting on Monday night (22nd), also known as the festival of freedom, while all efforts for a hostage deal appeared to have failed as Israel marked 198 days since the captives were seized during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s war to destroy Hamas in Gaza, which began on that day, has not led to a decisive victory, and there did not appear to be any way to end the IDF’s cross-border violence with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It remains unsafe, therefore for over 100,000 evacuees to celebrate the family holiday in their homes along the country’s southern and northern borders. In the worst case scenario the homes have been destroyed by Hamas or Hezbollah.
On Sunday night (21st) the war cabinet convened, as Netanyhau is hearing increasing criticism for failing to end the war and secure a deal to free the hostages,
In addressing the nation, Netanyahu referred to one of the opening questions of the Passover Haggadah, as he acknowledged that what was different this year was that 133 hostages were missing from their family’s tables.
On this Seder night, our hostages being held by Hamas are before our eyes. Their suffering and the suffering of their families rend our hearts and only strengthen our resolve to bring them back,” he said.
“What is not different, is that this Passover, as in my past generation, Israel’s enemies “rise up to destroy us.”
He pledged that “We will overcome those who seek our lives – thanks to the faith of our people, the daring of our fighters, and the unity among us.”
“We are not relenting, not even for a moment, from our sacred mission to return them home,” Netanyahu stated.
Minister Benny Gantz, who is a member of the war cabinet, said in a brief address to the public, that it was true that the government had not completed its goal of freeing the hostages and returning the evacuees home.
“We haven’t succeeded yet – but we really haven’t given up. And we will never give up,” Gantz said.
FM Katz Slams Erdogan For Hosting Hamas’ Haniyeh In Istanbul
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should be “ashamed” after he met at his office in Istanbul with Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday (20th), Israel’s foreign minister said.
“Muslim Brotherhood: Rape, massacre, desecration of corpses, burning babies, @RTErdogan. You should be ashamed!” Israel Katz tweeted in Turkish alongside a picture of Erdogan and Haniyeh shaking hands during their hours-long meeting. He tweeted the same message in Hebrew.
Ankara has given full-throated support to Hamas after its Oct. 7 massacre and during the ensuing war in Gaza.
The NATO member has also started a trade war with Jerusalem over the ongoing war to defeat Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and other governments.
According to Erdogan’s office, the president, whose party recently suffered a historic defeat in nationwide local elections, urged Palestinians during the meeting to unite for “victory” against the Jewish state.
Also discussed were efforts to achieve a ceasefire and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas still holds more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza taken during the Oct. 7 rampage in the northwestern Negev, with many feared to be dead.
“Israel will one day pay the price for the injustice it inflicts on Palestinians” Erdogan said, in the latest in a long list of inflammatory remarks made in the weeks and months since the Hamas-led massacre.
The meeting came against the backdrop of reports that Hamas’ political leadership is considering leaving Qatar for Turkey.
“Talks between Turkey and Hamas are underway to transfer the organization’s headquarters from Qatar to Turkey” Saudi news outlet Al-Sharq reported.
Khaled Mashaal and other Hamas terrorists also participated in Saturday’s (20th) meeting in Istanbul.
Erdogan has hosted Haniyeh before, but this is the first time he has been invited publicly.
In local elections on March 31, Erdogan ‘s Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered its worst defeat since it took power in 2003.
In April, Ankara announced export restrictions on Israel after Jerusalem denied a Turkish request to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip.
Erdogan’s government said the trade measures would apply to 54 categories of products and would last until a ceasefire is declared.
Katz said that Erdogan “is once again sacrificing the economic interests of the people of Turkey for his support of the Hamas murderers in Gaza who raped, murdered and desecrated the bodies of women, girls and adults, and burned children alive.”
“Israel will not submit to violence and extortion, will not overlook the unilateral violation of our trade agreements and will take parallel measures against Turkey that will harm the Turkish economy,” he added.
In March, Erdogan said “Netanyahu continues to commit massacres against the Palestinian people,” adding that Turkey would do “what is necessary to hold Israeli officials accountable.
Netanyahu blasted the Turkish leader over the remarks saying, “Israel observes the laws of war and will not be subject to moral preaching from Erdogan, who supports the murderers of the Hamas terrorist organization, denies the Armenian Genocide, massacred Kurds in his own country, and cracks down on regime opponents and journalists.”
Terrorist Who Murdered Jewish Shepherd Arrested
On Sunday night (21st), the ISA, Israel Police and IDF arrested Ahmad Dawabshe, the terrorist who murdered Benjamin Achimeir, a 14-year-old Jewish shepherd, in a bloody and brutal terror attack last week.
Dawabshe is from the Palestinian Authority Arab town of Duma, in the Binyamin region.
Achimeir, a shepherd, left his hometown of Malachei Hashalom at six in the morning on the day of the terror attack, but later the flock that he led returned to the village without him.
The first to reach the body was Col. (Res.) Hezi Nehama, who volunteered to search, and Eliyahu Libman, whose son is being held by Hamas. They were directed to the area of the body by an IDF drone.
Libman recounted finding the body. “This was a particularly cruel murder. An IDF drone saw something unusual and sent us a waypoint. We were close to the area, so we went to search there and unfortunately found the body.”
“It was quite close to where we had set out. The site was extremely disturbing. His head had been smashed with a rock, and three meters away was a knife covered in blood and another rock. His phone was smashed nearby. This was particularly cruel and horrifying.”
Col. Nehama, the former commander of the Menashe Brigade, who participated in the search for Achimeir, told 103FM Radio that, “It was a planned attack. Arabs don’t just wander around there during the day. It was someone who came with the intention to kill from the beginning. He came with a knife and ambushed the young shepherd boy.”
Rabbi To Imams: Islam Recognizes Jewish Right To Israel
The Quran recognizes the Jewish people’s right to Israel and observant Muslims are obliged to do the same, an Orthodox rabbi from Israel argues in a letter penned to Islamic scholars.
Rabbi Oury Cherki, an Algerian-born lecturer at the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem and chairman of the Brit Olam – Noahide World Center, penned the letter, the third in a series of missives under the title “A Bridge between Faiths,” to a group of Islamic scholars to elucidate the Jewish perspective on the Islamic faith and to improve relations between Jews and Muslims worldwide.
In his third letter, released last week, Rabbi Cherki argued that Jewish control over the historic Land of Israel does not fall under the category of Dar al-Harb (literally the “House of War”), referring to land held by the enemies of Islam or land conquered from Islamic countries that must be recaptured,
“One of the fundamental obstacles to constructive dialogue between Judaism and Islam is the Muslim claim that Judaism is a religion but not a nation. However, from the perspective of Judaism, the Jewish nation is first and foremost – a nation.”
“Therefore all of Jacob’s descendants are part of the Jewish nation, whether they believe in the Torah or not, and thus, they are included among the inheritors of the Land of Israel.”
“The Jewish State should be recognized as the manifestation of the divine promise to return the nation of Israel to its land, as mentioned multiple times in Islamic sources. Sura 5, 20: ‘Bear in mind the words of Moses to his people. He said: ‘Remember, my people, the favor of God has bestowed upon you. He has raised prophets among you, made you kings, and given to you what he has given to no other nation. Enter, my people, the holy land God has assigned for you. Do not turn back, or you shall be ruined.”
Instead the Quran recognizes Israel as the historic homeland of the Jewish nation, Rabbi Cherki wrote.
Therefore, the State of Israel should not be regarded as a foreign entity imposing itself on the Muslim world (Dar al-Islam). On the contrary, it should be seen as the realization of divine justice as found in the Quran and the Torah: the return of the land to its rightful owners.”
Rabbi Cherki also cited the January 1919 Faisal -Weizmann Agreement, under which Emir Faisal-later king of Iraq – endorsed the Balfour Declaration, Britain’s pledge of support for a Jewish national homeland in the historic Land of Israel.
“We must note that in 1918, a meeting was held between the Emir Faisal, the son of Hussein, king of the Hijaz, and Chaim Weizmann, the representative of the Zionist Organization, which led to the 1919 London Agreement regarding cooperation between the Arab national movement and the Zionist movement.”
“On the basis of the brotherhood between the sons of Abraham, a happy period of peace and advancement of the world towards its connection can open.”
The correspondence between Rabbi Cherki and several dozen Islamic scholars across the Muslim world was initiated following the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7.
After penning the first letter, Rabbi Cherki was invited to the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Sheikh Muhammad Talib al-Shahi, Director of the Preaching Department at the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments, and Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee at the UAE Federal National Council.
During the February meeting, Al Nuaimi endorsed Rabbi Cherki’s argument that the State of Israel should not be defined in Islam as Dar al-Harb.
It is “a lie, fabricated only in the past 100 years,” al-Nuaimi said.
“Stop trying to justify your existence: you are an established fact, and Jews are part of the Middle East.”
