News Digest — 5/17/23
Update: Judicial Reform Talks Nearing Compromise Deal
Negotiating teams from the Opposition and Coalition who have been meeting at the President’s Residence for talks aimed at reaching an agreement on judicial reform have made significant progress towards a deal, according to a report Wednesday morning (17th).
A report was released by Reshet Bet that the two sides have reached an accord over two key issues: the future use by courts of the reasonableness standard, and the status of ministerial legal advisors.
The resolving of these two points, the report continued, has allowed negotiators to focus entirely on the most contentious issues, including the makeup of the judicial appointments committee, and the proposed judicial override.
In addition to the agreements on the reasonableness standard and the status of legal advisors for government ministries, the two sides are also nearing compromises regarding the amendments of Basic Laws, as well as raising the bar for judicial review of Knesset Laws.
Despite the progress, however, the Opposition has reportedly refused to make piecemeal agreements – formally backing those areas where compromises have already been reached – and is insisting that it is committed to an all-or-nothing approach.
“We are committed to maintaining a stable and democratic Israel and will not compromise on the depoliticization of the judicial system,” the National Unity Party said in a statement.
The chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party), one of the architects of the overhaul, said Tuesday evening (16th) that he is “pessimistic regarding the chances of reaching an agreement.”
“Instead,” he continued, “the reform will move forward one law at a time, based on the decisions of the Coalition faction leaders. The Opposition has become enamored with protests, at the expense of the country.”
The talks resumed Tuesday (16th), after the president’s aides first met separately with representatives of the Coalition and the Opposition, before the two sides met face to face.
(isnn.com; reshetbet.net)
Sentences For Elad Axe Murderers Reported
The Central District Court Tuesday (16th) convicted two Palestinian Arabs for carrying out a deadly knife and axe attack in the city of Elad a year ago. The terrorists As’ad Yousef As’ad al-Rifa’i and Subbi Emad Sbeihat, received four life sentences plus twenty years each.
They were convicted of the May 5, 2022 attack in which four people were murdered and three others were wounded. The attack was committed the day after Israel’s Independence Day. The fourth victim, Shimon Ma’atuf, succumbed to his injuries in February 2023.
The terrorists were arrested three days after the attack and were indicted in June 2022.
The four life sentences are for murder and attempted murder, while the additional 20 years are for other crimes committed in the course of the attack.
The terrorists were found to have been in Israel illegally. The day of the attack, they contacted one of the victims, Oren Ben Yiftach, at the conclusion of Independence Day and asked him to drive them to Elad, where they claimed to be working on the renovation of a synagogue. When he had driven them to the synagogue, they attacked and stabbed him before looking for other victims. Boaz Gol, Yonatan Havakuk, Shimon Ma’atuf, and Oren Ben Yiftach were murdered in the attack.
(ynetnews.com; isnn.com)
After Israel Pressure, Over 45 Countries Boycotted UN ‘Nakba Day’ Event
Over 45 countries skipped out on marking the so-called “Nakba Day” at the United Nations on Monday (15th) when the Palestinians held a special event slamming Israel at the international body. The outcome was in part due to Israel’s efforts to deny the Palestinians a PR success in this largely anti-Israel venue.
“Shameful that the United Nations is for the first time marking a country’s birthday – the 75th birthday of the world’s only Jewish state, Israel, endorsed by the UN in 1947 – by calling it ‘a catastrophe,’” B’nai B’rith International tweeted on Monday (15th). “Palestinian ‘Nakba Day’ pushes an odious narrative that promotes more conflict, not peace.”
“Nakba” in Arabic means “disaster” or “catastrophe” and refers to the displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 War for Independence after Arabs tried to annihilate the new state.
Israel says the alleged “catastrophe” occurred because Arab nations refused to accept the 1947 plan to partition British Mandate Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, and – violating the UN charter – declared war on newly established Israel, with the aim of destroying the Jewish state in its infancy. The United States and Britain announced last week that they would not participate in Monday’s (14th) events drawing the ire of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel’s UN Mission and Foreign Ministry successfully campaigned to convince other member states to forgo attending. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, sent a letter to colleagues on Sunday (14th) urging them to not take part in the ceremonies.
“The thought that an international organization could mark the establishment of one of its member states as a catastrophe or disaster is both appalling and repulsive,” he wrote. Erdan stated that attending one-sided initiatives such as a “Nakba Day” gives a green light to the Palestinians to continue exploiting international organs to promote their libelous narrative.” It also contributes to Jew-hatred, he said.
According to Israel’s Mission to the UN, the United States was among 45 countries that boycotted the two UN Nakba events, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Portugal, Slovakia, Ukraine, Peru, Guatemala, including three African nations, and many more.
Hamas Threatens Flag March Again
The Hamas terrorist organization called on Arabs to converge on the Al Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning (18th) to combat Israel’s Jerusalem Day celebrations, including the annual Flag March to the Western Wall, while threatening violence in response to the march.
Ali Baraka, Hamas’ representative in Lebanon warned that “any violation of our red lines will mean that the resistance will have a say.”
Baraka called the Flag March a “provocation against the Palestinian people and a violation of the sanctity of Al Aqsa.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem further stated that “the so-called Zionist flag march is part of the religious war waged by the Israeli occupation against the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem’s Arab identity.”
Qasem added: “The Israeli occupation’s policy of Judaizing occupied Jerusalem will not alter its Arab character. The Palestinian people will continue their legitimate right to resistance against the Israeli occupation’s malicious schemes.”
On Monday (15th), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Flag March would be held in its usual route, which includes passing through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Thousands of Jews will participate in the celebratory march which will end at the Western Wall on Thursday evening (18th).
Hamas has issued threats against the Flag March in the years since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 the terrorist organization launched six rockets at Jerusalem during the Flag March, triggering Operation Guardian of the Walls.
Last year, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said ahead of the Flag March: “I want to clearly warn the enemy against committing these crimes and these steps. The Palestinian people, led by the resistance – especially those in the West Bank and Jerusalem – will not permit this Jewish Talmudic rubbish to go unanswered.”
“We will resist with all our capabilities and we will not permit the violation of the Al Aqsa Mosque or thuggery in the streets of Jerusalem.”
Israel’s Jerusalem Day and Flag March on Thursday (18th) celebrates the reuniting of a divided Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.
(isnn.com)
80 Years Later: Jewish Community Thrives A Block From Warsaw Ghetto Landmark
In less than 18 years since it started rebuilding a local Jewish community, Chabad of Poland’s community thrives, less than a block from the rail stop where the Jews of Warsaw and its environs were loaded onto trains bound for the death camps.
May marks just 80 years (May 1943) after the Nazi General Jurgen Stroop reported to Adolf Hitler that “The Warsaw Ghetto is no more” – in a final report on the liquidation of it.
But brothers Rabbi Sholom Ber Stambler and Rabbi Mayer Stambler changed the course of history when they arrived in Warsaw in late 2005. In less than 18 years, Chabad of Poland has had prayer services each day, a morning study group, a nightly seminar attended by eager learners, a bi-weekly class for women, a Sunday school and a pre-school. Chabad of Poland serves over 12,000 Jews. They also teach about the Holocaust and take part in the annual March of the Living.
“When we first came to Poland as emissaries we found a generation of Jews who had lived through the Holocaust and Communism. We began to invite them into our homes for Shabbat meals and eventually to prayer services. After 18 years our community has grown and Jews are flocking to our communal center on Slominskiego Street, “said Rabbi Sholom Ber Stambler.
Since the start of the Russian incursion in Ukraine, the Chabad of Poland Jewish community has helped Ukrainian Jewish refugees settle in Poland, providing them with shelter, food, transportation, medical and financial assistance and more.
The Chabad of Poland Jewish community has been able to help tens of thousands of Jewish refugees so far, and will continue as long as there is a need.
(isnn.com)
First Hydrogen Filling Station Opens In Israel
Israel’s first hydrogen fueling spot has opened, heralding the start of clean hydrogen-based transportation in Israel.
“We are proud to launch a pioneering project in the field of energy, which will enable the movement of non-polluting hydrogen-based vehicles with zero emissions and air pollution,” said Nir Galili, CEO of the Sonol Energy Group, which operates gas stations across Israel.
Sonol collaborated on the hydrogen fueling installation at one of its gas stations near Haifa Bay with fuel supplier Bazan Group and vehicle importer Colmobil Group, which brought to Israel the first three Hyundai trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
“In the next ten years, millions of vehicles will hit the road and Israel will suffocate from the pollution that will be created and we will all pay a high price,” Galili said.
“It is the government’s duty to make Israel a leader in the field of hydrogen energy through a comprehensive plan that will support and stimulate this important transition, which affords not only economic and national benefits, but also the saving of human lives – no less than that,” he added.
The new hydrogen fueling spot is in an existing Sonol station that has gas pumps and electric vehicle charging stations, and is slated to become a solar energy storage facility as well.
The three partners said they plan to open more such stations in Israel – each costing about $1.4 million – depending on how the hydrogen-powered vehicle market grows. Bazan, an oil refinery in Haifa, will produce the hydrogen and transport it to the stations.
Sonol noted that water is the only byproduct of the electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell.
