http://www.web-view.net/Show/0X71BE0575485DB857196A0646C5F73FF06BDA9DDAACE21598CA7CC5A36F3EAB7A.htm Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com ------------------------------------------------ Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/ Friday, Jul. 25 '08, 22 Tammuz 5768 HEADLINES: 1. POLICE TO PROBE OLMERT AGAIN; MAZUZ SAYS PM 'UNCOOPERATIVE' 2. IDF CHIEF OF STAFF: WE NEED TO PREPARE ALL OPTIONS 3. NEW BOOK SHOWS HISTORY OF MUSLIM RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE 4. REPORT: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HAREIDI-RELIGIOUS, IMMIGRANTS 5. ARAB WORKERS ATTACK USE HAMMER TO INJURE JEWISH ELECTRICIAN 6. ONE KILLED IN BLASTS AT CAFÉ AND HAMAS POLITICIAN'S HOME 7. JUDEA/SAMARIA JEWS TALK TOUGH: ‘WE ARE NOT IDF’S PUNCHING BAG' 8. KNESSET CONSIDERS LAW TO CHANGE ISRAELI SABBATH OBSERVANCE 1. POLICE TO PROBE OLMERT AGAIN; MAZUZ SAYS PM 'UNCOOPERATIVE' by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Lawyers for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have agreed to allow police to question him, hours after Attorney General Menachem Mazuz labeled Prime Minister Olmert as the most difficult public official investigators have ever faced. The interrogation reportedly will take place next Friday. State Comptroller and Ombudsman Micha Lindenstrauss made similar charges during his own probe of previous criminal allegations against the Prime Minister. Mazuz's comments came in response to an appeal to the High Court by investigative reporter Yoav Yitzchak that Prime Minister Olmert should be suspended. Police investigators have been unsuccessful in trying for more than three weeks to get the Prime Minister to set a date for another session of questioning for receiving of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from American businessmen. The Attorney General told the High Court, "The police have met considerable difficulties in setting dates to interrogate the prime minister and in setting the length of the sessions. These are difficulties never experienced in the past with other public officials." The police have evidence gathered in the United States and which investigators want to use in questioning him. Until now, the main witness has been American businessman Morris Talansky, who this week underwent five days of an intense and tough cross-examination by attorneys for Prime Minister Olmert. Attorney General Mazuz also admitted that that the continuing situation of a cloud hanging over the government's head raises increased doubts regarding Prime Olmert's ability to function with the public's trust. The ongoing probe has tarnished the image of the government abroad. American Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams told Jewish leaders this week that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is too weak to finalize an agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA), Voice of Israel government radio reported from Washington Friday morning. 2. IDF CHIEF OF STAFF: WE NEED TO PREPARE ALL OPTIONS by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, on his first official visit to Washington, warned that Israel would not rule out any course to halt the Iranian nuclear program. However, he emphasized, both Israel and America would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the confrontation with Iran. During a press conference for Israeli media in Washington on Wednesday, Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi said: "We are all united in the view that Iran needs to be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon. There is no doubt that diplomatic activity and sanctions are the best way to accomplish that. I think that is the preferred method, through international activity. That is also the Israeli policy, insofar as I understand it, and it is also the American preference. In addition, I think we all understand - the Americans and certainly us - that we need to prepare all the other options." As for himself, the IDF commander-in-chief said: "My duty is to ready the army for war, to fight and to win." Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi is on a week-long visit to the United States for a series of talks with senior American politicians and Pentagon officials. He left Israel late Saturday night. The bilateral discussions focused on the Iranian threat, the Hamas mini-state in Gaza, the threats from the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria, the increasing Hizbullah influence in Lebanon, and other regional threats. On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Ashkenazi met with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, top military and U.S. State Department officials, leaders of AIPAC and members of Congress. His Thursday meetings, preceded by a full military ceremony at the Pentagon, included talks with Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi was also scheduled to meet with leaders of the Jewish community in Florida. In other comments at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Wednesday, Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi shared his view of the challenges the Middle East is currently facing. He warned that "radical countries and elements are trying to establish a new order," and that the hub of the radicalization is Iran. The Islamic Republic, he said, is working to achieve regional hegemony by seeding the Middle East with terrorist entities aimed at overthrowing existing regimes. Successfully confronting Iran, therefore, "may in turn weaken the process of radicalization," the Chief of Staff said. Commenting on his visit to the U.S., Ashkenazi said he hoped to come to "understand the American outlook on the issues and problems in the Middle East. This is an excellent opportunity to make it clear to them how we see things." He observed that the Americans "are fighting wars which are similar to our war on terror. It is often surprising to see how similar these things are. Even the types of explosive devices are very similar to those we deal with in Gaza and confronting Hizbullah." The Chief of Staff is accompanied by his wife Ronit, by the IDF Military Attache in the U.S., Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz; as well as the head of the Strategic Department in the IDF Planning Branch, Brig.-Gen. Yosi Hayman; the IDF Spokesperson, Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu; and the Director of the Office of the Chief of Staff. Furthermore, the IDF Spokesperson's Office noted, Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi invited the commander of the 74th Armored Battalion, Nir Ben-David, to accompany him in recognition of the importance of the IDF's various combat divisions. The American View From Adm. Mullen Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the the Fox News network on Sunday, "I worry about the instability in that part of the world and... the possible unintended consequences" of a military strike on Iran. "Right now I'm fighting two wars, and I don't need a third one," he quipped. Adm. Mullen said of the international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, "The pressure has got to continue to be brought specifically on Iran to not proceed in this regard." 3. NEW BOOK SHOWS HISTORY OF MUSLIM RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu A new book maintains that the history of Islam displays anti-Semitism and violence against Jews and Christians since the Muslim prophet Mohammed began the religion 1,200 years ago. Author Andrew G. Bostrom, who also is Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University in Rhode Island, wrote that Muslim governments traditionally have humiliated non-Muslims. His book "The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism: from Sacred Texts to Solemn History" notes that as far back as 1,000 years ago, Muslim governments forced Jews and Christians to wear distinctive clothing and show deference to Muslims. They also required payment of the jizya head tax, which is re-emerging in Iraq and other countries through ransom and extortion money demanded by Muslim gangs. Bostrom maintains that the Koran is anti-Semitic in its roots, with claims that a Jewish conspiracy led to the poisoning death of Mohammed. The re-establishment of the State of Israel was "an unbearable affront to the Islamic order" and triggered calls for the mass destruction of Jews, he wrote. Contradicting modern ideas that Muslim hatred of Jews is a new phenomenon, he referred to Muslim texts from hundreds of years ago, one of which states, "Whenever a Jew is killed, it is for the benefit of Islam." He noted that Jews are likened to apes and swine and that the Koran curses David and Jesus. Muslim literature predicts that the religion will vanquish Christianity at the time of the Messiah and that Jews will go to hell. Bostrom also says the idea of Muslims becoming martyrs in their war against Jews is not new and that the prophet Mohammed praised suicide, which is not prohibited by the Muslim religion. He asserted that the growing Muslim population in Europe is part of a grand design for Islamic supremacy. "They still believe Spain is theirs," he said. Mansur Escudero, a Muslim leader in Spain, is trying to allow Muslim prayer in the Catholic church that once was a mosque, and Muslims are trying to "re-conquer" Andalucía, southern Spain. Bostrom said that one author quoted Abu Iyaad, an aide of Yasser Arafat, as saying, "We cannot allow historical Palestine to become another Andalucía." 4. REPORT: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HAREIDI-RELIGIOUS, IMMIGRANTS by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel A poll conducted by the Knesset Research and Information center shows that Hareidi-religious Jews and immigrants to Israel are widely discriminated against in hiring by local authorities around the country. In a Thursday session held by the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, the findings of the report helped convince the committee to amend a new anti-discrimination bill to include the two demographic groups. According to the poll, only 10 of the 4,623 people employed by the Haifa Municipality are Hareidi, and only 5% of the Ashdod municipality workforce consists of new immigrants, even though some 35% of the city’s residents are recent immigrants. The study, which looked at figures from eight municipalities, found that while Hareidis comprise 2% of Israel’s population, they represent only 0.2% of municipality employees nationwide. The figures also show that the presence of new immigrants in municipality workforces is also half of their total demographic percentage. In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv the numbers are more favorable to new immigrants. The Jerusalem municipality currently has 390 workers who are recent immigrants, while in Tel Aviv the number stands at 609. These numbers are still relatively low. The disparity for new immigrants can be attributed partially to the fact that many of them do not have the Hebrew skills necessary for government jobs. However, there was apparently enough evidence of active discrimination against new immigrants to prompt Knesset to add new immigrants, as well as Hareidi Jews, to the new list of demographic groups that are named in the anti-discriminatory bill, after women, Israeli Arabs and the disabled. The bill has already passed preliminary readings in the Knesset plenum, and the two new groups were added following Thursday’s committee meeting. After the presentation of the study’s findings, MK Ophir Pines (Labor) called for another, more comprehensive study of the employment of Hareidis, as well as the handicapped. “When sectors are equally employed by the municipalities, the service provided to the residents will be egalitarian,” he said. Moshe Gafni, another MK from United Torah Judaism, spoke at the committee session. He said that Hareidis, many of whom his party represents, are “the most discriminated against publicly. We are accused of being parasites who don’t want to work, when in actuality, Hareidi applicants are being turned down.” 5. ARAB WORKERS ATTACK USE HAMMER TO INJURE JEWISH ELECTRICIAN by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel Thirty-eight year-old Avi Turjeman, an electrician from Kiryat Gat, suffered moderate head and hand injuries when he was attacked Thursday by two Arab construction workers on a building site. The three were working on a building in the southern kibbutz of Masuot Yitzhak when the unprovoked attack occurred. The Arab assailants fled without a trace and without an apparent motive, after committing the fourth employment-related attack on Jews by Arab workers this year. According to Rafi Ben-Tal, the security coordinator at Masuot Yitzchak, Turjeman was working on a house when the two Arabs, who were standing on the roof of the house, jumped on the Jewish contractor, and one of them began hitting him with the hammer. The attacker and the other worker then escaped. "I had no argument with them and did not talk to them," said Turjeman. "They attacked me from the back, one hitting me in the head and hand with the hammer, and the other helping him near the door. I managed to grab the hammer and jump out of the window." Ben-Tal noted that the workers escaped in an unknown direction in a white Mazda 323 sedan. The motive for the attack remains unclear. Eleven people have been murdered in the attacks by Arab workers. In March, a terrorist gunned down eight yeshiva students in the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva where he once worked, while earlier this month an Arab construction worker for the Jerusalem Municipality plowed his bulldozer through crowded Jaffo Street in the city center, crushing three people to death. Just this Tuesday another construction worker for the municipality tried to kill bystanders with his tractor, in what was apparently a copycat attack. The perpetrators of Thursday’s hammer attack remain unidentified and on the loose, leaving many to wonder if this is just the latest in a spate of workplace attacks by Arab terrorists. Ben-Tal could not say for sure what exactly motivated the attack, but he did not rule out the possibility that it was a random act of violence committed by unruly civilians. The Police investigation into the incident revealed that the two workers were brought in from the Palestinian Authority (PA) city of Tayibe by a contractor at the construction site. Despite the fact that it was their first day at work, the contractor dropped the Arabs off and left them alone with the electrician. The contractor was taken in for questioning by the police, who were trying to determine whether the two attackers had valid Israeli work permits. A witness nearby reported hearing shouts and screams coming from the work site. “Suddenly I saw the guy jump out of the window with a hammer in his hand. He was injured in the head and was bleeding. His thumb was crushed and he began running. The Arabs escaped as well. The Jewish worker fell on his back at first, and I believe he was injured." “These kinds of attacks happen all the time on construction sites,” said Baruch Brenner, a building contractor whose company hires all-Jewish labor. “A worker will get angry with his boss or colleague and take it out on him physically.” Brenner noted that this attack was distinguished by the use of a work equipment to inflict injury. “Jewish workers attack Jewish workers as well, as much as we’d like to think otherwise. The difference is that Jewish workers may beat up their boss, but they won’t [try to] kill him.” Brenner went on to denounce the conditions that Arab construction workers are subjected to in Israel, calling it “slave labor”, and implicating the construction industry nation-wide in perpetuating the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. “About 80% of PA Arabs, and [a] somewhat smaller portion of Israeli Arabs, make their living in Israel in one way, and one way only: construction… Right now, it costs three to four times as much to hire a Jew to do construction than an Arab,” noted Brenner, concluding that this leaves most contractors with no choice but to hire Arabs despite the security risk they pose, since most Israelis cannot be realistically expected to pay a much higher price for their house than their neighbors. Ben-Tal echoed similar sentiments. “This time it was a hammer. Another time it’s a bulldozer.” The security officer underscored the imperative to make salaries and working conditions in the construction industry competitive to those in other fields. “When will Jews want to work in jobs that only Arabs are willing to take?” “It’s a long time until we are going to see the end of this story,” said the civilian security officer after interrupting his statements to ask for ID from some Arab workers at his kibbutz. 6. ONE KILLED IN BLASTS AT CAFÉ AND HAMAS POLITICIAN'S HOME by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu At least one person was killed in two early Friday morning explosions at a café and at the home of a Hamas politician in Gaza as violence continued to grip the region. Hamas blamed unidentified terrorists for the blast. The victim in Friday morning's explosion was a passerby outside a popular café in Gaza city. Within minutes, a second bombed rocked the home of Hamas politician Marwan Abu Rass, causing damage but no injuries. Rival terrorist groups and Hamas frequently have fought each other since last summer's Hamas-Fatah terrorist militia war that resulted in a savage defeat of Fatah. Fighting has continued and even escalated since the month-old Gaza ceasefire went into effect. Hamas has accused Fatah terrorists of trying to undermine the agreement by firing rockets and mortar shells on Israel. The first two weeks of the agreement were marked by several attacks. The last two weeks were quiet until Thursday, when a mortar shell hit an open area near the Karni crossing. Several terrorists groups unilaterally extended the ceasefire to Judea and Samaria and then declared the entire agreement null and void after Israeli army forces continued to carry out counterterrorist operations in Judea and Samaria, often preventing terrorists from carrying out imminent attacks. Israel has also cracked down on Hamas activities in Samaria, where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has deployed American-trained armed policemen, who have generally have restricted their duties to dealing with traffic and criminal violations. Security forces two weeks ago closed down a mall in Shechem for its relations with Hamas terrorists, but the IDF Thursday allowed stores not affiliated with Hamas to re-open. 7. JUDEA/SAMARIA JEWS TALK TOUGH: ‘WE ARE NOT IDF’S PUNCHING BAG' by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria lashed out Thursday at their treatment by the Israeli Defense Forces after a day of tense clashes in those regions, promising to exact a ‘price’ in response to the IDF’s physical aggression, refusal to protect them, and above all the way the IDF treats them in the media. "We're not the IDF's punching bag," they proclaimed in a statement from the Binyamin-area ‘Homesh First’ activist headquarters, referring to several instances throughout the day when the army spokesperson’s office accused Jewish civilians of violently attacking soldiers. The civilians were vehemently denying that they assaulted any troops, and some of them plan to sue the army for libel. Confrontations broke out Thursday in several locations between local Jewish residents and Israeli armed forces, in which the IDF was sent in to forcibly remove Jewish residents from their homes. The first incident of the day occurred at 11 a.m., when Yasam special police forces conducted a raid on the outpost of Adei Ad, near Shiloh in Samaria, and carted away a bus that was being used as living quarters. The Binyamin activist headquarters said in response that if the security forces continue to harass Jewish pioneers in the existing communities, they will have to deal with the pioneers in new locations as well. In another confrontation at Adei Ad, two Jewish men were arrested by Israeli forces after one of them snatched a rifle from a soldier and fired it into the air. IDF spokesmen described the incident as another violent act committed by ‘settlers,’ and denied any wrongdoing in the incident. The civilian involved in the incident claimed that he took the weapon to save his life from Arab assailants, while the soldiers did nothing to protect him. Homesh First said the man who took the gun was an air-conditioning technician from Jerusalem who was travelling with a passenger from the town of Kedumim to Itamar in Samaria. The two were attacked by dozens of Arabs who pelted his car with rocks and then attempted to extract him from the car to lynch him. Panic-stricken, he ran to a group of IDF soldiers standing nearby who refused to do anything. Desperate for the soldiers to do their job, he gave up trying to convince them, took the weapon of one of the soldiers, fired in the air and then gave it back. It remains unclear whether the civilian took the rifle forcibly or the soldier agreed to let the civilian use it. 'Army must apologize for false report' After the initial statements from the IDF accusing the Jewish civilians, police determined that the lives of the two men had truly been in danger, and that their car had indeed been seriously damaged by rocks thrown by Arab rioters. The two were released immediately. So far no apology for the false report has come from the IDF spokesman’s office. Nor has there been any investigation into why the soldiers, who saw two Jewish civilians in mortal danger at the hands of an Arab mob, failed to act to protect them, even when the Jews begged them to. Homesh First said it expected the IDF to issue a formal apology for releasing the "negligent" report. In yet another incident, the IDF said that during an altercation with a group of Jews at Havat Gilad, one of the Jews threatened a soldier with bodily harm by brandishing a knife and pressing it to the soldier's neck. The army spokesman’s report said that the Jew then grabbed the soldier's helmet and fled the scene. The soldier was unharmed. Ynet quoted military spokesmen as saying that the incident was viewed “severely” and would be dealt with. "A red line has been crossed here, this is very serious," said the spokesmen. However, the Havat Gilad Jews vehemently denied that anyone from their group had threatened a soldier with a knife or in any way. Meanwhile they confirmed that a helmet had indeed been stolen from a soldier, and said it would be returned to the military promptly. Itai Zar founded Havat Gilad (Gilad’s Farm) and named it after his brother, who was killed in an Arab terror attack. He told reporters that the army's claims "are utter lies. There were two witnesses here – one of them the regional security officer and the other one a lawyer. They both saw the helmet being taken from the soldier, but there were no threats made with a knife. Therefore, we intend to sue the IDF Spokesman's Office." 8. KNESSET CONSIDERS LAW TO CHANGE ISRAELI SABBATH OBSERVANCE by Hana Levi Julian The Knesset is considering a law that would change the way the Sabbath is officially observed in the State of Israel. The new measure would allow public transportation to run and permit many recreation and entertainment-oriented businesses to open. Government agencies and services would still remain closed. The proposal, which states “the freedom of movement must not be harmed on Shabbat,” was initiated by Likud MK Gilad Erdan and Kadima MK Elchanan Glazer. If passed, it will require buses that operate on the Sabbath to avoid neighborhoods populated primarily by observant Jews. “In places in which a predominantly religious population lives, we don’t need to operate public transportation. We can also conclude that since it is not a work day, the frequency will be much lower. But there has to be permanent public transportation, so the public knows it has an alternative,” said Erdan. Special bus lines already run on the Sabbath, albeit in an extremely restricted manner, primarily in routes leading to hospitals and other essential services. The city of Haifa is the exception, however, with the public bus system running on the Sabbath with little difference from week days. Many businesses and publicly-funded venues are also already open on the Sabbath, such as the country’s national parks, and the restaurants and concessions that serve those who flock to the sites on that day. In addition, there are many other restaurants and cafes, especially in resort areas, that are open on the Sabbath as well. Religious party members are adamantly opposed to changing the law, which they say would change a long-standing status quo that has preserved whatever Jewish character the State still has. “If we accept the approach that we need to operate public transportation on Shabbat, this will cause a chain effect in which whoever does not want to be a slave and work seven days a week, won’t be accepted to work or will receive a lower salary and won’t be able to sit with their family on Shabbat or on another day,” noted United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni. He added: “I am not talking from a religious perspective, which is another story. My friends told me this is a Jewish country.” ------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/ http://www.web-view.net/Out_0X71BE0575485DB857196A0646C5F73FF06BDA9DDAACE21598CA7CC5A36F3EAB7A.htm http://www.activetrail.com