This report may not include yesterday’s killings.

“Three Israelis were repeatedly stabbed by two Palestinian terrorists outside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem Wednesday and taken to hospital in serious and critical condition. Two of the three died of their wounds – Ofer Ben Ari, 40, father of two from Jerusalem and Reuven Birmacher, 45, father of seven from Kiryat Ye’arim. The third victim is still in grave condition. Two female border guards on duty halted the attack by rushing to the scene and shooting the two terrorists, killing them both. One of their bullets may have accidentally caused the second Israeli fatality.

Plus two Jews were stabbed in Ariel this morning.

At lunch time, an Arab terrorist tried to stab Soldiers in Hebron until he was killed.

”

Magen David Adom with updated statistics with regards to the current Arab terror wave in Israel.

By Nitsan Keidar, INN

Magen David Adom ambulance (illustration)

By Prof Aviad Hacohen, ISRAEL HAYOM

T. Belman. Is it possible that Bennett, Shaked and Netanyahu after having authorized the violence, had no choice but to support it?

Yaalon said  extremists behind the Duma arson attack to justice would risk “setting the region on fire,” “They could carry out additional terrorist acts and murder innocents, setting the region on fire,”  “We are obligated to fight these terrorist activities. They violate our values and they are dangerous to us all.” With this mentality, it is easy to see why the government supported such extreme measures. But that doesn’t justify them.

Lawyer Keidar criticizes Jewish Home head, noting he has first-hand evidence of torture in Duma case, Shin Bet never denied using violence.

By Ido Ben-Porat, INN

Attorney explains that if ISA is truly abusing suspects, court can rule out admissions; ‘a person will say anything to be allowed to sleep.’

By Benny Tucker, ARUTZ SHEVA

Attorney Ariel Atari, a senior criminal defense attorney, told Arutz Sheva on Tuesday that if the admission of one of the Jewish suspects in the lethal Duma arson case was indeed extracted under torture as has been testified, it can be canceled.

“Reducing the hours of sleep is problematic,” said Atari. “The court will need to clarify how much the admissions reveal the truth, or if they were said under pressure. The more they harm a detainee, the less chance there is that the admission reveals the truth. A person without sleep could say a lot of things just so that they let him sleep.”
Read more…

http://tx.a.yximgs.com/upic/2015/10/03/20/BMjAxNTEwMDMyMDU3MjZfNzYyNTAzNDZfNDAxOTc3MjcxXzJfMw==.mp4

T. Belman. It would appear that the Shin Bet has the full support of the government. Also I am quite surprised that the Government and the legal authorities keep a close watch over what the Shin Bet is doing. So it boils down to the facts. What specifically were the Shin Bet allowed to do? Did they overstep their boundaries? No one has mentioned whether such “pressure” is being videoed. I would expect it to be. The government has gone all in on this and I accept what they say. I don’t purport to be more moral than Shaked or Bennett.

Ministers Bennett, Shaked and Ya’alon also come out in defense of the Israel Security Agency amid allegations of torture of Jewish suspects in Duma arson; 15 protesters arrested during demonstrations against Shin Bet.

Ynet reporters, new agencies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement of support on Tuesday to the Shin Bet, condemning criticism of the agency surrounding allegations of torture used against the Jewish suspects arrested in connection with the arson in Duma that claimed the lives of three members of the Dawabsheh family.
Read more…

Today’s issues: The dangers of hate speech, the selection of the attorney general, the publication of new civics textbook, and the medical treatment of terrorists and their victims.

The Jerusalem Post comments on a recent video produced by Im Tirtzu, an organization with a far right-wing agenda, depicting an actor posing as a Palestinian terrorist who raises his hand with a knife and proceeds to stab, which then accuses leaders of human rights NGOs of facilitating the murder of innocent Israelis: “In Israel, particularly since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, there has been more sensitivity to the real dangers of hate speech, particularly when those doing the speaking are on the Right. The video produced by Im Tirtzu should be protected by freedom of speech. But Im Tirtzu’s heads should have exercised better judgment and re-frained from producing it.”
Read more…

PM defends domestic security service, says investigation of Jewish extremists carried out ‘in accordance with the law’

TOI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected allegations that Jewish suspects in a West Bank terror attack had been tortured, telling Knesset members all Shin Bet investigations were being conducted “in accordance with the law.”

“The law is the same for Jews, Arabs, Christians and Circassians. Heaven forbid that we deviate from it,” Netanyahu said during a meeting of his Likud party’s Knesset faction, according to Israel’s Haaretz daily.

Likud Member of Knesset Miki Zohar told the prime minister during the meeting that there have been accusations that the Shin Bet security service tortured suspects during the investigation into the murders of the Dawabsha family, whose home in the West Bank village of Duma was firebombed in July. An 18-month-old infant and his two parents died in the attack, while his four-year-old brother was severely burned.
Read more…

T. Belman.The law permits “pressure tactics” but not torture. But the Shin Bet permission to use such tactics. So the question is what tactics are considered to be pressure only and not torture. And did the Shin Bet exceed their permission.

Education minister backs Shin Bet in row over ‘torture’ of suspects in the killing of the Dawabsha family in July

By Stuart Winer, TOI

Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday voiced firm support for the Shin Bet security service and its methods in the interrogation of Jewish terror suspects, which some on the right have condemned as torture. He also harshly condemned extremists, accusing them of using “murder” in a dangerous quest to “overthrow” the state.

Bennett, a staunch supporter of the West Bank settler movement, told Army Radio that as a cabinet minister he had personally looked into claims that torture has been used on Jewish suspects held in connection with a deadly firebombing attack in the Palestinian village of Duma.

“I can assert that all the actions that are taken — and they are really extraordinary actions in light of an unusual situation — are under control, and with close legal supervision, and they are aimed at preventing the next attack,” he said.
Read more…

T. Belman. The alleged agreement appears to be smoke and mirrors. Nothing has been agreed upon. No one has changed their position. Also Iran came out yesterday and warned Turkey against it.

Analysis: An agreement between Israel and Turkey has yet to come, but there is a declarative cooperation: The Turkish President needs it as a card he can play in front of the Russians, while Netanyahu can use it to defend the government’s natural gas plan in Israel’s high court.

By Ron Ben Yishai, YNET

The normalization of relations between Israel and Turkey is a welcome occurrence in nearly everyone’s minds. The Turkish willingness to import gas from Israel is also a positive development. That’s why the breakthrough in the negotiations which have been going on for five years now, which was announced by an “Israeli source” and confirmed later by Turkish sources, is good news. But it seems celebrations are premature, and definitely exaggerated – and that the announcement of this progress was publicized mainly because of the interests shared by Netanyahu and Erdogan.
Read more…

Moshe Feiglin in an Open Letter to the Jewish Home and Nationalist Likud MKs

By Moshe Feiglin, JEWISH LEADERSHIP BLOG

I don’t understand how Knesset Members from the Jewish Home and the more nationalist Likud members do not stop the horror of the torture of the Duma suspects. After all, they are severely torturing the children of your constituents. There is no excuse for this. They are not suspected of being ‘ticking bombs’ or anything even similar to that.

In a coalition of 61 Knesset Members, it takes only one person to topple the government and to stop the horror. And you are not doing it.

Not only are the lives of these boys and their sanity on your shoulders. The future of the State of Israel depends on your vote.
Read more…

WATCH:

Woman Who Was Raised Muslim Just Dropped Truth Bomb About Islam EVERY Lib MUST See

For a nation whose commander in chief recently compared potential Islamic terrorists masking themselves as Syrian refugees to the Pilgrims, a much-needed lesson in Islam 101 is now in session.

On a Facebook page called Silence is Consent, an unnamed woman who grew up as a Muslim in the Middle East is presenting the facts about Islam because so many people get it wrong.
Read more…

By Yaakov Lapin, JPOST

The Defense Ministry and Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency completed on Monday the last phase of trials for the David’s Sling air defense system, and the Israel Air Force is expected to take possession of the system in the first quarter of 2016.

The trials occurred in recent days in southern Israel, and were led by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is developing David’s Sling, together with the US defense company Raytheon.

David’s Sling can intercept short-range to medium-range rockets and ballistic missiles, including guided projectiles, cruise missiles, aircraft, and drones. Its range of coverage means it can destroy incoming threats over enemy territory, away from Israeli skies.
Read more…

By: Rosa Burç, teleSUR

Kurdish Women fighters pose for a picture with a displaced Yazidi woman (R) who lives near the base in Sinjar.

The solution to the humanitarian tragedy that climaxed in Shengal and continues in refugee camps lies in the recognition of political status for the Kurds.

Last year, in the night of August 3, the Islamic State group carried out its attacks against the Yazidis (in Kurdish Êzîdî) in Shengal. Within just a few hours, thousands were killed or captured. The rest of the population of the almost completely Yazidi-inhabited region found immediate refuge on Mount Shengal.
Read more…

T. Belman. Remember at the end of WWII, America occupied West Berlin and USSR occupied East Berlin and so it remained for many decades.  Now that both sides have acknowledged each other’s sphere of influence in Syria, I submit those sphere’s will remain permanent. Syria will be divided by the Euphrates River. Land to the west will be Alawite Syria and land to the east will be Sunni Syria at least in the north.

Now that Turkey has been booted out of both Syria and Iraq, America is free to do what it wants with Sunni Syria and Sunni Iraq and the Kurds without regard to Turkey. So far the US has been unwilling to grant the Kurds more than autonomy. On the other hand, Kurds are also a factor west of the Euphrates which has been ceded to Russia. Time will tell what Russia will do for them.

Meanwhile Turkey is waging war against the Turkish Kurds and just killed 110 of them.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis December 21, 2015,

The US-Russian plan, approved by the UN Security Council as the lever for activating a political process towards ending the five-year Syrian war, can only go so far towards its objectives. The process is not capable of halting the fighting or removing Bashar Assad from power; just the reverse: progress in the talks is heavily dependent on the state of play on the battlefields of the north while the Syrian dictator’s ouster is a fading issue.
Read more…

T. Belman. In law school we learn that better that 99 guilty people go free than one innocent person be convicted. This principle argues for a very high standard being demanded for conviction. Because of the unreliability of forced or otherwise induced confessions, they are not permitted as evidence in Court. Another reason is that we befoul ourselves by condoning such practices.

The government blessed actions of the Shin Bet, are such a violation of morality and decency (whatever happenned to maintaining the dignity of man as required by our basic law) that better that the murderers at Duma go free than to besmirch ourselves with such atrocities.

This is an Google translation on a FB comment in Hebrew.

You can’t stay silent!!

Our children’s blood cries out from the depths of dungeons back c:

The debate revealed: one of the men arrested for homeland security tried to commit suicide.
The debate turned out to be one of the detainees who answers tried to cut his wrists and kill yourself. In addition to his pleas were exposed to judge along days of arrest: ” make me a rainbow out of their hands and put me upside down by burning my hands. Every day it’s going up a level. Let me poison. I can’t take it anymore ”
Read more…

T. Belman. Except for the last paragraph Arens is right on. He writes, “if and when a Palestinian state is established in the area, the presence of a Jewish minority should not present a hindrance.” So he is accepting the armistice lines as borders. He should have argued for moving the borders so that the Jews in J&S would remain in the expanded Israel. Why should Palestine, if created, get to keep land whose population is 90% Jewish? It makes no sense.

This kind of ethnic-cleansing policy would be hard for a representative of the United States to support, so Samantha Power prefers not to be explicit on the subject.

By Moshe Arens, HAARETZ

Just when one might have thought America was finally focusing on the bloodbath in Syria, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, used the platform offered by the Haaretz conference in New York to talk again about Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria.

“Continued settlement growth raises questions about Israel’s long-term objectives,” she pronounced. Power, like many others, seems bugged by the “1967 lines,” which as all Israelis should know are nothing more than the 1949 armistice lines concluded with Jordan. These lines delineated the areas occupied by the British-led-and-equipped Arab Legion that attacked Israel on May 15, 1948.
Read more…

T. Belman. The only solution to the conflict is partition. Russia will want to push ISIS back some more before negotiating borders for Alawite Syria. Assuming she will be successful,ISIS will be more amenable to negotiating. Russia, who lately has been supporting the Kurds in Syria and has called for their inclusion in talks, will create an alliance between Alawite Syria and Kurdish Syria to reduce the territory available to ISIS. ISIS will probably remain intractable so the only path to peace is for the US and Russia to come to an agreement on such borders. Then the focus will shift to defeating ISIS in Sunni Syria and replacing it will a more moderate Sunni leadership. There is a long road ahead.

The U.S. gives up toppling Assad to win Russia’s support at the U.N.

WSJ

The U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed a political roadmap for Syria on Friday, and in the world of fantasy diplomacy that the Obama Administration inhabits this apparently counts as a victory. Syria is to have a comprehensive cease-fire, a negotiated political transition, “inclusive and non-sectarian” governance, free and fair elections and a new constitution—all within 18 months. As for how these goals will be achieved, those are “modalities” to be worked out.
Read more…

For thousands of years, the Bal Ej practiced Judaism in secret – now they are reemerging, and they want to come home to Israel.

By Ari Soffer, ARUTZ SHEVA

By Lahav Harkov, JPOST

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid and a group of reservists came out on Sunday against Breaking the Silence, saying that the NGO defames IDF soldiers abroad.

In a press conference in Tel Aviv, Lapid announced that, as part of his fight against Breaking the Silence, he plans to propose a bill that would not allow groups that promote a boycott of Israel to fund local organizations.

According to Lapid, “Criticism is constructive for our society, but there is a significant difference between criticism and defaming IDF officers and soldiers abroad. That is not criticism; that is undermining the foundations of the state. Organizations like Breaking the Silence have crossed the red line between criticism and subversion.”
Read more…