Israel remembers Holocaust in national ceremony
Holocaust survivors have never received the respect that they deserve, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said.
“It is time to conduct some soul searching. We must admit that we were wrong. Holocaust survivors have never received the respect they deserved. Even today, the State of Israel does not take every measure it can in order to take care of the Holocaust survivors. I came here today on behalf of the people of Israel, on behalf of the State of Israel, and I ask each and every one of you, before it is too late, for forgiveness,” Rivlin said on the evening of May 4 during Israel’s national Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
The ceremony was broadcast on all Israeli television channels and on several radio stations. On Yom HaShoah in Israel, places of entertainment are closed and Holocaust themed-movies and documentaries are shown on television channels.
Speaking at the ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on those listening to fight against anti-Semitism and lies about Israel. “Fight against the propaganda against Israel on social networks,” Netanyahu said, adding that another way to fight is to “increase our strength and build our country.”
Six Holocaust survivors told their stories in a prerecorded video before they lit the six torches representing the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked worldwide on Jan. 27, the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Israel’s annual Holocaust memorial day coincides with the Hebrew date of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. — jta
Palestinian teen convicted in killing of Israeli mother
A Palestinian teenager was convicted in the murder of Dafna Meir, a mother of six, in her West Bank home.
On May 2, the 16-year-old assailant was convicted of murder and illegal possession of a weapon in Judea military court, the Israel Defense Forces announced the following day.
He was arrested two days after the Jan. 17 murder in Otniel and confessed to the killing during an interrogation, the Shin Bet security service said at the time of his arrest. He was indicted in February.
Meir, 38, was stabbed to death at the entrance of her home while fighting off her attacker in what is believed to have been an attempt to save three of her children in the house. She was the mother of four children and a foster mother of two young children. Her 17-year-old daughter was able to give security officials a description of the assailant, who fled after he was unable to remove the knife from her body.
The teen watched Palestinian television broadcasts that incited against Israel and said Israel was “killing young Palestinians” before he committed the crime, the Shin Bet said. — jta
Israeli Jew gets life plus 20 years for revenge murder of Palestinian
The Israeli Jewish man convicted of the revenge murder of a Palestinian teen was sentenced on May 3 to life plus 20 years in prison.
The sentence for Jerusalem resident Yosef Ben-David, 31, for the kidnapping and murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir in July 2014 was handed down in Jerusalem District Court. The court also ordered Ben-David to pay the Palestinian teen’s family $39,000 in damages. Israel does not have a death penalty.
“I request forgiveness from the family for what happened; it wasn’t under my control. That’s not my character and I am not that kind of man,” Ben-David said in court.
He also said that he used to volunteer for the Zaka rescue organization and took care of both Jewish and Arab bodies.
“I always considered the human image and respect for the dead to be holy,” Ben-David said.
He and two teenage accomplices kidnapped Khdeir and burned him to death in the Jerusalem forest, soon after the bodies of three Jewish teens kidnapped and killed by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas were found in the West Bank.
The names of the accomplices, who were both 16 at the time of the killing, have not been released publicly. They were sentenced last month: one to life in prison, the other to 21 years. — jta
Minister wants to extend civil law to W. Bank settlers, not Palestinians
Israel’s justice minister said she would resurrect a legal initiative to bring Israeli civil law to Jewish settlements in the West Bank while keeping the Palestinians who live there under military orders.
Ayelet Shaked, of the right-wing Jewish Home party, made the remarks on May 1 during a speech to the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, a right-wing organization.
Israeli civil law officially does not apply to Jews living in the West Bank, though it is usually applied by the military and court rulings.
“As justice minister, I’m giving this matter priority and will dedicate resources to it so that we will have a genuinely equal legislative process,” she told the forum.
On May 2, Shaked told Army Radio that West Bank Jewish residents are discriminated against because they live under military law, unlike the rest of Israel’s citizens. Among the reasons for extending civil law to the West Bank, she said, are improving maternity leave conditions and enforcing environmental protection laws. She also said the laws would apply to Palestinian workers employed by Israeli businesses in the West Bank, but not to other Palestinian residents of the West Bank.
Legislation to put Jews under Israeli civil law in the West Bank was first introduced in 2014. It is considered another movement of Israel toward annexing the West Bank.
Former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, of the center-left Zionist Union party, said the legislation would mark the end of the possibility of a two-state solution.
“The right-wing government is quietly beginning the process of annexation in order to impose its ideology there,” she said in a statement to Israeli news outlets. “The end result of this is the collapse of the idea of having two states, the beginning of two completely different legal systems in one country, enormous damage to Israel’s image internationally and, ultimately, 2.5 million Palestinians with the right to vote and a Knesset majority.” — jta
Ex-Israeli president convicted of rape seeking clemency due to depression
Two clemency requests reportedly will be submitted to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin asking that he consider releasing former President Moshe Katsav following a severe deterioration of his health.
The requests, to be filed by Katsav’s wife, Gila, and attorney Zion Amir were reported May 1 by Israeli news outlets.
According to reports, Katsav’s mental health has suffered since he entered prison in December 2011 and has declined severely since the rejection last month of his request for an early release from prison on sexual assault convictions.
Katsav, 70, has served about two-thirds of a seven-year sentence after being convicted of rape, sexual assault and harassment. He is scheduled to be released in December 2018.
Early parole of up to a one-third reduction in a sentence is common in Israel. An Israel Prisons Service parole board on April 6 rejected Katsav’s request for early release. Among the board’s reasons were that Katsav has not admitted guilt, accepted responsibility for his actions or shown any remorse.
Katsav’s attorney said he would appeal the early parole rejection. Katsav can request an early release again in October. — jta
Israeli officials deny news report of more tensions with Germany
Israeli government officials have denied Spiegel Online magazine’s recent report of increased tensions with Germany.
Ties between German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union Party and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are strong, according to Israel Hayom. A source suggested the negative reports were due to attempts by some German politicians to undermine those ties.
In their news analysis for Spiegel Online titled “Foreign policy shift: Skepticism of German-Israeli friendship growing in Berlin,” published April 29, Ralf Neukirch and Christoph Schult said prominent politicians in Germany’s mainstream parties believe Netanyahu’s settlement policies are blocking the road to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
They named several German politicians, including the chancellor, as being increasingly sympathetic to Palestinian views of the conflict, and cited Bundestag legislator Rolf Mützenich, deputy chair of foreign affairs, defense and human rights for the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, as saying that Netanyahu appears to be “instrumentalizing our friendship.”
Before the weekend was out, Israeli government officials denied there was a shift in relations with Germany. An unnamed official told Israel Hayom that ties remain strong and positive. — jta
Attempt to bring rocket materials into Gaza is thwarted
A shipment of 40 tons of salt set to cross into Gaza was discovered to contain 4 tons of hidden ammonium chloride, which is used to produce long-range rockets.
The shipment was inspected at the Nitzana crossing, which is used to transfer goods among Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a week before the Passover holiday, according to a statement issued May 3 by the Israel Tax Authority.
Ammonium chloride is defined as a dual-use substance, and its passage into the Gaza Strip requires a permit because it can be used in the production of long-range rockets. Four tons of ammonium chloride could have enabled the manufacture of hundreds of rockets.
The importer of the shipment is a resident of Gaza with ties to the military wing of Hamas, according to the Tax Authority.
The authority said that in cooperation with the Shin Bet, it has foiled “dozens” of attempts to smuggle dual-use and prohibited materials into Gaza that could be used by terror organizations. — jta