Video: Social media: The terrorist's gunfight with police / Usage under Article 27(a) of Israel's intellectual property law

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

There were no immediate details about the circumstances of the shooting which came on a day of widespread protests against the government's planned overhaul of the judicial system and heightened tension in the West Bank.

One of the wounded was in critical condition, while the others were treated for moderate wounds. All three victims are in their 20s. Police said the attacker was subsequently shot by police in a gunfight and pronounced dead on the scene. Police were searching for accomplices in the immediate aftermath.

An image on social media showed what was believed to be the attacker standing in the middle of the road as he pointed a pistol. The MADA rescue service said one of the wounded was in critical condition, while authorities said security forces in the area quickly killed the shooter.

Video: Social media: The terrorist's gunfight with police / Usage under Article 27(a) of Israel's intellectual property law

Footage from a security camera inside a restaurant showed the gunman approaching three pedestrians from behind on a sidewalk across the street. He shoots one man in the head, leaving him motionless on the ground, as the other two pedestrians flee.

Also, amateur video apparently taken a short while later shows the attacker trapped in an alley as several armed Israelis stand around the corner. A man could be heard shouting "close the window" to a resident. As the suspect ran out of the alley, he was shot multiple times.

Dozens of police and rescuers rushed to the scene, which was quickly cordoned off.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Rome, said the government was working to "strengthen the security forces and the police who are fighting terrorists this night and every night."

Netanyahu vowed that terrorists would not make him waver in his policy. "I am sure this will have no impact on our determination to continue building in our land and set root in our homeland to secure our collective future," he said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 3 injured in Tel Aviv shooting, terrorist killed appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A number of Jewish organizations have submitted a friend-of-the-court brief last week asking for the US Supreme Court to review a case involving a British bank accused of helping fund Hamas terrorist in activity in Israel during the Second Intifada.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The brief was submitted in the case of Weiss v. National Westminster Bank, representing 200 Americans victims of Hamas terrorism during the intifada that lasted from September 2000 to February 2005.

The brief, which was filed by Justin Danilewitz of the Philadelphia-based Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, was joined by 10 Jewish organizations, including the Lawfare Project, Agudath Israel of America, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Anti-Defamation League, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, StandWithUs, Zachor Legal Institute, Jerusalem Institute of Justice and the Israeli-American Civic Action Network.

It calls into question an April decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that dismissed the case, claiming that Interpal had carried out some charitable work; that the money channeled through National Westminster Bank (NatWest) was not specifically for terrorist attacks or to recruit terrorists to carry out attacks; and that Interpal did not indicate to NatWest that the transfers were for terrorist purposes.

This decision led the plaintiffs to appeal to the Supreme Court to clarify how courts should apply liability under the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA), passed by Congress in 2001 and the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), passed in 2016 to strengthen the ATA and which imposes civil liability on anybody who "aids and abets" an act of international terrorism.

"The Supreme Court has previously underscored that terrorist organizations don't maintain legitimate financial firewalls between the funds they raise for civil, nonviolent activities and those ultimately used to support violent, terrorist operations, but the federal courts of appeal have not taken a uniform approach to this issue, and the Supreme Court hasn't yet clarified the scope of civil liability," said Gary Osen, managing partner of Osen LLC, which represents one of the plaintiffs, in a news release on Thursday.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The circuit court's decision went against its own previous ruling in 2014, which held that there was sufficient evidence from which a jury can conclude that "NatWest had knowledge that, or exhibited deliberate indifference to whether Interpal provided material support to a terrorist organization."

'Letting decision stand would create loophole in laws'

The lawsuit against NatWest was first filed in 2005 under the Anti-Terrorism Act, made up of claims from estates and family members of American citizens who were killed or injured in terrorist attacks by Hamas. The plaintiffs alleged that NatWest held accounts for Interpal – a United Kingdom-based organization that describes itself as a charity, but was later designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization by the US government.

The U. Treasury Department has previously called Interpal a fundraising organization of Hamas.

From December 2001 to January 2004, according to the plaintiffs, NatWest was accused of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas-controlled entities on behalf of Interpal during the Second Intifada, which saw waves of suicide and other terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations.

"We are confident that the Supreme Court will hear this case and reverse the Second Circuit. As the Supreme Court has already recognized, terrorist organizations are so tainted by their criminal conduct that any contribution to such an organization facilitates that conduct," wrote Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project in an email. "Letting this decision stand would create a significant loophole in anti-terrorism laws, allowing terrorist organizations to raise money simply by creating nominally 'charitable' arms."

Another friend-of-the-court brief supporting a Supreme Court review of the case was submitted on Oct. 8 by 10 US senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.).

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Jewish groups pushing US Supreme Court to review terrorist financing case appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Over 150 families who have lost loved ones to Palestinian terrorist attacks are reaching out to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to demand that he stop the planned reopening of a US consulate in Jerusalem to provide services for Palestinians.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

After Blinken announced that the US would "move forward" with the process of opening the Jerusalem consulate as part of its efforts to deepen ties with the Palestinians, the bereaved families are warning that if the US reopens its Jerusalem consulate, the move will reignite terrorism in the city.

In a letter to Blinken, the families wrote: "Who like the residents of Jerusalem have experienced Palestinian terrorism first hand. There is no reason to re-create it. This is a complete Trojan horse. The US is Israel's friend and ally. Don't hurt us. Instead of encouraging the world the divide Jerusalem and turn it into a city plagued by terrorism, you must send a clear message to the world at large: Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people."

The signatories to the letter included Yael Shevach, the widow of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was murdered in Samaria; Geula and David Malka, the parents of Hadas Malka, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem; Herzl and Miriam Hajaj, the parents of Lt. Shir Hajaj, who was murdered in a car ramming attack in Armon Hanatziv in the city; and dozens more bereaved parents, siblings, and children of Jews murdered in terrorist attacks. Most of the signatories are members of the Choosing Life Forum, an organization that represents bereaved families and works to promote increased Israeli deterrence against terrorism.

The letter continued: "For thousands of years, Jews' eyes were turned toward Jerusalem. The Jewish wedding ceremony is the only one in the world in which the groom connects his fate to the fate of a city. The Jewish groom says, 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither…' If the US wants to set up a consulate or any other permanent diplomatic mission for the Palestinians – please do it in Ramallah. Why are you insisting on opening this consulate in the capital of Israel, of all places?"

Another signatory to the letter is the Zionist movement Im Tirzu, which also initiated the idea of sending it.

"If the secretary of state wants to promote 'peace,' the last thing he should do is set up a special American consulate for Palestinians in the capital of Israel,'" said Im Tirzu chairman Matan Peleg.

"Apart from the fact that this tramples Israeli sovereignty and lacks any minimal respect for a friendly nation, it also signals to the Palestinians that the path of recalcitrance and resistance is acceptable, and pays off. This step will encourage nothing but terrorism," Peleg said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 'US consulate for Palestinians will encourage terrorism' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Since the Democrats took control of the White House and both Houses of Congress a hundred days ago, the Middle East has become a powder keg. But Israel's ruling class sees nothing.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In Afghanistan and Iraq, violent attacks against US forces are rising steeply. From January through April, attacks on US forces increased 40%. President Joe Biden's announcement that the US will withdraw its forces from the country by September 11, the 20^th anniversary of the jihadist attacks on the US worsened the situation by communicating a message of profound American weakness and defeatism. The Taliban, al-Qaida and Iran clearly believe they are now free to humiliate and bleed the US as they take control of the country.

In Iraq, Iranian-controlled Shiite militias launched three missile strikes against US bases in the past week. Hoping to avoid confrontation with Iran as its emissaries appease it in Vienna, the Biden administration is assiduously avoiding acknowledging that Iran is behind the attacks, and so it guarantees that more attack will soon follow. As in Afghanistan, Iran reads US behavior as an invitation to strike with immunity.

In Syria, Iran's Syrian proxy President Bashar Assad and Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah continue to wage a war of extermination against Syrians who oppose them. In southern Syria last weekend, after opposition forces from the village of Am Batana, six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the border with Israel attacked a joint Syrian military and Hezbollah base nearby, the military ordered the entire village to evacuate by 2 p.m. last Saturday, or else. Most of the villagers reportedly fled their homes.

While turning a blind eye to Syria, the Biden administration continues to empower the Lebanese armed forces and government – both wholly controlled by Iran through Hezbollah. Last month, the administration transferred armored trucks valued at $14 million to the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese military and asked that Congress provide financial assistance to the government. Hezbollah for its part has launched a charm campaign on the public. Having caused the government to go bankrupt and forced the people of a once prosperous land into destitution, Hezbollah is now carrying out a well-publicized food drive, handing out Iranian basic foodstuffs to starving Lebanese along with Hezbollah membership cards.

Just months ago, hope abounded that Saudi Arabia would join the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in the Abraham peace accords with Israel. But the picture is now reversed. Recognizing the US has changed sides, the Saudis no longer believe that with Israel they can contain Iran. So now they are hoping to cut a deal with the ayatollahs.

Ties between Israel and the UAE are also showing signs of stress. Last week, the UAE joined the anti-Israel cavalcade, releasing a statement condemning Israel for quelling Arab violence against Jews in Jerusalem. And this week reports emerged that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif paid a visit to the Emirates.

In Vienna Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi told journalists that the US team has agreed to remove economic sanctions from Iranian oil sales, banks, maritime shipping, firms and officials. Arachi said that the US has agreed to release $7 billion in frozen funds and Britain has agreed to release an additional $400 million pounds in return for four American and one British hostage being held in Iran. The US also agreed to release four Iranians being held in US prisons. After days of vague denials, the State Department confirmed major sanctions relief is on the table.

While the Biden administration has yet to focus on the Palestinians, its statements and appointments have empowered Fatah and Hamas to launch a new campaign against Israel.

Following Palestinian Authority and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's cancellation of the Palestinian elections, Fatah returned to killing Jews. For the first time in years, Fatah's Nablus office took credit for Monday's terror attack in northern Samaria where one seminary student was murdered and two more were critically wounded in a drive by shooting as they stood at a bus stop.

Ahead of Israel's Jerusalem Day next week, Iran's Jerusalem Day this week and the end of Ramadan, both Hamas and Fatah are focused on Israel's capital. Although the focal point of Arab violence was initially the Damascus Gate to the Old City, where Arab gangs beat Jews in the street, it has now moved to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in north-east Jerusalem.

After decades of court battles, and countless court orders requiring Arab squatters to be removed from the Jewish owned homes in Sheikh Jarrah, the Supreme Court is set to end the legal saga with a final verdict May 10. Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh announced this week that May 9 will be "a turning point for the war against the occupation and the settlers."

Hamas's terror kingpin Mohammed Deif joined the threatening chorus as well. In his first statement since 2014 Deif threatened, that if Israel evicts the squatters, "The move will not go unanswered and the occupation will pay a heavy price."

Thursday night the riots in Sheikh Jarrah began in earnest with Arab mobs setting fire outside Jewish homes and assaulting Jewish residents of the neighborhood. Earlier in the week, the Palestinians launched their political warfare campaign to demonize Israel.

As the excellent Telegram page "Abu Ali Express," which tracks events in the Arab world, reported the Palestinians put English subtitles on a video of Israeli police arresting an Arab suspect in Sheikh Jarrah. In it, the suspect says, "You are suffocating me," as the police restrain him on the ground and handcuff him.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The purpose of the video is obvious – the Palestinians seek to draw a direct line between the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Israeli law enforcement in Jerusalem. And it is working.

Thursday the EU and the governments of most major EU states along with the Biden State Department issued statements condemning Israel and insisting that Israel's control over its unified capital along with Judea and Samaria is "illegal." Whatever is coming next week will be the first expression of a coordinated Palestinian-Western assault against Israeli control over Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria since Biden entered office.

The Palestinians understand two key truths. First, the only unified foreign policy the EU has is delegitimization of Israel. And second, for the Biden administration and Democrats as a whole, there is no difference between foreign policy and domestic policy. The administration is supportive of Iran and the Palestinians because Biden and his advisors apply the same identity politics to their foreign policy as they do to their domestic policy.

Identity politics hold that the US was born in sin and systemically racist. To cleanse its soul, America must adopt a two-tier system of governance in which members of recognized "victim" groups are given extraordinary rights and members of recognized "oppressor" groups must be punished. And just as America is morally infirm and must mend its evil ways, so its allies –particularly Israel – must be similarly punished and forced to transform itself.

Biden gave voice to this position in his speech before Congress this week. There he presented a portrait of the US as an inherently racist state. This racism, he claimed was preserved and enforced by the law enforcement system which suffers from "systemic racism." Police reform laws that he and his fellow Democrats intend to promulgate, he said, will remedy the situation.

To understand what Biden was referring to we can look to New York State, where the Democrat-controlled government passed a bail reform law in 2019. The new law effectively gave tens of thousands of violent criminals a get-out-of-jail-free card by making it extremely difficult for judges to either remand criminal suspects to custody pending their trial or impose bail as a condition for pre-trial release. The consequence of the reform has been a massive increase in violent crimes statewide.

This week, and not for the first time, New York's Jews were victimized by their state's no-bail policy. For 11 days, a black assailant terrorized the Jewish community of Riverdale in the Bronx. Jordan Burnette vandalized four synagogues, some multiple times before police arrested him. After one judge imposed $20,000 bail on Burnette, the local prosecutor went to a more politically savvy judge who cancelled her colleague's ruling and set him free.

Thanks to Democrat control over the White House and both houses of Congress, soon the entire country will have the two-tiered justice system now in place in New York, where favored groups are protected and disfavored groups are left to fend for themselves.

The tyranny of the identity politics driven Democrats has brought about a level of social and political polarization in America unseen since the Civil War. It is not a stretch to say that today there are two Americas and two American peoples living side by side in hostility and fear. While it is impossible to foretell how things will develop, it is also impossible to believe that a positive or peaceful outcome to this explosive situation is likely.

This brings us to Israel. At this moment of profound and perilous uncertainty, Israel's ruling class – particularly in the media and the security establishment – is dangerously blind to what is happening. On Tuesday, Avi Benayahu, a former IDF Spokesman and a fixture in the media-security establishment, gave voice to the ruling class's myopia in post on his Twitter account. Benayahu presented the current situation in the US as utopian and gushed that Israel could enjoy the same lucky fate if Likud and the rightist bloc are replaced by what the left has euphemistically dubbed a "government of change." That is, a leftist government joined by anti-Semitic Arab parties and opportunistic formerly rightist parties.

Benayahu gushed, "You want to see what 'change' looks like? Look at the US under Biden. Look and listen to the quiet, to the normalcy, to the sanity and tranquility that have fallen on America. There's no fake news, no racist statements, no attacks on the media and the judges and there's great attention being paid to domestic affairs. Biden is working for America's citizens. For everyone. That's what change looks like!"

Benayahu's position owes to two factors. First, like his fellow leftists, Benayahu shares the Democrats' progressive mindset. Second, Israel's ruling class gets its information on Israel's most important ally from media organs like the New York Times and CNN. Benayahu and his fellow elitists fail to recognize that these outlets have long abandoned their role as news organizations and have transformed themselves in to the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party.

The reality obscured by the Democrats' media echo chamber is that Biden's domestic policies have launched American society into a downward spiral driven by hatred and fear. His foreign politics have placed Israel in the eye of a storm of epic proportions.

With its members now grasping the reins of power, Israel's ruling class must face the truth of the situation.

The post A powder keg, courtesy of Washington appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

It came as no surprise to Israel's political and security establishments when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatened on Thursday night to cancel the Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for May 22 over Israel's refusal to allow east Jerusalem Palestinians to vote in them.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Israel was already working under the assumption that Abbas would use Israel's lack of response to his request that Palestinian residents in the east of the capital be allowed to participate in the elections as a pretext to cancel them. However, it appeared that Abbas had attempted to soften his criticism of Israel by claiming that the government had not responded to his request on the matter because there was no government in place that could do so.

"European Union representatives confirmed to us that that Israeli side is not allowing elections to be held in east Jerusalem. The Europeans said there is no use, and the Israelis will never allow elections. Our true response to Israel's refusal is that no one will laugh at us. This is idle chatter that will not work with us," Abbas said Thursday.

"We sent the Palestinian foreign minister to Europe, and we said we are waiting for an answer from the Israelis on the holding of elections in east Jerusalem. We issued presidential decrees, and we waited for a response to holding them [the elections] in Jerusalem, and we got no answer," he continued.

Abbas also accused Israel of attacking political activists in east Jerusalem and preventing them from campaigning there.

"These events that the entire world saw showed that our great people can take on the occupation forces and its intentions of occupation. The world saw the violence of the Israeli government and the settlers, those who called 'Death to Arabs.' I say 'no' to those who claim a unified Jerusalem is the Israeli capital," the PA leader declared.

Israel's security apparatus was waiting Thursday to gauge the Palestinian public's response to Abbas' announcement, and security officials are not ruling out a possibility that Hamas, which will be disappointed if the elections are cancelled, will renew the violent weekly riots at the Gaza border fence, or even regular rocket attacks against Israel. The IDF is also prepared for possible rioting in Judea and Samaria, as well as renewed lone-wolf terrorist attacks.

The security establishment is hoping for a negligible response from the Palestinian public, but the IDF's Southern and Central Commands are also ready for massive backlash, and expect this weekend to serve as a test case for security developments in the Palestinian arena.

Israel is hoping that the Palestinian front will remain relatively calm in light of the ongoing challenges presented by Hezbollah and Iran in the North. This was one of the reasons why, after terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip fired over 40 rockets at Israel last week, Israel's response was limited and mainly focused on restrictions to the Gaza fishing zone. On Thursday morning, Israel announced that those restrictions had been revoked.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post With Abbas poised to cancel PA elections, Israel goes on alert appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel's COVID vaccination campaign continues to astonish he world, and many people stuck abroad in countries where vaccines are in short supply are trying to get vaccinated in Israel.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

One of these people is Patricia Stern, who survived the Sabena airline hijacking in 1972. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took part in the operation to rescue the hostages as the commander of a Sayeret Matkal team.

Now Stern, who holds Israeli citizenship, is asking that Netanyahu allow here to come to Israel to receive the COVID vaccine.

Stern, 55, was six years old when she was on board Sabena Flight 571 from Brussels to Tel Aviv, with a stopover in Vienna. In the 1970s, Palestinian terrorism was beginning to make its mark, having carried out a few attacks against Jordanian and Israeli targets, such as the Black September massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

When the plane touched down in the Austrian capital, two terrorists in civilian dress boarded the aircraft, joining two who were already on board. They went into the bathroom and took out their weapons, which included pistols and bombs.

"I remember everything. I was the only child on the plane," Stern tells Israel Hayom from Belgium.

"I was going from Brussels to Tel Aviv via Vienna. Two terrorists got on in Brussels, and two more in Vienna. How can you not remember that? We didn't have food or drink, and I remember that when I went to the bathroom, one of the women terrorists pointed her gun at me because I was wearing a Magen David pendant, as if she wanted me to die," she says.

Sayeret Matkal commandoes under Ehud Barak boarded the plane, dressed as technicians. They pulled out Beretta firearms and within a minute took down all four terrorists. Two were killed and two female members of the cell were arrested. Netanyahu sustained a wound to his arm in the operation.

 Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

"Later, when the soldiers got on the plane in disguise, I was the first one off. I just wanted it to be over. We went to Ben-Gurion Airport, where there a lot of people. I talked to Moshe Dayan, Shimon Peres, and Golda Meir, who wasn't very nice," Stern recalls.

Fifty years on, she says, "I haven't asked for a thing since it happened. Not from here [the Belgian authorities], and not from Israel. I just want to come to Israel and be vaccinated, please," she pleads.

Europe is in the midst of a third wave of COVID, and its vaccination campaign is having a hard time gaining traction. Stern is pessimistic about the matter being resolved soon and says: "I want to make aliyah. I'm sick of it here, that's it."

Stern is also despairing after encounters with official bureaucracy, including the Israeli Embassy in Brussels.

"The embassy here in Belgium is closed. Everything is closed, and there's no one to talk to. It's very complicated here. Belgium has vaccines from Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer, but they aren't letting people get vaccinated. I've been twice, and they didn't want to give it to me because I'm too young. They don't have enough vaccines for everyone," she says.

Stern is asking Netanyahu, who helped save her 50 years ago, for a personal favor. "My father is buried on Har Hamenuhot in Jerusalem, and I haven't visited his grave for two years. Last year, my flight was cancelled. There are no flights from Belgium at all," she says.

"Netanyahu could do me a favor. I want him to call me. It weighs on my heart. If he finds me a job, I'll also make aliyah," Stern says.

The post Sabena hijacking survivor has a special request for Netanyahu   appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

It's very doubtful whether the Arabic phrase "muqawama salmiya" means anything to the judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, who this week greenlighted an investigation into Israel for alleged war crimes. Makuma salamiya ("peaceful, non-violent resistance"), as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has taken care to refer to the thousands of terrorist attacks and attempted terrorist attacks against Israelis, has prompted 534 major attacks in the last six years, and tens of thousands more "ordinary" attacks (meaning rock throwing and Molotov cocktails).

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In that six-year period, 85 Israelis were killed and over 1,000 wounded in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria in attacks that the Palestinians called "popular terrorism." In those same six years, Israeli security forces thwarted over 2,000 more major attacks planned as part of this "popular terrorism." These blood-soaked statistics, based on the idea of "peaceful, non-violent resistance," will probably not be investigated at The Hague.

For years, the terminology that defines hundreds and thousands of attacks and planned attacks as "popular resistance" has been a characteristic tool of Palestinian spokespeople. It is even anchored in two strategic decisions by the Fatah movement. The first was made at the organization's sixth conference, held in August 2009, which adopted the strategy of "popular resistance" – meaning terrorism. This strategy was re-approved at the Fatah's seventh conference in December 2016, which passed a decision to strengthen it. Abbas again approved these concepts at the UN in September 2017.

Since then, the PA leader – who initiated the ICC complaint against Israel – has not stopped talking about popular resistance, which is terrorism in every sense of the word. For years, the PA has defined terrorist attacks such as the murder of Esther Horgan in a grove near her home or the murder of Rabbi Shai Ohayon at Sgula Junction five months ago as "popular resistance."

This week, concurrent with the ICC decision, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center published a report summing up popular terrorism in 2020. It turns out that Abbas' "muqawama salmiya" led to 40 major terrorist attacks last year that killed three Israelis and wounded 46. Another 430 attacks were thwarted in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. Of the attacks that were prevented, 238 would have involved shootings, 70 would have been stabbings, 10 would have been car rammings, and 62 would have involved explosives devices. Another five plots included abductions.

COVID mitigates terrorism

These numbers, which are by no means small, still reflect a drop in the level of terrorism and its lethality in 2020 compared to the years 2015-2019. The late Col. (res.) Reuven Erlich, former head of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center who passed away two weeks ago, explained in a recent conversation with Israel Hayom that "the Palestinians – according to their own views – had supposedly good reasons to renew and increase terrorism last year." Factors for this include the Trump administration's peace plan, Israel's intention to declare sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria, and the normalization agreements Israel signed with a number of Arab states.

Erlich attributes the drop in Palestinian terrorism last year to Israeli security forces' pre-emptive capabilities, an ongoing decline in most of the Palestinian public's willingness to take an active part in terrorist activity, and anti-Israel protest.

 Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

But no less important was the COVID pandemic, which appears to have influenced the Palestinians, as well. The public health and economic fallout, Erlich explains, kept the Palestinians busy, and even created another modern-day blood libel that falsely accused Israel of spreading the virus in the PA.

The drop in terrorism in 2020 can be seen in two main parameters. The first is the lower number of major attacks that were actually perpetrated: In 2015 that number stood at 171; in 2016, 142; in 2017, 82; in 2018, 55; in 2019, 34; and in 2020 – 40.

The second parameter is the lower number of thwarted planned attacks. In 2018 581 terrorist plots were foiled by security forces; in 2019, 564; and in 2020 – only 430.

The fact that the Palestinians are careful to refer to this as "popular" terrorism also has to do with the fact that most of the terrorists active in recent years, including 2020, were not affiliated with any terrorist organization. Most "popular terrorism" is perpetrated using unsophisticated weapons – knives, rocks, sharpened object, or cars. In 2020, like the two previous years, most of the terrorists had personal or nationalist motives, rather than religious ones, in sharp contrast to the wave of terrorist stabbings Israel witnessed from 2015-2017, when many of the attackers were spurred to action by the lie "Al-Aqsa is in danger" and felt "obligated" to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. COVID, apparently, put a damper on religious fervor, at least as a motive for terrorism.

'One of the quietest years'

In 2020, religious ecstasy as a motive for committing a terrorist attack was replaced by various personal problems, like a poor grade on a math test (in the case of one terrorist who tried to stab soldiers in January 2020 at Gitai-Avisar Junction near Ariel), or a romantic disappointment, family quarrels, or domestic disputes or friction between children and parents, as well as financial distress. Most of these attackers took into account that they might not make it out alive after committing or attempting to commit the attacks. Some of them expressed a desire to die.

Once again, Palestinian society drew no distinction between the terrorists who acted out of nationalist motives and the ones who were mainly prompted by personal problems. The culture of martyrdom is still being nurtured, both through the glorification of martyrs, even in formal and informal Palestinian educational framework, and the generous salaried paid out to terrorists and their families. The PA also rebuilds the homes of terrorists that Israel demolishes as punishment, and PA representatives attend funerals of terrorists and pay condolence visits to families, conferring honor upon their families.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi defined 2020 as one of the quietest years Israel has seen on the security front, with few Israeli casualties, but it's unclear what we can expect from 2021. Along with mitigating factors like the war against COVID, renews security cooperation between the PA and Israel after the sovereignty plan was shelved; and Israel allowing some 100,000 Palestinian laborers to work in Israel, there are also factors that increase the possibility of a rise in terrorism. These include the dispute between Israel and the PA over the salaries paid to terrorists and their families and the upcoming PA parliamentary elections, which could spark violence between the various Palestinian factions that could be turned toward Israel.

Yet another factor is the "price tag" attacks against Palestinians carried out by right-wing Israeli extremists, which could cause things to go downhill. In 2021, like last year, the tracking and prediction tool that Israel's security forces operate on social media platforms will play a central role in thwarting planned terrorist attacks and deterring potential terrorists. This system has grown much more sophisticated since the 2015-2017 wave of "lone wolf" terrorism, and had help scupper hundreds of plans for terrorist attacks in the past few years. 

The post The statistics of blood appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Following the attack, French authorities reportedly agreed to a secret pact with Palestinian terrorist organization behind the massacre – the Abu Nidal group – guaranteeing Abu Nidal operatives free movement within France in exchange for a promise of no further attacks on French soil.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

French newspaper Le Parisien reported over the weekend that in January of this year the former head of French domestic intelligence (DST) Yves Bonnet, confessed to making the deal to the magistrate in charge of investigating the terrorist attack.

"We made a kind of verbal deal in which I said, 'I don't want any more attacks on French soil and in return, I'll let you come to France and I guarantee nothing will happen to you,'" the paper quoted Bonnet as having said.

The pact was allegedly reached during a clandestine meeting shortly after the attack between Bonnet and representatives of the Abu Nidal group – not the terrorists who executed the massacre, he claimed, but individuals he described as their "stooges."

According to Bonnet, the pact worked, insofar as there were no attacks on French soil "from late '83, '84 and until the end of 1985." Among the concessions made during that time by the DST was the permission for two Abu Nidal terrorists to visit one of their comrades in a French prison.

Bonnet claimed the then-French president François Mitterrand's chief of staff was informed of the deal, but that "officially … the Élysée knew nothing." Investigators, also kept in the dark over the deal, have asked to interview other members of the intelligence services who have refused to speak until now, claiming it was a matter of national security.

Families of the victims are now demanding a parliamentary inquiry and have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to declassify the top-secret file of the attack.

Avi Bitton, a lawyer for the families, told Le Parisien: "We need a parliamentary inquiry not just on the [Chez Jo Goldenberg] attack but to establish if such secret pacts were sealed with other terrorist organizations."

Lawyers representing the families have also demanded the extradition of four suspects currently in Jordan and Norway.

The post Report: Ex-French spy chief made deal with 1982 Jewish deli bombers appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Speaking at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center in Tel Aviv, Heyman said that "Hamas is deterred and has expressed the desire to continue on the track of the [cease-fire] arrangement," adding that the group's "growing sovereign obligations are causing tensions with Islamic Jihad."

The latter has been increasingly trying to undermine Hamas in Gaza, and while "it's still coordinated with Hamas, it has higher explosive potential," Heyman said.

The Islamic Jihad is "a wild card" in Gaza, and is a "highly unstable force that fundamentally still views itself as a resistance group that must act aggressively," he warned.

Addressing the issue of Iran's presence in Syria, Heyman noted that the IDF's actions have "led to a relative containment of its [Iran] entrenchment in Syria," but the Islamic Republic was still "highly motivated to establish a regional foothold elsewhere in the region," for example, in Iraq.

Heyman further noted that even if Iran leaves the 2015 nuclear deal, and despite boasting otherwise, Tehran may fail to obtain a nuclear bomb.

He declined to elaborate on whether such a failure would stem from Iran slowing its pursuit of a bomb to reduce the risk of global intervention, from a scientific failure, or from a pre-emptive strike.

Iran, he said, "is under unprecedented pressure from every direction by U.S. sanctions," which is why it has been mounting low-grade attacks in the Persian Gulf against American and Saudi interests, as well as making threats about stepping up its nuclear enrichment efforts.

Commenting on the Lebanese arena, Heyman dismissed comments by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who recently threatened Israel with more powerful precision missiles.

Israeli Military Intelligence believes the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group has an arsenal of some 150,000 missiles, threatening the length and breadth of Israel.

The IDF knows about all of Hezbollah's capabilities, "maybe even better than [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah," he said, adding that some of the weapons with which Nasrallah threatened Israel are not even operational.

Commenting on the military's intelligence-gathering efforts collection, Heyman noted that "the vast majority of our intelligence today comes from cyber … and we are only limited by our imagination."

The post 'Hamas is deterred, Islamic Jihad is a wild card,' military official says appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

According to the Israeli military, some 7,000 ‎Palestinians took part in border demonstrations. ‎Troops opened fire to ward off rioters who threw ‎rocks and firebombs ‎and rolled burning ‎tires at the security fence in ‎attempts to sabotage ‎it.‎

The IDF targeted a Hamas position in Gaza on Friday ‎evening after Palestinians opened fire on Israeli ‎troops patrolling the northern side of the security ‎fence. No injuries were reported in this incident.‎

Also on Friday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ‎visited Kibbutz Or Haner, some 3 kilometers (1.8 ‎miles) from Gaza. ‎

‎"If we have Color Red here, Gaza will turn deep ‎red, too," Lieberman said, referring to the rocket warning system that operates across ‎the western Negev.‎

"We would prefer not to be dragged into war, and ‎we're doing everything we can to avoid a large ‎operation, but the ball is not in our court. I ‎highly recommend Hamas be wise about it," he said.‎

Commenting on the residents' criticism that Israel's response to ‎Hamas violence is not sufficiently forceful, ‎Lieberman said, "I think we are mounting a forceful ‎response. Do things need to go to the next level? ‎Probably, but at the end of the day, our ‎responsibility is to deal with all threats at all ‎times, to ensure the normal routine here – and ‎everywhere else. ‎

Channel 10 News reported that Prime Minister ‎Benjamin Netanyahu informed senior cabinet ministers ‎that a new initiative to resolve the humanitarian ‎crisis in Gaza was in the works with the aim of ‎facilitating a stable cease-fire.‎

Hadashot evening news reported that the recent ‎flare-ups on the Gaza border have prompted Lieberman ‎to propose dealing Hamas a more crippling blow, but ‎Netanyahu opposed the move.‎

Meanwhile, after a few relatively calm days, ‎Palestinian arson terrorism raged again over the ‎weekend, as 28 fires were sparked in Israeli ‎communities near the border by incendiary balloons. ‎

The terrorist arson campaign, launched in late ‎‎‎April, has so far decimated nearly 10,000 acres of ‎‎forest ‎and farmlands on the Israeli side of the ‎‎border. Incendiary kites and balloons have caused ‎‎millions of dollars in damage to the area over the ‎‎past three months and environmental experts ‎say it ‎‎will take at least 15 years to rehabilitate ‎the ‎‎vegetation and wildlife that have been destroyed. ‎ ‎
‎
‏ ‏

The post Gaza will turn 'deep red' if Israel is attacked, ‎defense minister warns appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.