A mother’s plea for ‘prayer, positive energy, whatever it takes’ to find kidnapped teens
The Times of Israel interviewed Rachelle Fraenkel on Thursday afternoon, in a quiet garden near the family home at Nof Ayalon, two weeks after her son Naftali, 16, was kidnapped along with Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19.Fathers cry too
We had contacted her because she has been saying that she wants the world in general, and the Jewish world in particular, to do more, to do whatever it can, to help ensure the safe return home of the abducted trio of Israeli teenagers. We thought we would be able to help her get that message disseminated.
"We have six children -- five girls and Gil-ad. He is my only son. That was the first thing I thought about when I realized that he was kidnapped: I cannot lose my only son. The bad thoughts are there. I can't erase them. So I tell them: Move aside for now. I clear room in my head for doing things. I focus on being productive for myself and for Gil-ad. I try to control the thoughts, tire myself out with tasks, just to avoid a single moment of quiet. When it is quiet I can hear Gil-ad calling me for help."Ari Lesser - Bring Back Our Boys
Ophir Shaer, 43, is the last person you would ever imagine in a situation like this: standing in front of television cameras, walking red carpets at the President's Residence. He is a lawyer and an accountant. He is shy. He hates being interviewed. But this isn't really an interview; I have already disclosed my personal relationship with the Shaer family. We are neighbors. We have known each other for years. I accompany Ophir and Bat-Galim Shaer, parents of kidnapped teen Gil-ad Shaer, to the Knesset. I am there as a friend of the family. On the way, we converse. It is not an interview.
Netanyahu to Abbas: Break up unity pact with Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday to dismantle the Hamas-Fatah unity government at once, after Israel published the names of two Hamas members who are believed to have carried out the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank two weeks ago.
“A short time after the kidnapping, I said that those who perpetrated this activity were terrorists of Hamas,” Netanyahu said at an Israeli Air Force graduation ceremony. “And indeed today the security services of Israel have published the names of two of the perpetrators of this heinous crime.”
Mark Regev on Bringing Back The Boys (video)
In this exclusive interview a few days ago, Bibi Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev talks of the Israeli government's certainty that Hamas is behind the kidnapping of the three missing Israeli teenagers, what needs to be done to bring the boys home, why Mahmoud Abbas's unity deal with Hamas is unconscionable, and what Israel expects from the international community.Caroline Glick: The names of the victims
Meanwhile, the British-based Islam Channel's Current Affairs show has presented a trio of talking heads to bash Israel's response to the current kidnapping crisis: three hardened anti-Israel warriors, namely freelance writer Ben White (his latest kick at the UK "Israel lobby" and Christian Zionists has just been posted, here), lawyer Toby Carman, and ex-MP Martin Linton (remember that "tentacles of Israel" speech of his a few years ago?).
As for our government ministers, and our prime minister, you need to fix the damage you caused.A believing nation
You knew when you signed the Schalit deal that the ink was the blood of the victims to come. We didn’t know their identities then. But now we do: Baruch Mizrahi, Naftali Fraenkel, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Shaer.
It’s time you understand that after what you did, the only way to change the enemies’ cost-benefit analysis of abductions and other atrocities is for you to change your way of doing business.
This means you have to stop appeasing terrorists and start punishing them. And the punishment needs to be consistent, and painful. Among other things, this means no more money, no more guns and no more legitimacy, not only to Hamas, but to the PA. If you want to do it gradually, you can do it gradually.
It means that every time the Palestinian media broadcasts anti-Jewish bile, they lose something of value.
You sense that the secular Left is scared that it is losing the country to Jewish tradition.Arab states at United Nations deplore ‘Israeli aggression’
Too much prayer and faith is polluting the public discourse… Oy! Misgav and his Haaretz colleague Chemi Shalev are additionally tearing their hair out at what they irascibly see as a horrible nexus of faith and right-wing ideology; a “noxious” mix infecting our society. “In the current situation, the prayer appeal is mainly to a very specific god – the god of the settler right wing, which wants to bring the boys home and at the same time to assist the soldiers of god’s army in their holy fight against the Palestinian Amalek,” Misgav expectorates.
Israel ambassador Ron Prosor struck back an hour later in his address to the press.Reading the Ground Like a “Newspaper”: NYT Profiles IDF Bedouin Searching for Teens
“Rather than denouncing this appalling attack, the Arab nations have the audacity to stand before you today and criticize Israel,” he said. “Even after Palestinian [Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas condemned the kidnapping, the Palestinian representative did not have the courage and dignity to denounce and attack on three schoolboys.
“The Arab nations give the world mostly oppression and aggression,” he continued.
“Remind me of a single innovation from an Arab nation in medicine or technology.
Tuesday, The New York Times profiled a Bedouin IDF tracker, Maj. Mohammed Mazarib, and his role in the search for Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach.Ted Cruz Delivers Impassioned Speech On Kidnapped Israeli Teens
The Times described the skills of a tracker:
"They are like a forensics unit, in nature. An intact spider web means no one has crossed. Dewdrops on a horse print says it was made that morning. Different-colored dirt close by suggests someone might have recently dug a hole.
“When you buy a newspaper, you look at the headline, you know what’s inside,” Major Mazarib said. “I look at the ground, and it’s like my headline.”
Today, speaking on the Senate floor, Senator Ted Cruz delivered an impassioned plea on behalf of three Israeli teenagers from the West Bank who were kidnapped two weeks ago. Cruz minced no words, and called Hamas a "violent terrorist organization" and said the "full weight of the world should bear down" on them.GOP congressmen to Abbas: You are responsible for Hamas
"This is an issue that should be on the front page of every newspaper in the United States," he began, before proceeding to relate the story of the kidnapping. He stood before photos of the three missing teenagers and asked Americans to imagine if it were our own children who were missing, kidnapped while waiting for their school bus. He emphasized their innocence, that they had done nothing wrong.
Cruz blasted Hamas, outlining their terrorist acts, their rocket attacks, and their desire to destroy Israel, calling it "business as usual" for Hamas.
Six US Republican congressmen sent a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday, calling him “fully responsible for Hamas’s actions.”Brother of Israeli Kidnap Victim Tells of Reaction to Abduction; London Mayor Backs Solidarity Campaign
“Just a few weeks ago, you birthed the new Hamas-backed Unity Government,” wrote Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado), David McKinley (R-West Virginia), Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Trent Franks (R-Arizona), and Michael Grimm (R-New York). “As you and Hamas are now one entity, you are now fully responsible for Hamas’s actions such as this. Moreover, this act of terror is almost certainly a direct result of that reunion. As members of Congress, we expect you to ensure the well-being of the young boys and work steadfastly for their safe return.”
The brother of missing Israeli teenager Eyal Yifrach said at first he was in disbelief when he found out two weeks ago that his sibling was kidnapped in the West Bank.Arab Hebron Mayor Calls for Boy’s Return
Speaking with the United Kingdom’s Jewish News at a Zionist Federation-organised solidarity event in north London, 17-year-old Asaf Yifrach said, “At first I didn’t believe what had happened.”
“Eyal said he would be coming home late that day and never returned. This is now our reality,” he said. “I haven’t even been able to eat. My brother and I are best friends. Every time he came into the house I was so happy, but I would never tell him. Now I regret not saying how much he means to me.”
Also speaking to the Jewish News, London Mayor Boris Johnson threw his support behind the campaign for the missing students. He said, “Like many Londoners, I was shocked to hear about the abduction of the three yeshiva students, and support the aims of the Bring Back our Boys campaign for their safe release.”
“I hope that this is solved without any further escalation of violence on the ground on both sides,” he added.
In an interview on “Boker Tov Israel” Zaatari said,Police Findings Blame Top Officials for First Hours in Abduction
“The kidnapping has caused damage to both sides, and the boys should be returned to their families. Everyone is waiting for this incident to end. We want peace between the Palestinians and Israel.”
According to the report, released late Thursday night, two veteran police officers attempted to call one of the boys no less than eight times during the first hours of the kidnapping, after one of the teens made a call to the 100 emergency line which was initially dismissed as a prank.Palestinian pollster: Kidnapping 'very bad for Palestinian people'
After no one answered the call, the report said, the top-ranking officials in fact concurred that the call was a prank, and delayed notifying security forces of the situation for several hours.
A separate investigation reported by Channel 2 Thursday night added that while first-responders at 100 were initially blamed for the delay, the agent to pick up the call from one of the teens actually followed protocol.
Bureaucracy killed the call, however, and the investigative board has called for measures to be taken against the police officials responsible for dismissing the seriousness of the situation. Final recommendations over police action will be given over the next week.
“Most Palestinians want the (kidnapped Israeli) kids to be alive and to be found,” Dr. Nabil Kukali, the founder and President of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, told The Media Line in an exclusive interview. “This will help the Palestinian cause,” he said.Zoabi comes under fire from party for criticizing Abbas
Dr. Kukali spoke with The Media Line about the kidnapping, the respective strengths of Fatah and Hamas; and predictions for the unity elections due to be held within a matter of months.
Balad MK Hanin Zoabi came under fire from her own party for her comments earlier in the week that Mahmoud Abbas is a traitor for cooperating with Israeli security forces in the search for the three kidnapped teens.Four Facts That Everyone Should Know About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Party chairman Wasel Taha said in a statement Friday that he was totally opposed to Zoabi’s statement, and that her comments were not representative of Balad, Israel Radio reported.
Taha also said that Balad supports a Palestinian state, and appreciates Abbas’s diplomatic achievements.
Most Westerners, including many Jews, are unaware of four fundamental facts about the Jewish homeland of Israel that would greatly increase their support for the Jewish State. The burden is on us to make these facts more widely known in the West.Abbas: Free Terrorists and We'll Resume Talks
#1 – The Jews Never Left: Although most in the West accept that Jewish biblical history happened, most believe that upon vanquishing the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE, the victorious Romans “exiled” Judaea’s surviving Jews – and that Jews did not return to Israel in meaningful numbers until the late 19th century Zionist movement.
Abbas, who spoke at a ceremony at the Russian Diplomatic Academy in Moscow where he received an honorary degree, once again placed preconditions on the resumption of talks.Iran and Hamas: EU Refuses to Learn from its Mistakes
According to a statement that was published on the PA’s WAFA news agency, Abbas expressed his willingness to resume negotiations for another nine months but place three conditions: that Israel release the fourth batch of terrorists, that the first three months be dedicated to drawing up borders for the future Palestinian state, and that Israel halts construction in Judea and Samaria.
Since 2003, the EU has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization. It has watched closely as Hamas has been associated with or undertaken acts of terror against Israeli, American and European interests in the region. It has continuously been condemned not only for its track record of violence, but its simply appalling human rights record; most explicitly seen during its iron-fist rule of the Gaza strip since 2007.EU envoy: Europe losing patience with Israel over settlement building
Then came the unity government; a move that was aimed at apparently promoting peace and a two state solution in the conflict. It is true to say that reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is necessary for a two state solution; this can only be done under the acceptance of nonviolence.
Yet this was not accepted and Hamas suddenly became a part of the Palestinian government. Importantly the international community quickly turned around and accepted this as fact and decided to move on without demanding that this most basic of principles be respected.
Lars Faaborg-Andersen warned at a seminar that more European countries would issue warnings to their citizens against conducting business with companies in Israeli settlements, Israel Radio reported.Study: Palestinian High Road Lower Than Most Others’ Low Roads (satire)
The EU envoy's remarks followed the business warnings issued by European powers Spain and Italy, following suit of France earlier in the week.
EVIL is inverse, meaning that a higher EVIL value denotes a lower ethical level. The Palestinian high road has fluctuated in its EVIL data, but has never dipped below 7. Western European societies, by contrast, have seldom reached even as high as 6, with the last time any Western European country registering above that level occurring under Nazi domination, when it reached 10. Bosnia, Albania, and the Soviet gulag have also come close, but at those times the Palestinian high road was still comfortably distant at an 8 EVIL score. The only areas with a high road consistently the same altitude or lower than that of the Palestinians are Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, where the researchers were unable to detect any remnants of a high road.Israeli jets strike car, killing 2 Palestinians in Gaza
The PIG [Palestine Institute of Geography] researchers are divided over whether Palestinian society is structurally capable of lowering its EVIL score to European levels, or even East Asian levels, which rose under 1950′s and 60′s Communism but have since decreased to an average of 5. Large-scale Palestinian societal efforts seem to be directed at constructing multiple low roads, whereas high road construction, not to mention use, all but does not occur. Indeed, preparing young Palestinians with knowledge that a high road even exists is not part of the standard Palestinian curriculum; neither is it featured in the education materials used in United Nations schools.
The Israel Air Force confirmed a direct hit on the car. The IDF said the two terror operatives were involved in a cell responsible for the repeated rocket fire on Israel’s southern cities over the past several weeks and were planning several terror attacks on Israeli civilians.Explosive device activated against IDF on Gaza border
“An IAF aircraft targeted Osama Hassumi and Mohammad Fatzih, terror operatives in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement Friday.
Israeli forces responded with tank fire at suspected lookout posts near Khan Younis on the Palestinian side, the IDF spokesman’s office reported.Arab MKs Declare 'Temple Mount for Muslims Only'
Palestinian media reported six injured by the IDF retaliatory fire, including one in critical condition.
The attack followed an incident Sunday in which a lone terrorist from the Gaza Strip, armed with a grenade, managed to cross the border into Israel unchallenged.
The first statement declared that Jews have no right to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque, namely the Temple Mount - the holiest site in Judaism.Knesset Deputy Speaker: Hamas 'Aren't Terrorists'
"The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is the holy property of the Muslims only," wrote the Arab MKs, who added that they oppose propositions in the Knesset to divide the site between Jews and Muslims by setting areas and times for each group's usage.
Raam-Taal MKs further called on the Muslim world at large to prevent the "Israeli occupation" from accessing the site of the First and Second Temple, going on to condemn the "Judaization" of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, the 3,000-year-old Jewish capital.
Tibi provided an interview to Hamas's Palestine magazine Friday, where he alleged that the organization is "not a terror organization."Sweden launches probe on Israel boarding Gaza ships
The MK also called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's calls on PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity government "hutzpah (insolent)."
That call came after the IDF announced the identities of two Hamas terrorists behind the kidnapping on Thursday.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced on Thursday “a preliminary investigation on the circumstances of the boarding by Israeli soldiers of ships heading to Gaza in May 2010 and October 2012.”Surprise! ‘Peaceful’ Palestinian Leaders Tolerate Terror Buildup
In the first case, Israeli troops attacked a six-ship aid flotilla in international waters, leading to the death of nine Turkish citizens on one of them, the Mavi Marmara.
In 2012, Israel’s navy seized another ship — again in international waters — the Estelle, a Finnish-flagged galley carrying humanitarian aid as part of the international Ship to Gaza campaign.
One of the most important, but least-reported stories connected to the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinian terrorists is the discovery of numerous terrorist tunnels and weapons depots in areas ruled by the “peaceful” Palestinian Authority.Hamas Calls on Iran to Join the 'Struggle' Against Israel
The conventional wisdom is that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is a “moderate” who opposes terrorism and wants to make peace with Israel. PA spokesmen have assured Western reporters that they oppose the Hamas terrorists and are “cooperating” with Israel in the search for the abducted teens.
But what Israeli soldiers have found in their search missions tells a very different story.
The operation has seen IDF forces crack down on Hamas's terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria in an effort to rescue three teens abducted by Hamas terrorists. The identities of two of the Hamas kidnappers were revealed by the IDF on Thursday.
Mashaal complained to Rouhani about "the continuing collective punishment that the Palestinian nation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip suffer from," reports Walla!.
The Hamas leader went on, calling on Iran to aid the struggle of the "Palestinian nation" against Israel so as "to end the aggression."
Whoops this appears to be from Bahrain in 2013 h/t Rabbi Burns for the correction.