[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 12/18 Links Pt1: EU Backs Palestinian Dictatorship; PM warns spirit of appeasement blowing through EU

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: EU Backs Palestinian Dictatorship

These European parliaments are also turning a blind eye to the fact that, under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there is no respect for the rule of law, free speech, transparency or accountability.
These Western parliamentarians are in fact acting against the interests of the Palestinians, who are clearly not hoping for another corrupt dictatorship in the Arab world.
"The situation in Palestine does not conform at all with democracy or the rule of law... Wake up and see the loss of rights, law and security." — Freih Abu Medein, former Palestinian Authority Justice Minister.
"Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] wants to concentrate all authorities in his hands and the hand of his loyalists. He's acting in a dictatorial way and wants to be in control of everything, especially the finances." — Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary General of the PLO.
By turning a blind eye to human rights violations, as well as assaults on freedom of expression, the judiciary and the parliamentary system in the Palestinian territories, Western parliaments are paving the way for a creation of a rogue state called Palestine.

Mordechai Kedar: Spinning Out of Control

The prevailing atmosphere of the last few days when it comes to the Middle East is of a situation that is spinning out of control in all manner of unconnected spheres.
The Palestinian Autonomy is rushing ahead to gain recognition of its statehood in the Security Council, the European Parliament, the International Court and many other international institutions, in a step that is a clear and blatant violation of the Oslo Accords that created the Authority itself. Israel has not as yet reacted seriously to these Palestinian steps, and it has now emerged that Minister Livni, who was given the responsibility for negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is ideologically and politically in the camp of the architects of Oslo.
Someone in Israel fell asleep while on duty guarding the lands that the League of Nations granted the Jewish people as far back as the 1920 San Remo Conference.
As a result of the Palestinian Authority's efforts, there may yet arise another Arab country in the region of Judea and Samaria, one that without the slightest doubt will turn into a Hamas state. This switch to Hamas can happen through elections, as occurred in 2006 or by a violent takeover like the one in Gaza in June 2007. Public opinion polls of the Arab population of Judea and Samaria show that Hamas is much more popular than Fatah. That is why Israelis, or any others for that matter, who support a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, are actually calling for another terror state like the one that arose in Gaza. The launching of a major and bloody war between this Hamas entity and the House of Israel would be only a matter of time – and not much of it, either.

How to help the Palestinians of Gaza


IDF Blog: Words of Incitement




Israel should submit its own resolution to the Security Council

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) reportedly intends to submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) aimed at demanding a full and unconditional Israeli withdrawal to the armistice line that separated Israel from Jordan between 1949 and 1967. Rather than lobbying the United States to veto the PLO resolution, and rather than trying to convince France to drop its own supposedly more benign draft, Israel should submit its own resolution to the UNSC.
The Israeli resolution would demand a Palestinian renunciation of the so-called “right of return” and a UN commitment to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) within two years. This way, UNSC members would have to vote on two resolutions: one that demands an unconditional and total Israeli withdrawal (the PLO proposal), and one that demands an unconditional and total end to the cynical perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee problem (the Israeli proposal). UNSC members that claim to support the two-state solution will then have to explain why they are willing to impose one ingredient of that solution (i.e. ending Israel’s partial control of the West Bank) but not the other (i.e. ending the Palestinian claim, clearly incompatible with the two-state solution, that six million Arab “refugees” should be granted the option of becoming residents and citizens of Israel).

Palestinians submit UN statehood resolution, but don’t seek quick vote

The Palestinians submitted a draft United Nations Security Council resolution Thursday that requested a 12-month deadline to reach a peace deal with Israel and designated the end of 2017 as the final date for completing an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The text obtained by AFP said that a “just, lasting and comprehensive peace solution that brings an end to the Israeli occupation” and “fulfills the vision” of a Palestinian state should be reached no later than 12 months after the adoption of the resolution.
It also defined a series of parameters for the negotiated solution, including a phased Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories according to a time-frame “not to exceed the end of 2017.”
The Palestinian representative to the UN said there could still be negotiations on the text.

Abbas favors peace conference idea, limits talks to a year

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the French-backed notion of an international peace conference to relaunch negotiations with Israel, but said that talks should not last more than a year.
Speaking to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Thursday, Abbas said that consultation with world superpowers is ongoing, following the submission of a Palestinian draft resolution on statehood to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, backed by the Arab League. An earlier version was drafted by France.
“We appreciate the intensive deliberations held with Russia and Egypt, and at the same time stress our readiness to consult and exchange ideas to make our bid successful. This would include serious negotiations that would end the occupation before the end of 2017.”

Palestinian UN bid is an ‘act of war,’ minister charges

The submission overnight Wednesday of a Palestinian-sponsored UN draft resolution calling for a peace deal within a year, and demanding an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by the end of 2017, drew a spate of condemnations by Israeli ministers.
Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister of intelligence, international relations and strategic affairs, said Thursday morning that the Palestinian draft resolution was an “act of war.”
“The Palestinians made sure to remove any mention of Israel’s status as a Jewish state from the draft, which means this is not an act of peace, it’s an act of war,” he told Israel Radio.
Steinitz called for Israel to weigh a harsh response, including cutting off ties with the Palestinian Authority and even dismantling it.

US Re-Defines ‘Unilateral’ to Justify PA Burying the Oslo Accords

Psaki told reporters Tuesday, “UN Security Council resolution is not, in our view, a unilateral measure by either one of the parties. There are the – obviously, the details are what matter. And so our objection here, and our objection historically has been to measures that would prejudge the outcome of the negotiations. If you had a Security Council resolution from the Palestinians, which we’ve had in the past, that sought to have them recognized as a member of the – of – as a member state, that’s a unilateral action, as you all know. But if you were to do some kind of terms of reference in the Security Council resolution, that would not be what we would consider to be a unilateral step….
“We have supported a range of actions in the past. What we haven’t supported is steps that are unilateral actions that predetermine the outcome of negotiations.”
Kerry, speaking from London, said, “This isn’t the time to detail private conversations or speculate on a U.N. Security Council resolution that hasn’t even been tabled, no matter what pronouncements are made publicly about it.”
In plain talk, the U.S. State Dept. has given the green light for a resolution that does not specifically recognize the Palestinian Authority as a country but leaves the door open for a resolution that calls on Israel to commit itself to “negotiations” based on Israel “withdrawing” from all land that is to be part of a new Arab country.
The fancy semantic footwork is the expertise of western diplomats trying to prejudge an outcome of negotiations by leaving open no other possibility.

Luxembourg Recognizes Palestinian State

Luxembourg's parliament voted Wednesday to urge the government to recognize a Palestinian state, AFP reports Wednesday - the latest in a series of similar moves around Europe aimed at pressuring Israel to move forward the peace process.
The motion, filed by the socialist head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, called on Prime Minister Xavier Bettel's government to "formally recognize a Palestinian state under the 1967 frontiers, and solely modified in accord with both parties."
France, Britain, Spain, Ireland and Portugal have all passed similar votes. Sweden has gone even further, officially recognizing "Palestine" as a state.
And earlier Wednesday, the European Parliament formally recognized the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a state "in principle," in a vote hours after the EU provoked a storm of criticism by removing Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations due to an alleged "technical issue."

Israel severely rebuked, as PM warns 'spirit of appeasement' blowing through Europe

At the end of a day in which international organizations in Europe severely rebuked Israel, and the French were poised to submit a joint resolution with the Jordanians and Palestinians to the UN Security Council calling for a Palestinian state in two years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a “spirit of appeasement” is blowing through Europe.
Speaking Wednesday evening at a reception for foreign journalists, Netanyahu cited three decisions – the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg’s taking Hamas off the EU’s terrorist list, the European Parliament’s resolution backing Palestinian statehood, and the call at a meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to investigate Israel for supposed violations of that convention – as indicating Europe’s interest in appeasing the “very forces that threaten Europe itself.”
“Too many in Europe are calling on Israel to make concessions that would endanger not only the security of Israel, but also – paradoxically – the security of Europe,” he said.
“Because Israel is the forward position of European civilization.
Israel is the bulwark of European values. Israel is the pluralist, vibrant, multi-party democracy.”
Israel, he said, “is an embattled democracy in a region plagued by totalitarianism, tyranny, and Islamist terrorism.”
The prime minister said Israel is forced to defend itself against terrorists who committed “double war crimes,” firing indiscriminately on Israeli civilians while using their own people as human shields.
Yet the focus at the meeting in Geneva, he said, was that Israel must be investigated for war crimes.

Netanyahu: Europe ‘learned nothing’ from Holocaust

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Europeans appeared to have learned nothing from the Holocaust, after a European Union court ordered the removal of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from its terror blacklist.
“Today we witnessed staggering examples of European hypocrisy: in Geneva they call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes, while in Luxemburg the European court removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organizations, Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and countless terror acts,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying.
Netanyahu’s war crimes comment was apparently a reference to a speech made earlier this week in the International Criminal Court by the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, who said the Palestinians intended to apply for membership in the ICC.
“It seems that too many in Europe, on whose soil six million Jews were slaughtered, have learned nothing,” Netanyahu added.
“But we in Israel, we’ve learned. We’ll continue to defend our people and our state against the forces of terror and tyranny and hypocrisy,” he said at the start of a meeting with US Republican Senator-elect Joni Ernst.

Geneva Conventions invoke rights of Palestinians

A declaration adopted by consensus among 126 of the 196 parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention insists that international humanitarian law must be followed in areas affected by the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Geneva Conventions govern the rules of war and military occupation. Nations that took part in a one-day conference in Geneva “emphasize that all serious violations of international humanitarian law must be investigated and that all those responsible should be brought to justice,” according to the 10-point declaration.
Israel and the US didn’t participate, along with Canada and Australia, which had announced Tuesday that they would not attend the conference.

UN Watch: William Schabas was early proponent of targeting Israel with Geneva Conventions

One of the early champions of activating these legal conventions for the first time to single out Israel — while ignoring war crimes by Saddam, Qaddafi, and Arafat — was law professor William Schabas, who now chairs the UNHRC’s Commission of Inquiry on Gaza.
In 1999, before the International Criminal Court was even in operation, Schabas was an early campaigner for the indictment of Israeli leaders.
At a June 1999 Cairo meeting of the UN’s “Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,” Schabas embraced an extraordinary session on Israel — the first time the treaty was enforced against any state or non-state actor — to be held by the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Schabas called the targeting of Israelis an “exciting opportunity.”
Speaking before opponents of Israel gathered from around the world, Schabas told the Cairo forum that member states were “under an obligation to prosecute” Israelis “suspected of committing grave breaches.” States are required to seek extradition of those whom Israel refuses to try, said Schabas.

Israel: Geneva 'Human Rights' Convention Undermines Int'l Law

Paul Fivat, Switzerland's special ambassador for the Geneva Conventions, said the intention was "not to accuse, it was not a tribunal.. it was a place simply for the parties to reiterate what is international law".
"This declaration is a signal that is being sent to conflicting parties, especially the civilian populations, that there is a law which is protecting their interests," he told reporters.
But the Israeli foreign ministry said the talks undermined international law and "confers legitimacy on terrorist organizations and dictatorial regimes wherever they are."
"The conference convened today in Geneva was a political exercise, lacking any basis in the Geneva Conventions," the ministry said in a statement.
It added: "It won't stop Israel from implementing its primary obligation to its citizens -- to provide them with security and protect them from merciless and fanatic terrorists (who) do not hide their desire to see Israel wiped off the map of the Middle East."
The US also boycotted the conference, saying that it "risks politicizing the Geneva Conventions".

We can’t satisfy Europe

This is not the behavior of people driven by moral considerations. As Caroline Glick told the Danish Ambassador (video), it is evidence that Europe is in the grip of a pathological obsession with Israel. An obsession to crush the life out of a state that they are sorry they permitted to come into being in the first place.
There are lots of reasons for the obsession, including the repugnance felt by internationalists for a nation-state that belongs to a people, the Stockholm-syndrome fear of antagonizing the practitioners of terrorism, an attempt to assuage their own feelings of guilt for their colonialist past and the Holocaust, the Muslim votes, and — yes — “deep-seated anti-Semitic sentiments.”
Israel will not withdraw from Judea and Samaria, even if Tzipi Livni or Isaac Herzog were to become Prime Minister, because even they understand that it would be suicidal in today’s world. I venture to guess that the members of the European Parliament get this.
Which proves that they don’t care, that withdrawal isn’t the immediate goal. What Europe really wants is to weaken Israel, to damage its economy, security and ability to defend itself, so that at some point it will disappear. And so what is happening now is probably a step on the road to the ‘pariah’ status that Ravid is so worried about.
We can’t satisfy the PLO and this is now apparently true of the EU as well. So be it. It may be difficult, but Israel will survive.
I wonder if a non-Muslim Europe will?

‘Liberman to shun Swedish FM when she visits Israel’

Liberman is refusing to meet Wallström, who is expected to visit next month, in reaction to Stockholm’s decision in October to become the first major European Union member state to back Ramallah’s unilateral statehood bid, the report said.
The foreign minister reportedly indicated that Sweden had intentionally obscured its intention to recognize a Palestinian state, and refused to hear any Israeli arguments opposing the motion.
Other European parliaments that passed similar motions at least considered Israeli officials’ arguments before making their decision, Lieberman said.
It was not immediately clear whether the visit would be officially boycotted by the Israel government or whether Liberman alone intended to give Wallström the cold shoulder.

EU Throws Away Its Rules To Hate Israel

Hot on the heals of the EU finding a way to claim Hamas are not terrorists, comes this.
It’s pretty hard to reconcile this: James Carver, member of UKIP (UK Independence Party) asked if the EU would consider recognising the state of Somaliland. He was quickly given back the answer that the EU parliament doesn’t have the right to recognise a new state. That is the remit of each of the individual (barely) sovereign states that make up the EU.
Listen what happens when he and the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, try to bring this up while the EU is voting to recognise “Palestine”.

EU has no legal right to recognise states - Nigel Farage and James Carver @UKIP


Amb. Alan Baker: Hamas and the Decision by the European Union Court: More Deception and Manipulation

With the procedural decision by the General Court of the European Union to annul the 2001 inclusion of Hamas on the EU list of terrorist organizations, the Hamas terror organization responded, describing the move as a stunning victory for Hamas in Europe. “This is a victory for the Palestinian question and for the rights of our people,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told the press. “We thank the European court for this positive decision which must be followed by international steps to lift the oppression of the Palestinian people,” Barhum continued.
The Court decision should not be seen as proof of the legitimacy of Hamas and its actions, nor as ultimate recognition by Europe of the organization’s status.
Such a deception would clearly be part of the general policy of the Palestinian leadership to cynically manipulate and mislead the European governments, media and general public and thereby attempt to generate European approval, a green light and even impunity for Hamas terrorist activities.

EU’s Mogherini: Hamas must remain on our terror list

Speaking at a Hanukkah reception at the European Commission in Brussels, Mogherini delivered a speech about the need to fight anti-Semitism, saying that the world needs to learn from the Maccabees. In her remarks, she did not mention the EU Court of Justice’s ruling to reverse, “on procedural grounds,” the inclusion of Hamas on its list of terrorist organizations.
After her remarks, she spoke to the director-general of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, and told him that she was worried about the court’s decision because she knew that it could hurt the Jewish community, according to Margolin.
“I asked her if she actually saw the statement her spokesperson sent out in her name, and she said that not only did she see it, she initiated it,” Margolin told The Times of Israel. “She said that we couldn’t do anything about it in advance, but that she knew it was a very sensitive decision than can hurt the Jews. She said it’s not a political decision and thus not in her hands.”
Mogherini promised that the EU would appeal the court’s decision and make sure that Hamas will again be blacklisted, Margolin said.

Does Europe not know what terror is?

The unjust decision of the General Court of the European Union to remove Hamas from the EU's list of terrorist organizations, and the push by various European parliaments to recognize a Palestinian state without a peace agreement, are clear proof that the Europe of 2014 is not much different that the Europe of 1939. Today, as back then, many in Europe are willing to hypocritically abandon the Jews, based on anti-Semitic motives and internal political needs. Back then, the Jews were accused of being responsible for Europe's poor economic situation. Today, Israel is assigned blame for the situation of the Palestinians, and the menace of an Islamic takeover is looming over Europe.
However, the people of Europe should know that all Israelis, regardless of political affiliation, will not permit anyone in the world to harm Israel's most basic fundamental interests. Israel was established in stormy battles following the terrible Holocaust, in which one-third of the Jewish people was obliterated, to ensure that the Jews would never again be subject to the whims and dictates of both friends and foes. Don't test us, as, after 2,000 years in exile, we, the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, are determined to fight for our freedom and vision. The people of Europe should not be confused by Israeli election campaigning or hang hopes on our internal disputes. The will of the Jews to live as free people is stronger than any such dispute.

EU envoy: We still consider Hamas a terror organization

Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen said he understood why Israeli officials are worried about the court ruling, since Hamas is “deliberately mischaracterizing” it, but added that he believes that he was able to alleviate their worries.
“It’s a technical, procedural decision that the court has reached. It doesn’t change the political position of the EU vis-à-vis Hamas, which is still that it’s a terror organization,” Faaborg-Andersen told The Times of Israel. “It’s important to point out that this has no immediate effect in terms of unfreezing the sanctions that we have against Hamas. We have an asset freeze against Hamas and Hamas members and that will stay in place.”
The EU will continue to adhere to the so-called Quartet principles, Faaborg-Andersen said, implying the union would refrain from interacting with Hamas as long as the group doesn’t renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Shoval: Hamas 'Listgate' Proves EU Is No Friend of Israel's

The decision is by the European Union to remove Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations is a “very puzzling” one, according to former Israeli ambassador to the US Zalman Shoval.
“I would like to believe that they are telling the truth when they say it was a 'technical error,' but we cannot ignore this. One would expect the European Union and the European Court to understand the implications of this incident.”

ZOA Head: EU Legitimizing 'Arab Nazism'

The European Union's (EU) removal of Hamas from its terror blacklist sets a precedent for allowing anti-Semitism in Europe to run rampant, Morton Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), stated Wednesday.
"This both encourages and legitimizes Islamic terrorism and Islamic murder against Jews and others, and it sends a message to Islamic killers that Europe doesn't care about what they do to Jews," Klein stated in a special interview with Arutz Sheva.
"This is especially astonishing because the Muslims are killing non-Jews in Europe and elsewhere as well."
"It also, of course, gives credibility and legitimacy to Hamas as an organization, even though their charter calls for the murder of every Jew," he continued, citing Article 7.

US Slams EU Removal of Hamas from Terror Blacklist

The United States on Wednesday urged the European Union to keep up its sanctions on Hamas, saying there was "no change" in US policy.
"The EU should maintain terrorism sanctions on Hamas," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, adding that the United States was studying a ruling by an EU court ordering that the Palestinian terrorist group be removed from an EU blacklist. "The US position on Hamas has not changed; Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization."
"Hamas continues to engage in terrorist activity and has demonstrated its intentions during this summer's conflicts with Israel," Psaki added. "It fired thousands of rockets into Israeli civilian areas and attempted to infiltrate Israel through tunnels that extended into Israel."

Canada urges EU to keep Hamas as terror group

Canada on Wednesday urged the European Union to keep Hamas listed as a banned terrorist group, after an EU court ordered it removed from a blacklist.
“We are deeply concerned by the decision of the EU General Court to annul, on procedural grounds, the measures against Hamas,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement.
“We call on the EU to take the immediate remedial steps necessary to keep Hamas listed as a terrorist entity.”
Canada lists Hamas as a banned terrorist group.

Exonerating Hamas and Europe’s Moral Bankruptcy

The reality is that European lawmakers are notorious for manipulating the procedures and language of legality to suit political ends. It is simply not conceivable that those who made this ruling were not to some degree swayed by their own slanted view of Hamas, a group which all too many Europeans regard as oppressed freedom fighters. The EU now has just three months to appeal the court ruling, and if it fails to put together a successful case in that time then presumably the existing legislation that prohibits the funding of Hamas and Hamas activities within Europe will become null and void. Although the UK has at least confirmed that it will unilaterally keep Hamas blacklisted anyway.
And so on the same day that the European Parliament voted in favor of Palestinian statehood and Switzerland convened the signatories of the Geneva Convention to pass judgment on Israel’s activities in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, let it also be remembered that the General Court of the European Union ruled that Hamas should be removed from the union’s terror list. Europe’s moral bankruptcy has never been clearer.

17-Dec-14: Has Hamas just been whitewashed by Europe?

It's almost enough to make a person lose a measure of respect for the fine ethical, political and legal values that the EU and its EC executive arm stand for.
Ah, but we're not dismissing the Europeans that quickly because, despite the clear-enough-sounding headlines, neither the Europeans nor their General Court of the European Union, the bloc's second highest tribunal have made what they term
"any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group within the meaning of the Common Position.”
Why not? A good question, but as with most European juggling, there are a multitude of considerations that they are bringing to bear on the question. Naturally, this being Europe, neither clarity nor moral decisiveness come into the matter, as those who follow European acrobatics know too well.
Bottom line: this is a political move, and will be followed by more. A work in progress, demonstrating (depressingly) again what can be expected from Europe's best and brightest.

Exclusive: EU Commissioner explains why Hamas is no longer considered a terrorist organisation (satire)

The EU Commissioner Mr Eichate DeJuz (who has special responsibility for Middle East Affairs) today issued the following statement in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of the EU decision to remove Hamas from the list of designated terrorist organisations.
"The Zionist leader has questioned why Hamas is no longer considered a terrorist organisation while ISIS remains on the list. We are frankly insulted by such a question because the differences between ISIS and Hamas are enormous.
ISIS is a Sunni Islamist supremacist anti-Semitic organisation that practises brutal sadistic Sharia repression over all citizens under its control, indiscriminately targets and murders civilians, believes all non-Muslims and women are inferior and seeks a world-wide caliphate governed by Sharia law.
On the other hand Hamas is a Sunni Islamist supremacist anti-Semitic organisation that practises brutal sadistic Sharia repression over all citizens under its control, indiscriminately targets and murders civilians, believes all non-Muslims and women are inferior and seeks a world-wide caliphate governed by Sharia law. But what especially convinced us of Hamas's non-terrorist credentials were that Hamas has the support of all progressive thinkers in the West and, for the time being, restricts its murder mainly to Jews and its political opponents."
In other news President Obama announced that he will continue to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban as they are in no way related to the Pakistani Taliban, and David Cameron - along with all Western leaders - said that Islam has nothing to do with Islam.

Israeli military court aims to 'cut off money supply' to Hamas

The shift in Israel Defense Forces policy began last week, Channel 2 reported Thursday, with a precedent-setting ruling that increased the fine imposed on offenders who provide and transfer funding to Hamas. So far, the penalty had been a fine of up to 20 percent of the sum in question. Now, the court can impose fines as high as the entire sum, or even higher.
The IDF said the objective of this new policy is to target the financial infrastructure of terrorist organizations. The decision was fueled by the understanding that terrorist organizations, namely Hamas, rely heavily on these money transfers to carry out attacks.
"It is time to drastically change the way we address the issue," said Lt. Col. Morris Hirsch, an attorney at the Judean military court. "This decision will address the issue of terrorist money transfers. It might be a game changer."
The precedent-setting ruling came in the case of a Palestinian woman convicted of transferring 100,000 shekels to a Hamas operative in Gaza at her son's behest. The woman was fined 50,000 shekels ($12,700) and sentenced to a year in prison. According to Hirsch, the court deals with dozens of illegal money transfer cases each year, with some cases involving sums in the millions.
"Terrorism survives on this money. That is why we have decided to cut off the supply," Hirsch said.

Abbas' real condemnation vs. his bogus condemnation

In a period of a month PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has twice condemned terror. He first condemned the murder by Palestinians of four worshipers in a Jerusalem Synagogue and this week he condemned the taking of Australians hostage by a radical Islamist who murdered two Australians.
Significantly, Fatah's official Facebook "Main Page" and statements by two Fatah leaders informed Palestinian that the condemnation of the murder of the four Israelis was for diplomatic reasons, as reported by PMW. However, no one has said that Abbas' condemnation of the terror in Australia was insincere.
A comparison of the language used by Abbas in his two condemnations makes it clear that he knows how to condemn seriously if he wants to and why his "condemnation" of the murder of Jews was seen as insincere.

Incitement against Abbas: Gaza posters depict hanging of PA leader

Posters depicting the hanging of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas were discovered on walls in the streets of Gaza early Thursday morning.
The posters had fierce messages against Abbas describing him as a "dictator" and a "traitor."
According to media reports in Gaza, supporters of former senior Fatah official Muhammad Dahlan are responsible for the posters.
Dahlan is a main Fatah rival of Abbas, who had him ousted from the movement in 2011.

Abbas forces senior Palestinian official Zakout into early retirement

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has forced into early retirement a senior Palestinian official who previously served as a top adviser to former prime minister Salam Fayyad.
The official, Jamal Zakout, who was one of the leaders of the first intifada that erupted in 1987, was also close to PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Relations between the PA president and Fayyad and with Abed Rabbo have been strained lately following allegations that the two have forged an alliance with ousted Fatah official Muhammad Dahlan, an archrival of Abbas’s.
Abbas’s sudden decision to force Zakout into early retirement is seen in the context of the PA president’s campaign against Dahlan loyalists in Fatah.

'Hamas holds biggest military exercise in Gaza since end of Operation Protective Edge'

Hamas held its biggest military exercise since the end of the 50-day war in Gaza over the summer, according to Israeli media reports on Thursday morning.
Residents of southern Israeli communities on the border with northern Gaza reported hearing sounds of shooting and explosions overnight.
The IDF Spokesman's Office told The Jerusalem Post that the explosions were an internal Gaza issue and did not involve the engagement of IDF forces.
Ground forces of Hamas's military wing, the Izzadin Kassam Brigades held the ground exercises on the ruins of Israeli settlements that were abandoned during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, according to the reports.

Hamas deputy leader: Ties patched up with Iran

Patching up ties with Tehran could ease Hamas's financial and political isolation. Israel has been blockading the Gaza Strip, while Egypt, battling Islamist militants in neighboring Sinai, has largely kept its Gaza frontier closed.
Speaking in his Gaza office, overlooking the Mediterranean, Moussa Abu Marzouk said: "I believe that bilateral relations between us and the Islamic Republic of Iran are back on track."
He also told Reuters that Hamas, the dominant armed movement in the Gaza Strip, was not seeking a new war with Israel and wanted to see the enclave rebuilt after a devastating 50-day conflict in July and August.

Hezbollah Scatters Overseas Terror Cells After Alleged Capture of Mossad Double Agent: Report

In the wake of allegedly unmasking a Mossad mole who posed as an aide to Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group is trying to limit exposure of their operations abroad, Israel’s NRG News said Wednesday.
Israel holds the Iranian-backed Shiite group responsible for a string of terror bombings against Israeli and Jewish targets in several countries, including, in 2012 alone against Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, and embassy personnel in India, and in Georgia.
Senior sources within Hezbollah told Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper that, following the exposure of the “Zionist agent,” known as “M.Sh,” the group opted to disband Unit 901, responsible for operations in several countries, and disperse its agents.
Senior Hezbollah officials interrogated agents who might have had contact with the putative Mossad agent, and several were dismissed.
M.Sh reportedly belonged to one of the most respected families in southern Lebanon, who were aware of his activities as part of the Israeli intelligence organization.

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 12/18/2014 12:00:00 PM