WarSclerotic

Livni Condemns Murder of Arab Teen, Then Retracts, Israel National News, Yosef Berger,  July 2, 2014

Arab riot in Jerusalem after murder Flash 90

Speaking to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity, A senior retired police official noted that the family of the murdered 16-year-old was well known to police sources in Jerusalem, adding “it’s a problematic family with internal clashes that have been ongoing for many years. I have no doubt that as time passes it will be clarified that the murder was criminal and nothing more.”

Apparently a little too “quick on the trigger,” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni retracted a Twitter post she wrote condemning the “murderers of an Arab child who seek to turn us into a society of killers,” after the abduction and murder of an Arab youth Wednesday.

Calling the killing of an Arab youth “shocking,” Livni wrote that “the murderers must be found and tried immediately. Nothing must stop us. This is the difference between the State of Israel and a terror organization.”

While she did not point any fingers in her post, she did drop a hint as to those she felt responsible. Implying that the killers of an Arab youth allegedly abducted and found dead in a Jerusalem forest were Jewish, Livni wrote that “we must punish those who want to turn us into a society of killers. This cannot be allowed to happen in Israel.”

The messages was posted at roughly 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, but a few minutes later disappeared – never to return. Livni has not explained why she backtracked on the post.

The reason might be because of the strong possibility that the murder was carried out not by Jews, but by Arabs – and family members at that.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity, A senior retired police official noted that the family of the murdered 16-year-old was well known to police sources in Jerusalem, adding “it’s a problematic family with internal clashes that have been ongoing for many years. I have no doubt that as time passes it will be clarified that the murder was criminal and nothing more.”

Quoting eye witnesses, IDF Radio said a black car had stopped by an Arab youth in Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina who was hitchhiking and he was forced inside. The car then took off. Some time later, the family of the youth reported him missing, it said.

The burnt body of an Arab youth was later found in the Jerusalem Forest area. Police have not formally confirmed the body is that of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khder who was kidnapped, reports AFP.

Wild rumors and speculation have abounded that the youth was possibly was murdered by Jews as a possible act of revenge after the kidnapping murder of three Jewish teens. However, as the official revealed, reports indicate that the abduction likely was carried out by Arabs and that the murder was an “honor killing” or another kind of criminal murder.

In response to the discovery of the body, there have been massive Arab riots in and around Jerusalem throughout Wednesday, causing massive damage.

During the ensuing riots in Beit Hanina and Shuafat, several Arab residents reportedly attacked a young local Arab, possibly indicating the internal clashes the police source spoke of. Police forces rescued the youth, who did not require medical treatment. The rioters were dispersed by the police force and the assaulted youth left the area.

Violent clashes in Jerusalem’s Palestinian suburbs after Arab boy found dead. Pipe bombs thrown, DEBKAfile, July 2, 2014

Clashes in Shuafat, Palestinian district of Jerusalem

The Israeli police, after imposing a gag order on the investigation and the outbreaks in the Palestinian neighborhoods of north Jerusalem, said only that they are initially exploring several motives for the crime, including the boy’s family’s long history of disputes. Internal Security Minister Aharonovich reported that police reinforcements have been imported to the capital and the police were on high alert in other parts of Israel.

The discovery of the body of a brutally murdered Palestinian boy in the Jerusalem forest early Wednesday, July 2, unleashed violent disturbances in the Palestinian districts of Jerusalem, which climaxed in mid-morning with three pipe bombs hurled at security forces in the northern district of Beit Hanina at security forces attempting to maintain order.  One exploded, injuring a Palestinian. Enraged Palestinians then set fire to three light train stations that serve the northern districts.

Jerusalem has not seen this level of tension and Palestinian violence, including the use of explosive devices, since the suicide bombing uprising of 2000-2004.

According to the Palestinians, the boy, since identified as Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir aged 16 from Shuafat, was kidnapped and murdered by “settlers.” They report a car with three men wrestled the boy into the vehicle and drove off. The Palestinian boy’s body showed stab wounds. It was found charred.

The Israeli police, after imposing a gag order on the investigation and the outbreaks in the Palestinian neighborhoods of north Jerusalem, said only that they are initially exploring several motives for the crime, including the boy’s family’s long history of disputes. Internal Security Minister Aharonovich reported that police reinforcements have been imported to the capital and the police were on high alert in other parts of Israel.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that large IDF, Jerusalem Police, Border Police and Shin Bet agency contingents are concentrated around the three restive Palestinian neighborhoods of Beit Hanina, Sheafat and the neighboring refugee camp. They appear to be waiting outside the centers of the riots, before interfering,  in the slim hope that the violent unrest will subside of its own accord.

These forces have blocked the main roads of North Jerusalem from the French Hill junction to Shuafat and Bet Haninah, virtually cutting off the Palestinian neighborhoods from their eastern exits.

The troubles first erupted Tuesday night, July 1, in downtown Jerusalem, immediately after the three Israeli teens, who were abducted and murdered by Palestinians, were laid to rest in a mass funeral in Modiin. Hundreds of rowdy Jewish youths set upon Palestinians employed at places of work there. The police stepped in to arrest 50 Israeli rioters and rescue their victims.
In its first comment, the Palestinian Authority’s spokesman Abu Rodeina held Israel fully responsible for the death of the Palestinian boy and the outbreaks of violence in Jerusalem.

Israel Hayom | Count to 10, and act in full force.

Zvika Fogol

Israel has an opportunity for a long-lasting strategic achievement – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Analysis: In order to effectively punish Hamas, Israeli operation’s goal should be to deal a critical blow to organization’s rocket arsenal.

Giora Eiland
Published:     07.02.14, 08:32 / Israel Opinion

The discovery of the kidnapped teens’ bodies and the ongoing rocket fire in recent days are bringing closer the moment in which Israel may launch a more significant operation in Gaza. Is such an operation indeed necessary? And if it is, what will be its goal?

Neither Israel nor Hamas are interested in an escalation right now. Israel is not interested in it because our only interest in regards to Gaza is security-related, and its purpose is to maintain an ongoing calm. If that can be guaranteed without a wide-scale operation, it may be preferable.

Hamas is not interested in an escalation either, mainly because of its political weakness. Hamas is basically left today without any supporters. Syria and Hezbollah are on the other side, in the Sunni-Shiite conflict, Turkey is preoccupied with itself, Iran is busy with what is taking place in Iraq and, most importantly, Egypt defines Hamas as an enemy and is acting accordingly. The only supporter it has left is Qatar, which has little influence.

In this state of affairs, and precisely in light of the tragic ending of the kidnapping affair, there is a possibility to calm things down even without a major operation. On the other hand, if the exchanges of fire continue and we want to launch a major operation, we’ll have to deal with the question of its goal.

The goal of the operation could be one of the following, from the easiest to the hardest: Punishment for the teens’ murder; punishment and the creation of renewed deterrence against rocket fire; punishment and achieving deterrence, but mainly dealing a critical blow to Hamas’ stockpile of missiles; and bringing down the Hamas rule.

Despite the urge to punish Hamas, a punishment operation in Gaza is unlikely to be effective. It would be preferable to increase the damage caused to Hamas in Judea and Samaria, including destroying the murderers’ homes and keeping some of those released in the Shalit deal in prison, thereby creating direct deterrence against the next potential kidnappers.

If we settle for the second goal, like in the case of Operation Pillar of Defense, we have to assume that the achieved deterrence will last for a limited period of time (a year and a half has passed since Operation Pillar of Defense). From the other end, the attempt to achieve the fourth goal may get us entangled in a long operation, while it is not at all clear whether we will be better off with the new government in Gaza on the day after than we were with Hamas.

The third goal, the ones seeking to inflict long and ongoing damage on the rocket arsenal, is the one worth looking into seriously. This goal was not defined in the past two operations (Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense), but the circumstances have changed greatly now.

First of all, this threat, which includes dozens of missiles or more that are capable of hitting Tel Aviv, is more serious that what we knew before, and therefore justifies a deeper operation. Secondly, the diplomatic reality is more convenient for Israel. Because of the teens’ murder on the one hand, and what is happening in Syria and Iraq on the other hand, no one in the world will try to prevent us from reaching this achievement at this time.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the route connecting Gaza to Egypt is now blocked by the Egyptians. As opposed to the past, when every damage to Hamas’ stockpile of weapons led to the renewed smuggling of even more advanced missiles through Sinai, this time this route is blocked. It’s true that Hamas already has its own knowledge, but considerable damage to the existing missiles and to their production facilities in Gaza will make it very difficult on the organization to recover.

Achieving this goal will likely require a certain ground operation, but the risk in using this option will be worthwhile considering the achievement. A sensible definition of the goal is a critical condition for success.

The grim ending of the abduction incident, alongside Hamas’ difficult situation in Gaza, create an opportunity for an operation which will achieve a long-lasting strategic result. We should not waste it on an operation solely for the sake of retaliation and punishment.

Israel’s mission | JPost | Israel News.

By JPOST EDITORIAL

 07/01/2014 22:08

There is nothing we can do to stop the Palestinians from choosing, time and again, violence over compromise, destruction over construction, and we should not deceive ourselves that we can.

The tragic end to the kidnapping of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah has elicited a number of responses from the government.

An intensive military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is being considered along with a continued crackdown in areas in the West Bank where Hamas is known to operate or receive funds. This would send a clear message to Hamas that no differentiation will be made among its various activities, whether they are political or “military.” Rather, the terrorist organization as a whole must be held responsible for any act of violence carried out by a person or group that identifies with Hamas’s goals, clearly stated in its charter.

It hardly matters that the two Hamas terrorists Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme, who went missing hours before the June 12 kidnapping, murdered the three boys without a specific order from the organization’s leadership. They carried out their ugly act with the full knowledge that what they did reflects Hamas’s spirit.

Implementing the death penalty against terrorists convicted of murder is another option being weighed. Not necessarily a deterrent, instituting a death penalty for terrorist murderers would be a moral statement. The State of Israel would be upholding an ethical principle: Anyone who commits murder and justifies it in the name of religion – in this case a violent and reactionary form of political Islam that is responsible for most of the suffering in the region – deserves to be obliterated.

Regardless of the steps Israel takes in response to the kidnapping, however, it is yet another reminder that swathes of Palestinian society continue to be irreconcilably committed to Israel’s destruction and are willing to condone the most despicable acts of violence, even if by doing they doom to oblivion any chances for national self-determination.

From its inception, the Palestinian national movement has chosen time and again violence over compromise, a strategy that has consistently failed and brought ruin upon Palestinians.

It began with the 1929 Hebron massacre, which left 67 Jews dead, including a dozen women and three children under the age of five. It continued with a series of riots launched by Palestinians between 1936 and 1939 that resulted in the deaths of several hundred Jews. Ultimately, however, the Palestinians suffered from the results of their own actions. The aggressive response of British Mandatory forces resulted in the death, wounding, imprisonment or exile of more than 10 percent of male Palestinians aged 20 to 60. While the Palestinians emerged from the riots severely weakened, pre-state Zionist militias such as the Hagana received crucial support from the British Mandate.

This set the stage for the next Palestinian debacle: the rejection of the 1947 UN Partition Plan and the misguided decision to launch a military offensive against the fledgling Jewish state. The result was aptly called the “Nakba,” or disaster, by the Palestinians and it was entirely their own doing because they chose violence over compromise.

Palestinian political choices after the Six Day War resulted in additional defeats. Yasser Arafat’s return to terrorism after the breakdown of the 2000 Camp David talks yielded similarly disastrous results. So did Palestinians’ decision in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative election to vote Hamas into power. Dozens of suicide bombings and shootings, thousands of Kassam rockets have yielded no benefits for Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the Jewish state has continued to flourish and grow and develop in leaps and bounds. It has produced amazing people such as Naftali, Gil-Ad, Eyal and their families and it will produce many more.

While Palestinians focus their energies on destruction and victimization, Israel has became one of the most innovative economies in the world, producing technologies in every field from medicine and computers to agriculture.

There is nothing we can do to stop the Palestinians from choosing, time and again, violence over compromise, destruction over construction, and we should not deceive ourselves that we can.

All we can do is mourn the terrible loss of Naftali, Gil- Ad and Eyal, and continue with the amazing project of Zionism. This is our revenge and our way of honoring the memory of the three boys. This is our mission.