The Transparency Law Takes Its First Baby Step

15 Tiveth 5776

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***Palestinian terror today.

So far today, there have been 5 stabbings or attempted stabbings in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.

At 6:41 am, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed a soldier near the rear entrance to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. The soldier was “moderately” wounded. The terrorist was captured.

At 10:24 am, a Palestinian terrorist with a knife was identified near an IDF checkpoint in Samaria. No Israelis were wounded. The terrorist escaped.

At 10:30 am, a female Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife was captured at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. No Israelis were wounded.

At 1:10 pm, a Palestinian terrorist from al-Bireh armed with a knife attacked policemen in Jerusalem. The policemen were not wounded; the terrorist was captured.

At 1:34 pm, two Palestinian terrorists attacked IDF soldiers near a gas station on the main road through Hawara. The soldiers suffered “moderate” wounds. The two terrorists were shot and killed.

In the last two days alone, there have been more than 45 other Palestinian “rock”, Molotov, and shooting attacks. A number of Israelis have been wounded.

***The battle over “Breaking the Silence” continues with Israeli Christians joining the fray.

You will recall that “Breaking the Silence” is the abominable NGO which is funded by a consortium of European governments. Former disgruntled soldiers are paid to travel through Europe and North America trashing the IDF at meetings and on street corners. The Israeli government has recently decided to stop permitting Breaking the Silence to give lectures to IDF troops or presentations to Israeli schoolchildren.

Yesterday saw famed Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth’s Greek Orthodox Church pen the following: “. . . We live in a democratic country in the Middle East that allows us to live in freedom and security. We are disgusted by the video of Breaking the Silence against Christians and against one of the greatest friends of Israel, Rev. John Hagee (the founder of Christians United for Israel).

. . . if there really are former soldiers who have seen IDF soldiers engaged in inappropriate activities, we call on them to stand up and give full details to the army so that offenders can be investigated, tried and brought to justice. But they do not do this. As of today members of Breaking the Silence give their ‘testimony’ overseas in foreign languages so it can used as propaganda against Israel and as a source of livelihood for themselves.”

Three cheers for Father Gabriel!

***The fight over the Duma detainees continues with astonishing admissions by “Defense” Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

You will recall that the Duma detainees are Jewish teenagers who have been thrown into prison without being charged with any crime, without any legal representation, and without any access to their families. Their lawyers (who have only received information from other detainees who have been released) have alleged that Israel’s Shin Bet is engaged in trying to torture confessions out of these teenagers.

In recent days, a wedding video “somehow” appeared on Israel’s Channel 10 which showed a group of young men dancing at the wedding with guns and knives raised–and holding pictures of the family that was killed in the Duma fire. 

Three days ago, your humble servant wrote:

“The timing of the video’s appearance also begs the question of who made the video, and how did it get into the hands of Channel 10? One suspects that it may have been made by an undercover Shin Bet agent and then turned over to Channel 10 by the agency.”

Fast forward to yesterday and an interview that Moshe Ya’alon gave on Channel 2’s Saturday program “Meet the Press.” Here are some of the more astonishing comments of our “Defense” Minister during that interview:

“I estimate that it will take time until we see indictments against killers, unfortunately, Jewish terrorists. Let’s talk about the most serious incident (Duma), for which we have taken draconian measures to prevent the next attack.”

Note how facilely Ya’alon calls the detainees “killers” and “Jewish terrorists” and how facilely Ya’alon skips over the fact that these detainees have not been charged with anything–no indictments whatsoever have been forthcoming–and this after these detainees have been held in prison for almost a month or longer. And note how facilely Ya’alon admits that “draconian” measures are being taken (read “special interrogation techniques), measures that will almost certainly throw out of any court whatever coerced confessions Shin Bet eventually gets.

As for the wedding video, Ya’alon partially confirmed what your humble servant postulated three days ago–namely, that it was the security services and the government that handed the video over to Channel 10:

“When the prime minister brought this film to the cabinet a week ago, we saw the shock in those who have doubts about whether the GSS  (Shin Bet) methods were correct or not . . . . It was necessary to show everyone who’s involved. Can you lend a hand to these murderers? In the end it [releasing the video to the public] was inevitable. . .

What kind of nonsense is this?

How do the pictures of some of the dancers at a wedding possibly justify the denial of basic civil rights to Israelis–especially to Israeli minors? 

How can Ya’alon make the leap of saying that those dancers are “everyone who’s involved”? Or call the dancers “murderers”?

It is simply astonishing that the Netanyahu cabinet found it necessary to tar religious Zionists and Israel itself by releasing this incredibly anomalous video. By the way, as of today, Netanyahu is backpedaling as fast as he can–saying there was never any intent to use the video to demean the religious Zionist community. Sure thing, Bibi.

But back to Ya’alon, now discussing the fact that the detainees have not confessed to anything. Remember that Ya’alon is talking about teenagers (aged 15-18):

“The suspects are sophisticated. It’s not just that they believe in a murderous doctrine, they also have learned how to withstand interrogation, what to do, what not to do; it makes it difficult for the Shin Bet, but Shin Bet is using all of its tools to bring them to trial.”

Are you following this? The poor Shin Bet is using all of the tools at its disposal to wring confessions out of the teenagers, but alas, the teenagers are too “sophisticated”–they “have learned how to withstand interrogation.”

Has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe, just maybe, some or all of the detainees are innocent?

Apparently not.

***On a lighter note, the most popular baby names in Israel have been published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The eight most popular Jewish names for Israeli baby girls last year were, in order:

Noa, Tamar, Shira,  Yael, Adele, Talia, Abigail, and Ayala

The eight most popular Jewish names for Israeli boys were:

Noah, Uri, David, Joseph, Eitan, Itai, Ariel, and Daniel

On a different note, the most popular boy’s name in all of Israel remains Mohammed. 20% of all boys born to Israel Arab Muslims are named Mohammed.

TODAY’S BLOG:

An important, small, first step was takien today when the Transparency Law (also known as the NGOs Law) was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs on Sunday.

The law, proposed by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, states that NGOs operating in Israel will be required to report funding they receive from the foreign countries (if more than half of its funding comes from foreign sources). What is more, lobbyists or people representing an NGO will be required to wear a tag in the Knesset that indicates their NGO and its funding source.

Immediately, the proposed law came under attack from the Israeli “left” led by Isaac Herzog and Meretz head Zehava Gal-On and the European Union. According to Shaked, “the EU ambassador expressed today against the law, saying that his view of the law is a blow to democracy, and asked Israel to refrain from actions that would harm freedom of expression and association.”

To which Shaked accurately responded: “I want to reassure the Ambassador that the bill does not affect at all the freedom of expression. Besides, I happen to believe that the intervention of  foreign countries [into Israeli affairs] is the real threat to Israeli democracy. “

She added: “A country that wants to defend its sovereignty should set limits on the extent of the involvement of foreigners. Invasion into the public domain and blatant interference in the internal affairs of another country’s sovereignty is intervention, especially when this is done in a way that is not transparent.”

As stated, what happened today is nothing more than a first step. For the Transparency Law to become law, it must pass three readings in the Knesset–and hundreds of obstacles in between.

But the law is an important one in an Israel which is being delegitimized in ever-increasing attacks by foreign-funded, self-called “humanitarian” NGOs.