Erdan defends decision to appoint outsider to head police

Arad mayor says no African migrants in my town

The mayor of Arad, a city in the south of Israel, sets up inspectors and police officers at the entrances to the city in an effort to prevent African migrants released from the Holot detention center from entering the city.

On his Facebook page, Mayor Nissan Ben Hamo predicted that because of the prohibition the state imposed on migrants from working and residing in Tel Aviv or Eilat, the migrants would come to Arad. But, he said, he would not allow this. Currently several hundred migrants live in Arad.

The migrants were released today from the Holot detention facility following a High Court ruling that rejected parts of a Knesset law drafted to deal with the influx of African migrants to the country.

Specifically, the court significantly shortened the amount of time migrants can be held in Holot.

The legislation on African migrants has been a string of legal fiascoes for the government, as well as the previous government. The court earlier this month rejected the third iteration of the law in question.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Silvan Shalom said that the migrants released from Holot will not be allowed into Tel Aviv or Eilat. De facto, many of the migrants already in Eilat and Tel Aviv are employed in menial jobs such as cleaners or dishwashers in restaurants. Others, unemployed, turn to petty crime.

The government has never explained its unofficial policy of busing the migrants en masse from the southern border of Israel to the south of Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest metropolis. The original residents of the dilapidated southern part of the city are among the most vocal in calling to deport the migrants.

African migrants protest outside Holot detention center in the Negev Desert, southern Israel. February 17, 2014. (FLASH90)

34 Kurdish rebels killed in Turkish airstrikes

Thirty-four fighters from the Kurdish underground were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Turkish military in northern Iraq, Reuters reports.

Turkey has been conducting airstrikes in the southeastern part of Turkey and northern Iraq for about a month, in retaliation for what it calls attacks by extremist Kurdish fighters against Turkish security forces.

On Saturday, the military said it killed 29 Kurdish rebels.

Photos: Islamic State destroys Palmyra temple

Pictures posted online seem to show Islamic State fighters rigging, then exploding ancient relics in Tadmor several days ago.

The text says “Explosion of the pagan temple.”

Islamic State fighters bring explosives to an ancient archaeological site in Tadmor, Syria, on Sunday August 23, 2015. Known as Palmyra, the city is a UN-recognized World Heritage Site. The IS have been systematic in destroying evidence of cultures other than Islam in the territory they control. [Courtesy]

Improvised explosives prior to detonation in the ancient archaeological site in Tadmor, Syria, on Sunday, August 23, 2015. Known as Palmyra, the city is a UN-recognized World Heritage Site. The IS have been systematic in destroying evidence of cultures other than Islam in the territory they control. [Courtesy]

An explosion at the ancient archaeological site in Tadmor, Syria, on Sunday August 23, 2015. Known as Palmyra, the city is a UN-recognized World Heritage Site. Islamic State destroyed the site because it was a “pagan temple,” the group said. [Courtesy]

Man briefly held after threatening MK on Facebook

A 39-year-old resident of the south was arrested yesterday on allegations that he threatened Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg via comments on Facebook.

The man confessed during a hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court and was conditionally released home today, Ynet reports.

FILE: MK Tamar Zandberg walking out of the Old City after taking part in the Women of the Wall’s prayer service Friday (Michal Shmulovich/Times of Israel)

TASE looking up after China lowers interest rate

China’s central bank lowered the interest rate by 0.25 percent, stimulating world markets to rebound from a nightmarish trading day yesterday.

Indices at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange are looking up, with the Tel Aviv 25 index rising by 2.9% and the Tel Aviv 100 index rising by 3.2%.

Tel Aviv 75 rises by 4.4%. Trading shortly after noon stands at NIS 1.3 billion, with two more hours of trading left. Trading around the globe on Sunday ended with sharp drops, as the slowdown of the Chinese economy rippled across world stock exchanges.

Turkey’s PM tasked with forming interim gov’t

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appoints Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form an interim government that will lead the country into a new election, likely to take place on November 1.

Erdogan formally called for a new election late yesterday, following an inconclusive vote in June, and the collapse of coalition-building efforts.

Davutoglu has five days to form a temporary cabinet — which would include opposition party legislators — to oversee the polls. However, two main opposition parties have already declared they would not participate in the interim administration.

The opposition accuses Erdogan of triggering new elections in the hope that the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which he founded, can win back the parliamentary majority it lost in June and again rule alone.

Opinion polls however, suggest that the new election may not reverse the AKP’s losses and another hung parliament is a possibility.

Erdogan said the election will take place on November 1 but the date must be confirmed by the High Election Board.

— AP

Turkish Prime Minister and leader of Justice and Development Party Ahmet Davutoglu speaks to the media after a meeting with Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, July 13. 2015. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Iran won’t swap for detained Washington Post reporter

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that the Islamic Republic has no plans to swap detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian with any Iranian prisoners held in the United States.

The report Tuesday is the first time an Iranian media outlet has suggested a prisoner swap for Rezaian, who is awaiting a verdict in his espionage trial.

Tasnim quoted Hassan Qashqavi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister in charge of legal and consular affairs, as saying: “An exchange of Jason Rezaian is not on agenda. Each of the issues has its own separate case.”

Neither Qashqavi nor the report elaborated.

Rezaian was detained with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photojournalists on July 22, 2014. All were later released except Rezaian, a dual US-Iranian citizen.

— AP

Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian (screen capture: Huffington Post)

Ultra-Orthodox vandalize bus in Jerusalem

Several ultra-Orthodox men punctured the tires of a bus that stopped near a crosswalk in the Ezrat Torah neighborhood of Jerusalem.

According to Ynet, the vandals also damaged one of the bus’s glass panes.

A police force was scrambled to the area and is looking for the perpetrators.

Israeli wins bronze in world judo tourney

Israeli judo fighter Golan Polack wins the bronze medal in the world championship in Kazakhstan, after overcoming a Mongolian opponent just seconds before the buzzer, Army Radio reports.

Polack won five fights during the day’s tournaments and only lost one battle during the semifinals. His medal is the first won by the Israeli delegation in the current championship.

Polack is 23 years old.

Yukiya Amano says IAEA ‘unsure’ about scope of Iran’s program

In a Q&A session after International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano addressed the agency’s board, Amano said the agency is still unsure about the scope of Iran’s nuclear military ambitions.

The agency “is still working on assessment which will be released in December,” Amano says.

Asked how many people will be working on verifying that Iran abides by the agreements and if there may be hundreds of inspectors, he says: “By no means not hundreds, verification will be done in other ways – we have advanced technology and while inspectors are important we use other methods. There will not be a dramatic increase of inspectors, [there will be] a substantial increase, but not a dramatic one.”

Asked if he felt the IAEA was being used as a scapegoat by opponents of the deal, Amano says that the “IAEA is not a political organization. We are focusing on the technical elements from the verification point of view of the JCPOA.”

The agreement, he says, constitutes “a net gain for the IAEA,” adding that when it is implemented “and its transparency measures are implemented, Iran’s nuclear [ambitions] will be reduced.”

— Tamar Pileggi

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano of Japan, during a news conference after a meeting of the IAEA board of governors at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, June 8, 2015. (AP/Ronald Zak)

Top Iranian politician says Israel should be annihilated

A senior Iranian diplomat says Iran has not changed its position on Israel.

The Iranian Parliament’s adviser for international affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam “blasted” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond for his “interfering remarks” and told the visiting British diplomat: “Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan,” according to Iranian website Fars News.

According to Fars, Sheikholeslam was speaking to reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, two days after Hammond visited Tehran.

Hammond told Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Monday that past hostilities should be forgotten, Fars reported, and Sheikholeslam said regarding that statement that Tehran will “never forget the past and Britain’s colonialist moves.”

2 IEDs hurled at troops south of Jerusalem

Palestinians threw two improvised explosive devices at IDF troops near Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem, Channel 10 reports.

No casualties were reported.

Fuel prices to fall about 5% next week

The Infrastructure Ministry will announce the price of gasoline for the month of September next Monday, but it can already be assessed that prices will drop.

The cost of fuel in Israel fluctuates according to the global prices of crude oil. From July 24 until today, the cost of crude dropped by 17.3 percent, costing $39.75 per barrel, as opposed to $47.98 the previous month.

Because the price of fuel in Israel is also composed of taxes paid to the government, effectively Israeli drivers can expect a drop of 5%, or about 0.32 agorot ($0.08) per liter.

Germany’s SPD party HQ emptied by bomb threat

The Berlin headquarters of Germany Social Democratic Party, the SPD, were evacuated due to a bomb threat, Reuters reports.

Airline insists Philly-TA route canceled over money

American Airlines is canceling its lone route to Israel solely because it was losing money on it, the airline tells JTA.

“Over the last year, the route lost more than $20 million,” Casey Norton, the airline’s director of corporate communications, told JTA in an email regarding the Philadelphia-Tel Aviv flight. “In fact, the route has not made an annual profit since it was started in 2009.

“Some international routes require an investment of resources until they stabilize and begin to demonstrate growth, but the revenue demand for our flights to Tel Aviv could never overcome the substantial costs.”

American announced late last week that it was canceling the route, reportedly without informing Israeli officials in advance.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called on the airline to reverse its decision, in part because Nutter has been working to develop economic ties between the city and Israeli companies.

Israel has not officially commented on the cancellation of the route.

— JTA

Saudis interested in Russian nuclear-capable missiles

Saudi Arabia may be the first foreign buyer of a Russian missile system capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to a report in Kommersant quoted by the Moscow Times.

The Iskander-E missile system “is a very deadly system, and we don’t know how Saudi Arabia might use it … and they are close allies of the US, so there is a risk that if we deliver Iskanders to them, the US will get to inspect the system and then develop countermeasures against it, because it’s also designed to hit US allies in Europe, such as Poland,” the Moscow Times quotes Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow-based defense think tank, as saying.

Pukhov further assesses that the deal is unlikely to go through.

The report in Kommersant comes after a meeting between the Russian and Saudi foreign ministers and cites unidentified sources in the Russian defense industry.

Russian news agencies are quoting the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir as saying that “intensive contacts are taking place between the military delegations and specialists from both countries and a wide range of intended types of armaments from Russia is being discussed, including Iskander missile systems.”

The Moscow Times further quotes the HIS Jane’s Defense think tank as saying the Saudi are interested in a “wide variety” of Russian hardware, including frigates for the Saudi navy.

The Saudi Arabian peninsula faces no naval threats from the west, where the Red Sea separates it from its close ally Egypt, while in the south it borders with Yemen. The eastern border of Saudi Arabia is the Gulf, called Arabian Gulf by the Saudis and Persian Gulf by Iran.

The primary use for the Iskander system is as a conventional assault weapon. The missiles can be guided in various methods including scouts on the ground or satellites, even by UAVs hovering near the targets. The system be retargeted in mid-flight, and its maneuvering capabilities enable it to evade enemy missile defenses.

It has never yet been sold to a foreign country apart from nations which are close allies of Russia and were part of the Soviet Union.

The Russian 9K720 Iskander missile system carrier. Inset: an Iskander missile in launch position. (CC BY-SA 3.0 Aleksey Toritsyn, www.defensetech.org/Wikipedia)

Hamas official says ‘3 Arab countries’ conspire against group

A senior Hamas official says in an interview that “three Arab countries” are persecuting Hamas people and arresting them “in coordination with Israeli security forces,” according to Ynet.

Interviewed by a Turkish news agency, the official did not name the three countries in question and added that the Gaza-based Hamas operates abroad only with host countries’ consent.

The interview comes after the kidnapping of four Hamas commandos in Sinai. Egypt said the four were kidnapped by Islamic State-affiliated terrorists, but The Times of Israel learned that they were apparently arrested by the Egyptian military, after Cairo’s intelligence officials were alerted that they were en route to train in Iran.

NY lawmaker says he’s facing personal attacks over backing of Iran deal

US Rep. Jerrold Nadler says he faced hurtful personal attacks from Orthodox precincts since he announced his support of the Iran nuclear deal.

Nadler, a New York Democrat, told Haaretz this week that the attacks have come from the religiously and politically conservative precincts in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

He noted also that he has received emails and calls of support since he announced his backing for what he called the “flawed” deal on Friday in a more than 5,000-word statement, citing as a major reason his support for Israel. He is the sole Jewish lawmaker from his state to support the deal.

Of the attacks, Nadler told Haaretz, “Of course it hurts. It’s emotional.”

“Most hurtful is people asserting, shouting, that somehow I am anti-Israel,” he said. “I’ve been a supporter of Israel my whole life.”

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Orthodox, has threatened to raise millions of dollars to mount a primary challenge to Nadler, according to the report.

“The political consequences are concerning, but I had to” support the deal,” Nadler told Haaretz. “How could I live with myself if I voted against it knowing that would increase the chances of a bomb in Iranian hands? How could I do that?

“What bothers me about this debate is its incivility, excoriating people as traitors or dual loyalists.”

— JTA

Jerrold Nadler (Courtesy)

Former IDF general Gal Hirsch to be next police chief

Brig. Gen. [ret.] Gal Hirsch will be Israel’s next chief of police, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan decides.

In his top position in the military, Hirsch served as a brigade commander. He left the military amid controversy since the kidnapping of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev occurred when he served as the commander of the Galilee Brigade in territory within the brigade’s jurisdiction.

However, soldiers from the brigade under his command also successfully prevented four separate kidnapping attempts along the border and his role as a military was favorably mentioned after the Second Lebanon War, including by members of the Winograd Committee appointed to examine the events of the war.

A police chief tapped from outside the organization’s ranks is unusual, but not unprecedented.

Herzl Shafi served as OC Southern Command as a last position in a long and illustrious military career (he fought in both the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War) before becoming police chief on January 1, 1980. Shafir stepped down just after a year, on December 31, 1980, also amid controversy.

The appointment of Hirsch is dependent on the government’s approval.

Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch (file photo: Moshe Milner/GPO/ Flash 90)

Next chief of police ‘excited’ and ‘ready for the mission’

Gal Hirsch, Israel’s intended next chief of police, posts on Facebook shortly after his appointment is publicly announced.

This morning the minister of public security told me I am a candidate for the position of the next chief of police.
I am very excited!

Israel Police, men and women, true fighters, have for many years been my brothers and sisters, brothers in arms and partners in many missions. I have deep appreciation and love for them.

I am happy with the trust shown in me and await the completion of the appointment process.

I have been serving [in various frameworks] since the age of 14, I was always committed to defend the State of Israel and when I was called today, I immediately answered the mission. As the Book of Isaiah says: “Here am I. Send me!”

Gal

Danny Danon commends Gal Hirsch on appointment

Technology and Space Minister Danny Danon is among the first to issue a statement commending the appointment of Gal Hirsch to chief of police.

“I commend Brig. Gen. [ret.] Gal Hirsch upon his appointment to chief of police. There are many challenges the incoming chief will be facing, and I am confident that Hirsch together with the top tier of police officers and commanders will know how to lead the organization on the right path and keep the citizens of Israel safe,” Danon says.

‘Bentzi Sau not planning on retiring from police’

A close associate of Bentzi Sau, currently serving as interim chief of police, says Sau is not planning on retiring after he was not chosen to serve as permanent chief.

“At the moment Bentzi Sau intends to resume commanding the Tel Aviv District until he decides on his future path. You need to understand – the man only heard two hours ago about the minister’s decision. He needs to sit alone, form his opinion regarding his future and then sit with the minister and make a decision,” the associate is quoted by the Walla news site as saying.

Earlier media outlets assessed that Sau will decide to retire because of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan’s decision to appoint Gal Hirsch, a former army general, and not Sau or another top-rank police official.

Erdan and Netanyahu proud of Hirsch appointment

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan defends his decision to appoint Gal Hirsch to the position of police chief.

“Gal Hirsch is an outstanding officer who led reforms and change in every unit he headed,” Erdan tells Channel 2. “I am convinced that he is the best candidate at this time to lead the change Israel Police needs and to increase [the public’s] trust in the force.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pleased with Erdan’s choice.

“Hirsch is an esteemed fighter and general who served in a string of commanding positions in the IDF and led his people to battle and to many operations with courage and creativity,” says Netanyahu. “As the intended police chief he will march police forward in light of the challenges it is facing and while continually striving to increase the personal security of the citizens of Israel and to strengthen the rule of law.”

Israel Police was recently headed by Tel Aviv District Commander Bentzi Sau, serving as interim chief since Yochanan Danino stepped down.

The police is coming out of a year in which the force was tarnished by a string of allegations alleging sexual misconduct in the force’s top tier.

Charges against top officers range from consensual dalliance with subordinates to outright harassment and abuse of authority. Over the past few months, there have been calls from many quarters that the next chief of police come from outside the force and give the organization a jolt and also restore the public’s trust in the institution.

Several months ago, Netanyahu even proposed, albeit in a casual remark during a press conference devoted to a different issue, that maybe the time has come for a female police chief.

Erdan says ‘organizational culture’ of police brought him to appoint outsider

In a Channel 2 interview Public Security Minister Erdan explains why he chose a police chief from outside the force’s ranks, an unusual move though not without precedent.

“I made it a priority to look from inside the force and I saw three worthy candidates, excellent people, but over time I realized there is a problem with the organizational culture of the police,” Erdan says.

“I need to look at the organization as an organization and see why there is such harm to the public’s trust [of the force]. I eventually decided that a person coming from the IDF, with its different norms and standards – has the best chance of bringing about change,” Erdan adds. “I think he is the most fitting to effect the change necessary in Israel Police, and this has a lot to do with the sum-total of all necessary personality traits.”

Erdan expressed disappointment at the intention of interim commander Bentzi Sau.

“Bentzi Sau regrettably announced his intention to step down and I asked home to serve as the official deputy chief of Israel Police, I still hope he will consider my request and I would very much like to see Bentzi continue in the force,” Erdan tells Channel 2.

As we reported earlier this evening, Walla quoted a close associate of Sau saying he does not intend to retire, at least not right away.

Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan seen during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, July 31, 2015. (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Bereaved father unhappy with ‘whitewashing’ of Hirsch

There are many top cops unpleased with the appointment of Gal Hirsch to police chief – and then there are bereaved families who hold Hirsch accountable for the tragic fate of their boys.

David Einhorn, whose son Yehonatan died in the Second Lebanon, tells the Walla news website that he is unhappy over the appointment.

“I don’t have much to say, nine years have passed since I lost my boy in the Second Lebanon War and it looks like Gilad Erdan has a short memory and he forgot the bitter failure of the commanding echelon during the war,” says Einhorn says. “I have only to be sorry for the short memory of those who pull the strings. After they whitewashed all of them – the then IDF chief and the four brigadier generals who served during the war, they continue this whitewashing. Two of these brigadier generals have since been promoted to major generals and now Brig. Gen. Hirsch is also receiving a prize and is being appointed chief of police.”

The Wingorad Committee, established after the war to examine what was publicly perceived as a campaign managed badly mainly due to wrong decision taken by the commanding officers, said that Hirsch needed to draw “personal conclusions” following the war, but overall cleared his name.

Turkey to soon join fighting against ‘Islamic State’

The US Pentagon announces that Turkey and the United States have concluded the technical aspect of an agreement to add Turkey to the international force fighting against the Islamic State terror group.

The US believes Turkey is committed to fully cooperate with world powers as soon as possible, the Pentagon’s press secretary was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement.