Joshua Davidovich is The Times of Israel's Deputy Editor
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
A court has indicted a West Bank Palestinian for attempted murder over a stabbing attack in the Galilee city of Afula on October 8.
Tarek Yehiya, a resident of the Jenin-area town of Arka, was also charged with illegally carrying a weapon and being in Israel illegally.
On October 8, Yehiya knifed an IDF soldier in the center of the city, moderately wounding him, in the fourth attack of the day.
Yehiya told police he entered Israel in September and was living in Umm al-Fahm when he saw a social media clip calling for attacks on Jews. He then bought a knife and made his way to Afula to stab a Jew or soldier, according to a police statement.
The man who gave him a ride there was also charged with transporting an illegal resident.
Yehiya was stopped by passersby, who wrestled him to the ground. Police were called in to keep angry citizens from beating him as he lay on the ground.
Relatives and leaders of Israel’s Bedouin community are attempting to distance themselves from Muhanad Alukabi, who killed a soldier and wounded 11 other people in a gun and knife attack at the Beersheba bus terminal Sunday night according to police.
A relative from near the Bedouin town of Hura outside Beersheba tells Army Radio that the whole family is in shock.
“I condemn this act, this violence. We … are shocked. This is simply unacceptable to us.”
The mayor of Hura was quick to point out that Alukabi did not hail from his city, but from an unrecognized village nearby.
“We forcefully condemn this criminal act and call on all residents of the Negev, Arabs and Jews alike, to keep to the fabric of ties between the peoples for the good of everyone,” Muhammad Alnabari is quoted saying by the NRG news website.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says his country is “not a concentration camp” and will not host migrants permanently to appease the European Union, which wants Turkey to stop the flow of people to Europe.
“We cannot accept an understanding like ‘give us the money and they stay in Turkey.’ Turkey is not a concentration camp,” Davutoglu says in a live television interview a day after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the migrant crisis.
— AFP
A woman who was shot at the Afula bus station earlier this month amid what police said was an attempted stabbing is reportedly expected to plead that she tried to carry out an attack over “unrequited love.”
Nazareth resident Asaara Abed, 30, was injured by a bullet to the leg after pulling a knife at the bus station on October 9.
Police investigators are said to believe the divorced mother of one may have suffered mental issues, a claim backed up by friends and relatives, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
According to Channel 10 news, Abed told police she wanted to become a martyr after seeing knife attackers shot dead in Jerusalem, and so brought a knife to the bus station in order to stab someone.
Police had reportedly been baffled by the behavior of Abed, who carried the knife with her on a bus from Nazareth to Afula before pulling it out.
South African supporters of Israel are furious about their country’s leadership’s plan to host senior Hamas officials.
In statement, the South African Zionist Federation “condemns in the strongest terms possible the fact that a delegation representing the Hamas Central Committee will be visiting South Africa as the honored guests of the ruling party,” a statement by the group reads.
“During these past few weeks of barbaric violence targeting Israel, Hamas has enthusiastically endorsed the cold-blooded murder of Israeli civilians and instigated dozens of lethal attacks against them,” the statement continues.
The African National Congress has long been supportive of the Palestinians’ struggle against Israel and exceedingly critical of Israeli policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians.
“Contrary to what is claimed, the ideology, values, aims and strategies of Hamas are diametrically opposed to the principles of the ANC, as embodied in the Freedom Charter,” the ZF declares in the statement.
At a recent summit, the party reaffirmed its support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Hamas, by contrast, does not support, nor has it ever supported, the creation of an independent Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel. Instead, its charter explicitly stipulates that no negotiated settlement is possible in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians with Jihad being the only solution. Simply speaking, Hamas wishes to destroy Israel altogether and seeks to establish an Islamist dictatorship in its place.”
The only justification for meeting with Hamas would be to seek to “radically” moderate the organization, the ZF’s chairman, Ben Swartz, and president, Avrom Krengel, write. If that’s not the purpose of the meeting, “then any such engagement will simply prove both futile and counter-productive to genuine efforts aimed at the peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
— Raphael Ahren
Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Knesset’s Joint List of Arab parties, calls for his constituency to refrain from using armed violence in resisting Israel, hours after the shooter in a Beersheba terror attack was identified as an Israeli citizen.
“Guys listen up. Our way is the relentless national struggle with our heads held high, and not using weapons,” he writes on Facebook.
He goes on to say that while he understands people’s anger against Israel, the use of arms is “unacceptable.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry says it is “furious and shocked” over the invitation of South Africa’s ruling ANC for Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and a delegation from the terror group to visit Pretoria for a state visit.
On Sunday, South African President Jacob Zuma met with Meshaal.
“This visit provides a tailwind and support for terror and blatantly ignores the position of the international community, which views Hamas as a terror organization.”
In a statement, the ministry says it summoned South Africa’s envoy to Israel for a meeting Monday to make clear its displeasure, and plans on issuing a communique to Pretoria.
Making a first statement since a mob attacked an Eritrean immigrant mistakenly identified as a terrorist in Beersheba Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that “nobody can take the law into his hands.”
“We are in a continuing struggle. It’s clear that we will win, but this thing sometimes causes friction,” he says according to Ynet. “Civilians who are attacked act resourcefully, but the people caught in this incident needed to turn to the security forces.”
Police said earlier they would probe the incident after 29-year-old Eritrean national Haftom Zarhum died in the hospital after he was shot by police who thought he was a terrorist, and then beaten by a crowd.
The shooting and beating were both caught on video, in which Zarhum can be seen to be unarmed. Police said he was likely shot in confusion during the attack because of the color of his skin.
Amnesty International has also put out a statement calling for those seen kicking Zarhum and throwing chairs and benches at him as he lay bleeding on the floor be immediately arrested and prosecuted.
There have been a number of mob attacks against terrorists after they have been shot or otherwise subdued, though officials have stayed silent on the issue until now.
A new toll shows the crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month in Saudi Arabia killed at least 2,110 pilgrims.
The count Monday by The Associated Press comes after Saudi officials said they held a meeting about the disaster late Sunday night. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the kingdom’s interior minister, oversaw the meeting.
Saudi Arabia’s official tally from the September 24 tragedy in Mina, a few miles from the holy city of Mecca, is 769 killed and 934 injured. Officials have not updated their casualty toll since September 26, although an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing.
The previous deadliest-ever incident at hajj was a 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people.
(AP)
A series of tweets sent out by the African National Congress show Hamas leader Mashaal meeting with Zuma and the two exchanging gifts.
President Jacob #Zuma exchanging gifts with #KhalidMishal #HamasInSA pic.twitter.com/QsOBWDWVi0
— ANC – African National Congress (@MYANC) October 19, 2015
According to the account, Hamas and the ANC “signed a letter of intent.”
During a press conference after the meeting, Mashaal tells reporters, “We are insisting with our people to finish this apartheid regime. This racist occupation should be put to an end,” according to the Twitter account.
Chief of #Hamas Politburo #KhalidMishal addresses media following bilateral meeting with #ANC leadership #HamasInSA pic.twitter.com/lQYcZE1XBF
— ANC – African National Congress (@MYANC) October 19, 2015
#ANC is always on the side of the oppressed. Hence we support Palestine & Western Sahara- #ANCSG @GwedeMantashe1 pic.twitter.com/Ygs8GnYuGL
— ANC – African National Congress (@MYANC) October 19, 2015
Pictures broadcast on Israeli TV from the Beersheba bus station show the terminal has mostly returned to normal the day after an attack, with soldiers and others running to catch buses, people eating at restaurants, and only the bullet holes in walls and increased security presence hinting at the tragedy there a day before.
Police are apparently still investigating how the terrorist managed to enter the bus station with a gun and knife without being stopped by security.
In Jerusalem, police have reportedly reintroduced metal detectors and x-ray machines for bags in the wake of the attack. The security checks at the busy station were removed several years ago after complaints over the large crowds which congregated while trying to get in, which created an easier terrorist target.
The area around the Jerusalem bus station has been the site of two stabbing attacks over the last two weeks.
A mother has been killed and her infant son injured after her car collided with a bus in central Israel.
The head-on collision occurred outside the small town of Kfar Menahem on Route 383, which was shut down after the crash.
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The mother, 30, was declared dead at the scene and her baby was taken to a hospital in moderate condition. Two others were also injured in the accident.
Thousands of migrants are stranded in heavy rain at the Serbia-Croatia frontier, with volunteers urgently calling for help from authorities after a sharp slowdown in border crossings.
A surge of 10,000 migrants crossed from Macedonia into Serbia overnight and headed for the Croatian border, where 3,000 had gathered by Monday morning, says Mirjana Ivanovic Milenkovski with the UN refugee agency in Serbia.
An AFP reporter describes scenes of chaos at the Berkasovo border, where people are sitting in the mud trying to light fires to stay warm and children walk barefoot, lacking proper clothing for the torrential rain and cold temperatures.
“This is over our capacity. We urgently need Serbian authorities to react. There is no one from the authorities here. We need police, army, some tents, food,” says Jan Pinos, coordinating a team of Czech volunteers.
He says there is “increasing tension” and a large number of pregnant women and children, including a baby that nearly died overnight in the chaos and crowds.
“It’s a matter of time before this is out of control,” Pinos tells AFP.
Hundreds are setting off on foot through cornfields trying to find another way across the border, while more continue to arrive at the crossing point, walking or by taxi, after being dropped off by Serbian buses around 3.5 kilometers (two miles) away.
— AFP
In the first withdrawal from a “doomsday” seed vault in the Arctic, thousands of seeds that were originally kept in war-stricken Syria have been safely delivered to Morocco and Lebanon, officials say.
Gene banks and organizations around the world have deposited about 860,000 samples of seeds at the Global Seed Vault in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to back up their own collections in case of man-made or natural calamities.
Since the facility, sometimes known as a “doomsday vault,” opened eight years ago, this is the first time that seeds have been withdrawn.
In secret shipments last month, about 38,000 seed samples including wheat, barley, lentil and chickpea were sent from Norway to research stations in Morocco and Lebanon operated by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, or ICARDA. The center is located in Aleppo but is no longer able to make full use of its facilities due to the war in Syria.
“It just shows that the global system of fail-safe backup works,” says Michael Koch, of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which funded the shipments.
The shipments were conducted secretly to avoid any security problems.
— AP
Jerusalem is working to thwart a Palestinian bid to have the Western Wall declared a Muslim holy site by the UN’s cultural body in a vote on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry calls the proposal “an attempt to distort history and blur the connection between the Jewish people and its holiest place and to create a false reality.”
The Western Wall is one of the only remnants of a retaining wall built around the Second Temple, which was later destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E.
Jews, who are forbidden from praying on the Temple Mount, have made the Western Wall into a shrine and it is considered Judaism’s holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.
According to Muslim tradition, the site is also where Mohammed tied the winged animal Buraq he rode on the night he ascended to heaven.
The proposal was submitted by six Muslim countries on behalf of the Palestinians, according to an earlier Ynet report.
The proposal also calls for the international community to condemn Israel for urging “its citizens to bear arms in light of recent terror wave,” as well as for recent actions by the state and the IDF in Jerusalem. The document, a copy of which was obtained by Ynet, refers to Jerusalem as “the occupied capital of Palestine.”
In addition, the Palestinians seek condemnation of ongoing Israeli archaeological excavations near the Temple Mount and the Old City in Jerusalem, as well as for the “aggression and illegal measures taken against the freedom of worship and access of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s attempts to break the status quo since 1967.”
— with Raphael Ahren
Palestinian media is reporting on clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Tuqua, with two protesters shot.
According to the Ma’an news agency, the riots broke out after soldiers attempted to raid a number of homes in the town, south of Jerusalem.
The two were shot in the legs with live fire, according to the report. The extent of the injuries was not immediately clear.
Tear gas was also used against protesters, according to the report.
The IDF did not have an immediate comment.
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Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely denounces the Palestinian bid to have the Western Wall declared a Muslim holy site by UNESCO.
“This shameful and deceitful Palestinian attempt to rewrite history will fail the test of reality,” says Hotovely in a statement.
The Likud lawmaker, who serves as the de facto top diplomat since PM Netanyahu doubles as foreign minister, says her ministry is making every effort to see that the bid sinks when voted on by UNESCO on Tuesday, and to have it turned into a PR victory against the Palestinians.
The proposal is largely expected to pass, as most of UNESCO’s 58 members support the Palestinian cause
She also accuses Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of “continuing the heritage of lies started by [Yasser] Arafat.”
“The historical connection between the people of Israel to their land is stronger than any provocative Palestinian proposal, and we will continue to present the simple basic truth that we are the sovereign in our land against their lies.”
A British-born jihadist who converted to Islam from Catholicism and became a star of al-Qaeda’s propaganda campaign has been outed in the British tabloid press as a former member of rock band Hannah’s Got Herpes.
Lucas Kinney, now known as Abu Basir al-Britani, has appeared in several videos promoting jihad and trying to get people to make their way to Syria to join the fight.
But before becoming a poster boy for militant Islam, Kinney, 26, was laying down tracks on such hits as Milfhunter, while moving across the Middle East with his stepfather, an airline manager who was posted first to Saudi Arabia and then Cairo, according to the Daily Mail.
His father is Patrick Kinney, an assistant producer who has worked closely with Steven Spielberg on a number of films, including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Empire of the Sun.
The Israeli army now says it entered the Palestinian town of Tuqua to stop protesters from stoning Israeli cars that pass through the village to get to the adjacent Jewish settlement of Tekoa.
The army says about 20 people were involved in the riot, and live fire was used only when other methods proved ineffective.
“When IDF forces were unable to disperse the crowd using non-lethal means, they fired 0.22 Ruger rounds at the protesters, injuring at least one,” the army tells The Times of Israel.
Palestinian media reported the clash began when Israel Defense Forces soldiers raided the town, in the West Bank south of Jerusalem. According to Ma’an, two people were shot in the leg.
The 13-year-old boy critically injured in a stabbing attack in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev is now awake and breathing on his own, hospital officials say.
The boy, whose name has not been published, was one of two people stabbed in an attack on October 12 by two Palestinian cousins, aged 13 and 15.
The other victim, a 25-year-old man, was hospitalized in serious condition.
Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus say the boy is now stable, although he has a long road ahead of him to recover.
The teen had been in an induced coma and was hooked up to a breathing machine.
Doctors at the time credited the quick work of first responders with saving the boy’s life.
Ahmed Manasra, the 13-year-old who stabbed him, was released from the hospital on Sunday after being hit by a car while fleeing the scene. He is currently in detention awaiting an indictment.
The other stabber, Hassan Manasra, was shot and killed by police after he charged at them with a knife.
In the Knesset, lawmakers have passed on first reading a bill that allows police to stop and frisk anyone they want, regardless of whether there is a reasonable suspicion against the person.
On Sunday, the bill was approved by the government cabinet.
The measure will now go to committee before being voted on in the Knesset twice to become law.
Lawmakers passed the bill 39 to 21, with 1 abstention.
“In light of the special security situation we are dealing with, the State of Israel is in dire need of giving the police the tools to deal with the situation,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told the plenum.
The Knesset has also passed two separate amendments voiding a controversial clause in a new public broadcast law that placed limits on what broadcasters could say.
Both pass unanimously, with 24 and 23 votes respectively, and will be combined in committee before coming up for a second and third reading.
At least two of the suspects in a police investigation into a shooting and mob beating of an Eritrean national — mistakenly identified as a terrorist during a Beersheba attack on Sunday — were members of the security forces, Channel 2 reports.
According to the report, Haftom Zarhum, 28, was shot first by a Border Police officer and then by a security guard at the bus station, and was then beaten by a group of people who stood around his body, in footage caught on video.
During the beating, other people tried to protect him before he was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has asked the police head of investigations to keep him updated on the progress of the probe, the channel reports.
A doctor at Soroka Hospital, where he was taken, indicated the beating after the shooting likely contributed to him not surviving.
The channel interviewed a worker at a shwarma shop in the bus station, who admitted to throwing a row of benches at Zarhum, and expressed some remorse over the incident.
“Unfortunately, he wasn’t the attacker,” the man says.
While relatives and leaders of the Bedouin community have condemned the Beersheba terror attack, the father of the apparent attacker says his son was killed for no reason.
“Muhanad was executed in the field and anything connecting him to this thing in Beersheba we don’t know anything about. My son was executed,” Khalil Alukabi told a press conference outside his home.
Police say Muhanad Alukabi killed a soldier and injured 11 others when he opened fire in the Beersheba bus station on Sunday night. He was killed by responding security forces after holing himself up in a bathroom.
Alukabi also tells Israeli news site Maariv that his son was not violent, but seems to entertain the possibility his son may have carried out the attack.
“We don’t educate toward violence,” he says. “Despite the reports in the media, he had no connection to Islamist groups. We are praying to God. I condemn this act and I wanted to get into his soul even before the attack to understand what was going on with him. Only God knows what caused him to do this.”
Thousands of people have massed in the eastern German city of Dresden to mark the first anniversary of the anti-migrant movement PEGIDA, but just as many have come out in counter-protest.
Carrying placards with images such as a picture of burqa-wearing women with a big cross over it, or slogans like “Go Merkel: you give the Judas kiss”, PEGIDA supporters gathered in downtown Dresden, the birthplace of the movement.
One of them tells AFP: “We are here for our children and grandchildren. We are proud to be here and that many people are here. We are glad that people have the courage to speak out.”
“Pegida is not a brown-shirt movement. Never,” says the protester in her 60s, referring to the Nazis, adding that “Frau Merkel is driving our country against the wall.”
But counter-protesters also turn up in their thousands in Dresden.
Anti-Pegida demonstrators in Dresden. @afpfr pic.twitter.com/jhoZGkP8yh
— Arman Soldin (@ArmanSoldin) October 19, 2015
Hans, 75, tells AFP he made it a point to be present because “PEGIDA is celebrating its birthday and we think that it is very important for the majority of the population to not join PEGIDA, and to show that they don’t agree with the movement.”
Ahead of the PEGIDA march, Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated a call for citizens to shun “those with hate in their hearts.”
— AFP
Thunder, lightning and rain are being reported in areas around Jerusalem, in the Judean Hills, and in the south of the country.
The storms come at the end of what has been a bit of an Indian summer for the country, as temperatures had continued to climb into the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) until last week.
Facebook has begun warning users when it appears they are targeted by state-sponsored cyber-attacks.
“Starting today, we will notify you if we believe your account has been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state,” Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos says in a blog post.
“We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts.”
Recommended security moves included rebuilding systems or even replacing computers believed to have been infected with what would likely be sophisticated malicious code.
— AFP
Labor MK Daniel Atar has been elected head of the Jewish National Fund, pushing out longtime leader Efi Stenzler, according to media reports.
Atar also beat out Michael Biton, mayor of the town of Yeruham, in voting Monday for leadership of the powerful nongovernmental organization — famous for its blue charity boxes.
Nachman Shai, a former Labor MK, dropped out of the race late Sunday.
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