Israel News

24 The shooting in a bustling Parisian neighborhood shook and angered the Kurdish community, and stirred up conThe Jewish Home | DECEMBER 29, 2022 cerns about hate crimes at a time when far-right voices have gained prominence in France and around Europe. On Saturday, members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists joined together in a demonstration of mourning and anger. The gathering was largely peaceful, with marchers holding portraits of the victims. Some youths threw objects and set a few cars and garbage bins on fire, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. A spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France said the violence began after some people drove by waving a Turkish flag. Some of the marchers carried flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Turkey’s army has long been battling against Kurdish militants affiliated with the banned PKK in southeast Turkey as well as in northern Iraq. The U.S. views PKK as a terrorist organization. Turkey’s military also recently launched a series of strikes from the air and with artillery against Syrian Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday that the violence in

Bus Stop Bomber Arrested

On Tuesday, security forces arrested an Arab Israeli man affiliated with the Islamic State jihadist group for the deadly double bombing attack in Jerusalem last month.

In the attack on November 23, Eslam Froukh, 26, allegedly set off two bombs at two bus stops near entrances to the capital. The attacks killed two people – 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak and 50-yearold Tadese Tashume Ben Ma’ada – and wounded over 20 others.

According to the Shin Bet, Froukh, an Israeli resident of Kafr ‘Aqab in East Jerusalem who lived much of the time in the Ramallah area, committed the attack because of his affiliation with Islamic State.

According to the agency, Froukh, a mechanical engineer by trade, acted alone and taught himself how to make the bombs used in the attack, using guides from the internet. The terrorist had tried to detonate another bomb as security and medical forces treated the victims at the scene of the second attack but ran into technical issues and did not end up planting it.

In the days after the attack, security forces near the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim found several items apparently used by the terrorist in the attack, including a motorized scooter, a helmet, spare clothes — used before, during, and after the attack — and five pipe bombs. These items were used to identify the terrorist, whom they arrested a few days later.

In another area of the West Bank, near Ramallah, security forces located the site where Froukh allegedly tested his explosive devices. The Shin Bet said troops seized explosive materials, a makeshift submachine gun and a primed bomb similar to the ones used in the Jerusalem attack.

Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed the arrest of Froukh, saying Israel would reach “any terrorist or terror group.”

“As we promised, we got to him. Israel will reach any terrorist who harms its citizens and will deal with them with the full severity of the law,” he asserted.

Israel’s New Envoy to Turkey

After four years of being vacant, the post of envoy to Turkey is being filled by Irit Lillian, who had played a key role in Israeli-Turkish reconciliation. She had been Israel’s charge d’affaires in Ankara since February 2021, as both sides moved slowly but steadily toward restoring full diplomatic relations.

This week, Lillian presented her letter of credentials to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After the ceremony at Erdogan’s massive presidential palace in Ankara – which included Israel’s Hatikvah national anthem played by a Turkish honor guard – Lillian expressed her hope that bilateral ties would continue to expand.

“We all expect that the process of growing closer diplomatically between Israel and Turkey will become stronger, will broaden and will spread over many areas of cooperation,” she said.

In May 2018, Turkey recalled its ambassador and asked Israel’s envoy to leave in protest of Israel’s response to violent rioting on the Gaza border, in which dozens of Palestinians were killed.

In August of this year, Israel and Turkey announced the full renewal of diplomatic ties after two years of slow reconciliation, which picked up pace noticeably with mutual visits by senior officials.

“From the beginning, it was clear that we were building a process in which we agree to disagree,” Lillian, who has previously served as Israel’s ambassador to Bulgaria and Australia, told The Times of Israel during an August interview. “We are going into proper, positive bilateral relations that have a wide range of activities, but we know that there are points we don’t agree on,” she said. “We know we are not going into a perfect marriage.”

Turkey’s incoming ambassador to Israel, Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, presented a copy of his letter of credence at the beginning of the month in Jerusalem, allowing him to start working. He is expected to present the original to President Isaac Herzog on January 11, whereupon he can officially take up the position.

Torunlar is a veteran diplomat who previously served as Turkey’s consul general in Jerusalem — effectively its ambassador to the Palestinians — and was most recently ambassador to India.

Israel was a longtime regional ally of Turkey before relations began to sour after Erdogan’s election.

Tensions came to a head during a 2010 Israeli commando raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara, part of a blockade-busting flotilla, that left 10 Turkish

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activists dead after they attacked Israeli soldiers who boarded the ship.

Despite an official apology by thenPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Erdogan stayed angry, accusing the Jewish state of “keeping Hitler’s spirit alive” during Operation Defensive Shield in July 2014 and calling it a “terrorist state.”

Both countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2018 after Erdogan leveled charges of “state terrorism” and “genocide” at Israel when Palestinians were killed in Gaza rioting after then-U.S. President Donald Trump moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Oman Hardens its Israel Boycott

in the Israeli media that the ban would be lifted.

Instead, the Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Assembly, voted to amend the first clause of its Israel boycott law to include any sports, cultural or economic contact. The amendment also specifically bans in-person or online interaction with Israelis.

Assembly Vice-President Yaaqoub Al-Harethi explained that the amendment will “expand the criminalization and expand the boycott” of Israel, according to WAF news agency’s Twitter account. The law in its current form bans interaction with “the Zionist entity” for private and public figures.

The amendment now moves to debate by the Majlis legislative committee before a final vote.

On Sunday, Israeli media outlets speculated that the boycott debate may be tied to Israeli efforts to secure Omani authorization for civilian overflights of the country. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia – which also has no ties with Israel – allowed Israel to use its airspace, but Oman has held out against doing so, which means Israeli flights to Asia must still take a much longer route.

Currently, Omani law prohibits citizens from making contact with entities or individuals based in Israel directly or through mediators, for any purpose.

Oman and Israel have no official diplomatic relations, though the country has been floated as a potential nation to join the Abraham Accords with Israel, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited Oman in 2018. During his visit, he reportedly received a commitment from then-sultan Qaboos to open Omani airspace to Israeli airlines. However, the decision was walked back by Qaboos’s successor, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

Knesset Passes Smotrich-Deri Bill

Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday morning passed an amendment allowing Shas Party head Aryeh Deri to serve as a minister and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich to become a second minister in the Defense Ministry.

The amendment to Basic Law: The Government, which passed by a 63-vote majority following an all-night filibuster, merged two bills.

The first limits a law prohibiting elected officials convicted of a criminal