Israel News

pass.”

In addition to his Presidential Medal of Freedom and the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, Tutu in 2012 was awarded a $1 million grant by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation for “his lifelong commitment to speaking truth to power.”

In 2013, he received the Templeton Prize for his “life-long work in advancing spiritual principles such as love and forgiveness which has helped to liberate people around the world.”

A seven-day mourning period is planned in Cape Town before Tutu’s burial, including a two-day lying in state, an ecumenical service and an Anglican requiem mass at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Cape Town’s Table Mountain will be lit in purple, the color of the robes Tutu wore as archbishop.

The Art Mecca of the Middle East

Qatar has announced an ambitious plan to expand its public art program, ahead of its hosting the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

The Qatar Museums, a state-run organization which includes many of the country’s cultural institutions, has said it will display over 40 new and commissioned works by Qatari and international artists in public spaces in the capital of Doha, as well as surrounding cities.

According to a press release, the plan is to turn the local landscape into “a vast outdoor art museum experience.”

Qatar Museums’ Director of Public Art Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Ishaq said, “As the rest of the world turns their eyes on Doha, we thought one of the best ways to introduce ourselves and create a dialogue would be through art in the public sphere.

“All the artwork we’re showcasing will fit within the context of Doha and Qatar. It will be placed strategically or territorially to reflect something about our country,” he added. “The aesthetics of both artworks complement their selected locations.”

Al-Ishaq also emphasized, “Having local artists showcase their work was a must for us. This is an opportunity to shed some light on the wealth of talent from Qatar and its neighboring countries and give them the platform they deserve.”

Noting that the program’s new additions will bring the total number of works displayed to 100, he said, “Since the very start, we’ve been working towards bringing art outside of museum walls.”

He added, “Looking ahead, we want Qatar to become the region’s main art hub – the art Mecca of the Middle East.”

Included in the displays are Tom Claassen’s “Falcon” outside the Hamad International Airport, Bruce Nauman’s “Untitled (Trench, Shafts, Pit, Tunnel and Chamber),” and Isa Genzken’s monumental “Two Orchids.”

Compensation for Tragic Loss

The Gross family, whose daughters Avigayil and Yael were killed in a 2014 pesticide disaster, is set to receive 3.5 million NIS ($1,130,199) in monetary compensation.

According to journalist Lia Spilkin, the compensation will be paid by the exterminator, as well as by the clinic where the girls were examined after the pesticide poisoning but whose representative determined that it was a virus that would pass.

In January 2014, Yael, 2, and Avigayil, 4, died after exterminator Yosef Zvi Barko sprayed a chemical in their Jerusalem apartment, using it as a pesticide to kill cockroaches. The girls’ brothers, ages 5 and 7, were seriously injured from the fumes and required hospitalization. Their parents suffered moderate injuries. Although the family brought their children to the clinic after they complained of nausea and headaches and told the doctors that their home had been treated with pesticides, the clinicians ignored the possibility that their children had been poisoned by the gases emitting from the pesticides.

In 2017, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Barko of two counts of manslaughter and four counts of grievous bodily harm.

As part of a plea bargain, Barko, who admitted to committing the offenses, was sentenced to three years in prison and committed to pay immediate compensation totaling 200,000 NIS ($64,563) to the family.

Officer Cleared in Sniper’s Death

An IDF probe examining the death of Border Police officer Barel Hadarya Shmueli earlier this year concluded that his death was the result of a “professional error,” not of negligence.

The results of the probe were released on Monday and shared with Shmueli’s family. They included several errors in how the IDF responded to the riot itself, but cleared the officers involved and disputed the claim that the cause of Shmueli’s death was restrictive open-fire regulations.

In the summary of its investigation, the IDF wrote, “The decision to move and set up along the border according to plan, based on past experience and intelligence information, when the rioters were right next to it and its disadvantages outweighed its advantages, was a professional error in retrospect. The use of live, deadly weapons by the rioters next to the ‘Wall of Courage’ was not expected.”

The probe added, “The open-fire policies and rules of engagement allowed for freedom of action to hit the primary and incendiary rioters, and indeed significantly more shots were fired compared to during previous riots.”

Other errors included keeping the

troops along the wall after Shmueli was shot and after rioters attempted, twice, to steal soldiers’ weapons.

The report also praised the officers for acting with “noteworthy coolness of spirit and self-control,” as well as praising the medical treatment Shmueli received after he was hit.

In their response to the findings, Shmueli’s family said, “Barel is gone and the commander of the Northern [Gaza] Brigade (Col. Yoav Bruner), the person who was responsible for the area, received a promotion after this event and now, in the internal military investigation, gets a citation.”

The “citation” refers to the October appointment of Bruner as commander of the Paratroopers Brigade in October.

The protocols for riot response have been changed since Shmueli was killed in August. Soldiers are now stationed in safer shooting positions.

Israel to Invest $1B in Golan Heights

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett opened Sunday’s Cabinet meeting about the Golan Heights with news of the government’s decision to invest significantly in the region’s development.

“Zionism from its inception to the present day is characterized by points in time that the leadership seizes an opportunity and takes it to advance the interests of the State of Israel,” Bennett said. “This is our moment and the moment of the Golan Heights. A combination of factors led us to direct investments of about one billion shekels to the area.”

Bennett added, “The plan approved today comes a considerable delay of years and aims to double the settlement in the Golan Heights. To that end, we will strengthen the city of Katzrin with two new neighborhoods and prepare two new settlements – Asif and Matar.”

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope) said, “Today, the order of the day is the development momentum of settlement in the Golan, rural and urban at the same time. This is an opportunity to move forward with all our might on this issue.”

Sa’ar continued, “We bring to the best of my knowledge the most extensive development plan for settlements there has been in the Golan Heights with a realistic goal of doubling the settlement within a few years. “The goal is to encourage sustainable demographic growth in the Golan and Katzrin Regional Council localities with a goal of doubling the population within five years,” Sa’ar said. “The move will include planning, marketing and development of residential housing units and development of supportive geographical growth, economic development to create employment and improve employment and diversifying jobs and improving the quality of life that will also contribute to attracting a new population to the Golan Heights: Education. Regional infrastructure. Personal security. And more.”

1.1M+ Israeli Children Live in Poverty

Over 2.5 million Israelis, including over 1.1 million children, live in poverty. Another 932,000 households – 31.6% of all households – live in a state of economic distress, according to a recent survey.

According to Latet, an Israeli aid organization, the portion of households at risk for poverty reached 23.6% in 2021, up from 14% prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These households belong to the “poor middle class,” the report said.

The report also showed that 651,900 Israeli households (22.1%) lack essentials such as housing, education, healthcare, and food and are thus considered living in poverty. This percentage is lower than 2020’s 29.3%, but still “high,” Latet said.

Over the course of the pandemic, the “middle class” shrank from 58.3% prior to the pandemic to 48.3% in 2021.

In addition, around 630,000 households suffer from food insecurity, including around 300,000 who suffer severe food insecurity. Nearly 800,000 children are affected.

Latet noted that 77% of households seeking assistance who were surveyed in the study no longer have enough money to purchase sufficient food; 45% said children had to miss meals or eat less per meal.

Latet’s report, which surveyed respondents from among the 80,000 receiving assistance from the organization, also found that over 80% suffered severe financial harm from the pandemic, with 10% saying they had no permanent housing and 22.9% saying they were at risk of losing their housing due to inability to pay rent. Nearly 70% said they had to skip buying medication or seeking medical help due to insufficient finances.

According to Latet CEO Eran Weintraub, “The serious consequences of the economic crisis are reflected in the formation of a new ‘poor middle class.’ A quarter of the population, affected by the economic crisis, failed to recover and reached the poverty line and were in real danger of falling below it.”

He noted, “The ongoing erosion of the middle class and the fact that hundreds of thousands of families are at risk of falling into poverty threatens the resilience of Israeli society and economy.”

Standing Up for Homesh Yeshiva

Thousands of people from around Israel joined a protest in memory of Homesh yeshiva student Yehuda Dimentman, demanding that the yeshiva he studied in be legalized, not razed, following his murder.

The protesters, numbering an estimated 5,000 to 15,000, were led by Dimentman’s widow Ettya and his father.