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Their entry has been allowed for years, Attorney General tells Supreme Court, although Israel annually activates a security closure for Remembrance and Independence Days.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s attorney general told the High Court of Justice Friday that the government is not allowed to ban terrorists’ families from attending an alternative Remembrance Day ceremony in Israel that equates the losses suffered on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Gali Baharav-Miara wrote in her official opinion that “From a legal perspective, there is no room to deviate from the outline that was drawn by previous rulings.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had decided ten days ago not to allow the Palestinians to enter the country from Monday night, Remembrance Day eve, through all of the following day, when Israel will celebrate its 75th birthday, citing the general closure of Judea and Samaria due to security concerns.

Baharav-Miara wrote that as in past years, “thousands” of Palestinians will be allowed in through the security checkpoints as exceptions to the rule, and that “no professional or factual infrastructure was present to justify [the minister’s] deviation for previous High Court rulings” prohibiting these specific entries.

Around 180 Palestinians had registered to attend the ceremony in the Ganei Yehoshua Park in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon, along with some 4,000 Israelis. The organizers are two left-wing Israeli NGOs, Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum.

In appealing Gallant’s decision to the court, the groups had argued it violated their freedom of expression and democratic values, as it denies families the right to express their grief and impedes the goal of facilitating peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

The attorney-general’s office said that the Defense Ministry and any other relevant bodies should hand in their reaction to the petition and the new legal opinion by Sunday.

In the announcement about its 18th version of event, Combatants for Peace said it wants to “challenge the status quo” where Israel honors the 23,928 soldiers and civilians who have fallen in the country’s defense and in Palestinian terror attacks. It called out the solemn ceremonies that take place throughout the country as “reinforc[ing] cultural narratives of pain, victimhood, and hopelessness.” Instead, by joining together with the perpetrators’ loved ones “to mourn each other’s pain,” the group aims to “transform despair into hope and build bridges of compassion.”

The last time the government managed to ban the Palestinians’ entry to the alternative ceremony, not including the Covid-19 shutdown in the last three years, was in 2017.

The post A-G rips gov’t ban on terrorists’ families attending alternative Remembrance Day ceremony appeared first on World Israel News.

“I haven’t smiled like this in three years,” Baruch Ben Yigal, whose only son was killed during an operation in a PA-controlled enclave, told Channel 12 News.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A bereaved father whose only child was killed in combat recently announced an exciting development: he is expecting a new baby and will be a father once again, at the age of 55.

Baruch Ben Yigal of Ramat Gan made headlines in 2020 after his son, Amit, was killed during a military operation in a Palestinian Authority-controlled enclave in Judea and Samaria.

Ben Yigal and his wife divorced when his son was a year old. While his ex-wife remarried and had four daughters with her new husband, Ben Yigal remained single and did not have any more children.

“Amit was my only child. Therefore, he was given the option not to enlist into a combat unit,” Ben Yigal wrote on an IDF memorial page for his son.

“I hoped he would choose not to, yet when he went on his school trip to Poland and visited the camps, he called me and said something I will never forget: ‘Dad, you’re the son of a Holocaust survivor. Your dad didn’t have an army to protect him. Today, now that our people have a country, I want to do everything I can to protect it at all costs. I want to enlist into the Golani Brigade.’”

The killing of his son devastated Ben Yigal, and he spoke openly to Hebrew language media about his grief.

“Amit was my entire life,” Ben Yigal said, while showing a reporter from Kan News how he had transformed his son’s bedroom into a memorial, replete with mementos and portraits on display, along with Amit’s army uniform.

In May 2021, about a year after his son’s death, Ben Yigal told Ynet that he was interested in fathering another child, and urged women who were interested to get in contact with him.

To his surprise, he was immediately bombarded with messages from “hundreds of women” on Facebook. Ben Yigal told Ynet that he met in person with countless women, but that none of them seemed to be a good fit for him romantically.

But it was a Facebook message from a 30-year-old divorcee with two young children that proved to be the right match for Ben Yigal.

Daniela Afriat, from Beit Shemesh, sent a message to Ben Yigal, telling him that she shared in his grief and admired his strength in continuing with his life, despite his enormous loss.

Ben Yigal asked Afriat to meet for coffee, which turned into a four hour date. Five months later, Afriat was pregnant with Ben Yigal’s child, and the couple is expecting a boy.

TV news cameras captured the moment that Ben Yigal announced to his extended family that he will be a father once again. Members of the family celebrated, with many crying tears of joy.

“I haven’t smiled like this in three years,” Ben Yigal told Channel 12 News.

“The new child will live with us, alongside the great loss of his big brother. He does not replace [Amit] in any way, in any way. He will receive the full love, appreciation and attention that Amit received,” he said.

“Amit received 100% love, and this [new baby] will receive 100% love.”

The post Happy news for bereaved father of IDF soldier killed in combat appeared first on World Israel News.

Netanyahu wants to reach a compromise, specific lawmakers are intentionally torpedoing talks and will be responsible for fate of Israel’s most serious internal crisis, says Israeli president.

By World Israel News Staff

President Isaac Herzog hinted that certain political parties or figures were not being reasonable during negotiations aimed at achieving a compromise agreement for the judicial overhaul, and said that those sabotaging the discussions would bear a “historic responsibility” for the fate of the country.

Herzog told Channel 13 News that if the discussions are not successful and no compromise is reached, he “knows who is to blame,” and added that “this historic responsibility needs to be recorded somewhere.”

Left-wing figures have claimed that Netanyahu is using the talks as an opportunity to buy time. They argue that he has no intention to soften the overhaul, and rather wants to wait until public furor and protests over the legislation dies down, then intends to pass the reforms.

Herzog told Channel 13 that he rejects that narrative and is confident that Netanyahu genuinely wishes to obtain a compromise on the issue.

“I’m convinced he wants to reach a compromise,” Herzog said.

“No one is using me,” he added. “That phrase is incorrect — I have a great appreciation for Netanyahu. I think that he is a brilliant man who has done great things as prime minister. I don’t want to talk about the current period, because whatever I say will be construed as political.”

Echoing his earlier comments, Herzog told Kan News that specific lawmakers were attempting to “pull the rug” on the compromise discussions.

He reiterated his warning that “whoever tries to harm the talks will carry the burden of historic responsibility for the fate of the state and the nation.”

Herzog said that the vehement clashes over the overhaul, which have seen hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets in protest and an unprecedented labor strike that brought the Israeli economy to a virtual halt, constituted “the most serious internal crisis in the country’s history.”

The post Judicial compromise saboteurs will be judged harshly – Herzog appeared first on World Israel News.

“Khan Al-Amar is the symbol of lawlessness and selective enforcement, whereas questionable Jewish properties are immediately destroyed while illegal PA encampments, funded by the EU, are allowed to remain intact,” a spokesperson for the Gush Etzion Regional Council said.

By World Israel News Staff

Despite campaign promises from the Religious Zionist Party to dismantle the long-standing illegal Bedouin outpost Khan Al-Amar, the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to file yet another request with the Supreme Court to delay dismantling the community.

The subject of a decades-long court battle, some 200 Bedouins live in huts and tents at the outpost, which is located in Samaria, on the outskirts of the Jerusalem suburb Ma’ale Adumim. Dwellings at the site are not connected to sewage or water systems, nor the electrical grid.

In 2018, after lawsuits that stretched some twenty years, the Supreme Court ruled that Khan Al-Amar had never been a permanent community, but rather a waypoint used for several weeks a year by nomadic Bedouins.

The court also found that the residents did not have any rights to the land, and that the Israeli government had the authority to evacuate the site in accordance with the Oslo Accords, because Khan Al-Amar is in Area C.

The Regavim NGO, which advocates for Israeli sovereignty and battles illegal Arab building, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in 2018 aimed at forcing the government to execute the court’s decision and dismantle the community.

Since 2019, the government has consistently refused to do so and filed numerous requests postponing the execution of the evacuation.

The expected request on Sunday marks the ninth time that the government has asked for a delay. This time, the government’s justification is expected to be that dismantling the community will spark international background during a sensitive security period, and that final negotiations for evacuating the site are currently underway.

“Khan Al-Amar is the symbol of lawlessness and selective enforcement, whereas questionable Jewish properties are immediately destroyed while illegal PA encampments, funded by the EU, are allowed to remain intact,” a spokesperson for the Gush Etzion Regional Council told World Israel News.

The spokesperson noted that the encampment “is not only illegal, but [also] a danger to the squatters there, particularly the children, who are being used as political pawns by their leadership, alongside Highway 1, a major thoroughfare.

“Various Israeli governments have offered numerous legal housing alternatives, but the PA won’t allow the people there to move onto the grid and lead normal lives.

“All governments which fail to act and take down Khan Al-Amar are doing a disservice to the residents there and are ignoring the courts, which have already ruled that their presence there on state lands is illegal. This type of weakness breeds further lawlessness.”

The post ‘Symbol of lawlessness’ – Gov’t to postpone Khan Al-Amar evacuation, again appeared first on World Israel News.

The rejection of Jerusalem’s formal appeal is seen as payback for Israel’s support for Ukraine.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

As current president of the United Nations Security Council, Russia has rejected Jerusalem’s request to postpone the discussion on the Middle East that is scheduled for Remembrance Day, in a move that is being regarded as payback for Israel’s support for Ukraine, Channel 12 reported Saturday night.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, sent a formal letter to his Russian counterpart explaining the importance of the day to Israel’s citizens, saying that Moscow should take this into consideration if it wants to play a neutral role between Israel and the Palestinians. However, the report said, not only did the Kremlin not accede to the request, it even upgraded the discussion to the level of foreign ministers, and told Jerusalem so.

The report by the UN’s emissary to the region takes place quarterly and regularly devolves into a condemnation of Israel regarding the Palestinian issue.

It is already known that the account will cover Israeli police actions on the Temple Mount during Ramadan against Palestinian rioters and IDF counter-terror operations in Judea and Samaria. These are subjects that are usually depicted in a negative light by UN staff, who downplay the security danger Israel faces and disregard the security forces’ attempts to avoid casualties to non-combatants.

The Palestinians, the report added, consider the rejection a great victory. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki will participate in the debate, as will Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

A political source told Channel 12 that the reason the Russians did not respond to the Israeli request is some kind of reaction, signal or a political price tag for the rapprochement between Israel and Ukraine, which Russia invaded 14 months ago.

Israel has denied repeated requests from Kyiv for offensive weaponry due to its concerns that Russia will stop turning a blind eye to the IDF’s constant airstrikes against Iranian military targets in Syria, where Russian forces could activate the advanced air-defense systems they have installed in their client state. However, last month, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen reportedly told President Volodymyr Zelensky that Jerusalem had approved the private sale of defensive electronic systems to Ukraine that could help protect the country against drone attacks.

Russia had warned Israel in February against supporting Ukraine with anything more than the humanitarian aid it has sent.

A Ukrainian official told Walla News at the time that while Kyiv would be happy to receive these systems, what it really needed was anti-missile systems, saying, “On that, we have a gap that we are not managing to solve.”

Israel has refused Ukrainian appeals for its famed Iron Dome batteries, saying it does not have enough of them yet to even fully protect the whole country, let alone export any abroad.

The post Russia rejects request to reschedule UN debate on Israel on Remembrance Day appeared first on World Israel News.

The decision came after a backlash from liberal American Jews.

By JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed his decision to appoint fellow Likud lawmaker May Golan as consul general in New York following a backlash among liberal American Jews.

Netanyahu on Thursday tapped Golan for the position, widely considered Israel’s third-most senior diplomatic position in the United States after the ambassadorships to Washington and the United Nations.

The move drew condemnation from many left-leaning Jews and prompted the U.S. State Department to weigh in on past comments made by the firebrand Golan.

“Broadly, we would condemn such kind of rhetoric and believe that such kind of language is also particularly damaging when it’s amplified in leadership positions,” said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

Golan first entered the public eye as a campaigner against African asylum seekers. She is known for her staunchly right-wing ideology and previously designated herself “the mother of politically incorrect.”

She had responded positively to being chosen for the position.

“I am very flattered to be considered for the post of Israel’s consul general in N.Y. I want to assure everyone that if I will be appointed, I will represent 100% the mainstream policies of PM Netanyahu and the Likud Party to which I belong,” she wrote on Twitter.

“I am completely committed to the unity of the Jewish people, and that is the exact policy that I will follow. If appointed, I will work with the leaders of all the Jewish organizations as part of the effort to strengthen the great partnership between Israel and the American Jewish communities,” she added.

Officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office concluded that her appointment was no longer feasible.

The post Netanyahu nixes appointment of rightist MK as NY consul appeared first on World Israel News.

Commemorations begin at sundown on April 23 and end 24 hours later, when the Jewish state ushers in its 75th Independence Day.

By JNS

Fifty-nine Israeli soldiers fell in the line of duty since the last Memorial Day and an additional 86 disabled veterans died due to their condition, the Defense Ministry announced over the weekend.

Overall, 24,213 soldiers have lost their lives in service to the nation since 1860.

Israel will mark this year’s Memorial Day beginning Monday night, when a one-minute siren will sound across the country. Commemorations will take place at 52 military cemeteries and memorial sites during the following 24 hours, with the main ceremony held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

President Isaac Herzog and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi will address the central event.

On Tuesday at 11 a.m., a two-minute siren will blare, followed immediately thereafter by an air force flyover of the Memorial Hall at Mount Herzl. Another state ceremony will then take place there, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance.

The names of Israel’s fallen soldiers will be broadcast on Israeli television from 8:45 p.m. on April 24 until the following day, and can also be found on the Izkor website.

Netanyahu on Thursday called on citizens to put aside differences, especially as it relates to the debate over the government’s judicial reform initiative, for one day, as the country finds common cause in mourning its heroes.

“In a few days, we will fix our gaze on the military sections in the cemeteries. Every headstone there tells the story of a life that was cut short. The unity of silent bereavement in the cemeteries cries out to us at this time. Our loved ones who fell, our loved ones who paid for our revival with their lives, did so for us—and we must stand together for them, united, in order to be worthy of their sacrifice,” said Netanyahu.

“In recent months, there has been an important debate in our democracy, but at this time, I ask all elected officials, from the right and the left, to put aside the debate, to leave it outside the cemeteries, to allow the bereaved families, all of us, to be in silence with the memory of our loved ones. We all deserve to experience these days with the entire people of Israel standing united behind our heroes, without any argument,” he added.

In a rare show of consensus, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and National Unity Party head Benny Gantz also called for politics to be omitted from the special day.

Memorial Day ends Tuesday night, when Israel will usher in its 75th Independence Day.

The post Israel lost 59 soldiers since last Memorial Day appeared first on World Israel News.

Marilyn Jones, 78, and her family have filed a federal lawsuit against Celebrity Cruises Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, claiming that the luxury liner’s staff failed to properly preserve the body of her husband, Robert Jones, 79, after he passed away during their Caribbean cruise. The couple had been married for 55 years and had set sail on August 13th on the Celebrity Equinox, with a planned 8-day excursion to ports in the East Caribbean.

Following two days on the cruise, Robert suffered a heart attack and passed away, leaving his wife to decide whether to keep his body in the ship’s morgue until they docked in Fort Lauderdale or to leave the ship with the body in San Juan. Marilyn was warned that if she chose the latter, there was a “50/50 chance” that a medical examiner in San Juan could take possession of the body and perform an autopsy and that she would be responsible for arranging travel for both herself and her deceased husband back home.

When the ship docked in Florida, the family was shocked to find that Robert’s body was not in the morgue but instead had been moved to a cooler on a different floor. This cooler was not cold enough to preserve the body, resulting in it being in a state of severe decomposition, which robbed the family of an open-casket funeral and wake service. The lawsuit claims that Celebrity Cruises should have been equipped to handle death and should have kept a working morgue or checked the body with reasonable frequency to ensure preservation.

The family is seeking a jury trial and damages of at least $1 million. A representative from Celebrity Cruises declined to comment on the matter due to the sensitivity of the allegations.