Source: JTA, 5-2-13
Danny Ayalon testified that former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman advanced a diplomat’s appointment in return for information….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on May 2, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/israel-political-brief-may-2-2013-danny-ayalon-testifies-against-former-boss-foreign-minister-avigdor-liberman-in-fraud-trial/
Source: JTA, 4-25-13
Women praying together out loud at the Western Wall in prayer shawls did not disturb the public order and should not have been arrested, an Israeli court found….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on April 25, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/israel-political-brief-april-25-2013-judge-rules-women-should-not-have-been-arrested-at-western-wall/
Source: JTA, 2-14-13
Australian-Israeli prisoner Ben Zygier — Prisoner X — did not appear suicidal the day before his death, a prominent Israeli attorney said….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on February 14, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/israel-political-brief-february-14-2013-lawyer-prisoner-x-australian-ben-zygier-did-not-appear-suicidal/
Source: JTA, 12-18-12
Avigdor Liberman’s resignation as Israel’s foreign minister officially took effect, and Israel’s attorney general postponed filing an indictment for fraud and breach of trust against him….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 18, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/israel-political-brief-december-18-2012-avigdor-liberman-resignation-takes-effect-as-indictment-postponed/
Source: JTA, 12-16-12
Avigdor Liberman officially stepped down as Israel’s foreign minister following his indictment for fraud and breach of trust….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 16, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/israel-political-brief-december-16-2012-its-official-avigdor-libermans-out-as-foreign-minister/
Source: JTA, 12-13-12
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was indicted on fraud and breach of trust while other cases against him were closed. Read more »
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 13, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/israel-political-brief-december-13-2012-israeli-foreign-minister-avigdor-liberman-indicted-for-fraud-and-breach-of-trust/
Source: JTA, 9-24-12
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to one to three years of probation and fined about $19,000 for a breach of trust conviction….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on September 24, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/israel-political-brief-september-24-2012-former-israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-gets-probation-fine-for-breach-of-trust/
Source: JTA, 8-8-12
Israel has charged eight Israeli-Arab citizens with smuggling explosives into the country for Hezbollah….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on August 8, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/israel-brief-august-8-2012-israeli-arabs-charged-with-smuggling-explosives-for-hezbollah/
Source: JTA, 7-24-12
Uri Blau, the Haaretz journalist who accepted classified documents from an Israeli soldier, was convicted under a plea bargain….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on July 24, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/israel-political-brief-july-24-2012-journalist-uri-blau-convicted-of-holding-classified-military-documents/
Source: JTA, 7-10-12
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was exonerated on corruption charges that prompted his resignation from office four years ago….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on July 10, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/israel-political-brief-july-10-2012-former-pm-ehud-olmert-exonerated-on-corruption-charges-that-prompted-his-resignation/
Source: JTA, 6-25-12
Israel’s government has asked the country’s Supreme Court to postpone the demolition of a West Bank outpost for several months.
The state requested the extension because it said it discovered new information that the Givat Assaf outpost near the Beit El settlement was not built on privately owned Palestinian land, as was alleged by Peace Now in the court case.
Givat Assaf is to be demolished by July 1. It is one of six illegal outposts that the court ordered to be dismantled.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on June 25, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/israel-political-brief-june-25-2012-israeli-government-requests-extension-on-west-bank-outpost-givat-assaf-demolition/
Source: JTA, 6-7-12
A Jerusalem court ruled that Israel could deport South Sudanese migrants who entered the country illegally.
Thursday’s decision in Jerusalem District Court was in response to an appeal by nongovernmental organizations representing African migrants. The appeal was filed after Israel’ s Interior Minister Eli Yishai issued a decision to return the migrants.
Israel recognized South Sudan a day after it officially announced its independence from Sudan last July 9 and initiated formal ties three weeks later.
The decision paves the way for the deportation of about 1,500 South Sudanese who entered Israel illegally. Yishai said that he hoped the decision would be a precedent to allow the deportation of African nationals from other countries.
“This is not a war against infiltrators,” Yishai said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “This is a war for the preservation of the Zionist and Jewish dream in the land of Israel.”…READ MORE
Between 700 and 1,000 citizens of South Sudan who are illegally staying in Israel have seven days to leave the country of their own free will or face arrest, the Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA) announced Thursday.
The announcement follows a court decision Thursday morning to remove the collective protection that had been given to the South Sudanese in Israel. PIBA said that those who wish to be accompanied and assisted by its Unit for Voluntary Departure, will receive assistance.
The decision by the Jerusalem District Court makes it possible for PIBA to take steps to expel the illegal immigrants and punish their employers.
The decision only applies to citizens of South Sudan, who are a relatively small group among the illegal aliens from Africa currently in Israel. The illegal aliens from Sudan number about 10,000, and those from Eritrea number over 35,000….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on June 7, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/israel-political-brief-june-7-2012-jerusalem-court-clears-way-for-deportation-of-south-sudanese-migrants-annuls-collective-protection/
Source: JTA, 3-26-12
The U.S. Supreme Court returned to the lower courts the issue of whether Americans born in Jerusalem may list “Israel” on their passports — a ruling that drew praise from Jewish groups.
The decision delivered Monday was a success for the family of Jerusalem-born boy Menachem Zivotofsky. His family for years has sought to force the State Department to agree to state on his passport that he was born in Israel, citing a law passed by Congress in 2002.
President George W. Bush signed the law, but in doing so refused to implement it, citing executive prerogative in foreign policy. President Obama has continued that practice.
The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, overruled lower court decisions that had contended that the judicial branch does not have authority over this area since it is not the courts’ place to determine foreign policy.
“The courts are fully capable of determining whether this statute may be given effect, or instead must be struck down in light of authority conferred on the Executive by the Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
Justice Stephen Breyer dissented.
Most national Jewish groups backed the Zivotofskys, with many submitting friend of the court briefs on their behalf.
Among the first groups to welcome the latest decision was the Orthodox Union.
“With the ruling by the high court, Congressional policy on Jerusalem, ignored by successive Administrations, will get its day in court,” the O.U. said in a statement.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 26, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/israel-political-brief-march-26-2012-us-supreme-court-rules-federal-courts-can-consider-jerusalem-passport-issue-zivotofsky-v-clinton/
Source: JTA, 3-25-12
Israel’s top court order blocked the government’s deferral of the demolition of an illegal West Bank settlement.
Citing the need to maintain the rule of law, the High Court of Justice ruled Sunday against an attempt by the government to postpone to 2015 the demolition of Migron, a settlement that the Palestinians say is built on their land.
After repeated deferrals dating back to 2006, the demolition was scheduled to take place at the end of the month. But the court gave the state until August to arrange an orderly transfer of Migron’s approximately 50 families.
High Court President Asher Dan Grunis said the ruling honored “the rule of law to which all are subject as part of Israel’s values as a Jewish and democratic state.”
The settlers, who deny that Migron is built on private Palestinian land, had signed a deal with the Netanyahu government this month agreeing to relocate to a nearby hill over the next three years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to Sunday’s ruling, “The government of Israel, like all citizens of Israel, respect the court’s decisions and will act in accordance with the laws of Israel.”
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 25, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/israel-political-brief-march-25-2012-israels-supreme-court-blocks-government-posponement-of-the-2015-demolition-of-migron-settlement/
Source: JTA, 3-21-12
A member of Hamas was charged in a thwarted terrorist attack and kidnapping of an Israeli soldier near Eilat.
The Shin Bet security agency arrested Muhammad abu-Adarah, 20, last month, it was learned Wednesday after a gag order was lifted on the case, when he tried to infiltrate Israel from Gaza.
Abu-Adarah was indicted Monday in Beersheba District Court on charges stemming from plans to initiate an attack on Israel through Sinai. He reportedly was to fire rockets on the Eilat area while other operatives were to kidnap an Israeli soldier and sneak a terrorist cell into the area.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on March 21, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/israel-political-brief-march-21-2012-hamas-member-charged-in-thwarted-terror-attack-near-eilat/
Source: JTA, 11-22-11
Two Palestinians were charged with killing an Israeli father and his infant son.
The Palestinian men indicted Tuesday in a military court are accused of throwing rocks through the windshield of the car driven by Asher Palmer, 25, near Kiryat Arba in the West Bank. The car overturned in the Sept. 23 incident, which initially was considered a car accident. A large bloodstained rock was later found in the car.
The trial is scheduled to begin Sunday.
Two other Palestinian men were charged with attempted murder. One of the men drove the alleged killers to the site of the attack.
According to the indictment, the men had planned to kill Jews as revenge for a price tag attack earlier in the month on a West Bank mosque. The mosque was set on fire hours after three homes in the Migron outpost were razed by Israeli police.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on November 22, 2011
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/palestinians-charged-with-killing-israeli-father-infant-son/
Source: JTA, 8-7-11
American Jewish groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Jerusalem-born American citizens to have their birthplace listed as Israel on their birth certificates and passports.
Eleven major groups in a friend-of-the-court brief in the case of Zivotofsky v. Clinton asked the high court to order the U.S. State Department to comply with a 2002 law that directs the secretary of state, “upon the request of the citizen or the citizen’s legal guardian, [to] record the place of birth as Israel.”
The State Department manual currently allows that the passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem must say “Jerusalem” as the place of birth, reflecting official U.S. government policy regarding the unresolved status of Jerusalem, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which filed the brief.
The case involves 9-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky, whose American-Israeli parents Ari and Naomi want his birth country listed as Israel on his passport.
Other organizations signing the brief are the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, B’nai B’rith International, Hadassah, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Council of Young Israel, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism.
The names of Americans born in Jerusalem are still being collected on the website of the ad hoc Association of Proud American Citizens Born in Jerusalem, Israel, which was established to raise awareness of the issue and legal challenge. More than 120 American citizens have registered so far.
“Americans born in Jerusalem should have the same right to indicate their country of birth on their passport that is currently available to other American citizens born abroad, and that is what Congress has mandated,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL’s national director. “The purpose of a passport is for identification, and it is indisputable that Jerusalem is in Israel. The Supreme Court should insist that the State Department follow the law.”
Posted by bonniekgoodman on August 7, 2011
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/jewish-groups-file-jerusalem-brief-us-supreme-court-zivotofsky-v-clinton/
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