Hundreds rally against sexual violence after Arabs rampage in Cologne: Zio-Watch, January 6, 2016

Israeli navy ships have fired shells at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, completely destroying one of them.

Palestinian sources said the boat exploded after being hit by Israeli shells late on Tuesday. A fire then broke out that fully consumed the boat.

There were no immediate reports on possible casualties among the Palestinian fishermen.

Around 4,000 fishermen work in Gaza, with more than half of them living below the poverty line.

Israel had imposed limits of three nautical miles for fishing in waters off the Gaza shore until August 2014. Under a ceasefire agreement that ended a deadly 50-day Israeli war on Gaza back then, Tel Aviv agreed to immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast and to allow fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles off the shore. The agreement also stipulated that Israel should expand the area gradually up to 12 miles.

Palestinian fishermen, however, say the Israeli navy opens fire on them before they reach the agreed limit. Over the past two years, Israeli forces have carried out about 150 attacks on Palestinian boats, arresting nearly two dozen fishermen and impounding nine boats.
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The German Social Democrats have proposed the country’s domestic intelligence agency monitor two of the country’s most vocal far-right organizations – the AfD party and PEGIDA, saying the “brown demagogues” play on popular fears and stir up hate.

The Social Democratic Party led by Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Alternative for Germany (AfD) or PEGIDA have to be monitored by the national domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

In a memo cited by Spiegel, the SPD warns of “dangerous extreme right trends within the AfD party and groups such as PEGIDA.”

PEGIDA and AfD – whose popularity has skyrocketed during the refugee crisis in Germany – were referred to by the Social Democrats as “brown demagogues who play on people’s troubles and fears, and stir up hate.”

In 2015, the German Interior Ministry registered 1.1 million asylum seekers, attracted by generous welfare benefits and the government’s “open door” policy. Syrians fleeing war and misery make up the largest group of refugees, while Afghans are second.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. © Amir Cohen / Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told high-level government officials that Tel Aviv must prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, or prepare for a worst-case scenario, local press reports.

Netanyahu held a closed meeting with top ministers and security officials to discuss what has to be done if the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority (PA) occurs, the Haaretz newspaper reported Tuesday.

“We must prevent the Palestinian Authority from collapsing if possible, but at the same time, we must prepare in case it happens,” the newspaper reported him as saying, citing two senior officials briefed on the meeting.

The security cabinet has held two meetings over the past 10 days, gathering the defense establishment to hear their assessments that the PA is likely to collapse or disintegrate. A newspaper’s source said the defense officials recommended to “adopt an official policy of preventing such a collapse.”
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Former US envoy to Israel Martin Indyk says that during Rabin’s funeral, the then-opposition chief said the slain leader was only seen as a hero because of his death; PMO releases video showing Netanyahu was not sitting next to Indyk at funeral.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said at the funeral of assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin that the deceased leader would have been seen as a failure if he had not been killed, claimed former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk in an interview with PBS Frontline published Wednesday.

“I remember Netanyahu saying to me: ‘Look, look at this. He’s a hero now, but if he had not been assassinated, I would have beaten him in the elections, and then he would have gone into history as a failed politician,’” recalled Indyk.
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(JTA) — Jewish-Israeli passengers on a flight from Athens to Tel Aviv demanded the crew remove two Arab-Israelis from the plane before allowing it to take off.

The incident, in which the Jewish travelers stopped an Aegean Airlines plane from taking off by standing in the aisles while the plane was on the tarmac, took place Monday night, Haaretz reported, citing an Israel Radio report.

The Arab passengers eventually agreed to leave the plane in return for a hotel room and financial compensation.

It wasn’t clear why the Jewish passengers found the Arab travelers suspicious, but the incident occurred days after an Arab-Israeli killed two people in a Tel Aviv shooting attack. The alleged gunman remains at large.
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In a year that began with the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the subsequent killing of four at a kosher supermarket in Paris, Abecassis, 32, a Marseille-born computer specialist who moved to the Paris region in 2009 to find work, had a good job at a time of rising unemployment.

The income was sufficient that his wife, Emilie, was able to quit her secretarial job after the birth of their second child over the summer. The couple shared a spacious apartment in Bussy-Saint-Georges, a middle-class suburb that has been spared the anti-Semitic violence prevalent in other areas around this city.

Yet on Dec. 27, Abecassis and his family left behind their comfortable lives and moved to Israel, joining nearly 8,000 French Jews who immigrated to Israel in 2015.
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JERUSALEM (JTA) — Kosher certification costs the Israeli economy some $770 million a year, the Finance Ministry estimated.

The certification adds about 5 percent to the cost of producing food, according to a preliminary report by the ministry.

Up to $152 million of the cost is due to the near monopoly on kosher supervision by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, which imposes stringent requirements beyond those made outside of Israel, the report said.

Some more stringent haredi Orthodox supervisions are offered in addition to, but not in place of, the Chief Rabbinate’s approval.
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Around 70 young people from across the world made aliyah to Israel in the last few days in order to join the IDF as lone soldiers. Eli from Los Angeles wants to join the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, while Lea fled anti-Semitism in Austria.

More than 70 young Jews have made aliyah to Israel over the last few days in order to join the IDF as lone soldiers. The new olim have come to Israel as part of a project by Tzofim, the Israeli Scouts movement.
The new arrivals have come from all over the world, including Germany, the UK, the US, South America and more. They are joining around 2,800 other lone soldiers who have arrived from across the globe and who are now serving in the IDF. Most of them also arrived as part of Tzofim’s project, which is marking 25 years since its founding.
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