5 jan 2017
An image of the three judges with Hitler moustaches
54-year-old man threatens in Facebook post 'Col. Maya Heller will not finish her year' while 22-year-old woman writes: 'Take a grenade and blow up the judge and scatter all of her parts in different places, let the dogs eat her'; many others online have flooded social media with posts inciting against the judges and even calling on soldiers to rebel against the IDF.
Police have arrested a 54-year-old man from Jerusalem and a 22-year-old woman from Kiryat Gat who are suspected of inciting to violence against the judges who convicted Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter.
The Azaria family came out against the posts of incitement and expressions of violence on social media, particularly those aimed at the judges’ panel.
"The family has no connection and is not responsible for anything that happens outside the courtroom and a connection between the two things should in no way be made. Obviously, the family members disagree with all expressions of violence and completely condemn them," a statement from the family said.
The Jerusalem District Police said the Jerusalem man wrote a post on Facebook "expressing radical criticism of the judges' decision to convict the soldier Elor Azaria."
He was arrested after the police received the State Attorney's Office's approval to investigate the post.
"I express my support in a full acquittal (for Azaria) and do publicly declare: Col. Maya Heller will not finish her year. 'She passes the judgment of the land and I give her the judgment of the heavens' so that all should see and beware across the generations," the man wrote in the post that was later removed.
He went on to say that "those who support the conviction of a 'soldier in God's army' will receive a bitter fate and all of the curses written in the Torah will plague them and their families until their end."
The man was put on house arrest under restrictive conditions. He is not allowed to come near Judge Heller and is barred from using any media device over the next 14 days.
The woman was questioned and released under restrictive conditions after writing: "Take a grenade and blow up the judge and scatter all of her parts in different places, let the dogs eat her. God will make her pay for everything."
"The Israel Police regularly monitors internet activity that deviates from the limits of legitimate expression of opinion and is suspected of being inciting," the police said in a statement.
"The Israel Police will not allow any incitement to violence against government and judicial institutions and will take a hard line against any publication that is considered incitement and could lead to actual harm to public officials," the statement went on to say.
After the military court found Azaria, who shot dead an already-neutralized terrorist in Hebron last year, guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday, social media has been flooded with swear words, harsh language and incitement against the head of the judges' panel, Judge Col. Maya Heller.
As a result, the IDF decided to assign a security detail to protect the three judges—Lt. Col Yaron Sitbon, Col. Maya Heller and Col. Carmel Wahabi—as well as the chief military prosecutor in the case, Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman.
Users on social media claimed that Heller was the sister of Tali Fahima, a left-wing activist who was convicted for her contacts with Zakaria Zubeidi, Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and served two years in prison.
"It's a disgrace for the State of Israel to allow an Israeli hater to judge a soldier, or to judge in the State of Israel at all," one poster wrote.
Another post said: "Maya Heller, you should be ashamed of yourself. Just like you destroyed this family's joy of life and health, so will God repay you."
Yet another poster wished the judge "to be in a terror attack."
One poster lashed out against the top echelons of the defense establishment, journalist and "the Nazi judge Maya Heller."
That poster warned that "God is counting every tear shed by a mother. You will pay for this—sooner or later. God works in mysterious ways. I wish you torment. May you never have a single moment of happiness until your dying day."
Two others wished "rape and death by burning" to Judge Heller.
A Facebook page titled "Elor Azaria, the people are with you," which has 1,500 followers, was also flooded with harsh posts against the judge.
"Who are you and who gave you the right to convict Elor?" the page's managers wrote, concluding their post with "We will remember you and the prosecution eternally in disgrace. You are the Judenrat of this generation."
There were also calls for soldiers to rebel against the IDF. One poster, alongside a photo of weapons, wrote: "Elor is going to jail—we're all going to jail."
Ran Carmi-Buzaglo, one of the leaders of the public struggle for Azaria, said: "We will continue to fight with determination to release this soldier who is part of us all. The struggle is based on fierce belief in the righteousness of the way and is conditioned on appropriate behavior. We will continue to act based on the law and in accordance with the principles of democracy. Those lawbreakers were first seen at the (initial) hearing in Qastina and they appeared again nine months later. They do not, in any way, represent the spirit of the struggle."
The incitement began outside the court on Wednesday, when Azaria supporters chanted to the IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot: "Gadi, Gadi, beware. Rabin's looking for a friend," referring to the slain Israeli prime minister.
54-year-old man threatens in Facebook post 'Col. Maya Heller will not finish her year' while 22-year-old woman writes: 'Take a grenade and blow up the judge and scatter all of her parts in different places, let the dogs eat her'; many others online have flooded social media with posts inciting against the judges and even calling on soldiers to rebel against the IDF.
Police have arrested a 54-year-old man from Jerusalem and a 22-year-old woman from Kiryat Gat who are suspected of inciting to violence against the judges who convicted Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter.
The Azaria family came out against the posts of incitement and expressions of violence on social media, particularly those aimed at the judges’ panel.
"The family has no connection and is not responsible for anything that happens outside the courtroom and a connection between the two things should in no way be made. Obviously, the family members disagree with all expressions of violence and completely condemn them," a statement from the family said.
The Jerusalem District Police said the Jerusalem man wrote a post on Facebook "expressing radical criticism of the judges' decision to convict the soldier Elor Azaria."
He was arrested after the police received the State Attorney's Office's approval to investigate the post.
"I express my support in a full acquittal (for Azaria) and do publicly declare: Col. Maya Heller will not finish her year. 'She passes the judgment of the land and I give her the judgment of the heavens' so that all should see and beware across the generations," the man wrote in the post that was later removed.
He went on to say that "those who support the conviction of a 'soldier in God's army' will receive a bitter fate and all of the curses written in the Torah will plague them and their families until their end."
The man was put on house arrest under restrictive conditions. He is not allowed to come near Judge Heller and is barred from using any media device over the next 14 days.
The woman was questioned and released under restrictive conditions after writing: "Take a grenade and blow up the judge and scatter all of her parts in different places, let the dogs eat her. God will make her pay for everything."
"The Israel Police regularly monitors internet activity that deviates from the limits of legitimate expression of opinion and is suspected of being inciting," the police said in a statement.
"The Israel Police will not allow any incitement to violence against government and judicial institutions and will take a hard line against any publication that is considered incitement and could lead to actual harm to public officials," the statement went on to say.
After the military court found Azaria, who shot dead an already-neutralized terrorist in Hebron last year, guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday, social media has been flooded with swear words, harsh language and incitement against the head of the judges' panel, Judge Col. Maya Heller.
As a result, the IDF decided to assign a security detail to protect the three judges—Lt. Col Yaron Sitbon, Col. Maya Heller and Col. Carmel Wahabi—as well as the chief military prosecutor in the case, Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman.
Users on social media claimed that Heller was the sister of Tali Fahima, a left-wing activist who was convicted for her contacts with Zakaria Zubeidi, Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and served two years in prison.
"It's a disgrace for the State of Israel to allow an Israeli hater to judge a soldier, or to judge in the State of Israel at all," one poster wrote.
Another post said: "Maya Heller, you should be ashamed of yourself. Just like you destroyed this family's joy of life and health, so will God repay you."
Yet another poster wished the judge "to be in a terror attack."
One poster lashed out against the top echelons of the defense establishment, journalist and "the Nazi judge Maya Heller."
That poster warned that "God is counting every tear shed by a mother. You will pay for this—sooner or later. God works in mysterious ways. I wish you torment. May you never have a single moment of happiness until your dying day."
Two others wished "rape and death by burning" to Judge Heller.
A Facebook page titled "Elor Azaria, the people are with you," which has 1,500 followers, was also flooded with harsh posts against the judge.
"Who are you and who gave you the right to convict Elor?" the page's managers wrote, concluding their post with "We will remember you and the prosecution eternally in disgrace. You are the Judenrat of this generation."
There were also calls for soldiers to rebel against the IDF. One poster, alongside a photo of weapons, wrote: "Elor is going to jail—we're all going to jail."
Ran Carmi-Buzaglo, one of the leaders of the public struggle for Azaria, said: "We will continue to fight with determination to release this soldier who is part of us all. The struggle is based on fierce belief in the righteousness of the way and is conditioned on appropriate behavior. We will continue to act based on the law and in accordance with the principles of democracy. Those lawbreakers were first seen at the (initial) hearing in Qastina and they appeared again nine months later. They do not, in any way, represent the spirit of the struggle."
The incitement began outside the court on Wednesday, when Azaria supporters chanted to the IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot: "Gadi, Gadi, beware. Rabin's looking for a friend," referring to the slain Israeli prime minister.
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Woman calls to throw grenade at judge
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Post claiming Judge Heller is the sister of Tali Fahima
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Post wishing: 'May you never have a single moment of happiness until your dying day'
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Post asking: 'Who are you and who gave you the right to convict Elor?'
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Post saying: 'Elor is going to jail—we're all going to jail'
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3 jan 2017
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed the controversial “Facebook bill” -- which would allow Israeli officials to force the social media giant to remove certain content through a court order if there are suspicions of “incitement” -- through its first reading on Tuesday.
According to Ynet, the bill passed its first reading, and will be followed by a second and third reading to determine if the bill is to become official Israeli legislation.
According to Israeli media outlet the Times of Israel, the bill, proposed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked -- members of right-wing Israeli parties Jewish Home and Likud respectively -- would “only be invoked in cases of suspected incitement, where there is a real possibility that the material in question endangers the public or national security.”
Despite Facebook complying with 95 percent of the Israeli government’s removal requests in recent months, some members of the Knesset have expressed indignation that Facebook has not taken enough action to remove content inciting “acts of terror against Jews.”
The Times of Israel reported that Erdan said last week that France, Germany, and other European countries already have adopted similar legislation.
Erdan also defended the bill’s application to Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, using the Israeli term “Judea and Samaria,” and underscored his concerns that Facebook did not recognize Israeli military control over the Palestinian territory.
“If someone writes something problematic and they live in Judea and Samaria, [Facebook] won’t cooperate with us and they say it’s outside of Israel and therefore they can’t cooperate,” the Times of Israel reported Erdan as saying.
In recent months, Israel has detained scores of Palestinians for social media activity, alleging that a wave of unrest that first swept the occupied Palestinian territory in October 2015 was encouraged largely by "incitement." The violence has left 246 Palestinians killed by Israelis, as well as some 34 Israelis killed by Palestinians.
Israel has responded to the perceived threat of social media incitement by blaming Facebook for not doing more to censor posts promoting "terrorism" against Israelis.
Following a series of deadly incidents, Erdan reportedly said that Facebook chairman and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg had “blood on his hands” for not adequately cooperating with Israel to remove content.
In July, an Israeli lawyer filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook Inc., claiming that the social media platform allowed members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to plan and carry out attacks against Americans and Israelis.
Commenting on the suit against them, Facebook referenced its community standards, and highlighted its ‘report’ tool, which allows and encourages Facebook users to flag content that they deem as encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech.
Facebook also cited its track record regarding incitement, referencing a case in March when the company took down a page promoting a Palestinian uprising against Israel because it made “direct calls for violence,” in violation of company policies.
In September, Erdan and Shaked met with Facebook executives to discuss the matter, reportedly looking to having the terms “intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” “shahid” (martyr), and “death to Jews,” censored as incitement against the state of Israel.
Shaked and Erdan also allegedly included the phrase “death to Arabs” -- a slogan often heard in protests and mobs of extremist Israelis -- saying that it too, led to incitement in general.
Shaked herself has used Facebook in the past to advocate for the killing of the mothers of slain Palestinians, referring to them as ‘snakes.’
Critics have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel's decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the rise of unrest, and have accused the Israeli government of utilizing “anti-terrorism” discourse in order to justify and further entrench the Israeli military’s half-century occupation of the West Bank and near decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip.
In response to incitement claims against Palestinians, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat condemned the current Israeli government for its failure to “entrench a culture of peace and coexistence within Israeli society” in July, holding Israel responsible for incitement, saying “official Israeli discourse entrenches hatred, racism, and discriminatory attitudes against Palestinians. The discourse is only further entrenched by the institutional protection that is given to those who commit or incite violence against Palestinians.”
According to Ynet, the bill passed its first reading, and will be followed by a second and third reading to determine if the bill is to become official Israeli legislation.
According to Israeli media outlet the Times of Israel, the bill, proposed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked -- members of right-wing Israeli parties Jewish Home and Likud respectively -- would “only be invoked in cases of suspected incitement, where there is a real possibility that the material in question endangers the public or national security.”
Despite Facebook complying with 95 percent of the Israeli government’s removal requests in recent months, some members of the Knesset have expressed indignation that Facebook has not taken enough action to remove content inciting “acts of terror against Jews.”
The Times of Israel reported that Erdan said last week that France, Germany, and other European countries already have adopted similar legislation.
Erdan also defended the bill’s application to Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, using the Israeli term “Judea and Samaria,” and underscored his concerns that Facebook did not recognize Israeli military control over the Palestinian territory.
“If someone writes something problematic and they live in Judea and Samaria, [Facebook] won’t cooperate with us and they say it’s outside of Israel and therefore they can’t cooperate,” the Times of Israel reported Erdan as saying.
In recent months, Israel has detained scores of Palestinians for social media activity, alleging that a wave of unrest that first swept the occupied Palestinian territory in October 2015 was encouraged largely by "incitement." The violence has left 246 Palestinians killed by Israelis, as well as some 34 Israelis killed by Palestinians.
Israel has responded to the perceived threat of social media incitement by blaming Facebook for not doing more to censor posts promoting "terrorism" against Israelis.
Following a series of deadly incidents, Erdan reportedly said that Facebook chairman and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg had “blood on his hands” for not adequately cooperating with Israel to remove content.
In July, an Israeli lawyer filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook Inc., claiming that the social media platform allowed members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to plan and carry out attacks against Americans and Israelis.
Commenting on the suit against them, Facebook referenced its community standards, and highlighted its ‘report’ tool, which allows and encourages Facebook users to flag content that they deem as encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech.
Facebook also cited its track record regarding incitement, referencing a case in March when the company took down a page promoting a Palestinian uprising against Israel because it made “direct calls for violence,” in violation of company policies.
In September, Erdan and Shaked met with Facebook executives to discuss the matter, reportedly looking to having the terms “intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” “shahid” (martyr), and “death to Jews,” censored as incitement against the state of Israel.
Shaked and Erdan also allegedly included the phrase “death to Arabs” -- a slogan often heard in protests and mobs of extremist Israelis -- saying that it too, led to incitement in general.
Shaked herself has used Facebook in the past to advocate for the killing of the mothers of slain Palestinians, referring to them as ‘snakes.’
Critics have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel's decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the rise of unrest, and have accused the Israeli government of utilizing “anti-terrorism” discourse in order to justify and further entrench the Israeli military’s half-century occupation of the West Bank and near decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip.
In response to incitement claims against Palestinians, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat condemned the current Israeli government for its failure to “entrench a culture of peace and coexistence within Israeli society” in July, holding Israel responsible for incitement, saying “official Israeli discourse entrenches hatred, racism, and discriminatory attitudes against Palestinians. The discourse is only further entrenched by the institutional protection that is given to those who commit or incite violence against Palestinians.”
1 jan 2017
Cyber units throughout IDF will be strengthened, according to a senior officer; the Computer Service Directorate will incorporate some other IDF entities, but a unitary command for cyber affairs will not be established.
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot authorized over the weekend the continuation of military's strengthening of its cyber operations, with the army investing billions of shekels in the coming years, according to a senior military officer.
According to the recommendations that Eisenkot approved, the Computer Service Directorate (CSD) will continue to engage in cyber defense in the coming years, and the Military Intelligence Directorate will continue to collect data and wage cyber warfare. However, it was decided to add various IDF cyber units to the CSD and to strengthen those already existing in the Manpower Directorate.
A senior IDF officer said on Sunday that, "for the first time in the multi-year Gideon project," which began last year, "the IDF will invest billions of shekels in cyber matters. We are currently writing the operating concept of the cyber affairs, establishing an entity of the General Staff to give the cyber perspective for all operational activity and the significance of cyber matters for the regional commands and for the air, land and sea forces. We are conducting war games and simulations and are learning from foreign countries on the subject. Our cooperation with other armies has principally raised two issues: terrorism and cyber affairs."
According to that officer, it was decided to take measured steps on the latter in the IDF but not yet to establish a joint cyber command that would unify all the different operations in the matters of cyber intelligence, warfare and defense, which had been considered in the past.
The officer added, "We are learning the cyber concepts that are sometimes different from military concepts. We are happy with the Cyber Defense Brigade that we've set up in the Computer Service Directorate. We'll maintain the superiority that we have in the cyber collection field, which produces dividends for the State of Israel and assists us."
It was also decided to unify between the CSD units that are responsible for developing operational software and those that are supposed to provide cyber defense.
"We want to develop better operational thinking than in the past for the IDF's offensive capabilities," the officer explained. "We are learning from the mistakes of other countries in cyber affairs and it was therefore decided not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is a real threat to our cyber defense; we're likely to be harmed, so we're investing in defense first."
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot authorized over the weekend the continuation of military's strengthening of its cyber operations, with the army investing billions of shekels in the coming years, according to a senior military officer.
According to the recommendations that Eisenkot approved, the Computer Service Directorate (CSD) will continue to engage in cyber defense in the coming years, and the Military Intelligence Directorate will continue to collect data and wage cyber warfare. However, it was decided to add various IDF cyber units to the CSD and to strengthen those already existing in the Manpower Directorate.
A senior IDF officer said on Sunday that, "for the first time in the multi-year Gideon project," which began last year, "the IDF will invest billions of shekels in cyber matters. We are currently writing the operating concept of the cyber affairs, establishing an entity of the General Staff to give the cyber perspective for all operational activity and the significance of cyber matters for the regional commands and for the air, land and sea forces. We are conducting war games and simulations and are learning from foreign countries on the subject. Our cooperation with other armies has principally raised two issues: terrorism and cyber affairs."
According to that officer, it was decided to take measured steps on the latter in the IDF but not yet to establish a joint cyber command that would unify all the different operations in the matters of cyber intelligence, warfare and defense, which had been considered in the past.
The officer added, "We are learning the cyber concepts that are sometimes different from military concepts. We are happy with the Cyber Defense Brigade that we've set up in the Computer Service Directorate. We'll maintain the superiority that we have in the cyber collection field, which produces dividends for the State of Israel and assists us."
It was also decided to unify between the CSD units that are responsible for developing operational software and those that are supposed to provide cyber defense.
"We want to develop better operational thinking than in the past for the IDF's offensive capabilities," the officer explained. "We are learning from the mistakes of other countries in cyber affairs and it was therefore decided not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is a real threat to our cyber defense; we're likely to be harmed, so we're investing in defense first."
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