Netanyahu Releases plan to deal with crime in Arab communities:
Speaking at a special hearing, the Prime Minister announced the formation a special team, including office managers and NGOs, to help combat the current wave of violence in Israeli Arab communities. The team will be headed by Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office Ronen Peretz, with the intent to create and implement plans to lessen crime in 90 days. Along with the team, additional police stations will be set up within Arab cities. Chairman of the Joint List’s “team for combating violence and crime in Arab society,” MK Dr. Mansour Abbas, stated “the decision to set up an executive committee to formulate a plan to combat crime in Arab society is one positive step out of the many necessary steps to be taken, …We will continue to work with government ministries and entities that are supposed to address the phenomenon of violence and crime and continue to protest against government failure and neglect.”
Israeli professor claims the man convicted of murdering Yitzak Rabin was not the assassin:
Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Arabic Studies at Bar Ilan University and a veteran of 25 years in the IDF Military Intelligence, recently claimed that Yitzak Rabin was not murdered by his convicted murderer Yigal Amir. He claimed instead that Rabin was murdered by a “political figure.” Bar Ilan University condemned his remarks, as did Benjamin Netanyahu and the Yitzhak Rabin Center. Kedar asserted the innocence of “the Right” politically and demanded to remove the “top secret” classification of the documents related to the assassination. Bar Ilan University has opened a disciplinary committee meeting with Kedar following his remarks, a move that was condemned in an open letter from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
Skirmish near Yitzhar settlement:
Palestinian Arabs and young Israeli settlers hurled rocks at one another near the Yitzhar settlement in Samaria. There were injuries reported on both sides. The IDF broke up the clash. Each side claimed the other was responsible and instigated the attack. The area has been rife with tension lately, with multiple clashes between a group of settlers called “The Hilltop Youth” and Palestinian Arabs.
Israeli company NSO Group sued by WhatsApp over allegedly spying on journalists and activists:
WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, sued NSO Group in a California court claiming the group used a sophisticated technique that emulated legitimate WhatsApp communications and enabled the firm to remote-download spying software onto targeted users’ devices. WhatsApp alleges that NSO Group targeted lawyers, activists, journalists, diplomats, and more. NSO Group was accused in 2016 of spying on an activist in the UAE, and is known for developing a tool called Pegasus that can control various functions on a users phone remotely, including accessing data and using the microphone and camera.