During the week covered by this review, we received 9 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues
Religious Freedom and Rights
Christians in Israel
Christian Tourism
Archaeology
Political Issues
Yediot Ahronot, August 8, 2015
In a rare decision, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon instructed that Mordechai Meyer of Ma’ale Adumim (18) be held in administrative detention on suspicion of involvement in the arson at the Church of the Loaves and Fishes on the Sea of Galilee, the arson at Jerusalem’s Dormition Abbey in February 2014, and arson against Palestinian property.
This decision comes as a result of the government’s determination to “fulfill its promises” following the arson at Kfar Duma and the murder of the baby Ali Dawabsheh, and to act uncompromisingly against “the danger of Jewish terror.”
Religious Freedom and Rights
Israel Hayom; Maariv; Haaretz; The Jerusalem Post, August 6, 2015
Rabbi Bentzi Gopstein, head of the radical anti-assimilation and anti-missionary organization Lehava, has allegedly stated openly that he supports burning churches in Israel. Gopstein, speaking to a Wolfson yeshiva summer camp, stated this opinion as part of a panel dealing with the question of eradicating idol worship. The other two panel members expressed their shock concerning Gopstein’s statement, but he remained adamant. Gopstein did state later that “the panel was closed”; that the question before the panel had been a question of theoretical Jewish law (‘whether or not people today are obliged to follow Maimonides’s instruction and eliminate idol worship’); that he “was not calling for operative steps”; and that “sermon givers in mosques should be investigated before him.”
Christians in Israel
BeSheva, July 30; Eliton, July 31, 2015
The northern division of the State Attorney’s Office has indicted Yinon Reuveni (20) and Yehuda Asaraf (19) in the Nazareth District Court as suspects in connection with the arson at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha (see previous review). The two are also suspected of being involved with a cell that was connected to the arson at the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem in February 2014.
Christian Tourism
Zman Mevasseret, July 23, 2015
The recently opened Friends of Israel Museum is “an experiential tourist site” devoted to the memory of “the thousands who aided the Jewish people over recent generations.” Both the permanent and temporary exhibitions make use of some of the most advanced technology in the world (“some of which was developed specifically for the museum”), as well as exquisite attention to detail even in the interior design of the building. “A fruit of the initiative of Israel-loving Christians from all Christian denominations,” the museum “aims to connect people all over the world and awaken additional audiences to support the State of Israel.”
Archaeology
Haaretz, August 5, 2015
This article by Prof. Yossi Garfinkel, entitled “Qayafa and What’s in It,” responds to the Haaretz article by Prof. Yaakov Shavit entitled “The Pitcher and What’s Not in It” from July 28 (see previous review). According to Shavit’s article, the fact that the clay pitcher recently found in Khirbet Qayafa in the Elah Valley is inscribed “Eshba’al ben Bada” does not in fact present sufficient evidence to warrant the researchers’ conclusions that Eshba’al was a Judean name, that therefore Qayafa was a Judean village, that there was a literary elite of scribes writing history in the 10th century BCE, or what society was like in King David’s day.
Garfinkel states in response that the excavations at Khirbet Qayafa, revealing a fortified city, have been dated by Carbon 14 to 1000 BCE. No other fortified cities from this period have as yet been uncovered. It is considered a Judean city due not to the name of Eshba’al on the clay pitcher, but rather because of the unique Judean urban planning pattern. This pattern, consisting of a surrounding wall and adjacent houses, are both features not found at Philistine, Canaanite, or northern Israel sites. Likewise, no fertility figurines such as have been found at Philistine, Canaanite, and northern Israel sites were found at Qayafa