Today's Headlines and Commentary
Today's Headlines and Commentary
According to the BBC, a report from the Global Terrorism Index found that the number of deaths from terrorism increased by 61 percent in 2013, while the number of attacks increased by 44 percent. We begin our coverage today with saddening news of several more.
A horrendous act of violence has left Jerusalem paralyzed. Earlier today, 3 dual American-Israeli citizens and 1 dual British-Israeli civilian were murdered by two Palestinians while conducting morning prayers in an Orthodox neighborhood of Western Jerusalem. The two terrorists were armed with axes, knives and guns, and killed the innocents and wounded scores more before police fatally shot them both. The four men who died were all rabbis: Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, 40, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 68, Rabbi Kalman Levine, 50, and Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59. The latter, Rabbi Twersky, was the head of a yeshiva in Jerusalem and the scion of the prominent Twersky rabbinic family. The BBC has live updates.
Leaders across the world condemned the attack, including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. Secretary of State Kerry had harsh words for the perpetrators and excoriated Palestinian leaders “at all levels” for incitement. Israeli leaders from across the spectrum denounced the actions, with many pointing the finger at incitement from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. For his part, Abbas condemned the attacks.
The Times of Israel reports that Israeli political leaders have vowed that this is a tipping point, and that they will respond harshly to the rabbis’ murders. Specific actions that have been mentioned so far, include relaxing gun ownership laws in Israel, demolishing the family homes of the murderers, and revoking the residence permit of one of the terrorists’ wives. Another Israeli news portal, Srugim, writes that authorities will not return the bodies of the attackers to their families for burial.
The Brookings Institution held an event today that focused on the violence currently plaguing Jerusalem and prospects for a two-state solution. Audio from the event is available here:
ICYMI: Yesterday, On Lawfare
Ben commented on the legality of President Obama’s proposed plan to proceed on immigration reform unilaterally.
Ben Bissell alerted us to the upcoming Congressional hearings on ISIS and Iran.
Ben Bissell also brought our attention to the Navy’s scary new death ray. Elsewhere, Wells provided the chief prosecutor’s statement on this week’s hearing in Al-Hadi, as well as four dispatches from the hearing’s sessions Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board