News in Brief

The Israel Defense Forces has dismissed a platoon commander in the Golani infantry brigade for beating a soldier under his command last week, it emerged yesterday. The officer hit the soldier during a Krav Maga lesson, the form of martial arts taught to IDF troops; the soldier later had to be hospitalized. Military police have also launched an investigation into the incident. The IDF Spokespersons' Unit said the incident was grave and irregular, and was not in keeping with the values of the army. The army has been recently rocked by a number of similar stories of abuse. (Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Staff)

A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli security guard at the Qalandiyah checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, yesterday. The guard is being treated for moderate stomach injuries. The Palestinian, a 21-year-old Ramallah resident, was detained for questioning. (Haaretz Staff)

The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset is expected to debate an amended version of a bill that would have outlawed the commemoration of Israel's establishment as a catastrophe or "Nakba" for Palestinians. The new bill is narrower in scope than the original, which would have imposed up to three years in prison for anyone marking Independence Day as a day of mourning. The amended bill would prohibit state funding for activities that deny Israel's existence as a Jewish state. (Jonathan Lis)

The quality of roadside bombs aimed at IDF patrols along the Gaza border fence has significantly improved, army sources say, and they now closely resemble bombs used against U.S. and British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Testing of the bomb debris indicates that the bombs are assembled better and include materials never before seen on the Gaza front, like tungsten, which is intended to improve the bomb's ability to penetrate armor. The quality of assembly and materials has increased the range and consistency of impact. (Anshel Pfeffer)

A senior Military Police officer was severely reprimanded yesterday for his handling of the case of Moshe Tamir, an Israel Defense Forces officer convicted of allowing his teenage son to drive an army vehicle and then covering it up after a crash. During Tamir's trial, it emerged that the commander of the Military Police's Southern District, Lt. Col. Sasi Megido, ordered his men to question Tamir, then a brigadier general, as a witness rather than a suspect. Megido was rebuked and told that he would not be promoted in the next two years. (Amos Harel)

Israeli's horror movie a monster draw in U.S.

"Paranormal Activity" - a low-budget movie by expat Israeli Oren Peli - topped the U.S. box office over the weekend, with a pre-Halloween draw of $22 million. "Paranormal" went into wide release by Paramount after playing to sellout crowds at midnight-only screenings over the past few weekends in a handful of markets determined by online balloting. Taking a page from the playbook of 1999's "The Blair Witch Project," the Viacom Inc unit is letting the fans do the marketing through such social-networking sites as Twitter. (Itamar Zohar and Agencies)

Tel Aviv University gallery showing works to be sold by Sotheby's

In the next three days, the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery at Tel Aviv University will exhibit more than 60 items from the collection of the Phoenix Company, including a painting by Avigdor Arikha and a sculpture by Sigalit Landau, which will be put on sale by Sotheby's in New York later this month. The Arikha work is appraised at $80,000 to $100,000 and the piece by Landau is appraised at between $30,000 and $40,000. (Avital Burg)

Terror victims' kin could get paid day off

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation has authorized a bill put forth by MK Fania Kirshenbaum (Yisrael Beiteinu) granting a paid day's leave from work to families of terror victims on Memorial Day, enabling them to participate in memorial commemorations without worrying about a reduction in their salaries. Until now the privilege was granted only to the bereaved families of soldiers. Kirschenbaum said that "adjusting the Memorial Day Law aims to correct many years of wrong." (Jonathan Lis)