Israel News for February 16, 2016

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Deadly Accident
A tragic road accident claimed the lives of six passengers when an Egged bus, traveling from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak,  hit a truck parked on the shoulder of Highway 1. According to a passenger on the bus, “The truck driver was standing on the side of the road with the emergency lights blinking. We came at the truck at an absurd speed, the bus driver drove like a maniac in my opinion.” Just moments before the crash two of the passengers, sisters, called their sister and said that the driver was driving like a maniac and was on his cell phone.” Screams were heard before the call was disconnected.

The Egged driver was involved in a similar accident three years ago, when he hit a stationary truck on the same highway. Eighteen passengers were injured in that incident. He is currently under investigation by police.

The bus is part of the “Mehadrin line”, which caters to Ultra Orthodox passengers traveling between Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. Many of those killed were prominent members of the community, including the daughter of the Biala (Hassidic) Rebbe. Several passengers were injured, some severely, including a woman slated to be married in three months.

May all the injured have a speedy recovery.

For further reading click here.

PA Rejection
During a visit to Japan yesterday, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki pledged to never again engage with Israel in direct negotiations towards a final settlement saying,“We will never go back and sit again in direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.”

He rejected the idea of an invitation to return to the negotiating table by Israeli President Rivlin, and suggested that ISIS may be poised to take over Judea and Samaria. Malki also sympathized with Palestinian terrorists, explaining that they are trying to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.

So much for diplomacy.

For further reading click here.

French Plan
France’s Ambassador to Israel officially presented France’s plan to hold an international summit in Paris to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The French initiative to convene an international peace summit was presented on January 29 in a speech by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at the foreign ministry in Paris. Fabius also said that France will recognize the State of Palestine if the initiative fails.

Fabius has since resigned, but his plan has become part of French foreign policy and has already been presented to more than twenty governments including the U.S., England, Germany and Russia. The French presented the plan to the Palestinians, who they say responded very positively.

Israel has responded negatively to the plan, insisting that only direct negotiations with the Palestinians, without any preconditions, can lead to peace. The Palestinians have stated on numerous occasions their refusal to hold direct peace talks with Israel.

For further reading click here.

Bnei Akiva Gondar
Bnei Akiva, the popular religious zionist youth organization, has set up a chapter in a camp in Gondar, Ethiopia, where over 6,000 Jews are waiting to immigrate to Israel. The organization’s goal is to run programs to teach children about Jewish and Israeli customs and traditions, in order to ease their eventual absorption into Israeli society. At the same time, Bnei Akiva in Israel is preparing their chapters and participants for an influx of Ethiopian immigrants.

The immigration of the remaining Ethiopian Jews is currently awaiting Israeli government approval, which is expected to take some time due to questions about the Jewish lineage of the Ethiopians.

For further reading click here.

Wedding Dance
The Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rafi Peretz, has run into some potentially serious trouble for dancing at a wedding. In a video taken at the wedding of the son of a former IDF rabbi in Jerusalem, Peretz is seen dancing with Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, who is the head of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in the Israeli settlement of Yatzhar and the author of the controversial book “The King’s Torah”, which has been severely criticized for containing content viewed as inciting violence. In the video Peretz, who is wearing his IDF uniform, is wearing Shapira’s hat while Shapira is wearing Peretz’s military beret.

MK Bar Lev of the Zionist Union and a member of the defense committee has requested that IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot take immediate action against Peretz. Bar Lev wrote, “The IDF Chief Rabbi arrived at a wedding in uniform. Therefore, he represents the IDF and ceases to be a private individual.”

The IDF has responded that it will speak with Rabbi Peretz regarding how an officer in uniform is expected to act at public events.

Lesson: You never know who might be videoing you, so beware of your actions, especially when dancing at weddings.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 12, 2016

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Terror Averted
Police today arrested an Arab man at the Beersheba central bus station based on intelligence information that he was planning to carry out a terror attack.

In Gush Etzion, a young Israeli woman reported that an Arab driver tried to run her over while she waited at a bus stop. She wasn’t injured.

For further reading click here.

Arab Police
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan promised, yesterday, that the police will increase their manpower in the Arab sector and boost law enforcement and police recruitment within the wider Muslim community across the country.

The police will be forming a new branch to focus exclusively on issues facing the Israeli Arab community. The plan includes the construction of what police hope will be more than 10 new police stations in Arab communities, as well as the recruitment of more than 1,300 police officers from the sector over the next five years.

The new branch is expected to be headed by Deputy Chief Jamal Hakrush, the deputy head of the Coastal District who previously served as the deputy head of the Traffic Police. Hakrush is from Kafr Kana, an Arab town north of Nazareth, and will be the first Moslem to serve as a deputy commissioner in the police.

According to data from 2015, although Arabs make up only about 21% of the population of Israel, 59% of murders, 55% of attempted murders, 58% of arsons, 47% of robberies and 32% of property crimes reported to police take place in the Arab community.

For further reading click here.

Shin Bet Head
PM Netanyahu appointed deputy Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman as the next Shin Bet head yesterday. The 55-year-old Argaman, a resident of Rosh Ha’ayin, will replace Yoram Cohen in May of 2016.

Argaman was drafted into an elite IDF unit in 1978. He joined the Shin Bet in 1983, served as head of Shin Bet operations between 2003-2007 and then spent four years as the Shin Bet representative in the U.S. He was loaned out to the Atomic Energy Commission between September 2014 and September 2015, before returning to serve as deputy Shin Bet chief after Roni Alsheich was named Israel Police commissioner.

Government officials from across the political spectrum praised Argaman, including the PM, President, Defense Minister and opposition leader. To sum it up, President Reuven Rivlin said Argaman is, “the right man in the right place.”

May he be blessed with success in protecting the State of Israel.

For further reading click here.

Mikvah Verdict
Yesterday the High Court of Justice issued a decision permitting Reform and Conservative religious courts to perform conversion ceremonies in public Mikvahs. The specific case related to the use of the Mikvahs in Beersheba. Since immersion in a Mikvah or a large natural body of water, is a Jewish legal (halachic) requirement for completing a conversion, the Conservative and Reform conversions have been forced to perform their immersions in the sea.

The ruling came in response to an appeal by the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, which represented both non-Orthodox movements.

Mikvahs in Israel operate under the auspices of the Orthodox-run religious councils, and Reform and Conservative converts are often prevented from using them when questions about their affiliation arise.

The state had argued that since Reform and Conservative conversions were done outside of the official Chief Rabbinate, the state was not required to accommodate them.

The court ruling stated, “From the moment the state set up public Mikvahs and made them available to the public – including for the purpose of conversion – it cannot discriminate among those who use them.”

The Reform and Conservative movements praised the court’s decision as a step in the direction of full acceptance of the movements by the government. But while their converts are registered as Jewish by the population registry, they are not accepted by the Chief Rabbinate and therefore cannot legally marry in Israel.

For further reading click here.

Super Bandage
An Israeli company called Core Scientific Creations (CSC) has developed a super bandage called WoundClot that stops severe bleeding within minutes without the need to apply pressure on the wound, while enhancing the blood’s natural clotting process.

According to CEO Yuval Yaskil, uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of death on the battlefield. While the traditional protocol for treating such bleeding includes applying pressure on the wound, Yaskil says that in some cases like stab wounds to the neck or head trauma injuries, pressure does not work. That’s why WoundClot was chemically treated to stop bleeding and enhance clotting while maintaining its own stability for 24 hours, enough time to get patients to a hospital.

Dr. Shani Eliyahu Gross, Vice President and CTO of CSC, explained, “When it is exposed to liquids, this product starts to absorb enormous amount of blood and then it transforms into a gel state.” She added that the more blood absorbed in the bandage, the quicker the clotting process will proceed.

Yaskil said that CSC is providing WoundClot to the Israeli police and the IDF and is selling it to hospitals. WoundClot prices range from under $10 to around $100 for larger surgical products. The “super bandage” is meant to replace other products or procedures that can cost up to thousands of dollars.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 12, 2016

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Terror Averted
Police today arrested an Arab man at the Beersheba central bus station based on intelligence information that he was planning to carry out a terror attack.

In Gush Etzion, a young Israeli woman reported that an Arab driver tried to run her over while she waited at a bus stop. She wasn’t injured.

For further reading click here.

Arab Police
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan promised, yesterday, that the police will increase their manpower in the Arab sector and boost law enforcement and police recruitment within the wider Muslim community across the country.

The police will be forming a new branch to focus exclusively on issues facing the Israeli Arab community. The plan includes the construction of what police hope will be more than 10 new police stations in Arab communities, as well as the recruitment of more than 1,300 police officers from the sector over the next five years.

The new branch is expected to be headed by Deputy Chief Jamal Hakrush, the deputy head of the Coastal District who previously served as the deputy head of the Traffic Police. Hakrush is from Kafr Kana, an Arab town north of Nazareth, and will be the first Moslem to serve as a deputy commissioner in the police.

According to data from 2015, although Arabs make up only about 21% of the population of Israel, 59% of murders, 55% of attempted murders, 58% of arsons, 47% of robberies and 32% of property crimes reported to police take place in the Arab community.

For further reading click here.

Shin Bet Head
PM Netanyahu appointed deputy Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman as the next Shin Bet head yesterday. The 55-year-old Argaman, a resident of Rosh Ha’ayin, will replace Yoram Cohen in May of 2016.

Argaman was drafted into an elite IDF unit in 1978. He joined the Shin Bet in 1983, served as head of Shin Bet operations between 2003-2007 and then spent four years as the Shin Bet representative in the U.S. He was loaned out to the Atomic Energy Commission between September 2014 and September 2015, before returning to serve as deputy Shin Bet chief after Roni Alsheich was named Israel Police commissioner.

Government officials from across the political spectrum praised Argaman, including the PM, President, Defense Minister and opposition leader. To sum it up, President Reuven Rivlin said Argaman is, “the right man in the right place.”

May he be blessed with success in protecting the State of Israel.

For further reading click here.

Mikvah Verdict
Yesterday the High Court of Justice issued a decision permitting Reform and Conservative religious courts to perform conversion ceremonies in public Mikvahs. The specific case related to the use of the Mikvahs in Beersheba. Since immersion in a Mikvah or a large natural body of water, is a Jewish legal (halachic) requirement for completing a conversion, the Conservative and Reform conversions have been forced to perform their immersions in the sea.

The ruling came in response to an appeal by the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, which represented both non-Orthodox movements.

Mikvahs in Israel operate under the auspices of the Orthodox-run religious councils, and Reform and Conservative converts are often prevented from using them when questions about their affiliation arise.

The state had argued that since Reform and Conservative conversions were done outside of the official Chief Rabbinate, the state was not required to accommodate them.

The court ruling stated, “From the moment the state set up public Mikvahs and made them available to the public – including for the purpose of conversion – it cannot discriminate among those who use them.”

The Reform and Conservative movements praised the court’s decision as a step in the direction of full acceptance of the movements by the government. But while their converts are registered as Jewish by the population registry, they are not accepted by the Chief Rabbinate and therefore cannot legally marry in Israel.

For further reading click here.

Super Bandage
An Israeli company called Core Scientific Creations (CSC) has developed a super bandage called WoundClot that stops severe bleeding within minutes without the need to apply pressure on the wound, while enhancing the blood’s natural clotting process.

According to CEO Yuval Yaskil, uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of death on the battlefield. While the traditional protocol for treating such bleeding includes applying pressure on the wound, Yaskil says that in some cases like stab wounds to the neck or head trauma injuries, pressure does not work. That’s why WoundClot was chemically treated to stop bleeding and enhance clotting while maintaining its own stability for 24 hours, enough time to get patients to a hospital.

Dr. Shani Eliyahu Gross, Vice President and CTO of CSC, explained, “When it is exposed to liquids, this product starts to absorb enormous amount of blood and then it transforms into a gel state.” She added that the more blood absorbed in the bandage, the quicker the clotting process will proceed.

Yaskil said that CSC is providing WoundClot to the Israeli police and the IDF and is selling it to hospitals. WoundClot prices range from under $10 to around $100 for larger surgical products. The “super bandage” is meant to replace other products or procedures that can cost up to thousands of dollars.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 10, 2016

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Terror Attack
A 28 year old Israeli man was stabbed in an apparent terror attack yesterday while jogging outside the town of Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion area of Judea. The man, Tomer Ditur, said that the attacker fled in the direction of the nearby Palestinian town of Nahalin.

After searching the area for the attacker, IDF forces surrounded Nahalin and have closed all roads into the town, allowing only humanitarian cases to pass.

For further reading click here.

Fence Building
PM Netanyahu announced yesterday that the government is preparing “a multi-year program to surround Israel with security fences in order to protect ourselves in the Middle East as it is today. In addition, we are preparing a program to close the breaches in the security fence in Judea and Samaria.”

You can’t go wrong by securing the borders, but is a fence really going to stop lone wolf terrorists who could be just about anywhere in Israel? There’s got to be a better solution (No, we don’t have one either).

For further reading click here.

Tunnel Threat
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot said yesterday that Hamas tunnels in Gaza have been Israel’s major security threat since 2013. He said that most of the resources entering Gaza are being diverted by Hamas towards building an underground infrastructure.

Eizenkot added that the IDF is concentrating intelligence and engineering efforts on the threat. “We have the most advanced capabilities in the world. We won’t let the quiet in the south deceive us. I think that 2015 was the quietest year since the 1970s. 23 rockets were fired from the Gaza strip into our territory by rebel and Salafi organizations.”

Only 23 rockets. So much for quiet.

For further reading click here.

Western Wall
The compromise agreement allowing the construction of a new non-Orthodox prayer area along the southern part of the Western Wall has drawn protests from the Ultra-Orthodox, the Palestinians, and even some women’s groups. Now there’s one more group to add to the list: archeologists.

Nine senior archeologists warned PM Netanyahu in a letter yesterday, that the construction of the new prayer area would damage the “diamond in Jerusalem’s archaeological crown.” Signatories to the protest letter include Dan Bahat, who excavated the Western Wall tunnels; Ronny Reich, head of the Archaeological Council of Israel, who exposed part of the paved road beneath Robinson’s Arch; Jerusalem Prize winner Gabriel Barkay, who directs the Temple Mount Sifting Project; and Israel Prize laureate Amihai Mazar.

Now what?

For further reading click here.

Hebrew Protocols
There are some books you’d probably never expect to see in Hebrew, usually due to their anti-semitic content. Well, you might soon be able to read one of the classics and favorites of Jew haters, in the holy tongue.

An initiative on the Israeli crowdfunding website Headstart.co.il is seeking funding to create the first full translation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion into Hebrew. The project is spearheaded by Adi Amsterdam, a linguistics lecturer at the Weizmann Institute and the David Yellin Center who believes that the only way to counter the fictitious anti semitic claims the book makes is by being aware of its contents. The translation would include historical and linguistic notes that would expose all of the book’s lies and inconsistencies. So far Amsterdam has reached 43% of his 25,000 NIS goal.

For further reading click here.

Startup Spotlight
An Israeli startup called Woo is working on disrupting high tech job recruiting and making it easier for employees to find just the right job. The woo.com website allows high tech talent such as developers, engineers, product managers, QAs, DevOps and designers to anonymously contact top tech companies to see what jobs are available and how much they pay.

Here’s basically how it works.The seeker creates a wishlist of criteria he wants in a job, something like a dating profile. But he remains anonymous. Then, the several hundred tech companies already using the site can view the “profile” and decide whether to show interest. If the seeker is also interested, he can reveal his identity and continue the process offline.

Job seekers can use the site by invite only. Companies using the site include Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, WIX, Vonage, just to name a few.

Woo was founded in 2015 by CEO Liran Kotzer and CTO Ami Dudu, and has raised $2.3 million in seed funding. The company currently has offices in Tel Aviv And San Francisco, and 25 employees, 23 of whom are in Tel Aviv.

Woo says that so far thousands of employees in Israel and the US have used the service and companies report that 70% of candidates contacted by them have responded. No figures are available for the percentage of actual hires.

So if you’re in tech and want to test the job waters, give woo.com a shot.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 9, 2016

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Terror Averted
This morning a Border Police patrol stopped a suspicious looking 16 year old Arab woman near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is where Hadar Cohen was killed in a terror attack last week. When asked to show her ID, the woman pulled a knife and attempted to stab the officers. She was successfully subdued and taken in for questioning.

For further reading click here.

Arab MKs Punished
The Knesset Ethics Committee suspended three Arab Knesset members who visited the families of slain terrorists last week in a show of support for the Palestinians. MKs Haneen Zoabi and Basel Ghattas were suspended for four months, and MK Jamal Zahalka was suspended for two months. They are all from the Joint Arab List’s Balad faction.

As an example of the across the board support for the suspension, Zionist Union MK Eyal Ben Reuven, who belongs to the party’s dovish faction, accused the three Arab lawmakers of “inspiring terrorism and encouraging the murder of more and more Israelis. The Israeli Knesset will not allow its members to exploit democracy in order to harm the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman called the punishment a joke and said that it would only make the MKs more popular with their constituents.

The Joint Arab List rejected the punishment and pledged to continue “fighting against the policy of racism and fascism, and for true equality and real democracy, which Netanyahu is doing his utmost to eliminate.”

For further reading click here.

Airbnb Peace
A solution to curb the seemingly endless wave of Palestinian terror might come from the unlikeliest sources. One of those might be the famous travelers website Airbnb.com, where people can rent out their homes or extra rooms to travelers who want to avoid staying in hotels.

Controversy has recently erupted over the website allowing Jewish residents of the West Bank to post listings, without indicating that the rentals are located in areas considered illegal by most countries, including the U.S. Their disputed status doesn’t seem to have been bothering both Israeli and foreign tourists, particularly Christians from Europe, Taiwan and South Korea.

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the company for “effectively promoting the illegal colonization of occupied land.” But leaders in the Jewish settlement movement have been encouraging more people to list their Judean and Samarian destinations on the site as well as on other sites, like booking.com and tripadvisor.com. The goal is to counteract the anti-Israel boycott movements and, of course, to increase tourism at a challenging time. The extra money to be made probably doesn’t hurt either.

While most of the listings are located in heavily Jewish areas which most people acknowledge will be included as part of Israel in a final agreement, some are in outposts way off the beaten path. Interestingly enough, the more isolated they are the more they seem to be in demand by Christian tourists looking to experience the authentic biblical landscapes surrounding them. In a review on the Airbnb website, one visitor from Amerongen, Netherlands who rented a studio in the outpost of Havat Gilad, wrote, “For one who likes to taste a real Samaria community feeling, this is the place to be. The village is not protected by a fence, but that’s how they live here, and why can’t we?”

Davidi Perl, the council head in Gush Etzion, feels that the Airbnb trend is here to stay, despite the protests. “With the Internet, people see a nice area, it’s cheap, let’s go, they don’t care. They want to see everything, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Christian sights. It’s a global world now, and nothing will stop people coming.”

So how can Airbnb help curb the violence? Perhaps the more European and Asian tourists in the area, the less of an incentive the Palestinians will have to incite and carry out terror attacks. While Jewish lives might not matter much to the international community, the lives of EU citizens most likely will. And the fallout from killing Europeans is not something the Palestinians want. So the more non Jewish tourists, the less the potential of PA backed terror. Bring on the tourists!

For further reading click here.

Defense Industry
The Israeli defense industry has been busy inventing, selling and deploying.

Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) and US defense giant Lockheed Martin have reached the final stage of a tender published by the Polish Ministry of National Defense for the procurement of precision rockets. The deal is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars.

The Polish government is specifically looking to purchase long range rockets. The IMI is offering its Predator Hawk rockets, with a range of 250 kilometers and the ability to precisely deliver a 200 kilogram warhead to its target and its EXTRA rocket, with a 120-kilogram warhead and a range of 150 kilometers. Looking ahead to future business, IMI is planning to open an office in Warsaw.

Who would have dreamt that 70 years after more than four million Jews were murdered on Polish soil would Israel be supplying Poland with weapons?

For further reading click here.

IMI has also recently completed development of a new coastal defense system based on precise long-range missiles, radar and drones designed to hit sea vessels far from the coastline. The system can hit targets up to 150 kilometers offshore.

For further reading click here.

Another Israeli defense contractor, Elbit Systems Ltd. unveiled a new Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) called Seagull in Haifa yesterday.

Seagull consists of two unmanned naval vessels capable of being operated and controlled in concert using a single Mission Control System (MCS), from manned ships or from the shore. The USV can remain in the water for over four days. The unmanned system is especially effective in detecting and neutralizing sea mines and submarines.

Elbit systems EVP Elad Aharonson said, “I believe that Seagull is a breakthrough solution that will bring about a revolution in underwater operations and meet the growing needs in Israel and abroad in the maritime arena. Until now dealing with submarines was carried out by heavy craft such as missile boats and fighter aircraft and helicopters at operative costs of hundreds of millions of dollars. The USV lowers costs for these missions by many tens of times. It can seek out enemy submarines, pursue them over large distances and turn them into prey.”

The new system should come in handy protecting Israel’s new offshore gas fields.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 8, 2016

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More Palestinians
Despite the recent rise in terror, the Israeli defense establishment is recommending that an additional 30,000 Palestinians be permitted to work in Israel. The security cabinet has already approved the main provisions of the plan. The plan was presented to the ministers last month by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, coordinator of government activity in the territories.

Around 58,000 Palestinians have permits to work within Israel proper. An estimated 120,000 Palestinians in total work for Israelis, including over 30,000 who work in Israel illegally and some 27,000 who work in industrial zones in West Bank settlements.

The hope is that better economic conditions will stop the violence. This theory is prevalent in the military and security services. But it doesn’t stop there. Even Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who during the escalation has advocated getting tough with the Palestinians, yesterday expressed support for increasing the number of work permits to up to 100,000.

According to a recent poll, the number of West Bank and Gaza residents who support a third intifada dropped from 63% in November to 42% now.

But will better economic conditions stop the lone wolf attacks that have represented the overwhelming majority of recent terror attacks?

For further reading click here.

Temple Mount
Over three months ago Israel and Jordan came to an agreement to install video surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount as a way to diffuse tensions by providing evidence that the area is not being damaged by Israel and that the “status quo” is being upheld.

Since then there have been negotiations between the Israel Police and Shin Bet and the Waqf and Jordanian intelligence to work out the technicalities. The sides haven’t reached any agreement yet. According to Israeli officials, the fundamental issue holding up an agreement is the question of who will control the cameras and who will get access to the live video feed. The Jordanians want sole control over the video, which is something that Israel cannot accept, since it would allow them to potentially edit or hide video that shows Arab violations. In addition, Israel wants cameras placed inside the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, to monitor if they are being used to store weapons. The Arabs refuse to allow the cameras inside the holy sites.

Israeli officials want to implement an agreement by Passover. One official said, “If we reach that point and there will still not be agreements then all the tensions we saw around the Jewish holidays in September can start again.”

For further reading click here.

Hebron Homes
It seems that a better real estate lawyer could have prevented the eviction of Jewish families from the two houses that they occupied in Hebron a few weeks ago. According to the Defense Minister, it was a slew of technical issues relating to the sale of the property that caused the eviction.

In a meeting with local council leaders, the DM said that the Civil Administration is examining claims that the Palestinian who sold the houses to the settlers is only the owner of a storage unit on the site, and not the whole property. He also said the that the Palestinians who claim ownership of the property also filed a complaint with the police following the occupation of the homes, which is being examined.

So a thorough title search could have solved this entire issue? Something tells me that the real issue has nothing to do with paperwork and a lot to do with diplomacy.

For further reading click here.

Better Deal
The security memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Israel U.S. that was signed ten years ago is set to expire in 2018. PM Netanyahu and President Obama began negotiating a new MOU in November. There have so far been three rounds of negotiations between American and Israeli teams, but no agreement has yet been reached.

The impasse is pretty simple: Israel wants a bigger aid package and the U.S. says it’s already offering Israel the largest aid package ever. Sounds like a deadlock. But it looks like the PM has come up with a solution. In a cabinet meeting yesterday, he said that if Israel doesn’t get what it believes it needs in the agreement, he just won’t sign it. Instead, he’ll wait until a new president takes office and then try for a better deal.

The U.S. is obviously not very pleased with the PM’s negotiating strong arm negotiating tactics. A senior American official said, “Israel is of course free to wait for the next administration to finalize a new MOU should it not be satisfied with such a pledge, but we would caution that the U.S. budgetary environment is unlikely to improve in the next 1-2 years and Israel will certainly not find a president more committed to Israel’s security than is President Obama.” He claims that Israel’s security is a top priority for the Obama administration, and that Israel currently already receives receives over 50% of the total foreign military aid the U.S provides around the world.

Netanyahu apparently thinks that he can negotiated a sweeter deal with the next president. Unless of course its Trump (the king of negotiations) or Sanders (you figure it out). The way the polls are looking, maybe the PM should take what he can get now.

For further reading click here.

Hasidic Technology
The Vishnitz Hasidic sect, which is the second largest in Israel (Ger is number one), held an emergency gathering against the dangers of technology. The gathering was led by the Rabbe of Vishnitz, attended by thousands of hassidim and broadcast live to Vishnitz communities in New York, Canada, England and Belgium.

Several prominent hassidic leaders from the communities of Vishnitz, Ger and Belz railed against the evils of smartphones. The Vishnitzer Rebbe gave the keynote address. He said, “Whoever has a connection to these things, even just at work, should know that he has no connection to us and will not participate in any of our institutions.” He added that “whoever holds a smartphone holds in his hand a spiritual bomb.”

Several resolutions were instituted by the rebbe including the banning of students from Vishnitz schools whose parents have smartphones and the formation of committees to monitor smartphone usage and enforce the bans against it.

Time to sell Apple?

For further reading click here.

A+ Rating
Israel has received another A+ from the Standard and Poor’s credit rating agency. The agency said, ‘the stable outlook reflects our expectation that the government will maintain stable public finances and that the impact of security risks on the Israeli economy will be contained’. Good news!

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 5, 2016

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Hadar Cohen Funeral
Hundreds accompanied Hadar Cohen, the Border Police officer killed in Wednesday’s terror attack in Jerusalem, to her final resting place in a small military cemetery in her hometown of Yehud. Cohen’s partner, Ravit Mirilashvili, who was wounded in the attack, left the Jerusalem hospital that had been treating her in order to attend the funeral with her family.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan praised Cohen for protecting her partner and saving her life. He described her as someone who, “carried a great burden on her shoulders and a big smile on her face.”

National Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich also praised her conduct, saying that she “fought like a lion” and that her courage “has chiseled a new chapter in the glorious tradition of the Border Police and the Israel Police.”

Cohen’s father, Ofer, in a tearful voice, said, “They say you were a true hero, but they do not know your warmth, your love of life, your captivating smile.” He ended his brief eulogy with, “How can I part from you. I am proud of you and I salute you.”

For further reading click here.

Arab MK’s
PM Netanyahu asked Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to examine the possibility of punishing several Arab Knesset members for visiting families of terrorists. The visit by MKs Jamal Zakalka, Basel Ghattas and Haneen Zoabi from the Joint Arab List’s Balad faction was part of a campaign being conducted by the families, and legal aid and human rights groups, seeking the return of the bodies of their family members who were killed while committing terror acts and are now being held by Israeli authorities.

The PM said, “Knesset members who pay a condolence call to families of terrorists who have killed Israelis are not fit to serve in the Israeli Knesset.” The opposition Zionist Union also condemned the visit, saying, “The visit by Balad Knesset members to the terrorists’ families encourages continued terrorism and murder of innocent people.”

Knesset speaker Edelstein said, “It is unthinkable that while innocent civilians are being slaughtered in Israel’s streets, Knesset members console and give voice to the murders’ families. I view this as a severe assault on the Knesset and the state of Israel.”

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan called on the Attorney General to examine whether the meeting that the Knesset members had with the families constituted a criminal offense — providing support for acts of murder and terror.

Erdan explained that the bodies would not be released until the police are satisfied that the funerals of the terrorists will not be turned into venues of incitement and support of terror.

For further reading click here.

Brazilian Diplomacy
While the standoff continues between Brazil and Israel over Brazil’s decision to prevent the appointment of Danny Danon as Israel’s ambassador to the country because of Danon’s history as a leader in the settlement movement, Israel remains ambassador-less in Brazil. Not so the Palestinians.

A new building housing the first Palestinian Authority embassy in the Western Hemisphere was inaugurated in Brazil’s capital city of Brasilia on Wednesday. The PA’s envoy to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, led the event, which was attended by left-wing Brazilian government officials, representatives of Arab countries and members of the local Arab community. The new building is topped with a golden dome, to resemble the Dome of the Rock.

Some Brazilian security officials are critical of the location of the new embassy, which is close to all of the major government institutions, fearing that it will become a base for Hamas and give terrorists easy access to the center of Brazilian government.

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Home Sales
The number of new home sales in Israel in 2015 was 40% higher than in 2014. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, contractors sold 32,370 new homes, which is the highest number in more than 15 years. Various government tax incentives for first time buyers are assumed to be one of the factors contributing to the increase.

The leading city in sales of new housing in 2015 was Jerusalem with 2,292 units sold. Tel Aviv-Jaffa was in second place, followed by Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, and Netanya. One town with an especially steep increase in new housing sales in 2015 was Afula, where 1,163 new housing units were sold in 2015, compared with 466 in 2014. The increase in Or Akiva was even more extreme: 771 new housing units sold in 2015, compared with only 128 in 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?

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Swiss Snack Control
Believe it or not, the Swiss might soon take full control over your Israeli snacking habits. That’s because Nestles, the huge Swiss food conglomerate, is planning to gain full ownership over Osem, one of Israel’s primary food companies. Actually, Nestle’s already owns about 70% of the company, but the final 30% will allow them to delist Osem stock from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and turn the company private. Nestle’s will pay $840 million for the 30%, which will give Osem a total value of around $2.4 billion.

Osem makes iconic Israeli snacks like Bamba and Bisli and a slew of other products including pasta, salad dressing, soup mix, cereal, vegetarian meat substitutes and of course, Sabra humus. In total it controls 10% of the Israeli food market.

As a private, foreign owned, company Osem will be be less sensitive to the media and to public opinion, which could make it easier for them to raise prices. So you better stock up on the Bamba and Bisli before that happens.

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Israel News for February 4, 2016

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Terror in Ramle
Early today, two 13 year old eighth graders from the Israeli Arab neighborhood of Jawarish in Ramle went to the central bus station in Ramle, a mixed Arab and Jewish city in central Israel. Sounds normal enough. But when the security guard asked them for their IDs, they pulled large kitchen knives from a school bag and stabbed him in the hand and leg. Other guards and civilians ran to help and subdued the girls. The security guard was lightly wounded in the attack.

Ramla Mayor Yoel Lavi said police was investigating the attack that “is uncharacteristic of the Arab sector in Ramla. Ramla is a multi-cultural city, in which people live in coexistence and in good neighborly relations, Jews alongside Arabs.”

Police praised the security guards for exercising restraint and subduing the girls without using their firearms. During the police interrogation, one of the girls said, “we came to kill Jews.”

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Jerusalem Terror
Near the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem yesterday, a Border Police patrol, consisting of one male officer and two female recruits still in training, noticed two suspicious looking Arab males sitting on a bench. They approached and asked the men for identification. One of the men stood up, drew a gun from his coat and struck the officer’s head.

In the words of the Border Police officer, “I took a step back, saw he was aiming at me and was going to pull the trigger. I took two steps back, cocked my revolver and fired a bullet at him. Then I turned and saw someone with a knife stabbing [the border policewoman who survived] and I shot him. Then I heard shots, turned around and saw another terrorist shooting.” A policeman then arrived on the scene and shot the other terrorist.

Hagar Cohen, 19, one of the recruits in training, was killed in the attack. The other trainee was seriously wounded. All three terrorists were killed. They had submachine guns and explosives. Luckily, the explosives failed to detonate.

Cohen was recruited just two months ago and was sworn in last Thursday. Some of Cohen’s relatives criticized the fact that the Border Police would deploy inexperienced recruits in such a volatile area.

Police commanders praised the actions of the Border Police patrol and said that they, in all likelihood, prevented a much larger terror attack by confronting the terrorists before they had a chance to act.

Israeli forces have blockaded and sealed off the Qabatiya, near Jenin, which is the hometown of the terrorists. A large number of reinforcements have arrived in the area. Several terror suspects have been arrested and the homes of the three terrorists have been prepared for demolition.

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Abbas Strikes Again
Just hours after the terror attack in Jerusalem that claimed the life of a Border Police recruit, PA President Abbas met with the families of eleven terrorists at his office in Ramallah.

The terrorists, all from the Jerusalem, committed their deadly and destructive attacks during the last four months. Their families want Abbas to get Israel to return their bodies for burial. Abbas told the families that he is making efforts to get the bodies returned, calling the terrorists martyrs.

Surprised by any of this?

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Youths Sentenced
The Jerusalem District Court has sentenced the two minors convicted of the July 2014 murder of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who burned to death in an apparent revenge attack for the murder of the three Jewish teens near Hebron. One received a life sentence and the other, 21 years in prison. Each minor will also be forced to pay the Abu Khdeir family 30,000 shekels (about $7,700) in compensation (not sure how they came up with that number).

The minor sentenced to 21 years was not sentenced to life because the court determined he didn’t take part in the actual murder, only the actions that preceded it. “He is the youngest of the bunch, with potential for rehabilitation,” the judgement read.

The court is expected rule in the case of the main defendant, Yosef Chaim Ben David, after he undergoes a final psychiatric evaluation (since he pleaded insanity just before sentencing).

The parents of the victim aren’t happy with the verdict, claiming that justice was not done. But the sentences seem to be in line with what Palestinian terrorists receive, and there’s no chance that the Jewish convicts will ever be released in a prisoner exchange. So I’d say justice has indeed been served.

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Tokyo Tel Aviv
Israelis have become a common site in India and Thailand. Their next popular distention might be Japan. Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched flights from Tel Aviv to Tokyo via Europe six weeks ago, and the airline is satisfied, to say the least. ANA senior VP Yutaka Ito, who is visiting Israeli, said, “The Israeli market is important to us. We recognize its great and growing potential, and are interested in the passenger traffic between the two countries.”

An estimated 20,000 Israelis flew to Japan last year, half of them business passengers and half vacationers. Ito says this number has been growing yearly, thereby paving the way for the establishment of a local ANA office and investment in the business, which for now is focusing mainly on Israeli tourists, rather than bringing tourists from Japan to Israel.

And most importantly, sushi in Japan is about half the price of what it is in Tel Aviv. So the sushi savings might be enough to pay for your next flight. It’s worth a try.

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Israel News for February 3, 2016

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PM Defends Jews
PM Netanyahu firmly rejected derogatory statements against non-Orthodox Jews made by government ministers and members of the Knesset in the wake of this week’s approval of the opening of a new section of the Western Wall for non-Orthodox worship.

He said, “I reject the recent disparaging and divisive remarks by ministers and members of Knesset about Reform Jews. Reform and Conservative Jews are part and parcel of the Jewish people and should be treated with respect.”

Netanyahu called the agreement, “a historic compromise that ensures that the Western Wall will continue to be a source of unity and inspiration for the entire Jewish people. This is the government’s policy. This is my policy.”

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Herzog and Kerry
MK Isaac Herzog, the leader of the opposition, met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome today. This was the fourth time the men have met in the last six months.

Herzog spoke to Kerry about his plan to unilaterally separate Israel from the Palestinians by basically building a barrier between Israel proper and the West Bank. The barrier would encompass the large Jewish settlement blocks along the new border. Herzog’s plan dismisses the two-state solution based on mutual negotiation and agreement, which has been the cornerstone of recent U.S. foreign policy related to Israel.

Herzog told Kerry, “Israel cannot wait for long negotiations. Our citizens are murdered and we must make a process of separating (from the Palestinians) which will be the realistic basis for the vision of two states which I believe in with all my heart as the only solution to the conflict.”

Herzog’s plan also calls for the formation of a regional security committee consisting of Egypt, Jordan and Israel, along with other Arab states, that would jointly fight radical Islamic terror. He pressed Kerry to advance the establishment of the committee before President Obama leaves office.

Kerry seemed to express interest in Herzog’s ideas. Will the U.S. administration do anything to rock the boat during an election year? Not a chance.

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Annexing Territories
A new poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that 45% of Jewish Israelis are in favor of annexing the entire West Bank (Judea and Samaria), as opposed to implementing a two-state solution proposed by most Israeli politicians including PM Netanyahu (sometimes).

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI‎), established in 1991, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Jerusalem. Its goals are to formulate policies and initiate reforms to strengthen democratic values in Israel, and it is nonpartisan and generally liberal.

Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, directors of Women in Green (WiG), which works for the application of Israeli sovereignty in the region, warmly welcomed the poll results, saying, “The conclusions arising from the results of the poll are that the People of Israel have stopped apologizing, giving in and dancing to the music and tune of Israel’s and the world’s leftists. The People of Israel say clearly: the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel.”

On the other hand, apparently 55% of Jewish Israelis aren’t in favor of annexing the territories, or at least not all of them. So when the ballots are counted, that potential two-state solution might very well become a reality.

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Tunnel Collapse
If anyone doubted that Hamas was back in the business of building terror tunnels in preparation for attacks on Israel, the events of the past couple of weeks should clarify the facts for them.

Yesterday, two Hamas terrorists, including a field commander, were killed when the tunnel they were working on collapsed. Last week, seven Hamas members were killed in another tunnel collapse caused by intense rain. Today Hamas stated that such incidents would not deter them from continued work on, and use of, the tunnels.

Still skeptical?

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Holy Tax
The Israel Tax Authority recently released a document which defines the taxation of income received for services provided by rabbis, kabbalists, circumcisers, cantors, and rabbinical courts, such as conducting weddings, performing circumcisions, conducting prayers, kabbalistic gatherings, giving blessings, consultations, distribution or sales of talismans, holy water and various other items of religious significance, and kashrut services.

Just because you didn’t ask for the payment, but got it as a show of appreciation for your service (basically a tip), doesn’t mean it’s not income. The regulation states that it is sufficient that money was received in exchange for a service to make it liable to tax, even if the service provider did not demand payment and even if there is no social norm of payment for the service in question. Giving money as an expression of gratitude on an emotional level or as charity, as long as it is not connected with provision of a service, will be considered a gift that is not liable to tax.

So from now on religious functionaries will have to keep accounts, file returns, declare assets, and all that fun stuff that ordinary folks do. Bummer.

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Israel News for February 2, 2016

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Home Demolition
Israeli security forces are preparing to demolish the home of Amjad Sukkari, the Palestinian Authority police officer who shot 3 Israeli soldiers near Beit El on Sunday. The home is located in the West Bank village of Jami’in, near Nablus (Shechem).

Hours before the attack, Sukkari posted a message on his Facebook page in which he indicated his intention to carry out a terrorist attack. “Every day, we hear about a death,” Sukkari wrote, referring to the death of Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis. Forgive me, I might be the next one.”

In another post published shortly before the attack, Sukkari quoted from the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: “We have on this Earth what makes life worth living. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything worth living for as long as the ‘occupation’ is suppressing us and killing our brothers and sisters.”

On his way to carrying out the shooting, Sukkari took a “selfie” of himself and posted it on his account together with the sentence: “By God’s will, your morning will be one of victory.”

Sukkari did not fit the usual profile of terrorists — young and disenfranchised. He had four kids and a good job as bodyguard for the PA prosecutor-general in Ramallah.

The Palestinian police released a statement following the attack saying, “with great pride, the members of the Palestinian police eulogize the brave martyrdom of their colleague, Master Sergeant Amjad Sukkari, “Abu Omar”, who committed the operation at V.I.P checkpoint in Beit El.”

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Compromise Opponents
We reported yesterday on the historic compromise agreement between the Orthodox and Conservative and Reform movements, ratified by the Israeli cabinet, to established a separate section of the Western Wall for non-Orthodox Jewish prayer services.

While the Orthodox establishment is not pleased with the new situation, it begrudgingly agreed to the compromise in order to avoid continuos conflict at the site and because the section of the wall given to the non Orthodox groups is not really a part of what Jewish law considers to be the sanctified area of the Kotel.

But now there is opposition emanating from a different quarter: the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority along with the Waqf, that administers the Temple Mount, has declared that establishing a new prayer area at the southern part of the Western Wall violates the “status quo” and is an attempt to undermine Al-Aqsa Mosque and to “Judaize” Jerusalem’s Old City.

According to Palestinian Waqf and Religious Affairs Minister Sheikh Yousef Adeis, the entire Al-Aqsa complex, including its walls and gates, is holy to Islam, and the Western Wall is considered part of its walls. In addition, the prayer area at the Western Wall was built on a Palestinian neighborhood which was uprooted by Israel after the 1967 Six Day War, and therefore any Israeli construction in the area is seen by the Palestinians as part of the same Israeli aggression.

So just when you thought everyone was satisfied…

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New Attorney General
Avichai Mandelblit became Israel’s new Attorney General yesterday, replacing Yehudi Weinstein. Mandelblit, 53, is married, has six children and lives in Petah Tikva. He wears a kippah. At the swearing in ceremony he said, “The legal system will stand behind everyone who is harmed by state institutions, and everyone will be equal before the law.”

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ZAKA in UN
After three years of failed efforts, emergency response victim identification organization ZAKA he’s been granted official advisory status by the United Nations. The vote by the UN Committee on Non Governmental Organizations was unanimous, despite the membership of states hostile to Israel like Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan, and Pakistan.

Another Israeli NGO, AlManarah, the Association for Persons with Disabilities, was also granted recognition by the UN.

Official recognition by the UN grants ZAKA the right to participate in official hearings of all UN arms and thus influence the conversation in the global union’s various committees.

The Israeli embassy played a major role in lobbying support for the successful vote. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “This is a very significant victory for Israeli diplomacy. ZAKA is an organization that reflects Israel’s moral values and its acceptance by the UN represents conclusive proof to the world of this fact. ZAKA received the status it deserves.”

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Real Estate
Looking to buy an apartment in Israel? Here’s some information you’ll want to know. According to a report in Walla News, the city with the cheapest apartments is Tiberius, with a four room property going for NIS 761,604. Next in line is Kiryat Ata at NIS 886,462, followed by Acco at NIS 908,971. Beersheva comes in fourth at just over a million shekels, followed closely by Karmiel.

If you’re looking for an investment, Tiberius will bring you the highest yield of 4.3%. Cheapest price, highest yield. Something to think about.

On the flip side, the most expensive cities to buy that four room apartment are Tel Aviv (of course), Givatayim, Ramat Hasharon, Jerusalem and Herzliya.

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King Returns
For kosher diners who took great pleasure from being able to eat in one of the iconic American fast food chains, at least when they were in Israel, there is reason to rejoice. Burger King is coming back to Israel.

After a six year absence, the burger franchise is set to open its first branch in Tel Aviv this week, and will open a total of 50 branches in the next five years at a cost of around $12 million.

Strongly enough, you can thank the French for bringing back all the healthy benefits of American fast food to the Holy Land. French businessman Pierre Besnainou and a group of investors own the rights to the new franchise. Is it because of the “French Fries”?

Burger King originally entered the Israeli market in 1993. Its 55 franchises in Israel shut down in the summer of 2010. Most reopened as the Israeli franchise Burger Ranch.

In response to the opening of the Burger King, Burger Ranch announced that it would partner with the discount Israeli coffee shop chain Cofix to build specialized Cofix branches adjacent to Burger Ranch outlets, offering less expensive choices.

By the way, the new Burger King in Tel Aviv will not be Kosher. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of kosher Whoppers coming soon.

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