Israel News for 9-7-17

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Syria Strike
Syria has blamed Israel for an air strike against a sensitive weapons manufacturing installation near the city of Hama last night. The IDF neither denied or confirmed launching the attack. The targeted facility is part of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, which is responsible for research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology and weapons. Iran has also allegedly been looking to use the site to supply weapons to Hezbollah.

A Syrian army statement said, “The Syrian army warns of the serious consequences of these kinds of aggressive activities against the security and stability in the region,” and blamed Israel of supporting ISIS and other terror groups.

For further reading click here.

Terrorist Stopped
The Border Police stopped a suspicious suspect at a security post near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron yesterday. They found a knife hidden in his clothing. He was arrested and taken in for interrogation.

For further reading click here.

Investment Up
Investments in Israel by foreign companies totaled $12.6 billion in 2016, 7% more than in 2015, according to the Ministry of Economy and Industry Industrial Cooperation and Foreign Investments Authority. The figures show that 320 multinational companies operate in Israel and that almost 10% of all employees in the business sector work at multinationals. The average salary at these companies is 88% higher than the average salary in local companies and 14% higher than the average salary in local companies doing similar business.

Ziva Eger, who heads the Foreign Investment Authority, said that Chinese companies are showing interest in Israel and “For them, Israel is a bridge to Europe and new markets in which they are interested.”

For further reading click here.

Israeli Aid
Volunteer personnel from Israel have been active in assisting the rescue and recovery efforts in Houston. To read about some of them and what they are doing, click here.

Presidential Kaddish
President Reuven Rivlin dedicated a memorial to the Israeli athletes murdered in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. As part of his dedication he recited the Kaddish (the memorial prayer).

To view the President reciting Kaddish click here.

Music Video
Here’s an uplifting song by Mordechai Shapiro called “Machar” about how tomorrow will be a better day. The song is much cooler than the video :)

To watch the video click here.

IDF Tanks

Israel News for 9-5-17

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IDF Exercise
The IDF today launched its largest military exercise in the last 20 years along its northern border with Lebanon. Thousands of troops will take part in the 11 day exercise on land, sea and in the air. Israel’s missile defense system will also be a part of the exercise.

For more details about the exercise click here.

Chief Justice
Judge Esther Hayut has been appointed the next chief justice of Israel’s Supreme Court to replace the retiring Miriam Naor. She will be sworn in at the end of October and serve for a 6 year term. The daughter of Holocaust survivors from Romania, Hayut has served on the Supreme Court since 2003.

For further reading click here.

Israeli Aid
Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Israel plans to donate 1 million dollars in emergency aid to Houston’s Jewish community. The funds will be earmarked to help the 60,000-strong community repair and rebuild schools, synagogues and a community center damaged in the storm and floods.

He said, ”For years, the Jewish communities stood by Israel when it needed their help; now it is our turn to stand by Houston’s Jewish community.” The aid money will be submitted for government approval at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

For further reading click here.

Munich Massacre
Today is the 45th anniversary of the Munich Massacre, in which terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. President Rivlin will be traveling to Munich today to unveil a new memorial to the victims of the massacre.

In remembrance of the tragic event and the innocent Israelis who lost their lives, the Israel Forever Foundation has published two posts that reflect on various aspects and lessons of the tragedy.

To read the post remembering the athletes, click here.

To read the post reflecting on the lessons we can learn, click here.

Unexpected Hotels
If you’re looking to stay in a luxury hotel in Israel but want to avoid the usual locations frequented by tourists, here’s a list of five hotels in unexpected locations you should consider. It includes luxury hotels in Hadera, Nahariya, Dimona and Yerucham.

To see the list click here.

Israel News for 9-1-17

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Terror Song
Security forces arrested the singer, composer and producers of a song praising the terrorist who murdered the three members of the Salomon in a brutal terror attack earlier this summer. The song was video being performed at a Palestinian wedding earlier this week, which is how it came to the attention of the security forces. This is the first time singers and composers of Palestinian incitement songs have been arrested in the West Bank.

Security forces also carried out overnight raids in several Palestinian villages in the West Bank in which they uncovered weapons and arrested 15 terror suspects.

For further reading click here.

Ambassador Refused
Jordan is refusing to allow Israel’s Ambassador to return to the Israeli embassy in Jordan because she was photographed together with the Israeli guard who shot and killed a Jordanian outside of the embassy several weeks ago.

The incident caused an uproar in Jordan, causing the ambassador and the entire embassy staff, including the guard, to return to Israel. Sources say that if the Jordanians continue to refuse the ambassador’s return, Israel will be forced to appoint a new ambassador in order to restore relations.

Israeli police are still investigating the shooting but the assumption is that the guard shot in self defense.

For further reading click here.

PM Visits TA
Three days after the Supreme Court ruled that the State cannot detain illegal migrants for more than 60 days, PM Netanyahu visited South Tel Aviv, where the majority of illegal migrants live. The PM spoke with residents and listened to their complaints about the illegals and also presided over the opening of a new police station in the neighborhood.

Netanyahu stressed Israel’s right to deport illegal immigrants and said that the government would pass new legislation to circumvent the Supreme Court decision. He also said that the government would crack down on those who employ illegal immigrants.

For further reading click here.

Muslim Stats
Ahead of this weekend’s Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has released several statistical figures regarding Israel’s Muslim population.

According to the report, 1.534 million Muslims resided in Israel in 2016, comprising 17.7% of the country’s population. The Muslim population’s annual growth rate has remained constant at 2.4% in the past three years. The Muslim birthrate dropped from from 4.7 children per woman in 2000 to 3.29 children today, but it’s still greater than any other population segment including Jewish. Around 35% of the Muslim population is below 14 years old (534,300), while only 3.9% is 65 and over (59,800).

Jersualem has the highest number of Muslims with 360,000, which comprise 36% of the city’s population. Three second largest concentration of Muslims is in the Negev city of Rahat (64,000).

For more statistics click here.

School Starts
The new school year began today for around 2.2 million Israeli students and 180,000 school staff. The Prime Minister and President visited schools to greet children. Of course there were a few strikes and parent complaints, but overall things seem to go smoothly.

For further reading click here.