Archive for month: November, 2019

News Update

No Returns: Defense Minister Naftali Bennett instructed security authorities to halt any future release of the bodies of terrorists held by Israel, regardless of the terrorist organization the person was affiliated with. The new directive must now be approved by the security cabinet, which it should be shortly.

Israel currently holds the bodies of Hamas terrorists and of other terrorists who have perpetrated major terror attacks. The rest of the bodies are returned gradually to Palestinian hands, usually on Friday evenings, when public attention in Israel is not directed to it.

The family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body is still being held by Hamas since 2014, praised the Defense Minister’s decision saying, “It is inconceivable to continue releasing dead or living terrorists while the soldiers are held in Hamas’s hands.”

More Rockets and Response: Two rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza yesterday. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome and the other fell into an open field. In response, IDF planes struck Hamas military targets in Gaza. DM Bennett warned Hamas of severe consequences if they continue attacking Israel.

Around 8,000 demonstrated in support of PM Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last night.

In what was most likely an accident, a tank shell fired from Egypt hit the dining hall of a yeshiva in Bnei Netzarim, a community located only a few kilometers west of Egypt and south of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The students were studying in a different part of the building, so there were no casualties. Rabbi Hillel Rothkoff, the head of the yeshiva, called it a great miracle.

IDF Central Command grounded all its Yas’ur-type Sikorsky helicopters until further notice, following a crash-landing earlier that day in the Negev desert. There were no casualties. The IDF is in the process of replacing the helicopters with newer models.

El Al will start testing direct flights between Israel and Australia. The flight will be made with the Dreamliner and take between 17 and 18 hours. Meanwhile, El Al reported a decline of 30% in gross income over the last quarter – from $42 million last quarter to $27 million – resulting in a 19% drop in the company’s stocks on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

News Update

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit yesterday indicted PM Netanyahu on charges on charges which include bribery, fraud and breach of trust. It is the first time in the nation’s history a sitting premier faces a criminal trial. According to the indictment, Netanyahu accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, offered to trade favors with a newspaper publisher and used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site.

It could take many months before the cases are brought before the court. Netanyahu could also seek a plea deal rather than stand trial. Netanyahu’s supporters in the Knesset could move to pass a bill granting him parliamentary immunity from prosecution, but with no clear majority in the Knesset, it’s unclear how such a bill would pass.

To read more detail about the indictment charges click here.

The PM called the indictment against him a “government coup” and pledged to continue leading the country. He said, “This evening we are witnesses to an attempted government coup against the prime minister, using false allegations and stained investigations. You must have noticed that the attorney general’s decision was made and announced at an unprecedented speed, and I would say during the most sensitive time for our political system since the establishment of the state.” And he continues along the same train of thought for quite a while.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said, “Netanyahu is a richly deserving person. I made the decision to indict him with a heavy heart, but with a whole heart. Law enforcement is not a matter of choice, it’s not a matter of left or right, it’s not a matter of politics, it’s my duty to the citizens of this country. The public interest demands that no-one should be above the law. It’s a hard day, but also an important day.”

Now What? Netanyahu can still legally run for election and form a government, which is what he will almost definitely do. And if he succeeds in finally forming a government, there’s a very good chance that its first order of business will be to pass legislation to grant him immunity from prosecution. So, the voters will decide.

In other news, tens of thousands of Jews will be spending this Shabbat in Hebron, which coincides with the weekly Torah reading of Chayeh Sarah, which recounts the story of Abraham purchasing the Cave of the Patriarchs. And we’ve never left.

News Update

IDF airstrikes hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria early this morning. The targets included surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases near Damascus. Eleven militants were killed. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed.

The Israeli strikes came in response to 4 Iranian rocket that was fired from Syria into the Golan on Tuesday. All 4 rockets were intercepted. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said, “The rules have changed: whoever fires on Israel during the day will not sleep at night. Our message to the leaders of Iran is simple: you are no longer immune. Any place you dispatch your tentacles, we will chop them off.”

Blue and White leader Gantz met with PM Netanyahu last night in another attempt to form a unity government, with less than 12 hours remaining until he must return his mandate to form a government to the president. But reports say that the Blue and White leadership, including Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi, are refusing to join a government led by Netanyahu.

Yisrael Beiteynu leader Lieberman, who holds the key to a non-unity government coalition, said that the country is headed for another round of elections since neither Gantz nor Netanyahu is willing to make the compromises necessary to form a unity government. Lieberman has said he will not join a narrow coalition either on the right or left. That leaves only 2 options: unity or elections.

The US, on Monday, reversed its long held position that Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria are illegal according to international law. Israel is clearly happy with the policy change. The Palestinians are furious. The US evangelical community, President Trumps main base of support, praised the move. The UN says the settlements are still illegal.

News Update

A ceasefire went into effect this morning between Israel and Islamic Jihad. Since Tuesday, at least 25 terrorists were killed by the IDF as they tried to launch missiles and anti-tank rockets towards Israel. In total, 450 rockets were fired at Israel since Tuesday morning. Around 90% of those heading towards population centers were intercepted by the Iron Dome. Sixty percent of the rockets landed in unpopulated, open areas.

IDF aircraft carried out dozens of strikes on Islamic Jihad targets, hitting military compounds, weapons depots, training facilities, command centers, rocket launcher, naval vessels, tunnels and observation posts.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said 77 people were treated for various degrees of injuries since the violence broke out, including an elderly woman from Ashkelon whose assisted living facility was hit by a rocket.

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said today, “The IDF will operate with full impunity and without restrictions against anyone attempting to cause harm to the population of Israel. There will be nowhere to hide.”

News Update

An IDF airstrike in Gaza killed Islamic Jihad senior commander Bahaa Abu al-Atta early this morning, in the first targeted killing of terrorist leaders since 2014. PM Netanyahu said that Abu al-Atta was planning imminent attacks against Israel. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz tweeted his support of the killing, and said that Israel’s security supersedes all politics.

As of 1pm today, over 150 rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza, in response to the assassination, of which the Iron Dome intercepted around 50.

Twenty-nine people were treated for light injuries in the rocket attacks. One person was hurt in a direct hit on the Route 4 highway at Gan Yavne next to the southern city of Ashdod and a 35-year-old man was wounded in Moshav Be’er Tuvia in southern Israel. Fifteen people were hurt as they ran for their bomb shelters and 13 people were treated for shock. A house in the southern community of Netivot sustained a direct hit from a rocket.

The IDF is expecting several days of fighting.

Shortly after the assassination in Gaza, a bomb exploded in the home of Islamic Jihad’s deputy leader Akram Al-Ajouri in Damascus. Two people were killed dead and six others injured, but it is unclear whether Al-Ajouri was one of the casualties.

In other news: Jordanian media is reporting that Jordanian intelligence recently foiled a plot by two suspected militants to mount terror attacks against U.S. and Israeli diplomats alongside U.S. troops deployed at a military base in the south of the country. The suspects had planned to drive vehicles into their targets and attack them with firearms and knives.