Archive for month: December, 2021

News Update

A civilian Israeli contractor working on the security fence along the Gaza border was shot and lightly wounded today. The shooting occurred while terror groups in Gaza were holding a massive military drill. IDF tanks fired at several Hamas outposts in response to the shooting. Gaza media reported that three Palestinians were wounded.

Last night Defense Minister Gantz hosted PA President Abbas at his personal residence in Rosh Haayin. It was Abbas’s first meeting in Israel since 2010. Gantz approved a string of trust-building concessions including the addition of hundreds of entry permits for Palestinian businessmen and vehicles, additional VIP permits for dozens of PA officials, and the advancement of tax payments to the PA worth NIS 100 million. Gantz said that there would be more economic related measure implemented in the near future. For more details, click here.

The primary Syrian port of Latakia was attacked again early yesterday, allegedly by Israel. The port was previously attacked on Dec. 7. A Syrian military official said Israeli missiles were fired from the sea, west of Latakia, hitting the terminal and igniting fires that caused major damage. Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariyah TV ran footage showing flames and smoke rising from the terminal. Maj. Mohannad Jafaar, head of the Latakia fire department, said 12 fire trucks worked for hours to contain the fire. Port manager Amjad Suleiman told Al-Ikhbariyah the damage was much larger than that caused by the Dec. 7 attack and required a major effort to move in-tact containers away from the flames.

In a year-end statement issued by the IDF, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi boasted of success in disrupting weapons shipments to Israel’s enemies in the region. He said, “The increase in the scope of operations over the past year has led to a significant disruption of the movement of weapons into the various arenas by our enemies.” In its year-end assessment, the IDF confirmed carrying out strikes on dozens of targets in Syria in what it called “the campaign between the wars.” Three targets also were struck in Lebanon, it said. It gave no further details. It also reported about 100 operations by the Israeli Navy, including dozens of “special operations.”

The Biden administration announced today that it is examining the possibility of reopening the offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington. One hurdle facing the move is the law which exposes all Palestinian representatives affiliated with the reopened PLO offices in Washington to personal lawsuits whenever there is a terrorist attack against Israel. The Palestinians want a guarantee from Washington that their representatives will receive immunity from such lawsuits if the PLO offices reopen. The Biden administration is also examining the possibility of increasing financial support for the Palestinian Authority. Israel supports that, but only on the condition that the PA stops monthly payments to terrorists and their families.

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau told the PM that he will not approve any future conversions to Judaism as long as the government continues to advance a plan to reform the process and dilute the Chief Rabbinate’s control over it. Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana is pushing legislation that would allow for conversions outside the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate, authorizing municipal rabbis to supervise the process. There are currently 100 Ethiopian immigrants whose conversions the Chief Rabbi is refusing to approve. To read more, click here.

Former SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum and a company employee Ayala Cohen were indicted for insider trading. Birnbaum told Cohen inside information regarding two major events and told her to buy shares ahead of those events, which she did. To read more, click here.

The Health Ministry today reported 2,967 new Covid cases, resulting in a 2.48% infection rate. There are only 88 Covid patients hospitalized in serious condition.

News Update

IDF troops were entering the village of El-Bireh, near Psagot, in northern Samaria (West Bank) last night when a terrorist in a passing vehicle opened fire on them. The soldiers fired back, hitting the terrorist, who later died. Dozens of Palestinians then gathered around the troops and began rioting. The troops managed to disperse the crowd using riot control measures. The 26 year old terrorist was identified as having been actively involved in terror attacks against Israelis.

The IDF carried out large-scale arrests overnight in Halhul, Hebron, Yabed and other Palestinian towns.

Over 15,000 people, primarily from Samaria took part in a memorial service at the spot where Yehuda Dimantman was killed in a terror attack last week. Dimantman’s family demanded that the government not take any steps to evacuate the yeshiva in Homesh, where Yehuda studied and which is considered to be an illegal outpost by the government. After the memorial service, the crowd walked to the yeshiva, in the pouring rain. Later that night, a group of settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Burqa, near the rally.

Today, Border Police demolished several makeshift structures at the Homesh outpost, but did not touch the yeshiva.

Hamas is planning more terror attacks, with new techniques and capabilities. To read more, click here.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri will resign from the Knesset as part of a plea agreement he signed after pleading guilty to two tax offenses. He will also pay a fine of NIS 180,000 (57,000 dollar) in exchange for a suspended sentence. Deri said that he plans to continue leading the Sephardic Ultra Orthodox Shas party.

Despite claims that Israel is driving away its Christian community, the latest census reports indicate that Israel’s Christian community grew 1.4 percent last year to 182,000.

At the inaugural conference of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS) in Turkey this week, Turkish President Erdogan told the rabbis that “Relations between Turkey, Jews and Israel will always be strong. Economic relations between the two countries are stronger than ever and will continue to grow.” To read more about the conference, click here.

News Update

Security forces arrested 4 suspects in the terror attack in which Yehuda Dimantman, a 25 year old yeshiva student and father, was killed and 2 other students wounded. The terrorists were captured in a night raid on a house in the village of Silat al-Harithiya, north of the West Bank city of Jenin, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The terrorists surrendered without a fight. PM Bennett was in the command center overseeing the joint IDF, Shin Bet and police operation. IDF troops came under heavy fire last night, when they attempted to map the home of 2 of the terrorists (brothers) for demolition. The troops returned fire. None of them were injured.

A Palestinian man attempted to stab 2 Jewish men in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday. Police pursued and captured the attacker, who was a 20 year old from the West Bank village of Anatha. The Jewish men were not hurt in the attack. On Saturday, a 38-year-old man was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant near the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron. The attacker was detained by security forces without a fight. Security forces also arrested a Palestinian teen who stabbed an Israeli woman in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem last week.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have signed an agreement to increase terror attacks against Israel and to coordinate their military wings. The agreement was reached in meetings between the leaders of both terror groups in Lebanon and in Gaza. The deal is seen by Palestinian political analysts as a new challenge for the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose security forces continue to carry out a massive crackdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad members in the West Bank.

Tel Aviv is no longer ranked as the most liberal city in Israel. it is now second to neighboring Givatayim. Kfar Saba came in third, followed by Rishon Letzion and Hertzliya.

The District Planning and Building Committee – Southern District has announced the approval of the general outline plan for Beersheva. The plan proposes adding over 34,000 housing units to the Negev city, which will enable the population of the city to double to over 400,000. In addition to housing, the plan includes some four million additional square meters of office and commercial space, three million square meters of industrial space, 2.7 million square meters for public buildings, and 370,000 square meters for tourism. To read more, click here.

A major storm, named Carmel, will be hitting Israel today thru Wednesday with powerful winds and rain. Flooding is expected in coastal cities and in other low lying areas, and snow is expected on Mt. Hermon and in the Golan. [If you’re reading this, that means there hasn’t been a power outage in Modiin just yet…]

News Update

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that the US is prepared to move forward with the sale of F-35 fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This comes after a report by Reuters that a UAE official had informed the US that it would suspend discussions to acquire the F-35’s.

The Washington Post reported this week that Israel had attacked two chemical weapons facilities in Syria over the past two years. To read the article, click here.

The Tehran Times newspaper published an article today titled “Just One Wrong Move”, with a map of dozens of targets in Israel that Iran is apparently capable of hitting. Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri was quoted as saying, “At the strategic level, we do not intend to strike anyone, but at the operational and tactical level we are ready for a decisive response and a quick and tough offensive against the enemy.” According to Israeli officials, however, the map of the alleged targets is inaccurate since some of them do not exist, while others include cities on Palestinian territories such as Jenin, Nablus, and Ramallah as well as Lebanon. The officials also said that Iranian capabilities to target Israel without the help of its proxy Hezbollah are extremely limited.

The Biden Administration has reportedly shelved the process of reopening the US consulate in East Jerusalem, in the face of intense pushback from Israel.

An Israeli man returning to the country from Scotland was caught trying to smuggle in 330 baby lobsters in a suitcase. The Agriculture Ministry said that bringing hundreds of lobsters into the country without making sure they are free of diseases could endanger the population of wild lobsters in Israel, and harm the country’s status as an exporter in this field. [did you know that there were Israeli lobsters? For export…of course.]

While millions of Israelis have gotten vaccinated against Covid, only about 15% of the population has gotten the flu shot this season, which has led to a spike in hospitalizations of patients with influenza.