Archive for month: August, 2023

News Update

A terrorist who was accelerating his car towards troops outside the settlement of Beit Haggai was shot and killed by troops today.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday and stressed that the likelihood of escalation on the northern border is increasing due to Hezbollah operations, which violate Israel’s sovereignty. He added that Iran was funding and arming Hezbollah, pushing them to act. US Mid-East envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut today for meetings with senior officials there in an attempt to ease the tensions along the border with Israel. For more, click here.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning to renew financial support of the Palestinian Authority, as part of their move towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

An Air Seychelles flight from the Seychelles Islands to Tel Aviv made an unscheduled landing in Saudi Arabia on Monday due to a technical malfunction. The 128 Israelis on the flight were provided with hotel accommodations while waiting for another flight. Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked the Saudis for their “warm hospitality”.

News Update

Security forces yesterday arrested 2 terrorists suspected of murdering Batsheva Nigri and wounding Aryeh Gottleib in a shooting attack near Hebron earlier this week. The Security Cabinet met yesterday and decided to intensify targeted killings of terrorist leaders.

Settlement leaders presented an expansion plan to Prime Minister Netanyahu today that includes building new cities, hospitals, train lines to central Israel and an airport. For more, click here. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrived for a three-day visit to Israel on Monday at the invitation of the Jewish Federation of New York. For more, click here.

The Canadian Embassy in Israel on Tuesday tweeted a statement condemning the recent terror attacks against Israelis saying, “Canada is concerned by the increasing number of terrorist attacks committed against civilians in Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks. We condemn these horrific acts and extend our condolences to the victims and their loved ones.”

Lebanon’s Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday that it had discovered and confiscated various Israeli products in various stores and warehouses throughout the country. They are investigating how the goods got into the country.

An official Ministry of Transport document headed “The Traffic Jams Are Coming!” warns of a worsening of the overcrowding on Israel’s roads and damage to the reliability of public transport starting next month, when children return to school. For more, click here.

News Update

The US has approved Israel’s $3.5 billion sale of the Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany, which is the largest arms deal in Israel’s history. The Arrow 3 system, jointly developed and produced by Israel’s Defense Research and Development Directorate and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

According to Egyptian media, a delegation from Egypt’s General Intelligence Service held discussions with Israeli officials in Israel for several days to discuss economic relations between the two countries and policies concerning Gaza.

160 drug plantations containing approximately 126,350 cannabis plants were destroyed in a three-day sting operation by Border Police from the Internal Security Brigade in the Negev. Another nine greenhouses containing approximately 11,200 seedlings were destroyed in the western Negev.

Tel Aviv’s light rail has begun operating. Work on the light rail to expand it will continue. The train will not operate on Shabbat.

News Update

Israel revealed today that security forces last month arrested nine members of a suspected Hamas-sponsored terrorist cell who were allegedly plotting to kidnap a soldier in the West Bank. A Shin Bet investigation revealed that the terror cell, in the town of Bidu, had armed themselves, prepared explosives, mapped out escape routes and conducted reconnaissance missions to study the daily routines of soldiers stationed nearby. For more, click here.

In an unusual move by the current right-wing government, security forces today demolished 5 illegal settler structures built on Palestinian owned land near Ramallah. For more, click here.

A Hezbollah terrorist in Lebanon threw a Molotov cocktail at the Israeli side of the perimeter fence in the Metulla area on Sunday evening, damaging a water carrier. The IDF force on the scene responded by firing warning shots. The IDF has already deployed extra troops along the border to prevent trouble.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings affirmed Israel’s A+ sovereign credit rating and “stable” outlook, citing strong external finances while cautioning that the government’s judicial overhaul plan could hurt Israel’s credit metrics. For more, click here.

News Update

Syrian state media reported that an Israeli airstrike near Damascus killed 4 Syrian soldiers and wounded 4 others early this morning.

On Sunday, security forces killed 3 terrorists near Jenin. The terrorists were on their way to commit a terror attack when their vehicle was fired upon. On Saturday night, a terrorist shot and killed security guard Chen Amir in Tel Aviv. Amir’s partner managed to shoot and kill the terrorist. The terrorist was Kamel Abu Bakr, a 22-year-old resident of Jenin affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

Hamas reportedly thwarted an attempt by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel early this morning.

As a condition for its acceptance into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP), Israel will begin allowing Palestinian Americans living in Gaza to fly out of Ben Gurion airport. For more, click here.