Moscow Call
The Arabic-language Sputnik news website reported yesterday that the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Moscow Gary Koren for a consultation in the wake of the attack against a Syrian air base that was allegedly carried out by Israel.
The Israeli Embassy in Moscow declined comment, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem said “We have ongoing conversations with the Russians all the time, and the ambassador will indeed meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov today.”
For further reading click here.
Iranian Casualties
According to a report by the private Tasnim news agency, 7 Iranian military personnel were killed in Sunday’s attack on a Syrian airbase that Syria and Iran accuse Israel of launching. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said at least 14 people were killed in the raid, some with foreign nationalities.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s most powerful military force, have been fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad for several years. More than 1,000 Iranians have been killed in Syria’s civil war, including senior members of the Guards.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Syrian army chemical attack saying, “The Syrian regime continues to perpetrate crimes against humanity in using these outlawed weapons. The latest attack joins a long series of similar attacks using chemical weapons perpetrated by the regime since Assad undertook to disarm from such weapons. The attack shows clearly that Syria continues to possess lethal chemical weapons capabilities and even to manufacture new ones. In so doing Syria is grossly violating its obligations and the decisions of the international community in this matter,”
For further reading click here.
Irish Mayor Rejected
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced Tuesday evening that he had instructed authorities to stop the mayor of Dublin, who was scheduled to land in Ben Gurion Airport during the night, from entering Israel. The mayor was scheduled to pass through Israel on his way to Ramallah to be hosted by the Palestinian Authority.
Deri justified his decision saying, “He [the mayor] acts in any way possible against Israel. He initiated condemnations against us and yesterday he led a resolution to expel our ambassador in Ireland. Now, he wants to enter PA territory in order to continue to incite and harm Israel. I instructed that he be prevented from entering so that he cannot harm the state. I will continued to use my authority against anyone who tries to harm the State of Israel, including senior public officials.”
Unfortunately, soon after the announcement by Deri the mayor tweeted that he was already in Ramallah. An Interior Ministry spokesman revealed that border control officials had failed to stop him, because the order had apparently spelled his name wrong.
A day before the mayor’s departure for Israel, the Dublin City Council adopted a resolution to expel the Israeli ambassador for the deaths of Palestinians during the March of Return violent demonstrations near the border with Gaza. The resolution has has no practical consequence, but is purely declarative. The Dublin City Council, with the mayor leading the way, has been an outspoken advocate for the Palestinians against Israel. Last year it flew the Palestinian flag over its building for a month.
For further reading click here.
Holocaust Day
Holocaust Memorial Day will begin tonight at 8pm at the Warsaw Ghetto Square in Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The day’s events will be collectively titled, “Holocaust survivors shape memory and build a state”, interweaving with Israel’s upcoming 70th Independence Day. President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak at the ceremony and six Holocaust survivors will light torches to remember the 6 million Jews murdered.
To read about their individual stories of survival, click here.
Jewish Numbers
According to figures released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, there are currently 14,511,000 Jews living in the world, compared to 16,600,000 on the eve of World War II. The current number is the same as the Jewish population number in 1922.
The data indicate that there are currently 6,446,000 Jews in Israel, 5,700,000 in the US, 456,000 in France, 390,000 in Canada, 290,000 in Britain, 181,000 in Argentina, 176,000 in Russia, 117,000 in Germany, and 113,000 in Australia.
For further reading click here.
Israel News for 4-20-18
/by Arnie SingerEU Blocks Funding
The European Parliament in Brussels has passed legislation preventing the transfer of funds from the EU’s PEGASE (the funding mechanism for the Palestinians) to the Palestinian Authority, if those funds are to be used for education to hatred. The new legislation determines that classes and instruction programs using EU funds must reflect shared values such as peace, liberty, tolerance and non-discrimination in the education system.
For further reading click here.
Terror Averted
On Wednesday, A Palestinian man driving a truck carrying “powerful” explosives was arrested trying to enter Israel through a northern West Bank checkpoint. Security guards found the explosives embedded in the truck’s air conditioning system during a routine check of its roof. The truck was carrying products marked as “intended for border communities” and agricultural goods for rural communities in central Israel. Police sappers diffused the bomb. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said the IDF would “hunt the bastards who planned this attack during our holiday. They will not sleep until we find them.”
For further reading click here.
Prize Refused
The Genesis Prize Foundation, which awards what it calls the “Jewish Nobel,” announced it was canceling its prize ceremony in Israel in June after 2018 recipient Natalie Portman said she would not take part in light of “recent events.” Portman remarked that, “recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel” and that “she cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony.”
Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem, holds dual US and Israeli citizenship, and has said that she is proud of her Israeli roots and Jewish heritage. She directed and starred in a Hebrew-language adaptation of Israeli novelist Amos Oz’s memoir, “A Tale of Love and Darkness.”
For further reading click here.
Israel Prize Winners
Sixteen men and women were honored yesterday with receiving the Israel Prize, the countries highest civilian honor. The list including seven professors, four former MKs and two former ministers.
To read about all of the winners, click here.
Startup Rankings
Israeli business publication Calcalist has published its annual ranking of Israel’s 50 most promising startups. To see the full list and read about the startups, click here.
Music Video
Check out this awesome Yom Ha’atzmaut video featuring Shlomo Shabat and around 20 audience members.
Click here to watch.
Yom Hazikaron – Remembering Israel’s Fallen
/by Arnie SingerYom Hazikaron
Today is Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance, on which we pay remember and pay tribute to the members of Israel’s military and security services who paid the ultimate price serving and defending their country. We also mourn the victims of terror, who were murdered solely because they were Jewish and Israeli. The total of fallen since the founding of the state is 23,646.
The day was marked by a two unite long siren heard throughout Israel at 11am during which the entire country came to a halt. The official state memorial ceremony on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl was attended by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.
PM Netanyahu said, “The people’s love is given to your fallen loved ones and our fallen loved ones every day, especially today.” He said, “All of us—Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouin and Circassians—stand together against the terror fanatics threatening to destroy us, and together we’ll keep defeating them.”
The PM recounted that an IDF orphan had asked him earlier this week about his thoughts while sending soldiers to battle. “I told him that I think about the security of the state and its citizens, I think about the soldiers, I think about you and families like your family which might pay the heaviest price of all. I think about my brothers in arms who died beside me, about David Ben Hamo of Be’er Sheva who died in my arms. I always think about the price and how to prevent deaths, and at the same time I know that without the heroism and sacrifice of our fighters, our existence can’t be secured. At moments of truth, we must defend our existence firmly, stand up to our enemies like a fortified wall. We are here thanks to the 23,646 fallen soldiers, whose names are on this wall.”
Speaking at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Lieberman said, “Here, in this place and in every military cemetery in Israel, there are no political parties or factions,” he began in his remarks in a bid to sweep aside political differences as the country unites to remember its fallen soldiers. Here, there are no tribes and no political camps, but only one camp—the children of Israel camp, who sacrificed their lives for Israel’s independence, for its security, for its future,” the defense minister continued, as he called on the nation to unite. Like them, who did not flinch from the dangers and understood that there is no other way, we must also do the same, in their memory and in their spirit, to be one nation and one camp against the challenges that the State of Israel faces.”
At a memorial ceremony for terror victims that took place at 1pm on Mount Herzl the PM said, “We have lost remarkable figures. When I look at the pictures and hear the stories, I immediately know, like all the people of Israel know, that the terrorists robbed us of huge souls. We will chase every despicable murderer while pursing our loved ones’ mission. We will settle the land, put down roots, build communities, strengthen mutual responsibility. Our culture of life and light wll defeat their culture of death and darkness. We have strength, willpower, persistence. We will all stand shoulder to shoulder and pass the torch of mission from hand to hand, from heart to heart.”
For further reading click here.
You can read more about today’s memorials and the heroism of the fallen on any of the Israel news publications and on https://israelforever.org/
Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut, is tonight and tomorrow.
May God accept the 23,646 who died in defense of Israel as our final sacrifice, and bless Israel with true peace.
Israel News for 4-16-18
/by Arnie SingerTunnel Busting
The IDF neutralized a massive Hamas tunnel over the weekend by pouring cement into it. The tunnel crossed around 20 meters into Israeli territory in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted about the incident, saying, “We’ve opened the week with an impressive intelligence and operational achievement with the destruction of another tunnel, the longest and deepest exposed thus far. “Millions of dollars were invested in its excavation, money that would have been better served mitigating the plight of residents but has now sunk into the sand. Gaza residents, Hamas is frittering away your money on tunnels leading nowhere. We will get to them all.”
The IDF has destroyed 8 terror tunnels in the last few months and expects to locate and destroy more in the future. An IDF spokesman said, “The army has been carrying out a methodical, operational, intelligence and technological mission to locate terror tunnels while construction on the barrier is ongoing to defend Israelis and the country’s sovereignty.”
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that “Israel is the first in the world capable of locating and intercepting tunnels underground.”
For further reading click here.
Heated Exchange
Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote a letter to all foreign diplomats stationed in Ramallah, denouncing US negotiator Jason Greenblatt and urging the diplomats to press the International Criminal Court at The Hague to charge Israel over “ongoing Israeli crimes against Palestine”. He wrote, “During the past few weeks, Mr. Jason Greenblatt, President Trump’s envoy, has released several statements on the ongoing attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza whereby he has assumed the role of spokesperson of the Israeli Authorities.”
In response, Greenblatt tweeted, “Saeb Erakat’s personal attack on me is a symptom of the difficulties in the path to peace. Saeb knows there’s no truth to his accusation. This outburst, like all his recent outbursts, is merely intended as a distraction from the important work that lies ahead. But this empty, self-indulgent rhetoric won’t stop us from trying. Saeb: It’s time to time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Or, you can continue to run in circles, and get pretty much nowhere!”
For further reading click here.
Saudi King
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman kicked off an Arab League summit yesterday by criticizing US President Donald Trump’s decision to transfer the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He said, “We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories.”
The king also said, “Saudi Arabia announces $150 million grant to support the administration of Jerusalem’s Islamic property.” Let’s hope they put that money to good use.
For further reading click here.
Dead Sea
The Prime Minister’s Office announced Sunday that it would be investing NIS 417 million shekels ($118.5 million) over the next four years to help Dead Sea area communities deal with the increasing problem of sinkholes and their negative impact on tourism.
The Dead Sea shoreline is receding by about one meter (three feet) per year thanks to natural evaporation, diversion of water from the Jordan River to the north for agricultural purposes, and the pumping out of water at the southern end by the Dead Sea Works for the extraction of salts and minerals. As the shoreline is increasingly exposed, freshwater rushes in and dissolves what used to be underwater layers of salt, causing the surface earth above these layers to collapse inwards.
Today, there are more than 6,000 sinkholes on the western side of the Dead Sea, with new ones showing up daily. The sinkholes have destroyed the public beaches in the northern part of the sea and are responsible for the loss of nearly 40 places of employment in the economically depressed area.
For further reading click here.
Northern Stimulus
Israel will allocate $27 million (NIS 95 million) to establish food-tech research and activity in Kiryat Shmona, the northernmost city near the Lebanese border. The planned food-tech hub will include the establishment of a new 161458.66-square-foot (15,000 square meters) micro industry hub, a national food tech research institute, and a startup accelerator. Part of the budget will be used to incentivize startups and companies to launch activity in the region.
The Israeli government approved the plan on Sunday, as part of an economic development plan that will see the establishment of seven dedicated tech hubs in areas of the country that are far from Tel Aviv.
For further reading click here.
Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Day
/by Arnie SingerRemembering
In Israel it is almost impossible to not remember and reflect upon the horrors and tragedy of the Holocaust. Especially on this day of remembrance, the Holocaust permeates every aspect of Israel’s existence.
But for those living outside of Israel, it takes effort to remember. Even if you try, the sheer numbers — 6 million — are simply overwhelming. How can anyone possible even begin to try to understand the suffering, brutality and horror inflicted upon millions of Jewish men, women and children in homes, schools, hospitals, on streets, in forests and in ghettos and concentration and death camps? It’s impossible.
The only way to attempt this awesome task of remembrance is to start with individuals. The Holocaust destroyed individuals — the kind of people you see in your own family and community.
Imagine the accomplished woman dressed in her finest business suit (is it you or someone you love?) being marched to her gassing. Imagine the accountant, professor, musician, storekeeper, carpenter or plumber being suddenly torn from his daily routine, herded into a forest and gunned down into a mass grave.
The sun shone, the birds sang and the local gentile population looked on (for the most part) as the Jewish populations of entire towns (like Teaneck, Lakewood, Monsey, Houston, San Diego etc.) were hunted down, collected in a central square and then forced onto trains heading to Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, etc.
Distinguished rabbinic sages with long white beards and young yeshiva students immersed in Torah study alongside secular university students and communist activists went to their deaths with dignity and shared their final resting places in mass graves or ash piles.
If you’re willing to go one step further into a place that is almost too painful to even consider [if you can’t then please stop reading here]— take a look at your own young children or grandchildren (or nieces and nephews) and imagine those pure and innocent souls marching to their deaths — and imagine yourself helpless to do anything to help other than watch them…
Now you can begin, in the tiniest sense, to fathom the Holocaust, remember the tragedy and strive to ensure that it never happens again.
So on this day of remembering, try to take some time to reflect on the tragedy by identifying with the victims, even if you have no direct connection to any of them. They were people just like you.
As part of remembering the martyrs, try to do a good deed or act of kindness (mitzvah) in their memory.
May the souls of the millions that perished in the Holocaust be elevated and may they finally find some form of rest knowing that the Jewish nation can now live securely in the homeland they prayed and yearned for.
Remembering Aids
Reading books and watching movies about the Holocaust can help you better remember, understand and identify with the tragedy. In the spirit of Yom Hashoah I’d like to recommend a book that I believe is a must read.
It’s called Defy the Darkness by Joe Rosenblum. This guy went through so much and actually describes it in such great detail — more than I’ve seen anywhere else. It’s really mind blowing.
I actually borrowed it from the library, read it, and then bought it (used) just to have a copy on my bookshelf — it’s that important.
But I warn you, it’s scarier than any horror movie you’ve seen. So if you can handle it, you should read it.
If you’ve never seen the movie Schindler’s List, or if it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, I highly recommend watching it. It is, I believe, the greatest non-documentary Holocaust movie ever made.
Forgetting
A poll entitled “National Survey of Holocaust Awareness and Knowledge Among Adults in the United States”, taken by the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), found that 22% of Americans aged 18-24 said they have never heard of the Holocaust and 11% of 25-34 year olds said they were unfamiliar with it. Fifty-eight percent of the 1,350 people polled said that they believed that another Holocaust could take place again in the future. While 94% of all respondents said that Jews were the victims of the Holocaust, a significant percentage believed that only 2 million or less were murdered.
For further reading click here.
Israel News for 4-11-18
/by Arnie SingerMoscow Call
The Arabic-language Sputnik news website reported yesterday that the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Moscow Gary Koren for a consultation in the wake of the attack against a Syrian air base that was allegedly carried out by Israel.
The Israeli Embassy in Moscow declined comment, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem said “We have ongoing conversations with the Russians all the time, and the ambassador will indeed meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov today.”
For further reading click here.
Iranian Casualties
According to a report by the private Tasnim news agency, 7 Iranian military personnel were killed in Sunday’s attack on a Syrian airbase that Syria and Iran accuse Israel of launching. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, said at least 14 people were killed in the raid, some with foreign nationalities.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s most powerful military force, have been fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad for several years. More than 1,000 Iranians have been killed in Syria’s civil war, including senior members of the Guards.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Syrian army chemical attack saying, “The Syrian regime continues to perpetrate crimes against humanity in using these outlawed weapons. The latest attack joins a long series of similar attacks using chemical weapons perpetrated by the regime since Assad undertook to disarm from such weapons. The attack shows clearly that Syria continues to possess lethal chemical weapons capabilities and even to manufacture new ones. In so doing Syria is grossly violating its obligations and the decisions of the international community in this matter,”
For further reading click here.
Irish Mayor Rejected
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced Tuesday evening that he had instructed authorities to stop the mayor of Dublin, who was scheduled to land in Ben Gurion Airport during the night, from entering Israel. The mayor was scheduled to pass through Israel on his way to Ramallah to be hosted by the Palestinian Authority.
Deri justified his decision saying, “He [the mayor] acts in any way possible against Israel. He initiated condemnations against us and yesterday he led a resolution to expel our ambassador in Ireland. Now, he wants to enter PA territory in order to continue to incite and harm Israel. I instructed that he be prevented from entering so that he cannot harm the state. I will continued to use my authority against anyone who tries to harm the State of Israel, including senior public officials.”
Unfortunately, soon after the announcement by Deri the mayor tweeted that he was already in Ramallah. An Interior Ministry spokesman revealed that border control officials had failed to stop him, because the order had apparently spelled his name wrong.
A day before the mayor’s departure for Israel, the Dublin City Council adopted a resolution to expel the Israeli ambassador for the deaths of Palestinians during the March of Return violent demonstrations near the border with Gaza. The resolution has has no practical consequence, but is purely declarative. The Dublin City Council, with the mayor leading the way, has been an outspoken advocate for the Palestinians against Israel. Last year it flew the Palestinian flag over its building for a month.
For further reading click here.
Holocaust Day
Holocaust Memorial Day will begin tonight at 8pm at the Warsaw Ghetto Square in Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The day’s events will be collectively titled, “Holocaust survivors shape memory and build a state”, interweaving with Israel’s upcoming 70th Independence Day. President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak at the ceremony and six Holocaust survivors will light torches to remember the 6 million Jews murdered.
To read about their individual stories of survival, click here.
Jewish Numbers
According to figures released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, there are currently 14,511,000 Jews living in the world, compared to 16,600,000 on the eve of World War II. The current number is the same as the Jewish population number in 1922.
The data indicate that there are currently 6,446,000 Jews in Israel, 5,700,000 in the US, 456,000 in France, 390,000 in Canada, 290,000 in Britain, 181,000 in Argentina, 176,000 in Russia, 117,000 in Germany, and 113,000 in Australia.
For further reading click here.
Israel News for 4-9-18
/by Arnie SingerRussia Blames Israel
Russia today blamed Israel for attacking a Syrian air base. The attack on the base near the city of Homs came after a suspected chemical attack by the Syrian army killed over 60 civilians near Damascus over the weekend. Russia’s Defense Ministry said two Israeli fighter jets launched the attack on the T4 air base in central Syria from Lebanon’s air space and that Syria shot down 5 out of the 8 missiles fired at the base. The other 3 reportedly killed 14 people, including Iranians.
Yesterday President Trump strongly condemned the chemical attack, blamed Russia and Iran and threatened that there would be a “big price to pay”. But the Pentagon denied attacking the air base. So did Israel.
For further reading click here.
Gaza Strikes
Yesterday afternoon 3 Palestinians crossed into Israel from northern Gaza. After hiding for a short time they were discovered and fired upon by IDF tanks. The 3 managed to escape back across the border unharmed. After a thorough search of the area, the IDF found 2 explosive devices. Meanwhile another Palestinian was apprehended crossing the border.
In response to the incursions, Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked a Hamas military base in northern Gaza early today.
For further reading click here.
Gaza Protests
On Friday, around 20,000 Palestinians demonstrated at the Gaza border in a protest that soon turned into day-long rioting. Nine Palestinians were killed as a result of clashes with Israeli forces including Yaser Martuja, who was wearing a blue protective vest with the word PRESS in bold lettering. The IDF released a statement saying, “The IDF does not intentionally fire on journalists. The circumstances in which journalists were hit, allegedly by IDF fire, are unknown to us and are being examined.”
The protest march (riot) was a continuation of the “Great March of Return” that began last Friday when 30,000 Gaza’s marched towards the Israeli border and tried to break it down and cross into Israel. Eighteen protestors were killed in clashes with the IDF, who prevented them from crossing into Israel.
The IDF has appointed a panel to investigate the clashes over the last two weeks that have claimed a total of 30 Palestinians.
For further reading click here.
Stabbing Attempt
A terrorist attempted to stab an Israeli man at a gas station in Mishor Adumim near Ma’ale Adumim (Judea – West Bank) yesterday morning. A civilian driving by noticed the attack and opened fire at the terrorist, neutralizing him. The terrorist was taken to Hadassah Medical Center in serious condition. Three people were treated for shock.
For further reading click here.
Chief Rabbi on Syria
Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef called on the government to work towards ending the massacre being committed by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own people.
A statement released by the Chief Rabbi’s office said:
“I have said in the past and I will say it again: What is happening in Syria is genocide of women and children in its cruelest form, using weapons of mass destruction. We have a moral obligation not to keep quiet and to try and stop this massacre. As Jews who have experienced genocide, as Jews whose Torah is a light to the nations, it is our moral obligation to try and stop this murder. It is an obligation no less important than the moral obligation to destroy the nuclear reactor in Syria.”
In response to the statement, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid tweeted, ““Though I have my disagreements with the Rishon Letzion (Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel), the things he said about Syria today are the words of a true spiritual leader.”
For further reading click here.
Israel News for 3-29-18
/by Arnie SingerTerror Payments
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to return to directly providing financial aid to families of terrorists imprisoned in Israel and to families of terrorists killed in attacks against Israel. The PA had been indirectly paying the families of the “martyrs” for four years, but has now decided to pay directly.
The PA move is a show of defiance against the US, after Congress passed the Taylor Force Act last week, which halts economic aid to the PA until it ceases paying stipends to terrorists and to the families of deceased terrorists.
The Palestinian Media Watch group released a copy of the PA budget for 2018, in which NIS 550 million was budgeted as stipends for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel and NIS 687 million for the families of terrorists who were killed while carrying out terror attacks or in attempted attacks against Israel.
The total budget for terrorist related stipends, NIS 1.2 billion, makes up 7 percent of the total PA budget and is only slightly less than the budget of the PA’s Health Ministry.
For further reading click here.
Palestinian Numbers
According to new data published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, there are 2,881,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and 1,900,000 in Gaza. If you add the Israeli Arab population of 1.84 million, the total Arab population living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is around 6.6 million. The Jewish population is 6.9 million.
Based on the numbers, a one-state solution that gives citizenship to all Arabs doesn’t look like such a great idea for maintaining a Jewish state. A two-state solution doesn’t look any better.
Any ideas?
For further reading click here.
Fighter Deal
Croatia announced that it plans to purchase around 12 refurbished Israeli F-16 fighter aircraft in a deal worth approximately $500 million. Israel beat out a more expensive proposal ($700 million) by Swedish manufacturer Saab for a new fighter squadron.
For further reading click here.
El Al Sues
El Al has filed a lawsuit against the government for allowing Air India to fly over Saudi airspace on its New Delhi-Tel Aviv flights, which El Al says puts it at an unfair disadvantage. El Al is asking that the Air India flights be halted until Israeli airlines are also allowed to fly over Saudi Arabia.
El Al claims that when it was privatized back in the 1990s, the Israeli government at the time pledged to “encourage fair and healthy competition” between Israeli airlines and their foreign competitors. El Al claims that this pledge is now being undermined.
For further reading click here.
US Style
Urban Outfitters, the US clothing retailer, has opened its first store in Israel, located in the Big Fashion center in Ashdod. Three more Urban Outfitters stores are slated for opening this year: the first on Mamilla Boulevard in Jerusalem in May, followed by a store in the Ir Yamim shopping mall in Netanya and the Dizengoff Center branch (Tel Aviv), which will be the chain’s leading store.
For further reading click here.
Whiskey Imports
Figures provided by the UK embassy in Israel show a record of 4.5 million bottles of Scotch whisky imported into Israel in 2017. In monetary terms, Scotch whisky imports have soared from £10 million in 2012 to over £30 million in 2017. Scotch whisky imports totaled £26 million in both 2015 and 2016.
An alcoholic beverages reform introduced by the government eight years ago greatly reduced the price of expensive alcoholic beverages in Israel. For example, the price of a bottle of 18 year-old Chivas Regal or Johnny Walker Black Label whisky was cut in half at the time.
L’chaim!!
For further reading click here.
Charedi Groupings
A report recently published breaks down the the percentages of the various groups that make up the Charedi community in Israel:
Lithuanian – 29.1%
Hassidic (non Chabad) – 29.7%
Sephardim – 22.9%
Sephardim educated in Lithuanian institutions – 12.4%
Chabad Hassidic – 5.9%
For more info in the report, click here.
Happy Passover
The Passover (Pesach) holiday begins this Friday night and lasts for 7 days in Israel and 8 days outside of Israel. The holiday commemorates the miraculous liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. The story is retold at the Seder, along with the drinking of 4 cups of wine, the eating of Matzah and bitter herbs (Maror), and a lot more singing, eating and celebrating. During the entire holiday no leavened grain based products (like bread, pasta, cookies etc) may be consumed, possessed or benefited from.
May this Passover mark the beginning of our final, permanent and complete redemption, and may we be blessed with health, success and peace.
NOTE: The next IsraelAM issue will be published after Passover.
Israel News for 3-26-18
/by Arnie SingerHezbollah Hit
Arab media outlet Al Arabiya reported Sunday evening that Israel attacked Hezbollah outposts in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley region of Baalbek adjacent to the Syrian border. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen network denied the reports. The IDF did not comment.
For further reading click here.
Going National
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat officially announced last Wednesday that he will forego running for a third term as mayor and instead run on the Likud party’s national ticket in the coming elections. He said, “I have decided to serve Israel on the national level and strengthen the Likud movement, whose path I wholeheartedly believe in.” Barkat has been mayor of Jerusalem for the past 10 years.
For further reading click here.
Tariff Exemption
Israel is pressing the US administration for an exemption from the new tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. Israel’s official reason for the request is that its metal exports to the US are marginal, totaling $25 million a year, and pose no threat to the US economy. The request also states that limiting aluminum and steel exports from Israel to the US and setting high customs duties will affect dozens of small and medium-sized companies operating throughout Israel. So far, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Argentina, Australia and the European Union will be exempted from the tariffs.
The Israel Metal Industries Association in the Manufacturers Association of Israel said that 50-60 companies in Israel would be affected by the high customs duties on steel and aluminum in trade with the US. According to the Metal Industries Association’s figures, exports of steel products to the US market totaled $21 million in 2017, and exports of aluminum products totaled $3-4 million. “The quantity of exports is purely marginal, and poses no threat to the US market, but stopping it will deal a hard blow to dozens of Israeli companies.
For further reading click here.
Syrian Synagogue
In an official complaint filed with the United Nations Security Council last week, Syria accused Israel of smuggling religious books and other artifacts from the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in cooperation with Turkey and with terrorist groups operating in the area.
The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, located in the Jobar district of Damascus, is believed to be built on the spot where the prophet Elijah is believed to have hid in a cave and in the place where Elijah is said to have anointed the prophet Elisha. According to a plaque on the building, the synagogue dates from 720 BCE. Jobar was home to a large Jewish community for hundreds of years until the 1800s.
The synagogue was said to have been mostly destroyed in mortar attacks during a May 2014 battle between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar and rebel troops. The synagogue reportedly was looted following the battle.
Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari wrote in the letter of what he called “credible evidence” that “the terrorist groups that are active in the area of Jobar, near Damascus, cooperated with the Turkish and Israeli intelligence services to loot artifacts and manuscripts from the ancient synagogue there.”
The letter continued: “The items were then smuggled through local and foreign intermediaries to Istanbul, where they were received by antiquities experts who certified that they were extremely valuable antique objects. The items were subsequently smuggled to New York.”
For further reading click here.
Colombia Anti-Semitism
A Colombian Jewish journalist, Channel 1’s Cathy Bekerman, was ordered to resign from her TV news anchor post after she refused an order from her boss to cross herself while she was on the air. She refused to resign. The Colombian constitutions guarantees religious freedom. Her boss ended up issuing a public apology.
For further reading click here.
Israel News for 3-23-18
/by Arnie SingerPalestinian Antics
In a report titled “Friedman, the Ambassador of Settlements and Lawyer of Extremism,” the PA Ministry of Information in Ramallah yesterday called for placing the US ambassador on a “global terror list” “for violating international law, supporting terrorism, and promoting ethnic cleansing and black racism.” This comes days after PA President Abbas called Friedman a “settler” and “son of a dog”.
It’s unclear what the Palestinians are trying to accomplish other than look like idiots and infuriate the US. So far they’ve succeeding on both accounts.
For further reading click here.
Supreme Court
Israel’s Supreme Court yesterday rejected a petition to demolish the entire home of a terrorist responsible for the murder of three members of the Salomon family in a July, 2017 terror attack. The court rejected the petition filed by members of the Salomon family, appealing a ruling by the court in August 2017 that only the interior of the first floor of the home where terrorist Omar al-Abed lived be destroyed, leaving the second floor of the building intact.
The IDF had initially planned to demolish the entire home where al-Abed lived, but petitions brought by several left-wing NGOs on behalf of al-Abed’s family called on the Supreme Court to intervene and limit the demolition. The court accepted the request, and barred the IDF from demolishing the entire building, arguing that al-Abed had primarily used the bottom floor, while his relatives lived on the top floor.
The Salomon family’s petition argued that the entire building was liable for demolition, since al-Abed’s relatives living on the second floor had been convicted of aiding and abetting the terrorist. The petition also cited a law authorizing the IDF to demolish a house and confiscate the land on which it was built, when one of its residents was an accomplice, or accomplice after-the-fact, in offenses of violence and terrorism.
For further reading click here.
Momentous Flight
Air India flight AI 139 from Delhi to Tel Aviv made history yesterday by becoming the first commercial flight to fly to Israel over Saudi Arabia. The flight via the airspace of Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan took seven and a half hours, two hours less than if it had been required to circumvent Saudi Arabia.
On hand to greet the historic flight was Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz and Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin. Katz told reporters, “This is an historic moment. For the first time, there has been an official connection between the State of Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
El Al has not been granted rights to fly over Saudi Arabia on its Tel Aviv – Mumbai route and the Israeli carrier’s CEO Gonen Usishkin is protesting unfair competition. He told Yediot Ahronot, “The government is not acting for our benefit. We expect equal opportunity and it’s a shame that the government and the prime minister do not take that into account.”
For further reading click here.
Visa Regulations
The US Embassy in Israel announced yesterday that it was easing the entry visa requirements for Israelis. Under the new regulations, Israelis who are renewing a valid tourist visa or whose visa expired during the past 12 months will not need to present themselves for a personal interview with an official at the US Consulate. Applicants can request a visa renewal online and if their application is accepted they can send their passport to the consulate by mail or take it personally for the visa to be stamped on.
Israel has still not been placed on the visa waiver program, like 38 other countries, which would allow Israelis to visit the US for up to 90 days without a visa.
For further reading click here.
Shabbat Music
A couple of inspiring music videos to get you ready for Shabbat.
The first is a medley of Shlomo Carlebach shabbat songs sung by a Chassidic trio. To watch click here.
The second is a classic by Mordecai Ben David called Just One Shabbos. To listen click here.
Israel News for 3-21-18
/by Arnie SingerAiding Terror
Police arrested Monday night eight people suspected of not trying to prevent a deadly terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday which claimed the life of Adiel Kolman. According to the police investigation, the eight traders aged between 15 and 67, who live on HaGai street where the attack took place, were in the area when the bloodletting began and despite realizing what was taking place, did nothing to try and prevent it.
However, the court released all 8 suspects to house arrest until March 25th, due to weak evidence. They are forbidden from making contact with the defendants in the case.
For further reading click here.
Abbas Slur
Speaking to Palestinian leaders in Ramallah on Monday, PA President Abbas lashed out against US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman saying, “The US ambassador in Tel Aviv is a settler and a son of a dog.”
In response, Friedman said, “His response was to refer to me as ‘son of a dog’. Is that antisemitism or political discourse? I leave that up to you.” The White House called the slur “highly inappropriate.”
Jason Greenblatt, top Mideast negotiator, said, “The time has come for President Abbas to choose between hateful rhetoric and concrete and practical efforts to improve the quality of life of his people and lead them to peace and prosperity. Notwithstanding his highly inappropriate insults against members of the Trump administration, the latest iteration being his insult of my good friend and colleague Ambassador Friedman, we are committed to the Palestinian people and to the changes that must be implemented for peaceful coexistence.”
PM Netanyahu said that Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem has caused Abbas to “lose it”.
Abbas was responding to a tweet made by Friedman relating to a terror attack saying “Such brutality and no condemnation from the PA!”
For further reading click here.
Sinai Threat
Speaking at the Negev Conference in Dimona yesterday, PM Netanyahu called the “flooding” of illegal African migrants from the Sinai into Israel the most serious threat Israel faces on the Egyptian border. He praised his own decision to construct a security wall along the entire Egyptian border, from Gaza to Eilat, claiming that it has stopped terror attacks and infiltration by illegal migrants.
The PM said, “How could we guarantee a Jewish and democratic state with between 50,000 and 100,000 infiltrators each year? The number could have risen to 1.5 million.” He added, “We completed a tremendous operation—the construction of a fence that is 200 kilometers long on the Sinai border. There was strong resistance to the idea of the fence from Gaza to Eilat. They said it would cost so much money, who knows if it will work, but I believed in it.”
For further reading click here.
Gaza Relief
Despite mounting tensions along the Gaza border recently, the IDF has decided on the following steps to improve humanitarian conditions there:
1. traders from the strip will be allowed to enter Israel to participate in business dealings
2. the amount of fruit and vegetables allowed to be exported from Gaza was increased
3. entrance permits to younger Palestinians were granted
4. increased truck traffic was allowed to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
5. Gaza fishermen will be allowed to go out to sea for longer periods of time.
For further reading click here.
Tragic Accident
An IDF soldier from the elite Duvdevan unit was accidentally killed yesterday on a base in the center of the country. According to reports, the soldier, 20 year old Shachar Citrog from Givatayim, was sitting in his room with another soldier who was apparently playing with his handgun when it accidentally was discharged. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office stated that the military police has opened an investigation into the incident.
For further reading click here.
Attack Confirmed
Israel has finally officially confirmed that it attacked and destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007.
To read more about the details of the attack, click here.
Musk Meeting
PM Netanyahu met with Elon Musk yesterday at the PM’s residence in Jerusalem. He said, “I met with Elon Musk this morning. He told me that Israel was a technological power, and that he appreciates what we’re doing here.” Sources say Musk’s visit to Israel is linked to cooperation with Israeli startup Cortica.
For further reading click here.