Israel News for 10-17-18
Rocket Hit
A rocket fired from Gaza early this morning hit a two story house in the city of Be’ersheva. Miri Shabita, the owner of the house who was sleeping downstairs, ran upstairs at the sound of the warning sirens and dragged her 3 sleeping children into the home’s bomb shelter just before the rocket hit. The mother, 39, and her 3 children aged 9, 10 and 12 were treated for shock, but were otherwise unharmed. The house was almost totally destroyed. The balcony of the house next door collapsed, and several other homes and parked cars were hit by debris and shrapnel.
The rocket attack came a day before Kamel Abbas, the head of Egyptian intelligence, is due to arrive in Israel to discuss the ceasefire talks with Hamas. After the attack, Hamas and Islamic Jihad released a joint statement in which they said they “oppose rocket fire that hurts the efforts to lift the siege,” and that they “reject all irresponsible attempts that try to change the direction and sabotage the Egyptian efforts, including the overnight firing of the rocket.”
The IDF said, “The rockets that were fired are self-produced and medium-ranged. Only two organizations in Gaza have such rockets: Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It doesn’t matter who fired, Hamas bears the responsibility.”
In response to the attack, IDF planes attacked 20 terror targets in Gaza including Hamas military bases, rocket manufacturing sites, underground infrastructure and terror tunnels. At least one terrorist was reportedly killed in the strikes.
Defense Minister Lieberman ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings and the reduction of the strip’s fishing zone to three nautical miles.
For further reading click here.
Aussie Surprise
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated yesterday that he was open to the idea of moving the Australian embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the city as Israel’s capital. The move would reverse decades of Australian foreign policy and inflame tension with some of Australia’s Asian neighbors — particularly Indonesia, with which Australia is due to sign a major trade agreement. Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Morrison’s statement comes four days before a by-election in Sydney at which his center-right coalition runs the risk of losing its tenuous hold on power. The by-election is in the Sydney harborside seat of Wentworth. Census figures show 12.5 percent of people in Wentworth are Jewish, a significantly larger proportion than elsewhere in Australia. Coincidence? We’ll take the move any way it comes about.
For further reading click here.
Holocaust Movie
Most of us are well aware of the collaboration with the Nazis by local police forces in Eastern European countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia etc. But most are surprised to hear that the French police engaged in roundups of thousands of Jews in France in 1942, most of whom were then transported to Auschwitz and gassed. The movie La Rafle (The Roundup) dramatically tells the story of the French collaboration. The movie first came out in 2010, but just appeared on Amazon Prime, which is where I discovered it. It is beautifully made, and a must see.
Regarding the French collaboration, it must be noted that unlike what happened in the Eastern European countries, thousands of French non Jews risked their lives to hide Jews and to help in other ways. Thousands of French collaborators were sentenced to death for their crimes after the war. Many were also killed by French civilians.
To see the movie on Amazon click here.
