Israel News for 11-17-17

Terror Attack
A 17 year old Arab terrorist drove his vehicle into a 70 year old man at the Efrat south junction in Gush Etzion this morning. The man was lightly injured. Then the terrorist continued driving to the Gush Etzion junction where he ran over a 35 year old man, seriously wounding him. The terrorist then got out of his vehicle brandishing a knife and attempted to stab soldiers in the area. Soldiers opened fire and wounded the terrorist.

The IDF has surrounded and sealed off the terrorist’s home village of Hilhul, south of Hebron.

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Shabbat Crisis
In the face of threats by the Haredi parties to quit the coalition and bring down the government if construction work on the railway lines continues on Shabbat, PM Netanyahu has worked out a compromise by which only non Jewish workers will be allowed to work on the railroad on Shabbat. It was also agreed to move forward with a law to prohibit Shabbat desecration related to the railway works.

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Buying Water
Based on forecasts for another relatively dry winter, the government has increased the amount of water it purchases from the desalination plants at Palmahim, Sorek, Ashkelon and Hadera. Almost all of the drinking water used in Israel comes from desalination plants.

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Economy Growing
Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 4.1% on an annualized basis in the third quarter of 2017, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. GDP on an annualized basis grew by 2.5% in the second quarter and only 0.9% in the first quarter.

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