Israel News for 11-7-2019
News Update
Democratic congressman from Michigan Andy Levin (who is Jewish), on a tour of the West Bank earlier this week, said he was enraged by the situation in Susya, where Palestinian villagers are denied water access, while Jewish settlers nearby are granted government-supplied amenities. Israel has several times in the past demolished Palestinian buildings in Susya, saying they were built without permits. Levin also praised the “resilience” of the Palestinian villagers.
Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman said that his organization (Israel’s internal anti terror security force) has thwarted over 480 major terror attacks in the past year, and arrested over 500 terrorists. He also said that the Shin Bet stopped numerous cyber attacks against Israel. Argaman said, “The reality is very complex. We can say that on the surface we observe relative calm, but we must emphasize that this is on the surface – Hamas is trying with all its might to carry out terrorist attacks from Judea and Samaria with guidance from the Gaza Strip, Turkey and Lebanon.”
The Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Committee has confirmed a very large urban renewal project in Bat Yam. The plan is based on a demolition and reconstruction project in the Ramat Hanasi neighborhood in the west of the city, which would see 424 existing apartments replaced by 1,728 housing units. The project also includes thousands of square meters in commercial space, public buildings and open space.
According to traffic app Waze, Tel Aviv is the world’s fourth most traffic congested city. First place goes to Manilla, followed by Bogota and Jakarta. Sao Paulo came in fifth.
Professor Uri Marinov, the founder and director of the Environmental Protection Service (EPS) and the first Director General of the Ministry of Environmental Defense, is warning that rising sea levels caused by climate change will cause major flooding in Tel Aviv and other Israeli coastal cities and towns. He said, “The question is whether it will happen in the next five or ten years, and what will be the scale of the flood. If we don’t take the necessary measures right away, the coastal region will indeed be flooded.”
