Israel News for 2-12-18
Soldiers Attacked
Two IDF soldiers, a male and female, accidentally entered the Palestinian city of Jenin this morning. Their military vehicle was surrounded by Palestinian youth and stoned. The soldiers were lightly wounded and one of their weapons was stolen. Palestinian Authority police rescued the soldiers from the mob. The vehicle was retrieved afterwards.
An IDF spokesman praised the Palestinian police for their quick response in saving the soldiers from a situation that could have been deadly.
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Israel Attacks Syria
On Saturday, an Iranian drone launched from an airfield in Palmyra, Syria crossed into Israeli territory and was intercepted and downed by an IDF Apache helicopter. The drone turned out to be a copy of an American drone that the Iranians once intercepted.
In response to the Iranian incursion, the IDF launched a large scale attack against Syrian aerial defense systems and Iranian targets deep in Syria. In a statement the IDF said, “Twelve targets, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran’s military establishment in Syria were attacked.”
The attack was carried out by 8 Israeli fighter jets. During the attack the Syrian army responded with anti-aircraft fire and hit one of the planes. The two pilots of the plane managed to eject from the aircraft before it crashed and exploded in northern Israel. One pilot was seriously wounded and the other lightly wounded.
At least 6 members of the Syrian (or Iranian) military were reportedly killed in the attack.
PM Netanyahu told his security cabinet that the IDF “dealt severe blows to the armed forces of Iran and Syria.” He said, “We made it unequivocally clear to everyone that our rules of action have not changed one bit; we will continue to strike at every attempt to strike at us. This has been our policy and it will remain our policy.”
The head of Israel’s Air Force said that Israel carried out thousands of missions in Syria last year alone. Regarding the most recent attack in Syria he said, “There has not been such a strike since 1982; it was very broad and it will have an effect on their decision-making process. I assume that they will continue to attempt to defend themselves, but they were hit very seriously and the indications of that are only beginning to come to light this morning, despite their attempts to conceal it.”
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Polish Law
Israel’s foreign ministry informed Poland’s ambassador to the country that Israel will not receive a Polish delegation scheduled to arrive to discuss the law recently passed by Poland making it a crime to say that the Poles played any role in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. The passing of the law has triggered massive protests from Israel and a diplomatic rift between the two countries.
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Trump on Israel
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom, US President Trump said that while US-Israel relations were “great,” peace with the Palestinians would make them “a lot better.” He said, “Right now, I would say the Palestinians are not looking to make peace. They are not looking to make peace. And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens.”
Regarding settlements Trump said, “The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements.”
Regarding reaching a peace agreement he said, “I don’t know frankly if we are going to even have talks. We will see what happens, but I think it is very foolish for the Palestinians and I also think it would be very foolish for the Israelis if they don’t make a deal. It’s our only opportunity and it will never happen after this.”
Regarding the Obama administration, he said, “I mean you certainly weren’t very close with Obama, he gave you the Iran deal, which basically is a deal that says let’s ultimately do bad things to Israel. Obama was terrible. He was absolutely terrible for Israel. I think our relationships [US-Israel] are very good. I think they are probably as good as they have ever been.”
More Housing
Yoav Horowitz, the prime minister’s chief of staff, promised residents in Har Brakha on Thursday that he would “do everything” to approve the settlement’s zoning plan. Horowitz was paying a shiva call at the home of the widow of the rabbi murdered by terrorists last week. He brought with him and read a letter from the PM.
Horowitz said, “I know Har Brakha’s zoning plan well, I know the plan and I know the history of the processes that happened. We’ll do everything to implement (the zoning plan) as soon as possible. We’re examining when we could expand this community.”
There are currently around 5,000 residents in Har Brakha. There are 800 housing units awaiting zoning approval, after having been put on hold during the Obama administration. Approving the full zoning plan would potentially double the settlement’s population.
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Music Video
This moving music video is a tribute to Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was recently murdered by terrorists, and contains footage of him and his young children.
To watch the video click here.
