Israel News for 3-26-18
Hezbollah 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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