Israel News for 8-14-2019
Shiva Call
The PM and his wife yesterday visited the mourning family of Dvir Sorek, the soldier and yeshiva student murdered by terrorists last week, in the Ofra settlement in Samaria. The PM said, “We are determined to defend our homeland. These are not vain words – they are true words, until our enemies understand that we cannot be uprooted from anywhere in the Land of Israel, including from this place.”
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Hamas Security
Hamas has apparently beefed up security along its border to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Israel in the wake of several recent failed infiltration attempts. Hamas has sought to distance itself from the terrorists by describing them as “angry” Palestinian individuals seeking to end the siege on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian political analysts pointed out that Hamas did not endorse any of the terrorists, thus signaling its interest in preserving the ceasefire understandings reached with Israel earlier this year under the auspices of Egypt and the United Nations. However, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar pledged yesterday to continue the armed struggle against Israel.
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Tsunami Drill
The Israeli navy participated in a massive tsunami drill in Haifa port along with the navies of Greece, France and the United States. The drill practiced for a humanitarian crisis sparked by a magnitude 7.0 temblor and subsequent huge tsunami hitting the coastal plain of Israel. Troops trained to quickly assess the damage and select a port to bring in assistance as the maritime gateway to the country. According to data, there is a significant earthquake in the region every 100 years, and the last one in Israel occurred in 1927.
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New Poll
A new poll published Tuesday afternoon shows the Likud winning 30 seats, five less than it won in April, but more than the Blue and White party, which is projected to fall from 35 seats to just 29. Yamina, the new joint right wing list, would win 11 seats, as would the joint Arab list.
Avidgor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu would rise from 5 to 10 seats and the Haredi parties would win a total of 15 seats. The left wing Labor and Gesher list would win 7 seats, as would Ehud Barak’s Democratic Party and Meretz list.
Based on the poll, the right wing block would win a total of 66 seats, but only with Lieberman, who has vowed to block the formation of a narrow rightist government.
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Star Returns
After 10 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Omri Casspi will return to Israel to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He is the first Israel to have played in the NBA.
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Measles Kills
Rotem Amitai, the 43 year old El Al flight attendant who contracted measles on an El Al flight from New York on March 26, dies yesterday after being hospitalized for months in serious condition. She had received one out of the two necessary vaccinations as a child. Rotem leaves behind 3 children.
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Kabbalist Passes
Rabbi Chaim Cohen, a renown kabbalist, passed away yesterday at age 84. Rabbi Cohen was known as “the milkman” due to his day job in a Tel Aviv dairy owned by his family. He was part of a group of kabbalists who studied together in the 1960’s and were each called by the jobs they worked at. Rabbi Cohen lectured at a yeshiva in Givatayim and authored numerous books explaining the Torah portions and other subjects according to Kabbalistic teachings (Talelei Chaim). He is survived by his wife and four children.
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