Israel News for 9-20-18
Terror Foiled
A 26-year-old terrorist from Qalandiya with a screwdriver charged at a Jewish man near the Old City on Tuesday night, just after the start of Yom Kippur. Police stationed along the route used by Jewish worshippers spotted the terrorist running towards his intended victim. Bypassers tripped him up, but then he continued to run at the police officers to stab them. Police shot him dead. No Jews were injured. The terrorist was in Israel illegally.
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Gaza Report
Gaza’s Health Ministry claimed on Tuesday that two Palestinians were killed and at least 46 wounded by the IDF fire in the northern Gaza Strip during violent demonstrations which took place on Yom Kippur. The IDF said that it had no initial knowledge of any casualties or that live fire had been used.
The IDF said hundreds of Gazans participated in the riots, burning tires and throwing explosive devices and rocks at the soldiers. In one incident a grenade was thrown at the troops, prompting the forces to respond with crowd dispersal measures in accordance with IDF’s open-fire regulations.
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Russian Plane
Israel expressed regret on Tuesday for the loss of 15 Russian lives that was caused the previous evening when Syrian air defense downed a Russian plane while trying to intercept an airstrike launched by Israel. Russian officials had initially blamed Israel for the downing of the blame, but Russian President Putin acknowledged that the incident was just an unfortunate accident that Israel had no part in.
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Israeli Arms
Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today that it has been awarded a $173 million contract to provide Naval Remote Controlled Weapon Stations (RCWS) to the Navy and Coast Guard of an Asia-Pacific country. The contract will be performed over a five-year period.
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Fast Train
After countless delays, the Jerusalem fast rail link began operations today. The first train left Jerusalem’s Navon station (opposite Binyanei Ha’Uma) at 12.30 pm on what was billed as a special test run rather than the official launch. The train didn’t make it as far as Tel Aviv’s Haganah Station as planned but only as far as Ben Gurion airport because electrification on the section between the airport and Tel Aviv has not been completed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz attended the ceremony in Jerusalem before the first train left the station.
Optimistic estimates say it will take another 3-6 months before the line is fully operational. In the first stage there will be only one train per hour between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion airport station where passengers will change to a diesel train. When fully operational there will be one train every 15 minutes.
The cost of the high-speed train to Jerusalem, the Ministry of Transport’s largest-ever project, is estimated at NIS 7 billion. The line is designed to connect Israel’s capital to the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area and the central region and relieve traffic congestion. Travel time from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the last stop on the line, is meant to be 28 minutes.
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