Israel News for 9-4-18
Terror Attack
At about 6 pm on Sunday night, a terrorist from Hebron with a knife charged at a group of soldiers that were standing at the entrance to the Geva Haavot neighborhood, located between Kiryat Arba and Hebron. The soldiers opened fire on the terrorist, killing him. None of the soldiers were injured.
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War Crimes
A group of Israeli farmers is filing a war crimes complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday against the Hamas leadership over the torching of thousands of acres of farmland in recent months.
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New Ambassador
Amir Weissbrod presented his credentials in Amman as Israel’s new ambassador to Jordan, bringing to a close a crisis between the two states after an Israeli embassy security guard shot dead two Jordanians, one of which he claimed attempted to stab him. Diplomatic sources say relations between Israel and Jordan have been repaired and are now stronger than ever with more and more attempts being made to promote joint economic ventures.
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Philippines President
Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, arrived in Israel this week for a 4 day visit. Sales of Israeli weapons to his government are high on the agenda, according to Israeli media. Filipino officials have said the Philippines has recently acquired Israeli-made arms such as Galil assault rifles and pistols for its 120,000-strong police force, which is at the frontline of Duterte’s battle against illegal drugs and other crimes.
Duarte met with PM Netanyahu and thanked Israel for providing “critical help” to his country when “we needed it most,” an apparent reference to unspecified assistance Jerusalem provided Manila last year in freeing Marawi City in the south of the country from terrorists affiliated with Islamic State after a five-month siege. Duterte, who did not go into detail, said this “very substantial and critical” assistance was “an important help to preserve the republic.”
Netanyahu welcomed Duterte by recalling that the country opened its doors to some 1,300 refugees from Germany and Austria during the Holocaust and that it was the only Asian country to vote for the Partition Plan in 1947.
Duarte met with a gathering of hundreds of Filipino workers. An estimated 28,000 Filipinos live in Israel. Most of them work as health aides.
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Colombian Recognition
Colombia’s new president Ivan Duque said yesterday that the previous president’s decision to recognize the “State of Palestine” is irreversible.
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Water Plan
According to anonymous sources, Israel’s Water Authority and its Ministry of Energy have sketched a plan to build a tunnel that will annually pump between 300 million and 500 million cubic meters of desalinated water to the receding Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). To finance the plan, estimated to cost NIS 5 billion (approximately $1.3 billion), Israel has approached the European Union and the German government.
Israel is currently in it’s 5th drought year. As of Monday, the water level of the Sea of Galilee, responsible for 25% of Israel’s freshwater supply, is at 214.23 meters below sea level, 1.23 meters under the levels defined by the Israeli government as a minimum required to supply the country’s water needs.
In May, the Israeli government relaunched a television, radio and billboard campaign encouraging Israelis to save water by reducing their shower time by two minutes, watering their gardens in the evening and fixing leaking pipes.
Existing desalination facilities in Israel produce around 660 million cubic meters a year, according to statements by the Water Authority. Two additional desalination facilities planned to launch by 2023, are estimated to bring this number up to around 1 billion cubic meters a year.
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