Israel News for November 4, 2015
Ethics and Priorities
There’s an ethical debate raging in the aftermath of the recent terror attack in Rishon Letzion in which an 80 year old woman and two other men were stabbed. A widely circulated video taken during the attack shows the woman being stabbed and falling to the ground, followed by at least a dozen Israeli men running right past her in pursuit of the terrorist. Not one stopped to help the wounded grandmother.
The woman’s granddaughter, Sagit Bracha-Eizenkot, told Channel 2 after watching the video of the incident that each of the citizens who ran past her injured grandmother “needs to do some soul searching. You want to stop the terrorist – fine, but someone needs to stop and help the wounded. We have a saying – ‘we do not leave the wounded behind.’ But that is exactly what we did.”
In response to the criticism leveled against the men who ran past without stopping to help, Bayit Yehudi MK Yinon Magal explained on Twitter that the men did the right thing by pursuing the terrorist to neutralize him before helping the wounded lady, which is what soldiers are trained to do in combat. The former commando in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit added, “Respect to the citizens who risk their lives!”
The video indicates that just 30 seconds passed from the moment the woman was stabbed to the moment at which citizens began tending to her.
What would you have done?
For further reading click here.
Knesset Rules
Last week, Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi (Joint List), who currently serves as Deputy Knesset Speaker, was verbally attacked by MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) while Elkin was addressing the Knesset. Tibi had Elkin ejected from the Knesset hall by security. After reviewing the event the Knesset’s Ethics Committee has decided that Tibi was out of line and acted wrongly by embarrassing Elkin and ejecting him. As punishment Tibi has been suspended from presiding over Knesset debates for two weeks. Arab Knesset members don’t think he should have punished at all, and that the committee is discriminating against him because he is Arab.
If you want to see tempers gone wild, watch the video here.
Radio Raid
The IDF raided the Al Hurria radio station in Hebron on Monday night and confiscated its broadcasting equipment to stop the station from inciting violence. In a statement the IDF said, “Al Hurria radio station’s agenda encourages stabbing attacks, violent riots and reports false and malicious claims of security forces executing and kidnapping Palestinians in order to provoke violence. The station glorifies attacks against Israelis and congratulates the families of attackers who died while executing attacks.”
For further reading click here.
Jordan Warms Up
A Royal Jordanian airliner was diverted to Ben Gurion Airport due to weather conditions in Amman. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to low fuel.
Speaking of Jordanian aircraft, Reuters reported that Israeli fighter pilots flew alongside Jordanian airforce pilots during training exercises in the US. The Jordanian planes also refueled from an Israeli tanker over the Atlantic Ocean.
It looks like Jordan is getting comfortable with Israel, at least in the air. That’s a good sign.
For further reading click here.
Start Up Nation
If you’re an admirer of Israeli high-tech companies and would love to invest in them from the US, you’ll soon get the chance to do so.
BlueStar Indexes and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) are launching the BlueStar TA-BIGITech Israeli Technology exchange traded fund (ETF) that will be traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ITEQ.
It will track the performance of the TASE and BlueStar’s BIGITech Index, which is made up of 65 stocks of Israeli high-tech companies in information technology, computer and network security, renewable and clean energy, biotechnology, sustainable agriculture, and defense technologies. Among the stocks in the ITEQ ETF will be Amdocs Ltd. (Nasdaq: DOX),Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), Mobileye, and Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT).
According to BlueStar founder Steven A. Schoenfeld, “This is a unique opportunity providing investors all over the world access to Israel’s innovative and dynamic technology sector through their portfolios.”
For further reading click here.
Kotel Sheds Tears
Worshippers at the Kotel were shocked by what they saw: water pouring out of the wall’s stones. Some took the unusual event as the fulfillment of ancient prophecies in the biblical books of Zecharia and Yoel which describe waters gushing from the wall as a sign of the coming of the Messiah.
While the excitement of impending redemption grew, the facilities management team came to investigate. They determined that the water was coming from a broken pipe on the Temple Mount. It’s still unclear whether the plumber who gets the job will be Muslim or Jewish. And yes, there are Jewish plumbers in Israel.
By the way, no Jewish leaders are claiming that this is a plot by the Muslims to flood the Kotel. We don’t do that.
For further reading click here.
