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Israel News for June 1, 2016

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IDF Hides
A strange thing happened to a busload of IDF paratroopers on their way to the Kotel yesterday. As the bus was nearing the Damascus Gate, which has been the site of numerous terrorist attacks and Arab unrest, the police directed the commander to order his men to close the curtains on their windows. The police didn’t want to provoke Arabs who might see the bus filled with soldiers and attack it.

The soldiers protested the order, but the commander stayed firm and the soldiers obeyed. So the IDF snuck into Jerusalem without the Arabs ever knowing it.

The incident was exposed when one of the soldiers on the bus sent a photo of all the curtains drawn to his family on Whatsapp. He wrote, “We’re passing through Damascus Gate. The police asked us to close the curtains…did we liberate Jerusalem?!”

The IDF Spokesperson responded to the report saying: “The incident stands in opposition to the army’s instructions. It will be investigated and lessons will be drawn from it.”

Does this mean the police will also start hiding? Let’s see what new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has to say about this matter.

For further reading click here.

Ettinger Released
Meir Ettinger, 24, the grandson of the late R. Meir Kahane, was released after being held for 10 months in administrative detention on suspicion of inciting violence against Arabs. Ettinger was not officially charged with any crime.

Under the conditions of his release, Ettinger will not be allowed to enter Judea and Samaria for a whole year and will also be forbidden from entering Jerusalem for six months. He will be under house arrest every night for the next three months and has been given a list of 92 people with whom he is not allowed to have contact.

Ettinger is at the top of the Shin-Bet’s list of most dangerous right-wing Jewish extremists. According to the Shin Bet, he is the leader of “The Revolt” – a fringe religious group bent on creating war between Arabs and Jews and on undermining the secular State of Israel.

For further reading click here.

Anti BDS Conference
More than 2,000 students, pro-Israel activists, diplomats and Jewish leaders participated in the world’s largest international anti-BDS conference yesterday at the UN.

The conference, spearheaded by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Dannon, opened with the singing of the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah,” included speeches from high ranking officials from all over the world, and even a performance by Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu.

Ambassador Danon called on those in attendance to unite in the fight against the BDS movement saying, “The truth is that this (unity) is the most effective weapon against BDS. BDS is modern anti-Semitism, and we must unite as one body in order to expose its true face and put an end to it.”

For further reading click here.

Temple Mount Construction
The Jerusalem Municipality has issued an order, approved by the Prime Minister’s Office, calling on the Waqf to halt all construction work on the Temple Mount.

The order cites Israel Antiquities Authority warnings that the Waqf’s construction activities along the perimeter wall of the compound are destructive and are damaging valuable artifacts found there.

For further reading click here.

Jerusalem Stats
According to 2015 statistics released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the population of Jerusalem was 870,000, which is equal to 10% of Israel’s population. That makes Jerusalem the largest city in Israel.

534,000 residents (63%) identified as Jewish, non-Arab Christian, or other religions, while the Arab population was at 316,000 (37%).

Among the Jews residing in the city, 32% defined themselves as ultra-Orthodox, 17% as religious, 13% as traditional- religious, 15% are traditional but not very religious and 21% defined themselves as secular.

For more Jerusalem population statistics, click here.

Lots of Smoke
According to figures released by Israel’s Health Ministry, around 1 million Israelis, 21 years or older, are smokers. That’s a little over 20 percent of the population, which is on par with most European countries but significantly higher than the US, where the percentage of smokers is around 15%. Broken down by gender, Israeli men come in at 26% and women at just over 15%. Israelis spend over 2 billion dollars a year on cigarettes. They spend a bit less on dairy products.

The good news for Israeli lungs is that the numbers have been trending down over the decades, from a high of over 50%. But smoking is still acceptable in Israeli society and can be done just about anywhere, unlike in the US. So if you find yourself in an outdoor Tel Aviv cafe next to a smoker, too bad for you.

For further reading click here.

Beer Stream
Israeli company Soda Stream is branching out from soda … to beer. The company has announced a new home beer system called the Beer Bar, which allows consumers to make quality home-crafted beer using sparkling water and a unique beer concentrate.

The Beer Bar enables consumers to produce crafted beer in seconds by adding Soda Steam’s Blondie concentrate to sparkling water. Blondie contains 4.5% alcohol by volume, the average level found in most global beer brands. A one liter Blondie bottle yields approximately three liters of beer.

Soda Stream stock soared about 20% as a result of the announcement.

Before you get too excited just yet, the Beer Bar is currently only available in Germany and Switzerland.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for May 20, 2016

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Terror Averted
A 16-year-old Arab resident of the Shuafat neighborhood of East Jerusalem was arrested Thursday afternoon for planning to carry out a stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate of the Old City.

Police and Border Guard officers noticed the suspicious youth near the light rail station in Beit Hanina. The young terrorist boarded the bus in Shuafat and made his way toward Damascus Gate. Security forces boarded the bus after him, and after searching him discovered a knife. He was arrested and taken in for questioning where he admitted his plan to carry out a stabbing attack against police officers.

For further reading click here.

Coalition Bargaining
Israel Beyteinu and government officials are hard at work finalizing the terms of the agreement that will bring the Russian immigrant based party into the government. As part of the agreement party leader Avigdor Liberman will become Defense Minister and the party will also get the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and some other less major positions.

According to sources involved in the negotiations, there is no disagreement over the positions that were offered to Yisrael Beiteinu. What remains is to find the additional money to fund the line items that are part of the party’s conditions for joining the government and to draw up an agreement amenable to both sides. The main items that need funding  are the increased pensions for immigrants from the former Soviet Union and for mortgages for these immigrants that cover 90 percent of a home’s purchase price.

Yisrael Beyteinu will give the government a 67 seat majority in the Knesset, instead of the 61 seat majority the government currently holds. Sources are confident that the agreement will be finalized later today.

For further reading click here.

Ya’alon Resigns
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, deciding not to wait for the official agreement between Israel Beyteinu and the government to be finalized, announced today his resignation from his job as Defense Minister and from the Knesset. The PM offered Ya’alon the prestigious job of Foreign Minister, but Ya’alon declined.

Ya’alon wrote on Facebook, “I notified the prime minister this morning that following his conduct in the latest developments and in view of the lack of trust in him, I am resigning from the government and the Knesset and taking time out from political life.”

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby remarked,”We appreciate Mr. Ya’alon’s leadership and partnership as defense minister and we look forward to working with his successor. Our bonds of friendship are unbreakable, and commitment to the security of Israel remains absolute.”

But Ya’alon isn’t done with politics just yet. Speaking at a press conference a short time following his resignations, Ya’alon said, “I have no intention of leaving public and political life in the state, and in the future I will return to contend for the nationalist leadership of the State of Israel.”

Replacing Ya’alon in the Knesset will be the next person on the Likud party list, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the prominent US born Temple Mount activist who survived an assassination attempt in 2014.

Speaking to Army Radio on Friday morning, Glick said that “I regret the departure of Ya’alon. He is a moral man and an asset to the people of Israel and the Likud.”

Regarding his new Knesset position click remarked, “I pray to God that He give me good counsel and accompany me as an emissary for the nation of Israel, to sanctify the name of Heaven and to increase peace and light in the world and work to unify the nation of Israel.”

For further reading click here.

To Life
If you’re looking to live longer, then you should seriously consider moving to Israel. According to a report on worldwide life expectancy recently released by the World Health Organization, Israel ranks number 8 on the list.

In 2015 the average world life expectancy was 71, which is 5 years linger than it was in 2000, when the report was last compiled.

Japan has the highest overall life expectancy, at 86.8 years, while Switzerland has the highest male life expectancy of 81.3 years.

The life expectancy in Israel is 80.6 for men and 84.3 for women. That’s ahead of the US, where life expectancy is 77 years for men and 81.6 for women. Israel is also ahead of Canada and most of Europe.

The shortest life expectancy in the world is in Sierra Leone, where women on average only live to about 51 years of age, and men to about 59.

L’chaim, to life!

To view the entire list, click here.

Israel News for February 17, 2016

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Hezbollah Threats
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, broadcasting from his secret bunker, threatened yesterday to fire missiles at the ammonia plant in Haifa, which he claimed would cause an explosion similar to that of a nuclear bomb. His speech was in honor of “Loyalty to Martyrs and Leaders” day. Past leaders of Hezbollah, all killed at “work”, were honored at the special ceremony which was held under the slogan, “the resistance isn’t defeated.”

Nasrallah directed this special message to IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkodt: “its simple mathematics. A few missiles on a few ammonium plants equals the same amount of death as an atomic bomb…you can destroy Lebanon and Dahiyeh. You have the strongest airforce, you have missiles, and you have other means by which to do it. But we can do the same thing to you (Israel) with only a few missiles aimed at a few amonium plants.”

He added that Hezbollah did not want to start a war, but that it would be prepared to respond if attacked.

Unfortunately, Nasrallah does have a point regarding the dangers of the ammonia plant being located in a densely populated city like Haifa. After the Second Lebanon War, the Haifa municipality ordered a report from a British company, in order to mitigate the risks to the ammonia plant. The report revealed that in the event of a hit on the ammonia plant, it will release a cloud ten miles in diameter, and will cover all of Haifa and Acre.

According to Professor Amos Natua of the Technion, “Researchers who conducted the studies in the 1990’s concluded that there could be 70,000 casualties. The State Comptroller released a statement in 2003 that the number will likely be much higher.”
 
The Haifa municipality issued a response to the speech saying, “We don’t believe that we should run the country based on Nasrallah’s arrogant speeches, but we’re happy that he put this worrying and important issue on the agenda – – even if it is coming from a frightened man who’s been hiding in a bunker for the last several years.”

Perhaps some good will come of Nasrallah after all.

For further reading click here.

PA Security
Palestinian Security Forces thwarted a bombing attempt at the Jalame checkpoint in Jenin yesterday morning. According to Palestinian sources, two 15 yr olds were caught by Palestinian Security Forces stationed on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint moments before they were to enter Israel. The teens planned to carry out a two stage attack – first detonating the pipe bombs, then stabbing the survivors.

It’s good to see that despite the calls by many in the Palestinian leadership to cut off all cooperation with Israel, the security cooperation continues, at least to some degree.

For further reading click here.

Reporters Questioned
Police briefly detained The Washington Post’s Jerusalem bureau chief, William Booth, and reporter Sufian Taha at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday after a witness said that they tried to stage a confrontation by Arab youth with the police.

The police later released a statement apologizing for any emotional harm caused to the journalists, saying that an investigation of the incident showed that the detainment was necessary in light of the information that had been received, which later turned out to have been false.  

According to the Foreign Press Association, Booth and Taha were trying to interview Palestinian high-school students near the Damascus Gate when they were waved away by police. They then moved under a tree and tried to interview the teens there, when they were stopped again by police officers who asked for their IDs. The journalists showed their Government Press Office cards, but the officers rejected them, asking for official identity documents, and then detained them.

Perhaps the police made a mistake in this case, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that foreign journalists have staged Palestinian protests or violence against Israeli security forces.

For further reading click here.

Eilat Gambling
PM Netanyahu will meet with Tourism Minister Levin and Transportation Minister Katz to discuss the idea of opening casinos in Eilat. Netanyahu has suggested opening a single casino but Levin is thinking bigger. He wants to create a complex containing several casinos, hotels, entertainment centers, restaurants and retail stores on the site of the Eilat’s airport, which is due to be dismantled and replaced by the new Arava International Airport outside of the city.

The ultimate goal is to turn Eilat into a major international tourist destination. Both Netanyahu and Levin are in favor of imposing certain restrictions on Israelis gambling. But the negative effects that casinos would have on the Israeli population is raising fears and opposition, particularly from the religious parties including Bayit Yehudi, Shas and UTJ as well as from the far left Meretz.

Casinos in Eilat could give a whole new meaning to the term “holy rollers”.

For further reading click here.

Angel Revealed
A young female soldier sitting on a train in central Israel was on the phone with the electric company. She was crying hysterically because the company was about to cut off the electricity to the apartment that she lives in with her single mother, who was waiting for her disability check. The electric company wasn’t swayed by her tears. But a stranger was. The man, who appears to be in his 30’s, came over, grabbed the phone and paid the entire bill, which totaled 1,950 shekels. He even gave the girl the confirmation number of the payment. Wow.

Another female soldier witnessed the incident and asked the man if she could take his photo so that she could spread the story on Facebook and teach everyone that there are still good people in the world. He agreed.

Speechless.

To see the man’s photo click here.