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Israel News for February 9, 2017

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ISIS Attacks Eilat
Last night at around 11:00pm four rockets were fired at Eilat from Sinai. Three of the rockets were intercepted and destroyed by the Iron Dome missile defense system. One rocket fell in an open area causing no injuries or damage. Four individuals were reportedly treated for shock.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and released a statement saying, “A number of rockets were launched at Jewish centers in Eilat, known as Umm Rashrash. The Jews and Crusaders should know that the war of the apostles will not save them in any way.”

Meanwhile, the Egyptian military reportedly attacked a tunnel on it’s border with Gaza, killing two and injuring five. The tunnel is alleged to be controlled by ISIS and used to smuggle weapons. ISIS reportedly controls all of the tunnels used for smuggling weapons on the Egyptian-Gaza border.

Earlier Wednesday evening, a mortar shell fired from a tank in Syria exploded in open territory in the Golan Heights along Israel’s northern border, prompting the IDF to attack a Syrian army post in retaliation.
 
For further reading click here.

German Trust
In response to the Knesset’s passage of the Regulation Bill, which legalizes the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land that has settlements built on it, the German Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, “Many in Germany who stand by Israel and feel great commitment toward it find themselves deeply disappointed by this move. Our trust in the Israeli government’s commitment to the two-state solution has been fundamentally shaken.”

The statement concluded with, “In view of the many reservations which the Israeli attorney general, among others, has affirmed once more, it would be good if the bill could soon undergo a critical legal review. We hope and expect that the Israeli government will renew its commitment to a negotiated two-state solution and underpin this with practical steps.”

The EU, UK and France have also issued statements against the new law. The US has remained silent. It’s still unclear what the US administration’s official position is regarding the two-state solution. The truth is, we’re not even sure what PM Netanyahu’s real position is on the issue. Things should hopefully clear up after Trump and Netanyahu meet on Feb. 15th.

The Regulation Law is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court and overthrown on the basis of its being contrary to international law. The Attorney General has stated that he will not defend the law before the court.

For further reading click here.

Russian Promise
Russian Ambassador to Israel, Alexander Shane, said that his country is working to prevent the transfer of Russian weapons to Hezbollah. According to Shane, Israel presented red lines to the Russians about events in Syria, the most important of which were the transfer of modern, advanced weapons to Hezbollah and the establishment of an anti-Israel base with Iran in the Syrian Golan. He said, “Russia promised Israel that Russian weapons will not make it to Hezbollah.”

As Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran, impeding Hezbollah could be a way for Russia to show the US that it is working against Iran, even though it is clearly cooperated with the Iranians in its Syrian campaign.

For further reading click here.

 

Foreign Ministry
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has been facing budget constraints, which has led to embassy and consular closings. Over the past year, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has closed four missions—El Salvador, the Caribbean Islands, Marseille and Philadelphia—leaving the country with 98 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions in addition to four representative offices. That leaves Israel’s total diplomatic missions at 102, which is one less than the number of diplomatic mission’s of the Palestinian Authority. Additionally, while Israel only has representation in 78 countries, the Palestinians are represented in 95 countries.

For further reading click here.

Haredi Protests
Earlier this week hundreds of Haredi protesters, members of the radical Jerusalem faction, engaged in violent protests in Jerusalem over the arrest of a yeshiva student for desertion from the IDF and against serving in the IDF in general. Sixty seven people sere arrested and several policemen were injured. In response, Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) has begun work to cancel the draft deferment agreement and financial subsidies with two yeshivas, whose students were the prime agitators in the protest riots.

Lieberman said, “I do not agree under any circumstances for riots and incitement against IDF soldiers to become part of our daily routine. The very existence of these protests against the draft undermines the authority of the state and we will not allow this phenomenon, or the intimidation of those who wish to draft, to occur. We will work within the framework of a range of possibilities open to us at the Ministry of Defense and other government ministries to work against those who participate in such actions against the IDF to ensure they receive no relief or benefits.”
 
For further reading click here.

Airport Bus
Starting next week Bus No. 485, operated by the Afikim company, will travel directly from Jerusalem to Ben Gurion Airport. The line will operate 24 hours a day, cost NIS 16 and have wireless internet. The bus will make several stops in Jerusalem before heading directly to the airport. There is currently no direct bus service from Jerusalem to Ben Gurion. The new railway line connecting the capital with the airport is not expected to be completed for at least another year.

For further reading click here.

Chassidic Dance
Dancing at Chassidic weddings is strictly gender segregated. But there’s one exception in which the bride and groom actually do a dance together. If you don’t believe me, here’s a video of a bride a groom doing their dance, while the Bobover Rebbe joins them — sort of.

To watch the video click here.

israel news settlements

Israel News for February 7, 2017

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Regulation Bill Passes
Despite requests by the PM to postpone the vote, the Regulation Bill was passed by the Knesset by a vote of 60-52 yesterday. The vote was pushed through by Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett. The bill confiscates privately owned Palestinian land on which settlements are built, and offers the owners financial compensation or alternate land plots. The bill is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court and struck down as contrary to international law.

PM Netanyahu denied trying to postpone the vote and claimed that he had updated the US administration about it to avoid surprising them.

For further reading click here.

UK Meeting
PM Netanyahu and British PM Theresa May met in London yesterday. Prior to the meeting May said, “Britain remains a very strong, close friend of Israel, with lots of areas in which we already work together, such as science and trade, but also other areas like security.” She also said, “We remain committed to a two-state solution. It’s the best way of building stability, peace and prosperity in the future.”

While confirming Israel’s desire for peace, Netanyahu turned to the Iranian threat saying, “Iran seeks to annihilate Israel, it seeks to conquer the Middle East, it threatens Europe, it threatens the West, it threatens the world, and it offers provocation after provocation. That’s why I welcome President Trump’s insistence of new sanctions against Iran. I think other nations should follow suit, certainly responsible nations.”

For further reading click here.

IDF Strikes
IDF tanks and aircraft destroyed a total of six Hamas positions throughout the day Monday, after a rocket was fired toward the Hof Ashkelon area in the morning and Hamas forces opened fire on an IDF force working near the Gaza border fence in the southern Gaza Strip in the evening.

PM Netanyahu commented on the incident saying, “I have instructed in no uncertain terms that we will respond to all shooting with heavy fire. That has been my policy over the last two years, since Protective Edge…Our policy is consistent and determined in our response.”

There were no reports of injuries or deaths from Hamas.

For further reading click here.

Mail Terror
The police and Shin Bet have confiscated hundreds of postal packages that were bound for the West Bank and Gaza. The packages contained accessories that could be used either to create weapons or as devices in terror attacks. The items included drones, micro engines, concealed cameras, micro cameras, laser pointers, laser sights and other weapon parts. Most of the items were ordered from the internet, many from Ebay.

For further reading click here.

Rabbinic Courts
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted on Sunday to approve a bill that would allow state run Rabbinical courts to rule in monetary cases. The Rabbinical courts currently only have jurisdiction over issues of Jewish identity and conversion, marriage and divorce, including financial settlement, and kashrut. The bill still needs to pass through several reading in the Knesset, but the committee approval means that it will have the support of the coalition.

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau praised the ministerial committee’s decision saying, “The proposed legislation that was approved today by the Committee for Legislation is right and proper. Many Jews want to have a judgment based on Torah and it doesn’t make sense that it is withheld from them.”

For further reading click here.

israel news terror raid

Israel News for January 10, 2017

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Terrorist Killed
A Palestinian terrorist attacked IDF soldiers of the Duvdevan unit with a knife last night as the soldiers were carrying out an operation to arrest terror suspects in the Far’a refugee camp in the West Bank. The 33 year old terrorist was shot and killed by soldiers before causing any harm. During the operation the soldiers were also fired at and attacked with molotov cocktails. There were no IDF casualties.

For further reading click here.

Status Revoked
Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri has decided to revoke the permanent resident status of 13 family members of the terrorist who killed four soldiers and injured 15 in Jerusalem on Sunday. The family members, including the terrorist’s mother, will lose all social benefits that go along with permanent residency.

This is the first time residency status of family members of terrorists has been revoked, and it precludes them from appealing to the Supreme Court. Deri decided on the move after consulting with the Prime Minister and the Shin Bet.

Deri said, “This is a decision that signals a new era against terrorism and terrorists who use their status to carry out attacks against citizens. From now on, there will be zero tolerance towards those who are involved in terrorism against Israel. Let this be known to all who are plotting, planning or considering carrying out an attack, that their families will pay a heavy price for their actions and the consequences will be severe and far-reaching.”

Israeli citizenship, however, has never been revoked from people involved in or connected to terror activity.
 
For further reading click here.

UN Condemns
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Sunday’s terror attack but added that the attack should not prevent peace starts from restarting between Israel and the Palestinians. He added that those involved in the planning and implementation of the attack “must be brought to justice, condemned and disavowed.” The UN Security Council made a similar statement condemning the attack.

For further reading click here.

 

Funeral Absence
The four soldiers killed in Sunday’s Jerusalem terror attack were laid to rest yesterday. Surprisingly, and to the consternation of the parents of the deceased, no government officials attended any of the funerals. When contacted by the press they all had different reasons and excuses why they couldn’t attend. As a result, the PM has instructed Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman to formulate binding procedures requiring government ministers, deputy ministers and Knesset members to attend the funerals of fallen IDF soldiers.

The PM did visit soldiers who were wounded in the terror attack and are being treated at Shaarei Tzedek and Hadassah Hospital.

For further reading click here.

Tsfat Growing
The city of Tsfat, considered to be one of Israel’s holy cities (along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberius) and home to great kabbalists and mystics since the 1500’s, is already home to thousands of haredi families who make up a significant portion of the city’s population. Now two Hasidic real estate investors have announced that they will build 2,000 new homes in the city, earmarked for the haredi public.

For further reading click here.

Kushner Rises
President elect Donald Trump has appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner as a senior White House adviser working on trade and the Middle East.

Although his name isn’t Joseph (like his grandfather and son), you can’t ignore the juxtaposition of the rise of Jared with the rise of Joseph (prime minister to Pharaoh) in the last few Torah portions (regardless of your personal political views).

May he be blessed with wisdom and success.

For further reading click here.

Amazing Story
Would you believe that an Arab boy from East Jerusalem who threw stones at soldiers is now trying to join the IDF? It’s true. To read this amazing story click here.

Israel News for January 5, 2017

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PM Wants Pardon
Hours after the verdict convicting IDF Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter for shooting a neutralized terrorist in the head, PM Netanyahu called on the public to remain calm and respect the decision of the military court. He also said that Azaria should be pardoned.

In a Facebook post Netanyahu wrote, “This is a hard and painful day for all of us, first and foremost for Elor and his family, the soldiers of the IDF, many citizens and the parents of soldiers, myself included. I call on all Israeli citizens to act responsibly toward the IDF, its commanders and the IDF chief of staff. The soldiers of the IDF are the sons and daughters of all of us. I support pardoning Elor Azaria.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called on fellow cabinet ministers to refrain from demanding a pardon for Azaria, saying that they should let the defense establishment handle the matter without outside interference. Education Minister Naftali Bennet (Bayit Yehudi), Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud), Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) have all called publicly for a pardon.

The judges and prosecutor in the case have been given security details in light of death threats from angry protesters and widespread condemnation of the verdict by large segments of the public who feel that the verdict is an attack on all IDF soldiers and that it hinders the soldiers ability to fight terror. Two people were arrested today for incitement against the judges.

Meanwhile, the parents of the terrorist shot by Azaria expressed their satisfaction with the verdict. His father said, “I feel good. It is fair. It is an achievement for the court that it condemned the soldier.” But the family is worried that the court will give Azaria a light sentence.

The military court is scheduled to sentence Azaria next week. Azaria’s lawyers have already announced that they will appeal the decision.

For further reading click here.

Haifa Terror
Earlier this week a religious services worker was shot and killed and a rabbinical judge serving on the conversion court was shot and wounded in Haifa. The motive of the shootings was initially unclear but police now suspect that it was a nationalistically motivated act of terror. The police have identified a suspect who is a resident of the Arab neighborhood of Halisa in Haifa. They are conducting an intensive search in the neighborhood and are being helped by neighborhood residents, who are calling on the suspect to turn himself in.

For further reading click here.

Arab MK Indicted
Arab MK Basel Ghattas (Joint List) was indicted today for smuggling cellphones to Palestinian security prisoners in Israel jails.  

The indictment stated, “The defendant delivered the communications equipment to Bizra while knowing that it is more than likely the equipment will be used to endanger human lives, cause serious harm to people, undermine state security, or to aid a terror organization.”

For further reading click here.

Senate Jerusalem Bill
Senators Marco Rubio (Florida), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Dean Heller (Nevada) have introduced a bill to remove the presidential waver from the 1995 law passed by Congress recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and mandating the move from Tel Aviv. Presidents currently have the ability to exercise the waiver every six months to prevent the embassy move. The bill would slash in half the funds that Congress disburses to the State Department for building, securing and maintaining embassies until the embassy opens in Jerusalem.

Cruz stated, “Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel. Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truth – let alone the reality that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israel – is shocking in some circles. But it is finally time to cut through the double-speak and broken promises and do what Congress said we should do in 1995: formally move our embassy to the capital of our great ally Israel.”

Rubio added: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel, and that’s where America’s embassy belongs. It’s time for Congress and the president-elect to eliminate the loophole that has allowed presidents in both parties to ignore US law and delay our embassy’s rightful relocation to Jerusalem for over two decades.”

For further reading click here.

israel terror attacks

Israel News for December 19, 2016

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Terror Shooting
Terrorists shot and wounded an Israel man as he was driving between the settlement of Ofarim and the village of Abud in the Binyamin region of the West Bank early today. The man was lightly wounded in his face from glass shards but was able to continue driving until he reached a nearby military post. Last week terrorists shot at a car in the same area, but no one was injured. Security forces are searching for the terrorists.

For further reading click here.
 

Arms Factory
In an overnight raid, IDF forces uncovered a massive arms factory under an apartment building in Hebron. The factory produced assault rifles and other weapons used in terror attacks.

To view photos click here.

Hamas Attack
Earlier today shots were fired at IDF forces near the border of the southern Gaza Strip. There were no reports of injuries or damages. Shortly after, IDF tanks fired at Hamas positions in Gaza.

For further reading click here.

Arab MK Suspected
Police have decided to question Arab Joint List MK Basel Ghattas for allegedly smuggling cell phones to Palestinian security prisoners to which he has access. Members of the Joint List defended Ghattas and accuse the government and police of trying to destroy him.

Ghattas recently made the following statement after the death of Shimon Peres: “Let us remember in his death his true essence as a tyran. He was directly responsible for various atrocities and war crimes which he committed against us…He is completely covered with our blood.”

PM Netanyahu issued a statement saying, “If these suspicions against MK Ghattas are true, then this constitutes a serious offense against the security of the state and citizens of Israel. Whoever harms state security will be severely punished and will not be allowed to serve in the Knesset.” 
 
Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman said, “Just more proof that the Joint List is a list of spies and traitors. From Azmi Bishara to Basel Ghattas to the Marmara representative Hanin Zoabi and the rest of their friends—we will continue to act so that not only are they no longer part of the Knesset, but so they are not citizens of the State of Israel.”

For further reading click here.

Amona Will Move
Amona residents have accepted a compromise agreement to move to an adjacent plot of land, thus avoiding their forceful evacuation. The cabinet approved the agreement and allocated 130 million shekels to implement it. Each family will receive around 1 million shekels as compensation.

For further reading click here.

Katsav Released
Former President Moshe Katsav, 72, who was convicted of rape and other sexual acts and is serving a seven year prison sentence, has been granted parole after serving five years. Women’s groups including several female MKs blasted the decision.

For further reading click here.

Hit Squad
Last Thursday a Hamas terrorist engineer who specialized in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was assassinated in Tunisia. Reports from various sources blamed the hit on the Mossad. Yesterday the Tunisian government issued an official statement blaming the assassination on foreign elements. The Mossad made no comment.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for December 12, 2016

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Refusing Orders
With less than two weeks left until the scheduled date for the evacuation of the settlement of Amona security forces are training for the sensitive operation, which will undoubtedly be met with some form of resistance, hopefully nonviolent. But some soldiers are expressing their intentions to disobey the evacuation order and refuse to participate in the operation, which they believe is contrary to the Torah.

A Facebook group has been established for soldiers who plan to refuse to participate in the evacuation. Since disobeying orders in the IDF is a crime, the group does not display photos of soldiers but only photos of unit emblems, uniforms and written notes.

An IDF spokesman said, “The IDF condemns and prohibits any expression [in favor of] refusing orders and takes this very seriously. The IDF is the army of a democratic state and will obey the civilian leadership and carry out any mission given to it in accordance with the law.”

While most rabbis have clearly prohibited soldiers from disobeying orders to evacuate Jews from Amona, a small minority have not.

Meanwhile, Amona residents are holding demonstrations in a last ditch effort to avoid the evacuation.

For further reading click here.

Women in IDF
Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef expressed his opposition to women serving in the IDF, even in non combat positions, in his weekly torah class on Saturday night. R. Yosef was simply echoing the official position of the Chief Rabbinate. He also spoke out against women doing National Service (Sherut Leumi), which the Chief Rabbinate does not oppose and which most National Religious rabbis recommend.

For further reading click here.

Police Warning
The Israel Police is opposed to the bill that’s making its way through the Knesset which would prohibit mosques from broadcasting their call to prayer through loudspeakers. The police is warning that the law, if passed, could instigate violent protests from Arab citizens throughout Israel.

According to a police report, “From a police perspective, it would be a mistake to legislate or otherwise focus on the muezzin. The issue of the muezzin is an extremely sensitive one, and we have decided not to make it into one of the foremost things we do in the Arab sector, since there are nationalistic priorities, such as razing terrorists’ homes.”

For further reading click here.

Hamas Missiles
A senior Hamas official told Al-Aqsa TV that Hamas is offering to share its missile arsenal with any Arab army that will use them against Israel. It’s unclear who that army might be or how Hamas would get the missiles to them, but it’s the thought that counts. The only “army” that would possibly be interested is Hezbollah, but they already are estimated to have over 100,000 missiles of their own.

For further reading click here.

Tragedy and Hope
On Friday a 10 year old boy and his father both fell of a cliff while hiking in the Judea desert. The father died later that day. The boy, Ilan Nir, survived until Sunday afternoon, when he succumbed to his injuries. But he went on to save lives after his death.

Ilan’s heart was transplanted into an 8 year old boy who needed an immediate heart transplant to save his life. The boy is currently in stable condition and recovering. Ilan’s liver was transplanted into a 4 year old girl from southern Israel and his lungs were transplanted into a 55 year old woman. Ilan’s kidneys will also be transplanted into a patient suffering from renal failure.

For further reading click here.

No Dougnuts
Israel’s Health Minister Yakov Litzman (UTJ) has urged the public to refrain from eating too many jelly doughnuts this Hanukkah. The doughnuts, called sufganiot, are a traditional Hanukkah food that represents the miracle of the oil. They are also usually at least 400 – 500 calories each. Litzman said, “It’s possible to find substitutes for everything today, and there is no need to stuff our children with sufganiyot, which don’t meet the standards of proper health and nutrition.” But Litzman did not say anything against potato latkes — so enjoy!

For further reading click here.

Israel News for December 6, 2016

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Attack Thwarted
IDF forces arrested arrested several Palestinians next to Highway 60, south of Bethlehem, as they were preparing to throw Molotov cocktails over the security fence at passing vehicles. The IDF also arrested 10 suspected terrorists in the West Bank overnight.

To watch a video of the molotov cocktail arrests, click here.

Regulation Bill Passes
After the compromise agreement reached between PM Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennet that removed Amona from the Regulation Bill, the bill passed its initial reading in the Knesset by a vote of 60-49 last night.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog ripped up the bill during his speech shouting, “This is another dispute that will be remembered in the history of the state. This is a bill for the creation of a bi-national state. This is a deal of rhinos. You know that it endangers IDF commanders, state leaders and the state’s character. You know that this is contrary to the opinion of the Attorney General. This bill is a black day for the Knesset.

The Attorney General spoke out against the original “pre-compromise” version of the bill, but is still unsure as to whether the new version will be upheld by the Supreme Court.

MK Benny Begin (Likud) was the only member of the governing coalition to oppose the bill. The bill still must pass three more readings in the Knesset to become law.

In its current version the bill would permit settlements that were formed with government support to maintain possession, but not ownership, over Palestinian owned land. The land owners would receive compensation. This would in essence legalize almost all of the settlements and remove them from the threat of evacuation.

The bill would not, however, prevent the evacuation of Amona, which is scheduled for December 25th. The government is planning to petition the Supreme Court for a 30 day postponement of the evacuation in order to provide Amona residents with housing on nearby land, as recommended by the Attorney General.

The adjacent land parcels have been assumed to be unclaimed land, although several Palestinians have just this week filed ownership claims over the parcels.

For further reading click here.

Shorter Army Service
Last year the government shortened the mandatory IDF service for men to 32 months from the previous 36 months. Now the Knesset is in the process of passing a bill that would further shorten IDF service for men to 30 months. The bill has already passed through three readings, with just one more to go. The bill is meant to stimulate the economy by enabling thousands more men each year to join the workforce.

For further reading click here.

Strange Partnership
Israel recently signed a contract with a German company to manufacture four new warships for the Israeli navy. It turns out that the shipyard where the warships are being constructed is operated by an Abu Dhabi-based company. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has no diplomatic relations with Israel and prohibits Israeli passport holders entry into the country.

A third of the UAE company is owned by a Lebanese Christian businessman, who assisted Israel in its search for missing Air Force navigator Ron Arad in the 1980’s.

So an Arab owned company is helping the Germans build warships for Israel. Who would have thought?

For further reading click here.

Netanyahu in Gold
An artist has erected a 13 foot tall gold (painted) statue of PM Netanyahu in Rabin Square, just outside the Tel Aviv municipality building. The statue is meant to replicate similar types of statues of dictators in other countries.

The artist, Itay Zalait, remarked, “The most important thing is to make people think and to not take things for granted. To imagine – without saying its good or bad – how does it feel to live in a country where a statue of the leader is in the center of the town? Right now this feels like provocation but it could become reality.”

The Tel Aviv municipality has ordered the statue removed, since it was placed there without authorization.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for December 2, 2016

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Trump Appoints General
President elect Trump has announced that he will nominate 66 year old retired Marine General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense. Mattis, nicknamed Mad Dog, retired as chief of U.S. Central Command in 2013 after service over 40 years in the Marine Corps.

Even though Central Command does not encompass Israel, Mattis made a point of visiting Israel on many occasions to discuss military matters.

However, Mattis has made statements in favor of a two-state solution, calling the alternative “apartheid”. He also indicated that US support for Israel has hurt it in dealings with the Arab world and made military operations in the Middle East more complicated.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a Right leaning organization, has called Mattis’s remarks, “hostile to Israel, and revealed a lack of appreciation for and understanding of the extraordinary value to American security resulting from a strong American-Israeli alliance and a secure Israel.”

While Mattis has taken a tough stance against Iran, which he has called the biggest threat to stability and peace in the Middle East, he has also said that “absent a clear and present violation,” he did not see how the US could back out of the Iran deal, since reinstating sanctions would not have the intended effect if the other signatories to the agreement would not reimpose their sanctions. While Trump has promised to scrap the Iran deal, it’s unclear whether he will actually do that as president.

Mattis will require a special waiver from Congress to be able to serve as Secretary of Defense, since the current law states that the office must be held by a civilian who has not been in uniform for at least 7 years prior to taking the job. Mattis retired from service just under 4 years ago.

For further reading click here.

Lieberman in NY
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman addressed a group of UN ambassadors hosted by Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. The ambassadors were from Canada, Russia, India, Italy, Senegal, Singapore, Rwanda, Greece, Cyprus, Holland, Bulgaria and Argentina. The DM briefed the ambassadors on the security threats in the Middle East and warned that the UN and other international agencies have no real power to stop them. Instead, they spend their time passing anti Israel resolutions. He said, “All this proves that the United Nations, including the Security Council, do not perform their duties and are not relevant to the rest of the world.”

Ambassador Danon explained the purpose of the meeting saying, “We are strengthening our ties and cooperation with many countries and there is a clear understanding among our allies that Israel is an island of stability in a turbulent Middle East.”

For further reading click here.

Rabbi Takes Post
Brig. Gen. Rabbi Eyal Karim officially took his position as Chief Rabbi of the IDF last night at a ceremony attended by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.

Eisenkot remarked, “The appointment of chief rabbi of the IDF is an extremely significant event in the army. Unfortunately, the ceremony took place a week late. I was convinced months ago that we are choosing Rabbi Eyal Karim for the job. He is the most fitting and appropriate choice for command and rabbinic authority in the IDF. I had no doubts.”

Eisenkot was referring to the controversy that surrounded Karim’s appointment as a result of statements the rabbi made that were understood by some as being anti-women and anti-gay. The Supreme Court even got involved by ordering Karim to clarify his statements, which he did.

Rabbi Karim spoke at the ceremony saying, “The military rabbinate needs to be a force for unity. We will only have one army, an army of the people, that all soldiers can find their place in. The military rabbinate, by its very nature, is firmly rooted in Jewish law, values, morals and thought.”

One controversial issue that the new IDF Chief Rabbi will have to face is the proposal by the IDF to assign women to serve in tanks alongside men. The proposal has already garnered harsh reactions from senior rabbinic figures including the Chief Rabbis of Israel.

For further reading click here.

More Rain
Heavy rains, with strong winds, are expected to continue throughout Israel over the weekend. The first snowfall hit the Hermon this morning dropping close to 8 inches of snow. Snow is expected to continue throughout the day. Good news for the Mount Hermon Ski Resort.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for November 22, 2016

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Terror Attack
A Palestinian attempted to stab a security guard at the Qalandiya checkpoint today. The terrorist was shot and wounded before causing any harm.

For further reading click here.

Jewish Demolition
The Supreme Court is discussing whether home demolitions should be applied to Jews convicted of murdering Arabs, based on a petition by the family of a 16 year old youth who was murdered by Jewish extremists in July, 2014. The petition calls for the demolition of the homes of the convicted murderers. If demolitions are meant to deter further acts of terror, then shouldn’t they be applied to both Arabs and Jews equally?

Justice Neal Hendel said, “What does it matter to me if it is an Arab or a Jew?. If we say that we are prepared to employ this policy against a specific group of people and not against another it raises certain problems.”

Elyakim Rubinstein, vice president of the court, said, “It is said that in Arab society there are more supporters and that the deterrence will be infinitely stronger. But still, since there are extremists in Jewish society that have done these kinds of terrible things, even if the deterrence is carried out on the assumption that it will influence a small number people, it will still save lives.” He added, “If five attackers in the Jewish society planned five separate attacks and three of them are deterred from doing so because they don’t want to lose their homes, we have achieved something.” 

The State differentiated between the propensity for terror in the Arab population and an isolated incident in the Jewish population. But Justice Zvi Zilbertal rejected the argument saying, “If it’s possible to prevent one murder through preventative action, will they do it only after 20 murderous attacks are be carried out? When we’re talking about human life, it is not the quantity that counts.”

For further reading click here.

Court Blocks Rabbi
Based on a petition by Meretz, the Supreme Court has postponed the inauguration of the IDF’s new Chief Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim until he provides the court with a clear explanation regarding his positions on women serving in the IDF, homosexuality and other seemingly controversial statements he made. Chief Judge Miriam Naor, said, “We want to hear what he has to say. What his position was then, what it is now and if he has changed his mind.” To read more about R. Karim’s background and his positions, click here.

The Chief Rabbinate condemned the courts decision. A forum of former IDF rabbis also condemned the court, saying “This is a bad decision that will be remembered as disgraceful. There’s no end to Meretz’s abuse of any Jewish characteristic in the IDF. In a biased manner, they took the rabbi’s words out of context and distorted them. It’s very regretful that the High Court’s judges are cooperating with these elements who seek to weaken the military rabbinate while also weakening the entire IDF.”

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) showed his full support for the rabbi, saying, “Dear Rabbi Karim, don’t allow this attempt to silence you and don’t go back on halachic rulings you believe in.”

For further reading click here.

Forest Fire
Hundreds of residents of Neve Shalom, near Latrun, have been evacuated from their homes following a forest fire raging in the area. The fire broke out overnight Monday and rapidly spread due to strong winds in the area. There are no reported injuries thus far. 140 firefighters along with aircraft are battling the blaze.

Warnings against lighting fires in open areas have been issued throughout the country, due to the extremely dry conditions, unseasonably warm weather and high winds.

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PM Forbids Trump Contact
The Prime Minister has issued a directive prohibiting ministers from having any contact with Trump’s advisors or team. This comes after Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel met with a number of Trump advisors. Bennett attended an event of the Zionist Organization of America in NYC on Sunday, where he allegedly spoke with several Trump advisors.

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Food Labeling
The Ministry of Health’s “Committee for Regulation to Promote Healthy Nutrition” has submitted its food labelling recommendations. The new regulations require food manufacturers to mark food products containing high levels of sugar, salt or fat with a red warning label. Food manufacturers will also be required to state the number of spoons of sugar in each food product, and will be prohibited from advertising products marked as unhealthy to children. The new regulations do not cover fast food restaurants.

According to Ministry of Health figures, Israel has one of the highest rates of sugar consumption in the world. It ranks second in diabetes mortality among men and third among women (behind Mexico and Turkey). Israeli children consume more sweetened beverages than children in America (over 10% more).

Israel also has one of the world’s highest rates of salt consumption, almost double the recommended maximum quantity, and even higher among children.

The new regulations are set to take effect in 2018. The Health Ministry hopes that companies will use the next year to try and improve the quality of their products.

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Israel News for November 11, 2016

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Terrorists Arrested
The Shin Bet, IDF and Israel Police arrested eight terror suspects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The men are suspected of planning to manufacture and use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against IDF forces. Laboratory equipment and raw materials used to manufacture the explosives were also discovered.

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Court Sends Message
The Jerusalem District Court sent a message to juveniles who carry out terror attacks that they will be severely punished for their actions. Earlier this week, Judge Yoram Noam sentenced a 14 year old who carried out a stabbing attack in Pisgat Ze’ev last October to 12 years in prison. He also sentenced a 14 and 15 year old to 11 years each for carrying out a stabbing attack at Damascus Gate in the Old City in January.

The sentences for minors are considered unprecedented in their seriousness. The judge explained, “In today’s harsh reality, stricter punishment is inevitable. Under these circumstances, the need to keep terrorists behind bars is growing, and real weight must be given to the principles of deterring the many and the individual are real considerations for the strictness of the penalties.”

He also said, “Recently we have seen that even young children aged 14 to 16 are taking an active part in acts of terrorism. However, being a minor doesn’t grant impunity from appropriate punishment when committing a serious crime. The punishment needs to express society’s dislike of these acts intended to kill a person for nationalistic reasons…and lightening the sentence could send the wrong message to the public.”

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Israel and Russia
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev yesterday during which they both agreed to cooperate in the fight against terror.

Medvedev said, “First and foremost it is terrorism that threatens the entire globe but here, in your area, it is felt particularly harshly. The Russian Federation also suffers from terror and it is part and parcel of the same thing. In light of this fact,” he said, “we have to fight terror together and that relates to security cooperation. With joint efforts we need to destroy the seed of terror which lies in the hands of ISIS.”

He also described Israel as the “biggest partner in the region for economic affairs” and stressed the importance of joint economic and commercial activity.

Netanyahu said, “We are determined to do two things: to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and preventing Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria.” He also thanked Medvedev for Russia’s efforts in trying to facilitate the return of the bodies of IDF soldier’s held in Gaza by Hamas.

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No Girls Allowed
Education Minister Naftali Bennet has come under fire from a group of prominent rabbis for what they consider to be his role in encouraging young religious women to enlist in the IDF. Religious women have traditionally chosen to volunteer for National Service instead of army services, following an official ruling by the Chief Rabbinate directing them to do just that.

The Education Ministry under Bennet has begun funding organizations that assist religious women who want to enlist in the IDF, and the rabbis consider that to be contrary to religious law. Dozens of rabbis signed a petition expressing their opposition and demanding that the ministry cease encouraging the women. The ministry denies that it is trying to encourage the women to enlist.

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Museum Opening
For all you museum goers, there’s a new one that just opened which you might want to check out: the Yasser Arafat Museum. You heard right. The museum honoring the former PLO terror-in-chief and chairman of the Palestinian Authority cost $7 million and is located in Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, just behind his grave. So you can also pay tribute to the arch terrorist after viewing the exhibits on display including his rifle, one of his famous keffiyehs, the sunglasses that he wore in his 1974 UN address, the eyeglasses that he used for his last decade alive and, of course, his Nobel Peace Prize. Pictures of the Arafat with various world leaders hang in the hallways.

To view photos of the museum click here.