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Israel News for February 29, 2016

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Ax Terrorist Arrested
Israeli security forces yesterday arrested Saadi Ali Abu Hammed for attacking Tzvika Cohen, a 48 year old security guard, in the Maaleh Adumim mall on Friday. Cohen a father of four, is fighting for his life at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The terror attack was the first to occur in Maaleh Adumim. Judea and Samaria police have banned Palestinian workers from entering the city until Thursday, but they will be allowed to go to work at the adjacent Mishor Adumim Industrial Park.

WARNING: To watch an extremely graphic security video of the ax attack against the security guard, click here.

Army Beards
The IDF is cracking down on beards, and religious soldiers are not happy. According to new orders set to take effect this week, a soldier who wishes to grow or keep his beard for religious reasons will need to receive official approval from the IDF Chief Rabbinate, his unit commander and his adjutant commanding officer. Until now the IDF’s Chief Rabbinate alone granted permission.

The Association of Hesder Yeshivas (a program that combines army service with study in a Yeshiva) said that in recent days it has received hundreds of complaints from religious soldiers who say that their requests were denied or unanswered, meaning that they will have to shave their beard by Tuesday. It said that in once case a battalion commander instructed his entire battalion, including two platoons of Hesder soldiers, that they could not have a beard.

The head of the association said, “The security problems of the State of Israel and the challenges facing the IDF are so great and significant that the decision to trouble soldiers who grow beards is an inappropriate and unacceptable step. There are hundreds of soldiers from the Hesder yeshivas, religious pre-military academies and others who see significant service in combat roles in the IDF as a religious commandment, and the order to remove beards does not sit well with the IDF being the army of the state of the Jewish people.”

Numerous rabbis, including Rabbi Shlomo Aviner (Ateret Kohanim) and Rabbi Zalman Melamed (Bet El), have called on soldiers to protest the anti-beard regulation even if it means going to jail. Hundreds of soldiers have warned that they will go to jail if forbidden from growing beards.

Bayit Yehudi MKs have called on Defense Minister Yaalon to rescind the new order and make it legal for soldiers to grow beards for religious reasons. He might be sympathetic to the request, considering that Yaalon himself, who is secular, had a full beard when he served in the IDF (as seen in a this photo – http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208646#.VtN8j8fSNcY).

The roots of the new regulation stem from a ruling by the High Court in response to a group of secular soldiers who petitioned for the right to grow beards, which had been a right granted only to religious soldiers. In order to make the playing field level for everyone the army decided to require soldiers to get permission from their commanders in addition to the rabbinate, to include the non religious soldiers.

An IDF spokesman stated that, “there is no intention to harm the sensitivities of any soldier. A religious soldiers who wishes to grow a beard will turn to his commanders (for permission), as will soldiers who are not religious who wish to grow beards for other reasons.”

Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan (Shas) said yesterday that the IDF would review the new regulation.

For further reading click here.

Iran Must Pay
In a landmark decision, a court in San Diego, California, has ruled that victims who were wounded in a 1997 terrorist attack on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem must be compensated by Iran.

The terrorist attack in question took place on September 4, 1997, when three Hamas suicide bombers simultaneously blew themselves up on the pedestrian mall, killing five Israelis.

The court ruling, which was handed down on Friday after 15 years of litigation, says the victims who have dual Israeli-American citizenship will be given $9.4 million using Iranian assets that were frozen and confiscated by the United States.

In addition, the judge ruled that even if Iran appeals to the Supreme Court over the ruling, he will not delay the transfer of the compensation to the victims’ families.

Nice job, Your Honor.

For further reading click here.

Right Wing Rapper
Popular right wing rapper Yoav Eliasi, aka Hatzel, has received a slew of death threats against himself and his family, but he claims that the police is denying him a permit to carry a weapon. In addition to the threats, Eliasi’s car has been vandalized on several occasions and his tires slashed multiple times. On his Facebook Hatzel wrote, “If, one day, I or one of the members of my family are hurt, the police will not be able to say they did not know.”

MK Issawi Freij (Meretz) announced last week that he intends to file a complaint against Hatzel, for incitement to violence.

To watch a music video by Hatzel, click here.

Chinese Jews Return
Five Chinese women, descended from the medieval Jewish community of Kaifeng, are set to arrive in Israel on Monday. The women will study at Midreshet Nishmat – The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women, where they will prepare for their official conversion to Judaism under the auspices of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Kaifeng’s Jewish community is believed to have been founded by Iraqi or Persian Jewish merchants in the eighth or ninth century. A synagogue was erected there in 1163 that still stands today. According to estimates, the community consisted of up to 5,000 Jews during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) but decreased to 500-1000 due to wide-scale assimilation and intermarriage.

According to Michael Freund, chairman of the Shavei Israel organization responsible for bringing the women to Israel, the Kaifeng community was similar to other Jewish communities except that it did not suffer anti-Semitism.

 
“As a result, beginning perhaps in the 18th century, a process of assimilation and intermarriage began to settle in. Then, the last rabbi of Kaifeng passed away 200 years ago, and the synagogue was rendered unfit for use when a series of floods struck the city in the 19th century,” Freund told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

 
Freund said that close to 1,000 remain who are identifiable as descendants of the Jewish community and who have shown increasing interest in learning about Judaism and their heritage. Such interest has enabled Freund’s organization to bring many Chinese to Israel, the last group of seven men arriving in October 2009.

 
Freund further explained that around 25 years ago, Jews were given the option of registering either as regular Han Chinese or, for unknown reasons, as Muslims. “Many opted to register as Muslims since this enabled them to have more than one child, but they are still identifiable as descendants of Jews even if some of them have nothing to do with Judaism.”

“And your children shall return to their own border. 

And there is hope for your future.” — Jeremiah 31:16

For further reading click here.

To learn more about Shavei Israel and their important work, click here.

Israel News for February 23, 2016

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Carry Weapons
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has instructed the IDF to change regulations that require soldiers to leave their weapons at base before leaving for at least a three day vacation. The regulation was meant to prevent the possibility of weapons being stolen. Now, all soldiers will be required to take their weapons with them and carry them at all times.

Eisenkot’s order comes in the wake of the murder of 1st-Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman last week by terrorists. Weissman was on a week long vacation from the army when he was shopping in a supermarket and heard the screams of someone being stabbed by terrorists. Although he did not have his weapon with him (as per regulations), he still rushed to help and was stabbed to death. The two terrorists were finally shot by an armed civilian.

Had Weissman been carrying his weapon, the situation would probably have turned out much differently. Let’s hope that this new IDF policy regarding weapons will help prevent more bloodshed by terrorists.

For further reading click here.

IDF Raids
Last night the IDF conducted raids in several Palestinian villages in Samaria in search of weapons. Soldiers seized M-16 assault rifles, pistols, bullets, magazines, night-vision goggles, binoculars and other military equipment used in terror attacks. The IDF also demolished the homes of two terrorists west of Hebron.

To watch a video of the raids, click here.

Canada vs BDS
Canada’s Parliament passed a motion yesterday formally condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The motion passed with support from both the Conservative and Liberal parties and calls on the Canadian government to “condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said, “the world will win nothing for boycotting Israel but depriving itself of the talents of its inventiveness.”

On the flip side, the National Council on Canada Arab Relations said the anti-BDS motion goes “against the spirit of the Freedom of Speech, a right enshrined in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” You can’t please everyone.

Go Canada!

For further reading click here.

Last Treblinka Survivor
Samuel Willenberg, the last survivor of the Treblinka death camp, was buried yesterday in Israel. Willenberg was one of only 67 people to survive the notorious camp where 850,000 Jews were murdered in the 13 months of its existence.

Willenberg was a leading member of the underground resistance group formed in the camp, which carried out a revolt in August 1943 that burned down most of the camp and killed many guards. Hundreds of prisoners were shot trying to flee to the forest. Most of those who succeeded were later captured and killed by the Germans or local Poles. Willenberg managed to reach Warsaw where he joined his father who was hiding there as a Christian. He then joined the Polish underground and fought in the Warsaw (Polish Underground) Uprising in 1944. After the war Willenberg moved to Israel where he worked as an artist and sculptor, and wrote several books about his incredible story of survival.

President Reuven Rivlin eulogized Willenberg saying,“Samuel, I came here today to tell you – you are a hero. And what a hero, Samuel. You are a symbol of heroism. A symbol for an entire generation of Holocaust Survivors. Heroes. Strong and courageous people. Invincible. Optimistic. Who survived the destruction and could grow once again. Who experienced the horror and choose life.”

He concluded by saying, “We must do everything possible to help the survivors live out the rest of their lives with dignity. This is our duty. It is a moral imperative for the victims, for the survivors. For ourselves, and in order to fulfill the will of Samuel, we must remember and never forget. May his memory be blessed.”

For further reading click here.

 

Syrians Thank Israel
Aboud Dandachi, a 39 year old Sunni Muslim from the city of Homs now living in Istanbul, has created a website dedicated to the Israeli and Jewish organizations and people helping Syrian refugees.

The website, Thank You Am Israel, highlights the humanitarian aid being given to displaced Syrians and also refutes any reasons why Israelis and Syrians should be enemies.
The site includes news stories and opinion pieces on the global humanitarian aid being offered by Israeli and Jewish people to the Syrian people. (Am Yisrael is Hebrew for “Nation of Israel.”)

“There are new stories of Israelis helping Syrians every day. As far as I’m concerned, because we as Syrians cannot give back to Jews what they give to us, so we should at least thank them,” Dandachi told Ynet news.

Dandachi said, “By chronicling and acknowledging the numerous acts of compassion and generosity shown by the Jewish people to my own people, I can try to ensure that Syrians, Arabs and the world at large never be allowed to forget what you have offered and provided to Syrian refugees, at a time when you had every historical and practical reason not to. Thank you Am Israel, and may you always be safe and blessed.”

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 16, 2016

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Deadly Accident
A tragic road accident claimed the lives of six passengers when an Egged bus, traveling from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak,  hit a truck parked on the shoulder of Highway 1. According to a passenger on the bus, “The truck driver was standing on the side of the road with the emergency lights blinking. We came at the truck at an absurd speed, the bus driver drove like a maniac in my opinion.” Just moments before the crash two of the passengers, sisters, called their sister and said that the driver was driving like a maniac and was on his cell phone.” Screams were heard before the call was disconnected.

The Egged driver was involved in a similar accident three years ago, when he hit a stationary truck on the same highway. Eighteen passengers were injured in that incident. He is currently under investigation by police.

The bus is part of the “Mehadrin line”, which caters to Ultra Orthodox passengers traveling between Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. Many of those killed were prominent members of the community, including the daughter of the Biala (Hassidic) Rebbe. Several passengers were injured, some severely, including a woman slated to be married in three months.

May all the injured have a speedy recovery.

For further reading click here.

PA Rejection
During a visit to Japan yesterday, Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki pledged to never again engage with Israel in direct negotiations towards a final settlement saying,“We will never go back and sit again in direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.”

He rejected the idea of an invitation to return to the negotiating table by Israeli President Rivlin, and suggested that ISIS may be poised to take over Judea and Samaria. Malki also sympathized with Palestinian terrorists, explaining that they are trying to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.

So much for diplomacy.

For further reading click here.

French Plan
France’s Ambassador to Israel officially presented France’s plan to hold an international summit in Paris to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The French initiative to convene an international peace summit was presented on January 29 in a speech by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at the foreign ministry in Paris. Fabius also said that France will recognize the State of Palestine if the initiative fails.

Fabius has since resigned, but his plan has become part of French foreign policy and has already been presented to more than twenty governments including the U.S., England, Germany and Russia. The French presented the plan to the Palestinians, who they say responded very positively.

Israel has responded negatively to the plan, insisting that only direct negotiations with the Palestinians, without any preconditions, can lead to peace. The Palestinians have stated on numerous occasions their refusal to hold direct peace talks with Israel.

For further reading click here.

Bnei Akiva Gondar
Bnei Akiva, the popular religious zionist youth organization, has set up a chapter in a camp in Gondar, Ethiopia, where over 6,000 Jews are waiting to immigrate to Israel. The organization’s goal is to run programs to teach children about Jewish and Israeli customs and traditions, in order to ease their eventual absorption into Israeli society. At the same time, Bnei Akiva in Israel is preparing their chapters and participants for an influx of Ethiopian immigrants.

The immigration of the remaining Ethiopian Jews is currently awaiting Israeli government approval, which is expected to take some time due to questions about the Jewish lineage of the Ethiopians.

For further reading click here.

Wedding Dance
The Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rafi Peretz, has run into some potentially serious trouble for dancing at a wedding. In a video taken at the wedding of the son of a former IDF rabbi in Jerusalem, Peretz is seen dancing with Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, who is the head of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva in the Israeli settlement of Yatzhar and the author of the controversial book “The King’s Torah”, which has been severely criticized for containing content viewed as inciting violence. In the video Peretz, who is wearing his IDF uniform, is wearing Shapira’s hat while Shapira is wearing Peretz’s military beret.

MK Bar Lev of the Zionist Union and a member of the defense committee has requested that IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot take immediate action against Peretz. Bar Lev wrote, “The IDF Chief Rabbi arrived at a wedding in uniform. Therefore, he represents the IDF and ceases to be a private individual.”

The IDF has responded that it will speak with Rabbi Peretz regarding how an officer in uniform is expected to act at public events.

Lesson: You never know who might be videoing you, so beware of your actions, especially when dancing at weddings.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 12, 2016

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Terror Averted
Police today arrested an Arab man at the Beersheba central bus station based on intelligence information that he was planning to carry out a terror attack.

In Gush Etzion, a young Israeli woman reported that an Arab driver tried to run her over while she waited at a bus stop. She wasn’t injured.

For further reading click here.

Arab Police
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan promised, yesterday, that the police will increase their manpower in the Arab sector and boost law enforcement and police recruitment within the wider Muslim community across the country.

The police will be forming a new branch to focus exclusively on issues facing the Israeli Arab community. The plan includes the construction of what police hope will be more than 10 new police stations in Arab communities, as well as the recruitment of more than 1,300 police officers from the sector over the next five years.

The new branch is expected to be headed by Deputy Chief Jamal Hakrush, the deputy head of the Coastal District who previously served as the deputy head of the Traffic Police. Hakrush is from Kafr Kana, an Arab town north of Nazareth, and will be the first Moslem to serve as a deputy commissioner in the police.

According to data from 2015, although Arabs make up only about 21% of the population of Israel, 59% of murders, 55% of attempted murders, 58% of arsons, 47% of robberies and 32% of property crimes reported to police take place in the Arab community.

For further reading click here.

Shin Bet Head
PM Netanyahu appointed deputy Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman as the next Shin Bet head yesterday. The 55-year-old Argaman, a resident of Rosh Ha’ayin, will replace Yoram Cohen in May of 2016.

Argaman was drafted into an elite IDF unit in 1978. He joined the Shin Bet in 1983, served as head of Shin Bet operations between 2003-2007 and then spent four years as the Shin Bet representative in the U.S. He was loaned out to the Atomic Energy Commission between September 2014 and September 2015, before returning to serve as deputy Shin Bet chief after Roni Alsheich was named Israel Police commissioner.

Government officials from across the political spectrum praised Argaman, including the PM, President, Defense Minister and opposition leader. To sum it up, President Reuven Rivlin said Argaman is, “the right man in the right place.”

May he be blessed with success in protecting the State of Israel.

For further reading click here.

Mikvah Verdict
Yesterday the High Court of Justice issued a decision permitting Reform and Conservative religious courts to perform conversion ceremonies in public Mikvahs. The specific case related to the use of the Mikvahs in Beersheba. Since immersion in a Mikvah or a large natural body of water, is a Jewish legal (halachic) requirement for completing a conversion, the Conservative and Reform conversions have been forced to perform their immersions in the sea.

The ruling came in response to an appeal by the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, which represented both non-Orthodox movements.

Mikvahs in Israel operate under the auspices of the Orthodox-run religious councils, and Reform and Conservative converts are often prevented from using them when questions about their affiliation arise.

The state had argued that since Reform and Conservative conversions were done outside of the official Chief Rabbinate, the state was not required to accommodate them.

The court ruling stated, “From the moment the state set up public Mikvahs and made them available to the public – including for the purpose of conversion – it cannot discriminate among those who use them.”

The Reform and Conservative movements praised the court’s decision as a step in the direction of full acceptance of the movements by the government. But while their converts are registered as Jewish by the population registry, they are not accepted by the Chief Rabbinate and therefore cannot legally marry in Israel.

For further reading click here.

Super Bandage
An Israeli company called Core Scientific Creations (CSC) has developed a super bandage called WoundClot that stops severe bleeding within minutes without the need to apply pressure on the wound, while enhancing the blood’s natural clotting process.

According to CEO Yuval Yaskil, uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of death on the battlefield. While the traditional protocol for treating such bleeding includes applying pressure on the wound, Yaskil says that in some cases like stab wounds to the neck or head trauma injuries, pressure does not work. That’s why WoundClot was chemically treated to stop bleeding and enhance clotting while maintaining its own stability for 24 hours, enough time to get patients to a hospital.

Dr. Shani Eliyahu Gross, Vice President and CTO of CSC, explained, “When it is exposed to liquids, this product starts to absorb enormous amount of blood and then it transforms into a gel state.” She added that the more blood absorbed in the bandage, the quicker the clotting process will proceed.

Yaskil said that CSC is providing WoundClot to the Israeli police and the IDF and is selling it to hospitals. WoundClot prices range from under $10 to around $100 for larger surgical products. The “super bandage” is meant to replace other products or procedures that can cost up to thousands of dollars.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 12, 2016

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Terror Averted
Police today arrested an Arab man at the Beersheba central bus station based on intelligence information that he was planning to carry out a terror attack.

In Gush Etzion, a young Israeli woman reported that an Arab driver tried to run her over while she waited at a bus stop. She wasn’t injured.

For further reading click here.

Arab Police
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan promised, yesterday, that the police will increase their manpower in the Arab sector and boost law enforcement and police recruitment within the wider Muslim community across the country.

The police will be forming a new branch to focus exclusively on issues facing the Israeli Arab community. The plan includes the construction of what police hope will be more than 10 new police stations in Arab communities, as well as the recruitment of more than 1,300 police officers from the sector over the next five years.

The new branch is expected to be headed by Deputy Chief Jamal Hakrush, the deputy head of the Coastal District who previously served as the deputy head of the Traffic Police. Hakrush is from Kafr Kana, an Arab town north of Nazareth, and will be the first Moslem to serve as a deputy commissioner in the police.

According to data from 2015, although Arabs make up only about 21% of the population of Israel, 59% of murders, 55% of attempted murders, 58% of arsons, 47% of robberies and 32% of property crimes reported to police take place in the Arab community.

For further reading click here.

Shin Bet Head
PM Netanyahu appointed deputy Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman as the next Shin Bet head yesterday. The 55-year-old Argaman, a resident of Rosh Ha’ayin, will replace Yoram Cohen in May of 2016.

Argaman was drafted into an elite IDF unit in 1978. He joined the Shin Bet in 1983, served as head of Shin Bet operations between 2003-2007 and then spent four years as the Shin Bet representative in the U.S. He was loaned out to the Atomic Energy Commission between September 2014 and September 2015, before returning to serve as deputy Shin Bet chief after Roni Alsheich was named Israel Police commissioner.

Government officials from across the political spectrum praised Argaman, including the PM, President, Defense Minister and opposition leader. To sum it up, President Reuven Rivlin said Argaman is, “the right man in the right place.”

May he be blessed with success in protecting the State of Israel.

For further reading click here.

Mikvah Verdict
Yesterday the High Court of Justice issued a decision permitting Reform and Conservative religious courts to perform conversion ceremonies in public Mikvahs. The specific case related to the use of the Mikvahs in Beersheba. Since immersion in a Mikvah or a large natural body of water, is a Jewish legal (halachic) requirement for completing a conversion, the Conservative and Reform conversions have been forced to perform their immersions in the sea.

The ruling came in response to an appeal by the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, which represented both non-Orthodox movements.

Mikvahs in Israel operate under the auspices of the Orthodox-run religious councils, and Reform and Conservative converts are often prevented from using them when questions about their affiliation arise.

The state had argued that since Reform and Conservative conversions were done outside of the official Chief Rabbinate, the state was not required to accommodate them.

The court ruling stated, “From the moment the state set up public Mikvahs and made them available to the public – including for the purpose of conversion – it cannot discriminate among those who use them.”

The Reform and Conservative movements praised the court’s decision as a step in the direction of full acceptance of the movements by the government. But while their converts are registered as Jewish by the population registry, they are not accepted by the Chief Rabbinate and therefore cannot legally marry in Israel.

For further reading click here.

Super Bandage
An Israeli company called Core Scientific Creations (CSC) has developed a super bandage called WoundClot that stops severe bleeding within minutes without the need to apply pressure on the wound, while enhancing the blood’s natural clotting process.

According to CEO Yuval Yaskil, uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of death on the battlefield. While the traditional protocol for treating such bleeding includes applying pressure on the wound, Yaskil says that in some cases like stab wounds to the neck or head trauma injuries, pressure does not work. That’s why WoundClot was chemically treated to stop bleeding and enhance clotting while maintaining its own stability for 24 hours, enough time to get patients to a hospital.

Dr. Shani Eliyahu Gross, Vice President and CTO of CSC, explained, “When it is exposed to liquids, this product starts to absorb enormous amount of blood and then it transforms into a gel state.” She added that the more blood absorbed in the bandage, the quicker the clotting process will proceed.

Yaskil said that CSC is providing WoundClot to the Israeli police and the IDF and is selling it to hospitals. WoundClot prices range from under $10 to around $100 for larger surgical products. The “super bandage” is meant to replace other products or procedures that can cost up to thousands of dollars.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 10, 2016

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Terror Attack
A 28 year old Israeli man was stabbed in an apparent terror attack yesterday while jogging outside the town of Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion area of Judea. The man, Tomer Ditur, said that the attacker fled in the direction of the nearby Palestinian town of Nahalin.

After searching the area for the attacker, IDF forces surrounded Nahalin and have closed all roads into the town, allowing only humanitarian cases to pass.

For further reading click here.

Fence Building
PM Netanyahu announced yesterday that the government is preparing “a multi-year program to surround Israel with security fences in order to protect ourselves in the Middle East as it is today. In addition, we are preparing a program to close the breaches in the security fence in Judea and Samaria.”

You can’t go wrong by securing the borders, but is a fence really going to stop lone wolf terrorists who could be just about anywhere in Israel? There’s got to be a better solution (No, we don’t have one either).

For further reading click here.

Tunnel Threat
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot said yesterday that Hamas tunnels in Gaza have been Israel’s major security threat since 2013. He said that most of the resources entering Gaza are being diverted by Hamas towards building an underground infrastructure.

Eizenkot added that the IDF is concentrating intelligence and engineering efforts on the threat. “We have the most advanced capabilities in the world. We won’t let the quiet in the south deceive us. I think that 2015 was the quietest year since the 1970s. 23 rockets were fired from the Gaza strip into our territory by rebel and Salafi organizations.”

Only 23 rockets. So much for quiet.

For further reading click here.

Western Wall
The compromise agreement allowing the construction of a new non-Orthodox prayer area along the southern part of the Western Wall has drawn protests from the Ultra-Orthodox, the Palestinians, and even some women’s groups. Now there’s one more group to add to the list: archeologists.

Nine senior archeologists warned PM Netanyahu in a letter yesterday, that the construction of the new prayer area would damage the “diamond in Jerusalem’s archaeological crown.” Signatories to the protest letter include Dan Bahat, who excavated the Western Wall tunnels; Ronny Reich, head of the Archaeological Council of Israel, who exposed part of the paved road beneath Robinson’s Arch; Jerusalem Prize winner Gabriel Barkay, who directs the Temple Mount Sifting Project; and Israel Prize laureate Amihai Mazar.

Now what?

For further reading click here.

Hebrew Protocols
There are some books you’d probably never expect to see in Hebrew, usually due to their anti-semitic content. Well, you might soon be able to read one of the classics and favorites of Jew haters, in the holy tongue.

An initiative on the Israeli crowdfunding website Headstart.co.il is seeking funding to create the first full translation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion into Hebrew. The project is spearheaded by Adi Amsterdam, a linguistics lecturer at the Weizmann Institute and the David Yellin Center who believes that the only way to counter the fictitious anti semitic claims the book makes is by being aware of its contents. The translation would include historical and linguistic notes that would expose all of the book’s lies and inconsistencies. So far Amsterdam has reached 43% of his 25,000 NIS goal.

For further reading click here.

Startup Spotlight
An Israeli startup called Woo is working on disrupting high tech job recruiting and making it easier for employees to find just the right job. The woo.com website allows high tech talent such as developers, engineers, product managers, QAs, DevOps and designers to anonymously contact top tech companies to see what jobs are available and how much they pay.

Here’s basically how it works.The seeker creates a wishlist of criteria he wants in a job, something like a dating profile. But he remains anonymous. Then, the several hundred tech companies already using the site can view the “profile” and decide whether to show interest. If the seeker is also interested, he can reveal his identity and continue the process offline.

Job seekers can use the site by invite only. Companies using the site include Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, WIX, Vonage, just to name a few.

Woo was founded in 2015 by CEO Liran Kotzer and CTO Ami Dudu, and has raised $2.3 million in seed funding. The company currently has offices in Tel Aviv And San Francisco, and 25 employees, 23 of whom are in Tel Aviv.

Woo says that so far thousands of employees in Israel and the US have used the service and companies report that 70% of candidates contacted by them have responded. No figures are available for the percentage of actual hires.

So if you’re in tech and want to test the job waters, give woo.com a shot.

For further reading click here.

Ezra Nawi

Israel News for January 12, 2016

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Terror Attack
A Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers today outside the village of Beit Anoun near Hebron. The terrorist was shot and killed. No soldiers were harmed.

Also today, terrorists fired at soldiers manning the Abu Dis checkpoint, northeast of Bethlehem. According to an IDF report, the terrorists arrived at the checkpoint by car and shot at nearby soldiers, before driving off. IDF forces are combing the area in an effort to locate them.

For further reading click here.

Undercover Informer
You probably never thought that real estate was a dangerous business to be in. But if you’re a Palestinian living under the Palestinian Authority, selling property to Jews could cost you your life.

The PA’s Preventive Security Service, which is the Authority’s counterintelligence service, identifies Palestinians who sell land to Jews, beats and then kills them. The security service finds out about these sales through a network of informants. One of those informants was Ezra Nawi, an Israeli left wing activist.

In an investigative TV program aired by Channel 2, Nawi is seen on a hidden camera boasting about how he passes photos and phone numbers of Palestinians who sell property to Jews to the PA security service.

The footage was obtained by a right wing organization that employed a group of Israelis who posed as far-left activists in order to infiltrate Israeli human rights NGOs working in the West Bank.

Police arrested Nawi at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday as he attempted to leave the country. He will be investigated by the special investigative unit of the Judea and Samaria police on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime.

For further reading click here.

No Body
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said yesterday that Israel will not return the body of Nashat Melhelm, the Tel Aviv terrorist, to his family for burial until it is sure that his funeral will not turn into a show of support for terrorism. He said, “As long as the family meets the demands the Israel Police have made to ensure that the terrorist’s funeral will not be turned into a show of support for terrorism and incitement to additional attacks, then the body will be released.”

Eight people remain under arrest on suspicion of either directly assisting Melhem or for not reporting his location to police.

For further reading click here.

Shaked Responds
In an unusual move, the US government has expressed its displeasure with a law being promoted by Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked that requires that NGO’s reveal their funding sources. The law is generally seen by opponents as targeting left wing groups that receive a large portion of their funding from European governments and EU sponsored groups.

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro met with Shaked on Sunday to discuss the so-called “NGO transparency bill. Yesterday, the U.S. embassy issued a highly irregular statement regarding the Shapiro-Shaked meeting stating,“The Ambassador noted that Israel is a strong and vibrant democracy, which gives substantial voice to all points of view and promotes a thriving, transparent civil society. He reiterated the United States’ view that such a free and functioning civil society is an essential element of a healthy democracy, and that governments must protect free expression and peaceful dissent and create an atmosphere where all voices can be heard.” The assertion here is that the new law will impede that “free expression and peaceful dissent.”

Shaked rejected any American criticism and spoke out against any external intervention into Israel’s internal affairs. She said, “I met the American ambassador and was under the impression that the American administration’s interest and concern is sincere. But there is no cause for concern. Israel is a strong democracy and as such there is no need for other nations to intervene in internal legislation. Our door is open to dialogue with friends.”

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Tree and Lizards
As we approach the holiday of Tu Bishvat, which marks the new year for trees in the Jewish calendar, the tradition of planting trees in the Israel might need to be rethought, at least in part.

The Jewish National Fund (JNF), the organization in the forefront of tree planting in Israel to reforest the country, has come under attack for its work in the northern Negev.

According to a study conducted by HaMaarag, Israel’s National Nature Assessment Program, which operates under the auspices of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities, some local reptile species are being endangered by the new forests. One of those creatures is the Be’er Sheva fringe-fingered lizard, a species that exists nowhere else in the world. Along with other species of Negev wildlife, the lizard is being pushed out of its natural habitat by the runoff waters created by the trees as well as by predatory birds who can now observe them from the trees.

The Environmental Protection Ministry, the Israel Parks and Nature Authority and the JNF also participate in the study. Solutions to the problem are being discussed.

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Israel News for January 6, 2016

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Tragic Accident
First-Lt. Yishai Rosales, 23, from Beit Meir, was killed by shrapnel when a mortar round was fired in the wrong direction at the Tze’elim IDF training base during a course for company and battalion commanders. Rosales was a platoon commander in the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion (Nahal Haredi).

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Spy Convicted
Corporal Elad Sela, who served in the Etzion Regional Brigade of the IDF, was convicted by a military court of passing secret information to right wing extremists. The court found him guilty of searching through classified computer files to look for information on “price tag” suspects from the Bat Ayin settlement in Gush Etzion, where he lives, and to alert them regarding planned raids against them by security forces.

The court sentenced Sela to 45 months in prison along with an additional suspended sentence and a demotion to the rank of private.

In a statement the IDF said, “Leaks such as this must be eradicated from the army and those who breach the trust given to them by the army and who harm security interests must be punished severely.”

Sela is married and the father of two.

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Israel Folds
Last week we reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely was adamant that Israel would stand behind Dani Dayan, its appointed ambassador to Brazil, even though the Brazilian government refused to approve Dayan because of his history as a leader in the settlement movement.

Well, it looks like Hotovely has had second thoughts. Foreign Ministry officials are now advising the government to choose a different ambassador to Brazil. Next week Brazil’s ambassador to Israel will reportedly be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a discussion, during which the gravity with which Israel views the non-approval of Dayan’s appointment will be made clear to him. A senior Foreign Ministry official said that only after all options have been exhausted, including initiating a phone call between PM Netanyahu and Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, will they “calculate a new move”.

One of the options being considered is to nominate Dayan as ambassador to another country and to send a new ambassador to Brazil. Dayan’s name has already been mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of Israel’s Consul General in New York or Los Angeles.

You can’t win ‘em all.

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Bad Facebook
Shurat HaDin, an Israeli based civil rights NGO, set out to test whether Facebook applies double standards when it comes to incitement. On December 29, 2015, the NGO launched “The Big Facebook Experiment” by publishing two nearly identical Facebook pages: “Stop Palestinians” and “Stop Israel.” Over the next few days they posted hateful content on both pages, and then reported the content to Facebook.

For example, the pro-Palestinian page promised to “demolish the Zionist invader,” and called for revenge against the “Zionist enemy that threatens Al-Aqsa.” A call to rise up against Israel was portrayed in a cartoon featuring a Star of David bearing crocodile with the Temple Mount compound perched beneath the roof of its mouth and a knife nested against its snout – an accompanying post to the illustration called for “death to all the Jews.”

Meanwhile, on the pro-Israel page, a post calling for war against the “Palestinian enemy” claimed that “more and more soldiers in the IDF know that there is a need to destroy the Arab enemy.” Another post featured a collage of a handful of so-called “price tag” attacks and an accompanying caption calling for “death to all the Arabs.”

The anti-Palestinian page was shut down by Facebook, on the same day that it was reported, for “containing credible threat of violence” which “violated our [Facebook’s] community standards.” The anti-Israeli page was not shut down, despite its identical hateful content. Facebook claimed that this page was “not in violation of Facebook’s rules.”

In October Shurat Hadin filed a lawsuit against Facebook on behalf of 20,000 Israelis to stop allowing Palestinian terrorists to incite violent attacks against Israeli citizens on the social network’s platform.

According to the NGO, “Facebook actively assists the inciters to find people who are interested in acting on their hateful messages by offering friend, group and event suggestions and targeting advertising based on people’s online ‘likes’ and internet browsing history.” Additionally, Facebook often gives incitement pages the freedom to operate and continue operation despite reports of hateful content, under the claim that they do not violate its “community standards.”

Druze News
Yesterday, Israel’s National Council for Building and Planning approved PM Netanyahu’s initiative to establish a new Druze town in the north of the country. The town, which will be located near Tiberias, will be the first new Druze town to be built by the state since 1948 and the first time in 130 years that a new Druze community will be established in the territory of what is now Israel.

The PM said, “I view the building of this new town as a very important initiative that will bring progress to the Druze sector.”

There are currently 18 Druze towns recognized by the state – four in the Golan and 14 in the Galilee. Except for those in Golan, the Druze serve in the IDF, primarily in combat units and with distinction.

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Israel News for January 5, 2016

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Manhunt Continues
As the search for Nashat Melhem, the Israeli Arab terrorist who killed three and wounded eight in Tel Aviv on Friday, continues into its fifth day, police are now suspecting that he managed to escape to Northern Israel or the West Bank. To do that they believe that he had help, which is why they are focusing their investigation on Melhem’s family.

Yesterday police arrested Melhem’s father, Mohammed, along with five other relatives and friends. Melhem’s brother is already being held in custody.

Speaking to reporters outside of the Haifa Magistrate’s Court, Mohammed Melhem called on his son to contact him and to surrender to authorities. It was Melhem’s father who first contacted police after seeing his son’s picture on television. “It’s important to me now that they reach my son and arrest him, because he’s still armed, and just like he murdered two people he could murder more,” he said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Roni Alsheikh told residents of northern Tel Aviv that they can reduce their tension level, but he did not give any more details into the investigation, claiming that doing so would hinder police efforts.

In an unrelated event, police arrested a 20 year old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem in Hertzliya yesterday. The man had told his father that he would carry out a terror attack in the city.

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Bomb Attack
A large roadside bomb exploded near an IDF force at the Lebanese border near the Shebaa Farms area on Monday afternoon. The explosion targeted an IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer and another armored vehicle. No soldiers were hurt.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, which they say was committed by the “Samir Kuntar Brigades,” named after the notorious terrorist who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Syria last month.

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah had vowed revenge for the attack, and this bomb blast could be related to his pledge. But it’s unlikely that this casualty free attack will satiate his vengeance appetite.

In response to the bomb attack, the IDF fired over fifty artillery shells at Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon. The Lebanese reported no casualties.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, urged both sides to avoid an escalation, saying it had stepped up patrols on the ground after the incident.

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Demolitions
Security forces entered the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood of East Jerusalem yesterday to demolish the homes of two terrorists.

One of the terrorists was a Bezek employee responsible for ramming into pedestrians at a bus stop in Jerusalem and then murdering 60-year-old Rabbi Yeshayahu Krishevsky and wounding several others with an axe before being shot and killed by a security guard. He was the cousin of the two terrorists who committed the Har Nof synagogue terror attack. Security forces ended up sealing off his home rather than demolishing it, since it is located on the third floor of a building and destroying it would compromise the rest of the structure.

The other terrorist boarded a Jerusalem bus with an accomplice and began shooting and stabbing people. He killed three and wounded several others before being shot and killed by security forces. His home was demolished.

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Flight Chaos
The Israeli-Arab conflict spilled over into Greece yesterday, when Israelis on board a Greek airliner flying from Athens to Tel Aviv demanded that two Arab Israelis be removed from the plane. A small number of Israeli passengers refused to be seated for take-off, delaying the flight for over an hour and a half until the crew finally relented and convinced the Arab travelers to deplane and take a different flight. The specific reason for the Israeli protest is unclear, other than a general fear of Arab terrorism.

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Off Course
The Israeli navy might need to review how it guards the nation’s coastline. Yesterday, a Chinese sailor turned up lying facedown on a beach near Jisr az-Zarqa, just north of Caesarea. The town happens to be the only Arab town on the Israeli coastline.

It turns out that the Chinese man set sail from Greece and was apparently blown off course by heavy winds. The man was in good health and had a good stock of food and water in his sailboat.

After hearing his story, the Arabs that discovered the man on the beach were surprised that he was able to get past the Israeli navy. Let’s hope they don’t get any ideas. Go navy!

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israel news terror raid

Israel News for December 16, 2015

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Terror Attacks
IDF forces who entered the Kalandia refugee camp in the West Bank last night to arrest terror suspects were attacked by terrorists who tried to ram their cars into them in two separate incidents. The soldiers shot and killed both terrorists before they could succeed. During the operation three soldiers were wounded by gunfire. The IDF is investigating whether they were wounded by friendly fire.

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Also last night, security forces confiscated improvised firearms and ammunition during a counter-terrorism raid on a mattress factory in Hebron.

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Yesterday, a Palestinian construction worker from the West Bank who was legally employed at a building site in Modiin attacked and wounded a foreman and another worker there before he was subdued by other Arab workers. Police are interrogating the attacker and suspect that the attack was nationalistically motivated.

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Attack Thwarted
An alert Border Policewoman stopped a Palestinian woman on a Jerusalem street because she seemed to be acting suspiciously. The officer searched the woman’s purse and found a long screwdriver, which the woman admitted to be carrying with the intent of committing a terror attack.

High five for the Border Police!

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Egypt in Negev
According to a Ynet report, Egyptian Air Force jets have flown over the Negev on several occasions, enroute to bomb ISIS related terrorists in the northern Sinai. The Egyptians apparently coordinated the flights with the IDF, otherwise they would most definitely have been shot down.

The Egyptians have been fighting the ISIS terror groups, who have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers, for the past few years. But they aren’t alone in their fight. Israel is viewing the terror groups as threats to its security and is assisting the Egyptians in their fight by permitting them to bring tanks and warplanes into the Sinai, which is technically prohibited by the terms of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. The cooperation with the Egyptian Air Force is just the latest example of the joint efforts in the battle against ISIS terror.

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Fringe Benefit
The Syrian civil war continues to cause tragedy and misfortune for millions of Syrian civilians. But there seems to be one fringe benefit from the war for Israel. According to Hezbollah statistics, the Lebanon based terrorist organization that has been fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the civil war has suffered heavy casualties including 1,500 dead and 5,000 wounded. That equals over one third of Hezbollah’s total fighting force. It also means that Hezbollah will probably not be looking to start another war against Israel, at least for the foreseeable future. That’s very good news. May they be blessed with many more martyrs.

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Arab in Bnei Brak
Isawi Farig, an Israeli Arab Knesset member from Meretz, is trying to pass a law that would allow women to be appointed as Muslim religious judges (Quadis) in the official Islamic religious court system in Israel. The only thing standing in his way is the veto power wielded by the Haredi parties in matters related to religion.

The Haredi ministers are opposed to the appointment of female Muslim judges because they fear that it would set a precedent for appointing female judges to Jewish religious courts. So Farig headed to Bnei Brak to meet with leading rabbis in the Haredi Sephardic and Lithuanian communities. He did not get very far with them. The rabbis are standing firm in their decision to oppose his bill. Farig isn’t giving up, promising to continue knocking on doors in Bnei Brak until he achieves his objective. He might be knocking for a very long time.

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Combat Dreams
Yoni Zarka is a 32 year old from Paris who immigrated to Israel in February. Since then he has been pleading with the IDF to allow him to enlist in a combat unit. Unfortunately for him, the IDF doesn’t want him, claiming that he is too old. The age limit for enlisting as a combat soldier is 27. The fact that Zarka is a two time triathlon champion isn’t swaying the army. Rules are rules.

Zarka isn’t giving up on his dream just yet. Starting this week he has been camping out in a sleeping bag outside of the main IDF induction base in Tel Hashomer and holding a sign that explains his predicament and his desire to join the IDF. He’s getting support from ordinary Israelis who have been giving him food and support.

An IDF officer who is involved with new immigrant soldiers claims that he has seen new immigrants in their 30’s accepted into combat units, so he’s puzzled as to why the army would reject a seemingly super qualified candidate. But the army is sticking to its guns. And Zarka is gonna keep nudging. Why not just let the man serve his country?

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