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Israel News for February 24, 2017

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Drone Destroyed
The Israel Air Force (IAF) shot down a Hamas drone yesterday as it left Gaza on its way to infiltrate Israel. The drone fell into the Mediterranean. An IDF spokesman said, “the IDF will not allow any airspace violation and will act resolutely against any such attempt.”

For further reading click here.

Iron Dome
An upgraded version of the Iron Dome missile defense system has successfully passed a series of tests in recent days, in which the new Tamir interceptor missile destroyed several projectiles. The tests were conducted in the south and meant to test the ability of the Iron Dome to intercept a variety of targets fired simultaneously at different ranges. The Tamir contains components that were jointly designed and built by both Israel and the United States under an agreement signed in 2014.

To watch a video and see images of the test, click here.

Missiles to India
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the $2.5 billion purchase of Barak 8 advanced anti-aircraft missile system. The system was jointly developed by India’s Defense Research & Development Organization and Israel Aerospace Industries. It is designed to defend against airborne threats including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, UAVs, cruise missiles and fighter jets at a strike range of about 30-45 miles.
The system is scheduled to be deployed by 2023.

In addition to the Barak 8 system, Israel and India are also cooperating on a long-range surface-to-air system, which will be deployed on Indian Navy warships.

In 2014, India bought 8,356 Spike anti-tank missiles and 321 launchers from Israel in a deal worth 32 billion rupees ($525 million). India’s foreign minister has said that his country intended to further strengthen its ties with Israel, stressing the relationship is of “utmost importance to the Indian people.”

For further reading click here.

More Gas
Texas-based Noble Energy will begin developing Israel’s offshore Leviathan gas field. The company will begin immediately with the first phase of the project, and said in a statement issued Thursday that it expects the first gas to flow in 2019.

Leviathan, discovered in 2010 in the Mediterranean Sea west of Haifa, is estimated to hold 16 trillion to 18 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Noble CEO David Stover said, “Bringing Leviathan online will expand Israel’s supply of natural gas, further support the State’s commitment to convert coal-fired power generation facilities to cleaner burning gas, and provide affordable energy resources to Israeli citizens and neighboring countries in the undersupplied region.”

PM Netanyahu tweeted, “This is a day of good news for the Israeli economy and Israeli citizens. The process will provide gas supply to Israel, and will advance cooperation with regional states.”

For further reading click here.

Hospital Treats Syrians
The Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, several miles from the Lebanese border, has treated around 1550 Syrian civilians in the last four years. But that will end unless the government reimburses the hospital the NIS 300 million it has spent treating the Syrians, according to Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

It costs Western Galilee Medical Center an average of NIS 10,321 per day to treat the Syrians, while the government transfers only NIS 1,300 daily to the hospital. This situation is leading to the collapse of the state-owned 772-bed hospital.

For further reading click here.

TA Marathon
Around 40,000 runners took part in the Tel Aviv marathon today. Over 1,800 runners came from other countries. The winner of the marathon was from Ethiopia. He finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds. The first Israeli crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 27 minutes.

For further info and images, click here.

settlements israel

Israel News for June 20, 2016

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Settlement Budget
The government has approved a NIS 72 million budget for the security of settlements in Judea and Samaria. But not all the money is going to “security”. Funding is allocated for construction, education, economic development and tourism.

For further reading click here.

Shabbat Busing
Last week we told you about a proposed bill in the Knesset that would allow local authorities to allow public buses to operate on Shabbat. Yesterday the Knesset Ministerial Legislation Committee rejected the bill.

YeshAtid MK Yael German, who sponsored the bill, said, “We won’t give up. We’ll submit the bill again in six months, and again in a year, and again and again until it passes. The current situation is discriminatory. Public transportation on Saturday is a social matter. It’s for young people and adults who don’t have cars, and for people who can’t afford to run a car.”

The presence of the religious parties in the coalition makes passing the bill nearly impossible.

By law, the Ministry of Transport is obligated to allow the local authorities to operate public transportation on the Sabbath. However, Section 386A of the Traffic Ordinance states that a license to operate a public bus on the day of rest will not be granted, except in certain cases, including rides to hospitals, border communities, and non-Jewish communities, plus transportation essential for public security or essential for the existence of public transportation.

Last week the Herzliya municipality announced that it would begin limited public transportation on Shabbat. Will it be overruled by the government?

For further reading click here.

Modesty Signs
The Jerusalem District Court gave Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul three weeks to remove “modesty” signs that warn women to dress according to Haredi norms of dress or to keep off sidewalks near synagogues and yeshivas where men tend to congregate.

The court ruling upholds a 2015 ruling by a lower Beit Shemsh court ordering the signs and removed and compensation paid to the plaintiffs.

In 2013, the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel, filed suit against the municipality and the mayor on behalf of four Orthodox women, all residents of Beit Shemesh, for refusing to remove the signs as required by a government report published that year.

For further reading click here.

Iron Dome
After its incredible success at protecting Israel from Hamas missiles, you’d think that the Iron Dome missile defense system would be sought after by other countries. Despite lots of interest and speculation, not a single sale of the system has been made. That’s probably because no other country is being subjected to missile attacks against it, or even the threat of missile attacks. And if it were, it would probably go to war to destroy the aggressor. That would make perfect sense, except when the country subjected to the attacks is Israel.

For further reading click here.

Olympic Hopefuls
Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team has raised hopes for Israeli medal success at the upcoming Rio summer olympics. The team won the gold medal in the clubs and hoops category at the European Championships, which are being held in Holon, Israel. The team also won a silver medal for their ribbons routine and a bronze in the all around competition.

Meanwhile, a Syrian boxer bowed out of a qualifying round for the Olympics in Azerbaijan, to avoid fighting an Israeli boxer.

The boxer, Ala Ghasoun, told Arab media, ”I quit the competition because my rival was Israeli and I cannot shake his hand or compete against him while he represents a Zionist regime that kills the Syrian people. If I fight against him, it would mean that I, as an athlete, and Syria, as a state, recognize the state of Israel.”
Ghasoun added that “the decision to quit was not mine” but mandated by senior Syrian officials and the Syrian Sports Federation.

The Israeli boxer moved up to the next qualifying round. And yes, Syria actually has an olympic team.

For further reading click here.

Error Correction
Last week we reported about an Israeli judge who permitted a class action suit against Facebook to be heard in an Israeli court. The suit is for $400 million — not $400. The entire process could take years to play out in court.

New Holiday
The Knesset has approved a new holiday: Aliyah Day. The bill was spearheaded by the Tel Aviv Internationals organization led by American Oleh and activist Jay Shultz.

Shultz said, “Aliyah Day is an opportunity for the State of Israel to reach out to all Jews across the world, and to say that Israel is more than a place to consider living; Israel is their home. For us, young immigrants have a lot of strength, and Aliyah is something that we are extremely proud of. We come to Israel in order to give. We choose to be pioneers and we feel a lot of pride about this. It is a good thing that now the State of Israel will dedicate an official holiday to Aliyah.”

The holiday will be observed in the Hebrew month of Nissan, at the start of spring.

For further reading click here.

terror in israel

Terror Attacks Continue in Israel. Rockets fired from Gaza.

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This morning a terrorist stabbed a border policeman in his flack jacket at the Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. The terrorist was killed. The border policeman was not injured.

Last night a 22 year old Israeli-Arab rammed his car into people waiting at a bus stop and then jumped out his car and proceeded to stab them. The attack occurred near Kibbutz Gan Shmuel north of Hadera. A 19 year old female soldier was seriously wounded, a fifteen year old girl was moderately wounded and two others were lightly wounded. It was the fifteen year old girl’s birthday. The terrorist tried to escape but was apprehended shortly after. Shin Bet identified him as Alaa Raed Ahmad Ziwad of the Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. he was originally from near Jenin in the West Bank, but received Israeli citizenship through his father’s family unification.

Israeli Arab Knesset members condemned the attack saying the terrorist was not the norm and that Israeli Arabs support a non violent struggle. “Violence is not our path and it never has been,” said Aiman Uda, chairman of the Joint Arab list. He then blamed Netanyahu and the government for the violence.

Yesterday morning a Palestinian woman detonated an explosive device in her car while being stopped for driving violations at the A-Zaim checkpoint near Ma’aleh Adumim, just outside of Jerusalem. The 45-year-old male police officer who stopped her was lightly wounded as a result of the explosion. The terrorist suffered moderate wounds.

Early Sunday morning the IAF struck Hamas weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza. This was in response to rocket fire from Gaza after two Palestinians were killed in a demonstration near the border fence. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome over the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. More rockets were fired late last night from Gaza. There were no injuries or damages caused by any of the rockets. A pregnant woman and her two year old baby died after their house collapsed as a result of the Israeli airstrike.

Yesterday evening there were demonstrations in Israeli-Arab towns across northern Israel. There were also several demonstrations in the West Bank and near the border fence in Gaza. Shots fired from Gaza hit a vehicle near a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council in the afternoon.

For further reading: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4709573,00.html