Israel News for January 19, 2017
New Missile System
After years of research and development, the Ministry of Defense Homa Administration (Israel Missile Organization), part of the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, and the US Missile Defense Agency delivered the first new Arrow 3 advanced air defense system interceptors to Israel air force air defense units.
The Arrow 3 can intercept ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads while they are still in outer space. That means if someone (like Iran?) launches a nuclear missile at Israel, the Arrow 3 can intercept and destroy it before it reenters the atmosphere, thus avoiding any damage or fallout from the explosion. In the event that the Arrow 3 misses, the Arrow 2 missile defense system will kick into action and get the job done. Of course, there’s always Iron Dome as a last resort.
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Funeral and Protest
Hundreds attended the funeral of Sgt. Maj. Erez Levi, the police officer who was killed in yesterday’s terror car ramming attack in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran. Levi leaves behind a widow and two small children.
Police were in the village to carry out demolition orders on several illegally built structures when the terrorist rammed his car into them, killing Levi and injuring 5 others including another police officer and an Arab MK. The terrorist was shot and killed. Several Arab MKs participated in the protest and violence against police in Umm al-Hiran.
Many Arab communities have called a general strike today to protest the demolitions. The Arab Monitoring Committee also announced three days of mourning as an expression of solidarity with the family of the car rammer, claiming that he was not a terrorist but just someone killed intentionally by police.
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Trump Forgets Not
Donald Trump spoke to Yisrael Hayom reporter Boaz Bismuth in Washington yesterday who asked him, “You haven’t forgotten your promise about the embassy in Jerusalem?” Trump replied, “Of course I remember what I told you about Jerusalem. Of course I haven’t forgotten and you know I’m not a person to breach promises.“ Trump added, “I can’t wait to start working with Israel. At the end of the week the relationship between us begins in earnest.”
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PA Vacation
If you’re using the travel website hotelcombined.com to plan your next vacation getaway to Israel, you might end up in Palestinian territory. That’s because several luxury hotels in the Palestinian Authority are getting rave reviews on the site.
One of the leading PA hotels is Movenpick, a 170 room five-star hotel in Ramallah, which received a near-perfect rating of 9.6 from the website. The rating weighs indices such as cleanliness, service, diversity of facilities and services, and meals.
Another five star Ramallah hotel, the Palestine Plaza, received a 9.0 rating. It’s 100 rooms are located on the 15th to 20th floors of the tallest building in the PA.
If you’re looking for a more pilgrimage oriented experience, the Jacir Intercontinental, a five-star hotel in Bethlehem, rated 8.9. The 250-room hotel offers its guests a tennis court, heated swimming pool, spa, and nightclub.
A night in one of these hotels can run you anywhere from NIS 440 to over NIS 1,000 per night. Tourists are coming from abroad as well as from Israel.
Apparently things aren’t as bad as you think in the PA.
[But I’d recommend sticking with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem over Ramallah and Bethlehem, for so many reasons…]
For further reading click here.
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