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yom hazikaron 2016

Israel News for May 11, 2016

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Officer Wounded
An IDF officer was wounded by an explosive device when he attempted to investigate a suspicious object at the West Bank checkpoint of Hizme, north of Jerusalem. After the blast, five other explosive were found at the scene and safely detonated. The IDF is investigating the possibility the explosive was detonated remotely with a mobile phone.

For further reading click here.

Hunt Continues
The manhunt continues for the two terrorists who stabbed two elderly women in Jerusalem yesterday. The police arrested two Arab youths, but released them after determining that they were not involved in the attack. The two terror victims are currently hospitalized in stable condition.

For further reading click here.

Unity Government
The Prime Minister is hard at work trying to form a unity government by including the opposition Zionist Union party, which holds 24 Knesset seats and is led by Isaac Herzog.

Sources close to the PM say Herzog has been offered at least nine ministries and an unspecified number of Knesset Committee chairmanships and deputy ministries in return for bringing his party into the government.

Currently the government’s coalition holds a narrow majority of 61 out of the 120 member Knesset. Eight of those 61 are held by Bayit Yehudi, the religious nationalist right-wing party led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who has threatened to pull out of the government if the Zionist Union is given too much power. Bennett has specifically mentioned the Justice Ministry, headed by Bayit Yehudi’s Ayelet Shaked, as a deal-breaker that would compel him to leave the government.

Sources within the Zionist Union say that party leaders, other than Herzog, are not keen about joining the government unless major policy changes are implemented, which doesn’t seem likely to happen. If a unity government were formed, Herzog would most likely become Foreign Minister, a post currently held by the PM, and be in charge of negotiations with the Palestinians and the “peace process”.

It’s also possible for Herzog to join a unity government with only a portion of his faction’s Knesset seats. Ten or more seats would work for the Likud headed government.

For now, the talking continues.

For further reading click here.

Yom Hazikaron
Today is Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The day was marked by a two minute nationwide siren and moments of silence at 11am, in memory of the 23,477 men and women who have fallen in defense of Israel since 1860.

Those who died in the service of the country include IDF soldiers, members of the Shin Bet security service, the Mossad, the Israel Police, the Prisons Service and those who died while serving in the pre-state underground militias and the Jewish Brigade in the British Army. Included in the count are 535 women.

To read more about Israel’s female fallen warriors, click here.

During Yom Hazikaron, cafes and places of entertainment are closed and radio and television programming features sad songs. The names of all fallen are read over the course of the day on special television and radio programs. At sunset the day transitions into Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, with a ceremony at the national military cemetery on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, where the national flag is returned to full staff.

Speaking at the Western Wall Yom Hazikaron ceremony, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot stressed the importance of unity, saying that soldiers and officers “leave what separates them and the differences between them behind, and are ready to give their lives for the people and the land and for their comrades.”

May Israel be blessed with peace and unity in the merit of those who gave their lives to ensure its survival.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 22, 2016

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Duma Torture
Amiram Ben-Uliel, the main suspect in the Duma arson murder last summer, is claiming that he confessed to the crime because he was tortured by his Shin Bet interrogators. No the Shin Bet did not use waterboarding. They used something much worse: a woman’s voice.

When his interrogators realized that Ben-Uliel, 21, refrained from listening to women singing (due to his stringent interpretation of Jewish law which prohibits a man from listening to a woman singing), they simply turned on the radio.

According to Ben-Uliel, “I asked them to turn it off, and they wouldn’t’; I got up to turn it off and they jumped me, beat me, bound me hand and foot, and put pressure on me in painful places.” Then the Shin Bet got really tough and brought in a female interrogator who actually sang songs to him (it’s unclear whether or not she sang off key, which can be really painful to the sensitive musical ear). The woman also apparently touched him lightly on the shoulder to stop him from falling back, which really set him over the edge, causing him to shout, “what are you touching me for? You should be ashamed.”

The purpose of reporting this story is in no way to make light of Jewish law, and those familiar with the laws relating to interaction between the genders will understand the distorted application of those laws by Ben-Uliel in his particular situation. The main takeaway from this story is to better understand the kind of “torture” that the Shin Bet is accused of using. In all probability there was some degree of physical abuse employed. But relating the term “torture”, which is understood by the world to include things that are on a totally different level of inhumanity (just ask Donald Trump), to the Shin Bet’s interrogation of the Duma suspects might not be so accurate after all.

The Shin Bet might have acted insensitively to the prisoner’s religious beliefs, but can that be considered “torture”?

For further reading click here.

Parents of Terrorists
Education Minister Naftali Bennett said at a cabinet meeting yesterday that Palestinian parents are not preventing their children from committing terror attacks because they know that parents of terrorists receive a grant and a monthly stipend from the Palestinian Authority.

Several ministers said that Israel should work to block transfers of funds from the PA to terrorists’ families. The ministers were told that every month Israel deducts what it estimates the PA pays to terrorists’ families before it pays over the taxes it collects on the PA’s behalf. Bennett said that this deduction is not enough, and that an effort must be made to keep the families from getting money.

For further reading click here.

Church Battle
Jews and Muslims aren’t the only ones in conflict over religious sites in Jerusalem. For the last 20 years a battle has been waged between the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and an Arab storekeeper over a piece of valuable underground Jerusalem real estate.

Twenty years ago Abed Hirbawi went down into the cellar of his grocery store, which is adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City Christian Quarter, and found a group of Coptic monks digging there. The monks claimed that the cellar was part of the church.

A violent quarrel ensued between the monks and Palestinian youngsters who had come to support Hirbawi. A week later, a number of armed men from the Palestinian security forces arrived at Hirbawi’s home and abducted him. Apparently, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had promised Egypt’s then-president, Hosni Mubarak (patron of the Coptic Church in Jerusalem), that the merchant would relinquish the cellar. When Hirbawi refused, despite severe threats to his life, Arafat offered him $2 million from his personal account (hmm, wonder where that came from) to give up the cellar. Hirbawi still refused, claiming that the issue was a matter of honor.

When PM Netanyahu heard about the abduction of Hirbawi, who is an Israeli citizen, he ordered the IDF to impose a closure on the territories until Abed Hirbawi was released. Hirbawi was freed after being held for four days, and the dispute moved to the courts.

The case went through numerous courts and judges, including the High Court, for years. The Church brought evidence to prove that the cellar was a holy site, which would move the case from the courts to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Hirbawi’s Israeli attorney compiled a comprehensive historical study covering 3,000 years to prove that the cellar was never used for religious purposes. He also submitted a document from 1189, the period of Saladin’s rule in Jerusalem, according to which the Muslim ruler assigned to Muslims “a large chamber known as the Patriarch’s Hall,” which he identified as the Hirbawi cellar.

Well, to make a much longer and complicated story short, the two sides recently agreed to build a wall down the middle of cellar giving half to the Hirbawi’s (Abed Hirbawi dies several years ago) and half to the Coptic Church.

Now they’re arguing about what material to build the wall out of.

For further reading click here.

It’s Raining
Heavy rains drenched Israel from north to south yesterday and today. In the Negev and Dead Sea area flash floods overran highways and shut down traffic and schools throughout the region. A ceiling at the Be’er Sheva’s “Grand Canyon” shopping mall collapsed due to rain.

In the north, Tzfat broke all records with 18 hours of non-stop rain and 70 mm of rain, about a fifth of the total amount that has fallen since the beginning of winter. Mount Hermon was closed to the public due to heavy snow and the Kinneret rose over a centimeter, which still leaves it almost 4 meters below its “red line”.

But don’t worry, the rest of the week is supposed to be unseasonably warm and sunny.

To see video and photos of the flooding, click here.

Israel News for February 19, 2016

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Jerusalem Terror
A Palestinian terrorist stabbed two Border Police officers at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City today. The officers shot and killed the terrorist. Both officers were lightly wounded and a passerby was lightly wounded by shrapnel from the shooting. The Damascus Gate has been the scene of 11 terror attacks in the last 5 months, including the one that killed police officer Hadar Cohen.

For further reading click here.

More Terror
Two 14-year-old Palestinians entered a Rami Levi supermarket in the Sha’ar Binyamin Industrial Zone north of Jerusalem, which services both Israelis and Palestinians, and stabbed two Israelis yesterday. They killed 21-year-old Sergeant Tuvia Yanai Weissman and wounded a 36-year-old man. Weissman, a resident of Ma’ale Michmash in the Binyamin region of the West Bank, was in civilian clothes and shopping with his wife and 4-month-old baby when he was murdered.

Shoppers pushed the terrorists back with shopping carts. A civilian at the scene then shot and wounded them. One later died of his wounds in hospital. According to the Shin Bet these are the youngest terrorist to have carried out a deadly attack during the current wave of violence.

Hundreds of mourners attended Weissman’s funeral today at Har Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. Weissman’s father eulogized his son saying, “You loved your daughter, Neta, so much. You took her to see the flowers in the Negev the day before you were murdered. No hate and no enemy will ever stop that.”

The 36-year-old man wounded in the attack is reported to be in stable condition at Hadassah
Hospital in Jerusalem.

The IDF is preparing the homes of the two terrorists for demolition.

For further reading click here.

Russian intervention
Russia is not happy with Israel’s rapprochement with Turkey. In a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Israel’s Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold that took place in Moscow yesterday, Lavrov expressed Putin’s dissatisfaction with the contacts between Israel and Turkey regarding a pending reconciliation agreement that would end a five-year crisis in relations between the two countries provoked by the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, where Israeli commandos raided a Turkish ship that was headed for Gaza, killing nine.

The Russians, whose already rocky relations with Turkey reached an all time low following the downing of a Russian jet over Syria last November, are concerned about some of the benefits that the government of President Erdoğan will receive in the context of an agreement with Israel and are not happy about Turkey gaining a strong foothold in Gaza, where they would be given free access and special status to import humanitarian equipment as part of the potential agreement with Israel.

The question is, does what Russia thinks really matter to Israel?

For further reading click here.

Rent Difficulties
If you think renting is tough in New York, you won’t find it any easier in Israel. The Tel Aviv Municipality’s Center for Young Adults surveyed 1,080 renters, 62% of whom live in Tel Aviv, 9% in Jerusalem, 8% in Beersheva, and the rest in other cities including Ramat Gan, Haifa, Rehovot, Petah Tikva, Givatayim, and Holon.

According to the survey, 36% of renters noted they cannot afford their rent and relied on parental assistance to make their monthly payments, 31% said they were forced to move apartments due to a rent increase, and 35% said that their landlord did not properly maintain the property and reported the landlord asked them to pay for repairs that fall under the property owner’s responsibility.

If you’re looking for stability, forget about it. According to the survey, 29% of respondents said they had to move at least three apartments in the past five years.

Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai summed it up like this:
“The survey shows once again the rental market in Israel is broken; the steep price increases and lack of stability are wearing out our youth. It is a lawless market, and the party needs to be ended by legislation to regulate and improve terms for both renters and landlords.”

While the survey focused primarily on Tel Aviv, a market that doesn’t reflect the average Israeli rental market (like Manhattan doesn’t represent most of America), it still sheds light on a major problem that is facing a significant proportion of Israel’s younger population.

For further reading click here.

Angel Revealed – Part II
A few days ago we told you the story of the man who overheard a young female soldier crying on the phone pleading with the Electric Company to restore her electricity which they cut off due to non payment. The man, Ofir Yitzhak, grabbed the phone and paid the entire balance of 1,915 shekels. Another soldier who witnessed the incident posted it on Facebook, calling the man an angel.

While the story warmed the hearts of thousands and restored our faith in humanity, many of us couldn’t help but feel a little angry at the Israel Electric Company for being so heartless. Sure, you wouldn’t expect any better in the U.S., but hey, it’s Israel. Well, you can relax.

A recording of the conversation between the young soldier and Shirli, the clerk at the Electric Company, has been released. In the recording Shirli expresses her deep sympathy for the soldier’s unfortunate situation and is barely able to hold back her tears. She calls her supervisor to explain the situation and plead the soldier’s case. The supervisor decides to reconnect the electricity. All this occurs before the man takes the phone to pay the entire bill.

So now there are three angels instead of just one. Perhaps the truth is that we’re all angels — all we need to do is take a step and reveal ourselves.

To listen to the conversation with the Electric Company click here.

Israel News for February 18, 2016

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Syrian Strikes
According to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian army outposts south of Damascus were hit by three Israeli rockets last night. It did not detail the amount of damage caused. A Pro-Assad military source denied the report, claiming that there were no Israeli strikes inside Syria on Wednesday. The Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar also denied the report.

Israel had no comment, which is what usually happens after reports of Israeli strikes into Syria are reported by Arab media or groups. You’ll just have to use your imagination.

For further reading click here.

Eisenkot Remarks
During a meeting with high school students in Bat Yam who are preparing to join the army, IDF Chief of Staff LT. General Gadi Eizenkot was asked whether he intends to change the strict rules of engagement to permit soldiers to open fire sooner than they are currently permitted to.

Eizenkot responded by citing (and dismissing) a famous Talmudic dictum saying, “The IDF cannot speak in slogans like ‘when someone comes to kill you – kill him first.’” The Talmudic dictum was recently quoted by Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef last October, when he praised soldiers who kill attacking terrorists and lauded them for performing a mitzvah. Other rabbis have also used the phrase to permit soldiers and civilians to kill terrorists rather than capturing them alive.

Eizenkot also said that the IDF cannot follow the slogan, “everyone holding scissors must be killed.” That statement infuriated senior Jerusalem police officers, who took it as referring to an incident in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market where two teenage girls who stabbed a 70 year old man were shot by two police officers. One of the officers was later accused of using excessive force.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon today supported Eisenkot’s remarks saying, “I give my full backing to Eisenkot’s remarks vis-à-vis the rules of engagement. We can’t allow our senses to get dull and our finger to be quick on the trigger.”

For further reading click here.

Popcorn Problem
Earlier this week the Knesset Economic Committee approved a bill that, if passed by the Knesset, will hopefully solve one of the biggest problems facing Israelis these days: popcorn at the movies.

You’re all familiar with that little scam, where movie owners charge five times as much for popcorn and other snacks and drinks at their theaters, and there’s not much you can do about it. Well, Kulanu MK Tali Ploskov has had enough. She’s proposing giving movie goers the right to bring their own popcorn and snacks to theaters in the hope of forcing theater owners to lower their prices to normal levels.

The Knesset already tried to solve this vexing issue back in 1981 when they passed a consumer protection law called the “popcorn law” that was meant to prevent theater owners from selling food and allow people to bring their own. But theater owners simple hired outside vendors to sell the food, which apparently was sufficient to circumvent the law and prohibit people from bringing in their snacks.

But enough is enough. No one should have to pay those insane prices for popcorn, soda and snacks! Can the Knesset finally destroy one of the most hated monopolies to ever exist, anywhere?

Let’s hope that Israel can lead the way in the fight for freedom of popcorn expression.

For further reading click here.

Kippah Tool
If you wear a kippah and use a clip to hold it in place, you might want to look at a new product developed in Israel that recently hit the market. It’s called Clippa and it’s a hair clip commonly used as a kippah clip, that has been modified to do all sorts of things like cut boxes, open bottles, file nails, serve as a screwdriver and all sorts of other useful tasks.

The clips look like ordinary clips but are reinforced with steel to prevent them from breaking. They come in black, pink and silver. The Tel Aviv inventor, Yaakov Goldberg, said that despite its cutting functions, the clips are totally safe. “The knife can cut ‘all sorts, from fruit to rope’, but it won’t cut your hair while wearing it.”

So whether you’re a woman looking to keep your hair in place or a man looking to keep your kippah in place, the Clippa might open up new possibilities for you. The clip is available for purchase online via Amazon or the website “Monkey Business” where it sells for between $6-7 dollars a piece.

For further reading click here.

Mazal Tov PM
Mazal Tov to PM Netanyahu on the birth of a new granddaughter. The baby girl was born to Netanyahu’s daughter Noa Roth, 36. Noa is the PM’s daughter from his first marriage, to Dr. Miriam Weitzman (Haran). The PM has two other children with Sara.

By the way, Noa has five other children, is married to Daniel Roth, a Chabad businesses man originally from America, and recently moved to Mea Shearim, the historic Ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem enclave.

Mazal Tov!

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 9, 2016

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Terror Averted
This morning a Border Police patrol stopped a suspicious looking 16 year old Arab woman near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is where Hadar Cohen was killed in a terror attack last week. When asked to show her ID, the woman pulled a knife and attempted to stab the officers. She was successfully subdued and taken in for questioning.

For further reading click here.

Arab MKs Punished
The Knesset Ethics Committee suspended three Arab Knesset members who visited the families of slain terrorists last week in a show of support for the Palestinians. MKs Haneen Zoabi and Basel Ghattas were suspended for four months, and MK Jamal Zahalka was suspended for two months. They are all from the Joint Arab List’s Balad faction.

As an example of the across the board support for the suspension, Zionist Union MK Eyal Ben Reuven, who belongs to the party’s dovish faction, accused the three Arab lawmakers of “inspiring terrorism and encouraging the murder of more and more Israelis. The Israeli Knesset will not allow its members to exploit democracy in order to harm the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman called the punishment a joke and said that it would only make the MKs more popular with their constituents.

The Joint Arab List rejected the punishment and pledged to continue “fighting against the policy of racism and fascism, and for true equality and real democracy, which Netanyahu is doing his utmost to eliminate.”

For further reading click here.

Airbnb Peace
A solution to curb the seemingly endless wave of Palestinian terror might come from the unlikeliest sources. One of those might be the famous travelers website Airbnb.com, where people can rent out their homes or extra rooms to travelers who want to avoid staying in hotels.

Controversy has recently erupted over the website allowing Jewish residents of the West Bank to post listings, without indicating that the rentals are located in areas considered illegal by most countries, including the U.S. Their disputed status doesn’t seem to have been bothering both Israeli and foreign tourists, particularly Christians from Europe, Taiwan and South Korea.

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the company for “effectively promoting the illegal colonization of occupied land.” But leaders in the Jewish settlement movement have been encouraging more people to list their Judean and Samarian destinations on the site as well as on other sites, like booking.com and tripadvisor.com. The goal is to counteract the anti-Israel boycott movements and, of course, to increase tourism at a challenging time. The extra money to be made probably doesn’t hurt either.

While most of the listings are located in heavily Jewish areas which most people acknowledge will be included as part of Israel in a final agreement, some are in outposts way off the beaten path. Interestingly enough, the more isolated they are the more they seem to be in demand by Christian tourists looking to experience the authentic biblical landscapes surrounding them. In a review on the Airbnb website, one visitor from Amerongen, Netherlands who rented a studio in the outpost of Havat Gilad, wrote, “For one who likes to taste a real Samaria community feeling, this is the place to be. The village is not protected by a fence, but that’s how they live here, and why can’t we?”

Davidi Perl, the council head in Gush Etzion, feels that the Airbnb trend is here to stay, despite the protests. “With the Internet, people see a nice area, it’s cheap, let’s go, they don’t care. They want to see everything, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Christian sights. It’s a global world now, and nothing will stop people coming.”

So how can Airbnb help curb the violence? Perhaps the more European and Asian tourists in the area, the less of an incentive the Palestinians will have to incite and carry out terror attacks. While Jewish lives might not matter much to the international community, the lives of EU citizens most likely will. And the fallout from killing Europeans is not something the Palestinians want. So the more non Jewish tourists, the less the potential of PA backed terror. Bring on the tourists!

For further reading click here.

Defense Industry
The Israeli defense industry has been busy inventing, selling and deploying.

Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) and US defense giant Lockheed Martin have reached the final stage of a tender published by the Polish Ministry of National Defense for the procurement of precision rockets. The deal is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars.

The Polish government is specifically looking to purchase long range rockets. The IMI is offering its Predator Hawk rockets, with a range of 250 kilometers and the ability to precisely deliver a 200 kilogram warhead to its target and its EXTRA rocket, with a 120-kilogram warhead and a range of 150 kilometers. Looking ahead to future business, IMI is planning to open an office in Warsaw.

Who would have dreamt that 70 years after more than four million Jews were murdered on Polish soil would Israel be supplying Poland with weapons?

For further reading click here.

IMI has also recently completed development of a new coastal defense system based on precise long-range missiles, radar and drones designed to hit sea vessels far from the coastline. The system can hit targets up to 150 kilometers offshore.

For further reading click here.

Another Israeli defense contractor, Elbit Systems Ltd. unveiled a new Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) called Seagull in Haifa yesterday.

Seagull consists of two unmanned naval vessels capable of being operated and controlled in concert using a single Mission Control System (MCS), from manned ships or from the shore. The USV can remain in the water for over four days. The unmanned system is especially effective in detecting and neutralizing sea mines and submarines.

Elbit systems EVP Elad Aharonson said, “I believe that Seagull is a breakthrough solution that will bring about a revolution in underwater operations and meet the growing needs in Israel and abroad in the maritime arena. Until now dealing with submarines was carried out by heavy craft such as missile boats and fighter aircraft and helicopters at operative costs of hundreds of millions of dollars. The USV lowers costs for these missions by many tens of times. It can seek out enemy submarines, pursue them over large distances and turn them into prey.”

The new system should come in handy protecting Israel’s new offshore gas fields.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 5, 2016

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Hadar Cohen Funeral
Hundreds accompanied Hadar Cohen, the Border Police officer killed in Wednesday’s terror attack in Jerusalem, to her final resting place in a small military cemetery in her hometown of Yehud. Cohen’s partner, Ravit Mirilashvili, who was wounded in the attack, left the Jerusalem hospital that had been treating her in order to attend the funeral with her family.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan praised Cohen for protecting her partner and saving her life. He described her as someone who, “carried a great burden on her shoulders and a big smile on her face.”

National Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich also praised her conduct, saying that she “fought like a lion” and that her courage “has chiseled a new chapter in the glorious tradition of the Border Police and the Israel Police.”

Cohen’s father, Ofer, in a tearful voice, said, “They say you were a true hero, but they do not know your warmth, your love of life, your captivating smile.” He ended his brief eulogy with, “How can I part from you. I am proud of you and I salute you.”

For further reading click here.

Arab MK’s
PM Netanyahu asked Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to examine the possibility of punishing several Arab Knesset members for visiting families of terrorists. The visit by MKs Jamal Zakalka, Basel Ghattas and Haneen Zoabi from the Joint Arab List’s Balad faction was part of a campaign being conducted by the families, and legal aid and human rights groups, seeking the return of the bodies of their family members who were killed while committing terror acts and are now being held by Israeli authorities.

The PM said, “Knesset members who pay a condolence call to families of terrorists who have killed Israelis are not fit to serve in the Israeli Knesset.” The opposition Zionist Union also condemned the visit, saying, “The visit by Balad Knesset members to the terrorists’ families encourages continued terrorism and murder of innocent people.”

Knesset speaker Edelstein said, “It is unthinkable that while innocent civilians are being slaughtered in Israel’s streets, Knesset members console and give voice to the murders’ families. I view this as a severe assault on the Knesset and the state of Israel.”

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan called on the Attorney General to examine whether the meeting that the Knesset members had with the families constituted a criminal offense — providing support for acts of murder and terror.

Erdan explained that the bodies would not be released until the police are satisfied that the funerals of the terrorists will not be turned into venues of incitement and support of terror.

For further reading click here.

Brazilian Diplomacy
While the standoff continues between Brazil and Israel over Brazil’s decision to prevent the appointment of Danny Danon as Israel’s ambassador to the country because of Danon’s history as a leader in the settlement movement, Israel remains ambassador-less in Brazil. Not so the Palestinians.

A new building housing the first Palestinian Authority embassy in the Western Hemisphere was inaugurated in Brazil’s capital city of Brasilia on Wednesday. The PA’s envoy to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, led the event, which was attended by left-wing Brazilian government officials, representatives of Arab countries and members of the local Arab community. The new building is topped with a golden dome, to resemble the Dome of the Rock.

Some Brazilian security officials are critical of the location of the new embassy, which is close to all of the major government institutions, fearing that it will become a base for Hamas and give terrorists easy access to the center of Brazilian government.

For further reading click here.

Home Sales
The number of new home sales in Israel in 2015 was 40% higher than in 2014. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, contractors sold 32,370 new homes, which is the highest number in more than 15 years. Various government tax incentives for first time buyers are assumed to be one of the factors contributing to the increase.

The leading city in sales of new housing in 2015 was Jerusalem with 2,292 units sold. Tel Aviv-Jaffa was in second place, followed by Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, and Netanya. One town with an especially steep increase in new housing sales in 2015 was Afula, where 1,163 new housing units were sold in 2015, compared with 466 in 2014. The increase in Or Akiva was even more extreme: 771 new housing units sold in 2015, compared with only 128 in 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?

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Swiss Snack Control
Believe it or not, the Swiss might soon take full control over your Israeli snacking habits. That’s because Nestles, the huge Swiss food conglomerate, is planning to gain full ownership over Osem, one of Israel’s primary food companies. Actually, Nestle’s already owns about 70% of the company, but the final 30% will allow them to delist Osem stock from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and turn the company private. Nestle’s will pay $840 million for the 30%, which will give Osem a total value of around $2.4 billion.

Osem makes iconic Israeli snacks like Bamba and Bisli and a slew of other products including pasta, salad dressing, soup mix, cereal, vegetarian meat substitutes and of course, Sabra humus. In total it controls 10% of the Israeli food market.

As a private, foreign owned, company Osem will be be less sensitive to the media and to public opinion, which could make it easier for them to raise prices. So you better stock up on the Bamba and Bisli before that happens.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for January 28, 2016

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Terror Attack
A Palestinian, around 18 years old, stabbed a 36 yr. old Israeli man outside a restaurant in a gas station near Giva’at Ze’ev, just north of Jerusalem, yesterday. The terrorist fled the scene but was chased down and caught by a group of civilians, who held him until police arrived and evacuated him in an ambulance. The terrorist was lightly wounded when he was caught.
The victim of the attack was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem in serious condition, with stab wounds to his upper body.

For further reading click here.

Obama First
President Obama spoke at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Israeli Embassy in Washington yesterday. As, Ron Dermer, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. pointed out in his opening remarks, “This is the first time a sitting president has ever spoken to our embassy.” He called the gesture “a message of friendship.”

Obama spoke out strongly against anti-semitism saying,

“Anti-Semitism is on the rise, we cannot deny it. When we see Jews leaving Europe… and attacks on Jewish centers from Mumbai to Kansas; when we see swastikas appear on college campuses, we must not stay silent.

When any Jew anywhere is targeted, we must all respond as if we are all Jewish… we must all do what we can… we have a responsibility, and as president I will make sure the US is leading the fight against anti-Semitism.”

The ceremony specifically honored four individuals who saved Jews during the holocaust, declaring them to be among the “righteous of the nations.” One of the four was Tennessee native Master Sergeant Roddie Edwards, who resisted Nazi demands that he identify Jewish U.S. soldiers in the POW camp where he was the ranking non-commissioned officer. Edwards told the Nazi commandant, “we are all Jews here,” even when threatened with death. Edwards’ courage saved around 200 Jewish POWs.

Obama echoed his words by saying that when it comes to anti-semitism, “we are all indeed Jews.” The President also reiterated America’s steadfast and unconditional support for Israel’s security and the unbreakable bond between the two nations.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the date of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.

Watch the video of the entire ceremony here.

Hebron Houses
According to Haaretz, the investigation launched into the ownership of the two houses in Hebron that were occupied by Jewish families who were subsequently evicted by the IDF last week, could drag on for years.

On Sunday, after several cabinet members protested, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the settlers would be allowed to return after the necessary permits were obtained.

Documents submitted to the Civil Administration indicate that the buildings were purchased in 2008 from their owners by the Israel Land Fund, which purchases property from Arabs. In 2012 the houses were transferred to Al-Aydun al-Akarat, a company owned by former Shin Bet agent Assaf Nehmad.

Even if ownership is conclusively proven, the complete registration process required to take possession of the houses could take several years.

For further reading click here.

Jordan Apologizes
Back in December we reported the story of an Israeli family heading to Jordan on vacation who had their religious articles confiscated by Jordanian border guards. The guards claimed that Jordanian law prohibited the possession of Jewish religious articles in the kingdom. The family decided to scrap their Jordanian vacation and stay in Israel.

Yesterday Channel 2 News reported that the Jordanian Foreign Ministry apologized for the incident, but confirmed that entering the kingdom with a tallit or tefillin was prohibited. The Ministry claimed that the ban is in place to protect the safety of tourists.

The apology came after intensive talks between the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Jordan, which started in December after the incident was originally made public by the family in a Facebook post.

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Palestinian Returns
The Palestinian Authority’s Coordination and Liaison Department has announced that, in 2015, it returned 634 Israeli citizens to Israel who entered PA territory either mistakenly or to deal drugs.

Besides returning lost Israelis, the department also deals with issues relating to Palestinians who want to go to Israel for medical treatment, Palestinian farmers with land in Israeli controlled territory, the entrance of Palestinian paramedics into Israeli controlled areas, and the return of terrorist corpses to their families.

Tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for January 25, 2016

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PM Defends DM
PM Netanyahu defended Defense Minister Ya’alon’s eviction of Jews from two houses in the Old City of Hebron that they moved into last week. The PM said that if, “anyone bought an apartment in the Muqata compound in Ramallah (seat of the Palestinian Authority) no one would expect the IDF to protect him so he could live there.”

The Jews claim to have purchased the houses legally, but the Defense Minister claims that they did not follow legal procedures and get the authorization required to take possession of property.

Several Likud and Bayit Yehudi MK’s attacked Ya’alon, prompting the leaders of the coalition parties to establish a ministerial committee in charge of “improving coordination between the government, the security establishment and the settlements’ leadership on construction in the settlements.” The committee will include Ya’alon, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, and will function as an “advisory body” in settlement-related matters.

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TV Incitement
The Shin Bet has announced that the 15 yr. old terrorist who murdered Dafna Meir in Otniel last week was motivated to carry out his attack by incitement on Palestinian television, which presented Israel as “the killer of Palestinian youngsters.”

The Shin Bet issued a statement saying, “The severe consequences of the attack show once more the seriousness of the threat posed by the Palestinian media’s wild incitement against the State of Israel and Jews, which influences lone-wolf attackers to commit murder and carry out serious terror attacks.”

The suspect’s father said, “If I would have known I would have prevented this and even handed him in. I hope it turns out he is innocent.”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said the teen committed the murder after a falling out with his father and deciding to either become a martyr or get arrested and be sent to jail.

Deputy Defense Minister Tipi Hotovely continues to speak out strongly against Palestinian incitement that she claims is financed in large part by funds received from foreign governments. In an Wall Street Journal op-ed, Hotovely called on the international community to condition its funding of the PA on a close inspection of whether or not it will stop inciting terror and funding the families of terrorists. She has reiterated her views in meetings with European foreign ministers.

Hotovely recently published figures showing that the PA continues to fund terrorism and support terrorists, both by broadcasting programs inciting terror, and actively financing the families of terrorists, with the relatives of those who succeed in murdering Israelis receiving a larger reward.

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IAF Strikes
Israeli jets struck a Hamas-affiliated target inside Gaza early today in retaliation for a rocket fired at Israel last night. The rocket landed in an open area near the Gaza border causing no injuries or damage. While there were no group has yet to claim responsibility for the rocket attack, Israel holds Hamas responsible for everything that happens in Gaza.

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Building Enforcement
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has approved recommendations to increase enforcement of planning and construction laws and regulations, with a special emphasis on the Arab and Druze communities.

Planning officials within the Arab community say that there are some 50,000 houses in Arab communities that have no construction permits.

Arab Knesset members lashed out at the new initiative, even threatening violence. MK Basel Ghattas said: “We have been working for years to freeze demolition orders to arrive at an arrangement regarding construction that is not according to the law, but the authorities ignore this demand.”

Ghattas warned that if the government pursued this course, “the outcome will be very severe for both sides. We have no interest in violent conflict between the Arab minority and the state, but if this policy continues, it will come. The state…makes itself the enemy of the Arab citizens with its own two hands.”

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Close Call
Israel’s plans to export billions of dollars worth of natural gas to Egypt almost unraveled when an Italian exploration company discovered a massive Egyptian gas field last August. But fear not. The company’s original output estimate for the field has just been cut in half. Too bad for Egypt, but good news for Israeli gas exports.

Ring Returned
One bride-to-be is counting her blessings, and probably being a bit more careful with her jewelry.

On Thursday, the young woman in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood, who is set to get married next month, placed her diamond engagement ring in her pocket while emptying her trash into a receptacle on the street.

There was also a small, empty food bag in her pocket which she also discarded, and the ring allegedly fell into the bag before she threw it into the dumpster. When she searched for her ring in her pocket, it wasn’t there.

Just her luck a garbage truck had just emptied the dumpster. The woman realized what had happened and immediately alerted the driver to the problem.

After a search on the street failed to locate the ring, the truck – with the approval of the municipal authorities – was taken to a city warehouse and emptied to enable the family to search for the ring. The family then sent out a notice asking members of the public to help them with their search.

The searchers didn’t end up finding the ring. It turns out that a Jerusalem man, who wishes to remain anonymous, had already found the ring on the street on Thursday, but didn’t hear about the search until after Shabbat. When he did, he immediately contacted the family and returned the ring.

Mazal Tov!!

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Israel News for January 19, 2016

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Terrorist Captured
Early today security forces arrested Moras Adais, a 16 year old Palestinian, for murdering Dafna Meir in Otniel on Sunday. Adais was arrested at his home in a village near Otniel and has no previous record of terror activity. It appears he acted alone, like most of the “lone wolf” terrorists in this recent wave of terror. His father told the Palestinian media that he fully supports his son’s actions, saying “I am proud of my son”.

Adais was not employed as a laborer and presumably snuck into Otniel. The settlement is fenced only in the forested area between one of the large yeshivot and Highway 60, from which terrorists infiltrated in the past. In other parts of the settlement there is no fence, but only electronic measures such as motion detectors and security cameras.

The PM and Defense Minister visited Otniel today and paid a Shiva call to the family of Dafna Meir. They blamed the Palestinian Authority for inciting violence and the international community for using a double standard vis a vis Israel.

Meanwhile, PA President Abbas said in a message to Palestinians that he was opposed to any violence and that “the resistance will continue through peaceful means, and we will not call for anything else.”

For further reading click here. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4754849,00.html

Workers Banned
Starting today, Palestinian laborers have been temporarily banned from working in settlements. The IDF said this was not a “collective punishment” against the workers, but that it was necessary in order to maintain order and to better supervise the workers inside the settlements. The fear is that other attackers might try to imitate the two recent attacks that occurred in Otniel and Tekoa.

According to army statistics, around 120,000 Palestinians are employed by Israelis, legally or illegally, both within and beyond the Green Line.

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EU vs Israel (again)
The Foreign Ministers of the EU passed a resolution yesterday requiring that all agreements between the European Union and Israel must “unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.”

The resolution states that,“The EU and its Member States are committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlements products. The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. This does not constitute a boycott of Israel which the EU strongly opposes.”

The resolution condemned Israeli settlement activities, calling them illegal under international law and a threat to a two-state solution, and urged Israel “to end all settlement activity and to dismantle the outposts erected since March 2001, in line with prior obligations,” adding that, “Settlement activity in east Jerusalem seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states.”

Believe it or not, the language of the resolution was supposed to be much tougher against Israel, but a coalition of smaller EU members, including Greece, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, blocked the language from inclusion. The tougher language was formulated by France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain.

On the bright side the resolution called on all parties (meaning Israel and the PA) to “condemn attacks when they occur.” THat’s something that the Palestinians have not done.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that even though the drafts were softened, the EU “continues to employ a double standard with Israel, while ignoring the PA’s responsibility for the diplomatic stalemate as well as its incitement which is feeding the wave of terrorism.”

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the conclusions published by the foreign ministers of the European Union continued a problematic line of attempts to intervene in Israel’s sovereign affairs.

For further reading click here.

U.S. Ambassador
Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro criticized Israeli settlements and Israel’s lax law-enforcement against settlers in the West Bank.

Shapiro said, “Too much Israeli vigilantism in the West Bank goes on unchecked,” and that “there is a lack of thorough investigations… at times it seems Israel has two standards of adherence to rule of law in the West Bank – one for Jews and one for Palestinians.”

Shapiro supported the two-state solution as the only way of preventing Israel from turning into a bi-national state, and noted the American administration’s concern and displeasure with Israel’s settlement policies.

The Prime Minister’s Office rejected Shapiro’s allegations of double standards and issued a response saying,”the ambassador’s statements, on the day when a mother of six who was murdered is buried, and on a day when a pregnant woman is stabbed – are unacceptable and wrong. Israel enforces the law on Israelis and Palestinians. The onus for the stalemate in the diplomatic process is the Palestinian Authority, which continues to incite and refuses negotiations.”

Apparently, having a Jewish U.S. Ambassador is not such a great thing for Israel.

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Heritage Cartel
It has become tradition for Israeli high schools to organize heritage trips to Poland to teach students, close up, about the Holocaust. The logistics behind the tours go like this: The Education Ministry publishes tenders for tour companies to fly the high-schoolers to Poland. Six companies apply. Each school can then bargain with the six to negotiate the lowest price. The reality of the situation turns out to have been much different.

Following a months long investigation, the police uncovered price fixing between the six companies to eliminate any competition. Great for the companies, but a rip off for the schools and students. Police raided the offices of the six companies yesterday and confiscated property and assets. Homes of some of the company executives were also searched. Suspects were arrested, including several CEO’s and high ranking executives.

Shame on the companies for taking advantage of kids trying to learn more about the Holocaust. How low can you go?

For further reading click here.