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trump israel visit

Israel News for May 22, 2017

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Trump in Israel
President Trump landed in Israel today to click off his 26 hour visit. His flight happened to have been the first direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Israel.

To watch Trump’s arrival click here.

In his greeting remarks, PM Netanyahu called Trump’s visit “truly historic”, saying, “Never before has the first foreign trip of the president of the United States included a visit to Israel.” He then thanked Trump for his “powerful expression of your friendship to Israel.”

President Rivlin said, “Your visit is a symbol of the unbreakable bond between Israel and America. You are the President of Israel’s greatest, most important ally. You are a true friend of Israel, and of the Jewish people.”

He also highlighted the significance of Jerusalem saying, “Mr. President, today I will have the honor to host you in Jerusalem. We are honored to have you here with us, as we mark fifty years of ‘Jerusalem Day’, Yom Yerushalayim. It makes us very happy to know that Israel’s most important ally recognizes the significance of Jerusalem to the Jewish People. Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish People: as it has been for 3000 years.”

Here’s Trump’s schedule for the rest of his visit:

Monday – Day 1

1:15pm – Trump and the First Lady will be welcomed by Rivlin and his wife at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Trump and Rivlin will meet privately and then hold a press conference. Rivlin and his wife will then take Trump and the first lady to the garden at the President’s Residence, where an almond tree was planted to mark the visit. A sign near the tree bears a quote in Hebrew, English and Arabic from the Song of Ascents in the Book of Psalms: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

2:30pm – Trump will privately visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

3:15pm – Trump, joined by Melania, Jared and Ivanka, will have a private visit to the Kotel, accompanied by the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch. The entire Western Wall plaza will be totally closed off during the visit.

4:45pm – First Lady Melania will join Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, on a visit to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Karem. They will talk with the medical staff and meet with children in the play area for a joint artistic activity.

6:00pm – Trump and Netanyahu will meet privately at the King David Hotel, where Trump and his team are staying.

7:15pm – Trump, Netanyahu and their wives will travel to the Prime Minister’s Residence for dinner, which will be cooked by Israeli chef Moshe Segev. Singer Shiri Maimon will perform two songs, one of them being the Frank Sinatra version of “New York, New York.”

Tuesday – Day 2

10:00am – Trump will visit Bethlehem where he will meet with PA President Abbas.

1:00pm – Trump and Melania will visit Yad Vashem (Holocaust museum and memorial) where Trump will participate in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance. During the ceremony, Trump will rekindle the eternal flame and lay a wreath on a stone slab under which ashes from extermination camps are buried.

The Trumps will be accompanied by Nad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau.

1:30pm – Trump will make a speech, concluding his visit.

3:40pm – Trump leaves Israel for Rome.

Trump will be accompanied on his visit by some 1,300 Americans, including security guards, Secret Service, Marines, and his entourage, all of whom will take up almost all of the available rooms in Jerusalem’s hotels. His convoy will include dozens of limousines, trucks and nine helicopters.

For further reading click here.

Josef’s Tomb
Late last night, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee visited Joseph’s Tomb near Shechem (Nablus). The area is under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Jews have restricted access to the holy site.

Huckabee was accompanied by Samaria Regional Council leader Dagan and joined by Dagan’s deputy Davidi Ben-Zion, Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Roni Numa, Samaria Division Commander Col. Gilad Amit, and the Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District Commander Moshe Bareket.

Huckabee said, “It’s an amazing experience to have to come to this type of difficulty just to be able to come to a holy site for Jews and frankly even for Christians, who pay tribute to Joseph. To have to do it in the dead of night, under armed guard, with the smell of tear gas in the air, burning tires along the route, it’s a stark reminder (to how different) it is in the heart of Israel, where the Israeli government protects every Muslim that accesses their holy site.”

For further reading click here.

Holy Harvesting
As the harvest festival of Shavuot approaches, dozens of hasidic young men took to the fields to manually harvest wheat that will be used to make the matzo used by the Rebbe of Vishnitz (never to early to prepare for Passover).

To see images of this (unusual) undertaking, click here.

israel air force

Israel News for March 20, 2017

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Israel Attacks
According to Syrian sources, Israeli drone attacked a vehicle on the road to Damascus, killing a member of a pro government militia. The IDF refused to confirm or deny the reports.

The reported strike came hours after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems, after Israeli aircraft were targeted during a bombing run early Friday morning.

 
“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” Lieberman said on Israel Radio.

Yesterday, Syrian media reported that Israel attacked military positions and Hezbollah targets.

For further reading click here.

Israeli Delegation in DC
Following Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt’s meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Israel last week, an Israeli delegation has arrived in Washington to continue talks to try and reach an understanding regarding settlement construction and ways of restarting the peace process.

The Israeli delegation is headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Yoav Horowitz and foreign policy adviser Jonathan Schachter, and includes Israel’s US Ambassador Ron Dermer.

For further reading click here.

Shin Bet Warning
Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that the current calm in violence is “deceiving,” warning “there is non doubt” that Hamas and other organized terror cells will try to carry out attacks over the Passover holiday. He said that the Shin Bet (Israel’s version of the FBI) is working hard to thwart all attacks.

For further reading click here.

Terrorist Convicted
The Palestinian terrorist who killed American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz and three others was sentenced to four life sentences for the November 2015 attack. Mohammed Abed Odeh Harub was sentenced Sunday in an Israeli military court. He also was ordered to pay about $200,000 to the families of the victims.

For further reading click here.

IDF Shortage
The IDF is preparing to deal with a significant shortage of thousands of soldiers due to a decrease in compulsory military service for men from three years (36 months) to 32 months, and soon to 30 months.

Among solutions being examined is a more focused and intense training period to prepare soldiers sooner for operational duty. Training segments expected to be cut from basic training and advanced training include weeks of guard duty and various rotation-based assignments. Also, soldiers serving in Special Forces will be expected to sign on for additional service periods.

Two options that were discussed were extending the length of service of women—from 24 months to 28 months—and of yeshiva students. Both options were blocked by Ayelet Shaked and religious officials, respectfully.

For further reading click here.
 
Shabbat Rebuke
Haredi lawmakers slammed PM Netanyahu for conducting a government meeting on Shabbat. Netanyahu met informally on Saturday at his official residence in Jerusalem with Likud ministers regarding the establishment of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Minister of Health Rabbi Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism Party (UTJ), said, “I was shocked to hear about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with a few government ministers that was held in desecration of Shabbat. This does serious damage to the sanctity of Shabbat and a change for the worse from the status quo prevailing throughout the years not to hold official government activities on Shabbat and holidays. Shabbat is a national day of rest, and throughout generations, the people of Israel know to keep the holiness of Shabbat and prevent desecrating it.”

MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni (UTJ) called the meeting “very serious and unprecedented and unacceptable, even if it was an unofficial consultation.” Gafni said that the Prime Minister’s Office told him that the ministers came over in an unofficial capacity and that Netanyahu did not and does not violate Shabbat. The Prime Minister’s Office also reportedly promised that it would not happen again.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for December 13, 2016

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Breaking News
A Palestinian women attempted to ram her car into soldiers at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem. After soldiers fired in the air the women emerged from her car holding a knife and screaming “Allahu Akbar”. The soldiers quickly arrested her without any injuries.

For further reading click here.

Embassy Move
Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to Donald Trump, confirmed in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that Trump intends to fulfill his promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv To Jerusalem.

Conway said, “That is very big priority for this president-elect, Donald Trump. He made it very clear during the campaign, Hugh, and as president-elect I’ve heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly.”

Presidents Bill and Clinton and George H. W. Bush both promised to move the embassy during their campaigns but then backed down during their presidency. But Conway expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to follow through on his promise saying, “It is a great move. It is an easy move to do based on how much he talked about that in the debates and in the sound bites.”

In 1995 Congress passed a law mandating the embassy move but included a presidential waiver that lapses every six months. Each president since then has exercised the waiver, with President Barack Obama doing so as recently as last week. The waiver requires that the president assess that moving the embassy would pose a national security risk to the United States.

For further reading click here.

Israel Gets Aircraft
Israel yesterday received the first two F-35 stealth fighter aircraft to be sold to any country outside of the US. The aircraft cost $110 million each and are first of 50 planes Israel has ordered at a total cost of $5 billion. That will come out of the $38 billion military aide package Israel received from the US, and go right back into the US economy.

While the F-35 is not faster and cannot carry more missiles and bombs as the F-15 and F-16 jets that Israel currently flies, it can fly undetected. Israel generals call that a game changer, since it will allow the aircraft to be mostly invisible to enemy aircraft and ground-based antiaircraft batteries.

Israeli officials say the F-35 will be used for all its air force missions, including in possible future confrontations with Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

The F-35s were greeted by PM Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and senior IDF officers, MKs, businessmen and other officials.

Netanyahu thanked the US administration for its staunch commitment to Israel security and added, “Our long arm has now become longer and mightier.” He also said, “I want to be clear: Anyone who thinks of attacking us will be attacked. History has taught us that only strength brings deterrence, only strength brings peace and respect.”

Carter reiterated that Israel is the first country to receive the aircraft and said, “Together, we will dominate the skies. With the turmoil in the region, we’re more dedicated to Israel’s security today than ever before.”

For further reading and to watch a video, click here.

New Kotel Bill
A new bill has been submitted to the Knesset, which would place the entire Kotel area under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate and prevent any form of prayer that does not conform to Orthodox practice. The bill is supported by the Ultra Orthodox parties along with some members of Bayit Yehudi and Likud.

The bill would destroy the compromise agreement reached by the government and the non Orthodox Jewish movements to form an egalitarian prayer space at the southern end of the Kotel, near Robinson’s Arch. It would also impose a fine of around $2,500 or a six-month prison sentence on participants in egalitarian prayer services or on women who use a tallit or tefillin.

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky slammed the bill saying, “This bill makes a mockery of all the efforts made by recent governments to ensure that the Western Wall is a place that unites, rather than divides, the Jewish people. This bill’s passage would have grave consequences for the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. Based on the Prime Minister’s strong personal commitment to strengthening the Israel-Diaspora relationship, it is my fervent hope that this damaging bill will be summarily dismissed by a majority of the coalition and of the Knesset.”

For further reading click here.

PM Trip
PM Netanyahu embarked today on a two day visit to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The PM remarked, “These are two large and significant countries in the Islamic world and our goal is to strengthen diplomatic, security and economic relations with them.” Both countries have vast natural resources.

For further reading click here.

Snubbing Sweden
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström will be visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but Israeli leaders will not be around to meet her. Wallström has become famous for her pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel comments, and the government is letting her know that they won’t stand for them.

Wallström asked to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and with other Israeli ministers but the official response she received was that the Israeli officials could not fit her into their schedule. The Swedish foreign minister decided to go ahead with her planned visit and meet with officials in the Palestinian Authority.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for October 21, 2016

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IDF Patrol Attacked
An IDF patrol vehicle came under heavy attack from Palestinian rock throwers south of the Gush Etzion Junction. The soldiers came out of the vehicle, warned the attackers to cease and fired a warning shot into the air. When the attackers continued, the soldiers followed standard engagement protocol and opened fire. One attacker was killed. One soldier was lightly injured in the rock attack. The IDF is investigating the incident.

For further reading click here.

Terror List
The US State Department has added Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, which “imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing acts of terrorism.”

The US Treasury Department also sanctioned Tabatabai and three other individuals and one company under a standing executive order that prohibits US banks from having any dealings with “persons who commit, threaten to commit or support terrorism” and blocks any property or assets they may have in the United States. The Treasury said it was a joint action with Saudi Arabia aimed at “disrupting Hezbollah’s worldwide commercial and financial infrastructure.”

For further reading click here.

Post Election Action
If you want to promote any anti Israel resolutions in the UN Security Council, you should wait until after the US presidential elections to do so. At least that’s the message that the US and Egypt have sent the Palestinians. The US is a permanent member of the council and Egypt currently holds a rotating seat there.

The US has made it clear that it will veto any resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian issue before the election. The Palestinians are heeding the warning and biding there time. Regarding their planned anti-Israel resolution, one senior Palestinian official said, “We’re at the consultation stage now, and we’ll advance our move after the elections. At the moment, there’s no agreement on the final wording, and it’s not clear to us what the American position will be and if, after the elections, the administration really will be willing to cooperate, or will still cast a veto.”

For further reading click here.

Amona Protest
Thousands of people demonstrated in Amona, the settlement that is slated for evacuation by the end of the year, calling on the Prime Minister to go against the Supreme Court decision ordering the evacuation. Likud and Bayit Yehudi MKs were in attendance.

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan (Bayit Yehudi) said, “We were here on the eve of Yom Kippur when we told the residents of Amona that we are committed to solve the issue of the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, with Amona included. We won’t give up, and if that doesn’t happen, we will present the Resolution Bill ourselves at the beginning of the next Knesset session. There won’t be a government without a resolution.”

The Likud issued a statement in response to the rally saying, “Prime Minister Netanyahu is calmly and responsibly leading a concerted effort to find a solution to the problem of Amona and its derivatives together with the minister of defense, minister of justice and attorney general. It is unfortunate that some people cannot handle the pressure, so that instead of joining forces as part of a real effort would rather charge ahead with a baseless and irresponsible political battering ram that only hurts Amona and the settlement project in general.”

For further reading click here.

Priestly Tombs
Did you know that the tombs of Elazar, the son of Aaron the High Priest, and his son Pinchas (the one who the torah portion is named after) are located in the Arab village of Awarta in Samaria? The village is also the home of two of the terrorists who massacred the Fogel family in their home in nearby Itamar in 2011. Samaria Brigade Commander Colonel Gilad Amit will participate in a special prayer service at the tombs.

Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan said, “Wherever you go in the land of Israel there is proof that the land belongs to the Jewish people. This proves how ridiculous the UNESCO resolution that tries to deny the connection between the land and the Jews is. Not only on the Temple Mount, but here in this village in Samaria, where those evil murderers came from, there is proof that this land was always Jewish. Even the most heinous murders fail to break the connection between the Jewish people and their land.”

For further reading click here.

Israel News for September 12, 2016

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Ethnic Cleansing
On Friday PM Netanyahu published a video on his Facebook page containing a statement that has raised an uproar. In the video the PM said, “The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There’s a phrase for that: It’s called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous.”

PA President Abbas reacted to the comment saying, “The government of Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing and deliberately killing—acts that have exposed it to international criticism all over the world.”

US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said, “We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful.” She added that the United States feels the settlement policy raises “real questions about Israel’s long-term intentions in the West Bank.”

David Friedman, the Israel advisor to Donald Trump, said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu makes exactly the right point. The Palestinians want Israel to absorb countless ‘refugees’ – people who never lived in Israel and whose ancestors were never forced to leave Israel – while their so-called ‘state’ is required to be, as the Nazis said, judenrein. It is an entirely racist and anti-Semitic position.”

He continued, “Arabs live and work side by side with Israelis in the State of Israel. They attend universities, enjoy the strongest human and civil rights (including women’s rights) in the region, and have access to world class health care. There is no better place for Arabs to live in the Middle East than in the State of Israel. With this background in mind, the Prime Minister of Israel correctly observes that the Palestinian demand to remove all Jews from their ancestral homeland in Judea and Samaria is nothing short of an attempt at ethnic cleansing. The State Department should be ashamed of their misguided reaction to Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks.”

To watch the video click here.

Shul Vandalized
Several large black crosses were spray painted on a synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gonen (Old Katamon) last night. Police are investigating.

To see a photo of the vandalism click here.

Arab Housing
Minister of Construction Yoav Galant (Kulanu) traveled to the northern Israeli Arab town of Baka al-Gharbiya to sign an agreement to build thousands of housing units for the Arab sector. According to the agreement, the Ministry of Construction will allocate 1.41 billion shekels for the project, as well as loosening restrictions relating to building on private land. The immediate goal is to facilitate the building of 30,000 housing units on private and government owned land.

For further reading click here.

Judges Reprimand on Kotel
While hearing a motion relating to the administration of the Western Wall plaza, the Supreme Court judges took the opportunity to reprimand the government for not moving to implement the compromise agreement reached several months ago that stipulated the creation of an alternate prayer space at the southern end of the Kotel that would not be under orthodox control. The Chief Justice of the Court, Miriam Naor, said, “Enough is enough.”

The government has not implemented the compromise agreement as a result of pressure from the ultra-orthodox parties, who are all members of the coalition and can potentially cause the government to collapse if they leave the coalition.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for September 6, 2016

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Building Collapse
A four-level subterranean parking lot in a building site on HaBarzel Street in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood of Tel Aviv collapsed Monday morning. Four people were killed and over 23 injured (most of whom have already been released from hospital). Three people are still missing in the rubble and a frantic search has been underway throughout the night to locate them. One of the missing was in phone contact with the rescuers a few hours after the collapse, but rescuers have not been able to make contact with his since. The dead include a Palestinian Authority resident and a Ukrainian citizen.

Over 500 IDF soldiers from the Homefront Command are participating in the search. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the disaster site before departed on his official visit to the Netherlands.

Africa-Israel Properties, the owner of the property, said it had a comprehensive insurance policy for the site worth NIS 122 million, and that although the incident had a tragic outcome it would not have a material financial impact on the company. The company said it was assisting in the rescue efforts and conducting an investigation into the collapse. The police is also investigating. The Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee will hold an emergency hearing on the disaster this Thursday.

For further reading click here.

Moscow Meetup
Palestinian Authority President Abbas has accepted an invitation from Russian President Putin to meet with PM Netanyahu in Moscow. Netanyahu has been calling for direct talks with Abbas, but has gotten the cold shoulder, until now. Apparently, Putin’s invitation carries some additional clout. The talks are expected to be held in October.

Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu kicked off a two day visit to the Netherlands today, where he will meet with the Prime Minister, the king and members of Parliament.

For further reading click here.

Rabbi Passes
The Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi Eliyahu Shaar Yashuv Hakohen, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. He served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the city from 1975 until 2011.

Rabbi Hakohen was the son of Rabbi David Hakohen, who was known as “the Nazir” and was one of the leading students of the great Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hakohen Kook. A Nazir is someone who refrains from eating meat, drinking wine or cutting his hair. Rabbi Shaar Yashuv Hakohen followed in his father’s footsteps and refrained from eating meat (and fish) and drinking wine for his entire life.

He fought in the underground during the British Mandate and was part of the defense of the Jewish quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence and was wounded in the foot. When the quarter fell he was taken captive by the Jordanians who operated on his foot, which resulted in him limping for the rest of his life.

Following his release from captivity the Rabbi served in the IDF for seven years, eventually becoming Rabbi of Military Command and Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Air Force. He earned a Master’s degree with honors from the Hebrew University School of Law, and was deputy mayor of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War when the city was liberated. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he volunteered and was chaplain of the brigade that crossed the Suez Canal.

Rabbi Hakohen was one of the leading figures of Religious Zionism. May his memory serve as a blessing for us all.

For further reading click here.

Trump in Samaria
The Trump campaign in Israel has opened an office in the settlement of Karnei Shomron, which is in Samaria (West Bank). The office is temporarily located in the home of Rabbi Chaim Springer, an American who moved to Israel 40 years ago. The office will be moved around to different settlements in Samaria over the next few weeks to help American citizens register to vote. According to figures provided by Republicans Overseas Israel, American citizens comprise around 25% of the Jewish population living in West Bank settlements.

This is the first time that an American campaign office has ever been opened in the West Bank, and is indicative of Trump’s stated policy to refrain from interfering in the Israeli government’s actions and policies relating to the West Bank.

Mark Zell, the American-born lawyer who serves as chair of Republican Overseas Israel, explained, “I worked along with representatives of the Trump campaign to get passed a historic amendment to the Republican Party platform, and this amendment specifically omitted any reference to Israel as an occupier and coincided with Trump’s own statements that building homes, synagogues and schools for Arabs and Jews in Judea and Samaria was an issue for the Israeli government and people to decide – not something that America should be dictating to Israel.” 

The Trump campaign already has offices in Jerusalem, Modiin and Tel Aviv, and is planning to open another three in Rehovot, Beit Shemesh and in the Gush Etzion region (also in the West Bank).

For further reading click here.