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Israel News for August 28, 2015

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Hamas Tales
One year after the end of operation Defensive Shield (Gaza war), the Arab news station Al Jazeera has released a documentary called “black box” that’s generating some buzz in Israel. The film presents the Hamas version of the events of Friday Aug. 1, 2014 in Rafiah, when Lt. Hadar Goldin was kidnapped and killed and Major Benaya Sarel and Staff Sergeant Liel Gidoni were killed.

Background
According to the Israeli version, an IDF unit that was on patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber who detonated near the soldiers. Heavy exchanges of fire ensued and one of the soldiers, Lt. Hadar Goldin, was captured by Hamas terrorists and taken deep into a tunnel. Another officer chased them into the tunnel but was unable to rescue Goldin who was already dead. The officer was able to retrieve conclusive evidence of Goldin’s death, which was used by the IDF rabbinate to officially declare that Goldin was killed in action.

In the documentary, a Hamas operative tells the Al-Jazeera interviewer that IDF troops collected the body of a Hamas fighter, Walid Tufik Massoud, who was dressed in an IDF uniform believing it was Lt. Hadar Goldin and did not chase after him and his kidnappers into the tunnels. The Hamas operative claims that the IDF only noticed Goldin was missing two hours after the incident. By that time they had withdrawn all their troops from the area and Rafah was a black box, which they had no access to, so the IDF began bombing the area indiscriminately under the Hannibal Directive.

The IDF claims that it knew Massoud was a terrorist.

In a press release the Goldin family rejected the claims in the documentary and reiterated their full faith in the IDF, the defense establishment and the State of Israel. They see them as the only source of trustworthy information. They called for increased pressure on Hamas to return the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Sergeant Oron Shaul, so that they can receive a Jewish burial.

The IDF did not comment on the film.

The documentary also features new footage of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, during his captivity, with the Hamas commander of southern Gaza, Muhammad Abu Shamala, who was later killed in operation Defensive Shield. Shalit was captured in 2006 during a cross-border attack by Hamas militants. He was released as part of a 2011 hostage deal in which the Israeli government released 1,027 prisoners.

Upshot
Who do you believe: Hamas or the IDF? Seriously.

New Warships
Now that Israel has valuable offshore gas developments, they need to be sure that they can defend them. The Israeli Navy currently has eleven warships and its decided to add another four. The ships will be built in Germany and will be delivered in five years. Israel was prepared to pay a maximum of $100 million per ship, but the Germans offered to do it for $90 million (pangs of guilt?).

Israel will be giving Germany the plans for the hull and electrical system. They’ll be installing the combat systems themselves in Israel, so that they won’t be caught unarmed in the event of a future anti-Israel boycott.

So, Germany will be helping protect Israeli gas.

New Charedi Minister
Earlier this week the High Court ruled that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of UTJ must either become the Health Minister or resign. That’s because Litzman currently performs all the functions of a minister, but since his Ultra Orthodox party has ideological issues with being part of a secular government, they traditionally do not accept ministerial posts. The court, ruling on an appeal filed by Yesh Atid, said that this situation could no longer continue. If you act like a minister, then you’re a minister (not a deputy).

The council of Torah Sages of Agudas Yisrael, which is part of UTJ, met yesterday and decided to give Litzman the green light to become Health Minister.

It’s unclear whether this decision marks a shift in fundamental Charedi ideology and its view of the secular State of Israel, or whether it’s just an acknowledgement of the benefits of keeping Litzman in the cabinet. It’s probably the latter.

Charedim vs. IDF
There have recently been a surge of threats and harassment against Charedi soldiers and recruiters. Recruiters are being hit especially hard. As an example, in a phone call to a recruiter the caller was recorded as saying,, “Let us live as Jews – do not dare to recruit men to the IDF. Shame on you. You’re a disgrace. Don’t you dare touch the soul of a Jew. You’re causing the masses to sin.”

These harassers aren’t just isolated extremists. They are reflecting a widely held attitude in the charedi community, which believes that their young men should not serve in the IDF because if they do they will lose their religious identity and become non observant. They also believe that their time is better spent studying torah rather than being soldiers.

A few weeks ago the spiritual leader of Shas, the sephardic-charedi party, announced publicly that young men should under no circumstances enlist in the IDF. He also railed against charedi IDF recruiters in very harsh terms.

Defense Minister Ya’alon was clear in his stance saying, “in the face of violence against haredi conscripts who serve in the IDF and their recruiters, Israel has an obligation to act with zero tolerance. I call on the leaders of the haredi community to condemn unacceptable phenomena such as these and to throw out violent elements.”

High Court freeze IDF beard ban
The IDF recently issued an order banning beards in order to maintain uniformity and a sense of professionalism. Some religious soldiers aren’t very happy with the new order. One of them appealed to the High Court claiming religious discrimination.

The High Court of Justice yesterday issued a temporary order to freeze the anti-beard regulation. But while the court was deliberating his case, the soldier was forced to shave despite his request to wait for the High Court’s decision.

In any case, the army regulation doesn’t include the “three weeks” or other religiously mandated periods of mourning during which Jews traditionally do not shave.

Canine Security Breach
In an embarrassing security breach, PM Netanyahu’s son Avner’s private details including his cellphone number and home phone number were published on the Agriculture Ministry’s dog database. The details have since been removed.

The Netanyahu’s recently adopted a female dog named Kaya,saving her from being put to sleep. Last week the PM posted a moving post with a picture of him with Kaya, writing “she has brought so much light into our home. I call on anyone who wants to adopt a dog, save an adult dog and bring them into your home.”

Aww.

Israel News for August 24, 2015

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Court Promotes Charedi Minister
The High Court has ruled that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the charedi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party must either assume the position of Health Minister or resign from his current post.

Background
The UTJ party represents the Ashkenazic charedi communities. It was formed in 1992 as a merger between the Chassidic Agudas Yisrael and the Lithuanian Degel Hatorah party. The parties policies are decided by a council of Torah Sages from each of the two factions.

Because of its fundamental opposition to a secular run government, the UTJ and its predecessors have always refused to accept ministerial portfolios in the cabinet (except for one post in the first government in 1948). Instead, they assume the title of deputy minister while performing the duties of full minister.

In the current government PM Netanyahu officially holds the title of Health Minister and Yaakov Litzman of UTJ holds the deputy minister title. But semantics aside, Litzman functions as the Health Minister.

Opposition party Yesh Atid called them on this ministerial charade and petitioned the High Court to call a spade a spade (instead of a deputy spade). The High Court agreed and ruled that Litzman must either accept the title of Health Minister or resign his post altogether.

Result
Litzman must wait for the Council of Sages of the Agudas Yisrael faction of UTJ to decide, in their meeting this Wednesday, whether to modify their policy and allow him to be a full minister. The word on the street is that the council, lead by the Gerrer Rebbe (Litzman is also a Gerrer follower) will allow him to take the ministerial post.

Upshot
Even though it is really just a question of semantics, allowing Litzman to be a full minister might represent a major philosophical shift in charedi ideology and possibly bring about a greater sense of unity between them and the non-charedi right and centrist parties.

Abbas Going to Iran
Iran already has proxies on Israel’s northern border – Hezbollah and pro-Syrian government militias – and southern border – Hamas. Now they might be preparing to close the loop in the east.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Polish reporters that he intends to visit Iran in an effort to improve ties with what he calls a “sister” nation. The Palestinians already have an embassy in Tehran, located in the building that housed the Israeli embassy prior to the Iranian revolution.

Should Israel be worried? Maybe, if the Palestinians gain independence and call in the revolutionary guards, or if Iran donates millions of dollars of terrorist funding.

Terror cell arrested
Israeli security services announced that they arrested a cell of nine Palestinians two weeks ago in the terrorist attack near highway 443 that injured three Israelis three weeks ago. The suspects, five adults and four minors, were residents of Beit Hanina and the Old City of Jerusalem. They are also being indicted for other attacks including throwing molotov cocktails at a Jewish home in Beit Hanina, where two people were injured.

The suspects admitted that they carried out the attack to avenge the Duma attack. Since their attack there have been several more molotov cocktail attacks in that same location.

Israel Helping Kurds
According to the Financial Times, Israel has purchased over $1 billion worth of oil from the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Records show that from May to August Israel bought 19 million barrels, which is about 77% of Israel’s total oil consumption of about 240,000 barrels a day.

Some sources say that Israel is choosing to buy specifically from the Kurds in order to support them in their fight against ISIS. Other sources claim that Israel is getting a discounted price on the oil. In either case, if they’re spending those billions anyway, they might as well get some indirect security benefits as a byproduct.

PM Netanyahu has stated his support for the formation of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. That hasn’t done much to improve Israel’s relations with Turkey, which fears that the Kurds will want to integrate the heavily Kurdish areas of Southern Turkey into their state. Ironically, the Kurdish oil is transported to Israel via a Turkish port.
Business is business.

American Scraps Israel Flights
American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size, passengers flown and revenue, has decided to stop flying to Israel. They claim it’s due to financial consideration and that they lost $20 million last year on their Philadelphia – Tel Aviv route. Industry experts say that American’s Israel route is profitable. They claim that American made the decision due to their leading role in the OneWorld global alliance, whose members include Arab carriers like Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Malaysia Airlines.

Whatever the reason, it’s good news for the carriers that do fly to Israel. Whether it will allow them to raise prices is still to be seen.

Shas head protests Shabbat Work
Economy Minister Aryeh Deri sent a strongly worded letter to PM Netanyahu and Transport Minister Katz protesting the desecration of Shabbat by government employed construction workers. The workers were clearing up the rubble following the demolition of the Maariv Overpass on Friday, which was leveled as part of the Tel Aviv light rail construction project. Deri threatened to take action the next time work was done on Shabbat on the Tel Aviv light rail or for any government project.

Meat Wars
Ketchup isn’t the only food they’re fighting about in Israel. The pre High Holidays meat wars are heating up, and Israeli meat eaters are benefitting big time.

Background
In Israel you can buy three types of meat (from cheapest to most expensive): frozen, defrosted and fresh. Most of the frozen or defrosted meat, which leads significantly in market share, is slaughtered and prepared in accordance with kosher laws overseas and shipped to Israel. Fresh meat can either also be imported or slaughtered and prepared in Israel. It’s cheaper to import.

Shufersal, one of Israel’s largest supermarket chains, last week launched their own private label brand of fresh meat which they fly in from overseas in sections, which is cheaper than importing the calfs and then slaughtering and preparing them in Israel.

In response, Tnuva, the giant Israeli food conglomerate, has just announced that they will be importing fresh meat from Poland and selling it at prices equivalent to Shufersal’s defrosted meat. How can they do it so cheap? They’ll be shipping the meat by boat instead of by air. (Poland just got approved as a supplier of meat to Israel.)

Upshot
Something about importing meat from a country that actively participated in the slaughter of millions of Jews just doesn’t seem right. Does the savings make it ok? Perhaps.