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western wall

Israel News for May 30, 2017

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Israeli Control
In an interview with Army Radio today, PM Netanyahu said, “In order to assure our existence we need to have military and security control over all of the territory west of the Jordan [River],” and added, “The idea that we can give up territory and achieve peace is not right.”

The PM dismissed the notion that Israeli settlements were the main root of the conflict and stated that the problem was the Palestinian reluctance to recognize Israel’s right to any part of the land. He said, “The root of this problem was and still is that continued refusal by the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a the homeland of the Jewish people in any borders.”

Regarding the possibility of relations with other Arab nations, the PM said, “There is a change happening. Not necessarily with the Palestinians but in some parts of the Arab world they are understanding that Israel is not the enemy,” and that, “Arab states are internalizing that Israel is an ally against the threats of Iran and of the Islamic State terror group.”

For further reading click here.

Bridge Upgrade
Israel will be investing NIS 450 million to upgrade the Alleny Bridge, which spans the Jordan River near Jericho and connects Israel and Jordan. The bridge is the only way that Palestinians can directly leave the Palestinian Authority to go abroad. Around 2.3 million people, most Palestinian, pass through the crossing point each year. Some tourists also use the crossing, although Israeli citizens are prohibited from using it. Around 50,000 trucks carry merchandise over the bridge each year.

As part of the renovations, a new terminal will be built, new security features will be integrated and the existing terminals and access roads will be upgraded.

On a recent trip to the US, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz was asked by US envoy Jason Greenblatt to keep the Allenby crossing open 24/7 instead of the shorter hours currently in operation. Katz immediately acceded to the request.

The new Allenby Bridge hours and renovation project is seen as a goodwill gesture by Israel to the Palestinians and should make life a bit easier for them. But it probably won’t do much to satisfy their desire for self determination, since it just reinforces the fact that Israel controls their ability to enter or leave their territory.

For further reading click here.

Cable Car
The government has approved a project to build a cable car that will carry visitors to the Western Wall. The planned route is about 1,400 meters long, with 40 cars able to carry 10 passengers each, at 21 kilometers per hour. The four stations through which the cable car will pass are the railway station, HaMefaked Street, Mount Zion and the Western Wall station. The price of a cable car ride will be the same as bus fare. The project is expected to cost NIS 200 million and be completed by 2021.

The project is expected to raise protests, since it’s related to east Jerusalem [nothing new]. The French company that was supposed to carry out the project withdrew following political pressures and an order from the Paris Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For further reading click here.

East Jerusalem
The government also approved a plan to connect Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem to the city sewage and garbage collection system.

According to the plan, which was formulated by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), more east Jerusalem residents will be connected to the municipal sewage system, 33 kilometers of sewage infrastructure will be built, the existing sewage system will be upgraded, garbage cans and garbage trucks will be purchased and set up to collect waste.

For further reading click here.

Shavuot
The holiday of Shavuot begins tonight and sunset and extends for one day in Israel and two days outside of Israel. The holiday literally means weeks, and is the culmination of the counting of 7 weeks (49 days) from the second day of Passover. Shavuot is described in the Torah as the harvest festival during which farmers bring their first produce to the Temple in Jerusalem. Shavuot is also the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments and Torah at Mount Sinai. The Book of Ruth is read in the synagogue, and dairy meals are traditionally eaten. It is also customary to stay up all night (first night) to study Torah.

Happy Shavuot!!

ivanka kotel

Israel News for May 23, 2017

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Terror and Protests
A Palestinian with a knife charged at Border Police near Abu Dis, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Police shot and killed the terrorist before he could cause any harm.

Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli troops, and Palestinian shopkeepers shuttered their stores across the West Bank and east Jerusalem yesterday in solidarity with hundreds of hunger striking prisoners held in Israeli jails. The hunger strike is in its 36th day. Palestinian Authority government offices along with public transportation also closed down. Organizers of the protest hope to draw the attention of President Trump to their cause.

At the Qalandiya checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Palestinian youth through rocks and bottles at soldiers and set tires on fire. Troops responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

For further reading click here.

Terror Attack
A 45 year old Palestinian attacked and stabbed a Border Policeman in Netanya today. The policeman managed to shoot and neutralize the terrorist. The policeman was in light condition, while the attacker, a 45-year-old Palestinian, was in moderate condition. Another civilian who was at the scene was lightly injured from shrapnel. The terrorist reportedly called out “Allahu Akbar” before attacking the police officer.

In an unrelated development, a rocket was fired from Sinai at Israel today. There were no injuries or damage, and it’s not clear if the rocket actually landed in Israel or exploded midair.

For further reading click here.

Trump and Abbas
President Trump met with Palestinian Authority President Abbas in Bethlehem today. At a press conference after the meeting Trump said, “peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded.” He also vowed to do everything possible to help broker a peace agreement and said that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal would bring peace to the entire Middle East. He said, “In the spirit of hope we come to Bethlehem asking God for a more peaceful, safe and far more tolerant world for all of us.”

Abbas reiterated the Palestinian position of accepting the two-state solution in the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state and called on Israel to recognize the state of Palestine. He said, “the conflict is not between religions. Respecting religions is an integral part of our faith. We want to get along with our Israeli neighbors.”

Abbas also brought up the issue of the Palestinian prisoner hunger strike, calling on the Israeli government to “meet their humane and legitimate demands.” He said, “We want to build bridges instead of walls inside our lands.”

For further reading click here.

Kotel Visit
President Trump, Melania, Ivanka and Jared visited the Kotel yesterday. It was the first time that a sitting American President has done so. They were accompanied by The Chief Rabbi of the Kotel Shmuel Rabinowitz and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation director Mordechai Eliav. No Israel government officials were present. The entire Western Wall plaza was closed off during the visit.

After reciting two psalms with the Chief Rabbi, Trump, wearing a black kippa, approached the Kotel alone and touched the stones while he recited a prayer. Melania and Ivanka prayed in the women’s area of the Kotel.

After the President was done, many American officials proceeded to pray at the Wall. They included Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and chief economic advisor Gary Cohn.

After the visit Trump changed his Twitter header to a photo of him touching the Western Wall. Quite a statement to his 30 million followers.

Ivanka tweeted, “It was deeply meaningful to visit the holiest site of my faith and to leave a note of prayer.” She included a photo of her praying with her hand touching the Wall.

To see a gallery of photos and video of the visit, click here.

Yad Vashem
President Trump and Melania visited Yad Vashem today, where they laid a wreath on a stone slab under which ashes from some of those killed in concentration camps are buried.  They were accompanied by Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, PM Netanyahu and Sara, and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau. Ivanka and Jared also joined.

Trump signed the Yad Vashem guest book and received a token of remembrance; an exact replica of the original Holocaust-era personal album that belonged to Ester Goldstein who was murdered during the Holocaust at the age of 16.

Trump called on the world never to forget “history’s darkest hour” and said, “This place is a testament to the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people.”

For further reading click here.

passover

Israel News for May 16, 2017

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Kotel Not Israel
According to a Channel 2 news report yesterday, sources close to the Prime Minister asked that Netanyahu and an Israeli TV crew accompany Trump to the Kotel. The Americans (based in the US Consulate in Jerusalem) refused, claiming that the visit was a private one, not an official visit.

A senior US official also said, “This is an area that is in dispute, the Western Wall is not Israeli territory and is located in the West Bank.” This infuriated the Israelis and caused an uproar in the Israeli press.

In response to the comment, a White House spokesman told reporters, “These comments, if true, were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the U.S. position, and certainly not the President’s position.”

But the fact of the matter is that, while clearly insensitive, the comments do reflect the US position that east Jerusalem is not officially part of Israel but is disputed territory. That’s why the US embassy isn’t located in Jerusalem and why US administration officials visiting the Kotel on official state visits are never accompanied by Israeli government leaders.

The Trump administration has yet to change that US policy, and apparently isn’t going to. But since Trump is known for his spontaneous statements, you never know what might happen during his upcoming Israel visit.

So while Trump might be the best friend Israel has ever had, and the US continues to defend Israel in the UN, the US policy that considers the Old City and yes, the Western Wall, as disputed territory and not part of Israel remains in place.

For further reading click here.

New Ambassador
President Rivlin today accepted the credentials of David Friedman, the new US Ambassador to Israel. The Israeli president welcomed Friedman, his family, and staff to Israel and congratulated him on his new position saying, “I’m happy to welcome you and your dear wife to Israel, to Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, and I’m welcoming you, not only as the President of Israel, but also as a Jerusalemite – seventh generation. I know you have been to Israel many times before. But this time you are an ambassador representing the United States of America, Israel’s greatest and most important ally.”

Rivlin also stressed that, “It is time for the whole world to recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of the State of Israel.”

Friedman then headed to his office at the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

To view a video of the ceremony click here.

Time to Kill
Housing Minister Yoav Galant has called for the assassination of Syrian President Assad. He said, “The reality in which people are executed in Syria, being hit deliberately by chemical weapons, their bodies being burned, something we haven’t seen in 70 years, we are crossing a red line and it is time to eliminate Assad, literally.”

For further reading click here.

Rabbinic Conviction
Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, 76, was convicted of issuing fake rabbinic credentials to 1,500 police and security services employees, who used them to apply for pay raises. He was first indicted in 2012. Sentencing has not yet been set.

For further reading click here.

Wrong Turn
An Israeli family of six (parents and 4 kids) were driving in the West Bank (Samaria) on their way to Modiin Illit when got lost and suddenly found themselves driving through the Arab village of Bir Zeit near Ramallah. [It’s a small country, so getting lost and ending up in an Arab village can easily happen.]

In the words of Ayelet Cohen (the mother):

“It was nearly 1am, the kids were asleep in the back seat and the village seemed to never end. At some point, there was no cell reception either. I was terrified the whole time for the safety of the children. We eventually managed to call the police.
 
“The police told us not to get out of the car and to continue driving back and forth for almost 40 minutes. Inside the car, there was a sense of tension and fear. All of a sudden, four cars came speeding up and blocked the road.
 
“I was sure they were going to lynch us. A lot of young Arabs came out of the cars and started banging on our car and my husband told them he was on the line with the police. They then opened our car doors and took us to the (Palestinian) police and they spoke Arabic. They took our phones and drove us to the Palestinian police station. At this stage, I had no idea where we were going at all.”

Thankfully, Israeli forces had already contacted Palestinian security forces. The Palestinian police transported the Cohens to a Ramallah checkpoint where they were released back into Israeli territory.

For further reading click here.

Cheap Airfare
Icelandic low-cost airline WOW Air will soon begin flights from Tel-Aviv to Reykjavik for $99 and from Tel Aviv to New York, Boston and Montreal (via Reykjavik) for $149. The fares don’t include luggage, which will cost you about $50 per bag. The fares are also only starting prices, and could be higher depending on the flight date.

Any competition in the Israel flight market that might lower the sky high airfares is welcome.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for October 26, 2016

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Soldier Wounded
IDF soldiers from the Golan brigade working on defenses on the Lebanese border near Metula were fired upon from a vehicle passing on the Lebanese side. One soldier was hit by shrapnel and lightly wounded. The soldiers returned fire.

For further reading click here.

Wedding Incitement
Back in December of 2015, a video of a wedding celebration was released which showed Jewish guests dancing with rifles, knives and fake molotov cocktails and singing songs calling for violence against Palestinians. Guests were also shown stabbing, tearing and setting fire to photos of Ali Dawabsheh, an 18-month-old baby who was murdered in an arson attack on their home in the village of Duma, and of his two parents, who were also murdered in the attack. The photos had the word “Revenge” written on them.  

The video triggered an investigation by police and arrests. Today, thirteen wedding guests, including the groom, were indicted for incitement and possession of firearms. The suspects also include the wedding singer and five minors between the ages of 14 and 17.

The indictment stated, “with their actions, defendants jointly called for an act of violence or terrorism; praise, sympathy or encouragement of an act of violence or terrorism; and support or identification with such an act. Based on the contents of the inciting actions and the circumstances in which they occurred, there is a real possibility that it will lead an act of violence and terrorism.”

An attorney for one of the defendants said, “This is a populist move by the State Attorney’s Office. I propose that before the State Attorney’s Office files an indictment concerning this wedding, they file incitements against guests at weddings in Umm al-Fahm, who actually fire their weapons and not just dance with them.”

For further reading and to see the video, click here.

 

Light Terror Sentence
Last year, on the night of Shavuot, an Arab terrorist stabbed and wounded two Breslover Hassidic yeshiva students in the Old City of Jerusalem, who were on their way to the kotel. Now a judge has sentenced the terrorist, a Christina Arab, to just nine years in prison. The prosecution was seeking 20 years.

The judge claimed that he could not label the attack as attempted murder or terror, because he felt that the attacker was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and not nationalistically motivated. This is despite the many nationalistic posts on the attacker’s Facebook page. The families of the victims angrily protested the verdict. The attacker will probably be released from prison after serving half of his sentence.

For further reading click here.

Another UNESCO Vote
Two weeks ago UNESCO passed a resolution denying any Jewish connection to the Western Wall or Temple Mount. Today UNESCO passed another resolution on the matter, but this one is a bit less harsh.

For example, the resolution refers to the Western Wall by its Jewish name, which is not in quotation marks, as it has been in previous motions. Additionally, references to the site by its Muslim name, al-Buraq plaza, have been removed. So, too, has the term “occupying” force in regards to Israel, after years of Palestinian refusal to drop the term in UNESCO resolutions on Jerusalem. The resolution however still only refers to the Temple Mount only by its Muslim name, Haram al-Sharif or Al-Aqsa Mosque.

For further reading click here.

More Cars
The bad traffic on Israeli highways is on track to get worse. Over 300,000 new cars will be purchased by Israelis this year, which is over 50,000 more than last year and over 100,000 more than in 2012. The reason for the increased car spending is thought to be record low interest rates and the easy availability of 100% financing. That means borrowers can pay just a few hundred shekels a month for their new car. The banks don’t seem worried about the risk, pointing to a default rate of just .25% compared to 1.24% to 1.5% for general purpose consumer loans.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for June 2, 2016

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Terror Attack
A female terrorist attempting to stab soldiers near the West Bank settlement of Einav, in northern Samaria, was shot and killed before causing any harm.

For further reading click here.

Kahalon Calls Herzog
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, the leader of the Kulanu party, called on opposition leader Isaac Herzog to join the government in order to advance the peace process. Kahalon urged Herzog “not to miss the historic window of opportunity that has been created. You don’t conduct a peace process and don’t create change from the opposition.”

There have recently been rumors of a potential peace summit sponsored by the Egyptians that would be based on the Arab League peace plan, which the Prime Minister has spoken positively about.

Kahalon said, “The rumors and talk of a substantial diplomatic process in our region are based on a lot more than just hints in the newspapers. There is the possibility of a significant change in direction on a regional level.”

He added, “This is not the time or place to go into detail, but we have a rare opportunity for a significant change in direction on a regional level. The holding of a regional conference in connection with which all of the interested parties in the region would be represented,is an important, desirable and proper plan. The Kulanu party and I will support it and we will advance it with all our strength.”

“Such a conference will change the rules of the game, will open additional channels to diplomatic progress and contain [the means] to extract the relations between us and our neighbors from the stalemate that they are in. Such a step will be a significant stimulus to the additional expansion of the coalition, and I don’t think the Zionist Union can refrain from taking part in such a challenge.”

Sounds like something real might be cooking in the peace pot.

For further reading click here.

US Embassy Move
In 1995 the US Congress passed The Jerusalem Embassy Act, which stated that “the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.” Built into the act was a waiver authority allowing the president to postpone the move, in the interests of national security, for six month intervals. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama have all issued waivers at six-month intervals ever since.

Yesterday President Obama renewed the waiver. In a memorandum to Secretary of State of Kerry, Obama wrote, “Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the “Act”), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act.”

Doesn’t seem likely that the embassy will be moving anytime soon.

For further reading click here.

Kotel Controversy
Leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements warned PM Netanyahu that there would be a major crisis in relations with world Jewry if the controversy over the new egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall was not resolved over the next few weeks.

The PM told the leaders that he was committed to implementing the plan but suggested that certain modifications would be necessary to overcome objections voiced by his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. 

The government approved the plan to create a new egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall in January, but since then, no progress has been made in its implementation. The Ultra-Orthodox parties are objecting to a common entrance to the new space that would be shared with the existing Kotel entrance. They want the are new area to have a separate entrance.

The Ultra-Orthodox parties also do not want the new prayer area to be directly funded by the government and they oppose granting the Conservative and Reform movement representation on the governing board that will administer the area.

The PM needs the Ultra-Orthodox parties to uphold the government and its slim majority in the Knesset. So he needs to walk a fine line in order to solve this Kotel controversy.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for April 21, 2016

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Iran Must Pay
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran.

The court’s 6-2 ruling dealt a setback to Iran’s central bank, finding that the U.S. Congress did not usurp the authority of American courts by passing a 2012 law stating that the frozen funds should go toward satisfying a $2.65 billion judgment won by the families against Iran in U.S. federal court in 2007.

The lawsuit was brought by more than 1,000 Americans who have waged a long legal battle seeking compensation for attacks they say Iran orchestrated. Congress inserted itself into the dispute by passing the law to help the American plaintiffs obtain the Iranian funds.

The plaintiffs accused Iran of providing material support to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Islamist political and military group responsible for the 1983 truck bomb attack at the Marine compound in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. service members.

They also sought compensation related to other attacks including the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. service members.

The courts ruling was praised by both Democratic and Republican leaders. The Obama administration and Congress had all filed court papers backing the families.

At least some of the money that Iran will be getting as a result of the nuclear deal will be put to good use.

For further reading click here.

Terrorist Claimed
The terrorist who blew up a bus in Jerusalem on Monday died of his wounds in Shaarey Tzedek hospital yesterday. Hamas announced that the 19 year old terrorist, from the Aida refugee camp next to Bethlehem, was one of its operatives. Over 100 members of the terrorist’s family have been handing out sweets and singing songs of praise in light of the fact that he became a martyr and because he carried out a successful attack against Israeli citizens.

For further reading click here.

Jerusalem Highway
Driving through Jerusalem just got a bit easier with the opening of a new section of the Begin Expressway. The expressway now lets you drive direct from Modiin, down the 443, through Jerusalem, to the Gush Etzion tunnel and Rout 60,that runs through Gush Etzion and down to Hebron.
Israel just got a bit smaller and more connected.

For further reading click here.

Kotel Women
After meeting with police officers, prosecutors, the legal adviser of the Religious Services Ministry and the rabbi of the Western Wall, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit decided to prohibited Women of the Wall from holding a female version of the priestly blessing ceremony at the Western Wall during Passover.

The ceremony is one of the highlights of the holiday at the Kotel and draws tens of thousands of participants and onlookers. According to the law, the Attorney General can prohibit any action at the Kotel that does not constitute accepted practice there.

For further reading click here.

Electric Bills
Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Israel Electric Company (IEC) may not cut electricity to Palestinian areas. The IEC has been implementing 50% power cuts to Jericho, Bethlehem and Hebron because the Palestinians haven’t been paying their electric bill, which now stands at around NIS 1.7 billion. The IEC was planning to roll out cuts to East Jerusalem and other cities on the West Bank, but the court ruling has nixed those plans.

The IEC also supplies power to Gaza, but the bills are paid directly out of Gaza’s tax revenues. Sort of like a direct debit.

For further reading click here.

Pesach Weed
If you’re feeling particular stressed because of all your Peach preparations (and who isn’t?), there’s now a simple solution that is certified kosher for Pesach. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, recognized as the premier halachic authority by the Ultra-Orthodox community, has ruled that marijuana is totally kosher for Passover use. He even reciting the blessing one makes before smelling a fragrance or spice, and took a nice long “shmeck” (sort of like a snort?) of the cannabis plant presented to him for examination. Everyone came out of the interaction quite satisfied and chilled.

Wishing you all a stress free and joyous Pesach!

To watch a video of this scene, click here.

Holiday Message
My six year old son has a knack of holding me to my words. Sometimes I’ll promise something that I’ll immediately regret and then I’ll just hope that as time passes he’ll forget. But he never does. No matter how much time passes and whatever else transpires, my son will always remind me of my original promise and demand that I fulfill it. But it’s not only the things I say, but also what I do. I once agreed to race him along a hiking trail that we were on. Now each time we return to that trail he expects me to race him. The first time I raced him set the bar — it was like a promise.

Three and half thousand years ago the Jewish People were enslaved by the Egyptians for over two centuries. They relentlessly persecuted, degraded and assaulted us. They murdered our children. Then, suddenly, God rescued us. He punished the Egyptians and destroyed Egypt. He led us out of slavery, split the sea before us and gave us freedom.

We never forgot how God saved us. Through the exiles, inquisitions, massacres, ghettos and death camps, we always remembered the Exodus and believed that God would once again repeat his redemption and save us. And every Pesach we continue to remember, and to remind God that we haven’t forgotten what He once did for us and that we expect Him to do it again. We’ll continue remembering and reminding until the final redemption comes. May it happen this Pesach.

Chad Kasher V’Sameach.

Israel News for February 10, 2016

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Terror Attack
A 28 year old Israeli man was stabbed in an apparent terror attack yesterday while jogging outside the town of Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion area of Judea. The man, Tomer Ditur, said that the attacker fled in the direction of the nearby Palestinian town of Nahalin.

After searching the area for the attacker, IDF forces surrounded Nahalin and have closed all roads into the town, allowing only humanitarian cases to pass.

For further reading click here.

Fence Building
PM Netanyahu announced yesterday that the government is preparing “a multi-year program to surround Israel with security fences in order to protect ourselves in the Middle East as it is today. In addition, we are preparing a program to close the breaches in the security fence in Judea and Samaria.”

You can’t go wrong by securing the borders, but is a fence really going to stop lone wolf terrorists who could be just about anywhere in Israel? There’s got to be a better solution (No, we don’t have one either).

For further reading click here.

Tunnel Threat
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot said yesterday that Hamas tunnels in Gaza have been Israel’s major security threat since 2013. He said that most of the resources entering Gaza are being diverted by Hamas towards building an underground infrastructure.

Eizenkot added that the IDF is concentrating intelligence and engineering efforts on the threat. “We have the most advanced capabilities in the world. We won’t let the quiet in the south deceive us. I think that 2015 was the quietest year since the 1970s. 23 rockets were fired from the Gaza strip into our territory by rebel and Salafi organizations.”

Only 23 rockets. So much for quiet.

For further reading click here.

Western Wall
The compromise agreement allowing the construction of a new non-Orthodox prayer area along the southern part of the Western Wall has drawn protests from the Ultra-Orthodox, the Palestinians, and even some women’s groups. Now there’s one more group to add to the list: archeologists.

Nine senior archeologists warned PM Netanyahu in a letter yesterday, that the construction of the new prayer area would damage the “diamond in Jerusalem’s archaeological crown.” Signatories to the protest letter include Dan Bahat, who excavated the Western Wall tunnels; Ronny Reich, head of the Archaeological Council of Israel, who exposed part of the paved road beneath Robinson’s Arch; Jerusalem Prize winner Gabriel Barkay, who directs the Temple Mount Sifting Project; and Israel Prize laureate Amihai Mazar.

Now what?

For further reading click here.

Hebrew Protocols
There are some books you’d probably never expect to see in Hebrew, usually due to their anti-semitic content. Well, you might soon be able to read one of the classics and favorites of Jew haters, in the holy tongue.

An initiative on the Israeli crowdfunding website Headstart.co.il is seeking funding to create the first full translation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion into Hebrew. The project is spearheaded by Adi Amsterdam, a linguistics lecturer at the Weizmann Institute and the David Yellin Center who believes that the only way to counter the fictitious anti semitic claims the book makes is by being aware of its contents. The translation would include historical and linguistic notes that would expose all of the book’s lies and inconsistencies. So far Amsterdam has reached 43% of his 25,000 NIS goal.

For further reading click here.

Startup Spotlight
An Israeli startup called Woo is working on disrupting high tech job recruiting and making it easier for employees to find just the right job. The woo.com website allows high tech talent such as developers, engineers, product managers, QAs, DevOps and designers to anonymously contact top tech companies to see what jobs are available and how much they pay.

Here’s basically how it works.The seeker creates a wishlist of criteria he wants in a job, something like a dating profile. But he remains anonymous. Then, the several hundred tech companies already using the site can view the “profile” and decide whether to show interest. If the seeker is also interested, he can reveal his identity and continue the process offline.

Job seekers can use the site by invite only. Companies using the site include Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, WIX, Vonage, just to name a few.

Woo was founded in 2015 by CEO Liran Kotzer and CTO Ami Dudu, and has raised $2.3 million in seed funding. The company currently has offices in Tel Aviv And San Francisco, and 25 employees, 23 of whom are in Tel Aviv.

Woo says that so far thousands of employees in Israel and the US have used the service and companies report that 70% of candidates contacted by them have responded. No figures are available for the percentage of actual hires.

So if you’re in tech and want to test the job waters, give woo.com a shot.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 3, 2016

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PM Defends Jews
PM Netanyahu firmly rejected derogatory statements against non-Orthodox Jews made by government ministers and members of the Knesset in the wake of this week’s approval of the opening of a new section of the Western Wall for non-Orthodox worship.

He said, “I reject the recent disparaging and divisive remarks by ministers and members of Knesset about Reform Jews. Reform and Conservative Jews are part and parcel of the Jewish people and should be treated with respect.”

Netanyahu called the agreement, “a historic compromise that ensures that the Western Wall will continue to be a source of unity and inspiration for the entire Jewish people. This is the government’s policy. This is my policy.”

For further reading click here.

Herzog and Kerry
MK Isaac Herzog, the leader of the opposition, met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome today. This was the fourth time the men have met in the last six months.

Herzog spoke to Kerry about his plan to unilaterally separate Israel from the Palestinians by basically building a barrier between Israel proper and the West Bank. The barrier would encompass the large Jewish settlement blocks along the new border. Herzog’s plan dismisses the two-state solution based on mutual negotiation and agreement, which has been the cornerstone of recent U.S. foreign policy related to Israel.

Herzog told Kerry, “Israel cannot wait for long negotiations. Our citizens are murdered and we must make a process of separating (from the Palestinians) which will be the realistic basis for the vision of two states which I believe in with all my heart as the only solution to the conflict.”

Herzog’s plan also calls for the formation of a regional security committee consisting of Egypt, Jordan and Israel, along with other Arab states, that would jointly fight radical Islamic terror. He pressed Kerry to advance the establishment of the committee before President Obama leaves office.

Kerry seemed to express interest in Herzog’s ideas. Will the U.S. administration do anything to rock the boat during an election year? Not a chance.

For further reading click here.

Annexing Territories
A new poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that 45% of Jewish Israelis are in favor of annexing the entire West Bank (Judea and Samaria), as opposed to implementing a two-state solution proposed by most Israeli politicians including PM Netanyahu (sometimes).

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI‎), established in 1991, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Jerusalem. Its goals are to formulate policies and initiate reforms to strengthen democratic values in Israel, and it is nonpartisan and generally liberal.

Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, directors of Women in Green (WiG), which works for the application of Israeli sovereignty in the region, warmly welcomed the poll results, saying, “The conclusions arising from the results of the poll are that the People of Israel have stopped apologizing, giving in and dancing to the music and tune of Israel’s and the world’s leftists. The People of Israel say clearly: the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel.”

On the other hand, apparently 55% of Jewish Israelis aren’t in favor of annexing the territories, or at least not all of them. So when the ballots are counted, that potential two-state solution might very well become a reality.

For further reading click here.

Tunnel Collapse
If anyone doubted that Hamas was back in the business of building terror tunnels in preparation for attacks on Israel, the events of the past couple of weeks should clarify the facts for them.

Yesterday, two Hamas terrorists, including a field commander, were killed when the tunnel they were working on collapsed. Last week, seven Hamas members were killed in another tunnel collapse caused by intense rain. Today Hamas stated that such incidents would not deter them from continued work on, and use of, the tunnels.

Still skeptical?

For further reading click here.

Holy Tax
The Israel Tax Authority recently released a document which defines the taxation of income received for services provided by rabbis, kabbalists, circumcisers, cantors, and rabbinical courts, such as conducting weddings, performing circumcisions, conducting prayers, kabbalistic gatherings, giving blessings, consultations, distribution or sales of talismans, holy water and various other items of religious significance, and kashrut services.

Just because you didn’t ask for the payment, but got it as a show of appreciation for your service (basically a tip), doesn’t mean it’s not income. The regulation states that it is sufficient that money was received in exchange for a service to make it liable to tax, even if the service provider did not demand payment and even if there is no social norm of payment for the service in question. Giving money as an expression of gratitude on an emotional level or as charity, as long as it is not connected with provision of a service, will be considered a gift that is not liable to tax.

So from now on religious functionaries will have to keep accounts, file returns, declare assets, and all that fun stuff that ordinary folks do. Bummer.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for February 2, 2016

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Home Demolition
Israeli security forces are preparing to demolish the home of Amjad Sukkari, the Palestinian Authority police officer who shot 3 Israeli soldiers near Beit El on Sunday. The home is located in the West Bank village of Jami’in, near Nablus (Shechem).

Hours before the attack, Sukkari posted a message on his Facebook page in which he indicated his intention to carry out a terrorist attack. “Every day, we hear about a death,” Sukkari wrote, referring to the death of Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis. Forgive me, I might be the next one.”

In another post published shortly before the attack, Sukkari quoted from the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: “We have on this Earth what makes life worth living. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything worth living for as long as the ‘occupation’ is suppressing us and killing our brothers and sisters.”

On his way to carrying out the shooting, Sukkari took a “selfie” of himself and posted it on his account together with the sentence: “By God’s will, your morning will be one of victory.”

Sukkari did not fit the usual profile of terrorists — young and disenfranchised. He had four kids and a good job as bodyguard for the PA prosecutor-general in Ramallah.

The Palestinian police released a statement following the attack saying, “with great pride, the members of the Palestinian police eulogize the brave martyrdom of their colleague, Master Sergeant Amjad Sukkari, “Abu Omar”, who committed the operation at V.I.P checkpoint in Beit El.”

For further reading click here.

Compromise Opponents
We reported yesterday on the historic compromise agreement between the Orthodox and Conservative and Reform movements, ratified by the Israeli cabinet, to established a separate section of the Western Wall for non-Orthodox Jewish prayer services.

While the Orthodox establishment is not pleased with the new situation, it begrudgingly agreed to the compromise in order to avoid continuos conflict at the site and because the section of the wall given to the non Orthodox groups is not really a part of what Jewish law considers to be the sanctified area of the Kotel.

But now there is opposition emanating from a different quarter: the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority along with the Waqf, that administers the Temple Mount, has declared that establishing a new prayer area at the southern part of the Western Wall violates the “status quo” and is an attempt to undermine Al-Aqsa Mosque and to “Judaize” Jerusalem’s Old City.

According to Palestinian Waqf and Religious Affairs Minister Sheikh Yousef Adeis, the entire Al-Aqsa complex, including its walls and gates, is holy to Islam, and the Western Wall is considered part of its walls. In addition, the prayer area at the Western Wall was built on a Palestinian neighborhood which was uprooted by Israel after the 1967 Six Day War, and therefore any Israeli construction in the area is seen by the Palestinians as part of the same Israeli aggression.

So just when you thought everyone was satisfied…

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New Attorney General
Avichai Mandelblit became Israel’s new Attorney General yesterday, replacing Yehudi Weinstein. Mandelblit, 53, is married, has six children and lives in Petah Tikva. He wears a kippah. At the swearing in ceremony he said, “The legal system will stand behind everyone who is harmed by state institutions, and everyone will be equal before the law.”

For further reading click here.

ZAKA in UN
After three years of failed efforts, emergency response victim identification organization ZAKA he’s been granted official advisory status by the United Nations. The vote by the UN Committee on Non Governmental Organizations was unanimous, despite the membership of states hostile to Israel like Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan, and Pakistan.

Another Israeli NGO, AlManarah, the Association for Persons with Disabilities, was also granted recognition by the UN.

Official recognition by the UN grants ZAKA the right to participate in official hearings of all UN arms and thus influence the conversation in the global union’s various committees.

The Israeli embassy played a major role in lobbying support for the successful vote. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “This is a very significant victory for Israeli diplomacy. ZAKA is an organization that reflects Israel’s moral values and its acceptance by the UN represents conclusive proof to the world of this fact. ZAKA received the status it deserves.”

For further reading click here.

Real Estate
Looking to buy an apartment in Israel? Here’s some information you’ll want to know. According to a report in Walla News, the city with the cheapest apartments is Tiberius, with a four room property going for NIS 761,604. Next in line is Kiryat Ata at NIS 886,462, followed by Acco at NIS 908,971. Beersheva comes in fourth at just over a million shekels, followed closely by Karmiel.

If you’re looking for an investment, Tiberius will bring you the highest yield of 4.3%. Cheapest price, highest yield. Something to think about.

On the flip side, the most expensive cities to buy that four room apartment are Tel Aviv (of course), Givatayim, Ramat Hasharon, Jerusalem and Herzliya.

For further reading click here.

King Returns
For kosher diners who took great pleasure from being able to eat in one of the iconic American fast food chains, at least when they were in Israel, there is reason to rejoice. Burger King is coming back to Israel.

After a six year absence, the burger franchise is set to open its first branch in Tel Aviv this week, and will open a total of 50 branches in the next five years at a cost of around $12 million.

Strongly enough, you can thank the French for bringing back all the healthy benefits of American fast food to the Holy Land. French businessman Pierre Besnainou and a group of investors own the rights to the new franchise. Is it because of the “French Fries”?

Burger King originally entered the Israeli market in 1993. Its 55 franchises in Israel shut down in the summer of 2010. Most reopened as the Israeli franchise Burger Ranch.

In response to the opening of the Burger King, Burger Ranch announced that it would partner with the discount Israeli coffee shop chain Cofix to build specialized Cofix branches adjacent to Burger Ranch outlets, offering less expensive choices.

By the way, the new Burger King in Tel Aviv will not be Kosher. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of kosher Whoppers coming soon.

For further reading click here.

Israel News for January 18, 2016

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Terror Attacks
Michal Froman, a pregnant 30 year old Israeli woman, was stabbed and wounded by a 17 year old Palestinian in the settlement of Tekoa, in Gush Etzion today. The attack occurred in a warehouse, and the terrorist was shot and wounded by another Tekoa resident. Froman is the daughter-in-law of the former chief rabbi of Tekoa, who died several years ago. Her unborn child was not harmed in the attack.

For further reading click here.

Yesterday, a Palestinian terrorist broke into the settlement of Otniel in Samaria, and stabbed Dafna Meir, a 39 year old nurse and mother of six, to death in front of her home. Meir fought with the terrorist to protect the three of her children who were in the house at the time. The terrorist succeeded in fleeing the scene and the IDF is searching for him. Palestinian workers are being banned from the area.

Meir was survived by her husband, Natan, and six children, two of whom they raised as adoptive parents. Meir was a licensed nurse who specialized in various aspects of gynecology, including the pertinent Jewish law. She operated a clinic in Otniel, and was a nurse at Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva.

Hundreds attended her funeral this morning including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Isaac Herzog. May her memory be a blessing.

For further reading click here.

Netanyahu Bargains
Last week we reported on PM Netanyahu’s support of the NGO transparency bill sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked that would require NGOs that receive more than half of their funding from foreign governments to report that fact and for their representatives to wear identifying tags while in the Knesset. The law has been criticized by the U.S. and EU countries as being undemocratic and discriminatory against left-wing organizations, which are the primary beneficiaries of foreign governmental funding.

Yesterday the PM stating in a cabinet meeting that, while he continued to support the law, he thought that the tag wearing requirement was unnecessary and should be dropped. He did, however, propose to make the law apply to NGOs who receive even 1 shekel of foreign government funding — not just more than 50% of their funding.

The Ministry of Justice released the following statement in response: “The proposal brought forth by the prime minister that transparency would be imposed on NGOs receiving funding from foreign nations from the first shekel in exchange for dropping the provision requiring the wearing of identifying tags will be looked into positively by the Minister of Justice.”

For further reading click here.

Messianic Editing
Students and parents in the Givatayim suburb of Tel Aviv got a taste of the messianic age this weekend when the municipality distributed to schools a poster-sized photo of the Western Wall, which did not include the Dome of the Rock in the background. The Moslem shrine was evidently edited out of the photo.

One angry mother of a high school student posted the photo on Facebook. That caught the attention of the mayor, who ordered an immediate investigation into the matter. Meretz MK Michal Rozin denounced the poster’s distribution in schools on her own Facebook page and promised to demand an explanation from Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

The image of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount without the Dome of the Rock has stirred controversy in the past. Slightly over four years ago, the military rabbinate published materials for Hanukkah that included the doctored photograph. The IDF Spokesman’s Office said at the time that the educational packet included a photo meant to illustrate Jerusalem during the period of the Second Temple, when the golden dome had not yet existed.

It’s ok to dream once in awhile, no?

For further reading click here.

More Gas
An Israeli exploration group reported on Sunday that it has discovered another large natural gas field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast. The field is in deep water about 60 miles off the coast and near the border with the economic waters of Gaza. Confirmation of the existence of the gas will require drilling at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.

Added to the existing offshore gas discoveries, the overall energy outlook for Israel is looking pretty bright. So maybe choosing Israel over Saudi Arabia wasn’t such a bad move after all?

For further reading click here.

Found Money
Last week, a Belz yeshiva student found a small bag containing 130,000 shekels (over $32,600) in cash at a bus station in Haifa. He decided to stay put and wait for the owner so he could return it to him. He waited for almost a half hour until the owner, who happened to be secular man who wasn’t very fond of Haredim, arrived. Surprise!
The man wrote on Facebook, “Until the moment I finished counting, I could not believe I had found my money and had it all back (I ‘was’ so ‘anti-Orthodox’ up until now). I wanted to give him a nice sum, but he absolutely refused to accept, and said that it was his mitzvah.”

Kiddush Hashem, big time. Who says we don’t report nice stories?

For further reading click here.