Israel Update 26.9.19

 

L’Shanah Tovah to all my readers.

 

GAZA

 

Nina Gisdenanova, 74, from Ashkelon, was in a four-story building that took a direct hit from a rocket during a barrage of hundreds of projectiles fired by Gazan terror groups in a 24-hour period last November.  She has now died of her injuries. The rocket that injured her killed a Palestinian man and seriously injured another woman. Read more here

 

Since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, the Christians who live there have become scapegoats and targets for attacks by both Hamas and radical Islamists. From a community that numbered 4,200 people, only a few hundred remain. (TV report in Hebrew)            Read more here

 

Some of the 8,000 Gazans at the weekly protests/riots along the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel last Friday attacked Israeli soldiers with improvised explosive devices and rocks, and others attempted to sabotage the security fence.  Read more here

 

ATTACKS

An Israeli woman was stabbed and lightly injured Wednesday in a terrorist attack near Modiin in central Israel. Police arrested a 14-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank on suspicion of committing the stabbing at a road junction.. A Border Police officer was also lightly hurt while restraining the suspect. Read more here

A Palestinian terrorist stabbed a female police officer in Jerusalem on Thursday lightly injuring her. The attacker was overpowered by police and arrested.   Read more here

 

COUNTER TERRORISM

 

Islamic Jihad is reportedly seeking to set up rocket production capabilities in the West Bank to attack cities in central Israel. Photographs showed rockets assembled in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Three Islamic Jihad operatives were arrested this week by Palestinian Authority security forces, who seized a rocket prototype. Read more here

 

IRANIAN THREAT

 

Iran could fire missiles at Israel from Iraqi territory like the ones that struck Saudi oil facilities last week, Brig.-Gen. Dror Shalom, the head of the IDF Military Intelligence Research Division, said. “My working assumption is that it’s only a matter of time,” he said. “It could be in the form of a surface-to-surface missile, cruise missiles, or long-range UAVs.”  Read more here

 

Due to its narrow borders, Israel lacks the strategic depth necessary for the IDF to detect and respond to an attack before it threatens population centres. An Iranian military presence near the Golan Heights virtually guarantees that any strike will result in Israeli civilian casualties. Thus, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes against IRGC and Hizbullah forces in Syria to prevent Iran from gaining a permanent foothold. All along, the United Nations has remained silent in the face of Iran’s growing aggression. For years, Tehran has staged terrorist operations in dozens of countries across six continents. Last year, Israel revealed the existence of a nuclear site Iran constructed in violation of the nuclear agreement. Two weeks ago, we exposed another Iranian nuclear research facility that the regime never disclosed. Read more here

 

SYRIA

 

An armed drone forced down by Syrian government forces near Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights on Saturday belongs to Iran and not to Israel, according to the IDF. Read more here

 

DEFENCE

 

Israel, one of the pioneers of drone warfare, is now in the front line of an arms race to protect against drone attacks. Over a dozen Israeli firms presented cutting-edge anti-drone technologies at London’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition this month. Israel Aerospace Industries says its Popstar system can track and identify flying objects day or night without being detected. Israeli company Vorpal says its system can identify a drone – and locate its operator – within two seconds.                  Read more here

 

AGRI-TECH

 

More than Israeli 350 hi-tech firms operate in the agri-food field, with approximately one-third established during the past five years.  In 2018, agri-food firms secured $103 million in equity investment, putting Israel on par with, and even exceeding, far larger countries including Australia and India…Innovative solutions often focus on smart yield management, pathogen control and alternative food sources – notably for animal protein and sugar consumption. Read more here

 

ISRAEL AIR FORCE

 

Lt.-Col. G., 35, a mother of two, became the first woman to command an Israel Air Force squadron on Wednesday, becoming commander of the Nachshon Squadron, which operates surveillance aircraft. Read more here

 

The IAF took part in its first aerial exercise in the United Kingdom this month, sending fighter jets and transport planes to simulate dog fights, airstrikes and refuelling flights over enemy territory. This was Israel’s first time participating in an aerial drill in the UK … Historically Israel’s air force was largely created with British aircraft, specifically World War Two-era Spitfires. Read more here

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

Coral reefs in the Gulf of Eilat are robust, despite rising temperatures in the Red Sea, according to an annual government report. Average coral density was marginally lower than that recorded in 2016 and 2017, but significantly higher than during the early years of monitoring, which began in 2004, indicating the fluctuations are natural. Read more here

 

 SNIFFER DOG

 

An Israel Tax Authority’s sniffer dog was crowned world champion at a recent international competition, beating 16 other canine competitors. Katcha patrols Ben Gurion airport searching for illegal drugs and cash Read more here

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

Facebook’s research team in Tel Aviv has been working on a new digital wallet, which is being launched as part of their Libra initiative, a new global currency based on blockchain technology. Calibra is a newly formed unit whose goal is to provide financial services to a variety of populations, including those who do not have access to bank accounts. Read more here

 

THE NETHERLANDS

 

The Royal Netherlands Army has selected European defence contractor BAE to integrate Israel’s Elbit Iron Fist active protection system (APS) into 150 Dutch CV90 combat vehicles…In July, Elbit announced its subsidiary Cyber Intelligence Ltd. will be providing the Dutch National Police with a cyber intelligence system. Read more here

 

SERBIA

 

Israel’s Enlight Renewable Energy recently opened the 104.5 MW Kovacica wind farm in Serbia, the country’s largest. The wind farm will supply electricity to 68,000 households.Read more here

 

MINORITIES IN ISRAEL

 

According to a survey of Israelis published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) on Sunday, 65% of Arab Israelis are proud to be Israeli – the highest since 2003…70% of Jews and 75% of Arabs work or have worked in places in which Jews and Arabs work together. 93% of Jewish Israelis and 98% of Arab Israelis defined working relationships as either “good” or “very good.”                  Read more here

 

President Rivlin on Wednesday hailed “the positive trend of increased participation by Israel’s Arab citizens” in last weeks Knesset election. Read more here

 

SPORT

 

Israel has qualified for the Olympic baseball tournament for the first time… there are only six national teams in the Olympic baseball event and Israel is the first to qualify.  Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer: UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in 2006 called for Lebanon to disarm Hizbullah. Instead, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) looked the other way when Hizbullah dug cross-border attack tunnels into Israel. The LAF allowed the import of technology, flown in by Iranian planes, to upgrade Hizbullah missiles. The problem isn’t only a lack of control – it’s collusion. Israel recently exposed a Hizbullah precision-rocket facility in eastern Lebanon that is a short drive away from an LAF base. Hizbullah and its allies hold the majority in Parliament and dominate Lebanon’s security and foreign policies. Read more here

 

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I was surprised and genuinely shocked to learn that the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has turned a blind eye to the toxic indoctrination of Palestinian children who are being fed a hate-filled version of their history. In 2010 a new initiative was launched between the Palestinian Authority and five European states to support the education sector. Ireland was to focus on curriculum development and basic education as the lead nation on textbook development. The result is that the bad old PA curriculum is now much worse…(the textbooks emerging) from the Palestinian Ministry of Education are filled with violent wording and are openly anti-Semitic…The chief executive officer of IMPACT-SE (a monitoring organisation) has been astounded by the silence of Ireland. “The Irish Government is involved in these textbooks to a greater extent than any other donor government,” he noted. Read more here

 

Dexter Van Zile: In their efforts to promote peace in the Holy Land, some Christian peacemaking organizations end up lending aid and comfort to folks who have murdered (or have tried to murder) Jews…In November 2016, EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel) volunteers visited the homes of two Palestinians who were killed while attempting to murder Roy Harel and his family in their home. In a blog post, they described their efforts to console the families of the two Palestinians, describing the would-be killers as good boys who were doing well in school. Read more here