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Israel Update 3.10.19

IRANIAN THREAT

 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander said on Sep. 21 that the Islamic Republic has prepared “the capability to annihilate” Israel and “this regime must be wiped off the world geographic” map…In December 2018, Iran’s Foreign Minister denied any Iranian leader having ever threatened Israel. Read more here

 

IRGC deputy commander for operations said that the Zionist regime is too weak to be considered a threat against a powerful establishment such as the Islamic Republic “which has surrounded it from the east, west, north and south.” Read more here

 

The head of the IDF Military Intelligence Research Division, warns “We’re in a much more complex reality than we were in the past, and it’s only getting worse…At the end of the day, it’s all about Iran.” estimating that it will take Iran two years to build a nuclear bomb and adding  “I think it’s very likely” that (Iran) will shoot at Israel from Iraq. “It could be surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, or long-range UAVs… My working assumption is that it’s only a matter of time until (they) try.” Read more here

 

Iran’s deployment of its own forces and proxy militias recruited from other countries has been decisive in the Assad regime’s reversal of territorial losses to the Syrian opposition.  As a result, Iran now has wide latitude to pursue its own geopolitical agenda on Syrian territory, including the introduction of sophisticated weapons systems that will enable Iran to open a new front against Israel and threaten freedom of navigation in the eastern Mediterranean.  Read more here

 

The commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force described  missile-cities, deep beneath Iran’s mountains, where very sophisticated tunnels are dug deep into the ground to stockpile ammunition, and hide missile launching bases. Read more here

 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and their proxies have laid the groundwork for a second Iranian front with Israel in the Golan Heights, in addition to the one in South Lebanon. Read more here

 

HIZBULLAH THREAT

 

The leader of Lebanon’s Hizbullah said that forces aligned to the party would enter Israel. “The enemy is on the defensive…now we are in attack mode,” he said. Read more here

 

Iranian and Hizbullah fighters have crept methodically closer to Israel’s border…Hizbullah has four permanent bases in southwest Syria and new Hizbullah positions have been established only 200 metres from the UN monitoring force. Read more here

 

ARRESTS

 

Israeli security forces arrested three members of the PFLP for the murder of Rina Shnerb, 17, in an explosion that also wounded her father and brother.. During the interrogation, the security services uncovered another explosive device belonging to the terror cell. Read more here

 

One of those arrested has worked for two Palestinian organisations both of which receive EU funding and have strong ties to the BDS movement. Read more here

 

A Palestinian teenager was arrested by Israeli security forces in Hebron on Monday after a knife was found in his bag. Read more here

 

GAZA

 

Gazan rocket attacks have become part of the daily lives of Southern Israeli residents.. Emunah’s Crisis and Family Intervention Centre has seen a sharp increase in the number of people needing support services. A  team of 29 therapists works with hundreds of clients in and around Sderot, a town on the Gaza border. More than 80% of their clients are under 18. They have also set up a support group for therapists.  Read more here

 

The Palestinian Authority said last week that it strongly opposes building a new hospital in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Building equipment had entered Gaza from Israel. The 10-acre hospital was donated by a U.S. nonprofit and is partially funded by Qatar. The PA Ministry of Health said it was “categorically opposed to any project that affects Palestinian sovereignty” Read more here

 

Israel is quietly allowing thousands of Palestinians to enter from Gaza to conduct business and work by expanding a programme to allow business owners to travel to Israel and the West Bank for commerce. Palestinian officials say Israel is now providing 5,000 “merchant” permits, many of which are used by Palestinians working in construction, agriculture and manufacturing. Read more here

 

WEST BANK

 

The outgoing commander of the IDF Judea and Samaria Division, has served as a commanding officer in the West Bank since the start of the second intifada in 2000. He estimates that only 1% of the Palestinians in the area are involved in violence against Israeli targets. A few times that number would like to be involved, but are deterred by the potentially high personal cost. Read more here

 

INDIA

 

Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV) is setting up Centres of Excellen in India to share best practices and train Indian farmers. There are 28 centres in 12 states.  In 2018, they trained 147,000 Indian farmers. In Bhuj, Gujarat, one farmer “diligently implemented the lessons learned in the training and after one year, not only did he have premium quality dates, but for the first time, he also exported his produce to Germany.” Read more here

 

DEFENCE

 

Israel Shipyards has received orders for its newest patrol craft, the OPV 45, and is in discussions to sell a Sa’ar S-72 vessel. So far 33 Shaldag fast patrol craft have been sold around the world including in Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe. Read more here

 

MEDICAL

 

MDA has started work on a new blood bank in Ramle which will make Israel the only nation in the world with an underground blood bank, safe from missiles, chemical and biological attacks and earthquakes. Read more here

 

A number of Israeli inventions have recently been approved by the United States FDA. The UpnRide, an Israeli robotic standing wheelchair that allows wheelchair users to travel upright is one of them. The company’s Cofounder Dr Amit Goffer is a quadriplegic who uses the UPnRIDE himself. Read more here

 

Israeli NGO Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) examined 70 sick Rwandan children with a view to bringing them to Israel for heart surgery. The first 8 children have been healed and are back with their families. The next 8 have now arrived in Israel staying 2 – 3 months. Read more here

 

Israel’s Body Vision Medical manufactures a disposable lung navigation catheter. The intra-body navigation technology is designed to assist early lung cancer diagnostics and treatment. Read more here

 

NATURE

 

Thousands of migrating pelicans landed Sunday morning in the Hula Valley on their way south to warmer climes for the winter. Short (29 second) video here:  View here

 

The Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Centre works with nature authorities in a unique conservation programme to protect the green turtle population. Green turtles are an endangered species according to the WWF. Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Zev Chafets: Today’s political Israel (including journalists and commentators as well as candidates and office holders) is a small circle of players, many of whom grew up together, served in the same military units, attended the same universities, and worked with one another on the way up the ladder…To outsiders, Jewish Israel may seem to be in a perpetual state of civil war, but beneath the turmoil there is surprising solidarity, based on shared national insecurity. There’s very little space between Netanyahu and Gantz on the fight against Iran and Islamic terrorism (including in Gaza), the need to hold strategic land and major settlements in the West Bank, or the crucial nature of the U.S.-Israel alliance.  Read more here

 

Jason Greenblatt: Palestinians are among the largest recipients of donor assistance per capita in the world today. Yet despite decades of work and billions of dollars, euros, shekels, and dinars donated, life continues to get worse…Donor countries must ask themselves why they should keep struggling to raise money when everyone can plainly see the Hamas regime and the Palestinian Authority are squandering the opportunities that donor money provides. It is time to demand more of the Palestinian leaders. The many Palestinians I meet want the opportunities we are seeking for them, none of which will be accomplished through maintaining the status quo of donations.  Read more here