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Israel Update 9.1.20

ASSASSINATION OF IRANIAN GENERAL SOLEIMANI BY USA

 

Israel’s PM Netanyahu distanced  his government and Israel from the killing stressing Israel was not involved. He told his Cabinet that it was an American event and “ we should not be dragged into it.”  Read more here

 

A senior Israeli military officer also distanced Israel from the US drone strike stating:  “We must look at the assassination as part of a fight between Iran and the United States over Iraq’s character….“The assassination also has ramifications for us as Israelis…but we aren’t the main story here -We are observing from the side” Read more here

 

Soleimani oversaw an Iranian programme to surround Israel with tens of thousands of missiles, was also the architect of Iran’s recent entrenchment in Syria and of an ambitious plan to build an Iranian front against Israel across its northern frontier, in the Golan Heights. Read more here

 

An Iranian General said Sunday: “In response to Trump, who has said that Washington will attack Iran if it takes revenge, be sure that in such a case we will completely level Haifa and key Israeli targets.” Read more here

 

OTHER REACTIONS

 

Iraqis who have demonstrated for months against a government they see as beholden to Iran broke into song and dance on Friday. 460  demonstrators had been killed by Iran-backed security forces. Read more here

 

Hundreds of  Gazans mourned the death of Soleimani and burned US & Israeli flags. Read more here

 

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders were sharply criticised by other Arabs for setting up a mourning tent in Gaza, who accused them of
“disregarding the blood of thousands of Muslims” killed by Soleimani’s force and allies in a number of Arab countries. Read more here

 

The Egyptians were outraged that the leader of Hamas attended the funeral.  A spokesman said it… “was a disgrace and nothing less than a shameful attack on Egypt’s national honour.” “Soleimani is responsible for the murder of thousands of Sunni Muslims, including many Palestinians.”  Read more here

 

COEXISTENCE & CO-OPERATION

 

Five nurses from Gaza and 11 from the West Bank were in Israel last week for four days of medical training by Israeli physicians at Sheba Medical Centre.Akram Abu Salah, a nurse from Gaza said “It’s different than I thought. The people are very nice. You have Jews and Palestinians working together. It minimizes the gaps between us.” Participants learned new practices with a focus on the skills needed in emergency situations. Read more here

 

ISRAELI MEDICAL AID WORLDWIDE

 

One of the Israeli medical team who travelled to Samoa to help with the recent measles epidemic said “The trip was difficult and complicated… Even experienced medical professionals like us… were not prepared to lose four children a night.” Shortly after his return, the doctor left for the Dominican Republic, where he and two other Sheba doctors will help facilitate setting up a programme for medical collaboration, including possibly establishing a burn unit in the Caribbean country’s new hospital. Read more here

 

GAZA THREAT

 

According to Israeli intelligence assessments, following several rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas over the past year and airstrikes against Hamas weapons warehouses, the number of Hamas rockets has been reduced to 5,000-6,000, but including dozens with a range of over 100 km. and hundreds with a range of 80 km. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is estimated to have 8,000 rockets, most of which are shorter range. Read more here

 

GAS

 

The energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus and Israel recently signed a deal to build a 1,900 km. (1,180 mile) subsea pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean’s rapidly developing gas fields to Europe. Although Turkey opposes the project, the countries aim to reach a final investment decision by 2022 and have the $6-7 billion pipeline completed by 2025 to help Europe diversify its energy resources. Read more here

Natural gas from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field has begun flowing to Jordan…  The Jordanian government said that securing stable energy prices for the next decade can achieve savings of at least $500 million annually. Read more here

 

UKRAINE

 

Ukraine has left the UN Committee on the “Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People”.. The committee is the source of many UN General Assembly resolutions criticizing Israel. Read more here

 

EQUALITY

 

The IDF is restarting its pilot programme to allow women to serve in tanks, reversing its decision to freeze the trial last year and expanding it to include some actual deployments.Read more here

ANIMAL WELFARE

 

The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem is donating veterinary medical supplies to aid wildlife affected by the bushfires in Victoria, Australia. The items include burn creams, milk replacers, wound sprays and hydration concentrates.  Read more here

 

From “Dogs Without Borders: IDF soldier Ben Ozeri  has rescued more than 600 animals from the West Bank sometimes endangering his own life by venturing into dangerous areas. View here

 

TOURISM

 

Holidays 2020: Why Israel should be on the must visit list this year for every foodie.  Read more here

 

WATER TECH

 

GENNY, the Israeli-innovated home appliance that generates clean, drinkable out of thin air, was named the Consumer Technology Association’s Energy Efficiency Product of the Year in the 2020 Smart Home Mark of Excellence Awards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Read more here

AUTOTECH

 

Israeli startup Otonomo, a data services platform for autonomous and connected cars has entered an agreement with Mitsubishi Motors to provide their connected car customers with a range of new services including parking apps, smart electric vehicle charging, and mapping. Read more here

 

Israeli startup TriEye, a developer of short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensing chips that enable drivers to see in adverse road conditions, will be collaborating with German sports car manufacturer Porsche to test and improve the performance of some of its products. Read more here

 

BUSINESS

 

At the end of 2019, there were 362 multinational corporations active in Israel. 63% are U.S.-based  followed by German, UK, and Chinese firms. Read more here

Japanese investments in Israel surged in 2019, with 53 new deals amounting to $815 million. Read more here

 

50 YEARS AGO

 

The story of how Israel defied a French embargo and “stole” its own boats from Cherbourg Harbour. Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

Extracts from an editorial in popular German newspaper Bild:

“President Trump has freed the world of a monster whose aim in life was an atomic cloud over Tel Aviv.”

Noting the potential of Iran’s regime to carry out terrorism in Germany and Israel, ” (a world) in which the kindergartens in Germany could burn up in fireballs at any time because its children are Jewish. In which Israel is under threat of extinction every day.”  Read more here

 

Elder of Ziyon blog: I have seen no evidence that Israel had anything to do with Soleimani’s assassination…Yet it is completely natural for Iran to say that they will retaliate against Israeli civilians in major cities. Not against England, nor Saudi Arabia, nor any other US ally that is an enemy of Iran – only Israel…But even if you grant that Iran hates Israel and not Jews, there is still no logic behind holding Israel – civilians or military – responsible for American actions. Read more here

 

Interview with security expert Chuck Freilich former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council:“I don’t think most people in Israel, let alone the international community, understand the level of destruction that the Israeli homefront is going to experience in the next war with Hezbollah.”Funded by Iran and considered to be an Iranian proxy. Hezbollah’s fighters are battle-hardened, and it has upwards of 100,000 missiles capable of striking Israel. It can act on its own, or be deployed on instruction by Iran. Read more here

 

Khaled Abu Toameh:The United Nations, European Union and various human rights organizations pay attention to the Palestinians only when they find a way to hold Israel responsible for their “suffering”…Palestinians living in Iraq were last year stripped of the equal-rights status they had enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. Many Palestinians have been killed, injured and arrested by Iraqi authorities and various militias.More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the civil war there in 2011.Palestinians in Lebanon are banned from working in 70 professions, such as medicine, law and engineering.                         Read more here