We are Modern Orthodox and are a constituent member of the United Synagogue

Israel Update 16.1.20

AID FOR PUERTO RICO

The Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID is currently in Puerto Rico following the recent 6.4 magnitude earthquake followed by a 5.2 magnitude aftershock, a further a 5.9 magnitude ‘quake and a further 45 aftershocks of at least 3.0 magnitude. IsraAID’s assessment focussed on distributing relief, providing psychological first aid, and administering safe water and sanitation solutions for the affected population. Read more here

 

GAZA FLARE UP

Gazan terrorists fired four mortar shells towards southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon, triggering sirens in several Israeli communities and sending hundreds of residents rushing to bomb shelters. Two projectiles were intercepted by Iron Dome.            Read more here

 

In response, IAF jets attacked several Hamas facilities, including a weapons production site and a military base.  Also on Wednesday a suspicious object attached to a cluster of balloons landed in Sderot, marking the renewal of the arson balloons attacks that have torched thousands of acres of Israeli fields along the Gaza border. Read more here

 

MEDICAL

A new technology developed by tech company Oramed Pharmaceuticals may revolutionize treatment methods for millions who suffer from diabetes. Instead of injecting insulin on a daily basis, Oramed has developed an insulin capsule for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes that can be consumed orally.  Read more here

 

GAS

 

In an historic milestone, Israel has started pumping natural gas to Egypt and will now be able to export some of its natural gas to Europe via Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.  Read more here

 

DEFENCE

 

Israel’s Defence Ministry has announced new laser technology to intercept a variety of aerial threats, including rockets and anti-tank guided missiles at a variety of ranges. A spokesman said: “During a war, missile interceptors will at one point run out, but with this system, as long as you have electricity you have a never-ending supply”. Every interception will only cost a few dollars, as opposed to (expensive) interceptor missiles. Read more here

3 minute video. View here:

 

An upgraded Iron Dome missile defence system has completed tests with a 100% success rate. Read more here

 

The U.S. Army will install Israeli-made Spike Non-Line-of-Sight long-range precision missiles on its attack helicopters. In a test, an Apache helicopter hid behind 1,600 feet of craggy mountain and took aim at a target on the opposite slope. The missiles hit every target across nine total shots and the last missile hit a moving target in the dark. Read more here

 

SYRIA

 

Millions of Syrian citizens sympathizing with the country’s opposition rejoiced at the news of the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force. The Iranian General had given orders to the Syrian regime’s regular army, as if he were a Syrian officer and had played a key role in Iran’s military expansion in Syria over the past eight years, taking control of several Syrian cities. Read more here

 

IRAN

 

Hundreds of Iranian protesters rallied at various locations around the country last weekend.  A video also showed a crowd of several hundred at a university refusing to trample on large US and Israeli flags that had been laid down in the path of the march.              Read more here/

 

TURKEY

 

The IDF has added Turkey to its list of threats in an annual assessment for the coming year for the first time, in light of the country’s growing aggressiveness in the region. Turkish President Erdogan routinely speaks out against Israel and allows Palestinian terror groups to operate in his country.Read more here

 

BUSINESS & FINANCE

 

Israeli exports to the UK grew by 286% over the past decade, showing the ineffectiveness of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Read more here

 

Israel’s Ministry of Finance raised $3 billion in government bonds in London last week. The bonds were purchased by 400 investors from 40 countries and were oversubscribed 6.8 times, with demand reaching $20 billion.   Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL TRAUMA AID

 

The Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) was created in 2002 (when Israel experienced an unprecedented number of terrorist attacks) to combat trauma and enhance resilience. The ITC has since expanded beyond Israel to aid the international community sending teams worldwide to train local professionals and clinicians to manage traumas, promote rehabilitation, and create resilient, self-sustaining societies. It is to places and situations like hurricane Harvey in Houston, the Boston Marathon bombing, typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the earthquake in Haiti, the tsunami in Japan, the school shooting in France, and terrorist attacks in Mumbai that the ITC provides psychological support and training. Read more here

 

SPORT

 

Baseball is returning to the Tokyo Olympics this year after being dropped for 2012 and 2016, and Israel is one of six teams competing for medals. Read more here

 

Two judokas originally from Iran and Syria will be in Israel next week to compete in the Tel Aviv Grand Prix 2020 and they will be honoured in a special ceremony recognizing refugee athletes.  Read more here

 

ARAB SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL

 

Rami Dabbas: As an Arab activist and writer, I call on the Arab world to normalize relations with Israel – a move that would be almost entirely to our benefit alone…My people don’t understand that Israel is actually our friend…We Arabs came from the Hijaz, Najd, and Yemen. We occupied this land and made it Arab. We are not the original inhabitants here. It is time to solve this conflict, and that begins with us, the Arabs, accepting the Jewish people’s true historical connection to this land. We have everything to gain from so doing. Read more here

 

Sara Zoabi says:”I am a proud Israeli Muslim and I am a Zionist, as I recognize the Jewish people’s right to this land. But unlike what some people call me, I am not a traitor, as Jewish connection to this land is even mentioned in the Quran.”…”How can you call Israel an apartheid state,” asks Zoabi. “I feel no discrimination or persecution. I can work wherever I want, I can study whatever any Jewish citizen can study and I can vote.”  Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Uzi Rubin: On 10.10.19, Israeli P.M. Netanyahu stated that Iran has deployed precision missiles in Yemen that can reach Israel. The Iranians have surreptitiously transferred to their Houthi clients ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 1,200 km. At present, the Israeli heartland is threatened by Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles from the north (Lebanon), the southwest (Gaza), and from the east (Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq who are being supplied by Tehran with missiles that can reach Israel). Iran can also hit Israel with missiles from its own territory and has no need to base them in Iraq. Read more here

 

Oz Katerji: Soleimani made his mark through his unrestrained barbarity towards civilians in Syria and Iraq, and he was personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of people including the hundreds of Iraqi civilians shot dead by Iraqi security forces within the last three months, acting directly under his orders… The brutality of Soleimani’s policies in Iraq was responsible for creating the material conditions ISIS needed to flourish, and his forces carried out acts of unimaginable cruelty against civilians in ISIS-occupied territory in the process. Soleimani was a mass murderer. Read more here