Israel Update 12.5.22

Probably no Update next week, hopefully back on 26 May.HRG

 

TERRORISM

 

 

Yonatan Habakkuk, Boaz Gol and Oren Ben Yiftah, three young fathers, were murdered by two axe and knife-wielding Palestinians in Elad on Israeli Independence Day last Thursday evening. Four others were injured. 16 children were left fatherless by the attack.Read more here

 

 

Israeli security forces captured the two terrorists alive on Sunday morning.Read more here

 

 

Two Palestinian terrorists murdered Vyacheslav Golev, 23, a security guard, at the entrance to the West Bank city of Ariel on Friday night 30 April. The two attackerswere later arrested. Golev was at the guard post with his fiancee and shielded her with his body, saving her life. Read more here

 

 

A Palestinian armed with a knife, entered Tekoa on Sunday night and was shot by a local Israeli security officer at the entrance to his home. The incident came shortly after a Palestinian terrorist, who had illegally entered Israel, stabbed a police officer in the neck at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.Read more here

 

 

Israel’s military believes that while Hamas is not behind the current wave of attacks carried out by lone wolves, the group is piggybacking on the success carried out by the terrorists who have killed 19 Israelis in the past 6 weeks.

The incitement by Hamas as well as the ongoing religious tensions and violence on the Temple Mount have driven Palestinian youths to stab, open fire and murder Israelis with axes. “We are dealing with terrorism based on lies,” said Defence Minister Benny Gantz. “Terrorism fuelled by hatred and incitement that produce inhuman murder machines.” Read more here

 

 

 

DEATH OF AL-JAZEERA JOURNALIST

 

 

Israeli forces were operating in Jenin to arrest terror suspects. The terrorists who murdered Israelis in recent attacks in Bnei Brak , Tel Aviv and Elad all came from Jenin. Read more here

 

 

Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a Jerusalem-based journalist for Al Jazeera, was killed on Wednesday during a raid by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin. Al-Quds newspaper reporter Ali Samodi was wounded. The Israeli military said it was looking into the possibility that the two were hit “by shots fired by Palestinian gunmen.” During the raid, militants opened fire at the Israeli forces and hurled explosives at them, before the soldiers returned fire.Read more here

 

 

P.M. Bennett said Wednesday: “According to the information we have gathered, it appears likely that armed Palestinians – who were firing indiscriminately at the time – were responsible for the unfortunate death of the journalist [Shireen Abu Akleh]. Palestinians in Jenin were even filmed boasting, ‘We hit a soldier; he’s lying on the ground.’ However, no IDF soldier was injured, which increases the possibility that Palestinian terrorists were the ones who shot the journalist.”
“Israel has called on the Palestinians to conduct a joint pathological analysis and investigation, which would be based on all of the existing documentation and findings, in order to get to the truth. So far, the Palestinians have refused this offer.” Read more here

 

 

An initial investigation by the IDF shows that the journalist was about 150 metres (328 feet) away from Israeli military forces when she was killed. The bullet which struck her was shot from an M16 rifle, but such rifles are used by both the IDF and Palestinian cells in the West Bank. During the IDF operation in Jenin, hundreds of bullets were shot at Israeli troops, who responded by firing dozens of bullets at specific targets. Most of the Israeli fire was directed southwards, while Abu Akleh was positioned to the north of the Israeli forces. Read more here

 

 

 

 

The Palestinian Authority confirmed Thursday that it won’t allow Israel to examine the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, even though it is one of the steps needed to determine culpability in her death. Read more here

 

 

 

UK LABOUR FRIENDS OF ISRAEL VISIT

 

Labour’s Wes Streeting praised Israel’s “remarkable advances in medical technology” and how they could be used to improve NHS care. The Shadow Secretary of State for Health said: “Depressingly, what is happening in Israel is well over a decade ahead of where we are in terms of the use of cameras and apps on phones to improve response times. The delegation’s busy schedule included meetings with politicians and a visit to Healthy.io, tech provider for the NHS and Boots pharmacy.  Read more here

 

 

 

MUSLIM SUPREME COURT JUDGE

 

 

 

Judge Khaled Kabub has become the first Muslim appointed to Israel’s Supreme Court. All previous Arab Israeli justices on the 15-member court have been Christians. He was previously vice president of the Tel Aviv District Court. Read more here

 

 

RUSSIA

 

 

 

Israeli P.M. Bennett said that Russian President Putin issued an apology for Foreign Minister Lavrov’s statements suggesting that Adolf Hitler may have had Jewish ancestry and that some of the “most ardent” anti-Semites are Jews, during phone talks last week. But a readout of the talks released by the Kremlin press service did not mention the apology. Read more here

 

 

 

UKRAINE

 

 

Israeli NGO Save A Child’s Heart brought 5-year-old Karina from Ukraine to Israel for surgery to fix her atrial septal (hole in the heart) defect. Following the catheterization operation, Karina is expected to enjoy a normal life.(TY Michael) Read more here

 

Ukrainian students and academics fleeing the war have begun studies at Israeli universities. Read more here

 

 

CORONAVIRUS

 

 

The third COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine significantly boosts effectiveness against infection, according to a peer-reviewed study published on Monday by a group of Israeli researchers from Sheba Medical Centre and Tel Aviv University. Read more here

 

 

 

From May 20, incoming travellers will no longer be required to take PCR tests upon landing at Ben Gurion airport. From last Tuesday, foreign citizens flying into Israel will no longer be required to perform a pre-flight PCR test and can instead take a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of departure. Read more here

 

MEDICAL NEWS

 

Israel’s Magen David Adom has opened the world’s most protected blood bank, rocket-proof, underground as well as shielding from biological and chemical attacks. Read more here

 

 

Israel is the country with the most living kidney donors worldwide per capita, according to a recent World Health Organization report of 2020 data. Read more here

 

 

ECONOMY

 

 

Unemployment in Israel fell to 2.9% in the first half of April, from 3.7% in the second half of March, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports – a 50-year low. Read more here

 

 

 

MAROON 5

 

 

American singer Adam Levine from pop-rock band Maroon 5 took a tour of the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday in the lead up to two concerts in Tel Aviv this week. He Adam the concert crowd“I’ve never been to Israel before and I have to tell you, this place is incredible.” Levine called up a special guest for the song “Sunday Morning,” Tel Aviv street performer Coral Bismuth whom he had heard singing from the beach promenade outside his hotel. Read more here Read more here

 

 

Maroon 5’s arrival in Israel warrants special attention as it marks the first time that promoters from Israel, the UAE and Egypt have co-operated on a major production.Read more here

 

 

TECHNOLOGY

 

 

An Israeli startup Paratrek has developed a special off-road wheelchair that can conquer rough terrain making hiking accessible for all. Read more here

 

 

 

Using a disposable cartridge that includes all necessary reagents and requires no maintenance or calibration, Israeli company PixCell’s HemoScreen delivers lab-accurate data from a single finger-prick of blood within five minutes.Read more here

 

 

 

Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica is currently scouting Israeli startups for disruptive technologies in a range of areas such as digital health, education, smart homes, and mobility, through its innovation division, Wayra X.Read more here

 

 

WATER

 

The humanitarian aid organization, Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, has found a way to meet the water needs of the Syrian people by using Watergen technology, developed by the Israeli company that produces clean and mineral-enriched drinking water from the air, powered by solar energy. Watergen creates a new water resource from thin air that saves millions of people worldwide.Read more here

Detecting and repairing water pipe leaks is critical as water becomes a scarce resource. Here are 5 smart solutions form Israeli companies for saving water lost through leakage.Read more here

 

 

CARBON CAPTURE

 

 

High Hopes Lab in central Israel has developed a balloon which captures frozen carbon 9 miles above earth. The aim is to become the world’s first affordable scalable methos for carbon capture by catching 1,000 metric tons per balloon per day for less than $50 per ton. Read more here

 

 

SPORT

 

Next week, Israel is hosting 345 international football players for the Under 17 Euro finals. Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

 

JPost Editorial:The killing of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during a firefight between IDF soldiers and Palestinians in Jenin is a tragedy. Some are wildly casting blame on Israel before an investigation has even begun.
The Palestinians are not willing to cooperate with Israel in a joint investigation.
Palestinians and their supporters immediately drew the conclusion that Israel killed her – and did so intentionally – without any physical evidence.
Those who think the worst of Israel will be willing to accept and believe anything about it.
A fairly simple joint pathological investigation – clarifying the bullet type and the angle of the bullet entry wound – would go a long way toward determining who fired the fatal shot. But the Palestinians are not interested.
What they are interested in now is the propaganda value that can be culled from the killing of a well-known journalist. An investigation could muddle up their narrative.Read more here

 

 

Ron Ben-Yishai: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas wish to leverage her (Akleh’s) death for political and propaganda purposes, and that is why they reject any offer for an objective investigation.
Even if such an investigation is launched, they will make sure to destroy any shred of evidence that might point to the probable scenario that the Palestinian militants who were firing wantonly were the ones who killed her.
The Palestinians rushed to declare the journalist a martyr because it serves the constant war of propaganda which Abbas and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar lead against Israel.Read more here

 

 

 

Fleur Hassan Nahoum (Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem):Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population is growing. Figures from the Israel Democracy Institute show that 84% of Christians are satisfied with their lives in this country; as an example, the most educated women in Israel are from the Christian community. In tragic contrast, the numbers living under the Palestinian Authority are dwindling. In the 27 years the PA has controlled Bethlehem, the Christian population has shrunk from 80% to 12%.
Read more here