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

Israel Update 20.10.22

 

TERRORIST ATTACKS CONTINUED.

 

A few of the many incidents:

Yonatan Nizri, 25, was injured by Palestinian gunfire on Friday night in Beit El while sitting in his sukkah with his family. Two Palestinian gunmen approached the community’s perimeter fence and opened fire. One terrorist was shot by Israeli forces and the other one plus 2 accomplices were later arrested. Weapons and military uniforms were found in his home. Read more here

 

 

Palestinian gunmen fired a hail of bullets Tuesday morning at the Israeli community of Shaked, located close to the security barrier, about 10 km. west of Jenin. The attack came hours after a nearby military post was targeted. Read more here

 

 

Palestinian gunmen fired a hail of bullets Monday night at a military post along the security barrier in the northern West Bank. Read more here

 

 

September saw more than 34 shooting incidents in the West Bank, the highest number for over a decade. They included firing from afar at settlements, shooting at vehicles on the roads, shooting at IDF positions and bases, and live fire clashes with IDF forces operating in Palestinian cities and villages. The situation is compounded by the helplessness and lack of motivation on the part of the Palestinian security services to prevent attacks…and the easy availability and wide distribution of weapons and ammunition. …Most of these shooting incidents are attributed to the new Lion’s Den militia, which includes dozens of armed activists that are former members of Fatah, Tanzim, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. Some are young men whose fathers are members of the Palestinian Authority security services. Lion’s Den is apparently supported by funds from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.    Read more here

 

 

COUNTER TERRORISM

 

 

Udai Tamimi, the Palestinian who killed Israeli soldier Noa Lazar (18) at a checkpoint on Oct. 8, fired at security guards near Ma’ale Adumim on Wednesday and was shot dead by return fire. He had been the subject of a manhunt for more than ten days. Read more here

 

 

Eight Palestinians suspected of aiding a gunman who killed an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint near Jerusalem earlier this month were arrested by Israeli security forces in the predawn hours of Tuesday. Read more here

 

 

Two Bedouin Israeli men were arrested last month for helping funnel funds to Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Security Agency has revealed. The ISA said Hamas is attempting “at all times to recruit Israeli citizens for the purpose of carrying out terror activities.” Read more here

 

 

Three men from northern Israel were indicted on Thursday for allegedly sending a large volume of sensitive information to the Hamas terror group in Turkey, and for plans to sabotage Israel’s cellular network in a future war. Read more here

 

 

UKRAINE

 

 

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced on Wednesday a new humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. “We’ll continue to support and stand by Ukraine, NATO and the West, but we won’t send weapons to Kyiv. We send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and provide lifesaving and defensive systems. We will continue to support Ukraine within our limits as we have done so far.”
Gantz revealed that the aid package would include the construction of a smart missile defence alert system similar to the one that exists in Israel. “This system will have advantages in saving civilian lives and concentrating the alerts and sirens in relevant areas.”   Read more here

 

 

The Israeli defence establishment is opposed to any transfer of weapons systems to Ukraine, even for defensive purposes. Defence officials say the argument that defensive systems aren’t equivalent to offensive ones is likely to boomerang on Israel, because it might lead the Russians to adopt the same logic in the Middle East and start supplying their own advanced aerial defence systems, like the S-300 and S-400, to Iran and Syria…  anything that could undermine Israel’s aerial superiority would be a strategic blow to the IDF…Defence officials also said the Iron Dome antimissile system is strategically important for Israel, so there’s no scenario in which Israel would give such systems to Ukraine at the expense of its own aerial defence. Further, Iron Dome isn’t suited to Ukraine’s needs as it is designed for comparatively short-range interception. Read more here

 

 

And see Comment & Opinion articles below.

 

INNOVATION

 

 

Reep Technologies’ de-printer restores printed papers to blank sheets by removing the ink using lasers.  Israeli inventor Barak Yekutiely’s “circular printing” technology is tried and tested. The challenge now is to scale it up and start saving forests. Read more here

 

 

 

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

 

 

 

Matricelf, the Israeli regenerative medicine company which is developing a first-of-its-kind implant to treat spinal paralysis, was placed third in the 2022 Startup World Cup in San Francisco.Read more here

 

 

Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv University are holding trials on a new method of screening for foetuses and say it could provide all the information received from an amniocentesis without the risks. The method involves taking a regular blood sample rather than the amniocentesis practice of using a needle to extract amniotic fluid, which carries a risk of miscarriage. The new technique can be performed 4 weeks earlier than amniocentesis — at 10 weeks and provides as much information on the risks of numerous syndromes, diseases and disorders. Read more here

 

 

 

SEASONAL

 

 

Once every seven years, during the week-long Sukkot festival, the people of Israel are commanded to gather in Jerusalem to hear the king read portions of the Torah from a specially constructed wooden platform on the Temple Mount.( Mitzvat Hakhel)  In the absence of a monarch, thousands turned out for a “re-enactment” last week involving President Herzog together with some of Israel’s former and current chief rabbis. Read more here

 

 

ASTRONOMY

 

 

David Dayag, a self-taught astronomer in Israel’s coastal city of Netanya, is dazzling viewers around the globe with his close-up, time-lapse photos of the sun. 48 second video embedded at this link. View here – scroll down

 

 

SPORT

 

 

Israel’s mixed team has won a bronze medal in the 2022 World Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Read more here

 

 

TOURISM

 

 

Israel’s Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov was in the past a successful judoka competitor, representing Israel at the European Championships, the World Championships and the Olympics. He entered political life after a number of injuries ended his professional career, but is still a keen athlete and surfs regularly. He has personally funded a new 1 minute video, a James Bond spoof,  promoting Israeli tourism. Embedded in this article: View here – scroll down

or Youtube link (Arab News) View here

 

 

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

 

Ron Ben Yishai: Drone strikes in Iran should be a cause of concern in Israel. The Iranian-made Shahed-136 “suicide” drones are effective and dangerous, especially when used against stationary and unarmoured civilian targets. Carrying several dozen kg. of extremely destructive explosives, they are programmed to navigate to their target using a GPS system and then self-destruct.
The Ukrainians have learned that they cannot stay at one place for more than several hours, even if hidden. Therefore, Ukrainian artillery and tank forces arrive at a location, shoot, and immediately move on. They also activate electronic disruption systems, and shoot down the slow drones they detect. But if the Russians decide to activate the Shahed-136 in large swarms of dozens, instead of in pairs or groups of four, as they do today, the Ukrainians are in trouble.
The war in Ukraine offers the perfect experimental platform for Iran. Operating their weaponry on the battlefield in Ukraine will enable the Iranians to refine their deadly drones and learn to make them immune to countermeasures that the West will develop. Sooner or later, Israel will have to confront a new and improved version of the Iranian arsenal.

However none of Israel’s warnings have to date convinced the West to refrain from signing a nuclear deal with Iran. Read more here

 

 

Seth J. Frantzman: Russia has threatened that if Israel supplies arms to Ukraine, this will destroy relations with Moscow. Sending sensitive, expensive and advanced Israeli air defences to Ukraine may be difficult, in part because of their cost and also due to concerns about them falling into Russia’s hands, or provoking Moscow to retaliate in Syria.
Meanwhile, Russia is increasingly using Iranian drones to strike Ukraine, and Iran may be readying to supply missiles to Russia as well. Israel has confronted Iranian weapons trafficking in the region in the past and could aid Ukraine by advising on how to stop the drones before they end up in Russia’s hands. Israel’s knowledge of the drone threat can relate to detection; details about drone flight paths and radar signatures; or other methods that help air defenders.
Iran’s supply of drones to Russia illustrates how the threat to Israel is now a threat that is expanding to the borders of Europe. Israel can aid Ukraine in dealing with these threats without sending expensive, complex, advanced military hardware – the kind of hardware that Western countries are often careful about exporting. Read more here