August 28, 2018
Israelis Across The Political Spectrum Salute McCain As Man Of Values, True Friend Of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli politicians on Sunday (26th) hailed U.S. Senator John McCain for his principled and stalwart support of the Jewish state, following his death on Saturday (25th).
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of John McCain, a great American patriot and a great supporter of Israel,” Netanyahu tweeted in English Sunday morning (26th). “I will always treasure the constant friendship he showed to the people of Israel and to me personally.”
“His support for Israel never wavered,” he said. “It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom. The State of Israel salutes John McCain.”
President Reuven Rivlin bid farewell to the “great leader,” whom he hailed as a “defender of his people, a man of strong values, and a supporter of Israel.”
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman praised McCain as “an American war hero” and one of Israel’s “greatest friends.”
Former prime minister Ehud Barak said that McCain was a longtime personal friend “who was a huge friend of Israel, especially concerning its security.”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni said McCain “believed in Israel and supported its security.” “Israel owes him a big thanks,” she added.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wrote on Twitter “He loved this land with all his might and recognized Israel’s challenges. Over 36 years of public service in Congress, Israeli governments knew they always had a friend in John McCain.”
(timesofisrael.com)
Notes In Western Wall To Be Removed Ahead Of High Holidays
The stones at the Western Wall will be examined this week in preparation for the High Holidays in September. In addition, the prayer notes placed in the cracks of the holy site will be removed in the presence of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Western Wall Rabbi.
The examination will take place on Tuesday morning (28th) and the removal of the notes will follow from 11: AM onward.
The examination of the Western Wall will be conducted by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority.
There is concern over the structural stability of the Wall after a large stone fell from it onto the egalitarian section last month. Miraculously, no one was injured.
The notes that will be collected from the cracks in the Wall will be transferred to the Mount of Olives, where they will be buried together with the holy books that are transferred there for temporary storage prior to burial.
Every year millions of notes are placed in the Western Wall by Jewish and non-Jewish worshipers from Israel and the world. The notes are placed in person, sent through the Western Wall website, faxed or mailed.
The High Holidays this year begin with Rosh Hashanah at sundown on September 10th, followed by Yom Kippur on the 19th, and Sukkot on the 23rd.
(israelnn.com)
Abbas Silent When 3,840 Palestinians Killed And 1,682 Missing In Syria – Dr. Edy Cohen
Recently, the human rights organization AGPS (Action Group for Palestinians in Syria) published a report documenting 3,840 cases of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011- nearly four times the number of those killed during the six years of the first intifada (December 1987-September 1993). The circumstances of the deaths were shelling, shooting, or torture in the interrogation rooms of prisons throughout Syria. Mahmoud Abbas remained silent and did not condemn Bashar Assad or Iran. Palestinian blood in the West Bank and Gaza appears to be worth far more than the blood of Palestinians elsewhere in the world. This is because Palestinians who are killed by IDF fire serve as a bulwark against Israel, whether by the Arab states or by the Western world.
The AGPS also reported that 1,682 Palestinians are still missing – their fates unknown. According to some assessments, these Palestinians were either killed at some time during the bloody civil war or – “are still in prison.” Therefore, at least 5,522 Palestinians have been killed or have gone missing since 2011.
Despite these horrors, not one official in the Palestinian Authority publicly condemned the Assad regime.
When a Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorist from Gaza is killed by IDF soldiers while trying to plant a roadside bomb or trying to breach the border fence, the Arab and Western worlds are apoplectic. The Arab League issues its familiar condemnation; the consistently hostile Kuwait denounces Israel at the UN and tries to convene the Security Council; Mahmoud Abbas requests international protection for the Palestinians ; and all these reactions are covered round the clock by Arab and Western press.
When Palestinians are killed by other Arabs, evidently no one cares – not in the Arab world, and not even among the Palestinians themselves, whether in the PA or Hamas. Everyone is silent. Palestinian blood in the West Bank and Gaza is more valuable than Palestinian blood in other parts of the globe.
(imra.org.il)
Lithuania Admits Its Citizens Murdered Jews During Holocaust
The government of Lithuania has officially accepted responsibility for the mass murders of Jews that Lithuanian citizens carried out during the Holocaust, according to a document obtained by Israel Hayom.
The document states that 95% of the Jews of Lithuania at the time of the Holocaust were killed and calls the deaths “a great tragedy for the Lithuanian state and society.”
“It is regrettable that Lithuanian civilians were personally involved in the mass killings organized by the Nazis,” the document reads.
The document was written and disseminated ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic visit to Lithuania last week, the first by an Israeli prime minister, and in response to criticism by Jewish organizations that Lithuania swept the murder of Jews by its citizens under the rug.
On Friday (24th), PM Netanyahu and his wife Sara, participated in a memorial ceremony for the 70,000 Jews of Vilnius who perished during the Holocaust. Both Lithuanian leaders and Jewish leaders were in attendance.
Speaking at the event, Netanyahu said, “An unpardonable crime was committed here. 70,000 Jews were murdered in cold blood by the Nazis and their collaborators …all together, 200,000 Jews were murdered here and in other places in Lithuania.”
“Standing here today we remember all those who perished and all that was destroyed. … We also salute the heroism of those Lithuanians who, unlike the collaborators, risked their lives and saved many Jews. We will always honor their memory,” Netanyahu said.
PM Netanyahu and his wife returned to Israel on Sunday (26th).
(israelhayom.com)
Holocaust Memorials In Estonia Torched, Vandalized With Swastikas
Unidentified individuals scrawled anti-Semitic slogans and symbols on monuments for Holocaust victims in Estonia.
The incident occurred sometime last week at the Kalevi-Liiva village in the Harju County near Tallinn, the capital of the Baltic nation of Estonia local news reported Thursday (23rd).
The monuments, erected at sites of mass killings of Jews during the Holocaust, were also damaged with a blowtorch. One monument was defaced with a swastika. Another read: “Juden,” (German for Jews). A third had the words “Sieg Heil,” a Nazi greeting, written on it.
Virtually all the 4,500 Jews that had lived in Estonia before the Holocaust were murdered by January 1942 when it became the first country in Europe to be declared “Jew-Free” by the Nazis.
(jta.org)
