June 13, 2018
Liberman To Gazans: Topple Hamas Regime
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman visited the Gaza Division Tuesday (12th) and congratulated the incoming commander of the Southern Command, Major Hartzi Halevi.
“First of all, I came to congratulate the new Southern Command Chief Hartzi Halevy, who just entered his position this week. I wish him great success,”Liberman said.
“I also want to convey a message to our neighbors here in the Gaza Strip. Residents of Gaza, you have in fact become hostages of the Hamas government. You can build a much better future for your children. You can have all the humanitarian, economic, and civil aid, you want, but first you must topple the Hamas regime.
(israelnn.com)
Hamas Uses Medical Helium For Terror Balloons, IDF Restricts Supply
“Hamas is abusing Gaza’s medical system in the most contemptible and cynical fashion,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday morning (12th) during a visit to Gaza Division Headquarters.
“The helium that we supply to hospitals for medical equipment, primarily for use in MRI scanners, is used by Hamas to send drones to ignite fields here in the south,” Liberman said.
On Tuesday (12th), the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, ordered the restriction of the entry of helium gas into the Gaza Strip.
Rokon stated that if terrorist groups continue to use helium gas to attack Israeli territory, then the IDF would ban all supply of helium to the strip.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Border Police Thwart Knife-Carrying Palestinian At Cave Of The Patriarchs
Border Police officers arrested a Palestinian man who attempted to enter the Cave of the Patriarchs on Monday night (11th) concealing a knife.
The Hebron resident was asked by police to remove his coat, at which point the knife fell to the ground. The man was taken in for further questioning.
Earlier this week an explosive device was discovered near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The bomb was destroyed by security forces.
(jpost.com)
Pro-Assad Commander: Syrian Army Boosts Air Defenses Near Golan Frontier
BEIRUT – The Syrian army has reinforced its anti-aircraft defenses near the frontier with Israel, a commander in the regional alliance that backs President Bashar Assad said on Tuesday (12th).
Additional defenses are set to be deployed in the coming days, the commander said. The stationing of the Russian-made Pantsir S1 weapon aims “to renew the air defense system against Israel in the first degree,” added the commander, a non-Syrian who spoke on condition of anonymity.
(reuters.com; ynetnews.com)
Expert: “Palestine” Fails International Law Test For Statehood At ICC – Yonah Jeremy Bob
Experts need to continue to press back on the International Criminal Court’s recognition of Palestine as a state, because “there is still time and room to counter this,” international law scholar Andrew Tucker told the Jerusalem Post. While Tucker would argue numerous points for why Palestine fails the test of international law for statehood, he emphasized the Palestinian Authority’s inability to effectively govern the West Bank and Gaza as a single state.
(jpost.com)
Indonesian Muslim Leader Visits Israel
Yahya Staquf, Secretary General of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, the 60-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama, is in Israel as a guest of the American Jewish Committee for a conference in Jerusalem. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, and his visit triggered angry protests at home. Staquf says there needs to be “a new discourse” to recognize that Muslims and non-Muslims are equal and should be able to coexist peacefully.
(ap.com)
Israeli Jets Train For Long-Range MIssions In Greece – Judah Ari Gross
Forty Israeli planes participated in an aerial exercise in Greek skies last week without landing, the IDF said Monday (11th). “We traveled far from home to unfamiliar terrain in order to carry out a rigidly defined and precise mission, under very challenging conditions,” an F-16 squadron commander said. “This capability that we have, to take all our vehicles and travel far in order to carry out a mission and then return, is something that we…are prepared to use any time it’s needed.”
(timesofisrael.com)
Tourism To Israel Keeps Rising
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday (11th) that 395,900 tourists came to Israel in May 2018, 14% more than in May 2017 and 33% more than May 2016.
(globes.co.il)
1,500-Plus South African Jews And Christians Learn To Counter BDS
More than 1,500 Jews and Christians attended four pro-Israel events throughout South Africa focused on strengthening the local pro-Israel community and countering BDS and Israel delegitimization.
The initiative, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy and Maccabi World Union, in conjunction with the Zionist Federation of South Africa, took place from June 3 to June 10 in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
“The reality in South Africa is deeply disturbing, given the increasing prominence of the BDS movement within the country and the solidarity shown by the African National Congress Party towards terrorist organizations,” said Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan. “I decided to focus my ministry’s efforts on activities in South Africa in order to strengthen the local pro-Israel community and their fight against BDS and terrorism.”
(worldisraelnews.com)
Municipality Near Paris Names Street For ‘Nakba’
A municipality near Paris named a street for the “nakba” – an Arab-language word that means “catastrophe” and which many Palestinian Arabs use to denote Israel’s creation.
The mayor of the municipality of Bezons, Dominique Lesparre, unveiled the sign for “Nakba Alley” on Monday (11th). Under Lesparre, a communist politician, the municipality also declared David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, a war criminal for allegedly deporting hundreds of thousands of Arabs from what is today Israel.
(israelnn.com)
