June 18, 2018
PM: ‘We’re Acting Against Iran – In All Of Syria’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday (17th) with a report on his talks with Russian President Putin and U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo.
“Over the weekend I spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. We discussed regional issues and focused of course, on Syria,” Netanyahu said.
“I reiterated our guiding principles regarding Syria. First of all, Iran needs to withdraw from all of Syria. Second, we will take action – and are already taking action – against efforts to establish a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria both close to the border and deep inside Syria.”
“Israel will act anywhere in Syria,” He added.
(israelnn.com)
For Third Time In A Day, IDF Conducted Airstrikes Over Gaza ‘Fire Balloons”
The Israeli Air Force attacked three targets connected to a group of Palestinians who had launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel on Sunday evening (17th), in the third round of airstrikes of the day, the army said.
The airstrikes, which caused no casualties, came as multiple balloons with small explosive devices touched down in southern Israel and others bearing pouches of burning material set fire to large swaths of land in the area.
Over the weekend hundreds of turkeys choked to death from Gazan balloon-sparked fires, in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in the Eshkol region.
(timesofisrael.com)
Israeli Kids Counter ‘Terror Kites’ With ‘Peace Balloons’
Israeli children and their parents living in the region adjacent to the Gaza Strip did something extraordinary on the weekend in response to ongoing Palestinian attacks on their communities.
For a number of weeks, Hamas and other terrorist activists operating out of Gaza have been flying kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices into Israel.
The damage caused by the fires has been extensive, and continues to be, especially to Israeli farms in the area.
The residents of Kibbutz Nir Am decided to do something about it. So, on Saturday (16th) the children of the small community came out en masse and released balloons of their own toward Gaza. But instead of fire, the balloons carried messages of peace in the form of candy.
An Israeli diplomat said the balloons meant to say, “The Children in Gaza, who are innocent victims of the cruel Hamas regime, deserve to know that children in Israel don’t hate them.”
(israeltoday.co.il)
Terror Cell Planned To Lure Soldiers Into Deadly Blast
Israeli forces uncovered a large and highly active Hamas terror cell operating out of the Palestinian city of Nablus earlier this year that was allegedly planning to conduct a number of bombings and shooting attacks in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and West Bank settlements, the Shin Bet Security Service revealed.
The indictment that has been submitted against a ringleader of the Hamas terror cell, details how he and his co-conspirators were controlled by an operator in Syria and how they plotted to lure Israeli soldiers to a decoy explosion before detonating a powerful bomb.
Two of the Hamas activists from Nablus who headed the cell were responsible for producing the bombs and attempted to recruit more terrorists into their ranks. They were identified as Mutassem Salem, 35, and Fares Zawidi, 33.
Last November, the members of the cell, headed by Salem, began working on the bombs in a laboratory that was set up in an abandoned building in Nablus.
At least 20 members of the cell have been arrested.
(timesofisrael.com)
Netanyahu: Hamas Cell Arrest Proves We Must Control West Bank Security
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (17th) that the arrest of a 20-man strong Hamas terror cell exemplified why Israel would forever need to maintain security control over the West Bank.
“The Shin Bet, the IDF and Israel Police thwarted a Hamas terror cell that attempted to carry out terror attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” said Netanyahu, an hour after the Shin Bet exposed the existence and arrest of the cell members. “Hamas is trying to harm us from Gaza as well as from the West Bank. This is why we will continue to maintain control of security in all the area west of the Jordan River.”
(jpost.com)
Hizbullah To Be Outlawed In Britain – Lee Harpin
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid will take steps to proscribe Hizbullah later this year, a senior Conservative source said. Hizbullah’s military wing was banned as a terrorist group in Britain in 2008, but a legal loophole allows supporters to fly its flags at events such as the Al Quds Day rally recently in London, because Hizbullah’s political arm is not banned. “Sajid has vowed to take decisive action on the matter. He will make this very clear over the forthcoming weeks,” the source said.
At a Westminster Hall debate last week, Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, Said: “Hizbullah is an Iranian creation that sits as the crown jewel in Iran’s regional strategy of Jihadi revolutionary warfare. It is in short the most powerful armed non-state actor in the world. This is an organization which potentially is more lethal than ISIS, and it is all backed and funded by Iran.”
(jc.com)
Russia Holds It’s National Celebration In Jerusalem – Herb Keinon
The Russian Embassy in Israel held its annual Russia Day Celebration in Jerusalem on Thursday (14th), the first national day reception to be held in the capital by any country in recent memory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attended the event, said, “We never forget the sacrifice of the Russian people and the Red Army in the defeat of the Nazi monster.” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov said holding the reception in Jerusalem was in line with Russia’s statement last year that “we view west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
(jpost.com)
Israel Approves New Plan To Combat Drought – Sonia Gorodeisky
The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday (10th) approved a strategic plan for dealing with the effect of the current 5-year drought. The flow of water in the National Water Carrier is to be reversed, with water flowing for the first time into Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), which has reached an unprecedented level. The plan also includes construction of two desalination facilities, reclamation of rivers in northern Israel, and connecting areas that are not linked to the national water system. Israel currently has five desalination facilities.
(globes.co.il)
Warren Buffett: “It Is A Good Thing For America That There Is An Israel”
Calling Israel’s independence “a good day for the world,” Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, President & CEO Warren Buffett hosted an Israel Bonds event in Omaha, Nebraska, last week that raised $80 million. “I’ve lived through Israel’s entire 70-year history and I believe it is one of the most remarkable countries in the world….I’m delighted to own Israel Bonds,” he said.
“I have nothing but good feelings about what I am doing. The United States and Israel will always be linked. It is a good thing for Israel that there is an America, and it is a good thing for America that there is an Israel.”
(jpost.com)
432 Bnei Menashe Jews Have Left India For Israel This Year – Jimmy Leivon
228 Jews left Manipur, India on Sunday (10th) to permanently settle in Israel. There are over 9,000 members of the Jewish community living in India’s northeastern states. Nearly 3,000 of this group have already migrated to Israel and thousands more are waiting to do so – 432 have migrated this year.
Bnei Menashe claims lineage through the Tribe of Manasseh.
(indianexpress.com)
