News Digest — 10/5/21
Mossad Mission For Long-Missing IDF Soldier Revealed By Bennett
In a speech opening the first session of the Knesset since its summer recess, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealed that Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Agency had recently embarked on a mission to determine the whereabouts and fate of a long-missing Israeli soldier.
“Last month, Mossad agents, both men and women, embarked on a complex, wide-ranging and daring operation to find the remains and whereabouts of Ron Arad,” said the premier.
Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator was taken captive in Lebanon by Amal’s Shi’a forces on October 16, 1986, after a bomb hit his plane damaging it, and forcing him and the plane’s pilot to bail out. The pilot was saved but Arad was later transferred by Amal to Iranian forces. He has not been heard from since 1988.
A report from the Mossad and the IDF. which was released in 2016, indicated that Arad had likely perished.
Bennett declined to elaborate on the mission or its findings, saying, “that’s all that can be said at the moment.”
He lauded Israel’s security agencies and the IDF for their “outstanding collaboration” in the operation.
“Redeeming prisoners is a Jewish value that became one of the most sacred ones of the State of Israel. This is the kind of thing that seems strange, perhaps a little out of proportion, to those who look at the State of Israel from the outside, but this is what defines us and sets us apart.”
Arad’s family told Channel 12 News that they continue to hope that “maybe one day we will know what Ron’s fate was.”
US Marine Corps Signs Contract With Israeli Defense Company Smart Shooter
Israeli Defense Company Smart Shooter, which develops fire-control systems designed to significantly increase the accuracy and lethality of small arms, announced on Monday (4th) that it signed a contract with the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory for the purchase of several Smash 2000 systems for test and evaluation.
The agreement was signed with the Laboratory’s Rapid Capabilities Office, according to the statement.
Smash 2000 is designed to ensure that each round finds its target, in both day and night conditions, according to the country’s website. Its systems are external add-on solutions that can be integrated into any type of military rifle.
“Once the user identifies the target (independently or using the detection system guidance) and locks on it, Smash tracks its movements and synchronizes the shot-release to assure a fast and precise hit on the target,” said the company.
The IDF employed this technology in recent years to allow soldiers to shoot down drones and incendiary devices deployed over the border by terrorists in Gaza.
“The company has also signed a cooperative research and development agreement with US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. Under this agreement, the US Navy will evaluate the use of Smash technology on ships and vessels for counter-UAS [unmanned Aerial Systems] purposes,” said the statement.
This collaboration aims to perform joint integration and evaluation of Smart Shooter’s technology with weapons and ammunition currently supporting the US Navy’s mission. With an increased hit probability for small unmanned aerial systems and increased engagement range, the technology has demonstrated the potential to increase the Navy’s ability to engage small unmanned aerial systems at the individual level, using existing weapons and ammunition in inventory,” it added.
CEO Michal Mor said the company plans to present its technology at the Association of the United State Army (AUSA) exhibition in Washington on October 11-13.
Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel To Arrive In Israel October 10
Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Israel on Sunday, October 10 for a farewell visit, the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed on Sunday (3rd) according to i24NEWS.
Merkel will meet President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during the visit, and is expected to attend a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
The chancellor is then scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, accompanied by Bennett.
She will also receive an honorary doctorate from the Technion Institute and participate in a panel discussion at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Merkel was originally scheduled to visit Israel in August but postponed her visit due to the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
Merkel did not participate in Germany’s elections last week, which were won by the center-left Social Democratic Party, while Merkel’s party suffered its worst showing in the post-World War II era.
While Merkel and Israel are considered close allies, Merkel and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had some differences mostly about the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Israel at the end of June, stressing support for the country and pledging to continue to fight against anti-Semitism in Germany.
Two Arabs Who Beat Rabbi And Yeshiva Director In Anti-Semitic Attack Handed Community-Service Sentences
Two Arabs convicted of beating a rabbi and a yeshiva director in an anti-Semitic attack will not spend time in jail, but instead have been handed community service sentences of up to a year.
The unnamed men, both in their 30s, set upon Rabbi Eliyahu Mali who runs the Shirat Moshe Hesder Yeshiva in Jaffa, and Yeshiva Director Moshe Schendowich, as the pair were visiting a property the yeshiva planned to purchase. A group of Arabs surrounded the two Jewish men, initially harassing them, and ordering them to leave. When they pulled out their phones to film the incident, several of the Arab assailants set upon them violently, punching and kicking the two.
Schendowich was hospitalized following the attack. Mali, who is in his 60s, was kicked to the ground but his injuries did not require hospitalization.
“The State of Israel is not a shtetl in which Jews can be harmed,” current Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted at the time, then in his former role as leader of the Yamina Party.
“The severe and overt violence against Rabbi Eliyahu Mali in Jaffa, is a…national disgrace.” he added. “We are witnessing a series of attacks by Arab assailants against Torah-observant Jews, which are deliberate and anti-Semitic.”
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Rafi Peretz described the incident at the time as “chilling.”
However, despite calls for justice from the highest levels, on Monday (4th), Tel Aviv’s Magistrates Court witnessed the prosecution “do a deal” with the attackers whereby they will receive community service sentences in return for a guilty plea. One will serve almost a year while the other will serve five months.
The case comes a day after Bennett vowed to crack down on crime in Israel’s Arab sector. On Sunday, (3rd) Bennett chaired a meeting of the interministerial working team on fighting crime and violence in the Arab sector headed by Deputy Public Security Minister, Yoav Segalovitz.
Bennett said, “I expect as we try to help the Arab public that they will fully cooperate in the war against crime and violence in the Arab sector.”
100 Arab citizens have died since the beginning of 2021 from infighting in the Arab community, according to Ynet News.
(ynetnews.com; jpost.com)
43 Nations Led By Austria Pledge To Combat Anti-Semitism At UNHRC
At least 43 nations led by Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia pledged to combat anti-Semitism in a special statement issued at the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“We will remain steadfast in our pledge, never again,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as he issued a special video statement in which he spoke about the danger of anti-Semitism.
“Even 75 years after the end of World War II, it is a tragic reality that anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past,” Schallenberg stated.
“The venom still exists, right in the midst of our societies. This is why today we declare our unequivocal solidarity in the face of hatred,” he added.
“We restate our commitment to combating anti-Semitism and all forms of racism, prejudice and discrimination anywhere, anytime.”
The statement was the work of the Slavkov Format, under which Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia work on joint issues. The statement was coordinated with the World Jewish Congress.
It was read out at the start of a debate on racism, anti-Semitism and the growing threat of hate speech and the glorification of Nazism.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has overshadowed many crises and has diverted our attention from critical development such as rising anti-Semitism, intolerance and hatred.” Schallenberg said.
Such hatred, he said, is “toxic” to a democracy.
“This isn’t a fight between anti-Semites and Jews. This fight is between anti-Semites and anyone who believes in the values of equality, and justice and liberty,” Schallenberg said.
Countries that signed the declaration included: Israel, Germany, the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Australia, the United Kingdom, Greece, Belgium, Cyprus, Ukraine, Cameroon, Japan, Slovenia, Argentina, Armenia, Croatia, Finland, New Zealand, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Poland, Moldova, the Netherlands, Latvia, Romania, Seychelles, Lithuania, Estonia, Uruguay, Norway and Sweden.
(jpost.com; reuters.com)
