News Digest — 2/18/22
IDF Downs Hezbollah, Hamas Drones At Lebanon, Gaza Border
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday (17th) shot down an unmanned aircraft belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization after it crossed the border with Lebanon, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Later on Thursday (17th), the military downed another drone, a Hamas UAV that flew over the border with Gaza and landed in the Strip after being shot down, the IDF said.
Both drones were monitored “throughout each incident” before they were downed, the military said in two separate statements.
Each incident occurred just a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in its possession into precision-guided munitions.
The IDF gave no further detail on the incidents, but said it will “continue to operate in order to prevent any attempt to violate Israeli sovereignty.”
On January 4, the IDF shot down a Hezbollah UAV flying over the Israel-Lebanon border, a day after the anniversary of the United States drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was responsible for Iran’s overseas operations and the backing of armed groups such as Hezbollah.
Israel, Citing ‘Bias,’ Won’t Cooperate With UN Rights Team
Israel on Thursday (17th) formally announced it would not cooperate with a special commission formed by the United Nations’ top human rights body to investigate alleged abuses against Palestinians, saying the probe and its chairwoman were unfairly biased against Israel.
“It is obvious to my country, as it should be to any fair-minded observer, that there is simply no reason to believe that Israel will receive reasonable, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment from the Council, or from this commission of inquiry.” said a letter, signed by Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s ambassador to the UN and international organizations in Geneva.
The council established a three-person investigative commission last May, days after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
At the time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that large actions, including airstrikes, might have constituted war crimes.
Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties saying the group uses residential areas for cover while carrying out military activities, hiding behind innocent men, women, and children who are used as “human shields.”
Israel has long-accused the United Nations, and particularly the Human Rights Council, of bias.
Navi Pillay, a South African jurist and former UN Commissioner for Human Rights who was appointed to head the commission, has been accused of “making prejudicial statements” on the issues under investigation and of compromising her impartiality.”
UN Watch, an independent NGO, submitted a 30-page complaint this week saying that Pillay violated UN rules by failing to disclose many of her prior statements that directly prejudge the matters before the inquiry.
“Navi Pillay embodies the injustice of the UN when it comes to the selective treatment of the Jewish state,” UN Watch stated.
The NGO also launched an online petition urging Pillay to resign.
“Many of the utterances in question occurred mere weeks before she was appointed by the UN in the summer, leaving little room to imagine how Pillay could envision the issues any differently, so soon after,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
“Asking Navi Pillay to head an inquiry examining Israel is like asking a vegetarian to review a steakhouse,” said Neuer.
“When it comes to Israel, as our legal brief demonstrates, Pillay is the complete opposite of impartial. The legal test is the appearance of bias and there is no doubt that Pillay fails the test. We are therefore calling on her to do the right thing and resign immediately. In the event she refuses to do so, we request Federico Villegas, the President of the Human Rights Council, to remove her.”
Israel is the only country in the world whose rights record comes up for discussion at every council session. Israel has also raised concerns about the council’s makeup, saying it includes countries with poor rights records and those openly hostile toward Israel. China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan, Venezuela and a number of Arab countries sit on the 47-member council.
Iran’s Hollow Victory: The Price Of Regional Dominance – Karim Sadjadpour
Since 1979, Iran has sought to expel the U.S. from the Middle East, replace Israel with Palestine, and remake the region in its image. Tehran has not achieved any of its lofty ambitions, but it has made progress toward them – and it is feeling emboldened by its successes. Over the last two decades, Iran has established primacy in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, (four failed, or failing states), by successfully cultivating regional militias and by exploiting the power vacuums left by the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Arab uprisings of 2010-11.
However, Iran’s external vigor conceals incurable internal maladies. As Iran has invested its limited capabilities in its aspiration to upend the U.S.-led world order, it has neglected the well-being of its people and made itself poorer and less secure. As Iran continues to bleed national resources to subsidize regional militias and external conflicts, the public’s economic, political, and social frustration deepens, necessitating ever-greater repression. Washington will not be able to reach a peaceful accommodation with an Iranian regime whose identity is premised on opposing the U.S. and whose leader believes that softening this opposition could cost him everything.
For all of Iran’s successes in cultivating militant groups, there are tangible signs that it has overreached. Opinion polls show that nearly 2/3 of young Arabs view Iran as an adversary, a sizable majority of Arabs of all ages want Iran to withdraw from regional conflicts, and more than half of Arab Shiites hold an “unfavorable” view of Iran. Ascendant Iranian power in the Middle East will likely prove ephemeral. Arabs who chafed under centuries of Turkish and Western Hegemony will not countenance Iranian influence easily.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Mike Pompeo At Prayer Breakfast: ‘Pray For Israel, Jewish Prosperity’
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered recorded remarks at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday (15th) in Tallinn, Estonia calling for prayer for peace in Jerusalem and in Eastern Europe where winds of war between Russia and Ukraine have captivated the region.
“I wish I could be there in-person with you, in Estonia, to pray with you especially in light of the dangers facing Eastern Europe,” the former secretary said, calling the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast a “noble occasion.”
“The situation in Ukraine is most surely on everyone’s mind,” he continued. “I hope you will join me in praying for our world leaders to have wisdom, patience, and strength, as this challenge to peace unfolds.”
Pompeo quoted Psalm 125:1: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.”
He said, “We must pray, friends, for the faith and resolve that the Lord blesses His faithful with, and the strength to stand against those who would disrupt peace to further their own ambitions, and for the resolve to be unwavering in the face of these threats.”
Pompeo also called on Christians to pray for Israel and the prosperity of the Jewish people.
“I know from my time as secretary of state that the dangers facing Israel are many and they are great. We must have faith, as we build on the successive peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors. – success that was evident in the Abraham Accords,” he added.
“Our nations – from America to Estonia to Israel – are each grounded in the wisdom of the Hebrew Bible. We must stand side by side together and face our adversaries with the conviction that the Lord God will deliver those who are faithful to Him.”
The former secretary concluded his speech with a quote from the Book of Isaiah, 54:10: “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed.”
He then stressed that, “If we continue praying together and trust the Lord, I know that our adversaries will be overcome and that we will have peace.”
The Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast is a global prayer movement that brings together political and faith leaders from around the world to pray for peace in Jerusalem. It was started in 2016 by former Knesset Member Robert Ilatov, who serves as co-chair along with former US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Israeli Strawberry Farmer Grows World’s Largest Strawberry
Tzahi Ariel, an Israeli strawberry farmer, broke the world record for the largest strawberry last week.
Ariel’s family farm, “Strawberries in the Field,” is in Kadima-Zoran, Israel.
At 289 grams (10.1 ounces), Ariel’s strawberry weighed more than the previous record-holder, Koji Nakao from Japan.
The strawberry is of the Ilan variety which is known for producing relatively large fruit and was originally bred by Dr. Nir Dai of the Agricultural Research Organization, who was present at the weighing.
“During this strawberry season in late January and early February, it was particularly cold,” Dai explained to Guinness World Records “The strawberry developed slowly for more than 45 days from flowering which caused its large size at full ripening.”
“Most likely the large size of the strawberry resulted from multiple strawberries growing close to each other and fusing into one large one,” Dr. Dai added.
