News Digest — 4/3/23
Israel Shoots Down Hostile Aircraft As It Approached Israeli Airspace – Suspected To Be Iranian-Made
The Israeli Air Force Sunday night (2nd) shot down an unidentified aircraft that crossed into Israeli airspace from Syria, the IDF said, adding that there was no danger to civilians at any time.
The incident occurred less than 24 hours after military targets were hit in central Syria in an attack attributed to Israel.
Fighter jets and choppers were dispatched to intercept the intruding aircraft, which the military says may be Iranian-made. It was shot down in an unpopulated area and no sirens were set off. The military was on the scene to collect remnants of the aircraft.
Syrian media reported overnight, a strike on bases in the area of Homs in the west of the country. According to Western intelligence sources the strikes targeted the T4 air base located west of the ancient City of Palmyra, and at Dabaa airport near al Qusayr city near the Lebanese border, an area housing members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Satellite pictures revealed the damage caused to a plane hangar at Dabaa, where Israeli sources said Hezbollah’s UAV capabilities were targeted.
The strike attributed to Israel was the third in four days after earlier strikes hit targets around the capital Damascus and reportedly killed Iranian military advisors among others.
A Syrian military source said on Sunday (2nd) that the Israeli airstrikes are proof that the IDF is incapable of land incursions. “These attacks will not go unanswered. Be warned,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier on Sunday (2nd) that Israel would not allow Iran and the Lebanese-based Hezbollah to cause it harm. “We do not allow this now and will not in the future,” he said. “We are on alert on all fronts – the Iranians are sending their tentacles to the West Bank and Gaza and are trying to take hold in Syria and Lebanon, to our north. We will push them way back to Iran,” Gallant said.
Netanyahu Warns Israel’s Enemies Amid Unrest At Home
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to the enemies of the Jewish state at the start of Sunday’s (2nd) weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations over his government’s judicial reform plan.
“We are exacting a high price from regimes that support terrorism, beyond Israel’s borders. I suggest that our enemies not err. Israel’s internal debate will not detract one iota from our determination, strength and ability, to act against our enemies on all fronts, whenever and wherever necessary,” Netanyahu said.
The remarks come after three missile strikes against Iranian targets in Syria over a four-day period attributed to Israel, including early Sunday (2nd) in Homs Province. Iranian media reported that Friday’s (3/31) attack near Damascus killed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member, and it was reported on Sunday (2nd) that another IRGC member died from wounds sustained in Friday’s (3/31) strike.
Netanyahu also discussed domestic counterterrorism efforts, giving his full support to the Israel Police for an incident early Saturday (1st) in which a 26-year-old Bedouin man from southern Israel was killed by police after authorities said he snatched an officer’s gun at the Chain Gate entrance to the Temple Mount and managed to fire two bullets.
No security cameras caught the incident, police said.
The prime minister also offered well wishes to the three soldiers wounded on Saturday night (1st) in a car-ramming attack near the village of Beit Ummar, located northwest of Hebron in Judea.
It was also revealed on Sunday (2nd) that the Israel police and the Israel Security Agency preempted a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
The prime minister touched upon the debate over judicial reform after Saturday night’s (1st) mass demonstrations against the proposed legislation in Tel Aviv and across the country – the 13th consecutive week of protests. President Isaac Herzog is holding meetings with Knesset factions to try to hammer out a compromise after Netanyahu announced a pause in the legislative process.
“We are currently in a process of dialogue with the goal of reaching broad consensus. I would like to remind you all that before the elections many of the current opposition leaders supported substantive changes in the judicial system. Therefore, there is a basis here for agreements that should be possible to reach with goodwill in genuine dialogue,” Netanyahu said.
He congratulated new Cabinet member David Amsalem, who was present at the meeting. Amsalem resigned his seat in the Knesset according to the so-called Norwegian Law to take up his role as a second minister in the Justice Ministry, as well as regional cooperation minister and liaison between the government and Knesset.
The prime minister also offered Passover greetings ahead of the holiday which begins on Wednesday evening (5th).
“This week the people of Israel will gather around the Seder table. I would like to remind you all that for centuries on Passover we always remembered that we have a common past of thousands of years as well as a common future expressed in the prayer for next year in rebuilt Jerusalem. Now, in the rebuilt Jerusalem, we still remember that we have a glorious past and a bright future–together,” Netanyahu said.
“I wish the entire people of Israel a happy kosher and quiet Passover,” the prime minister said.
(jns.org; worldisraelnews.com)
Jordan King Says Muslims Have ‘Duty To Deter Israel Escalation’ In Jerusalem
AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed on Sunday (2nd) a commitment to “safeguard” Jerusalem’s holy sites, in a meeting in Amman with Muslim and Christian religious leaders from the city.
A statement from the royal court said the king told the delegation, led by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, that Jordan “will always be with you.”
“It is the duty of every Muslim to deter Israeli escalation against… holy sites in Jerusalem,” the king said according to a statement.
The king touted a longtime commitment to preserving “peace and harmony” at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount site, which houses the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site. The Temple Mount is revered by Jews as the historic location of the two Jewish Temples, making it Judaism’s holiest site.
Jordan views itself as a custodian of the Temple Mount – a status Israel does not recognize, though it acknowledged the kingdom’s “special role” in the countries’ peace treaty. Jordan in 1994 became the second Arab country to recognize and sign a peace treaty with neighboring Israel, after Egypt.
Many Palestinians reject the notion that the Temple Mount is holy to Jews, having accused Israel and Zionists of plotting to destroy the mosque and replace it with a Jewish temple – a move that is not supported by mainstream Israeli society.
Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War, almost two decades after Amman conquered it during the War of Independence in 1948. However, Israel allowed the Jordanian waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the Mount.
Under an arrangement that has prevailed for decades under Jordan’s custodianship, Jews and other non-Muslims are permitted to visit the Temple Mount during certain hours but may not pray there. In recent years Jewish leaders, including members of the new governing coalition, including National Security leader Itamar Ben Gvir, have increasingly visited the site and demanded equal prayer rights, infuriating Palestinians and Muslims.
In January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid an unannounced visit to meet with King Abdullah II, in a sit-down where he agreed that the status quo on the Temple Mount would be preserved.
Notes Cleared From Western Wall Before Passover
In honor of Passover, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation Sunday morning (2nd) removed prayer notes that had been placed between the Western Wall stones over the past six months.
The removal is carried out in accordance with halachic guidelines, using gloves and disposable wooden utensils, with the goal of making room for new notes from tourists and visitors who are expected to arrive in Jerusalem in the coming months.
The notes were collected in sacks and will be buried together with worn holy books that are transferred to a designated genizah. The Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, Shmuel Rabinowitz, personally supervised the note removal, as he does every year, and prayed for the unity of Israel and for the tens of thousands of visitors who placed their prayers between the ancient stones.
The custom of placing notes in the Western Wall was recorded as far back as three centuries ago. The prayer notes are placed along the entire length of the Western Wall and can also be found among the courses of stones that were exposed in the Western Wall Tunnels.
An average of about 3,000 notes are sent each month through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation’s website. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of notes that are personally tucked between the stones by visitors.
Last year about 100,000 notes were sent through the website alone, an increase of 30% compared to this period last year, from countries around the world, including the United States, Slovakia, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela, Ukraine, India, Mexico, Argentina, and Taiwan.
The top ten countries from which the highest number of notes were sent are the U.S., Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Canada, Slovakia, South Africa, Ukraine and England. Notes can be sent through the official website www.thekotel.org.
Thousands of notes are sent to the Western Wall throughout the year; each note has a story behind it. Groups and organizations from many countries send notes to the Western Wall.
In March, notes were sent to the Western Wall by participants at a tourism conference in Madrid, Spain. A virtual Western Wall was shown at the conference and the participants were invited to write what was in their hearts on the notes. They were then brought to the Western Wall By the Israel Tourism Ministry.
United Hatzalah EMT And Doctor Save Two People On Flight From Tel Aviv To Chicago
Passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 141 from Tel Aviv to Chicago last Thursday (3/30) were in for a surprise when not one, but two medical emergencies occurred on board the plane during the flight across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.
The flight took off at !:00 a.m. and shortly after departure a 60-year-old man lost consciousness and collapsed, suffering an injury to his face, which prompted the flight attendants to call for a medical practitioner to assist, and United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yisrael Kahan, who happened to be on the flight rushed to the man’s aid as did a physician who works in the pediatric ward in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
Together with the physician, Yisrael treated the man, bandaged his injuries and managed to stabilize his condition. As the pair were still helping the man and monitoring his condition, a woman in her early 20s complained to one of the flight crew members that she was feeling faint.
The crew alerted Yisrael and the doctor to the second emergency. Once again the pair of rescuers teamed up to provide the necessary care and stabilized the woman’s condition. They administered an IV and made sure that her vitals stayed within safe ranges for the duration of the flight.
Yisrael, who is experienced in field treatment, always brings his own medical equipment in a small trauma kit with him when traveling. In addition to the medical equipment that was available on the plane, the volunteer used the equipment from his trauma kit to treat both the passengers.
“It was a special experience to be able to help save someone on a plane,” the EMT recounted after landing. “I’m glad I happened to be on the same flight to Chicago as the people who needed help and that I was able to stabilize and monitor their conditions. The lifesaving of United Hatzalah volunteers doesn’t end at Israel’s borders – we always try to help everyone in need.”
Thanks to the efforts of Yisrael and the doctor, both patients received the care they needed to stay healthy throughout the flight and no emergency landing was required.
(isnn.com)
