News Digest — 5/14/24
Israel Marks First Wartime Independence Day
Holiday traditions had to be rethought and revamped because Israel never celebrated Independence Day in wartime. That meant changing, among other things, the torch-lighting ceremony marking the transition of the solemnity of Memorial Day to the joy of Independence Day.
“We will not be able to hold the torch-lighting ceremony as every year. And yet, the State of Israel must mark its Independence; the flag cannot remain at half-mast. We have much to be proud of,” insists Transportation Minister Miri Regev. Who was tasked with overseeing the annual ceremony.
“There are usually between 12-14 torchlighters each year. This year we had to change it to 44 to be able to celebrate all the different groups and communities who showed great heroism and sacrifice in the face of the war we are still fighting,” she explained.
As a security precaution, the ceremony was filmed ahead of time,on Thursday evening (9th), without a live audience.
During the evening The Press Service of Israel (TPS-IL) spent time with Irene Nurith Cohn and Basma Hino, two remarkable women among the many Israelis honored for their bravery.
“It is important to hold the ceremony this year, so that our enemies know they didn’t break our spirits. We are a strong people, we need to keep living and loving life,” Irene Nurith Cohn said. She lit the torch of The Rescue Forces on behalf of the ZAKA organization in which she volunteers.
Amidst the chaos and devastatin following Hamas’ October 7 attack, ZAKA volunteers were tasked with the solemn duty of receiving the bodies of the victims.
“Accepting the honor of lighting the torch filled me with both excitement and humility, knowing that many others from ZAKA could equally stand by my side or in my place. It’s not about me but about what we witnessed there. It’s a tremendous and deeply moving privilege,” Cohn insisted.
One week after October 7, Cohn was part of a team recovering bodies along the Gaza border and meticulously cleaning blood-stained homes.
When her mission ended months later. Cohn took it upon herself to participate in lectures recounting the October 7 events. She currently represents ZAKA on overseas missions, sharing her experiences with anyone open to listening.
“I sense that I have never left the Gaza border since then. Returning to ordinary life seems impossible after such an experience,” Cohn explains. “I am privileged to continue the activity.”
“Never in my life have I imagined myself taking part in something like this. What a remarkable honor,” said Basma Hino. walking along the pathways of Mount Herzl, surrounded by people from all corners of the country and walks of life.
Amidst escalating tensions along Israel’s border with Lebanon, she transformed her restaurant in the Druze village of Julius into a vital kosher resource for soldiers stationed in the area. As a result, she was part of a group lighting the Torch of Giving.
“I want to feed all the Israeli soldiers! They are all like my children, it doesn’t matter their background,” she insisted. The commitment is rooted in her family history. Basma’s late husband, Marcel, sustained severe injuries during an army mission in 2002, leaving him hospitalized for over a decade before he passed away.
Basma persevered, harnessing her passion for baking to later establish the restaurant,”Noor.”
As the war intensified and tourism dwindled, Basma and her son Noor took action repurposing leftover food supplies to craft meals for soldiers. Their initial effort, born out of a desire to honor Marcel’s memory, evolved into a full-fledged commitment to make the restaurant kosher, ensuring accessibility for all soldiers.
Basma dedicates one day each week to preparing meals exclusively for soldiers, with the support of volunteers who come via the Jewish National Fund-USA.
“”During this period, there aren’t as many visitors to the restaurant, especially with the area heating up and recent rocket attacks on our village,” Hino noted with worry. “It’s evident that the situation is escalating which is why it’s crucial for me to keep focusing on the project of providing meals for soldiers. That’s the priority right now. Hopefully we will be able to do so as long as needed and our initiative attracts donations and volunteers.”
For Basma, the restaurant serves as more than just a place of business – it’s a symbol of solidarity and bridging divides.
“As a Druze, it is very important for me to strengthen the relationship between the Druze and the Jews,” Hino insists. “We all live here together, and at my restaurant we cook shoulder to shoulder for our hero soldiers.”
Netanyahu: Independence Means Having The Freedom To Defend Ourselves
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that while this Independence Day is different, it’s a good opportunity to realize the significance of independence, in a speech to the Israeli people on Independence Day, on Monday evening (13th)
“Independence means being a free people in our country, having the freedom to defend ourselves by ourselves, and the sovereignty to satisfy the behest of generations: Never again!” said Netanyahu.
“We are doing all this together, only together. Just like our courageous soldiers fight together, shoulder to shoulder, in tanks and armored vehicles, in tunnels, in aircraft and naval vessels. At the moment of truth, the entire country took up arms. What an incredible generation we have, a generation of triumphant heroes.”
The torches that we set ablaze this evening are shining a bright light on the miracle that is our country. They recount in flames, the story of our incredible nation. We are raising our flags and torches in honor of our nation.”
In his keynote speech at the torch-lighting ceremony, Knesset Speaker Amit Ohana directly addressed hostages in Gaza and said that Independence Day was “not whole” without them.
“The State of Israel was not there on October 7 in its full might and power as we all hoped it would, but has acted every day since then to bring you home to your families,” Ohana said.
“Since October 7, this ‘virus’ has abated due to Israelis coming together,” Ohana said. He added that there is still some way to go in order to write “a new chapter of unity and avoid the fate that befell the Jewish people after the fall of the Second Temple.”
President Isaac Herzog stressed that Israel’s 76th year has been “marked by enormous pain and loss” in a video addressed to Diaspora Jewry on Monday (13th) to mark Independence day.
“There is no question that this year, our Independence Day celebrations are different. Israel’s 76th year has been marked by enormous pain and loss. Not just for Israel, but for Jewish communities throughout the world,” said Herzog.
The president pointed to the October 7 massacre and the reemergence of anti-Semitism across the world. “All of this has shaken the earth beneath our feet. But, my brothers and sisters, this is only part of the truth. We must recognize that these times of real loss have also been a time of important achievements. They have reminded us why we rose up from tragedy and found the strength and determination to establish a beautiful and beloved national home, the miracle that is the State of Israel.”
Herzog noted that the achievements in the past year have “reminded us, also, of our core qualities, of our power as a people to stand up, again and again, against hatred. To survive and speak our truth. Of our deep and sustaining care for one another. Of our connection to the call that we have carried across the ages: To do good, to pursue peace, Tikkun Olam and to repair a fractured world.”
“My friends , we have seen our people step forward this year for one another. To offer one another protection, support, empathy, care and love. We have shown that we truly belong to one another. And that, no matter what happens, we can tap into deep resources of caring, connection, love and belonging.”
“May we continue to raise our voices and fight for what matters – for the immediate release of our hostages. For our safety and our future in a thriving and secure Jewish and Democratic State of Israel, and for a world of peace, harmony, and goodwill. See you soon in Israel, in Jerusalem, Happy Independence Day, and Am Yisrael Chai [The people of Israel live]!” added Herzog.
5 Soldiers, Defense Ministry Employee Seriously Wounded In Gaza
Two soldiers from the Yahalom Unit were seriously wounded Monday (13th) in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip. The soldiers were wounded when terrorists fired mortars at IDF forces in the area of the Rafah Crossing. Six other soldiers were moderately wounded in southern Gaza.
In addition, a contracting company employee working on behalf of the Defense Ministry was seriously wounded and two other employees were moderately wounded in southern Gaza.
In the meantime, IDF forces fighting in eastern Rafah attacked Hamas targets in the area, eliminated terrorists in face-to-face encounters and located weapons and rocket launchers. The soldiers destroyed terrorist infrastructure and confiscated weapons found in a school.
At the same time, IDF forces are operating in the Jabaliya area, where several terrorists were eliminated after close-range battles. With the cooperation of the Air Force, many underground infrastructures and fighting spaces were destroyed. In one of the attacks, a military building where a squad of Hamas terrorists gathered was destroyed. The IDF is also operating in the Zeytun area, where weapons and various terrorist infrastructures have been located.
In the raid, an ammunition depot was found in the house of a Hamas operative. In one of the attacks, the forces in cooperation with the Air Force killed a sniper who was attempting to ambush soldiers.
4 Israeli Soldiers Injured In Hezbollah Attack On Kibbutz
Four Israeli soldiers were wounded, including one moderately, by Hezbollah anti-tank fire from Lebanon on Monday (13th).
The other three troops were lightly wounded after two missiles hit Kibbutz Yiftah, south of Kiryat Shmona in the Upper Galilee.
They were evacuated to Ziv Medical Center in Safed and their families were informed.
The Hebollah terrorist group took responsibility for the “anti-tank fire at Yiftah at 10:35.”
In addition, the IDF said that an unarmed aircraft that crossed from Lebanon crashed near the border moshav of Zar’it in the Western Galilee, with no casualties reported.
This incident was followed shortly after by incoming missile and rocket fire alarms activated in the Western Galilee communities of Moshav Netua, Moshav Elkosh, the Christian Arab village of Fassouta and Mattat.
Hezbollah also took responsibility for an “air attack using UAVs at 6:20 in Bet Hillel.”
The two kamikaze drones exploded near the moshav without an alarm being triggered in the area. A fire broke out as a result of the attack that was extinguished. There were no casualties.
Sirens sounded in other communities in northern Israel throughout the morning as Israel observed Memorial day.
Meanwhile, a French official on Sunday (12th) denied a Channel 12 report from last week that Hezbollah rejected in writing a French proposal for a ceasefire with Israel.
“The report is inaccurate and wrong. There are no negotiations. Hezbollah refuses to negotiate while the war in Gaza is going on,” the official told The Times of Israel.
According to the Channel 12 report, Hezbollah communicated its rejection of the French offer through the Lebanese Shiite Amal party.
The proposal reportedly included the building of watchtowers along the border to be used by the Lebanese Army.
The Paris initiative reportedly complicated American efforts to restore calm on the Israeli-Lebanon border. The French official dismissed any talks of watchtowers.
“One wonders who spread the reports and who has an interest in getting in the way of a solution,” the official pondered.
The Israeli military has pushed back Hezbollah to “significant distances” from the border with Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week amid an ongoing low-intensity conflict with the Iranian-backed terror group.
Hezbollah has carried out near-daily attacks on northern Israel since joining the war against the Jewish state in support of Hamas following the Gaza-based terrorist group’s massacre of some 1,200 people in the northwestern Negev.
Israel has threatened a major military offense in southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River–some 18 miles from the border–if a diplomatic solution is not found. Efforts to calm tensions, including those of the United States and France, have been unsuccessful.
Despite War, Israeli Universities Rise In Global Rankings
Although pro-Hamas presidents, professors, and students at universities throughout the US, Europe, and elsewhere are bashing Israel for political reasons, Israeli universities are nevertheless flourishing academically and in their research activities.
Five out of nine Israeli universities have improved in this year’s rankings, while the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) has come out ahead of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. The rankings were determined in the 2024 edition of the Global 2000 list by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), which is based in the United Arab Emirates.
Harvard University in Boston, which has been – along with Columbia University in New York – the scene of the most vicious anti-Semitic and anti-Israel demonstrations, leads the list globally, while 95% of Chinese universities have risen on the back of heavy investment in research and development in that country.
Overall, said CWUR, Israel is increasing its competitiveness in higher education on the global stage, with five institutions moving up from last year, one maintaining its spot, and three falling in the standings. Nevertheless, the threats to boycott Israeli academics have cast a shadow on them because joint research and the granting of funds for research are the lifeblood of academia, and if they follow through on their threats, it will hurt Israeli universities and medical centers.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem rose four spots to 66th in the quality of its faculty, but declined in the quality of education and research indicators. The Weizmann Institute of Science has climbed 13 places to 74th, while Tel Aviv University (TAU) maintained its 154th spot – ahead of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa at number 180 and Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beersheba in 352nd position. The remaining universities in the Global 2000 are Bar-Ilan University (576), University of Haifa (670) Ariel University (1507), and Reichman University (1870).
Commenting on the national picture, CWUR President Dr. Nadim Mahassen, said: “While five out of nine universities saw improvements in this year’s rankings, what is of concern is Israel’s global share in scientific research, which fell by 99% in the last five years. Without additional government investment in research and development, Israel faces the possibility of declining in the future.”
CWUR analyzed 62 million outcome-based data points to rank universities from around the world according to four factors: quality of education (25%), employability (25%), quality of faculty (10%), and research (40%). This year, 20,966 universities were ranked, and those that placed at the top made the Global 2000 list – which includes institutions from 94 countries.
For the 13th year in a row, Harvard is the top university in the world. It is followed by two other private American institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) and Stanford, while the UK’s Cambridge and Oxford – ranking fourth and fifth respectively – are the world’s top public higher education institutions. The rest of the global top 10 is rounded out by private US universities: Princeton, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Yale and Caltech.
Despite claiming eight of the top ten places globally, American universities have been struggling to maintain their dominance against rivals worldwide.
With Chinese universities challenging their western counterparts, American and European institutions cannot afford to be complacent.
