News Digest — 6/15/23
Iran’s President Raisi Arrives In Cuba
Iran’s President arrived in Cuba early Thursday (15th) morning, according to Trabajadores, Cuban pro-government newspaper. He was met at the airport by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist party of Cuba and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Raisi is on a five-day trip to South American countries.
In Venezuela, he spoke about the need to confront the United States and create a “new world order” that would overturn the US-led world order that has existed since the end of the Cold War.
Raisi arrived at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. He was met by Iran’s ambassador to Cuba Mohamad Hadi Sobhan, “During his stay, the distinguished visitor will hold talks with Cuban authorities and carry out other activities of interest,” the Cuban media said. Raisi is expected to meet with President Miguel Diaz-Canel Thursday (15th).
The current president of Cuba was retained in his position for the second five-year term by the National Assembly of the country in April this year. Earlier in April 2018, he was elected president and succeeded president Fidel Castro’s brother Raul.”
According to Iran’s Fars News Raisi arrived in Cuba and this is the 15th country the Iranian leader has visited. He has also traveled to Central Asia, Oman, Syria, and Indonesia during his time in office.
This is a major trip for Raisi and important for Iran’s influence globally. “Hossein Amirabdollahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javed Oji, Minister of Oil, Mohammad Reza Qaraei Ashtiani, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, Bahram Ainullahi, Minister of Health, and Mohammad Jamshidi, Political Deputy of the President’s Office, are among the President’s companions on this trip,” Iran’s pro-government media said.
(farsnews.ir; jpost.com)
Bedouin Tribe Which Lost 18 Family Members In IDF Recognized
A Bedouin tribe that has been steadfast in its support for Israel and its security despite having 18 family members killed in the line of duty was honored Wednesday (14th) by American Jewish Committee (AJC) with its Moral Courage Award.
Several members of the Sawaed family have served in the Israeli security services. Two family members, Trad and Mustafa Saeaed, told AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv the Muslim family serves for a simple reason: They are Israeli and have the same rights and responsibilities as their Jewish counterparts.
“Here we were born, here we live together, in the State of Israel, and we are equal citizens, and equality is expressed in everything,” Trad Sawaed said after a two-minute standing ovation during the final plenary session at AJC Global Forum. “It’s our duty to help protect the security of Israel, the security of all of our homes.”
Trad’s brother, Omar, was kidnapped in October 2000 along with two other Jewish soldiers by the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which refused to release any information about the kidnappings. After a long campaign led by the families of the three soldiers as well as a lengthy negotiation process led by a third party, Israel agreed in 2004 to release 36 terrorists and the bodies of 400 terrorists, in return for the bodies of the murdered soldiers and an Israeli who was kidnapped in Lebanon and returned alive.
The Sawaed tribe, which numbers in the thousands, lives in the Galilee in northern Israel. The family has unhesitatingly served in security services, despite the losses they have experienced.
“There is nothing more painful than losing a son, brother, father, cousin or friend,” Trad Sawaed said in Hebrew. “The pain is endless. It is difficult to describe the grieving process in words, but the hugs we receive from our Jewish brothers, our partners, our comrades in arms, is enormous. For them, we are part of their flesh. For us the feeling is the same.”
Among the relatives the family had to bury recently was Asil Sawaed, 22, a Border Police officer, stabbed to death in February by a 13-year-old Palestinian Arab assailant at a Jerusalem checkpoint.
Mustafa Sawaed, Asil’s brother, said the pain of Asil’s murder was tempered somewhat by the outpouring of support from all walks of Israeli life.
(isnn.com)
‘Sky Sonic’: Israel’s Rafael Developing Anti-Hypersonic Missile For Combat
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems on Wednesday (14th) announced that it is mid-stream in working on developing a system to shoot down hypersonic missiles, dubbing its new project the “Sky Sonic” system.
Rafael Chairman Yuval Steinitz said that the current era has more of a focus on the threat posed by hypersonic missiles.
Steinitz said that while many define any missile which can fly at a speed beyond Mach 10 as “hypersonic,” the new threat that such missiles present is their ability to maneuver and alter their trajectory.
Many countries have expressed concern that no existing air defense, including Israel’s multi-tier defenses, could contend with such a threat.
Russia, China and Iran have all made various claims about processing or working on developing such advanced missiles.
He said that the Sky Sonic defense missile system is “versatile and can hit all hypersonic missiles, flying high or low, maneuvering more or less.
Further, the Rafael chairman said the new defense system “is already in development for a solution. If someone thought we were going downward in defense, we are deep into this.”
Rafael CEO Yoav Har Even added, “We decided three years ago before the public started talking about it…we identified this as the next thing that must have a solution.”
Har Even said Rafael initiated its project for the simple reason that it fulfills the company’s key missions: developing solutions helpful to Israel’s defense which are at the forefront of technological development.
Steinitz said that Rafael was revealing its work on the project leading into next week’s Paris Air Show, which displays state-of-the-art defense sector systems, and following a process to convince the Israeli Defense Ministry to approve the project’s announcement.
(timesofisrael.com; isnn.com)
Germany Reaffirms Commitment To Israel’s Existence, Condemns Antisemitism
Germany reaffirmed its commitment to Israel’s existence in the outline of its national security policy on Wednesday (14th).
The 39-page document, titled “Robust, Resilient, Sustainable Integrated Security for Germany,” is meant to lay out Berlin’s policies for the coming years.
In his opening note, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the document is “our compass…the first in the history of our country.” It is meant, among other things, to reflect Berlin’s “path towards more security and less dependence” in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, which brought Berlin’s over-reliance on Moscow for energy to light.
Israel is mentioned twice in the document. First, in the executive summary, under the category of “What shapes us: Germany in the World,” it states that Germany bears a special responsibility in Europe both as the continent’s most populous country and largest economy, as well as “in awareness of our history,” which is “why we will continue to take on responsibility for Israel’s right to exist.”
The German government expands upon this point later in the document.
“We act in awareness of our history and of the guilt our country bears for unleashing WWII and for penetrating the Shoah, that betrayal of all civilized values,” it states. “Reconciliation with our European neighbors and responsibility for Israel’s right to exist remains an enduring obligation for us.”
The security strategy also mentions fighting antisemitism, in its section on extremism.
“New forms of extremism have arisen that risk dividing our society and tipping into violence,” the document states. “They are aimed at undermining and delegitimizing democratic decision-making processes and state institutions. They often resort to conspiracy ideologies, some of them antisemitic. These anti-democratic forms of extremism also jeopardize our security.”
The security document also describes the Iranian threat, stating that the Islamic Republic “is not only violating the human rights of its own citizens, but also continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions, producing ever more highly enriched fissile material, and has blocked efforts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of 2015.
“In addition,” it states, “Iran’s missile program and its regional policy actions are fueling escalation and may give rise to new regional proliferation momentum.”
Germany, together with France and the UK, are the European parties to the JCPOA, known as the E3.
Some of Germany’s major pledges in the document include the reduction of one-sided dependencies in commodities through diversification of supply and the creation of incentives for firms to hold strategic reserves.
Germany also pledged to spend 2% of economic output on average, on defense, according to the summary – a weaker pledge, however, than the one made by Scholz days after the Russian invasion in a landmark speech heralding a “turning of era” in German foreign policy.
Scholz had said that Germany would from now on invest more than 2% of economic output on defense, up from around 1.5% currently, after years of resisting pleas from NATO allies to do so.
Palestinian Attacker of New York Jewish Man Sentenced To 18 Months In Jail
A pro-Palestinian activist who brutally beat a Jewish man on a New York street and bragged afterwards that he’d do it again was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Tuesday (13th).
In May 2021, Waseem Awawdeh, 25, and four other men targeted Joey Borgen, who was identifiably Jewish due to the kippah (yarmulke) he was wearing, as he walked to a pro-Israel rally in Manhattan.
Awawdeh and his accomplices pepper-sprayed, kicked, punched and beat Borgen with crutches in the unprovoked attack, leaving the victim hospitalized.
Originally, he was reportedly offered a lenient plea deal to serve six months in jail by liberal Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, but that agreement was rescinded after widespread outrage from Jewish advocacy groups.
In April, Awawdeh pleaded guilty to charges of attempted assault in the second degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, as part of a new plea deal that will see him serve up to 18 months in jail.
During a 2021 arraignment hearing shortly after the attack, prosecutors said that Awawdeh walked up to the victim and called him a “dirty Jew” and said “Israel! Hamas is going to kill all of you.”
Prosecutors added that Awawdeh had bragged about his crime, telling a jailer, “If I could do it again, I would do it again. I have no problem doing it again.”
“I’ve heard of waves of hate increasing through the city, and maybe I was a little naive to think it would never happen to me,” Borgen told the New York Post following the assault.
“I’ve been in New York my entire life and I would never in a million years have thought that it would get to this point where I would have to second-guess wearing a yarmulke in public.”
Another participant in the attack, Faisal Elezzi, was sentenced to three years of probation and mandatory “anti-bias training” in April 2023.
Three other men are currently awaiting trial for their roles in the assault on Borgen.
(nypost.com; worldisraelnews.com)
