News Digest — 6/16/23
Russia Opens Embassy Branch In Jerusalem
Five years after the U.S. dedicated its new embassy in Jerusalem, Russia is set to follow suit, Israel Hayom revealed.
According to the newspaper, in a secret agreement Russia and Israel agreed to open a Russian embassy branch in the center of Jerusalem.
In the agreement between the Jerusalem Municipality, headed by Mayor Moshe Lion, and the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia officially committed itself to planning, building and operating a consular branch in the Hamaalot parking lot off of King George Street, in central Jerusalem. In exchange, the city has promised not to expropriate the land for the benefit of the light rail line which is expected to pass nearby, instead seeking alternative transportation solutions.
The city will also allow the Russians to register as the owner of an area 328 feet in length, which will be used for the road to the future diplomatic compound, and it will remove any suits or demands from the Russian Federation, which for many years has avoided paying taxes as legally required.
At the same time, the parking lot will continue operating until the embassy branch is constructed.
The diplomatic compound will provide consular services to the residents of Jerusalem and its environs, and will also house diplomats, giving the land a higher status than that of a consulate. Under the agreement, construction will be completed within five years, with an option to extend it to ten years.
The agreement was signed in the Mayor’s Office on Jerusalem Day, and both Lion and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen took part in the negotiations over the past six months. Representing the Russians was their Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov, along with Sergei Makarov, who acted in the name of Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Representing the Jerusalem Municipality was General Manager Itzik Larry and legal adviser Eli Malka. The Foreign Ministry’s Euro-Asia department head, Yuval Fuchs, is also a signatory to the agreement.
Israel Plans First-Ever Sale Of Flagship Merkava Tank To European Country
Israel is in talks to sell its Merkava tank to two countries, one of them in Europe, in what would be the first export of the flagship fighting vehicle, a Defense Ministry official said on Thursday (15th).
Introduced after Israel’s armored corps suffered heavy losses against Egypt and Syria in the 1973 War, and with a view to reducing reliance on foreign arms supplies, the Merkava – biblical Hebrew for “chariot” – is now in its fourth generation.
Yair Kulas, head of the Defense Ministry export coordination department SIBAT, said record demand for Israeli products was due in part to countries wanting to replenish their arsenals after providing Ukraine with weapons for its war with Russia.
As a result, he told Calcalist newspaper, Israel was exporting surplus systems it had not previously sold abroad, including earlier-generation Merkavas.
“There are two prospective countries with which we are in advanced negotiations (for tank sales),” Kulas said. “I am barred from naming them, but one is on the European continent.”
Israel has provided Ukraine with humanitarian and diplomatic assistance but not arms, being mindful of the need to keep open channels with Moscow given Russia’s clout in next-door Syria.
(reuters.com; calcalisttech.com)
Khamenei: Judea And Samaria Terror Groups ‘Will Bring Israel To Its Knees’
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday (14th) declared that Palestinian towns in Judea and Samaria constitute a “major battleground” for terror groups fighting Israel.
“The growing power of the resistance groups in Judea and Samaria is the key to bringing the Zionist enemy to its knees, and this path must continue,” he said during a meeting with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror chief, Ziyad al Nakhalah, in Tehran.
Gaza-based, Iran-backed terror groups, including Hamas and PIJ, have sought to expand their influence in Judea and Samaria.
Multiple polls have shown that were elections to be held today, Hamas would overthrow the Palestinian Authority and the ruling Fatah faction from power.
Khamenei praised the PIJ, stating that “the enemy’s (Israel) passivity and inaction shows that the resistance factions have identified the right path.”
He also congratulated the terror group on “its recent victory over Israel,” according to the regime-affiliated Tehran Times.
“Today by God’s grace, the strength and credibility of the Palestinian resistance groups and Islamic Jihad is increasing day by day, and the recent defeat of the Zionist regime in the 5-day war confirms this.”
He continued, “The Islamic Jihad of Palestine ‘aced’ the test in the recent battle of Gaza, and now the conditions for the Zionist regime have changed compared to seventy years ago, and the Zionist leaders have the right to worry about not seeing the eightieth anniversary of this regime.”
Palestinian Poll: Islamist Terror Groups ‘Best Thing Since 1948’
According to a poll conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), 24% of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip believe that the establishment of these Islamist organizations and their violence against Israel was the best thing to happen since the “Nakba” (the establishment of the modern state of Israel and the events leading up to it).
Broken down by location, 16% of West Bankers say that the creation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad was the best thing, while 38% of Gazans took this position.
In second place, 24% of respondents in the West Bank and 15% in Gaza said the First and Second Intifadas were the most positive thing for Palestinians since the Nakba.
Just 9% of Palestinians said that the establishment of Fatah was the best thing to happen to them, while 80% of those polled said that they want Fatah/PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to resign as Leader of the Palestinian Authority.
A majority of 52% from both Gaza and the West Bank chose “armed struggle” as the most effective means of ending the “Israeli occupation” and building an independent state. That percentage was down by 2 points since the last survey. A total of 21% support negotiations while 22% chose “popular resistance.”
The poll surveyed 1,270 Palestinians face-to-face in 127 random locations between June 7 and 11 with a 3% margin of error. It was conducted after Israel celebrated its 75th year of independence.
Two-thirds (66%) of Palestinians surveyed do not believe that Israel will survive to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Support for a two-state solution stands at 28% while 70% of respondents oppose the idea.
Facts About Israel Every American Needs To Know – Uri Pilichowski
Israel is a calm and peaceful country. While the media covers the most sensationalist stories, there is little violence in Israel and statistically there is much more violence in any major American city.
While Jews have been accused of being colonial impostors with no connection to the Land of Israel, historical records, archeology and international consensus all demonstrate that the Jews have a 3,000-year connection to the land, long before Arabs immigrated there 1,300 years ago.
Almost 3,000 years ago, King David, the king of the Jewish people, inaugurated the city of Jerusalem as the capital city of the Jewish people. No other people had ever established Jerusalem as their capital.
Israelis aren’t responsible for Palestinian mistakes and miscalculations. There are inequalities between Israelis and Palestinians, caused largely by the Palestinians’ poor political choices, including terrorism, rejecting peace deals and intransigence.
The narrative of Israeli oppression is a fable. Claims of a life of hardship are contradicted by a plethora of Arab-owned late model luxury cars, and mansions spread throughout Judea and Samaria. Jobs in Israel and joint industrial zones are available to Arabs, and the health care and education available to Palestinian Arabs are among the highest rated in the Middle East.
Trial For Worst Antisemitic Attack In U.S. Enters Final Stretch
A survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre said Wednesday (14th) that she saw her right arm “get blown open in two places” by a gunman and cried “Mommy” after realizing her 97-year-old mother had been shot and killed by her side in the United States’ deadliest attack on Jewish people.
Andrea Wedner was the government’s last witness as prosecutors wrapped up their case against Robert Bowers, who burst into the Tree of Life synagogue building with a military-style rifle and other weaponry and opened fire, shooting anyone he could find.
Bowers killed 11 worshipers and injured seven other people, including five police officers, in the 2018 attack. The 50-year-old truck driver is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion, resulting in death.
Bowers’ attorneys did not put on a defense after the prosecutors rested, setting the stage for closing arguments and jury deliberation on Thursday (15th).
Assuming the jury returns a conviction, the trial would enter what is expected to be a lengthy penalty phase, with the same jurors deciding Bowers’ sentence: life in prison or the death penalty. Bowers’ attorneys, who have acknowledged he was the gunman, have focused their efforts on trying to save his life. Federal prosecutors ended their case against Bowers on Wednesday (14th) with some of the most harrowing and heartbreaking testimony of the trial so far.
Wedner told jurors that Sabbath services had started five or ten minutes earlier when she heard a crashing sound in the building’s lobby, followed by gunfire. She said her mother, Rose Mallinger, asked her, “What do we do?”
Wedner said she had a “clear memory” of the gunman and his rifle. “We were filled with terror – it was indescribable. We thought we were going to die,” she said.
Wedner called 911 and was on the line when she and her mother were shot. She testified that she checked her mother’s pulse and realized, “I knew she wouldn’t survive.” As SWAT officers entered the synagogue, Wedner said she kissed her fingers and touched them to her dead mother, and cried “Mommy,” and stepped over another victim on her way out. She said she was the sole survivor in that section of the synagogue.
Her account capped a prosecution case in which other survivors also testified about the terror they felt that day. Police officers recounted how they exchanged gunfire with Bowers and finally neutralized him, and jurors heard about Bowers’ toxic online presence in which he praised Hitler, espoused white supremacy and ranted incessantly against Jews.
Also testifying Wednesday (14th) was Pittsburgh SWAT officer Timothy Matson, who was critically wounded while responding to the rampage. He told jurors that he and another officer broke down the door to the darkened room where Bowers had holed up and was immediately knocked off his feet by blasts from Bowers’ gun. Matson, who stands 6 foot 4 and weighed 310 pounds at the time, said he made his way to the stairs and was placed on a stretcher, and remembered thinking, “I must be in bad shape.”
Matson was shot seven times, including in the head, knee, shin, and elbow and has endured 25 surgeries to repair the damage, but he testified he would go through the door again.
Bipartisan Group In House Urges Administration To Oppose International Court Of Justice Moves Against Israel
A bipartisan group of 35 U.S. House lawmakers urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (13th) to “submit a strong brief to the IJC [International Court of Justice] opposing an advisory opinion against Israel.” Their letter reads: “This is but the latest in a series of escalating attacks on Israel in the UN system, initiated by the Palestinian Authority, to unfairly and disproportionately single out the Jewish State. We urge you to vigorously support Israel as it defends itself against this proceeding.”
They added that the ICJ investigation, and the UN’s focus on Israel, are detrimental to the cause of peace and “[distract] attention and resources from grave human rights abuses and violations of international law committed by UN members such as Iran, China, Myanmar, and Russia.” They said the U.S. brief should defend Israel’s right to self-defense and the merits of a negotiated peace.
