News Digest — 6/2/23
Security Cabinet Set To Meet To Discuss Threat Of Multi-Front Clash With Iran
The Security Cabinet is set to meet this week to discuss a potential multi-front conflict including Iran and Hezbollah, amid concerns of Tehran’s progress toward nuclear weapons capabilities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will also hold a security assessment before the security cabinet meets Sunday (4th), Channel 12 News reported Thursday (1st)
The meetings were set up amid escalated tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and Israeli warnings that a broad conflict could break out over the issue.
Tehran has been ramping up nuclear development since 2018 when the US unilaterally withdrew from a landmark pact capping enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.
Talks to revive the deal fell apart last year, but recent reports have indicated steps to possibly renew the diplomatic initiative, sparking Israeli concerns that a new deal could legitimize Iran’s nuclear activity and erase international support for potential military action.
Israel continued to warn against such an agreement Thursday (1st), with both Netanyahu and Gallant adding to fevered saber-rattling already taking place between the countries.
Also, this week, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi held meetings in Washington with White House and State Department officials to discuss the Iranian threat.
According to a brief White House statement on Thursday (1st), Hanegbi and Dermer met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan earlier in the day for “continued discussions” on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and “ways to counter threats from Iran and its proxies.” The trio also discussed shared US-Israel concerns with Russia’s “deepening military relationship with Iran.”
A second IAEA report on Wednesday (5/31) found that Iran has significantly increased its stockpile of enriched uranium in recent months to more than 23 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.
The IAEA report estimated that as of May 13, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was at 4,744.5 kilograms (10,460 pounds). Of that, 114.1 kilograms (251 pounds) were enriched up to 60% purity.
Enrichment levels of around 90% are required for use in a nuclear weapon – a short technical step from their current level.
While IAEA head Rafael Grossi has warned that Iran now has enough uranium to produce “several” bombs, months more would likely be needed to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put it on a missile.
Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons capability, insisting its activities are entirely peaceful.
Hamas, PIJ Leaders Meet In Cairo Amid Warming Ties With Iran
Terror chiefs belonging to the Gaza-based Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are heading to Cairo for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials amid reports of warming relations between Egypt and the terror groups’ main sponsor, Iran.
The discussions aim to preserve the current ceasefire agreement with Israel and address the dispute between Hamas and the ruling Fatah faction led by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, according to the Jerusalem Post. Several attempts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah have failed in the past.
The upcoming talks mark the first of their kind since the recent round of fighting between Israel and PIJ in Operation Shield and Arrow.
Egypt played a crucial role in brokering the ceasefire after the five-day flare-up with assistance from Qatar and the United Nations.
The Hamas delegation will include officials from the Gaza Strip and Qatar. It is unclear whether PIJ Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhaleh, based in Lebanon, will participate in the talks. Other Palestinian officials, including de facto Hamas Prime Minister Issam al-Da’alis and PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, also visited Cairo this week for discussions with Egyptian officials on various topics including economic development and increased trade.
The Palestinians “need Egypt today more than ever,” Shtayyeh said.
The Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said in a report this week that Cairo has “welcomed recurring indications from Iran to strengthen its relations with Egypt.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said this week that Tehran welcomes an upgrade in ties with Egypt.
Opinion: Why Are Israelis So Happy, And Why Isn’t It Newsworthy? By Jacob Sivak
In 2017, when I first became aware of the World Happiness Report, I read that Israel was ranked the 11th happiest country in the world in a survey of more than 150 countries.
The report, a creation of the United Nations, is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network using data collected from citizens of each country by Gallup. Each report is a comprehensive document compiled by a team of experts.
The report, issued yearly from 2012, takes into account gross domestic product (GDP), social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. The results are based on self-reported evaluations by those surveyed, and each year’s numbers are calculated as averages of three years, the current year and two previous ones. The numbers represent all citizens, including, in Israel’s case, two million Arab citizens.
In the 2022 rankings, Israel moved up to number 9, with the northern European countries dominating the list. Finland ranked number one.
But the big surprise is the latest report, for 2023. In it, Israel moved up 5 positions to number 4, behind Finland (number one for the sixth year in a row), Denmark and Iceland. Canada was number 13 and the US number 15.
Virtually every Israeli news service, as well as Jewish ones in the Diaspora, reported this startling result.
The most compelling interpretation was given by Miriam Shaviv in the Jewish Chronicle. She asks how residents of a country subject to wars, existential threats, terrorist attacks, and internal tensions, can be so happy?
The answer lies in the exceptional level of social support, characterized by strong family and community ties, experienced by Israelis: “Even secular Israelis will have Friday night dinner together regularly and come together to celebrate festivals, Independence Day, births, bar and bat mitzvahs and huge weddings.”
Shaviv points out that the latest report is based on data collected before the recent judicial review protests engulfed Israel. While it is possible that the rankings will go down, she doubts it. To her, the protests are indicative of the strength of Israel’s social fabric, and the demonstrations have only reinforced the sense of solidarity and kinship among its citizens.
A number of mainstream media outlets have reported the latest Happiness report results, but there has been little or no notice of the substantial jump in ranking for Israel. The New York Times recently published an article on Finland’s consistent number one happiness position, but nothing about Israel.
News stories predicting doom and gloom for the Zionist enterprise are not uncommon. Just look at the titles of recent articles published in The New York Times by Thomas Friedman and Isabel Kirshner. Are these merely examples of good critical journalism, or is there more to it? What is it that makes bad news about Israel so engrossing, while good news is not welcome?
Jacob Sivak, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor, University of Waterloo.
Anti-Israel Extremists Praise Terrorism While Protesting Toronto’s “Walk With Israel”
On May 22, an estimated 20,000 people gathered in North York, Ontario for the annual “Walk With Israel” celebration. This year, a contingent of anti-Israel protesters came to spew outright expressions of hate. These protesters chanted, “Jihad, Jihad, Jihad, Allah Akbar. Long live Hamas….Long live Hezbollah.”
Hamas, dedicated to the destruction of Israel through violent means, is recognized as an extremist Islamist terrorist group by the governments of Canada, the U.S., UK, and EU. Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist terrorist organization, on Israel’s northern border, with thousands of rockets pointed at Israel, backed by Iran. Both terrorist groups have launched rockets into Israel population centers, killing innocent civilians.
The protesters also praised acts of violence against Israelis. “There is only one solution: Intifada, revolution,” they chanted. In the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005, Palestinian individuals and terror groups murdered about 1,000 Israelis in restaurants, discotheques, bus stations, and supermarkets. While anti-Israel activists have the right to protest Israeli actions, that right does not extend to praising terrorist groups and advocating for violence against Israelis
Dust And Strong Winds: Israel Braces For Extreme Heatwave
Intense extreme heatwave-temperatures (104F), and the danger of fires: That’s what is expected on Friday (2nd) across Israel, in what will supposedly be the hottest day since the beginning of spring.
But before the heatwave, a sandstorm and heavy fog in Israel’s south led to the delay on Thursday evening (1st) of two flights that were supposed to take off from Tel Aviv to Ramon Airport near Eilat.
Huge sandstorms were recorded in Israel’s Arava desert region on Thursday night (1st). In videos taken in Eilat, a huge sand cloud is seen coming to the southern city.
The sandstorms came from Egypt, and left casualties behind. In Cairo, one person was killed and five were injured after a billboard fell on the road. The sky in Cairo turned gloomy in orange tones, and filled the sky of the Egyptian capital with sand. The sandstorms and strong winds also led to the closure of two Egyptian ports in the Red Sea.
The sandstorms were also recorded earlier in central Israel.
A palm tree fell on a car in Hod HaSharon, with a woman sitting in the driver’s seat who fortunately suffered only minor injuries. The driver, Aviva Guterman, said, “I was driving when in the middle of the journey, the tree collapsed and fell on my car. I was fortunate. It was a huge tree. It fell on the passenger’s side. If someone had been sitting there, it would have been a disaster. My husband was supposed to accompany me, but in the end, he stayed at home. It was a miracle, The car was completely destroyed.”
The Nature and Parks Authority announced that due to the severe heatwave conditions and high risk of fires, all hiking trails in the nature reserves and national parks in the Judean Hills and the Shefela region will be closed starting Friday (2nd). Visitors will only be allowed to access designated sites near a water source and shade.
The Jewish National Fund warned hikers to not start fires in forests due to the risk of wildfires.
“Due to the expected severe weather forecast, lighting fires in wooded areas is absolutely forbidden. We call upon the public to show responsibility and act with caution to prevent fires that could endanger human lives, animals, and natural vegetation,” Rami Zaritsky, JNF’s fire officer said.
