News Digest — 6/6/23
IDF: 2 Soldiers Hurt In Huwara Ramming Attack; Assailant Detained
Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in a car-ramming attack in the northern West Bank town of Huwara on Monday evening (5th), the military and medical officials said.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Palestinian driver intentionally rammed his car into the two soldiers. The pair were taken to the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah, which reported they were in moderate condition.
The Palestinian driver initially fled the scene, before being caught by troops near an entrance to the city of Nablus, where he was arrested.
He was handed over to the Shin Bet security agency for further questioning.
It was the second car-ramming attack to take place in Huwara in recent weeks, after a soldier was moderately hurt under similar circumstances on May 21. The driver turned himself in to security forces two days later.
Huwara has long been a flashpoint in the West Bank, as it is just about the only Palestinian town that Israelis regularly travel through in order to reach settlements. There are plans to build a bypass road for settlers to avoid having to travel through Huwara, but the construction work has been slow.
There have been several shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in the town of Huwara in recent months, including the killing of two brothers in February. Also last month, a Palestinian woman stabbed a soldier in Huwara, before being shot dead.
IDF Golani Brigade Participating In ‘African Lion’ Exercise In Morocco
A delegation of 12 soldiers and commanders from the Golani Brigade’s elite unit in the IDF, joined the “African Lion 2023” international exercise in Morocco on Sunday (4th), according to the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit.
This is the first time that the IDF is participating in the multinational exercise.
Led by the IDF Ground Forces, the exercise brought together approximately 18 countries and 8,000 soldiers from the United States, Morocco and Ghana.
The Golani Brigade’s 12-member delegation, comprising highly trained combatants and commanders, left for Morocco on Sunday (4th) to partake in this collaborative training opportunity.
Over the course of the upcoming two weeks, the Golani Brigade soldiers will focus on a series of diverse combat challenges. These challenges will encompass urban warfare tactics, honing their skills in asymmetrical warfare and specialized underground operations.
The training will culminate in a joint exercise involving all participating forces, where they will consolidate their collective training experiences.
The primary objective of the “African Lion” exercise is to foster stronger bonds between participating nations and promote mutual learning among foreign armies. By engaging in the multinational platform, the IDF aims to strengthen international relationships and enhance cooperation in the realm of defense and security.
(jpost.com; reuters.com)
Jerusalem Is Seeing A Revolution, Mayor Moshe Lion Says
Jerusalem is in the middle of a revolution, Mayor Moshe Lion said in a keynote speech at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on Monday afternoon (5th).
“There are new office buildings, new arts and sports centers, new community centers and hotels taking their place on the Jerusalem landscape,” he said.
Lion called Jerusalem “a city with an amazing history, and a city with the world’s holiest sites,” but then went on to tell the audience about the many developments in his city’s hi-tech sector, where new startups and international companies continue to join over 600 tech companies that are already in Jerusalem and are employing 20,000 people. “We have 40,000 people studying engineering at our universities and colleges,” Lion added.
He especially emphasized three big projects in Jerusalem: “A new business district at the center of the city, a new high-tech and innovation hub at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Silicon Wadi at the Wadi al Joz neighborhood, an advanced program to build 200,000 sqm. of high-tech buildings, hotels, and restaurants, which will bring investment to the east of Jerusalem.
Lion emphasized the “special bond” between the cities of New York and Jerusalem, adding that “New York is a city that has more songs and books about it than any other city in the world, except Jerusalem. Yes, New York is so great they named it twice, but Jerusalem is so great it has 70 names,” he added.
Lion ended his speech by stressing that he wants to develop a strategic plan for the benefit of all residents of Jerusalem, including Jews and Arabs as well as religious and secular populations, so that the city may live up to the full scale of its potential.
“Jerusalem is only as strong as its weakest thread and I am committed to making the whole city as strong as it can be. Dear friends, Jerusalem can and must be an example for everyone all over Israel, all over the Middle East and all over the world. I am proud that Jerusalem is a symbol of unity and mutual respect,” Lion concluded.
EU Right-Wing Alliance Defies Brussels, Holds Conference In Jerusalem
Members of the European Conservatives and Reformists alliance arrived in Israel over the weekend to hold one of the group’s two annual conferences in Jerusalem.
Despite being part of the European Parliament, the ECR (of which Israel’s Likud Party is also a member), disagrees with Brussels’ stance that the European Union should not recognize the city as Israel’s capital. Indeed, no EU country has so far moved its embassy to Jerusalem.
The alliance has 66 members from 14 parties from around the world. Its president is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, known for her warm relationship with Israel and only a few months ago received an official request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consider moving the Italian embassy to Jerusalem.
While Israel’s Foreign Ministry boycotts some of the ECR’s extreme-right member parties, the alliance decided to hold its event in Israel despite this, according to an ECR official.
At a conference meeting on Sunday (4th), ECR Secretary General Antonio Giordano revealed some of the pressures exerted on the alliance not to come to Israel.
“When we decided to organize the annual event in Jerusalem, shortly after an attack that took place in April, we were asked if we were sure of this decision. Our response was decisive: If not now, when?”
“The people of the right show solidarity with each other not when there is power to share it, but when you have to stand by friends in trouble,” he said.
During the weekend, alliance delegates were hosted by Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel on behalf of the Likud, and also visited Jerusalem’s holy sites.
“Those who share our view that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish State, must join forces,” Gamaliel told alliance delegates. “We must operate proactively to preserve Jerusalem’s status.”
Iran Appointed Vice-President Of UN General Assembly
The Iranian regime was appointed Thursday (1st) as one of the vice-presidents of the United General Assembly which will begin next September. Iran’s envoy Heidar-Ali Calouji was also appointed the rapporteur of the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Committee.
The U.S. Mission to the UN expressed its opposition to Iran’s leadership throughout the UN system, saying: “Iran cannot act as an honest broker in its role as a Vice President of the General Assembly, because it has shown, time and time again, that it does not seek to enhance global peace and security, but rather works against it.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the decision “shameful,” saying: “In addition to murdering its own citizens, attacking innocents around the world and racing towards a nuclear weapon with the goal of wiping Israel off the map, Iran will now serve in a senior UN position. This is the same country that calls for the destruction of another member state of the organization it represents,” referring to Iran’s repeated call that Israel must be obliterated from the face of the Earth.
At United Hatzalah, Jews And Muslims Work Together To Save Lives In Israel
When Eli Beer set out to establish United Hatzalah of Israel in 2006, his goal was getting to every medical emergency within 90 seconds.
“If we had remained within our communities, we would have never been able to get everywhere in 90 seconds,” Beer, who today serves as the founder and president of the organization, recalled, speaking at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference, in New York on Monday (5th). “In order to achieve our goal we needed to reach out to our neighbors and to people we didn’t have a relationship with starting with the Arab community.”
Some 17 years later, United Hatzalah responds to almost 2,000 emergency calls every day, with hundreds of volunteers from every sector of Israeli society, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, secular, religious and ultra-Orthodox men and women.
“For me and my family, it has been important to support Hatzalah because it saves lives with very limited resources,” said Erica Gerson, a Board member of the EMS organization and a reform rabbi.
“In addition, it means so much to see the humanity of Israel at its best within our organization,” she added. “It is more than pluralism – It is all really about humanity.”
Echoing the same sentiments were also two Hatzalah volunteers, Batya Widawsky, a religious Jewish woman, a resident of the West Bank, and Nazir Aweida, a Muslim man and a resident of eastern Jerusalem.
“When we are at an emergency scene, religion doesn’t matter, we all work together, people of all faiths, to save people of all faiths,” said Widawsky.
“My family is very proud of what I’m doing and people in my neighborhood are happy to have an EMS first respondent,”Aweida said. “As a Muslim, the Koran teaches me to help everyone in need because saving a life is the highest value.”
“This is a message that I also want to teach my children – to volunteer and give more and more under the umbrella of Hatzalah for the people of our country,” he concluded.
U.S. Defense Official: Israel Is Our “Most Combat Credible And Capable Military Partner” In The Middle East – Mike Wagenheim
Dana Stroul, the Pentagon’s top Middle East policymaker, told JNS that the decision to transfer Israel from the U.S. military’s European Command to its Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, was “a strategic game changer for how the United States can partner with Israel and our Arab partners in the region to advance security and stability.”
→ The Pentagon thinks that sharing intelligence, exploring integrated air and missile defense, and expanding maritime awareness “contribute in a positive way to security and stability,” Stroul said. “We work on it every day.”
→ “We see Israel and the IDF as the most combat credible and capable military partner for CENTCOM.” Deepening that relationship helps prepare Israel and the U.S. “to respond to a variety of scenarios, and that includes Iran’s destabilizing activities… We are constantly sharing exchanges on Iran nuclear advances, and discussing how both sides will most effectively work together to address them.”
→ “The United States learns as much from Israel as Israel learns from the United States, and it’s not just Iron Dome. It’s what Israel has achieved with a multi-layered air defense system, and the expertise which it brings to bear every day to protect civilian lives.”
(jns.org)
