News Digest — 9/2/20
Terrorist Injures Soldier, Policeman In Car-Ramming Attack Near Shechem
A terrorist ran his car over an IDF soldier and an Israeli police officer at the Tapuah Junction, south of Shechem (Nablus) on Wednesday morning (2nd).
The terrorist exited his car and drew his knife, as the police officer opened fire, wounding him.
The soldier and the police officer were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment, with light to moderate injuries.
A Magen David Adom paramedic present at the scene said, “When we arrived the two wounded men, 20 and 23, were standing, and conscious, suffering from their injuries.”
A week ago, Wednesday (8/26), Rabbi Shay Ohayon, 39, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian man in the middle of the afternoon.
The rabbi suffered multiple stab wounds to his upper body, He was found lying on the street in the middle of the day. He told someone who arrived to help that he’d been stabbed and muttered “terrorist, terrorist” before losing consciousness. He later died.
The terrorist was captured a short distance away.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Treachery And Treason: Iran Threatens UAE On Heels Of Israeli Visit
Jared Kushner and U.S. officials visited a major air base in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday (1st), speaking to Emirati and American pilots on the tarmac, as Iran’s supreme leader called the UAE’s recognition of Israel “treason that will not last for long.”
State media in Iran broadcast Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks which referred to the UAE’s recognition of Israel as a “stain” on the country.
“The United Arab Emirates committed treachery against the Islamic world, Arab nations, regional countries, and Palestine,” Khamenei said.
The US-brokered deal to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE reflects a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about the Iranian threat have overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.
The US and its allies promoted the deal as furthering regional peace and stability, but the belligerent threat by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underlined the Islamic Republic’s intent to stymie warming relations between the Arab world and Israel.
The US delegation, headed by Kushner, arrived in the UAE on an El Al plane on Monday (8/31) in the first-ever direct commercial flight between the two countries.
The Israeli delegation returned home Tuesday (1st) after a quick visit that included a series of high-level meetings, while Kushner continued on to Bahrain, where he met King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the state-run BNA news agency reported.
Both the UAE and Israel share a mutual need to defend against the Iranian threat. The UAE’s day-to-day ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has long warned about Iran’s intentions, particularly its nuclear program. That’s the same concern shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who regularly rings the alarm over Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
(ap.com)
Shofar Blasts Sound In Abu Dhabi As UAE Jews Join Israeli Delegation
Members of the Israeli delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined with members of the UAE Jewish community for morning prayers Tuesday (1st) at the St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The group included Meir Ben Shabbat, Israel’s national security adviser; Ross Kriel, president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates; and Solly Wolf, president of the Dubai Jewish community.
At the conclusion of the service, Rabbi Levi Duchman of Dubai blew the shofar, a ram’s horn traditionally blown during the Hebrew month of Elul.
Rabbi Duchman also recited a prayer for the welfare of the government and UAE military forces. He presented a copy of the prayer in a special velvet cover to Ben Shabbat.
“Not in vain do we call this agreement between Israel and the UAE, and those that will come in its wake, ‘The Abraham Accords.’ Abraham, our first patriarch, had an innovative vision. He came out against the beliefs that were current in, and before, his time,” said Ben Shabbat.
“He founded the faith in one God – the God who promised that he would be a source of blessing for us all: ‘and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’”
“By coming to establish relations between Israel and the UAE, we draw inspiration from our common patriarch and forge a new path: A brave path, of hope, partnership, brotherhood, prosperity, and peace,” he added.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Gulf Residents Excited, Palestinians In Shock
While there was excitement in the United Arab Emirates over the peace deal with Israel, and newspapers large and small carried front-page coverage of the historic news between the two nations, in the Palestinian capital Ramallah and the Gaza Strip the peace agreement was condemned.
Officials in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip condemned the meetings of the two delegations, saying, “The Emiratis continue to rub salt in the wounds of the Palestinian people who are groaning under the weight of the crimes of the Zionist occupation government, with whom the United Arab Emirates now has normalized relations.”
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh spoke out against the Israeli-US delegation to Abu Dhabi, saying at the opening of a PA cabinet meeting that “Our hope was to see a plan from the United Arab Emirates that would result in a liberated Jerusalem. It pains us to see an Israeli plane landing in Abu Dhabi … in clear violation of the Arab position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called Monday (8/31) a “black day in history,” and added that “The group of ‘normalizers’ won’t be forgotten in the history of our peoples. This scene will remain a mark of disgrace on the heads of the normalizers, who will never understand the danger of the Zionist entity.”
(israelhayom.com)
Waqf Fills Newly Discovered Pit On Temple Mount, Likely Hiding Ancient Jewish Artifacts
The Jordanian Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, filled an ancient pit recently discovered on the site with cement, in an attempt to cover up the important findings discovered in it.
Initial estimates show that it may have served as an entry point into an underground cavern dating to the Second Temple era, some 2,000 years ago.
The pit was uncovered Sunday (30th) on the Temple Mount under a large tile that fell into it, sparking excitement over the prospects of its historic significance.
The large hole was located on the southern side of the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount Heritage Foundation stated Tuesday (1st) that “once again we are witnessing the abandonment of the Temple Mount.”
“It is no longer a religious matter, it is a historical matter, and thus antiquities on the Temple Mount are being destroyed in 2020 and the State of Israel is doing nothing to stop it,” the organization charged.
The foundation further noted that in every other antiquity site in the country, anyone who would have filled an ancient pit with concrete would “have been thrown into prison.”
Israel has a severe set of laws against the destruction of historical sites.
The Waqf has been conducting extensive renovations at the Temple Mount, possibly causing the exposure of the hole.
For years, it has been involved in the destruction of artifacts found at the site, the vast majority of which attest to the deep and long-running Jewish ties to the holy site.
The Waqf excavations significantly compromised the archaeological integrity of the Temple Mount, leading many to suggest that the Waqf was intentionally attempting to eradicate evidence of two Jewish Temples that stood on the Mount.
The sifting project, which has operated since 2004 in the Emek Tzurim National Park, aims to salvage religious and historical artifacts from the rubble taken from the Temple Mount and dumped by the Waqf, as well as to educate the public about the authenticity of Jewish history on the Mount.
Salvation work at the site by Israeli archaeologists and volunteers have led to the exposure of half a million artifacts from periods ranging over thousands of years of Jewish history.
(tps.co.il)
