Rocket hits western Negev – none injured
A Kassam rocket fired from the northern Gaza Strip exploded in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council limits Tuesday (15th). No injuries or damages were reported.
(ynetnews.com)
Tel Aviv University students marking Nakba faced counter protest
Palestinian students at Tel Aviv University who marked Nakba Day with an approved campus ceremony were met with a counter demonstration Monday (14th).
The ceremony marking Nakba Day, or Catastrophe Day – which marks the date on the Gregorian calendar when Israel achieved statehood in 1948 and is commemorated with mourning, took place Monday outside the main gate of the university despite opposition from campus employees and students.
The ceremony was not allowed to be broadcast on loudspeakers or sound systems.
The approximate 400 Palestinians participants in the demonstration were met with an equal amount of counter pro-Israel demonstrators according to Ynet. At least three people were arrested.
Israel proclaimed its independence on May 14, 1948.
(jta.org)
Palestinian journalists banned from meeting Israeli counterparts
A Palestinian journalists’ group in the West Bank has banned its members from meeting with Israeli journalists.
The penalty for such a meeting is expulsion from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Khaled Abu Toameh reported in the Jerusalem Post.
The ban came after Israeli and Palestinian journalists met in Oslo, Norway, on World Free Press Day, May 3. They have met several times in recent months in other European countries.
Palestinian journalists who meet with their Israeli counterparts also will be fired, a senior syndicate member told The Jerusalem Post.
(jpost.com)
Israel Navy commandos conduct largest exercise in Decade – Yohanan Levin
Last week, Israeli Navy commando forces carried out their largest drill in the past decade, together with the Israeli Air Force, as soldiers simulated neutralization of an enemy force at sea, ship malfunctions, and evacuation of an injured soldier by helicopter – all within narrow time limits. Later the ships were deployed along Israel’s Mediterranean coast. All the sailors went on deck to witness a powerful site that had not been seen in a decade – visual proof of the size of Israel’s naval strength. Lt. Amir, a ship commander, remarked: “To see all the ships together along Israel’s coast gives us great pride and assures us that Israel’s civilians can sleep well at night.”
(dover.idf.il)
Poll: Israelis want peace negotiations but don’t believe they will succeed
While 71% of the Israeli public favors holding peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, 67% do not believe that negotiations will lead to peace in the coming years, according to the April 2012 Peace Index Survey of the Evens Program for Conflict Resolution at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Democracy Institute.
58% said they did not believe there is a real chance to resolve the conflict in accordance with the “two states for two peoples” formula in the next ten years.
(peaceindex.org)
Iran executed spy for Israel on Tuesday
Iran upheld a death sentence against a man convicted for assassinating a nuclear physicist two years ago, and 13 others may face the same fate after having been found guilty on Sunday (13th) of working for the Israeli Mossad spy agency.
The Tehran prosecutor said on Sunday (13th) that Majid Jamali Fashi, convicted for assassinating nuclear physicist Massoud Al-Mohammadi, would be executed as planned, the Tehran Times reported.
The death sentence by hanging was carried out on Tuesday (15th).
(tehrantimes.com)
IDF official: Iran could order Hizbullah to hit Israel
Lebanon’s Hizbullah may not want a new war with Israel but an order to attack would come from Tehran in the event of a strike on Iran, a senior military official in Israel’s northern command told AFP.
And should another conflict break out between Israel and the Shiite terrorist group, it would be “much faster” than the 34-day war of 2006 said the official.
Any military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would likely spark a deadly response from its ally Hizbullah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday (11th) that its missiles could strike anywhere in the Jewish state.
(afp.com)
Israeli Army: Media paints incomplete picture of terrorist threats
The Israeli army complained in a blog post last week that both the international and the Israeli media paint a grossly incomplete picture of the terrorist threat facing the Jewish state by regularly ignoring significant security incidents.
In the post, army officials listed a selection of nine abortive or thwarted attacks in 2012 that received almost no media coverage. Most of the incidents involved Israeli soldiers apprehending armed terrorists before they could reach Jewish targets. For instance:
On January 2, soldiers arrested two Palestinian men armed with automatic rifles as they attempted to leave the Samarian town of Nablus. Had the two reached a Jewish settlement or town in Israel proper, a massacre could have ensued.
On April 11, again at the Nablus checkpoint, soldiers stopped a Palestinian man carrying several bombs, three knives and 50 bullets. The incident occurred over Passover holiday, a time when Israelis regularly congregate in public in large numbers.
On April 21, two Palestinian teenagers were arrested after soldiers found them in possession of five bombs, a gun and ammunition.
In addition to the incidents listed, it should be noted that towns and villages in the western portion of Israel’s southern Negev region continue to suffer regular mortar and missile attacks from neighboring Gaza. Most attacks are not reported, as they have become a regular occurrence.
The sad reality is that terrorist incidents have become so commonplace in Israel that they rarely make headlines, even in Israel, unless people are hurt or killed. The unfortunate result of that practice is that the security situation in Israel is painted far less severely than it really is.
The IDF stressed that terrorists are still trying to kill Israelis every single day. Thanks to the efforts of Israel’s security forces, the vast majority of those attempts are thwarted, but that does not diminish the fact that Israel is facing an enemy determined and hostile as ever.
While these incidents are probably ignored because without casualties newspapers wouldn’t sell or television watchers wouldn’t watch, there are others who simply gloss over unrelenting terrorism facing Israel because it does not mesh with their political agenda in the region.
(israeltoday.co.il)
Radicals attack ‘I Like Israel’ event in Germany
BERLIN – Right-wing radicals attacked a booth distributing pro-Israel materials at the “I Like Israel” event in the west German city of Siegen on Saturday (12th), resulting in physical injuries to two women and a man, according to the news outlet n-tv.
Roger Buckert, head of the pro-Israel group “NeverAgain” and an organizer of the booth, told n-tv that he was “not surprised but nonetheless shocked.”
The assault involved four or five masked anti-Israel radicals believed to be active in the neo-Nazi political scene. “I Like Israel” is a nationwide annual event that blankets 64 German cities and towns to promote solidarity with the Jewish state and celebrate its Independence Day.
According to n-tv, there have been verbal tirades against Israel supporters at the “I Like Israel” event in the past, but not physical attacks.
(jpost.com)
Booming cherry crop in Israel
Israel is enjoying a bountiful cherry season this year, thanks to a frigid winter that helped trees “sleep” before waking up in the spring to yield approximately 6,500 tons.
The crop is so huge that farmers had to take the rare step of thinning the fruit before it ripened in order to allow each cherry to grow and avoid overweight tree limbs that could crash to the ground.
Gush Etzion, where kibbutzim grow cherries on nearly 250 acres, expects to pick 800 tons. Regional tourist officials are gearing up for the annual Cherry Festival in June, when thousands of people are expected to visit and pick their own cherries.
(israelnationalnews.com)