Report: Hizbullah to leave Syria to prepare for conflict with Israel
Hizbullah is planning to withdraw its forces from Syria in 2018 in order to bolster its presence along the border with Israel, Lebanese news site Lebanon 24 reported on Tuesday (24th).
According to the report, Hizbullah’s high command issued a new order mandating that the last remaining Hizbullah fighters must leave Syria in early 2018.
The measure is designed to ensure the organization would be able to have a sizable presence along the Lebanese border with Israel should hostilities intensify.
(israelhayom.com)
Lebanon: Woman sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with Israel
A woman in Lebanon was sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of collaborating with Israel.
In her interrogation, the woman admitted that she had previously carried out security activities in Lebanon for Israel and had entered Israel several times.
(ynetnews.com)
Police shut down PA conference on eastern Jerusalem land-sales to Jews
Israeli authorities on Wednesday (25th) shut down a planned conference by the Palestinian Authority in east Jerusalem that aimed to urge Arabs to cease selling real estate in the city to Jews.
Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan ordered police to close down the planned event because it violates a clause in the 1994 interim agreement between Israel and the PA forbidding the Palestinians from organizing public events in Israeli territory.
“Palestinian Authority actions against Jewish residents in east Jerusalem is part of a plan to damage our sovereignty in Jerusalem and lay threat to Arabs who sell land to Jews,” Erdan said. “I will continue to take aggressive action to thwart any Palestinian attempts to extend their rule in Jerusalem.”
(jpost.com; israelnn.com)
Liberman: Gaza anti-tunnel barrier moving according to plan
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman toured the Gaza border Wednesday (25th) and told reporters that the anti-tunnel barrier was moving according to plan.
“The construction is moving at a good pace and this project is proving itself daily,” said Lieberman. “The south enjoys prosperity thanks to the security calm in the past year and a half, and we will work to keep it that way.”
(israelnn.com)
In shockingly absurd move, Europeans award father of slain Palestinian terrorist
On Sunday (22nd), the Geneva-based International Institute for Human Rights and Peace and the Caen Memorial for Peace presented a “human rights” award to Palestinian Arab lawyer Mohammed Allyan.
Allyan was honored for his legal representation three years ago of the wife of one of the terrorists involved in the synagogue massacre in Jerusalem.
Allyan is also the father of Bahaa Allyan, one of two terrorists responsible for the October 2015 attack on a Jerusalem commuter bus, during which three Israelis were mercilessly murdered.
Beyond the fact that Allyan raised a son capable of committing such atrocities, a year later, in 2016, he was arrested for publicly praising his son’s heinous actions during lectures at local elementary schools.
And the Europeans reward him as a champion of peace and human rights.
(israeltoday.co.il; israelhayom.com)
Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Authority hold joint disaster-response drills – Kaamil Ahmed
Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli emergency services participated in joint exercises on Tuesday (24th) in southern Israel to prepare for region-wide natural disasters.
The two-day exercise involved 400 firefighters, medics and first responders.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the operation was aimed at “saving lives, irrespective of nationality.”
The exercise is partly sponsored by the Italian, Spanish and French governments.
(aa.com)
Germany probes Kuwait Airways for discrimination against Israelis
Germany is investigating whether Kuwait Airways, in violation of air traffic laws, has refused to sell tickets to Israelis.
The probe, launched Tuesday (24th) by Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, follows a lawsuit filed by The Lawfare Project against the airline for alleged discrimination against an Israeli who sought to fly from Frankfurt to Thailand last summer but was denied a ticket purchase because of Israeli nationality.
The lawsuit against Kuwait Airlines is being heard in the city of Frankfurt.
(reuters.com; timesofisrael.com)
Yad Vashem honors Chilean diplomat as Righteous Among the Nations
Israel’s Holocaust center, Yad Vashem on, Sunday (22nd) posthumously honored Chilean diplomat Samuel del Campo, who risked his career to help rescue over a thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust.
Del Campo served as Chilean Charge d’Affaires in Bucharest from 1941-1943 and issued Chilean passports to Jews of Polish nationality.
Yad Vashem estimated that 1,200 Jews received Chilean passports, providing them with protection against deportation.
(jpost.com)
Theresa May vows to mark Balfour centennial ‘with pride’
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday (25th) that her country would celebrate “with pride” its role in the creation of the State of Israel and upcoming 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which pledged London’s support for a Jewish homeland. Her comments came amid Palestinian demands that Britain retract and apologize for the declaration, and one week before Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in London to celebrate the document’s centennial.
(timesofisrael.com)
FIDF New York gala event raises $35 million for IDF soldiers
The Hilton Midtown in Manhattan was decked out in green on Monday evening (23rd), when 1,200 guests from across the U.S. gathered to take part in a gala fundraiser for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces organization and shake the hands of the soldiers who defend the country.
Master Sgt. Moshe, a 31-year-old resident of Ashdod and a team leader in the elite Egoz Unit, said, “It is exciting to see how soldiers are embraced here.”
Moshe was one of 26 soldiers and officers who took part in the event, along with veterans’ of the country’s wars and former head of the Israeli Air Force, Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel, and in addition, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.
Eshel gave a speech and said that the human element was what made the difference in the IDF.
“We have amazing technology, but the game-changer in the IDF is the soldiers. We have the best people. And these excellent people, who make all the difference and effectively serve as a shield for all the Jewish people, know that on the other side of the ocean, there are people who look out for them and support them,” the former IAF commander said.
This annual event in New York is the FIDF’s main fundraising event in the U.S.,traditionally raising tens of millions of dollars for israeli soldiers.
(israelhayom.com; ynetnews.com)
