 | ||
 |         |  |
 | ||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
 |  |
1. 70% of Likud Against Netanyahu Policies
by Maayana Miskin
Seventy-four percent of the public believes it is “not OK” that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made unilateral decisions regarding a building freeze instead of consulting with his cabinet and coalition. The widespread opposition to Netanyahu's decision was revealed this week in a Maagar Mochot (Brain Base) poll, commissioned by Dr. Aaron Lerner's IMRA (Independent Media Review and Analysis).
The public also opposes the government policy of demolishing unauthorized Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. Some 61 percent of those surveyed thought that the issue of unauthorized Jewish outposts should be solved by granting the outposts official government approval, instead of destroying them.
70% of Likud Against Netanyahu Policies
The poll found strong disagreement to Netanyahu's recent decisions among those who voted for Netanyahu's Likud party in the most recent election. Seventy percent of Likud voters said they opposed plans to freeze Jewish construction in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem, while 73 percent said the government should grant authorization to so-called “illegal outposts” instead of seeking to demolish them.
58%: Peace Now Really is a Virus
Pollsters also discovered that despite overwhelming media criticism of Minister Moshe Yaalon, who last week termed the Peace Now group “a virus,” the public tends to agree with Yaalon's remarks. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed expressed agreement with Yaalon, and said that Peace Now has caused significant damage to the state of Israel.
Only 28 percent of those surveyed did not agree that Peace Now has harmed the state.
MK Akunis: Respect Netanyahu
MK Ofir Akunis of Likud warned Thursday against attempts from within the Likud camp to protest Netanyahu. The “most important thing” is to support the prime minister, Akunis told Israel Radio.
Akunis, a former Netanyahu aide, expressed confidence that if the prime minister decides to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, he will be more successful than previous prime ministers, and would demand concessions such as PA recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a real attempt to stop terrorism.
The Likud MK called on his fellow MKs to avoid “the mistakes of the past,” saying that those who caused Netanyahu's first government to fall later regretted their act.
First-time MK Akunis joined the Likud in Knesset in the 20th slot, after replacing Moshe Feiglin in that spot. Feiglin lost his place as a result of a Likud elections court ruling, after Akunis argued that slot 20, which had gone to Feiglin based on voter support, should have been given to a regional representative such as himself. The ruling knocked Feiglin down to spot 36, leaving him without a chair in the 19th Knesset.
2. Ketzaleh: Shalit-Deal Reports Show Netanyahu Endangers Israel
by Gil Ronen
Following reports that Binyamin Netanyahu's government has agreed to release terrorist multiple-killers in exchange for captive soldier Gilad Shalit, National Union chairman MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) says that the Prime Minister “acts without a minimal strategy and endangers Israel.”
"We all want Gilad back,” Ketzaleh said on Friday. “There are many ways to do it, but the state needs to have a strategy. Even [previous Prime Minister E Olmert, with all of his weaknesses and failures, knew how to stand his ground, adopting the minimal strategic line... But with Netanyahu, everything breaks down.”
"It is a great danger to the State of Israel,” the MK from Beit El said, “that the person placed at its head is a man who could at best be a good corporate spokesman.”
Obsessive Polling
MK Katz added: "Netanyahu obsessively conducts a poll every day and checks what the media want. We know who the people running the media are, what their opinion and tendencies are. If the media starts purposely spreading the assessment that Tel Aviv should be dismantled, then he would decide to dismantle Tel Aviv. That is the method he used when he announced 'two states for two peoples' and that is how he became the first to freeze construction on an enormous scale.”
Ketzaleh explained that there were “many things” that Israel could do to save Shalit, including tightening the siege of Gaza, as well as cutting off electricity and water.
3. Shdema: IDF Stops Activists from Fighting Arab Vandalism
by Hillel Fendel
Following two weeks of Arab vandalism targeting the on-and-off Jewish presence at Shdema, the Jewish pioneers decided to step up their presence – and the army blocked them. MK Aryeh Eldad reacted sharply (see below).
The activists fear that though they have apparently succeeded in keeping at least part of Shdemah Jewish and under IDF control, the Arabs will be permitted to continue building – with American and European help – in vast areas around the hill.
"While the Arabs build massively down below, we’re still forced to bicker with the army about whether we can go up, and for how long, and if we can do a little refurbishing…”
Shdema is a former IDF base, in area that is under full Israeli control, in and around which Arabs from PA-controlled Beit Sahour have begun massive, illegal construction. Jews from nearby Gush Etzion and Jerusalem began a campaign 16 months ago to “keep Shdema Jewish,” including weekly classes and other activities, as well as lobbying politicians and recruiting public figures and Knesset Members to the cause.The result, so far, has been that the Civil Administration has prevented the Arabs from building atop the Shdema hill – where the Jewish activity is centered – but is allowing Arab construction in the adjoining area. This, despite court orders rendering the construction illegal.
Shdema activists – led by the Committee for a Jewish Shdema and Women in Green – wrote a letter this week to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, asking him to stop the loss of yet another piece of the Land of Israel to Arab hands.
Response to Vandalism
Meanwhile, over the past two weeks, Arab vandals have damaged Jewish property, including burning a Holy Ark, at Shdema. The activists decided to fight back by upgrading their presence at the site, arriving daily instead of weekly, for a couple of hours each day.
“The army’s ‘punishment’ of our efforts was not long in coming,” the Shdema people announced, “and today, Friday, the 8th of Elul, the IDF did not allow us to ascend to the hilltop. Large police and army forces, as well as concrete barriers at the foot of the hill, blocked our way. However, we established a tent at the foot of the hill, where we hung our signs and flags and held our lecture-class as scheduled.”
Struggle for the Rest of the Hill
“Now that we have learned that the hilltop will remain in IDF hands," the activists stated, "we have begun the struggle for the rest of the hill. We will continue to arrive next week every day – by foot, if necessary.”
Yehudit Katzover of Kiryat Arba, who heads the Committee to Keep Shdema Jewish, told Israel National News afterwards, "The situation is that in the north-northeast area of the hill, the Arabs have already built, with American and European aid, an amazing complex, with buildings, a park, a playground, and more. The IDF has done nothing to stop them, even though there are stop-work orders and the like. Meanwhile, while they build massively down below, we’re still forced to bicker with the army about whether we can go up, and for how long, and if we can do a little refurbishing…”
MK Eldad: "Peace Now has enough supporters among the Arabs and Jew-haters abroad; there is no need for their political supporters to be active in the IDF as well.”
“It’s a hard trek,” Katzover said, “but at least we see that the army is now present at the site more massively than it’s ever been before. It’s a familiar story from elsewhere in Yesha; we keep on coming and showing our presence, and finally, the army takes over, and then, hopefully, it will become a Jewish town.”
Arabs Wish to Build Hospital
“Now that the army has agreed to retain the top of the hill for its own purposes," Katzover said, "we said OK, let’s try to make sure that we can retain the area, or some of it, that is around the hill. As [Gush Etzion Regional Council chie Shaul Goldstein wrote to [Defense Ministe Ehud Barak, it is clear that if they are allowed to build a hospital, as they wish, that will be a major enterprise, and they will want to expand, etc. - and even the army’s hilltop will be in danger.” No response has been received yet from Barak’s office.
After the class on Friday, a group of activists attempted to ascend the hilltop, while the soldiers tried to block them. Some of the former made it up, while others lost the soldiers in the hills, and others were briefly detained. Afterwards, Mrs. Katzover said, “three leftist/anarchists went through and were not stopped, so we turned around and tried to stop them, explaining to the army that these people are enemies of all of us, and how they incite against us on their website, etc. The soldiers told us that they would not let them - , but we were unable to see if that’s what actually occurred in the end…”
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said, “The ban on Jews in Shdema by Central Commander Gen. Gadi Shamni, at the same time that he ignores Arab and anarchist vandalism in the abandoned army base, is simply a leftist political move, and has nothing to do with security."
Eldad continued: "Shamni, who served as Olmert’s and Sharon’s military secretary, is the proof that a general who was in politics may not be allowed to return to active military service. Peace Now has enough supporters among the Arabs and Jew-haters abroad; there is no need for their political supporters to be active in the IDF as well.”
4. Mesika: Close Down 'Peace Now'
by Hillel Fendel
Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council chief Gershon Mesika calls on the government to outlaw Peace Now and other organizations that are funded by foreign governments. Peace Now is currently suing against 15 new homes in Kiryat Netafim.
“Organizations funded by foreign governments whose objective is to cause internal division in Israel should be closed down,” Mesika said last week, after a Peace Now tour of Samaria. Labor MK Daniel Ben-Simon participated in what Mesika called the Peace Now “provocation.”
Continuing its incessant campaign against Jewish presence in Yesha, Peace Now has submitted a court petition demanding a halt to construction of 15 homes in Kiryat Netafim. Peace Now claims that part of the land is privately owned by Arabs.
Founded in 1984, the religious-Zionist Kiryat Netafim is home to over 100 families. It is located in central Samaria, between Ariel and Elkanah, near Yakir, Revavah and Barkan.
“Peace Now has a very smart system,” a source close to Mesika told Israel National News. “They find a local Arab who can claim, however dubiously, that the land is his, then they file a stop-construction suit, and then the courts immediately say, ‘Stop work now, and we’ll investigate afterwards.’”
Mesika on the Attack
"This suit is a classic example of the lying and hypocrisy of Peace Now,” Mesika responded to the group's latest move. “The construction in question is in an area zoned for residence in the town's master plan that was written up 25 years ago. The houses are on town property and are not on Arab lands at all.”
Moving to the broader view, Mesika said, "This is our historic homeland, and we have every moral and legal right to live and grow here. If we can't live here in the Shomron, what right do we have to be in Tel Aviv?"
5. Is Peres Acting Foreign Minister?
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
President Shimon Peres has been Israel’s de facto Foreign Minister to a certain extent, instead of the partially-shunned Avigdor Lieberman, according to a Newsweek analysis. Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, won the appointment as Foreign Minister by virtue of his party’s strong showing in the February general election.
However, his uncompromising statements on loyalty to the Jewish State and his frankness in “calling a spade a spade” when referring to Arab countries have resulted him in being hated by the media, feared by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and despised by Arab countries.
Egypt, one of the few Muslim countries with diplomatic ties with Israel, albeit with chilly relations, virtually boycotted Foreign Minister Lieberman shortly after he took office. Cairo remains furious that Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed Lieberman, the same man who previously said that if Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continues to refuse to visit the Jewish capital, “He can go to hell.”
The only time Mubarak came to Jerusalem was for the funeral of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
Enter Shimon Peres, the venerable Labor party veteran who joined Kadima and was deputy Prime Minister – again – under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Since winning the presidency, a position he has sought for years, he has assumed some of the role as Foreign Minister, in addition to being the first senior Israeli to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Newsweek Jerusalem bureau chief Kevin Peraino wrote Wednesday, “The dean of Israel's left has stepped aggressively into the spotlight this summer... At Davos earlier this year, it was Peres who found himself defending the Jewish State during a contentious debate with Turkey's prime minister, Recep Erdogan.
“And last week it was Peres again who announced that, after meeting with Russia's president, Dmitri Medvedev, the two had discussed the possibility of Russia scrapping its deal to provide Iran with sophisticated S-300 missiles. Where the prime minister or the foreign minister should otherwise be in charge, Peres has appeared to stand for Israel.
However, the president’s actions in the realm of foreign affairs is connected to the man and not the position, which traditionally is ceremonial. Peres, an eternal optimist, is well-respected throughout the world, and Newsweek noted that his image “takes the edge off Netanyahu’s hawkish image.”
One ally of President Peres, preferring to remain unnamed, told the magazine, "It can be stopped at any time that Netanyahu wants it to stop.”
His assumption of power without going through the usual system that would make him accountable creates a problem, Hebrew University professor Gadi Taub told Newsweek. “Imagine the queen of England intervening like this," he declared.
6. UNIFIL Mandate Extension Warns of Resolution 1701 Violations
by Maayana Miskin
The United Nation's Security Council voted Thursday to renew the mandate of UN troops in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL). The normally routine vote became the background for controversy this year as allegations surfaced regarding UNIFIL's enforcement – or lack thereof – of UN resolution 1701.
Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, forbids the presence of Hizbullah or other non-governmental armed forces between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani River.
According to the Lebanese Daily Star, the draft mentions “deep concern over violations relating to Resolution 1701, especially the latest dangerous violations,” but does not explicitly cite incidents such as the arms cache blast in July in southern Lebanon. The explosion was seen as a sign of Hizbullah activity in the area.
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, made it clear during Thursday's vote that Israel sees UNIFIL as responsible for enforcing the resolution. The renewed mandate will allow UNIFIL troops to make “increased efforts” to clear the region they patrol as required by 1701, she said. Her remarks were not incorporated into the resolution.
Recent events in southern Lebanon, including the blasts heard in July, show that non-governmental forces remain active in the area, Shalev warned. “A terrorist organization, Hizbullah, continues to deploy its assets and operates actively both north and south of the Litani river,” she told the council.
In addition to voting to extend the UN mandate, council members voted to review the UNIFIL structure. The UN may decide to increase UNIFIL's naval capabilities. UNIFIL was created in 1978. It's numbers were brought to 12,000 following the 2006 war.
7. Israeli Researcher Finds Natural Cure for Insomnia
by Ilana Teitelbaum
For some, getting a good night's sleep remains elusive. Neurim Pharmaceuticals hopes to change all that with its new drug Circadin.
Traditional sleeping pills have many side effects. Now an Israeli company is introducing a new drug that works with the body's natural processes to induce restful, restorative sleep.
When that good night's sleep becomes elusive, sometimes the only option is medication. But the sleeping pills now on the market often come with risks that may outweigh the benefits, inducing dependency, withdrawal symptoms, and occasionally even cognitive impairments such as short-term amnesia.
Not so with Circadin, a new drug produced by Neurim Pharmaceuticals and based on the research of company founder and chief scientific officer Professor Nava Zisapel at Tel Aviv University (TAU).
Unlike other sleep medications which suppress brain activity, Neurim says that Circadin works with the body's natural processes to induce a restful, restorative sleep. It does so by gradually releasing melatonin in the body - the hormone that prepares the body for sleep.
Possibly the worst aspect of insomnia is its deleterious effect on daytime functioning. That's where Circadin has an additional edge over its competitors.
"Circadin not only improves the onset of sleep, but also the quality of sleep," Zisapel, a neuroscientist, tells ISRAEL21c. "People who take the drug have reported that they have better daytime functioning and an improved quality of life."
Separating day from night
The drug is already being distributed in Israel and some countries in Europe by Neurim, which was set up in 1991 by Zisapel and her husband, entrepreneur Yehuda Zisapel (founder of the RAD Group), to develop treatments for age-related disorders. It is now in the process of obtaining approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Melatonin is produced in the body at the onset of darkness, preparing the body physiologically by lowering the blood pressure and body temperature. Its primary function is to separate day and night in the body's internal biological clock.
Since darkness is a trigger of melatonin, strong fluorescent lights can suppress its production. But other factors may also be involved: Anxiety, depression, or simply aging can suppress the production of melatonin and cause insomnia.
"People may start sleeping less well when they age," Zisapel points out. "The brain structure changes with age, and may lose the ability to produce melatonin if the pineal gland becomes calcified. It doesn't happen to everyone at the same age, but in general, people who begin to get gray hair are losing the ability to produce melatonin."
Circadin is therefore a hormone replacement therapy that becomes applicable if the pineal gland - the gland which produces melatonin - stops doing its job sufficiently.
Releasing melatonin gradually
Zisapel describes how Circadin works in a way that mimics the activity of the pineal gland. "Circadin produces melatonin in the same way as the gland: It starts slowly at around 10:00pm, gets to a peak at around 2:00am, and gradually stops by the morning. It releases melatonin in a gradual manner."
In reaching this point, it's been a long road for Zisapel, who began developing the formula in 1992 in her neurobiology lab at TAU. Because Circadin was a new kind of sleep medication, regulators insisted on much more clinical data than they had with other medications. The drug was finally approved for the market in Europe in 2007.
Zisapel became interested in the effects of melatonin during her post-doc work at Weizmann Institute, and researched the hormone's effect on animals for a decade before beginning to apply that research to humans. Now she is also researching a treatment for Parkinson's disease, as well as a treatment for insomnia that is induced by pain and depression.
Circadin recently completed a clinical trial in the US, which tested the drug for its efficacy in patients between the ages of 18 and 55. Until then, the target population for the drug was patients over 55, but the FDA required that Neurim, which has R&D in Tel Aviv and business development in Switzerland, expands its research to include younger patients.
"We just finished one study that shows what's going on in whole population over 18 and the drug is still effective, but we feel that patients aged 55 and older benefit the most," says Zisapel.
Reprinted by permission of Israel21c.
