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1. ‘Obama will Shy Away from Nuclear Crisis with Israel’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama will not start a new crisis with Israel over its suspected nuclear capability, according to Bar-Ilan Political Science Prof. Gerald Steinberg. He said that the United States already "has enough complications" with Israel over the issue of building for Jews in all of Jerusalem and is not looking for additional problems.
The possibility of American pressure on Israel to sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty could be raised next week, when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu meets U.S. President Barack Obama at a nuclear summit. Israel’s official policy is “nuclear ambiguity,” meaning it does not acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons. Signing a non-proliferation treaty would counter that policy.
“Israel has understandings with the United States, and even Europe, that it is an exception and that Asian countries are much more of a worry,” he explained to Voice of Israel government radio.
Prof. Steinberg (pictured), who also directs the NGO Monitor watchdog organization, declared that President Obama’s latest attempts to place sanctions against Iran are too late to stop the Islamic Republic from attaining nuclear capability.
“North Korea already has nuclear capability, and Iran is moving in that direction,” he said. The fact is that the timetable for sanctions is a year old, and things are only just beginning to move. It really is too late. Until now, there have been only good intentions.
The American government may have given Prime Minister Netanyahu assurances that the United States will respect Israel’s position. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Wednesday, "This policy of ambiguity constitutes one of the pillars of Israeli national security and the Americans consider it very important. There is no reason for the Americans to change their approach or for Israel to change its position."
Israel and the United States reached an understanding in 1969 that Israel would not conduct any nuclear tests and that the American government would not pressure Israel on its nuclear program.
2. Everyone Loves Israel's Stock Market
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Rampant worldwide anti-Zionism has not stopped the international community from loving Israel when it comes to its financial markets. The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange’s popular TA 25 Index, which is heavily weighted by Teva Pharmaceuticals, reached an all-time high Tuesday.
Most global markets have reached or neared 18-month highs after the financial disaster of 2008-09 scared reporters into announcing the end of the capitalist system. Despite high unemployment rolls and bankruptcies of major companies such as General Motors and the Lehman Brothers financial house, stock markets generally are soaring, with Israel in the lead.
The biggest losers are those investment funds which ceded to anti-Zionist pressures and divested themselves from Israeli-based companies, many of which have been the most profitable investments in the world.
While a new high was registered in Tel Aviv, the popular Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York has risen only two-thirds from its low last year, and the indices in Tokyo, London and Japan have registered similar increases. The only major indices that have matched or outperformed Israel are the SENSEX 30 index in India, up 112 percent, and Russia’s MICEX, which has soared a whopping 192 percent from its low two years ago.
However, as soon as the TA 25 index touched its former all-time high, it quickly receded as investors took profits and others feared another bubble. The market on Wednesday is down by less than one percent.
The record high is somewhat illusory because of the strength of Teva, the Israeli firm whose generic products have made it an international star in the financial community. The stock has nearly doubled since the financial crisis, boosted by constant improvement in earnings and the continuous announcements of new products that the company says will double its sales in five years.
New York analysts also have been recommending several Israeli high-tech, defense industry and telecommunications firms that are traded on the NASDAQ exchange. The Partner and Cellcom stocks are in high favor because of a large dividend payout, up to 9 percent, which is far and beyond the near zero-interest rate in the United States.
Following the famous prediction by American stock market investor Bernard Baruch that the market “will fluctuate,” analysts are hesitant to predict the future. The Globes business site asked Israel financial executives to forecast which way the market will go, and answers generally were cautiously optimistic, with limited gains in sight.
3. This Week's Aid to Gaza
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel implemented special goodwill measures for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority residents in Gaza last week during the Christian holidays. The special measures, which were in effect from March 24 until Wednesday, April 7, included easier entry privileges into pre-1967 Israel from Judea, Gaza and Samaria.
Five hundred Christian residents of Gaza passed through area crossings in order to visit relatives and participate in religious ceremonies between April 1 and April 7. More than 10,000 Palestinian Authority residents of Judea and Samaria were allowed to enter pre-1967 Israel for the duration of the two-week period.
In addition, a number of senior delegations were authorized to cross into Gaza via the Erez terminal.
Shipments of clothing and shoes have also been authorized for entry into Gaza, along with the standard weekly deliveries of humanitarian aid.
4. Gaza Terrorists Break Pledge, Bombard Negev with Mortars
by Hana Levi Julian
Terrorists in northern Gaza fired six mortar shells at Jewish communities in Israel's western Negev early Wednesday morning, several days after promising to stop attacking civilians.
Initial reports said the explosives had struck locations within the Eshkol Regional Council area, although at least one other report said the shells had landed within Gaza. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
The attacks came despite assurances from the Gazan Authority's ruling Hamas terrorist faction last Friday that it had no desire to continue rocket attacks into Israel, and that it had convened a council of terror groups in an effort to curb the firing on the Negev. The Islamic Jihad terrorist group had announced on Monday that it agreed to the ban.
The latest attacks aimed at Israeli civilians may reflect internal pressures in Hamas, which is suffering a financial crisis due to the three-year-old international ban on transferring funds to the terrorist authority, which Israel holds responsible for all activity in the territory over which Hamas has maintained a chokehold since winning a militia war against the rival Fatah faction in June 2007.
Successful lawsuits on behalf of terror victims have compelled the terror group to pay out millions of dollars in compensation, compounding the group's financial problems. That, plus difficulties with “importing” replacements for the ordnance fired over nearly a decade at Israel's southern communities, due to the blockade implemented by Jerusalem at the Gaza crossings and around the region's coastline, have further complicated its ability to wage war against the Jewish State.
In other security news, IDF troops arrested four wanted PA terror suspects overnight. Two were caught near Jericho, and the other two were captured in Samaria, in an area northwest of Ramallah.
5. Ottawa: Anti-Semites Attempt Machete Murder of Israel Supporters
by Gil Ronen
An apparent attempted murder of pro-Israel students was reported in In Ottawa, Canada, on Monday. Two students – one Israeli and the other pro-Israel – were assaulted by a group of about 10 people, one of whom hurled a machete that just missed the head of one of the victims.
The Ottawa Citizen reported that the incident took place near a bar in the Gatineau area at about 2:00 a.m. Monday.
Nick Bergamini, 22, vice-president of the Carleton University Students’ Association, and his Israeli roommate Mark Klibanov, 20, were leaving the Le Volt bar on Promenade du Portage when the group of anti-Semites began yelling at them in English and Arabic, calling them 'Zionists' and 'Jews.'
Bergamini said he recognized one of the assailants as a student at Carleton University. “I told them not to do this because I knew who they were, but I got hit hard on the back of the head. We ran to the bar entrance because bar security was there.”
'Open the trunk'
Once the crowd that surrounded them had dispersed, the two men decided to walk across the Chaudière Bridge to Ottawa. As they walked through a parking lot, however, a car with three men inside pulled up beside them.
“One of them rolled down the window and said: ‘I am the one who hit you, you f------ Jew,’” Bergamini told the Citizen. “Two guys came out of the car, and one of them tried to kick my roommate. One attacker said, ‘Open the trunk,’ and another guy pulled out a machete that glinted in the street lights. I yelled that they had weapons, and we started running as fast as we could. I saw the guy wind up with the machete as I looked back.”
Klibanov said the machete missed the back of Bergamini's head by about a foot as they ran across the bridge to Ottawa and escaped their assailants.
Gatineau officials confirmed that police were investigating the attack, but provided no further details.
Jason MacDonald, a spokesman for the University, said: “The Israel and Palestine issue is one of the things that can cause people to become emotional. Our job is to make sure that these debates can happen without anyone’s personal safety being threatened. We have met with student groups on both sides of such issues and told them that we are not here to tell them what to think, but certain kinds of behavior are not acceptable.”
Bergamini said he is well-known on campus for being pro-Israel and that he has a pro-Israel Facebook page.
6. Israel Distributes Gas Masks Nationwide
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel has begun its nationwide program to provide protection kits with gas masks to every citizen in the country, and for the first time ever, the IDF Home Front Command has teamed up with the nation's Postal Service to distribute the equipment.
The campaign, officially launched on Tuesday, is being carried out to ensure that every Israeli will be protected in case of chemical, biological or other attack that could temporarily threaten one's ability to breathe.
Citizens are able to obtain their kits in two ways – either by going to one of several distribution stations currently in the process of opening up throughout the country, or by calling the Israel Postal Service and asking for the kits to be mailed directly to the home.
The first distribution points are expected to open in Ashdod and Rishon LeTzion, with eight more stations to open shortly thereafter in the Tel Aviv metro area, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, Haifa and the surrounding area.
Israelis choosing the second option are asked to call the Israel Postal Authority's “171” hotline and coordinate a time for delivery of the kit to the home. The delivery service costs NIS 25 (approximately $7) per household.
Several weeks ago, the project was piloted in the Beka'at Ono area, where some 70,000 were distributed via the postal service. “The high satisfaction with the Home Front Command's service regarding the distribution time and according to the terms of the agreement with the Israel Post has brought further cooperation with them on a national level,” explained the IDF Spokesman in a statement on the army's website.
Individual protection kits were first distributed to the citizens of Israel on the eve of the American Gulf War with Iraq in 1990. Routine maintenance of the kits was subsequently provided by Home Front Command until 2003. As the kits reached their expiration dates, and demographic changes took place across the country, the government collected the kits for rehabilitation and upgrading in a drive that took place from 2007 to 2008.
Home Front Command may be reached by dialing ”1207” from any telephone in Israel.
7. MK Hotovely Says It's Time to Confront America
by Yoni Kempinski
Following a trip to the United States, which included participation in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference and lectures throughout North America, Likud Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely tells Arutz Sheva TV that American Jews feels embarrassed in wake of U.S. leadership's policy.
She asserts that the Israeli government must confront the issues right now and refuse demands without delaying a confrontation.
