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1. Netanyahu to Visit Obama Again
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama will invite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to visit the White House for the third time in a year, according to Israeli officials. The two leaders will meet next week after the Prime Minister’s trip next week to Canada.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is using a private visit to Israel to try to repair relations with the government, will meet with Netanyahu on Wednesday, when he is expected to deliver the official invitation. He also will meet with President Shimon Peres and possibly with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Emanuel came to Israel to celebrate his son's Bar Mitzvah but has kept a low profile following warnings of protests by nationalist activists.
The Prime Minister will leave on a week-long trip Thursday, first flying to Paris to mark Israel’s acceptance into to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and then to Canada to meet with Jewish leaders in Toronto and Ottawa and with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a staunch supporter of Israel.
The Obama-Netanyahu meting will take place several days before Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ turn for a White House appearance.
President Obama gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a chilly reception two months ago, without a shared meal, press conference or even an opportunity for photographers to show them shaking hands. Following harsh criticism by pro-Israel leaders, both Jewish and non-Jewish, next week’s meeting is expected to be more cordial.
In contrast, President Obama warmly received Defense Minister Barak, who is viewed by the American government as more likely to accept most of the PA conditions for an agreement to establish a new Arab state within Israel’s borders. Barak has said that Israel should surrender almost all of Judea and Samaria, and when he was Prime Minister in 2000, he offered former PA leader Yasser Arafat almost all of the land restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Arafat refused the offer and launched the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War.
2. PM: Iran-Brazil-Turkey Uranium Deal is an Act of Deception
by Gil Ronen
`Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu broke his silence Tuesday regarding Iran's enriched uranium deal with Turkey, calling it “an act of deception.” Until this statement, the Israeli government had offered no official comment on the deal, apparently preferring to let other countries react to it first.
Iran announced last week it would ship its nuclear reactors’ low-grade uranium to Turkey, which in return will give Tehran fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium for a "medical research reactor." The deal was also signed by Brazil.
Speaking before the Knesset plenum in a special session convened at the request of 40 Knesset members, Netanyahu said: “This is transparently an Iranian act of deception that is meant to divert international opinion from the sanctions against Iran in the [United Nations] Security Council.”
The deal between Iran, Turkey and Brazil is “a bogus suggestion,” he said, “because it leaves Iran with enough uranium to manufacture nuclear weapons.”
“It is commendable that the United States has decided to move forward in pushing through sanctions,” said the Israeli head of state. “This is an important move in a symbolic sense, but it is clear to us that these sanctions will not stop Iran. Harsher sanctions will make clearer the determination to prevent Iran's arming with nuclear weapons, but it is not certain that even they will stop it.”
Regarding indirect negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which began recently and are to last four months, Netanyahu said: “The primary and most important principle, which I am glad that the United States adopted and made clear to the Palestinian Authority, is that there are no preconditions. This should not prevent the discussions from taking place.”
"The second principle that we and the United States agree about – and I would like to hope that the Palestinians understand this too – is that the proximity talks are the initial stage and a short corridor to direct talks.”
3. Orthodox Rabbi: Obama Invited Me Because of Muslim Outreach
by Hana Levi Julian
A New York City orthodox rabbi says his popularity at the White House is probably due to his outreach efforts in the Muslim world.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, is one of the very few Orthodox guests reported to be on the list for an upcoming White House reception celebrating Jewish Heritage Month. Even though the event itself was signed into law in 2006, this year marks the first time the White House has hosted a reception to celebrate Jewish Heritage Month.
Pundits are pondering whether the decision by President Barack Obama was part of the administration's “charm offensive,” aimed at reducing Jewish anger over its hostile policies towards Israel.
Slated to be held in the East Room, the fete promises to be a “Who's Who” of American Jewish leaders in the arts, music, sports, the space program and other social arenas.
Other than Schneier, few -- if any -- are expected to be Orthodox Jews or rabbinical scholars. The rabbi, who heads two congregations in the Big Apple and spoke at the 2008 Democratic Convention, told the Associated Press that he believes he was invited for political reasons. Rabbi Schneier is president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an interfaith group he founded in 1989 with the late Joseph Papp. He also has a long track record in building ties with the black community, both in New York and nationwide.
“Our work is very much in concert with President Obama's agenda,” said the rabbi, who has been a past guest at White House Chanukah parties. He added that this White House party will be different from the standard Beltway affair. “This is quite unique. It's more exotic than the usual White House event,” he said.
4. Air Force Strikes Back at Hamas, Bombs Terror Tunnels
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Israeli Air Force bombed two terror tunnels before dawn Wednesday, several hours after two mortar shells struck in one areas south of Ashkelon and after a bomb exploded near the Gaza security fence. Sources in the Hamas-controlled Gaza region reported 15 people were wounded in the retaliation, but there was no confirmation of the number of wounded or the extent of their injuries.
The bombed tunnels were located in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza region, and were dug half a mile from the security fence. They were intended for infiltration into the Western Negev and executing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, according to the IDF.
The immediate response to the mortar shelling continues a government policy of reminding the de facto Hamas authority in Gaza that terrorist attacks will not be ignored, as was the policy before the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorism war last year.
Four rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza in the past week, and approximately 50 rockets have exploded on civilian and military targets in the Negev this year. Since the end of Cast Lead, Hamas and allied terrorists have fired more than 330 rockets.
Last month, Gaza terrorists fired nearly 20 rockets and mortars, one of them killing a man on Moshav Netiv Ha’Asara.
5. Aggressive Missionary Campaign in Central Israel
by Hillel Fendel
“Jews for Jesus” in Israel brags that it has launched a missionary campaign in “an area that has never had a significant evangelical activity since 1948” – namely, Tel Aviv’s satellite cities.
Residents of Ramat Gan, Petach Tikvah, Herzliya and elsewhere woke up one day this week to find groups of "Jews for Jesus" missionaries gathered on street corners, holding banners and giving out literature. Different groups spoke Hebrew, English, or Russian, providing their “services” for all sectors.
The Yad L’Achim anti-missionary group says this is a “critical and dramatic stage in the campaign announced by the missionaries three years ago and which is expected to continue for another three years.”
The missionaries' latest gimmick is the placing of thousands of “traffic tickets” on cars. Only when the worried driver turns over the "ticket" does he or she see its true message: “You can relax; someone has paid the fine in your place… He’s called Yeshua [Jesus].” The gimmick states that Yeshua was willing to pay with his life for everyone’s sins, but that after three days, God revived him from death.
The literature emphasizes that his name is Yeshua, which is close to the Hebrew world for salvation, “and not Jesus, as they always told you.” The Jews for Jesus group emphasizes the Jewish aspects of Christianity – though the recently-deceased Martin “Moshe” Rosen, who founded the organization in 1973, once said, “The fact is, we are not practicing any form of Judaism. We are practicing Christianity.”
Deceptive Tactics: "Don't Admit that We Believe Jesus is God"
Deceptive tactics of this nature have become the accepted protocol in the evangelical Christian movement, writes Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, founder and executive director of Jews for Judaism International: “It is now second nature for church members to tell their Jewish friends that they can be Jewish and Christian at the same time. In Israel, Jews for Jesus missionaries, along with their 20,000 Israeli converts, promote Jesus exclusively as being the Jewish Messiah while intentionally avoiding mentioning their belief that he is God.”
The internal Jews for Jesus announcement of the new campaign states: “The main cities in this region [the Sharon, which also includes Hod HaSharon, Rosh HaAyin, and other cities] has not had a significant evangelical witnessing since the State of Israel was established in 1948. This is a great privilege for us to be the pioneers to bring the word to our people in this region. The campaign headquarters is in a good location, and we will remain there throughout the duration.”
“Since not one of the large news papers in Israel, nor any billboard firm or any media channel that we checked, agrees to take our ads, we decided to run an internet campaign for the [next] four weeks, in which we will offer our books for free… Pray that no ads will be removed as a result of the hareidi organization Yad L’Achim.”
Yad L’Achim director Rabbi Shalom Lifshitz said, “Now is the time to demand a change to the missionary law, and to put a stop to this wild, criminal missionary activity that leads to tragic results.” The law currently bans only offering to pay someone to change religions and missionizing children.
6. Excitement on Temple Mount as Rabbi Prostrates Himself
by Gil Ronen
A large group of hareidi-religious Jews ascended the Temple Mount Tuesday and received friendly service from the police there – unlike the harsh police treatment that Jews typically receive on the Mount in recent years. One of the Jews was even allowed to fully prostrate himself in prayer, facing in the direction of the location of the ancient Temple – which is now occupied by a Muslim mosque.
Unlike previous Jewish ascensions to the Mount in the recent past, and in contrast to this group's last ascension on Passover, in which their entry to the Mount was blocked, police on the Mount were courteous and friendly. The group was allowed in promptly upon arrival and without delays. They were gripped by excitement when one of the rabbis prostrated himself facing the presumed location of the Temple's Holy of Holies in ancient times. Police allowed this religious act as well.
Jews are usually forbidden from openly praying or even mumbling prayers on the Mount, as part of an Israeli policy of complying with Muslim Wakf's demands in this matter. It is not completely clear whether the friendly police attitude Tuesday was a fluke or a sign of changing attitudes.
Temple Mount activist Yosef Rabin told Arutz Sheva that the event is a significant one. “There has been a long running effort to bring hareidim to the Mount and now it is starting to take root,” he said.
Rabin noted that ever since the liberation of the Mount in 1967, hareidi-religious Jews have usually preferred to avoid ascending it, and that the ones who went up to the holy site were Jews of the national-religious ilk. However, he said, “the image of the type of people that go to the Mount is starting to crack. It seems that everyone has followed the hareidi lead when it comes to Har HaBayit [Temple Mount], and now that hareidim are starting to go, we might start seeing a tremendous wave of all types.” Most of the renowned hareidi rabbis are against going up on the mountain, as was Rav Avraham Shapira zt"l of the zionist flagship Merkaz Harav Yeshiva, for fear of treading in places that are forbidden.
The group of Jews was led by Rabbi Yitzchak Brand of the city of Emanuel and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. The rabbis say they intend to bring ever-larger groups of Jews to the Mount with the purpose of eventually holding a Passover sacrifice there.
In ancient times, Jews who ascended the Mount fully prostrated themselves as part of the prayers there. The regular Jewish prayer services in synagogues include several instances of bowing in the direction of the synagogue's Torah Ark, and partial prostration is carried out on some holidays.
Photo: Har HaBayit Shelanu
7. Planning for Iran: Navy Eyes World's First Air-Defense Corvettes
by Hana Levi Julian
Israel is hoping to acquire two multi-mission corvettes and arm them with air-defense capability. The creation of the world's first air defense corvettes will also give the Israeli surface fleet independent air cover for the first time, enabling them to deploy further from home.
The Israel Navy is hoping to acquire the Meko A-100, built by Blohm and Voss, a division of Germany's Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Group. Aviation Week is predicting that Israel will purchase the latest stealth version of the vessel, known as the Meko CSL, “which can be adapted to meet Israeli requirements for versatility sensors and deck space.”
The CSL corvette, notes the trade publication, can be rapidly configured for different missions. The Meko CSL is 108 meters (354 ft.) long, with a beam of 21 meters and full-load displacement of 2,750 metric tons. Propulsion is by a combined diesel-and-gas/water-jet system, and endurance is 21 days. The vessel is fully crewed with 75 soldiers.
It is expected that Israel will arm the vessels with the Barak 8 extended-range air-defense system from Israel Aerospace Industries. In addition, it will carry more missiles than the current Saar 5 class, and will be able to mount the Elta MF-Star 360-degree phased-array radar system, anti-submarine weapons and a helicopter.
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