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1. IDF: No Survivors in Helicopter Crash
by Hillel Fendel
The IDF Spokesman has announced that no survivors have been found at the crash site, effectively dashing the hopes of family and friends throughout Israel who had been waiting for word from the mountains of Romania since last night.
Rabbi Naftali Deutsch, the Chabad emissary in Romania, told Arutz-7 today that the IDF soldiers taking part in the IDF's military exercise in Romania "did not sleep all night, searching for their comrades who were aboard the crashed helicopter."
He said that the area of the crash is marked by very tall mountains, and can be reached only by foot. He said he had gotten to know all the soldiers in the exercise over the past few weeks.
Video: IDF delegation leaves to helicopter crash site
The six IDF soldiers aboard the crashed helicopter in Romania were:
* Maj. Yahel Keshet (33) of Hatzerim, near Be’er Sheva, married and father of two. He was born, and his parents still live, in Moshav Sharona in the Lower Galilee, where family and friends gathered to give each other comfort and hope. “A ‘Land of Israel’ family that raised their children with values and Zionism,” a friend said with sadness.
* Lt. Nir Lakrif (25) of Tel Nof Air Force Base. His wife of a year, Maggie, who was the first to be informed that her husband was on the fallen craft, is four months pregnant. She then informed his father Yuval, who lives in Kiryat Ata with his second wife, and his mother Daniela. Nir recently completed his studies in the Air Force’s Technical School with honors.
* Lt.-Col. Avner Goldman (48) of Modi'in, the only reserves soldier on the flight.
* Lt.-Col. Daniel Shifenbauer (43) of Moshav Kidron, near Yad Binyamin, a department head in the IAF’s Operations Staff.
* Maj. Lior Shai (28) of Tel Nof Air Force Base
* Sgt.-Maj. Oren Cohen (24) of Rehovot
“We have apparently lost some of the IAF’s best air fighters,” say IAF sources.
Israel and Romania have agreed upon a joint investigation of the crash. Initial speculation is that the Yas’ur helicopter crashed into a mountainside as a result of poor visibility in the inclement weather, or a technical failure.
This was the worst IAF accident in 13 years. In February 1997, two Yas’urs crashed into each other on their way to Lebanon in heavy fog above northern Israel, claiming the lives of all 73 aboard both. Eight of the fallen soldiers were air force crewmen, while the others were combat troops on their way to outposts in southern Lebanon.
Though the Yas’ur has been involved in several fatal accidents ever since Israel began using it in the late 1960’s, it is considered an indispensable element of the Israel Air Force and the backbone of its air transport network. Manufactured in the United States, where it is known as the Sikorsky CH-53 transport helicopter, it has taken successful part in many complex military operations over the years.
Just over three years ago, the Air Force began its “Yas’ur 2025” program to upgrade the Yas’ur with new systems in self-defense, electronic warfare, communications, safety, and more. The goal is to be able to continue to use the Yas’ur until the year 2025.
2. Barak Warns Israel Will Attack Lebanon If Hizbullah Starts War
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel will consider Lebanese government buildings and bases a target if Hizbullah starts up another war against Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Monday.
The Defense Minister revealed that then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Ehud Olmert, when he was Prime Minister in 2006 and asked him not to touch what Barak called the “precious government” of Beirut.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Post, Defense Minister Barak added, “We didn't [attack it]. I think that they're responsible for what happens, and if it happens that Hizbullah will shoot into Tel Aviv, we will not run after each Hizbullah terrorist or launcher of some rocket in all Lebanon. We'll see the government of Lebanon responsible for what happens, and for what happens within its government, its body politic, and its arsenal of munitions. And we will see it as a legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to the Hizbullah.”
Barak also warned the United States “that the walls between the Lebanese armed forces and Hizbullah—it's quite porous. And whatever you give the Lebanese armed forces might end up in the hands of Hizbullah, be it technology or weapons or whatever. “The Obama administration recently announced it giving the Beirut government $100 million in military aid.
Barak also admitted—perhaps for the first time publicly—that his order in 2000 for a sudden pullout of Israeli forces from enabled Hizbullah to prepare for war against Israel.
“We pulled out and ended up with an area full of rockets and missile.” he admitted. “We did it next in Gaza and ended up with an area full of rockets covering Tel Aviv as well as other parts of the south and half of Israel. And within the framework of considering an agreement with the Palestinians that will establish a Palestinian state side by side with Israel ,we should make sure that the three underlying principles of our security are fully assured, namely the West Bank will not become like Gaza and southern Lebanon, another launching pad for rockets against the coastal plain of Israel.”
The Defense Minister is currently in Washington, and he said that he will be talking with the U.S. Defense Department and military officials about American arms sales to Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.
“There are considerations in Washington about moving forward with major deals with our neighbors and we want to make sure that we are in an understanding with the [Obama] administration.
“We understand the American need, under the strategy of the administration, to kind of strengthen the moderate Arab countries facing the same threat from hegemonic Iran. But, at the same time, we have a tradition of understanding with following administrations to keep Israel's superiority in weapons' systems and munitions.”
The Defense Minister also will discuss the prospective purchase of the advanced F-35 fighter jet. Reports last week indicated that the sale was imminent. Barak said, “We will have to make the final decisions in relatively short time,” but he pointed out that Israel needs “to be able to participate in production of some parts in our industry as well as making sure that we can continue keeping our real [military] edge.”
Turning to Iran, the Defense Minister said that the United States and Israel are closer than ever to sharing the same diagnosis unlike the previous situation whereby the NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] declared three years ago that Iran has suspended its quest for nuclear weapons.
"I think that basically it's still time for sanctions. Probably at a certain point we should realize that sanctions cannot work," he said.
3. Gallup Poll Suggests: ‘Move to Israel and Be Happy’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israelis are among the happiest people in the world, according to a new Gallup Poll published this week by Forbes magazine. Israel was tied with three other countries for eighth place, placing far ahead of the United States and Britain.
Gallup surveyed thousands of people in 155 countries between the years 2005 and 2009, asking respondents about their overall “life satisfaction” and about daily experiences on particular subjects and feelings. These included how they are respected and if they feel well-rested, free of pain and intellectually active.
Those who scored high on the poll were considered to lead thriving lives.
Following the four Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden atop the list, the next three rankings were shared by Holland, Costa Rica and New Zealand, with only a percentage point putting them ahead of the four-way tie among Israel, Canada, Switzerland and Australia. All four of the latter tallied a 62 percent report of people whose lives are thriving. The United States, where only 57 percent of the population are happy, was in 14th place, tied with Australia. The United Kingdom was in 17th pace, with a score of only 54 percent.
Despite Finland’s high ranking, it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and Denmark’s alcohol consumption is among the ten highest in the world. On the other hand, Israel has one of the lowest suicide rates, as well as a high fertility rate, another indication that Israelis are happy..
4. Obama Warns Abbas: ‘Start Talks or Else’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A secret 36-page memo based on Obama administration statements indicates that the president warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to start direct talks with Israel or risk losing American support for the recognition of the PA as a country.
The Associated Press reported it has possession of the document, under the letterhead of the Palestinian Negotiations Department and which indicates the warning came from President Barack Obama via U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
It shows that the Obama administration has resigned itself to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu remaining head of Israel's coalition government. “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is not in political danger of being replaced,” the document states.
It adds that Abbas is under pressure from both the Arab world and within the PA, whereby his consent to direct talks with Israel would be “political suicide” for him. However, the document warns, “Abbas needs to accept direct talks now if he wants President Obama’s help in facilitating statehood.” The memo says that PA advisors are in favor of rejecting the American ultimatum.
Abbas told PA media on Sunday that he is resisting pressure from “the entire world” to concede his long-stated condition that Netanyahu extend the 10-month building freeze that expires in late September.
Senior Cabinet ministers as well as the Prime Minister have clearly stated they will not extend the freeze. Political support for the coalition is strong, with even the center-left Israeli media generally recognizing that the PA keeps adding on new condition for direct talks.
Abbas has in effect insisted on acceptance of a proposed PA state without negotiations on any substantial issues, such as the status of Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abbas have been blaming each other for the failure to sit down for direct talks. “We have negotiated with Israeli governments before, more than once. Why would we avoid such talks? We are not,” Abbas told reporters after discussions with King Abdullah in Jordan.
Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated on Monday his oft-stated declaration that he is ready meet Abbas immediately without pre-conditions. "We have an understanding with the Americans that we need to move now, without any delay, to direct negotiations, but in response, we have a clear Palestinian attempt to avoid this process," Netanyahu said. "They are trying to stall and to sneak away from direct negotiations and to cause the Arab League to shackle the talks."
The secret memo from Washington indicates clearly that President Obama has given up on pressing Israel for any more concessions, which Jerusalem has made on a regular basis since the Roadmap Plan was announced by former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002.
The memo puts the Palestinian Authority in the unaccustomed position of having to compromise or “going for broke” by continuing its previously announced strategy of waiting for the United States to declare the PA as a new Arab country within Israel’s borders.
State Department officials would not confirm the exact language of the memo, but said, "This indeed illustrates where we are."
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said the memo is not entirely accurate, but confirmed that American officials told Abbas that he has to sit down with Israel “if he wants Obama to help.”
5. First Female Arab Combat Soldier in IDF
by Hillel Fendel
Cpl. Elinor Joseph, a Christian Arab from Haifa, has completed an important stage of her combat training in the IDF's Karakal Battalion - notable in that she is the first Arab female combat soldier in IDF history.
Having grown up in a mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood, she attended an Arab school and later to moved to an all-Arab neighborhood. Her father served in the IDF Paratroopers Unit, but she never thought she would enlist. “I wanted to go abroad to study medicine and never come back,” she told the IDF Spokesman's Unit. She said that her father expected her to enlist in the army, but "I was scared to lose my friends because they objected to it. They told me they wouldn’t speak to me. I was left alone.”
Ultimately, despite their opposition, she decided to enlist. “I decided to go head-to-head," she said, "to check who my true friends are, to do something in life that I have never done before. I understood that it was most important to defend my friends, family, and country. I was born here.... With time, when you do things from the heart, you begin to understand their importance.”
She originally thought she might like to be a combat medic, but "the placement officer laughed in my face and said I was too delicate. I started to cry." She fought to receive a high enough medical categorization for combat placement, but it still took many months before she actually received a combat position.
"Arabs Also Kill Arabs"
After her basic training, Elinor took a medic's training course, in which she was selected as the outstanding soldier of the course. She was assigned to a military police post at the Kalkilya crossing, east of Kfar Saba. “I enjoyed it there [and] liked the people," she recalls, though she sorely felt the dilemma of serving at a border crossing. During moments of difficulty and misgiving, she now says, "I would remember that a Katyusha [fired by Hizbullah] fell near my house and also hurt Arabs. If someone tells me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs, I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs.”
“I treated everyone at the checkpoints in the same way, because we are all human. For this reason, no one reacted to me in a negative manner, and to tell the truth, that surprised me," she said. "People knew I was there and that I wouldn’t hold my tongue if need be, so they had a constant reminder to treat the Palestinians well. But really, their treatment was always full of respect.”
Soon after, she tried out for a combat position in the Karakal Battalion - and was accepted, despite her commander's desire that she remain in the Border Guard. “At first, I missed being in the military police," she says now. "The relations with people there were very different, because I knew them not only personally, but also from a medical standpoint, creating a very intimate connection with people. But then I realized I was now in a new place. I got to know people little by little, and now I really love them all."
Part of the Jewish State
Within the framework of her military service in general and her combat training in particular, Elinor noticed the emphasis that was always placed on the country's Jewish-ethical identity, both in specific situations and in the general message passed over to the soldiers. It did not deter her, she says. “I know I am part of the Jewish State’s army, and therefore, when we speak about that, I listen and learn. I got used to it and I respect it, although I do not delve too much into the country’s identity. I have my own identity and I will respect that of the country."
Right now, after finishing her combat training, she says wholeheartedly that she has no regrets: "It is a satisfaction to complete challenging things. I feel that in the army I matured a lot and became more responsible than I used to be... I have always been respected - not just me, but also my customs and my religion... My parents also are very proud of me, maybe a little bit too much.”
On the other hand, "I know that some parents of young men are not so enthusiastic if they go out with me because of my military service, probably because of the fact that I am a combat soldier. There were also people who read things about me and reacted in a very hurtful manner, but I have learned not to pay attention to it. I believe in what I am doing."
Elinor belives that being a combat soldier means that she is granting all Israeli citizens, including Israeli-Arabs like her parents, a better and quieter life. “I still believe that peace will come, and faith creates reality," she says.
6. MK Zoabi Warns of Third Intifada
by Elad Benari
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MK Hanin Zoabi has warned of a possible third Arab intifada.
In an interview that appeared on Sunday in the British newspaper The Guardian, Zoabi said that if Israel continues to push its Arab citizens into a corner, it could ignite a third intifada.
While she rejected the idea that Israel’s Arab citizens are supporters of violence, Zoabi was quoted in The Guardian as saying: "We accepted a democratic, liberal state, we voted for the Knesset. But we are not just an internal issue – we are the litmus test of the whole problem. If Israel does not recognise this, conditions will deteriorate towards a third intifada."
Zoabi recently came under heavy criticism following her participation in the Gaza aid flotilla. Zoabi was a passenger aboard the Mavi Marmara, a ship that carried members of the Turkish terrorist front group IHH, and did not carry humanitarian aid. The ship was raided on May 31 by IDF forces who were attacked by its passengers as they attempted to board. Soldiers opened fire in response, killing nine Turkish citizens.
Following the incident, Zoabi gave media interviews in which she accused Israel of failing to provide wounded activists with medical attention, and referred to the blockade of Hamas and the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria as “the big crime of Israel.” She also stated that she was “not at all” sorry for having participated in the flotilla, and would do it again. In the interview which appeared in The Guardian, Zoabi reiterated her thoughts and said: “Israel wants us to break the law and we won't. I did not break any laws by being on the Mavi Marmara."
As a result of her participation in the flotilla, the Knesset voted on July 13 to strip Zoabi of three privileges: the use of a diplomatic passport, government participation in legal fees, and enhanced freedoms regarding international travel.
In the interview Zoabi warned that Israel’s 1.2 million Arab citizens are beginning to see themselves as part of what she described as “the Palestinian struggle” as a result of the pressure that is being applied on them.
"It took us 40 years for us to admit that we were even Palestinians,” said Zoabi. “Another 15 years passed before we realised that the peace process started under Oslo had been a disaster. The Zionist project was to domesticate its Arab citizens as the hewers and drawers of water. But the carrot-and-stick approach failed, and now we see Israel is prepared to throw away its liberal side to control us. We were passive once and now we are becoming active about our national identity.
"We did not immigrate to Israel. Israel immigrated to us. We are the indigenous people of a land from which we are being gradually expelled," she concluded.
7. New Recruits Told: 'Protect State, Don't Expel Jews'
by Hillel Fendel
Members of an organization called “Parents of Soldiers” are holding a protest vigil outside the IDF Enlistment Office, reminding new recruits that their mission will be to protect the State – not expel Jews.
The participants are distributing to Israel's newest soldiers a short pamphlet explaining that IDF soldiers are obligated to act according to the IDF’s Code of Ethics.
Dr. Ron Breiman, a member of both Professors for a Strong Israel and Parents of Soldiers, explained to Arutz-7: “We are reminding the new enlistees that their job is to fight the enemy, and not to expel Jews from their homes.”
Parents of Soldiers is comprised of both religious and secular members from around the country.
Asked to explain the timing of the current campaign, Breiman said, “It was exactly five years ago this week that thousands of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Shomron were thrown out of their homes. That expulsion was totally unjustified from the very beginning. All the darkest fears and warnings came true, and we see now the heavy price that we are paying ethically, politically, security-wise, and economically.”
“Throwing out citizens from their homes is not the job of an army,” Breiman emphasized. “We demand not only that orders to do so not be obeyed, but also that they not be given at all.”
Message for Future Governments
“Giving out these pamphlets has a message for the future,” Dr. Breiman noted. “All peace plans currently on the table are based on another expulsion of Jews from their homes. We want peace – but not peace that is based on expulsion, that is not Zionist and not ethical. We want to get this message out before the government takes further steps to strengthen the enemy.”
The pamphlet is entitled, “Joining the Army? Don’t Forget Why!” Its back panel states in bold letters, “When you put on your uniform, remember: We fight enemies, not citizens!”
The pamphlet quotes from the IDF’s Code of Ethics as follows: “The purpose of the IDF is to protect the existence and independence of the State of Israel, and the security of its citizens and residents… The IDF and its soldiers must maintain the dignity of others… Soldiers must not use their force to harm non-combatants, and will do all they can to prevent harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property… Soldiers will make sure to issue only legal orders, and must not obey commands that are clearly illegal.”
The pamphlet further states, “...You were not sent to serve in a political army that harms its own nation, or that plays a role in destroying our land and treats its citizens like enemies. Remember! Protect the army and its unity from attempts to turn it into a divisive and party-based army, activated by political interests. The expulsion of Jews from their homes is not security – it’s politics!”
“We salute you and wish you success,” the pamphlet concludes.
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