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1. 48 MKs Call on Gov't to Boycott Yesha Boycotters
by Hillel Fendel
Knesset Members of several parties have signed a call for government
ministers to boycott Israeli companies that themselves agreed to boycott
Judea, Samaria, the Golan, and the liberated areas of Jerusalem. The
companies agreed to the clause in their contract with the developers of a
possible new Palestinian Authority city to be named Rawabi.
Construction work for Rawabi is underway just north and south of the
pioneering Jewish towns of Ateret and Ma'aleh Levonah, respectively, in
the hills of Binyamin. Some 25,000 Arabs are set to live there, in the
first stage. Army Radio reported last week that over 20 Israeli
companies had agreed to sign a contract with the developers to provide
goods to Rawabi while not using any Jewish-made goods from towns in
Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights, or Jerusalem areas liberated by
Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.
The news provoked a great outcry within Israel, prompting calls for action to be taken against this anti-Zionist deed.
Danny Dayan, head of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea
and Samaria, said, “It is disgraceful that just in order to make a few
shekels, Israeli companies are willing to sell their Zionist soul to
sign an agreement with the enemy that calls parts of their country and
their capital ‘occupied’ … It is shameful that they cave in to and join
the Arab boycott of Israeli companies.”
The names of the companies are not known, and Dayan acknowledged, in
speaking to Israel National News, that “it is not clear if any companies
have yet signed this shameful agreement. The reporter from Army Radio
herself doesn’t know this information. But we are seeking to find out
who, if anyone, has signed, and if we find out, we will demand action
against them.”
The 48 MKs who signed the call were canvassed by the Knesset Land of
Israel lobby, co-headed by MKs Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and Ze’ev
Elkin (Likud). Their letter states, “Israeli companies supplying goods
and services for the establishment of the Arab city Rawabi agreed to
sign an agreement by which they will take active part in the Palestinian
boycott of goods and services..."
Among the signatories are nearly ten Kadima MKs, including faction
leader and former Labor Party member Dalia Itzik, former Finance
Minister Roni Bar-On, and Yoel Hasson.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has not yet agreed to allocate land
to the PA for a highway leading south from Rawabi towards Ramallah, thus
hampering the area’s development. However, Dayan said the city can be
built even without the highway. Apartment buildings in Rawabi have not
yet been built, but one structure in a possible future industrial zone
is already partially standing.
The contract between Rawabi and the Israeli firms states, “The seller
is forbidden to use or employ a product and/or services and/or resources
manufactured and/or originating in the Israeli settlements for the
purposes of or related to this agreement… The areas include, but are not
restricted to, occupied eastern Jerusalem, the conquered West Bank, the
conquered Gaza Strip [no longer under Israeli control – ed.], the
conquered Golan Heights, or any part thereof, or any other area that
fits the above definition.”
“It is inconceivable,” Dayan said, “that while there is still a de
facto freeze in Jewish areas such as Ariel and Ma'aleh Adumim, the
tractors are working freely and zealously to build an Arab city in the
heart of our national homeland.”
The Knesset lobby plans to submit legislation that will ban companies
such as the above 20 from taking part in government tenders.
2. ‘The Jews Will Retain a Strong Majority in Israel’
by Elad Benari
The Palestinian Authority has made claims that by the end of the year
2014, there will be for the first time a majority of Arabs in what it
has termed “historic Palestine.” Two left-oriented Israeli demographers
joined PA predictions in recent articles in Ynet
(Yediot Ahronoth's website) and JPost. However, Yigal Dilmoni, deputy
director general of the Yesha Council, does not believe that this is
true and he has searched the archives, coming up with similar
predictions of these demographers which have been proven wrongrag.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva’s daily Hebrew journal on Sunday, Dilmoni
quoted as proof that the PA’s claims are false an article dated 1987
which appeared in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper and was entitled
‘In the Year 2000: Israel Will No Longer be Jewish.’ The article was
based on claims made by Professor Arnon Sofer (demographer who to this
day publishes similarly gloomy forecasts) and which have since obviously
been proven wrong.
Dilmoni said that according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics,
in 2010 there was a Jewish population of 80 percent in Israel. He
pointed out that even if PA Arabs were to be included in the figures,
the Jewish population would still constitute 66 or 67 percent of the
entire population, and this would still be a significant gap from the
Arab population.
“When the statistics refer to the Arab population, they rely on Arnon
Sofer’s data, which shows that there are two and a half million PA
Arabs, but this is a big mistake,” explained Dilmoni. “The exact figure
is a million and a half, as proven by Yoram Ettinger. Each statement by Arnon Sofer must be carefully examined. We must not scare the residents of Israel.”
He added that there has been a noted decrease in PA Arab birthrates
while at the same time there has been an increase in Jewish birthrate
data. He noted that even these figures exclude the Jews who have made
aliyah to date as well as those who are expected to make aliyah from
European countries due to the rise in Islam there.
Dilmoni noted that even if Gaza’s Arabs were to be included in the
count, the Jewish population would still stand strong at a little less
than 60 percent.
Dilmoni mentioned other false predictions, such as those which said
that Israel’s world image would be stronger after the withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip and the 2005 expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gush
Katif.
“We were promised that the world's image of Israel will become
stronger,” reminded Dilmoni. “The U.S. government said so, as did Ariel
Sharon, but ever since 2005 the world’s view of Israel has been
deteriorating.” He mentioned the Goldstone report as well as the events
on the Mavi Marmara as examples of this. “The more we fold, the weaker
we are,” he concluded.
%InAd1%
3. "Female Reform Rabbis": Socialize With Arabs, But Don't Date
by Maayana Miskin
Female Reform Jewish "Rabba"'s [feminine for Rav, the term suggested
for female Reform spiritual leaders in Israel, ed.] have written a
letter criticizing a call from Orthodox rabbis' wives
(rebbetzins) for Jewish women not to socialize with or date Arab men
because of the possibility of this leading to marriage, which they see
as a natural result of male-female friendships.. The Reform "Rabba's"
only disagreed with the rebbetzins in part – while they believe Jewish
women and Arab men should socialize, they remain opposed to their
marrying one another..
“We... oppose interfaith marriages, but we consider professional and
social contacts between us and all of Israel's citizens and residents to
be positive – regardless of race, religion, or sex,” the letter said.
It was signed by 40 women serving as Reform spiritual leaders in Israel.
The female Reform leaders seem to have seem themselves as parallel to
the Orthodox rabbi's wives in writing an all-women's response. Male
Reform rabbis said they also support the Reforms women's letter.
The rebbetzins' letter, sent last week, had called on young Jewish
women to avoid professional or social contact with Arab men in order to
avoid dating relationships. The women are likely to find that Arab men
in the workplace will attempt to win their affection with gifts and
compliments, only to mistreat them in any ensuing relationship and force
them break off contact with their families, the letter said, citing
many instances where this has occurred. They reminded young women that
their grandparents or families came to live in the Jewish State in order
to preserve Judaism.
The rebbetzins cautioned that dating between Jewish women and Arab men
often leads to situations in which Jewish women are left isolated and
under the control of their Arab boyfriends or husbands, and are forced
to abandon their Jewish identity.
The issue of interfaith marriage is anathema in Israel, where
Jewish-Moslem intermarriage runs mainly one way – Muslim men attempt and
succeed in marrying Jewish women, mostly from poorer segments of
society, but Jewish men who attempt to date Muslim women face severe
repercussions, including physical violence.
Close to 100% of the children of mixed Jewish-Muslim marriages identify
as Muslim as the women are not allowed contact with their former
Jewish milieu. Many women who wish to be rescued from interfaith
marriages that have turned out to be abusive have turned to Yad
Le"Achim, the organization that attempts to arrange their escapes from
Arab villages. Many continue to suffer because they do not want to leave
their children..
4. Iran Claims It Shot Down Western Spy Drones
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iranian Revolutionary Guards have downed several Western spy drones,
including two over the Strait of Hormuz, also known as the Persian
Gulf, according to claims by the Islamic Republic’s semi-official media.
U.S. officials say they know of no such attacks.
Iran's Brigadier-General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ air
force branch, told the Fars News Agency, “They [Westerners] have made
limited aggressions against the country and we have shot down a number
of their highly advanced spy planes so far. For example, we have brought
down two spy planes over the Persian Gulf. Westerners have a series of
capabilities which cannot be ignored, especially satellites, or for
example they have spy planes which can take pictures in some places.”
He did not mention where and when the alleged anti-reconnaissance
operations took place. He added that most of the drones are used in Iraq
and Afghanistan, but that there are “some violations against our soil."
The United States, whose navy patrols the Gulf’s international waters,
has not confirmed the claim.
CNN reported that one U.S. official said, "We have no recent reports of
any losses of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] in the Gulf due to any
cause. And while we have lost them in the past, I am not aware of any
indication that those had been due to hostile fire of any kind."
Hajizadeh said in an interview published on Sunday, “We have constant
clashes with the enemy’s surveillance and reconnaissance aircrafts. Our
missile bases are spread out across the country, and these missiles have
been deployed in a way that if the enemy clashes with us, the number of
the missiles we fire at them will increase day by day.”
The Guards also claimed that they used the downed drones as a source for producing them for Iranian use.
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based across the Gulf, and Iran previously has threatened to block the waters if it is attacked. More than half of the world’s oil flows passes through the Gulf in tankers.
Two years ago, an Iranian legislator claimed that the Guards downed a
U.S. spy drone, and last May, an Iranian army general said the air force
had chased way a reconnaissance plane.
%InAd2%
5. Coptic Massacre Sparks Protest against Massive US Aid to Egypt
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Protesters in California demand end to U.S. aid to Egypt following the
massacre outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, where a bomb blast
killed 21 people and wounded more than 100 others during New Year’s
prayers.
Click here for video of prayers and bomb blast.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the attack “barbaric and heinous.”
Last year, Muslim terrorists gunned down nine
Copts outside a church on the eve of the Coptic Christmas. The
Egyptian government called the slaughter an “isolated incident.”
California Copts demonstrated in the rain in Los Angeles on Sunday to
"show America what's happening in Egypt,” 60-year-old Adib Ghobrani told
the Beverly Hills Courier. International Christian Concern official
Aiden Clay called on Americans to complain to Washington, which provides
Cairo with more than $1 billion aid annually.
Egypt is the largest recipient of foreign aid after Israel, and has
received more than $36 billion from the U.S. since it signed a peace
treaty with Israel in 1979.
Protests following the attack were also held in Alexandria and Cairo,
where Egyptian riot police faced off against protesters. Government
spokesmen issued a call for national unity, but human rights leaders
have charged Cairo with denying the extent of the 40-year tensions
between Coptics and Muslims.
The suicide bombing represented a drastic escalation in Muslim violence
against the Coptic minority, which comprises approximately 10 percent
of Egypt’s population. Egypt blamed “foreign fingers,” possible
Al-Qaeda, for the terrorist attack, Egypt's worst in recent memory, but
The New York Times reported that Egyptian authorities said local
citizens apparently were behind the bombing.
An international Christian organization charged two weeks ago that
Egyptian police opened fire and shot live ammunition at unarmed Copts at
a rally, where two people were killed.
6. Ex-Chief of Staff Tzvi Tzur - and Black Sabbath - Remembered
by Hillel Fendel
This past Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the death of Israel’s
sixth IDF Chief of Staff, Tzvi Tzur – sometimes known as “the
Invisible.”
Tzur served as Chief of Staff from 1961 until 1964 – a period when
Israel fought no wars. This might explain why Tzur is so sparsely known,
says military historian Dr. Uri Milstein.
Speaking with Arutz-7’s Shimon Cohen, Milstein said, “When Tzur was in
the Givati brigade, he was involved in many incidents on the Egyptian
front, but in those days, the tone in the IDF was set by Paratroopers
Brigade 101, Arik Sharon’s unit; Tzur was not in that group. He was
close to Ben-Gurion, and when [Chaim] Laskov was forced to resign
[following differences with then-Deputy Defense Minister Shimon Peres,
who was also close with Ben-Gurion – ed.], Tzur was named Chiefof
Staff.”
Born in 1923 in Zaslav, Russia, he immigrated to Israel with his
parents at the age of 2. He joined the Haganah in 1939, and was arrested
and imprisoned for two months by the British during what became known
as Black Sabbath – a June 1946 mass raid of Haganah strongholds in which
theBritish used 17,000 soldiers to place five Jewish cities under
curfew, 30 kibbutzim and other communities under siege, arrest hundreds
of Jewish leaders,and search for and find ammunition and weapons. The
Haganah received advance word of the operation from Tzvi Zehavi, who was
tipped off by a British officer; at great personal risk, Zehavi got the
word out, enabling many Jewish leaders to avoid arrest and hide weapons
and ammunition. In response to this massive raid, the Etzel carried out
the King David Hotel bombing three weeks later.
Tzvi Tzur is considered one of those who built the IDF, “though
Yitzchak Rabin received more credit – unjustifiably so, in my opinion,”
Milstein said. “The period before the Six Day War was quiet from a
security standpoint, and it was not utilized fully for preparations. We
didn’t sufficiently understand war, army, or who were our opponents in
the Middle East.”
%InAd3%
7. Israel Extends Ban on PA Attempts to ‘Marry into Israel’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The government has extended for another six months the ban on
Palestinian Authority Arabs trying to obtain Israeli citizenship by
marrying Israeli-Arabs.
Known by pro-Arab rights leaders as the “Family Unification” policy, it
is designed to halt what used to be massive use by Arabs to increase
their percentage among Israeli citizens by allowing Arabs from Judea,
Samaria and Gaza to marry Israeli-Arab citizens living within the 1949
Armistice Lines.
The Cabinet’s Ministerial Committee for Security Affairs’ decision was made one day after the previous ban expired.
The committee asked the Minister of Justice "to work towards early
finalization of a law on family unification, which will meet the
national security and long-term interests of the government of Israel,"
according to a statement from the office of the Prime Minister.
Enabling PA Arabs to obtain citizenship through marriage gives them all
rights as Israelis. Before the ban, Bedouin men, who practice polygamy,
brought in women to help them raise their increasing presence in the
Negev, where the Bedouin and Arab birthrate surpasses that of Jews.
8. Nearly 200 Million Shekels for Sderot and Environs
by Hillel Fendel
The Cabinet has approved a benefits-and-assistance program for the
residents of Sderot and the communities adjacent to Gaza to the tune of
some NIS 184 million ($51.83 million). Much of the aid will not be in
the form of direct aid, but rather in tax credits, discounts and the
like.
The government announced that the aid is geared at "strengthening the
resilience of the area's residents," as well as the local economy and
administration, and will also prop up social services.
"Our policy is to protect our citizens from terrorism, rocket fire and
all kinds of other hostile activity from the Gaza Strip," said Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. "We will continue to aid the residents of
the area. Hamas and the other terrorist organizations should know that
while we are not looking for escalation, neither do we fear it. Those
who want to try us, will discover our full determination and will
bear the consequences."
The aid package for Sderot and Gaza-border towns includes the following:
* 20% tax credits up to NIS 227,640.
* A 30% discount on local taxes for residences and 24% for industry, business and services.
* Economic assistance to local councils for special expenditures
stemming from the security situation: NIS 8 million for Sderot and NIS 5
million to be shared among the Eshkol, Ashkelon Coast, Sdot Negev and
Shaar Hanegev regional councils.
* Psychological-social assistance for the population, at five locally-operated centers.
* Support for employment and in expanding industrial zones: 250 dunams
(62 acres) for the Naam Industrial Zone and 300 dunams (planning and
expansion) for the Sapirim Industrial Zone.
* Continued assistance in operating emergency medical centers:
increasing the number of intensive care ambulances, operating a night
medical switchboard, and reinforcing the mental health center in Sderot.
* Completing sewage infrastructures at an additional investment of NIS 55 million over the next two years.
* Extending the exemption from Israel Land Administration leasing fees for an additional year.
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