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ISRAEL

Iran, Syria, and Israel’s Red Line By Jacob Nagel

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/06/18/iran_syria_and_israels_red_line_113543.html

The recent skirmishes between Israel and Iranian forces in Syria raise important questions about the “rules of the game,” interests, and red lines of the primary players. Israel claims there can be no arrangement in Syria that allows Iran and Hezbollah forces to remain on Syrian soil, and that includes Shiite militias. The Israelis also insist Syria cannot be a transshipment point for advanced, game-changing weapons, especially Precision Guided Munitions (PMGs) en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Terrorist threats on Israel’s borders will not be tolerated.

Of course, Israel realizes the important role Russia plays in Syria and the country’s significant influence with the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. As such, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invested considerable time and effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin and his advisors that it is in Russia’s national interest to ensure that the Iranian access abides by Israel’s red lines. After the latest meetings between Israelis and Russians (held at military, executive and working levels), Russian statements suggest these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. The Russians are apparently beginning to understand that Iran’s presence in Syria is a liability – particularly if Israel continues to keep its “red lines,” including (according to foreign sources) airstrikes against Iranian assets in the heart of this important Russian sphere of influence.

Gaza Media Coverage: Snipers and Lies by Ruthie Blum

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12516/gaza-media-israel

“We will take down the border [with Israel] and we will tear their hearts from their bodies.” — Yahya Sinwar, Hamas political leader.

“[W]hen we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public. This is a peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies, and enjoying tremendous popular support.” — Mahmoud Al-Zahar, senior Hamas official, on Al Jazeera.

When a doctor in Gaza announced that a congenital heart defect was likely the cause of her death, the Gaza health ministry removed her name from the list of those killed in clashes with Israel, pending an autopsy.

“Hamas’ goal is to have Israel kill as many Gazans as possible so that the headlines always begin, and often end, with the body count. Hamas deliberately sends women and children to the front line, while their own fighters hide behind these human shields.” — Alan Dershowitz, Esq.

On May 14, as United States officials ceremoniously relocated the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza — many of them members of Hamas and Iran-linked Islamic Jihad, along with other residents paid to participate — engaged in violent demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel border fence. Dubbed the “Great March of Return,” these protests were launched on March 30 and timed to crescendo six weeks later, on the day of the U.S. Embassy move, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel.

The UN’s Collusion With Terrorists One-sided condemnations of Israel give ammunition to Hamas. Joseph Klein

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270490/uns-collusion-terrorists-joseph-klein

At an emergency meeting held on June 13th, the United Nation General Assembly adopted another one-sided resolution against Israel. The resolution, proposed by Turkey and Algeria, deplored the use of allegedly excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip, which the resolution pretends is still “occupied” by Israel. The anti-Israel resolution demanded that Israel refrain from such actions and fully abide by its legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention relating to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949. It also requested the UN Secretary General to submit a report in no later than 60 days, outlining proposals on ways and means for ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians, including on an international protection mechanism. The General Assembly resolution is virtually identical to Kuwait’s draft UN Security Council resolution that was vetoed by the United States on June 1st.

The General Assembly resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 120 in favor to 8 against with 45 abstentions, ignored Hamas’s acts of terrorism and provocations, including using children as human shields and its attempts to invade Israel during the protests at the Israeli-Gaza border in recent weeks demanding a so-called “right of return.” It ignored the fact that Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, which it uses as a base for its attacks against Israeli civilians, and that there have been no Israeli soldiers “occupying” Gaza since Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2005. The closest that the resolution came to acknowledge what Israeli civilians have had to put up with for years was deploring in general terms the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli civilian areas.

US interests require Israeli control of the Golan Heights Yoram Ettinger

www.TheEttingerReport.com
US interests in the Middle East and beyond are well-served by a strategically constrained Syria. Historically, Syria has been a tectonic, volatile platform of violent, intolerant and unpredictable Arab/Islamic regional aspirations of grandeur, totally unrelated to Israel’s existence and policies.

During the modern era, Syria has been a major arena of anti-US hate-education and incitement, Islamic and international terrorism (e.g., the blowing up of the US Embassy and Marines Headquarters in Beirut and PanAm-103), narco-terrorism (featuring ties with Latin American drug cartels), a mega-billion dollar counterfeiting of $100 bills and the abuse of human rights.

Syria represents a clear, present and lethal threat to all pro-US Arab regimes. It has been a systematic violator of agreements (with Lebanon, Turkey, the Arab League, the US and Israel), advancing the geo-strategic interests of the Ayatollahs of Iran, Russia and China, benefitting from North Korean conventional and non-conventional military technologies and hardware (chemical, biological and nuclear), while maintaining close ties with anti-US Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Palestinians: Victims of Arab Apartheid by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12521/palestinians-apartheid-victims

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are now living in a Lebanese ghetto called Ain Al-Hilweh, and the world seems to be fine with that.

No one cares when an Arab country mistreats and discriminates and kills Palestinians. But when something happens in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, the international media and community suddenly wake up. Why? Because they do not want to miss an opportunity to condemn Israel. One can only imagine the uproar in the world were Israel to pass a law denying Arabs jobs or the right to inherit property.

There are no protests on the streets of London or Paris. The UN Security Council has not — and will not — hold an emergency session to condemn Lebanon. Of course, the mainstream media in the West is not going to report about Arab apartheid and repressive measures against Palestinians. As for the leaders of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they do not have time to address the problems of the camp residents. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are too busy fighting each other, and the last thing they have on their minds are the interests and well-being of their people.

Lebanon is one of several Arab countries where Palestinians are subjected to discriminatory and apartheid laws and measures. The plight of Palestinians in Arab countries, however, is apparently of no interest to the international community, and pro-Palestinian activists and groups around the world.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Developing a blood test for cancer. The Californian healthcare company GRAIL Inc is sponsoring a research program to detect cancer early, led by Hebrew University Professor Yuval Dor. The program will analyze fragmented DNA in the bloodstream that derives from tumors, to identify the type of cancer responsible.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hebrew-university-researchers-team-up-with-us-firm-to-fight-cancer/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3740107,00.html

Targeting cancer cells in children. Scientists at Israel’s Technion have developed a system for the selective nanoscale transport of the chemotherapeutic Dasatinib in young patients. Polymer micelles enhanced with sugar carry the chemical to cancer cells alone, thus maximizing its efficiency without harming healthy tissues.
https://www.israel21c.org/nano-system-delivers-anticancer-drugs-to-childhood-tumors/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365918301111

$8.4 million for startups to test health software. Israel has launched an $8.4 million p.a. program that enables startups to try out their technologies with the medical data of the four health services. It is part of the National Digital Health plan (see here) which aims to make Israel a global leader in digital health technologies.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-kicks-off-plan-for-startups-to-try-out-tech-at-health-organizations/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3740020,00.html

A new view on surgery. Israel’s Beyeonics Surgical (a subsidiary of Elbit) develops Augmented Reality (AR) visualization for surgeons. A head-mounted visor transmits real-time high-resolution imaging of the surgical area, plus patient data, directly before surgeons’ eyes. Beyeonics has just raised $11.5 million of funds.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3740165,00.html

Cells learn to overcome difficult pregnancies. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center have discovered that the human body’s “natural killer” cells improve their ability to fight diseases affecting the fetus following the first pregnancy. It could lead to new fertility treatments
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-study-paves-way-for-women-to-skip-difficulties-of-first-pregnancies/
https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(18)30128-6

Israel’s first female ambucycle driver. Sophie Donio from Eilat is Israel’s first female EMS ambucycle driver. She is a single working mother, a therapist and a diving instructor who gives up her free time to volunteer with United Hatzalah as an EMT first responder and rush out to save the lives of people she has never met.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/R4issLQe0wI?rel=0

A biotech hub at Hadassah. Israel’s LR Group is launching Biohouse – a $14 million network of biotech hubs, initially in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center and then at two other Israeli hospitals, plus Boston and New York. The Hadassah hub can host 40-50 medical device and digital health startups and is already 40% full.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3740263,00.html

What Justice Demands Elan Journo’s new book clarifies the Arab-Israeli conflict. Mark Tapson

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270434/what-justice-demands-mark-tapson

On Wednesday a United States amendment to a draft resolution that would have condemned the terrorist group Hamas was blocked at the U.N. General Assembly even before getting to a vote. U.S. Ambassador and future POTUS Nikki Haley called the move “shameful” and declared, “It is no wonder that no one takes the U.N. seriously as a force for Middle East peace.” This is just the latest example of the sort of anti-Israel resistance that the tiny Middle East democracy and its ally the United States confront daily in the Arab-Israeli forever war. What will it take to resolve this conflict? What is the solution?

Elan Journo offers one in his new book, What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The book is not a comprehensive history of this complex conflict, but a clarification of its essential nature and moral significance. Its central point is that America must reexamine and change its two-state approach, which Journo argues has not only come to nothing, it has made matters worse. While ostensibly supporting Israel, we actually have sold her out and empowered jihadists in the process.

Born in Israel and raised in the United Kingdom, Journo is a Fellow and Director of Policy Research at the Ayn Rand Institute whose articles have appeared in a such publications as Foreign Policy, Middle East Quarterly, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the co-author of Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism, a contributor to Defending Free Speech, and editor of Winning the Unwinnable War.

Israel Moves To Thwart Growing Hamas Maritime Threat A series of offensive and defensive Israeli actions are keeping Hamas off balance. Ari Lieberman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270470/israel-moves-thwart-growing-hamas-maritime-threat-ari-lieberman

When it comes to military firsts, Israel can probably take credit for the lion’s share. Israel was the first nation to capture an intact Soviet MiG-21, the first to capture a complete intact Soviet P-12 radar station, the first to employ militarized drones in the context of a large-scale, Wild Weasel, anti-SAM operation, and the first to destroy not one but two atom bomb facilities.

On June 2, 2018 the Israel Defense Forces executed another operational first. The Israeli Air Force bombed and destroyed a Hamas underwater terror tunnel. The tunnel, which was located approximately three kilometers from the Israeli border, was constructed for the purpose of concealing Hamas movements and allowing Hamas frogmen to enter the sea from an adjacent Hamas naval base undetected.

Hamas has been trying to improve its militarized maritime program and has invested substantial resources into improving and expanding its sea assault capabilities. On July 8, 2014 a cell of five heavily armed Hamas frogmen infiltrated Israel from the sea at Zikim Beach, which is located just north of the Gaza Strip. They were quickly detected and Israeli ground and naval units were dispatched to confront them. After a running battle, all five were liquidated. An IDF soldier was lightly wounded in the exchange.

While the attack was thwarted, it highlighted another danger and underscored the need to address the growing Hamas maritime threat. The frogmen were well trained and demonstrated considerable bravery. Though the cell was wiped out, the confrontation could have just as easily ended in disaster.

Dealing With Hamas Terror Kites… by Gerald A. Honigman

www.geraldahonigman.com

Imagine for one moment tens of thousands of acres of French, Russian, American, Egyptian, or whoever’s farmland, forests, nature preserves, property, and lives deliberately being destroyed or targeted by neighbors sworn to their destruction by any-and-all means possible. Next, imagine that those neighbors, when not firing rockets, mortars, and missiles across the border, refuse to cease this new type of terror activity using often explosive, flaming terror kites as well. The only solution they will accept is your (and in Israel’s case, yet again) final solution.

Now, what might an acceptable response to such murderous intent be–especially when world bodies such as the United Nations basically ignore it (as happened again in the latest June13, 2018 UN condemnation of Israel for its defensive actions in Gaza) and wind up blaming the victim instead?

Predictably, taking cues from such hypocrisy, Hamas and its allies have next promised to launch thousands of additional incendiary kites into Israel as they attempt to storm the border to mark the end of Ramadan’s Eid al-Fitr’s celebration the following day–June 15th this year.

I wish it had not come to this, but the Hamas zebra does not change its stripes (and not that Fatah’s does).

The Fracturing of the Jewish People Israel has become a red state while U.S. Jews remain blue. By William A. Galston

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fracturing-of-the-jewish-people-1528844625

“Israel is the home of all Jews,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in his address to the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in Jerusalem last weekend. “Every Jew should feel at home in Israel.” There is a lot of history packed into these terse sentences, and just as much controversy.

The assertion that Israel is the home, not just a home, for all Jews is the core of classical Zionism. It implies that no other country can be a home, even if the Jews living there think it is. The Jews of Andalusia thought they were at home—until Christian rulers arrived and expelled them in the 15th century. The Jews of Germany thought they were fully German until a regime defined by murderous hatred of all Jews came to power.

But today, for the first time since the Talmudic era, there are two strong, self-confident centers of Jewish life. One of them embodies the Zionist proposition; the other rejects it outright. American Jews, the largest diaspora population, don’t believe they are living in exile, or even in danger. America is different, they insist. To the extent that America rests on civic principles rather than ethnic or religious identity, its liberal democratic institutions can accept Jews as equal citizens, as George Washington promised in his famous letter to the Touro Synagogue.

For most American Jews, the U.S. isn’t a temporary resting place interrupting ceaseless wandering; it is their permanent home. When they say “Next year in Jerusalem!” at the end of each Passover Seder, they don’t mean it literally.