ISRAEL BREAKING NEWS

Israeli Farmers Sue Hamas at The Hague for Arson Terrorism
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-farmers-sue-hamas-at-the-hague-for-arson-terrorism/?
Israeli farmers filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court against Hamas leaders for the terror group’s devastating arson kite campaign.
By: United with Israel Staff
A group of Israeli farmers from the areas surrounding the Gaza Strip on Monday submitted an official war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against the Hamas terror organization for war crimes it allegedly committed during its months-long airborne arson terrorism campaign.

Israeli farmers from the area surrounding the Gaza Strip have been subjected to a barrage of hundreds of burning kites sent from Gaza with the aim of setting fire to their fields. Dozens of blazes have destroyed produce worth millions of shekels. Arson attacks have been a nearly daily occurrence since the beginning of Hamas’s “March of Return” campaign in March.

Hundreds of arson kites outfitted with Molotov cocktails and fuel have been flown into Israel since the Hamas-led strategy was initiated, setting hundreds of fires and burning some 10,000 acres of land.

The Israeli farmers are appealing to the ICC to indict Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal, Saleh Arouri, and Zaher Jabarin for promoting “fire kite” terror.

According to the complaint, Mashal, Arouri and Jabarin “face command liability for the criminal actions of Hamas because they, along with other persons not within the jurisdiction of the court, exercise effective control and responsibility over them,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

These three Hamas leaders were also named because they have Jordanian citizenship and Jordan is a member of the ICC.

The IDF has documented and exposed Hamas’ responsibility for the relentless wave of airborne arson attacks on Israel’s south, debunking the widely accepted notion that it is a popular and spontaneous form of terrorism committed primarily by children.

‘The World Stood by in Silence’
The farmers, representing some 50,000 “concerned individuals” from Israel and around the world, with the help of Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center, are suing Hamas for a series of offenses, including the burning of agricultural fields with burning kites, attacking Israel’s borders, recruiting children for combat purposes and using the civilian population as human shields.

“Israeli farmers have endured thousands of destructive arson attacks and rocket fire from Gaza, while the world stood by in silence,” said Shurat Hadin Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, according to the Post.

“Amazingly, Hamas which has orchestrated this campaign of terror…accuses Israel and the IDF of utilizing excessive force. We are demanding the ICC put an end to this hypocrisy and diligently investigate these Palestinian war crimes. The Rome Statute, which the Palestinians so cynically signed, cannot serve as a one-sided shield for Hamas’ murderous terrorism,” she added.

Shurat Hadin has been successful in curbing global terrorism by targeting its financial infrastructure, which is the grease that enables the machine of terrorism to work.

Bibi Netanyahu’s chilling account of what he saw in the Vilna Ghetto
By Leah Rosenberg -  September 3, 2018 8589 0
Bibi Netanyahu and his wife Sara went to the Vilna Ghetto and saw the destruction and horror that took place. Their message for the world is unbelievable.
Benjamin Netanyahu
VIDEOhttps://israelunwired.com/netanyahus-chilling-account-vilna-ghetto/

@netanyahu
 עם ישראל חי

Bibi Netanyahu’s chilling account of what he saw in the Vilna Ghetto
By Leah Rosenberg -  September 3, 2018 8589 0
Bibi Netanyahu and his wife Sara went to the Vilna Ghetto and saw the destruction and horror that took place. Their message for the world is unbelievable.
Benjamin Netanyahu
VIDEOhttps://israelunwired.com/netanyahus-chilling-account-vilna-ghetto/

@netanyahu
 עם ישראל חי

Colombian President Says Recognition of Palestine 'Irreversible'
Ivan Duque announces that cannot overturn predecessor's decision because president has constitutional authority to manage foreign relations
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/americas/colombian-president-says-recognition-of-palestine-irreversible-1.6445238?Noa Landau   SendSend me email alerts
Sep 03, 2018 9:25 PM
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Colombian President Ivan Duque speaks after voting during a popular consultation on measures including cutting congressional salaries and boosting sentences for corruption, in Bogota on August 26, 2018.
Colombian President Ivan Duque speaks after voting during a popular consultation on measures, in Bogota on August 26, 2018.AFP
Israeli Foreign Ministry says 'surprised' by Colombia's recognition of Palestine
Colombia recognizes Palestine as sovereign state
Colombian President Ivan Duque said Monday that his predecessor's decision to recognize a Palestinian state was irreversible. 

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"This decision is irreversible," he said in a radio interview, "first of all because the preisdent of the republic is the person designated by the constitution to mange foreign relations."
Duque said that he would have been happy to discuss the issue in the country's Foreign Affairs Advisory Commission, but that he respects the decisions his predecessor made during his tenure.
Colombia said last month that it was recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state. 
Palestinian news agency WAFA said the outgoing Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos handed a letter to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki saying that Colombia "decided to recognize Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state."

Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was surprised by the deciison. "We are surprised by the report in the media and are waiting for explanations from the new administration which is checking into the subject," the ministry said.
Noa Landau
Haaretz Correspondent


WATCH: We Will ‘Take Haifa by Force,’ Says Former Jordanian PM
Sep 3, 2018
“If we ever have military power, will we let them keep Haifa? We’ll take it,” said former Jordanian Prime Minister Al-Majali.

Former Jordanian Prime Minister Abdelsalam Al-Majali defended the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty as serving Jordan’s essential needs – for the time being.

On the question of the Palestinians’ Right of Return, he said that “the Arabs do not have any power. If we ever have military power, will we let them [Israel] keep Haifa? We’ll take it. If tomorrow we become stronger and can take Haifa by force, will we really decline just because we have an agreement with them?”
How trustworthy are Israel’s peace partners? Does their word have any value?
Former Jordanian PM Abdelsalam Al-Majali: If We Ever Become Stronger, We Will Take Haifa by Force
ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
WATCH https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=90&v=QnrRrTYwul8&ab_channel=MEMRITVVideos


Lana Del Ray Buckles Under BDS Pressure, Cancels Israel Concert
Sep 2, 2018
Related:
BDS
boycotts
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey has again canceled a concert in Israel, this time choosing to stand with Israel haters. 
By: United with Israel Staff
Singer Lana Del Rey has canceled her planned performance at an Israeli music festival following weeks of relentless pressure from anti-Israel Palestinian boycott activists.
“It’s important for me to perform in both Palestine and Israel and treat all my fans equally,” Del Rey wrote on Twitter on Friday. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible to line up both visits with such a short notice and therefore I’m postponing my appearance at the Meteor Festival until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans, as well as hopefully other countries in the region.”
She was scheduled to perform at the Meteor Festival, a three-day Woodstock-like party at kibbutz Lehavot Habashan in northern Israel. Several other performers canceled their concerts following Del Ray’s announcement.
Del Rey’s decision was a reversal of statements she made earlier this month in which she defended her performance and said it was not political.
“Music is universal and should be used to bring us together,” she initially wrote in response to call to boycott Israel.
“I would like to remind you that performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement or a commitment to the politics there just as singing here in California doesn’t mean my views are in alignment w[ith] my current governments opinions or sometimes inhuman actions,” she wrote.
‘An insult, a Disappointment’
Boy George, who did perform in Israel this year, panned Del Rey for her decision.
“Hmm. Gemini’s like Lana Del Rey don’t normally respond well to being told what to do. We don’t follow. We go forth with the message of love. She was wrong to cancel,” he tweeted Saturday.
“Let me know how @LanaDelRey not turning up to play in Israel made a real difference?” he added.
Israeli fans expressed disgust and disappointment with her move.
“It’s just a disgrace, she does not deserve any more sympathy,” one fan wrote.
Another fan wrote that her decision was “an insult, a disappointment. I am shocked that she caved to the pressure and did not stay the queen I held her to be.”
READ MORE https://unitedwithisrael.org/lana-del-ray-buckles-under-bds-pressure-cancels-israel-concert

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https://www.rt.com/news/437423-syria-military-airport-explosion/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=push_notifications&utm_campaign=push_notifications
Blasts at Damascus airbase after possible missile strike (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Published time: 1 Sep, 2018 22:02
Edited time: 2 Sep, 2018 05:33
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Blasts at Damascus airbase after possible missile strike (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Explosions have been repored at Syria's Mazzeh military airport Alghad TV / YouTube
Powerful blasts have rocked a military airport in Damascus, with reports suggesting it was targeted by a missile attack or an airstrike. The military said they were caused by a short circuit at a nearby ammunition depot, however.
The blasts occurred at the Mazzeh military airport late on Saturday night, according to multiple reporters on the ground. Explosions can be heard in footage from Damascus posted on social media.

 

Majd Fahd

Hamas Leader Threatens Israel With 'Six Months' of Rockets on Tel Aviv
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/hamas-leader-threatens-israel-with-six-months-of-rockets-on-tel-aviv-1.6431486
Yahya Sinwar says Israel and Hamas can make progress on prisoner swap even without reaching an agreement on long-term cease-fire
Aug 30, 2018 12:36 PM
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, speaks to foreign correspondents at his office in Gaza City, May 10, 2018. Khalil Hamra/AP
Egypt, U.S. pressure Abbas to assume responsibility for Gaza
Overruling cabinet, court allows Gazan relatives of Hamas members to receive medical treatment in Israel
U.S. Ambassador Friedman: Rebuilding Gaza without Abbas is 'tremendous prize' for Hamas
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, said Wednesday that talks were underway on reaching a cease-fire deal with Israel, while issuing a threat that "all of the missiles that the Palestinian resistance fired [at Israel] during the 51 days of the last war [in 2014] it can fire in five minutes."

Hamas, he warned, had sent a message to Israel through intermediaries that it is capable of "causing six months of rising and falling air raid sirens" in the Tel Aviv area. "We don't want a military confrontation, but we are not afraid of one."

About the negotiations with Israel via Egyptian and UN mediation, Sinwar said it was possible to make progress in talks on the return of two Israeli civilians being held in Gaza and the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in combat there in 2014, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. As reported by the Ma'an Palestinian news agency, Sinwar said the issue was not linked to contacts with Israel on a long-term cease-fire.
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Speaking to reporters, Sinwar said such a cease-fire agreement could be reached with Israel even in the absence of reconciliation between the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which controls the Strip. He said that Egypt has expressed a willingness to pursue such a deal.

As for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, Sinwar said Fatah had responded on Wednesday to an Egyptian proposal and that the response was "worse than their initial proposal." Commenting on the prospect that the Palestinian Authority might impose sanctions on Gaza if there is no progress on Palestinian reconciliation, Sinwar said: "That would be a break with the rules of the game and we would respond accordingly."

Late on Wednesday, the White House took the Palestinian Authority to task for its refusal to be involved in efforts to reach an agreement on restoring calm to Gaza. The statement and its timing - shortly after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi had spoken to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about Gaza - are indications that the Trump administration and Egypt are attempting to ratchet up the pressure on Abbas to support an agreement and to have the Palestinian Authority gradually reassume responsibility for the Strip.

Hamas forcibly took control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 after Fatah lost parliamentary elections three year before.

In the statement, Trump's special Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said: "The Palestinian Authority cannot criticize from the sidelines. The Palestinian Authority should be part of the solution for the Palestinians of Gaza and Palestinians as a whole. If not, others will fill that void." He added that "it's time for the Palestinian Authority to lead the Palestinian people – all Palestinians – to a better future."

Up to now, Abbas has voiced skepticism over talks under Egyptian mediation on Gaza. One of the reasons for Abbas' approach is concern that the talks would strengthen Hamas at the Palestinian Authority's expense.

On Wednesday, remarks about Gaza made by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, were leaked to the press. In a telephone briefing to the American Jewish Congress, Friedman said an agreement on Gaza without the Palestinian would be a "tremendous reward" for Hamas. Despite the Palestinian Authority's many shortcomings, the Trump administration prefers to work with the Palestinian Authority rather than Hamas, Friedman added.


Opinion Will Israel Be Forced to Invade and Reoccupy Gaza?
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/will-israel-reoccupy-gaza-1.6431440
An Israel - Hamas agreement that avoids war but puts off tougher questions means replaying the last decade’s nasty cycle of conflict. But every crisis worsens Gaza’s humanitarian and governability situation, towards the point of no return
Aug 30, 2018 11:50 AM
An Israeli soldier atop a tank looks at air force fighter jets circling overhead an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) staging area in the northern Gaza border November 21, 2012.
An Israeli soldier atop a tank looks at air force fighter jets circling overhead an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) staging area in the northern Gaza border November 21, 2012.REUTERS
Hamas is desperate for a deal with Israel. Here’s proof
Trump's hardball policy on the Palestinians will blow up in Israel's face
Egypt, U.S. pressure Abbas to assume responsibility for Gaza
U.S. Ambassador Friedman: Rebuilding Gaza without Abbas is 'tremendous prize' for Hamas
The Israeli government is once again weighing the possibility of a new ceasefire with Hamas - and already we hear the criticisms.  Habayit Hayehudi leader and government minister Naftali Bennett attacks any negotiation with Hamas as "surrender." Meanwhile, others fear that these latest talks, which cut out President Abbas, will weaken the one Palestinian party that Israel should be negotiating with.

Neither of these arguments are true. There is little new about the current ceasefire negotiations. 

It is part of a nasty cycle that all of the parties have been stuck in since Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007. It has led to three conflicts, each of which was preceded by the same pattern of behavior; ended with a similar temporary agreement brokered; and ultimately reignited because the agreements never stuck. 

Here is how the cycle plays out.

Step 1: Hamas insists on arming itself and using violence against civilians as a tool to achieve its objectives and refuses to recognize Israel. Israel responds by squeezing Gaza economically to pressure Hamas politically, deter it militarily, and limit its capabilities. This is where Israel and Hamas have been since Operation Protective Edge ended in 2014, but also where they were in the periods before the 2012 and 2008 conflicts

Step 2: Eventually pressure builds inside Gaza and Hamas escalates its use of violence both to generate domestic political support and to try to get Israel to take steps to ease the economic situation. The primary tool for Hamas is rocket fire, though over time it has also evolved to include tunnel attacks and most recently fire kites.  


In this latest round, we saw this period start in earnest in March this year with the March of Return protests that were initially spurred on by civil society groups in Gaza, but ultimately co-opted by Hamas. In 2014, it was the collapse of U.S. sponsored peace talks, the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas, and the murder of an Arab-Israeli teen by Jewish extremists in response that ultimately set conditions for conflict.

Step 3: Israel responds to this Hamas escalation, with its own escalation including military strikes inside of Gaza and punitive economic measure that further choke the strip in an effort to get Hamas to change its behavior and stop the attacks. We saw this throughout this spring and summer with Israeli airstrikes and temporary full closures of the crossings into Gaza.

Step 4: Violence and political pressure become too much and the tensions explode into a major conflict that does severe damage to all sides – though the highest death toll is always experienced by the civilian population in Gaza. Thankfully, we have not hit that point yet - and the hope is that all the parties having learned from the mistakes of the past can skip this terrible step and move directly on to negotiating a new ceasefire. 

Palestinian demonstrators hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the border fence between Israel and Gaza, in the southern Gaza Strip August 24, 2018.
Palestinian demonstrators hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the border fence between Israel and Gaza, August 24, 2018.\ IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/ REUTERS
Step 5: Egypt steps in and brokers a barebones ceasefire as it did in 2009, 2012, and 2014 that involves the cessation of violence on all sides and some minor steps by Israel to ease the blockade. The agreement always includes subsequent steps to be taken in the future to create a more sustainable long-term situation. But those are not taken seriously and with the immediate threat of war receding, are not followed up on by any of the parties. 


After a deal was negotiated in Cairo to end the 2014 war, for example, the UN, working with all sides was able to institute the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism to increase the flow of goods into Gaza while meeting Israeli security requirements. Eventually, a series of small measures such as loosening certain export restrictions into Israeli markets for goods produced in Gaza were also implemented. But none of these changed the fundamental economic and humanitarian situation on the ground.  

Meanwhile, the subsequent follow on talks that were supposed to take place in Cairo and address tougher issues beyond "quiet for quiet" and short-term economic measures, never materialized. The likely scenario today is the same: An agreement that avoids war but puts off tougher questions that likely will never be addressed.  

Step 6: The international community convenes a major donor conference where a lot of money is pledged for reconstructing Gaza. But much of the funds never materialize because no one wants to invest in projects that will inevitably be destroyed in the next conflict. And with the war over international attention moves elsewhere.

In 2009, the Gaza donor conference in Sharm al-Sheikh raised $4.5 billion. In 2014, the Cairo conference resulted in commitments of $5.3 billion. Much of that money never materialized or trickled in very slowly. And even when it did, restrictions on what could be imported into Gaza and Hamas’s use of funds and materials to strengthen its own situation and invest in a new conflict have made rebuilding painfully slow.  

Step 7: Everyone goes back to business as usual. The blockade continues. Israel invests in countermeasures to respond to the latest threat from Hamas. It now has Iron Dome and counter-tunneling technology. Next, it will be building technology that can create wind currents into Gaza that make it impossible to fly kites into Israel.

Yehiyeh Sinwar, the Hamas militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip, speaks to foreign correspondents in his office in Gaza City. May 10, 2018.Khalil Hamra / AP
Hamas develops new techniques to prepare for the next war. We do not know what will come after the kites, but certainly Hamas will find something new to terrorize Israelis.  

Eventually as things do not get better in Gaza and pressure builds the cycle of violence begins again.  

What does this cycle tell us about what the parties should do next?  First, barring any better options, for the moment Israel is right to pursue a new ceasefire and Egypt, the UN, the United States, and other Arab states should all support this approach. At least it avoids another deadly war.  

Second, the Trump administration should stop its systematic effort of defunding aid to the Palestinians both through UNRWA and USAID, as this will only further destabilize an already delicate situation.

But the most important point is that eventually there will be a reckoning.  

With every crisis, the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens. There will come a moment when basic order collapses altogether, or Israel is forced to invade and retake Gaza.  

The only way to avoid this terrible outcome in the long-term is a sustainable political arrangement that should include both a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that includes major economic opening of Gaza combined with a Palestinian reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas that slowly brings the Palestinian Authority back into Gaza.  

Ultimately, the biggest winners of a new ceasefire will be the civilians in Gaza and southern Israel who will avoid the immediate misery of more violence. But unless everyone can move beyond the cycle of the past ten years, they will also be the biggest losers - as inevitably, over time, this agreement too will break down. 

Ilan Goldenberg is the Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security and a Policy Advisor to the Israel Policy Forum. He previously served as part of the U.S. team during the 2013-2014 Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations. Twitter: @ilangoldenberg

If the Nazis Had RFID Chip Implants…
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/113095/rfid-chips-humans-forbidden-torah/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=8f9ce14b9c-

The anger of Hashem again flared up against Yisrael; and He incited David against them, saying, “Go and number Yisrael and Yehuda.” II Samuel 24:1 (The Israel Bible)
RFID tag. (Credit: The Digital Bridges/Screen capture)

Blurring the boundaries separating man from machine, a technology growing in popularity allows computer chips to be implanted under the skin. This may be prohibited by the Bible but one rabbi warns of a greater danger: the chips could be used as a Nazi-like tool to control the populace.  

The process is relatively simple. An identifying integrated circuit device or Radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder encased in silicate glass approximately the size of a grain of rice is implanted under the skin using a device similar to a syringe. Local anaesthetic is used during the procedure. The use of subdermal RFID’s for domestic and farm animals is widespread and some countries require them to be implanted This was first done by a physician in 1998 and was approved for use in humans by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004.

Proponents of this new technology claim a myriad of benefits. Some companies currently recommend implantation for their employees for security purposes. Locks and elevators can be paired with sensors so that only specific people can open a door. Computers can use the sensor to identify users when they log on, allowing them to access files and systems specific to them. Using the chip as “biopayment” in place of a credit card is in the developmental stages and could lead to a cashless society. It is also feasible to create a smartgun that will only allow the owner of a gun to fire it. Theoretically, a GPS-enabled chip could one day make it possible for individuals to be physically located anywhere on the planet.

The chip can link to an external database containing vital medical information for emergency use. This would be especially useful in cases of dementia or where the patient is uncooperative. It can also be used by law enforcement agencies to identify subjects and track their movements. Both of these applications raise serious concerns about civil liberties.

In addition to concerns about privacy, hacking the chips could lead to egregious cases of identity theft. Some states have passed legislation preventing companies and organizations from requiring their members or employees to be implanted with chips.

Some Christian activists, including conspiracy theorist Mark Dice, the author of a book titled The Resistance Manifesto, make a link between chipping of humans and the Biblical Mark of the Beast prophesied to be a future requirement for buying and selling.

Several anti-Jewish websites have written that implanted chips are actually a Jewish plot to control the minds of the populace. These conspiracists cite the many Jews who are developing the technology as proof of their theories. They also make the unsubstantiated claim that Jews are working on initiatives to require chip implantation.

The sites claim the chips could be used for the purposes of mind-control as per The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Published in Russia in 1903 but still printed around the world, the Protocols is a fabricated account purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. In addition to hijacking the chips for the purposes of mind-control, theft and to wreak general havoc, the sites claim the GPS feature will be used for the purposes of locating Christian children. This is a perpetuation of the spurious medieval blood libel in which Jews were accused of murdering Christian children for the purpose of using their blood to bake matzah.

Though the issue has not been formally addressed by any rabbinic body, it may be that having the chips implanted violates the Torah prohibition against numbering or counting Jews.

When you take a census of B’nei Yisrael according to their enrollment, each shall pay Hashem a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled. Exodus 30:12

Rabbi Pinchas Winston, a prolific end-of-days author, did not give a Halachic (Torah law) opinion but he suggested that as the chips currently operate, the Biblical prohibition may not apply. When scanned at the proper frequency, the chips respond with a unique 16-digit number which is then linked with information about the user on a separate database.

“You are not counting people or assigning them a number,” Rabbi Winston told Breaking Israel News. “You are identifying the chip which was assigned a number.”

Nonetheless, the rabbi warned that implanting chips posed a significant threat, one that has already caused great harm to the Jewish people.

“This has so much potential for good that it is almost inevitable that governments will want to use this,” Rabbi WInston said. “They can’t afford prisons and policing anymore for the expanding populations. Rather than put someone in prison, they can make it impossible to exit their home.  If they identify a criminal, they can remotely shut down their car, deny them access to money and food. A lot of people will be deterred form non-compliance with the law .”

“Though this is not specifically described in any Jewish end-of-days literature, this is still a scary  scenario,” Winston said. “Numbering the Jews, precisely as is forbidden in the Torah, was what the Nazis did to the Jews. They needed to keep track of the Jews. If these chips had been around, the Nazis surely would have used them.”

“Jews can say, ‘They will never put us in concentration camps in America’. But if, God-forbid,  an anti-Semitic regime takes power, they won’t have to,” Rabbi Winston said. “Captivity has different forms.”

“People are waiting to see swastikas and camps before they raise the alarm that the government has too much control. But they don’t need camps. With cities, with the urban  lifestyle and dependence on technology, we are already there. It begins with forms that seem innocuous, that are just the next step in technology, the next gadget.”

“I understand the necessity for this but the essential question is ‘Who will be in control ?’” Winston asked. “The wisest people in society who have our best interests in mind? Or is it someone, perhaps a government, that is only interested in their need to control society.  We learned in the Holocaust that it only takes one leader who hijacks technology to destroy the world. He may not even exist today, but he could be waiting in the wings.”

Palestinians Spread Libel that Israel Pushes Illegal Drugs
https://unitedwithisrael.org/palestinians-spread-libel-that-israel-pushes-illegal-drugs/?
The Head of the [Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security Force recently accused Israel of “undermining the [PA’s] war on drugs,” advancing the lie that Israel is somehow responsible for Palestinian drug problems.
By: United with Israel Staff
While a mushrooming drug problem is a very real issue facing Palestinian society, high-ranking government officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, are pushing lies instead of tackling the epidemic head on.

Specifically, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is blaming Israel for its drug problem, with the chief of the PA Preventive Security Force, Muhannad Abu Ali, spreading slanderous claims, according to a recent report by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

Indeed, after drug-growing fields were recently discovered near the Palestinian city of Jenin, Ali claimed Israel was “responsible” for the crops in addition to drug use among Palestinians.

“[T]he common factor in all of the growing fields that were discovered in the Jenin district is their connection to groups within the Green Line,” claimed Ali according to a report in August by the PA’s official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

Ali’s accusations are in line with the PA’s pattern of repeating the libel that Israel encourages Palestinian youth’s drug use to “destroy the next generation.”

In April, PMW reported that the chief of the PA Police in Tulkarem made the outrageous claim that Israel is “the main cause of the spread of the [marijuana] nurseries and [drug] distribution in Palestinian society,” according to a report in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

Perhaps most egregiously, PA President Mahmoud Abbas in January accused Israel on official PA TV of “exporting drugs to the Palestinians in frightening amounts.”

The recent report in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida flesh out Ali’s conspiracy theory, explaining “[Ali] also emphasized that the arrest of some of those involved has exposed their connection to people from [Israel], and added that what is happening confirms that there are efforts to put together gangs to plant these [drug] species for the benefit of Israeli groups or Palestinian groups with Israeli citizenship.”

The report continued, “Ali held [Israel] responsible for the spread of much of these phenomena in  Palestinian society, prime among them planting drugs, and said: ‘If these means succeed, they are liable to destroy the foundations of the public order and create a group of people that is dealing in drugs.'”

Accusations such as these are consistent with the PA educational system, which indoctrinates Palestinian youth to believe all of its society’s ills are caused by Israel, notwithstanding the fact that the PA tortures its own citizens, represses freedom of speech and press, and has refused to hold an election in well over a decade.

Netanyahu: Burgeoning Alliance with Arab Nations Could Bring Peace with Palestinians
 https://unitedwithisrael.org/netanyahu-burgeoning-alliance-with-arab-nations-could-bring-peace-with-palestinians/?
Netanyahu told the media in Lithuania that he sees thawing relations with Arab nations as a potential new avenue to pursue peace with the Palestinians.
By: United with Israel Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Monday that he views Arab nations’ “normalization” of relations with the Jewish state as the possible key to achieving peace with the Palestinians.
“I believe that if we have peace with the broader Arab world, it will help us get to peace with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu explained in an interview with Lithuania’s LRT public broadcaster.

Netanyahu visited the Baltic nation to improve ties with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia during a regional summit.

In the LRT interview, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is increasingly finding common ground with its Arab neighbors in the region, all of whom face the looming threat of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The Islamic Republic also continues to menace Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria with terror proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which Iran arms, trains, and finances.

While Israel has only secured peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently recognized Israel’s right to exist and indicated he envisions the potential for open diplomatic relations in the future in an interview with The Atlantic.

Both Israel and Saudi Arabia find themselves the target of Iranian threats and aggression, including recent rocket attacks attributed to the Islamic Republic.
While Netanyahu did not explicitly connect the dots in his interview in Lithuania, countries such as Saudi Arabia may be incentivized to pressure the Palestinians into coming to an agreement with Israel based on Arab nations’ pressing need for a unified front against Iran.

For Israeli Farmers Harmed by Hamas Arson Terror, Financial Help is on the Way
https://unitedwithisrael.org/for-israeli-farmers-harmed-by-hamas-arson-terror-financial-help-is-on-the-way/?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage
Aug 27, 2018
arson terror
Fire kites
Gaza rocket attacks
hamas
Jewish Agency
After enduring close to four months of relentless airborne arson attacks launched by Palestinian terrorists, Israeli farmers in the south will be eligible for loans to help them get back on their feet.
By: United with Israel Staff
Beginning at the end of March, the Hamas terror group organized violent rioting along the Gaza border that has involved infiltration attempts, murder by sniper, and daily airborne arson attacks, using kites, balloons, drones, and even an abused hawk to send incendiary devices into Israel.

Unfortunately, the terror group’s airborne arson operations have scorched thousands of acres of Israeli territory, destroying farms, decimating nature preserves, and killing wildlife.
In total, the arson attacks have caused millions of dollars in damage, with the total number of fires stared estimated at over 1,000.

Israeli farmers have been hit hard by the tactic, watching their crops go up in flames as they struggle to protect their families.
In response, the Jewish Agency has reportedly allocated funds to grant loans to businesses harmed by the balloon and kite terror, in addition to those affected by Hamas’ conventional weapon of choice, rockets.

According to a report by Ynet, the agency will extend the loans via expedited procedures to ensure that small and medium businesses near the Gaza border get the relief they need.
Specifically, the loans are intended to assist business in communities whose security has been threatened by arson and rocket attacks.

The source of the financial aid is the Ness Foundation, which is funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest and Miami’s Jewish community, reported Ynet.

Will Trump Take Palestinian ‘Right of Return’ Off the Table?
https://unitedwithisrael.org/will-trump-to-take-palestinian-right-of-return-off-the-table/?
Aug 26, 2018
In a move that could change decades of US policy, the Trump administration may stop recognizing as “refugees” the descendants of Palestinians who left territory that became the state of Israel.
By: The Algemeiner
The Trump administration is prepared to announce a new policy that effectively cancels the so-called “right of return” for Palestinians.

According to Israel’s Channel Two, the policy relates to both the refugees themselves and UNRWA, the UN agency that serves them.

UNRWA is controversial because it counts as refugees not only those Palestinians displaced in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, but also their descendants. As a result, there are now over five million registered Palestinian refugees, an enormous number of whom have never set foot in what was British Mandatory Palestine.

The Palestinians insist the refugees must be allowed to return to Israel, which would effectively destroy the country and replace it with an Arab-majority state.

Channel Two reports that the Trump administration’s plan to solve the issue will be announced at the beginning of September and will have several stages.

First, a report will be issued on the Palestinian refugees, which will number them at approximately 500,000, rather than the five million registered by UNRWA.

Second, the US will formally reject UNRWA’s definition of refugee status as inheritable.

Third, UNRWA’s budget for operating in Judea and Samaria will be cut.

Fourth, Israel will be asked to reconsider allowing UNRWA to operate in Judea and Samaria altogether, in order to prevent the Arab countries from making up the shortfall from the US cuts.

According to Channel Two, the Israeli government sees the plan as a “historic step” on par with Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there. They see it as effectively taking the refugee issue — one of the thorniest in the Middle East conflict — off the table.

The White House had no comment on the story, saying only that it would make its stance clear at the appropriate time.

Northern Irish Soccer Authority Rejects Calls to Cancel Friendly Match With Israel
https://unitedwithisrael.org/northern-irish-soccer-authority-rejects-calls-to-cancel-friendly-match-with-israel/?
Irish Football Association has rejected calls from BDS supporters to nix a friendly match between the country and Israel next month.

By: Ben Cohen/The Algemeiner 

The top soccer authority in Northern Ireland has roundly rejected calls from supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign to nix a friendly match between Northern Ireland and Israel next month.

The Irish Football Association — soccer’s governing body in the six counties that comprise Northern Ireland — said in a statement on Monday that it had “no intention of canceling Northern Ireland’s international challenge match against Israel on 11 September.”

In purely soccer terms, friendly matches are not regarded as major competitive events so much as opportunities for coaches to experiment with new players and different tactics. Both Northern Ireland — 27 in the FIFA world rankings — and Israel — 93 in the FIFA world rankings — are shaping up to try to qualify for the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The two sides last faced off in Tel Aviv in 2013, in a contest that ended in a 1-1 tie.

But for the republican nationalist Sinn Fein party — which enthusiastically backs BDS and has historical links with the PLO and other Palestinian groups — the match is an important platform to promote the boycott campaign more broadly.

The bid to get the match canceled has been led by Sinead Ennis, a Sinn Fein member of Northern Ireland’s Legislative Assembly. Earlier this month, Ennis said she was making the call on “the back of the recent massacre of over 100 demonstrators and the maiming of thousands more by the Israeli army” — a reference to recent Hamas-provoked confrontations between the IDF and Palestinian rioters, many of whom were carrying weapons, on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

An Extremely Divisive Political Policy
Following Monday’s announcement by the Irish Football Association, Ennis declared that she was “once again calling on the IFA to cancel this match and send out a strong signal that the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, breach of international and human rights abuse won’t be tolerated.”

In a statement responding to Ennis, the advocacy group Northern Ireland Friends of Israel (NIFI) declared that it was “sad to see a party here seek to impose an extremely divisive political policy on a sporting association, particularly given the huge strides made by the IFA and other sporting bodies to make sport more inclusive for all.”

The NIFI observed that both teams reflect the diversity of their respective societies.

“The Northern Ireland team have Protestants and Catholics playing for it,” the NIFI pointed out.”Jews, Arabs, Druze and even Circassians have featured in the Israeli international squad — one of the most diverse and inclusive in the Middle East.”

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) — led by former convicted terrorist Jibril Rajoub — has been campaigning for Israel’s expulsion from international soccer since 2006, when Rajoub took over the body. Violent threats made by Rajoub in June contributed to the cancellation of a planned friendly match in Jerusalem between Argentina and Israel in the run-up to the World Cup competition in Russia.

“PepsiCo and SodaStream are an inspired match,” said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi. SodaStream “has built an extraordinary company.”
https://unitedwithisrael.org/pepsico-buys-sodastream-calls-acquisition-an-inspired-match/?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage
By: United with Israel Staff and AP

PepsiCo Inc. and Israel’s SodaStream International Ltd. announced Monday that they have entered into an agreement under which the American company will acquire all outstanding shares of SodaStream for $144.00 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at $3.2 billion.

“PepsiCo and SodaStream are an inspired match,” said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi. “[SodaStream CEO] Daniel [Birnbaum] and his leadership team have built an extraordinary company that is offering consumers the ability to make great-tasting beverages while reducing the amount of waste generated.”

SodaStream’s “focus is well-aligned with Performance with Purpose, our philosophy of making more nutritious products while limiting our environmental footprint. Together, we can advance our shared vision of a healthier, more-sustainable planet,” he added.

Daniel Birnbaum, SodaStream CEO and director, said that the acquisition “marks an important milestone in the SodaStream journey. It is validation of our mission to bring healthy, convenient and environmentally friendly beverage solutions to consumers around the world.”

SodaStream is “honored to be chosen as PepsiCo’s beachhead for at home preparation to empower consumers around the world with additional choices,” he added. PepsiCo’s strong distribution capabilities, global reach, R&D, design and marketing expertise, combined with SodaStream’s differentiated and unique product range will position SodaStream for further expansion and breakthrough innovation, PepsiCo stated.

The transaction is another step in PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose journey, promoting health and wellness through environmentally friendly, cost-effective and fun-to-use beverage solutions.

The closing of the deal is expected by January 2019.

Israel’s SodaStream is the leading sparkling water brand in volume in the world and the leading manufacturer and distributor of Sparkling Water Makers. Their product enables consumers to easily transform ordinary tap water into sparkling water and flavored sparkling water in seconds. By making ordinary water fun and exciting to drink, SodaStream helps consumers drink more water.

“The recent major acquisitions of Israeli companies prove not only the technological capabilities that have been developed in Israel, but the business capabilities as well. I welcome this huge deal that will enrich the state treasury and also the important decision to keep the company in Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.

Thriving Despite BDS
SodaStream’s products are available at more than 80,000 individual retail stores across 45 countries.

SodaStream, which produces machines that allow people to make fizzy drinks, has been targeted by the anti-Israel boycott movement. SodaStream announced in 2014 it was closing its factory in Judea, and the BDS movement declared victory and said its pressure was behind the decision.

Birnbaum said the boycott movement has only had a “marginal” effect on his business. He accused the BDS movement of spreading lies and said Palestinian employees were given pay and benefits far higher than anything else they could find in the Palestinian Authority.

“It’s propaganda. It’s politics. It’s hate. It’s anti-Semitism. It’s all the bad stuff we don’t want to be part of,” Birnbaum said.

SodaStream employed up to 600 Palestinians at the Judea factory and sought to transfer their jobs to the Israeli plant in the Negev. Israel has granted fewer work permits due to security issues. Thus many Palestinians have lost their source of livelihood, while the factory continued to thrive.

“SodaStream should have been encouraged in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) if (the BDS movement) truly cared about the Palestinian people,” Birnbaum said.

Opinion The UN's Insanity on Gaza
When the UN chief ignores Hamas and highlights another one-sided mandate focused only on Palestinian civilians, he once again makes the body he represents irrelevant for Israel and dangerous for Palestinians
Peter Lerner  Aug 20, 2018 7:39 PM
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The saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” has been attributed to several people over the years, including Albert Einstein. Now, UN Secretary...
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-un-s-insanity-on-gaza-1.6405929?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=Push_Notification

Jewish Democratic Group Rejects Minnesota Lawmaker Over Anti-Israel Statements
Aug 19, 2018
Omar, who has labeled Israel as an “apartheid regime” that has “hypnotized the world,” is favored to take a seat in Congress after winning her Democratic primary in Minnesota.
By: JNS.org
Minnesota state lawmaker Ilhan Omar, who has labeled Israel an “apartheid regime” that has “hypnotized the world,” is favored to take a seat in Congress after winning her Democratic primary on Tuesday in a heavily Democratic district in her state.
She will face Republican Jennifer Zielinski in November.
If Omar wins, she would replace another Israel critic, Rep. Keith Ellison, who is running for Minnesota state attorney general. Ellison, the Deputy Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), is known for associating with anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Omar isn’t the only Muslim American critical of Israel running for Congress. In Michigan last week, Rashida Tlaib won her primary and runs unopposed in November. She has called for cutting US assistance to Israel, which she has stated is “discriminatory”—a move that has been condemned by groups like the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA).
MORE https://unitedwithisrael.org/jewish-democratic-group-rejects-minnesota-lawmaker-over-anti-israel-statements/?

Israeli Ministry to Fund Evangelical Bible Program in West Bank Settlement
Education Ministry to set aside nearly one million shekels for trips to settlement facility dedicated to helping young Israelis foster 'a deeper connection to God by embracing their biblical and cultural heritage'
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-ministry-to-fund-evangelical-bible-program-in-west-bank-settlement-1.6390099?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=Push_Notification


Palestinians Choose to Fund Terrorists Over Children’s Education
https://unitedwithisrael.org/palestinians-choose-to-fund-terrorists-over-childrens-education/?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage
“Abbas has budgeted more than $350,000,000 for terrorists and their families. Maybe the PA should pay for Palestinian education rather than Palestinian terror?” Security Minister Erdan suggested.
By: United with Israel Staff

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday made it clear to the world that if forced to choose, it will pay salaries to terrorists rather than for the education of Palestinian children.

Recent reports claimed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), dedicated solely to serve the Palestinians, did not have enough money to open up the UNRWA school system for over 320,000 Palestinian children.

UNRWA’s budget for the schools could easily be covered by the PA from the money it spends paying terrorist prisoners and families of so-called “Martyrs,” terrorists killed while attacking Israelis. Yet PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced on official PA TV that “Israel considers them (i.e., terrorist prisoners) criminals… Even if we need to cut from our flesh, we will continue to give the support and aid.”

He didn’t say a word about using money to open up the schools for Palestinian children, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) noted.

On Thursday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl announced that the schools will open on time but the problem is not solved.

“While announcing today the opening of the school year, I wish to be clear that UNRWA is by no stretch of the imagination out of the woods. Since January 2018, UNRWA has mobilized $238 million of additional funding, which is very encouraging. However, we currently only have funding to run the Agency’s services until the end of September. We need a further $217 M to ensure that our schools not only open but can be run until the end of the year.”

For the year 2018, the PA allocated NIS 1.237 billion for salaries to terrorist prisoners, released terrorist prisoners, the families of deceased terrorists and wounded terrorists. These funds, paid to fewer than 100,000 people, are more than one-third of the entire budget of the PA’s Ministry of Education (NIS 3.35 billion), which provides educational services for over a million Palestinians, PMW pointed out.

UNRWA’s budget deficit – no more than 800 million shekels – is cumulative for all of the UNRWA-run schools (including those in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon). In total, these schools provide education to 526,000 students, of which, according to the UNRWA 2017 annual report, less than 320,000 live in the PA-controlled areas. Accordingly, the deficit to provide educational services to  students resident in the PA areas would be substantially less.

However, instead of educating its children, the PA continuously rejects the demand that it cease paying terrorists and their families and relies on the international community to provide basic services.

PA Shirks its Responsibility
Just three days ago, during a meeting between PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and a delegation from the PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, led by the newly appointed Director of the Commission Qadri Abu Bakr, Hamdallah emphasized that “the firm position of the leadership” headed Abbas is full commitment to pay the terror stipends “despite the challenges.”

“The provision of all types of support to the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs in its lofty and patriotic activities for our brave prisoners in the occupation’s jails is continuing,” Hamdallah stated.

He emphasized that the prisoners are “the spearhead of the Palestinian struggle, and that they are the ones who have sacrificed the years of their lives for our just cause.”

“The contrast between UNRWA’s financial crisis and the PA’s insistence on continuing to reward terrorism exposes and highlights how the PA shirks its responsibility to provide basic services to its people, relying instead on international aid so that it can continue its repugnant practice of rewarding terrorism,” PMW stated.

PMW called on “all the relevant actors, including the UN and PA donor countries, to demand that the PA prioritize the provision of education to its children rather than continue rewarding terrorism.”

Israeli Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan tweeted that UNRWA “says it needs $217,000,000 to run schools for Palestinian children. It wants President Donald Trump and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to foot the bill. Abbas has budgeted more than $350,000,000 for terrorists and their families. Maybe the PA should pay for Palestinian education rather than Palestinian terror? #Crazy Idea.”

The Poster Loving Child-Terrorist the Media Loves
https://israelunwired.com/what-lays-behind-the-poster-loving-child-terrorist-the-media-loves/
By Avi Abelow -  August 15, 2018 5440 0
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Her name is Ahed Tamimi and the media loves her. She looks great on screen, and makes the fight against Israel look so innocent and pure. Yet, she is a sick terrorist, groomed as such by her parents since she was a little child. She doesn’t carry out the terror attacks herself, but she is the PR front to help make Israel look bad in the media to create compassion for the actual terrorists.

Tamimi is no innocent child
Just listen to what she says in the above video. She calls upon everybody to do “stabbings, martyrdom, suicide bombings, throwing stones, everyone must do these things so we can unite this way”. That is not the way an innocent non-violent protester speaks. She is a full supporter of the worst kind of terrorism to kill innocent Israelis.

The Picture the NGO World and Media Paint of Tamimi
View image on Twitter

Amnesty UK

@AmnestyUK
 Urge Israel to #FreeAhedTamimi. For years, she and her family have bravely stood up against the Israeli occupation. Now she's spending 8 months in prison. @netanyahu must release her now. Take action

Pop Superstar Lana Del Rey to Perform in Israel
https://unitedwithisrael.org/pop-superstar-lana-del-rey-to-perform-in-israel/?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage
The American singer-songwriter is slated to perform during a massive music festival in Israel’s north in September.

By: United with Israel Staff

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, better known by her stage name Lana Del Rey, is booked to perform in Israel next month, joining the lineup of a music festival that boasts top rapper Pusha T and the popular dj and producer Flying Lotus.

While Del Rey was set to play the Holy Land in 2014, she cancelled the show due to security concerns related to Operation Protective Edge, during which Israel was forced to address the security threat posed by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

Del Rey’s performance will be part of the Meteor Festival, a three-day Woodstock-like party on a kibbutz called Lehavot Habashan in northern Israel.

The fest includes an eclectic lineup of hip hop, dance, and jazz, with Del Rey expected to perform her smash hits “Summertime Sadness” and “Young and Beautiful.”

The announcement of Del Rey’s gig may bring solace to Israeli music-lovers, who missed out on concerts by rappers Tyga and Fat Joe, both of whom canceled shows in Israel due to “security concerns.”

While Fat Joe led a rap group called the “Terror Squad” in the late nineties and aughts, his apparent fear of facing actual terror was enough to keep him from performing in the Holy Land.

Whether or not Del Rey will face pressure to cancel her gig from the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement remains to be seen. In the past, BDS mouthpiece Roger Waters has aggressively targeted musicians scheduled to play in Israel with public shaming and less than honest rhetoric.

Artists such as Radiohead, Ringo Starr, and Morrissey, among others, all ignored Waters’ tactics and rejected the BDS movement.

WATCH: Qatar Boycott of Israel Backfires
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-qatar-boycott-of-israel-backfires/?
Despite Qatar’s attempts to politicize a major debate tournament and its refusal to engage with students from Israel, two Israeli teams topped the European Universities Debating Championship in Serbia.
If there were a prize for epic boycott fails, Qatar would win it. The Qatari debate team tried to boycott Israel, but ended up getting BDS banned from European debates.
Ultimately, two Israeli teams topped the European Universities Debating Championship in Serbia, in which a total of 187 teams from 30 countries within and surrounding Europe were competing against each other.
WATCH https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=uzzN-nS3lgA

Canadian TV Erroneously Claims Israel Destroyed Gaza ‘Cultural Center,’ Actually a Hamas HQ
https://unitedwithisrael.org/canadian-tv-wrongly-claims-israel-destroyed-gaza-cultural-center-actually-a-hamas-hq/?
HonestReporting called on CTV National News to “issue an on-air corrective to remedy the erroneous and misleading statement it broadcast” that Israel destroyed a Gaza cultural center, when in fact the IAF conducted a strike against Hamas’ headquarters.

By: United with Israel Staff

HonestReporting Canada (HRC) filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) on Friday after CTV National News aired a report which incorrectly claimed that Israel destroyed a Gaza cultural center, when in fact Israel’s Air Force (IAF) conducted a strike against Hamas headquarters used for military and terror purposes.

Anchor Lisa Laflamme on Thursday falsely and unfairly stated that “Israeli aircraft bombed more than 150 targets in Gaza, flattening a major cultural center and leaving three people dead.”

The facts are that Israel’s citizens in the south experienced a nightmarish evening on  Wednesday and on Thursday when Hamas terrorists fired over 180 rockets at them, repeatedly setting off Code Red alerts that sent them running for cover.

The Iron Dome defense system intercepted 30 rockets, while several of the explosive projectiles fell inside Israeli towns, causing injuries, some of them serious, and extensive damage.

The IAF responded by attacking over 150 Hamas terror targets throughout the Strip, including a cement factory used by Hamas to build terror tunnels, a maritime terror tunnel shaft, a weapons manufacturing and storage facility, and several terror sites in military compounds, as well as the five-story Said al-Mishal Cultural Center in Shati, which has served as the headquarters for Hamas’ internal security forces.

Hamas’s interior security unit is responsible for all security operations carried out inside Gaza and is considered to be an executive branch of Hamas’s political leadership. A significant part of the unit’s members are also Hamas terrorists, the IDF stated.

On behalf of its 30,000 subscribers, HRC called on CTV National News to “issue an on-air corrective to remedy the erroneous and misleading statement it broadcast.”

“At the very least, CTV News has an obligation to its viewers to mention that Israel regards the building as being Hamas’ headquarters whose forces use it for military and terrorist purposes. Failing which, viewers will be left to wrongly conclude that Israel targeted a civilian building used to promote culture,” HRC noted. “To some viewers, they may falsely conclude that Israel committed a war crime and had collectively punished innocent Palestinians in Gaza.”

Israel is repeatedly faced with biased reporting by the international media and is often forced to fight for the truth.



Hamas-Israel Deal to Include Year-long Cease-fire, Gaza-Cyprus Sea Lane, Report Says
Emerging agreement would also involve Qatari funding for electricity in Gaza and Qatari payment of Hamas officials' salaries, according to Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet
https://www.haaretz.com/life/report-hamas-israel-deal-to-include-year-long-cease-fire-1.6386106?
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Aug 16, 2018 12:01 PM
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A Palestinian Hamas military policeman walks over the rubble of a site hit by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Aug. 9, 2018.Khalil Hamra,AP
Trump administration wants to see a Gaza cease-fire 'with or without the Palestinian Authority'
Senior Israeli minister admits to emerging Israel-Hamas deal, says his party will vote against it
U.S. official: Trump's peace plan will cause discomfort to both Israel and Palestinians
The terms of an emerging agreement between Israel and Hamas include a year-long cease-fire, operation of a shipping route between Cyprus and the Gaza Strip, and Qatari funding for fuel in the impoverished enclave, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese network Al Mayadeen reported on Thursday.

The deal would also entail Qatari payment of Hamas officials' salaries.

The 48 hours between Thursday and Saturday will be decisive for the potential deal's success or failure, according to the network.

>> In nearing deal with Israel on Gaza, Hamas wins achievements through military resistance | Analysis 

Also Thursday, U.K.-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported that the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Directorate had visited Tel Aviv the previous day to discuss efforts to clinch a long-term cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

According to Palestinian sources quoted in the report, Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel was in Tel Aviv to "discuss the final details of an integrated agreement that included Israel's approval of the truce," as well as plans for humanitarian initiatives in Gaza, indirect negotiations with Hamas for exchanging prisoners and the Palestinian reconciliation.

Kamel was also expected to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah during his visit, according to the report, as Cairo works to involve the PA in the talks and have it reassume control of the Strip.

However, a source in Abbas' bureau told Haaretz that there had yet to be a request by the Egyptians to arrange the arrival of Kamel. According to the source, the Egyptians demanded that a Fatah delegation arrive in Cairo to meet with leaders of other Palestinian factions, a demand Abbas has refused since the negotiated deal currently doesn't promise Palestinian Authority control over the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, officials from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups traveled to Egypt to continue talks about a potential Hamas-Fatah reconciliation and a long-term truce with Israel.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday a short-term truce went into effect, following approval by Israel's security cabinet.

Vandals deface Petach Tikva synagogue with Nazi symbols
 August 15, 2018
Vandals deface Petach Tikva synagogue with Nazi symbolsJewish worshippers look at a swastika sprayed inside the Grand Synagogue in Petah Tikva, May 4, 2006. (AP/Reuven Kastro).
A large swastika and symbol of the SS were spray-painted on the outer wall of a synagogue in Petach Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
During the entire Hebrew month of Elul, which leads up to the Jewish New Year, sephardic Jews observe the custom of reciting special penitential prayers very early in the morning. On Tuesday, congregants of the Ohel Moshe synagogue in Petach Tikva arrived before dawn and discovered a disturbing sight: a large swastika and lightning symbol of the German SS units sprayed on the façade of the building in black paint.
“Of course, a complaint was immediately filed with the police, with the hope that it would be dealt with seriously and expeditiously,” said Rami Greenberg, a city council member who exposed the criminal act on his Facebook page.
MORE https://worldisraelnews.com/vandals-deface-petah-tikva-synagogue-with-nazi-symbols/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%

Analysis Netanyahu Picks the Perfect Time to Lay a Trap for Corbyn – and He Fell for It
The U.K. Labour leader is the only politician hapless enough to lose the moral high ground to Bibi

Anshel Pfeffer Aug 15, 2018 1:41 AM
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent record of standing up for Jewish communities in the Diaspora that are facing anti-Semitism has hardly been a stellar one. Over the last two years he has failed American Jews by...
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-netanyahu-picked-the-perfect-time-to-attack-corbyn-1.6383283?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=Push_Notification



Jerusalem Hostel Booted by Birthright Bans ‘Haters of Israel’
Several celebrities and newspapers, including Haaretz, are featured on the list of banned 'Haters of Israel'
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/jerusalem-hostel-booted-by-birthright-bans-haters-of-israel-1.6382894
The Forward and Aiden Pink Aug 14, 2018 7:56 PM
Jewish Heritage House
Jewish Heritage HouseOlivier Fitoussi
Between Adelson and BDS, Birthright has become a political battlefield
'One Jewish life is worth more than 10,000 non-Jews': Why more U.S. Jews will walk off Birthright this summer
Birthright co-founder says walk-out protesters don’t have right to criticize Israel ‘on our nickel’
A hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City published a list of Jewish activists, journalists and celebrities who have been “banned because of crimes committed against the Jewish People.”

The Jerusalem Heritage House’s list, which refers to the people named as “sonei Yisrael” or “haters of Israel,” includes Jewish politicians like Bernie Sanders and Dianne Feinstein; advocacy groups like J Street and the Anti-Defamation League, “all staff” from the Times of Israel, Haaretz, CNN and The New York Times; and celebrities like Jon Stewart, Bette Midler and Natalie Portman.
The list was published on Twitter by Jacob Kornbluh of Jewish Insider.
 Apparently there’s a Sonei Yisrael (haters of Israel) list #smh
6:36 AM - Aug 14, 2018 · Brooklyn, NY
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The Heritage House, which says it has hosted more than 60,000 people since it opened in 1985, did not respond to a request for comment from The Jerusalem Post.

The hostel came under heavy scrutiny last year after Haaretz reported that a popular operator of Birthright trips run by the Orthodox Union had been referring participants to stay there for free in order to extend their 10-day trip.

While at the Heritage House, residents were encouraged to volunteer in illegal West Bank outposts. Residents also reported seeing pictures and books about Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose political party was banned in Israel for racism and whose Jewish Defense League was classified by the FBI as a terrorist group.

The trip provider quickly stopped promoting the hostel following the original report.

The Heritage House has also been threatened with a discrimination-related lawsuit for not accepting non-Jewish guests.

Rumble on the Right Pro-Israel Group Attacked for ‘Falsely’ Claiming Israel Supports Palestinian State
StandWithUs claimed Israel ‘officially supports the two-state solution’ - the Zionist Organization of America thinks that’s false, ripping the hasbara group’s statement as ‘extremely harmful’
Bradley Burston Aug 14, 2018 9:22 PM
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In a bitter rift between two of the most prominent U.S. pro-Israel advocacy groups, the right-wing Zionist Organization of America this week slammed the campus-oriented StandWithUs group for repeating what..
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-zoa-attacks-standwithus-for-claiming-israel-supports-palestinian-state-1.6383054?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=Push_Notification


Analysis In Nearing Deal With Israel on Gaza, Hamas Wins Achievements Through Military Resistance
Netanyahu, who has no clear goal on Gaza, prefers to be weak on terror and not find himself in an endless war in the Strip
Amos Harel Aug 15, 2018 8:49 AM
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The two sides clashing in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Hamas, seemed to be closer on Tuesday evening than anytime during the past few months to “the small arrangement” – a full cease-fire that includes a halt to...
Analysis In Nearing Deal With Israel on Gaza, Hamas Wins Achievements Through Military Resistance
Netanyahu, who has no clear goal on Gaza, prefers to be weak on terror and not find himself in an endless war in the Strip
Amos Harel Aug 15, 2018 8:49 AM
 1comments     Zen
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The two sides clashing in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Hamas, seemed to be closer on Tuesday evening than anytime during the past few months to “the small arrangement” – a full cease-fire that includes a halt to...
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-netanyahu-government-warming-to-prospective-cease-fire-with-hamas-1.6383271?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=Push_Notification




Trump Approves Largest-Ever Aid Package to Israel
The National Defense Authorization Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring an MOU between America and Israel, giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish state.
By: Jackson Richman/JNS and United with Israel Staff

US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday, which includes $550 million in assistance to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves.

The $717 billion Act includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between America and Israel, with the US giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish state.

The NDAA, titled the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 2019,” authorizes funds for research and development pertaining to weapon-defense systems, including the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 that help Israel defend against missile and rocket threats.

Additionally, the law provides $50 million for joint US-Israeli work on counter-tunnel technology, which has emerged as a major security threat to Israel in recent years from the Palestinian Gaza-based terror group Hamas.

Facing constant threats on its borders, Israel is forced to spend more on defense as a percentage of GDP than any other nation in the industrialized world.

The vast majority of the security assistance is spent purchasing American products, and therefore the aid is essentially an investment in the US economy.

The annual military blueprint also temporarily blocks the US delivery of the F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in response to the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whom the country accuses of participating in the failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/trump-approves-largest-ever-aid-package-to-israel/?utm_source=pushengage&utm_medium=pushnotification&utm_campaign=pushengage

Ronald Lauder Warns Israel: Nation-state Law Will Harm Ties With World Jewry
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/ron-lauder-warns-israel-nation-state-law-will-harm-ties-with-diaspora-1.6381745?
World Jewish Congress chief and former Netanyahu confidant urges Israeli leaders to 'rethink their destructive actions' in New York Times op-ed
Amir Tibon  Washington  SendSend me email alerts
Aug 14, 2018 9:48 AM
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World Jewish Congress head Ronald Lauder in 2012.Daniel Bar-On
Lauder’s J’Accuse against Netanyahu’s Israel is also a mea culpa
U.S. Jewish leader Ronald Lauder gave $1.1 million to covert group pushing anti-Muslim campaign
Ron Lauder: No two-state solution, lack of religious pluralism could endanger Israel’s existence

 
WASHINGTON – Ronald Lauder, a prominent Jewish American philanthropist and supporter of Israel, is warning the Israeli government in a new article that the recently approved nation-state law will damage Israel's future relationship with the Jewish diaspora. Lauder wrote in The New York Times the law will weaken Israel, and urged the leaders of the country to "rethink their destructive actions." 

Lauder was considered for decades to be a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at some point even used him to conduct a secret negotiation with the president of Syria. He is the head of the World Jewish Congress, an international federation of Jewish groups from dozens of countries, and a prominent donor to various charities in Israel, as well as pro-Israeli groups in America. 

In his article on Monday, Lauder decried a number of recent decisions by the authorities in Israel, including the nation-state law, the passage of a surrogacy law that discriminates against the Israeli LGBT community, and the police interrogation of a non-Orthodox Rabbi in Haifa over his religious activities. "These events are creating the impression that the democratic and egalitarian dimensions of the Jewish democratic state are being tested," he wrote. 
>> Basic Law or basically a disaster? Israel’s nation-state law controversy explained

Lauder explained that "Israel may find itself associated with a broken values system and questionable friends. As a result, future leaders of the West may become hostile or indifferent to the Jewish state," adding it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jewish supporters of Israel in the U.S. and elsewhere to defend some of its actions, and that this could lead to a divide between the Jewish state and its Jewish supporters abroad.
Younger Jews worldwide are adopting more liberal positions on various issues, Lauder noted, of which many do not align with the Israeli policies he criticizes in the article.

"If present trends persist, young Jews might not acquiesce to an affiliation with a nation that discriminates against non-Orthodox Jews, non-Jewish minorities and the L.G.B.T. community," Lauder warned. "They may not fight the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, they may not support Israel in Washington and they may not provide it with the strategic rear guard that Israel so needs."

Lauder stressed he "Always stood by Israel and I always will. But now, as a loving brother, I ask Israel’s government to listen to the voices of protest and outrage being heard in Israel and throughout the Jewish world. As president of the World Jewish Congress, I call upon Israeli leaders to rethink their destructive actions during this summer of disharmony."

Lauder concluded by saying "This is not who we are, and this is not who we wish to be. This is not the face we want to show our children, grandchildren and the family of nations."

This is the second time in recent months that Lauder has criticized the policies of the right-wing government in Israel in the New York Times. Earlier this year, he wrote a scathing article against Israel's settlements in the West Bank, warning that they threaten Israel's Jewish and Democratic nature and its ties with the Jewish American community. 

Lauder's relationship with Netanyahu has reportedly soured in recent years, but he still enjoys a friendly relationship with another influential leader on the world stage - U.S. President Donald Trump. The two billionaires have known each other for decades, and Lauder has reportedly advised Trump and the senior members of his Middle East peace team on how, in his view, they can make progress towards an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.