Dear Family & Friends,

Last night I attended the presentation of “Legal Grounds: our Jewish Rights to the Land of Eretz Yisrael” by Arlene Kushner & Jeff Daube. It was wonderful…very well done. Here is a summary from their Website: israelrights.com:

Will you remain silent while the PA continues to tell lies?

• They are used to advance the BDS movement.
• They promote the rights of the PA Arabs to a state in Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem (j-s-j).

Until now, these lies have not been consistently refuted by Israel. Use the information below to effectively counter these damaging and false charges.

The following claims are made:

• In 1967 Israel conquered Judea and Samaria & part of Jerusalem from the Kingdom of Jordan,

which held legal jurisdiction over the territory.
• This was/and is “Palestinian Arab” territory.
• The Laws of Occupation apply to Israeli presence in Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem (j-s-j).
• The settlements are illegal.

Each of these assumptions is incorrect:

· Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem are part of the area designated by the Mandate for Palestine for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish People only. That status of the land has not changed.
The Mandate – enacted in international law by the League of Nations and assigned to Great Britain – was predicated on the Balfour Declaration and preceded by the San Remo Conference.

· Article 80 of the UN charter, 1945, assured that the rights inherent in the Mandate were not abrogated or altered because of the demise of the League of Nations and its succession by the UN.

· Contrary to popular opinion, there was no legal decision made in 1947 to ‘partition’ the land called Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. There was merely a recommendation by the UN General Assembly (Resolution 181). The Arabs refused to accept this and Judea and Samaria then remained, without change, part of the territory that the Mandate for Palestine had established for a Jewish homeland.

· Jordan’s entry into Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem in 1948 as part of an offensive military action was illegal. Jordan’s annexation of this land was in contravention of international law.

· Israel took this land from Jordan in 1967 during a defensive war, which makes its actions legal. The areas that Israel took control of during the Six Day War in 1967 were not part of any other legal sovereignty. They were stateless areas that had in any case been designated for the Jewish People by the Mandate for Palestine.

· The Laws of Occupation apply to a situation in which territory is taken from another state. Since Israel did not take land from a sovereign state, the laws do not apply to Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem. The injunctions and restrictions that lawfully might be placed on an occupying nation are not relevant to Israel’s presence in Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem.

· The claim that Israel’s presence in Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention is frequently used to bolster the argument that Israel is an occupier. However, there is a very solid body of legal opinion – including that of the International Red Cross – that concludes that the Convention was drafted to address situations of coercive transfer of population, such as that practiced by the Nazis. This is not remotely connected to Israel’s settlement policy.

· The charge is made frequently that Israel must “return” to its legitimate “pre-1967 border.” The line – often called the Green Line – was not a border, however: It was an armistice line. The 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan defined this ceasefire line as temporary, saying that a final border would be established via negotiations. Those negotiations were never held.

· Security Council Resolution 242, passed in 1967, did not require Israel to return behind the Green Line, but instead recognized Israel’s need for secure borders. No pullback by Israel was called for until after negotiations had determined the final border. Those negotiations, which would have been with Jordan, were never held. (Note: Jordan officially relinquished all claims to Judea and Samaria in 1988.)

There was no mention of a “Palestinian People” or a “Palestinian State” in Resolution 242. There has never been a Palestinian State and Judea and Samaria in no sense belong to the Palestinian Arabs.
The claim that the Palestinian Arabs are entitled to a state is purely a political and not a legal argument.

Therefore: The settlements are not illegal. Israel is not an occupier in Judea-Samaria or Jerusalem.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. THE AUTHORITATIVE RESPONSES TO THE LIES! USE THEM!!

Have a great night, day & Shabbat Shalom for tomorrow.

All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 2/Mom

Our Website is excellent also: WinstonIsraelInsight.com

1.Public Asked to Pray for Recovery of ‘Father of Hevron’

2.Watch: ‘It’s Just Amazing, the Whole IDF is in Nepal’

3.Israel’s Baskin Case By David Bedein

4.Families welcome loved ones rescued from Nepal

5.’Hamas military chief, Deif, survived assassination attempt’

6.Iran pushing Hezb’Allah to carry out attacks against Israel

7.The Palestinians No One Talks About by Khaled Abu Toameh

8.Shaken into perspective by Boaz Bismuth

9.’We are here as proud Israelis, and all we want is to save lives’

10.Iran seizes cargo ship after firing warning shots

11. Hezb’Allah exploiting power vacuum in Syria to escalate violence on Israeli border

12.Israeli innovations save lives in Nepal

1.Public Asked to Pray for Recovery of ‘Father of Hevron’

Rabbi Levinger, among founders of modern Hevron Jewish community, is hospitalized in critical condition. By Yishai Karov, Ari Yashar Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com First Publish: 4/30/2015, 7:29 PM

Rabbi Moshe Levinger in Hevron Flash 90

Prominent religious Zionist Rabbi Moshe Levinger, one of the founders of the Gush Emunim movement advancing the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, continues to be in serious condition after being hospitalized in the Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

The rabbi, who is over 79-years-old, is one of the founders of the modern-day Jewish community in Hevron, the City of the Patriarchs, whose ancient Jewish community was wiped out during the 1929 Hevron Massacre by local Arabs. He is also one of the founders and a former leader of the Yesha Council, which represents the Jews of Judea and Samaria.

Rabbi Levinger’s son Shlomo Levinger told Arutz Sheva that his father was hospitalized in recent days after suffering an epileptic seizure, and that he is also suffering from pneumonia.

The family is asking the public to pray for the full recovery of Rabbi Moshe Ben Tirtze.

Rabbi Levinger’s wide-ranging activities with Gush Emunim have led many to view him as one of the founding figures in the movement of establishing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and particularly in Hevron.

He was among those who signed on an announcement in April 1968 calling families and singles to repopulate the Jewish community in Hevron.

On Pesach (Passover) of 1968, he led a group of Jews in holding a traditional Seder meal at the Park Hotel in Hevron, and after the holiday he announced that they would stay in the city. For three years the group lived in the military administration building in Hevron until Kiryat Arba was established adjacent to the ancient city, at which point they moved there.

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he represented the Jews who moved into Sebastia in Samaria in opposition to the government of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Rabbi Levinger is married to Miriam, with whom he has 11 children. In 2013 he won the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism.

2.Watch: ‘It’s Just Amazing, the Whole IDF is in Nepal’

New video documents IDF evacuating stranded Israeli tourists to field hospital, and efforts there to save wounded Nepalese. By Ari Yashar Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com 4/30/2015,

IDF field hospital in Nepal

IDF Spokespersons Division

The IDF has uploaded a new video giving a first-hand view of its massive efforts in Nepal to locate and evacuate stranded Israeli tourists to its field hospital outside of Kathmandu for treatment prior to returning to Israel, as well as its efforts at the hospital to treat Nepalese wounded by the earthquake disaster last Saturday.

At the start of the video an IDF team is seen asking a European tourist at a tent camp if she had seen any Israelis, to which she answered she had seen two Israeli boys and one girl.

“Your parents were all in touch with us,” a soldier is seen telling the Israeli tourists after they were located, before one flashes his cell phone at him – evidently with correspondence with his parents on it, at which point the soldier affectionately grabs him in a headlock before planting a kiss on the top of his head.

Then another Israel tourist is seen calling home on his cell phone, saying, “how are you all, okay? Mom? You pressed a button. The army has evacuated us now, and we’re on our way to Kathmandu on a bus with guys here in (IDF) uniforms, it’s just amazing. It’s crazy what’s happening here. The whole army is here.”

“Everything is okay, they said they would take care of it, they said they would take care of me,” he added, apparently talking about his transport back to Israel. “I miss you guys and love you, and there’s a high chance I’ll be getting home now.”

The video, in Hebrew, can be seen below. [Click on Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com]

In the bus to the field hospital the Israeli tourists are seen sitting together, with one recalling, “we got there and sat down, the quake started and we ran the rest of the path, basically we avoided the rocks that fell.”

Upon arriving at the field hospital, IDF doctors can be seen telling the tourists they will perform a “general check just to make sure everything’s okay,” before taking their pulses and temperatures.

Captain Guy Walkovich, commander of the rescue unit, said, “We received a mission to bring the Israelis home 24 hours ago from Trisuli. We succeeded in bringing the Israelis today safe and sound, they received medical treatment and an excellent reception here, and it’s a great pride for us,” added the captain.

The video then proceeds to show the large-scale treatment being provided to Nepalese wounded in the disaster at the IDF field hospital, with victims of the quake being flown in by Nepalese army helicopters.

A sheet on the wall of the hospital was also shown, listing common expressions in Hebrew and Nepali, with the video ending showing the IDF team holding a morning flag raising ceremony while singing the Israeli national anthem Hatikva.

 
truthful analysis and commentary in the Israeli news

A Legal and Operational Assessment of Israel’s Targeting Practices Written by Michael Schmitt & John Merriam posted: April 28, 2015

Over the course of 50 days in the summer of 2014, the Israeli Defense Forces conducted a high-intensity air and ground campaign against Hamas in the Gaza strip. Sparked by the murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas militants, this short but violent conflict resulted in over 2,100 killed on the Palestinian side, as well as widespread destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure. Israel suffered roughly 70 casualties during the operation, including IDF [Israel Defense Force] soldiers killed in battle and Israeli civilians struck by Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli population centers, which also took a large psychological toll on terrorized Israeli civilians. This latest chapter in the long saga of conflict between Israel and Hamas provides another salient lesson in the horrors of war, but also a new opportunity to examine the operation of the law of armed conflict principles in practice.

Israel has long resisted publicly revealing its targeting methods and even some of its specific positions on the law of armed conflict (LOAC), fearing that doing so would provide an operational advantage to its adversaries and be exploited by often-critical interlocutors among states and in the international human rights community. This may be changing. Shortly after the conclusion of open hostilities, the IDF invited us to Israel to examine its targeting practices and application of the LOAC. We visited an operational IDF headquarters (the Gaza Division) and observed its targeting cells; reviewed the targeting procedures of both ground and air forces; studied the organization, training, and methodology of the Military Advocate General’s Corps ; visited a Hamas attack tunnel; examined combat footage, including the publicly released footage here; and interviewed IDF officers — both legal advisers and operators — at various levels of command.

Our goal was not to assess the just-concluded campaign (Operation Protective Edge), but rather to delve into how the IDF conducts targeting in general from the perspective of individuals who have real-world targeting experience and LOAC expertise. The results of the research will be published in two related pieces, one for a military-policy audience, the other in an academic law journal.

Israeli targeting practices and positions on the LOAC are broadly within the mainstream of contemporary state practice, but the nuances of the Israeli approach to targeting and the LOAC can only be understood in the context of the specific operational and strategic environment in which the IDF must fight. Several key factors inform IDF decision-making in this regard.

The first is the extraordinary degree to which the Israeli population views itself as “under siege” — Israel is surrounded by foes, and both of its chief antagonists (Hamas in Gaza and Hezb’Allah in Lebanon) possess vast quantities of cheap, widely available, and highly inaccurate rockets that they regularly launch at Israeli population centers. These rockets are capable of ranging virtually the entire country.

Consequently, the IDF has invested heavily in both defensive measures such as the Iron Dome system, and in efforts to identify, interdict, and destroy their adversaries’ rocket arsenals. Put in terms of the LOAC, the destruction of rockets and rocket-launching infrastructure (often in the form of civilian houses converted to military use in order to deter Israeli attack) has a high degree of “anticipated military advantage,” such that it may justify (from the IDF’s standpoint) levels of collateral damage that may strike outside observers as potentially excessive.

IDF soldiers search for terror tunnels in Gaza. [Source: IDF]

The second factor that figures prominently in the IDF approach to targeting is the acute casualty aversion in Israeli society writ large, coupled with a pervasive fear of IDF soldiers being taken prisoner and used to exert strategic leverage over Israel. This reality is thrown into stark relief when one considers the consternation that greeted the US decision to exchange five Taliban fighters for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

By comparison, Israel routinely releases hundreds and sometimes thousands of captured fighters for the return of captive IDF soldiers (or their remains) — and unlike the Taliban fighters involved in the US exchange, it is certain that many of those released by Israel will soon return to the fight. The difference in perspective can be explained in part by the fact that, unlike the all-volunteer professional military the United States fields, the IDF is a conscript force; nearly every Israeli family has loved ones who have confronted, are confronting, or will confront the risk of capture or death in combat.

Because Hamas well understands this particular characteristic of its Israeli foe, it employs an extensive network of infiltration tunnels and masks its fighters among the civilian population close to Israeli communities in an effort to surprise and overwhelm isolated IDF positions. Therefore the IDF places a high priority on the destruction of tunnels and the infrastructure that supports them, and is willing to operate aggressively both by ground and by air to root out Hamas fighters from the civilian population among which they hide. Strikes on tunnel entrances, on cement plants that Israel claims are used to construct the tunnels, and on Hamas concentrations in civilian settings sometimes lead outside observers to question the degree to which Israel honors the principle of distinction, the rule of proportionality, and the requirement to take precautions in attack.

We use this operational and strategic context to explore how the IDF is organized to fight, how targeting operations are conducted and controlled, and how the MAG is positioned to provide legal advice and oversight of military operations. The unique and robust role of Israeli courts with regard to on-going military operations is examined and IDF positions on targeting law are catalogued and assessed. The latter includes, inter alia, analysis of the Israeli stances on: Additional Protocol I as customary international law; application of the definition of military objectives; direct participation, voluntary and involuntary human shields, and the concept of organized armed groups; placement of fighters and military objectives among civilian persons and objects; the effect of uncertainty and doubt in targeting; contextual application of the rule of proportionality; and precautions in attacks, especially warnings and the controversial “knock-on-the-roof“ technique.

Broadly speaking, we concluded that IDF positions on targeting law largely track those of the United States military. Moreover, even when they differ, the Israeli approach remains within the ambit of generally acceptable State practice. The IDF is served by a corps of highly competent and well-trained legal advisors who operate with a remarkable degree of autonomy, and its operations are subject to extensive judicial monitoring. While there are certainly Israeli legal positions that may be contentious, we found that their approach to targeting is consistent with the law and, in many cases, worthy of emulation.

3.Israel’s Baskin Case By David Bedein: An expose of the non-factual facts presented by a well-known leftist columnist who writes in English. Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com Published: Monday, April 27, 2015 11:02 AM

David Bedein is the director of the Israel Resource News Agency & The Center for Near East Policy Research Ltd. His website is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com.

Gershon Baskin, writer for the Jerusalem Post, writes an opinion column in which he weaves questionable facts that represent his own ideas. As an opinion writer, Baskin is entitled to his opinion. The question is whether the time has come for the Jerusalem Post and others who take Baskin at his word to challenge the questionable statements of supposed fact that Baskin weaves into his writings.

Kane Rooks, a Jerusalem based journalist, has done the following research into Baskin’s writings, documenting a record of columns misrepresenting the reality of Israel.

This week Baskin is a featured speaker at Jewish Federations in the US, which provides an opportune time for his listeners to do learn more about the perspective of their guest.

A selection of questionable declarations from articles found on Baskin’s website and on many news websites follows:

PA President Mahmoud Abbas is open to possibilities in reaching an agreement what will provide Israel with all of its security needs.[1]

It is easy to speak to the people on the other side of conflict, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, using Facebook and other social media.[2]

Even though the Arab world and Palestinian leadership declined the partition plan in 1947, the same plan is the only solution that exists today 68 years later.[3]

The current Israeli-elected government is the most racist it has ever been, which will lead Israel to being almost completely isolated internationally.[4]

The State of Palestine, recognized by at least 153 countries and by the United Nations, will confront Israel in every forum and convention possible.[5]

The BDS campaign when officially supported by the State of Palestine, will focus on the illegitimacy of occupation and not Israel’s existence, as an attack on occupation refers to 1967 and not 1948.[6]

The Palestinians will try to make the point that are not calling to destroy Israel, but only for the right of existence of the Palestinian people on their own lands occupied by Israel in 1967. [7]

The Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas can only control the outbreak of violence in areas under their control. In areas outside of their control and in Israeli control, violence will be rampant.[8]

Even if Israel will get a period of temporary relief if a national unity government is formed, the Palestinians will double their efforts and focus on the illegality of settlements and much less on war crimes accusations against Israeli leaders and officers.[9]

There is no trust between the Palestinians and Israelis. Israel cannot be both democratic and a Jewish nation state if it continues to deny the Palestinians right to self-determination. The Palestinians have agreed to a non-militarized Palestinian state without an air force, artillery and tanks. An overwhelming majority of Gazans would agree to demilitarization if it was exchanged for peace. [10]

Netanyahu has never been and will never be a partner for peace. Netanyahu and Bennett lie about how Israel does not control the Palestinians, as they claim the PA controls 98% of the Palestinian people in the ‘West Bank’. There is no Palestinian sovereignty and no Palestinian control. Israel completely controls areas A, B and C. Boycotts, sanctions and divestments will only increase if Israel does not change its rhetoric.[11]

Israel is not alone; it has peaceful allies in Egypt and Jordan. Regional coordination can only be optimized through a peace process and an end to Israel’s occupation.[12]

Binational states don’t exist or work, partition is the only solution. Israel claims that it does not rule over the Palestinians because 98% of the Palestinians come under direct rule of the PA. The PA might take care of waste removal, social and health services, and education but the real government in the ‘West Bank’ is the Israeli Civil Administration. The PA has no ability to do anything, and it needs Israel’s approval on almost everything. When Israel does not approve, Israel withholds tax revenues, limits movements, and closes roads.

The Palestinian people are not free and no status of peace will ever emerge from this reality. With 62% of the ‘West Bank’ under full Israeli control and new settlements sprouting on every hilltop, if a two state solution doesn’t come quickly, it never will.[13]

The only way to demilitarize Gaza is to ensure it becomes part of Palestine and that Israel ends its occupation. Hamas will reject this initiative, but the people of Gaza and Palestine will support it.[14]

Israel could address the security issues (concerning Gaza) with Abbas as well as all of the political issues and empower him and other moderates at the expense of the extremists.[15]

As long as the Palestinians refrain from violence, their diplomatic strategy will be successful and occupation will come to an end. 134 countries have already recognized Palestine. The Palestinians see enormous progress being made through BDS.[16]

Almost all Israelis and Palestinians want peace. The Palestinians recognized Israel but that wasn’t good enough for Israel. The Palestinians must gain its freedom and liberation from Israeli occupation. The Palestinians are concerned that if they recognize Israel they will lose the right of return. Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian people made the strategic decision of giving up the right of return when it declared independence of the Palestinian state on the lands occupied by Israel in 1967.[17]

Quotes from the book The Negotiatior, Freeing Gilad Schalit from Hamas.

Hamas, while being an acronym for the Islamic Resistance movement, also means “enthusiasm” in Arabic.[18]

In 1988 the PLO adopted a two-state solution and in 1993 the official leadership of the Palestinian people entered the peace process with Israel based on mutual recognition.[19]

“Hudna” is an Arabic term meaning truce or cease-fire based on Islamic law.[20]

Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Haniyeh’s political adviser and one of Hamas’ main ideologues, is considered a moderate.[21]

Prime Minister Haniyeh needed to distance himself from the Schalit kidnapping, because the attack had been conducted by the military branch of Hamas which doesn’t consult the political branch. [22]

Ghazi phoned Gilad’s father Noam six days after he was abducted. His main message was that he was alive and being treated in accordance with Islamic law, which strictly governs the treatment of prisoners.[23]

Ghazi Hamad was a serious, sincere, calm and optimistic person.[24]

It felt bizarre going through Hamas security even though I had been invited, I received a warm welcome.[25]

Gilad Schalit would not have come home if Ghazi Hamad would have not taken a personal responsibility for keeping an open channel between Israel and Hamas.[26]

Khaled Mashal generally speaks about a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. “The emphasis today is on non-violent resistance. Some Hamas leaders have clearly weighed the steep price they have paid for launching rockets against Israel and the consequent pressure by Palestinian President Abbas on them to put down their arms. Hamas, in Gaza, has occasionally enforced cease-fire understandings and has even established a special force aimed at preventing rocket fire against Israel by other militias. This is not insignificant.”[27]

Schalit was kidnapped by rogue organizations that at the last moment brought Ahmed Jaabri and Ezzedin al Qassam into the picture… Despite the attempts of some leaders – such as Prime Minister Haniyeh – to separate themselves from the abductors, Hamas’ political leadership had to bear responsibility for the actions of these rogue militias. Ultimately, powerbrokers and poor Gazans alike paid a very high price for an abduction not of their choosing.”[28]

“While I expressed genuine empathy with the suffering of the Palestinian people, more than once Ghazi expressed sorrow over the killing of innocent Israelis.”[29]

“As long as there are Palestinians in Israeli prisons and the conflict continues to breed hatred, there will be Palestinians who believe that the only way to free those prisoners is by abducting Israelis – civilians or soldiers. Most Palestinians perceive that Israel is not generous about releasing prisoners.”[30]

Declarations made by Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) about Palestinian school books:

“The Palestinian text books have confused messages and it is not difficult to come to the understanding that the main political theme imparted to the students is that Israel should not exist and that is essentially the Palestinian goal. Assuming that this is not the political message that the Palestinian Authority adheres to, there is a need to make real revisions and amendments in the Palestinian text books.”[31]

“I know that educators in Palestinian and people in the education department writing the textbooks wanted to write Israel, wanted to write different text under the maps, but they were told by the highest level politicians in ‘Palestine’ that that was not acceptable.”[32]

“There are no direct instances that reflect a denial of Jewish connection to the Holy Land and the holy places in it However, the terms and passages used to describe some historical events are sometimes offensive in nature and could be construed as reflecting hatred of and discrimination against Jews and Judaism.”[33]

“Generally speaking, coverage and presentation of history and historical facts is characterized as being selective. In addition one notices some elements and dimensions of imbalance and bias in the presentation of some ancient, recent and modern historical events that transpired in the region.”[34]

“The recently published textbooks reviewed contain no negative sentiments towards Judaism or any other religion for that matter. Except for a couple of accounts of historical events and anecdotes about Jews (Jews marry for money, Reading and Anthology, Grade 9, Part 2, p. 22) that could be viewed as an instance of ethnic stereotyping, and one historical account about Christians (Knights of St. Johns in the Island of Rhodes described as sea pirates, Arab History, Grade 9, p. 7), the textbooks are devoid of any blatant or negative representation of either Christians or Jews. Monotheistic religions are mostly mentioned in positive contexts and are viewed in positive light. One unsettling observation, however, is the lack of direct and clear references to Christianity and Judaism in spite of ample contexts to include them in the presentation of new material.”[35]

“The textbooks contain frequent references that relate to resisting the Israeli occupation of the territories taken in 1967. These references are frequently associated with the concepts of resisting and liberating as national and religious duties. There is no clear evidence or express call for liberating the land of historical Palestine. However, the vagueness and lack of specificity to the 1967 borders may give the impression that is call is made with reference historical Palestine including the territory of the State of Israel.”[36]

“A good number of maps presented across the curriculum show Israel, the ‘West Bank’ and the Gaza Strip as one geographic entity (without demarcation lines or differentiated colorings). Historically Palestinian cities (e.g., Akka, Yafa, Haifa, Safad, al-Lid, Ar-Ramla, Beer As-sabe) are included in some maps that lump together the areas controlled by the PA with those inside the State of Israel. No map of the region bears the name of Israel in its pre-1967 borders. In addition, Israeli towns with a predominantly Jewish population are not represented on these maps.”[37]

“The textbooks include multiple references that portray Israel and Zionism in a negative light. However, no evidence was found of direct calls for the destruction of Israel. Except for calls for resisting occupation and oppression, no signs were detected of outright promotion of hatred towards Israel, Judaism, or Zionism. If the lack of ample references to the State of Israel in the body of the texts and on the maps as denial of its existence, no evidence was found that points to an intentional attempt to do so. There is, moreover, no indication of hatred of the Western Judeo-Christian tradition or the values associated with it.”[38]

“Several passages in the Arabic Language, Grade 9; Our Beautiful Language, Grade 4, Part 2; National Education, Grade 4, Part 1 textbooks include references that reflect a continuous Arab presence in the region (some references date that presence back to the ancient Canaanites and Jebusites) even though this claim has considerable contention amongst historians contesting this as historical fact. Other racial, ethnic and religious groups that inhabited and/or had control over the region are not dealt with explicitly in many of the textbooks; especially noted is the lack of reference to Jewish presence.”[39]

“The practice of appropriating sites, areas, localities, geographic regions, etc. inside the territory of the State of Israel as Palestine/Palestinian observed in our previous review, remains a feature of the newly published textbooks (4th and 9th Grade) laying substantive grounds to the contention that the Palestinian Authority did not in fact recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people.”[40]

IPCRI: corrections to their report by Dr. Arnon Groiss:

CMIP has found the IPCRI report to be lacking on three specific levels:

Technical Treatment of the Findings

• IPCRI has not made a systematic effort to gather all the available material. Many findings, including decisively important ones, are left out.

• The researchers appear to have relied on second-hand information, including CMIP’s reports, with no real verification.

• External views and explanations were introduced by the researchers into the report, side by side with the source material.

• The source material is paraphrased or summarized, with no reliable system of reference.[41]

Use of the Findings in the Report

• The IPCRI researchers do not combine pieces of evidence to form a whole picture. Each piece is treated separately.

• Important findings are sometimes presented with no comment.

• Some of the presented findings are false.

• Findings are sometimes presented in a misleading manner.

• There is a tendency on the part of the researchers to “explain” findings that seem unpleasant to them – either by themselves or by PA officials, to minimize the importance of such findings, or blur their meaning.

• On the other hand, they tend to highlight other findings.[42]

Assessment

• The assessment tends to be more lenient than the evidence upon which it is supposed to be based. It often ignores important findings or distorts them.

• There are instances in which false conclusions are given, in complete contradiction to the findings.

• In some other cases, unsubstantiated statements and conclusions are made.

• Important issues are sometimes ignored and no conclusion is given in their case.

• At least in one case, a conclusion is phrased in a misleading way.

• There are cases in which the researchers do not ask all the right questions necessary for the research of a certain point.

• The IPCRI researchers tend to ignore implied messages in the findings.[43]

[1] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/the-citizens-challenge-from-despair-to-hope/

[2] Ibid.

[3] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/the-world-is-not-against-us/

[4] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/this-is-what-you-voted-for-and-this-is-what-you-will-get/

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/the-no-decision-elections/

[10] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/a-cautious-peace-but-peace-nevertheless/

[11] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/sake-israel-netanyahu-must-sent-home/

[12] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/new-idf-chief-staff-gadi-eisenkot/

[13] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/vision-real-peace/

[14] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/my-initiative-for-security-stability-peace/

[15] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/encountering-peace-ending-the-cycle/

[16] http://gershonbaskin.org/insights/saving-the-two-state-solution/

[17] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Palestinians-get-over-it-and-recognize-the-Jewish-nation-state-395109

[18] Pg. 5

[19] Pg. 9

[20] Pg. 10

[21] Pg. 12

[22] Pg. 13

[23] Pg. 16

[24] Pg. 27

[25] Pg. 41

[26] Pg. 239

[27] Pg. 264

[28] Pg. 265

[29] Pg. 266

[30] Pg. 267

[31] http://newappeal.blogspot.co.il/2004/12/rubbish-from-iht-on-palestinian.html

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Ibid.

[35] http://sites.xkute.co.il/ipcri2/index.php/publications/research-and-information/71-analysis-and-evaluation-of-the-new-palestinian-curriculum-report-ii-2004?showall=&start=1

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[40] http://sites.xkute.co.il/ipcri2/index.php/publications/research-and-information/71-analysis-and-evaluation-of-the-new-palestinian-curriculum-report-ii-2004?showall=&start=1

[41] http://www.impact-se.org/docs/reactions/institutes/IPCRI3.pdf

[42] Ibid.

[43] Ibid.

El Al flight brings 216 Israelis, including 15 newborn babies, to Israel from Nepal • Israelis still in Nepal should leave independently if possible, says Foreign Ministry • Five Israeli planes land in Kathmandu carrying medical teams and supplies.

Danielle Roth, Avi Cohen, Nitzi Yaakov, Ilan Gattegno and Israel Hayom Staff

A special El Al flight brought 216 Israelis, including 15 newborn babies, to Israel from earthquake-devastated Nepal on Tuesday afternoon.

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal at the weekend left untold ruin in its wake. Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said Tuesday that the death toll could ultimately exceed 10,000. More than 450,000 people have been displaced, he said.

Jerusalem offered Kathmandu emergency assistance immediately after the earthquake. Five Israeli planes carrying a 260-member relief team and 95 tons of supplies arrived in the Nepalese capital Tuesday, and immediately began setting up a field hospital adjacent to a military hospital in the city.

On Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an assessment of the efforts made to ensure the safety of Israelis traveling in Nepal at this time.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, Foreign Ministry Director General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, GOC Homefront Command Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, and Magen David Adom Director Eli Bin, as well as representatives from the Justice Ministry, were present at the briefing.

“Our priority is to locate Israelis who have been stranded in Nepal and ensure their safe return in Israel. We are also setting up a field hospital in Nepal, to assist the Nepalese people in their time of need,” Netanyahu said after the meeting.

Several Israeli planes have been sent to Nepal since Sunday to retrieve Israelis stranded in the quake-battered country. On Wednesday morning, the Foreign Ministry’s situation room knew of only six Israelis traveling in Nepal who were yet to be accounted for.

“It felt as if the entire city was obliterated. There was no power, no water, and no food. We’re delighted to be back,” said Noam Greenberg, who returned to Israel Tuesday.

“We endured some terrifying moments, but now, being back under the Israeli sun, everything looks better,” Amir Barda, who returned to Israel from Kathmandu with his partner and their newborn twins, told Israel Hayom.

The Foreign Ministry has urged Israelis still in Nepal who are able to leave the area on their own to do so.

Though damaged, Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport has remained fully operational, and commercial flights to and from the area were renewed on Monday.

“Those who want to return with the [relief] mission are welcome to do so, but at this time we don’t know when the teams will return to Israel,” a ministry official told Israel Hayom Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oren Rozenblat stressed that no decision has been made on whether the ministry would continue to sponsor flights for Israelis seeking to leave the area.

“We’re still looking into the situation and no decision has been made regarding whether or not Israelis would be allowed on the [relief mission’s] flights back. There are commercial flights that are available, and people can use them to fly back to Israel.

“Despite the disaster in Nepal, there is no longer any unusual distress that requires the state to step in and fly people back to Israel,” he said.

Several Israeli insurance companies have their own airborne search and rescue teams to Nepal. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Nepalese military had one of its helicopters join the Israeli search efforts.

Mohammed Deif is alive and has resumed his command, officials confirm • Hamas reportedly planned to storm Kibbutz Kerem Shalom during Operation Protective Edge, but the attack was nixed over internal discord between Deif and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.

Lilach Shoval, News Agencies, and Israel Hayom Staff

Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam? Brigades, planned a massive raid on Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, near the Israel-Gaza Strip border, during the first week of last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, the Israeli defense establishment revealed Wednesday.

According to an Army Radio report, dozens of heavily armed Hamas terrorists intended to use a tunnel dug under the border and leading to the outskirts of the border-adjacent kibbutz to storm in and kill or abduct as many of its residents as possible, with the goal of using hostages as bargaining chips in future prisoner exchange negotiations with Israel.

The raid, planned by Hamas military wing head Mohammed Deif, was meant to serve as a strategic blow to Israel, but was canceled at the last minute over disagreements within Hamas, the report said.

The Israeli defense establishment recently confirmed that Deif survived the Israeli assassination attempt against him during Operation Protective Edge and has resumed his command the Izzedine al-Qassam? Brigades. Deif had previously survived four Israeli attempts on his life.

The Israel Defense Forces destroyed 32 terror tunnels during Operation Protective Edge, but it is believed that since the Gaza campaign ended, Hamas has been sparing no effort to rebuild and expand its underground grid of tunnels, as well as to replenish its weapons arsenals, and improve its independent rocket production capabilities.

According to several media reports, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal vetoed Deif’s plan to storm border-adjacent communities during the fighting last summer, over concerns that Hamas would be unable to contain or withstand the Israeli response to attacks of that nature.

According to the Walla news site, since the conclusion of Operation Protective Edge, Hamas’ political and military wings have been at loggerheads over policies toward Israel, as well as Hamas’ relationships with Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Deif believes Hamas should bolster its ties with Iran, to gain access to better funding and more advanced weapons, while Mashaal seeks to bolster relations with Saudi Arabia, as its international standing can better promote Hamas’ political interest in the regional and global theaters.

According to the report, one of the concerns raised by the Israeli defense establishment is that the tensions between Hamas’ political and military wings, compounded by the growing disregard the more radical elements within Hamas have been showing for the group’s political leaders, may prompt the military wing to carry out independent attacks against Israel.

Commenting on the revelation that Kerem Shalom had narrowly escaped a massive terrorist attack, kibbutz secretary Roni Kissin said, “It’s a scary reality, but life has to go on. At the end of the day, this [raid] didn’t happen, so obviously, someone is doing their job properly.”

Meanwhile, the IDF, Shin Bet security agency, and Israel Police have uncovered a scheme to transfer Hamas funds from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank through Jordan.

It is believed the funds were meant to promote the establishment of Hamas infrastructure across Judea and Samaria.

The Shin Bet has arrested three suspects in the case, identified as Jordanian national Yakub Alguwad, and Palestinian attorneys Yazan Shaur and Yasser Mohammed Kukas.

The three were indicted Tuesday before the Judea Military Court on charges of providing services to an illegal organization, possession of an illegal organization’s funds and assets, and contact with an enemy agent.

The Shin Bet believes the three were trying to establish a way for the safe and discreet transfer of funds from terror operatives in the Gaza Strip to their counterparts in Judea and Samaria.

“The funds Hamas seeks to transfer to its West Bank operatives are meant to further establish and bolster its infrastructure in the area,” a Shin Bet statement said.

“This investigation has proved once more that Hamas leaders in Gaza are highly motivated to send terror funds to areas under the Palestinian Authority’s control. The suspects’ arrest has thwarted such transfers and has undermined Hamas infrastructure in the area.”

Iran has instructed Syria and Hezb’Allah to provoke conflict on northern border, says Channel 10 • Orders believed to be a ploy to increase Iran’s regional influence • Israel’s U.N. envoy calls on Security Council to condemn Sunday’s infiltration attempt.

Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

Iran has recently increased its pressure on Hezb’Allah and Syria to carry out attacks on the Israel-Syria and Israel-Lebanon borders, Channel 10 News reported Tuesday.

Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij, who is also deputy commander of the Syrian armed forces, met his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan on Tuesday, in Tehran.

The rare visit was aimed at “strengthening coordination and cooperation between the two armies … especially in the face of terrorism and common challenges in the region,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.

According to Channel 10, the Syrian official was instructed to mount “forceful responses” over the recent alleged Israeli strikes in Syria.

Arab media reported Sunday that the Israeli Air Force had struck sites in the Qalamoun Mountains, north of Damascus, twice last week. The report was not corroborated by any Israeli source.

“We will not allow anyone to infringe on Syria’s sovereignty,” Dehghan told Iranian media.

A growing number of reports from Syria suggesting that President Bashar Assad’s regime is on the verge of collapse and is giving way to increasing Iranian involvement in the war-torn country are being closely monitored by Israel.

Channel 10 Arab affairs analyst Zvi Yehezkeli hedged that Iran, which is striving to tighten its grip on the region even at Syria’s expense, has instructed Syria and Hezb’Allah to provoke Israel, hoping that the potential security escalation will lead to a full-blown conflict between Israel and Syria.

“Syria, Iran and the axis of resistance will not allow their enemies to harm Syria or the region. Iran supports Syria unequivocally, and will continue to pursue the [two] nations’ strategic relationship,” said a joint statement issued by the Syrian and Iranian defense ministers on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, Army Radio reported that Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor has called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council to condemn Syria over a recent infiltration attempt on the northern border.

Sunday saw the Israel Defense Forces thwart an attempt by a four-man terrorist cell to place explosives on the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights. A military aircraft scrambled to the area and struck the cell, neutralizing the threat.

“Israel holds Syria responsible for any attack or attempted attack emanating from its territory,” Prosor said.

In his letter to Ban and the Security Council, Prosor wrote, “In recent months, the Syrian government has allowed terrorists to use its territory as a launching base to plant roadside bombs, fire rockets into Israel, and open fire on IDF forces inside Israel.

“I have repeatedly warned about the growing threat in northern Israel. In my remarks last week to the Security Council, I described how Hezb’Allah, backed by Iran, is openly operating in the Golan Heights and preparing for a violent confrontation with Israel.”

The international community, Prosor wrote, “can no longer ignore the warning signs. The threat to our region is very real. Israel will not accept any attacks on its territory and it will exercise its right to self-defense and take all necessary measures to protect its population.

“I urge the Security Council to immediately and unequivocally condemn this attack and demand that the Syrian government abide by its obligations under international law.”

7.The Palestinians No One Talks About by Khaled Abu Toameh http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5654/palestinians-oppression April 29, 2015 at 5:00 am

The international community seems to have forgotten that Palestinians live not only in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but also in a number of Arab countries, especially Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Western journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regularly focus on the “plight” of Palestinians who are affected by Israeli security policies, while ignoring what is happening to Palestinians in neighboring Arab countries.

These journalists, for example, often turn a blind eye to the daily killings of Palestinians in Syria and the fact that Palestinians living in Lebanon and other Arab countries are subjected to Apartheid and discriminatory laws.

A Palestinian who is shot dead after stabbing an Israeli soldier in Hebron receives more coverage in the international media than a Palestinian woman who dies of starvation in Syria.

The story and photos of Mahmoud Abu Jheisha, who was fatally shot after stabbing a soldier in Hebron, attracted the attention of many Western media outlets, whose journalists and photographers arrived in the city to cover the story.

But on the same day that Abu Jheisha was brought to burial, a Palestinian woman living in Syria died due to lack of food and medicine. The woman was identified as Amneh Hussein Omari of the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus, which has been under siege by the Syrian army for the past 670 days. Her death raises the number of Palestinian refugees who have died as a result of lack of medicine and food in the camp to 176.

The case of Omari was not covered by any of the Western journalists who are based in the region. As far as they are concerned, her story is not important because she died in an Arab country.

Had Omari died in a village or refugee camp in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, her story would have made it to the front pages of most of the major newspapers in the West. That is because they would then be able to link her death to Israeli measures in the West Bank or the blockade on the Gaza Strip. The same journalists who report about the harsh economic conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip do not seem to care about the Palestinians who are being starved and tortured to death in Arab countries.

Nor are the journalists reporting to their readers and viewers the fact that more than 2800 Palestinians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the civil war there four years ago. A report published this week by a Palestinian advocacy group also revealed that more than 27,000 Palestinians have fled Syria to different European countries in the past four years. The report also noted that Yarmouk camp has been without electricity for more than 730 days and without water for 229 days.

Earlier this month, another report said that eight Palestinians died of torture while in Syrian prison. Three of the victims were women, including 22-year-old Nadin Abu Salah, who was pregnant when she died. The report said that 83 Palestinians died of torture in Syrian prison during March this year.

These Palestinians are unfortunate because they do not live in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. The international community pays attention to Palestinians only when they are “victims” of Israel.

Similarly, the international media continues to ignore the “plight” of Palestinians living under Palestinian Authority (PA) rule in the West Bank and Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, PA security forces continue to arrest Palestinians who post critical remarks on Facebook or speak out against Palestinian leaders.

Last week, for example, the Palestinian General Intelligence Service arrested Khalil Afaneh, an employee of the Wakf (Islamic Trust) Department, for “slandering” Yasser Arafat on his Facebook page.

On April 25, the PA arrested journalist Ahmed Abu Elhaija of Jenin as he was on his way to attend a conference in Jordan. No reason was given for the arrest, which is not the first of its kind involving Palestinian journalists and bloggers.

Another story that has been ignored by the international media is that involving Jihad Salim, a member of the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. Salim was arrested by Palestinian security officers shortly after the Islamic Bloc won the student council election of the university.

Upon his release, he said that he had been physically assaulted by his interrogators, who questioned him about the reasons why the Islamic Bloc won the vote. “The Palestinian Authority does not want democracy,” his mother said after his release. “Why are they arresting students and who does this serve?”

The situation regarding the Gaza Strip is not much different. Most stories that appear in the international media ignore the practices and violations committed by Hamas against Palestinians. Take, for example, Hamas’s recent decision to impose a new tax on a number of goods. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from many Palestinians, with some openly calling for a rebellion against Hamas.

Again, this is not a story of interest to many Western journalists based in the Middle East, mainly because Israel is not involved.

By turning a blind eye to the plight of Palestinians in Arab countries and under the rule of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, journalists are doing a disservice not only to their publics, but also to the Palestinians themselves. The continued obsession of the media with Israel allows the Arab countries, as well as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, to proceed with their systematic violations of human rights and freedom of speech.

		8.Shaken into perspective  by Boaz Bismuth Nepal, the country highest above sea level in the world, has been in the headlines since a large earthquake devastated it on Saturday. Because Nepal is a tourist hub which hosts an Israeli embassy and Chabad House, and many Israelis travel there throughout the year — most as backpackers and some for the purpose of becoming parents — we all became honorary Nepalese this week. We are not the only ones. The French, Spanish, British and Americans are all following developments from their own perspectives, through the lens of how their own citizens are coping in the cities and villages and on the mountains. In the meantime, the number of locals who were killed continues to climb. One thousand, two, five thousand… But, God willing, with luck, this time there will be no Israeli victims. The story catching most of the headlines was understandably about the babies. The fathers of the babies, born to surrogate mothers, were initially stranded with their precious newborns, with dwindling supplies of diapers and food. They are being rescued and brought to Israel. This past week, the most famous new Israelis were those sweet babies born in Nepal. So, without trying to rain on their parade, let us remember for a moment that an earthquake is a traumatic event, something like an atom bomb being dropped. It was experienced by an entire country, but shakes children the most. While we breathe a sigh of relief over the babies’ safe arrival, we need to keep in mind that 2.8 million Nepalese children were directly or indirectly hit by this quake, according to figures released by UNICEF. Many children found themselves, in the blink of an eye, without a roof over their heads, parentless, with nothing. They will surely be traumatized for life. And although Nepal is the world’s highest country, it is certainly not one of the richest. When an earthquake occurs in the Third World, the international community usually responds with a type of Pavlovian reflex. First there is a large swell of support for the efforts to help, after seeing the horrific images from the disaster area. Terrible events tend to photograph nicely. And then, slowly but surely (well, actually quite quickly), everyone returns to business as usual. Thought needs to be given, however, to the next step: the rehabilitation phase. An estimated 20 years will be needed to recover from the earthquake that practically wiped out Haiti in 2010. Indonesia needed a decade to recover from the 2004 tsunami. This is not merely about the reconstruction of buildings and homes, but the rehabilitation of an entire economy, of institutions, of life. A country is first and foremost responsible for its own people. It is natural for any country to want to rescue its citizens. Israel is second to none in this regard. Has anyone seen any Iranian rescue planes? Nevertheless, during one of the nightly newscasts on Tuesday, two Israelis complained they were not rescued fast enough. Pardon me? Did anybody force them to travel to Nepal? Hello, earthquake, natural disaster. We need to understand that we are almost nothing in a story like this. Today it is trendy to talk about Nepal. In a few months most people probably won’t remember how many people died there. But for the locals, this earthquake will follow them their entire lives. Perhaps some of the surrogate mothers who gave birth to those sweet babies are now destitute; maybe some are no longer alive. Shaken into perspective by Boaz Bismuth 9.’We are here as proud Israelis, and all we want is to save lives‘ IDF field hospital includes a range of specialists, fully operational surgery and X-ray facilities • Chief nurse: Conditions not ideal, but we are managing • Israeli rescuers help sift through rubble • Israeli tourists offer help to stranded compatriots. Avi Cohen and Gadi Golan Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit Israeli soldiers help sift through the rubble in Nepal, Tuesday With green military fatigues embroidered with an Israeli flag, the Israel Defense Forces’ search-and-rescue team in Nepal appeared like saviors. By nightfall, the IDF field hospital was already up and running, serving as a glimmer of hope for the locals. The hospital, set up by representatives of the IDF’s Homefront Command, is situated near a nearby military hospital in the capital Kathmandu. A helipad is nearby, streamlining the ambulatory care of patients from far-flung districts. “The conditions in Kathmandu are harsh. There is no electricity and no lighting apparatus,” Lt. Col. Racheli Meizan, the chief nurse at the IDF and in the field hospital, told Israel Hayom on Tuesday. “We are operating in total darkness. Everyone has a head lamp as they handle the delicate medical equipment. Our goal is to admit as many injured patients as possible. We cannot afford to wait for ideal conditions. If you look around you see people whose homes tumbled to the ground. The injured are roaming the streets; children, elderly, and women are left to their own devices.” Meizan said the relief mission comprises 122 people. The 40 doctors include surgeons, intensive care specialists, gynecologists, obstetricians, paramedics and pharmacists. They have created makeshift operating rooms and have fully functioning X-ray facilities. Meizan also took part in similar IDF delegations after disasters struck Turkey and the Philippines. “My husband and children are back in Israel, but the family has supported me and this gives me and the delegation the necessary strength to stay the course and do our job,” Meizan said. ‘I believe the large medical contingent and the rest of the humanitarian team will carry out their job successfully. We have no goals or set objectives. We have come here as proud Israelis and soldiers, and all we seek to do is save lives.” The delegation has already helped the Nepalese authorities with several search-and-rescue missions in the capital. On Tuesday, 30 soldiers helped sift through the rubble of a collapsed six-story building that included a restaurant, offices and a coffee shop. A dog from the IDF’s Oketz K-9 unit helped the rescuers for search for survivors. Several Israeli tourists whose army service included search-and-rescue training have joined with the IDF delegation to help track down stranded Israelis. Col. Yoram Laredo, head of the delegation, said Israeli rescuers were working with their Nepalese counterparts to send relief to those Israelis. There is still a long way to go before the recovery efforts are complete, and the weather has complicated rescue efforts. ‘We are here as proud Israelis, and all we want is to save lives April 28, 2015 10.Iran seizes cargo ship after firing warning shots The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel prompts U.S. Navy to send destroyer and surveillance plane in response • Iranian TV: Ship seized on a court order over unspecified violations • Incident comes at a critical time in Iran-U.S. relations. Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff Photo credit: AP The Iranian warship Alborz prepares to leave Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz, Tuesday Iranian forces fired warning shots across the bridge of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz, then boarded the ship and directed it toward the Iranian mainland, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. The incident prompted the U.S. Navy to dispatch a destroyer and a plane in response, and comes at a critical time in Iran’s relations with its neighbors and the United States. The U.S., other world powers and Iran are trying to hammer out a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program. Last week, the U.S. Navy dispatched an aircraft carrier and guided missile cruiser to the Arabian Sea amid worries that a convoy of Iranian cargo ships was headed to Yemen to deliver arms to the Shiite rebels fighting to take over Yemen. U.S. Navy officials said Tuesday that last Friday several Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels had surrounded a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Kensington, as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz. No shots were fired and the Iranian vessels broke off contact, and the cargo ship proceeded without further incident. In the most recent incident, the MV Maersk Tigris was traveling through the narrow strait, which is technically Iranian and Omani territorial waters, but under international agreement is open to foreign ships making an innocent passage, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. It was not clear whether the ship had strayed off course into coastal waters not protected by that agreement. The master of the MV Maersk Tigris initially refused an Iranian order to move further into Iranian waters, but after the warning shots were fired the vessel complied, Warren said. The cargo ship was directed to waters near Larak Island, he said. The island sits off the major Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and is one of several in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state television reported that only 24 crew, from Britain, Bulgaria, Romania and Myanmar, were on the vessel. It said the ship was seized based on a court order due to unspecified violations. Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Bandar Abbas is the main port for Iran’s Navy and separate naval forces operated by the country’s Revolutionary Guard, as well as the country’s primary commercial port. It overlooks the Strait of Hormuz, the highly strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The strait is the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil and is only about 33 kilometers (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point. Ships traversing the chokepoint have even less room to maneuver. The shipping lane in either direction is only 2 miles wide, with a 2-mile buffer zone between them. Iran has in the past threatened to block the strait, a move that could spark a military conflict in the Persian Gulf. American and allied naval forces routinely patrol the strait and have conducted military drills aimed at countering threats such as sea mines that Iran might use to close the waterway. Tehran frequently conducts military exercises of its own in and around the strait. Large-scale, live-fire naval drills in February saw Revolutionary Guard forces assault a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier built in a Bandar Abbas shipyard. “It is inappropriate” for the Iranians to have fired warning shots across the ship’s bridge in Tuesday’s circumstances, Warren said. He said it was too early to know whether the Iranian intervention amounted to a violation of the freedom of navigation through a waterway heavily used by international shipping. Warren said the cargo ship had been boarded by Iranians, but no one was injured and no Americans were involved. The spokesman said the U.S. government has “certain obligations” to defend the interests of the Marshall Islands, but he was uncertain how those obligations apply in this situation. The Iranian vessels, numbering five or six, were with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, he said. The incident began at about 4:05 a.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, he said. After the cargo ship sent a distress call, the U.S. Navy sent the destroyer USS Farragut and a Navy maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to the area of the incident to monitor the situation, according to Warren. Lt. Joseph Hontz, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, which oversees American maritime operations in the region, declined to comment further on the incident and referred queries to the Pentagon. Maersk, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, said the ship was chartered to Rickmers Ship Management, based in Hamburg, Germany. Maersk said it had no information about the crew or the cargo. Sabina Pech, a Rickmers spokeswoman in Hamburg, said she was aware of the incident but had no information and could not comment. In 2007, Revolutionary Guard forces captured 15 British sailors and marines from a frigate in the gulf, accusing them of operating in Iranian waters. They were released less than two weeks later. Denmark, where Maersk is based, is a NATO ally. Iran seizes cargo ship after firing warning shots in Strait of Hormuz 11. Hezb’Allah exploiting power vacuum in Syria to escalate violence on Israeli border Hezb’Allah has been taking advantage of the power vacuum in Syria to try & create a “deterrent balance” against Israel, according to an analysis written by Avi Issacharoff & published Monday in The Times of Israel. Hezb’Allah has been using Druze, Palestinians and, of course, Assad’s own troops to strike at Israeli targets. For more than a year, this has been one front where Hezb’Allah has been trying to take advantage of the power vacuum in the Syrian area in order to create a deterrent balance against Israel. Even after the reported Israeli weekend attack on targets in the Qalamun Mountains, it seemed that Hezb’Allah would try to mount a limited response, not one that might lead to a large-scale, violent confrontation. Hezb’Allah has no interest in a conflict of that kind, but it wants to make it clear to Israel that there is a price to pay for what it views as crossing red lines. Media outlets identified with Hezb’Allah, such as Al Mayadeen, claimed there was a further Israeli attack on Sunday night. But it seems that the source of those explosions in the hot Qalamun sector was the intensifying battles between Hezb’Allah and the Syrian army against Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front. While Hezb’Allah and the Syrian army had succeeded in cleansing the mountain strip of the radical Sunni troops in the past, Islamic State forces has managed to retake various territories in the area. Read the whole post at The Tower. 12.Israeli innovations save lives in Nepal Israeli innovations like the Emergency Bandage and the Pocket BVM, a manual ventilator to assist people who are not breathing, are just two of the technologies that are being put to use in saving lives in earthquake-stricken Nepal. According to Israeli paramedic Dov Meisel, speaking to ISRAEL21c from Nepal’s badly-damaged capital, Kathmandu, a number of innovative Israeli technologies have been packed into 60 cases of medical and search-and-rescue equipment arriving at Kathmandu today for his 25-member Israeli disaster response team. “A lot of our equipment is Israeli-made,” said Meisel, a volunteer with Israel’s United Hatzalah voluntary emergency response network and director of international operations for IsraeLife, an umbrella organization for which he is coordinating a joint disaster response team from United Hatzalah, ZAKA and FIRST rescue and recovery nonprofits. The Emergency Bandage, by First Care Products, has a built-in pressure bar to stop bleeding and was invented by a former combat medic in the Israel Defense Force. It’s been credited for saving lives of US servicemen in Iraq, as well as Arizona Congresswoman, Gabriel Giffords. In addition to this, the Pocket BVM from MicroBVM, and other blue-and-white supplies, the crew is mapping its activities using a satellite-based smartphone technology created for United Hatzalah, called the NowForce Life Compass. (via Israel21c) 13. Matzah Wheat Harvested a Miracle During Gaza War A truly miraculous story has been revealed about a massive tragedy that was averted due to religious Jews preparing wheat for Matzah in the Sabbatical year. April 28, 2015 On the day a ceasefire had been brokered between Israel and Hamas – the last day of Operation Protective Edge – Hamas fired over 100 rockets into Israel. What we didn’t know at the time was that the rockets were a distraction. Hamas actually planned to use a terror tunnel in order to launch a devastating attack against the civilians of Israel. If not for a group of religious Jews who were fulfilling the Biblical commandment of guarding matzah for Passover in the Sabbatical year, the tragedy would have been severe. Instead, a miracle occurred. One of many, we should point out, that happened during the 2014 summer conflict with Hamas. The Orthodox Jews who were looking for special wheat for the Pesach during the Shmitta year asked the farmers if they could harvest a very large, particularly early, very green crop of wheat in the southern Negev right on the border with Gaza. The farmers agreed; the wheat was harvested & stored for 2 years to supply Matzah during Shmitta. During the Gaza War Protective Edge, a group of a dozen of Hamas Terror-Soldiers emerged from a tunnel in the middle of the now bare, harvested field – without the protective camouflage they were expecting from the high, unharvested wheat. The Terrorists were spotted by the photographing Observation Balloon & hit in seconds, killing 6 of the 12, & defeating their planned Terror attack on the children of the nearby Kibbutz. That was a revealed miracle! PLEASE SHARE THIS MIRACLE STORY WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS! Matzah Wheat Harvested a Miracle During Gaza War