JNS news briefs: October 13, 2014

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Temple Mount attack foiled after police storm Al-Aqsa mosque

(JNS.org) Jerusalem Police units stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound early Monday and prevented dozens of masked assailants from carrying out a planned attack. The assailants had gathered on the Temple Mount with rocks and fireworks.

Overnight, the assailants gathered weapons and prepared Molotov cocktails inside the mosque. They barricaded the mosque by nailing shoe racks to the doors and creating obstacles with metal rods, wooden beams, and barbed wire. They also built structures out of wood and wire mesh to be used as shields for rock throwers and fireworks shooters.

But the police, operating on gathered intelligence, surprised the attackers and foiled their scheme. Arriving early, they removed the obstacles and locked the assailants inside the mosque.

“The Jerusalem Police will continue to take decisive and firm action against law breakers and bring them to justice,” a police statement said Monday.

 

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Authorities believe dozens more Israeli Arabs plan to join Islamic State

(JNS.org) The Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency believe that dozens more Israeli Arabs are planning to join the Islamic State terror group after leaving Israel for Turkey or Jordan.

Israeli authorities believe that at least 30 Israeli Arabs are already fighting for Islamic State, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and other groups. Israeli Arabs aiming to join Islamic State are typically taken to Syria by a network of smugglers after arriving in the Turkish town of Antalya.

Authorities said three men in their 20s from the Lower Galilee town of Yafia left Israel for Turkey last week and joined Islamic State militias in Syria and Iraq. The men reportedly told their families that they were going to Turkey on vacation.

Separately, an Israeli Arab man from Qalansawe was imprisoned by Syrian intelligence after trying to infiltrate Syria to join rebels in the civil war there.

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Israel successfully tests naval anti-missile system

(JNS.org) The Israeli Navy secretly and successfully tested an upgraded anti-missile system designed to protect naval vessels, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

The defense system, which uses Barak 8 missiles, was upgraded to confront the growing threat of Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles. Yakhont missiles pose a threat mainly because of their potential use by Israel’s neighbors. Russia has been supplying Syria with Yakhont missiles since 2010. Lebanon-based Hezbollah is also believed to possess the missiles.

The test was conducted as part of a general overhaul of the navy’s defense systems, which also provide protection for offshore drilling rigs. Not all the test’s details were released, but according to the Israel Defense Forces, the exercise involved a mock Yakhont missile fired from sea, which was successfully intercepted by a Barak missile fired from an Israeli Navy missile boat.

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Jerusalem light rail line crippled by Arab rock throwing

(JNS.org) The company that runs the Jerusalem light rail system, City Pass, said Sunday that 40 percent of the system’s cars are in need of repair due to rock throwing from the predominantly Arab neighborhoods in the eastern part of Israel’s capital.

City Pass said its fleet of 23 cars has been effectively reduced to 14. The number of rock attacks has overwhelmed the company’s mechanics, leaving administrators with no choice but to cut back on rail service.

The Jerusalem light rail suffered its most extensive damage during the summer, when rioters firebombed stations to protest the murder of Arab teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir.

On Sunday, four more light rail cars were damaged in five rock-throwing incidents.

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Israeli Arab killed while fighting for Islamic State, family says

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The family of Ahmed Habashi, 24, an Israeli Arab from the village of Iksal in the Galilee, confirmed late Saturday that he was killed in Iraq while fighting for the Islamic State terror group.

According to Army Radio, Habashi’s family, which had previously rejected reports that their son was killed, received the news from another Israeli Arab allegedly fighting for Islamic State.

Habashi left Israel and joined Islamic State in January 2014. Abed al-Salam Darawshe, the head of Iksal’s local council, told Army Radio that Habashi was an isolated case and was not representative of the youth in his village.

An initial report in the Nazareth-based newspaper Al-Arab said Habashi was recently killed in a firefight in Iraq’s Anbar Province.

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Netanyahu: Israel taking steps to prevent Ebola patients from entering

(JNS.org) The the ongoing Ebola epidemic has mainly affected West Africa, growing concern in the West regarding the spread of the deadly virus has prompted Israel to take precautions.

Following an emergency meeting on the issue last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a second meeting on Sunday to cement Israel’s policy. In the meeting, the Israeli government decided to tighten the screening of people entering Israel from countries most prone to Ebola—Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

The decision stipulates that every individual entering Israel from those countries by air, land, or sea will be screened with a questionnaire.

“The State of Israel is preparing to do everything possible to prevent Ebola patients from entering its territory,” Netanyahu said.

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6 Israelis break world record for longest open-water swim

(JNS.org) A year and a half of training came to an impressive conclusion Saturday morning when six Israeli swimmers—coach Ori Sela, Oded Rahav, Udi Erel, Ben Enosh, Doron Amosi, and Luc Chetboun—broke the Guinness World Record for the longest open-water relay distance swim.

The six swam 236 miles from Paphos port in Cyprus to Herzliya Marina in Israel. The event— called the Cyprus Israel Swim for Clean Seas—was held in cooperation with Zalul, an Israeli NGO devoted to keeping the sea clean, and was dedicated to raising awareness about marine pollution.

“We’ve made history. A total of 124 hours of swimming, 14,000 strokes in the water for each of us,” the swimmers said in a statement.

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Hitler used crystal meth, report says

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Adolf Hitler used the highly addictive drug crystal meth as part of his medical regimen of 74 medicines, according to a Daily Telegraph report on Saturday.

Citing a 47-page document compiled by U.S. military intelligence on World War II, the report said Hitler took crystal meth in 1943 before meeting Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, and then reportedly ranted nonstop for two hours.

Hitler’s drug regimen also included Vitamultin, another cocktail including methamphetamine.

Methamphetamines are known for their intense euphoric properties and ability to keep the user awake and focused for long periods of time.

The report also dispels an urban legend that Hitler was monorchid (having only one testicle).

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Israeli ALS treatment gets fast-track FDA designation

(JNS.org) Stem cell treatment developed by Israeli company BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has been designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a “fast-track” treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The treatment, called NurOwn, is currently undergoing mid-stage clinical trials in Jerusalem and in the U.S. on patients with ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The FDA’s designation will speed up patients’ access to the treatment.

“The receipt of fast-track designation from the FDA is an acknowledgement of the unmet medical need in ALS,” BrainStorm Chief Executive Tony Fiorino said, according to Reuters.

“What is so valuable about fast track designation to a small company like BrainStorm is the opportunity to have increased meetings with and more frequent written communication from the FDA,” he said, adding that few other cellular therapies have received FDA approval.

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Islamic State claims it bombed Gaza French Cultural Center

(JNS.org) The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for bombing the French Cultural Center in Gaza City last week.

The group’s announcement last Wednesday called the bombing “the debut operation for the Islamic State group in the Gaza Strip,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Nobody was present at the site when the late-night bombing took place. Hamas sources released reports that the center’s generator exploded, which caused a fire at nearby gas tanks.

“Our fighters successfully bombed the center for immorality and heresy known as the French Cultural Center after weeks of surveillance,” stated the Islamic State announcement, which included an incorrect date, placing some doubt on its authenticity.

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