Israel’s Arrow 2 missile interceptor upgraded after failed test
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s Arrow 2 missile interceptor has recently undergone a series of upgrades and improvements following a failed test held last September, during which it was able to acquire its target but failed to neutralize it, a defense official said Tuesday.
The Arrow system, which is jointly funded and produced by the U.S. and Israel, is part of the Jewish state’s multi-tiered missile defense system. The Arrow 2 is designed to intercept short and medium-range ballistic missiles, while the Arrow 3 is a long-range ballistic missile interceptor.
Israeli Defense Ministry ballistic missiles experts and Israel Aerospace Industries, which develops the Arrow system, were baffled by the results of the test. A special team was assembled to determine the problem, and at some point, even retired defense establishment engineers were called in to review the results and weigh in on the issue. In December, the reason for the interceptor’s malfunction was pinpointed, prompting a series of software upgrades and other improvements to its systems.
A senior defense source said additional improvements will soon be introduced to the system’s controls, to act as a safety net should a malfunction recur. The weakness detected in the system “has no effect on the Arrow 2’s operational abilities,” a statement by the defense establishment said.
The Defense Ministry noted that a test-fire scheduled for the Arrow 3 interceptor in December was canceled over a technical malfunction in the target missile. That was a case of “no test” rather than a failed one, since the interceptor was never launched at its target, the ministry said.
Defense officials stressed that despite the unsuccessful and stalled tests, the development of the David’s Sling missile defense system, which is designed to intercept medium to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, has been progressing as expected. Pending several more successful tests, David’s Sling is expected to become operational by the end of 2015.
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#BibiSpeaks4Me rally planned for day of Netanyahu speech in Washington
(JNS.org) Israel’s Voice and Voice of the Copts, along with other grassroots organizations, are organizing a rally in Washington, DC to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to Congress about the Iranian nuclear threat.
The rally, which is bring promoted under the hashtag#BibiSpeaks4Me and will take place at 9 a.m. at U.S. Capitol West on the day of the speech, has an estimated 1,000 confirmed attendees so far, Israel’s Voice President Michael Mendelson said.
On Tuesday, Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman partially reversed his initial criticism of Netanyahu’s speech, which has been opposed by the White House and some Congressional Democrats on the grounds that House Speaker John Boehner did not consult with President Barack Obama about inviting Netanyahu.
“While the original decision by Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept the invitation to address Congress without consulting the Democratic leadership was, in our view, ill-advised, now that it is happening, the speech deserves support from both sides of the aisle,” Foxman said. “This is a time for Members [of Congress] to transcend the political controversy and come together to underscore the broad support for Israel’s security and understanding of its unique concerns about the threat of a nuclear Iran.”
In an event description for the rally, Israel’s Voice said, “Not surprisingly, Netanyahu has been urged to cancel his March 3 speech by Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and by the so-called ‘pro-Israel’ group J Street, which has been circulating on Twitter the hashtag, ‘BibiDoesntSpeakForMe.’ Yet, unlike the ADL, which has backpedaled to some extent, Israel’s Voice has remained firm in its support and has established the Twitter hashtag ‘#BibiSpeaks4Me.'”
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Descendants of Jewish art dealers sue Germany over Medieval artifacts
(JNS.org) The descendants of Jewish art dealers persecuted during the Holocaust have filed a U.S. lawsuit against Germany, asking that a German museum return a Medieval Christian art collection that belonged to their ancestors.
The collection, known as the Welfenschatz, is worth an estimated $226 million and was collected over centuries by the Braunschweig Cathedral. The original collection had more than 80 pieces, including works from the Middle Ages such as ornate gold and silver containers used to store Christian relics. Some of the artifacts are more than 800 years old.
In 1929, the Welfenschatz collection was acquired by a consortium of Jewish art dealers who had purchased it from a Braunschweig duke. During the early Nazi era, the Jewish dealers sold what remained of the collection to Prussia, which was controlled by the Nazis. The plaintiffs’ attorneys claim that the art dealers were forced to sell the artifacts at prices far below their market value. This is disputed by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which says that the collection was housed at the time in the Netherlands, which did not come under Nazi rule until 1940.
Attorney Nicholas O’Donnell, however, told the Associated Press that “any transaction in 1935, where the sellers on the one side were Jews and the buyer on the other side was the Nazi state, itself is by definition a void transaction.”
Since the 1960s, the collection has been displayed in Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts. The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, is the the most recent attempt to reclaim art works by the descendants of their Nazi-era owners, many of whom were Jewish.
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Tel Aviv hotel selected for InterContinental chain’s global showcase
(JNS.org) The David InterContinental Tel Aviv has been chosen along with two other InterContinental hotels in London and Paris to launch a new corporate-marketing campaign to showcase the hotel chain’s brand.
On Tuesday in London, the InterContinental Hotels Group unveiled a series of experiences to showcase each of the three cities’ tourist attractions.
The David InterContinental Tel Aviv is situated on the southern end of Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade, in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood, which is known for its burgeoning stylishness.
Through a project titled “Senses of Tel Aviv Insider Experience,” the David InterContinental Tel Aviv will be working with renowned chef Yaron Kestenboum to offer its guests a field trip exploring Tel Aviv’s local cuisine, culture, design, and overall lifestyle. Guests will also get access to the hotel’s new Tel Aviv Suite, which offers an uninterrupted view of the Mediterranean Sea and Old Jaffa, among other perks.
“We are honored to be chosen alongside our sister properties in London and Paris to showcase the InterContinental’s dedication to luxury as an authentic experience,” said David InterContinental Tel Aviv Hotel General Manager David Cohen. “It is testament to how far Tel Aviv has come as a leading tourist and business destination, and we are delighted to offer our guests a unique and authentic insight into what makes the city so special. We look forward to altering the global perception of the city and exposing the best-kept secret of the Middle East that is Tel Aviv.”
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Islamic State abducts at least 90 Assyrian Christians from villages in Syria
(JNS.org) The Islamic State terror group has abducted at least 90 Assyrian Christians from their villages in northeastern Syria, a Syrian human rights groups tracking the situation said.
According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Islamic State abducted the Christians in raids early on Tuesday in the villages of Tal Shamiram and Tal Hermz, west of the Kurdish city of Hasaka.
Syrian Kurdish militias, aided by U.S.-led airstrikes and the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched two offensives against Islamic State fighters in northeast Syria on Sunday. Reports indicate that 14 Islamic State fighters were killed in the U.S. airstrikes. Meanwhile, a new United Nations report released Monday said that Islamic State’s actions against minority groups in Iraq are liable to be classified as genocide.
The report said that Iraq’s minority groups—including the Turkmen, Shabaks, Christians, Yazidis, Sabaeans, Kaka’e, Faili Kurds, and Arab Shi’a—have been “systematically targeted” by the Islamic State in “what appears as a deliberate policy aimed at destroying, suppressing or expelling these communities permanently from areas under their control.”
“Many of the violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL (Islamic State) may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide,” the report said.
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Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog cancels AIPAC conference appearance
(JNS.org) Zionist Union alliance head Isaac Herzog, the opposition leader in the Israeli Knesset and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stiffest competition in the country’s March 17 election, announced that he has canceled his scheduled appearance at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference next week in Washington, D.C.
“A few days ago, I told the AIPAC conference organizers that I was deeply sorry, but that I could not attend the conference at which I had been invited to deliver a speech. American Jewry is very important to me, but it is clear that replacing the Netanyahu government is just as important, and that is my primary mission these days,” Herzog told reporters in Jerusalem.
Herzog also criticized Netanyahu’s planned speech to a joint session of Congress about Iran on March 3.
“Netanyahu’s spin about who is going to Washington must stop,” Herzog said. “My firm position against a nuclear Iran is known by every Israeli and American, including the U.S. president, and I know how to voice it in a sharp, clear manner—from here (Israel), not from there.”
Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) had urged Herzog to join Netanyahu in front of Congress as part of a display of unity against the Iranian nuclear threat. Herzog’s participation would “represent consensus and a unified front, and would help repel the danger,” Katz said on his Facebook account.
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