Former IDF chief defends military’s values, says next round of violence ‘will be worse’
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spares no effort to defend democracy and moral values, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Monday at an event hosted by the Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center civil rights organization in Jerusalem.
Commenting on last summer’s Israel-Hamas war and the criticism leveled at the IDF over the number of Palestinian civilian casualties, Gantz said that “sometimes the weaker party is not necessarily in the right.”
“Both in Gaza and in Lebanon, the enemy operates from within civilian populations,” he said, Israel Hayom reported. “They turn entire villages into rocket-launching sites. Their guest rooms are made into explosives warehouses. Don’t tell me it’s a kindergarten when I know it’s a rocket warehouse. Don’t tell me it’s a mosque when I know it’s a rocket warehouse. I don’t know of one synagogue in Israel where terrorists meet, or rockets, missiles, and munitions are stored.”
While civilians have paid a price for the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, “the next round of violence will be worse and see this suffering increase, because while Israel has to constantly face moral dilemmas, it also has so defend itself,” said Gantz.
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Israeli killed, three injured in Mexico bus accident
(JNS.org) An Israeli woman was killed and three other Israelis were injured in a collision between two buses in Mexico on Sunday. The accident occurred on a road between the resort towns of Playa del Carmen and Cancun.
Rabbi Haim Brod, the Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Playa del Carmen, said that four Israelis, two men and two women ages 23-24, were on a local bus involved in a head-on collision with another bus. The driver applied the brakes with full force, which the rabbi said saved the lives of the three injured Israelis.
“After receiving a phone call from the young travelers’ families, I began to what I could do to assist,” Brod said, Israel Hayom reported. “First of all, I made sure they were transferred to the best hospital in Playa del Carmen and received the best treatment.”
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Israel conducts test launch of rocket-propulsion system
(JNS.org) Israel conducted a test launch of a rocket-propulsion system on Tuesday morning, the country’s Defense Ministry announced. The test took place at a military base in central Israel.
The Defense Ministry said the test was scheduled far in advance and was carried out as planned. The new system is designed to propel ballistic missiles that can carry satellites into space. The launch drew the attention of residents across central Israel, who were surprised to see a rocket shooting across the sky during the morning rush hour, according to Israel Hayom.
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Israel’s Shin Bet, Tax Authority foil arms smuggling into Gaza
(JNS.org) Customs agents working with the Shin Bet security agency have thwarted four attempts in recent months to smuggle weapons components into Gaza through the Nitzana border crossing in southern Israel, the Israeli Tax Authority said Monday.
According to a statement posted on the Tax Authority’s website, banned products of various kinds, including components needed for the production of weapons, were seized at the Israel-Egypt border crossing four times over the past few months.
The Shin Bet believes the materials were meant for Gaza-based terrorist groups. The latest seizure took place two weeks ago, when 1,200 tubes of polyurethane were discovered hidden in a Gaza-bound silicone shipment. Mixed with other components, polyurethane acts as a catalyst and can be used as rocket propellant. Israel does not allow shipments of the polymer into Gaza.
Two similar smuggling attempts were foiled in February, when a hardening polymer that can be used in rocket production was discovered hidden in a shipment of paint cans. During an inspection of a dry foods delivery to Gaza in March, Customs agents found 440 pounds of crude sulfur rods hidden in food crates. Sulfur is used in weapons production.
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Israeli leaders Rivlin and Netanyahu react to Ethiopian protests
(JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said that the violent protests that have erupted in Israel in recent days by Ethiopian Israelis protesting against racism and discrimination have “exposed an open, bleeding wound in the heart of Israeli society.”
In clashes between thousands of demonstrators and police forces in Tel Aviv, protesters hurled stones and bottles at police officers, overturned a police vehicle, and forced the shutdown of a highway. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons. More than 60 people have been wounded and 40 arrested, according to the Associated Press.
Rivlin acknowledged the grievances of the Ethiopian Israeli community, which numbers about 120,000 people and whose members began immigrating to Israel 30 years ago, and said Israel was seeing “the pain of a community crying out over a sense of discrimination, racism, and of being unanswered.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there is “no room for violence and disturbances like these,” but also met with representatives from the Ethiopian community and with Israel Defense Forces soldier Damas Pakada, who was beaten by two police officers in an incident that was caught on film, in order to foster dialogue about the issue and calm tensions.
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Germany’s Angela Merkel marks Dachau liberation anniversary
(JNS.org) German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp near Munich on Sunday. In a speech before 120 Holocaust survivors from 20 different countries and six U.S. soldiers who liberated the camp, Merkel said Germans will never forget the “unfathomable horrors” of the Nazis.
“These former concentration camps have come into public focus in recent weeks with the passing of the 70th anniversaries of the liberation of one camp after another,” Merkel said, Reuters reported. “They all admonish us to never forget. No, we will never forget. We’ll not forget for the sake of the victims, for our own sake, and for the sake of future generations.”
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Security guards foil stabbing attack at Jerusalem light rail stop
(JNS.org) An Arab man tried to stab Israeli civilians at a light rail station near Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood on Monday.
Light rail security personnel fired shots at the attacker’s legs and subdued him. The attacker, aged about 35, was lightly injured, but there were no other injuries.
An initial investigation suggested that a light rail security guard was attacked from behind by the assailant, who began running toward the station. Other security guards drew their weapons and fired several shots at the assailant, stopping his charge.
The suspect was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem for treatment. Police began combing the area and an investigation has been launched into the circumstances of the attack. The light rail continued its usual operations.
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