Middle East Roundup: September 30, 2015

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Israeli officials: Syria will not be used as Iranian base to attack Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified Tuesday after landing in New York City ahead of his address to the United Nations that he will not allow Syria to be used as a base for Iranian attacks against Israel.

Netanyahu’s statement echoed the sentiments of Israeli Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz, who said Tuesday that keeping Iranian forces inside Iran would be a top priority in all talks with the U.S. and other world powers.

Steinitz told Army Radio, “No one wants to see Russian military forces in the Golan Heights. That is also cause for concern. Russia is still the second-strongest military power in the world. But we certainly don’t want to see Iranian forces right next to Israel.”

Similarly, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon—who toured Israel’s Gaza-border communities Tuesday—said, “We have no intention to give up our ability to defend our interests. And I do not suggest anyone test us….On the northern border, in Syria, there has not been calm in four years. Still, we are succeeding at keeping the threat away from the residents of the north and the Golan region.”
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Gaza rocket intercepted over Ashdod in southern Israel
(JNS.org) As Israelis were in the midst of Sukkot festivities, terrorists in Gaza launched a Grad rocket deep into southern Israel on Tuesday night. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the coastal city of Ashdod. No injuries or damage were reported.

Later on Tuesday night, the Israeli Air Force responded by striking a number of Hamas terrorist sites in Gaza. A Salafi terrorist group, the Islamic State-affiliated Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, took responsibility for Tuesday’s rocket fire. The group has been behind a string of recent rocket attacks against Israel. But Israel holds Gaza-ruling Hamas responsible for all such attacks from the area.

Despite the rocket fire, Ashdod Mayor Itamar Shimoni and Ashkelon Mayor Yehiel Lasri decided that public holiday events in their cities would go ahead as scheduled. “We won’t capitulate to terrorism and we won’t let terrorists dictate our lives,” Shimoni said, Israel Hayom reported.
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Tel Aviv ranked among world’s top financial centers
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The 2015 Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI), released Tuesday, ranked Tel Aviv 25th among the world’s top financial cities.

Published twice a year, the GFCI—compiled by the Z/Yen Group, a London-based commercial think tank—ranks the world’s 84 leading financial cities based on data from the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other sources.

As the world’s 25th most-robust financial center, Tel Aviv outperformed major cities such as Abu Dhabi (ranked 28th), Beijing (29), Stockholm (32), Rio de Janeiro (35), Amsterdam (36), Paris (37), Oslo (67), Moscow (78), and Madrid (79).

Hila Oren—director of Tel Aviv Global, a municipal company dedicated to improving the city’s international appeal—said the ranking “reflects the municipality’s tireless efforts to position Tel Aviv as a global financial center and the gateway to the Israeli market.”
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Arab Knesset member blasted for fueling tensions on Temple Mount
(JNS.org) Knesset members from the right and left on Tuesday condemned Member of Knesset Jamal Zahalka (Joint Arab List) for fueling tensions on the Temple Mount, with some demanding he face criminal charges. The Arab lawmaker had clashed with both Jews and police forces at the holy site, calling them “crazy criminals” as well as “fascists and racists,” and demanding they “get out” of the compound.

“In the name of sanity, I urge Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh, who believes in peace and coexistence, to denounce this act and wash his hands of these people,” MK Miri Regev (Likud) said Tuesday,Israel Hayom reported.

Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli called Zahalka “a professional pyromaniac, who never misses an opportunity to incite violence.”

“Law enforcement agencies must take a firm stand against this kind of disorderly conduct, which is part of the Joint Arab List’s attempts to agitate tensions on the Temple Mount and harm the Jews visiting the site,” said MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu).
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2 Palestinian terrorists arrested for firebomb attack at Samaria gas station
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Two members of a terrorist cell responsible for the firebombing of a gas station in Samaria in August have been arrested, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency announced on Tuesday.

The two detainees—identified as Majdi Kowarik, 22, and Ahmed Abdat, 23—are residents of the village of Awarta, located south of Nablus, and are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist group. During questioning, they said they firebombed a gas station on Route 60 in Eli in retaliation for the July 31 firebombing of a home in Duma in which three members of the Dawabsha family were killed.

The investigation into the gas station firebombing revealed that Kowarik was the mastermind of the plot and drove the vehicle, while Abdat threw the firebomb which set the gas station ablaze. The PFLP symbol was spray-painted at the site of the attack.

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