Middle East Roundup: October 17, 2016

PBS map
PBS map

IDF rolls out new equipment for combat supply, repairs

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces is adding new logistics equipment to its stocks to improve operations in battle, particularly in supplying soldiers with water and other needs. The new equipment was tested and proved successful in an exercise the Armored Corps’ 7th Battalion conducted a few weeks ago.

One new development is a versatile military tow tractor pulled behind armored vehicles, such as tanks or armored personnel carriers, and can carry supplies of water, fuel, ammunition, and other equipment. The tractor can travel over any terrain that tanks can, hauling up to eight tons of supplies.

“It gives each company a few days’ breathing room,” said Lt. Col. Udi Amira, of the IDF’s Technical and Logistics Directorate.

Another new tool is the Camel II water distribution system, which the IDF received from U.S. military overstock. The “camel” is a large water tank that can be loaded on to new trucks.

“Unlike in the past, this [system] doesn’t tie the truck to [any certain] company,” Amira explained. “It leaves water tanks in the field, and can go on to the next mission. If grants a battalion independence to drink, fill water containers, and shower.”

*

Hamas test fires long-range rocket

(JNS.org) The Palestinian terror group Hamas reportedly test fired at least one long-range rocket into the Mediterranean Sea Monday.

Residents of southern Israel reported hearing a loud explosion following the test, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.

Hamas frequently launches rockets into the Mediterranean as it seeks to improve its capabilities ahead of any possible future conflict with Israel. In June, Hamas test fired dozens of short-range rockets inside the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this month, Islamic State-affiliated Salafi jihadist groups in Gaza fired a rocket on Sderot that narrowly missed Israeli homes. The Israeli Air Force, in response, hit several targets inside Gaza.

*

Trump, Clinton campaigns weigh in on Jerusalem’s status

(JNS.org) The campaigns of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton weighed in on their positions on the status of Jerusalem following UNESCO’s decision to ignore the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and its holy sites.

In a statement to JNS.org, the Trump campaign slammed the decision, saying a Trump administration “will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel.

“The United Nations’ attempt to disconnect the state of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the U.N.,” Trump said in a statement. “Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish people, and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognize Jerusalem as just that.”

He criticized the recent move by the Obama administration to strike the word “Israel” from a transcript of President Barack Obama’s eulogy for former Israeli President Shimon Peres.

In the original transcript, “Jerusalem, Israel” was included in the dateline. However, several hours after he gave the speech, the White House issued a new transcript striking “Israel” from the Jerusalem dateline.

The Trump campaign told JNS.org, “the Obama administration’s decision to strike the word ‘Israel’ after ‘Jerusalem’ was a capitulation to Israel’s enemies, and a posthumous embarrassment to Shimon Peres, whose memory the president was attempting to honor.”

The White House move followed longstanding U.S. policy since 1949 of not recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or even as belonging to Israel. Instead, the U.S. has proposed the future of Jerusalem be settled through a negotiated settlement.

Meanwhile, when the Clinton campaign was asked about Obama’s move to strike the word “Israel,” her campaign spokesperson pointed to the 2016 Democratic Party Platform’s language on Jerusalem that states, “While Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”

*

UN Security Council says Israeli settlements ‘obstacles for peace’

(JNS.org) An informal meeting at the United Nations Security Council Friday roundly criticized Israeli settlements as a “obstacle for peace” in an effort to push for a formal Security Council resolution against Israel.

The meeting was initiated by Egypt, Malaysia, Senegal, Angola and Venezuela – non-permanent Security Council member states – at the request of the Palestinians. Among the speakers were representatives of the anti-Israeli NGOs B’Tselem and Peace Now.

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B’Tselem, which promotes Israel as an apartheid state, said “with every breath the Palestinians take, they are breathing an occupation. Israel cannot call itself a democracy while occupying another people.”

El-Ad went on to criticize Israeli security forces for their mistreatment of Palestinians and said the Security Council should take actions against Israel.

In his address to the Security Council, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. for Special Political Affairs David Pressman said the U.S. was “deeply concerned about continued settlement activity,” and which they consider “corrosive to the cause of peace.”

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon criticized B’Tselem and Peace now for taking part in the effort to wage “diplomatic terror” against Israel.

“Just two days after anti-Israel forces approved a resolution intending to sever the historical bond between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, Israeli organizations chose to slander and besmirch Israel’s good name at an event organized by the Palestinian delegation,” Danon said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that Israeli organizations have joined the Palestinian attempts to wage diplomatic terror against Israel at the U.N.”

Peace Now representative Lara Friedman said “Israeli policy in the settlements is ending the chance for peace. I call on the Security Council to send a message to Israel and to end this policy.”

B’Tselem receives 10 percent of its $2.5 million annual budget from the New Israel Fund (NIF), a group that gets major funding from left-wing billionaire George Soros, Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, told JNS.org. The New Israel Fund promotes its “progressive” U.S.-based political agenda through the facade of human rights, he said. The rest of B’Tselem’s budget comes from European governments.

*

Exceeding projections, Israeli economic growth rate set at 4.3 percent

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s economy is performing better than all expectations, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday, updating its annualized growth projection for 2016 to 4.3 percent.

This is the third CBS growth projection update since January, and represents an increase of 0.3 percent over the previously projected annualized growth in gross domestic product.

According to the CBS, in the first half of 2016, GDP rose by 3.2 percent, reflecting a 9.9 percent increase in private consumption, an 8.6 percent rise in public consumption, and a 13.7 percent rise in exports of goods and services.

The government’s civilian spending increased by 3.7 percent, while defense spending was up by 2.4 percent, the data showed. The overall GDP resources available to the economy between January and June this year were set at 5 percent — double their availability in the first half of 2015.

*

Israel nabs Islamic State cell preparing ‘Judgment Day’ attack

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Three Palestinians believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State were indicted Thursday for conspiring to carry out a major terrorist attack, the Shin Bet security agency said.

Ibrahim Abdel Halim Sheikh Yusuf, 26, Muhammad Nashef, 32, and Amir Jabarah, 20, all residents of Taybeh, northeast of Jerusalem, were arrested in September in a joint police-Shin Bet operation. They were indicted Thursday before the Lod District Court on several security-related offenses, including affiliation with a terrorist organization, arms smuggling, and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.

The police asked the court to remand all three suspects pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.

According to available details, the three had sworn allegiance to Islamic State and were planning what the prosecution called a “Judgment Day-style” attack against “infidels.” They were allegedly planning to target the soccer stadium in Taybeh.

They allegedly planned to smuggle weapons using a tunnel dug between the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, east of Netanya, and Israel, and hide the cache under Yusuf’s house. They were also trying to expand a pre-existing tunnel that Yusuf and Jabarah had found near the security fence close to Taybeh.

*

Israel, Turkey consider building joint gas pipeline

(JNS.org) Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz met with his Turkish counterpart, Berat Albayrak, on Thursday in Istanbul where the two sides are considering building a pipeline to supply Israeli natural gas to Turkey and European markets.

Both countries have “agreed to establish immediately a dialogue to examine the possibility and the feasibility,” Steinitz said, The Associated Press reported.

At the meeting, the first since the two sides restored relations last summer, the leaders discussed the issue of Turkey supplying electricity and other energy sources to the Palestinians.

“Israel is welcoming any involvement of Turkey in improving the lives of ordinary people in Gaza,” Steinitz said. “We will do our best in order to enable this.”

*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.