Hezbollah arrests Israeli Mossad spy that infiltrated its ranks
(JNS.org) The Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah said an official in its external branch has been arrested for spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
The Mossad agent was part of Hezbollah Unit 910, which carries out operations against specific Israeli targets, and allegedly prevented such attacks, the Lebanese website El Nashra reported. The attacks were intended as retaliation for the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, which Hezbollah blames on the Mossad.
The spy, who pretended to be a businessman while working for Hezbollah, was allegedly recruited by the Mossad during a visit to an Asian country. Despite the Israeli government’s denial of involvement, there are also suspicions that the spy may have helped the Mossad assassinate Hezbollah military commander Hassan al-Laqqis last year, according to the Jerusalem Post.
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Germany to fund warships for Israel
(JNS.org) Germany’s government said Monday that it plans to fund the Israeli navy’s purchase of four corvette warships from the German firm Thyssen Krupp.
The funding agreement was reached between the two countries in November, and the German government has pledged as much as $143 million for the warships, according to a report by the German newspaper Bild.
The deal must be approved by the German parliament’s budget committee, which will lead to the finalization of a contract by the end of the year, said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, Reuters reported.
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Jerusalem and Tel Aviv receive ‘Innovation Teams’ grants from Bloomberg foundation
(JNS.org) Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s foundation chose Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo as the only two non-American cities among a group of 14 that will be part of the $45 million expansion of the Innovation Teams program, which “aims to improve the capacity of City Halls to effectively design and implement new approaches that improve citizens’ lives.”
The program, often called “i-teams,” relies “on data, open innovation, and strong project and performance management to help mayors address pressing urban challenges,” Bloomberg Philanthropies said. For up to three years, Jerusalem will receive $850,000 per year to focus on poverty and economic development, and Tel Aviv will be awarded $650,000 annually to work on the issues of cost of living and illegal immigration.
“This grant is an investment in the future of the city of Jerusalem, as well as recognition that Jerusalem is a hub for innovation,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said.
“More and more city governments around the world are eager to innovate, so we’re excited to expand the program beyond U.S. borders by bringing i-teams to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo,” Michael Bloomberg said.
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Palestinian man throws bomb at IDF soldiers, shot dead
(JNS.org) A Palestinian man threw an explosive device at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers while they were conducting an arrest operation on Tuesday morning in the Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem. The man, identified as 20-year-old Mahmoud Adwan, was subsequently shot dead by the soldiers.
“Special forces came under attack in [an] overnight operation in Qalandia,” IDF spokesman Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner posted on Twitter. “In the exchange one terrorist was killed and another wounded and detained.”
After the incident, dozens of Palestinians in Qalandia hurled stones at Israeli security forces, Haaretz reported.
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Israeli man hurt by rocks thrown at car
(JNS.org) An Israeli man in his 40s was lightly wounded on Monday when rocks were thrown at his car as he was driving through Habitot Junction on Highway 60, near the Palestinian village of Hawara in Samaria.
The rocks broke the car’s rear window and caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a boulder on the side of the road. Immediately after the accident occurred, members of the Samaria Regional Council’s security division and medics from Hatzolah Judea and Samaria scrambled to the scene and administered first aid until Magen David Adom paramedics arrived.
The paramedics continued to treat the man and took him to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva, where he was categorized as lightly wounded, with contusions to his lower limbs.
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Netanyahu and Kerry discuss Palestinian resolution for U.N.-imposed peace plan
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Rome on Monday to discuss an upcoming Palestinian resolution that asks the U.N. Security Council to outline the terms of a final peace deal with Israel.
If passed, the Palestinian-backed U.N. arrangement would set a November 2016 deadline for Israeli pullout from the West Bank, which would bring Israel’s borders back to pre-1967 lines. Both Israel and the U.S., however, oppose any territorial plan that is not reached through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
“The American government has backed our policy for 47 years that any solution between us and the Palestinians will be done through negotiations. … I don’t see any reason that would change,” Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting, according to Bloomberg News.
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Shas leader Eli Yishai forming new Israeli political party
(JNS.org) Eli Yishai, the leader of Israel’s haredi Sephardic political party Shas, announced Monday that he is leaving his post to form a new party called Yachad (“together” in Hebrew) for next March’s Knesset elections.
“The people want to finally break the barriers between religious and secular, between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, to bring the tribes of Israel together. The people are with [my new party] because the people want social justice and concern for the poor, the lower class, the periphery and development towns,” Yishai said during a press conference in Jerusalem.
“I have no doubt I am creating a new party with clean hands, honesty, and trust,” added Yishai.
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Australian Jewish institutions on high alert after hostage situation
(JNS.org) Australian Jewish institutions tightened security in the wake of the hostage situation at the Lindt chocolate café in central Sydney.
On Monday, Iranian jihadist Man Haron Monis entered the Sydney cafe and used a gun to take the employees and patrons inside as hostages. He then forced some of the hostages to display an Islamic jihadist flag on the window of the cafe.
Monis, a self-described sheikh, previously faced charges for sexual assault and was convicted of sending threatening letters to families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. After several hours, at least six hostages managed to escape the cafe. By Tuesday (Australian time), 16 hours after the ordeal began, local security forces stormed the cafe and rescued the hostages. Two hostages and Monis were killed, and four hostages were injured.
A senior Jewish security official told Haaretz that “Jewish institutions across Australia are in lockdown, excursions have been canceled and tight security measures are in place.” Jewish children were held from school and activities, and at least one major Jewish institution in Sydney issued a “code red” emergency alert, sealing off the building and blocking all entries and exits for several hours.
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Irish Holocaust memorial organization backtracks on guideline not to mention Israel
(JNS.org) An Irish Holocaust memorial organization said that Israel will be mentioned at a Dublin commemoration ceremony in January in response to reports that it had instructed the master of ceremonies to refrain from mentioning the Jewish state.
In October, the website Israellycool.com reported that Holocaust Education Trust Ireland (HETI) board chairman Peter Cassell wrote in a letter that “it was decided in [the] future, the MC of Holocaust Memorial Day will not refer to the Jewish state or the State of Israel during any part of the ceremony.”
It was subsequently reported that Yanky Fachler, the recipient of the letter and a longtime master of ceremonies of the annual event, was recently fired by HETI.
“They came to an absolutely unacceptable decision, and someone must be held accountable for it. I don’t know how they did it, or why they did it, but we need to know how they got to this decision,” Fachler told The Algemeiner.
HETI eventually reversed its policy, stating, “Israel will be referred to and the Israeli ambassador has attended and participated in the ceremony since its inception in 2003, and will do so again in January 2015.”
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