Israel’s Avigdor Lieberman set for first visit to U.S. as defense minister
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Recently appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman will depart Israel on Saturday night for his first visit to the United States as the head of the Israeli defense establishment.
While in the U.S., Lieberman will attend the rollout ceremony for Israel’s first F-35 stealth fighter plane at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The new plane is expected to arrive in Israel in December.
Lieberman’s trip is also set to include meetings with top Obama administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. These meetings will likely focus on the ongoing talks between Israel and the U.S. on a new memorandum of understanding on security assistance. Lieberman is interested in finalizing a deal with the U.S. before the next American president takes office in January.
Lebanon may not recover from another war with Israel, intelligence chief says
(JNS.org) Israel’s military intelligence chief on Wednesday said that another war between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group and Israel would make it difficult for Lebanon to bounce back.
“If there is another war, Israel will recover and rebuild,” Israel Defense Forces military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi said at the 16th annual Herzliya Conference.
“We are a strong society, an advanced society. Lebanon will become a country of refugees that will have difficultly recovering, and Hezbollah will lose its political support base,” said Halevi.
Syria has been manufacturing weapons specifically for Hezbollah, according to Halevi, which may be opening up the door to another Lebanese conflict with Israel. Those weapons were “meant to combat against Israel” rather than being used for the Syrian civil war, Halevi said.
“The world shouldn’t accept this. It is a violation of [United Nations] Security Council Resolution 1701, passed after the Second Lebanon War, and Israel shouldn’t accept it, either. To a certain extent this could move up the outbreak of another round of conflict,” he said.
Additionally, Halevi said that Iran has been providing Hezbollah with weapons under the guise of helping the terror group fight in Syria, but some of that Iranian weaponry is being transferred to Lebanon.
“This is also something that neither the world nor us should ignore,” he said.
New anti-terror bill passes in Israel
(JNS.org) The Israeli Knesset on Wednesday passed a new counter-terrorism bill following six years of negotiations on the legislation.
“The terrorist attacks in Orlando and Tel Aviv show more than ever that there is no reason for terrorism. There are no excuses. It can only be vanquished through appropriate punishment and deterrence. The 2016 model of terrorism will receive a 2016 response,” said Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked after the bill’s approval in a 57-16 Knesset vote.
The bill increases penalties for terrorist activities in Israel. For example, a terrorist could face up to seven years of prison for threatening to commit a terror act. The measure also formalizes new terrorist offenses such as identifying with a terror group, incitement to terrorism, and negligence in preventing a terrorist act.
The legislation was supported by all of the political parties within Israel’s Knesset except for the Joint Arab List and Meretz.
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Israeli company invents virtual personal trainer through headphones
(JNS.org) The Israeli company LifeBEAM has created the first augmented reality (AI) personal trainer headphones to use while exercising.
Within 90 minutes on the Kickstarter online crowd-funding platform, LifeBEAM exceeded its funding goal of $100,000 for the “Vi” headphones. The funding has now surpassed $500,000.
The headphones feature 11 aerospace-grade biosensors that track heart rate, location, weather, elevation, cadence, and more to develop a personalized exercise program. The application can adapt to the user over time and even provide recommendations in real time, coaching users during their workouts.
Additionally, users can listen to music and stream videos while exercising.
“By improving a person’s awareness of their own behaviors, environment, and real-time physiology, Vi provides an inspiring and truly smarter workout experience. We call Vi an ‘Awareable,’ as it’s the first and only wearable with the power to actually be aware of a person’s activity patterns and coach their behavior in real time,” said Omri Yoffe, CEO and co-founder of LifeBEAM, which is based in New York City and has R&D centers in Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, and Asia.
Hamas member reportedly defects to Israel
(JNS.org) Palestinian Fatah-affiliated websites are reporting that a senior member of the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group has defected to Israel. The senior terrorist reportedly has significant information about how Hamas handles the building of its cross-border attack tunnels.
The terrorist defector—Bassam Mahmoud Baraka, from Khan Yunis in Gaza—is said to have told his family that he was going on an errand, and has since disappeared. He reportedly surrendered himself to the Israel Defense Forces at the border with Gaza while carrying a laptop. The Red Cross informed his family that he is in Israel.
In a similar incident last month, a 17-year-old Hamas member who was detained by Israel gave Israeli authorities information about Hamas terror tunnels, including with regards to escape routes for terrorist operatives in emergency situations and the locations of tunnel shafts. Another Hamas member arrested in April also provided information about the terror group’s cross-border tunnels, Haaretz reported.
Iran vows to ‘set fire’ to nuclear deal if U.S. reneges
(JNS.org) Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened to “set fire” to the nuclear deal with world powers “if the threat from the American presidential candidates to tear up the deal becomes operational.”
In that case, “the Islamic Republic will set fire to the deal,” Khamenei said, reacting to comments made last August by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump that he would “police that contract so tough they don’t have a chance.” Various Republican presidential contenders who have now dropped out of the race had also spoke out strongly against the nuclear deal, which was reached last year. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) support the deal.
Iran can expect a possible Republican presidential administration in 2017 to take a harder line in American-Iranian relations than current President Barack Obama.
“The Islamic Republic won’t be the first to violate the nuclear deal. Staying faithful to a promise is a Quranic order,” said Khamenei, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.
The supreme leader also noted that “the nuclear deal has holes which, if they were closed, would reduce or cancel its disadvantages. Some think that we can get along with the Americans and solve our problems. This is an incorrect idea and a delusion.”
Orlando shooter’s wife, who has Palestinian roots, could face criminal charges
(JNS.org) The wife of Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people and wounded 53 on Sunday at the Pulse LGBT nightclub in Orlando, may face criminal charges for not warning authorities about her husband’s impending actions. In the aftermath of the terror attack, details have emerged about the Palestinian roots of the shooter’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman.
Salman, 30, grew up in Rodeo, Calif., 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. Facebook accounts belonging to her relatives reportedly show that her family is of Palestinian origin and that her family had immigrated to the U.S. from the West Bank in the 1970s.
Salman began dating Mateen after they met online. They were married in 2011 and went on to have a son, who is now 3 years old.
On Tuesday, three FBI agents visited Salman’s childhood home as part of their investigation into the mass shooting, NBC News reported. The FBI said the visit, which lasted less than two hours, was not a raid. After the shooting, Salman told the FBI that she was present when her husband bought ammunition and a holster, according to several officials familiar with the case. She also told the FBI that she once drove him to Pulse nightclub so he can check it out, and that she tried to talk her husband out of his actions.
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