IDF develops innovative bulletproof grenade
The bulletproof grenade was developed following a March 2010 incident on the Gaza Strip border in which two IDF soldiers were killed when a bullet hit a grenade lodged in the vest of one of the soldiers, causing it to detonate.
“After that incident, we were ordered to develop a grenade that wouldn’t explode when hit by a bullet,” said Captain Ziv Berger, head of the light ammunition department in the IDF Ground Forces’ Technology Brigade. “Grenade shrapnel is one of the things that scares soldiers the most.”
The grenade currently used by most IDF combat units has not changed since the 1950s. According to Berger, the new grenade, which will gradually replace the old one, weighs the same is operated in the exact same manner.
(JNS.org) President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign on Aug. 21 announced a new initiative, “Rabbis for Obama,” consisting of more than 600 rabbis—among them Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists and a rabbi who dialogued with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—who state their support for the incumbent.
Obama’s list of rabbinical supporters includes Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb of the Jewish Renewal movement—who in September of 2008 spoke at a New York interfaith dialogue event featuring Ahmadinejad. The same year, Gottlieb was also among the first American rabbis to visit Iran since the country’s 1979 revolution.
“By promoting and showcasing Rabbi Gottlieb as one of Pres. Obama’s supporters, the Obama campaign lends legitimacy and credibility to a rabbi whose extreme views are well beyond the mainstream of the Jewish community and the mainstream of America,” the Republican Jewish Coalition said in a press release.
Gottlieb is also an advisory board member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a pro-BDS group. Eight of JVP’s 35 rabbinical council members are on the “Rabbis for Obama” list.
JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson responded to criticism of Gottlieb’s inclusion on the list by noting that on her trip to Iran, Gottlieb “had the chutzpah to castigate President Ahmadinejad for his shameful Holocaust denial and comments about Israel disappearing from history in a room of 350 people including, presumably, armed guards.”
Ira Forman, the Jewish Outreach Director for Obama, said when “Rabbis for Obama” was announced that the rabbis’ “ringing endorsement of President Obama speaks volumes about the President’s deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel.” The Emergency Committee for Israel, however, countered that the nature of Obama’s list invalidated Forman’s statement.
“Far from demonstrating a ‘deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel,’ these figures have demonstrated a deep hostility to the state of Israel and a deep commitment to demonizing the Jewish state and undermining the U.S.-Israel alliance,” ECI Founder Bill Kristol wrote in a letter to Obama.
*
(JNS.org) Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has been pushing for the UN to hold a summit in September on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
The summit’s main goal would be to address the issue of Jewish property rights, according to a report in Yedioth Ahronoth. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that between 1948 and 1951 about 850,000 Jews were expelled or forced out of Arab nations, losing an estimated $700 million in property ($6 billion today). Most of these refugees were absorbed by Israel, where today they comprise over half the population.
A number of Arab news outlets have misrepresented this development, particularly in Egypt and Algeria. A headline in Egypt’s Al Youm al-Saba newspaper said, “Israel enlisting the world to recognize Egyptian Jews and Jews from Arab countries as ‘refugees’.” An Algerian newspaper said, “Israeli threats demanding that Algeria and the Arab nations compensate Jews have begun to sound serious.”
Israel has been attempting to mount a campaign to link Arab discussion of alleged Palestinian refugee rights from 1948 to the rights of Jewish refugees..
(JNS.org) More than two million Israeli students returned to schools across the country on Monday as summer vacation came to an end. As school got underway, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in open territory in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel—midway between Beersheba and Ashkelon—causing no damage, Israel Hayom reported.
Monday’s rocket came after three Qassam rockets launched by terrorists in Gaza hit Sha’ar Hanegev on Sunday morning. There were no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, but one factory worker from Sderot was treated for shock after a rocket hit part of the factory, causing some light damage. A rocket damaged the same factory in June.
Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, who was visiting the region on Sunday, blamed Hamas for the rockets, warning, “I will pass a message on to the heads of Hamas—the blood is on your hands if you touch a hair on our children’s heads.”
*
Hezbollah war exercise simulates invasion of Galilee
Israeli security analysts believe that Hezbollah is preparing in coordination with Iran. “In his last two speeches, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah indicated that he would join an Iranian counter-strike if Israel struck Iran’s nuclear program,” said Dr. Ely Karmon, a senior researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism.
Karmon reiterated the seriousness of Hezbollah’s threats about invading northern Israel. “I wouldn’t belittle the claim that they will try and penetrate the Galilee,” he said. “Even if they hold a small village for 24 hours, it would allow them to score points against the IDF.”
Yoram Schweitzer, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, echoed Karmon’s concerns. “They can send small assault teams into the Galilee… while everyone is busy with attacks in Lebanon,” Schweitzer said.
According to the report, 2,000 elite Hezbollah fighters will continue training in Iran. Hezbollah and its patrons, Iran and Syria, have come under increasing pressure due to the uprisings in Syria and international sanctions against Iran.
*
Articles by JNS reprinted with permission