Poll: Most Israelis satisfied with leadership’s conduct during war
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) According to a poll conducted by Israel Hayom and the New Wave Research Institute to sum up the recent fighting, 74 percent of the Jewish public in Israel think that operation Protective Edge should be called a war. An even higher percentage of women and residents of southern Israel (around 80 percent) said it was a war.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the conduct of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Gaza fighting, and a similar percentage expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Eighty-six percent of people polled saw the elimination of the terror tunnels leading into Israel as a “significant achievement” for Israel, and 70 percent agreed that Hamas had been dealt a harsh blow.
However, while a majority (53 percent) of respondents agreed that the IDF had increased its deterrence, nearly half (49 percent) of those polled said they believed that the war had ended without any victor.
An overwhelming majority of 89 percent said they believed that there would be another round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Nearly 70 percent of those polled said they did not believe the Cairo talks would lead to a long-term solution.
Most of the respondents (82 percent) were also worried about rising anti-Semitism in the world, especially in Europe, and said Jews should immigrate to Israel. Fifty-one percent of people polled believed that U.S. President Barack Obama showed antagonism toward Israel during the war.
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IDF finds Hamas manual urging fighters to use human shields
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israel’s claim that Hamas uses Gaza civilians as human shields has received further backing after the recent discovery of a Hamas urban warfare manual.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the manual, which belonged to the Shujaiyya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, explains how civilians can be used against the IDF and shows that Hamas is aware that the IDF seeks to minimize harm to civilians.
“Throughout Operation Protective Edge, Hamas has continuously used the civilian population of Gaza as human shields,” the IDF said in a post on its official English-language blog. “The discovery of a Hamas ‘urban warfare’ manual by IDF forces reveals that Hamas’ callous use of the Gazan population was intentional and preplanned.”
One section of the manual, titled ‘Limiting the Use of Weapons,” explains, “The soldiers and commanders (of the IDF) must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilian facilities. It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g. artillery].”
The manual says that the “presence of civilians are pockets of resistance” that cause three key problems for IDF troops — problems with opening fire, problems in controlling the civilian population during operations and afterward, and assurance of supplying medical care to civilians who need it.
Regarding the destruction of homes, the manual says, “This increases the hatred of the citizens towards the attackers [the IDF] and increases their gathering [support] around the city defenders (resistance forces [i.e. Hamas]).”
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Teenagers verbally attack Jewish children on Australia school bus
(JNS.org) Five teenagers were arrested Thursday in Australia for allegedly verbally attacking Jewish children on a school bus in Sydney with racist and anti-Israel slurs.
Thirty children aged 5-12 from three different Jewish schools were on the bus when the teenagers behind the slurs boarded. “They’re threatening to slit our throats; they’re chanting ‘Palestine’ and they’re going crazy about Palestine—’Must kill the Jews’ and ‘Heil Hitler,'” said Jackie Blackburn, whose three daughters were on the bus, according to Australia’s Nine Network.
The suspects were arrested and questioned, but later released without charges into the custody of their parents while an investigation continues, police said.
Australian State Communities Minister Victor Dominello condemned the attack, saying, “Public abuse and intimidation on the grounds of race or religion is deplorable.”
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Journalists reveal Hamas terror tactics after leaving Gaza
(JNS.org) Following Israel’s military withdrawal from Gaza, foreign journalists who have left the area are reporting on Hamas tactics they could not reveal while stationed there.
“We saw the Hamas men,” a Spanish reporter said, according to Yedioth Ahronoth. “But had we dared point the cameras at them, they would have opened fire at us and killed us.”
Indian reporter Sreenivasan Jain revealed that Hamas terrorists were launching rockets just outside of his hotel in Gaza. “There’s a conspiracy of silence rooted in fear—no one wants to report in real-time,” he said.
Jain, who was working in Gaza for the Hindi-language news channel NDTV, also said it is “important to report on how Hamas places those very civilians at risk by firing rockets deep from the heart of civilian zones.”
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London theater refuses to host Jewish film festival over Israeli funding
(JNS.org) Citing the recent conflict in Gaza, the Tricycle Theater in London is refusing to host the annual U.K. Jewish Film Festival unless festival organizers do not accept funding from the city’s Israeli Embassy.
Indhu Rubasingham, the Tricycle’s artistic director, offered to help make up the funding via other sources so that the festival can still take place. But the head of the U.K’s Jewish Leadership Council, Simon Johnson, said festival organizers dismissed that offer and chose to look for another venue.
“It’s not the money. … I personally find this a distasteful attempt to justify what is a discriminatory boycott [of Israel],” Johnson said, according to the Daily Beast.
“People in the Jewish community are entitled to question the motive that lay behind the decision. We’re seeing a spike in anti-Semitic activity and boycotts right now and certain people are unable to see the Jewish community, the Jewish culture, through anything other than the prism of their view of the Israeli government’s policies. They then take action against something that is purely Jewish,” he added.
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Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman.