Lebanese paper claims Hezbollah found missing IDF soldier’s items
(JNS.org) The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has reported that the former Defense and Operations Chief of Hezbollah Imad Mughniyeh, whose 2008 assassination has been attributed to Israel, led a unit that found the parachute and uniform of Ron Arad, the Israeli Air-Force navigator who disappeared after being imprisoned in Lebanon in 1986.
During the first year of Arad’s imprisonment two letters and one photo were sent to Israel. Representatives from the Red Cross were able to see Arad in 1987. Since then there has been no contact with Arad.
In a story marking the anniversary of Mughniyeh’s death on Tuesday, Al Akhbar reported that “Mughniyeh formed a special team whose role was to investigate the traces of Arad from 2004 to 2006” and that the team “succeeded in finding some of his belongings: like a parachute, his weapon and his uniform.” Mughniyeh then allegedly approached the Israeli government to negotiate the return of the items.
Hezbollah said in 2008 that Arad had died 20 years prior, a claim that was never confirmed. Mughniyeh was killed in 2008 during prisoner swap negotiations that ultimately led to the release of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser. The newspaper did not say whether Arad’s alleged items were ever returned to Israel.
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France proposes renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict talks
(JNS.org) France has proposed an international peace conference to restart negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that if the effort fails the country could unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State.
The French plan, presented on Tuesday, would bring together Israelis, Palestinians, as well as their European, U.S. and Arab partners in order to relaunch the peace talks. An anonymous French diplomat told the Washington Post that France hopes to hold the conference this summer.
According to Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon the French ambassador to Israel met an Israeli ministry official on Tuesday but would not say whether Israel would participate in the talks. Nahshon said Israel supports “direct negotiations with the Palestinians” but “opposes attempts to predetermine the outcome of negotiations,” the Associated Press reported.
At a Berlin press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “surprising” that France would say ahead of such a conference that it would recognize a Palestinian state without ascertaining what such a state could become and whether that state “really intended to end the conflict” and is genuinely willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
He also questioned why France would do so without making sure there are security arrangements in place that would prevent Hamas, Islamic State or other terror groups from taking over land from which Israel might withdraw for the purpose of a Palestinian state.
“If the Palestinians know that their conditions will be accepted, and they don’t have to do anything [to compromise], then certainly there is an internal contradiction and they will not do anything,” Netanyahu said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
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Homefront Command to certify high school students as first responders
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Starting next year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Homefront Command will provide all 10th-grade high school students in Israel with search and rescue and firefighting training. At the end of the program, the students will be certified as independent first responders, and they will be certified to provide aid in times of disaster until the Homefront Command can be scrambled to the scene.
Under the existing curriculum, students in the 10th grade already receive first aid training. The current training, which was not overseen by the Israel Defense Forces, has been part of a project designed to foster personal commitment, and it is not mandatory for all students. The Homefront Command hopes that now, all 4,000 10th-grade classes nationwide will be required to undergo the expanded training, which has been greenlighted by the Education Ministry.
The new training curriculum is still being tweaked, but it appears that the students will undergo 10 hours of training, eight of which will be devoted to search and rescue and two of which will focus on basic firefighting. Apparently, a nonmilitary company will be responsible for administering the training, in line with the Homefront Command’s chosen emphases. Approximately 40 percent of the program will entail classroom study, with the majority of the training being more hands on.
“There is great importance to training [people] as independent first responders. The students will become emissaries in their communities and improve the culture of emergency preparedness,” said the Head of the Population Department in the Homefront Command, Col. Sigal Tidhar.
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Israel to help Germans confront influx of Muslim migrants
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin, who accompanied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip to Berlin on Monday, was scheduled to meet with German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere on Tuesday to discuss the current influx of migrants into Germany from Syria and North Africa.
The Germans have asked Elkin to present the Israeli model of immigrant absorption so that they can implement the relevant aspects domestically. Elkin remarked on Monday that the Israeli model includes methods of handling large waves of immigration and that despite the differences between the immigration to Israel and to Germany there are a lot of commonalities that can be studied and implemented.
According to assessments, about 1 million refugees have entered Germany recently. The Israeli immigrant absorption model proposes a one-year plan that also focuses on young men and women and families. The advantage of the Israeli model is that today, one Israeli ministry provides solutions to all immigrant issues including education, welfare, health, housing and government aid.
In addition, Israel’s Immigrant Absorption Ministry is offering to share with the German authorities the burden of documenting the migrants’ language studies, housing preferences, food requirements and job needs. This documentation will help the German authorities assist the migrants, whether they are absorbed in Germany or sent back to their countries of origin.
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