Netanyahu held talks with Muslim leader during Africa tour
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that he held a phone conversation with a leader of a Muslim nation in Africa during his four state tour of the continent this week.
“There are a lot these contacts. He is not the only Muslim leader who contacted us in recent years,” the Netanyahu said, without revealing who he spoke to. “The world is changing.”
According to Netanyahu, the phone conversation between Netanyahu and the Muslim African leader took place on the sidelines of the Israeli-African summit in Uganda earlier this week, which was attended by leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
It is believed that Netanyahu was referring to Chad’s President Idriss Deby as the African leader, Israel Hayom reported. Meanwhile, Netanyahu also reportedly recently met with the Muslim president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which was the first meeting between those two leaders, according to the Times of Israel.
“I am proud to announce that Israel is coming back to Africa in a big way,” Netanyahu said as he concluded his visit to Africa on Thursday in Ethiopia. “I want to see every African country represented with an embassy in Israel.”
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Israeli Navy successfully tests long-range missiles
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israeli Navy has successfully tested two long-range anti-ship Harpoon missiles, launching them at a decommissioned Israeli naval vessel 100 kilometers (62 miles) away and hitting the target accurately.
Two of the Navy’s missile boats, INS Hetz and INS Herev, fired the Harpoon to its maximum range at the target, the INS Atzmaut, a Saar Class 4 missile ship that was deactivated about a year ago and was used in the exercise to simulate an enemy ship. It was sunk offshore following the hit.
Col. Ziv Rom, the commander of the navy’s Missile Boats Flotilla, said that “this was a unique exercise, which involved all the components of our force. The missiles accurately struck the target, an old ship that once served us well but is now at the bottom of the sea.”
The Harpoon missile system is manufactured in the U.S. and is considered the most advanced missile in the navy’s arsenal, with its own independent missile guidance method and a low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory.
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Netanyahu denies report of assassination attempt in Kenya
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed a report on Thursday claiming that an assassination attempt was thwarted while he was in Kenya during his four state tour of Africa.
“The answer is we know nothing about it because there is nothing in it,” Netanyahu said.
The Kuwaiti daily newspaper, al-Jarida reported on Thursday that an anonymous source said that Kenyan security forces told Netanyahu’s security guards to change the route of the convoy before they left the local airport heading for his hotel in Nairobi.
The source also claimed that an explosive device was found on the original route and that two suspects were arrested.
Kenyan officials also denied the report of an assassination attempt.
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IDF to use computerized training to reduce risk of PTSD
(JNS.org) The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are planning incorporate an Israeli-designed computerized training program that can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers.
The system, developed by researchers at Tel Aviv University, the IDF Medical Corps and led by Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, takes soldiers through computerized training sessions that can change how the soldier processes trauma in the brain.
Soldiers must identify a specific symbol on the screen while at the same time being presented with either neutral and threatening faces or words on the same screen. Training includes four, 10-minute sessions over the course of one month.
Researchers measured the success of the computerized training program by studying soldiers who went through the training before and after the 2014 Gaza War. Those who had undergone the training prior to the war were 70 percent less likely to develop PTSD.
The results of the study were published on Tuesday in Psychological Medicine. The United States Army is also studying the research to consider using the training as well.
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International Space University comes to Israel
(JNS.org) The International Space University (ISU) will hold its annual Space Studies Program in Israel, marking the first time the institution will hold the training program in the Middle East.
The 2016 Space Studies Program (SSP) will be held at Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa between July 12 and September 1.
“ISU has a long‐standing relationship with Israel in general and Technion in particular . . . It is therefore a genuine pleasure for ISU to further enhance this relationship and convene the SSP16 session in Haifa. It is evident that there will be considerable interest from other countries to discover more closely the amazing hi‐tech achievements and cultural richness of the host site,” said Prof. Walter Peeters, President of ISU.
The SSP is a two-month intensive program offering professionals and post-graduate students an opportunity to develop professional experience in various space disciplines including space engineering, space policy, economics and law, space management and business, space and the humanities, space applications, and human performance in space.
“The Technion is proud to host the 29th annual Space Studies Program (SSP) in Haifa. The Technion is one of the first universities that launched a satellite and has an active space program. We will ensure to turn the 29th program into an exciting event that will allow the participants to experience firsthand Technion scientific achievements, and the beauty and culture of Israel,” said Prof. Peretz Lavie, the President of Technion.
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Netanyahu asks Ethiopia for help on freeing Ethiopian-Israeli hostage of Hamas
(JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to help Israel secure the release of Avraham Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli man who has been held captive by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu made the request on Thursday while visiting Addis Ababa, the final stop of his four-country state visit to East Africa this week.
Mengistu entered Gaza in September 2014, and has been held by the terror group Hamas since, along with another Israeli citizen, Hisham al-Sayed, and the bodies of Israeli soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Sgt. Oron Shaul, who were both killed in the summer 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.
“We always raise the issue of our citizens at various opportunities, including here, of course,” Netanyahu said after his meeting with Desalegn.
Netanyahu also said that Israel is working to bring 9,000 Ethiopian Jews who are still in Ethiopia to the Jewish state. The Israeli government approved that wave of Ethiopian immigration last November.
“We have a commitment and we are honoring it on a humanitarian and family reunification basis,” Netanyahu said. “This will be carried out under this budget. We are obligated and we are dealing with it.”
“You said Israel has a special place in Ethiopia and Ethiopia has a special place in Israel. And that’s absolutely true. In fact, it goes back 3,000 years to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and I suggest that we don’t wait another 3,000 years to cement this extraordinary relationship,” Netanyahu also told his Ethiopian counterpart.
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