Middle East Roundup: October 19, 2016

(JNS.org) A Palestinian female terrorist was shot and killed by Israeli security forces Wednesday when she tried stabbing Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria.

No Israelis were hurt in the attack.

Border Police officers fired warning shots and called on the 19-year-old woman to stop as she approached them, but she refused.

“This additional attempt to hurt the routine of our lives, not to mention that it comes during one of our holidays, will not succeed,” Samarian Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan said in a statement following the attack.

Tourist activities in Samaria will continue as planned.

“The tens of thousands of day trippers, who are currently at the great many tourist attractions in the Shomron, are making their voices heard with their legs,” Dagan said.
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Report: IDF didn’t brief Netanyahu, cabinet on Hamas tunnel threat ahead of 2014 Gaza war

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet were not briefed on the findings of an internal military report analyzing the potential threat posed by Hamas’ grid of terror tunnels, Army Radio reported Wednesday.

The report, penned by then-General Staff Corps Commander Maj. Gen. Yossi Bachar – ahead of Operation Protective Edge waged in the Gaza Strip in 2014 – said the true scope of the threat posed by the terror tunnels was unknown before the military campaign. As a result, the IDF underestimated the threat and could not truly prepare for it.

According to Army Radio, while the military was aware of the existence of the terror tunnels, ground troops were not trained in offensive or defensive counter-tunnel measures, and also suffered from a series of operational failures that undermined their readiness in the course of the fighting.

“The enemy’s array of command and control posts, as well as its rocket launching apparatus, remained operational until the last day of the operation,” the report said. “The number of casualties, especially among Hamas, was low compared to the firepower used. Deficient operational design meant the way the IDF prepared its units for engagement was flawed. The lack of proper coordination affected the ground troops’ competence, readiness and ability to deal with the [tunnel] threat.”
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Mexico fires Jewish envoy over objection to UNESCO Jerusalem resolution

(JNS.org) The Mexican government Wednesday dismissed its envoy to UNESCO, Andres Roemer, over his objection to the recent resolution passed by the U.N. body that ignored the Jewish connection to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Western Wall.

Roemer, who is Jewish, walked out of last Thursday’s vote on the resolution in a personal protest against his country’s support for it. Then Tuesday, Roemer attempted a last ditch effort to force a revote and change Mexico’s vote. However, Mexico eventually withdrew its motion, and instead issued a statement that it wished to change its vote from “support” to “abstain.” As such, the resolution was formally ratified by UNESCO.

According to a statement from the Mexican government, Roemer was dismissed “for not having informed diligently and with meticulousness of the context in which the voting process occurred, for reporting to representatives of countries other than Mexico about the sense of his vote, and for making public documents and official correspondence subject to secrecy.”

“Given what’s happened, I’m simply no longer the envoy,” Roemer told Israel’s Channel 2. “This resolution was a combination of ignorance or anti-Semitism and anti-Israel policy. It’s considered politically correct to vote against Israel over the situation [the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process], and it’s like that all over the world. Anti-Semitism is based on great ignorance. … We need education to fight it.”