‘Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled’
June 29-July 3, 2015, Vol. 23, No. 131W, 2015-06-29-2015-07-03
A trusted source for Israeli news and information since 1993
All the news the big guys missed. ISSN 1074-2255 Access the new and improved archival site at www.israelfaxx.com
Editor: Don Canaan The Villages, FL 32159 E-mail: dcanaan (at) israelfaxx (dot) com
Welcome to the Israel News Faxx Weekly Edition
for June 29– July 3, 2015
incorporating news, features and opinion
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IDF closes road near Sinai border
ISIS in Sinai is a serious threat to Israel (Commentary by Ron Ben-Yishai)
Entebbe notes show a skeptical Shimon Peres questioning operation
Knesset extends biometric ID trial program
Netanyahu: ISIS near our borders, 200 dead—Egyptian troops, Islamists,
civilians—in major ISIS-Egyptian battle in northern Sinai
‘Salient Eye’ Israeli app catches burglar in New Zealand burglary
Meet the new poster boy for immigration to Israel—a former stripper
Islamic State threatens to topple Hamas in Gaza
ISIS beheads two women for sorcery
London: Ax attack on Jewish man’s car raises anti-Semitism fears
Israel’s new kamikaze drone
Israel seizes activist Gaza-bound flotilla
Four wounded in Binyamin Region shooting attack
Netanyahu secretly driven to hospital in Pita truck
The Vatican wants Temple Mount taken from Jews (Commentary by Giulio Meotti)
From lone soldier to military prison
Israeli navy is preparing to take over Gaza-bound flotilla
Hizbullah torpedoes understanding between Druze and Syrian rebel Nusra front
near Israeli border
ISIS threatens Jerusalem Christians
Fatah shows off tunnel from Gaza to ‘inside Israel’
Hamas publishes confession of ‘Israeli spy’
Ger Hasid suspected of running an illegal sex shop network
Women urged ‘Don’t go out with Mahmoud’
Learning to count from 0 to 100 in Hebrew
‘ Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled ’
June 29, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 127 (2015_06_29)
A trusted source for Israeli news and
information since 1993
All the news the big guys missed. ISSN 1074-2255 Access the new and improved archival site at www.israelfaxx.com
Editor: Don Canaan The Villages, FL 32159 E-mail: dcanaan (at) israelfaxx (dot) com
DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that Nusra hit back over the weekend. They warned Druze
leaders that if they don’t stop cooperating with Assad and Nasrallah, “their blood will be on their
heads.” Fighters of this Islamist group then surrounded another, smaller Druze village, Skaska,
on the western slopes of Jabal Druze and threatened to go in and massacre its inhabitants.
Israeli Navy is Preparing to Take
Over Monday’s Gaza-Bound Flotilla The Nusra ultimatum, posted Saturday, made it clear that since Syrian and Hizbullah are firing
against them from a Druze village, the Druze are held responsible for getting it stopped. Otherwise, they will be deemed collaborators of the Assad regime and in violation of the nonThe Navy has been preparing to meet on Monday a flotilla carrying 47 pro-Palestinian activists to belligerence deal struck between them earlier this month.
the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. The Navy commandos are expected to
meet the four boats at an undetermined time - sometimes between the early morning hours and Our sources add that Syria and Hizbullah accompanied the 200-man force which infiltrated Khader,
with Iranian and Syrian television crews and a group of Lebanese Druze members. The footage they
evening time, some dozens of kilometers from the coasts of Israel.
showed was intended to demonstrate to the world that Lebanese Druze strongly challenged the Syrian
There are 18 passengers aboard the main boat, Swedish vessel "Marianne av Göte- rebel takeover of southern Syria including the Golan, and sided with Bashar Assad.
borg," including Joint Arab List MK Basel Ghattas, former Tunisian president
Moncef Marzouki and activist Dror Feiler. The "Marianne" is accompanied by three The fighting is so far low key between the Syrian and Hizbullah troops occupying the Druze
smaller boats: "Rachel," with eight passengers on board; "Vittorio" with nine village of Khadar and the Nusra Front fighters. But it is estimated by Israeli watchers that an
escalation is not far off and, when it happens, the rebel Islamic group will make good on its threat
passengers on board; and "Juliano II" with 12 passengers.
of retribution against the Druze villagers of Skaska. And then, yet another sensitive corner of the
The commandos will try to take over the boats using non-violent measures and lead them to Syrian conflict may go up in flames, possibly putting Israel on the spot again.
the Navy base in Ashdod. After the takeover, the activists will be taken for questioning upon
Already it looks as though Assad and Nasrallah have succeeded in sabotaging the hard-won armistice deal
their arrival to Israel and then expelled out of the country through Ben-Gurion Airport.
that the US, Jordan and Israel brokered between the Druze and Nusra Front, by forcing the half million
The Prime Minister's Office decided to take an unusual approach to the flotilla's arrival. The Druze of Syria to choose sides between the belligerents. Whichever it is, they will be clobbered.
activists on board the four boats will receive a letter when they arrive in Israel welcoming
them to the country and adding, "It looks like you took a wrong turn. Perhaps you meant to
sail to a place not far from here - Syria. Where Assad's regime is slaughtering its people on a
daily basis, and this is done with the support of Iran's murderous regime."
By DEBKAfile and Ha'aretz
By YnetNews.com
ISIS Threatens Jerusalem Christians
The letter goes on to say that "If you were truly interested in human rights, you A communiqué from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria warned Christians to leave Jerusalem,
would not be sailing in solidarity with a terror regime that executes Gaza residents starting with the Palestinian neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina, threatening to “clean” all
without trial, and uses the children of Gaza as a human shield."
Islamic neighborhoods where they live during the month of Ramadan.
at the homes of Christian residents give them a month to leave. ISIS will then move on to the
Hizbullah Torpedo Understanding OldLeafletsCitydelivered
and Church of the Sepulchre to “cleanse” those who “betrayed the Omarite covenant.” It is signed by the
ISIS Emirate of Beit Al Maqdis – the name of the Islamist terrorist group of Sinai which has joined ISIS.
Between Druze and Syrian Rebel There are estimated to be approximately 12,000 Christian residents in Jerusalem, a city that is
Nusra Front Near Israeli Border holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
By DEBKAfile
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah and Bishop Atallah Hanna of the Orthodox Church responded to the leaflet, saying
nothing will scare Palestinian Christians away from their lands or from Jerusalem. Sabah was dubious, suggesting
Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah have gone all
it was not authentic and had been distributed to divert public attention from the arson perpetrated at the Tabgha
out to stir up adversity between the Druze communities of the Golan and Israel, and church earlier this month. It is suspected that Jewish fanatics are to blame. Sabbah spoke about the recent threat.
the Syrian rebel Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
To torpedo the armistice deal brokered between them earlier this month by the US,
Jordan and Israel, 200 Syrian and Hizbullah troops were pumped into the Druze
village of Khader on the Syrian Golan, 3 km from the Israeli border. Since Friday,
June 26, these troops have been attacking Nusra and the other Syrian rebel groups
fighting to capture the Golan town of Quneitra. This has stalled the rebel operation
for taking control of the highway to Damascus. Rockets from this battle strayed
over to the Israeli side of Golan Sunday.
“If it’s real, than they’re welcome to it, and if it’s an attempt to divert attention from the Tabgha
affair then we still demand the State of Israel bring those responsible to justice,” Sabah said.
After greeting Muslims for Ramadan, the leaflet promises ISIS will cleanse the city from Christians, calling them
agents of Israel and the West. The leaflet also said the group knows where most of the city's Christians reside. "We
tell the heretic Christians, you must clear out immediately or we'll massacre you on Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of
Ramadan, and one month is time enough to evacuate," said the leaflet.
Fatah Shows Off Tunnel from Gaza to Ger Hasid is Suspected of Running an
Illegal Sex Shop Network
'Inside Israel'
By IsraelNationalNews.com
By YnetNews.com
Almost one year has passed since Operation Protective Edge, in which the IDF pushed into Jerusalem Police detectives arrested a 28-year-old Ger Hasid several days ago on suspicion of
Gaza and destroyed a vast network of tunnels used by terrorists to infiltrate Israel.
operating an illegal network of sex shops for the ultra-Orthodox public. The man is suspected of
selling sex improvement drugs and accessories, among other things, without a license. The
Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, which is the armed wing of the Fatah organiza- police believe the network presented itself as "Kruvim" in ads posted in haredi neighborhoods.
tion, chose this time to carry out some psychological warfare, and hosted a Iranian Arabiclanguage television reporter inside what they said is a new tunnel that they have dug. The The detainee has claimed to be a rabbi. According to information obtained by the
terrorists, whose organization is headed by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, police, the network operated branches in Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Netivot
claimed that the tunnel is nearly three kilometers long and that it extends into Israeli territory. and other cities in Israel with haredi populations.
The accompanying video from the Iranian
report begins with footage of the IDF
blowing up tunnels in Gaza in Operation
Protective Edge, and of a funeral in Gaza.
The reporter is then seen being led blindfolded to the tunnel, and after an interview
with a masked terrorist she is seen inside
the tunnel with the terrorists.
The Jerusalem District Police offered the following response: "Police officers detained
a man suspected of distributing hazardous substances as defined in the Pharmaceutics
Law, seized pills and different kinds of materials which will be examined. The suspect
was questioned and released. The investigation is ongoing."
Women Urged: 'Don't Go Out with Mahmoud'
By IsraelNationalNews.com
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Anti-assimilation organization Lehava has been handing out thousands of sweets to
women and girls at nightlife venues throughout Israel in recent days, as part of a
campaign to persuade Jewish women not to go out with Arabs.
The Al-Majd website, used by the internal security apparatus of Hamas, has warned the
Palestinian public about the growing attempts of Israeli intelligence to tap calls on their
mobile phones, and tells the story of Shadi (not his real name) who was allegedly recruited
"through deceit" to become an informer for Israeli security agencies.
Each sweet comes with a color postcard that says: “My sister, I am thinking about you, I
feel you. You have a pure Jewish soul! Don't get lost, don't go with Mahmoud. He'll start
by being sweet and then he'll start to beat... reaching out to help you, Lehava.” Lehava
explained that it does all it can “to reach the girl before she gets to know the non-Jew.”
Hamas Publishes Confession of 'Israeli Spy'
Shadi, who Hamas claims is married with two children and works for one of the Hamas Bentzi Gopshtain, who heads Lehava, said activists regularly frequent bars and nightlife
government institutions, received several years ago a phone call from a man who introduced venues in Jerusalem and countrywide. “We meet hundreds of girls and hear from them
about the negative phenomena in these places. Since we started handing out sweets, we
himself as an intelligence officer of the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah.
have received more positive responses and our message is heard much more willingly. I
The caller told him that Shadi is a potential candidate for gathering information about govern- ask parents to note where their girls are going and to talk to them about the dangers.” Last
ment officials working in the Hamas government to take legal action against them. For the Thursday alone, said Lehava, 5,000 sweets were handed out in one night.
cooperation, he promised Shadi tenure and career advancement.
A day later, Shadi received another phone call in which he was asked to find out information about
Hamas government officials, and in other conversations to provide financial information about
people and buildings used by the Hamas government, the presence of a vehicle facing one of the
houses in his neighborhood, and more. Shadi was offered $300 for that information.
If They Can Do It, You Can Learn to
Count in Hebrew from 0-100 in Hebrew
During Operation Cast Lead (December 2008 - January 2009), Shadi was asked to go to one of the orchards
and check to see if there are people or other signs of life there. He reported what he saw, and was instructed to
immediately leave the area; it was bombed shortly thereafter by Israeli Air Force planes.
https://youtu.be/7WwQL6hr02A
Shadi then called the Ramallah government official and told him about the Israeli attack soon
after he reported what was happening in the field. The official then admitted, for all intents
and purposes, that he was an Israeli intelligence official, and that the cooperation is important
into order to stop terrorism and promote peace and security.
Shadi agreed to cooperate under the condition that his life not be endangered for the service.
However, he was arrested in late 2009 by the intelligence apparatus of Hamas, and during his
interrogation he admitted providing information that led to the elimination of terrorists; it is
unclear what ultimately happened to him.
‘ Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled ’
June 30, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 128 (2015_06_30)
A trusted source for Israeli news and
information since 1993
All the news the big guys missed. ISSN 1074-2255 Access the new and improved archival site at www.israelfaxx.com
Editor: Don Canaan The Villages, FL 32159 E-mail: dcanaan (at) israelfaxx (dot) com
The terrorist attack in Shvut Rachel is the second attack in several hours. Earlier on Monday, an
IDF soldier was wounded in a stabbing attack at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.
Israel Seizes Activist Gaza-Bound Flotilla
By YnetNews.com
According to security sources, a female Arab terrorist arrived on Monday morning at the checkpoint
adjacent to Rachel's Tomb, located south of Jerusalem and adjacent to Bethlehem in Judea, where she
stabbed a 25-year-old female IDF soldier who was manning the checkpoint several times in the neck.
The Swedish boat "Marianne," part of a 4-boat flotilla that tried to break Israel's blockade of the
Gaza Strip, was towed into Ashdod port on Monday night by the Israeli Navy after being taken After paramedics carried out emergency first aid at the scene, the soldier was evacuated in serious condition
over by commandos from the Shayetet 13 special forces unit in the very early hours of the day.
for further medical treatment at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. Shortly after being evacuated to the hospital the soldier's condition stabilized, but continued to be classified as moderate to serious.
The IDF said that the seizure was in accordance with the decision of the political
echelon, and after exhausting all diplomatic channels. "When it became clear that the And on Saturday night, terrorists opened fire on a civilian ambulance as it was driving along a
passengers had no intention to cooperate and proceed to the port of Ashdod, it was road adjacent to Beit El in the Binyamin region. At least three direct hits from the bullets were
decided to seize the vessel and to transport it to the Ashdod port," an IDF official said. located on the ambulance, but fortunately no one was wounded in the incident.
Besides the "Marianne", the commandos saw two other ships, which refrained from nearing Gaza Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely responded to the latest terrorist attacks, saying, “The
and turned back. A fourth ship is believed to have turned back beforehand. The activists addition- Palestinians continue playing a double game of hypocrisy. They are enflaming the area and
ally released pre-recorded videos of themselves aboard the ship, explaining their views.
inciting terrorism, while turning to international bodies under the guise of morality and justice.
We must restore security to the citizens of Israel at all costs," she added.
The activists aboard the "Marianne" will be questioned upon their arrival in Israel and then
expelled abroad through Ben Gurion International Airport. The Israeli citizens among them including Joint Arab List MK Basel Ghattas - will be handed off to the care of the Israel Police.
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Following the seizure, videos by the participants were published online. "The
Israelis acted like pirates again, took us as hostages, and prevented us from reaching Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu secretly received medical treatment at Mayanei Hayeshua
Gaza," said former Israeli and left-wing activist Dror Feiler.
Medical Center in Bnei Brak, Channel 2 asserted on Monday.
Netanyahu Secretly Driven to Hospital in Pita Truck
PM Binyamin Netanyahu commended "the determined and effective detention of the passengers According to the report, Netanyahu visited the hospital twice; the first time he was driven to Bnei
who tried to enter Gaza's shores illegally. This flotilla is nothing but a display of hypocrisy and lies, Brak in a truck delivering pita bread, while the second time he was transported in a pest control
which only helps the terrorist organization Hamas and ignores all the atrocities in our region."
vehicle as his security guards posed as exterminators.
The navy carefully tracked the vessels' movements and prepared its plan for stopping the flotilla. On Sunday night, the flotilla's organizers said on Twitter that three
ships had approached the flotilla and were recognized as belonging to the IDF.
They said the closest ship was 500 meters away.
The first visit, the report claims, took place before March general elections, while the second occurred nearly six
weeks later, on the eve of Netanyahu forming his 4th government. The treatment was performed, the report
alleged, while Netanyahu was deeply under anesthesia. However the doctors who supposedly treated Netanyahu Dr. Yigal Gat and Dr. Menachem Goren - denied this and said the Prime Minister was fully conscious.
The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday published a missive to be given to the activists upon Channel 2's article contrasts sharply with Netanyahu's own annual medical report, which was published a month
their arrival. "It looks like you took a wrong turn," read the letter. "Perhaps you meant to sail ago and composed by the Prime Minister's personal physician Dr. Zvika Berkowitz. According to the medical
to a place not far from here - Syria. Where Assad's regime is slaughtering its people on a report, the routine tests Berkowitz performed on Netanyahu came back completely normal.
daily basis, and this is done with the support of Iran's murderous regime."
With the help of medication, Netanyahu's blood pressure has normalized, and he is said to be exercisAs a lesson learned from the capture of the "Mavi Marmara flotilla" in 2010, the commandos ing several times a week at the gym, maintaining good physical shape. Summing up the conclusions of
were told to document the takeover so the IDF Spokesman's Office can quickly distribute the his tests,. Berkowitz described the 65-year-old Prime Minister's health as very good.
footage to world media before the activists could post their own image of victory.
4 Wounded in Binyamin Shooting Attack The Vatican Wants Temple Mount Taken From the Jews
By IsraelNationalNews.com
By Giulio Meotti (Commentary)
Terrorists opened fire on Monday evening on an Israeli vehicle near the community of Shvut In 2000, speaking in a mosque in Palestinian-held Ramallah, Yasir Arafat declared, “No one will
Rachel in the Binyamin region. Four people were wounded in the attack, including one succeed in removing us from our land, including Jerusalem, and the Palestinian flag will fly from
seriously. Two of the victims were evacuated to the Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and from the churches in Jerusalem.”
among them the seriously wounded victim and one more in light-to-moderate condition.
Two other victims were evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
Arafat could say that because he had won the Vatican's support for his terroristic strategy. On "I took equipment because everybody did it, and sometimes friends asked, 'Why aren't you
June 26th, 2015, the Vatican signed its first treaty with the “State of Palestine”. It is the doing it?'" explained David. "I thought that if everybody did it then it was all right, even though
logical conclusion of a long path.
it isn't all right. I told myself they wouldn't punish everybody. I took the equipment because I
wanted to show it to my friends who came from the United States."
When the pontiff John Paul II ascended to the Temple Mount in 2000, Judaism’s most holy
site, he wasn’t welcomed by Israeli officials, but by representatives of the Palestinian Author- He kept his weapons arsenal at home for over a year. Eventually, Livix asked to buy
ity, and the holy complex was bedecked in Arab flags. It was the Pope's implicit recognition the explosives. "He asked me to sell the explosives to him and I refused, and then he
of Islamic hegemony. It was taken to mean that Islam and Christianity superseded Judaism stole them from me," said David. "Because he and his friends were attacked in the
and have the right to “inherit” its holy places.
Intifada, he begged me to also sell him gas or stun grenades. Eventually I agreed
because I told myself that I'd rather see them alive in real life rather than dead on TV,
Since then, the Holy See’s taking a stance as the ally of the heads of the Palestinian Authority and this way I could save them if they were attacked again.
in the place most holy to the Jewish people, became almost a fait accompli.
"I did it to help him. People can be angry about what I did and say it was a terrible
The Catholic de-legitimization of Israel passes through the war on Jerusalem and the war on Jerusalem deed, but they don't know that I did it to prevent the deaths of my friends. That's the
passes through the Temple Mount. The site where the Jewish people worshipped for hundreds of years main reason I joined the army: To protect my friends, my family, and my country."
and the focal point of every practicing Jew’s prayers is under assault from the Vatican.
Livix, a young Christian from Texas who was wanted by American authorities, entered Israel as
The Vatican-PLO agreements have been signed to enable the eviction of the Jews from a tourist and acted alone, without any help from a radical organization, to carry out his nightmarJerusalem. This follows a memorandum signed by Palestinian and Vatican officials in 2000 ish scheme, with the help of a Givati soldier, who claims to have unwittingly gotten involved.
which repeated the Vatican call for an international mandate to preserve “the proper identity
and sacred character” of Jerusalem. It means a return to a time when half of Israel’s capital Shortly after the end of Operation Protective Edge, during which three soldiers from his battalion
was under Islamic control, the Old City was closed to Jews, the synagogues were desecrated, were killed, David was arrested by military police. David claimed in his trial that he acted out of
and walls, barbed wire, and snipers divided the city by force.
naïveté in order to help Livix, that he had no knowledge of his roommate's intentions, and that he did
not support hurting Palestinians. "I was a soldier who stopped other soldiers from hitting Palestinians
The Vatican is consistent. In 1964, when Pope Paul VI made the first papal visit to Jerusalem, and allowed Palestinian children to pass checkpoints in the West Bank," he said.
Jews and Christians with Israeli passports were barred from entering the Old City. And no
Vatican official complained about that.
According to his lawyers, Livix succeeded in winning David's trust and exploiting his
gullibility. David's commanders supported him throughout his time in jail with visits
(The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio)
and words of encouragement, and praised his caring nature.
From Lone Soldier to Military Prison
By YnetNews.com
"The time in military prison was the worst experience I've had in my life," said David.
"I couldn't see my family, and the soldiers in jail are the worst you could ever meet. I
would rather stay in Gaza for another six months than be in jail. The situation with my
shoulder got worse and it was difficult for me to get medical help.
He made aliyah from United States as a lone soldier, served as a fighter in the Givati Reconnaissance
Battalion, was wounded in Operation Protective Edge, and was a short time away from being released "The conditions were bad. I returned to the US with the feeling that I was a little betrayed by the
military police. I was happy to serve in the military, but I did not understand why the police preferred
and returning to his family in Los Angeles. But that was when he began his troubled path.
to believe someone who was wanted by the authorities over a soldier. That drove me crazy."
After an investigation by the criminal investigation division, the police and the Shin Bet, David
(not his real name) was arrested on suspicion of aiding an American extremist who planned to David plans to begin his college education soon, but said that he wants to return to Israel and
start a family. "My friends from Givati were amazing, I went through experiences and chalblow up the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and sentenced to half a year in military prison.
lenges that made me grow up and that I never thought I would have," he said.
"I was never troubled by the thoughts about dying, because those are thoughts that eat
away at you while you're there. If you're not anxious about dying for an important
goal, then nothing can stop you from succeeding in the missions you receive. My
friends and officers encouraged and supported me, and so I still have faith in the IDF."
After his release from the army and his return to Los Angeles, David told Ynet about the difficult
period he went through after being convicted of stealing explosive materials from the IDF.
The 21-year-old recently finished serving a six months prison term, one of the heaviest
penalties imposed on a conscript soldier in the last decade, for removing weapons from the
army and selling some of them to Adam Livix, an American Christian who infiltrated Israel
and allegedly planned to bomb the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. While David had to serve
time in military prison, Livix managed to escape prosecution due to health reasons.
During his military service, David took explosives from the bases he served in, including a
frag grenade, 29 meters of fuse wire, four stun grenades, a tear-gas grenade, a smoke grenade,
five explosive charges, four explosive boosters, and two detonators.
Courtesy of Yaakov Kirschen
‘ Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled ’
July 1, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 129 (2015_07_01)
A trusted source for Israeli news and
information since 1993
All the news the big guys missed. ISSN 1074-2255 Access the new and improved archival site at www.israelfaxx.com
Editor: Don Canaan The Villages, FL 32159 E-mail: dcanaan (at) israelfaxx (dot) com
Referring to the next possible conflict, Cohen said that the organization is speeding up its military
preparations, including rehabilitating its tunnel program and efforts to develop and build more rockets.
With that said, Cohen estimates that Hamas does not currently have the will to act against Israel, even
though it has the capabilities to conduct a serious campaign with the means it has at hand now.
Islamic State Threatens to Topple
Hamas in Gaza
The Shin Bet chief stated that there is a fear of Hamas within the Strip – and this fear was espe-
cially evident in a recent AP article marking a year since the operation. In the article, a 50-yearold named Imad Feri described his anger at Hamas; "Who is not angry about this difficult situaIslamic State insurgents threatened on Tuesday to turn the Gaza Strip into another tion? We are waiting for the rebuilding and are not getting it. But the civilians in Gaza won't
of their Middle East fiefdoms, accusing Hamas, the organization that rules the revolt against Hamas. If I say two words, I may go to prison," the Gaza resident said.
Palestinian territory, of being insufficiently stringent about religious enforcement.
By Reuters
ISIS Beheads Two Women for Sorcery
The video statement, issued from an Islamic State stronghold in Syria, was a rare public
challenge to Hamas, which has been cracking down on jihadis in Gaza who oppose its truces By IsraelNationalNews.com
with Israel and reconciliation with the US-backed rival Palestinian faction Fatah.
Islamic extremists in Syria have executed more than 3,000 people in the past year, and this week they
"Eight years they control the territory, and have yet to enforce one Islamic teach- added to the death toll by beheading two women after accusing them of witchcraft and sorcery, a
ing," the ISIS speaker said in the video. "We will uproot the state of the Jews rights watch group says. The women’s husbands also were executed — the latest in a long line of
(Israel) and you and Fatah, and all of the secularists are nothing and you will be barbaric killings carried out by the terror group that has drawn international condemnation.
over-run by our creeping multitudes," said a masked Islamic State member in the
message addressed to the "tyrants of Hamas.
This marks the first time women have been executed for witchcraft by the group. But in February
militants beheaded an elderly man for allegedly “invoking magic” in a village west of Raqqa,
"The rule of sharia (Islamic law) will be implemented in Gaza, in spite of you. We ISIS headquarters. That killing was witnessed by a large crowd of onlookers, and photographs of
swear that what is happening in the Levant today, and in particular the Yarmouk the execution were posted on social media accounts associated with ISIS supporters.
camp, will happen in Gaza," he said, referring to Islamic State advances in Syria,
including in a Damascus district founded by Palestinian refugees.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , a London-based rights group that relies on activists
for its information, reports the women and their husbands were killed over the weekend — the
Hamas is an Islamist movement that shares the jihadis' hostility to Israel but not their first couple on Sunday in Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria, and the second in al-Mayadin on Monday.
quest for a global religious war, defining itself more within the framework of Palestinian Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHR’s head, said it was “the first time his monitoring group had docunationalism. Deemed a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European mented women being beheaded” by the extremists.
Union, and viewed by neighboring Arab power Egypt as a regional security threat,
Hamas' struggle against Islamic State-linked jihadis has not won sympathy abroad.
Kurdish defenders of the Syrian border town of Kobani, however, accused ISIS fighters of beheading one of
their female fighters last year, although it isn’t clear whether the fighter was decapitated after being killed in
Israel's intelligence minister, Israel Katz, accused Hamas on Tuesday of partnering a firefight. In October, as ISIS forces closed on Kobani, there also were accusations the extremists beheaded
with Islamic State affiliates in the Egyptian Sinai - a charge long denied by the seven men and three women to frighten locals to give in to their offensive.
Palestinian group. "There is cooperation between them in the realm of weapons
smuggling and terrorist attacks. The Egyptians know this, and the Saudis," Katz The witchcraft allegations are bizarre even for a terror group immersed in a Dark Age view of the
told a Tel Aviv conference organized by the Israel Defense journal. "At the same world. The Quran does contain references to evil spirits and the evil eye, and it says witchcraft and
time, within Gaza, ISIS (Islamic State) has been flouting Hamas. But they have sorcery are condemned by Allah, but it adds that those who practice witchcraft or sorcery cannot harm
common cause against the Jews, in Israel or abroad."
people against the will of God. The Quran does not ordain capital punishment for sorcery, nor does it
mention punishment except to say offenders will be denied a place in the hereafter.
Meanwhile, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee on Tuesday that Hamas is losing control over the Gaza Strip Last autumn, Iraq’s public broadcaster started airing a sitcom lampooning the gratuitous violence of radical Islam.
and its ability to govern there is eroding.
The satire, called State of Superstition, set out to ridicule the violent extremist group and its leader, Abu Bakr alBaghdadi, as a gang of misfits with the al-Baghdadi-inspired character named the "Beheader."
One of the challenges Hamas is dealing with is the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip
following the destruction caused during last summer's Operation Protective Edge. A The terror group has in the past stoned women to death or shot women on allegations of adultery.
major component of which is the lack of foreign funding due to infighting between SOHR says of the 3,000 people the terror group has executed, 800 were civilians, including 86
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority over control of border crossings, Cohen said. women and 74 children. The group also has killed men for homosexuality.
In the face of this erosion, Cohen stated that Hamas still maintains control of the
Strip, whether through fear or the lack of an organic alternative.
Rami Abdul Rahman, from the monitoring group, said the executions of the alleged witches
likely were carried out to terrify the local population and to keep it cowed and subservient. That
often is done through its treatment of women.
ISIS has been accused of sexually brutalizing women in the self-declared caliphate straddling Syria and
Iraq. In August 2014, ISIS distributed 300 captured Yazidi women to its fighters in Syria, according to
local activists. The women were considered by the group as Sabaya [spoils of war].
By YnetNews.com
`Israel's New Kamikaze Drone
Nazand Begikhani, an adviser to the Kurdistan regional government and researcher at the The coming months will see the completion of one of the most efficient and deadly weapons
University of Bristol Gender and Violence Research Center, estimates ISIS kidnapped more developed in Israel in the last few years – the K1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
than 2,500 Yazidi women after they were separated from male relatives, who were shot.
The UAV is about the size and weight of a bird of prey, and is named for its lethal
Some Yazidi women have managed to escape or IS has ransomed them off. But Yazidi nature – Kamikaze-Killer. It was developed and produced by Israeli workers and
women still are being traded, according to SOHR — 40 recently in the city of al-Mayadin, engineers at one of the most advanced and largest assembly lines for small and mewith the purchase price ranging from $500 to $2,000. In Raqqa, as opposed to other towns in dium UAVs in the world, at the Aeronautics Defense Systems company in Yavne. It is
territory controlled by ISIS, activists say the extremists have been noticeably reducing the unclear whether the IDF will purchase it.
number of public executions for transgressions of its moral code.
The K1 was unveiled at the Paris
Air Show this month, and a protoAmir Salamah, who served until a month ago as a Red Crescent worker in Raqqa, said he believes the
type has already had a successful
extremists are anxious for civilians to stay in the city and not to flee, seeing them as a possible protection
operational test in recent weeks at
from coalition airstrikes. “They are not killing the people in the way they were in the pubic squares,” he
the military experimental field in the
said. “They want to use them as human shields.” He said killings are continuing, but are being done
south. It contains a 2.5 kilogram
more secretively, with the bodies being disposed of in a pit in the north of the city.
warhead with 4,000 tungsten
fragments that can powerfully
scatters over a radius of 25 meters.
London: Ax Attack on Jewish Man's Car
Raises Anti-Semitism Fears
By IsraelNationalNews.com
The UAV is designed less for collecting intelligence than for homing in on a target
and damage control when a UAV fails to strike a target. The K1 is designed for
surgical strikes on targets like light vehicles or terrorist cells. The UAV can also
explode in the air slightly above the target.
A Jewish man's car was attacked outside a synagogue by an ax-wielding man in London, just
hours after a Jewish elementary school nearby was vandalized with sickening anti-Semitic It has the capability to remain airborne for two to two-and-a-half hours, relatively
graffiti. The two incidents took place Tuesday in the London neighborhood of Stamford Hill, silently. Unlike other UAVs in the world, the K1 can return to its handlers and land
nearby unscathed in the event that the mission is cancelled at the last moment.
which is home to a large Orthodox Jewish community.
Graffiti reading "f*** the Jews" was found Tuesday morning scrawled in black marker pen at Aeronautics explained that "another advantage has to do with the ground stations that control it,
in the form of a small and rigid computer display, keyboard or joysticks beside an antenna,
Simon Marks primary school, according to the Evening Standard.
allowing easy maneuverability in the field without trailers or heavy systems."
The offensive message was quickly cleaned off before children began arriving for the start of
the school day, but a spokesperson for the Shomrim neighborhood watch patrol said it was The company added that the UAV is "unobservable and invulnerable, much cheaper
"disturbing" nonetheless. "It's disturbing," Shomrim committee supervisor Chaim Hochhauser than missiles designed for identical missions, and its cost could reach up a few tens of
told the Standard. "They were nasty words. It's being investigated at the moment - we're thousands of dollars per unit."
checking out CCTV but no one has been caught yet."
Over the past few weeks, the Israeli company – which sells most of the weapons it
Hours later, at a synagogue situated just a few minutes away, an unidentified man smashed the produces abroad (to 50 foreign militaries worldwide, on each continent) – has been in
windows of a car parked outside the Beth Hamedrash Skver Synagogue. "He parked up his car and talks with customers abroad, that have expressed interest.
walked into the synagogue and he was there for quite a while," Hochhauser said of the car's owner.
"He was notified by some witnesses that a guy with an axe had smashed up his windows."
The attacker did not try to steal anything from the car, but simply attacked it viciously,
leading to suspicions the incident was an anti-Semitic hate crime as well. "He was walking up
and down the road with an axe," Hochhauser said, describing the scene - which was caught on
camera by a nearby Shomrim patrol car. He urged residents to "keep an eye open and look
out. If you see anything, report it straightaway." Police are currently studying the footage.
The incidents come as British Jews scored a victory against attempts by neo-Nazis to hold a
provocative rally in the heart of London's Jewish community. Far-right activists were told by
police earlier Tuesday that their planned "de-Jewification" rally this Saturday, the Jewish
Sabbath, could not take place in Golders Green as previously planned. Instead, it will be
relocated to a central London location far from the Jewish community, and would be restricted to one hour only, after which it will be dispersed.
Arutz Sheva has learned that a key factor in that decision was the predicted number of counterdemonstrators - primarily from the local Jewish community but also from other locals and anti-fascist
campaigners - which police said would have been impossible to control together with the provocative
rally. Anti-hate groups and Jewish organizations have hailed the developments as a victory.
Courtesy of Yaakov Kirschen
‘ Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled ’
July 2, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 130 (2015_07_02)
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Egyptian Apache assault helicopters striking the ISIS force themselves
faced ground fire from shoulder-borne anti-air missiles. The Islamists are
additionally said to have taken Egyptian prisoners as hostages.
Netanyahu: ISIS Near Our Borgrew fierce during Wednesday, Israel shut its border crossder, 200 dead – Egyptian Troops, Asingsthewithfighting
Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and sent reinforcements south in case
the jihadis launched an attack on Israel from northern Sinai.
Islamists, Civilians - in Major
DEBKAfile's military sources also report
that US Middle East forces located in Jordan
ISIS-Egyptian Battle in N. Sinai
and at Sharm el-Sheikh are on the ready in
By IsraelNationalNews.com, DEBKAfile & VOA News
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the on-going security
situation in the Sinai Peninsula Wednesday afternoon, expressing solidarity with the Egyptian regime and warning that, "ISIS is not just on
the Golan, they are in Egypt as well, near Rafah, near our border."
"We are partners with the Egyptians, and many other states in the Middle East and the world, in our battle against radical Islamic terrorism.
This terrorism is directed by two different entities- Iran, and the radical
Shiites, and ISIS and the radical Sunnis, as well as factions like Hamas."
case the Islamic State decides to attack the
US officers and men at the Multinational
Force (MFO) facility in Sinai, which is located near the battlefield.
The ISIS Sinai offensive is part and parcel of
the reign of terror launched last Friday by
Yassin Sahli when he beheaded his French
boss, and Seifeddine Rezgui, who murdered
39 holidaymakers on a Tunisian beach.
Standing ready for the Islamist offensive in Sinai were the jihadis of the
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which recently declared Sinai a province of the Islamic State and took an oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In a meeting with ambassadors at the foreign ministry Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his sympathies for those
lost in attacks Wednesday. "We send our condolences to the
ISIS draws on two
Egyptian Government, the Egyptian people, and the families of
ad d i t i o n a l m aj or
those massacred by this gruesome terror," he said.
sources for its fighting
manpower: the infraThe Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant moved ominously close to
structure it established
Israel’s borders Wednesday, not as predicted in the north, but in the in turbulent Libya for
south, from the Sinai Peninsula. There, ISIS followed up on its Ramatraining and arming
dan terror outrages in France, Tunisia, Kuwait and Kobani, with a mas- jihadis to cross the
sive assault on Egyptian forces and reportedly capturing the northern
Egyptian border into
Sinai town of Sheikh Zuwaid close to the Israeli and Gaza Strip borders.
Sinai; and the fatal
attraction its radicalizConfirmation of this would mean that the MFO facility at Gora is
ing ideology holds for
under ISIS siege. It would also mean that the Islamists had captured
young Muslims who are
their first Egyptian town, a victory comparable to seizure of the Iraqi
taught that the brutal murder of Islam’s foes is a cleansing and purifying act.
city of Ramadi. In the fierce 10-hour battle for the town, at least 200
Egyptian soldiers, terrorists and civilians were killed.
One top Egyptian official said the attack was "unprecedented in the number
of terrorists involved and the types of weapons they are using," including
Not just a terrorist attack, ISIS launched a full-scale military
rocket-propelled grenades and car bombs.
offensive, starting with mortar fire and suicide bombings against
five Egyptian military checkpoints. Using a tactic similar to that
employed in the capture of the Iraqi town of Ramadi last month,
ISIS gunmen followed this initial assault by riding in on minivans, backed by heavy mortar fire, to storm the positions held by
stunned Egyptian troops. Altogether some 20 Egyptian army
By IsraelNationalNews.com
positions were attacked in and around Sheikh Zuwaid.
‘Salient Eye’ Israeli App Catches
Burglar in New Zealand Burglary
Egyptian troop reinforcements setting out from El Arish to the Israel's hi-tech industry has long been praised in the world, but one New Zeanortheast to aid the beleaguered force, went up on mine and bomb lander recently had a harrowing first-hand experience in which she learned how
Israeli ingenuity can save one's belongings - and even save one's life.
traps secretly planted around their camps and police stations.
Melissa Rodrigues of Wellington, New Zealand, was skeptical after her three-year-old son said According to official Israeli government figures, only about 5-10% of new immigrants
he had heard an intruder trying to break into the family home. The second time it happened he ultimately pack up and return to their home countries. Lawrence doesn’t believe the success
found proof to show her, in the form of footprints left in the mud by the thief.
rate is that high. “In the past few months alone, I’ve had 12 of my friends go back,” he says.
“Just from personal experience, I’d say the return rate is more like 50-60%. All those
Rodrigues and her husband then turned to Salient Eye, a free Israeli cell phone application that immigrants from France who pose with the prime minister at the airport ... I’m in touch with
turns old smartphones into a camera and motion detector alarm system.
many of them after they’ve returned to Paris because they can’t hack it here.”
The app caught the thief trying to break in and notified Melissa with an email alert, at which Lawrence officially immigrated to Israel 10 months ago, but he’s no stranger to the country.
point she called the police. In a manhunt consisting of five police cars the police tracking dog lost He made his first trip to Israel as a college student back in the 1980s and has been going
the burglar's scent, but pictures captured by Salient Eye gave enough details to identify the man, back and forth ever since, often on extended visits, but until now only on a tourist visa.
who turned out to be a neighbor living a few houses away.
Born on an army base in Oklahoma to an unaffiliated Jewish family, he spent most of his
After being caught by police thanks to the Israeli app, the man confessed to stealing tools from the Rodri- childhood on the east coast of the United States. His first introduction to Israel was on a student
gues family, as well as stealing from other neighbors as well. "The support this app gave us was absolutely exchange program at Tel Aviv University where, as he puts it, “I fell in love with the country.”
fantastic," said Rodrigues. "It meant we didn't have to put ourselves in harm’s way to look for him, and with
the email alert we were on the phone to the police in literally seconds!"
It was during one of his extended stays, in the early 1990s, that Lawrence began modeling
underwear to help pay the rent, and as he recalls, “I got drunk one night, someone told me to take
The ingenious app turns cameras on old cell phones into motion-sensitive alarms that can send immediate off my clothes, and that’s basically how I brought the male striptease business to Israel.” The
notifications, and the app requires no payment or registration.
male strip club he operated in Tel Aviv at the time was also known for special events it held for
soldiers on leave, among them a weekly Wet-T-Shirt night and erotic-banana-eating contests.
Rodrigues found the app online, and noted, "having no money to be able to buy a ‘proper’ system, I stumbled across the app, which allowed me to have a free, immediately available security Back in those days, he was still known by his given name, Lawrence Strasberg. (“I’m a
setup. The app literally helped our whole community."
distant cousin of Lee Strasberg, so acting must run in the family.”) But when he left
Israel for Los Angeles about 20 years ago, he took on the Hebrew name LiAmi (“my
Haggai Meltzer, founder and CEO of Salient Eye, revealed that his brainstorm to invent the app came nation belongs to me”) to express his ongoing connection to the country.
after he had himself been robbed. "I had a drawer full of old smartphones. They were too old for the
thief to take an interest, but not too old for me to figure out a better way to use them," he recalled.
In Los Angeles he was also known as “Mr. Sababa” – a titled inspired by his Israeli-themed
event planning company of the same name. In addition to hosting two Jewish talk show
programs on a local radio station, he served as media director at the Israeli consulate in the
city and worked for a non-profit committed to helping teenage drug addicts. When that nonprofit closed shop and after his brief marriage to an Israeli woman ended, Lawrence figured
“if not now, then when?” and bought a one-way ticket to Israel.
By YnetNews.com
Meet the New Poster Boy for Immigration to Israel – a Former Stripper
He does not want his age published, so best to say that based on his appearance, it
He’s worked as an underwear model, a stripper, a bartender, a bouncer, an actor, a radio talk
show host, a party planner, a media consultant and a personal trainer for the rich and famous. But would not be easy to guess. He wears a big gold “Chai” around his neck, two gold
hoops in his left ear and a touch of gel in the hair to keep it shiny and upright.
only now does LiAmi Lawrence believe he’s found his true calling in life.
Last month, just when he was about to
pack his bags and give up yet again on
life in Israel, Lawrence decided that
rather than leave, this time he was going
to create a movement to help people like
himself stay. “Now my friends are
calling me the messiah of the olim,” says
the American-born stand-up comedian
(yes, that’s his latest gig), using the
Hebrew term for new immigrants.
The movement he created is called
“Keep Olim in Israel,” and in less than a month has drawn over 9,000 members to its Facebook
group. Lawrence estimates that 65% of them are from English-speaking countries, and the rest
from the former Soviet Union, France and South America. Regardless of their origins, he says,
they all share two big problems: poor job prospects and loneliness.
The goal of his new movement (which is about to become a registered non-profit), as he sees it,
is to provide them with tools to overcome these major obstacles. Its true test of success, of course
– and he understands this, too – will be measured in whether it can achieve these goals, and not
in the number of fans it garners on social media. This Saturday night, “Keep Olim in Israel” will
have its official launching event – a big social mixer at a popular Tel Aviv club.
Coming back to Israel hasn’t been easy for him. Lawrence has been out of work
most of the time, living from hand to mouth and from one stand-up comedy gig to
the next. The best job opportunity he was able to find through any of the immigrant
aid agencies operating in Israel was as an extra on a film shoot.
“When I told a friend I had decided to leave Israel, he started crying,” recounts
Lawrence. That same friend promptly created a Facebook page to rally the masses
behind Lawrence and get him to stay in the country. But Lawrence, who had far
more experience in social media than this friend, realized that despite the good
intentions, this friend was going about it in all the wrong way. Lawrence subsequently took over the campaign – and that is how a movement was born.
The initiative appears to have struck a raw nerve, and based on the responses,
Lawrence says he’s beginning to dream big. “I can definitely see us starting a
political party out of this,” he says, “one that would cross the usual right-left
divisions.” (Incidentally, he voted for the centrist Kulanu party in the last election).
So is he still thinking of leaving the country? “I guess not,” he responded.
Many organizations and institutions are involved in the business of helping new immigrants
adjust to life in Israel, as Lawrence is aware. But rather than discuss what’s right and wrong with
the competition, he prefers to focus on his own big plans.
“This is definitely not about bitching or asking the government for handouts,” he insists. “It’s about empowering
olim by giving them access to things like better Hebrew-language programs and mental-health counseling, and by
creating special support systems for them. In other words, no more cookie-cutter solutions.”
Courtesy of Yaakov Kirschen
‘ Memory is the only (place) from which you cannot be expelled ’
July 3, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 131 (2015_07_03)
A trusted source for Israeli news and
information since 1993
All the news the big guys missed. ISSN 1074-2255 Access the new and improved archival site at www.israelfaxx.com
Editor: Don Canaan The Villages, FL 32159 E-mail: dcanaan (at) israelfaxx (dot) com
IDF Closes Road Near Sinai Border
By DEBKAfile, IsraelNationalNews.com & YnetNews.com
“Obviously, no one who is of sound mind would give ISIS nuclear weapons, but currently,
in the talks the world powers are holding with Iran, they are giving this extremist state that
spreads terror throughout the world the ability to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons; a
great number of nuclear bombs with their means of delivery – long-range missiles. And so
we stand here facing two threats: the threat of ISIS, and the threat of Iran.”
Israel's military Thursday closed Highway 12 from Nitzana south of the Gaza
Strip to Israel’s southernmost town of Eilat as ISIS and Egyptian forces fought "We do not need to strengthen one at the expense of the other,” Netanyahu explained.
across the border in Sinai for the second day. This is the first time Israel has “We have to weaken both, and prevent both from aggressing and arming. I'm telling
you, that in the face of these dark forces, which suppress human rights and murder
closed a main highway against a possible Islamic State operation.
people and hang them in town squares – in the face of these forces, what we are promoting
here in the CyberSpark at Be'er Sheva is progress.”
The highway circumvents the mountains of Eilat from the north and west, and
connects Eilat to Highway 10 and Highway 40, which lead toward central Israel.
The closure is being carried out in accordance with instructions issued by Chief of Israel said Thursday that Hamas was actively assisting the ISIS terrorist militia. "We have clear
Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, and approved by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. information that Hamas supports the Walayat Sinai organization, which belongs to ISIS,” Major
General Yoav Mordechai said, in an Arabic-language interview for Al Jazeera.
The IDF said that the closure is temporary. "The IDF is prepared to defend the
residents of the state of Israel and will do all it can to preserve the life routine and "In the latest attacks, Hamas gave assistance in the form of weapons and organization
to the group that supports ISIS,” he accused. “We have examples of commanders in
prevent damage to the fabric of life of the local residents,” the military added.
Hamas who took an active part in this aid. Wael Faraj, a battalion commander in
Netanyahu linked the incidents to the negotiations between Iran Hamas's armed wing, smuggled wounded casualties from Sinai to Gaza.
and the P5+1 powers on the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
A newspaper close to the Egyptian government reported Thursday that the Islamic
The IDF began taking extra precautions along Israel's southern borders on State-linked militants who attacked troops in the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday used
Wednesday, after a group associated with the Islamic State in the Sinai Penin- sophisticated weaponry, including Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles.
sula launched a coordinated attack against Egypt that killed 50 Egyptian soldiers. One hour after the attack security officials closed the Kerem Shalom and In a graphic on its front page, el-Watan daily said the attackers also used mortars, anti-aircraft
Nitzana crossings, after they deemed both as potential attack sites. Trucks and guns and other guided missiles. The attack, which included a wave of suicide bombings and
assaults on security installations by dozens of militants, was Sinai's deadliest fighting in decades.
employees at the crossings have also been evacuated from the area.
An Egyptian security force disclosed Thursday that around 300 armed Islamic State Newspapers led their front pages with the attack, with many describing it as a "war."
terrorists carried out the massive offensive on Egyptian troops and police in north Graphic photographs released by the military showed the bodies of extremists killed in
Sinai Wednesday. He reported that around 100 were killed in the battle. He did not the fighting who were wearing combat fatigues.
release Egyptian casualty figures, which are estimated at more than 60.
An Associated Press reporter across the border in the Gaza Strip heard explosions and saw smoke
rising
in the area as airstrikes continued in the afternoon and warplanes roared overhead. The officials
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu paid a visit Thursday to the CyberSpark
spoke
on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
Industry Initiative in Be'er Sheva and spoke about the deadly ISIS attack in Sinai.
"Until a few months ago, when we said ISIS was operating on our borders, people
were skeptical, and here we see before our eyes how ISIS acts with extraordinary And in the US, the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security have asked Americans to
remain vigilant to the threat of a terror attack over the Fourth of July weekend. Command centers
cruelty on both our northern and our southern border," said Netanyahu.
have been set up at 56 FBI command centers across America. Although officials say there is no
The prime minister added: "our hearts are with the Egyptian people and we credible threat, the FBI is reacting to a call to arms by the Islamic State for mass murder during
send our condolences to the Egyptian government and the families whose Ramadan, especially after its simultaneous attacks on three continents last Friday.
loved ones have fallen in the struggle against terrorist savagery."
DEBKAfile’s sources reported that extra vigilance for Islamist attacks should also be obNetanyahu linked the incidents to the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 served on July 13, the 27th day of Ramadan when Muslims observer the “Night of Al
powers on the Iranian nuclear weapons program. "The actions we are seeing from Qadar” in the belief that then the “gates of the firmament” open wide to Muslim prayers.
ISIS are nothing compared to the capabilities that the Iranian regime is building,” he
said, reiterating a message featured in a recent Israeli foreign ministry video.
What we are now seeing is a semi-military organization using a
hybrid method of action, which combines terror and planned, coordinated military fighting. Like the other ISIS branches across the
By Ron Ben-Yishai (Commentary)
Middle East, the members of the "The Caliphate in the Sinai DisThe impressive fighting abilities demonstrated by the Islamic State in northern Sinai trict" are also well equipped with weapons and modern ammunition.
pose a new challenge to the IDF. The use of simultaneous suicide bombings, imported
What we should really be concerned about is the fact that they know how to
from Syria and Iraq, could one day be directed at Israel.
locate a large number of strategic targets, collect intelligence ahead of an
The terror offensive launched Wednesday by the Islamic State organization in the Sinai operation and attack them simultaneously in accurate timing.
Peninsula was aimed at undermining President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's military-secular rule in
Egypt. But from the reports arriving from Sinai, although they are initial and unclear, it ISIS in Sinai is implementing the classic principle of war with considerable success: It attacked all the 15 targets it had chosen simultaneously,
seems that al-Sisi is not the only one who should be concerned – so should Israel.
in order to create a surprise. If the attack had not been launched in coorIn the short run, we have to prepare for the possibility that the attack on 15 posts and dination and at the same time, the Egyptian forces would have raised
centers of the Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai, which claimed the lives of their level of alertness in the areas which had not been attacked yet.
dozens of Egyptian soldiers, will develop into an offensive towards the Israeli border.
The ISIS fighters succeeded in isolating the operation area
In recent years, global jihad activists in Sinai have already attacked posts of the Egyp- through ambushes on the roads leading to the attacked targets,
tian army and of the multinational force in northern Sinai, gained control of armored thereby preventing the arrival of reinforcement. The jihadists
vehicles, "flattened" the border fence with them and infiltrated Israeli territory. They were able to enter a police station uninterrupted, take the police
officers hostage, plant mines on the streets and run wild in pubwere stopped by an armored force with the Air Force's help.
lic, in a bid to emphasize the Egyptian army's helplessness and
The report that ISIS fighters gained control of armored vehicles on Wednesday morn- achieve a conscious victory.
ing requires special preparations and alert. The jihadists could drive them towards the
border terminals with Israel and the border fence in order to break through them with These abilities and methods of action characterize ISIS in Syria and Iraq,
and it seems that someone who came from there went to the trouble of
the heavy weight of the tanks and armored personnel carriers.
training the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis activists to carry out similar attacks.
That is why the IDF quickly shut off the crossings and alerted all the communities The evidence is the methods of actions imported from Iraq and Syria
along the border with Egypt, especially in its northwestern part. The instruction to the and the use of simultaneous suicide attacks through car bombs to carry
residents is to stay alert, and the IDF has also reinforced the presence of armored vehi- out Wednesday's attack in Sinai. That is exactly how ISIS operates in
cles on the ground and unmanned aircraft monitoring what is happening near the bor- Syria and Iraq: A suicide bombing creates the shock and the breaches in
der. The IDF is likely on the alert with helicopters and fighter jets, which Israel will not the fence and in the wall through which the attacking force enters.
hesitate to use in case of an attempt to infiltrate its territory.
In light of these points, we should consider the possibility that one
The battles taking place between the Egyptian army and the ISIS fighters could also develop into day these abilities will be directed at us, whether because the Egyprocket and mortar fire towards Israel, and the Central Command is preparing for that too. In the tian army eases its pressure i on the terrorists in Sinai or because the
meantime, it seems that the ISIS men are busy battling the Egyptian army, which is attacking terrorists gain self-confidence and decide that it's time to launch a
them from the air and from the ground, but the heightened state of alert on the Israeli side will front against Israel too. It could happen sooner than we think, and we
likely continue for a few more days, as experience shows that ISIS will try to create provocations should also acknowledge the fact that the border fence cannot effion the border with Israel in a bid to cause a friction between the IDF and the Egyptian army and ciently block a trained "army" which has experience with complicated fighting operations. ISIS is already on the fences.
affect the relationship between Egypt and Israel.
ISIS in Sinai is a Serious Threat to Israel
There are good relations between the two countries today and excellent coordination
between the IDF and Egyptian army, but there have already been incidents on the
border in which the Egyptians expresses their discontent with the fact that the IDF
opened fire at global jihad activists in Sinai who attacked, or tried to attack, communities and IDF patrols on the border fence with Egypt.
The greater concern, however, is over the impressive fighting abilities gained by the
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis organization, which pledged allegiance to ISIS in November
2014, and its official name today is "The Caliphate in the Sinai District." The strategic
and complicated attacks, from a military perspective, executed by the organization in
January and this Wednesday in northern Sinai show that it is no longer a gang which
only knows how to carry out sporadic fire of short-range and inaccurate rockets, or to
ambush a civilian bus or an IDF patrol on the Egypt-Israel border.
It's surprising to discover that the training, operational planning and
the movement of the ISIS forces from their hiding areas towards
their targets on Wednesday escaped the Egyptian intelligence's eyes.
It's very possible that the preparations also escaped the eyes of other
intelligence services in the area, those operated by countries which
have good relations and security cooperation with Egypt.
If any of these elements or the Egyptian army has any intelligence, al-Sisi's security forces in northern Sinai would have
likely been warned of the impending offensive. The Egyptian
army and its intelligence should have been able to detect such an
offensive, in which many communication devices were used, and
there were likely warning signs in the movement on Sinai routes,
in the social networks and on the Internet as well.
This is exactly what the Muslim Brotherhood people, who have gone underground The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. 102
and are acting against the government from there, want to achieve. This is also what hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded, while
Netanyahu was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan
ISIS, which sees a secular-Muslim regime as an abomination, wants to achieve.
soldiers were killed, according to Ugandan figures.
It's quite possible that Wednesday's attack was carried out in coordination between
these two organizations, inspired by the Ramadan holiday, in honor of the second
anniversary of the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed
Morsi regime in Egypt and in honor of the anniversary of the first appearance of ISIS
as an influential military elements in the Middle Eastern arena.
Knesset Extends Biometric ID
Trial Program
It isn't hard to estimate that if the current regime in Egypt is undermined, the By IsraelNationalNews.com
State of Israel's national security will be seriously affected as well.
The Knesset has voted to extend the nine-month test period for
Israel's biometric identification program, by a 69-43 majority.
The vote ratifies a decision by Interior Minister Silvan Shalom
(Likud) last week intended to allow more time for Knesset committees to study the program's progress before making a final
decision on whether the program will become mandatory.
By IsraelNationalNews.com
The move is the latest in the implication of the Biometric DataJuly 4th isn't just the anniversary of American independence – it's also the base Law, which mandates the collection of fingerprints and
anniversary of the 1976 Entebbe operation (known as Operation Jonathan facial contours from all Israeli residents for integration in domesand Operation Thunderbolt), the Israeli military raid that rescued over 100 tic ID cards and national passports.
Israelis and Jews, who were being held hostage by Arab terrorists in Uganda
with the cooperation of then-Ugandan President Idi Amin,
The same law mandated creation of a government database of that
biometric information, to be used for immigration control and identiThirty nine years after the rescue, documents have surfaced that show the fierce fication of individuals, and to assist in locating individuals suspected
debate that went on in the government then about the possibility – and prospects – of of criminal activity by the law enforcement officials.
a rescue effort. In notes that were released by the IDF Archives, Defense Minister
Shimon Peres is seen questioning the wisdom of the operation. In a note to Prime The law was passed in part to prevent identity theft and the loss,
Minister Yitzchak Rabin, Peres writes “how do we begin such an operation? They theft and destruction of the blue ID cards issued by the Interior
say is it impossible, the timing is wrong, and the government will never approve it. Ministry, which had spiraled out of control in the decade prior to
My only question is – how will this operation end.”
2007. It was later revealed that more than half of those requesting
new documents had a criminal background.
The incident began on June 26, 1976, when an Air France plane was hijacked by
Arab terrorists as it flew from Paris to Tel Aviv. The terrorists landed the plane The first phase offering a switch to biometric identification on a
in Uganda, in an operation that it later became clear was fully coordinated with volunteer basis was implemented in June 2013. As of early 2015,
Amin. After several days, the terrorists released the non-Jewish passengers – some 640,000 Israelis had switched to the new system; 430,000
keeping the Jewish and Israeli passengers hostage, and demanding the release of Israelis reportedly received biometric identification cards beseveral top terrorists in exchange for their release.
tween January and July 2015 alone, according to Walla! News.
Entebbe Notes Show Skeptical Shimon
Peres Questioning Operation
Rabin refused to negotiate with the terrorists, and insisted that his military men
come up with a plan to free the hostages. The result was one of the most celebrated military operations in the world's history, as IDF troops led by Yonatan
Netanyahu, brother of the future prime minister, led several dozen troops to
Uganda, flying under cover of night and avoiding radar in half a dozen African
countries. The troops flew 3,800 kilometers (over 2,000 miles) to reach the
airport where the hostages were held. Fortunately, the troops were able to learn
the layout of the site in advance of their arrival – the airport had been built by an
Israeli contractor, who still had the plans for it in his safe.
However, there have been some serious flaws in the full pilot
program launched in 2014, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira
noted last week. According to his report on the issue, at least 15
million shekels ($3.9 million) have been wasted on cards issued
that were faulty or had mismatched fingerprinting information, as
well as various delays reported in the changeover.
Despite this, Shapira's report still had praise for the program in
general - and the Knesset vote is meant to fix these failures, not
halt the entire program. "[Ministries in charge of the project are]
In another note, an apparently won-over Peres writes that he has a sugges- stepping up efforts to meet all objectives of the test period, they
tion for the “final touch” of the operation. Writing to Rabin, Peres says that are dealing with the complex challenges arising," he said, noting
“instead of field vehicles, let them use a big Mercedes sedan with flags that "this is a revolutionary, unique, and wide-ranging project."
attached.” That detail was able to divert the attention of Ugandan troops,
who thought that Amin was paying a nighttime surprise visit on them.
The pilot study has included placing more biometric passport stands in BenGurion Airport, a move which Shalom himself helped launch in May.