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ISRAEL

Israel’s war on Gaza-based Palestinian terrorists – a wake up call Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

https://bit.ly/3p5Y7DV

The August 2022 Israeli war on Gaza-based Palestinian terrorists serves as a wake up call for Israeli and Western policy makers and public opinion molders, who are determined to observe/assess the volcanic and treacherous Middle East through the accommodating and relatively-peaceful Western lenses.

For example:

*The August 2022 war on Palestinian terrorism is a wake up call to the Israeli and Western “Palestine-Firsters.” Once again, Arab countries showered the Palestinians with an embracing-talk, but refrained from a supportive walk, militarily, financially or politically. Hence, the 2022 Arab walk was consistent with the Arab conduct during all previous military clashes between Israel and Palestinian terrorism: the First and Second Intifada of 1987-1993 and 2000-2005, the 1982-85 war against the PLO in Lebanon, and the four wars against the Gaza-based Hamas terrorists in 2008-9, 2012, 2014 and 2021.

*During the last few days, I participated in several TV panel-discussions with experts from Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. All of them concurred with my perspective on the non-centrality of the Palestinian issue in Middle East affairs, displaying indifference or hostility toward the Palestinians. They echoed the Arab image of Palestinians as a role-model of intra-Arab subversion, terrorism and ingratitude, as documented by the Palestinian intra-Arab track record.  

*In contrast to Western conventional wisdom, Arab policy makers are convinced that the proposed Palestinian state would be a pro-Iran, pro-Russia and pro-China rogue/terrorist entity, fueling domestic and regional turbulence, and intensifying the existing threats to the survival of every pro-US Arab regime.

As latest round of fighting ends, Israel’s Gaza strategy comes under scrutiny Israel’s current policy cannot assure its long-term security, and particularly that of its southern residents. By David Isaac

https://www.jns.org/as-latest-round-of-fighting-ends-israels-gaza-strategy-comes-under-scrutiny/

 “Operation Breaking Dawn” is being described as one of Israel’s most successful Gaza operations in recent years. “All goals have been achieved, whoever tries to harm us will pay with his life,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday evening, addressing the nation. Yet some have questioned Israel’s current Gaza policy, which leads it into successive rounds of fighting with no end in sight. They say it’s time to develop a new strategy.

“How do we see the next 20 to 50 years? Are we really going to live with the reality where every six months to a year, half of Israeli society is always under fire?” asked Amir Avivi, CEO and founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), an Israeli NGO comprising thousands of former security officers.

“The idea is we will hit the terrorists hard and then gain a few years of quiet, but we see it’s not working,” he told JNS. “They build themselves back very, very fast. And with each operation they’re able to shoot more rockets with more explosives and more accuracy, while developing other capabilities. We need to ask ourselves: Is this the reality that the people of Israel deserve?”

While the current operation focused exclusively on the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group, it’s to Hamas and its growing strength that Avivi points as proof that Israel’s current strategy is a failure. “Hamas is projecting its power and ideology all over Israel and all over the region. It’s becoming the leading organization in the fight for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. They are the heroes of the Palestinians and also of Arab Israelis in the north and the south. This has become a huge threat. It’s not just about Gaza anymore,” he said.

Avivi praised the latest operation on the tactical level, but not the strategic one.

“This is the paradox. When the army fights, there’s nothing like the IDF. It’s amazing. But when you look at the overall picture, the strategic picture, it’s terrible,” he said.

Palestinians: It Pays Better to Be America’s Adversary, Not Its Friend by Bassam Tawil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18785/palestinians-americas-adversary

The statement in support of China is yet another example of the Palestinians’ betting on the wrong horse. Always on the side of the despotic regimes and countries, Palestinians appear to have learned nothing from their mistakes.

While Israel consistently stands by its US partners, Palestinians continue to ridicule and condemn the US, undermine its interests by aligning themselves with anti-US parties, and financing the families of Palestinians who murder Israeli and US citizens.

Palestinians expect US financial aid, but oppose the US on every foreign policy front. The Biden administration does not seem to have a problem funding the Iranian regime, the Chinese Communist Party, the illegitimate Venezuelan government or the Palestinian leadership while Palestinians are spitting in the face of the US and openly supporting all those who hate the US and the Americans. It sometimes seems as if the harder America’s adversaries spit, the harder the Americans rush to fund them.

Palestinians, who have sided against America with Nazi Germany, the Russians, Saddam Hussein, North Korea, Syria’s Assad, Iran, Hezbollah, and now China, are again exposing their anti-US sentiments. They will happily pad their bank accounts with American money, while continuing to act against the US and its policies in different parts of the world.

Many Arab countries have learned the lesson of Palestinian betrayal: that is why they long ago stopped funding the Palestinians. The Arab leaders refuse to throw their money at those who praise their enemies.

The US has actually been teaching those who wish to create a Palestinian state that being best buddies with America’s worst enemies is where the biggest profits lie.

Palestinian leaders have a tradition of backing tyrants and corrupt regimes around the world. When their choices prove disastrous, they run to the Americans begging for pity.

The Palestinian leaders do not run to their Arab brothers: they know that most Arab countries are sick and tired of Palestinian lies and backstabbing.

Fighting in the Gaza Strip Is a Sign of Israeli Failure The Jewish state should destroy Palestinian arsenals before terrorists use them. By Amir Avivi

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gaza-fighting-is-a-sign-of-israeli-failure-hamas-idf-weapons-military-terror-organizations-security-rockets-11659972663?mod=opinion_lead_pos8

Another round of fighting in Gaza has ended with a brokered cease-fire after a limited yet deadly exchange of fire between a terror organization and the Israel Defense Forces. The fighting lasted three days, more than 1,000 rockets were fired at Israel—including toward Tel Aviv and Jerusalem—and millions of Israelis found cover and relative safety thanks to the phenomenal Iron Dome, which intercepted more than 96% of the lethal rockets aimed at Israeli civilians.

At least 20 operatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed in action by the IDF, and scores more were wounded. Most important, almost the entire chain of command of the Islamic Jihad was eliminated in separate pinpoint strikes, leaving that organization with significant staffing shortages for the foreseeable future. Sadly, several Gazan civilians were also killed, either inadvertently by the IDF or by malfunctioning Palestinian rockets fired by terrorists.

None of the above should be surprising or sound new to anyone who has been following Middle Eastern news for the past 15 years. Other rounds, like Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, lasted longer, caused more casualties and destruction in Israel and in Gaza, and ended in similar fashion.

Gaza: The Usual Suspects Condemn Israel by Richard Kemp

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18784/gaza-condemn-israel

Commenting on the killing of Zawahiri, UN Secretary General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN was “committed to fighting against terrorism and strengthening international cooperation in countering that threat”.

Of course it was a different story when Israel acted against Jabari. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland was “deeply concerned” by “the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza.”

Israel has not claimed its operation in Gaza — codenamed Breaking Dawn — is to deter. The government has made it clear that the strikes were to prevent an imminent threat to the Israeli population. It had hard intelligence that PIJ, led by Jabari, was planning attacks across the border from Gaza. Protecting its people from violent external attack is not only permitted under international law, it is the duty of every government. If deterrence of such attacks were possible, Israel would have taken action to deter.

PIJ is an Iranian proxy, directed and funded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Its leader, Ziad Nakhaleh, has been in Tehran for the last few days, meeting with his IRGC paymasters and other government officials including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

As PIJ and its fellow jihadists have indiscriminately fired an estimated 400 missiles (at time of writing) at targets from Sderot to Tel Aviv since Operation Breaking Dawn began, the IDF has continued to launch precision strikes from the air and the ground to halt the attacks on Israeli citizens. Just as Israel’s casus belli for attacking PIJ targets was lawful, it has taken the utmost care to ensure its continued strikes are also lawful, only attacking targets that are proportionate and necessary to the military objectives and giving warnings where civilian casualties could occur.

We can expect non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Human Rights Watch to pile on. Amnesty International, however, might be slightly more circumspect as they are at present gyrating from the widespread international reproach that greeted their just-published report condemning Ukraine’s defensive actions, in which they again showed the total incomprehension of war and the laws of war that they often demonstrate in their denunciations of Israel.

Slavering for the last two days at the prospect of IDF-inflicted mass casualties, much of the media immediately and without any evidence eagerly pointed the finger at Israel over the tragic killing of seven people, including four children, in Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip. They will undoubtedly try, but journalists and UN investigators will find it hard to refute the IDF’s confirmation that they did not strike the location and have conclusive video and radar evidence that the deaths were caused by a misfired PIJ rocket, launched as so often from within the civilian population. This would certainly fit, as approximately a quarter of all terrorist rockets fired so far during this campaign have landed inside Gaza, not in Israel.

A week ago US President Joe Biden ordered the elimination of Al Qaida boss Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul. A few days later Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid ordered the elimination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander Tayseer al-Jabari in Gaza. These were two of a kind: mass killers whose sole purpose was to inflict pain, death and destruction on ordinary decent people to bring about their vision of Islamic conquest.

IDF footage shows ‘beyond doubt’ that misfired Islamic Jihad rocket killed children in Gaza

https://www.jns.org/idf-footage-shows-beyond-doubt-that-misfired-islamic-jihad-rocket-killed-children-in-gaza/?utm_

The Israeli military says some 180 projectiles launched by PIJ fell short in Gaza, killing at least nine people • “All fire by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is a double war crime: It is shooting at civilians, and using Gazan civilians as human shields,” says the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
A picture shows rockets being fired by Islamic Jihad toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, on August 5, 2022. Photo by Attia Muhammed/Flash90.
Spread the word.

(August 7, 2022 / JNS) The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday night released footage it claims shows a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfiring and causing an explosion in a residential area of Jabalya that reportedly killed numerous people, including four children.

The rocket was launched at 6:51 p.m. local time, according to the IDF, and was detected by the military’s ballistic missile defense center. PIJ is experiencing an average of 20% misfired rockets, according to the military.

As of Sunday evening, terrorists from Gaza had fired some 1,000 projectiles towards the Jewish state since the IDF launched “Operation Breaking Dawn” on Friday afternoon.

About 160 of these rockets fell short in Gaza, killing at least nine people, according to the IDF.

Ruthie Blum Avoiding mention of Iran while urging Israeli restraint

https://www.jns.org/opinion/avoiding-mention-of-iran-while-urging-israeli-restraint/?utm_source=

The facts of “Operation Breaking Dawn” don’t make the slightest difference to the moral-equivalence choir hot to return to the JCPOA.

When asked in a TV interview on Saturday afternoon about the response of his counterparts at the United Nations to “Operation Breaking Dawn” against Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said that the bulk of the world’s focus right now is on the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Pacific. He did acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority’s representative at the international body, Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour, has been busy urging the Security Council to condemn Israel—as usual.

If Erdan was feeling even mildly relieved about his colleagues’ attention being elsewhere for a change, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland ought to have put a damper on the sentiment. In an official statement on Friday, the useless envoy wrote, “I am deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza. This takes place amidst mounting tensions across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent weeks.”

The rest of the blather, which lacked all context, typically took Israel to task for the “at least 10 Palestinians … killed, [including] a five-year-old child … There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians. The continuing escalation is very dangerous. The launching of rockets must cease immediately, and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation.”

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

From A for Agriculture to Z for Zionism:  Michael Ordman tells us: “One product to increase wheat yields has already been shipped to the US and another is in field trials. Israelis have developed an entirely new, tasty, and highly nutritious ready-to-eat vegetable; an energy-efficient method to extract proteins from plants; and the best-tasting vanilla ever.”

And: “a growing number of Jews who want to see their future, and that of their children, growing up in the Jewish State.”

He also informs us that there are increased opportunities for women in the Israel Defense Forces.

So BDS really defines Isrel’s army: “Brave, Diverse, Soldiers” rsk.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Covid-19 immunity testing. A team of Israeli immunologists, epidemiologists and other researchers have successfully used the levels of antibody markers to predict the risk of Covid-19 infection. IGG antibodies for 608 healthy adults were monitored over 90 days. The 239 subsequent infections were then correlated.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/can-you-judge-your-covid-immunity-with-an-antibody-test-israeli-research-says-yes/
 
Weakening the virus. Israeli-UK biotech Eleven Therapeutics is developing RNAi therapy that attacks the genetic structure of respiratory viruses such as SARS-COV-2. Eleven has just received a $9 million grant from the Gates Foundation. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1ju600ltc  https://www.eleventx.com/
 
Ultrasound scans on MDA Ambulances. Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics on Israeli Intensive Care ambulances and helicopters will use ultrasound probes to monitor patients’ hearts and locate IV points in hard-to-detect veins. If an ultrasound detects a heartbeat but no pulse, fluids should be used – not shocks or CPR.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/357443  
 
A molecule to repair all cells. (TY WIN) Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a molecule, 1,8-diaminooctane, that helps cells repair damaged tissue. It could eventually prevent age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and increase life expectancy and wellness.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/mind-and-spirit/article-713621
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35579620/
 
ECG for the lungs. Israel’s Nanovation-GS (see here previously) is now undergoing clinical trials in Israel and the EU of its SenseGuard first-of-its-kind nano-sensor for monitoring and managing chronic respiratory conditions. It is also working to obtain CE certification, with FDA approval to be sought later.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-712509
https://www.exitvalley.com/Projects/Nanovation/?WebLang=EN&RefAd=rPxlQrCC%20
 
Chipping away at cancer. Israeli pharmacist Eliana Steinberg realized her medicines were not curing cancer patients and went back to university to get a doctorate. She then developed a transparent chip, which takes a sample of the tumor to test numerous treatments to discover which works best. It was even tested in outer space.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-researchers-nanotech-is-revolutionizing-tumor-treatment/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ygzqobysp
 
Diagnosing fibromyalgia. The medical condition fibromyalgia is hard to diagnose. Now, researchers at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus and Canada’s McGill University can identify it in blood tests using an algorithm that analyzes the bile acids produced by gut bacteria. The scientists are developing a tool for use in clinics.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-finding-may-make-hard-to-diagnose-fibromyalgia-easy-to-confirm/
 
Intel & Sheba partner to detect Crohn’s disease. (TY Israel21c) Intel Corporation is working with the ARC Innovation Center at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to develop an AI-enhanced app to help physicians diagnose Crohn’s disease at an early stage. 12,000 images taken by a “capsule pill” can be analyzed in just two minutes.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/07/26/sheba-intel-hope-to-give-crohns-disease-a-punch-in-the-gut-using-ai/
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/technology-science/1658850440-israel-sheba-hospital-intel-partnership-to-detect-chron-s-disease
 
Avoiding the need for amniocentesis. Israel’s Identifai Genetics is developing a noninvasive prenatal test for the early detection of severe genetic disorders. A simple blood test of the mother in her first trimester can detect every single-point mutation, insertion-deletion, and structural variation in the entire embryonic genome.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/pfp425ruq   https://identifai-genetics.com/
 
Improving visual perception for those with autism. Tel Aviv University scientists have developed a new learning method for people with autism that may significantly improve capabilities in terms of visual perception. It uses “memory flashes” to reinforce the duration and repetition of new skills.
https://www.aftau.org/news_item/new-learning-method-from-tau-could-help-people-with-autism-improve-visual-perception-capabilities/   https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00903-4
 

Member of US Army Joins Palestinian Islamic Jihad Operative for Ramallah Wedding Isayed Darawad dons the American flag while supporting Palestinian terror. Joe Kaufman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/08/member-us-army-joins-palestinian-islamic-jihad-joe-kaufman/

Convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member Hatem Fariz is back in Israel, once again leading a tour for his terrorist supporting friends. This particular trip has them attending different weddings. One of the attendees, Isayed Darawad, is a surprise, as he is a member of the US Army. And though he may wear green camos with a ‘Stars and Stripes’ patch, this is a man who believes America’s friend Israel doesn’t exist and wants to see her Jewish citizens dead. Why is Israel allowing terrorist operatives into her country, and why is the US allowing their supporters into the military?

In February 2003, the FBI announced the arrests of four individuals whom the law enforcement agency described as being members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group recognized by the US government as being a terrorist organization. One of the individuals was Tampa-area resident Hatem Naji Fariz, a then-manager of a medical clinic. After a lengthy trial, Fariz pled guilty to providing material support to PIJ. Following his jail sentence, Fariz became managing director of Al-Qassam, the mosque founded by his PIJ co-defendant, Sami al-Arian, and named after one of the main inspirations for PIJ, deceased Palestinian militant icon, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam.

Through Al-Qassam, a.k.a. the Islamic Community of Tampa (ICT), Fariz runs a travel agency, the Adam Travel Tampa Hajj Group, which he uses to take excursions to Israel, a nation PIJ is sworn to destroy. Many of the people Fariz takes with him on these trips have like feelings towards Israel and Jews in general. They post videos on social media of Israelis being blown up during ambushes and videos of successful rocket attacks on Israeli civilian structures. They post memorials for their favorite dead leaders from Hamas and PIJ. They call on “Allah” to “take revenge on the Jews.”

Palestinians Commit Suicide as Their Leaders Live in Hotels and Villas by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18763/gaza-suicide-hamas

Many residents of the Gaza Strip undoubtedly regret the day they voted for Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary election.

The last protest, which took place in 2017 under the slogan “We Want to Live!”, was brutally crushed by Hamas’s security forces and armed militias.

“In all countries of the world, you pay taxes for the services that the state provides you, except for us. In return, there are no hospitals, no education, no electricity, no water, no public utilities, not even rodent control.” — Khalil Talmas, Gaza Strip resident, Facebook, July 27, 2022.

“‘We Want to Live!’… is a cry of pain from the depths of a crushed and exhausted Palestinian people. It is a cry against taxes, extortion, repression and corruption.” — Anas Al-Jazzar, Twitter, July 28, 2022.

Other Palestinians said that the current protest was directed not only against Hamas, but also against the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank….

These Palestinians pointed out the corrupt leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and their family members are leading comfortable lives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in five-star hotels and big villas in Qatar and Turkey, while most people were living in poverty and unemployment and misery.

“So the [Hamas] leaders’ families, their children, grandchildren do not believe in their own [political and military] project, and although they can live in Gaza in the utmost luxury, they choose to leave it for the hotels and villas of Doha and Istanbul. They left the hungry people of Gaza to live in poverty, deprivation and hunger.” — Mohammed Nashwan, Gaza Strip resident, alarab.co.uk, July 21, 2022.

[T]hese voices offer a glimmer of hope that the Palestinians are finally beginning to realize that their corrupt and incompetent leaders — whether in the Palestinian Authority or Hamas — are continuing to lead them from one disaster to another, while depriving them of the international aid that is rightly theirs and denying them a decent life.

It has been 15 years since the Islamist Hamas group seized control of the Gaza Strip, home to some two million Palestinians. Since then, the residents of the Gaza Strip have been reminded on a daily basis of the failure of the Iranian-backed group to provide them with decent living conditions.

Instead, the repressive governance of the Hamas leaders only brings the Palestinians in Gaza more misery.