7.3 magnitude quake in Iraq felt in northern Israel
An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale struck Erbul the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday (12th), the US Geological Survey said.
The quake was felt in the Dan region of northern Israel
(usgs.gov)
Israel intercepts Syrian drone approaching border in Golan
A loud explosion was heard over Israel’s northern city of Safed on Saturday morning (11th) after IDF troops fired a Patriot missile and intercepted a drone in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights.
Israeli defense officials said the drone, which was destroyed before it could enter Israel’s airspace, was likely deployed by the Syrian regime to gather intelligence.
The incident did little to deter the droves of Israelis visiting the country’s nature reserves and parks in the country’s north on Saturday.
(israelhayom.com)
‘Iran building permanent military base 30 miles from Israeli border’
Amid rising tensions over Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East, Western Intelligence sources told the BBC last week that Iran was building a military base in Syria some 30 miles from the border with Israel.
The report appears to confirm Israeli fears that the ayatollahs intend to establish a permanent military base in Syria under the cover of the civil war that has been raging in the country since 2011.
The compound, reportedly already partly built, is located at the site of a Syrian military base outside of Al-Kiswah, some nine miles from Damascus, an intelligence official told the BBC.
(bbc.com)
Netanyahu warns terror groups: Don’t even think about it
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday (12th) that the country would respond harshly to any attack against it no matter where it comes from.
Netanyahu’s comments appeared to be prompted by blistering statements from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, which is threatening Israel with retaliation for the destruction of a terror tunnel it dug under the border into Israel, but they also came amid increasing tension on Israel’s northern borders.
“These days, there are still those who toy with trying renewed attacks on Israel,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday (12th). “We will take a very strong hand against anyone who tries to attack us or attacks us from any sector.”
(timesofisrael.com)
Turkey has completed purchase of Russian missile defense
Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles has been completed but Ankara is discussing a further deal with a European consortium to help it develop its own missile defense system, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said.
The decision by NATO member Turkey to buy the S-400s from Moscow has been seen by some of its Western allies as a snub to the alliance. The deal has also raised concern because the weapons cannot be integrated into NATO defenses.
(reuters.com; jpost.com)
Arab League to hold emergency meeting on Iran at Saudi request
CAIRO, Egypt – The Arab League will hold an extraordinary meeting next Sunday (19th) at the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss “violations” committed by Iran in the region, according to a memorandum.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates supported the Saudi request, which was also approved by Djibouti, the current chair of the pan-Arab bloc, said the documents shown to AFP by diplomats on Sunday (12th).
(afp.com)
Egyptian envoy hails peace with Israel – Tamar Pileggi
Just before the 40th anniversary of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel in 1977, Egypt’s ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat told Israel Radio last week that his country’s 1979 peace agreement with Israel should serve as encouragement to Palestinians and other Arab states to reach their own peace agreements with the Jewish state. “We can say ‘Look, we have reached peace, there is no reason why you cannot reach this same peace.’”
(israelradio.org; timesofisrael.com)
Israel has the world’s highest percentage of teenage EMTS – Abigail Klein Leichman
11,000 Israeli teenagers working voluntary shifts on MDA ambulances throughout Israel make up 60% of the volunteer staff of Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency-response network. “We have the biggest youth corps by percentage in the world, as far as I know,” says Eli Yaffe, MDA’s deputy director for training and culture.
MDA started a formal youth program in 1993 for 15-18-year-olds as an option for fulfilling the Education Ministry’s mandatory 60 hours of volunteering for highschool students. Dina Abu Toameh of Jerusalem, a 17-year-old Muslim, says sometimes her Arabic translation abilities are critical. “In our shifts we can have both Arabs and Jews, but sometimes I’m the only one in the crew who knows Arabic.”
(israel21c.org)
World War II relic found at Nazi death camp helps reunite Jewish family
Archeologists from Israel’s Antiquities Authority were excavating the site of a Nazi death camp in Poland when they discovered mass graves, gas chambers and a small silver pendant with a date, the place name Frankfurt, and the Hebrew words “mazal tov” written on it. The pendant’s discovery set off a chain of events that brought together the long-lost relatives of the little girl who once wore the pendant. The girl’s name was Karoline Cohn, and over 30 of her relatives will unite in Frankfurt, Germany, her home town this week.
Chaim Motzen, an amateur genealogist, located over 100 of Karoline’s cousins and their descendants in the U.S., Israel, Japan, Great Britain, Nicaragua and Hong Kong.
(newsweek.com)
Brussels Jewish museum opens first exhibition since 2014 massacre
Three years after the slaying of four people at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in what prosecutors say was a jihadist terrorist attack, the institution opened its first new exhibition.
“Belgium, Welcoming Land,” which opened last month, explores the history of Jewish immigration to the country through photographs, testimonies and other artifacts.
Following the attack in 2014, the museum was closed for renovations.
A French national, who fought in Syria, Mehdi Nemmouche, is standing trial for carrying out the attack in Belgium and killing two Israelis, a worker at the Jewish museum and a volunteer.
(jta.org)
