Report From Israel – Thursday, December 17, 2015

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Report From Israel – Thursday, December 17, 2015

Israel is experiencing more and more attempted stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks against Israelis.

A Palestinian terrorist tried to run over IDF soldiers at the Hilhul Junction near Hebron today. Troops thwarted the attack, firing at the assailant, resulting in his death. Soldiers found a very large knife on his body.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces tracked down the man who rammed his car into a group of soldiers near Beit Aryeh in Samaria Wednesday, injuring four.

A joint overnight operation by the Shin Bet, an undercover IDF unit and several police units located the driver, a Hamas operative and resident of a nearby Arab village. The terrorist told investigators he rammed the soldiers to avenge the “murder of Palestinian children” and defend the al-Aksa Mosque, which according to the Palestinian Authority, Israel intends to destroy.

Three of the four soldiers injured in the attack remained hospitalized Friday morning, while the fourth was well enough to be discharged.

Security forces located the abandoned car used in the attack and found an M-16 rifle and a stun grenade inside.

A day earlier, terrorists opened fire on an Israeli couple on their way home from a family Hanukkah celebration as they drove near Tulkarm. Authorities found 23 bullet holes in the car. The husband remains hospitalized in serious condition after suffering extensive head injuries in the crash. The wife is recovering from bullet wounds to her extremities.

Also on Wednesday, terrorists stabbed a soldier and a civilian near Beit Hadassah in Hebron.

Just two days after a poll showed that two-thirds of Palestinians support the current wave of stabbing attacks against Israelis, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accused Israel of bringing the trouble on itself.

Ban said that the attacks are “bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation.”

The daily terror attacks against Israeli Jews are “the result of fear, humiliation, frustration and mistrust. It has been fed by the wounds of decades of bloody conflict, which will take a long time to heal. Palestinians youth in particular are tired of broken promises and they see no light at the end of the tunnel,” Ban said.

The U.N. leader was speaking at a conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, organized by the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Question of Jerusalem.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said there is no justification for terror.

“Instead of wasting your time trying to rationalize Palestinian terrorism, the United Nations should confront the Palestinian Authority to eradicate incitement coming from its highest echelons, permeating into the education system and social networks,” Arutz-7 quoted Danon.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research released a poll earlier this week showing that 67 percent of Palestinians support the current wave of stabbings.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) Sen. Marco Rubio (R–FL) will Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

The US House of Representatives passed a sanctions bill Wednesday that would enhance sanctions against the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and its supporters.

In a 425-0 vote, lawmakers approved mandatory sanctions on banking institutions that knowingly conduct transactions for the terror group. A similar bill in the Senate, authored by Senators Marco Rubio and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), was unanimously passed last month.

“We need to send a clear message to companies getting tangled up with this terrorist group,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the top Democrat in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was quoted by The Hill as saying. “And that message is: Walk away, or face the consequences of the United States of America.”

The new bill is meant to instruct the Obama administration on reporting measures of Hezbollah’s activities, including drug trafficking and organized crime around the world. Companies that conduct business with Hezbollah’s television station, Al-Manar, would also come under scrutiny.

According to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), the new bill is also meant to send a warning to the Iranian regime, a known sponsor of Hezbollah.

“This legislation represents an important first step in pushing back against Iran and Hezbollah and repairing the damage that the administration’s sanctions relief for Iran has done to our nation security,” Royce stated.

The sanctions outlined by the new bill will be terminated only after Hezbollah is no longer blacklisted by the US government as a terrorist organization.

The White House worked closely with lawmakers to draft the sanctions bill, The Jerusalem Post reported, which received broad bi-partisan support. US President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law imminently.

“The president will sign this bill,” a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post. “For many years we have worked with Congress to intensify the pressure against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and we look forward to working closely with them in implementing these new authorities.”

President Obama gives an address at a naturalization ceremony for 31 immigrants on Dec. 15, 2015. (Photo: YouTube Screenshot)

At a Washington, DC ceremony naturalizing 31 new immigrants as US citizens on Tuesday, American President Barack Obama compared today’s Syrian refugees to Jewish Holocaust survivors after World War II.

Obama, who is battling opposition against his plan to settle thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in the US, drew comparisons between modern and historical immigrant communities, urging the audience to see in the Mexican immigrant “the Catholic immigrant of a century ago”, and in the Syrian refugee “the Jewish refugee of World War II.”

He invoked America’s history of accepting immigrants and outsiders, saying, “In these new Americans, we should see our own American story.”

In a thinly veiled criticism of political opponents who have been outspoken against accepting Syrian refugees, Obama reminded the crowd of the US’s internment of Japanese citizens during the Second World War, and said that the country had then “succumbed to fear.”

He warned today’s Americans against making the same mistake today. “One generation passes, two generations pass, and suddenly we don’t remember where we came from,” he said. “We need to resolve never to repeat mistakes like that again.”

Obama is not the first to draw the comparison between Syrian and Jewish refugees. Many in recent weeks have made the argument that rejecting Syrian refugees is paramount to the US turning away Jewish refugees during World War II, though many others have furiously rejected the analogy.

Critics of the comparison have pointed out that unlike the Jews rejected by America during World War II, Syrian refugees are not fleeing imminent death, and that refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, while not boasting high-quality conditions, are simply not analogous to death camps like Auschwitz.

Others have noted that when Jews applied to the US for refuge in 1939, there was no established Jewish state which could have taken them in, whereas today, there are a considerable number of wealthy Arab states which have the potential, if not the desire, to take in Syrian refugees. Of course, no Arab state has shown any interest in doing so, and some have categorically refused.

Perhaps most persuasively, many have argued that refugee Jews did not represent any kind of terrorist threat to the US, whereas there is evidence that at least some of the Syrian refugees now seeking to settle in the US and Europe have been radicalized by violent Islamic groups like ISIS.

An Egyptian air force F-16 Fighting Falcon. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Amy Abbott/ U.S. Air Force)

In an unprecedented move, Egyptian aircraft have entered Israeli airspace while en route to attack ISIS affiliates in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on several occasions in recent months, Ynet revealed on Tuesday.

The fighter jets, which flew through Israel’s airspace in order to bomb ISIS targets in the El Arish and Sheikh Zuweid regions of the northern Sinai, likely did so with the knowledge and permission of the IDF, as the violations garnered no response from the military.

It is probably the first time since Egyptian fighter pilots flew into Israel as enemies during the 1973 Yom Kippur War that Egypt’s air force has entered Israeli airspace.

The flights mostly took place in the triangular border area between Israeli territory, Egyptian territory, and the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel first started to allow Egypt to enter the Sinai from Israel’s easternmost border about four years ago, when Islamist forces began to grow in strength and clashes with the Egyptian military in the region became more frequent. The permission was given in accord with the military clause of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.

The Egyptian forces have used this permission to strike terrorist targets in the area with fighter planes and helicopters. Some of their targets are located mere kilometers away from the Israeli border.

The ISIS-affiliated terror group in the Sinai is estimated to number at least 8,000 members, and is one of ISIS’s most effective offshoots in the Middle East, attacking Egyptian military forces almost daily and killing dozens of security forces monthly. In October, it claimed to have brought down a Russian airliner in the region.

The mode of operation for the Sinai-based ISIS group makes gathering intelligence on their actions and plans difficult, as it rarely uses phones or computers and acts more as a group of individual terror cells than as an organized force. Recently, the IDF and Israel’s intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, have begun to increase efforts to gather intelligence on the Egyptian border.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/56372/egyptian-fighter-jets-using-israeli-airspace-to-bomb-isis-idf/#CvKlw5EF1kRiRjlh.99

With the help of Santa, a city worker distributes Christmas trees outside of the Old City. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

On Wednesday, the Jerusalem Municipality announced that it would distribute free Christmas trees in the city on Monday, December 21, continuing an annual tradition of giving out the festive trees, gifted by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), to those celebrating the Christmas holiday in the holy land.

About 200 trees will be distributed at the Jaffa gate to the Old City, where the Christian Quarter is annually festooned with lights and decorations in honor of the holiday, between the hours of 9 am and 12 pm.

Every year, the JNF distributes Christmas trees to institutions celebrating the holiday, including churches, monasteries, convents, embassies, foreign journalists, and the general public.

According to the JNF, the trees used for Christmas trees are Arizona cypresses. Each JNF forest is divided into “stands” of trees identified by date of planting, tree type, and growth rate.

As Christmas approaches, Arizona cypress plots will undergo a process called “thinning”, in which Jewish National Fund foresters remove undergrowth, trimming tree tops and cutting down dead or diseased trees, in order to prevent forest fires from spreading and to encourage healthy growth in the forests.

The process also yields many beautiful and high-quality cypress trees to be used as part of a traditional Christmas celebration. As for lights, ornaments, and tinsel, holiday revelers are on their own – but decorations aren’t hard to find, especially at Christian sites like Nazareth and Bethlehem, where annual Christmas celebrations are held for thousands of visitors.

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat also announced that he will be hosting the city’s annual New Year’s event for leaders and representatives of Israel’s different religious communities on January 21, in the municipality City Hall.

Report From Israel – Thursday, December 17, 2015

Report From Israel – Thursday, December 17, 2015

Report From Israel – Sunday, November 29, 2015

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Report From Israel – Sunday, November 29, 2015

From Breaking Israeli–Christian News – With tensions escalating between Russia and Turkey, many are wondering if the world is being witness to a divine act of messianic intervention.

Just before his death in 1797, an exceedingly well-respected Jewish sage known as the Vilna Gaon (the genius of Vilna) left his followers with a prophetic statement about two specific events that would happen just before the appearance of the Messiah.

After being held as “a closely guarded secret” for over 200 years, Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch, a great-grandson of the Vilna Gaon, shared the full prophecy publically for the first time in 2014. The text of the Vilna Gaon’s prophecy was reported by Rabbi Lazer Brody, an American-born Hasidic rabbi and teacher from Ashdod, Israel in March, 2014.

“When you hear that the Russians have captured the city of Crimea, you should know that the times of the Messiah have started, that his steps are being heard. And when you hear that the Russians have reached the city of Constantinople, you should put on your Shabbat (Sabbath) clothes and don’t take them off, because it means that the Messiah is about to come any minute.”

In this prophecy, the Vilna Gaon mentioned two signs of the imminent arrival of the Messiah – Russia capturing Crimea and Russia invading the Turkish city of Constantinople (now Istanbul). The first prophecy was fulfilled in 2014 when Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

Current tensions between Russia and Turkey, including Turkey shooting down a Russian fighter jet on November 24, are setting the stage for the second sign, the Russian invasion of Istanbul, to occur soon.

The prophecy of the Vilna Gaon is strengthened by the existence of a similar prophecy, this one from the Jewish sage known as the Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic Judaism. Like the Vilna Gaon, the Ba’al Shem Tov lived in the 18th century.

The Kloisenberger Rebbe, a 20th century Hasidic rabbi, echoed the Vilna Gaon’s second sign when he wrote “in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov, when you see the Russian horse in Constantinople, a city in Turkey, you should know Moshiach (Messiah) is about to arrive.”

According to the Kloisenberger Rebbe, in addition to the Russian military presence in the Turkish city of Istanbul, the Ba’al Shem Tov foretold another sign of the impending arrival of the Messiah – “the Russians will come, they will come and be together with the sons of Ishmael.” That is, when the Russians join forces with the spiritual descendents of Ishmael, who today are identified as those of Islamic descent, it’s another sign of the coming of the Messiah.

Militarily, Russia is already connected with its Shiite Muslim allies in Syria and Iran. As reported in Breaking Israel News, a 75-year-old prophecy connects Russia’s unfolding role in Syria to Gog and Magog. Since late September of this year, Russia has become a central player in Syria, leading many to hypothesize that Putin is Gog and Russia is Magog.

The messianic alliance between Russia and the Shiite Muslims of Syria and Iran was deepened by a recent gesture of friendship off the battlefield. On November 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a rare and valuable gift to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Putin gave Khamenei one of five copies of the original handwritten Koran, the Muslim holy text that dates back to the 7th century.

Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon

Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said Russia provides warning when it plans to fly near Israeli airspace. A Russian jet recently entered Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to an open communication system between the two countries, Israel’s defence minister has said, as tensions continued to flare between Ankara and Moscow afterTurkish troops shot down a Russian warplane.

Israel‘s defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said the plane entered about one mile (1.5km) into Israeli airspace by mistake and immediately turned around back to Syria when the Russians were notified. For two months, Russia has been carrying out airstrikes in support of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Ya’alon told Israel Radio that after Russia announced its air campaign in Syria, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, along with his military chief of staff and other officials, met with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and later opened a channel for coordination with Russia “to prevent misunderstandings”.

He said there has been one incident so far of a Russian plane entering Israeli airspace and it was “immediately corrected in the communications channel”. He didn’t say when it occurred.

Ya’alon said: “Russian planes don’t intend to attack us and therefore there is no need to automatically, even if there is some kind of mistake, shoot them down.”

Putin has called for economic sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on some goods and extensions of labour contracts for Turks working in Russia from 1 January 2016. He also called for an end to chartered flights from Russia to Turkey, for Russian tourism companies to stop selling vacation packages that would include a stay in Turkey, and for an end to visa-free travel between Russia and Turkey, and tighter controls of Turkish air carriers in Russia. The decree was issued “to protect Russian citizens from crimes”, a Kremlin statement said.

The decree came hours after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, voiced regret over the incident, saying his country was truly saddened by the event and wished it hadn’t occurred.

Ya’alon explained on Sunday that the Russians notify Israel ahead of time when they plan to get close to the country’s airspace.

“Just as we don’t interfere with their operations and we don’t get involved, as a policy, in what is happening in Syria, they also don’t interfere with us flying and acting in accordance with our interests,” he said.

Israel is believed to have carried out airstrikes on several weapons convoys in Syria heading for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim group, fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the airstrikes, but has said it will not allow sophisticated or “game-changing” weaponry to reach anti-Israel militant groups.

Israel has been carefully monitoring the Syrian war since it erupted in March 2011. While relations with Syria are hostile, the ruling Assad family has kept the frontier with Israel quiet for much of the past 40 years.

Another Israeli border guard watches her friend being stabbed

An Israeli Border Police officer was wounded in a stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate outside the Old City of Jerusalem Sunday morning.

The officer, who is in his early 20s, was stabbed in the next by a Palestinian terrorist and evacuated to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.

Police identified the terrorist as a 38-year-old Palestinian resident from Nablus. He was shot and killed at the scene of the attack by security officials.

As he was stabbing the policeman, the terrorist was heard shouting “Allah Akbar.” A search of his body after the attack uncovered an additional knife hidden in his clothing.

“When I arrived I saw a young man who was stabbed in the upper body,” explained Yehiel Stern, a volunteer paramedic for United Hatzalah, to Channel 2. “We have him first aid treatment and then transferred him to the hospital fully conscious.”

“Bystanders said that shots were fired at the terrorist who carried out the attack, near the location of the murder of Aaron Bennett and Nehemiah Lavi,” Stern said. “The terrorist was shot dead.”

Commander Doron Turgeman, the David District Commander, praised the “rapid response, professionalism and determination of the soldiers” in the midst of the attack, which “let to the rapid conclusion of the event and prevented a more serious attack.”

“Police and soldiers continue to be a human flak jacket for city residents and visitors and they deserve admiration,” he added.

Over the last couple of months, Damascus Gate has been the scene of numerous terror attacks. Terror attacks on Israeli civilians and security personnel have claimed the lives of more than 20 people. An Israeli Border Police officer was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate outside the Old City of Jerusalem Sunday morning.

In a separate incident on Sunday morning, just hours after the Old City attack, a terrorist boarded the 418 Beit Shemesh bound bus in Jerusalem and began stabbing passengers.

A 39-year-old tourist suffered light injuries and was transferred to Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center for treatment. The terrorist, a 17-year-old Palestinian from Hebron, was taken into custody quickly after the attack.

JERUSALEM, Israel — In his first trip to Israel since last year, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. In between, he met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

Speaking with the press before sitting down with Netanyahu, Kerry expressed his “complete condemnation for any act of terror.”

“Clearly, no people anywhere should live with daily violence; with attacks in the streets, with knives or scissors or cars. It is very clear to us that the terrorism, these acts of terrorism, which have been taking place, deserve the condemnation that they are receiving. And today I express complete condemnation for any act of terror that takes innocent lives and disrupts the day-to-day life of a nation,” Kerry said.

“Israel has every right in the world to defend itself. It has an obligation to defend itself. And it will and it is,” he said.

Netanyahu, for his part, said the continuing battle Israel faces against Islamic terrorism “is not only our battle, it is everyone’s battle.”

“It is the battle of civilization against barbarism,” he said.

He added, though not publicly, that Israel will not agree to freeze construction in Judea, Samaria or offer gestures to the Palestinian Authority as long as incitement continues.

If the international community wants Israel to approve P.A. building plans, it must also accept Israel’s right to build in its communities, Netanyahu reportedly told the secretary of state.

In Ramallah with Abbas, Kerry told reporters he came at the behest of President Barack Obama.

“I am here at the request of President Obama to see what we can do to try to help contribute to calm and to restore people’s confidence in the ability of a two-state solution to still be viable, to be achieved at some point,” Kerry said.

image: https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ecological-pool-in-tel-aviv-660×330.jpg

The Rabin Square ecologic pool in Tel Aviv. (Photo: Ron Henzel via Wikimedia Commons)

The city of Tel Aviv on Monday announced a collaboration with India to create “smart cities” that will use innovative digital resources and systems to improve urban areas.

The Delivering Change Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO, will be mentored and trained by Israeli representatives from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo to employ Israeli ingenuity in the Indian cities of Pune, Nagpur, and Nashik in the northwestern state of Maharashtra, an Indian municipal spokeswoman told the Jerusalem Post.

Indian cities will be set up to use Tel Aviv’s DigiTel pass, through which citizens can pay water and municipal tax bills, order parking permits, and send photos of potholes or broken park benches to the municipal complaint line; citywide WiFi; digital city services; and GPS-based smartphone apps.

“In recent years, Tel Aviv has managed to become one of the world’s leading smart cities, thanks to innovation, resident engagement, and ‘out of the box’ thinking,” said Hila Oren, CEO and founder of Tel Aviv Global.

By Amir Cohen – Reuters

HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) – To the strains of Madonna’s “Vogue”, the 13 women with a combined age of about 1,050 strutted down the runway cautiously, hindered only slightly by walking sticks and the odd dodgy hip.

The third annual Holocaust survivors’ beauty pageant, honoring women who lived through the concentration camps and death marches of Nazi Germany, was held in the city of Haifa this week with hundreds of relatives turning out in support.

Lipstick was carefully applied, dresses were elegant and jewelry glittered, but the focus was on giving women who experienced horrors in the early years of their lives a chance to enjoy some glamour and attention as they push into their 80s.

“Many of them were children, teenagers or young adults during the Holocaust,” said Jurgen Buhler, the German director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, a sponsor.

“They were either in ghettos or concentration camps. So this night is giving them something back which they could never experience when they were young.”

Holocaust survivors stand on a stage during a beauty contest for survivors of the Nazi genocide in t …

Rather than being deterred by the bright lights and loud music (Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman”), the contestants were eager to get stuck in, walking up and down the runway with beaming smiles, with the occasional helping hand from family.

They ranged in age from 74-year-old Rivka Stenger, who was born in Romania and made it to Israel in 1948, to 86-year-old Rebecca Kushner, who fled Poland after her mother’s family was killed in the gas chambers and arrived in Palestine in 1942.

The winner was Romanian-born Rita Berkowitz, 83, who since migrating to Israel in 1951 has seen three generations grow up and now has six grand-children and five great-grand-children.

“Maybe I will deliver a message to the entire people of Israel,” she said after receiving a tiara and blue-and-white sash from a former Miss Israel.

“That all Jews from all across the world will come to Israel, all of them…We are not afraid of anyone. Jews will never disappear from the world.”

Holocaust survivors are seen backstage during a beauty contest for survivors of the Nazi genocide in …

Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis before and during World War Two. About 200,000 Holocaust survivors now live in Israel, many of them looked after by organizations such as Helping Hand, another sponsor.

Some have criticized the event for appearing to cheapen the memory of those who died in the Holocaust. But participants and judges said critics were missing the point, saying the contest was about recognition and respect rather than beauty.

“We chose them by their will for life, by their energy,” said Lihi Lapid, a journalist who was among the judges.

“Each one of them mentioned the fact that she is here because she wants us to remember and to talk about it and to never forget.”

(Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Report From Israel – Sunday, November 29, 2015

Report From Israel – Sunday, November 29, 2015

Report From Israel with Ray – November 16, 2015

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Report From Israel with Ray – November 16, 2015

Report From Israel

The Bataclan concert hall in Paris, site of an Islamist terror attack in which 89 people were killed Friday among 129 deaths across six coordinated attacks. Credit: Céline via Wikimedia Commons. (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org)

 The Bataclan concert hall—site of the deadliest of Friday’s six coordinated Islamist terror attacks in Paris, with 89 people killed—was under Jewish ownership for four decades and had received frequent threats in the past for that reason.

Sold only two months ago by co-owners Pascal Laloux and Joel Tuitto, the venue is still under their responsibility.

“One of the managers called me and began to tell me about the disaster that was taking place,” Tuitto, who recently moved to Israel, told Israel’s Channel 2. “I could hear the gunshots and the voices in the background….The terrorists were inside the theater, and I heard the gunshots, but I couldn’t do anything.”

Tuitto said he had co-owned the Bataclan since the 1970s, and that according to the terms of the sale, he remains responsible for it until September 2018.

The French magazine Le Point reported that in 2011, a terrorist told French security services that “we (the Army of Islam terrorist group) had planned an attack against the Bataclan because its owners are Jews.”

The Bataclan, which regularly hosted Jewish and Israeli events, also received serious threats in 2007 and 2008. Tuitto said a group of masked Palestinians had even come to the venue two years ago demanding its closure due to its “fundraising for Israel and the IDF,” and warning of an attack if their demand was not met, but nothing came of the threat.

The band playing at the Bataclan the night of the brutal attack, Eagles of Death Metal, played a concert in Tel Aviv this past summer.

Around the world, authorities are on high alert to prevent any more strikes by Islamic terrorists.

In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday that seven terror attacks have been foiled in Britain over the past six months.

President Barack Obama and other world leaders are meeting at a G-20 summit in Turkey, working on the next steps to end the war in Syria and respond to the escalating ISIS threat.

And in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that radical Islam is responsible for terrorism around the world.

“In Israel, as in France, terrorism is terrorism and standing behind it is radical Islam and its desire to destroy its victims,” Netanyahu said. “The time has come for the world to wake up and unite in order to defeat terrorism.”

Following the attacks in Paris, Netanyahu repeated what he has said for years, “militant Islamic terrorism attacks our societies because it wants to destroy our civilization and our values.”

The Paris attacks happened just hours after a Palestinian terrorist murdered Rabbi Ya’akov Litman and his 18-year-old son, Netanel, in a shooting attack on their vehicle. His wife, three daughters and another son had minor injuries. The family was on their way to celebrate a pre-wedding Sabbath with their fourth daughter and her soon-to-be in-laws.

Netanyahu said it’s time for the world “to condemn terrorism against us to the same degree that they condemn terrorism everywhere else in the world.”

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attacks in France. Netanyahu said it would be appropriate for Abbas “to condemn ruthless terrorism against innocent people in Israel and fight the incitement that motivates it.”

Israeli security services arrested the perpetrator of the attacks on the Litman family. Netanyahu said the terrorist is a member of Islamic Jihad. Apparently his father and brother turned him in due to Israel’s policy of destroying the homes of terrorists.

Netanyahu said Israel is no more blame for the terror against it than France is.

“It is the terrorists who are to blame for terrorism, not the territories, not the settlements and not any other thing. It is the desire to destroy us that perpetuates this conflict and drives the murderous aggression against us,” he said.

“The terrorists who attack us have the same murderous intent as those in Paris. Thanks to our aggressive policy against terrorism – to control the ground, go into the villages, demolish terrorists’ homes and take preventive action against the infrastructures of terrorism – along with the determined action of the IDF and the security services in carrying out this policy, we succeed many times in frustrating and preventing more serious disasters,” Netanyahu said.

In a separate case on Monday, two Palestinians and a third wounded when they opened fire on Israeli troops who had arrived to destroy the home of a terrorist from an earlier attack.

Education Minister and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett delivered a strong speech at Ariel University in Samaria Monday, excoriating both his domestic political rivals and Western states for appeasing terrorism, while warning that the presence of Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria are Israel’s first line of defense against Islamic State as it gobbles up territory to the east.

“Either you will be here, or ISIS will be,” Bennett told students. “A world war has begun between radical Islam and the free world.”

Bennett noted that the same Western countries calling on Israel to make massive territorial and other concessions in response to attacks by Muslim terrorists against Israeli citizens would never react similarly to attacks on their own soil.

“If France were to offer half of Paris to the Muslims, would that lessen terrorism or encourage it?” he asked. “If (France) would free terrorists, would that lessen or encourage (terrorism)?”

The ongoing wave of Arab terror in Israel “is not because the Palestinians lost hope or because they have hope. A Palestinian state… is a central part of their plan” to destroy Israel “in stages,” he insisted.

Only by dispelling any hope of them achieving the destruction of the Jewish state – in stages or otherwise – could Palestinian terrorism ever truly be defeated, he said.

By contrast, enacting a “two-state solution” and establishing a 23rd Arab “Palestinian state” in Judea and Samaria “is a strategic mistake we must uproot” from the public discourse, Bennett added.

Turning to his rivals, he noted that the Jewish Home party is the only party in the Knesset which firmly opposes such a plan.

“The Likud led by Prime Minister Netanyahu supports a Palestinian state. (Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor) Liberman also supports a Palestinian state. (Yesh Atid party leader) Yair Lapid supports the Saudi Initiative. That’s how they are leading the State of Israel and the world astray.”

“We will never establish in the heart of Israel a Palestinian state. Period,” he vowed of his party.

Bennett also urged people to stop trying in vain to “explain” terrorism, and instead focus on fighting and defeating the groups responsible.

“When a rapist rapes, we don’t try to ‘understand’ him. We punish him! We are fighting this phenomenon.”

Bennett also derided public and legal figures who discouraged punitive action against terrorists and their families – such as demolitions of terrorists’ homes – by claiming it was ineffective or even counterproductive.

Noting that the family of the terrorist responsible for Friday’s double murder of a father and son near Hevron gave him up to security forces precisely because they feared Israeli retaliation, Bennett mused: “The problem is that the family of the terrorist from Otniel did not hear these ‘conclusions,’ and insisted on turning over to the IDF the terrorist who killed two Jews in order that their house wouldn’t be destroyed.”

JERUSALEM, Israel — Israel and U.S. congressmen are strongly condemning a new European Union regulation labeling Israeli products made in disputed areas, saying they’re not made in Israel.

Israeli officials and the congressmen say it’s a political decision to delegitimize Israel and will hinder peace with the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was furious over the decision, saying it brought back dark memories.

“Europe should be ashamed of itself. It took an immoral decision,” Netanyahu said. “Of the hundreds of territorial conflicts around the world, it chose to single out Israel and Israel alone, while it’s fighting with its back against the wall against the wave of terror.”

Products made in Israeli factories and businesses in areas disputed between Israel and the Palestinians will no longer say “made in Israel.” That includes products from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), the Golan Heights and even in the eastern sector of Jerusalem – areas promised to Israel in the Bible.

Ironically, those businesses often employ Palestinian workers and provide a much better income than they’d receive from Palestinian employers.

“The European Union is not going to hurt the Israeli economy. It’s strong enough to weather this, but it’s the Palestinian workers in Israeli enterprises in Judea and Samaria that will be hurt,” Netanyahu said. “This will not advance peace; it will certainly not advance truth and justice. It’s wrong. Europe should be ashamed of itself.”

Earlier this week, 36 U.S. senators co-signed a letter to E.U. Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini. They expressed concern over the guidelines, saying they appeared to be “intended to discourage Europeans from purchasing these products and promote a de-facto boycott of Israel, a key ally and the only true democracy in the Middle East.”

“We believe strongly that these efforts are unwarranted, dangerous and damaging to the prospects of a negotiated solution to this conflict,” the senators said in the letter.

Some Israelis went even further in their condemnation.

“This is outrageous because this is using double standards, you know. You can ask yourself, there are plenty of territorial debates and regional debates in the world and this patient treatment of labeling products is kept only for the Jewish state,” Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz told CBN News.

Former Israeli U.S. Ambassador Michael Oren called it “anti-Semitic.”

“We have to understand that the decision by the European Union to label Israeli products from Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights is an anti-Semitic decision.  It just is,” Oren told CBN News.

The E.U. defended the decision, saying it was technical and not political. But E.U. parliament member Roger Helmer said it’s just plain wrong.

“Boycotts of that sort are simply unacceptable,” Helmer said. “We wouldn’t have any trade left at all if we wouldn’t trade with people where we had some sort of problem or issue.

Helmer believes the labeling may actually have positive kickbacks.

“There’s a large Jewish community in many European countries and also others who might sympathize with the Israeli cause who certainly won’t be boycotting and indeed might be inclined to look for such products,” he said.

Israeli businessman Sam Green told CBN News it’s the E.U.’s loss.

“Israel should ignore that and we should move ahead and develop markets, open new markets towards the East — China, India, Asian nations, much greater potential there for Israeli technology transfer and knowledge transfer and if Europe wants to isolate themselves from that movement, it’s their loss,” he said.

JERUSALEM, Israel – Three dozen U.S. senators co-signed a letter to current E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini criticizing the decision to label Israeli products manufactured or grown outside the 1948 armistice lines.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pending practice elicits “historical memory of what happened when Europeans labeled Jewish products,” referring to the years leading up to the Nazi genocide of World War II.

“As allies, elected representatives of the American people and strong supporters of Israel, we urge you not to implement this labeling policy, which appears intended to discourage Europeans from purchasing these (Israeli) products and promote a de-facto boycott of Israel,” the letter read, the Israeli daily YNet reported.

The letter went on to say labeling Israeli products “play[s] into the narrative of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is an effort to delegitimize Israel rather than promote a resolution of outstanding issues between Israel and the Palestinians.”

In a veiled warning, the senators implied the practice could affect U.S.-E.U. negotiations to cancel customs taxes, an issue the European Union is interested in.

Critics say labeling Israeli products will put thousands of Palestinian Arabs out of work, while rewarding terrorism and encouraging the BDS movement.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely traveled to several European capitals this week to discuss the implications of labeling Israeli products with E.U. officials.

“As far as we’re concerned, all of Israel faces the threat of boycott,” Hotovely said during a visit last week to the industrial park at Barkan in southern Samaria.

JERUSALEM, Israel — The mayor of London called boycotters of Israel “lefty academics” who wield no real influence. Boris Johnson is visiting Israel hoping to strengthen economic ties between Tel Aviv and London.

His visit comes at a time when the BDS campaign in Europe is gaining strength.  BDS is an acronym for boycott, divestment and sanctions.  The pro-Palestinian movement calls for boycotting and sanctioning the Jewish state on behalf of the Palestinians.  Opponents say the ultimate goal of BDS is to delegitimize the Jewish state and bring about its demise.

Johnson said, “I cannot think of anything more foolish” than to boycott “a country that when all is said and done is the only democracy in the region, the only place that has in my view a pluralist open society.” He said the boycotters are “a very small minority.”

The European Union is set to begin labeling Israeli products that are made in Judea and Samaria, a.k.a. the West Bank, as a means to increase pressure on the Jewish State.  But some say the move may backfire and actually prompt Israeli-supporters to buy blue and white.

JERUSALEM, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the American Jewish community to unite in support of Israel.

Speaking at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, Netanyahu reaffirmed U.S.-Israeli ties, saying “no matter what disagreements there are between Israel and the United States, Israel has no better friend than America and America has no better friend than Israel.”

He called for Jewish unity in the face of his fierce opposition to the Iranian nuclear deal, which many felt drove a wedge between Jewish organizations and some of their leaders.

“No matter what disagreements there have been within the Jewish community, maintaining the unity of our people is of paramount importance,” Netanyahu said. “There is only one Jewish people. There is only one Jewish state. And now, more than ever, we must work together to unite the Jewish people and secure the Jewish state.”

Israel, he said, is the only nation in the region where the Christian population is growing and where gay rights are protected. It’s a nation founded on egalitarianism.

“You see it in an Arab schoolboy who knows that – or school girl – they can grow up to be Knesset members or ambassadors or a Supreme Court justice,” he said. “We have an Arab Supreme Court justice, in case you didn’t know. And it’s the only truly independent court in a very, very large radius.”

Netanyahu said he’s working to ensure that Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews can all feel at home in Israel.

“As prime minister of Israel, I will always ensure that all Jews can feel at home in Israel – Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Orthodox Jews – all Jews,” he said. “And now, for the first time, the government of Israel is joining with the Jewish Agency to invest in strengthening Reform and Conservative communities within Israel.”

An “unshakeable bond” unites Jewish people, he said.

“It’s a bond of hope – not the shallow hope of wishful thinking, but the deep wellspring of confidence that comes from a people who have forded history’s most turbulent rivers and emerged triumphant on the other side in the Promised Land,” Netanyahu said.

Two Jewish families graced Ben-Gurion International Airport’s Arrivals hall on Monday afternoon, becoming the first Jewish families arriving in Israel from France since the Islamic State (ISIS) attack which killed 129.

Both families, Paris natives, immigrated via the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).

“After the attack, people were afraid to leave their homes,” Daniel Bentura, who came to Israel with his wife and two children, stated upon leaving. “There were police everywhere. It was simply terrifying.”

“For two years we have lived without security and have wanted to immigrate to Israel,” Bentura added. “Anti-Semitism in Paris has greatly increased.”

“I would not want my children to live, learn and get married in France,” he continued. “Life in Israel is far safer than the current situation in Paris.”

“We have family and friends here; for us, this is our home. “

Both the Bentura family and Sergei Uzan, who also returned to Israel Monday after making Aliyah 20 years ago and having returned to France, are moving to Netanya.

The IFCJ has helped hundreds of French immigrants receive financial support, help finding employment, immigration and acclimation assistance for families, and other services.

“The IFCJ is committed to protect the Jewish communities in need around the world and help those who want to immigrate from these communities,” President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein stated.

The move is the latest in a mass wave of French Aliyah, being sponsored in part by the Israeli government. 7,000 French Jews made Aliyah in 2014 as part of the three-year program, and a recent poll suggests some 80% of French Jewry are considering leaving, primarily to Israel.

 Report From Israel with Ray – November 16, 2015

Report From Israel with Ray – November 16, 2015