INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO GAZA BOATS CLASH!
by Maayana Miskin (IsraelNationalNews)

Greece, Turkey and Spain, all of which had citizens on the Gaza-bound flotilla that clashed with the IDF Monday morning, have summoned Israel’s ambassadors in their countries for explanations of the incident. Turkey even announced that it was recalling its own ambassador from Israel, the second time in a year it has taken this move. Greek officials demanded immediate information regarding the health of Greek citizens aboard the boats. Greece has also canceled an air force drill that was to be conducted alongside the Israel Air Force.

IDF sources say at least 10 activists were killed in the clashes, which began when passengers on the flotilla attacked soldiers with knives, clubs and guns as they attempted to board. Dozens of passengers were wounded, as were several soldiers. One soldier is in critical condition with gunshot wounds.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke to Turkey’s Defense Minister and to the Turkish Ambassador to Israel. The flotilla was organized by a Turkish group, and many of those aboard were Turkish citizens.

The European Union has called for an inquiry into the incident. Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for foreign policy, “expresses her deep regret at the news of loss of life and violence and extends her sympathies to families of the dead and wounded,” EU diplomats said. Ashton also demanded the immediate opening of Gaza crossings following the event.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon faced reporters Monday and defended the closure on Gaza. The closure was, and remains, a response to Hamas attacks, and a vital component in Israel’s self defense against terrorism, he said.

Ayalon called on all countries which had citizens aboard the Gaza flotilla to do their best to maintain calm despite the violent clash.

Israel may face angry responses from within as well. The IDF and police geared up for the possibility of violent riots as reports circulated that Islamic Movement head Sheikh Raed Salah had been wounded, reports that the IDF denied. However, police feared Israel could face Arab riots even if Salah is healthy.

IDF SOLDIER SHOT, CRITICALLY WOUNDED ON FLOTILLA BOAT
by Rachel Sylvetsky and Eli Stutz (Arutz Sheva News)

The IDF reports that the passengers on the Gaza-bound flotilla lay in wait for the IDF to board their vessel and then attacked IDF soldiers, opening fire on them. One IDF soldier was critically wounded. A crew member reportedly snatched a gun from an IDF soldier and then opened fire on the troops. Another soldier was stabbed in the stomach with a sharp object. The soldier is in moderate condition and was transferred for medical treatment by helicopter to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. Doctors there determined he would require surgery. At least fourteen soldiers were wounded and were transferred to hospitals. Raad Salah, anti-Semitic head of northern branch of Israeli Islamic Movement, is reported to be severely injured.

The IDF spokesperson said that the crew of the flotilla were not peaceful humanitarians, but rather militants who were preparing for provocation and violence, and were planning to stage a “lynch” of the Israeli soldiers.

Other people wounded in the operation were transferred to various hospitals in Israel via helicopter. Foreign news agencies including Turkey’s news agency are claiming that Israeli forces wounded dozens of the crew and that several were killed. Footage from the operation has already reached some news sites. In the footage, Israeli soldiers wearing gas masks can be seen. In one video, an IDF doctor can be seen treating one of the wounded.

Soldiers are still checking the boats for explosives and hiding militants. Late Sunday night, the Israeli Navy surprised the six-boat flotilla bound for Hamas-controlled Gaza in international waters and hundreds of IDF soldiers who came by air and sea boarded the ships and announced to all passengers that they are under arrest.

One of the crew said that one “Navy warship” had contacted the six boats in the flotilla and asked them to identify themselves. They were told the Navy would board the boats if the ships’s crew and passengers do not agree to head for the Ashdod port instead of the Gaza Coast, where Israel maintains sovereignty under the Oslo Accords and does not allow ships to approach without searching them for arms.

International law allows for countries to ask suspicious boats to identify themselves. The vessels’ passengers did not cooperate and called the move “scare tactics” on their streamed broadcasts.

The IDF searched the boats for arms immediately after the takeover. The soldiers were forced to use tear gas after they were attacked with knives, daggers and cudgels, putting their lives in danger. Unofficial reports that ten persons have been killed and another ten wounded were admitted to Rambam Hospital in Haifa were changed by the Arab television station Al Jazeera, to two killed and four wounded. An Al Jazeera reporter on one of the boats reported hearing gunshots.

The IDF has not issued a complete report on casualties or wounded in the operation. However, hospitals were put on alert to accept possible wounded.

The IDF released a terse statement shortly after midnight Sunday, stating, “Israeli Navy soldiers left this evening in order to stop the flotilla’s provocative trip to Gaza. During the last few days, the soldiers have been conducting drills to ensure the mission’s success.”

Turkey’s government called an emergency meeting to discuss the IDF action. Defense Minister Barak is holding ongoing meetings with his advisors.

The flotilla activists, some of whom are identified with terrorist Muslim groups, did not expect a confrontation with the Navy until Monday morning, when the flotilla expected to near the Gaza coast.

The flotilla sailed on Sunday, more than two days later than planned and without two of the ships that did not join because of malfunctions but which were expected to set sail after repairs.

“We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation of threats of violence against us,” said activist Huwaida Araf from the ships. “They are going to have to forcefully stop us.”

Israel was determined not to allow the boats to reach Gaza and set a precedent that would break Israeli sovereignty over the waters in order to prevent terrorists and arms from being smuggled from the Mediterranean Sea as they are from Egypt.

The flotilla included three ships of passengers and three cargo ships with aid. The Israeli military and Foreign Ministry accused the activists of being more interested in trying to stage an anti-Israel stunt and strengthen Hamas rather than trying to help Gaza Arabs. Government spokesmen pointed out repeatedly that aid always can be shipped to Gaza through the Ashdod port, and that the alleged “humanitarian crisis” is a ruse because Israel oversees daily shipments of hundreds of tons of food, merchandise and supplies.

ISRAEL SUBMARINES HEADED FOR PERSIAN GULF!
by Hana Levi Julian (IsraelNationalNews)

Israel has allegedly deployed a permanent submarine presence in the Persian Gulf to keep an eye on Iran, according to media reports published Sunday. The three German-built submarines are reportedly equipped with nuclear cruise missiles.

Flotilla 7 is comprised of three submarines that have visited the region before – the Dolphin, the Tekuma and the Leviathan. Each crew includes between 35 to 50 soldiers and is commanded by a colonel.

At least one will remain in the area at all times, until further notice, according to “Colonel O,” the commander of the force quoted in the reports. “We are an underwater assault force, operating deep and far – very far – from our borders,” he said.

The submarines can stay submerged as deep as 1,150 feet below the surface, for as long as a week, and can remain at sea for some 50 days. “We also serve as a solid base for collecting sensitive information because we can stay in one place for a long time,” said an officer in the fleet.

The force is intended primarily as a deterrent, however. “The 1,500 kilometer range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,” noted a navy officer quoted by British newspaper The Sunday Times.

The deployment was sent in response to the recent delivery of Iranian-produced ballistic missiles from Syria to Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon and the opening of Syria to Hizbullah presence. The missiles have the capability of hitting air bases and other sensitive sites located deep in Israel, as far south as Tel Aviv and beyond.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly shared satellite imagery of the delivery of the missiles with U.S. President Barack Obama during his recent visit to the White House.

The London Times claimed satellite pictures show a Hizbullah base on Syrian soil which is a depot for arms to be delivered by Hizbullah truck fleet to Lebanon

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Obama for a quick visit later in the week. President Shimon Peres and possibly Defense Minister Barak will be accompanying him as well. It will be the third such meeting so far this year.

Israel is hoping to acquire two more submarines that are even more advanced in the near future, the Meko A-100 built by Blohm and Voss, a division of Germany’s Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Group.

If the navy purchases the two vessels, it reportedly will arm them with air-defense capability, thus creating the world’s first air defense corvettes – and giving the Israeli surface fleet independent air cover for the first time as well.

PERFECT TIMING FOR NETANYAHU IN TORONTO “WALK FOR ISRAEL”
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (Arutz Sheva News)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu joins Toronto’s Walk for Israel Sunday in what his spokesman said is “perfect timing” for the first Israeli Prime Ministerial visit to Ottawa in 16 years. The last Israeli Prime Minister to visit Canada was Yitzchak Rabin in 1994.

The timing is perfect,” said Amir Gissin, Israel’s consul general in Toronto. “Today Canada is a very close friend of Israel, with both a friendly government and opposition; we just had the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, in Israel.” McGuinty’s visit focused on increasing trade with Israel but also included a meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The enthusiastic welcome expected in Canada will give Prime Minister Netanyahu a positive send-off for his quick visit to U.S. President Barack Obama later in the week and in the wake of the American President’s departure from a 40-year U.S. policy not to pressure Israel to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s planned participation in the march has thrilled the country’s Jewish community, and B’nai Brith Canada is publishing full-page national advertisements thanking Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his support for Israel. The ads also call on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to ensure that Jerusalem remains the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish State.

Frank Dimant, B’nai Brith Canada’s Executive Vice President, noted “the pressure being applied by the Obama Administration on Prime Minister Netanyahu to make concessions to the divided and uncompromising Palestinian factions….The Israeli Prime Minister will be heading to a meeting with President Obama right after his trip to Canada, so it is important that he understands that his position for a united Jerusalem is supported by Jews around the world.”

Shimon Fogel, chief executive officer of the Canada-Israel Committee, stated, “Iran represents the most pressing threat to global security today. The international community cannot allow itself to be distracted from addressing the threat Iran represents, not just to Israel or to regional stability – but in a very real sense to Canada and Canadians both at home and abroad.”

The Canadian Conservative government has been a staunch supporter of Israel since taking office in 2006. “I welcome the opportunity to spend time with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a leader of vision and conviction and a great friend of Israel and a champion of peace,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said before arriving Friday for a four-day visit. “The friendship between Israel and Canada is exceptionally warm. We are sister democracies that seek peace with security, progress and prosperity.”

“What Netanyahu is trying to do is cement the base,” said Dr, David Bercuson, the director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary and author of Canada and the Birth of Israel. The Al Jazeera satellite network quoted him as saying, “The Israeli diplomatic position is deteriorating and he’s trying to keep the stalwarts in place.”

Canada was the first country in the world to boycott the de facto Hamas government in Gaza in 2006 when it forced out the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in a militia coup. “Not a red cent to Hamas,” said then-Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay.

Canada also stood four-square behind Israel’s retaliatory actions in the 2006 Second Lebanon War. “I think Israel’s response under the circumstances has been measured,” Prime Minister Harper said at the time. He called Hizbullah and Hamas “genocidal.”

TORONTO PREPARES TO WALK WITH ISRAEL!
by David Brinn (Jerusalem Post)

Netanyahu to speak to an estimated 15,000 walkers in Canadian city. Residents of Toronto, Canada will get a chance to show their love for Israel on Sunday, when an expected 15,000 supporters will join the annual day-long UJA Walk with Israel. The walk, whose proceeds will go toward projects initiated by the Toronto Federation to help Ethiopian immigrants in Bat Yam, is going to have an extra attraction this year – Prime Minister Binymanin Netanyahu, who will speak to the walkers before they head off on their routes on Sunday morning.

“The timing is perfect,” Amir Gissin, Israel’s consul general in Toronto, said about Netanyahu’s visit to Canada which began on Friday. “Canada is today a very close friend of Israel, with both a friendly government and opposition; we just had the premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, in Israel.”

Netanyahu, who arrived in Toronto on Friday with his wife Sara, was expected to meet privately with members of the Jewish community, as well as a number of selected members of the media during his stay in the city.

“Looking at the list of the editors, broadcasters and writers he’s meeting with, you see quite an impressive list and one that reflects the interest Canada has in Israel,” said Gissin.

Netanyahu, making the first visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to Canada since 1994, is scheduled to fly to Ottowa after launching the Walk on Sunday to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. On Monday, Netanyahu and cabinet members Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein will meet with Canadian officials to discuss issues such as the expansion of trade and the joint commercialization of high-tech capacity in both countries.

Gissin said he expected anti-Israel demonstrations to take place during the walk, but that they would pale compared to the level of support being shown for Israel by the mainstream Canadian population.

“When you look at the people who protest, you see very clearly that the demonstrators don’t reflect the diversity of the Canadian population,” he said. Downstairs, outside his office at the Israeli Consulate, about a dozen protesters were handing out leaflets and waving Palestinian flags in support of the Gaza aid flotilla ships which were making their way to Gaza.

“The fact that the Jewish community here can bring 15,000 people out to hear the Israeli Prime Minister and on the other side, you have maybe several hundred people against Israel, shows that they are failing to get mainstream support from wider segments of Canadian society.”

According to Ted Sokolsky, the president of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, the participation of Netanyahu has helped to raise the profile of the walk, which the UJA staff has spent months preparing.

“We’ve had to increase security and make some changes, but the excitement around it really reflects the strong Jewish community in Toronto,” he said on Thursday.

“I’m incredibly proud to have the Prime Minister here,” added Alan Winer, the chair of the UJA Federation in Toronto on Friday, a few hours before Netanyahu was due to land in Toronto. “I think it’s really a tremendous matter of pride within the community to have him here.”

It’s a little scary to have a sitting Prime Minister launch the walk for the first time, admitted Weiner, due to possible ramped up protests by anti-Israel activists overjoyed at having such a big verbal target at Netanyahu.

“I was a little apprehensive about it, but we had conversations within the community and we said, you know this is the time to stand up for Israel,” said Weiner. “This isn’t the time to back away or be afraid. It’s time to say ‘we’re proud of Israel, with all its challenges and blemishes.'”

“People ask me all the time ‘what can I do to make a difference?’. So I sent out an email saying many people ask what they can do to make a difference – well, Sunday is the time, the walk is the place to show your support.”

While many Torontonians will heed that call, some are less than enthusiastic about the security regulations surrounding Netanyahu’s participation which has moved the opening of the walk to the indoor CNE Direct Energy arena instead of an open-field stadium, and is forcing participants to arrive far in advance to pass security checks.

“I’m a huge supporter of Israel, and we’ve been going on the walk for years, and love it,” said 50-year-old Ken Gruber of Toronto, “but this year, I may just pass on it – it’s too much hassle.”

ABBAS: AGREE ON BORDERS FIRST, THEN HOLD DIRECT TALKS!
by Maayana Miskin

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas revealed Thursday that he does not intend to hold direct negotiations with Israeli leaders until Israel and the PA have reached a United States-mediated final agreement regarding the borders of a future PA state. Those borders must include Jerusalem as the capital, he added.

“It is the aim of negotiations to lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Abbas said at a press conference in Malaysia. The PA chairman is currently on a tour of Asia.

Israel and the PA should also resolve the issue of security in the current US-brokered ‘proximity’ talks before moving to direct talks, he said. Abbas told his audience that he is planning a trip to the US in the near future to meet with President Barack Obama and discuss the peace process.

He expressed hope that the current indirect talks would lead to an agreement regarding borders and security within four months, the deadline set by the Arab League.

The subject of borders, and the PA’s demand for Jerusalem in particular, is widely considered one of the most hotly disputed issues in Israel-PA negotiations. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has categorically refused to split Jerusalem, saying, “Jerusalem was always ours, will always be ours, and will never again be divided.”

Other “core issues” include the PA’s demand that Jewish Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria be forcibly removed, and not allowed to remain in their homes as PA citizens, and that Arabs descended from those who fled Israel during the War of Independence – which Arabs initiated and lost – be granted Israeli citizenship.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas continues to change directions, increase demands, and act like Israel has no other choice! How foolish can he be? Israel is not under any obligation to honor a single demand of his until he publicly and fully recognizes the Jewish State and puts a stop to the terrorist attacks that go on week after week. It’s time for Israel to say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” If you don’t like living here, then MOVE – there is plenty of land in the Middle East for you! Let’s be honest – the goal of the Muslims who are running things in the Middle East these days is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the takeover of Jerusalem – which they never called one of their “holy places” until Israel became a State! May the LORD GOD of Israel give wisdom and courage to Israel’s leaders!)

“BLOCKADED” GAZA IS AWASH IN GOODS!
by Hillel Fendel (Arutz Sheva News)

Israel’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) has prepared a “counter-attack” to the flotilla of anti-Israel “humanitarian” ships scheduled to arrive in Gaza later this week: a detailed account and list of aid Israel provides Gaza. Israel’s proposed blockade is internationally justified, given the state of armed conflict in effect between Israel and Hamas.

The article on the MFA website, entitled “Behind the Headlines: The Israeli humanitarian lifeline to Gaza,” begins with this introduction: “Despite attacks by Hamas, Israel maintains an ongoing humanitarian corridor for the transfer of food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, used by internationally recognized organizations including the United Nations and the Red Cross.”

Well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel over the last 18 months, equaling nearly a ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza. International food aid worth millions of dollars continually flows through the Israeli humanitarian apparatus, ensuring that there is no food shortage in Gaza.

The list of Israeli aid to Gaza is so impressive that the question has been asked why Israel is doing so much for an entity with which it is in a state of armed conflict. The question is made more acute in view of the promises the Israeli government made regarding “total separation” in order to make the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza more palatable to the Israeli public.

Large quantities of essential food items like baby formula, wheat, meat, dairy products and other perishables are transferred daily and weekly to Gaza. Fertilizers that cannot be used to make explosives are shipped into the Strip regularly, as are potato seeds, eggs for reproduction, bees, and flower industry equipment.

Photos in local newspapers show local markets aplenty with fruit, vegetables, cheese, spices, bread and meat.

In the first quarter of 2010, 94,500 tons of supplies were transferred in 3,676 trucks to the Strip: 48,000 tons of food products; 40,000 tons of wheat; 2,760 tons of rice; 1,987 tons of clothes and footwear; 553 tons of milk powder and baby food.

At holiday times, Israel increases transfers. During the Muslim holy days of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, Israel shipped some 11,000 heads of cattle into the Strip.

No Palestinian is denied medical care in Israel. However, if the Hamas regime does not grant permits for medical care, the Israeli government can do nothing to help the patient. Israel will facilitate all cases of medical treatments from Gaza, unless the patient is a known perpetrator of terrorism.

Since 2005, Palestinians exploited medical care arrangements more than 20 times to carry out terror attacks.

While the import of cement and iron has been restricted into Gaza because they are used by Hamas to cast rockets and bunkers, monitored imports of truckloads of cement, iron, and building supplies such as wood and windows are regularly coordinated with international parties. In the first quarter of 2010, 23 tons of iron and 25 tons of cement were transferred to the Gaza Strip.

On May 13 of this year, Israel allowed approximately 39 tons of building material into Gaza to help rebuild a damaged hospital.

The UN report of May 2010 states that while 10% of Gaza’s electricity comes from Egypt and 18% is home-made, nearly 3/4 of Gaza’s electricity needs – 72% – is supplied by Israel. Since January 2010, the supply of electricity has deteriorated because the Hamas regime is unwilling to purchase the fuel to run the Gaza City power station.

Israel transferred 41 trucks of equipment in 2009 for the maintenance of Gaza’s electricity grid.

In 2009, 127 trucks containing more than 3,000 tons of hypochlorite entered the Gaza Strip for water purification purposes, with Israel-UN coordination.

The U.S., Israel, Canada, and the EU have frozen funds to the PA Hamas government since 2006, recognizing it as a terror organization. Israel has taken measures to support trade and commerce, the banking system, and the existing financial market in the Gaza Strip.

During 2009, 7.5 million tons of flowers and 54 tons of strawberries were exported from Gaza with Israeli cooperation.

In 2009, 1.1 billion shekels (close to $300 million) were transferred to Gaza for the ongoing activity of international organizations and to pay the salaries of PA workers. 40 million damaged bank notes were traded for new bills, and at the request of the Palestinian Monetary Fund, 282.5 million shekels were transferred from Gazan to Israeli banks.

Israel transfers school equipment supplied by UNRWA including school bags, writing implements and textbooks. Israel is currently coordinating the transfer of 200,000 laptops for Gaza children and the shipment of 74 maritime containers for conversion into Gaza classrooms.

In the first quarter of 2010, Israel transferred 250 trucks with equipment for the UNWRA summer camp, including arts-and-crafts equipment, swimming pools, inflatable toys, ice cream machines, musical instruments, clothing, sports equipment.

About 20% of the population in Gaza owns a personal computer, more than in Portugal, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Russia. They have access to ADSL and dial-up Internet service, provided by one of four providers. About 70% of Gazans own a TV and radio and have access to satellite TV or broadcast TV from the PA or Israel. Gaza has well-developed telephone landlines, and extensive mobile telephone services. 81% of households in Gaza have access to a cell phone.

Despite the inherent dangers involved, Israel permits Gazans and visitors to travel between Gaza and Israel, from Gaza to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and even abroad for medical treatment, religious pilgrimages, and business trips.

In addition to medical travel, 21,200 activists from international organizations and over 400 diplomatic delegations were permitted entry into Gaza.

National Post correspondent Tom Gross revealed this week that the Gaza Strip is actually not as impoverished as is commonly believed. “Western journalists refuse to report on this because it doesn’t fit with the simplistic story they were sent to write,” he notes. He reported specifically on a new Olympic-size swimming pool recently built in a Gaza town, something that “most Israeli towns don’t have,” and on a popular Gaza City restaurant serving gourmet meals and whose owner says business is booming.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: THE LIES ABOUT GAZA CONTINUE – IT’S TIME TO PUT A STOP TO IT, AND THANK ISRAEL FOR ALL IT IS DOING IN SPITE OF ALL THE CRITICISM – WHICH IS FULLY UNJUSTIFIED!)

“OPERATION RAHM EMANUEL” CONTINUES IN ISRAEL!
by Maayana Miskin (IsraelNationalNews)

Activist and parliamentary aide Itamar Ben-Gvir is continuing “Operation Rahm Emanuel,” in which he probes the behavior of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is in Israel for his son’s Bar Mitzva. On Wednesday, Ben-Gvir charged that the hall in which the Emanuel family plans to celebrate the Bar Mitzva is not licensed to host such events.

The Emanuel family plans to celebrate in the Davidson Center in the archaeological park in Jerusalem’s Old City, according to Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir has appealed to the Jerusalem District Court to call on the city of Jerusalem and on East Jerusalem Development Ltd to explain why the Emanuel family was given permission to use the center for a private event.

In addition, he has called to move the Bar Mitzvah to an alternate location. The “basic values of the state of Israel” determine that rules must be followed, even by the White House Chief of Staff, he said. “The principle of rule of law does not allow a Bar Mitzvah to be held in a place not licensed for such events,” he added.

The Davidson Center is next to the Western Wall (Kotel) in the Old City of Jerusalem and houses archaological finds and an auditorium where a film about coming to Jerusalem in Temple times is shown to visitors. The area is one of many in Israel’s capital that was under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967.

The Obama administration has publicly condemned Israel for building Jewish housing in such neighborhoods of Jerusalem, which the Palestinian Authority has demanded as the capital of a future PA state.

Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, who serve as aides to MK Michael Ben-Ari, wrote to Emanuel in January and suggested that he move the Bar Mitzvah away from the Western Wall, and added, “We will take care to remind you during the length of your stay in Israel that the State of Israel will continue to exist, no matter how much it angers you.”

The two later explained their demand that Emanuel move the celebration, saying, “A person who hopes to give up the Kotel itself should not be celebrating in Jerusalem.”

Earlier this week, MK Ben-Ari criticized both Emanuel and the Tourism Ministry over reports that a ministry representative was handed the bill for Emanuel and his family after they dined in a non-kosher seafood restaurant in Eilat. The Tourism Ministry denied that it paid the bill, however.

AGGRESSIVE MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN IN CENTRAL ISRAEL!
by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNationalNews)

“Jews for Jesus” in Israel brags that it has launched a missionary campaign in “an area that has never had a significant evangelical activity since 1948” – namely, Tel Aviv’s satellite cities.

Residents of Ramat Gan, Petach Tikvah, Herzliya and elsewhere woke up one day this week to find groups of “Jews for Jesus” missionaries gathered on street corners, holding banners and giving out literature. Different groups spoke Hebrew, English, or Russian, providing their “services” for all sectors.

The Yad L’Achim anti-missionary group says this is a “critical and dramatic stage in the campaign announced by the missionaries three years ago and which is expected to continue for another three years.”

The missionaries’ latest gimmick is the placing of thousands of “traffic tickets” on cars. Only when the worried driver turns over the “ticket” does he or she see its true message: “You can relax; someone has paid the fine in your place… He’s called Yeshua [Jesus].” The gimmick states that Yeshua was willing to pay with his life for everyone’s sins, but that after three days, God revived him from death.

The literature emphasizes that his name is Yeshua, which is close to the Hebrew world for salvation, “and not Jesus, as they always told you.” The Jews for Jesus group emphasizes the Jewish aspects of Christianity – though the recently-deceased Martin “Moshe” Rosen, who founded the organization in 1973, once said, “The fact is, we are not practicing any form of Judaism. We are practicing Christianity.”

Deceptive Tactics: “Don’t Admit that We Believe Jesus is God”

Deceptive tactics of this nature have become the accepted protocol in the evangelical Christian movement, writes Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, founder and executive director of Jews for Judaism International: “It is now second nature for church members to tell their Jewish friends that they can be Jewish and Christian at the same time. In Israel, Jews for Jesus missionaries, along with their 20,000 Israeli converts, promote Jesus exclusively as being the Jewish Messiah while intentionally avoiding mentioning their belief that he is God.”

The internal Jews for Jesus announcement of the new campaign states: “The main cities in this region (the Sharon, which also includes Hod HaSharon, Rosh HaAyin, and other cities) has not had a significant evangelical witnessing since the State of Israel was established in 1948. This is a great privilege for us to be the pioneers to bring the word to our people in this region. The campaign headquarters is in a good location, and we will remain there throughout the duration.”

“Since not one of the large news papers in Israel, nor any billboard firm or any media channel that we checked, agrees to take our ads, we decided to run an internet campaign for the (next) four weeks, in which we will offer our books for free… Pray that no ads will be removed as a result of the hareidi organization Yad L’Achim.”

Yad L’Achim director Rabbi Shalom Lifshitz said, “Now is the time to demand a change to the missionary law, and to put a stop to this wild, criminal missionary activity that leads to tragic results.” The law currently bans only offering to pay someone to change religions and missionizing children.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Journalism in Israel has often been “fair” and “truthful” – but the above article is definitely slanted! Consider the first paragraph using the word “BRAGS” – and then notice the usage of the word “GIMMICK” and in referring to the resurrection of Yeshua – the article says “REVIVED” – then notice the words “DECEPTIVE TACTICS” and calling these efforts “WILD” and “CRIMINAL.” What is the problem here? If Yeshua (the Messiah of Israel) is referred to as “GOD” in the Jewish Bible (such as Isaiah 44:6 which calls the “Redeemer” – the “LORD of hosts”), why are some Jewish agencies so upset?
Come on, Israel, you want our support but you don’t want us to tell you what we believe! May the LORD GOD of Israel open your eyes to the truth of the Messiah! If He is NOT God, then He can’t save any of us! Only God can forgive our sins and give us eternal life!)

AIR FORCE STRIKES BACK AT HAMAS, BOMBS TERROR TUNNELS!
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (IsraelNationalNews)

The Israeli Air Force bombed two terror tunnels before dawn Wednesday, several hours after two mortar shells struck in one areas south of Ashkelon and after a bomb exploded near the Gaza security fence. Sources in the Hamas-controlled Gaza region reported 15 people were wounded in the retaliation, but there was no confirmation of the number of wounded or the extent of their injuries.

The bombed tunnels were located in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza region, and were dug half a mile from the security fence. They were intended for infiltration into the Western Negev and executing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, according to the IDF.

The immediate response to the mortar shelling continues a government policy of reminding the de facto Hamas authority in Gaza that terrorist attacks will not be ignored, as was the policy before the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorism war last year.

Four rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza in the past week, and approximately 50 rockets have exploded on civilian and military targets in the Negev this year. Since the end of Cast Lead, Hamas and allied terrorists have fired more than 330 rockets.

Last month, Gaza terrorists fired nearly 20 rockets and mortars, one of them killing a man on Moshav Netiv Ha’Asara.