20 Nissan 5778
5 April 2018
Pictures of the Day:
As an American and an Israeli, there are few sights that your humble servant finds more beautiful than American and Israeli flags. Yesterday, in preparation for Israeli Independence Day, workers unfurled a gigantic Israeli flag over the residence of President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem. The above picture was taken by a drone. Here’s a more close-up look:
The flag is 5000 sq ft, weighs 272 kg (about 600 pounds), and took 10 days to make. It had to be unfurled across the rooftop of the President’s house by special cranes.
Your humble plans to be at President Rivlin’s open house in Jerusalem next week. I’ll tell you then what it looks like under the flag.
The News on the Israel Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
—A major sophisticated terror attack has been averted off the coast of Gaza. It was announced yesterday that the IDF and Shin Bet foiled an attack that was being planned by 10 Palestinian terrorists from Gaza.
Under the guise of being Gazan fishermen, the Islamic Jihad group had surveilled Israeli naval craft. The plan called for one boat to be used as a distraction while a second boat fired a Kornet missile at a naval vessel, after which a third boat would board the ship and take Israeli hostages.
—IDF soldiers await another round of attacks on the Gaza border tomorrow. The Hamas plan is to light thousands of tires on fire at various places along the fence to provide cover for terrorists attempting to breach the fence.
Israel has called on world environmental groups such as the World Health Organization to speak out against the plan. If implemented, thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals will be released into the air. As of this hour, the world is silent. As usual.
—Another Palliwood picture went viral yesterday. It purportedly shows a group of Palestinian teenagers running away from the Gaza border. In the photograph 4 teenage boys appear to have locked arms to protect a Palestinian girl who is running in front of them:
Note the four teenaged boys and the girl. Also note the fence behind them. Supposedly, they are running from an Israeli sniper.
The above picture has gone viral in Arab media around the world and is being portrayed as a symbol of the “Zionist occupation” and the heroism of Palestinian youth in protecting one of their own.
Of course the picture is a fraud.
Here’s what the scene actually looked like before the photo was cropped by the Palestinian photographer:
Note (get out your magnifying glasses) the casually amused group of Palestinians watching the photograph being made of the frolicking kids. And note, there is no sniper.
—Meanwhile in Judea and Samaria:
*Three Palestinian terrorists were captured while attacking motorists on Road 443 with “rocks” and Molotovs.
*Other terrorists escaped capture after attacking Israelis at Beit Ummar, the Karmi Tzur Junction, near Halhul, on the Gush Etzion Road, near Hevron, at the Givat Assaf Junction, in the Hevron Hills, at Beit El, Azzun, Amos, Hizma, and El Aruv–among other places.
Despite the terror, Israelis have taken to the parks, forests, and seashores . . .
During the Passover holiday which officially ends tonight (but continues unofficially until Sunday morning), Israelis have been visiting nature in droves. The park beside your humble servant’s home here in Ashdod has been packed with people (noisy people!) for three days now–with some families even camping out in tents.
PM Netanyahu has used the holiday to recuperate from his recent respiratory illness. But he and his wife Sara have not been staying home. Yesterday these photos were released:
Bibi and Sara in the Golan yesterday.
And another photo of the couple at on the shores of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee):
The Netanyahus getting some well-deserved rest and relaxation.
A fantastic organization which you should join . . .
Do you want to do something for Israel? Consider joining the tens of thousands of people who have become members of Lev HaOlam to help farmers and businesses in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights.
Yesterday, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel thanked Lev HaOlam in a letter to supporters by saying that they are helping strengthen Jewish roots in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. The letter went out in the Passover shipment of products to members which included such products as wine, charoset, soap, honey, spices, and tehina.
New population numbers from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics . . .
As we near our 70th modern birthday:
*the number of people living in Israel is 8,809,200
*the Jewish population is 6,566,200; the Arab population is 1,841,700.
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*the remaining 401,300 are approximately 190,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union who have never undergone an official Jewish conversion, about 170,000 foreign workers who have lived here for an extended period of time, and around 40,000 illegal infiltrators from Africa who have also been here for an extended period of time.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Is PM Netanyahu Lying About The New Israel Fund?
You Decide.
Your humble servant is still thinking about yesterday’s israelstreet blog in which we reported how former President Bill Clinton admitted colluding with the Shimon Peres campaign in 1996 in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Benjamin Netanyahu.
Remember what Clinton said?
“I tried to do it in a way that I would not be openly involved.”
I was thinking about this today in regard to the campaign launched by the New Israel Fund (NIF) yesterday to attack PM Netanyahu as a “liar, a coward, an inciter, and a weak person.”
This vitriol from NIF Israel Head Mickey Gitzin was in regard to Netanyahu announcing yesterday that he has ordered an investigation of the NIF for what he termed are its funding of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian organizations.
Netanyahu was especially enraged because he said that the NIF was one of the main groups responsible for causing Rwanda to back off its agreement to take in infiltrators in Israel who are being deported.
In regard to the Rwanda statement, Gitzin retorted: “[Netanyahu] is lying in an unprecedented manner.” Gitzin went on to say that the NIF had not been involved in any way in bringing pressure on Rwanda.
Is that really true?
Here is a letter that has surfaced today that was written on November 27, 2017:
The letter was addressed to “Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda” and begins:
The letter then concludes and is signed:
Could this letter be any clearer?
Do you see the New Israel Fund as one of the signees? Of course not.
But remember Clinton’s words:
“I tried to do it in a way that I would not be openly involved.”
So who funds and works with the signees of the letter?
ASSAF–Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Israel: partially funded by the New Israel Fund (see here)
Physicians for Human Rights Israel: a primary funder: the New Israel Fund (see here)
Hotline for Refugees and Migrants: a primary funder: the New Israel Fund (see here)
Amnesty International Israel: (no information on funding) Works with the New Israel Fund
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel: a primary funder: the New Israel fund (see here)
Kav La Oved (no information on funding): Works with the New Israel Fund (see here)
HIAS Israel: (no information on funding): Works with the New Israel Fund (see here)
So I leave it to you, dear reader, was the New Israel Fund involved in the pressure on Rwanda?
Is PM Netanyahu a liar?
You make the call.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.