Israel Report 4 February 2010
THIS WEEK'S NEWS:
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1. INCREASING TERROR THREAT FROM GAZA AND HAMAS
On Monday an explosive device in a barrel was discovered by fishermen on Ashkelon beach in southern Israel. Several hours later an additional device was discovered on Ashdod beach. According to police sources the two devices are similar and originate from Gaza Strip. It is not clear if these devices were intended to be pre-positioned at sea for a terror attack against Israeli power stations or desalination plants, or if they were intended to explode as mines when encountered by Israeli naval patrols. Similar devices may be swept northward and be found along the coastal plane. One Israeli navy official commented that these kinds of explosives endanger first and foremost the lives of Gaza’s own fishermen.
Meanwhile the Israeli media reported the news of arresting two Moslem Arabs from Eastern Jerusalem who were recruited by Hamas while studying in Jordan to gather intelligence information for organizing terror attacks at different locations in Israel. According to the Israeli Security Agency Shin Bet these two Israeli Arabs began collecting information for potential terror targets at the request of their Hamas handlers. The targets were the central bus station and the big shopping mall in Jerusalem, the central bus station in Beersheba, the hotel area on the Tel Aviv coast, bus stops in Jerusalem and Mevasseret, and the area surrounding the Tel HaShomer military base.
Using their rights as holders of Israeli IDs, the two traveled the country seeking crowded sites. They filmed videos, took photographs, and prepared maps and sketches. The suspects also examined how many Jews and soldiers could be found at each site, and took note of the security measures in the various locations. The information collected was saved on a USB flash drive.
On Tuesday Avner Netanyahu, 15-year-old son of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, won the Jerusalem Bible Quiz in the Jerusalem Public School District, Arutz Sheva writes. He will represent the district in the national Bible Quiz, to be held later this year. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in an interview nearly a year ago that he often reads the Bible together with his son. Avner is the latest in a long family line to win recognition for Bible knowledge. His mother Sarah's three brothers have scored high in previous Bible Quizzes.
Ynet News writes of the daughter of a Nazi officer who has dedicated her life to helping Holocaust survivors. Didi Henke, daughter of SS officer first learned about her father’s past when she was 18-years–old. The fact that her father showed no remorse for his actions led her to cut ties with him. Didi Henke decided to devote her life to helping Holocaust survivors instead. She made her first visit to Israel in 1978 and fell in love with the country. Henke returned to Israel 52 times. After retiring in 1987, she decided to move to the Jewish state. Since 1990, Henke has been a volunteer at the Yad Sarah organization and has been aiding Holocaust survivors. "Some of them had a hard time with my German accent, but with time, we created good relations, and I even have friends who are Holocaust survivors," she says to Ynet News. "I belong to the second generation of Germans. We should also be held responsible for what happened there," she says.
The level of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) has risen by more than 87 centimeters in the past two months. According to the measurement of the Kinneret on Dec. 3 the level of the water was at 214.31 meters below sea level, which is only 16 centimeters higher than the lowest level ever recorded. Now the water level stands at 213.44 meters below sea level. This January was the rainiest in five years. Still, another 4.6 meters are needed to bring the Kinneret to full capacity. The Kinneret is measured in relation to three levels, known respectively as the optimal red line, the minimal red line, and the black line. The first is the level beyond which it is not allowed to rise, and at which the dams are opened; 208.8 meters below sea level. The second line is the level below which the Kinneret should not be allowed to drop, namely, 213 meters below sea level. The lake is currently 44 centimeters below this line. The black line is the level below which the Kinneret is in fact not allowed to drop – 215 meters below sea level. If the drought reaches such proportions, water will not be drawn from the Kinneret, so as not to endanger the sea itself, as well as in order not to supply Israel’s population with unhealthful water.
3. HISTORICAL FLASHBACK: 14 FEBRUARY 1896
Theodor Herzl’s Der Judenstaat – “The Jewish State” – is published in Vienna in February 1896. The book discusses the Jewish problem: It cannot be solved by assimilation because of anti-Semitism and the Jewish national will to survive. The political solution of establishing an independent Jewish state is the only answer to a steadily worsening situation. The necessary political conditions would need to be created and the new state founded according to a preconceived plan, technologically advanced and socially progressive. Ideally the state would be in Eretz Israel, but not necessarily so, and financed by the great Jewish banks. Most Jews from Western Europe are skeptical of the book but the masses of Jews in Eastern Europe, especially many of those associated with the pro-settlement group of Hovevei Zion, are enthusiastic, giving Herzl enough support to establish what is to become the Zionist Movement.
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