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Friday, May. 13 '16, Iyar 5, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. SENIOR HEZBOLLAH LEADER ELIMINATED IN SYRIA
2. DAYS AFTER TERROR TUNNEL REVELATION, EGYPT LETS CEMENT INTO GAZA
3. THE WAQF MEMBER POINTED, THE RABBI WAS EXPELLED
4. CRUZ: BOOST ISRAELI AID AGAINST THE IRANIAN MENACE
5. 'THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE SHOULD THROW LABOR A LIFELINE'
6. US DODGES KEY QUESTIONS ON ISRAEL-PA RELATIONS
7. UNEXPLODED WWII BOMB FOUND UNDER BRITISH HIGH SCHOOL
8. INTERVIEW WITH 1967 IDF ICONIC WARRIOR
1. SENIOR HEZBOLLAH LEADER ELIMINATED IN SYRIA
by Ben Ariel
Arab media reported overnight Thursday that Mustafa Badr al-Din, Hezbollah's military commander, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah facility near the Damascus airport.
The IDF has not responded to the reports, but Hezbollah confirmed al-Din's death early Friday morning.
Badr al-Din is considered the successor of senior Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in 2008, also allegedly by Israel.
He was identified by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon as the key suspect in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which Hezbollah was officially accused. Badr al-Din is a cousin and brother in law of Mughniyeh.
If the reports are true, the assassination comes after the elimination of senior Hezbollah terrorist Samir Kuntar last December in Syria.
Kuntar murdered two members of the Haran family and a policeman in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya in 1979, crushing the four-year-old's head with the butt of his rifle after murdering her father in front of her. Her two-year-old sister died when the mother, hiding in a crawl space, accidentally smothered her while trying to prevent her cries from being heard.
He was released in 2008 as part of a prisoner swap with Hezbollah.
2. DAYS AFTER TERROR TUNNEL REVELATION, EGYPT LETS CEMENT INTO GAZA
by Ari Yashar
Egypt reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Sinai on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time in three months, and in the process allowed in cement - despite the recent exposure of Hamas terror tunnels breaching into Israel last week.
Just last Thursday Israel unearthed a terror tunnel leading under the security border to facilitate attacks in the second such tunnel found in recent weeks. Hamas fired mortars on consecutive days late last week to try and stop the tunnels from being exposed, and Gazan terrorists even fired a rocket on Saturday.
But nevertheless Egypt saw fit to allow trucks carrying cement through the Rafah crossing along with pedestrians, days after Hamas announced that new understandings had been reached with Israel to stop the clashes through Egyptian mediation.
The decision by Cairo has caused fury in the Israeli security establishment, reports Walla on Friday.
Security sources were quoted by the news site as saying the Egyptian move to allow in cement opposes the goal of the joint security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as the UN, which tracks building materials entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Israel last month decided to dramatically reduce the influx of cement to Gaza, after it was documented that Palestinian factories in Gaza transferred raw building materials to Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, to build its terror infrastructure.
The revelation, attributed to the UN representative in Gaza, led to a decision to blacklist certain civilians and factories from receiving building materials.
A security source quoted by Walla said the Egyptian decision to let in cement to Gaza came following a meeting held in Egypt on Monday between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. In the meeting al-Sisi promised to use Egypt's influence as chair of the UN Security Council in May to fight for the Palestinians.
The source revealed that the decision between Abbas and al-Sisi to let in cement was made without Israel being allowed to be involved or have any input.
Israel had estimated that permission to bring in cement would not be given by the Nile state, not only because of the supervisory mechanism but also in light of the Egyptian efforts to destroy smuggling tunnels leading into Sinai.
Since late 2014 Egypt's army has destroyed over 90% of the tunnels, and has established a two kilometer-wide buffer zone inside Gaza on the southern border, demolishing homes and mosques and expelling thousands of Gazans in the process.
3. THE WAQF MEMBER POINTED, THE RABBI WAS EXPELLED
by Ido Ben-Porat
Rabbi Shimon Ben-Tzion of Kiryat Arba in Judea was distanced from the Temple Mount on Thursday, Israeli Independence Day, after a member of the Jordanian Waqf falsely claimed that he prayed at the site.
Despite Israel having liberated the Mount - the holiest site in Judaism - in the 1967 Six Day War, the Jordanian Waqf has been left in de facto control of the site, and Israeli police kowtow to the Waqf's discriminatory ban on Jewish prayer at the site.
Rabbi Ben-Tzion, who has a custom of visiting the Mount every Independence Day, told Galei Yisrael radio that "at 7:30 a.m. I went in to the Temple Mount with a group of Jews."
"Everything was permitted and arranged, and after a few minutes Waqf members encircled us as is their way," he said.
"Only one of them thought that I was praying, he saw me concentrating and decided that I was praying. He turned to the police officer at the site and told him, indicated to him: 'here's a Jew daring to pray and on Independence Day on the Temple Mount.'"
The police officer ordered to expel the rabbi from the Mount. Rabbi Ben-Tzion tried to explain, but to no avail.
"I argued, I said what I said, he didn't want to hear me - not even half a word. These two people, the Arab officer of the Israel police and the wicked Waqf member, ejected me from the Mount saying that I can't return to the Mount until I have a hearing and a clarification and more," reported the rabbi.
"It is a shame that this is what happens on Independence Day, but that's part of the land of Israel. I believe that the day is not far when Jews will be able to freely ascend the Mount to pray, and we will merit the building of the Holy Temple."
4. CRUZ: BOOST ISRAELI AID AGAINST THE IRANIAN MENACE
by Ari Yashar
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who recently ended his presidential campaign, wrote a strong op-ed in the New York Times on Friday in which he demanded an increase in defense aid to Israel in light of Iran's ballistic missile tests and open threats.
Cruz began by noting that Iran on Monday announced it conducted another ballistic missile test of a rocket with a 2,000 kilometer (1,250 mile) range that is said to be "without any error" in its accuracy. The missile would put Israel in reach, as well as the entire Middle East.
Iran did not announce if the rocket had "Israel should be erased from the map" written on it in Hebrew as other recent missiles tested by the leading state sponsor of terror had inscribed on them.
"But it hardly matters. The mullahs' objectives are plain enough for anyone with eyes to see: The Iranian regime is continuing its determined march towards not only a nuclear weapon, but also the means to launch it, first against Israel and then against the United States," warned Cruz.
He noted that despite US President Barack Obama's claims of a "more moderate course" under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani since he took office in 2013, "the regime in Tehran has been frank and open about its continued hostility toward America and Israel."
At least four ballistic missile tests have taken place since the controversial nuclear deal last July, he pointed out, with Iran saying it has received $100 billion in unfrozen assets from the deal. That cash windfall has led to Tehran finally buying the advanced S-300 air defense system from Russia.
"Just last week, in the course of receiving an official delegation from the Gaza-based militant movement Palestinian Islamic Jihad - which the State Department designated a terrorist group in 1997, for its efforts to destroy Israel - the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reiterated that the prime directive of the Islamic Republic remains, as it has been since 1979, to wage war against the United States and Israel," noted Cruz.
"The mullahs' policy is, by their own admission, unchanged...the only thing that is changing now is the potential scale of this violence, as they seek to replace truck bombs and roadside explosive devices with the most destructive weapons on the planet and the means to deliver them."
The senator called to "bolster our defenses and those of our allies," promising in the coming months to make sure that "President Obama's failure to sufficiently fund Israel's missile defense programs in his latest budget request is reversed."
"Shockingly, even after admitting that the nuclear deal with Iran places Israel in greater danger and making assurances that support for the Jewish state would be increased, the president could not find a single dollar to put towards procurement for the David's Sling or Arrow-3 missile defense systems, which are being jointly developed by the United States and Israel."
The two missile defense systems can block long-range missiles, such as those that Iran is developing in an open threat on the Jewish state's very existence.
"Rather than starving these programs, Congress should seize this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to Israel's security and so to our own. That would send the leaders of the Islamic Republic an unmistakable signal that there are at least some in Washington who still take them at their word, and will act accordingly," concluded Cruz.
5. 'THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE SHOULD THROW LABOR A LIFELINE'
by Arutz Sheva staff
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) opposes the entry of the Zionist Union into a unity government, stating Friday that the union is incompatible.
"'It's us or them' is not just an election slogan - this statement reflects differences in perspective," Hotovely stated. "The public elected us and we should take this as a mandate to lead the government under the stance the public selected."
Hotovely added that the government had "no need" for the Zionist Union, and that "there is no reason why we should throw them a lifeline."
Hotovely's remarks may partially stem from a perceived threat to her position, as Zionist Union leader Yitzhak Herzog is expected to ask for the Foreign Minister position. Currently, while Hotovely is technically a deputy minister, she functionally runs the ministry on her own.
The idea of a unity government has faced opposition from both sides of the aisle, with ruling MKs and ministers noting the Zionist Union's views are incompatible with the ruling government's, and Zionist Union MKs stating that a strong Opposition has the greater potential for impact than a broad, vanilla government.
6. US DODGES KEY QUESTIONS ON ISRAEL-PA RELATIONS
by Tova Dvorin
Washington continues to waffle over whether to attend a May 30 conference in Paris which would force peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), just two weeks before the date.
"There has been no decision made yet on whether we can participate on May 30th," White House Press Office Director Elizabeth Trudeau stated during a Wednesday briefing. "However, we are interested in working cooperatively to pursue our shared goal for a two-state solution."
"We remained concerned about the continued violence on the ground, and we welcome all ideas on moving this forward," she continued. "On this specific conference on the May 30th event, no decision's been made on participation."
"We continue to look to both sides to demonstrate with actions and policies a genuine commitment to a two-state solution."
Washington has yet to make a clear commitment about the conference, which would see Paris direct talks after years of US failures to mediate a peace deal.
Israel Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon noted earlier this month that Israel "is not invited" to the conference, but that ultimately the stubborn party has been Ramallah - and that the US is, in fact, exasperated from mediating peace talks.
'Don't question the US on freedom of expression'
Trudeau also implied support for Omar Barghouti, the Palestinian Arab co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement who has recently been banned from traveling abroad via Israel.
"Do you – you don't find this a bit disturbing that Israel is using – uses whatever tactics to prevent this activism that is largely peaceful?" a questioner claimed during the briefing.
Trudeau answered that "I would say, as a general principle, we support freedom of movement for Palestinians and permanent residents of Israel."
The questioner then asked: "Israel seems to be doing this against journalists, against activists and so on. Do you call on them not – to sort of cease and desist?"
Trudeau responded, "I don't think anyone should question the U.S. Government on freedom of expression."
7. UNEXPLODED WWII BOMB FOUND UNDER BRITISH HIGH SCHOOL
by Tova Dvorin
Nearly 1,000 homes in Bath, England were evacuated late Thursday night, after an unexploded World War Two bomb was found under a local high school.
Bomb disposal teams were dispatched to the Royal High School late Thursday to assess the situation, the Daily Mail reports. The find: a 500-pound bomb just feet below a now-defunct playground.
A 300-foot exclusion zone was set up along Lansdown Road in the town as the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) workers did their work. A full 250 tons of sandbags surround the site.
Meanwhile, evacuated families may not be allowed to return for 48 hours.
This is not the first time a WWII bomb has surfaced to cause panic among modern-day residents.
In May 2015, 20,000 residents of Cologne were evacuated after a 440-pound bomb was found and deactivated.
8. INTERVIEW WITH 1967 IDF ICONIC WARRIOR
by ILTV
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