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Thursday, Jun. 02 '16, Iyar 25, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. ISRAEL BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN IS FAILING MISERABLY, STUDY SHOWS
2. GENOCIDE FALLOUT: FURIOUS TURKEY RECALLS GERMAN AMBASSADOR
3. RABBINATE ISSUES KASHRUT WARNING AHEAD OF SHAVUOT
4. WATCH: RABBI SACKS EXPLAINS 'THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM'
5. ATTEMPTED STABBING ATTACK IN SAMARIA
6. 104 TERRORISTS BROUGHT INTO ISRAEL UNDER FAMILY REUNIFICATION
7. KILLED IN HER SLEEP: WOMAN MURDERED IN FRONT OF HER CHILDREN
8. WATCH: ISRAEL'S AMAZING NEW APC CAN'T BE STOPPED
1. ISRAEL BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN IS FAILING MISERABLY, STUDY SHOWS
by Ari Soffer
The anti-Israel boycott movement has been the topic of headlines recently, with the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations hosting a major "anti-BDS" conference at the UN just this Tuesday.
But according to an authoritative survey the BDS movement - promoting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Jewish state - has failed miserably in its stated aim of cutting Israel off from the world economically.
In fact, a report by Bloomberg released Thursday revealed that since the BDS campaign was launched in 2005, foreign investment into Israel has nearly tripled, hitting an all-time high of $285.12 billion in 2015.
And that investment is expected to grow this year, with Israel's economy predicted to grow by 2.8% in 2016 - compared to just 1.8% in the European Union and United States.
What's more, even those boycotts specifically targeting companies who do business in Judea and Samaria have failed to have any discernible impact whatsoever. According to Bloomberg: "The stake of non-Israeli shareholders in nine such publicly-traded companies and banks has risen steadily over the past three years."
It's not just foreign companies investing in Israel either.
The same is true for Israeli companies targeted for doing business with Jews in Judea and Samaria - with the top nine such firms either showing significant increases in profits over the last three years, or remaining largely unchanged.
And despite high-profile protests and even assaults on small Israeli restaurants and retailers in some countries Israeli businesses are trading more than ever abroad.
"BlueStar Israel Global Index, a gauge of globally-listed Israeli companies, has doubled over the past decade, outperforming the 24 percent gain in the benchmark MSCI ACWI Index of emerging and developed world markets," Bloomberg noted in its report.
The depreciating value of the shekel in recent years is one of the signs of increased investor confidence, the report further noted - yet despite that, Israeli startups raised a whopping $3.76 billion from non-Israeli investors in 2015 - a 10-year high.
Despite the damning evidence, BDS leader and co-founder Omar Barghouti put on a brave face.
Responding to the figures, he told Bloomberg: "BDS is not just working, it is working far better and spreading into the mainstream much faster than we had anticipated."
Barghouti himself, however, has been widely derided for breaking his own "boycott" principles - for the past several years he has studied for a PhD at Israel's Tel Aviv University.
He also claimed the campaign had been successful in causing an "indirect, palpable psychological impact on the mainstream Israeli psyche about the country becoming more 'isolated' from the world."
That claim is of course up for debate - but the figures paint a very different story altogether.
2. GENOCIDE FALLOUT: FURIOUS TURKEY RECALLS GERMAN AMBASSADOR
by Ari Yashar
Turkey on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Germany, in a sign of a growing crisis in ties after Berlin held an historic vote earlier in the day, recognizing the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as a genocide.
It remains to be seen what further shape the Turkish backlash to the German recognition will take, but politicians in Ankara warned in the run-up to the vote that the recognition would seriously harm relations between the countries.
Back in April, Turkey similarly pulled its ambassador to Austria after the European nation recognized the Armenian genocide.
Turkey's fallout with Germany comes only a few months after Turkey and Russia had a massive falling out, due to Ankara shooting down a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border. Moscow responded with a wide-scale sanctions regime.
Russia also has recognized the Armenian genocide, angering NATO-member Turkey.
Over 20 nations have recognized the Armenian genocide - US President Barack Obama, however, has chosen not to recognize the genocide, despite an election promise he made during his 2008 presidential campaign to do so.
Over one-third of the Armenian population was massacred by the Turks between 1915 and 1917, in a campaign launched when Turkish authorities ordered the executions of much of the Armenian elite in Istanbul on April 24, 1915.
Men, women, and children were later murdered by various means, including through forced marches, starvation, and poison.
The Ottoman government set up some 25 concentration camps as well throughout the period, and mass graves of up to 60,000 people were found in some locations.
3. RABBINATE ISSUES KASHRUT WARNING AHEAD OF SHAVUOT
by Rafael Levy
The Israeli Rabbinate's kashrut department issued a warning ahead of the upcoming Shavuot holiday, cautioning shoppers that not all products labelled "kosher" had indeed been inspected by the Rabbinate and been certified as adhering to Jewish dietary laws.
In particular, the Rabbinate noted that many imported cheeses lacked the Rabbinate's kosher certification. This is true even of products approved by local kashrut departments from their countries of origin.
Even where products have been certified as kosher by foreign agencies, the standards used vary, Rabbinate officials noted, and shoppers need to be aware that food lacking the Israeli Rabbinate's seal of approval may not adhere to the same norms expected of kosher food in Israel.
The notice included a number of products which, while marked as kosher, did not adhere to Rabbinate standards:
Boursin cheeses, including various types of cheese, imported from France, under the "Boursin" label. The cheeses are labelled "kosher l'ochlei avkat halav nochri".
"Uriel" brand cheese spread made from goat cheese. Imported from France, the product is marked "kosher l'ochlei halav nochri".
Gouda cheese imported from the Netherlands under the "Henri Willig" label. The cheese is marked "kosher l'ochlei halav nochri".
Kraft cream cheese spread imported from the US under the label "Philadelphia". The product is marked "kosher l'ochlei halav nochri".
"Mini Babybel" cheese wheels imported from the Netherlands.
4. WATCH: RABBI SACKS EXPLAINS 'THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM'
by Ari Soffer
[youtube:2015838]
At the height of the UK Labour Party's anti-Semitism crisis in April, former British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks penned a blistering critique of anti-Zionism, which he branded "the new anti-Semitism."
In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Rabbi Sacks elaborated on why today's anti-Israel movement is the embodiment of anti-Semitism.
"It's always in a new form, because anti-Semitism is so socially unacceptable that it can only survive the way a virus survives, which is by mutating," he said.
"In the Middle Ages Jews were hated for their religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries you weren't allowed to hate anyone for their religion, because this is post-enlightenment Europe - so they were hated for their race.
"Today you can't hate anyone for their race, so you hate them for their nation-state. And that is why anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism."
Invoking an argument often used by anti-Israel activists, his interviewer asked whether it was possible some were using claims of anti-Semitism to block legitimate criticism of the Jewish state.
Rabbi Sacks countered that no one has ever ruled out criticizing the State of Israel any more than any other country, citing an encounter he had with a group of schoolchildren who asked him the same question,
"I said, 'Tell me, hands up, which of you believes it's legitimate to criticize the British government?' They all put their hands up.
"I said, 'Which of you believes that Britain has no right to exist?' Nobody put their hands up.
"I said, 'Now you know the difference between (legitimate) criticism of the State of Israel and anti-Semitism."
5. ATTEMPTED STABBING ATTACK IN SAMARIA
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A female Arab terrorist attempted to stab an IDF soldier stationed outside the Jewish town of Einav in northern Samaria early Thursday afternoon.
The terrorist approached a group of soldiers standing at a junction while brandishing a knife in her hand, prompting them to open fire and eliminate her.
There were no Israeli casualties.
It is the first stabbing attack since Monday, when a soldier was lightly wounded by an Arab terrorist in Tel Aviv.
The attacker was pursued and eventually subdued by passersby, and handed over to police.
6. 104 TERRORISTS BROUGHT INTO ISRAEL UNDER FAMILY REUNIFICATION
by David Rosenberg
Since the Second Intifada, more than 100 terrorists have used legal residency status gained through Israel's family unification law to attack Israelis, a security establishment official revealed to a Knesset committee on Wednesday. The official also noted that such residents are playing an increasing active role in the wave of terror attacks that has left dozens of Israelis dead and hundreds more wounded since last September.
The Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, chaired by former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter (Likud), held a hearing on Wednesday regarding the extension of an emergency provision to Israel's Family Unification Law.
The provision, the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which was first enacted in 2003 at the height of the Second Intifada, restricts the ability of residents of the Palestinian Authority, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and other countries considered hotbeds of terrorism, to automatically gain legal status in Israel under the family unification law.
The family unification law grants automatic legal status to foreign nationals who marry Israeli citizens.
While the Supreme Court banned the provision to the law from being permanently added, the Knesset has voted to extend the temporary act as an emergency measure every year since 2004.
Ahead of this year's vote to extend the act, a joint hearing of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and Internal Affairs Committee heard testimony from experts and security officials on the effects of the provision.
Attorney Noam Kehan testified to the hearing that more than 12,500 people had applied for legal status under the family reunification law. Under the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, residents of the Palestinian Authority, Iraq, Syria, and other countries singled out by the law can apply for residency or citizenship, but must be approved by both the Interior Ministry and IDF officials.
An official from the Shin Bet security agency noted that 104 citizens or legal residents who had been brought into Israel under the family reunification law had committed acts of terrorism from 2001 to 2016. Of those 104, 17 had married Israeli citizens, while 87 were relatives of those who had married Israelis.
The Shin Bet official also noted that residents brought into Israel under the family reunification law were playing an increasing role in terrorism. He noted that 73% of terrorists with Israeli citizenship who had committed acts of terror against Israelis since the beginning of the terror wave last September were brought in as part of family reunifications.
Of the 104 terrorists who entered Israel in this manner, 30 had committed terror attacks over the past nine months. He also noted they were responsible for 13% of all terror attacks in the recent terror wave.
7. KILLED IN HER SLEEP: WOMAN MURDERED IN FRONT OF HER CHILDREN
by David Rosenberg
A woman in the predominantly Arab city of Shefaram in northern Israel was stabbed to death by her neighbor in the middle of the night, an indictment publicized on Thursday revealed.
According to the indictment, Asraf Tahimer broke into his neighbor's house late at night last month while her husband was out of the country. Tahimer attacked her while she slept, stabbing her fatally in front of her 11-year old son.
Tahimer, a career criminal with a long list of violent offenses and property crimes, reportedly broke into his neighbor's house through a guest room, then proceeded to the kitchen, where he took a large knife.
The suspect then went up the stairs and entered the victim's bedroom. He then stabbed her in the throat. When the woman woke up and attempted to cry for help, Tahimer tried to cover her mouth while continuing to stab her in her face and arms.
The victim's 11-year old son, who was sleeping in the bed with her, was awakened by his mother's screams and struggled with the murderer. The woman's 18-year old son, who had also been awakened by his mother's calls for help, rushed into the room and began beating Tahimer, knocking out one of his teeth.
Tahimer then stabbed the older son, lightly wounding him. After failing to neutralize the 18-year old, Tahimer fled through a window.
Witnesses reported seeing Tahimer fleeing his victim's home. Tahimer escaped to a nearby village, where he was later arrested.
Police said Tahimer neither confirmed nor denied the incident, claiming that he was under the influence of intoxicating substances at the time and could not remember what occurred.
"During the interrogation he said that he had smoked a lot of drugs that evening and didn't remember what happened," said officer Uzi Hadar.
"He contradicted himself many times [during the interrogation], [and while] he did not confess to the murder, he also did not deny it."
8. WATCH: ISRAEL'S AMAZING NEW APC CAN'T BE STOPPED
by Kobi Finkler
[video:2015833]
With the threat of Hezbollah looming in the north and Gazan terrorists in the south, the IDF continues to upgrade its already formidable armored capabilities adapted to guerrilla warfare.
On Thursday, the Defense Ministry announced the first successful combat drill involving a new variant of the Namer (Tiger) Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), which is capable of traversing terrain which other armored vehicles cannot.
The exercise took place on Wednesday in the Golan Heights, and involved the advanced "Engineering Namer", which is being incorporated into the IDF's Engineers.
During the drill, the APC successfully broke through a number of obstacles and structures, and even crossed a formidable anti-tank ditch twice - once by simply driving straight through it, and a second time by ingeniously constructing a bridge over the ravine. (See video above).
Like standard versions of the APC, the Engineering Namer also comes equipped with the Trophy missile-defense system, which protects against shoulder-launched anti-tank rockets of the kind commonly employed by terrorists in Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Namer APC comes in three variants: One version for company commanders, which comes equipped with a tractor blade for digging, another for platoon commanders, which includes a special attachment for breaching solid structures, and a third version for platoon sergeants, which comes with special attachments which enable it to tow other vehicles and construct bridges, as seen in the video above.
The Namer, with its revolutionary defense systems, is credited with saving dozens of soldiers' lives during the summer 2014 war in Gaza.
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