Israel

Shalom Sofer, HY”D

Shalom Sofer was stabbed two weeks ago in Al Funduq as he entered a grocery store. This week, Sofer, 63, who was battling his injuries, died from his wounds.

“It was in great sorrow that I received the message of [the death of] Shalom Sofer’s... who died of his wounds two weeks after he was attacked and stabbed by a terrorist,” wrote Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Twitter. “In the name of Israel’s government and citizens, I would like to send condolences to his friends and family.”

He add, “The hateful terrorist was caught on that same day, and the IDF and security forces are continuing the fight against terror day and night.”

MK Smotrich also tweeted about the news.

“I write this painful tweet with the terrible news this morning not as a politician but as a friend who had the privilege to get to know a special man with a huge heart who will be greatly missed by his family, the residents of Kedumim and many more people,” he wrote.

Sofer was buried in Petach Tikveh on Tuesday.

Herzog Joins UN Climate Conference

President Isaac Herzog met with key regional allies on the sidelines of the COP27 UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday. Among those he sat with were the leaders of the UK, Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Yair Lapid had been scheduled to attend the summit; he canceled his participation in the conference after losing his premier seat to Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Herzog is there in his stead.

Israel’s head of state landed in Egypt on Monday morning, where he was greeted on the tarmac by Egypt’s housing minister. Herzog was then welcomed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

In the room set aside for dignitaries, Herzog met with leaders of Chad, Finland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Norway, according to his office.

He also spoke with Prince Moulay Rachid, second-in-line to the Moroccan throne.

Herzog sat with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss climate cooperation and “regional developments” — often a euphemism for Iran.

With Jordan’s King Abdullah, Her-

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zog discussed trilateral cooperation between Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates on energy and water issues, as well as an initiative to clean portions of the Jordan River.

Last year, Israel, Jordan, and the UAE signed a major deal between the three nations to see a solar power plant built in Jordan by Emirati businesses to harness energy for Israel.

With Netanyahu soon to return to the premiership, the president is set to be a key figure in the Israel-Jordan relationship. Ties became badly frayed during the last few years of Netanyahu’s tenure. Going forward, Herzog could be the most acceptable senior Israeli leader for public meetings in Jordanian eyes.

Later in the afternoon, Herzog sat with Britain’s Rishi Sunak, congratulating the Tory leader on becoming prime minister, calling him “a great friend of Israel” and describing the Israel-UK relationship as “one of the closest.”

Sunak thanked Herzog for the “very warm words,” and added that “Israel is one of our closest friends, our closest allies, and there is an enormous amount for us to continue working on together, whether it’s economic cooperation, security cooperation, or indeed climate change, that we’re here discussing. So I look forward to our time together.”

More than 90 heads of state and government, including U.S. President Joe Biden, are scheduled to converge on the resort between November 6 and 18.

N. Korea Hacking Attempt

This week, a North Korean hacking group posing as a Japanese supplier attempted to hack into the systems of an Israeli company that deals in the field of cryptocurrency and to siphon money that Pyongyang planned to use for its nuclear program. Personnel at the company, Konfidas, quickly averted the attack.

North Korea’s attempt seemed to be professional and sophisticated, which is alarming to authorities in Israel.

“These attacks don’t happen overnight. The pattern of operation of most attacks is that in the first step, you have a conversation with a person on the other side, who gains your trust, then they send a malicious file that contains the virus that is destined to reach the computer, and from the moment it reaches the computer, they start spreading on the network to reach financial assets or information they need and then do what they want,” CEO of Konfidas Ram Levy noted.

Penetrating the systems of financial institutions and employing the use of hackers are known practices of North Korea, which almost brought down the Central Bank of Bangladesh in this way. In Israel, this was only an initial attempt – which thankfully ended without success.

“Ransom demands usually occur in economic attacks; those who are behind them are criminals and they intend to steal information and ask for a ransom in exchange for not publishing the information and releasing the systems,” Levy said. “In this case, the North Korean modus operandi is a pattern in which they simply spy, steal money and disappear. There is no interaction with the user except that he has to open the malicious files with which you take over the systems.”

North Korean hackers are thought to be behind the theft of as much as $100 million in cryptocurrency from a U.S. company in June, as the regime steps up attempts to secure funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

No Conspiracy in Rabin Killing

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir in 1995. But the killer has confirmed that the Shin Bet had nothing to do with the killing. Now, almost two decades later, Rabin’s murder is making headlines after Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich sparked outrage on Sunday by blaming the Shin Bet for encouraging the killing.

Amid anger over the right-wing lawmaker’s speech, Channel 12 on Monday aired old excerpts from Amir’s testimony following the assassination, which appear to refute Smotrich’s assertation.

“The Shin Bet never could have been alerted. The Shin Bet didn’t know anything about me at all,” the assassin told investigators after the killing. “They knew I was organizing Shabbats and everything, but never could have known that I would do something like that,” Amir said.

Smotrich was accused by critics of promoting conspiracy theories in his Sunday speech to the Knesset during a ceremony marking 27 years since the November 4, 1995, assassination.

The lawmaker argued that rightwing rhetoric against Rabin at the time played no role in inciting his killing. Instead, he alleged the Shin Bet, which is charged with protecting politicians, bore responsibility.

“Those who failed in protecting prime minister Yitzhak Rabin,” Smotrich said, “were not the right-wingers and the religious Zionists and the settlers who justifiably decried his government’s policies. It was the security services, which not only failed to protect him, but also used irresponsible manipulations, which haven’t been fully exposed to this day, to encourage the murderer to carry out his plan.”

Amir said he had been motivated to kill Rabin by the election results in Israel and the massacre of 29 Palestinians by Baruch Goldstein in Hebron in 1994. Rabin took power at the head of his Labor party following the 1992 elections.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle condemned Smotrich’s inflammatory remarks.

Still, Smotrich doubled down on his allegations on Monday.

“There is no conspiracy,” he tweeted in the face of strong criticism. “The despicable murderer Yigal Amir murdered Yitzhak Rabin z”l and we are all still in pain and shock from the terrible murder. Yes, there was a significant failure on the part of the Jewish Division at the Shin Bet, and yes, to this day it refuses to take responsibility.”

U.S. Wants 2 States

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, demanding the Biden administration “compel” Israel to stop various “attacks” against Palestinians.

According to State Department spokesman Ned Price, Blinken and Abbas discussed “joint efforts to improve the quality of life for the Palestinian people and enhance their security and freedom.”

Price said Blinken “further reaffirmed our commitment to a two-state solution.”

Price added that Blinken “underscored his deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, including heightened tensions, violence, and loss of both Palestinian and Israeli lives, and emphasized the need for all parties to de-escalate the situation urgently.” According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Abbas briefed Blinken on “Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people… including the blockades, extrajudicial killings, home demolitions and settlement construction, in addition to settlers’ violence and violations carried out against the ‘occupied’ city of Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites.”

The IDF is in the midst of an anti-terror offensive, mainly in the West Bank. The campaign has re-