Israel News

Get the lift you need.

Shabbosmodeoptionavailableonallourlifts.

StairLifts Home Elevators Wheelchair Lifts Ceiling Lifts

ed an implosion by selling currency reserves and creating special bank accounts to protect savers and corporates from the currency’s decline. But the central bank’s net reserves are now at negative $55 billion.

Meanwhile, calculations from four Turkish economists who ran the numbers for Reuters show that around $10 billion in deposits are up for redemption in July, along with another $20 billion August.

Daniel Moreno, head of emerging markets debt at Mirabaud, which sold its last remaining Turkey bonds last year, stated, “I don’t think it is sustainable. You cannot just offer anyone a payout to protect against currency weakness.

“[Things] seem to be getting worse by the day. But Turkey is not going to go down without a fight.”

Turkey is set to hold elections in 2023, and according to Petar Atanasov at emerging market fund Gramercy, “The whole invest-ability of Turkey hinges on the election outcome.

“The market will be quite skeptical until the very end,” he added. “It will be an election that is extremely unclear – anything could happen.”

Suriname to Open Jerusalem Embassy

Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) hosted Suriname Fforeign minister Albert Ramdin. During the meeting between the two diplomats, the Surinamese Foreign Minister announced that his country plans to soon open an embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

Suriname’s announcement comes one day after Israel celebrated Jerusalem Day, commemorating the day when, during the Six Day War, Israel took back parts of Jerusalem from Jordanian hands, reuniting the city under Israeli rule.

During their Monday meeting, the ministers signed an agreement on political consultations between the Israeli and Surinamese foreign ministries.

Additionally, in the aftermath of the severe flooding which struck northern Suriname about a month ago, Lapid offered his Surinamese counterpart to send humanitarian aid with the goal of aiding residents left without shelter.

The Republic of Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America and borders Brazil to the north. It is culturally a Caribbean country, although it maintains close ties to the Netherlands. Dutch is the prevailing language spoken there.

Iran Spied on UN Agency

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett released documents he said were taken from Iran and show Iranian intelligence spied on the UN’s Atomic Agency in order to better cover up its rogue nuclear activities.

Bennett tweeted a link to the files, which are in Persian, along with a video in which he responded to remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein AmirAbdollahian dismissing the spying allegations last week as “Zionist lies.”

“Spreading lies? Come on. I’m holding the proof of your lies right here in my hands,” Bennett said, holding up copies of the documents. “You see, after Iran stole classified documents from the UN’s Atomic Agency, Iran used that information to figure out what the atomic agency was hoping to find, and then created cover stories and hid evidence to evade their

WISHING THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY A Happy Shavuos

78-10 164TH STREET FRESH MEADOWS, NEW YORK Dr. Adam Zeitlin, Medical Director Matthew Ostreicher, Director of Operations For further information please contact Moshe Davidowitz, Administrator 718.591.8300 Ext. 707

Under the VAAD Horabanim of Queens (VHQ)

nuclear probes.

“So how do we know this? Because we got our hands on Iran’s deception plan a few years back. And it’s right here in my hands,” Bennett said, referring to a daring 2018 operation that saw Israeli agents smuggle out hundreds of thousands of documents about Iran’s nuclear program from a warehouse in Iran.

“Here it is, in the Persian language, hundreds of pages marked with the stamp of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence,” Bennett said.

The Israeli leader said that some of the documents have handwritten notes on them, including one by the Iranian defense minister to Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, regarded as the head of Iran’s nuclear program. Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in a November 2020 ambush near Tehran, in an operation attributed to Israel.

In the note, the minister wrote, “Sooner or later they (referring to the atomic agency) will ask us — and we’ll need to have a comprehensive cover story for them,” Bennett quoted.

“Iran lied to the world, Iran is lying to the world again right now, and the world must make sure that Iran doesn’t get away scot-free,” Bennett warned.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos last Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, was asked during an interview about the alleged spying operation on the IAEA.

“Unfortunately, the Zionists are spreading lies lots of lies,” he responded, according to an English translation in Bennett’s video.

Revelations about the Iranians spying on the IAEA were published last week by the Wall Street Journal, based on documents from the archive Israel took from Tehran. The Journal said it received access to the documents “from a Middle East intelligence agency that hails from a country that opposes Iran’s nuclear program.” Previously, only U.S. intelligence had been provided the entire archive material, with partial access also granted to independent experts.

According to the Journal report, Iranian officials secured access to International Atomic Energy Agency documents and circulated them among top officials involved in its nuclear program between 2004 and 2006, and were thus able to prepare cover stories, falsify information and gain insight into what inspectors did and did not know.

In a separate report published on Monday, the IAEA estimated that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had grown to more than 18 times the limit agreed on in the 2015 pact between Tehran and major powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

It “estimated that, as of May 15, 2022, Iran’s total enriched stockpile was 3,809.3 kilograms.” The limit in the JCPOA was set at 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of a specific compound, the equivalent of 202.8 kilograms of uranium. The report also said that Iran was continuing its enrichment of uranium to levels higher than the 3.67 percent limit in the deal.

The stockpile of uranium enriched up to 20% is now estimated to be 238.4 kilograms, up 56.3 kilograms since the last report in March, while the amount enriched to 60% stands at 43.1 kilograms, an increase of 9.9 kilograms.

Enrichment levels of around 90% are required for use in a nuclear weapon.

Earlier in May, the IAEA announced that it was “extremely concerned” by Iranian silence on potential undeclared nuclear sites.

A Glimpse into the Past

Make a dif erence in the world, And never work a day in your life.

Do you have a passion for helping people?

For making a difference in the lives of children and their families?

Join Comfort health as a care manager for children that have mental, emotional, or behavioral health challenges.

Bachelors Required

Why you’ll love it here:

Warm and professional enviroment Individualized supervision Flexible work hours Supportive team

Are you a resourceful community member?

Serve as a referral specialist to match our clients with the right community organizations.

The Ma’aleh Roma’im outpost was constructed during the Hasmonean period, near the road that at the time led to Jerusalem. Now, Herzog Medical Center, located in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul neighborhood, is located near the outpost, where recent archaeological restorations have revealed a small fortress.

Surrounding Ma’aleh Roma’im were terraces with agricultural crops, and it was likely built to protect the farmers and their livestock from looting. The restoration also revealed a circular structure which may have been a lime pit, as well as pottery vessels from various periods in history.

Excavations at the site began in 1967 and were conducted by Greek archaeologist Prof. Vaslius Tzafirs, who believes that the outpost was likely inhabited continuously from 230 BCE until 395 CE.

Herzog Medical Center Director Dr. Yeheskel Ken said, “An exciting addition to a modern hospital, which serves the population of Jerusalem and its surroundings, is an archeological site that sheds light on more than 2,000 years of the history of the Land of Israel and [certain periods that] are considered dark in the history of the Jewish people.

“We are striving to raise funds to take another step in the restoration work and establish an archeological garden on the site that will allow the general public to visit this important historical structure.”

Israel and Morocco Strengthen Ties

A new era of Israel-Morocco business ties has launched following the successful “Morocco-Israel Connect to Innovate” conference which took place in Casablanca last week.

The event, co-organized by Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that promotes Israeli innovation around the world, brought together government officials and 250 business leaders from the two countries and focused on ways to collaborate in the agrifood-tech, water-tech, energy, logistics, and human capital sectors.

Andre Azoulay, advisor to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, said, “Let us join forces and connect to innovate, to give a chance for peace for the sake of our children and the safety of all.”

Israel’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Orit Farkash Hacohen (Blue and White) headlined the closing ceremony of the conference shortly after signing a new cooperation agreement in the fields of AI, agricultural technologies, water-tech, energy, healthcare, space, and automotive with her Moroccan counterpart, Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, Abdellatif Miraoui.

Farkash Hacohen emphasized, “There is great potential for Israel’s high-tech industry in the Kingdom of Morocco, in the fields of water desalination and other water technologies, renewable energy, agriculture, sustainability, and more. The strengths of the Israeli innovation industry have complimentary business opportunities in Morocco. We will continue to support the maximization of the economic potential between Morocco and Israel. There is a lot to aspire to.”

Start-Up Nation Central CEO Avi Hasson said, “The last three days here in Casablanca have proven that there is a genuine desire by government leaders and business people from both Israel and Morocco to work together and form meaningful business partnerships. By bringing together 250 senior members of the public and private sector for a series of constructive meetings and engaging sessions, we have entered a new era in binational relations, one founded on innovation.”

He added, “In less than 24 hours since the conclusion of the conference, we have already seen new collaborations and deals made as a result of Israeli and Moroccan businesspeople meeting at the event. There will be additional significant deals announced in the weeks to come, including the launch of many partnerships to solve the two nations’ human capital challenges. On behalf of our team, I would like to thank the Moroccan government and all our partners in the Connect to Innovate conference. The historic event marked the start of

our shared innovation journey. But this is only the beginning.”

Binational business ties, slow to form following the signing of the normalization agreement and renewed diplomatic relations in late 2020, received a boost during the conference with the signing of a series of commercial agreements and MOUs (memorandum of understanding) that paved the way for more robust relations going forward.

What emerged from the many discussions was that Israel and Morocco share many of the same challenges, particularly when it comes to tackling the climate crisis and both its immediate and longer-term ramifications and the understanding that it is a challenge that cuts across all industries that demands solutions from multiple disciplines that must also stem from cross-border collaborations.

Israel, with more than 700 climate-tech companies, and Morocco, with its leading position in the field of alternative energy and particularly solar technology, are well-positioned to tackle the challenge through joint initiatives that will aid not only the people of the Middle East-North Africa region but also those from all over the globe.

Professor Salman Zarka, Israel’s coronavirus czar, has predicted that quarantine for coronavirus-positive individuals will be canceled.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Prof. Zarka estimated that in the middle of June those testing positive for COVID-19 will no longer need to quarantine.

Although both the infection coefficient and the percent positive have held relatively steady since mid-April, Prof. Zarka noted that the fifth wave of the virus is continuing to slow down: “We are at a small number of hospitalized cases each day. At the same time, it is clear to all of us that the infection rate is much greater than what we see, due to the cancellation of the requirement to test.”

According to Arutz Sheva, the coronavirus czar also said that as part of the preparations for the upcoming winter, the Health Ministry is weighing whether to begin another coronavirus vaccination campaign during the summer months.

The site quoted Health Ministry Director General Professor Nachman Ash as saying, “It will be a very great challenge to convince people to get a fifth dose, and that will influence the decision. There is a dilemma regarding the timing, and whether to do it ahead of the coming winter.”

“Right now, there is no testimony which would justify a fifth dose, and if we begin such a campaign, we will need to decide whether to do it during a wave of infections and obviously who to vaccinate – whether the entire population or just those who are at risk. We are thinking about it, but there are no decisions or clear plans.”

Israel is already preparing for a sixth wave of the virus, even though right now there is no indication of any rise in infections.

Prof. Zarka added, “We are disturbed by whether a strain such as Delta will appear, or something virulent which will harm the younger, healthy population and pregnant women. This will be

a significant event, and if the strain is even more contagious, then it is disturbing. We are in a ‘between waves’ state of mind, and we are creating a civilian body which will examine whether there are new variants in the world.”

At the same time, he said, if 2022 passes without a new wave of infections or a new variant, 2023 may be the year life returns fully to normal.

Was CBC Biased in its Coverage?

Last Thursday, the Lawfare Project, together with counsel at RE-LAW LLP, filed a complaint raising significant concerns with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) coverage of the recent death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Aqleh.

As detailed in the complaint, the coverage presents an overwhelmingly anti-Israel portrayal of the events surrounding the death. In the Lawfare Project’s view, the CBC’s biased and erroneous reporting of the facts, coupled with a stunning lack of crucial contextual information, violates the basic principles of accuracy, fairness, balance, and impartiality as set forth in the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices and the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Principles for Ethical Journalism.

The complaint requests that these concerns be carefully examined and that steps be taken to publicly acknowledge and correct the record, as well as to ensure that future CBC coverage complies with its own policies and professional standards.

Abu Aqleh was killed in May 2022, in Jenin, during a live fire exchange between Palestinian Authority snipers and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The Palestinian Authority has refused to cooperate with Israel in the investigation of Abu Aqleh’s death, including denying Israel access to the bullet that killed her.

The complaint was submitted to the chairperson and CEO of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and to the CBC Ombudsman. Highlighted examples of the alleged violations of applicable journalistic standards include the following:

The CBC failed to clarify that the increased anti-terror presence of the IDF in Jenin at the time of Abu Aqleh’s death was not an isolated event, but rather was due to the violent wave of Palestinian terrorism that has raged in Israeli cities during the past month. Several of these terror attacks were perpetrated by Palestinians from Jenin and surrounding areas.

While the CBC reported that Israeli law enforcement physically assaulted mourners carrying Abu Aqleh’s casket, it largely ignored the fact (captured on video) that rioters were violently attacking the Israeli officers and hurling dangerous objects.

The CBC published an Associated Press piece on its website, which relies overwhelmingly on anti-Israeli information and sources and downplays Israeli perspectives. The article quotes Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, his senior aide, Hussein al-Sheikh, Al Jazeera, and unnamed “journalists who were with [Abu Aqleh].” At the same time, the article vaguely refers to “Israeli officials” and “Israel,” and a quote from the only named Israeli source, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White), is buried at the bottom of the piece.

The CBC aired commentary from Nour Odeh, who was identified as a “former Palestinian journalist.” However, the report fails to note that Ms. Odeh was a “former spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority” and recently ran as a candidate in Palestinian Authority elections.

“Reporting on complex geopolitical incidents by media outlets that receive huge sums of government funding must include unbiased, fair and contextually accurate reporting,” said David Elmaleh, Partner at RE-LAW LLP and counsel to The Lawfare Project in this matter. “The complaint filed by The Lawfare Project will force the CBC to examine its coverage and measure it against its internal policies and industry standards. In our view, the media can, and must, do better.”

As Canada’s “public broadcaster,” and in accordance with its own standards, the CBC is charged with providing Canadians truthful and unbiased news, and with upholding the tenets of accuracy, fairness, transparency, and accountability. The coverage of Abu Aqleh’s death falls far short and must be corrected if the CBC is to maintain the public’s trust, The Lawfare Project emphasized.

U.S. Won’t Probe Killing of Journalist

The U.S. administration will not carry out its own investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, according to a Biden administration official.

Abu Aqleh, who was killed in Jenin in a shootout between Palestinian Authority snipers and IDF soldiers, was also an American citizen.

According to the official, the U.S. will continue advising the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority (PA) on their own probes and will encourage cooperation on the matter.

“We’re helping them review how they investigate,” the official said, adding that the U.S. hopes the PA will share “evidence” with Israel.

The decision is a rejection of a request by 57 members of Congress to launch an independent probe.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said last Wednesday, “We have made clear to both Israeli and Palestinian authorities that we expect the investigations to be transparent and impartial — a full, thorough accounting into the circumstances of the killing of Shireen Abu Aqleh. We have conveyed to our partners that we do expect to be updated on the status of their investigations, but in the end, we want to see accountability.”

Israel insists that in order to further progress in the investigation, it needs to examine the bullet which killed Abu Aqleh. The Palestinian Authority, which is currently in possession of the bullet, has both refused to cooperate with Israel and refused to hand over the bullet.

Predictably, the PA announced last week that its investigators had concluded that the bullet was fired by an IDF soldier but did not provide proof. The PA has not given a reason for refusing to hand over the bullet – a step which would prove objectively, to the international community, which side was at fault.

According to an Israeli official, the IDF is expected to announce its own results in the coming days, but the results will likely not be conclusive, due to the inability to examine the bullet held by the PA.

Betty Lahat, a former warden at Hasharon Prison and head of Israel Prisons Service’s Intelligence Department, spoke with Maariv recently about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

In her interview with Maariv, Lahat, who served in her role in the early 2000s, described Sinwar as a “coward” who is cruel, callous, and prefers to let others do the dirty work for him. At the same time, she described him as intelligent and said he used his time in prison to learn as much as he could about the Israeli mindset.

Lahat also said that although Sinwar often plotted violence and turmoil within the prison, he never took responsibility for it.

According to Lahat, Sinwar is “adversarial and cruel… Before his arrest he led by fear and terror. He’d dig holes, throw in people he suspected were against him and pour cement on them while they still lived. In prison, he also sent out people to hurt those he didn’t like. But he himself never got his hands dirty.”

She added, “He would send prisoners to stab guards and rile things up, but always behind the scenes. He’d take some sucker, tell him, ‘Go stab a jailer,’ and then say of him, ‘The man’s crazy, he has nothing to lose.’ He never stood up and took responsibility or led the prisoners. On the contrary – when there were investigations after incidents he organized, he’d tremble with fear, hide behind others.

“Today, when I see his bluster in Gaza, I ask myself how this chicken became a hero,” she told Maariv, noting that Sinwar would often use people and then abandon them.

She added, “Most prisoners didn’t like Sinwar, because he used them and they knew he looked out mostly of himself, but they were afraid of his cruelty and respected his status.”

In 1989, Sinwar was convicted of leading the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers, as well as four Palestinian Authority Arabs he suspected of working with Israel. Though he was handed four life sentences, Sinwar was released after just 22 years as part of the “Shalit deal.”

Sinwar has led Hamas in Gaza since 2017, when he took over after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was promoted within the terror group.