This Week's Top 7 News Items
January 27, 2011
1. LATEST ISRAEL SURVEY SHOWS INCREASE IN JEWISH SPIRITUALITY -Fully 80 percent of Israeli Jews believe that God exists - the highest figure found by the Guttman-Avi Chai survey since this review of Israeli-Jewish beliefs began two decades ago. The study also found that 70 percent of respondents believe the Jews are the "Chosen People," 65 percent believe the Torah and mitzvot (religious commandments ) are God-given, and 56 percent believe in life after death. The survey found that only 46 percent of Israeli Jews now define themselves as secular, down from 52 percent in 1999, while 22 percent define themselves as either Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox, up from 16 percent in 1999. The remaining 32 percent term themselves traditional, virtually unchanged from 1999. This change in self-identification was also reflected in the proportion of those subscribing to traditional Jewish beliefs. For instance, 55 percent said they believe in the coming of the Messiah, up from 45 percent in 1999. See remainder of findings in the link below.
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2. NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY END - PM Netanyahu's representative to the Amman talks, Isaac Molho, met on Wednesday in the Jordanian capital for a fifth time with the head of the Palestinian negotiating team Saeb Erekat - but no formula was reached that would enable the talks to continue. Erekat made it clear that because Israel has not presented its position on the issue of borders with a Palestinian state, from the Palestinians' standpoint, the talks have ended. However, on Wednesday evening, Molcho outlined for the Palestinians the principles and parameters that will guide Israel's policy on border issues. He did not draw a line on a map, but rather spoke in general principles about what Israel would take into consideration when drawing that line. No date for another round of talks was set after Wednesday night's meeting. The Quartet has set the end of 2012 as a deadline for reaching an agreement.
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3. ISRAEL NATURAL GAS SITUATION BECOMING CRITICAL - Mary-B, Israel's first natural gas field, has been depleted faster than expected and is projected to run out this year, as Israel has been forced to compensate for a lack of Egyptian gas. Egypt's natural gas pipeline has been bombed 12 times and is not providing natural gas to Israel and Jordan at this time. The Israeli partners in the consortium said they were studying the implications of this drop in production as well as what measures they might be able to take to narrow this decline. "This drop in supply is expected to have a negative effect on the financial results of the partnership until the start of commercial production from the Tamar project, which is expected in the first half of 2013," they said. The use of gas in Israel has quadrupled since 2004, and is now the primary source for generating electricity. The Israel Electric Corp. has been forced to increase its use of more expensive alternatives such as diesel and fuel oil. A recent cold snap has aggravated the situation. Once the Tamar field comes on line in 2013 and the Leviathan field in 2015, Israel's natural gas problems will disappear.
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4. MIGRON SETTLEMENT HEADACHE FOR PM NETANYAHU -The ongoing controversy about the evacuation of the Migron outpost hit a new high as settlers angrily rejected a compromise proposal offered by PM Netanyahu. The proposal asked the Migron settlers to voluntarily evacuate the outpost and receive in return support to establish a community on nearby state land. The settlers rejected the proposal and demanded that Netanyahu authorize the Migron outpost's settlement by legislation. They threatened that a Migron evacuation would cost Netanyahu his job, because the national religious public will not tolerate a forcible evacuation of the outpost. The High Court of Justice has ruled that Migron must be evacuated by March 31.The government wants to carry out the court's decision, in a fashion that involves consent and is peaceful. PM Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that under the compromise formula, a new Migron will be built on state lands on an "authorized, planned basis." It will not be on private Palestinian land. The government called on Migron residents to agree to this proposed compromise, and thereby allow the government to turn soon to the court and ask for this compromise arrangement to be approved. This issue, combined with the Haredi incidents involving the 'rights of women', has caused PM Netanyahu major headaches, politically speaking.
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5. VIOLENCE CONTINUES BY ARABS AND PALESTINIANS -An Arab resident of Shuafat, in northern Jerusalem, stabbed a Border Policeman in the neck in the course of a riot. The policeman was evacuated to Hadassah Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus) hospital and his condition was defined as light. An initial investigation found that the riot began when an Israeli team tried to evacuate two residents of the neighborhood who were electrocuted when they tried to fix an electrical short circuit. They were taken to a checkpoint in order to facilitate their evacuation to receive medical attention. At a certain point a resident of Shuafat showed up with a screwdriver in his hand and stabbed the policeman with it. In another incident, an Israeli guard at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem shot an axe-swinging Palestinian Authority terrorist and prevented an attack. The guard and nearby soldiers were not hurt. The soldier shot at the terrorist, wounding him lightly in the leg, before he could hack his intended victims. The government has contracted out most of the security fence checkpoints to civilian guards, but IDF soldiers often are stationed there. Along the Gaza border, rockets continue to be sporadically fired from Gaza, but the media rarely reports these incidents any longer.
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6. ISRAEL ALARMED BY AMERICAN-SAUDI DEAL -With its latest acquisitions from Washington and Europe, the Saudi Air Force will have more fighter-bombers of more advanced models that the Israeli Air Force. Deep concern over this was recently relayed by PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Last month, the US agreed to sell Saudi Arabia 84 advanced F-15SA fighter-bombers worth $29.4 billion. First deliveries are due in 2015. The package included the upgrading of 70 F-15 planes of the Saudi air fleet. Saudi Arabia is also buying 72 advanced Eurofighter Typhoon fighter bombers. All in all, the oil kingdom will have the largest and most sophisticated fighter-bomber fleet in the Middle East. Israel leaders reminded the Obama administration of its standing pledge to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge in the region. The aircraft supplied to the Saudis will place that edge in doubt. Israel voiced two additional causes for concern: one day, Saudi Arabia, which has never agreed to peace relations with Israel, may be moved to attack the Jewish state from an air base very close to Israel's shores. That proximity and the size and quality of its air force will allow dozens of warplanes to penetrate Israel's air defenses and drop bombs on southern and central Israel. As well, Israel also fears that four or five Saudi pilots or hired Islamist fliers may one day form an al Qaeda cell inside the Saudi Air Force and conspire to carry out a suicide attack on Israeli cities on the model of al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, most of whose participants were Saudis. With the various 'Arab Spring' countries going politically Islamic, Israel is becoming very alarmed about its security.
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7. HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY OBSERVED IN VARIOUS WAYS - In 2005, the United Nations declared January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army, to be International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year the focus of the day is the loss of 1.5 million children in the Holocaust. However, Israel observes Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 26th of Nissan (April 19 in 2012), the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, according to the Jewish calendar. Its selection reflects the Jewish state's preference to emphasize Jewish resistance to the Nazis. Canada observes this day nationally in alignment with Israel rather than the United Nations. What causes the Holocaust to stand alone in the midst of other mass killings and genocides is that this Nazi agenda was to de-legitimize and depersonalize a whole group of people. The agenda was to make the Jews non-humans that were unworthy of personhood; this demonic plot had never been performed previously despite horrendous mass killings/wars/genocides. As Christians, we remember that this is a demonic attempt to subvert God's ultimate plan to use Israel and the Jewish people to bring to completion His endtime plans.