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Israel Police organizes annual search and rescue drill – the largest such training exercise in the country.

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The case works as a key to understand US’ war strategy against Russia.

The term “damages public diplomacy,” and therefore, Judea and Samaria should be employed, B’Tslamo CEO Shai Glick says.

By JNS

Shai Glick, the CEO of the B’Tslamo rights group, wrote a letter on Wednesday to the Kan Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation urging it to have its journalists stop using the term “West Bank” for Judea and Samaria.

In the letter to Kan CEO Golan Yochpaz, Glick noted that the official term in Israel for the territories captured in the Six-Day War is Judea and Samaria.

“It is incorrect that the state corporation uses the foreign term ‘West Bank,’ which is left over from the Jordanian occupation before 1967,” wrote Glick.

“West Bank” originated as a shortened version of “The West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan”

He previously raised the issue with the company, which contended that journalists employ the term “West Bank” when Palestinian issues are being discussed, whereas Judea and Samaria are used when addressing Israeli matters.

“But, in fact, even in regard to Israeli topics, such as terror attacks on Israelis, they [Kan] use the term ‘West Bank,’” Glick wrote in his letter.

“The term ‘West Bank’ damages public diplomacy since it connects the region to the Jordanian kingdom and does not reflect the ancient connection of the Jewish people with Judea and Samaria,” he added.

“I demand that you take action and clarify procedures so that Kan in English will only use the official term that is used in the State of Israel: Judea and Samaria,” Glick wrote.

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China approves Vladivostok port in Russia’s Far East as cross-border transit port for “domestic trade shipments” in Northeast China’s Jilin Province. The port will provide Jilin and Heilong Province with more convenient access to sea port service

Ukrainian counteroffensive ended before it even truly began.

Israel continues to lead in the development of air defense systems, announcing the new ‘SkySonic’ hypersonic missile interceptor system.

By TPS

Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems on Wednesday announced the development of what it said was the world’s first hypersonic missile interceptor, called SkySonic.

The decision by the state-owned defense contractor to publicize the project comes after last week’s unveiling of what Iran claimed is its first domestically manufactured hypersonic missile.

“We follow the developments and threats in the global arena and, as in the past, advance and develop the most advanced defense systems,” said Dr. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Haifa-based Rafael.

SkySonic is in advanced stages of development and will soon undergo its first live flight tests, the company said. Rafael is planning to showcase the interceptor at the Paris Air Show next week, and the firm said that it has already briefed the Pentagon on the development.

Hypersonic missiles can travel at least five times faster than the speed of sound, or 1-5 miles in a second. They follow complex trajectories and have greater maneuverability than ballistic missiles, making them difficult to defend. Most radar systems cannot even detect a hypersonic missile.

Russia, China and the US are the only other countries known to be developing hypersonic missiles.

Iran, a country whose leaders repeatedly call for Israel’s destruction, on June 6 unveiled the “Fattah” missile, that has a reported range of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) and a maximum speed of Mach 13-15.

“This missile targets the enemy’s anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the missile field,” said Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force.

The day after Iran’s unveiling, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to address the regime in Tehran.

”I hear our enemies boasting about weapons they are developing. To any such development, we have an even better response—whether it be on land, in the air, or in the maritime arena, including both defensive and offensive means,” said Gallant.

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Florida pastor Paula White was Donald Trump’s closest religious adviser and helped shape his pro-Israel policies.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Florida televangelist Paula White told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that Christians should try to understand authentic Judaism instead of attempting to convert Jews.

White firmly believes that “You can be Jewish without being Christian, but you cannot be Christian without understanding Judaism.” She has therefore come to Israel to study Torah as well as tour such Jewishly historical sites as the Temple Mount and Hebron with various Orthodox educators.

She argued against trying to convert Jews to Christianity, saying that she leaves Jews’ “salvation” up to God. What is “vitally important,” she says, is to continue to “build bridges” between religious Jews and Christians, as the two groups “need each other.”

She is not only an unwavering supporter of Israel as belonging to the Jewish people, she is also a supporter of the Israeli Right.

“We believe the Jews are returning to Israel because that is God’s promise to the Jews,” she told the Post. “I believe there should be resettlement. This is your land…. And I believe that the Temple belongs to the Jews, so I believe there must be restoration.”

The mega-pastor was former president Donald Trump’s personal minister, and he appointed her to chair his evangelical advisory board. Saying now that she believes she was assigned by God to ensure he “stood strong” for Israel, she worked together with his closest religious Jewish advisers, among them son-in-law Jared Kushner, former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and Middle East point man Jason Greenblatt, to do things for the Jewish state that had never been done before.

This included moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and announcing that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is not illegal under international law. The administration also passed the Taylor Force Act, which cuts financial aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it ends its payments to terrorists and their families, and walked away from the Iranian nuclear deal.

Israel has long argued that the nuclear agreement was disastrous, as its sunset clause would permit Iran to return to its nuclear program within years and did not stop either their ballistic missile program or their destabilization of the Middle East.

Instead of bringing Christian groups to Israel as she has done dozens of times over the years, this is personal time for White, and she brought her whole family with her to share the experience.

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Points include releasing billions of dollars to Tehran and no further sanctions, with Iran agreeing to release American prisoners and not provide Russia with ballistic missiles.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Details of an informal, quiet agreement between the U.S. and Iran that falls short of a full-scale nuclear deal emerged in a New York Times report Wednesday.

The paper’s sources were one American and one Iranian official as well as three senior Israelis, two of whom called the deal “imminent.”

As previously reported, the unwritten understanding, which is being negotiated at least partially with the help of Oman as the two adversaries are not talking to each other directly, has Iran freezing its uranium enrichment at 60%. This level is only necessary for weaponizing the uranium, not using it for the peaceful purposes Tehran always claims, but is still a short step away from the 90% contained in regular nuclear bombs.

That level is still enough to construct a crude nuclear device, however, and the latest report earlier this year by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran has already amassed enough of this material for two of them.

Iran would also agree to order its proxies in Syria and Iraq to stop attacking American contractors there, answer the IAEA’s call to cooperate more with its nuclear inspectors, and desist from selling ballistic missiles to Russia.

Tehran has already sold hundreds of its UAVs to Russia, which have been used in its war against Ukraine, and agreed to help Moscow set up a plant in Russia to manufacture this lethal product locally.

The U.S. in turn would not sanction Iran further than it is already, and not look to pass punitive resolutions against the Islamic Republic in the UN or IAEA for its nuclear program. It would also refrain from seizing tankers that from the American point of view are illegally transporting Iranian oil to countries that don’t agree with the sanctions, something American forces did most recently two months ago.

Another expectation is that the White House would release billions of dollars in Iranian assets, to ostensibly be used only for humanitarian purposes, and in return Iran would release three Iranian Americans it is holding prisoner on what the Americans insist are specious charges. There are also some $7 billion in held-back oil payments sitting in South Korea that the mullahs have linked to any possible prisoner release.

U.S. officials have not confirmed any association between the prisoners and either money or the nuclear issue, said the Times, although officials have said the detainees are a definite issue of concern to the Biden administration.

Dennis Ross, a former senior State Department official and Middle East envoy who cofounded the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said that the White House is pursuing this understanding because it “want[s] the priority and focus to remain on Ukraine and Russia.”

Any “crisis-averting” mini-deal should be of short duration, he added, because Iran has been building new nuclear facilities that are so deep underground that they could probably survive the Americans’ biggest bombs.

“The more they harden, the more the military options lose their potency,” Ross said. “Buying time from that standpoint works for the Iranians.”

The U.S., meanwhile, has denied accounts of any impending agreements, while Israel seems to think one is definitely in the works.

State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday that “rumors about a nuclear deal — interim or otherwise — are false or misleading.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Tuesday as telling a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee that such a “mini-agreement” was something Israel “can live with.”

Israel has repeatedly publicly stressed that no outside deal with the Iranians will stop Israel from using all means necessary to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons.

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The U.S. State Department failed to acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority had not handed over crucial evidence for the probe, nor that the IDF had punished several soldiers involved in the incident.

By World Israel News Staff

After the Israeli military concluded a probe into the death of an elderly Palestinian-American man who had been briefly detained by the army, the U.S. State Department said it would be questioning Jerusalem further regarding the matter.

“We’re seeking more information from the Israeli government. We’re going to talk to them directly about it,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing on Wednesday, after being asked about Israel’s decision to close an investigation of the death of Omar As’ad, 78.

“Israel itself stated that the incident showed a clear lapse of moral judgment and a failure to protect the sanctity of human life,” Miller added, referring to an initial report from the IDF regarding the death.

The U.S. State Department failed to acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority had not handed over crucial evidence for the probe, nor that the IDF had punished several soldiers involved in the incident.

In January 2022, As’ad was temporarily held by Israeli soldiers after refusing to identify himself and behaving uncooperatively at a checkpoint near Ramallah. His hands were zip-tied and he was blindfolded, along with several other men.

As’ad died shortly afterwards, with the Palestinian Health Ministry claiming that the cause of death was a stress-induced heart attack.

The Israeli military opened a probe into the incident, which led to the dismissal and formal censure of several senior officers involved in As’ad’s arrest.

There is no evidence that As’ad was physically assaulted or excessively restrained, but the IDF held the soldiers responsible for failing to seek medical attention for the man upon his release from the holding area, as he appeared to be unresponsive and weak.

Because the Palestinian Authority and As’ad’s family refused to cooperate with the IDF, and would not provide critical medical documentation regarding the death, the Israeli military closed the probe without their input.

The IDF recently announced that there would be no criminal charges filed against the troops, which appears to have been the catalyst for the State Department’s comments.

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“Enough of the ceaseless concessions to anarchists and the opposition,” says right-wing NGO in blistering statement to Netanyahu, demanding passage of judicial reform.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

Right-wing activists and supporters of proposed reforms to Israel’s judicial system are holding their first-ever protest in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on Thursday night, following a coalition failure which saw a member of the Opposition granted a critical spot on the judicial appointments committee.

Zionist NGO Im Tirtzu is organizing the demonstration, which aims to pressure Netanyahu into fulfilling his campaign promises and coalition agreements to implement judicial reform.

“Enough of the ceaseless concessions to anarchists and refuseniks and the opposition,” read a blistering statement from Im Tirtzu, aimed at Netanyahu.

“Sixty-four mandates [worth of voters] demand an end to surrender. This is not how you get stability, this is how you get weakness and the inability to act.”

For months, Netanyahu has avoided votes on the judicial reform legislation or other other unilateral moves to move the effort forwards, as negotiations for a compromise between coalition and opposition parties have stalled.

On Wednesday, a crucial vote for two representatives for the judicial selection committee ended with the surprise approval of an opposition candidate and defeat of the coalition candidate, Likud MK Tali Gottlieb.

MK Karin Elharrar of the Yesh Atid party was chosen, with at least four right-wing MKs voting for her in order to pacify the opposition parties, who threatened to stop the compromise talks should she not be selected.

However, because Gottlieb didn’t win enough votes, a second vote will be held in a month to fill the other empty slot. This enraged both the opposition and coalition parties.

Opposition leaders froze the judicial reform talks, claiming that the failure to select a second candidate was a stalling technique. Coalition lawmakers were irate due to a perceived victory for the opposition, as their candidate won her seat.

The results proved to be a breaking point for supporters of the reform, who noted that the coalition had enough votes to successfully elect their own candidate.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released a video on Facebook, demanding that the vote for the second candidate for the judicial selections committee be held “immediately.”

The post ‘Stop surrendering’ – First-ever right-wing protest outside Netanyahu’s residence to demand passage of judicial reform appeared first on World Israel News.