Today’s Top Stories
The official announcement by the Russian Foreign Ministry objected to the violation of Syrian sovereignty by Israel and totally ignored the event that provoked the eruption – the infiltration of an Iranian drone into Israeli airspace. In the conversation with Netanyahu a few hours later, Putin asked him to avoid moves that could lead to “a new round of dangerous consequences for the region.”
The Russians are also concerned about the proximity of the Israeli bombings to sites where their soldiers and advisers are serving, including base T-4 near Palmyra, where the Iranian control post from which the anti-aircraft missile was fired was bombed.
2. The IDF believes its air strikes on Saturday destroyed nearly half of Syria’s air defenses.
3. After Holocaust law, Poland moves to ban kosher slaughter.
The restrictions include a ban on exporting kosher meat from Poland, which is expected to affect many of Europe’s Jewish communities, as well as meat exports to Israel. Some of Israel’s supermarket chains import and sell kosher meat from Poland, increasing the competition in the Israeli meat market. A drop in meat exports from Poland could lead to a hike in meat prices in Israel.
The bill also seeks to ban slaughter when the animals are in an “unnatural state”—in other words, when the animal isn’t standing on all four feet, making a kosher Jewish slaughter practically impossible.
4. Read about the latest corrections HonestReporting prompted regarding drone confusion at the Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
In the News
• Israeli officials are mulling a response against Iran for this weekend’s drone infiltration.
• Iran’s stealth drone was shot down in a new way. What are the implications for tracking larger, manned, stealth aircraft?
Israel appears to have abandoned using radar-guided weapons to down the Iranian drone. Judging from the IDF supplied video, it almost certainly appears that the drone was destroyed by a missile controlled with an electro-optical sensor, allowing the helicopter pilot to track the drone and kill it. So, the lesson is that electro-optical systems are important in dealing with small platforms and against stealth targets.
• The Jerusalem Post takes a closer look at the cyber threats Iran and Hezbollah pose. Could they hack an IAF jet, missile defense systems, or turn an IDF drone against Israel?
• The drone shot down by Israel was an Iranian copy of a U.S. craft, Israel says.
• Two Israeli soldiers were attacked by a Palestinian mob after accidentally entering the West Bank City of Jenin on Monday afternoon. They were extracted by PA security forces, but not before one soldier’s rifle stolen, Ynet reports.
• Worth reading: The New York Times and Los Angeles Times take an in-depth look at Gaza’s deteriorating situation.
Around the World
• A number of Jewish leaders in the US, Europe and Israel would like to see Michael Oren succeed Natan Sharansky as head of the Jewish Agency, according to the Jerusalem Post. Sharansky is due to step down from the post in June.
• Anti-Semitic graffiti spray painted on Barcelona synagogue.
Commentary
• Plenty of broken quills and burnt pixels on Israel’s escalating conflict with Iran:
– Tony Badran, Jonathan Schanzer: The Iran-Israel war flares up (click via Twitter)
– Nahum Barnea: The Iranian game of chess: More moves are on the way
– Marc Schulman: Is this the start of an Israeli-Iran war?
– Seth Frantzman: From the Euphrates to Beit Shean: The Islamic Republic’s dangerous game
– Richard Kemp: Failure to support Israel against Iran could end in war
– Noga Tarnopolsky: Trump’s silence on Israel-Iran skirmish speaks volumes
– Daniel Shapiro: As Syria and Iran threaten Israel, America signals its ally is on its own
– Prof. Eyal Zisser: Iran’s opening shot
Iranian drone took off from base under Russian control. Syrians trained by Russians fired Russian missiles at Israeli planes. Israel coordinates operations over Syria with Russia and asks Russia to prevent escalation.
The US has never been less relevant.— Anshel Pfeffer (@AnshelPfeffer) February 10, 2018
– Herb Keinon: War in Syria? It’s up to the Russians
– Ben Lynfield: Can Russia defuse the confrontation with Iran?
– Yoav Fromer: From Russia with disappointment
– Reuven Ben-Shalom: Questions following a ‘day of battle’
– Yoav Limor: The Iranian dilemma
– Yossi Yehoshua: First public Israel-Iran clash was only a taste of the next war
– David Halbfinger: Israel’s clash with Iran: 5 takeaways
– Aaron David Miller: Mideast tensions get even worse
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Tom Gross: Good news about Gaza you won’t hear on the BBC
– Aviva Klompas: Living with the Iran deal
– Alex Ryvchin: Abusing the Holocaust
– Robert Fulford: Law can’t obscure Poland’s anti-Semitism problem, then and now
Featured image: CC0 stevepb; Putin via YouTube/CBS This Morning; cattle CC0 MaxPixel; hacking CC0 FreeImages; debate CC0 Pixabay;
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