The blast at Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant, attributed by many to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, was caused by a bomb planted at the site in advance, an Israeli news report said. According to local media, the explosive was placed near the main electricity line. When it detonated, the entire facility stopped functioning.
According to another report, the blast damaged advanced centrifuges, though it did not specify which model was incapacitated. Tehran had inaugurated advanced IR-5 and IR-6 centrifuges at Natanz as recently as Saturday.
As a result, the plant was completely disabled, with the realization of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions having been set back by months. “All the signs point to this being the worst attack that Iran’s nuclear program has suffered… at the most important Iranian nuclear facility,” military analyst Alon Ben-David commented.
Amid the spiraling tension between Iran and the Jewish state, senior US and Israeli officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss ways to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. The teams will be headed by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. According to insiders, the goal is to ensure that the two allies are in sync on this issue.
Iranian spies are using fake accounts on social media to entice unwitting Israelis to meet and, possibly, kidnap them, Israel’s security services warned.
In a press release, the Mossad and Shin Bet said that Tehran’s operatives target Israelis with business and personal contacts abroad. Through fake Instagram profiles, Iran’s spies reach out and try to arrange meetings in various countries — either for business or romantic purposes.
“Activity of this kind is being carried out in various countries with links to Israel and with Israelis, including Arab and Gulf countries, Turkey, and countries in the Caucasus, Europe and Africa,” the agencies warned, while calling on Israelis with contacts overseas to avoid reaching out to unknown profiles.
According to a local news report, at least one Israeli citizen already left the Jewish state intending to get together with Iranians. Fortunately, he received a last-minute warning from Jerusalem, and the meeting never took place.
Israelis will bow their heads in mourning Tuesday evening, as the country marks Yom HaZikaron, the annual memorial day for fallen soldiers and civilian victims of wars and terrorism. Both on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a siren will sound out across the nation to honor their memory.
Additionally, ceremonies throughout the country will be held to remember the 23,928 who were killed since the struggle that led to the creation of the State of Israel. In the past year, forty-three soldiers and civilians lost their lives.
“In the name of IDF soldiers and commanders, I salute those who died and the bereaved families,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi wrote. “I pledge that we will do everything in our power to return those who are missing and taken captive. We will keep remembering, learning and teaching – and will keep fulfilling our purpose – to defend, to prepare and to win.”
When Yom HaZikaron concludes on Wednesday at sundown, Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s 73rd Day of Independence, begins. Ahead of the festive day, the Central Bureau of Statistics released its annual report. According to the official numbers, Israel is now home to 9.3 million people, of which approximately 6.9 million are Jewish. Over the last year, 167,000 babies were born, and around 16,300 immigrants came home to the Jewish state.
The NASA space agency has named two asteroids after an Israeli woman who found them during a month-long hunt, the Haifa-based Technion university said in a statement. Aseel Nama, a BA student in biomedical engineering, was the only Israeli to participate in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration program.
Moreover, the Israeli Arab, who grew up in the Galilee town of Deir al-Asad and now lives in Haifa, was the only one-member team allowed to register. Nama called her team ANI (Aseel Nama Israel), and the two asteroids she discovered will be known as ANI1801 and ANI2001.
The Technion student said she is taking part in research at Prof. Dan Adam’s lab at the university, where she learned image segmentation. This skill helped her locate the asteroids. “I received a set of photos and videos from NASA and I needed to find new asteroids in them,” she explained.
Along with many other Jewish and Israeli organizations, HonestReporting is inviting you to a global event on the occasion of Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. The program, an initiative of Jewish International Connection (JIC) and Strength to Strength, will be streamed live through Zoom and Facebook on Tuesday, April 13, and Wednesday, April 4.
Speakers include:
- Sari Singer (Founder, Strength to Strength), survivor of a terror attack on a Jerusalem bus in 2003
- Miriam Fuld, wife of Israeli activist and IDF reservist Ari Fuld, who was killed in a terrorist attack in 2018
- Dovid Salzman, a survivor of a triple bombing on Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda Street (1997)
- Rena Ariel, whose thirteen-year-old daughter Hallel was stabbed to death in bed at her home in 2016
- Shahaf Segal, an IDF sharpshooter who was severely injured during Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009)
The program will run on Tuesday from 12:40 to 2:40 PM EDT (7:40-9:40 PM Israel time), and on Wednesday from 8:10 until 10:30 AM EDT (3:10-5:30 PM Israel time). More information can be found on Jewish International Connection’s website.
Recommended Reading
- Inside Iran’s Torture Prisons: Tehran Quick to Jail Those With Pro-Israel Ties (Benjamin Weinthal, Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
- Why Is Abbas Trying to Bully Israel on East Jerusalem? (Yoni Ben Menachem, Israel Hayom)
- UNRWA and the Unique Treatment of Palestinians Prevents Peace (David M. Litman, Algemeiner)
- Israeli Tech Firms Raise Record $5.4 Billion in First Quarter of Year (Shoshanna Solomon, Times of Israel)
- Before Helen Mirren Plays Golda Meir, Here Are 7 Other Stars Who Have Played Israeli Prime Ministers (Gabe Friedman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
