Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday called on the international community and the Palestinian Authority to denounce the use of Nazi symbols by Palestinian rioters.
“The use [in] protests in Judea and Samaria [of] symbols from the days of Nazi rule is serious and illegitimate,” Gantz said in a statement. “I call on the international community and the Palestinian Authority to condemn these actions, and to take action against the instigators who crossed a bright red line.”
Palestinian rioters on Saturday night burned a wooden Star of David with a Nazi swastika symbol inside during demonstrations near the evacuated West Bank outpost of Evyatar.
Relatedly, Israeli media reported on Monday that Gantz had signed an order confiscating 23 tons of chocolate bars bound for the Gaza Strip. Hamas apparently intended to sell the sweets in order to finance its terrorist activities. The group is believed to have an extensive apparatus for extracting such funds.
Sirens sounded near the southern town of Sderot on Monday after a single rocket was fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, the first to be launched from the coastal enclave towards the Jewish state since the end of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May. A second rocket appears to have also been fired and fell inside the Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.
שיגור ראשון מאז סיום מבצע שומר החומות במאי. בצהרי היום לשדרות. ללא נפגעים. pic.twitter.com/ZCkWkhtqan
— Or Heller אור הלר (@OrHeller) August 16, 2021
It came as Palestinian terror factions in Gaza were set to meet to discuss “important national issues.” Some warned earlier this week that Israel and Hamas were headed toward another round of fighting because international mediators had failed to facilitate a breakthrough to bring tens of millions of dollars in Qatari cash into the enclave.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Monday congratulated the Taliban on its takeover of Afghanistan, saying in a statement that “the demise of the American occupation and its allies proves that the resistance of the peoples, foremost of which is our struggling Palestinian people, will achieve victory.”
After a three-day effort by firefighters and other emergency personnel, Israeli authorities on Tuesday announced that a massive wildfire just west of Jerusalem had for the most part been contained. Nevertheless, they warned that strong winds could cause the blaze to spread again.
The fire burned nearly 5,000 acres of land, with officials having compared its scale to that of the 2010 Carmel Fire in northern Israel that killed 44 people and decimated swaths of territory.
Jerusalem on Monday had sought international assistance to combat the fire, although Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has since said that the request was canceled. He thanked the countries that expressed a willingness to send aid, which included Jordan, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. Israel had also asked Italy and France, among other nations.
About 2,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes during the blaze although most have reportedly returned.
More than one million Israelis have received a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine as the government races to halt the spread of the Delta variant.
The figure represents slightly over half of the population eligible for the booster jab: that is, some 1.9 million Israelis who are over the age of 50 and already received their first two shots more than five months ago.
According to Health Ministry data, the early results are promising, with recipients of the additional dose appearing to be 2.5 times more protected from infection than those who only received the first two shots of the Pfizer vaccine.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry recorded 8,646 new infections on Monday, the highest figure during the country’s ongoing fourth wave of the pandemic. Some 550 COVID-19 patients remain in serious condition. Overall, active cases have surpassed 55,000 after hovering at around 200 just two months ago.
Amid the surge, Israel last month became the first country in the world to begin administering booster shots.
Arizona is the eighth US state to begin reviewing whether Ben & Jerry’s plan to stop doing business in Jewish communities in the West Bank violates legislation barring corporations from boycotting Israel.
Arizona’s treasurer last week asked Unilever — the ice cream manufacturer’s parent company — to comply with a 2016 law that requires state entities, including pension funds, to divest from companies that boycott Israel or businesses in territories under the country’s control, including the West Bank.
The treasurer’s office gave Unilever 90 days to do so.
Authorities in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Maryland and Rhode Island have launched formal proceedings into the matter.
Recommended Reading
- BBC: Leading the World Against Israel (Richard Kemp, Gatestone Institute)
- ‘Proud Jews’ Don’t Instate a BDS-Supporting Board of Directors (Farley Weiss, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Report: Major Corporations ‘Fail to Protect’ Jewish Employees From Rising Antisemitism (Faygie Holt, Jewish News Syndicate, Israel Hayom)
- Daily Beast to Review Editorial Standards After Writer Calls Israeli Army ‘Genocidal’ (Ben Sales, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Interest Grows in 3 Experimental COVID Treatments (Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21C)
