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Two Palestinians with knives were arrested at the Shilat Junction near the city of Modi’in in central Israel, local media reported on Sunday afternoon. Authorities believe the two intended to carry out a terror attack.
Only hours later, Palestinian terror groups opened fire at the West Bank community of Kiryat Arba. According to the Rescuers Without Borders emergency service, no injuries were caused, although bullets may have hit a home.
The incidents came as tensions ran high following multiple attempted attacks. On Saturday night, Israel’s police thwarted a stabbing in Jerusalem’s Old City, detaining a 13-year-old suspect from the eastern part of the capital.
The day prior, a Palestinian tried to knife an Israeli civilian in the West Bank’s Sde Ephraim Farm. The terrorist was shot and killed, while the Israeli man did not sustain any injuries, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson stated.
In related news, the army’s Military Police Unit announced on Monday that it had launched an investigation into last week’s death of a 45-year-old Palestinian man.
Ahmad Kahla was shot during a verbal altercation with Israeli troops near Ofra. However, while initial reports indicated that Kahla sought to carry out an attack, an initial probe concluded that “the incident was not supposed to end with a man dead.” The inquiry’s conclusions will be shared with the Military Advocate General’s office, the IDF said in a statement.
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Israel’s Foreign Ministry rebuked the EU and other Western nations over the weekend after a European delegation visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem without prior communication through diplomatic channels.
The group — which included some 30 representatives from EU countries, Australia, the UK and Argentina — reportedly coordinated with Jordan’s Islamic Waqf, which is in charge at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but failed to inform the Israeli authorities altogether, despite Jerusalem being responsible for security at the holy site.
According to local media, the contentious tour was organized by Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, head of the European Union Delegation to the Palestinians in Ramallah.
Following the visit, the British Consulate in eastern Jerusalem took to social media to express its support for “Jordanian Custodianship of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem,” writing on Twitter that London “continue[s] to promote historic Status Quo arrangements which permit all three Abrahamic faiths to worship in the Old City.”
The post omitted that the Temple Mount is also Judaism’s holiest site.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson expressed anger over the incident, telling Israel Hayom: “This visit was irresponsible and could have led to provocation and incitement. The Foreign Ministry will continue to engage via diplomatic channels in order to prevent steps that could lead to escalation and has made it clear to the EU that it does not take it lightly.”
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Speaking at the Israeli American Council’s national summit in Austin, Texas, newly minted Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli attempted to alleviate US Jewry’s concerns about proposed changes to the Jewish state’s immigration policies.
“No one, no one is going to cancel the Law of Return, which is fundamental for the State of Israel. Israel will always remain a safe haven for every Jew on earth,” Chikli emphasized in an on-stage interview with Israeli journalist and TV presenter Miri Michaeli.
“We’re not saying we’re about to cancel Chapter Four tomorrow morning,” he said, referring to the 1970 amendment that entitles anyone with a Jewish grandparent to citizenship. “That’s not what’s going to happen. What’s going to happen is there’s going to be a committee to determine how can we deal with this serious challenge.”
Chikli added: “And as you see when you go into the details, that’s a challenge. We need Israel to be a strong Jewish state, and we need to tackle this challenge, and we’re going to do it slow. We’re going to do it by listening to all.”
While the minister vowed that any changes to the Law of Return would happen through a process that includes consultation with others, Chikli expressed concerns about the lack of Jewish identity among some immigrants from former Soviet Union countries.
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Over half of Ukrainians consider Israel a friendly country that supports them, while only 12 percent disagree with the statement, a recent survey commissioned by the Israeli embassy in Kyiv found.
According to the poll conducted by the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv, 60% of Ukrainians feel solidarity with Israelis, whom they see as the victims of Palestinian terrorism. Furthermore, 64% of those asked voiced support for the Jewish state in its conflict with Iran.
Israel’s approach to the Ukraine conflict has been described as a “delicate balancing act.” This is in part due to Jerusalem’s deconfliction mechanism with Moscow, allowing the IDF to strike Iranian targets in Syria, where the Russian Armed Forces have a significant presence. In the 11 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, Israel has provided that country with humanitarian aid.
When asked why Israel has refused to supply Ukraine with weapon systems, 33% said that they believe this decision derives from Israel’s complex relations with the Kremlin. 17% called the decision understandable but unacceptable, while 26% said the decision was neither understandable nor acceptable.
The survey also found that 87% of those asked thought Israeli technology would be able to help Ukraine’s recovery after the war with Russia ends.
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Israel has successfully completed a large issue of government bonds, raising $2 billion from international institutional investors, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed.
Demand for bonds had actually reached over $10 billion, Netanyahu stated ahead of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
“The world actually believes in the State of Israel and in the Israeli economy,” the PM told reporters. “It believes in the leadership of the State of Israel and the proof is the huge demand for bonds and the low interest rate that the State of Israel is paying for them.”
“The markets have confidence in us because they know that our economic policy will continue to foster free markets, initiatives and the liberalization of the economy,” the premier added.
Recommended Reading
- Jerusalem’s Jewish Majority Has Been Restored After 100 Years – Opinion (Stephen M. Flatow, Jerusalem Post)
- Thomas Friedman’s Fury (Jerold S. Auerbach, Israel Hayom)
- ‘Whispered in Gaza, Part 2’: When Residents of the Strip Tried To Challenge Hamas (Times of Israel)
- Changing Minds on Zionism and Israel (Uri Pilichowski, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Resilience-tech Hub Opens in Israel’s Most Resilient City (Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c)
