Today’s Top Stories
1. Turkey now demands Israeli weapons sales as a condition for re-normalizing ties, according to Arab reports picked up by the Jerusalem Post. Israeli officials are reportedly demanding to know if the sought-after aerial drones and other equipment will be used against Kurdish rebels.
2. The Gulf state monarchies branded Hezbollah as a terror organization.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
3. The Israeli Air Force began receiving certain components of David’s Sling, the medium range missile defense, which will be declared operational this year, the Jerusalem Post reports.
David’s Sling is part of Israel’s 3-tiered missile defense system: The Iron Dome short-range system made a name for itself with a 90% intercept rate during the 2014 Gaza war, while Arrow, a long-range missile defense system, is expected to be operational by the end of 2016.
Watch David's Sling Interceptor take out target https://t.co/dbMxo9QaVc Watch: David's Sling shoots down mock missile in successful trial
— Jerry Gordon (@jerryg38) March 2, 2016
4. Denying Israel and Judaism’s Collective Memory: According to The Guardian, “Israel offers a florid illustration of how disastrously collective memory can deform a society.”
5. Lost IDF Soldiers Attacked by Rioters and the Press: What exactly triggered a violent clash in the Qalandiya refugee camp?
6. Why BDS Still Targets SodaStream: After SodaStream moved out of the West Bank, and 600 Palestinians lost their jobs, the BDS movement still finds excuses to pick on the company and Israel.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Two Palestinian teenagers who infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Eli were shot and killed after attacking an Israeli in his home and then attacking soldiers this morning. As the Times of Israel notes, a pattern of Palestinian “cooperative strikes in twos and even threes” can’t be called “lone-wolf” terror.
• Following up on Monday night’s heavy clashes in the Qalandiya refugee camp, the Jerusalem Post reports that A) the Palestinian killed during the violence “was shot dead, after he shot a Border Police officer in the knee,” and B) the army doesn’t blame Waze for navigating the soldiers into the camp.
• The Wall St. Journal (via Google News) takes a closer look at the IDF’s efforts to combat Gaza terror tunnels. We’re talking about acoustic sensors, a new facility to train soldiers in subterranean combat, and the creation of new engineering unit tasked with destroying tunnels.
• A 22 year-old Gazan tried to burn himself to death as a wave of suicides in the Strip continues.
Many citizens accuse Hamas of the suicide wave, claiming that the movement is disconnected from the reality in Gaza. Gazans’ frustration with Hamas increased this week, after the movement’s leadership decided to buy 36 new cars for senior public servants.
Around the World
• Some 40 faculty members kicked off Israel “Apartheid” WeekOver at Columbia University by signing a petition calling on the administration to “divest from corporations that supply, perpetuate, and profit from a system that has subjugated the Palestinian people.”
• The City University of New York (CUNY) to conduct an independent probe of claims of anti-Semitism. More on the development at the New York Post and Algemeiner.
• Anti-Semitism in Europe: ‘The devil that never dies’
• Feelgood story of the day: A Dutch news site collected $30,000 for a Holocaust survivor couple beaten and robbed outside their Amsterdam home. Samuel and Diana Blog were called “dirty Jews” by assailants in last year’s attack which shocked the Netherlands.
• After canceling an upcoming visit, Israeli President Ruby Rivlin called Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to smooth ruffled feathers. The cancellation came after Russian President Vladimir Putin requested a “working meeting” with Rivlin at the same time. It was a no-win situation for Rivlin:
Rivlin hesitated over what to do, taking into account the fact that the Australians would be offended, and chose to pass the decision onto the Foreign Ministry. Foreign Ministry officials consulted with various parties, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his capacity as foreign minister, and they came to the decision that at this time and in light of regional developments, one doesn’t say no to Putin.
Commentary/Analysis
• Worth reading: Dr. Reuven Berko examines how Iran uses financial aid to divide and conquer the Palestinians.
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Yaakov Lappin: Driving into a hornet’s nest in Qalandiya
– Jonathan Marks: The BDS movement isn’t working
– Ariel Ben Solomon: Egypt security ties not affecting public’s hatred of Israel
– Roi Kais, Itamar Eichner: Are Israel and Egypt getting closer?
– Abdulrahman Al-Rashed: A company called Hezbollah
– David Ignatius: The US remains essential in a shifting Middle East
Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA HonestReporting, Ionia K./truthout; lion CC BY-NC Drew Geraets;Israeli flag CC BY Nicolas Raymond; Australian flag CC BY Nicolas Raymond;
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