Israel celebrates its 69th anniversary of independence - http://www.debka.com/article/26036/Israel-celebrates-its-69th-anniversary-of-independence
Israelis can view the stealth F-35 bomber newly arrived from the US in the fly-past the Air Force stages the length and breadth of the country Tuesday to mark 69th Independence Day. It flies in formations with F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, the veteran Hercules transport plane and its successor the new Samson. Training aircraft and the Saar and Yasur freight helicopters also performs. During the day, many IDF bases and facilities are open to the public. The traditional Young World Bible Quiz takes place in the afternoon. The award of the Israeli prize to honorees in various fields is the closing event of the day which is dedicated this year to 50 years of reunified Jerusalem.
Monday night, twelve citizens were honored by lighting torches at a ceremony on Mt Herzl at the beginning of Israel's 69th anniversary celebrations. .
Uri Malmalian, a retired former soccer champion.
Prof. Ahmed Eid, the head of the Department of General Surgery at Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus. Born in an Israeli Arab village in the Galilee, he studied in Jerusalem, where he lives, and performed the first kidney transplant in Israel.
Amnon Shashua, the founder of driverless-technology company Mobileye, which was recently sold to Intel for a record $15.3 billion.
Dina Simta, a 19-year-old member of the Bnei Menashe Jews of northern India, and a student at Jerusalem's School for the Blind.
Chana Henkin, who immigrated from the United Sates and founded a number of religious schools for women. Her son and his wife were killed in a Palestinian terror attack.
Yehoram Gaon, a long favorite Israeli singer, actor and comedian. His family's Jerusalem roots go back generations.
Yaki (Yaakov) Hetz, who fought in the battle for Ammunition Hill, one of Israel's most famous Six Day War battles, will light a torch in honor of IDF veterans and bereaved families.
The two American citizens taking part in the ceremony will light torches for the first time on behalf of the Jewish Diaspora. They are Rabbi Marvin Hier, who took part in US President Donald Trump's inauguration, and Michael Steinhardt, one of the founders of Taglit-Birthright organization.
On Independence Day, UNESCO okays resolution denying Israeli claims to Jerusalem - By Raphael Ahren and Alexander Fulbright -
22 countries vote in favor of motion; 23 abstain, and 10 countries vote against; Israel envoy slams 'new low, even by UNESCO standards'
The United Nation's cultural body on Tuesday passed the latest in a series of resolutions that denies Israeli claims to Jerusalem, in a move both forcefully condemned by Israel and touted as a diplomatic feat due to the growing number of countries that opposed it.
Submitted to UNESCO's Executive Board by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, the resolution on "Occupied Palestine," which indicates that Israel has no legal or historical rights anywhere in Jerusalem, was expected to pass, given the automatic anti-Israel majority in the 58-member body.
The vote, which coincided with Israel's Independence Day, passed with 22 countries in favor, 23 abstentions, 10 opposed, and the representatives of three countries absent.
The 10 countries that voted against the resolution were the US, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Paraguay, Ukraine, Togo, and Germany.
Its wording was slightly less harsh on Jerusalem than previous resolutions, in that it does affirm the importance of the city to the "three monotheistic religions."
In the moments after the vote passed, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, draped in a large Israeli flag, addressed the meeting.
"Even now, after this miserable vote, this blue and white flag is flying high above the Temple Mount and throughout Israel's eternal capital city, Jerusalem, waving in the wind, saying to all 'here we are, and we are here to stay,'" Shama-Hacohen said.
"This biased and blatantly deceitful decision, and the attempts to dispute the connection between Israel and Jerusalem, will not change the simple fact that this city is the historic and eternal capital of the Jewish people," Danon said in a statement. "Israel will not stand silently by in the face of this shameful resolution."
In the lead up to Tuesday's vote, Israeli diplomats were busy trying to prevent an European-Arab agreement that would see the council's European members either vote in favor or abstain in exchange for a slightly softer text.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to have made phone calls to European leaders in a bid to convince them to reject the resolution.
Earlier on Tuesday Netanyahu harshly criticized the UNESCO resolution for ignoring the Jewish people's millennia-long bond to Israel's capital city.
Speaking at the Bible Quiz held annually on Independence Day, Netanyahu said that despite the text of the resolution, Judaism has deeper roots in Jerusalem that any other religion.
"There is no other people in the world for whom Jerusalem is as holy and important as for the Jewish people, even though a meeting will take place at UNESCO today that will try to deny this historical truth," he said.
"We denounce UNESCO and uphold our truth, which is the truth," that "throughout Jewish history Jerusalem was the heart of the nation."
According to Israeli officials, Germany was a driving force behind a deal that would see all EU states abstain in exchange for the removal of the most incendiary anti-Israel passages. But on Monday, Italy announced that it would vote against the resolution, apparently ending the effort to forge a European consensus.
Jerusalem prefers to see Western countries vote against a harsher resolution, even if it passes, than a consensus in support of a milder text.
Tuesday's resolution, unlike previous resolutions, does not refer to the Temple Mount only as Haram al-Sharif, or to the Western Wall Plaza only as al-Burak plaza, the respective sites' Muslim names. In fact, these sites are not mentioned at all.
Furthermore, Resolution 201 EX/PX/DR.30.1 affirms "the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions." It also notes that the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem, both of which are in the West Bank, "are of religious significance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam" - though it calls them "Palestinian sites."
However, the current draft of the resolution still contains many red flags for Israel. For instance, Israel is referred to throughout the document as the "occupying power," indicating that it has no legal or historical ties to any part of Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, Israel officials acknowledged that the resolution that passed Tuesday is somewhat easier to stomach than previous versions, but emphatically urged Western countries to vote against it.
What is the likelihood of war as Israel marks 69 years of independence? - Yossi Melman -
It's business as usual for the group that was already digging tunnels into Israel 10 years before Hamas.
here's nothing new on Israel's northern border. Last Sunday, a senior officer in the IDF Northern Command briefed military correspondents on Hezbollah activity on Israel's Lebanese border. Conspiratorial theorists rushed immediately to reach their twisted notions.
They figured the briefing was being held due to the fierce power struggle that had once again flared up between Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon - with the backing of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - and Finance Minister Yair Lapid over the defense budget. As if this were just another one of the defense ministry's media spins aimed at reigniting Israelis' fear of immediate confrontation with Hezbollah, to enhance its demand for budget increase.
But the truth is actually surprisingly simple. The briefing had been scheduled two weeks previously and turned out to be a fairly routine rundown of information facilitated by the IDF Spokesman for senior officers from the various military corps and for military correspondents and commentators.
More importantly, the senior officer giving the briefing did not tell us anything we didn't already know.
He didn't speak of the dangers of an imminent war or of an eruption of violence on the northern border.
On the contrary, he stated that there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about activity on the Lebanese side of the border.
It's true, he said, that over the last few weeks there had been a slight modification that could possibly indicate a more proactive and daring style on the part of Hezbollah fighters near the border fence. They don't try anymore to hide the fact that they are armed, which is in violation of the agreement reached at the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
"Although this is not a new phenomenon," the officer admitted, "lately they have become more daring."
The officer also reiterated the fact that, contrary to claims made by residents of the Galilee, the IDF has not gathered any intel about tunnels that have been dug under Israeli territory.
Does Hezbollah dig tunnels? "It is likely that they are indeed engaged in such activity."
Let's not forget that Hezbollah predated Hamas by about ten years in what the IDF calls "underground mediation" - the warfare beneath the ground.
And neither is it breaking news that Hezbollah is continuously growing stronger.
From Israel's point of view, however, Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war has its pros and cons, both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that the Lebanese Shi'ite organization is bleeding on the battlefields of Syria. Hundreds (maybe even a thousand) of its fighters have been killed and thousands injured.
On the other hand, however, Hezbollah has also acquired tremendous military and operational experience as a result of this fighting, and it now has a large number of trained warriors at the ready for a war against Israel if and when that time arrives.
If war were to break out, the IDF is aware that Hezbollah would try to replicate its successes from Syria and send a few hundred fighters to capture an Israeli rural community or conquer a mountaintop. Is this a military secret? No. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in so many words himself during one of his televised appearances.
So, for now, as the senior IDF officer said, "The situation on Israel's northern border is quiet and calm. Although this status could change at any moment, I am not of the opinion that Hezbollah will launch an offensive against us tomorrow morning."
Ezekiel's Bones Live - Israel Prepares To Celebrate Independence Day -
Israel has approximately 8.68 million residents, more than 10 times the population at its founding in 1948, and is on track to reach more than 15.2 million residents by 2048, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday ahead of the country's 69th Independence Day.
Currently, there are 6.48 million Jewish residents in Israel, accounting for 74.7 percent of the population, and 1.81 million Arab residents, comprising 20.8 percent.
Permanent residents who, according to the Interior Ministry's Population Registry, are neither Jewish nor Arab--including most non-Jewish immigrants, many of whom are non-Arab Christians or have no religious affiliation--make up 4.5 percent of the Israeli population. The figures do not take into account foreign workers and others not considered permanent residents.
Israel's population has grown by 159,000 residents since Independence Day 2016, an increase of about 2 percent. The past year saw the birth of 174,000 babies and the arrival of some 30,000 new immigrants, while about 44,000 Israeli residents died.
Almost 35 percent of Israel's residents are under age 18, while about 54 percent are ages 19-64. Slightly more than 11 percent of Israelis are 65 and older.
The overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews take pride in their country and identify with the State of Israel, a new survey released ahead of Independence Day shows.
According to the Peace Index survey conducted jointly by the Israel Democracy Institute's Guttman Center and Tel Aviv University, while Israelis are critical of certain perceived failings of state policy, the vast majority of Jewish citizens identify with the state and its problems and are optimistic about the future.
In addition, a majority of Arab Israelis also take pride in being part of the State of Israel, identify with the state and its problems, and in many areas are more likely to approve of the state's policies than their Jewish peers.
While 43.9% of Jewish Israelis rated Israel's overall situation as good, compared to 39.2% who rated it as okay, and 15.8% who said its bad, nearly two-thirds (66.0%) of Israeli Arabs rated Israels situation as good, 19.% said it was okay, and just 12.4% rated it as bad.
Seventy-four percent of Jews and 56.7% of Arabs also said they rated their own personal situation as good, compared to 23.8% of Jews and 31.3% of Arabs who said their own prospects were so-so, and 1.3% of Jews and 7.9% of Arabs who said their situations were not good.
Jews, were more likely to say they were proud of being Israeli, though a majority of Arabs also expressed this sentiment. Among Israeli Jews, 86.1% said they were proud of being a part of Israel, compared to 51.1% of Israeli Arabs. Just 13% of Israeli Jews said they were not proud, compared to 39.9% of Israeli Arabs.
More than four-fifths (82.0%) of Jews and 57.5% of Arabs said they identify with the State of Israel and its problems to a large or moderate extent, while 13.4% of Jews and 16.6% of Arabs said they identified with Israel only slightly, and 2.5% of Jews and 21.9% of Arabs said they did not identify with Israel at all.
Both Israeli Jews and Arabs tended to said they were optimistic both about the future of Israel. Nearly three-quarters (73.4%) of Jews said they were optimistic about the future of the State of Israel, compared to 60.8% of Arabs, while 22.2% of Jews and 32.1% of Arabs said they were not.
In certain specific areas, Israeli Arabs were more likely to regard Israels efforts as successful.
While just 18.6% of Jews said Israel was succeeding in reducing social gaps, 49.3% of Israeli Arabs said Israel was succeeding.
Nearly three-quarters (74.5%) of Arab said Israel was doing a good job maintaining economic stability, compared to 59.8% of Jews who expressed the same opinion.
Close to half (45.9%) of Arabs said Israel was attentive to what citizens want, while just 22.1% of Jews agreed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.