After Gaza war, Muslim-German students threaten to kill Jewish student spokesman
The student spokesman for the city of Offenbach’s school system, Max Moses Bonifer, resigned his post because German Arab and Turkish students attacked him and threatened to kill him.If Not You, Then Who?: An Open Letter to the Pro-Israel Campus Community
The German daily FAZ reported on Wednesday that Bonifer said young Muslims have threatened him over the last few weeks because he wore a kippa with a Star of David and yelled at him: “We spit on your people. We’ll find you and kill you.”
Bonifer told the weekly German Jewish paper Jüdische Allgemeine that “since the Gaza conflict in the summer, youths of Arab and Turkish origin have regularly insulted me, spat at me and attacked me.”
Bonifer said he could no longer represent students who wish death for him and the Jewish people.
Offenbach is a small city in the state of Hesse, with a population of roughly 122,000, and borders the financial capital Frankfurt am Main. More than 16,000 German Muslims live in Offenbach. (h/t Gastwirt)
Earlier this semester, my international affairs professor referred to Israel (in the context of its relationship with the United States) as “the tail that wags the dog.” Little did she know; a dog depends on its tail for balance. A dog without its tail could not stand steadily.Dachau’s ‘Work sets you free’ sign stolen
In the next lecture, we were presented with maps of Gaza prior to the 2005 withdrawal and told that these settlements remain in place to this day. We spent nearly a quarter of another lecture watching a Mearsheimer and Walt interview that echoed anti-Semitic undertones and narrow-minded bias. There has been no mention in class of a pro-Israel narrative or anything that resembles it.
The course is titled, “Intro to International Affairs: A Washington Perspective”. Considering a recent 401-1 congressional vote on the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act with overwhelming bipartisan support, I can confidently say that the information presented in class did not reflect a Washington perspective.
Part of a wrought-iron gate, bearing the Nazis’ cynical slogan “Arbeit macht frei” or “Work sets you free,” was stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp, police said Sunday.
Security officials noticed early Sunday morning that the gate section measuring 190 x 95 centimeters (75 x 37 inches) was missing, police said in a statement. Whoever stole it during the night would have had to climb over another gate to reach it, they added.
Police said they found nothing in the immediate vicinity of the camp and appealed to anyone who noticed any suspicious people or vehicles to come forward.
Dachau, near Munich, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. More than 200,000 people from across Europe were held there and over 40,000 prisoners died before it was liberated by US forces on April 29, 1945. The camp is now a memorial.
A short story dedicated to the Dachau desecrators
Fighting for Freedom in 2014's UKIn late 1944, my grandfather was captured off the coast of Cyprus on an Italian ship, interned in Dachau and sentenced to hard labour. When I was a teenager, he told me about the hunger, the lice, the cold and most of all its unreal silence…My grandfather was not a Jew, so he didn’t risk the ovens, but instead of dying of starvation.My grandfather survived — he came home not healthy but alive. My grandfather was afraid of anything and he always said: if you have been there all the rest is nothing.
So, you, Dachau desecrators, you will never take my memories away. I wish you could have talked to my Grandpa…
There is a new-found confidence inside the Jewish community, particularly in Manchester. The Jewish people are becoming more organized, more vocal. Jews are taking to social media to combat anti-Semitism and Israelophobia. They are writing to newspapers and politicians.Jewish Members of UK House of Lords Rise to Israel’s Defense
The establishment of grassroots organisations such as Northwest Friends of Israel (NWFOI) pushed the issue of anti-Semitism to the top of the political agenda, prompting high-ranking ministers and MPs, like David Cameron, George Osborne, Michael Gove, Eric Pickles, Jim Murphy and Ivan Lewis, to speak out against anti-Semitism. The Say No To Anti-Semitism Rally held in Manchester on October 19 (attended by around 2,500 people) was the high watermark of British Jewry’s fight for freedom in 2014.
Reflecting on the rally, NWFOI co-chair Anthony Dennison said it focused the Jewish community’s attention on the “very real and ever growing threat” of anti-Semitism:
“In the summer anti-Semitic attacks were up 400 per cent in the UK because anti-Semites use the actions of Israel as justification for attacks on Jews. There are very few anti-Zionists who are not anti-Semitic in my view and we need to emphasise this as much as we can.”
He added: “Another reason why the rally was so important was because it brought a very diverse community together, young and old, religious and non-religious. It also showed us that we are not fighting this battle alone. The crowd included Christians and Kurdish Muslims which was wonderful to see and the non-Jewish speakers like Jim Murphy MP were simply inspirational.”
Jewish peers in Britain’s upper legislative chamber, the House of Lords, last night engaged in robust defense of Israel during a four-and-a-half hour debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Ryan Bellerose: “It Could Always Be Worse”
Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi, told the chamber, “at the outset I declare an interest. I am a Jew. Israel is therefore for me the place where my people were born almost four thousand years ago, the place to which Abraham and Sarah travelled, where Amos voiced his vision of social justice and Isaiah dreamed of a world at peace, where David composed the Psalms and Solomon built the Temple – and this had consequences not only for Jews but also for Christians and Muslims, who claim Abraham as their ancestor in faith, and whose God they take as their own.”
Later on in his speech, Sacks declared: “The Islamists also know that the only way they can win the sympathy of the West is by demonizing Israel. They know you can’t win support for ISIS, Boko Haram or Islamic Jihad, but if you can blame Israel you will gain the support of academics, unions and the media and you will distract attention from the massacres in Syria and Iraq, the slow descent of other countries into chaos, and the ethnic cleansing of Christians throughout the region.”
While talking to some Jewish friends, I realized something. It was somewhat of an epiphany.Hotels must say “NO” to anti-Israeli discrimination at academic conferences
I was getting frustrated at the tendency of some mainstream Jewish organisations to put their heads firmly in the sand when it comes to openly fighting antisemitism. in particular when two good friends of mine went to visit a rabbi who refused to accept that antisemitism is alive and well in the city of Calgary. Despite the evidence of an actual physical attack, he just spouted the typical ” The victims asked for it” meme that we hear constantly. The mainstream organisations all seem to have the same ideas about “rocking the boat,” namely don’t do it. Remember these are all well-funded organisations to which people donate money, believing their money goes to a good cause. Yet these organisations rarely do much other than talk. Several grassroots organisations run by students have stepped up to fill the gaps, and organisations like Camera and Stand with Us have also stepped up in a big way.
As someone who genuinely believes that windmills are for tilting and who has studied the history and culture of Jewish folks in great detail, sometimes this tendency towards inaction is baffling and almost enraging. Why is it that a people who have undergone oppression and marginalization do not want to stamp it out immediately wherever they see it? Why do they allow “open Hillels” and other such foolishness from mainstream Jewish organisations? Why are people who attack Israel and Jews not treated like the bullies they are?
Imagine a major conference being held at a major hotel in Los Angeles.SJP: Dividing Campuses Since 2001
In advance of the conference, the organizers announced that Mexican companies could not attend, because the organizers didn’t like Mexico due to the suppression of indigenous cultures. Further, no Mexicans affiliated with those companies could attend the conference, unless they were able to show that they were not representing Mexican companies.
Imagine that the litmus test for attendance was applied to no one else. Not Europeans, with their long history of colonization. Not Russians, with their suppression of ethnic minorities. Not Arab countries, where religious minorities are abused, leading to de facto religious cleansing. Not Norway, which occupied Lapland. Or France, which occupies Corsica. Or Turkey, which occupies northern Cyprus and suppresses Kurdish national goals with military force.
Imagine that no other country as to which arguments similar to those made against Mexico could be made was subjected to such treatment.
Imagine such a scenario – would any one hesitate to decry the singling out of Mexico and Mexicans?
Would anyone hesitate to say it was discrimination based on national origin (and depending how you define it, race)?
More important, would a major hotel hosting such a conference allow such discriminatory attendance rules to be carried out openly on its premises?
SJP Die-InAs a person who is involved in politics, specifically the Middle East conflict, I have seen very hostile protests, demonstrations, etc… But I never expected to witness it on my own campus, especially right here in New York City. That all changed however, as I walked into school on October 8th 2014 and saw members of the Students for Justice in Palestine group laying on the floor of my campus, covered in sheets drenched in “blood,” and holding up signs encouraging an “intifada,” calling for the “boycott” of Israel, and spewing lies and hatred that are counter-productive to 21st century values. As I stood by what they call a ‘die-in,’ draped in my Israeli flag, wearing glasses that had the Star of David strewn across the lenses, I was quickly identified by SJP and targeted. In the beginning, a member of their group tried to get me to leave, however I refused, I had a right as a student to be there and voice my opinion.Maher Addresses Berkeley Petition, Will Still Speak at Commencement
As I stood there, listening to the lies and hate they were spewing, being called despicable names by some of their members, having somebody ask me if they could “wipe their a** with my flag,” regret and anger filled my heart. You’d probably expect me to be mad at the lies they were spewing and hate they were encouraging, and of course I was, but that’s not what really hurt me. What hurt me was the fact that people in the 21st century, people who believe they are “progressive,” can act in such a fashion, as well as target and try to intimidate their fellow students, as they did to me and some of my fellow club members.
The comedian addressed the controversy on his Friday show, pointing out Berkeley's history on free speech saying “I guess they don’t teach irony in college anymore.” He also addressed the charge that he was racist, saying “Right, because Islam is a race.”
Maher closed his remarks by saying:
“Here’s my final plea to you liberal — in the truest sense of the word — college students, not just at Berkeley but all over the country. Please. Weigh in on this. My reputation isn’t on the line…yours is.”
Jewish demonstrators condemn anti-Israel protests in South Africa
Jewish protesters demonstrated outside a South African chain store to condemn anti-Israel protests that they say have turned anti-Semitic.Want to buy a nonstick Tefal pan? Go to 'Palestine'
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies umbrella body staged the demonstration Thursday outside the Sea Point store, part of the upscale national chain Woolworths, against the Congress of South African Students’ Western Cape branch.
The rally was in response to a pig’s head being placed in what was thought to be the store’s kosher refrigerators the previous week by COSAS.
Protestors bore placards reading “Free Speech not hate speech” and “Say No To Anti-Semitism” to highlight what the board said is rising anti-Semitism and persecution of minorities, according to the daily Cape Times. The board accused the COSAS branch of intimidation, anti-Semitism and hate speech.
French kitchenware company Tefal has removed all mention of Israel from its website, replacing it with Palestine.BBC WS does promo for Human Rights Watch
The website of the international company, famous for its nonstick pans, provides all kinds of information on its products, including the location of stores that sell its products around the world. But if a potential customer tries to locate stores in Israel, they will find that there is no such option under the category "Middle East" -- instead, a store in Jerusalem is said to be situated in "Palestine."
The Jerusalem store is located in the Atarot industrial zone -- not in an area under Palestinian sovereignty.
The word Israel does not appear anywhere on the site. Even in the "contact us" section, the user receives the following message: "Please select your country in the drop-down menu below. You'll get the contact details of your local Tefal Consumer Service." Though all of Israel's neighbors appear as options on the menu, Israel does not. Instead, the user can select the country "Palestine."
As regular readers are no doubt well aware, one of the NGOs most frequently quoted and promoted by the BBC is Human Rights Watch. Despite the organisation’s regular appearances in content broadcast on a variety of BBC platforms, audiences are not informed of the many problematic aspects of its activities – as perhaps most famously publicised by its own founder five years ago – or of its political agenda.BBC amplifies defamatory hearsay on shooting of Glick attacker on multiple platforms
Notwithstanding the existence of BBC editorial guidelines requiring audiences to be provided with details of the “ideology” of interviewees and their organisations, no such information was given when, on October 30th, the BBC World Service radio programme ‘Outlook’ devoted ten minutes of airtime to an interview with HRW’s Fred Abrahams.
So let’s recap on what BBC audiences have been told in these reports. They have been led to believe that Hijazi may not have been armed and that – rather than arresting him – the Israeli security forces took him up to the roof of the house and there shot and killed him. Whilst some – but not all – of the reports present the Israeli police force’s statement on the incident, the BBC affords much more airtime to the promotion of what is ultimately an allegation that a possibly unarmed man was summarily executed. That very serious accusation is enthusiastically amplified by the BBC to millions on multiple platforms despite the fact that it has not independently verified the accounts provided by interested parties including family members, anonymous neighbours and a known anti-Israel political activist who stood trial a few years ago for assaulting a man he suspected of selling property to Jews.CiF Watch prompts correction to UK newspaper claim Jews ‘stormed the mosque’
We noted that (contrary to the headline’s suggestion) the Jews in question had not attempted to enter, “storm” or force their way into the al-Aqsa Mosque. Rather, they attempted to pray at the Temple Mount compound (the holiest site in Judaism), the general site where the al-Aqsa Mosque is located.Syrian state news agency launches Hebrew site
Though the subsequent text of the article clarified what actually occurred at the Temple Mount, we expressed our concerns to Telegraph editors that the headline would likely mislead readers, and they agreed to revise it accordingly.
Syria’s official news agency SANA has launched a Hebrew-language website to reach out to Israelis, despite officially being at war with the Jewish state, the agency’s director-general confirmed on Monday.Isis seeks manager for ailing oil plant
The website went live on Sunday, Ahmad Dawa told AFP, and is intended to expand the state news service’s reach.
“We want to address all those who speak this language,” he said.
“Our objective is to reach the largest number of people possible and to clarify Syria’s image,” following more than three years of deadly conflict in the country, he added.
For one daring and zealous oilman, the jihadists of Islamic State are offering the job opportunity of a lifetime.Children of the Caliphate
After a string of fatal accidents at Iraqi oilfields seized by Isis in June, the Islamists are seeking a manager to run their refineries and arrest the slump in its once-lucrative oil business. For the right applicant, combining experience and unshakeable devotion to the Islamist cause, the post commands a salary of $225,000 (£140,000) a year.
The refineries manager position is the most senior of several vacancies that Isis is seeking to fill as it haemorrhages skilled staff from its Iraqi oil fields. The group’s black-market oil revenues, estimated at up to $3 million a day earlier in the summer, are thought to have collapsed by more than two thirds and are still falling.
They stand in the front row at public beheadings and crucifixions held in Raqqa, the Islamic State's stronghold in Syria. They're used for blood transfusions when Islamic State fighters are injured. They are paid to inform on people who are disloyal or speak out against the Islamic State. They are trained to become suicide bombers. They are children as young as 6 years old, and they are being transformed into the Islamic State's soldiers of the future.Swiss confirm European terror plot by three Iraqis
The Islamic State has put in place a far-reaching and well-organized system for recruiting children, indoctrinating them with the group's extremist beliefs, and then teaching them rudimentary fighting skills. The militants are preparing for a long war against the West, and hope the young warriors being trained today will still be fighting years from now.
While there are no hard figures for how many children are involved, refugee stories and evidence collected by the United Nations, human rights groups, and journalists suggest that the indoctrination and military training of children is widespread.
Swiss authorities confirmed on Friday that three Iraqis arrested in March are suspected of having planned a terrorist attack in Europe on behalf of the Islamic State group.Several 'planned terrorist attacks' foiled in France
At the end of March, authorities "arrested three Iraqi citizens suspected of providing support to the criminal organization known as the Islamic State (Isis)," Switzerland's attorney general said in a statement.
"They are thought to have been planning a terrorist attack in Europe," the statement said.
Swiss news media reported the arrests at the end of September, saying Switzerland's Federal Intelligence Service had been tipped off by a Western counterpart which intercepted the men's phone calls.
Several terrorist plots against France have been foiled in recent months including one planned to target the famous Nice Carnival, French security services revealed on Monday. The news comes as France remains on high alert for attacks from extremists.Army Cadet Attacked With Makeshift Blowtorch While Selling Poppies
Details were revealed on Monday of three alleged terror plots on France that were thwarted by the country’s anti-terror police.
According to France’s RTL radio, which cited information from the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI), one plot was designed to target the famous Nice Carnival, which takes place in February each year.
A 15 year old Army Cadet who had been out selling Remembrance Sunday poppies was burned in a makeshift blow torch attack in Manchester last night. His attacker, described as black or Asian and about 5ft 8 inches tall and wearing a dark hoodie, is thought to have been drunk as he was staggering as he left the scene. Police have said that it was “pure luck” that the boy, who suffered minor burns, was not more severely injured.Despite Denials, Qatar Still Facing Accusations of Supporting ISIS
The attack took place last night at a bus stop by the Manchester Gallery in Manchester’s city centre. The teenager, who has not been named, was wearing his camouflaged uniform as he had been selling the poppies all day in the town centre to raise money for charity. He was approached by a man carrying an aerosol can and a lighter, who then sprayed lit fumes at the teenager, causing minor burns to his face and singeing hair on his face and right forearm. The attacker then walked off without saying a word, the Independent has reported.
Detective Inspector Liam Boden said: “This is an absolutely appalling attack on a young man who was raising money to help remember all those who gave their lives fighting bravely for their country.
Although Qatar keeps denying its links to terrorist organizations in the Middle East, particularly ISIS, many factions in the Arab world and the West continue to believe Doha is funding Islamist groups across the region. Various Arab actors and media outlets emphasized this claim in the past days during the emir of Qatar’s visit to the UK.UN Report: 15,000 Foreign Jihadists Have Joined ISIS
Qatar is participating in the U.S.-led coalition to battle ISIS militants who have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, and is denying providing any help to ISIS or any other terror organization. However, Saudi King Abdullah recently expressed doubts about Qatar’s declarations, Al-Arab reported. The newspaper added:
“The Saudi leadership is still not convinced that Qatar halted funding terrorist groups in the region such as the A-Nusra Front.”
A special new report compiled by United Nations (UN) Security Council shows that more than 15,000 foreign nationals have crossed the borders into Syria and Iraq to join the ranks of the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization.ISIS Cashes in on Antiques from Shrines Destroyed in Iraq and Syria
According to the report, published Thursday, there has been a mass movement of civilians from around the world in the past two years into Syria and Iraq to join ISIS's jihad.
Foreign nationals are entering a war zone in the Middle East to states known previously only for their oil, and not once mentioned in the context of global terrorism, according to the report.
The authors claim that ISIS's new recruits are citizens of 80 countries around the world.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) destroys Christian and Muslim shrines and tombs because of idolatry. However, the jihadists know the value of items and manage to sell them to Western antique collectors.Is There a Tacit Obama-Iran Alliance?
Antique sales pushed the group’s accounts from under $1,000 to billions. These militants control around 4,500 archeological sites. In al-Nabuk, they stole antiques over 8,000 years old, which netted $36 million for the jihadists. Residents and gangs are allowed to loot the shrines, but they must give 20% to 50% of their profits to the Islamic State.
“There is no doubt that looting and illicit trade in antiquities is highly lucrative, enough for ISIS to be deeply engaged and implicated in it,” said Shawnee State University Professor Amr Al-Azm. “Stopping this illicit trade in antiquities, therefore, must be an imperative, not only because it is a major source of income for terrorist organizations like ISIS, but also because it is causing irreparable damage to Syria’s cultural heritage.”
The president’s formula for achieving this dubious goal is clear.US caving to Iranians on nuke deal, Israeli official warns
On the one hand, he will try to forge an agreement that will not require congressional approval. That will be no easy task as the Constitution requires the Senate to approve any treaty with a foreign power and only Congress can repeal the economic sanctions it passed in recent years. But as we already know this isn’t a president that is troubled much by having to tread on the Constitution or violate the law. He will, as has already been reported, attempt to portray an Iran deal as something other than a new treaty. He will also use his executive power to suspend enforcement of sanctions, perhaps indefinitely, in order to render existing laws null and void.
As for Israel, as Goldberg’s column indicated, the administration thinks they’ve already won since Netanyahu failed to order an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities during the president’s first term.
So where does this leave us?
The official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, asserted that throughout the nuclear negotiations, the US had repeatedly conceded to Iranian demands, while Iran itself had not budged from its initial positions.Ahead of Nuclear Deadline, Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Navy
“It would be a bad agreement,” the official told The Times of Israel. “The number of centrifuges the US agreed to [allow Iran to operate] is rising. Already, there are talks about 5,000 centrifuges, while it is clear that the Iranians do not need that many for civilian purposes.”
The official asserted the Iran had clearly conducted nuclear experiments in its covert Parchin military facility, which the Iranian government had closed off to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency despite repeated requests by the UN watchdog to investigate the site.
On Friday, the head of the IAEA was quoted saying Iran had not complied with its obligations to provide information on “possible military dimensions” of its nuclear program, the New York Times reported.
Ahead of nuclear talks expected to take place next week in Oman, Iran is renewing militant threats against the United States and its allies.Advocacy Group Calls on Obama to Demand ‘Full Transparency’ on Iran Nukes Before Lifting Sanctions
Admiral Ali Fadavi, commander of the naval force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, made a further clear and explicit threat to the US, promising to destroy its fleet in the Persian Gulf waters if the U.S. refuses to withdraw from the area.
According to the Baqa Today website, Fadavi stressed that “Americans removal from the Gulf is one of the basic tasks of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” threatening that his forces could destroy and sink the US fleet “in 50 seconds.”
Fadavi, who leads the unit guarding the waters of the Gulf and the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, was quoted by Baqa Today as saying that his forces “conducted many exercises to attack the US fleet”. He added, “Although the Americans are committed to their movement within the limits of international waters, we monitor their movements.”
United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based lobby group whose leadership includes Mark Wallace, a former American Ambassador to the United Nations, and Dr. Gary Samore, the former White House Coordinator for Arms Control, was reacting to a statement from the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi , who said that a US proposal for the gradual lifting of sanctions was “unacceptable.”72 years later, jewels returned to heirs of deported Jews
“If we want a definitive accord on November 24, there must be an immediate lifting of sanctions,” Bouroujerdi told a news conference in Paris. November 24 is the deadline set by the international community for a final deal. Throughout the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany,) there had been concern that the Iranian leadership will raise new, radical demands, such as the “immediate” lifting of sanctions, ahead of the deadline.
“Ever since this agreement was passed last November, the P5+1 has eased sanctions on Iran,” Gabriel Pedreira, the spokesman for UANI, told The Algemeiner. “But what has the Iranian regime done in return? It’s continued to support terrorism, continued to back the Assad regime in Syria, presided over a disastrous human rights situation inside the country, while allowing its centrifuges to continue spinning. There is nothing to indicate that they are serious about dismantling their nuclear program.”
A Dutch historical society returned jewels to a Jewish family that had given them to neighbors for safekeeping before being deported by the Nazis.Crime pays for Radware as cyber-attacks increase
The jewels were returned to a descendant of Benjamin Slager and Lena Slager-de Vries at a ceremony in the town hall of Winschoten in the north of the Netherlands on Oct. 28, exactly 72 years after her relatives and 500 of the town’s Jews were sent to the Westerbork concentration camp, the Dagblad van het Noorden daily reported.
Only 46 of the town’s Jews survived the Holocaust.
Before they were marched to the local train station, the Slagers gave a box with family jewels to their next-door neighbors, the Schoenmakers. The women of the family passed on the box from daughter to daughter with instructions to keep them for the Slagers.
The spate of cyber-attacks that rocked U.S. companies in 2014 came at just the right time for Tel Aviv-based Radware Ltd. (RDWR), which spent the last three years doubling its U.S. sales force.Patriots Receiver Dons American-Israel Lapel Pin on Sideline
Radware, whose technology distributes workloads across networks and helps fend off threats, reported third-quarter earnings-per-share on Oct. 28 that beat the average analyst estimate by 24 percent, triggering the biggest rally in the stock since 2010. The shares gained 12 percent last week to $18.99, the best performance on the Bloomberg Israel-US Equity index.
New England Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman donned an American-Israel label pin while on the sideline of the Patriot's Sunday game against the Denver Broncos.Israel Signs Weapons Deals With United States and Canada
Though Edelman is not Jewish, Patriots owner Robert Kraft is Jewish and deeply involved in Jewish and Israeli philanthropy. In 2005, rededicated Kraft Family Field in Jerusalem, Israel's capital.
Israel Aerospace Industries will be assembling the wings of the new fighter, which will also include Israeli-made components. The assembly line for the F-35 parts manufactured in Israel is expected to be inaugurated this week.Israel and China Strengthen Economic Ties in Tel Aviv Conference
Other deals, such as the continued joint development of the David’s Sling and Arrow missile intercept systems, were also reached. The deals were discussed and agreed to by Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon and his American counterpart Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel when they met in Washington last week.
Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems also announced a deal to supply the Canadian Armed Forces with mobile satellite communication systems. The systems being sold are exclusive, as they have the ability to connect to the U.S. Defense Department satellite network.
One of Israel’s most influential business conferences, the 12th Go4Israel Conference, was held last week at the Hilton Tel Aviv, and placed particular attention on China. More than 1,000 participants took part in the conference including international and local entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders.US Army Buys Its First Iron Dome from Israel
“The conference reflects Israel’s role in bringing the world’s Western and Eastern economies together. With an increasing presence of China in Israel’s business scene, we can help enhance global relationships between investors and entrepreneurs, mainly from Europe, China, and Israel,” said Edouard Cukierman, the chairman and founder of Cukierman & Co. Investment House, which organized the conference along with its private equity fund, Catalyst Fund.
Cukierman & Co. heads Israel’s largest investment team and has been involved for the past 20 years in raising €4 billion, much of it for Israeli startups and mature companies.
“Israel has always been the center of attraction for investors and entrepreneurs from around the world,” Cukierman added.
Apparently the US Army will acquire one Iron Dome battery, and based on tests it will conduct on the system decide whether or not to purchase more units of the Israeli defense system that reportedly boasted a 90% hit rate in Operation Protective Edge.
Israel Defense notes that at the beginning of Iron Dome's development the US Army didn't have much confidence in the system, which is why it was funded with a special budget and not the ordinary annual US defense budget that is allocated for other anti-missile systems such as the Arrow.
Having seen the system proven in war, the US now apparently is considering deploying it to defend military establishments and US soldiers around the world, as its short-range missile defense capability is not in great demand in America.
Recently cooperation was agreed upon between the Israeli defense company Rafael which developed Iron Dome and the American company Raytheon, by which they will develop Iron Dome together on American soil.