Friday, December 26, 2014
The objective: Murder
Jews are carriers of memories; people being burned gives us collective goosebumps. Next week, on the 10th of the Hebrew month of Tevet, we will have a general Kaddish (the mourning prayer) day for all those murdered in the Holocaust.Slight improvement overnight for girl hurt in West Bank firebombing
Now, some will ask, "How can you make such a comparison?" Some whose eyes are still shut tight will say that those who threw the Molotov cocktails were just punks, bored teenagers. But the Palestinian incitement, which bears the stamp of Islamic State and al-Qaida, is causing those same youths to fantasize about a final solution.
Yes. A little familiarity with what is happening on social media at the fringes of Palestinian society, with its textbooks, and with its television messages is enough for us to realize that some of our neighbors are growing closer to the ideology of those who tried to exterminate us seven decades ago. Compared to them, the "serious threat" posed by the Lahava anti-assimilation group is child's play.
Those who throw rocks and Molotov cocktails want to kill. Their numbers are growing in the face of the silence from the security apparatus. I'm not sure where the phrase "helplessness" comes from, but apparently this is what it looks like: a homemade bottle of murder breaks a family into pieces, and the Israeli Air Force and Iron Dome and the Israeli Navy can't save a girl trapped in a burning car. What can they do? Deterrence. Sovereignty.
There was a slight improvement overnight in the condition of the 11-year-old Israeli girl seriously injured in a West Bank firebomb attack Thursday evening.Terrorist Behind Near-Deadly Firebomb Attack Apprehended
Ayala Shapira is still intubated and sedated in serious condition, as doctors in the Sheba Medical Center emergency room work to save her life, Israel Radio reported.
A doctor at Sheba told Israel Radio Friday that they had opened a breathing passage in her neck, where she had suffered serious burns.
Shapira and her father, Avner, were driving home near a West Bank settlement in the northern West Bank when their car was struck by a Molotov cocktail.
The girl suffered third-degree burns over the majority of her body and face and was placed in an induced coma.
Sheba director Professor Zeev Rotstein said that she suffered life-threatening burns to her torso, head, arms and legs, and that “we will do everything in order to save her life.”
IDF forces quickly deployed in a massive operation to track down the terrorist responsible for the attack, which also left father Avner lightly injured. 12 Palestinian residents of the village of Kfar Azoun were arrested during the operation.
Ya'alon had vowed to "lay hands" on the attacker earlier Friday during a visit to the scene of the near-deadly firebombing, where he met with top-ranking IDF commanders to review the security situation in the sector.
He praised the "rapid" deployment of "military operations and security forces on the ground following the attack."
"We will put our hands on the attackers and if they have backers - we will even reach them," Ya'alon said. "The IDF and Shin Bet will know to address the situation where there is mass terror, which includes throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks."
Ya'alon then visited critically wounded 11-year-old Ayala Shapira at Tel HaShomer's Sheba Medical Center and spoke with her parents.
"Be strong," Ya'alon told the parents. "Ayala is in the good hands of excellent doctors. I wish her a speedy recovery."
"Looking ahead, this is a very complex and trying time, and you should stock up mental strength for it," he continued. "This terror aims to intimidate the residents of Judea and Samaria, but from my knowledge of the people of the region, and from talking to you, I can tell that they will not deter us."
Europe is Gone
And there the matter seemed to rest during the decade of the 1950s. But the state of Israel, always being the burr under the world’s saddle, would not let the matter rest then. The wound was too deep and raw and the world would not be allowed to so easily forget what had happened.PreOccupied Territory: Israel Issues Travel Warning For US, France, Sweden (satire)
So, Israel captured Adolf Eichmann and placed him on trial for his crimes against the Jewish people and humanity. The trial, which lasted almost a year, revealed in a stark and graphic way what had happened to the Jewish people on European soil from 1939 to 1945. Thus it was not only Eichmann and the Nazis that were the defendants in that most bruising and bitter trial, but in a very real sense, Europe itself was on trial. And when
Eichmann was justifiably found guilty and executed for his crimes, subliminally Europe was also judged to be guilty and complicit in the horror of the Holocaust.
Europe has never forgiven Israel for that trial and verdict. It is well aware that it is guilty but can never own up to this guilt. Therefore, in line with its time-honored obsession with the Jewish people and its innate necessity to scapegoat Jews for all of Europe's problems, Europe has turned its enmity in an unremitting fashion against the Jewish state.
Israel should be pilloried and boycotted, delegitimized and isolated, while the noble Palestinians – fomenters of worldwide terrorism, intifadas and recurring wars – are worthy of diplomatic recognition, media support, financial aid and moral justification. This is Europe's revenge against the Jews for surviving the Holocaust and thereby instilling the unease and guilt that Europe feels towards Jews, Judaism and the Jewish state.
A spate of ethnic violence in a number of Western countries has prompted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to put out a travel advisory warning Israelis to avoid those countries if possible.Israel’s only option
A series of attacks via automobile in several French cities, apparently by Islamists, heightened fears of terrorist activity in that country, while two bombs in the Swedish city of Malmö even as Stockholm granted recognition to a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, two police officers in New York city were gunned down by a man seeking “retribution” for police killings of black men, further stoking already-heightened tensions and fears of escalation.
Given the fraught atmosphere in those countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman instructed the consulates around the world to advise Israeli tourists and travelers to stay away from those dangerous locations until further notice. “We recommend that Israelis refrain from traveling to places marked by instability and violence. While this obviously includes such states as Ukraine and Nigeria, recent additions to the list of dangerous countries include the United States, Sweden, and France.”
Over the last two decades, Israel has inexorably painted itself into a perilous corner. By blunder after debacle, it has allowed itself to be corralled into a political cul-de-sac that threatens to undermine its very ability to survive as the nation-state of the Jewish people.'Obama isn't popular in Israel, and for good reason'
Arrogance and indolence
With a lethal blend of arrogance and indolence, it has surrendered card after crucial card in the deadly high-stakes Middle East poker game. It has maneuvered itself into a situation where, seemingly, its only strategic initiative is capitulation.
Predictably, years of neglect of (even, disdain for) public diplomacy, and an enduring refusal (even, inability) on the part of successive governments to acknowledge the critical strategic function it has in the defense of the nation, have precipitated inevitable diplomatic disaster.
And indeed, recent weeks have produced dire political outcomes for Israel.
It has watched, helplessly, as one European parliament after another, disdainfully spurning Israel’s concerns, endorsed Palestinian demands for statehood, “based on the [indefensible] 1967 borders.”
It is now faced with the emerging specter of majority support for the upcoming Palestinian motion, submitted to the UN Security Council, calling for a Palestinian state and Israeli withdrawal to those indefensible frontiers, within two years – and the tangible prospect of a US veto being withheld by a hostile White House.
There is an increasingly ominous sense that Israel is powerless to contend with the threat of Palestinian unilateralism, and at a loss as to how to counter Palestinian diplomatic offensives – or rebuff the maelstrom of international censure should it dare to do so.
Future Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tells Israel Hayom that President Barack Obama "leads Israelis to believe he is not a solemn ally" "Our friends have doubts whether we are truly going to be with them at times of crisis," he says.Russia says it backs Palestinian UN statehood bid
You mentioned the president's veto power. Israel has traditionally relied on the U.S. veto power to counter anti-Israeli resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. In recent days, we have seen that we can't really count on that veto. Would Congress come out against the U.S. withholding its veto power from a decision, like the unilateral Palestinian bid for recognition?
"I would certainly hope that the president would veto any Palestinian Authority effort to circumvent the negotiations process and get recognized without reaching some kind of settlement with Israel. I think it would be an outrage if the United States did not veto such an effort. I suppose that the president could do it on his own, or he could argue that he could do it on his own, because he has been doing a lot of other things on his own. But I think it would be a huge mistake for him and for his party. Just looking at the politics of this I can't imagine the American Jewish community would not be completely up in arms."
The media likes to report about friction between Israel and Obama. From your vantage point in Washington, how would you characterize the relationship between the U.S. and Israel right now?
"My impression is that the relationship between this president and Israel is the worst I have seen in the time that I've been in the Senate, and even before that, when I was an observer of the Senate. The relationship between Israel and Congress is quite good, on a bipartisan basis."
A top Russian official said Thursday that Moscow will support a draft resolution on Palestinian statehood at the United Nations Security Council.Can Russia's Vladimir Putin help deliver a Palestinian state?
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Russia would vote in favor of the controversial bid, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines by the end of 2017, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Moscow also expressed hope that all other members of the Security Council would support the measure and that it will not be vetoed.
“As far as we understand the Palestinians, the vote may take place shortly although they have yet to set the precise date. We have repeatedly said that we will vote for this resolution,” Gennady said, according to the report.
Russia has finally found a lever with which to gain revenge on the United States and the West for its support for Ukraine. As payback for the painful sanctions imposed on its economy, Moscow is now brandishing a new diplomatic sword.Israel buying 4 new warships from Germany, PM confirms
The man who handed the Kremlin this sword on a silver platter, thereby enabling it to divert the world’s attention away from what is taking place in Ukraine, is none other than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Out of total desperation given the near-zero chance of gaining UN Security Council approval of a draft mandating an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Abbas has now turned to Russia, one of the five permanent members of the UNSC, in hopes that it will help Ramallah advance the draft resolution.
“How didn’t we think of this before?” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov must be thinking to himself. “Here’s an excellent issue to play with in the UN with which to drive the Americans crazy.”
Lavrov seems downright jovial in the photograph showing him receiving veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat during the latter’s visit to Moscow. For his part, Erekat looks as if he has hit the jackpot – an alliance with Russia, a dream come true for the Palestinian people. Both men, however, are fooling each other and themselves.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday confirmed that Israel had acquired four new Sa’ar-class warships from Germany, reportedly to help protect off-shore gas extraction facilities.Israel deploys Iron Dome batteries near southern towns
Speaking to graduating air force cadets, Netanyahu also vowed that the country would continue to respond to threats on its borders, a day after a soldier was seriously wounded by a Gazan sniper sparking a cross-border exchange of fire.
Netanyahu said the deal with Berlin for the corvettes was reached earlier in the week. According to a Channel 2 report, the deal was signed in Germany on Monday by the Defense Ministry director and the head of Israel’s National Security Council.
Batteries were placed near the southern cities of Beersheba and Netivot, both targets of heavy rocket fire during the summer war, according to several reports.High Court gives state two-year deadline to evacuate West Bank outpost of Amona
A spokesperson for the IDF said she could not confirm the reports.
The batteries’ reported deployments came less than a week after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near an Israeli border town, causing no injuries or damage. Israel retaliated with an airstrike which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted a Hamas cement factory.
On Wednesday, a Gazan sniper shot and seriously injured an IDF soldier on patrol near the border.
The Amona outpost in the West Bank must be demolished within two years, the High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday.Netanyahu: Israel won't stand for attacks from Gaza, the Golan, Lebanon or anywhere
It set an extended timeline to allow for alternative housing to be found for the 45 families who live in the small hilltop community on the outskirts of the Ofra settlement in the Binyamin region.
“There is no doubt that carrying out these demolition orders will have painful consequences for the residents and their families,” wrote Supreme Court President Judge Asher Grunis.
But he said, “the buildings were constructed on private [Palestinian] property and it’s not possible to authorize them, even retroactively.”
Grunis ordered the state to compensate the Palestinian landowners NIS 20,000 for legal fees.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a graduation ceremony for IAF cadets at the Hatzerim Air Base near Beersheba on Thursday, rejecting the idea that Israel is guilty of war crimes.IDF fires, injures Palestinian man attempting to cross Gaza border
"There are those in the international community who accuse you, IDF pilots, of committing war crimes. You defend the country and the country will defend you," he said.
"The foremost mission for you, and for all of us, is to protect our home, to protect the state of Israel," Netanyahu said.
"Our policy to carry this out is two-fold. First, to prevent and thwart attacks when necessary, and to respond forcefully to every attack," he said.
Two Palestinians approached the Gaza-Israel border fence on Friday afternoon, and one suspect climbed over the fence, ignoring calls by the IDF to stop.Exposing the 'pinkwashing' lie
Soldiers fired on the man's legs, striking and injuring him.
The suspect is in IDF custody.
A rocket siren sounded earlier in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council earlier was a false alarm, the IDF said.
Residents in the area did not report hearing an explosion. The siren may have been triggered by small arms fire detected by the system.
This is but one aspect of the Jewish state that illustrates its openness and pluralism, something that would be less striking if the tiny democracy were not surrounded by barbaric regimes. Naturally, it is the very freedom of Israeli society that most irks those regimes, which aim to destroy Western civilization as a whole and to wipe out Zionism in particular.The radical notion that (vegan) Israelis are people
That they oppose all forms of human rights makes perfect sense. It is impossible to wield the kind of power required to subjugate the masses when individuals have a say in how they lead their lives.
What makes no sense at all, however, is the phenomenon of leftist apology for those regimes, and simultaneous bashing of Israel, in the name of human rights. Because it is now indisputable that Israel is LGBT-friendly, a convoluted tactic has been employed by the Left to attack the Jewish state on this score. This involves accusing Israel of "pinkwashing." According to the accusers, Israel boasts about its LGBT-rights record in order to obfuscate its abuse of Palestinians, even gay and lesbian ones.
Kristofer Aberg, a Swedish animal rights activist since 1995 has written a response to the article by the Peace and Conflict Studies scholar Shawndeez Davari Jadali ‘Vegan Killers: Israeli Vegan-Washing and the Manipulation of Morality. This was original published as a comment, but the aptly named Turkey Agenda website censored it.Al Beeb's Yolande: Leila Lets The Tea Out Of The Bag
Kristofer Aberg nails it: "What Javali is doing is to be categorised as the master suppression technique known as double bind – “damn you if you do, damn you if you don’t”
The radical notion that (vegan) Israelis are people
Shawndeez Davari Jadali wrote a couple of days ago about Israeli “vegan washing” in Turkey Agenda. Israel, Jews and Zionists have been subjected to a lot of lies and conspiracy theories during the years. Do we really need another one?
So where is Jadali’s evidence that it’s the Israeli state that is behind the vegan boom in Israel? I have been active in the vegan and animal rights movement in Sweden since the 1990?ies, working with low budget grass roots campaigns. I would love to hear about the secrets on how to get your state to support these causes and make a vegan boom such as the one in Israel! Also, in Sweden, and probably in other places, most of the animal rights movement comes from the left/liberal/green side of the political spectra. In Israel there is a right wing government, so the conspiracy theory of them being behind the vegan boom seems even harder to believe.
Over at BBC Watch, Hadar Sela has yet another revelatory article about Al Beeb's bias-prone reporter Yolande Knell.Khaled Abu Toameh: Amid heightened tensions, Hamas says committed to maintaining cease-fire
It makes disturbing reading.
For in this, her latest plod along the Bowenesque, Donnisonian track of propaganda against Israel, Ms Knell has been helping to promote Palestinian director Leila Sansour's film "Open Bethlehem".
Read all about it at BBC Watch here
Notice, too, this tweet – recommending the (enthusiastic, no prizes for guessing) review of the film by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, the paper that, like Ha'aretz, is clearly the rag of choice for the Al Beeb set.
And then take a look at this post on Facebook by Leila Sansour. It seems that the BBC reporter and the Palestinian activist are rather close.
The appeal came in response to Wednesday’s shooting incident along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. A soldier was seriously wounded when Hamas terrorists opened fire at an IDF patrol. A top Hamas activist was killed when IDF troops fired back.Report: Qatar Cuts Hamas Funding for Egypt Alliance
On Thursday, representatives of Hamas and other Palestinian groups held an emergency meeting to discuss the repercussions of the incident.
Following the meeting, the groups reiterated their keenness to preserve the cease-fire with Israel and warned Israel against violating it.
Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas official, said after the meeting that the Palestinians remained committed to the cease-fire as long as Israel also honored it.
Radwan said, however, that the Palestinian groups maintain the right to defend the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip against Israeli violations. He said the group representatives called for the formation of a “unified resistance front” to coordinate between the various armed groups in the Gaza Strip.
Reports in a Kuwaiti paper Friday morning indicate that Qatar has temporarily cut its funding for the Gaza-based Muslim Brotherhood-offshoot Hamas terrorist organization, in an attempt to cull favor with Egypt and lead to rapprochement between the two rival nations.First phase of Egypt-Gaza buffer zone to cost $70 million
The report in Al Jarida cited a senior Egyptian source saying that Qatar has informed Hamas leaders that it will temporarily stop its support of the group to press it to make several concessions that will aid ties with Egypt, which has been cracking down on Muslim Brotherhood.
Those concessions include a cessation of Hamas's antagonistic policy towards Egypt, incitement against Egypt, and an end to transferring weapons to Islamic terrorist organizations in the Sinai Peninsula.
In return, Hamas asked that Qatar serve as an intermediary between it and Egypt so as to reduce the tensions between the two, according to the Egyptian source; the reports have yet to be officially confirmed.
Egypt is completing the first phase of a buffer zone along its border with Gaza and is going to start the second phase soon, the governor of North Sinai said this week.David Singer: "Growing Islamoparanoia Needs To Be Contained – If Rampant Islamophobia Is Not Allowed To Run Riot"
Gen. Sayed Harhour, governor of the region, told Ahram Online on Wednesday that the cost of finishing the first phase of the buffer zone would reach as much as $70 million (500m. Egyptian pounds), after they pay compensation to the residents of the remaining 837 homes.
“The second phase that will begin soon along 500 more meters includes even more homes,” he said.
The government is paying property owners around $14 a meter for open land and between $98 to $168 for homes, said the report. In addition, $126 in emergency aid was being given to each evacuated family.
The impassioned plea by the father of a Jordanian F16 fighter pilot captured by Islamic State has shot down attempts by American President Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to distance Islam from the Islamic State (ISIL). Speaking to the media, the father of Islamic State’s star captive, 1st Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, said:Iranian Foreign Minister Says Nuclear Deal 'Within Reach'
“I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria: to host my son, the pilot Mu’ath, with generous hospitality. I ask God that their hearts are gathered together with love, and that he is returned to his family, wife and mother.
We are all Muslims.”
This desperate cry for mercy stands in stark contrast to what President Obama stressed at a media conference in August:
“Let’s be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than they practice a different religion.
They declared their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people. So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.”
Yet the simple plea of one distraught Jordanian parent pleading for his son to be set free – stressing that “we are all Muslims” – will certainly sheet home the distinct unease being felt by non-Muslims living in Sydney – still reeling from the Lindt Chocolat Café siege and subsequent shoot out in Martin Place killing two innocent civilians and the self-styled Islamic cleric who perpetrated the siege.
Tehran and the so-called P5+1 group of nations have been locked in talks since February on a permanent nuclear deal aimed at ending a decade-long diplomatic crisis.Iranian Media Slams Domestic Critics of Nuclear Program for “Repeating the Enemy’s Goals”
Despite making progress, the two sides failed to clinch a definitive deal by a November deadline and agreed to extend the talks for another seven months.
A final agreement is aimed at ensuring Tehran will never develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities, and would lift international sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.
"I am confident that a comprehensive agreement is imminently within reach," Zarif wrote in a letter published by his ministry and quoted by AFP.
"It requires foresight, political will and recognition of realities by our negotiating partners as well as the audacity to make the right choice benefiting the entire global community," Zarif added.
Last week, another inconclusive round of negotiations was held in Geneva between Iranian officials and the six powers. Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said following the talks that they had been "very useful and helpful" and that the next round was scheduled for next month.
Iran’s media blasted participants in a conference at Tehran University for speaking in “one voice with Israel” and “repeating the enemy’s goals.”Iran seeks to show off military prowess with massive six-day drill
The conference,which was held at Tehran University, included rare domestic criticism of Iran’s nuclear program. Some speakers criticized the nuclear program, its costs to Iranians and the lack of public debate about the nuclear issue, Payvand news portal reported.
Speaking at the event, Professor Sadegh Zibakalam said that the damage caused by the nuclear program was greater than that of the 1980-88 war with Iraq, which left tens of thousands dead and led to a massive devastation.
Zibakalam was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year for questioning Iran’s nuclear program. Last month his sentence was reduced to a fine.
Former reformist lawmaker Ahmad Shirzad who also took part at the event said nothing had come out of the nuclear program, “not even a glass of water.”
Iran on Thursday began a six-day, wide-scale military drill that will span an area of 2.2 million square kilometers and is code-named Mohammad, the Messenger of God, after the prophet of Islam, Iran's Press TV reported.Iran censoring ‘offensive’ Instagram pictures
The drill is taking place in the air, on land and sea, with fighter jets, air defense systems and under-surface vessels being being tested.
Press TV quoted Iranian Army Brigadier General Abdolrahim Mousavi as saying the drill was aimed at boosting the Islamic Republic's defense capabilities.
He said that the Iranian armed forces want to send a message of peace and friendship to neighboring states through the military exercise.
Saudi women’s rights activists sent to ‘terrorism’ courtAccording to Fars, telecommunications minister Mahmoud Vaezi said the first phase of a government plan to filter content had been “successful on the network which was under the most pressure”, referring to Instagram.He added that between five and 10 percent of content would be affected by the measures.In October, an Instagram account called Rich Kids of Tehran was temporarily blocked after several pictures showed drink-fueled parties and girls in Western dress, despite the ban on alcohol in Iran, where women are obliged to wear headscarves.Authorities frequently block access to social media, including Twitter and Facebook, which are often used by government critics and opposition groups.
Two women’s rights campaigners detained in Saudi Arabia have been transferred to a special tribunal for “terrorism,” activists said on Thursday after the women appeared in court.For third time this week, shots fired at Paris Jewish target
The ruling came at a hearing in Al-Ahsa, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, according to the activists who declined to be named.
Loujain Hathloul has been detained since December 1 after she tried to drive into the kingdom from neighboring United Arab Emirates in defiance of a ban.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.
Days after similar attacks against Jewish targets, shots were fired at a Paris publishing house owned by Jews on Thursday night.Christian Pilgrims From Nigeria Flock to Israel
Bullets holes were discovered at the entrance to the building on Friday morning, Israel Radio reported.
Investigators believe the shooter used a high-powered air gun, the same type of weapon used in the two previous attacks this week.
On Wednesday, bullet holes were discovered in the window of the Al Haeche kosher restaurant located in the 19th district of northeastern Paris. The attack occurred Tuesday night, the JSSNews website reported.
Around 14,000 Christians from Nigeria have been transported to Israel this year on a pilgrimage “for moral and spiritual transformation,” the head of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission has announced.Social networking goes to the dogs with Israeli app
John Kennedy Opara was speaking while addressing the last batch of pilgrims at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Abuja, as they prepared to fly to Israel.
“Christmas is all about the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ and you people are going to celebrate him in his own birth place,” Opara said. “It is something that many people would love to celebrate in the Holy Land.”
Opara said that arrangements for a further pilgrimage to mark Easter in 2015 were already in place, and that 3,000 pilgrims had signed up so far.
Man’s best friend is about to get man’s best social networking technology. Wooof, a made-in-Israel app, provides a platform for dogs to get together online, “trading” photos, providing check-ins, recording dog walking routes and times, and even sending out real-time alerts when a “dog cop” – an inspector who gives out tickets for uncollected spoor – is in the area.IDF Blog: Against All Odds: The Incredible Story of Aharon Karov
Of course, it’s not the dog who does the data recording. It’s up to a dog’s human minder to set up a profile page for the pet, take the photos that appear in the Wooof gallery, and submit the tips about training, vets, sales on dog food, and the other dog-related tidbits that Wooof provides its dog-loving community.
But the point, said CEO Yael Broitman, is Wooof is the first social network where dogs are the center of attention. “I grew up with a lot of dogs and have a strong affinity for them,” she said. “I searched for a long time to find an app that would connect me with others who love dogs as I do. There are many dog-oriented apps, but each of them do one specific thing, like inform users about scenic walking routes and the like. I decided to put everything together in one place, and thus was born Wooof.”
Throughout its history, Israel has faced relentless threats from its neighbors. Numerous enemies have attempted to harm and destroy the People of Israel not only physically, but mentally as well. What has kept Israelis alive is their faith and belief in a better future for themselves and for the entire nation. This is the story of one of those courageous men.
In December 2008, after constant rocket fire from Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead. The operation began with airstrikes and subsequently ground forces entered the coastal enclave.
Second Lt. Aharon Karov was among the many soldiers called up to defend the nation. Less than 24 hours after his own wedding, Karov left his bride and drove to an army base in Tze’elim, southern Israel. For the young couple, there was no doubt that Karov, as a commander and a soldier, had the obligation to lead his soldiers into battle and protect the people of his nation.
On the night of January 12, 2009, Karov and his soldiers entered the northern Gaza Strip. They followed detailed intelligence information which led them to various houses and structures where terrorists were hiding. When they arrived at one of these houses, a powerful explosive was activated.
Karov was critically wounded. Between 300 to 500 metal fragments penetrated his body and he suffered from a major injury in his head and upper body.
Moments later, a complex rescue mission began to save the wounded officer. IDF medics performed life-saving procedures on the battlefield and in the air as Karov was evacuated by helicopter.
