Monday, April 10, 2023

04/10 Links Pt1: Lucy Dee, mother of Maia and Rina, passes away from terror attack injuries; The EU/UN Bureaucratic War Against Israeli Control of 'Area C'

From Ian:

Rabbi Leo Dee’s wife and daughters were murdered but his faith remains so deep
On Friday afternoon, following the second seder night, we heard the horrific news. The previous rebbetzin of our Radlett United Synagogue community, Rebbetzin Lucy Dee and her two daughters, Maia and Rina, had been shot by Palestinian gunmen while on their way to a family trip in Tiberias. Maia and Rina were killed immediately while tragically, the news came today that Lucy had also died in hospital.

Rabbi Leo and his wife Rebbetzin Lucy led Radlett United Synagogue from 2011 until 2014 when they immigrated to Israel and my husband and I took over their roles. Both were Oxbridge educated, quietly confident and accomplished by the time they took up their Rabbinic positions.

Having left their lives in finance behind them, they spent time travelling before studying in yeshivah in Israel and coming to the UK to share their inspiration, first in Hendon and then Radlett United Synagogues.

On Pesach, my husband read an excerpt of Rabbi Dee’s book on Judaism's impact on modernity to the community. His passion, shared by his wife, was to make Judaism relevant and accessible to the modern Jew.

The Radlett community got to know Rabbi Dee as kind, gentle and highly intelligent. Rebbetzin Lucy was creative, insightful and a real doer. Their strong friendship and mutual admiration as a couple shone through. Many from both Hendon and Radlett have remained in touch with the family, which is testament to their relatable personalities.

As has become clear over the past few days, the Dees were deeply and fiercely idealistic, people of strong faith, belief in the good of others and steadfast in their religious values.
Lucy Dee, mother of Maia and Rina, passes away from terror attack injuries
Lucy (Leah) Dee, who was critically wounded in the terror attack that claimed the lives of her two daughters, Maia and Rina Dee on Friday, has passed away from her injuries, Hadassah-University Medical Center reported on Monday afternoon.

"48-year-old Lucy Dee was evacuated by helicopter to Hadassah Ein Kerem in critical condition, where the teams fought for her life over the past few days, in the trauma unit, the operating room and the intensive care unit where she was treated," the hospital's announcement stated.

"Unfortunately, despite intensive and unceasing efforts, due to her fatal injury, the team had to determine her death today."

The hospital added that the Dee family has decided to donate Lucy's organs in order to save the lives of others.

"On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, I send my heartfelt condolences to the Dee family on the death of the mother, Lucy z"l," wrote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on Monday, "who was murdered in the attack last Friday, along with her two daughters Maia and Rina z"l."

"On behalf of the entire people of Israel," wrote Israel's President Isaac Herzog, "I send my deepest condolences to the Dee family and pray that they will know no more sorrow. May her memory be blessed."

Shlomo Ne'eman, head of the Gush Etzion Council, said:
"After a persistent fight for her life, Lucy (Leah) Dee joined her holy daughters, may God avenge their blood...We are left with the demand that the government restore security and punish those who committed this murderous and barbaric act of terrorism...Dee family, there are no words to comfort you after the difficult funeral yesterday. Bereavement is knocking on your door again. May you be comforted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem."


Thousands attend funeral of Israeli sisters killed in Jordan Valley terror attack
Thousands of mourners attended the funeral on Sunday of sisters Maia Dee, 20, and Rina Dee, 15, who were killed in a Palestinian terror attack last week in the Jordan Valley.

The attack, which also killed the sisters’ mother, Lucy, took place Friday on the Route 57 highway near the Hamra Junction.

According to a military probe, terrorists opened fire on the Dees’ passing vehicle, causing it to crash into the road’s shoulder. The terrorists then approached the car and riddled it with nearly two dozen bullets.

“How will I explain to Lucy what happened to her two precious gifts when she wakes up from her coma?” asked Rabbi Leo Dee while eulogising his daughters.

“The formula for faith is always to focus on what you do have and not what you do not have. I still have three wonderful children and a wonderful wife,” he said.

“Today, the Jewish people have proven that we are one. When a family in Efrat hurts, we all hurt. There is no clearer proof of our unity, Am Yisrael Chai [the people of Israel lives],” added Dee.

In tribute to his “beautiful and perfect” daughter Maya, who had wanted to sign up for another year of national service in the IDF, Dee called her “an angel, that will always be our guardian angel.”

Rina, the heartbroken father said, was always “such a great student. Such a great friend. You dreamed of travelling the world, now you are travelling to heaven.”

Several government officials paid their respects at the funeral, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.


The Abraham Accords: "Palestinian Leaders Don't Realize that the Region Is Changing"
Ghaith al-Omari was a Palestinian negotiator at the 2000 Camp David Summit and is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He was recently in Paris to unveil the "Whispered in Gaza" project - a series of animated films based on testimonies of Palestinians living in Gaza - at the French National Assembly.

He said in an interview: "The Palestinian leaders don't realize that the region is changing, they still live in the past. They still think that the days of Gamal Abdel Nasser [the former Egyptian president who championed pan-Arabism] will come back. They will not."

"Palestinians need to ask themselves if they can benefit from the new order when everyone else is focused on maximizing their own interests, or are they going to remain on the sidelines and watch as history passes them by? I believe that there is a way for Palestinians to profit from the situation....The Palestinians...need to make the choice of joining....The Abraham Accords are here to stay. And we can see that despite the current tension between the Israeli government and its Arab counterparts, they continue to develop economic and security ties."

"Nowadays, the international community considers certain issues to be much more important, such as the war in Ukraine, China's expanding power, Iran's nuclear threats, not to mention the various crises in Yemen, Syria and Libya. In terms of immediate risks, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has thus been eclipsed by much more risky conflicts....The Western world and regional players have understood that Palestinians are too weak to sign a deal....So the world has moved on."
US political attitudes towards Israel have changed - Joe Lieberman
"Attitudes to Israel in American politics have changed. We all need to do more work," former US senator Joseph Lieberman said in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Lieberman was speaking at a panel discussion at the Cassia Hotel within the framework of a “Passover in Jerusalem” program organized by the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, in which the majority of participants, including guests and speakers, were Americans.

“Attitudes in America are affected by what happens in Israel and the policies of the Israel government,” Lieberman continued.

He and other speakers commented on the reversal of trends.

Has support for Israel in Congress switched sides?
Although there has long been bipartisan support for Israel, there was a common perception that the Democrats in Congress were more supportive than the Republicans.

Now, however, it’s the Republicans who polls indicate are dramatically more supportive.

Lieberman warned of the danger of losing bipartisan support. “We must not let that support go away,” he said.

Among the other issues discussed was whether there is a difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

Lieberman said that in the same way as it was difficult to define an obscenity, “I know one when I see one.”

Likewise, he knows antisemitism when he sees it. Even though he never personally suffered from overt antisemitism, he has always been aware of its presence in America.
The EU/UN Bureaucratic War Against Israeli Control of 'Area C'
One scandal that rarely garners headlines is illegal construction carried out in Judea and Samaria by the EU and UN. The Jerusalem Post reported in 2022 that the EU doled out half-a-billion dollars over the past seven years to support a Palestinian Authority plan to control Area C of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) - the disputed territory where 80% of biblical events unfolded. The Oslo Accords signed in 1993 designated Area C as under Israeli military and civilian control. Nearly 500,000 Israelis and 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C.

In December, 40 members of Israel's Knesset charged the EU with working against the Jewish state, as evidenced by a leaked EU document showing how it seeks to illegally carve out territory for the creation of a Palestinian state.

They wrote, "We learned of an official policy document of the European Union...that leaves no room for doubt as to the one-sidedness and animosity of the EU towards the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The document completely ignores our people's historical affinity to our homeland, completely ignores the political agreements and the status of the State of Israel in Area C and seeks to establish the 1949 borders as Israel's final-status permanent borders - in complete disregard of the Jewish communities in the area."
Dennis Ross: Back to Basics in the U.S.-Israel Relationship
In the book I wrote in 2015 on the U.S.-Israeli relationship entitled Doomed to Succeed, I analyzed and evaluated the key assumptions that drove policies in every American administration from Truman to Obama. The reality that had emerged in the relationship was that regardless of the mistakes either or both of us might make, the fundamentals of shared values and shared interests had come to ensure we would always find a way to right the ship and manage our ties successfully.

But the American-Israeli relationship had not always been special. John Kennedy broke the taboo on providing Israel arms in 1962, but he had to overcome the determined opposition of the State Department and the intelligence community, each arguing that the U.S. would see its relations with the Arabs collapse if we provided Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Israel. (In reality, the Arabs largely ignored the sale.)

Richard Nixon ordered a massive air and sealift of weapons to Israel during the 1973 war, but held off providing any arms to the Israelis for eight days, in part because he was sensitive about the possible Arab response and in part because he and Henry Kissinger believed a military stalemate would provide a basis to launch diplomacy. Nixon decided in the end that he was not going to permit Soviet arms to defeat American arms in that war. But Nixon suspended delivery of F-4 fighters to Israel in 1970, believing this would gain favor with Egyptian President Nasser - who pocketed this and moved closer to the Soviets.

Mistaken assumptions guided U.S. policies for a long time. It was assumed in much of the national security bureaucracy that distancing from Israel would produce gains with the Arabs and cooperating with Israel would cost us with them. Neither was ever true. The non-radical Arab leaders were focused on their security and survival and they were never going to make their relationship with us dependent on what we did with Israel.

A majority of Americans still favor Israel but the younger demographic, especially among Democrats, takes a more critical view of Israel and sees the Palestinians as victims. The Palestinians surely are victims, but that should not excuse the Palestinian leaders' own contributions to this status: rejecting credible offers that would have produced a Palestinian state such as the Clinton parameters; delivering very poor governance, whether in the Palestinian Authority or under Hamas in Gaza; and furthering corruption and division that also robs the Palestinian Authority of basic legitimacy.
Leaked Pentagon papers reveal scenarios of Israel giving Ukraine weapons - report
One of the leaked Pentagon documents described situations in which the US believes Israel would supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, according to a report by The New York Times.

The Times revealed that the most likely scenario presented in the document was the "Turkish Model" in which Israel would supply defense systems through a third party while still supporting dialogue between Ukraine and Russia.

The document reportedly assessed that Israel will only supply Ukraine with lethal weapons in the event that diplomatic ties with Russia were at a crisis, either from Russia's ties with Iran or if Israeli aircraft were to be damaged by Russian defense systems in Syria.

Another scenario raised by the documents according to the Times is the US cooperating with Israeli demands to prepare action against Iran in order to pressure Israel into giving Ukraine weapons.

The Times reported that among the Israeli weapons listed in the document that could possibly be sent to Ukraine were Barak 8 missiles, the Spyder air defense system and Spike anti-tank missiles.


Two Israeli soldiers wounded during Nablus raid
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded overnight Sunday in an operation in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Nablus in Samaria.

Israeli forces detained a suspected terrorist during the operation, during which Palestinians threw stones and explosive devices at the troops, the military said.

As the soldiers were leaving the city, Palestinians opened fire on two military vehicles; an officer and an enlisted man were lightly wounded by shrapnel and were evacuated to the hospital.

Israeli forces detained three additional Palestinian terror suspects in other raids across Judea and Samaria.

The four suspects detained were transferred to the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) for questioning.

On Sunday, Palestinian Authority security forces reportedly located a car in Nablus used by terrorists to kill Maia and Rina Dee two days earlier in the Jordan Valley.

Israeli security forces were continuing to search for the perpetrators on Monday.
How should Israel handle the Al-Aqsa Mosque amid rising violence?
Samer Sinijlawi, Josh Wander and Prof. Kobi Michael discuss the 'terror campaign' centering around the sensitive holy site of the Temple Mount compound and Al-Aqsa Mosque




Thousands of Israelis march through Samaria to Evyatar outpost
Thousands of Israelis protested in favor of Jewish rights in Samaria on Monday afternoon, with a main march beginning at the Tapuach Junction and ending at the Evyatar outpost.

At least seven Cabinet members, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, along with some two dozen other lawmakers were due to participate in the show of support.

“We do not surrender to terrorism, not in Evyatar and not in Tel Aviv,” said Ben-Gvir at the beginning of the march, in reference to Friday’s deadly terror attack in the coastal city.

“We are here in order to say: The people of Israel are strong. We are here and will stay here,” he added.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan on Sunday called on the government to “enable Evyatar’s residents to return to their homes and to legalize the town, as promised.”

The march was announced almost immediately after reports surfaced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to postpone officially recognizing Evyatar.


Italy reels from death of tourist killed in Tel Aviv attack
Freelance journalist Anna Momigliano talks about how Italy is responding to the 'shock' of an Italian tourist killed in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv.




British Tourist Tells of Escape in Tel Aviv Car Ramming Attack
Freddie, 31, from London, said he and his girlfriend were strolling down the promenade on the Tel Aviv beachfront on Friday night when the attacker's car mounted the pavement and roared towards them. "A car was revving and speeding....I had very little time to dive out of the way. It clipped me and we fell over." They suffered minor scrapes and bruising. The car, driven by an Arab-Israeli citizen, sped further down the promenade in search of other victims.

At the scene of the attack, Israelis laid floral tributes for the Italian victim and messages of solidarity with Italy.


2,200 Jews ascend Temple Mount since start of Passover
More than 2,200 Jews have ascended Temple Mount, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, since Passover began on April 5.

Of those, some 1,200 visited Judaism’s holiest site on Monday, Israeli officials said.

Tensions remain high at the holy site after Israeli police on the first night of Passover arrested more than 350 Muslim rioters who had barricaded themselves inside Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site is located atop the Temple Mount.

The rioters, who had smuggled fireworks, clubs and stones into the mosque, blocked the doors from inside using iron rods, closets and other objects. They chanted inciting slogans, and threw stones and shot fireworks at police.

Police attempted to convince the rioters to leave the site peaceably and when that failed were forced to enter.

On Saturday night, hundreds of Muslims again barricaded themselves inside Al-Aqsa, preventing people from praying and attempting to provoke a response from Israeli security services. However, police did not enter the building to clear out the extremists.

Instead, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called on Amman, through the Waqf Islamic trust tasked with safeguarding Muslim sites on the Temple Mount, to take action against the extremists.


German protesters call for 'death to Israel' and 'death to Jews' in Berlin
Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor slammed a rally of mainly five hundred German Muslims who on Saturday blasted calls for the obliteration of Israel and Jews in Berlin.

Prosor wrote on Twitter in German: “These idiots abuse Germany's freedoms and unreservedly call for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews. They flout democratic values in [Gemany], not only crossing every possible red line, but also ‘spitting in the brown [fascist] well from which they drink.’"

The reportedly antisemitic march unfolded in two Berlin neighborhoods with a large Muslim presence, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, and centered on the current controversy on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Palestinians barricaded themselves in al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in violation of the rules of the religious compound.

The Post viewed video footage of the Saturday march against Israel in which “Free Palestine” was chanted.

The organization democ posted a video of the antisemitic rally and wrote participants are chanting “death to Jews” and “death to Israel” and yelling “antisemitic slogans and glorifying terrorism.”


Palestinian Rescues Israeli Couple Who Were Attacked near Hebron
Amichai and Nitzan Baron were driving home to the community of Karmei Tzur, near Hebron, at 3 a.m. on April 4 when their vehicle hit a barrier of rocks on the road.

As Palestinians began to throw rocks at them, one Palestinian, "M," came towards them and shouted at them to quickly enter his home. "We don't want to even think what would happen if he hadn't let us in," said Amichai.

From the safety of the house, they contacted a security hotline and IDF forces arrived shortly on the scene.
Cyberattacks Damage Irrigation, Sewage Systems in Upper Galilee
Several water monitors - which monitor irrigation and wastewater treatment systems - were left dysfunctional on Sunday after a targeted cyberattack.

Farmers in the region were warned several days prior about suspicions over a planned cyberattack, and some switched their systems to manual operation to prevent any harm from the attack.
PMW: Top PA officials deny Jewish history
Central to the Palestinian false narrative is its constant denial of Jewish history in the Land of Israel, despite the abundance of archeological evidence, including Hebrew coins and ancient texts that confirm Israel's history.

The rejection of any and all Jewish history in Israel is reinforced repeatedly by top PA officials. Many statements made by top PA officials and institutions right before the Islamic month of Ramadan, were intended to add fuel to the PA’s ever-burning incitement that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all its plazas are “purely Islamic” and “belong only to Muslims,” and are in danger of defilement and destruction by Jews.

The PA's message derived from this lie is that Israel is a foreign colonialist state with no right to exist and is destined to be destroyed. As the PA’s Prime Minister recently worded it: “We have learned from history that colonialism passes in the end.”

The following are recent examples:
Abbas’ spokesman denies Jewish history: “No historical proof… [the Jews] had any kind of presence in this land”

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina: “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are among the foundational pillars of history, and they are Palestinian holy places, and not Jewish holy places (sic.) There is no historical proof – despite all the excavations – that [the Jews] had any kind of presence in this land.”

[Official PA TV News, March 20, 2023]

The Temple Mount, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built, is Judaism’s holiest site and predates the Mosque by more than 1500 years. It is because Islam has recognized the Jewish holy site that their mosque was built there.


Global Winds Blowing Away from ‘Arrogance, Zionism,’ Raisi Tells Assad
The international balance of power is changing in favor of “the axis of resistance” and to the detriment of “global arrogance and Zionism,” the Iranian president told his Syrian counterpart in a phone call, local media reported.

Ebrahim Raisi took aim at the United States and Israel, the respective “Great Satan” and “Little Satan” of Iran’s Islamist ideology, as he caught up with Bashar Al-Assad, whose regime in Damascus is a proxy of Tehran.

Raisi adduced the alleged “crimes of the Zionist regime” as further evidence of its impending collapse, adding that Iran will “take revenge on the Zionist regime” for its bombardments of targets in Syria.

Israel has conducted numerous aerial raids in Syria, typically targeting Iran-aligned terrorists and weapon convoys bound for Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based proxy of Iran and an antisemitic terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction.

Also on Sunday, Raisi spoke to his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, stating that “Today, more than ever, the necessity of cooperation and forming a united front of Islamic countries against the Zionist regime and in firm support of the Palestinian nation is felt.”

Tebboune replied that he hoped “with the cooperation of Islamic countries to free the Palestinian nation from the oppression of the Zionists.”
Iran pressures Jews to not celebrate Passover and join anti-Israel march
The Islamic Republic of Iran exerted pressure on the nation’s tiny Jewish community to not celebrate the end of Passover on Friday and instead participate in the annual anti-Israel al-Quds Day demonstration that calls for the destruction of Israel.

Beni Sabti, an expert on Iran from the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that “there is a silent pressure and everyone knows their role in this regime and the regime won’t hurt you” if you demonstrate in the al-Quds Day march.

Sabti, who was born in Tehran and speaks fluent Persian, added “And if you don’t demonstrate, you will be harmed.” He stressed the Iranian Jewish community has to show support for the al-Quds Day demonstration in order to “survive” in the totalitarian Islamic state. He noted that many Iranian Jews are being harmed and avoid greater danger by participating in the al-Quds demonstration.

The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, created al-Quds Day in 1979 as a worldwide demonstration to protest the existence of the state of Israel.

Iran’s Jewish community announced on Monday on its social media platform Telegram to its estimated 9,000 members: “Please do not go for picnics or enjoyable activities on al-Quds Day.”




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