Foreign Minister Israel Katz: EU most stop funding terrorists
The European Union must stop any form of support for terrorists, Foreign Minister Israel Katz demanded on Thursday, in response to a letter stating that Palestinians affiliated with terrorist groups may participate in EU activities.
"We demand the EU immediately stop all support, monetary or other, for any factor that supports terrorism directly or indirectly," Katz said. "Experience teaches us that terrorism and any aid to terrorism will bring more terrorism."
Katz's comments came after the Foreign Ministry reprimanded EU Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret over the letter. The summons came late Wednesday night, hours after media reports about the letter. Foreign Ministry Deputy director-general for Europe Anna Azari, told Giaufret that "Israel categorically opposes the EU's policy in relation to funding terrorist organizations, which is an inspiration for incitement, support and involvement in terrorism."
Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, EU representative to the West Bank and Gaza, wrote in an official letter to the Palestinian NGO Network, dated March 30, that all EU-funded projects, including by Palestinian organizations, must follow EU law, such as a ban on funding terrorist groups.
However, the letter points out that there are no Palestinian individuals on the EU’s “restrictive measures list” barring funds to terrorists, such that the NGOs would not be penalized if members of terrorist groups benefit from EU funding.
Charlie Weimers, a conservative member of the European Parliament, challenged European Commissioners: “Will you take action and create legal obstacles to people affiliated with terrorist groups participating in activities that the EU funds? Will you make sure that European taxpayers don’t fund terrorists?”
The Tikvah Podcast: Einat Wilf on the West’s Indulgence of Palestinian Delusions
The so-called “right of return” is one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, as many as 700,000 Arabs fled or were driven from what had been mandatory Palestine. But unlike every other refugee population in the world, the official number of Palestinian refugees has not declined, but exploded—because, contrary to its policy for all other displaced groups, the United Nations recognizes their refugee status as passing from generation to generation. Moreover, the Arab countries where many of these refugees reside, along with the Palestinian Authority itself, refuse to integrate them into their local populations.Iran used US servers in cyberattack on Israeli water facilities - report
Why did this happen? In The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace, Einat Wilf and Adi Schwartz explain that the persistence of the Palestinian refugee problem is part of the broader Palestinian war—waged not only with rockets, knives, and bullets, but also through international bodies, NGOs, and the media—against the very existence of the Jewish state. They also show how Western indulgence of this manufactured problem has harmed the effort to achieve an end to the conflict.
This week, Jonathan Silver sits down with Einat Wilf, a former Knesset member, to discuss the roots of the refugee problem, the role it plays in the Palestinian war against Israel, and why peace will never be achieved until Palestinians abandon the dream of destroying the Jewish state.
Iran was responsible for a widespread cyberattack on Israeli water and sewage facilities last month, Fox News reported on Thursday. According to the report, Iran used American servers to hack into the facilities.
Foreign correspondent for Fox News Trey Yingst wrote on Twitter that, "A senior official at the US Department of Energy declined to comment on any specifics related to an 'ongoing investigation.' The official reiterated that the DOE routinely gathers and shares info with private sector partners to protect the US and it’s allies from cyberattacks."
The attack took place at the end of April and attacked several Israeli Water Authority facilities.
The head of the Water Authority's security department, Daniel Lacker, told the head of the cyber department Avi Azar that, "We have received a number of reports regarding a cyberattack on the... systems. No damage was reported during the incident," Ynet reported.
Iran is often accused of attempting cyberattacks against Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the issue at last year's CyberTech conference in Tel Aviv, saying that "Iran is attacking Israel on a daily basis. We monitor it and prevent it every day."
He added: "They are threatening in other ways. What is important is that every country can be attacked and each country needs the combination of defense and attack capabilities and Israel has such ability."
NEW: Iran used American servers when launching a cyber attack that targeted Israeli water infrastructure last month, sources tell Fox News pic.twitter.com/UK9go96dqS— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) May 7, 2020