Israel Behind the News [Dec 21, 2015]

Rockets Hit Northern Israel

Here we go again, so the theory would go, but more likely than not the retaliation we will surely see for Kuntar’s demise will be in another form, most likely an attempt to infiltrate the North as was Kuntar’s plan. The rocket attack is more or less a way for the Arabs in Hezbollah to let some steam off.

Mahmoud Abbas in Greece, Waiting for PA Recognition as New Nation

This must be the Greeks’ way of trying to stay relevant.  Remember there is a gas deal with Israel and their own Prime Minister referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s historic capital. Whatever the reason, it is sad that the world cannot move on beyond supporting independence of a non-entity, never mind the fact that Palestine was not a Nation.

Benjamin Netanyahu ‘threatens to strip Jerusalem residency from 230,000 Palestinians’

Well the above link just shows you how out of touch the liberal media is to sovereignty issues. No one is stripping the “Palestinians” in Jerusalem of residency (which as a sovereign nation they are allowed to do), but rather those Arabs who are aiding and abetting terror.  The same debate is going on across the globe.

 

Israel Behind the Headlines [Dec 20, 2015]

Nothing Changes – Erdogan Meets Mashaal

That didn’t take long. Erdogan wants to get his last meeting in with Hamas before the Israeli gas lifeline he is signing onto prohibits him from meeting with Hamas officials. He can always break that, but then he would be finished as there would be no one else to supply energy to his country.  One has to wonder if he still thinks he will one day become the Sultan.  As things stand he seems more like a street beggar.

Israeli-Chinese Innovation Relationship Takes a Whole new Level

Look for the cross cultural and technology based relationship to continue to grow between China and Israel.  China has noted the inspiration they get from Israel as well as profound respect for a fellow ancient culture. Does this mean Israel can rely on China to change their voting pattern in the UN?  Not yet, but the future may bring lots of changes as the relationship grows.

Synagogues demand government provide them security guards

Will the government provide security guards to Synagogues?  If this happens the impression that Jews are not safe to go to pray even in a Jewish State will not be lost on the Muslim Jihadist terror squads and their millions of supporters.  Security guards are great, but they still do not change the equation.

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Israel Behind the News [Dec 16, 2015]

None of us should be shocked at the above thinking.  Since the head of the UN ultimately thinks Israel is behind ethnically cleansing Arabs from Jerusalem, it is logical for him to also believe we are the ones responsible for the Arab violence in Israel. Essentially, according to the UN our very existence is the reason for the terrorism itself. Jews are the cause and the target of the terrorism. Old fashion anti-Semitism at its best.
Egypt and Israel clearly have a tacit understanding and defense alliance in dealing with joint threats. This is proof that the alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean are changing and consolidating behind Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece with an energy consortium as a joint interest between them.  If this is really the case, the future is bright for the four.
The Jewish world should be outraged from Obama’s comparison, but then again American Jews largely voted for Barack Hussein Obama and in like fashion they will find some reason to agree with him.  Any thinking person should be outraged, but it’s almost 2016 and it seems the world has gotten incredibly ignorant. First and foremost most of the Syrian refugees are Muslim and able-bodied young men. This does not mirror the typical refugee from anywhere else in the world.

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Israel Behind the News [Dec 14, 2015]

Erdogan Tries to Break Out of his Isolation by Pandering to…Israel?

It’s been a tough month for our favorite ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood President, Erdogan. You almost have to feel bad for him. Russia is beginning to tighten the noose with troops to his South and now in Armenia.  With that Greee, Cyprus, Israel, and Egypt are moving to create an East Mediterranean alliance in connection to the gas fields their countries share.  That would essentially cut out Turkey from their Sunni brothers and the EU.  The tables have certainly turned and one should not expect Israel to worry about mending ties with Turkey anytime soon.  With Russia moving in and the Eastern block of the EU looking like they are truly separate from their Western cohorts, Israel stands in a fantastic position to become a major player.

Roger Waters and Rivlin Play the Haaretz Conference

It’s true they were both there, but Rivlin tried in his typically pseudo nationalist way to defend Israel at what can only be described as something akin to a blood libel.  What makes Rivlin thinks he can sway these sort of people is anyone’s guess, but unfortunately Rivlin really believes in most of the comments he has made since he became President.  Thankfully it is a ceremonial position.  If not we would be in big trouble.

Hungary prime minister: Europe looks like ‘battlefield’ because of migrants

What a surprise.  These aren’t your typical migrants. The Arab world has long believed the best way to win over the non-believing nations, was to literally win them over, by becoming the predominant culture. Europe seems to be falling and falling fast.  Eastern Europe though will have none of it and that is good for Israel.  Nothing beats finding common ground with historically anti-Semitic nations.

 

Israel Changing Medicine Forever

2015 has been a remarkable year for Israel when it comes to innovation in health and medicine. In the wake of humanitarian crises such as the earthquake in Nepal, the flooding in Myanmar, the mudslide in Guatemala, the tropical cyclone of Vanuatu, the war in Syria and even performing a life-saving surgery on the brother-in-law of Mahmoud Abbas, the medical assistance and humanitarian aid from the Israeli Army, along with numerous Israeli organizations such as IsraAID, were evident and pronounced.

Israeli scientists, researchers and startups had a remarkable year of medical breakthroughs that will change our lives. Science and technology in Israel are one of the country’s most developed sectors. The percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry, and the amount spent on research and development (R&D) in relation to gross domestic product (GDP), is the second highest in the world. Israel ranks thirteenth in the world in scientific activity as measured by the number of scientific publications per million citizens.

Below are the top 18 medical breakthroughs to keep a close eye on:

Cancer Treatments

Israel is at the forefront when it comes to developments in cancer treatments and research. From improved detection to targeted killings of cancer cells, Israel is proving that a cure for cancer may not be so far away.

1. BioSight’s Astrabine “Trojan Horse” Technology

BioSight, a medical technology startup, has been able to develop a technology that targets only cancerous cells, leaving healthy ones alone. Astrabine closely resembles a protein called asparagine that leukemia cells depend on and the cancer cells are fooled into self-destruction. According to Dr. Ruth Ben Yakar, this technology could become very important in the field of cancer treatment. “This really could be the cure for cancer,” she says. While BioSight’s “Trojan horse” chemo technology is currently being tested on leukemia patients, the company believes it will be effective in many other kinds of cancer as well.

Read more about BioSight’s breakthrough:
Times of Israel
PR Newswire

2. Vaxil’s ImMucin Vaccine against 90% of Cancer Types

Vaxil BioTheraputics has developed an immunotherapy vaccine that trains the immune system to attack cancerous cells. The vaccine is effective in the early stages of cancer detection and during remission. It will not help in the advanced stages of cancer. Clinical trials have so far showed that ImMucin triggered a response in 90% of cancer types.

Read more about Vaxil’s breakthrough:
Medical Daily
NoCamels

3. Predicting the Spread of Cancer

Most cancer-related deaths occur from metastases (secondary cancer) than by the primary tumor. Dr. Daphne Weihs, from Israel’s Institute of Technology, developed a method to predict the spread of cancer from one organ to another. According to Dr. Weihs, the practical concept is that “during or immediately after a biopsy or surgery on a malignant tumor, the system will enable the medical team to quantitatively evaluate the likelihood of the presence or development of tumor metastases in other organs, and to propose which organ or organs are involved. Such knowledge will make it possible to act at a very early stage to identify and curb these metastases and, moreover, to prevent the primary tumor from metastasizing further.”

Read more about Dr. Daphne Weihs’ breakthrough:
Technion Israel Institute of Technology
New Journal of Physics (for in-depth explanation of the technology)

4. Nanotechnology Against Killer Cancers

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and incurable forms of cancer. Professor Dan Peer of Quiet Therapeutics and his team at Tel Aviv University devised a technology using nanoparticles to transport drugs to target cancer sites while minimizing adverse effects. Restricted passages across the blood–brain barrier make the majority of potential drugs for the treatment of GBM ineffective. But with Peer’s nanotechnology, the drugs can be administered precisely to attack only the cancer cells, like a nanotech cancer bullet. The technology was tested successfully on ovarian cancer cells and is in the early stages of testing on brain tumors with promising results for the future.

Read more about Prof. Dan Peer’s breakthrough:
ACS Publications
BioMed Microdevices Publication (for in-depth analysis of this nanotechnology)
Times of Israel

5. Immunotherapy Cocktail to Cure Melanoma and Terminal Cancer

According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, clinical trials on 945 patients with advanced melanoma skin cancer using a combination of immunotherapy drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab proved to cure 58% of the patients by shrinking or eliminating cancerous tumors. Prof. Jacob Schachter, head of the Ella Institute at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, took part in developing this drug which was hailed by the scientific community as a major breakthrough in cancer research that can potentially replace chemotherapy to treat many types of cancer.

Read more about Prof. Jacob Schachter’s breakthrough:
NoCamels
The New England Journal of Medicine

6. Nobel Prize Winner and Team Find Proteins to Suppress Cancer

New research from the Haifa laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Prof. Aaron Ciechanover has uncovered two proteins that suppress cancer cell growth and development. Ciechanover, who is also the president of the Israel Cancer Society, notes that many more years are required “to establish the research and gain a solid understanding of the mechanisms behind the suppression of the tumors. The development of a drug based on this discovery is a possibility, although not a certainty, and the road to such a drug is long and far from simple.”
Read more about Prof. Aaron Ciechanover’s breakthrough:
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
HaAretz (printed article)
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Cell

7. Hacking the Cancer’s Communication System

Rony Seger from the Weizmann Institute of Science and his team developed a way to treat a number of cancers by blocking off messages from the nucleus of a cancer cell. By shutting off the information that creates cancerous mutations the spread of cancer can be halted.

Read more about Rony Seger’s breakthrough:
The American Society for Cell Biology (and its Supplementary Information)
Journal of Cell Science
Nature Communications
NoCamels

8. Biop Medical Device to Provide Early Detection of Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women, and the #1 cancer killer of women in the developing world. According to Biop Medical, the startup company developed an innovative technology for the identification of cancerous and precancerous cells in epithelial tissues. The Biop system will enable point-of-care diagnosis of the entire cervix, generating a real-time map of the cervix. Immediately after testing, patients will receive a near-certain diagnosis, eliminating the prolonged waiting time and anxiety, associated with the current, inefficient process. This technology can reduce the time needed to diagnose one of the biggest killers of women – from weeks, to minutes.

Read more about Biop Medical’s breakthrough technology:
Times of Israel

Ginni Rometty, President and CEO of IBM, speaks about Biop Medical as being one of the cusps of the future of medicine, in her plenum speech at the Cleveland Clinic Summit.

Heart Treatments

9. Study Advances Understanding of Heart Cells’ Regeneration

If heart cells are damaged, e.g. by a heart attack, there is little than can be done to help repair and restore the heart. This is why heart disease is so fatal. A study conducted by Dr. Eldad Tzahor at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests that a protein called ERBB2 may hold the key to regenerating heart cells. While the study was conducted on adult mice, the findings can prove to be a major breakthrough for heart disease treatments.

Read more about Tzahor’s breakthrough:
Nature Cell Biology (and accompanying videos)
Cardiovascular Disease News
World Health
Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Wonder Wander

10. Blue Light to Replace Pacemakers Using Optogenetics Technology

Israeli researchers have successfully established a new approach for pacing the heart and synchronizing its mechanical activity without the use of a conventional electrical pacemaker. This novel biologic strategy employs light-sensitive genes that can be injected into the heart and then activated by flashes of blue light. The study was conducted at the laboratory of Professor Lior Gepstein from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Technion.

If the biological pacemaker can be adapted for humans, it could help patients avoid many of the drawbacks of electrical pacemakers. These include the surgical procedure needed to implant the device, the risk of infection, the limitation on the number and locations of the pacing wires used, the possible decline in cardiac function resulting from the change in the normal electrical activation pattern, and the limitations on implantation in children.

Read more about Lior Gepstein’s breakthrough:
Nature Biotechnology
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Reliawire
Science Daily
American Technion Society

11. Cardioband Facilitates Surgical Annuloplasty Through A Catheter

Valtech Cardio developed the Cardioband to allow for minimally invasive reconstruction of the mitral valve using a transfemoral, transseptal delivery system, avoiding open heart surgery that can be dangerous for fragile patients. Cardioband recently won European CE Mark approval to introduce its Cardioband annuloplasty system. Clinical trials were so successful that Valtech Cardio was recently acquired for nearly $1 billion by Heartware. Besides Cardioband, Valtech Cardio has developed other products in its expansive portfolio of innovative technologies for the treatment of mitral and tricuspid valve disease.

Read more about Cardioband:
Cardiac Interventions Today
Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology
Valtech Cardio (Cardioband Highlights)

 

HIV/AIDS Treatments

More than 37 million people worldwide are affected by HIV/AIDS. Israeli researchers are looking to tackle this problem as well.

12. Self-destructing HIV Positive Cells

Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Professors Abraham Loyter and Assaf Friedler, has led to development of a new method to destroy HIV-positive cells without damaging the healthy ones. According to a study printed in Future Science, certain peptides (amino acids) can interfere in the DNA-transfer process, and ultimately cause the infected cell to self-destroy. Mapping the interactions between viral and host proteins is a fundamental target for the design and development of effective treatments and a possible cure for HIV/AIDS.

Read more about this HIV/AIDS breakthrough:
Future Science (PDF publication)
Scientific Reports

13. Trapping the HIV-1 Virus

Prof. Akram Alian of the Technion Faculty of Biology offers a new strategy to combat the HIV-1 virus. By mapping the HIV-1 rerouting landscape in order to be able to predict the hidden, alternative routes that the virus takes when trying to spread. This will eventually help develop a drug that targets the critical nodes of the host cell’s proteins so it won’t be able to find other pathways to spread.

Read more about Prof. Alian’s research:
Journal of Virology (American Society for Microbiology)
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
NoCamels

14. Similarities Found Between Leukemia and AIDS May Lead to Cure

Dr. Ran Taube from Ben-Gurion University and his team discovered similarities between the HIV virus and leukemia. This breakthrough will enable researchers to develop more comprehensive therapies that could ultimately treat the virus itself by seeking innovative ways to “wake up” the virus from its silent active state, while at the same time applying anti-retrovirals to essentially eradicate the virus completely.

Read more about Ran Taube’s breakthrough:
Jerusalem Post
i24 News

 

Other Notable Breakthroughs

15. Addiction Treatment Using Epigenetics

Research by Professor Gal Yadid of Bar Ilan University and his team reveals that changes in our DNA during drug withdrawal may offer promising ways of developing more effective treatments for addiction. They found that withdrawal from drug use results in reprogramming of the genes in the brain that lead to addictive personality. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows addictive behavior can be stopped by influencing the epigenetic markers that were triggered by withdrawal using epigenetic drugs.

Read more about Prof. Gal Yadid’s breakthrough:
The Journal of Neoroscience
Medical Xpress
NoCamels
Daily Mail

16. Antibacterial Nanotechnology To End Implant Infections

Israeli biotech start-up called NanoLock has developed technology that kills bacteria inside an implant before they can invade the body and cause infections. Dr. Ervin Weiss says “The NanoLock technology enables the production of implants that contain specially designed components (consisting of a total of 1% of the entire implant) that mechanically kill bacteria” by punching a hole in the middle of a bacterium, rendering it impotent. Their first product will be for the dental industry, but the implications of this research will help with contact lenses, stents, breast implants and many other man-made devices that are subject to infection.

Read more about NanoLock’s breakthrough:
Times of Israel
Jerusalem Post

17. Diagnosing Blood Diseases Using Computer Vision Technology

Sight Diagnostics, an Israeli, tech startup, developed a novel platform for diagnosing blood diseases using computer vision technology. It’s Parasight Platform can detect malaria in blood in only three minutes. Their first application is for malaria testing. 500 million tests are done annually for the blood-borne disease, yet it still kills about 600,000 people each year. Early disease detection is crucial for proper treatment, and with a third of the world’s population at risk of malaria (let alone other blood diseases), Sight Diagnostic’s technology can help save millions of lives.

Read more about Sight Diagnostic’s breakthrough technology:
Forbes
NoCamels

18. Combating Antibiotic Resistance

Dr. Udi Qimran and his team at the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology of Tel Aviv University managed to devise a way to restore antibiotic sensitivity to drug-resistant bacteria, and also prevent the transfer of genes that create that resistance among bacteria. This breakthrough is crucial for slowing the rapid, extensive spread of antibiotic resistance around the world, especially in hospitals. The system, if ultimately applied to pathogens on hospital surfaces or medical personnel’s hands, could turn the tide on untreatable, often lethal bacterial infections.

Read more about Dr. Udi Qimran’s breakthrough:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (and Supporting Info)
Science Daily
Phys.org
Tel Aviv University
NoCamels
While the list really goes on and on when it comes to scientific and medical breakthroughs in Israel, I focused on the ones I found to have a global impact.

May the good that comes from Israel bring the coming 2016 new year with more innovation, health and happiness for mankind.

Israel Behind the News [Dec 2, 2015]

BDS-backing Jewish horse expert stands by ‘fair’ snub of Israeli schoolgirl

What can one say when our people have such a skewed and misunderstood view of the world. Unfortunately more and more of these sorts of people exist.  The idea that the Jewish State is anything remotely close to the Nazi regime is a viewpoint that is just completely detached from reality.

Assad: Peace only when West ends support for ‘terrorists’

The problem is that the West is giving plenty of verbal ammunition by venturing into a proxy war by first funding the nascent ISIS over two years ago and it is known the State Department was also helping to organize and fund Al Nusra. The facts here are on the side of Assad, yet of course he is a huge sponsor of terrorist entities himself.

Young Arab Women Joining the War Against Israel

It’s all about culture. For the Arab Jihadists all members of the citizenry are part of the struggle and in return all members of Israel’s society are fair game.

Palestinian Terrorism – An Extension of ISIS & Global Jihad

Make no mistake about it: The increasing terror wave in Israel by Palestinians has nothing to do with Israel occupying territories and nothing to do with Jews on the Temple Mount. The current terror wave has everything to do with annihilating Jews and Israel.

Summary:

  • The last year saw the largest rise of Islamic terrorism around the world. In Israel, the terror wave is increasing too.
  • Several recent public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Palestinian Arabs support an intifada (terror wave) with the end goal of “liberating Palestine” and completely destroying Israel.
  • Most Palestinians do not support a 2-state solution, but would rather have Israel destroyed and replaced with a Palestinian state.
  • The daily incitement by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, along with the indoctrination to Jihad that many Palestinian children get in their schools, is brewing a society of hate and murder against Jews.
  • Palestinian allegiance to ISIS is on the rise (24% support ISIS), which explains the growing number of Palestinian terror attacks in correlation with the growing worldwide conflict with ISIS.
  • Contrary to what many believe, ISIS is not a direct threat to Israel.
  • Israel needs to do more to protect its people.

Rise in Terrorism Worldwide & in Israel

According to the Global Terrorism Index Report of 2015, terrorism continues to rise. Deaths in 2014 reached 32,685 constituting an 80% increase from 18,111 the previous year. The numbers for 2015 are expected to be even higher. Israel is ranked as the 24th most impacted country by terrorism while some of her neighboring countries accounted for 78% of all worldwide terrorism-linked deaths. According to the GTI report, most terror attacks targeted private civilians.

Interestingly, but not unexpectedly, in the last 2 months to date, Israeli citizens suffered through 30 shootings, 12 car rammings, 82 stabbing attacks, 1,617 stone throwings and 651 molotov cocktails resulting in the deaths of 22 civilians and seriously wounding 251. That’s a total of almost 2,400 atacks in 2 months; an average of 40 attacks per day! You won’t hear about most attacks in the mainstream media though.

According to statistics published by the Israel Security Agency at the end of 2013, since the start of the second Intifada, 1,227 people have been killed by Palestinian terrorism and 8,549 were wounded. (These numbers do not include the deaths and injuries of Israeli soldiers during combat in Gaza.)

Are we to single out Israel’s terrorism problem as being a result of land occupation and Jews praying on the Temple Mount, while neighboring countries are suffering a similar fate due to religious fanaticism?

The Real Goal of the Palestinian Intifada

Let’s take a closer look as to why the Palestinians are committing terror attacks.

According to public opinion polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an overwhelming majority of Palestinians are in favor of an increase in terror attacks against Israeli civilians with the end goal of completely destroying Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian state. Only 11% of respondents said the goal of the “intifada” should be to “liberate” only those territories captured by Israel in 1967.

[The Pew Research Institute’s recent poll resulted in different numbers than the polls mentioned above, but still shows that 21% of West Bank arabs are not against ISIS.]

These poll results explain why terror attacks have been taking place in areas not considered “occupied territories” and against people not considered “settlers” or “occupiers.” Palestinian terrorists see all Israelis as occupiers and enemies that must be removed.

Daily incitement by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, along with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian groups, is responsible for the constant brainwashing of Palestinians into believing that Israel is killing Palestinians mercilessly and is planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Abbas goes as far as to glorify terrorists, terror and martyrdom.

Even the education system in many Palestinian schools teaches and indoctrinates children to a life of terrorism, Jihad, martyrdom, and suicide attacks. How do children become terrorists? This video is one answer to that question:

 

The Rising Influence of ISIS in Israel

According to a poll conducted in 7 arab countries by the Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies, Palestinians had the highest percentage of support for ISIS than any other group in the Middle East. 24% of Palestinian Arabs support ISIS  and more than 40% object to any military action against the Islamic State.

Respondents' answers to the question "In general, do you have a positive or negative view of ISIL?"
Respondents’ answers to the question “In general, do you have a positive or negative view of ISIL?” (Credit: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies)

ISIS has also been trying to “hijack” Palestinian Jihad as its own. With the clear connection between Palestinian terrorists, the Jihad mentality of martyrdom and ISIS, it is obvious that the real goal of the terror wave in Israel is the baseless destruction of the Jewish people and Israel, similar to the Islamic State’s goal of destroying infidels.

Nevertheless, Israel should not fear ISIS. As Efraim Inbar explains in his analysis of How Dangerous is ISIS to Israel?:
Suggestions that ISIS may constitute a bigger threat to Israel than Iran are ridiculous. The Israeli army and the ISIS militia are in different leagues. As long as ISIS behaves in a most unconventional bestial way, many in the world will be happy to see Israel doing the dirty work on their behalf, dealing ISIS blow after blow, if the opportunity and necessity arises.

This is true in part because the ISIS military is relatively small and weak. It’s offensives were successful largely against weakened militaries and in places with political void. While ISIS is not a direct threat to Israel, it has been successful in generating support via social media and online recruitment channels.

Infographic: ISIS Is Expanding Its Reach On Twitter | Statista
Source: Statista.com

Israel, Protect Your People

While we see no signs of the terror wave subsiding in Israel, the government needs to do more to protect its citizens. For starters, it should do more to catch and block propaganda material from reaching Palestinians in its midst. Easier said than done, I know. But we do see some strides being made when Israel recently closed radio stations involved in incitement and banned the inciteful Islamic Movement group.

However, let’s first take a quick glance at the recent terror attack trends in Israel and what can be done to prevent them. According to the findings of The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:

  • Most of those who carry out the attacks inside Israel are between the ages of 16 and 20, while most of those who carry them out in Judea and Samaria are between the ages of 22 and 26.
  • Usually, national and religious motivations influence the attacker. His decision is influenced by frustration, the desire for fame and the glory achieved by becoming a shaheed, the desire to avenge the deaths of friends or relatives, and exposure to the intense incitement in the media and on the Palestinian street.
  • Most of the attacks targeted the Israeli security forces (which shows the suicidal nature of the attacks), the rest targeted civilians.
  • Have national-religious motivations and for years have had popular violence and terrorism as constant companions. They have been influenced by systematic, intensive anti-Israeli incitement and hate propaganda.
  • Only a few of the terrorists were operatives of any specific organization.

How do we fight such an ideological form of terrorism? It can take years to uproot an ideology from the hearts of its supporters. What immediate response can there be to prevent any further attacks against Israeli citizens?

Looking at the findings above, it is clear that Israel needs to make it undesirable to commit terror attacks. Currently, jail time for terrorists and home demolitions do not seem to suffice as a deterrent to attack. If Israel would institute a law to deport immediate family members, a terrorist may think twice before committing an attack. If he or she knew that their parents, siblings, spouse and children would not be able to live in their homes and would lose their current form of income, then the spectacular vision of martyrdom may become a bit more dull.

While a  majority of Palestinians routinely celebrate terror and death (as seen in the current terror wave in Israel, the recent Paris attacks, and as far back as the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York), seldom will you find any Israeli or Jew in the world celebrate the death of anyone, even an enemy.

In the meantime, with the holiday of Chanukah fast approaching, I pray that light will triumph over darkness, good over evil, and that only goodness will spread throughout the world for all peoples.

Recommended Articles:

Israel Behind the News [Nov 30, 2015]

Yinon Magal was brought into the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party by Naftali Bennett to put a less religious face on it. The party stalwarts had always been uneasy with Bennett for opening the party calling his move into question as it essentially erases the differences between Likud and Jewish Home.  now they have fodder for the next leadership fight.  It is no secret that Bennett believes his best shot to becoming PM is to merge his party with Likud and fight from within.  This puts a small monkey wrench into that plan.  Yet, despite that the new bill being proposed by Bibi to under the guidance of MK Levin to make it so the largest party automatically gets to form the government would almost guarantee a merger anyway.  This would be out of fear of the Left rising to power over a fractured right wing.

 

Once again Europe misses the point. Islam = Jihadist ideology.  The Koran espouses destruction of the unbelievers and dhimmitude of the “other people of the book.” Islam would have to essentially stop being Islam in order to be enlightened. It’s true there are sects like the Sufi’s who appear to be peaceful, but even they are easily fired up against the West: http://shoebat.com/2014/06/22/peaceful-muslim-sect-turned-fanatic/
At the end of the day, the World must come to a conclusion that it is really Islam itself that breeds violent hysteria into a way of life.

 

Just when we thought the “cycle of violence” was settling into a low flame reality, an Arab teen shot dead by security forces reignites tensions to a boiling point. Attacks had begun to be kept to Judea, Samaria, and “East Jerusalem,” but rage has a way of spilling back out into the rest of the country. Remember, that in most cases the security forces shoot Arab teens because they are in fact throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails. This is a prevalent past time in these neighborhoods.