A7News: Watch: South African synagogue goes up in flames

Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report
http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday



Wednesday, Dec. 05 '18, כ"ז בכסלו תשע"ט



In the wake of some unfortunate news in Bet El Institutions, please assist today:
https://betelinstitutions.com/savealife/



HEADLINES:
1. WATCH: SOUTH AFRICAN SYNAGOGUE GOES UP IN FLAMES
2. HANUKKAH BEAT IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM
3. TURKEY DEMANDS EXTRADITION OF SAUDI CROWN PRINCE'S ALLIES
4. IDF RESERVISTS TO FILE COMPLAINT IN HAGUE AGAINST HAMAS, PA
5. THIS IS HEZBOLLAH'S TERROR TUNNEL
6. TERROR TUNNEL DISCOVERED ON ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER
7. 'OPERATION COULD BE PRECURSOR TO WAR'
8. DOCUMENTATION: HEZBOLLAH OPERATIVES INSIDE A TERRORIST TUNNEL


1. WATCH: SOUTH AFRICAN SYNAGOGUE GOES UP IN FLAMES
by David Rosenberg

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255732

An Orthodox synagogue in South Africa was destroyed in a fire late Tuesday night, synagogue officials reported.

The fire broke out at around 11:00 p.m. local time Tuesday night in the Beit Midrash Morasha synagogue in Sea Point, Cape Town, known by locals as the 'Arthur's Road Shul'.

Local fire officials said 4 fire engines and 22 firefighters were dispatched to contain the fire.

No injuries were reported in the blaze.

"Just before 23:00, Fire and Rescue responded to a synagogue that was alight in Arthur's Road, Sea Point," said City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue services spokesperson Theo Lane.

"Twenty-two firefighters, four fire engines, one aerial appliance and a rescue vehicle responded to the incident. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire at this stage is undetermined."

The congregation's rabbi, Rabbi Sam Thurgood said the damage to the synagogue was "substantial", and called for prayers from the community.

"Dear community, you may have heard the terrible news of the fire in the shul [synagogue] tonight. Everyone is okay and although the damage is substantial whatever is lost can be rebuilt. At this point we need prayers and Mitzvot, but there will be a great deal needed in the days and months ahead. We will update you on the way forward as we have a clearer idea of the path to be charted."

Investigators are probing the cause of the fire, and say that no signs of foul play have been found at this time.

"Our heartfelt prayers are with Rabbi Thurgood and the entire congregation," the South African Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement in response to the blaze.

"The SAJBD can confirm on behalf of the synagogue that there are no injuries and investigators report no signs of foul play at this stage and await the outcome of a full investigation," said Rael Kaimowitz, chairman of the Cape SAJBD.

Witnesses said Wednesday morning that the synagogue's seven Torah scrolls had been destroyed in the blaze, local radio host Howard Feldman reported via Twitter.

"Tears streaming down the faces of witnesses as they formed a human chain to try and save religious books from the burning shul. 7 Torahs destroyed. Later the shul Rabbi recited Kaddish"

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255732

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255732


2. HANUKKAH BEAT IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255735

Hanukkah in the Shuk
Flash 90



3. TURKEY DEMANDS EXTRADITION OF SAUDI CROWN PRINCE'S ALLIES
by David Rosenberg

Turkey has called on Saudi Arabia to extradite a number of suspects tied to the disappearance and murder of a dissident Saudi journalist.

According to a report by AFP Wednesday morning, Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for several suspects wanted in connection with the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was last seen on October 2nd as he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Turkish government has accused Saudi Arabia of murdering the dissident journalist and chopping his body into pieces.

After initially denying Khashoggi had been harmed at the consulate, Saudi Arabia has admitted that Khashoggi was killed after entering the facility, though the kingdom has continued to deny that the dissident journalist was executed on the orders of senior Saudi officials.

Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Saudi nationals wanted in connection with Khashoggi's death, including two senior Saudi officials allied with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

General Ahmed Asiri, the former Deputy foreign intelligence chief, and Saud al-Gahtani, a top aide to the Saudi crown prince, were listed among the suspects wanted by Istanbul's chief prosecutor, two Turkish officials told AFP Wednesday.

Both were dismissed from their positions in October, after Saudi Arabia acknowledged Khashoggi had died in the Istanbul consulate.

"The prosecution's move to issue arrest warrants for Asiri and Qahtani reflects the view that the Saudi authorities won't take formal action against those individuals," a Turkish official told Reuters.

The news comes after American lawmakers in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee condemned the Saudi crown prince, saying there was "zero chance" he had not ordered the journalist's death.

"It is zero chance — zero — that this happened in such an organized fashion without the crown prince," said South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday.

"You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS [Mohammed bin Salman]."

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker echoed Graham's comments, saying "We know he ordered it. We know he monitored it."

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez said that his own belief that the Saudi crown prince was responsible has "only solidified" as more evidence has been presented.


4. IDF RESERVISTS TO FILE COMPLAINT IN HAGUE AGAINST HAMAS, PA
by Mordechai Sones

The My Truth organization, established after Operation Protective Edge that includes hundreds of reserve soldiers, aims to tell the world the true story of what is happening in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

Since its establishment, the organization has brought the voice of reserve soldiers to Israeli citizens, international bodies, and to foreign media to present the real complexity and conflicts soldiers experience in the field.

Following the riots near the Gaza fence and the use of human shields by the terrorist organizations, My Truth decided to move from defense to offense.

"Human Shield is a project that unveils the abuse of the local Palestinian civilian population by the Palestinian terrorist organizations," the organization's website, mytruth.org.il says. "The testimonies in this project bring the story of former combat soldiers and senior members of the Department of Defense who have encountered in their service in blatant human rights and international law violations by the Palestinian terrorism, against Palestinian civilians, mostly children. The documented cases include many elements that reveal the cynical use of the civilian population by the Palestinian side. Although this use is considered a flagrant violation of international law and human rights."

In recent months the organization documented dozens of testimonies from reservists describing human rights violations and use of human shields by terrorist organizations to carry out attacks. The testimonies, most of which are unclassified, were accompanied by close legal counsel, while taking into consideration military censor considerations.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255737

As part of the project, a complaint to the International Court of Justice in the Hague is expected to be filed in the coming weeks, including testimonies of soldiers against Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for systematically violating human rights while harming innocent civilians - Israelis and Palestinians alike.

The complaint will be submitted in cooperation with lawyers from international legal organizations - the International Legal Forum and the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.

A special documentary has recently been published in English and Hebrew including soldiers' testimonies, and is expected to be a central part of the diplomatic and public relations struggle the organization will lead around the world. At the same time, a special site will be launched in two languages ​​where each surfer can be exposed to the true story of the complex reality on the ground.

The incidents presented in the documentary represent a broad pattern of using civilian and humanitarian space for terrorist purposes. Testimonies include cases where ambulances were used to transport weapons and terrorists, rockets launched from kindergartens, firing from schools and mosques, planning attacks on clear civilian areas and Israeli settlements, using women and children as human shields, violating humanitarian cease-fires, and many other testimonies describing firsthand the use of the civilian population by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
"The events of recent months in Gaza have led us to change our pattern of action," said My Truth Director Avihai Shorashan. "The increasing use by terrorist organizations of the civilian population and children in particular has almost completely disappeared from Israeli media coverage, and is absent from the discourse in other countries around the world. Anyone who reads the testimonies in this report will understand how the double-standard morality cries out to heaven.

"Not only does the international community not condemn the Palestinian organizations, the repeated violations of human rights, and the exploitation of children and the civilian population, but most of those who are attacked and displayed in a negative light are IDF soldiers who defend the citizens of Israel. The time has come for the international community to act out of real moral power and not out of political considerations and interests," Shorashan added.

"The purpose of the testimonies is not only to shock the listener's sense of morality, but to present a flagrant violation of international law," International Legal Forum Director Yifah Segal said in a statement. "These are war crimes and crimes against humanity at the most serious levels. This legal message must be heard before the Court in The Hague. To provide them with the Israeli side, the complex and complete reality, and to give them a sense of identification and perspective that they didn't have the opportunity to get in the past."

Jerusalem Institute of Justice Public Diplomacy Department Director Attorney Uri Morad said that "beyond the perception of the negative and erroneous reality that is being accepted in the world in the Israeli context, the legal arena is the tool through which sanctions can be imposed against Israel, whether in parliaments around the world, or in courts or international bodies, such as the ICC. And so the terrorist organizations evade accountability for their own crimes. The testimonies project reflects the power of civil society organizations in this struggle, and the power of such cooperation as a significant force multiplier."



5. THIS IS HEZBOLLAH'S TERROR TUNNEL
by Elad Benari

On Tuesday morning, IDF troops exposed a Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnel that infiltrated into Israeli territory in an operational, technological and intelligence operation.

Since the nighttime hours, IDF troops have been operating to expose and thwart cross-border attack tunnels. These efforts will continue as long as necessary.

The IDF on Wednesday morning released several aerial photos depicting the cross-border attack tunnel that was dug from the southern Kafr Kela area and was exposed Tuesday in Israeli territory.
The site from which the cross-border attack tunnel was dug in the southern Kafr Kela area. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit.
The cement factory in the southern Kafr Kela area from which the tunnel was dug and the stages of its conversion to a military site. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

[album:open:10761]


6. TERROR TUNNEL DISCOVERED ON ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER
by David Rosenberg

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255675

Israeli security forces have discovered a terrorist tunnel leading into Israeli territory from southern Lebanon.

According to an army spokesperson, the tunnel was discovered Tuesday morning by IDF forces operating along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The tunnel, apparently built by Hezbollah terrorists, originates in the southern portion of the Lebanese town of Kafr Kela. The tunnel crosses over into Israeli territory, however, and is believed to have been dug for use in an upcoming terror attack on Israeli targets.

Entrance to tunnel IDF spokesperson

"A short while ago, IDF troops located a cross-border attack tunnel in the southern area of Kafr Kela. At this time, the IDF is carrying out an operational and engineering process to neutralize the tunnel," an army spokesperson said Tuesday.

"The tunnel was located as a part of Operation 'Northern Shield' to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel."

Despite the tunnel's discovery, the IDF said there was no immediate threat to any towns in northern Israel.

"The tunnel infiltrated into Israeli territory and was intended to harm Israeli civilians. The tunnel did not pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in the surrounding area."

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had launched an operation along the northern border to locate and neutralize cross-border 'terror tunnels' from southern Lebanon built by the Hezbollah terror organization.

"The Hezbollah terror organization, which is responsible for digging the cross-border attack tunnels, continues its activity that is supported and funded by Iran, to establish its terror infrastructure against Israeli civilians," an IDF spokesperson said.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255675


7. 'OPERATION COULD BE PRECURSOR TO WAR'
by Shimon Cohen

Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist organization are on the verge of war, according to Professor Moshe Maoz of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem..

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Professor Maoz presents the complexity of the relations between Israel and Lebanon and Hezbollah, which makes it difficult to assess the future response to the IDF's engineering operation on the northern border.

"The operation will not improve relations because the two sides are on the verge of war," Maoz said, "Since 2006 there has been a cease-fire and mutual deterrence."

However, he added, we should not forget that "Hezbullah has 120,000 rockets and precision missiles, which requires us to consider whether to attack or not, and the question is whether the exposure of the tunnels, which, of course, is legitimate for Israel, will be interpreted as a provocation."

"They are connected to Iran. They work in cooperation with Iran, and a single incident can have repercussions for the entire region. Therefore, I think that the sides will be more cautious," Maoz said. He recalled Hezbollah's decision to respond to Israeli actions in the past, a decision that they repeat over and over again in order to be considered as defenders of Lebanon.

"They will have to respond. The question of how they will respond, whether with gunfire or not. No one wants to get a response from mutual missile fire because there will be mutual destruction. We will be able to destroy large parts of Lebanon and they will be able to hit the Galilee and further south. I assume that even Nasrallah, who is a religious fanatic, is neither crazy nor stupid, and therefore he is also careful.

"Iran also knows that according to foreign sources, Israel has atomic bombs and we can inflict tremendous damage on them, so they will consider twice whether to attack Israel, unless it is a very extreme case."

However, Prof. Maoz acknowledges that it is possible that the IDF's currentengineering operation is the only response that Israel can take without escalating the situation in the north. "Maybe it will work out."

"The tunnels are as dangerous as the the missiles, and the question is whether timing could have been postponed if publicity could not have been avoided, all of which may be related to political situations, and a serious barrage of missiles could lead to war." he said.

Maoz added that Russia has restricted Israeli activity in Syria, and it is possible that the IDF is turning its activities to the Lebanese arena, where there are no Russians and where it can operate.

As for the impact of the events in the north on Hamas, Maoz said that this does indeed have an effect. "With regard to Hamas, Hezbollah is a model, and Hezbollah is considered a very successful force that succeeded in driving Israel out of Lebanon, and it is also trying to create a Shi'ite axis from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. And there could be a tug of war from the north and the south, which for us is not a good situation, even though the danger from the south is not as grave. "

As for what is expected in the future, Prof. Maoz finds it difficult to assess the events, although he sees their complexity as one that can lead to very different results. "Even in 2006 there was a small operation that developed into a war. It is impossible to assess where things will develop, there were such things in history, in Lebanon as well, and it is impossible to imagine the reactions and their considerations and our responses to their considerations."


8. DOCUMENTATION: HEZBOLLAH OPERATIVES INSIDE A TERRORIST TUNNEL

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/255701




------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/