A7News: From the army of Judah - to the IDF

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Wednesday, Jun. 19 '19, ט"ז בסיון תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. FROM THE ARMY OF JUDAH - TO THE IDF
2. WATCH: HUGE FIRE AT ENTRANCE TO JERUSALEM
3. 'EVERY SYNAGOGUE, EVERY JCC NEEDS GUARDS'
4. 'GIRL UNDERWENT SOMETHING, NO CONNECTION TO THE SUSPECT'
5. WILL AYELET SHAKED LEAD THE UNITED RIGHT IN NEXT ELECTION?
6. 'THE WHOLE AIR FORCE IS IN THE AIR'
7. 'MOTHER OF 7-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM ON VERGE OF TOTAL COLLAPSE'
8. MERKEL SEEN SHAKING DURING EVENT IN BERLIN


1. FROM THE ARMY OF JUDAH - TO THE IDF
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264801

A watchtower dating from the time of the Kingdom of Judah (8th century BCE – during the reign of King Hezekiah) was recently uncovered during archeological excavations by IDF soldiers, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority, at a paratroopers base in the south of the country.

The excavation was conducted as part of the project called "The Nature Defense Forces Project- Commanders Take Responsibility for their Environment," led by the IDF's Technology and Maintenance Corps, and was carried out in cooperation with the IDF, the Ministry of Defense, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The tower, whose dimensions in antiquity is estimated to have been 5 x 3.5 m, was erected at a high geographic site, and as such, was an observation point to the Hebron Mountains, the Judean plain and the Ashkelon vicinity. It was built of especially large stones, some 8 tons in weight, and its height today reaches around 2 m.

According to Sa'ar Ganor and Valdik Lifshitz, excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The strategic location of the tower served as a lookout and warning point against the Philistine enemy, one of whose cities was Ashkelon. In the days of the First Temple, the Kingdom of Judah built a range of towers and fortresses as points of communication, warning and signaling, to transmit messages and field intelligence.

This tower is one of the observation points connecting the large cities in the area, located in the Beit Mirsim (Mirsham), Tel Eton and Tel Lachish sites. In ancient times, to transmit messages, beacons of smoke were lit during the day and beacons of fire at night. It is probable that the watchtower now uncovered is one of the towers that bore some of the beacons."

In the Bible, beacons, or, in the language of the Bible, "pillars" are mentioned several times. Thus, in the story of the Concubine in Gibeah, the use of pillars of smoke is described: "The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, and then the Israelites would counter attack .The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle." But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke" (Judges 20: 38-40). The prophet Jeremiah also describes the manner in which the beacons were passed: "Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem! For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction" (Jeremiah 6:1).

Evidence from another source is known from one of the ostracons (letters on clay) discovered at Tel Lachish. At the end of letter no. 4 it is written, "May God cause my lord to hear reports of good news this very day …. Then it will be known that we are watching the (fire) signals of Lachish according to the code which my lord gave us for we cannot see Azekah."

This letter shows that the existence of the beacons and the interpretation of the signals were part of the defense system and the idea of routine security, and security in times of emergency, in the Kingdom of Judea during the Iron Age.

Activity in the ancient tower, uncovered in the area of the military base, ceased on the eve of the expedition of Sennacherib, King of Assyria, to Judah in 701 BCE. Archaeological excavations revealed that the entrance to the tower was blocked, and the force stationed there apparently converged on one of the nearby fortified towns.

From biblical testimonies and archeological findings in the area, we know that Sennacherib's attack virtually destroyed Judah, including 46 cities and 2,000 villages and farms. Now, some 2700 years after Sennacherib's expedition to the Land of Judah, IDF soldiers uncovered an observation tower belonging to Judean army soldiers, similar to the watchtowers used today by the army.

Guy Saly, director of the IDF Nature Defense Forces Project states that about 150 recruits and commanders from the Paratroopers Brigade, including recruits from commando units, participated in the excavations, in an activity that lasted several months. Saly added that the project, established with the aim of leading commanders and soldiers to becoming responsible and actively involved in protecting nature, landscape and the heritage values of their surroundings, began in 2014 with eight projects, and today, as part of this project, sixty activity centers operate across the country.

"To our delight, each project creates solidarity, strengthening the connection between the soldiers and their surroundings.The IDF, a melting pot of Israel's diverse population, is a unique meeting place for people from all parts of the country, which, through environmental activities, creates between them a stronger awareness to the preservation of nature and the Israeli heritage," says Saly.

Second Lieutenant Roi Ofir, age 21, commander of the recruit team in the reconnaissance battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, from Rosh Ha'ayin, says: "The archaeological excavation was a routine break from my point of view. I saw soldiers enjoying manual labor that has added value.This is the first time I participated in excavations. The connection to the land, and the fact that there were Jewish fighters in the past, gave me a sense of mission. The fact that there was also a connection to the area where we carried out our own military maneuvers; left us with a feeling that we were giving back.


2. WATCH: HUGE FIRE AT ENTRANCE TO JERUSALEM
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264807

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3. 'EVERY SYNAGOGUE, EVERY JCC NEEDS GUARDS'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264805

The U.S. Special Envoy for Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr warned Wednesday of the dangers caused by the rise in global anti-Semitism, including the spreading of anti-Semitism under the cover of anti-Zionism.

Carr spoke at the GC4I (Global Coalition 4 Israel) conference against BDS hosted by Minister Gilad Erdan's Ministry for Strategic Affairs in Jerusalem on Wednesday, lambasting anti-Zionism and the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) as anti-Semitic.

"Anti-Zionism is pure hatred of Jews," said Carr, warning that while the US was the most "philo-Semitic country in the world," the rise of anti-Semitism presented "a danger to the future of the Jewish community in America".

He also discussed how in the United States anti-Semitic speech is protected under the Constitution in the framework of freedom of speech, and "the answer is not censorship, but it still must be condemned".

Carr then went on to say after being asked about the rise of violent anti-Semitism throughout the world: "Any synagogue, every JCC, should have guards. God willing, may they never be needed, but they should be there."

Carr mentioned a survey conducted in Europe which found that 80 to 90 percent of European Jews see anti-Semitism as a serious problem, and a third are considering leaving their respective countries.

He remarked European leaders take the rise in anti-Semitism seriously and are "embarrassed that 75 years after the crematoriums stopped operating, Jews are afraid to leave their houses, and are afraid for the safety of their children going into the streets with their kipot. This is shame. Leaders from all levels of Europe say that this must be stopped."


4. 'GIRL UNDERWENT SOMETHING, NO CONNECTION TO THE SUSPECT'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Mahmoud Nazmi Abed Alhamid Katusa, 46, the Palestinian Authority Arab suspected of violently raping a 7-year-old Jewish girl in a nationalistically-motivated "terror rape," will be brought Wednesday for an extension of his arrest.

In recent days, parties involved in the investigation questioned why a smaller local police station had managed the investigation, instead of turning it over to a larger district station with more experience with serious crimes.

Despite the indictment filed, several semi-important issues have yet to be solved, one of which is the lack of clear evidence for the abduction and rape.

Though the child interrogator who dealt with the case claimed that the victim could not clearly identify her attacker, the victim later did exactly that, pointing him out to one of the teachers in her school. The exact date of the assault is also unclear: The rape was initially believed to have taken place on a certain day, but Katusa managed to find an alibi for that time, leading police to investigate a different date and making it difficult to locate his accomplices.

Israel Hayom pointed out that there is no forensic proof, such as DNA, that the attacker was correctly identified, due to the fact that the victim did not immediately undergo physical examinations. However, according to Haaretz, this is due to the fact that the police failed to send the victim's underpants for investigation. In addition, 71.4% of rape cases are closed due to lack of evidence, partially due to the fact that too many women and girls do not immediately turn to hospitals' emergency rooms or rape units.

Katusa's lawyer, meanwhile, claims that the polygraph test is not reliable and therefore does not prove his client is lying. "The girl apparently underwent something but it's not connected to Katusa," he claimed. He also complained that Katusa is "intelligent and a father of four, who was an English teacher in his home village until nine years ago."

Today, Katusa is a janitor and a construction worker.

Meanwhile, residents of the town in which the rape occurred "fear that the rapist is still walking free."



5. WILL AYELET SHAKED LEAD THE UNITED RIGHT IN NEXT ELECTION?
by Arutz Sheva Staff

The central committee of the Jewish Home party is scheduled to convene for a special meeting in the town of Nehalim, near Petah Tikva, Wednesday night to discuss the party's Knesset slate for the September 17th election.

The committee is expected to back retaining the same list of Knesset candidates the party used in the April 9th election. The committee's decisions only impact the Jewish Home faction's spots on the United Right joint ticket, which in April also included the National Union and Otzma Yehudit parties.

Once the party's Knesset slate is approved, the Jewish Home will launch negotiations with other parties for the formation of a broad right-wing alliance with the New Right, National Union, Otzma Yehudit, and Zehut parties.

The parties would run as part of a technical bloc – a temporary alliance to ensure their entry into the 22nd Knesset. Following the election, the parties would then be free to break up into their separate factions.

Over the past few days, the leaders of all of the right-wing factions in question – except for Jewish Home chief Rafi Peretz – have stated either publicly in or closed-door talks that they would waive their demand to lead the united list for the sake of forming the broadest bloc possible.

Recent polls of both the Religious Zionist sector and right-wing voters in general show former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (New Right) as the most popular candidate to lead a joint rightist ticket.

Sources involved in the effort to united the right-wing bloc say Shaked would likely bring secular right-wing voters who would be unlikely to back a ticket led by a religious candidate, adding that a broad right-wing bloc would be far more effective in shaping the next coalition than the present United Right party, which won five seats.

If Shaked did lead the United Right, she would likely be followed on the Knesset list by Jewish Home chief Rafi Peretz, National Union chief Bezalel Smotrich, with former Education Minister Naftali Bennett in fourth.


6. 'THE WHOLE AIR FORCE IS IN THE AIR'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264751

A comprehensive military exercise was conducted this week by the Israeli Air Force (IAF). The exercise began on Sunday and ends tomorrow (Wednesday), and includes all the squadrons in the IAF.

A senior Air Force officer said today that "the whole Air Force is in the air."

"The exercise trains the entire force, from the techical branch to the operational staff and the commanders, and the Air Force commander himself."

"We are practicing multi-theater, fighting in several arenas together. The main focus is in the northern arena where the enemy is immediate. We are practicing at a particularly high level against a challenging, thinking and reacting enemy that has technologies beyond what exists in today's arena."

According to the senior official, "The ground forces are full partners in the exercise, and we have reached the highest levels of cooperation, generally speaking, that we have reached in the last decade."

He noted that this exercise is the first time that the Air Force is training for war with F-35 fighter jets: "Throughout the day and night. We practice uncertainty, flying in spaces of ambiguity, not knowing exactly who the enemy is and what position you are in. This allows us to get used to uncertain situations an important ability to have in the last decade.

In order to make the exercise more effective, the senior source said, forces are also simulating an enemy. "For a year we have been creating scenarios and we have capabilities in the field that simulate the enemy and move from place to place and challenge the trainees as they try to hit them."

He also referred to improving cooperation with the ground forces: "We want to reach a situation in which the soldiers in the field will converge on a target after we have hit the enemy's targets and rope him in. We build on the fact that there will be no civilians in the area so that there will be no damage to innocents. We will make sure the bomb hits the terrorists' house and not victims nearby. If there is a building with civilians, we will evacuate the civilians and then attack the house. It's an intelligence challenge [requiring] the cooperation of the ground forces."

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7. 'MOTHER OF 7-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM ON VERGE OF TOTAL COLLAPSE'
by David Rosenberg

The suspected rapist indicted for the abduction and rape of a seven-year-old Israeli girl in a haredi city used a local family's home he was renovating to carry out the sexual assault.

On Sunday, 46-year-old Mahmoud Nazmi Abed Alhamid Katusa was indicted at the IDF's Ofer prison outside of Jerusalem on charges of aggravated rape.

Katusa is a resident of the Palestinian Authority-controlled town of Deir Qaddis, which is located next to the Israeli city of Modiin Illit.

Katusa, who is suspected of raping a seven-year-old girl after abducting her from her school, had been employed at an elementary school in a haredi city in the Modi'in area. Katusa worked in the school as a janitor and maintenance man, while also moonlighting as a construction worker.

According to the indictment filed against him, Katusa was arrested on May 1st, following a lengthy police investigation into accusations by a seven-year-old student.

Investigators say Katusa met the girl at the school, and befriended her, talking with her and giving her candies.

Once he had gained her confidence, Katusa asked the girl to leave school with him and go to a nearby house. When the girl objected, Katusa carried her off, throwing her on the ground to pacify her.

Katusa took the girl to a home near the school, where several other Arab workers were present.

"I'm going to do something fun for you," Katusa told the girl.

Aided by at least two other Arab workers present in the home at the time, Katusa removed the girl's clothes, then raped her. The other Arab workers held the girl's arms and legs, and covered her eyes, while she cried and asked to go home.

Haim Bleicher, the attorney representing the girl's family, later said that the two accomplices mocked the girl during the rape, saying she "deserved it".

Two days later, when the girl returned to her school, she told her teacher what had happened, and identified Katusa as the perpetrator. "That's him," she said, pointing him out to her teacher.

On May 1st, police arrested Katusa for the rape, while the investigation into the incident continued.

While investigators were able to gain important information from the victim, they were unable to ascertain where the rape had taken place.

Days after Katusa's arrest, a resident of the city in question appeared at the local police station, inquiring as to why Katusa had been taken into custody.

When officers asked why the local man was interested in Katusa's arrest, the man responded by saying that Katusa, who also works in construction, had been working on renovating his home.

Police later found that the home being renovated matched the victim's description of the location where the rape took place.

While Katusa is in custody and under indictment, his accomplices remain at large and are likely still employed in the town where the rape occurred, an attorney involved in the case told Kikar Hashabbat.

"To my understanding, these people [the suspected accomplices] are in regular contact, one way or another, with residents of the same city. That's why it is so important that they be caught."

The family, meanwhile, is struggling to help their daughter cope with the traumatic attack, while keeping her identity secret.

Accord to a source close to the family who spoke with Yediot Ahronot, the girl's parents have been "physically" affected by the ordeal.

"It is important to them that no one know about the incident, except for the court. They are very worried ever since the incident went public. It has really affected them physically. They are consulting with their rabbi and trying to help their daughter and rehabilitate her."

"The parents are in a terrible situation, they really cannot deal with this incident. The mother is on the verge of total collapse."


8. MERKEL SEEN SHAKING DURING EVENT IN BERLIN
by Ben Ariel

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264776

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen visibly shaking on Tuesday during an event in Berlin with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

A military band was playing the national anthems of the two nations at an official ceremony outside the chancellery when Merkel's whole body visibly shook and she appeared to be struggling to stand up, according to Fox News.

The German leader, who is set to step down in 2021, then pursed her lips as she tried to remain steady as she stood next to Zelenskiy.

Temperatures at the time were reported to be 82 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius).

Speaking with reporters an hour later, Merkel dismissed the incident and blamed dehydration.

She smiled after a reporter asked whether her shaking was cause for concern, saying that she was fine.

"Since then I have drunk at least three glasses of water - I obviously needed that and so I'm doing very well now," replied the Chancellor.

Zelenskiy told reporters the chancellor had been secure at his side.

"She was totally safe," he said.