New Year ushers in record rainfall
(JNS) — About four inches of rain fell in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Thursday, breaking a nearly century-old record as the first rains of the fall season arrived the day after Rosh Hashanah.
The rainfall, which was heaviest along the northern coastal plain, the Carmel region and the Western Galilee, set a record for a single day during September in Israel, surpassing the 3.76 inches that fell on Sept. 12, 1932, in the Gush Etzion area near Jerusalem.
The much-needed precipitation, which followed Israel’s long and dry summer and a drought last winter, began overnight and ended by midday.
The Haifa Municipality banned bathing in the sea due to dirty runoff water that typically ends up on the beaches after the first rain of the season.
Despite the record-setting rainfall on an unseasonably cool fall-like day, many other areas of the country remained dry, including Tel Aviv, which saw partly sunny skies.
The weekend is forecast to be temperate and pleasant.
Israel strikes Yemen a day after Eilat drone attack
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday attacked Houthi targets in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed terror group wounded 22 people in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
“We have just delivered a powerful strike on numerous terrorist targets of the Houthi terrorist organization in Sana’a,” Defense Minister Israel Katz stated in Hebrew, dubbing the raid “Operation Pass the Parcel.”
The Israeli Air Force “attacked several military camps, including a camp of the Houthi General Staff, eliminated many dozens of Houthi terrorist operatives and destroyed stockpiles of UAVs and weapons,” he stated.
“As I promised yesterday: whoever harms us will be struck twice as hard,” added Katz.
The Israeli strikes reportedly coincided with a televised address by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the terror organization’s most senior leader.
Twenty-two people were injured, including two seriously, when a drone launched by the Houthis impacted near a major shopping center adjacent to Eilat’s main boardwalk on Wednesday evening.
The Israeli Air Force opened an investigation after two Iron Dome interceptor missiles apparently failed to down the suicide drone.
Israeli arrested for planning to buy gun, kill PM
(JNS) — Israeli police arrested a resident of the southern city of Kiryat Gat who threatened to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The suspect was arrested on the evening of Sept. 22, the start of Rosh Hashanah, when he entered a police station and announced he intended to purchase a gun and shoot Netanyahu three times.
The officers immediately arrested the suspect, who was interrogated at the station. A court subsequently extended his detention at the police’s request.
“Today, an indictment is expected to be filed against him, along with a request for detention until the conclusion of the proceedings,” police said in a statement on Thursday.
On July 24, a woman in her 70s was indicted for allegedly attempting to assassinate Netanyahu, planning to carry out the attack with an anti-tank weapon.
The State Attorney’s Office filed charges against her with the Tel Aviv District Court for attempting to conspire to commit an act of terror and aggravated murder.
The defendant, involved in political protest activities against the Netanyahu government, had recently been diagnosed with a serious illness.
With possibly only a short time to live, she decided to assassinate the prime minister “thereby ‘sacrificing’ her life for the struggle against the government and in doing so, ‘saving’ the State of Israel,” the indictment said.
The plot was uncovered when the defendant was turned in by a fellow activist she attempted to recruit to the plan, asking him for help “in gathering information regarding the prime minister’s schedule, movements, location and security arrangements.”
Sa’ar: Israel discussing proposal to annex Judea, Samaria communities
(JNS) — Jerusalem is considering applying sovereignty to Jewish communities in Area C of Judea and Samaria, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in an interview published on Thursday.
Sa’ar noted that no decision had yet been made and emphasized that the government would not annex any Palestinian Authority-controlled territory.
Under the Oslo Accords Jerusalem signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s, Area C of Judea and Samaria is under full Israeli security and civilian control.
“The issue will be dealt with by the Israeli government,” Sa’ar told Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily when asked about Jerusalem’s expected response to the decision by some European nations to recognize a Palestinian state.
“The government of Israel will assess timing and content. No decision has been made on the matter at the moment,” Israel’s top diplomat stated in the remarks to the daily, which were translated to Italian.
Sa’ar stressed that “there is not even an intention to discuss annexing the territories of the Palestinian Authority, because we do not want to control the Palestinians.
“What can be discussed, but has not yet been decided, is implementing Israeli law in the Israeli communities that are there and are not under Palestinian Authority,” he said.
