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After meeting for hours on Tuesday, the Israeli security cabinet accepted a cease-fire arrangement to end the recent confrontation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The ceasefire came after 24 hours of fighting that saw some 460 rockets and mortars fired at Israel, 100 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome Missile Defense System. In response, the IDF struck 150 targets in Gaza significantly harming the military capacity of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. One man was killed and over 20 others injured in the rocket barrage.Our JCRC has been tracking the latest developments. For a comprehensive look back at what happened, please click here.
Israel's Jewish Home party plans to leave the Netanyahu coalition government, bringing down the government and forcing new elections, senior sources in the Orthodox-nationalist party told reporters. The party’s decision came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett’s demand to be made defense minister, after former minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned earlier this week over the Gaza truce. On Sunday, the date of the elections will be coordinated between the heads of the coalition parties.
The second round of Israel's municipal elections saw many upsets, with Jerusalem mayoral candidate Moshe Leon, who was behind during most of the vote counting, eventually crowned winner over secularist Ofer Berkovitch, while many sitting mayors lost their seats. Three days after the election, Berkovitch called Leon to concede and set up a meeting between the two.
Four police officers were wounded in a stabbing attack in Armon HaNatziv in Jerusalem. The attack took place inside the police station in the south Jerusalem neighborhood when the attacker managed to lightly injure the officers before being neutralized and arrested.
Italy is considering opening a permanent mission in Jerusalem in light of the European Union's refusal to allow its member-states to relocate their embassies in Israel to the city. Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Guglielmo Picchi made this announcement during his visit to Israel, which was aimed at laying the groundwork for a visit by Italian Interior Minister and Northern League head Matteo Salvini. In an interview, Picchi said that European attitudes towards Israel are improving dramatically.
The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote Friday on nine resolutions critical of Israel and none against any other country. The measures range from condemnations of Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to renewing the mandate of a UN committee probing “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories.” Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, noted the vote on the resolutions came just days after Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip launched some 460 rockets toward Israel. “The world body now adds insult to injury,” he said.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jackie Congedo, Director, JCRC
Shep Englander, CEO, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati
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