Security forces have arrested members of a Hamas military infrastructure who murdered Malachi Rosenfeld ten days ago, and wounded three others.
Rosenfeld, 26, succumbed to wounds he sustained in a terrorist shooting attack near the village of Shvut Rachel on June 29.
The same cell carried out another shooting attack two days earlier, at an ambulance and other Israeli vehicles.
“Our enemy is advancing death, funding terror delegations, calling squares and streets after terrorists,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett said at Malachi’s funeral. “I say to our enemies, from day to day, your makeup is coming off of your faces. You are a terror organization, that is what you are! Your game is over. This territory will remain Jewish. We are here 3,800 years and we are here to stay. Enough time has passed. Internalize this. When you murder, we build.”
Malachi’s father, Eliezer Rosenfeld, spoke of his deep bond with Malachi and asked: “What did we do wrong, God, that this is the third time? What did we do wrong?”
Thirteen years ago, on March 29, 2002, Naftali’s eldest brother, Lt. Yitzchak-Menachem Rosenfeld, 22, was killed in a jeep accident in the Tze’elim Stream, in the Judean Desert. He was a pilot in the IAF.
Yitzhak-Menachem was named after his uncle, Sergeant Yitzhak-Moshe Rosenfeld, who was also killed during his military service, in 1978.
Malachi’s parents are among the founders of Kochav Hashachar. The father is a clarinet player, and the mother is a social worker. They have seven children, beside Yitzchak-Menachem and Malachi Moshe.
“This is a great national tragedy,” Eliezer Rosenfeld said Tuesday after his son’s death. “I raised an ambitious boy, wise, with such great intelligence. He went out to play basketball, a competition between communities, and didn’t come back. It’s shameful, what is happening in our country.”
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian terror group Hamas, claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
(Our “unique ability” to get the U.N. Security Council to force inspections and reinstate sanctions? Any such effort would almost certainly be vetoed by one or more Security Council members. — DM)
National Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday slammed remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who over the weekend dismissed as “fantasy” an Israeli claim that it was possible to have penned a better nuclear deal than the one signed by world powers and Iran last week.
“To the best of our professional assessment, these remarks are baseless,” Steinitz, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Army Radio on Sunday.
“One can easily think of a better agreement in which, as is the international practice in such cases, Iran must reveal everything it has done in the past and not simply answer questions of procedure, which really ignores the issue,” he said.
Speaking on US television Friday, Kerry insisted that Israel that “will be safer” under the terms of the nuclear deal, and that the concept of a more stringent nuclear deal was unrealistic.
Kerry said that Netanyahu and other detractors of the deal had not offered an alternative, and promised to increase US support to Israel and America’s other Mideast allies.
“American security cooperation and help will only increase,” he promised. “President [Barack] Obama is prepared to upgrade that,” he told PBS.
John Kerry speaks to Judy Woodruff of PBS’s “Newshour” on the Iranian nuclear deal, July 17, 2015. (screen capture/PBS/YouTube)
Obama, he said, would be willing “to work to do more to be able to address specific concerns” Israel has over the details of the agreement, intended to curb Iran’s nuclear drive in exchange for sanctions relief.
“But we still believe that Israel will be safer with a one-year breakout [to a nuclear weapon] for the ten years [of restrictions stipulated by the deal], than two months,” Kerry said. The assessment that it would currently take two months for Iran to “break out” to a nuclear weapon is based on many Western intelligence estimates.
Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog, Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid and other political leaders have slammed the deal, which leaves much of Iran’s enrichment infrastructure and offensive missile programs intact, and, they say, depends on trusting the Iranian regime to adhere to the agreement despite a long record of breaking previous promises.
Those worries are shared by many US lawmakers working to pass congressional resolutions and bills that might stymie the deal, or at least curtail America’s implementation of its part of the agreement.
“Now there’s no alternative being provided by all these other people,” Kerry charged.
“There’s a lot of fantasy out there about this – quote – ‘better deal.’ The fact is we spent four years putting together an agreement that had the consent of Russia, China, France, Germany, Great Britain and Iran. That is not easy, and I believe the agreement we got will withstand scrutiny and deliver an Iran that cannot get a nuclear weapon,” he said.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter was scheduled to arrive in Israel Sunday to discuss the deal and American help in countering Iranian actions in the region. He will also visit Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states sharing similar concerns over the regional repercussions of the agreement.
Kerry will follow him to the region a week later, meeting with Israeli officials as well as Persian Gulf Arab leaders in Doha.
Shabtai Shavit, who served as Mossad director from 1989 to 1996, gave an interview on Sunday to US radio broadcaster Aaron Klein.
The former head of Israel’s vaunted intelligence agency Mossad said on Sunday that the nuclear deal struck between Iran and Western powers offers Jerusalem an opening to join “a new Middle Eastern order.”Shabtai Shavit, who served as Mossad director from 1989 to 1996, told US radio broadcaster Aaron Klein that Israel now has even more impetus to make common cause with Sunni Arab countries who are nervous over the West’s overtures toward their common nemesis – Iran.
“I believe that in the present time there is a widow of opportunity for Israel in order to try and pursue a new order in the Middle East,” Shavit said.
The former spy chief said that Sunni states like Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf sheikhdoms share Israel’s suspicions about Iran, giving the Jewish state a de facto membership in the moderate camp.
“Iran is considered to be the adversary of all those countries that you mentioned, of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Emirates,” Shavit said. “In other words, the more moderate Sunni Islam. And we are a member in this same camp.”
“We have here a unique opportunity to try and create a coalition of moderate Arab countries headed by Saudi Arabia and Israel, both in order to address the Iranian potential nuclear capability in the future and also in order to create a new order in the Middle East,” he said.Shavit said that the formation of the new coalition is predicated on a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, which Sunni Arab governments can help facilitate.”I believe that having the moderate Sunni countries being involved in an Israeli-Palestinian political solution – they are in a position to contribute a lot in order to achieve this objective,” he said. “Bearing in mind the fact that up until now we did not succeed in (reaching) any kind of a final solution with the Palestinians in spite of the participation of all kinds of other parties like the Americans, the Europeans and others.”
“I personally agree that the participation of Saudi Arabia, of Egypt and Jordan, both countries that we already have peace treaties with them, and the Emirates – their contribution to such a solution can be considerable.”
The full interview can be heard on the “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” broadcast Sunday night on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and Philadelphia’s NewsTalk 990 AM.
ISIS stronghold: An entrance to the Bosnian village of Gornja Maoca
Islamic State have established a stronghold in mainland Europe, a Sunday Mirror investigation reveals.
Terrorists are secretly buying land in an isolated village, surrounded by deep woodland.
Security services think the area in Bosnia is used for ISIS training camps and could be a base for devastating terror attacks on the West.
Crucially, the location gives IS a key strategic position due to its proximity to the Mediterranean which is used by extremists from Syria, Iraq and North Africa.
At least 12 ISIS fighters trained in the village of Osve have left for Syria in recent months and five are reported to be dead.
Terror expert Dzevad Galijasevic said: “From this village a large number of people went to Syria and are going constantly.
Isolated: The ISIS stronghold in Osve, Bosnia
JOHN ALEVROYIANNIS
Terror stronghold: The isolated village in Bosnia is now ISIS’s base in Europe Heartlands: The ISIS stronghold is not mapped by GPS
“The chosen location of some of the properties is on a hill, where there is no possibility to approach without being seen. It is clear that the source of the terrorist threat is right there. It is a major threat.
“There is no one there who isn’t ready to respond to the summons to jihad.”
We visited the hilltop village 60 miles from Sarajevo and six miles from the town of Maglaj afternoon.
It is not mapped by GPS and is only accessible by steep and winding roads barely wide enough for cars to pass.
JOHN ALEVROYIANNIS
ISIS stronghold: Patrick Hill with sign of the village of Osve, where the terror group have a European base
A number of houses there appear to have been abandoned or only half built and it is not overlooked by any other settlement.
A number of villagers wore Islamic-style clothing, including two women wearing burkas.
Our guide – our driver and translator – said we were being watched and it was too dangerous to photograph them.
Clearly worried, the dad-of-one said: “We should leave now – our presence here is beginning to cause suspicion. This is a beautiful place but is incredibly dangerous.
“You cannot underestimate the possible threat here. If they see the camera all hell will break loose.”
JOHN ALEVROYIANNIS
Secluded: The ISIS village is surrounded by woodland
It is understood that notorious ISIS supporter Harun Mehicevic is among fanatics who bought land in the area. He has purchased two hectares.
Mehicevic fled Bosnia during the 1990s Balkan wars and settled in Melbourne, Australia, where he is considered one of the country’s most dangerous men.
In one ranting sermon, he reportedly told an audience of potential recruits: “Allah will help the mujahideen (holy warriors) establish an Islamic State where Muslims can live with dignity and honour.”
Other known terrorists believed to have bought land in the village include Jasin Rizvic and Osman Kekic, who are both now fighting with ISIS in Syria.
Muslim leader Izet Hadzic – arrested by Bosnia’ and Herzegovina’s security service Sipa in a raid – is also understood to have property in the village, as have many others who have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq.
One villager told our investigators that locals fear the area is a “nest for terrorists”.
The man, who does not want to be named, said: “We regularly hear gunshots coming from the woods up there for long periods at a time. It happens every week.
“I don’t know what they are doing, whether it is target practice or something like that, but it happens regularly.
“It is really concerning to hear such notorious members of ISIS are buying land. They keep themselves to themselves but it is better not to ask questions.
“It worries me that I am bringing up my children here. Now could be time to move out but it is not so easy to sell.”
Bosnia is an ideal position for jihadis travelling illegally from Syria to Greece, via Turkey, and then through Macedonia and Serbia.
Guns and other weapons are easier to obtain in Bosnia than in other parts of Europe due to illegal ownership following the conflicts of the 1990s.
Five months ago, anti-terror cops raided the village of Gornja Maoca in the north of the country following reports of houses flying the ISIS flag.
The area is home to followers of the strict Sunni Islam Wahhabi movement. It has been raided by police several times over the past decade due to suspected links with radical groups.
A report on jihadism in Bosnia said: “Returning foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq – battle-hardened, skilled in handling arms and explosives, and ideologically radicalised – pose a direct threat not only to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also of the region and beyond.”
JOHN ALEVROYIANNIS
ISIS flag: There is strong evidence the group has set up home in Osve, Bosnia
The report, The Lure of the Syrian War: The Foreign Fighters’ Bosnian Contingent, said that between 2013 and 2014, 156 Bosnian men and 36 women travelled to Syria, taking 25 children with them.
It said 48 men and three women had officially returned by last January.
The authors, Sarajevo University associate political science professor Vlado Azinovic and Islamic theologian Muhamed Jusic, also found that Bosnia was ill-prepared to deal with the threat.
The report said: “There is a lack of co-ordination between local law-enforcement agencies on (foreign fighter) issues.”
Kristina Jozic of security service Sipa said: “The return of individuals participating in the conflict in Syria, fighting with ISIS, is undoubtedly a security challenge and a threat, the extent of which is hard to determine.”
She said: “Sipa continuously performs checks of all allegations that can be linked to terrorist activities in any way, whether that is financing, recruiting or other activities related to terrorism.”
She added that the village is under surveillance following a police raid in May.
Director of the Centre for Security Studies in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, Armin Krzalic, said: “Bosnians who went to fight for Islamic State will be treated as a threat to security upon their return whether they have land here or not.”
( This documentary covers the story of the IAF from its creation till 1990 when it was produced. – JW )
Despite its humble beginnings as a simple “Sherut Avir” (Air Service) in 1947, in the short half-century since its inception the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has soared to international distinction as one of the most imposing aerial legions in military history. often said to have been “born in battle”, the IAF has grown strong not by field practice, but through the exercise of countless defensive ttacks, “redemption” airlifts, and covert pre-emptive missions.
“Clear Skies” tells the story of the Israeli Air Force through its collection of the most “inside” military and media footage available to the public. Witness the IAFs development from the War of Independence (1948) and the surprise attack of the Sinai Campaign (1956) to the incredibly strategic pre-emptive strikes on entire Arab airfields of the Six Day War (1967), the humbling losses sustained in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and to the 85-1 daily kill rate of Syrian Aircrafts in dog fights in the 1st Lebanon War.
Under cover of absolute darkness, marvel at the ingenious commando rescue of 103 hostages at the Entebbe airport in Uganda (1976), the 1981 sneak-bombing of the nuclear reactor near Baghdad (shown through the cross-hairs of the pilot who bombed it!), and the 1991 airlift of 14,000 persecuted Ethiopian Jews to Israel, events that have earned the IAF its reputation as an elite fighting force that is not to be trifled with.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis July 18, 2015, 1:12 PM (IDT)
Tennessee terrorist Muhammad Abdulazeez
Mohammed Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, who Thursday, July 16, murdered four US Marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and wounded three people, was the third Muslim of Jordanian-Palestinian descent to perpetrate a massacre of American military or intelligence personnel in six years
debkafile’s intelligence and counter-terrorist experts point out that these acts of terror were the price that US army and intelligence agencies paid for relying on Jordan’s General Intelligence Directorate (Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Amman) as a source of penetration agents for fighting Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other radical Islamist organizations.
US investigators reported Saturday that Abdulazeez had visited Jordan four times in the last 10 years, and during one of those visits traveled to Yemen. There is no chance that the killer – a naturalized American citizen whose real name may be Mohammed Youssuf Said – could have traveled to Yemen on a Jordanian passport “under the radar” of Jordanian intelligence, which may also have succeeded in recruiting him. And there is no way that Jordan’s GID would not have tipped off US intelligence and counter-terrorist authorities.
It is obvious that US law enforcement agencies, who claim to have found “no evidence that he had any contact with militants or militant groups,” know a lot more about the killer’s background than they admit and are feeding out tidbits slowly.
This goes far to explain the unusual aspects of the Chattanooga attack. Within minutes of the shooting, hundreds of agents of the FBI and other agencies dealing with the war on terror were spread out at the scenes of the crime – the Navy recruiting center and the Navy reserve center 12 km away. On the scene with exceptional speed too was the Tennessee US Attorney who said at once that the attacks were being treated as an “act of domestic terrorism.”
But it is hard to understand how a Muslim, who wrote this message on his blog: “Life is short and bitter. And the opportunity to submit to Allah may pass you by “- managed to acquire an arsenal of deadly weapons, including at least two AK-47 automatic rifles and a handgun, which he used on his murderous rampage in Chattanooga. More weapons were found at his home.
It appears likely to debkafile’s intelligence experts that Abdulazeez or Said, whatever his name, exploited a “dead spot” in the cooperation between US and Jordanian intelligence services to coolly and thoroughly prepare his act of terror in Chattanooga. This opportunity and its timing, on the last day of Ramadan, may have been engineered by his handlers, whether a clandestine Islamic State operative in Jordan, or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula-AQAP in Yemen.
His methods recalled the modus operandi employed by Al Qaeda in 2009, when Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian physician, was recruited by the GID for a US Central Intelligence operation, which was to use his medical qualifications to penetrate Ayman Zawahiri’s close circle. Dr. Balawi succeeded in gaining the Al Qaeda leader’s confidence. But Zawahiri also managed to turn him round.
On Dec. 30, 2009, he arrived at the covert US base of Camp Chapman in southeast Afghanistan to deliver his report on the Al Qaeda leader’s plans, which was eagerly was awaited and destined to reach the desk of President Barack Obama.
Instead of handing over his report, the Jordanian doctor detonated the bomb vest strapped around his chest, killing himself and nine of the CIA agents standing around him.
A month earlier, on Nov. 9, 2009, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, with whom the Tennessee killer shared the same Jordanian-Palestinian background, shot dead 13 American soldiers and injured 32 in a sudden attack at the US base of Fort Hood in Texas.
Abdulazeez clearly followed in the footsteps of both these forerunners.
Reports: US Justice Dept. will not oppose Pollard’s release
Israeli held for spying on the US will fulfill 30-year sentence in November; sources say administration will allow for his release, possibly as concession to Israel after Iran deal.
The US Department of Justice will allow for the release of Jonathan Pollard, accused of spying for Israel, after fulfilling his 30-year sentence, reported the Jewish-American publication “Algemeiner.”
A similar report also appeared in the Haredi site from New Jersey, “Lakewood Scope,” citing a source in the US Senate.
Jonathan Pollard. (Photo: AP)
Speculation suggests that the Department of Justice’s neutral stance on Pollard’s release may be part of American concessions to Israel intended to soothe tensions after the US and other world powers signed a nuclear deal with Iran last week. US and Israeli officials refused to respond to the reports on Pollard.
Pollard was arrested for espionage against the US in 1985, a crime that automatically earned him a sentence of 30 years. However, legislators passed a law a few years ago increasing the sentence for espionage to 45 years, though it was unclear if this would also apply to those like Pollard who were imprisoned under the old law.
The parole board of the prison holding Pollard met several days ago to discuss the issue and a final decision is expected at the end of July. If the Department of Justice doesn’t attempt to impose the new 45-year law on Pollard, he is likely to be released. According to the law, the Department of Justice can only appeal Pollards release with evidence that he poses a threat to the public or that he misbehaved in prison.
The news reports denied any connection to US policy in the wake of the Iran deal, but Pollard featured often as a concession card to Israel during peace talks with the Palestinians.
Pollard will reach the age of 61 in August and his health has been in decline over the past few years. During the last two years, Pollard has repeatedly been admitted to hospital and underwent multiple operations.
Hof Ashkelon Regional Council head Yair Farjun condemned Israel’s weak response to recent rocket fire from Gaza, calling attacks against the region “severe.”
“These summer drops are designed to heat up the region; we do not consider them drops but absolute terrorism,” Farjun told Arutz Sheva on Sunday morning.
“Thousands of people were woken up in the middle of the night and had to enter bomb shelters. It’s a feeling of uncertainty of what will happen in the morning – will summer camps run, will the IDF respond, will it be a disgrace?”
“It interferes with the daily lives of the residents of the South,” Farjun stressed.
According to Farjun, being shot at by rockets every week is reminiscent of the not so distant past, namely the war with Gaza that engulfed Israel last summer.
“I understand that now everyone is dealing with the Iranian bomb, but the shooting at us every week is reminiscent of the period before Protective Edge,” which also started with these so-called drops, Farjun noted.
“We’re not interested in who is firing,” Farjun continued. “In the past, when Fatah controlled Gaza and Hamas fired, Fatah said they were not responsible. Today, when Hamas controls Gaza, they claim other groups are firing at us.”
“This does not interest us,” Farjun exclaimed. “Gaza is controlled by Hamas. They are responsible and if we’re not sleeping, they also shouldn’t sleep. The IDF should be instructed to go after Hamas leaders.”
Farjun remained unimpressed by the IDF, whose usual response to such attacks is to bomb terrorist infrastructures in Gaza.
“The Air Forces fires at targets from a remote positions and calls them terrorist networks. But any open area in Gaza is a terrorist network,” Farjun argued. “The army needs to start hunting them one by one.”
Gaza ambulance at scene of one of six attacks on Gaza ans Islamic Jihad vehicles Sunday morning. Photo Credit: Hamza-Twitter
Salafists linked with the Islamic State (ISIS) blew up six Hamas and Islamic Jihad vehicles in simultaneous attacks in Gaza City Sunday morning.
At least two people were wounded.
The ability to stage a coordinated attack in the Hamas stronghold reflects both the capabilities of the jihadists as well as the growing vulnerability of Hamas, whose regime has brought misery, depression and war to the local population.
An ISIS poster was found near one of the vehicles that as exploded.
Israel’s Reshet Bet (Voice of Israel) suggested that terrorists may have used the ISIS poster to frame the Islamists for attacks, which could have been carried only with highly organized support.
The fact that there were not many injuries offers a hint that it might have been Palestinian Authority Fatah terrorists who staged the rare attack with the intent of scaring Hamas but without causing an immediate upheaval.
So much for the “unity” that the Obama so highly applauded earlier this year.
Hamas, which recently has fallen back into Iran’s good graces, is in a serious crisis and has been outlawed in Gaza.
Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal won a rare audience last week with Saudi Arabia ling Salman, the first time in four years a Saudi king has publicly confirmed discussions with the Gaza regime.
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