Israel’s Foreign Investments Have Tripled Since BDS Established - Ahuva Balofsky BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Israel’s Foreign Investments Have Tripled Since BDS Established

By Ahuva Balofsky   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS  June 3, 2016 

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; but the counsel of Hashem, that shall stand.” Proverbs 19:21 (The Israel Bible™)

Foreign investment in Israel is on the rise despite BDS efforts. [Image: Shutterstock]

In a blow to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, foreign investments in Israel have been growing despite efforts to isolate the Jewish State internationally. According to Bloomberg,foreign investments have nearly tripled since 2005, when BDS was founded, reaching a record high of $285.12 billion last year.

Supporters of BDS range from those who disagree with Israel’s security policies to those who deny the Jewish State’s right to exist. These famously include Stephen Hawking, who refused to attend a a Jerusalem conference in 2013, and Lauryn Hill, who canceled her scheduled 2015 concert. The movement claims it is making inroads internationally, and Israel has acknowledged BDS as a “strategic threat”. However, the Israeli economy does not appear to have been harmed thus far.

“We don’t have a problem with foreign investment in Israel — on the contrary,” Yoel Naveh, chief economist at Israel’s finance ministry told Bloomberg in an interview.

While Israel’s economy is slowing, it is still growing more steadily that other countries’, at an expected rate of 2.8 percent to the US and EU’s 1.8 percent. According to the Israeli Export and International Cooperation Institute, Israel’s industrial high-tech exports rose 13 percent over the previous year to $23.7 billion in 2015. Meanwhile, the BlueStar Israel Global Index, a gauge of globally-listed Israeli companies, has doubled over the past decade.

In addition to Israeli startups raising $3.76 billion last year from foreign investors, another  $5.89 billion poured in through foreign acquisitions of Israeli companies.

BDS members are not worried by Israel’s economic health. “BDS is not just working,” said Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the campaign. “It is working far better and spreading into the mainstream much faster than we had anticipated.”

The impact of BDS, he added, is in the “indirect, palpable psychological impact on the mainstream Israeli psyche about the country becoming more ‘isolated’ from the world.”

Many investors, however, are more concerned with choosing assets which will turn a healthy profit within the confines of the law. If those assets are to be found in Israel, then that’s where they will invest.

Biblical Brigades of Christian Soldiers Mobilize to Fight ISIS By Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Members of the Christian Babylon Brigade train for battle with ISIS. (YouTube Screenshot)

Biblical Brigades of Christian Soldiers Mobilize to Fight ISIS

By Ahuva Balofsky April 13, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:8 (The Israel Bible™)

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) has become so serious a problem that it has been recognized as genocide. Some Christians in the region are unwilling to go like lambs to the slaughter, however, and have begun forming militias to fight back.

One such group is the Babylon Brigade, some 500 to 1,000 Christian fighters who mobilized after ISIS took control of their hometown in Mosul, Iraq in 2014. Christians were forced to leave, convert or pay bribes, and many were expelled from their homes. Women were raped and sold into slavery or killed.

Not content to let things be, the members of the Babylon Brigade are offering resistance to ISIS forces. They are a part of a larger group called the Popular Mobilization Forces, which qualifies them for funding from the government.

ISIS “displaced us from our houses, they took our money, killed our young men and women and they took our properties,” the group’s commander, Rayan Al-Kildani, told NBC News. “Therefore, Christians decided to fight the terrorists of ISIS.”

This is a far cry from turning the other cheek as typically mandated by Christian doctrine, but the Babylon Brigade is not alone. Dwekh Nawsha, which translates from Syriac to “one who sacrifices”, was formed the same year to protect Iraq’s Assyrian Christians from ISIS. Dwekh Nawsha operates in coordination with the regional and international security forces and counts several foreign fighters among its ranks, including from the US, France and Australia.

Meanwhile, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units consist primarily, though not exclusively, of Christian fighters. Most of Iraq’s Christians are concentrated in this region.

Not all the Christians standing up for themselves, their people and their homes are men, either. In Syria, the “Female Protection Forces of the Land Between the Two Rivers” of the Syriac Christians Brigade celebrated its second class of fighters in early January.

“I’m a practicing Christian, and thinking about my children makes me stronger and more determined in my fight against [ISIS],” one fighter named Babylonia, who graduated with the first class in December, told AFP. She said she is fighting for her children’s future and “against the idea that the Syriac woman is good for nothing except housekeeping and make-up,” something her husband, also a soldier, encouraged her to do.

Just last year, Iraq also welcomed its first all-Christian brigade to its regular forces, as well. The “Tiger Guards” answer to the government of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.

“Around 600 peshmerga from our Christian brothers in the Nineveh plain joined this course, which focused on physical training, military lectures and shooting exercises,” said Abu Bakr Ismail, the commander of the training academy.

“All the participants are volunteers…and want to liberate their land from ISIS and then protect it,” the Kurdish special forces major general told AFP, according to its report carried by al-Arabiya.

As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for peace, but there is also a time for war.

Egypt Accuses Archeologists of Faking Stars of David in Ancient Temple By Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Two six-pointed stars were found on a stone in the ruins of a Roman Temple in Egypt. (Photo: Official Twitter feed of @selket_de)

Egypt Accuses Archeologists of Faking Stars of David in Ancient Temple

By Ahuva Balofsky April 5, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And David spoke unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Shaul.” II Samuel 22:1 (The Israel Bible™)

The ruins of a Roman Temple, dating back to the third century BCE, is the center of a storm of Egyptian controversy owing to a pair of six-pointed stars found engraved at the site. According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, the ruins are located on the Elephantine Island in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan.

Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, the head of the Egyptian Antiquities branch in the Antiquities Ministry, said he noticed the engravings, which resemble the Star of David which appears on the Israeli flag, on a stone. He accused the German archaeologists assisting in the temple reconstruction of carving the stars into the stone.

Afifi demanded the German team immediately remove the offending stone, threatening legal action if the archaeologists repeat the move.

One Egyptian news site, Suezbalady, went so far as to accuse a Jewish member of the German team of vandalism with the intent of harming Egyptian culture.

Newly appointed Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani visited the shrine at Aswan Saturday. He then issued a press release stating that he had instructed the joint Egyptian-German group to submit a scientific report about the two engravings found on one of the temple’s walls.

“The report will include a picture of the stone under discussion from the time it was discovered, to explore its archaeological repercussions without the two Star of David engravings,” Anani said.

“We will be aided by an expert of Islamic antiquities to understand whether the Sign of David was common in that early period,” Anani announced.

It should be noted that despite its strong modern associations with the State of Israel, the Star of David, known in Hebrew as the magen David, or shield of David, was not historically a uniquely Jewish symbol. It can be found in the iconography of many religious groups, including both Christians and Muslims. Its Hebrew name evokes the Biblical King David, known as a great warrior and faithful servant of God.

World's Oldest Man, 112, Survived Auschwitz and Lives in Israel By Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

World's Oldest Man, 112, Survived Auschwitz and Lives in Israel

By Ahuva Balofsky March 14, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.’” Genesis 6:3 (The Israel Bible™)

When God set down His ideal age limit in the Bible at 120, he may have had this man in mind: Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal of Haifa has been recognized as the oldest man alive today by the Guinness Book of World Records, reported Ynet.

Kristal, 112, was born in Poland in 1903. He was a married father of two when the Holocaust began. His children succumbed to illness in the Lodz Ghetto and his wife perished during a death march to Auschwitz, but Kristal survived making chocolates and other sweets for the Nazis.

Following the war, Kristal met Bat-Sheva, another survivor whose family had perished, and the two married, moving to Israel in 1950. They had three children, one of whom died in infancy.

Today, Kristal is a grandfather of nine and great-grandfather of many more.

According to the paper, Kristal received Guinness’s recognition with restraint. His daughter, Shulamit Kuperstoch, noted this is in keeping with his character.

“He’s a man who knows what it means to be on top and what it means to barely exist,” she explained. “For a man who lost his entire family in the Holocaust, his proportions are different.”

Kristal attributes his longevity to God.

“My father is a religious man who observes the commandments and prays every morning,” said Kuperstoch. “In my opinion, what has kept him going all these years is optimism. When something bad happens, he always says, ‘It could have been worse.’”

Kristal celebrates his 113th birthday in September. He attained the distinction of being the oldest man alive when a Japanese supercentenarian of the same age passed away earlier this year. Kristal’s family spent the past two months gathering documentation to prove their father’s claim.

Should he reach 116, Kristal will earn the record for oldest man in modern recorded history. The Bible identifies Methuselah, at 969, as the oldest individual to ever have lived (Genesis 5:27).

Judea and Samaria Manufacturers Refuse to Put Discriminatory Labels on Products by Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

The Jordan Valley. (Photo:Dickelbers/ BreakingIsraelNews)

Germany Demands Labels From Settlements Read "Occupied Territories"

By Ahuva Balofsky March 7, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over the Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster.” Deuteronomy 27:2 (The Israel Bible™)

Israelis living in the Jordan Valley have vehemently refused to label their products as coming from “occupied territories”, sending a scathing letter to Germany’s ambassador, several media outlets reported. According to Israel National News, David Elhayani, head of the Jordan Valley regional council, was responding to a phone request from a German marketing company.

The German company, Gaia, contacted a local farmer, informing him that their clients would like a prominent label applied to Jordan Valley products, stating “the product was produced in territories occupied by the government of Israel.” This is accordance with new EU guidelines, set in November, which forbid products made beyond the pre-1967 borders of Israel to be labeled “Made in Israel”.

Elhayani, himself a farmer, dashed off an angry letter last week to German ambassador to Israel Clemens von Goetze. Calling the demand “discriminatory” and “politically motivated”, he refused on behalf of the community to comply.

Reminding the ambassador of his country’s Nazi past, Elhayani wrote, “We will not label any of our products. In our eyes the demand to label goods is equal to the demand from the dark and awful days of the past when Jews were labeled in Europe.”

The timing of the demand, Elhayani argued, also showed incredible insensitivity to the plight of Israelis today, coming as it does in the midst of a terror wave which has claimed the lives of 29 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals in the past five months. “The state of Israel in these days is dealing with a wave of violent and severe terror. This decision for the harmful demand by the European Union comes on the background of this serious reality – it’s simply scandalous.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, Elhayani told von Goetze that 60 percent of Jordan Valley residents rely on agriculture for the income, and 20 percent of the region’s exports go to Europe.

Elhayani’s comments echoed those of Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel Friday, who said this was not the first time Europe had chosen to label Jews. Ariel demanded the EU renounce its “wretched boycott decision”.

Judea and Samaria are the heartland of Biblical Israel, and Jewish settlements there represent the return, after 2,000 years, of a people in exile to its home. The EU claims its decision to label Israeli settlement goods stems from an unwillingness to support what it considers an illegal occupation, but agreements reached with other nations in similarly questionable positions belie the claim. Europe also announced recently its agreements with Israel will no longer be applicable beyond the so-called “green line”, another move decried by Israel.

The US has quietly followed Europe’s example, with the US Customs Department “reissuing” a 1995 order to label West Bank and Gaza products. In reality, however, the original order applied only to Palestinian-made products from those regions, whereas the current directive is being applied to Israeli-made products, as well. Violators are subject to stiff fines.

Assassination Attempt on Netanyahu Averted By Ahuva Balofsky BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Assassination Attempt on Netanyahu Averted

By Ahuva Balofsky  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS February 22, 2016 

“O my God, in Thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me.” 
Psalms 25:2 (The Israel Bible™)

Photos above: Jerusalem terrorists had plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [Photo: Israel Security Service]

A Hamas terror cell operating out of Jerusalem had been planning a mass casualty attack with the added goal of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hebrew-language news site Walla! reported Sunday. Although indictments were filed last month in the case, the details were only recently cleared for publication.

The cell consisted of six members, with direct support from operatives in Gaza. Cell leader Ahmed Azzam, originally from Kfar Yussuf but living in Abu Dis, revealed during interrogation that the group had planned to detonate a bomb at Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue or Payis Arena during a speech by Israel’s leader.

According to the website, the cell had already secured a safe house in Abu Dis, a Palestinian town within Jerusalem, and amassed chemicals needed to build the explosive, such as potassium, hydrogen peroxide and fertilizer.

Under interrogation, Azzam revealed that he had first become interested in conducting a terror attack on behalf of Hamas while in an Israeli jail. In August, he established contact with one Abu Omer, a Hamas representative in Gaza, who provided support and direction. In November, he recruited 22-year-old Hizzam Sanduka, nicknamed “The Mechanic” for his knowledge of vehicles.

Sanduka was responsible for the bomb placement. It was also he who selected Netanyahu as a potential target. Working with a partner, he obtained the necessary components from Jerusalem-area nurseries and pharmacies. As a resident of Jerusalem’s Old City, he was able to use a car with yellow Israeli license plates, which made it easier to get around without arousing suspicions, but Sanduka told investigators he still drove to Jaffa after purchasing his supplies to verify whether or not he was being followed.

Sanduka had also worked as a guard in an Israeli security company, and had been stationed in the past at the Arena, and thus intended to use his connections to gain access to the final target. Since he had been part of the team which built the stage in the Arena, he had considered it an ideal opportunity to plant the bomb, with the intention of taking out the Israeli leader and those closest to him. He told investigators the only reason he had not planted explosives at the time was that he did not have the knowledge or means to prepare them.

Sanduka also recruited Fahdi Abu Kia’an,19, a Bedouin from southern Israel, known to be a supporter of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The cell debated a variety of terror methods, including kidnappings and suicide bombings. At one point, Azzam asked Sanduka to obtain a larger vehicle in order to smuggle more supplies, as well as potential suicide bombers, into Israel. The cell members also considered different targets, such as Malcha Mall or the port in Jaffa, where the carnage would be highest.

Indictments have been handed down against Sanduka and Kia’an so far, and another one was filed by the military prosecutor against 25-year-old Azzam.

As Proverbs (19:21) indicates, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; but the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”

Obama Reluctantly Signs BDS Bill Recognizing Territories as Part of Israel by Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Obama Reluctantly Signs BDS Bill Recognizing Territories as Part of Israel

By Ahuva Balofsky February 15, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said: ‘How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ And the people answered him not a word.” (1 Kings 18:21)

A trade bill which passed a senate vote Thursday is set to be signed into law by US President Barack Obama, despite his objections to its pro-Israel portions. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 came before Congress last summer as part of a package designed to strengthen rule enforcement and address currency manipulation.

The bill, however, contains a provision which would extend agreements with Israel into “Israeli-controlled territories”, a move lauded by pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) but criticised by the White House, which said it “contravenes longstanding U.S. policy towards Israel and the occupied territories, including with regard to Israeli settlement activity.”

A statement by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged that the president would sign the bill despite his objections. “As with any bipartisan compromise legislation, there are provisions in this bill that we do not support,” he explained. “However, the legislation would strengthen trade enforcement at our ports and borders and improve our ability to stop evasion of our trade laws; improve transparency, accountability, and coordination in enforcement efforts; and give us unprecedented new tools to address unfair currency practices. Its passage is an important milestone in our overall trade agenda.”

The bill includes a clause intended to curb politically-motivated trade moves, such as limiting or prohibiting economic relations with Israel. The clause, which discourages corporate or state-affiliated entities from participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, received particular accolades from AIPAC.

“The provision puts the US firmly on record opposing BDS and supporting enhanced commercial ties between the United States and Israel,” AIPAC said in a statement Thursday. “This measure builds on the important work of Congress … passing into law firm anti-BDS negotiating objectives for American trade negotiators.”

In accordance with the bill, 180 days following its passage, the US administration will be required to report to the Congress on global BDS activities, including the participation of foreign companies in political boycotts of Israel. A number of legal protections for American businesses operating in Israel are also included.

While Obama opposes BDS, the White House expressed concern about extending such a clause to East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Judea and Samaria, regions considered “occupied”. Long-standing US policy has held that Israeli settlement activity in these regions undermine peace efforts and the establishment of a two-state solution.

As one administration official told The Times of Israel, successive US governments have walked a fine line between enhancing economic ties with Israel and preserving the possibility of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. He said this has been a priority for both Democrats and Republicans since the US-Israel Free Trade agreement was signed in 1985.

The bill passed Thursday’s Senate vote 75-20.

You Can Now Drink the Wine that King David and Jesus Drank By Ahuva Balofsky - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Winery in Israel. (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

You Can Now Drink the Wine that King David and Jesus Drank

By Ahuva Balofsky December 27, 2015  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS 

“And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, making the face brighter than oil, and bread that stayeth man’s heart.” (Psalms 104:15)

If you have ever been interested in tasting the wine drunk by King David or Jesus, now may be your chance. Following a growing interest in resurrecting the ancient winemaking practices of the region, winemakers at Recanati debuted a wine called marawi, made with grapes indigenous to the region, The New York Times reported.

The Recanati marawi is a crisp white wine released by the winery in October. The grapes were procured from Palestinian farmers, and only 2,480 bottles of the 2014 marawi were produced. They are available at just 10 restaurants in Tel Aviv. However, some 4,000 bottles of the 2015 marawi are aging currently, and the company hopes to plant its own vineyard of the varietal to expand and refine the brand.

The story begins with a groundbreaking project out of Ariel University in the Samaria region of Israel, which aims to to identify – and potentially recreate – the wines mentioned in the Bible. According to Eliyashiv Drori, the Ariel oenologist leading the research, marawi (also called hamdani) and jandali grapes can be traced to a reference in the Babylonian Talmud, dating back to 220 CE.

“All our scriptures are full with wine and with grapes — before the French were even thinking about making wine, we were exporting wine,” Drori told The New York Times. “We have a very ancient identity, and for me, reconstructing this identity is very important. For me, it’s a matter of national pride.”

The goal is to develop a unique Israeli wine, one that expresses the uniqueness of the region, rather than offering variations on wines of foreign origin, such as the French chardonnay.

Winemaking has a long history in Israel. Ancient presses have been discovered dating back as far as Biblical times. The local practices were lost, however, when the production of wine was outlawed by conquering Muslims in the 7th century. The industry was only restored in the 1880s, when Baron Edmund de Rothschild arrived, bringing French grapes with him. To this day, Israeli wines, which have become quite competitive in recent years, have been made from varietals brought in from other countries.

Drori, who has a PhD in agriculture, opened a small winery in 2005, called Gvaot, near his home. He noticed a neglected vine with small, very sweet white grapes and surmised they might make a tasty wine.

In 2011, he and a team of a dozen researchers began identifying local grape varieties with DNA profiles unique from imported grapes. Since then, they have identified 120 different local varieties, of which 50 were domesticated and 20 suitable for wine.

Winemakers in Israel. (Photo: Aviram Valdman/ The Israel Project/Facebook)

In addition, researchers have used DNA testing and a three-dimensional scanner on burned and dried seeds found at archaeological sites, revealing 70 unique varieties. The goal is to match the ancient seeds to living grapes or, failing that, reproduce the ancient varieties using genetic engineering.

Drori’s other task is demonstrating that the grapes he’s identified were used for wine, not snacking. For example, seeds found in donkey droppings in Timna, the site of King Solomon’s copper mines, were likely from pomace, the residue left from winemaking, since fresh fruit would not have been fed to animals.

But the Recanati marawi is not the only ancient wine gaining new life. Israeli vintner Avi Feldstein plans to debut another variety, called dabouki, along with his new winery, in the next few months. And Drori himself, with graduate student Yaakov Henig, has made his own wines at the university from the grapes the team has discovered.

The new wines are not without controversy, like anything in Israel. Palestinians claim the wines are their heritage, despite the fact that wine production is banned by Islam. However, Recanati vintner Ido Lewinsohn sees things differently. He told The New York Times his product is “clean and pure of any political influence,” adding of the grapes: “These are not Israeli; they are not Palestinian. They belong to the region — this is something beautiful.”

LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FEATURED BOOK

Why Israel? Why not? 

This little booklet consists of messages previously written in my books, which of themselves contain many various themes. I wanted to devote one book to just Israel and the Jewish people, and so this small booklet was compiled. 

As you read the following, consider the truth contained in Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, which spell out the commitment of God the Father to choose a people who will be a light to the nations. He chose the Jews, and gave them the Promised Land of Israel. 

It does not matter what other national governments try to say, do, or accomplish apart from the plans and purposes of the Lord. They will fail. His Word is true. It is eternal. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and thus His commitment in keeping His promises made to the Jewish people will be fulfilled. I hope you stand with them in these last days. 

Steve Martin

Love For His People, Charlotte, NC

Purchase here: Why Israel? Paperback $5.95, Kindle $1.99

Israel, Egypt Partnering to Topple Hamas - Breaking Israel News

Israel, Egypt Partnering to Topple Hamas

Posted by: Ahuva Balofsky January 21, 2014  Breaking Israel News

“Will two walk together, except they have agreed?” (Amos 3:3)

An Egyptian air force F-16 Fighting Falcon. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Amy Abbott/ U.S. Air Force)

Following the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords, Egypt was forbidden from deploying forces in the region closest to the Israeli border.  The Times of Israel reports that recently, Israel has been allowing the Egyptian army to expand its presence there in an effort to curb the activities of Hamas in Gaza.

IDF forces uncovered an eight-meter-deep tunnel, south of Rafah and near the Israeli-Egyptian border that is used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. (Photo: IDF)

An Israeli official spoke to the news site on condition of anonymity, as official relations between Israel and Egypt are strained.  “Cooperation is growing tighter on the intelligence and operational level — in fact, on all military levels,” he said.  “Both countries want to crush Hamas, but we need to be smart about it.”

Israel is permitting Egyptian Apache helicopters, already active in the area, to circle the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to intimidate the ruling party.

The Reuters news agency reported last week that Egypt was stepping up its efforts to undermine Hamas, which it sees as a threat to its national security.  According to the report, four high-level Egyptian officials identified Hamas as Cairo’s next priority after subduing the Muslim Brotherhood.  Hamas is an offshoot of that organization.  The officials detailed some of the actions being taken against Hamas, including working with rival Fatah party and supporting popular anti-Hamas activity in the Gaza Strip.  In early January, Cairo hosted a conference for a new anti-Hamas youth movement based in Gaza, called Tamarud, or “rebel”.

Egypt underwent its own turmoil last year when the democratically-elected president Mohammed Morsi was ousted by the military.  Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and supported Hamas through his actions during his presidency.  He was deposed when millions in Egypt took to the streets last July, demanding that he step down.  He is now to be tried on a number of charges, ranging from mocking the judiciary to incitement to kill protesters.  Since the military took over, the frosty, albeit peaceful, relationship between Israel and Egypt has been quietly improving.

“Since July, there’s more willingness to speak to us. The tone has changed,” the Israeli official said.

The 1979 Peace Accords included a military appendix, prohibiting Egypt from sending forces into the area of the Sinai Peninsula closest to Israel.  However, in 2005,  then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorized the deployment of 750 Egyptian troops to patrol the border with Gaza, following Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.  Today, amendments made to the appendix and renewed every month allow both ground and air forces from Egypt to fight Islamist forces in the northeastern Sinai region. “In practice, the military appendix is nonexistent,” the official said. Currently, ten Egyptian brigades are active in Sinai.

About the Author

Ahuva Balofsky grew up in Toronto, Canada and obtained her B.A. Hons. and B.Ed. at York University. She taught Tanach, Rabbinics and English at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. After making Aliyah in 2004 with her family, she completed a Master's degree in Tanach at Bar Ilan University, and currently teaches Bible studies and English.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-egypt-partnering-topple-hamas/#l9od8GodW27tQr1U.99