VFI News October 19, 2021

Majid Takht Ravanchi, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, slammed Israel on Thursday, October 14, claiming that “over the past months, the number and intensity of Israeli regime provocative and adventurous threats have steadily increased to alarming levels.” He sent the complaint to the head of the UN Security Council, a report at Tasnim News in Iran said on Thursday.

Takht Ravanchi has slammed Israel in the past. Several weeks ago, he complained about Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s speech, claiming it was “full of lies.” Bennett has said that Iran was trying to dominate the region. “Iran-phobia runs rampant at the UN. The Israeli regime PM’s speech was full of lies on Iran,” the Iranian said.

Now Iran is angry about comments reported from Israel. He says that Israel’s IDF Chief of Staff has warned of “operational plans” against Iran. “Operations to destroy Iran's capabilities in various fields will continue at any time,” was the quote that has Iran up in arms.

“Our protests against the regime's previous threats in 2021 are reflected in our letters to the UN Security Council on February 1, April 12, August 27 and September 14,” the Iranians say.

Iran says there are explicit systematic threats by the Israeli “regime” and that this constitutes a violation of international law, in particular Article 2 (4) of the Charter of the United Nations. This coming from the same country whose leaders often threaten to destroy Israel. In this case, it appears hypocritical of Iran to complain about Israeli comments. But the Iranians are complaining nonetheless.

“The fact that the Israeli regime continues to ‘destroy Iran's capabilities’ proves without a doubt that it has been responsible for terrorist attacks against our peaceful nuclear program in the past,” Iran says. “Given the ominous history of the Israeli regime's destabilizing practices in the region, as well as its covert operations against Iran's nuclear program, the regime must be dealt with to stop all threats and disruptive behavior,” Iran says, according to the Tasnim report.

Iran in this sense is playing the victim, which is interesting. It basically admits it has a dangerous nuclear program, but at the same time wants that program to be protected – which shows that Iran is concerned about Israel’s recent comments and actions. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that You protect Your children from a war with Iran.”

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Iranian militias warned of a "harsh response" after a number of Syrian and Iranian-backed forces were killed and wounded in an alleged Israeli airstrike near Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday night, October 13, the second such airstrike in the past week.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted a communications tower and a number of nearby sites, killing one Syrian soldier and wounding three others. The strike was carried out from the direction of the al-Tanf area near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders with Syria, a Syrian military source told SANA.

Around the time of the airstrike, the airspace above the Golan Heights was closed to flights until Friday, October 15, at 12:15 a.m.

On Thursday morning, a joint operations room affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah and the Assad regime warned that it has decided to respond harshly to the airstrikes after a number of operatives were killed and wounded in them, according to Hezbollah-affiliated media. It is unclear if the statement was referring to casualties other than those reported by SANA.

The joint operations room stressed that its mission in Syria is only to help the Syrian state to confront "terrorists" and ISIS.

"For years, we have been subjected to attacks from the Israeli and American enemy in an attempt to drag us into side battles that were not a priority for our presence in Syria, and the Zionists’ excuse was that they were targeting accurate weapons and sensitive equipment that posed a threat to their usurping entity," added the joint statement.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem condemned the alleged Israeli airstrikes on Thursday morning as well, calling them a "blatant aggression and outrageous thuggery."

Qassem stressed that Israel could only be deterred by confronting it, responding to its attacks, making it "pay the price" for its actions and not allowing it to impose the rules of engagement.

Before last week's airstrike, the last one blamed on Israel in Syria took place in August, targeting the Qalamoun Mountains near the capital Damascus. Four Syrian civilians were reportedly killed when Syrian air defense missiles fell in a residential area in the town of Qara. (JPost / VFI News)

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6

Israel does not want war with Hezbollah, but is prepared to face about 2,000 rockets a day from the terror group if conflict breaks out, a senior Israeli military official told AFP.

During the 11-day May conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian terror groups fired around 4,400 projectiles towards the Jewish state. The Iron Dome air defense system intercepted around 90 percent of the rockets headed for populated areas, while just under 300 hit inhabited districts.

Cities like Tel Aviv and Ashdod experienced the “highest number of fire towards them in the history of Israel,” said Uri Gordin, chief of the army’s Home Front Command. “We saw a pace of more than 400 rockets fired towards Israel on a daily basis.”

Gordin said that in the case of a future “conflict or a war with Hezbollah, we expect more than five times the number of rockets fired every day from Lebanon to Israel.”

“Basically, we are looking at between 1,500 and 2,500 rockets fired daily towards Israel,” he told AFP.

An Israeli security source told AFP that the IDF is hoping for “stability” with its northern neighbor, which is mired in a crippling economic crisis, and on Thursday, October 14, saw deadly sectarian clashes in the capital Beirut that left seven dead, including Hezbollah members.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah is “the source of instability in Lebanon,” the security source said, adding that the group “exploits the state’s resources for Iranian interests.”

Iran is “closer to creating fissile material for nuclear weapons than they ever were in the past” but would still need two years to obtain a bomb, the source said, echoing a timeframe cited by other Israeli officials.

“We are preparing for all options and scenarios, including military capabilities,” the security source said. (TOI / VFI News)

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” - Matthew 24:6

On Friday, October 16, China’s top diplomats affirmed the country’s commitment to strengthen its strategic partnership with Iran in a phone call with Iranian officials. The CCP vowed to help Iran combat issues including unilateral bullying, defending international fairness and justice and helping Iran achieve its nuclear ambitions.

In the phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said no matter how the international and regional situation changes, China would make efforts for greater development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.

In addition, China has been running joint military drills with Russia as the two countries attempt to challenge American hegemony. This comes as China is planning to develop its military in hopes to have the strongest global force by 2049. (OANN / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect Israel and Your people, and prevent world wars from breaking out.”

Pessy grew up in Leipzig and quickly bore witness to unspeakable atrocities acted upon her family and the other Jews of Europe. Her harrowing tale of escape, heroism, and redemption serves as an example—both of the inhuman treatment inflicted by the Nazis and the powerful perseverance of the faithful.

Hundreds of medical interns and residents from across Israel handed in their letters of resignation on Monday, October 18, which will take effect in 14 days.

The interns worked at 35 hospital wards nationwide, according to KAN.

"This is only the first phase," the Mirsham union for medical residents said in a statement, adding that more resignations could soon follow, according to N12.

"If the outline for shortening shifts does not change, resignation letters will be submitted in the coming days in dozens of additional departments throughout the hospitals in Israel."

Mirsham had made efforts to negotiate with the Health Ministry, but these talks have stalled.

The resignation is due to longstanding protests against the fact that they work 26-hour shifts, often without any break to rest or even eat or go to the bathroom for several hours, due to the immense overload in hospitals.

"We did not believe we would reach this difficult day," Mirsham said.

"Our commitment is to our patients, those who put their lives in our hands - we can not continue to give them the medical care they deserve, we can not continue to endanger them and ourselves in 26-hour shifts."

Discussions were held late Saturday night , October 16, in an effort to quash the threat of the large-scale resignation, which came into effect Sunday morning.

The crisis has been brewing since at least late September, with the threat of resignations looming since the beginning of October.

On October 17, medical students from all Israeli faculties marched in central Tel Aviv in support of hundreds of interns and residents who had already resigned their positions as part of the battle to shorten the length of hospital shifts.

Over 300 students, from Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Ariel University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem also signed the petition claiming they would resign – and as a result, decided to strike in support. (JPost / VFI News)

The cabinet approved two government resolutions designed to reduce labor shortages in hi-tech and the medical professions, including doctors and nurses.

The resolutions, which are supposed to streamline the immigration process for those professionals and encourage them to make aliyah, were advanced by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata. She said immigrants help drive Israel’s economy forward, and that the government must make full use of this potential.

The first resolution will see the establishment of an inter-ministerial working group to form an operational program to encourage aliyah among potential immigrants with qualifications in engineering and hi-tech. It will also establish a mechanism to connect these professionals with potential employers in Israel before they have even made aliyah.

The labor force is currently lacking some 13,000 to 20,000 engineers and hi-tech personnel, the Aliyah Ministry said on Sunday, October 17, with 60% of hi-tech firms reporting difficulties in hiring appropriate staff.

The ministerial working group, with representatives from numerous government ministries and economic bodies, will not only seek to encourage Jews in the Diaspora with relevant qualifications to make aliyah but also try to persuade Israeli citizens living abroad with such qualifications to return to the country.

The placement mechanism to be created by the Aliyah Ministry together with the Jewish Agency will connect hi-tech aliyah candidates with potential Israeli employers before the immigrants come to Israel.

Hi-tech companies will be able to evaluate these potential employees, and the immigrants themselves will be able to obtain placement with relevant companies before they even arrive.

“Immigrants are the best form of growth for the Israeli economy,” said Tamano-Shata. “This resolution will allow thousands of applicants who have expressed interest in aliyah to integrate into Israeli industry, which will obtain skilled and experienced labor.”

The second resolution will see the establishment of another inter-ministerial committee that, similar to the hi-tech and engineering resolution, will draft a placement program for potential immigrants who are qualified doctors and nurses in cooperation with hospitals and medical health providers.

“Assisting new immigrants to integrate into a variety of jobs in hospitals is very welcome and will provide experienced, quality and professional manpower to those hospitals who will themselves be able to actualize twin missions: Zionist and medical,” said Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, thank you for continuing to grow Israel in both technological and medical fields.”

An Israeli start-up has created the world’s first crowd-cleaning platform designed to incentivize users to clean up the environment.

The CleanCoin app launched five weeks ago in Israel, allows users to easily report or clean up trash piles around them and earn prizes.

“I knew I wanted to create a company that would do good for the world, and I had a lot of ideas,” said Gal Lahat, the company’s 21-year-old co-founder and CTO. “I travel a lot and feel very connected to nature, and it is heartbreaking when you encounter a big pile of litter in a beautiful spot or see a fish trapped in plastic bags. I had an idea that I thought would be simple to implement and have a really big impact.”

The app is simple to use. When you see a pile of litter outdoors, you can take pictures and upload them to the app, where they are tagged on a map and automatically given a score. Then you can either clean up the pile yourself or leave it for someone else to clean. Whoever cleans it up can report it to the system and earn “CleanCoins,” which can be exchanged for real-life rewards.

“The rewards are actually quite worthwhile and pay better than food delivery,” Lahat said. “It comes out to about NIS 10 for one trash bag, which can take about two minutes to fill. We offer some virtual rewards, like upgrading your avatar on the app and things like that. But we also offer great physical rewards, like a free night stay at Abraham Hostels or free clothing from Billabong.”

Rewards are the product of agreements the company has made with suppliers, and many prominent brands have been more than happy to cooperate, Lahat said, adding: “We have deals with travel companies, surf clubs, wall-climbing centers, Azrieli and more.” Cash payouts may also be possible in the future through partnerships with local municipalities, he said.

The reception of the app since its launch last month has been overwhelming, said Adam Ran, CleanCoin’s co-founder and CEO. About 18,000 users have already downloaded and registered on the app, with more joining every day.

“It is amazing how quickly this has taken off,” he said. “Everyone wants to help out and be involved.” (JPost / VFI News)

 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” - Genesis 1:31

A diver found a 900-year-old sword dating back to the Crusader period off the Carmel beach in the north of the country, along with various other artifacts, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.

Atlit resident Shlomi Katzin turned over the weapon to the Israel Antiquities Authority and was awarded a certificate of good citizenship.

Katzin found the sword during a Saturday, October 16, dive in an area off the coast where waves and undercurrents had apparently shifted sand, revealing the item, the IAI said in a statement. Spying stone and metal anchors, Katzin also noticed the sword, which was encrusted with marine life.

It has a one-meter blade and a 30-centimeter hilt.

“The sword, which has been preserved in perfect condition, is a beautiful and rare find and evidently belonged to a Crusader knight,” said Nir Distelfeld, inspector for the IAI’s Robbery Prevention Unit. He assessed it is likely made of iron. (TOI / VFI News)

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