Volume 23 – Spring 2016 N E W S L E T T E R

PO Box 333, Dianella WA 6059 www.foiwa.org.au Email foiwa@amnet.net.au

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Israeli Bandage Page 2

Boost to funding for Arab housing – page 7

US Military Aid – page 3

Netanyahu’s speech to UN – centre pages

Shimon Peres2 AUGUST 1923 – 28 SEPTEMBER 2016Shimon Peres has died at the age of 93. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate served the State of Israel for more than six decades, including twice as prime minister and once as president, and was the last surviving figure associated with its founding.

“Optimists and pessimists die the exact same death, but they live very different lives.” So said Shimon Peres, the last of Israel’s founding generation of leaders, a giant among statesmen who has now sadly left Israel and the Jewish world, and passed from the world stage. Shimon Peres was known as a former Israeli government hawk who became a committed dove, but at all times he remained a confirmed optimist with a positive, can-do attitude.

As a young official in the Ministry of Defence in the 1950s, Shimon secured massive amounts of quality arms, including Mirage jet fighters, and establishing the Dimona nuclear reactor. After Israel’s spectacular victory in the 1967 war, he became a leading advocate of Israel making peace with its neighbours, including the Palestinians, and in 1994 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Shimon Peres personified the quality of leadership that is so often lacking in the contemporary world. He dared to dream, and to live up to his own high standards: “To find a cause that’s larger than yourself and then to give your life to it.” He was an inspiration to all of us and will be sorely missed.

May his memory be a blessing. Various sources: Including Peter Wertheim AM

With wife Sonia and child at Alumot kibbutz

With Ariel Sharon – Egypt 1975

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Page 2 FRIENDS OF ISRAEL WA NEWSLETTER

New Israeli bandage can stop what was once thought to be ‘uncontrollable’ bleedingA new Israeli-developed bandage aims to save lives in cases of severe bleedings, where conventional treatment procedures could fail to stop a deadly haemorrhage.

Yuval Yaskil, owner and CEO of developers Core Scientific Creations (CSC), said, “The bandage, called WoundClot, not only stops severe bleedings within minutes – without the need to apply pressure on the wound – but also enhances the blood’s natural process of clotting.”

“Cases of severe, uncontrolled bleedings are the number one cause of death on the battlefield. While the traditional protocol for treating such bleedings include applying pressure on a wound to stop it from bleeding and rushing the patient to hospital.”

“These products allow us to treat very severe bleeding in the field, with minimum amount of training, with minimum amount of interfering with the regular medical treatment or protocols that are used today,” said Yaskil. “Just stopping the blood from leaving the patient’s body is not enough, as it can sometimes take hours before a patient reaches a hospital. That this is why WoundClot was chemically crafted to stop bleeding, enhancing the natural clotting process while maintaining its own stability for 24 hours.”

“Our product is unique because it is the only product on the market that uses non-compressional application for severe bleeding while at the same time being bio-absorbable. Because this is a contradiction: Bio absorbable means you want the product to break down, but withholding severe bleeding means you need to have a very stable membrane,” he said. Haaretz

ISRAELI PARTNERS SIGN DEAL WITH JORDANIAN GAS COMPANYThe first deal to export gas from Israel’s Leviathan gas field has recently been signed between the Israeli gas partners and the Jordanian gas company.

According to the deal, Israel will supply Jordan with gas from the Leviathan gas field. The deal is valid for 15 years and is worth an estimated $10 billion. This is the first

exporting deal from the Leviathan gas field that the Israeli gas partners have signed. The Leviathan gas field is scheduled to begin operating in four years. JOL

Aerial photo reveals Hamas misuse of international donations to GazaDonations from the United Kingdom made to the Christian aid organisation World Vision were used by Hamas to build one of such 70 military bases that operate in Gaza. The allegations are part of the 15 June 2016 arrest of Mohammed El-Halabi, a senior World Vision worker facing charges of funnelling $43 million in charity funds to Hamas.

Eighty thousand dollars of aid donated to World Vision by the United Kingdom, which was intended to help the civilians of Gaza build badly-needed infrastructure and provide food and medical care to those in need was instead invested in building a Hamas military base and pocketed by the terrorists who constructed it.

“In this compound we have identified surveillance and observation capabilities facing north, towards Israel.” IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. “I can also tell you that in June 2015 we targeted components within the compound following a rocket attack against Israel.” The active Hamas military base, code named “Palestine”, was built, among other things, for close-quarter combat training in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, the third-largest Gazan city. The relatively large base is 600 by 200 metres, and is a short distance from residential buildings, as seen in the declassified aerial map.

The World Vision investigation exposed that 60 per cent of the charity group’s annual budget was funnelled to terror activities by Halabi, the Palestinian manager of the World Vision’s Gaza branch. Forty three million dollars of aid earmarked for agriculture, treatment for the disabled, and public health was instead used by Hamas to buy weapons, build military bases, and fund the construction of tunnels. IDF blog

Volume 23 – Spring 2016 Page 3

United States increases military assistance to IsraelThe United States will give Israel $US38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. The funds will pay for upgrading fighter aircraft, improving ground forces and strengthening missile defence.

The $US38 billion deal was 10 months in the making. Both sides were keen to sign off before US presidential election.

The deal will allow Washington’s chief Middle East ally to upgrade most of its fighter aircraft, improve its ground forces’ mobility and strengthen its missile defence systems, a senior US official said.

While the package constitutes the most US military aid ever given to any country, it entails concessions by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials on both sides.

Nearly 10 months of drawn-out aid negotiations underscored continuing friction between President Barack Obama and Mr Netanyahu over last year’s US-led nuclear deal with Israel’s arch-foe Iran, an accord the Israeli leader opposed. The United States and Israel have also been at odds over the Palestinians.

But the right-wing Mr Netanyahu decided it would be best to forge a new arrangement with Mr Obama, who leaves office in January, rather than hoping for better terms from the next US administration, according to officials on both sides.

A new pact now allows him to avoid uncertainties surrounding the next president, whether Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump, and to give Israel’s defence establishment the ability to plan ahead.

Mr Obama’s aides also wanted a new deal before the end of his presidency, seeing it as an important part of his legacy. Republican critics accuse him of not being attentive enough to Israel’s security, which the White House strongly denies, and of taking too hard a line with the Israeli leader.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are confident that the new Memorandum of Understanding will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a dangerous neighbourhood,” Mr Obama said in a written statement.

According to a White House “fact sheet”, the deal includes:

n Annual payments of $US3.3 billion in so-called foreign military financing and $US500 million a year for Israeli missile defence funding, the first time this has been formally built into the aid pact;

n A phasing-out of a special arrangement that for decades has allowed Israel to use 26.3 per cent of the US aid on its own defence industry instead of on American-made weapons; and

n Elimination of a longstanding provision that has allowed Israel to use about 13 per cent of the US aid to buy military fuel.

The funding will allow Israel to update “the lion’s share” of its fighter aircraft, including purchasing additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Israel is scheduled to receive 33 F-35s aircraft, the first two of which will be delivered in December. Reuters

Netanyahu lauds ‘beloved’ Peres, a ‘man of vision’PM CALLS LATE PRESIDENT A MAN OF PEACE ‘WHO WORKED FOR RECONCILIATION”Netanyahu said he first met Peres at the grave of his brother Yoni Netanyahu, an elite officer killed during an operation to release Israeli hostages at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976. “I will never forget his warmth toward me, toward my brother Ido, and toward my parents of blessed memory, in our moments of grief.”

Page 4 FRIENDS OF ISRAEL WA NEWSLETTER

What I’m about to say is going to shock you: Israel has a bright future at the UN.

Now I know that hearing that from me must surely come as a surprise, because year after year I’ve stood at this very podium and slammed the UN for its obsessive bias against Israel. And the UN deserved every scathing word – for the disgrace of the General Assembly that last year passed twenty resolutions against the democratic State of Israel and a grand total of three resolutions against all the other countries on the planet.

And what about the joke called the UN Human Rights Council, which each year condemns Israel more than all the countries of the world combined. As women are being systematically raped, murdered, sold into slavery across the world, which is the only country that the UN’s Commission on Women chose to condemn this year? Yep, you guessed it – Israel. Israel. Israel where women fly fighter jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside – twice – over the Supreme Court, and have served as Speaker of the Knesset and as Prime Minister.

And this circus continues at UNESCO. UNESCO, the UN body charged with preserving world heritage. Now, this is hard to believe but UNESCO just denied the 4,000-year connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site, the Temple Mount. That’s just as absurd as denying the connection between the Great Wall of China and China.

The UN, begun as a moral force, has become a moral farce. So when it comes to Israel at the UN, you’d probably think nothing will ever change, right? Well think again. You see, everything will change and a lot sooner than you think. The change will happen in this hall, because back home, your governments are rapidly changing their attitudes towards Israel. And sooner or later, that’s going to change the way you vote on Israel at the UN.

More and more nations in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, see Israel as a potent partner – a partner in fighting the terrorism of today, a partner in developing the technology of tomorrow.

Many also seek to benefit from Israel’s ingenuity in agriculture, in health, in water, in cyber and in the fusion of big data, connectivity and artificial intelligence – that fusion that is changing our world in every way.

Governments are changing their attitudes towards Israel because they know that Israel can help them protect their peoples, can help them feed them, can help them better their lives.

In Africa, things are changing. In China, India, Russia, Japan, attitudes towards Israel have changed as well.

These powerful nations know that, despite Israel’s small size,

it can make a big difference in many, many areas that are important to them.

But now I’m going to surprise you even more. You see, the biggest change in attitudes towards Israel is taking place elsewhere. It’s taking place in the Arab world. Our peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan continue to be anchors of stability in the volatile Middle East. But I have to tell you this: For the first time in my lifetime, many other states in the region recognise that Israel is not their enemy. They recognise that Israel is their ally. Our common enemies are Iran and ISIS. Our common goals are security, prosperity and peace. I believe that in the years ahead we will work together to achieve these goals, work together openly.

I believe the day is not far off when Israel will be able to rely on many, many countries to stand with us at the UN. Slowly but surely, the days when UN ambassadors reflexively condemn Israel, those days are coming to an end.

I have total confidence that in the years ahead the revolution in Israel’s standing among the nations will finally penetrate this hall of nations. I have so much confidence, in fact, that I predict that a decade from now an Israeli prime minister will stand right here where I am standing and actually applaud the UN. But I want to ask you: Why do we have to wait a decade? Why keep vilifying Israel?

Netanyahu’s speech at the 2016 United Nations General AssemblyIn an extract from his New York address, the Israeli Prime Minister calls on President Abbas to speak at the Knesset and restart peace talks and urged the world to unite against Iran.

Volume 23 – Spring 2016 Page 5

Netanyahu’s speech at the 2016 United Nations General AssemblyAre the half million slaughtered Syrians helped by your condemnation of Israel? The same Israel that has treated thousands of injured Syrians in our hospitals, including a field hospital that we built right along the Golan Heights border with Syria. Are the gays hanging from cranes in Iran helped by your denigration of Israel? That same Israel where gays march proudly in our streets and serve in our party and parliament, including I’m proud to say, in my own Likud. Are the starving children in North Korea’s brutal tyranny, helped by your demonisation of Israel? Israel, whose agricultural know-how is feeding the hungry throughout the developing world?

The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better. The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself. If UN habits die hard, Palestinian habits die even harder. President Abbas just attacked from this podium the Balfour Declaration. He’s preparing a lawsuit against Britain for that declaration from 1917. President Abbas attacked the Balfour Declaration because it recognised the right of the Jewish people to a national home in the land of Israel. When the United Nations supported the establishment of a Jewish state in 1947, it recognised our historical and our moral rights in our homeland and to our homeland. Yet today, nearly 70 years later, the Palestinians still refuse to recognise those rights – not our right to a homeland, not our right to a state, not our right to anything. And this remains the true core of the conflict, the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognise the Jewish state in any boundary. You see, this conflict is not about the settlements. It never was.

The conflict raged for decades before there was a single settlement, when Judea, Samaria and Gaza were all in Arab hands. The West Bank and Gaza were in Arab hands and they attacked us again and again and again. And when we uprooted all 21 settlements in Gaza and withdrew from every last inch of Gaza, we didn’t get peace from Gaza – we got thousands of rockets fired at us from Gaza.

This conflict rages because for the Palestinians, the real settlements they’re after are Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

Israel is ready, I am ready to negotiate all final status issues but one thing I will never negotiate: Our right to the one and only Jewish state.

So I call on President Abbas: you have a choice to make. You can continue to stoke hatred as you did today or you can finally confront hatred and work with me to establish peace between our two peoples. While Israel seeks peace with all our neighbours, we also know that peace has no greater enemy than the forces of militant Islam.

The bloody trail of this fanaticism runs through all the continents represented here. It runs through Paris and Nice, Brussels and Baghdad, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Minnesota and New York, from Sydney to San Bernardino. So many have suffered its savagery: Christian and Jews, women and gays, Yazidis and Kurds and many, many others.

Yet the heaviest price, the heaviest price of all has been paid by innocent Muslims. Hundreds of thousands unmercifully slaughtered. Millions turned into desperate refugees, tens of millions brutally subjugated. The defeat of militant Islam will thus be a victory for all humanity, but it would especially be a victory for those many Muslims who seek a life without fear, a life of peace, a life of hope

To defeat the forces of militant Islam, we must fight them relentlessly. Israel fights this fateful battle against the forces of militant Islam every day. We keep our borders safe from ISIS, we prevent the smuggling of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, we thwart Palestinian terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, and we deter missile attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

The greatest threat to my country, to our region, and ultimately to our world remains the militant Islamic regime of Iran. Iran openly seeks Israel’s annihilation. It threatens countries across the Middle East, it sponsors terror worldwide.

I am filled with hope because Israel is capable of defending itself by itself against any threat. I am filled with hope because the valour of our fighting men and women is second to none. I am filled with hope because I know the forces of civilisation will ultimately triumph over the forces of terror. I am filled with hope because Israel works tirelessly to advance equality and opportunity for all its citizens: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, everyone. And I am filled with hope because despite all the naysayers, I believe that in the years ahead, Israel will forge a lasting peace with all our neighbours.“ Times of Israel

FOIWA SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERBritish author, David Pryce-Jones, was in Perth for only 24 hours, but found time to visit the Jewish Centre on 22 September, presenting a futuristic scenario for the Middle East to over 100 community and FOIWA members.

He said Israel is safe, strong and here to stay. “You’d think if Israelis were realising they were going to be annihilated, they’d rush to the airport, but they’re not. It’s the Arabs rushing to leave their countries.” David Pryce-Jones did not hold back on his comments on Obama, Putin and the Ayatollah, and stressed that peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a strong deterrent. The Maccabean David Pryce-James

Page 6 FRIENDS OF ISRAEL WA NEWSLETTER

IsraAid sent team to help louisiana flood victimsAn Israeli international aid organisation sent a team of relief workers to help those affected by the Baton Rouge flood in August 2016.

The eight-person delegation from IsraAid helped residents collect personal items from the wreckage to help return them to a normal routine.

More than 13 people were killed and more than 60,000 houses were damaged due to flooding from a torrent of rain over three days.

Naama Gorodischer, who oversaw the delegation which travelled to Louisiana, said the team arrived as soon as the water levels subsided and started working immediately.

IsraAid has helped many communities across the world recover from natural disasters resulting from floods, earthquakes, typhoons, fires, Tsunamis and other disastrous events. JNS.Org

A scene of the flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Friends of Israel Western Australia wishes all our friends

Shana Tova 5777Peace, Health and Joy for

the coming Year

CHANNEL 9 NEWS: DISREGARD FOR PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISMA Palestinian terrorist stabbed an IDF soldier near Hebron’s Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. The attacker was shot dead by soldiers.

Palestinian executed after Israeli checkpoint knife attack.

This is how Australia’s Channel 9 News reported the incident with yet another example of a faulty headline.

Who is doing the attacking? The headline clearly turns the Palestinian terrorist into a victim of Israeli malevolence. And what exactly is an “Israeli checkpoint knife attack?”

Bizarrely, the Palestinian terrorist is later referred to as a “fellow”. We’ve seen Palestinian terrorists described as “militants”, “activists” and “freedom fighters” but this is the first time we have seen one called a “fellow”.

“Taking advantage of the distraction, the Palestinian fellow produces a knife from his right hip pocket and attempts to stab the soldier in the face, sending him reeling back on his heels.”

For he’s a jolly good fellow? So say none of us.

That the story then repeats allegations of an “extra- judicial killing” by sourcing and linking to the website of the International Solidarity Movement speaks volumes. 9 News fails to disclose that the ISM is not an objective source. The organisation has a history of demonising Israel and aiding and abetting terrorism. Why has 9 News used a source that is the polar opposite of credible?

HonestReporting Managing Editor Simon Plosker adds: “From the headline all the way through to the end of the story, 9 News has demonstrated a total disregard for professional journalism. We are left wondering whether there is an agenda at work or are the editors really that clueless. A Palestinian fellow was not executed – an Israeli soldier was stabbed and that is the real story.” Honest Reporting

Volume 23 – Spring 2016 Page 7

Israel allocates $374 million for Arab‑sector housingAbout 21 per cent of Israelis are Arab. Many live in communities that reflect their unique religious and family-oriented culture. No less Israeli than their Jewish counterparts, Jerusalem is funding 1.41 billion shekels for Arab-Israeli public housing.

Israel’s minister of construction has signed a deal to build thousands of public housing units for the country’s Arab population. MK Yoav Galant (Kulanu) agreed to allocate 1.41 billion shekels ($374 million) toward building public housing for Israeli Arabs and to lift restrictions from construction on private land.

The deal, which was reached with the heads of 15 local municipal Arab authorities, is set to facilitate the construction of 30,000 housing units on private and public land.

Yoav Galant said, “Over the next 20 years, the Arab sector will require 200,000 apartments. During the last few weeks, we have made it a point to work side by side with the Arab leadership in a quick, transparent and equality-conscious process, the effects of which will shortly be visible on the ground. Strengthening the Arab sector is in the national interest.”

Noting the Jewish state’s responsibility to its Arab community, Galant stressed that “a country that expects loyalty must create equality… There is a real opportunity here to bring about justice and give hope to the children living here.”

The agreement was the result of negotiations between the Ministries of Construction and Social Justice. The ambitious plan calls for development in more than 50 municipalities, with future budgets of 710 million shekels ($188 million) toward renovating and expanding existing buildings, as well as constructing new sports fields and multipurpose structures.

In a meeting with Arab-Israeli leaders shortly after his re-election last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised for remarks he made about Arab turnout during the campaign and reaffirmed his commitment to better integrate Arabs into Israeli society.

An October 2014 report by economists Robert Cherry and Robert Lerman highlighted some of the efforts undertaken by the Netanyahu government to “[prioritise] economic development in Arab towns.” Among the initiatives they mentioned were the establishment of employment offices and industrial parks in Arab towns. In addition, Cherry and Lerman wrote, “The Israeli government developed a five-year plan for Arab education and established a special unit in the prime minister’s office to promote economic development in the Arab community.” Jerusalem Journal

What the media gets wrong about IsraelDuring the Gaza war it became clear that one of the most important aspects of the media-saturated conflict between Jews and Arabs is also the least covered: the press itself.

The Western press has become less an observer than an actor, a role with consequences for the millions of people trying to comprehend current events, including policymakers who depend on journalistic accounts to understand a region where they consistently seek, and fail, to productively intervene.

An essay I wrote for Tablet on this topic in the aftermath of the war sparked intense interest. In the article, based on my experiences between 2006 and 2011 as a reporter and editor in the Jerusalem bureau of the Associated Press, one of the world’s largest news organisations, I pointed out the existence of a problem and discussed it in broad terms. Using staffing numbers, I illustrated the disproportionate media attention devoted to this conflict relative to other stories and gave examples of editorial decisions that appeared to be driven by ideological considerations rather than journalistic ones. I suggested that the cumulative effect has been to create a grossly oversimplified story – a kind of modern morality play in which the Jews of Israel are displayed more than any other people on earth as examples of moral failure. This is a thought pattern with deep roots in Western civilisation. Matti Friedman

Hamas terrorist prepares to launch a rocket in the midst of civilians

Page 8 FRIENDS OF ISRAEL WA NEWSLETTER

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Chairman Kevin Campbell AM

A very warm welcome to our new Chairman, Kevin Campbell. Kevin has been involved in the broadcasting industry in Australia for over 35 years. From 1988 to 1991, he was Managing Director of the Seven Television Network, and from 1991 to 1999, he was Chairman and Managing Director of TVW Enterprises Ltd (Channel Seven Perth).

Kevin pursues an active and varied community leadership role and has held many honorary board positions, including the Chairmanship of the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research. He is a former Chairman of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and a member of the Edith Cowan University Council.

Kevin is not only a past Chairman of Football West Ltd, he was a former Government-appointed Chairman of The Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, the inaugural Patron/Mentor for recruits at the Western Australian Police Academy and former Chairman of The Order of Australia Association (Western Australian Branch). Kevin is currently non-executive Chairman of Q Limited.

Kevin was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1998 for his contribution to broadcasting, business and his community service activities.

Kevin Campbell AM

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