By: Lahav Harkov – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

The killers of Rina Shnerb are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terrorist group in the EU.

Dutch civil servants took a picture with one of the terrorists charged with killing 17-year-old Rina Schnerb, The Jerusalem Post has learned, despite their government’s denial of any known connection between organizations they fund and terrorist groups.

The photograph from 2017, which can be found on the Netherlands Representative Office in Ramallah’s Facebook page, features Dutch officials, including Head of Cooperation in Ramallah Henny de Vries, and leaders of the Palestinian-run organization Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), to which the Dutch representative in Ramallah pledged nearly $20 million in 2013-2021.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/netherlands-admits-to-paying-terrorists-who-killed-17-year-old-israeli-635792

By: Michael Freund – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

Failure to properly count the number of Palestinian terror attacks necessarily minimizes their importance, suggesting that they and their victims don’t really matter.

A number of years ago, on a visit to Manhattan, I entered one of the countless souvenir stores that dot the area in Times Square which are affectionately known as “tourist traps.”

Amid the refrigerator magnets declaring one’s love for New York, the fake subway signs and plastic snow globes enveloping the Statue of Liberty, I came across a hidden treasure that I continue to adore until this very day. It is a small purple pin which declares simply and with unvarnished irony: “Forty percent of all statistics are false.”

If you have even a sliver of cynicism somewhere in your body and you take a moment and think about that sentence, it should bring a smile to your face because it sums up quite nicely what most of us already know to be true. In our data-drenched world, statistics are just about as reliable as pre-election promises made by politicians.

My thoughts turned to that pin the other day when I read through the US State Department’s “2019 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank, and Gaza,” which was released on March 2 of this year. It contains what can most charitably be described as nothing less than an obscene distortion of reality.

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/the-us-state-departments-clumsy-calculus-of-palestinian-terror-635153

By: Herb Keinon – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

But historic events are not only successes; failures can also be historic in marking a turning point, a watershed moment. And Camp David was just that.

There is no harm in trying, goes a well-worn axiom.

Except that often times there is. Take, for example, the July 2000 Camp David summit.

It was 20 years ago this week that US president Bill Clinton welcomed prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat to the storied Camp David compound in the Maryland woods to try and solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

No further proof of the failure of that summit is needed than noticing that the 20th anniversary of the convening on July 11, 2000, of this two-week summit passed without many people taking note. Hardly an academic conference on the matter was held, even via Zoom; few television or radio programs were devoted to the anniversary and the sparse coverage in the print media for the most part sufficed with interviews with some of the participants.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/20-years-since-camp-david-summit-there-was-harm-in-trying-635318

By: Yonah Jeremy Bob – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

Security expert David Albright told the ‘Post’ that some of the damage is likely irreparable.

Nearly three-quarters of Iran’s main centrifuge assembly hall was destroyed by the recent explosion there, Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) president David Albright told The Jerusalem Post.

Albright indicated that this latest revelation is based on two new satellite overviews showing a much fuller picture than footage that was released last weekend, indicating that the vast majority of the centrifuge assembly hall was wiped out.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/three-quarters-of-natanz-centrifuge-assembly-hall-destroyed-nuke-experts-634444

By: Yaakov Lappin – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The “Ofek 16” satellite, launched by the Ministry of Defense and Israel Aerospace Industries, will improve Israel’s ability to monitor activities of the Iranian-Shi’ite axis throughout the Middle East.

The “Ofek 16” spy satellite launched from central Israel at 4 a.m. on Monday morning is due to significantly upgrade Israel’s ability to monitor the dangerous activities of its adversaries throughout the Middle East, foremost among them Iran.

The satellite was launched successfully by the Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) following years of research and development, and a working schedule that in recent months had to be adapted to restrictions created by the coronavirus pandemic.

IAI officials said they viewed the satellite’s launch as a top priority. This is due to the fact that “Ofek 16” is designed to provide the Israeli defense establishment with a higher than ever resolution camera in space.

https://www.jns.org/new-israeli-spy-satellite-set-to-provide-powerful-intelligence-edge-over-adversaries/

By: Brandon Showalter – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

New COVID-19 guidelines in California forbid singing during worship services to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

Issued Wednesday, the updated policies from the state’s department of public health require churches and other houses of worship to “discontinue singing and chanting activities.” Whereas official guidelines in late May permitted singing, group recitation, and other practices and performances but advised against them, such things are now formally prohibited.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/calif-issues-ban-on-singing-in-churches-amid-ongoing-pandemic.html

By: Samuel Smith – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

A Messianic Jewish congregation of about 350 people in Israel has won a restraining order against members of an anti-evangelism organization that it says has for years harassed the congregation and even damaged its property. 

Pastor Israel Pochtar of Congregation Beit Hallel based in Ashdod, said in a statement that the congregation has faced “a targeted persecution campaign” lead by the Orthodox Jewish anti-missionary organization Yad Le’Achim.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/messianic-church-israel-wins-court-restraining-order-case-against-anti-evangelism-group.html

By: Lahav Harkov – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

July 1, the first day on which the coalition agreement allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring sovereignty to a vote, passed without any progress on that front, as was expected.

Jerusalem and Washington are expected to coordinate their decision on where and when Israel will extend its laws in the West Bank next week, a source with knowledge of the talks between the sides told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

July 1, the first day on which the coalition agreement allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring sovereignty to a vote, passed without any progress on that front, as was expected.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/annexation-decision-likely-to-be-made-next-week-633456

By: Marcy Oster – Jewish Telegraphic Agency; jta.org

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that helps North Americans immigrate to Israel, said it has received the highest number of applications since its founding nearly two decades ago.

In the first half of June, over 900 applications have been submitted to the group for making the move to Israel, or aliyah, compared to 399 in June 2019.

The organization, in conjunction with The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA, has scheduled 14 group flights for North American Jews moving to Israel this summer. The organizations signed a contract with El Al Airlines to provide the flights.

By: Celia Jean – Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

“We are here to give a clear message: History will not forgive those who abandon the holy places at this time. We will not accept symbolic sovereignty.”

Around 2,500 people gathered at Joseph’s Tomb Monday night to pray for the success of the potential annexation of parts of the West Bank, as part of US President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that he will apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank as early as July 1.

The large crowd gathered, in accordance with Health Ministry guidelines, at Joseph’s Tomb located just outside the city of Nablus in the West Bank, on what also happened to be Joseph’s yahrzeit (the anniversary of his death).

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/josephs-tomb-2500-pray-overnight-for-success-of-sovereignty-plan-632444