The manhunt for the remaining two Palestinian prisoners who escaped from a high security prison continues. Security forces are deeply concerned that they will manage to execute a violent act against Israelis while out of prison. Four of the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped prison last week were captured during the weekend, and are now facing interrogation to understand how exactly they managed to dig their way out through a tunnel. They were caught with the help of Arab citizens of Israel who refused to help them escape and instead called the police and handed them over. This creates a substantial divide within the Arab community in Israel. On the one hand they identify themselves as Palestinians, on the other hand they carry Israeli citizenship and identify as Israeli citizens.
The event generated a lot of tension in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. A few events already occurred when Palestinians tried to stab or strike Israeli-Jews, and tension resulted on the southern border with Gaza. Palestinian prisoners who are held in Israeli prisons announced they will start a hunger strike on Friday.
The minister of homeland security established a committee of inquiry to investigate all the circumstances that enabled those prisoners to escape.
PM Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Mohammad A-Sisi at Sharm-A-Sheik in southern Sinai. This was the first public meeting between the PM of Israel and the President of Egypt in years. The relations between the two countries are considered to be strong, although they are mainly based on security interests and less on tourism and cultural exchange. PM Bennett expressed the Israeli wish that Egypt will help calm tensions with Gaza, and Egypt in exchange would like Israel to help them get closer to the American administration.
The meeting between the two leaders lasted more than 3 hours, before they held a broader meeting with their advisers. Both sides defined it as a very warm and successful meeting. PM Bennett has already met with Jordanian King Abdullah as Bennett tries to establish himself as a strong regional leader. He has to compete with the legacy of the preceding PM, Netanyahu, who was considered a strong presence in world diplomacy.
Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Repentance, was celebrated in Israel and in Jewish Communities Around the World: one of the most important Jewish high holidays, Yom Kippur is a day of fasting, reflection, and repentance. It is also the Memorial Day of the 1973 war that started on that holy day. Two thousand and eight hundred Israeli soldiers were killed in the line of duty in fierce battles on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts, and more than 5,500 were injured, and 294 were captured. The mistakes made by senior political and military leaders and the failure of the Israeli intelligence services to predict the war are still researched, discussed, and documented, as war veterans share accounts of the horrors of the war.
In Israel, on Yom Kippur, the whole country comes to a complete standstill; all public institutions, malls and stores, restaurants and coffee-shops are closed, traffic lights are off, and the roads are empty of vehicles. All Israeli TV and radio broadcasting, and VOD services are withheld for the duration of the holiday. Public transportation is not running and the airports are also closed for the duration of the holiday. While not all Jewish Israelis observe the fast, the vast majority refrain from using their cars. Arab bloggers commented on social media that even privately owned shops and coffee houses in Arab localities were closed during the day. This year, because of COVID-19, many prayers in Orthodox, Reform and Conservative synagogues were held outdoors, and in compliance with the “Green Pass” regulations.
Every year, children and families take advantage of the ban on the use of vehicles and take to the streets and roads on their bikes and scooters. Sadly, a 12-year-old was killed, while riding his bike, by a man who was driving under the influence of alcohol, and an 11-year-old was seriously injured in a separate incident.
Sole Survivor of Italian Cable Car Disaster at the Heart of a Bitter Custody Battle: six-year-old Eitan Biran, lost his parents, great grandparents, and baby brother in the cable car crash in the Italian Mottarone mountain area in May 2021. After going through a long rehabilitation process in an Italian hospital, he moved in with his paternal aunt, an Israeli born doctor and resident of Italy, who was granted custody. The aunt, and Italian law enforcement authorities are now accusing the maternal grandparents of kidnapping Eitan. According to news reports, Eitan’s maternal grandfather came for an arranged visit with him, but instead of returning him to his aunt’s house by dinner time, he crossed the border to Switzerland and then boarded a private jet to Israel with Eitan. Both maternal grandparents were investigated by the Israeli police, and the grandfather placed under house arrest for five days.
Eitan, who, according to his paternal grandfather, now receives medical and psychological treatment in Israel, is the subject of a bitter custody battle between his relatives on his late mother’s and father’s side. His maternal aunt filed for adoption in August this year, claiming that he was not getting the appropriate medical treatment under his paternal aunt’s care, in Italy.
Long lines are seen all over the country of people waiting for COVID testing. These are required to obtain the green pass to enter many public places, including schools.
With a high percentage of people who have already received the booster shot, health authorities are still gathering data to understand the influence of the booster on the spread of the virus. Numbers of infected and positive tested people remain high, but analysis of the data shows that the percentage of the non-vaccinated people among those who are in ICU (intensive care units) are multiple times higher than those who were vaccinated, especially those who received the booster shot. Israeli health authorities provide analysis and data to other countries, because Israel is the first country in the world to introduce a booster shot for the entire population.
Since this is the high season of the Jewish holidays, schools are mostly closed and there are only a few days in September in which they are open. That enables many families to conclude the 1-2 week quarantine for those children who were exposed to other children who have tested positive.
Meanwhile there is mutual recognition of vaccination certificates between Israel and EU countries.
For further reading:
Palestinian prisoners: Here, here, here, here
PM Bennett & A-Sisi: Here, here, here, here