Open Thread Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving to all our U.S. readers. Just realized that all of today's updates were being put in yesterday's thread. Sorry about that...Join us at the top of the blog www.muqata.com for Friday's updates.

11:55 PM Help fight the Media War --- expose on Fake Gaza Photos (video is 2.5 minutes long)



11:43 PM The night the IDF's Gaza operation started, 3 Israeli Arabs attacked R' Yechiel Danino (age 56) the Rosh Yeshiva of "Ohr Yosef" in the city of Akko.  The pulled his beard, yelled and laughed at him, and stole his kippa and hat.   (reported in many places and on YNET)

However....tonight, the Imam (religious Islamic leader) of Akko and many of the respected Muslim families in Akko went to the Ohr Yosef yeshiva and apologized profusely to the Rosh Yeshiva and presented him with a huge flower arrangement. 

Nice to see when people do the right thing. Kudos.

11:30 PM And now the news you've been waiting for. Cleared for publication -- the person who smuggled the bomb through a checkpoint which exploded on a Tel Aviv bus yesterday was..........

YNET Reports:

The terrorist was apprehended in a joint operation conducted by the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the IDF. Twenty-nine people were injured in the attack.

The Shin Bet said Thursday that the terrorist, an Israeli citizen who previously lived in the West Bank and was allowed to settle in Tayibe under the family reunification law, was recruited by a terror cell from the village of Beit Liqya, near Ramallah.

The terror cell members used a car belonging to the suspect's employer to transport the explosive device into Tel Aviv. The employer, an east Jerusalem resident, had no knowledge of the plan.

According to the Shin Bet, the suspect placed the bomb on the bus and then called the terror cell's commander in Beit Liqya, who then activated it via mobile phone. More arrests are expected.

7:52 PM  The Success behind the Iron Dome...a brilliant high-tech team, and rocket parts that come from Toys-R-Us.  

There is a long, fascinating article in Hebrew about the "Secret to Iron Dome's Success" -- I will translate just a few paragraphs for you which I found fascinating:

"At the beginning of our journey [to create the Iron Dome], it simple almost impossible.  We believed we would succeed, but the challenge was unprecedented.  In retrospect, its clear that the [time and financial] limitations imposed on the project which seemed insurmountable are what led to extremely creative and successful ideas.  The simplicity is not only in design, but in the manufacturing process.  The manufacturers have told us this is the simplest rocket that have ever produced.

As scientists, its true we dream of sitting in offices with unlimited time and budgets to create perfect products.  Yet the reality and limitations forced us to "break our heads."  There are rocket components that are FORTY TIMES CHEAPER than those we normally wound purchase.  I can even give you a scoop -- this is the only rocket in the world which includes parts from toys from "Toys R Us".

One day, I brought my son's toy car to work.  We passed it from one to another and saw that it has components that would be useful for us. More than that, I cannot tell you... (Source).

4:54 PM PM Knesset TV Channel - Post-Cease Fire Announcement Elections Polls:

Likud, 33
Labor, 24
Bayit Yehudi, 13
Yesh Atid 11
Shas, 10
Yahadut HaTorah, 6
Meretz, 6
Otzma LYisrael, 4
Am Shalem, 3
Balad, 3

Atzmaut (Ehud Barak), and Kadima (Shaul Mofaz) don't pass the minimum level of votes to get any seats.

Likud has dropped since before the Gaza operation, when they were between 40-43 seats.

4:37 PM Baruch Dayan HaEmet -- IDF Lieutenant Boris Yarmolnik, 28, who was seriously wounded yesterday by a Hamas mortar attack in the Eshkol Region, died of his wounds a little while ago in Saroka Hospital in Beer Sheva. Hashem Yikom Damo.
 
4:21 PM Galei Zahal (IDF Radio) - Hamas says that the current rain storms in Israel are "proof" that they won the war, since these are "Victory Rains".

3:51 PM NY Times Quotes the Muqata!

"From the opposite end of the Israeli spectrum, the bloggers at The Muqata were critical of Mr. Netanyahu, observingon Facebook: “Only in Israel will you find a prime minister that Talks like Churchill but acts like Chamberlain.” They also drew attention to the findings of a poll by Israel’s Channel 2, which found clear opposition to a cease-fire." NYT

hat-tip: JH 

Over 20 rockets fired at Israel since the cease fire went into affect, and life is not yet back to normal in the south, check back regularly throughout the day for updates.

10:13 AM That was quick. Rocket(s) - Ashkelon Beach. Does Israel now get to report the ceasefire violation to Egypt?

9:33 AM Over 60 Palestinians rounded up in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as IDF tries to quash growing Initifada, as dozens of serious attacks against Israelis have occurred over the past week.

9:30 AM Ma'an News agency reports that Arab on Arab violence continues as 1 Gazan was killed and 3 more injured due to celebratory gunfire.


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