Israel’s economy had its strongest quarterly performance since 2013, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said on 16 Feb. 2017. The economy grew by an annualized 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2016, 4.2% in the third quarter, and 5.3% in the second quarter. The increase in gross domestic product in the second half of 2016 reflected a 3.5-% increase in public consumption, and 2.9% growth in private consumption per capita. Israel’s exports of goods and services, excluding diamonds and start-ups, were up 4.5% in 2016, and investments in fixed assets climbed 10.2%. Imports of goods and services went up 10.6% in the second half of 2016, the report said. (Algemeiner) "Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Ps. 35:27 [Comment]

 According to the American MarketWatch web-site report, exchange-traded funds that track the Israeli equity market have flourished since Donald Trump won the Nov. 2016 presidential election. "The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled that it is going to treat Israel as a major USA ally and strategic asset. While the Obama administration maintained security ties between the countries, you didn’t always get this kind of language,” MarketWatch quoted Steven Schoenfeld - chief investment officer of BlueStar Indexes - as saying. "With a closer relationship, Israel will benefit not only in terms of investor perception, but also tangibly.” Schoenfeld further noted that the Israeli technology and defense stocks are in the highest demand. "If the Trump administration moves forward with its own initiatives on border security, military spending or intelligence, Israeli companies are likely to benefit from that,” he said. "The Israeli tech scene is second only to Silicon Valley, and it includes many of the biggest cybersecurity and ‘actionable intelligence’ companies that trade. The focus on closer security ties between the USA and Israel may mean bigger orders for Israel’s military or the militaries of its allies.” Any Trump administration policy initiatives regarding the peace process with the Palestinians, Schoenfeld stated, will have "minimal impact” on the Israeli economy. "There could be strife, but every time there’s geopolitical issues like that the market takes a short-term hit and brushes it off,” he said. "If there’s civil unrest, that doesn’t mean Check Point will export less software.” The report was published the same day Trump met with visiting PM Netanyahu at the White House. (Algemeiner) [Comment]

Israel quietly withdrew its ambassador from Egypt several weeks ago, according to Israeli officials. Sources in Egypt said Ambassador David Govrin was pulled out of the country at the end of last year over concerns about his security. The ambassador is currently working from Jerusalem and the Israeli government hopes that he will be able to return to his post soon. It is not clear what the security concerns were but Egypt has been wracked by a series of terror attacks in the last year. The case highlights the difficulties Israel faces in carrying out diplomatic work in Egypt, which along with Jordan is the only Arab country to have diplomatic ties to the Jewish state. Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations in 1980 after thirty years of war but the relationship is sometimes referred to as "a cold peace”. While the two governments cooperate closely on security issues their citizens rarely visit each other’s countries and anti-Israeli sentiments still run high in Egypt. (UK Telegraph) [Comment]

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman and also a former Shin Bet director, MK Avi Dichter (Likud), said that Hamas elected a leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza who is a murderer by all means. "Even when he was in prison he continued his activities – he lives for killing," said Dichter. "This appearance that Hamas has a political branch and a military branch was always wrong and today it's officially gone." Dichter added that "Hamas leadership sees the world through the rockets, the tunnels and the attacks on Israel. This is what they wish for." Dr. Kobi Michael, former Deputy Director General at Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, said Sinwar "represents the most radical and extreme line of Hamas," and is affiliated with, and favors support from, Iran. Describing Sinwar as a "bitter enemy" of Egypt, Michael said Sinwar also favored cooperation with ISIS affiliates fighting the Egyptian Army in Sinai. (J.Post) [Comment]

Yahya Sinwar has been elected to lead Hamas in the Gaza Strip after internal elections were held for the organization's institutional and leadership positions. Sinwar was one of the most senior officials released by Israel in the Shalit deal in which hundreds of terrorists and political prisoners were released in exchange for the return of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He has developed a reputation as being among the most radical in Hamas, calling since his release for further kidnappings of IDF soldiers, and is thought of as the link between the military and political wing of the terror organization. With his ascent to power, Sinwar will take the reins to rule the Strip from Khaled Mashal. (Ynet) Terrorist murderers released in prisoner swap deals notoriously return to their terrorist occupations despite signing promises to refrain from doing so. They receive the status of Palestinians heroes, and, as in the case of Yahya Sinwar, rise to the ranks of elected Palestinian leaders. As such, it is a reflection of the values of the society and officials who put such men into power. Pray there will be growing numbers of Palestinians who weary of terrorist leaders and their focus on destruction of Israel, rather than on building better lives for their own citizens. [Comment]

The USA and European terror forecast for 2017 'looks alarming,' in part because of increased pressure on ISIS and other terror groups on their home turf, according to a monthly assessment by House lawmakers. Officials predicted necessary efforts to crush foreign terror groups could actually spur more attacks on Western soil. Coming attacks in the USA and Europe could be carried out by lone wolves as well as homegrown terrorists who return from fighting in such places as Iraq, Syria and Somalia. "I am very encouraged that the Trump administration is preparing to put greater pressure on jihadists in their safe havens throughout the world,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul. "But as they do, we can expect to see militants [terrorists] returning to the West to build new networks and to plot more deadly operations.” The report is based on information gleaned from the media, publicly available government data and documents and nongovernmental assessments. Since the beginning of 2016, there have been plots or attacks by 39 homegrown jihadists in 19 USA states. Two instances occurred on American soil last month: The attack at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport carried out in the first week of 2017 by Esteban Santiago, radicalized by ISIS videos, and the 31 Jan. murder of a Denver Regional Transportation District contract security officer by a suspect carrying jihadist material in his backpack. The report also cites numerous incidents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (Fox) [Comment]

As tensions between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip increase, Hamas has issued a new animated video in Hebrew, called "Zionist: You Will Perish in Gaza.” The song was uploaded to YouTube on Tues. night 7 Feb. 2017, and has started going viral. The rhetoric including "I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist –Yes, yes, you” is accompanied by swords chopping bodies in half, and bloody heads being severed. The video threatens Israeli military sites including the "kirya” or Defense Ministry, and is sung in Arabic-accented Hebrew. Israeli analysts said the goal of the video was to scare Israelis into pressuring their government not to enter a new round of fighting in Gaza. Earlier this week, a rocket from Gaza hit southern Israel and Israel responded with a series of attacks on Hamas installations in Gaza. (Medialine) [Comment]

IDF tanks and aircraft destroyed six Hamas positions on 6 Feb. 2017, after a rocket was fired toward Israel and Hamas forces opened fire on an IDF force working near the Gaza border fence. Israel’s PM Netanyahu said: "We will respond to all shooting with heavy fire. There is no way that someone can shoot at us and we don't respond." (Ynet News) [Comment]

A red alert siren sounded in Eilat in southern Israel Wed. night, 8 Feb. 2017 the IDF reported. At least four missiles were fired from the direction of the Egyptian border and three were successfully intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Eilat Police reported that none of the rockets fell within city limits. The incident comes just hours after a mortar fell in the Golan Heights near the border fence. There were no known causalities or damage. The IDF reported that the mortar was spillover from fighting within Syria, and in response, the IDF attacked a target in the northern Syrian Golan and confirmed a hit. Such spillover is not unusual, and the IDF has usually responded, even if it was expected to be accidental, with attacks against Syrian Army positions. (J.Post) Intercede for the ongoing protection of Israel’s southern and northern borders; against intentional missile fire from terrorist group, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip and ISIS associated factions operating from the Sinai Desert - as well as from spillover fire from the Syrian conflict in the North. [Comment]

 Israel’s justice minister said on 6 Feb. 2017 that the Jewish state’s efforts to combat incitement on social media were finally bearing fruit. Addressing an international cyber conference in Tel Aviv - attended by more than 70 ambassadors and attaches from around the world - Ayelet Shaked said that more than 1,400 requests to remove pages and posts containing content aimed at inciting terrorism have been partially or fully accepted as valid by Internet companies. Shaked told the gathering about the inter-ministerial task force, led by the cyber department of the State’s Attorney’s Office, established last year to locate online incitement and submit legal requests for its removal. She said that since it began operating, the task force has had a 78% success rate. The justice minister also referred to the dialogue that Israel has been conducting with major web platforms, such as Google and Facebook, to come to an understanding of the shared interest of not promoting violence. She said that though there was still a "long road ahead” in the endeavor to cause the providers to increase their level of involvement in what is going on in their platforms, "We are beginning to reap the fruits of our labor, and are finding the large Internet providers attentive.” (Algemeiner) Continue to pray against social media content aimed at inciting terrorism and hatred against the Jewish people and the state of Israel. [Comment]