In any future war, Israel will be hit with the largest rocket salvos seen in its history – that was the stark warning issued by Brig.-Gen. Zvika Haimovich, commander of air defenses in the Israel Air Force on 27 June 2016. Speaking at the Israel Air Missile Defense Conference, he said that Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas were carrying out joint research and development of rockets, adding, "We can see a lot of live tests in Gaza with Hamas, and with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They have put in a lot of effort into increasing and improving their skills. In the future, we will meet and engage much bigger salvos,” he said. They will come from multiple directions, and a "regional war” is a more realistic scenario than a single-front escalation. Hezbollah can cover more than 75% of Israeli territory with its rockets and missiles. "If we are talking about the multi-directional threat, this is much more complicated than what we faced five to 10 years ago. Additionally, enemies will fire cruise missiles at Israel in the next war, he warned. "It’s not a nightmare. It’s a very realistic scenario."

In response to the mounting threats, the IAF’s air defense units are focused on creating flexibility, and updating their battle doctrine, to ensure they are dealing with future, rather than the past. The commander admitted that Israel has a lack of resources, and not enough interceptors to defend against the full range of aerial threat. He called for the acquisition of more air defense batteries and interceptors, but added, "This isn’t enough.” Integrating the various air defense systems, creating cross-branch IDF cooperation, and working with the USA are all needed. I really don’t know when next war will occur. Our challenge is to always be in front, and to be one step ahead of our enemies,” Haimovich said.(J.Post)

The crisis in Europe will most likely weaken the ability and impulse of EU member countries to deal with Middle East issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as Europe will be preoccupied with keeping the union together, though in recent years Britain was a force for moderation with respect to EU policy toward the conflict. On the other hand, Israel remains concerned about the increasing support for Muslim fundamentalist forces in Europe and growing anti-Semitism on the continent. While Israel will continue to function in the sub-bodies of the EU, its influence will be weakened following the British exit. (Institute for National Security Studies) [Comment]

Palestinians threw rocks at Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall on Tues. 28 June 2016, striking a woman of 73 in the head, on a third day of confrontations involving the adjacent Temple Mount. Paramedics treated the woman at the scene for a light head injury. It was the first case in several years of Palestinians throwing rocks from the Temple Mount at worshipers at the Western Wall, an incident which police see as a worrisome development. Police arrested 11 masked protesters they said were involved in the violence. Earlier police decided in consultation with government officials to shut the Temple Mount to visits by non-Muslims through the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (Ha’aretz) Please continue to intercede against spirits of violence and religious hatred over the city of Jerusalem. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jas 5:16 [Comment]

Tuesday morning 27 June 2016, started normally for Meir Amshik, a ranger (rescue personnel) for the Nature and Parks Authority. As he jogged along the coast, however, "I saw a few pottery shards had been washed up by the waves, and I stopped to pick them up. To my surprise, I saw that a new part of the cliff had crumbled. I went to check it out, and I saw a strange lamp resting there, whole.” Guy Pitosi, inspector for the Israel Antiquities Authority, rushed to the scene. "NPA rangers, and rangers in general, are our eyes on the coast. They don’t just save people, they save artifacts. Finds like this can be incredibly important for research, and for our understanding of history. Happily, more and more people are reporting ancient finds.” According to Saar Ganor, archaeologist for the Ashkelon Center for the Israel Antiquities Authority, "This ancient oil lamp, which was used a light source, dates back to the 12th century. The lamp demonstrates a part of the cultural wealth of the ancient city Ashkelon, which once was an important merchant city.” (Aurtz-7) [Comment]

The Jewish Agency has dispatched 84 full-time emissaries around the world, with the greater part of them in the USA and three in Paris. The majority of young Jews studying at French universities want to leave France, according to Eliav Geissmann, one of the Jewish Agency emissaries in Paris. "The situation of Jewish students in France is complicated,” Geissmann told media sources. "It is hard for those who have already started to study to leave their studies in the middle. But there is an overwhelming sense that the majority of students want to leave. Many talk about going to the USA, Canada and of course, Israel.” Asked how many French students were actually planning aliya, Geissmann said: "I can’t really say how many want to come to Israel, but I believe it is more than half.” He urged the Israeli government to "do more to encourage them,” including the introduction of a student exchange program with French universities. (J. Post) [Comment]

 Five months ago, a knife-wielding terrorist entered a clothing store in the town of Tekoa in Gush Etzion, and stabbed the pregnant Michal Froman in her upper body. She was evacuated to Jerusalem's Sha'arei Tzedek hospital in moderate condition. On Saturday 25 June 2016, she gave birth to a healthy baby daughter. In a media interview Froman said that every crisis brings with it the opportunity to find the positive and embark on a new journey. "I often think about what God was trying to tell me with this attack," she said. Froman's husband wrote a facebook post detailing his thoughts and feelings about the birth of his daughter. "For already four months since the stabbing I've been wondering if we'll have a 'hilltop youth' girl or an extreme Leftist. Turns out she's just a bundle of sweetness. Of sweetness and serenity. It seems it'll take us a while to convince her that there are conflicts in the world. In the meantime she and I are both filled with admiration for her mother, who once again surprised us with a show of strength from suffering, and finding the good in a crisis. I thank God for everything." (Arutz-7) "His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Ps 30:5 [Comment]

 Israel’s Foreign Ministry is working to determine whether any Israeli citizens were injured in a suicide bombing Tues. night 28 June 2016, in Turkey that killed 41 people and injured at least 147. Two bombers blew themselves up at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, the third busiest in Europe, after opening fire at the entrance to the airport’s international terminal. Police returned fire. In March 2016, a bombing in a tourist section of Istanbul killed three Israelis and injured several others. The same month, a suicide bombing at an airport in Brussels killed 32 people and injured more than 300. The airport attack in Istanbul came on the same day that Israel and Turkey signed a reconciliation deal ending a six-year break in diplomatic relations. The Israeli diplomats who were at the airport at the time of the Tues. night attack were unharmed. Israeli diplomats said that no Israeli tourists were among the victims taken to the hospital. Turkish Airlines flights from Tel Aviv were suspended in the wake of the attack. (JTA) [Comment]

In a Lithuanian forest, an international research team has pinpointed the location of a legendary tunnel that Jewish prisoners secretly dug out with spoons to try to escape their Nazi captors during the Second World War, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.

The tunnel, located in the Ponar forest, known today as Paneriai, outside of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, is the site where some 100,000 people, including 70,000 Jews, were killed and thrown into pits during Nazi occupation.

In the quest to find the tunnel, the team of archeologists, geophysicists and Jewish historians from Israel, the United States, Canada and Lithuania did not want to disturb any human remains in the mass burial pits at the site.

So the researchers used scanning technology called electrical resistivity tomography — the same kind used in mineral and oil exploration — to map out the path of the 34-metre-long tunnel.

"To find a little glimmer of hope within the dark hole of Ponar is very important as humans," said Jon Seligman, an archeologist with Israel's antiquities authority, who participated in the expedition.

'Yearning for life'

"The tunnel shows that even when the time was so black, there was yearning for life within that," he added.

Toward the end of the war, the Nazis sought to erase the evidence of their mass killings. Jewish and Soviet prisoners were brought to the Ponar forest from Stutthof concentration camp. With their legs chained, they were forced to dig up the mass graves, collect bodies and burn them.

The prisoners were dubbed the Burning Brigade and they lived in fear that once their task was complete, they too would be killed.

Escape organizer recognized wife's body

According to accounts, one prisoner, Isaac Dogim, was piling decomposed corpses when he recognized members of his own family, including his wife. He identified her by the medallion he had given her for their wedding.

He is credited with organizing the escape.

At night, the prisoners were held in one of the pits used in the killings. For three months, some of the prisoners secretly dug an underground tunnel to escape.

Only 11 escaped into the forest

Then on April 15, 1944, in the middle of the night, 40 prisoners filed off their chains and fled through the narrow tunnel. Guards quickly discovered them and many were shot, but 11 prisoners managed to escape to the forest, reach partisan forces and survive the war.

"It is a very important discovery, because this is another proof of resistance of those who were about to die," said Markas Zingeris, director of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum in Vilnius.

A Lithuanian archeologist discovered the tunnel entrance in 2004, and the museum called on the research team to search for the entire tunnel. The team traced the length of the tunnel and found the tunnel exit. Their quest is the subject of a forthcoming documentary by the science series NOVA, premiering in the U.S. next year.

Last year, the same research team used ground penetrating radar to discover parts of the old Great Synagogue of Vilna, which was demolished by Soviet authorities after the war. The team is now excavating at the site to uncover the history of Jewish life in Vilnius.

"There were 500 years of creativity, a vibrant community," said Seligman, the archeologist, referring to Jewish history in Lithuania. "We can't just look at the Holocaust."