The bereaved mother of the 13-year old girl, Hallel-Yaffa Ariel, who was murdered in Thursday's terror attack in Kiryat Arba spoke to Arutz Sheva at the Shaarei Tzedek hospital, where her daughter was evacuated after being stabbed dozens of times by an Arab terrorist.

"My daughter was just sleeping - tranquil, relaxed, happy - when a terrorist came to her bed in Kiryat Arba and murdered her."

"I, the mother, am not saying anything, I just ask that everyone consider [our] pain, I ask everyone to come and console us, strengthen us, and tell us that our [home] Kiryat Arba is still a place to live in - and not die in; that we may continue to love our place and our land. May Hallel-Yaffa Ariel's memory be blessed."

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, one of the many supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, criticized President Barack Obama in an interview with Israeli reporters on the weekend. Giuliani said he agreed with Trump’s stance that Obama shows weakness and warned that this weakness will lead to more terrorist attacks against America. "The shooting in Orlando was an act of Islamic extremist terrorism. His motive was to act on behalf of the ISIS," he said. "So you add this to what is now a growing list of attacks in less than a year -- San Bernardino was in December [2015], and then we had Brussels and then Paris and now Orlando. We are getting more terrorist attacks than we've ever had before, and I attribute that to something that I predicted: I said that the more America withdraws, the more weakness America shows, the more they will attack," he warned. The "weakness” shown by the administration, said the former New York Mayor, is illustrated by the "withdrawal from Iraq, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the withdrawal of police officers from mosques, the failure of the president to use the term 'Islamic extremist terrorism,' these are all very bad signals to give to terrorists. The more they see weakness, the more they attack.” (Arutz-7) [Comment]

Connecting Israeli Jews to Jewish communities in the Diaspora is the aim of a new campaign launched by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. The driving force of the new project stems from the understanding that Israel is committed not only to its own future and prosperity, but to the future and prosperity of Jews wherever they live. In this vein, Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett quotes the Rabbinic adage, "All Jews are responsible one for another." One feature of the new campaign is to have Jews from abroad video themselves as they talk about their Jewish lives and their connection to Israel. Minister Bennett explained that in order to overcome the obstacles of security threats, assimilation, anti-Semitism, and Israeli disconnection with Diaspora Jews, "we have three guidelines. The first is Partnership, in that we do everything together with Jewish leaders and organizations abroad. Number two is Jewish Continuity – we seek to connect young Jews to their Jewish identity and to Israel by answering the questions, 'Why be a Jew?' and 'Why Israel?' And third, is the 'Two-Way Street' – Jewish communities and individuals from both Israel and abroad are responsible for each other," said Bennett. (INN) [Comment]

Turkish PM Binali Yildirim hailed his country's reconciliation deal with the State of Israel, framing it as a victory for Turkey. Israel and Turkey would be exchanging ambassadors "as soon as possible," he said, as part of a re-normalization of ties between the two states. Ankara would appoint its ambassador within weeks, he added. Asked about a reported Turkish commitment to help prevent Hamas attacks against Israel, Yildirim said: "This is not a ceasefire deal. We reached an agreement with Israel to normalize relations." (INN) [Comment]

Israeli company Nano Textile has introduced an innovative technology that can transfer any type of fabric to one that kills bacteria. The unique, cost effective technology, which permanently prevents the growth of bacteria on both natural and synthetic fibers, can prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections and reduce cross contamination between patients and medical staff, thus significantly reducing secondary infections. The technology transforms any ready-made fabric into antibacterial textile by embedding zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles onto the fabric. ZnO is known for its antibacterial properties and has been approved by the FDA as safe. Nanoparticles of ZnO eradicate even antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA. The technology, which has been patented in the USA and Israel, and is awaiting approval in Europe and Asia, was developed by Professor Aharon Gedanken at Bar Ilan University, Israel. (Globes) "Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit." Isa 27:6 [Comment]

Israel said over the weekend that it was sending firefighting planes to a blaze in Cyprus, returning the neighboring island's helping hand when the Jewish state suffered a devastating forest fire in 2010. The decision followed a formal request from the Cyprus government. "At the time of the Carmel fire, Cyprus was the first country to send a firefighting plane" to Israel, the Prime Minister’s office said, referring to the 2010 fire which raged through the Carmel forest near Haifa in northern Israel for four days and killed 44 people. After destroying millions of trees and hundreds of homes, the Carmel blaze was finally brought under control with the help of planes and personnel from more than 16 countries, including Cyprus, the United States, Greece, Britain, Turkey, Russia and France. In Cyprus, thus far, no residential areas have been threatened by the blaze fanned by strong winds and scorching temperatures. (INN) Most of the mainstream news regarding Israel is related to conflict, but year after year the Jewish state contributes to the well being of the international community in a wide range of areas. Far too little of that receives significant media coverage. Here are a few ways Israel has helped the world in recent months: Israel continues to aid the victims of Syria’s civil war both by granting entry to those in need of urgent medical care and by sending aid teams to refugee camps throughout Europe. Israel was one of the first on the ground and provided a disproportionate amount of assistance when an earthquake ravaged the nation of Nepal. Israel fed the entire population of Vanuato for a full month after a tropical cyclone devastated the tiny island nation. Israel leads in the battle against the global water crisis by providing innovative solutions to over 150 nations where water is far too scarce. Of course, this list is by no means comprehensive. Despite Israel’s tiny size, minuscule population and lack of significant natural resources, it routinely contributes disproportionately to the good of the international community. [Comment]

Israel's Mellanox Technologies already employs a large number of Arab programmers in Israel and 68 people in Ramallah and Nablus. Now, working with the Palestinian software firm ASAL Technologies, Mellanox has hired four programmers in Gaza and hopes to add at least six more workers by the end of 2016. Israeli companies have begun to outsource work to other countries, such as India. But Palestinians have the same skills and they are in the same time zone, said Mellanox Chief Executive Eyal Waldman. (Reuters) [Comment]