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Written by MFA Spokesperson

Published: 18 July 2021

27 years ago, on 18 July 1994 at 9:53 A.M., a huge explosion rocked the city of Buenos Aires - the second murderous attack against Israeli and Jewish targets in Argentina in two years. ​

Today (July 18, 2021) marks the 27th anniversary of the murderous attack carried out against the Jewish community center AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) in Buenos Aires, on 18 July 1994. It was the second attack against Jewish and Israeli targets on Argentinian soil – the attack on the Israeli embassy took place only two years previously.

Tragically, 85 people lost their lives in the AMIA attack, and hundreds more were injured.

The sorrow and grief caused by this attack is compounded by the fact that those responsible for this horrifying act, as for the one preceding it, have not yet been brought to justice. After years of investigation, the Argentinian magistrate concluded in 2007 that Iran was behind the attack and responsible for dispatching the murderers. The government of Argentina appealed to Interpol to issue arrest warrants for a number of suspects, and this appeal was approved by the Interpol General Assembly. Israel condemns Iran for its responsibility for terrorist attacks around the world and for funding, instructing, training and arming terror organizations and for threatening to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

At this difficult hour, the people and government of Israel identify with the bereaved families, with the Jewish community in Argentina and with all the people of Argentina. Concurrently, we would like to congratulate the Jewish community, which has managed to recover from the tragic event, to restore the community and maintain firm ties with the State of Israel. Furthermore, we endorse the Argentinian government's efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

 www.amia.org.ar

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Written by Silvia G. Golan

Published: 31 May 2021

President Rivlin hosted an event marking the centenary of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel

President Rivlin:

“Buy blue-and-white. There’s nothing better.”

“Over the last year and a half, during the coronavirus pandemic, when countries around the world were lacking in essential products, Israeli industry was part of the national effort. Production was round the clock to ensure that nothing was lacking and that the economy continued to run.”

President of Israel Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin today, Monday 31 May / 30 Sivan, hosted an event marking the centenary of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel. President of the Manufacturers’ Association Dr. Ron Tomer, VP Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, former president Shraga Brosh, industrialists and senior businesspeople participated in the event.

“Today, as we mark the hundredth year of the Manufacturers’ Association, we salute the pioneering industrialists of a land that was undeveloped and you, today’s industrialists who continue in the path of creating and making. You make the wheels of Israel’s economy turn as a developed country whose economy is a source of pride,” said the president at the beginning of his remarks.

“Over the last year and a half, during the coronavirus pandemic, when countries around the world were lacking in essential products, Israeli industry was part of the national effort. Production was round the clock to ensure that nothing was lacking and that the economy continued to run. Israel’s economy is in constant competition with global markets and automation processes which are both an opportunity and a danger. I trust you, Israel’s industrialists, that with your resource, creativity and determination, you will be able to face these challenges by breaking into new markets and by adapting production, all with Israel’s special blend of business smarts and national commitment,” said the president.

He added that in the centenary year of its establishment, the Manufacturers’ Association and its members should set two key targets: “The first is to adopt advanced production technology and to connect traditional industry to the engine of high-tech. The second is to recruit from all parts of Israeli society, particularly the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sectors, which are growing and must be part of the process of developing the economy. They need it and we all need it.”

“We all salute you for your entrepreneurship, your dedication and your application, and congratulate you on continued success and development,” said the president at the end of his remarks. “Buy blue-and-white. There’s nothing better.”

President of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, Dr. Ron Tomer, thanked the president and said, “You have been a true partner to Israeli industry. Working together, we have achieved far more with you at our side. Now, as we celebrate one hundred years of the Manufacturers’ Association, we can see that Israeli industry was and will continue to be the true melting pot that bridges the gaps in Israeli society – between men and women, between Jews and Arabs and between center and periphery, offering a better, shared future. So, it is correct to say that industry is Israel’s social and economic ‘iron dome’, and that the foundations of industry are what built the economy and preserved our manufacturing independence, even in times of conflict and crisis. We are partners in creating Israel’s economic and social policy and building its future – creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and no less important, creating rich and valuable knowledge. Israeli industry is amongst the most advanced in the world today, with cutting-edge computerization, robotics and special system, and together with the high-tech sector we are moving the State of Israel forward. Let me end with the president’s call and to call on you all to buy blue-and-white. By strengthening local industry, we will all enjoy a state that is strong, independent and developed.”

Chair of the committee on Arab society at the Manufacturers’ Association, industrialist Dr. Muhammed Zahalka: “I would like to suggest to the president that there is a fifth tribe, the united tribe. All of us here are part of that tribe, where what unites us is greater than the differences between us, and what we all share is the desire and the vision to lead Israel and to represent her proudly around the world.”

Photo credit  Silvia  G. Golan

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Written by Spokesperson of the President's Office

Published: 14 June 2021

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Written by Silvia G. Golan

Published: 19 May 2021

Braving the hailstorm of Gazan rocket fire, Dr. Mike Evans leads delegation of pro-Israel Christian supporters to demonstrate their solidarity with Israel

The delegation led by Dr. Mike Evans, best-selling author, award-winning journalist and American commentator, who founded the Jerusalem Prayer Team in 2002 and Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem in 2015 with the goal of highlighting religious tolerance and investing in dialogue between Christian Zionism, the State of Israel and the Jewish people.  Evans has also written a number of books and has provided analysis and commentary on Middle East affairs for a variety of media. 

Yesterday Tuesday, Evans and his team toured capital Jerusalem, and then proceeded to Ashkelon and Sderot, both of which have been battered throughout the past week by Hamas rocket fire and suffered heavy damage. Early in the morning, the delegation met with a number of families who were evacuated from their homes in Israel’s south and took refuge over the weekend in new apartments recently added to the Holocaust Survivor Guest House, a 10 million NIS project initiated by Evans that includes 7 apartments adapted and accessible to survivors with facilities and features resembling those of a five-star hotel.  

One of the families they met and spoke to were the Senders*.  Danny Sender, 12, who was evacuated from his home along with his parents and three siblings ages 9, 5 and 2 and offered temporary lodgings in the Guest House after their apartment building was hit by a rocket, shares, “It was terrifying hearing the sirens all the time. We could be anywhere, but we’d have to drop everything and just run.  The last time was a blur. I barely remember grabbing Ofer’s hand. He was playing with his train set and didn’t want to let go. But I just yanked him and pulled him inside. Mom slammed the door behind us, and seconds later, we heard the loudest noise I ever imagined. I can still hear it. The building shook like it was going to fall; we were all screaming. And then, it was eerily quiet for a minute.”

“It’s tough. It’s really, really tough,” expresses Danny’s mom, Adi. “Our apartment was damaged, and the kids are traumatized—but thank G-d, we’re all alive and well and safe here. The opportunity to stay in these apartments after all we endured was a lifesaver. It’s so comforting to know that there are people out there—not just in Israel, but also around the world—who care and want to help.”

From Jerusalem, the delegation proceeded to Ashkelon, Israel’s largest city on the Gazan border, which has been pelted by rocket fire and suffered several casualties since the beginning of this mini-war. They met with police officers who patrolled with them around the city.  The visit continued with a tour of Sderot and a meeting with residents in the shelters who were deeply moved by the show of American support of Israel, and culminated with a meeting with Sderot’s mayor Mr. Alon Davidi.

In the course of the visit, Evans repeatedly offered his encouragement to Israeli citizens and expressed his disappointment and appall by the skewed media presentation of the true state of affairs.  “The media portrays Israel to look like the aggressor and Hamas like the victim, when the opposite is true,” he said. “It’s a media war and a physical war.”

Evans’ relates that his pro-Israel prayer page, which boasts some 78 million followers, was pulled from Facebook after radical Islamists flooded it with extreme anti-Semitic hate speech. Evans had been hosting a daily global prayer event to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. On Thursday, May 13th alone he had one million engagements and 43 million impressions along with a huge number of people posting anti-Israel statements and anti-Semitic pictures and attacking the site, which caused Facebook to close the page.

He explains that Iran is fueling the conflagration, using the Hamas terrorist group as a proxy to fight its war against Israel and the West. “The media throughout the world is buying into the lie, publishing stories that equate Hamas and Israel with moral equivalency, claiming that Hamas is the victim, beaten up by Israeli storm troopers, but it’s a lie.”

Evans shares that he’s planning a Facebook event   that will connect world leaders with 78 million followers in the Jerusalem Prayer Team, “But it’s difficult because these devils are trying to win many wars—media war, social network war and a physical war—all with lies.”

Photos & Video credit Perry Mandelbaum

 https://youtu.be/dAeZMdxExRU