Israel's News & Views Blog

Restoring Egypt’s Synagogues

Editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:17:36 +0000

Just in time for the festival of Pesach, Egypt’s culture minister says that it will shoulder the costs of restoring the country’s synagogue’s.

Farouk Hosny says that his ministry views Jewish sites as much a part of Egypt’s culture as Muslim mosques or Coptic churches and the restorations would not require any foreign funding. This marks a turn in attitude for the Egyptian artist and culture minister.

On Sunday, the 12th century Ben Maimon synagogue, named after Maimonides, was rededicated in a ceremony including half a dozen Egyptian Jewish families who fled the country long ago.

Hosny committed his ministry to restoring all 11 synagogues across Egypt, three of which have already undergone renovation. The most visited synagogue is that of Ben Ezra – located in Cairo’s Christian quarter near a number of old churches, was restored some years ago.

“There were some lectures on the Jewish sites in Egypt and the temple. It was nice, emotional and nostalgic,” said Raymond Stock, an American “close” to the Jewish community in Cairo.

The Jewish community of Egypt, which dates back millennia and at its peak in the 1940s numbered around 80,000, is down to several dozen, almost all of them elderly. The remainder were driven out decades ago by mob violence and persecution.

Egypt and Israel fought a war every decade from the 1940s to the 1970s until the 1979 peace treaty was signed. None the less, Egyptian vibrations remain deeply unfriendly to Israel, and anti-Semitic stereotypes still appear in the Egyptian media.

Last September, Hosny blamed a conspiracy “cooked up in New York” by the world’s Jews when he lost a bid from becoming the next head of the U.N.’s agency for culture and education.

During this time, Hosny’s candidacy raised an outcry because of a threat which he had made in the Egyptian parliament in 2008 to personally burn any Israeli book he found in the Alexandria Library.

Syria and Israel Wax Nuclear in Paris

Editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:00:13 +0000

On Tuesday both Israel and Syria announced ambitions to develop nuclear energy, with Israel facing the prospect that its plan could bring new attention to its secretive nuclear noodling.
The confessions were made at an international conference in Paris on civilian nuclear energy. Nuclear energy contributes far less to global warming than the burning of fossil fuels, none the less though, evokes many concerns about long-term safety issues.

Doubtlessly, both Israel and Syria’s nuclear programs will come under the microscope of international inspectors to ensure that they do not cross-over into weapons programs.
Iran and North Korea were not invited to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development conference.

Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said that nuclear plants built in Israel will be subject to strict safety and security controls. And get this – he even said that his country would like to build them in cooperation with scientists and engineers from “our Arab neighbors.”

“Israel has always considered nuclear power to partially replace its dependence on coal,” spoke Landau.

The program aims to help Israel secure its energy supplies and fight global warming. Israel currently uses coal and natural gas to produce electricity.
Asked if Israel would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to supervise any new project, Chen Ben Lulu said that Israel would follow all the relevant rules.

The Jewish Country however, has not signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, which aims to limit the number of countries capable of developing nuclear weapons.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad said that his country is looking at “alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy” to meet its growing demands for energy. “The peaceful application of nuclear energy should not be monopolized by the few that own this technology but should be available to all,” Mekdad said.

A few months ago, Landau met with the French Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, and raised the idea of French-Israeli-Jordanian cooperation in developing a nuclear power plant.

France derives more of its electricity from nuclear power than any other country in the world and has a highly developed civilian nuclear industry.

It was France who, beginning in the 1950s, helped Israel build its nuclear reactor at Dimona.

Israel also has a smaller nuclear reactor for research purposes at Nahal Soreq, outside of Tel Aviv.

Wanted: Soldiers

Editor — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:01:08 +0000

‘Demographic challenges” are leaving the IDF with fewer soldiers than it needs to defend the country against its threats, forcing the state to take a strong stance against draft-dodging.
Brig.-Gen. Orna Barbivai, deputy head of the IDF’s Human Resources Branch, complained:

“We don’t have enough soldiers…we cannot lend our hand to draft-dodging in any way whatsoever…we must work to enlist everybody who is eligible, not only in keeping with Israeli law, but also with our national morals…the army can’t wait for something to happen and then say we didn’t prepare; we need to be ready at all times for all situations…our chief of General Staff says we must be prepared at all times to fight the next war. We must be ready and be able to win in war to an extent that there will be no question that we were victorious.”

She continued:

“Up until recent years, some 25 percent of women served as clerks in the army. Nowadays its only 12%, which illustrates the way in which we have created opportunities for women to find roles in the army where they can contribute more and get more out of their service…we see women in the army at every place, at every rank, in professional roles and combat roles all over, and we believe that we must launch every effort to broaden and deepen the service of women in the army.”

“Because we have fewer soldiers than we need, we believe it’s not right to give up on someone for trying to dodge the draft, or for posing as religious. Our situation won’t allow us to give up on 37% of Israeli women…There is no reason that my daughters are required to do national service and someone else’s aren’t…at one point one of my daughters was serving in Jenin, while the other was deployed at the Machpela Cave. Of course, like every mother, I worried about them, but there’s no question, it’s the army, everyone must serve.”

The Test

Editor — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:54:10 +0000

Palestinian construction workers should be finding new work soon, as Bibi has authorized the construction of new apartments in the West Bank.

Is it:

a) To put Palestinian construction workers back to work

b) To house more Jews in Samaria…resuscitating the injured Zionist dream

c) To tell the Obama administration that Israel is NOT a territory of a Middle-Eastern American empire, and therefore under Uncle Sam’s jurisdiction, despite any amount of welcome donations, as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in the Holy Land for a piece of the Peace Talks with our Bibi and Mahmoud Abbas.

d) To deny Palestinians of their human rights

Only G-D knows!

There will be 112 new apartments in the Beitar Illit ultra-Orthodox settlement, known as the “The Torah city of the Judean Hills.”

In this action, the Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of trying to undermine the peace talks even before they began:

“If the Israeli government wants to sabotage Mitchell’s efforts by taking such steps, let’s talk to Mitchell about maybe not doing this (indirect talks) if the price is so high… put a big question mark on what it is that we came to do.”

The Palestinians presented the U.S. envoy with a document outlining their desired agreement: a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, with minor border adjustments.
This is what Bibi said after speaking to Biden:

“I believe we will succeed in advancing the diplomatic process…But the diplomatic process is not a game, it is real, and rooted first and foremost in (Israel’s) security.”

Peace Now settlement expert, Hagit Ofran said:

“The Israeli government is welcoming the vice president by demonstrating, to our regret, that it has no genuine intention to advance the peace process.”

Hamas and other known trouble-makers, have condemned Abbas’ decision to renew talks, accusing moderate Palestinians of caving in to U.S. pressure.

On Monday Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad unveiled a $3.13 billion budget for 2010, about $80 million more than last year, funded by the international community. He said that after years of a conflict-driven downturn, Palestinian government revenues are up, partly due to economic growth projected at 7% this year. Fayyad also said he will more than triple spending on development projects to $667 million, in accordance with donor countries desiring to see more money earmarked for infrastructure, health and education.

Mr. Campbell

Editor — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:37:12 +0000

Republican US Senate candidate, former congressman, Tom Campbell, running in the state of California was accused by his opponents of anti-Semitism and taking an anti-Israel stance. He denies these accusations.

His opponents, Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore have claimed that Campbell opposes Israel because of the way he has voted while in office and because of the donations which he accepted from Sami al-Arian, a prominent leader of Islamic Jihad.

When asked whether he has ever supported Israel during his ten years in the House of Representatives his response was, “There’s no place for calling me an anti-Semite and then denying it. That whispering campaign, that silent slander stops today.”

Campbell was a Stanford law professor and spearheaded a House of Representatives claim against former President Bill Clinton for the manner in which he commanded the war in Kosovo.
Fiorina mentioned that Campbell voted in favor of a cut in financial aid to the Jewish Country and was one of 34 members of the House who voted against the move to define Jerusalem as its undivided capital – 435 others supported the move.

DeVore called Campbell “a friend to our enemies”, alluding to the fact that he accepted $1,300 from al-Arian in 2000, after he was arrested on suspicion of running an Islamic Jihad campaign in the University of South Florida.

Israeli Women Continue To Make Less Than Men

Editor — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:41:41 +0000

The average woman in Israel lives to age 83, gives birth to three children, and makes a third less than the average man, according to recent data published by the Central Statistics Bureau in honor of International Women’s Day – celebrated on May 8.

The bureau did find that in the past year, women have climbed further up the corporate ladder, with the percentage holding managerial positions having nearly doubled what it was in 1990.

The number of women who work while attending an institute of higher education also is significantly on the rise from observations in the past decade: from 39% to 48%.

The differences however in salaries, remain similar despite the progress made by women in the workforce. In 2008 the average male monthly salary was $2,548, while the female average was only $1,609 – or 37% less.

One explanation is this: women tend to work shorter hours than men, but hourly rates were also compared and found to be different, with women making 27% less than men on average, per hour.

The bureau’s data also shows that 152,500 women gave birth in 2008. Sadly around 11% of all pregnancies were aborted. Israeli women give birth to three children on average and live to the age of 83, while the average life expectancy for men is 79 years.

The bureau found that of all women aged 20-45 who worked and gave birth, around 25% ceased working, while just 1% of men stopped working due to a new baby. 16% of women lessened their work hours after giving birth, while just 3% of men were found to have done the same.

The number of women studying for their bachelor’s degree is steadily rising, with numbers reaching 55% of all students in 2008. 58% of all students studying for a master’s degree are women, as well as 52% of those found in the process of acquiring their doctorates.

Women are present in the highest percentage in education studies – showing 86%, as well as nursing – showing 81%. Though in the fields of architecture and engineering their numbers are lowest – just 27%.

Dead Give Away

Editor — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:31:39 +0000

The IDF says a planned raid on a West Bank village was called off after an Israeli soldier disclosed the classified details online.

The Israeli military says that the combat soldier posted the time and location of the raid on his Facebook page, saying that troops were planning on “cleaning up” the village.

Fellow soldiers reported the leak to military authorities, who then called off the raid fearing that the information may have reached hostile groups. The soldier, still unnamed has been court-martialed and sentenced to 10 days in prison.

The IDF’s statement added that it is cracking down on soldiers’ use of social networking Web sites and has launched a campaign warning of the dangers of sharing military classified information online.

Ben-Arieh Gets the Indefinite Boot

Editor — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:57:51 +0000

The former ambassador to Belarus, Zeev Ben-Arieh, was forcefully suspended without pay on Wednesday.

The actions came after accusations that Ben-Arieh leaked information to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman concerning the investigation against him.

Police handed a report on Ben-Arieh to the Civil Service Commission which describes the accusations: they say that the former ambassador confessed to the allegations against him during the questioning.

The police did however deny that there were any leaks, Mickey Rosenfeld said:

“…There have been no press leaks…we published a statement on Tuesday about the questioning of Mr Lieberman because it is a very serious investigation….”

Lieberman said:

“When I left the interrogation room, I was warned that I must not comment on any detail from the investigation, and must not talk to anyone about it…what a surprise it was when an hour after I left the interrogation room, all the distorted details were released by the police commissioner’s office.”

Investigators are saying that during the period Lieberman was serving as a Knesset member, back in 2008, Ben-Arieh received a request to transfer a document discreetly from the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem to the authorities in Belarus concerning Lieberman’s investigation.

The document was originally handed to the Justice Ministry by Israel Police. It contained a request for legal assistance from the certified authorities in Belarus and also outlined details regarding the investigation.

The ambassador allegedly copied the classified information detailed in the request right before Lieberman’s visit to Belarus a year and a half ago. He then informed Lieberman of the request and unlawfully passed it on to him when the two met during the visit.

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For…

Editor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:21:42 +0000

Just in time for the summer…the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream entrepreneurs from Vermont will open a new factory in the Beer Tuvia area in the south, near Kiryat Malachi, in a facility that until recently was a soup factory and logistics center for the food manufacturer Vita Pri Hagalil.

Some NIS 8 million – or about $2 million will be invested in the new factory, which will employ dozens of workers, and comply with standards set by the global Ben & Jerry’s corporation as well as the European markets and the US food authorities.

The company’s previous factory in Yavne was closed after it failed to meet the exporting standards set by the ice-cream mogul.

The new plant will produce Ben & Jerry’s ice-creams in addition to baked frozen items that are marketed in Israel under the brand name “Rosie’s” and include pancakes, blintzes, bagels. Yummy! In addition to all of this, the company will open a new retail store in Modiin.

According to Ben & Jerry’s General-Manger Avi Zinger, another retail store is slated to be opened next month at the new Cinema City which is in Rishon Lezion – and that’s in addition to the one already operating in Glilot.

The company is currently conducting negotiations for opening another store in Jerusalem as well. Ben & Jerry’s annual turnover in Israel is estimated at some NIS 30 million – or about $8 million.

Along with the expansion of production facilities, Ben & Jerry’s will also be planning on expanding their parlors to 16, as well as selling kiosks.
Zinger says:

“Ice-cream parlors have regained momentum in recent years, and we have also returned to full activity…Ben & Jerry’s opened its first store in Israel in 1988 and operated 16 branches at its peak. In 2001 it began to close down its stores dew to losses suffered with the break of the intifada and the era of increased terror attacks.”

Guilty as Charged: Being Jewish

Editor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:51:25 +0000

The Zionist country has issued a formal complaint with Spain, charging individuals in Spanish elementary schools of promoting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel ideas among young children. The letter comes after Israel’s ambassador to Spain, Rafi Shotz, received recently dozens of postcards from Spanish school students bearing statements such as:

“Jews kill for money,”

“Leave the country to the Palestinians”

and

“Go somewhere where they will accept you.”

A Foreign Ministry official confirmed that the handwriting appears typical of children six to nine years old. The official said:

“Apparently there are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel individuals who get permission to operate within schools…Each time, the embassy has received several dozen postcards from a different school. And it seems as though whoever is doing this is moving from school to school.”

The Foreign Ministry considered summoning Spain’s ambassador to Israel, Alvaro Iranzo, but spoke to the envoy by telephone instead.

Naor Gilon, the ministry’s deputy director for Europe, called Iranzo on Sunday saying

“Israel is greatly distressed”

by the postcards. The envoy insisted the letters are not part of any Spanish Education Ministry program, but the initiative of private citizens.
Meanwhile, in higher education news: universities campuses in more than 40 cities across the world are holding, Israeli Apartheid Week.” They are marking the week with multimedia events, films, lectures, cultural performances and demonstrations.

The participation of several Israelis in the anti-Zionist events is “atrocious,” said David Katz, a member of Britain’s Jewish Board of Deputies who grew up in South Africa and has fought the comparison between that country’s racial segregation and Israel’s ethnic divisions.
Katz said:

“They are free to do as they please, but it’s atrocious…I think they don’t understand the analogy they are making… which is insulting to those who suffered under apartheid…It’s like calling things ‘holocaust’ which are not the Holocaust or terming something ‘genocide’ which is not genocide.”

One Jewish charity brought over Benjamin Pogrund, a South African immigrant to Israel who is the former deputy editor of the Johannesburg-based Rand Daily Mail, to speak to British university students about why Israel is not by any stretch of the imagination, an apartheid state.
He said:

“The game plan of those who seek the destruction of Israel is to equate us with South Africa, a pariah state which had to be subjected to international sanctions…Israelis coming to take part in this week should know better.”

In Canada, the legislature in the province of Ontario unanimously condemned Israeli Apartheid Week, and are voting on a resolution that denounces the campus events.

Conservative legislator Peter Shurman told Shalom Life, a Toronto-based Jewish Web site:

“If you’re going to label Israel as Apartheid, then you are also… attacking Canadian values…. The use of the phrase ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ is about as close to hate speech as one can get without being arrested, and I’m not certain it doesn’t actually cross over that line.”

Shooting Hoops: Israeli to be Head Coach of Palestinian Basketball Team

Editor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:20:26 +0000

Veteran Israeli coach Ilan Kowalsky is being named the new head coach of the Palestinian national basketball team.

Kowalsky, who coached the Palestinian team in the past without pay, has received an official offer to head the ball club.

The Palestinians were seeking a coach who can travel with the team to tournaments in Arab countries. Kowalsky, who holds a Polish passport, fits the bill.

Zayed Baransi, a businessman and an Israel Basketball Association official, brokered the deal.
Kowalsky said:

“I was approached a few weeks ago and was asked whether I would be willing to coach the Palestinian national team. I said that if it won’t cause them any problems, why not?…Only sports and culture will bring peace to this region.”

Celebrating Purim on a Rainy Day

Editor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:04:39 +0000

Rain got you down? Don’t want to leave the house to hear the Megillah again at shul? Well, in honor of Purim, the Israel Antiquities Authority is presenting a new virtual exhibition on its Website of masks and rattles which were discovered in archaeological excavations throughout the country.

Appearing in the exhibition are various masks that portray humans and animals, the oldest of which is from the Stone Age and dates to c. 6500 BCE.
Many ceremonial masks were used for ritual purposes such as rainmaking, curing disease and exorcising spirits and demons. Oftentimes such masks were in the image of deities or demons.

The use of rattles during the reading of the scroll is a symbolic expression of the extermination of the Amalekites, the first people whom the Israelites fought when they were wandering in the desert. According to tradition, the wicked Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites.

Clay rattles that contain small stones or other materials for making noise were found in archaeological excavations around the country. The rattles occur in a variety of shapes, some adorned with a painted or engraved decoration, but all of them produce the same noise that is characteristic of a rattle.

The majority of the rattles were found in a cultic context or inside tombs and therefore there are those who believe that they were primarily used for ritual purposes. The frequency with which rattles occur in excavations throughout the country is explained by the fact that they are small objects which were relatively simple to manufacture and were used by the general population.

There is also the assertion that the clay rattle was a very important musical instrument in the religious services of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah during the First Temple period.

One Good Avocado

Editor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:46:49 +0000

The sales of Israeli avocadoes have reached one-third of all fruit sold in Europe. The Israeli company Agrexco was defined by the Wall Street Journal as the biggest Israeli exporter of fresh agricultural produce of high quality.
2009 saw a 12% rise in Agrexco’s sales turnover and the company leads Israel’s agricultural exports this year. Last year, the company exported agricultural produce under the Carmel brand for about € 492 million (about $663 million).

Agrexco CEO Shlomo Tirosh told the paper that Israel markets 390,000 tons of fresh agricultural produce to countries all around the globe, with avocado taking the first place. This season, the fruit’s exports are expected to reach 36,000 tons compared to 22,000 last year – an increase of more than 50%.

Pepper came in second with about 36,000 tons, in spite of the difficult winter in the Arava region. It was followed by organic and conventional tomatoes, mainly cherry tomatoes.

Green herbs have also had a strong international export presence – particularly basil, chives and mint. Despite the competition from Egypt, Morocco and Spain, the Israeli herbs’ popularity is quite stable due to their high quality. In addition, the sales of Israel’s melons have risen by 50% after several years of decline.

Tell Me Lies Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

Editor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:18:04 +0000

At least 30 Arab youths who barricaded themselves in the al-Aqsa Mosque plaza at the Temple Mount and hurled stones at passers-by, provoked Israeli Police last night and early this morning.

Stones were occasionally thrown at police officers in the alleys of the Old City, including near the Antonia Fortress, which is one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. There were no reports of injuries. One suspect was detained for questioning.

After the scuffle, police again opened the mount’s gates to worshippers, but restricted entrance to the site to male worshippers with Israeli identity cards over the age of 50 and to female worshippers of all ages.

It seems obvious that Sunday’s fray at the Temple Mount is related to the tension that arose over Israel’s decision to include the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem to its list of national heritage sites.

Members of the Waqf and various Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Movement, advocated for Muslims over the weekend to flock to the Temple Mount, claiming that

“radical Jewish organizations have called on their followers to arrive at the mount today and on Tuesday in an attempt to lay the cornerstone for the temple.”

The Islamic organizations also warned Muslims to be on high alert around March 16, when they that said extreme Jewish organizations were planning to mark the global day for the temple’s reconstruction.

Last Vacation in Dubai

Editor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:15:18 +0000

It’d make a good spy thriller novel, you know?
Those keepers of law and justice, the Dubai police have released the names of new suspects linked to the slaying of a top Hamas operative and founder Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Wednesday saw the Dubai police release the names of 15 suspects, bringing to 26 the number of people suspected. At least 15 of these names match those of real persons who live in Israel. All of them say that their identities were used without permission.

Israel still has not confirmed or denied involvement in the killing. Perhaps they never will. Israeli security officials at least admit knowledge that al-Mabhouh was involved in smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip with Iranian help and was wanted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers who were captured and killed in 1989. But nothing can be proven in the assassination.

Five of the names released on Wednesday appear in Israeli telephone directories, and Australia’s foreign minister said that two other names belong to Australians living in Israel. An eighth, Roy Cannon’s name, matches that of a 62-year-old man who immigrated to Israel from Britain.

His son, Raphael Cannon told The Associated Press that his father had moved to Israel in 1979.
The photographs on the passports released by the Dubai police, though, do not match the people whose names were used, and several countries have said that the documents were either forged or fraudulently obtained.

Although Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, said he was nearly “100 percent” certain that Mossad was behind the killing, (suffocation with a pillow) the new details added at least one incongruous detail: Two of the suspects left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran, Israel’s archenemy, a seemingly unlikely move for alleged Israeli agents.
Australia, Britain, Ireland and France have all seek clarifications from Israeli diplomats.

Australia’s Herald Sun has a good description of the hit:

“The assassination is an old-fashioned tale of a “honey pot” theory, look-outs in tennis gear, and killers in trilbys, fake moustaches and wigs.

Their target was under surveillance from the moment he boarded an Emirates flight in the Syrian capital Damascus on January 20.

It is believed he was flying to Dubai to organise a new consignment of weapons from Iran that could strike Israel from Hamas strongholds on the Gaza strip.

His killers were waiting for him. From midnight on January 19, at least 11 members of the team began arriving in Dubai separately on flights from Zurich, Rome, Frankfurt and Paris.

They used duplicated passports of citizens from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Australia, and were co-ordinated throughout the operation from a command centre in Austria. Everything was paid for in cash. Their associates are suspected to have already been in Dubai.

They formed two teams, one for surveillance, the other to eliminate the target.

Al-Mabhouh arrived in Dubai at 3pm on January 20, without a bodyguard.

Collecting his baggage from the carousel, he had to walk around one of his adversaries as he made his way to passport control. He was watched all the way to the taxi rank and followed to the Al-Bustan Rotan hotel.

Two men in tennis gear were standing by the reception desk where he checked in at 3.25pm. The portly man with the moustache and his taller friend looked just like any tourists fresh from the court.

But they followed the Hamas commander into the lift, and he was one step closer to his death.

Within minutes the death squad knew which room he was in and within an hour the alleged leader, using the identity of French passport holder Peter Elvinger, rang from another hotel in the city and reserved room 237, directly across the hall from al-Mabhouh’s room 230.

The team then began a rotating system of surveillance, moving casually around the hotel and watching for him to leave his room.

Conscious of all the CCTV cameras in the hotel, the agents used disguises such as wigs, facial hair and glasses.

One was caught on camera entering a hotel toilet bald, and walking out with a full head of hair and glasses.

Just before 8pm, al-Mabhouh left his room, deposited some documents in the hotel safe and left the hotel for a walk. He had less than an hour to live.

Four men arrived at room 237 and waited for his return.

At 8.25pm the Hamas commander returned. There is no CCTV footage of the hallway outside room 230, but several theories exist about how the assassins were able to enter the room for the kill.”

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