Netanyahu Hosts African Ambassadors and Chuck Norris

On Wednesday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting of ambassadors to Israel from several African countries, telling them “The pyramid of our foreign policy interests in Africa is as high as it has ever been, except perhaps in the 1960s.” He went on to explain that he hoped African governments would change their traditional habits of voting against Israeli interests at the UN and cooperate with Israel in economic development and counter-terrorism initiatives.

Archeologists announced this week the discovery of evidence that a cave in the Qumran cliffs near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea contained Scrolls such as have already been discovered in other caves in the area.  Teams led by Dr. Oren Gutfeld and Ahiad Ovadia from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology, with the help of Dr. Randall Price and students from Liberty University in Virginia USA, released details of their findings, which also included evidence that the Scrolls which had been stored in the cave were probably looted shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

The Iranian military test-fired yet another surface to air missile on Wednesday in defiance of US warnings to stand down its aggressive posture. Officials in Washington and other Western capitals were reportedly considering several options to respond to the Iranian missile tests.

Jerusalem, along with Beit Shemesh, Modi’in and Bnei Brak, were the scene of violent riots this week in which Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jewish crowds attacked police, blocked traffic and otherwise lashed out at the government following the arrest of one of their number for refusing to take the steps necessary to obtain a legal deferment from mandatory service in the military. Three police officers were reportedly wounded in the clashes and 48 yeshiva students were arrested.

The defeat of Islamic extremist groups does, of course, require a vital military component. But even if we succeed militarily, long-term success requires that the ideology of Islamic extremism is itself discredited.