Jewish Life Digital Edition November 2014 | Page 10

ROUND-UP

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

T EX T C OM P I L E D B Y L I Z S A M UE L S

Hamas’s Izz aDin al-Qassam
Brigades has
openly stated
it is rebuilding
the terror tunnels that were
destroyed by
the IDF during Operation
Protective Edge this summer, according to a reporter
from the Gaza-based newspaper Al-Resalah, who
witnessed diggers at work during a recent visit to a
tunnel site. The repairs to the tunnel had started “during one of the humanitarian ceasefires reached during the war”, the commander of the digging team told
the reporter.
“Hamas did not wait a single moment after the last
round of fighting, and began its rearmament in anticipation of another round,” a senior Israeli diplomatic
source said, according to reports by Yediot Achronot.

BRITISH JEWS IN RUSH
TO BUY ISRAEL PROPERTY

JERUSALEM ADDS

LIGHT RAIL SECURITY

The Jerusalem Municipality has placed concrete blocks near the entrances
to the Jerusalem Light Rail, in an apparent attempt to physically block terrorists from driving their cars into pedestrians.
The decision to place concrete blocks was issued from Jerusalem District
Commander Major General Moshe Edri, who assessed the overall security
situation after recent attacks. The barriers were set up close to the bus stations near the French Hill/Givat HaMivtar, and later will be placed near the
stations along Jaffa, Hertzl, and Chail Hahandasa.
In one attack, Hamas terrorist Ibrahim al-Akari plowed his car into a Jerusalem Light Rail station, before exiting his vehicle and beating bystanders with
a crowbar. The rampage killed a Druze border policeman and wounded 10
to 15 others.
Hamas released a statement lauding the terrorist as a “hero” and a “martyr”.

6 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 79

According to property experts, Diaspora Jews are
scrambling to buy safe-haven homes in Israel.
Tel Aviv-based property consultant Rebecca Wolman,
who works with the British market, has experienced
a massive increase in interest. The size of the spike in
enquiries is “impossible to count because it is so huge”.
Before, “anti-Semitism was never in the vocabulary”,
but now “there is a pattern in what people are saying:
‘we don’t feel safe in England any more’,” said Wolman.
She stressed that they do not exhibit ‘panic’, as French
Jews do, but are keen to acquire a holiday property
which could, in the future, become their first home.
Both the religious and non-religious seek Wolman’s
consulting services, and there are people who are
“most definitely secular and who didn’t have much of a
connection to Israel before”.
Anat Riesenberg, who heads the Netanya branch of
the Anglo-Saxon Agency, also reported a spike in interest from Diaspora Jewish centres, including the UK.
She estimated that interest is a third higher than this
time last year. “It is patriotism and the increased antiSemitism,” she said.
There was a similar rise in sales after the last Gaza war
in 2012, she added.

PHOTOGRAPHS: BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM; WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

HAMAS ADMITS TO REBUILDING
TERROR TUNNELS