Of course, this nice interview is too much for some to bear:

This coming from someone who knows next to nothing about Judaism.

A photo of the "Mossad agent"

An Israeli couple who came to the city on March 3, 2010, will be deported for “suspicious activities”. Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Shenoi came on a multiple-entry visa and rented a house on Rose Street, Fort Kochi, for Rs 50,000 per month, far higher than the market rate.

“Central intelligence got an alert about a covert operation being carried out by suspected Israeli agents after the 26/11 terror attacks in which south Mumbai’s Chabad House came under attack and six Jews, including a Rabbi and his pregnant wife, were killed. A communication was sent to all states and it was our wing in Kerala that traced this couple at Fort Kochi,” an intelligence officer here said.

Indian agencies will question two suspected Israeli agents before they are deported. “We have traced the couple’s financial transactions. Preliminary investigations suggest similar Israelis are camping in various parts of the country,” an official said.

Duo were under lens

In their report, the state intelligence department said a group of people turned up at the couple’s rented house regularly and held meetings.

“These meetings lasted for hours in the night. They were under close surveillance”.

The deportation order was slapped on Zalman and Shenoi last Monday after undercover Kerala Police officers tracked them for a year, questioned them and filed a report to Ernakulam collector P I Sheik Pareeth.

Shneor Zalman, born on September 2, 1984, and Yaffa Shenoi, born on January 27, 1988, entered the country on multiple-entry visas (one of them being AP 2569691). While Zalman’s passport number is 13143659, Shenoi’s is 11665711.

Fort Kochi is a major hub for foreign tourists next to the neighbourhood of Mattancherry, famous for its Jew Town. This is the historical part of town where Jews set up their first trading outpost centuries ago and built the country’s oldest synagogue in 1568.

“A monthly rent of Rs 50,000 is disproportionately high, even in Fort Kochi. This is one of the main factors that made us suspicious,” the intelligence source said. “They have been in the country from March 3, 2010. When their visas expired on March 3 last year, they went out and returned on April 1, 2011 on a new visa.”

When I first read this, I thought it was a sick joke. The Chabad movement has a lot of money and the willingness to spend it to help bring Jews back in the fold. Meetings lasting in to the night would more likely be shiurim or Torah learning sessions. Nothing here smacks of Mossad.

This is of course what Rabbi Shneor Zalman claims. 

Rabbi Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Sheina Bernstein said they were stunned by a story run by the Times of India in which unnamed Indian security officials said they were secret Israeli agents that would soon be deported from the country.

“I was invited here by the Jewish community of Kochi with the full knowledge of local authorities,” said Zalman, a 27-year-old rabbi from Jerusalem. “I have no idea how they got the impression I was part of a Mossad operation.”

He said he and Yaffa Sheina ran an outreach center catering to Jewish travelers in the popular tourist destination as well as to the city’s remaining 50 Jews, part of a once much larger community whose origins date back to the 16th century. Zalman insisted their sole motivation for being in the country was to provide religious services to local members of the Jewish community and had nothing to do with Israel.

 Meanwhile, I received this further information via email:

This relates to a deportation order issued by the District Collector, Ernakulam to Zalman and Shendi Bernstein, who have been living in Cochin, India for the past year and serving as Rabbi at the Cochin Synagogue in Mattancherry. Apparently, the District Collector – the topmost government official in the district – was acting on the report filed by The Foreigners Registration Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration & Crimes), Kochi City. The reason cited for the deportation is that they had organized religious activities related to the “Religious Life & belief” at a Synagogue in Mattancherry. The order goes on to state that since there is no special endorsement in their entry visas to do such activities in India, the Foreigners Registration Officer etc.etc. cited above has recommended issuance of a “Quit India” order.

For the uninitiated, the couple in question were granted visas specifically on the request of the tiny Jewish community in Cochin since they have found it had to organize religious services on their own due to the drastic fall in numbers (The entire Jewish community in Kerala now number not more than 20!) The letter requesting the issue of visa to the couple and addressed to the Indian Ambassador in Israel and issued by the Trustees of the Synagogue in Cochin had specifically cited the inability of the community to continue with their religious life here due to the sorry state of their numbers and consequently, the couple were granted visas on two successive years on the same grounds.

While the official account of the events remains thus, there are quite a few “leaks” given to news outlets which paint something entirely different. Malayala Manorama Daily (Kochi Edition), one of the largest selling newspapers in Malayalam – the vernacular language, on the 8th of February 2012 carried a report, which while sticking to the official version, stated in the penultimate and final paragraphs (a rough translation of the same would read as) follows :-

“They have been accused of indulging in witchcraft at their homestay in Fort Nagar, where they used to reside previously.

However, the police refused to confirm the complaints to such effect.”

On 9th February 2012, the same newspaper cited above carried the news of a press release by Mohammed Rejib, State Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) – a Salafist Party whose leadership has been accused of terrorist
links in the past and whose current Chairman is currently in a Bangalore Jail facing charges of terrorism. In the press release he asked for a “comprehensive enquiry into the activities” of the couple.

At the same time the reports coming out in other news outlets were even more fantastic.”The Hindu” – a nationwide daily in India – carried the following report:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article2872561.ece

A small website reported the same story as thus:
http://indiawires.com/7605/news/national/kerala-suspected-spy-couple-from-israel-to-be-deported/

While all this may be attributed to the press running wild with it’s imagination, the sad fact is that Zalman Bernstein and his wife have been ordered out of the country for organizing religious services, the original purpose for which the Synagogue sent him an invitation in the first place. The irony is even more palpable when you come to note that couple were charged with the “crime”, a “trial” was held and a “verdict” was handed out, all without any notice ever being served on the them. Furthermore, the sad fact remains that neither the Synagogue, where the high crime of holding a religious service was
committed, nor it’s office bearers, were not notified of such charges, at any point in time.

The only recourse open to the couple is to file an application before the Collector who has issued the order (The Collector is currently on a personal visit to the US and is not expected to be back for another 5 days. In the meanwhile, his official charge has been handed over to a deputy who is unlikely to take any action in this regard, the bureaucracy in India being what it is. If you happen to be a journalist in the vicinity of Chicago, it would be point of interest to note that the person in question is due to visit a certain facility there as reported in the Deccan Chronicle newspaper
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/collector-study-us-waste-treatment-tech-626)

The only other option open to the couple – the filing of a Writ of Mandamus in the High Court of the State – is a stiff challenge, since the couple being foreigners will have a tough time proving that they are eligible for the right of due process, open to the citizens of India.

I request you to forward this to your friends/relatives/colleagues so as to generate as much interest as can be done, so that this story will be picked up by the media and the facts of the matter can be brought to light; so that not only the couple, but the entire Jewish community of Cochin can be cleared of the asinine charges levelled against them.

Please help spread the word.

Aviva Shalit, mother of the now released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, placed a phone call Monday to Chana Canterman, a Chabad Shlucha in Jerusalem, to update on her son’s health.

“He’s fine! He’s fine!” Mrs. Shalit joyfully said.

The connection between the two who live in the same country but spend time in different spheres began when the Shalit family began campaigning for their son outside the prime minister’s residence.

Sgt. Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas terrorists on 25 June 2006 in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza.

Chana and her husband Rabbi Eli Canterman, the Shluchim in the Talbiyeh neighborhood in Israel’s capital, were one of the volunteers who provided meals for the Shalits in their protest tent.

The Cantermans had the Sunday shift and have since become close friends with the Shalit family, visiting them often and praying together for Gilad’s release from Hamas captivity.

Chana would spend hours shopping and cooking beautiful meals for the family, a friend of the Cantermans said.

“Slowly they had to bring larger amounts of food each week because everyone would visit on Sunday because they loved her cooking,” the friend said.

CLOSE BOND

Naturally, they became close friends with Aviva and her husbandNoam Shalit, providing not only food but emotional and psychological support during this time.

“When I flew in to New York for the annual Kinus Hashluchos convention on 24 Shvat, I asked Aviva what I could bring her back from the U.S.,” recalled Mrs. Canterman in an interview with COLlive.com.

“She told me, ‘All I want is Gilad. I don’t need presents.’ All she thought about was her son.”

The Cantermans also made sure to come by for holidays, in addition to the Sunday visit. For Purim, they organized a festive meal for family and guests, and brought them Matzah on Pesach. During Lag BaOmer day, children came to the tent to say the 12 pesukim (holy passages).

On April 17th, the day before last Pesach, Chana Canterman brought a special gift to Aviva Shalit along with her meal: a dollar bill that she had received from the Lubavitcher Rebbe that was to be given to a worthy charity.

“Take this dollar,” said Chana, “and may it be a Segulah (merit) that Gilad be released this year.”

Aviva accepted the dollar gratefully and carried it with her wherever she went.

“It was a very depressing period for the family,” Canterman recalls. “We wanted to give them an opening of hope and strength to continue waiting for the healthy return of their son.”

SUDDEN MOVEMENT

On the same day the Shalits received the dollar, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu told the Shalits he replaced the official mediator from Chagai Hadas to David Medan.

Miraculously, Medan immediately began getting more frequent answers from the captives from the various channels, among them the German mediator and officials in Cairo.

On Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Canterman came by to blow shofar for them. A week later, they heard that Gilad was going to be released on Tishrei 20 – on Chol Hamoed Sukkos.

The next day, Mrs. Canterman texted Aviva Shalit asking her if she can check the date written on the dollar from the Rebbe (Chabad chassidim often write on the bill when it was received).

Mrs. Shalit excitedly replied that the date on the dollar that Canterman received over 20 years before from the Rebbe, was Tuesday, 20 Tishrei, the date that Gilad Shalit was released by the terrorists.

And the year that dollar was given? 5751 – the Hebrew year chassidim spelled out as “the year of miracles and wonders.”

And if you are sceptical like I was, this Channel 2 report (auto-translated) indicates the Shalit family confirmed these events.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement saying that the ship was “an unnecessary provocation,” and it would have been better had it not set sail.

“It is possible to bring merchandise into Gaza, after it has been checked, through the Ashdod port,” Barak said. “However, we will not allow the entrance of arms and ammunition into Gaza. We recommend to the organizers of the flotilla to accompany Israeli naval ships into Ashdod or to sail directly for El-Arish.”

The Amalthea departed on Saturday evening from a port southeast of Athens, carrying 2,000 tons of cargo, including sacks of rice and sugar, and corn oil and olive paste, mostly donated by Greek companies and charities, organizers said.

In addition to 15 volunteers – all from Libya, except for a Nigerian and a Moroccan – the ship has a crew of 12 from Cuba, Haiti, India and Syria.

Greek authorities said on Saturday night that the ship was headed for Egypt. “We confirmed the destination in talks with the Libyan ambassador and the ship’s agent,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said earlier in the day.

But Al-Jazeera, which has a reporter on the vessel, reported that its Cuban captain was indeed headed for Gaza.

—-

Barak spoke on Saturday with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman about the issue. Despite numerous rumors about other vessels trying to break the Gaza blockade, this would be the first ship – if it indeed it tries to reach Gaza – to do so since the IDF’s raid on a Turkish vessel on May 31 that left nine people dead.

—-

“There is no problem in getting civilian supplies into Gaza now,” one government official said. “But the idea that cargo can go into Gaza without being checked is unacceptable.

Israel will enforce that all cargo going into Gaza needs to be inspected, and will not allow a precedent where the security envelope will be broken.”

The official said that as a result of Israel’seasing the restrictions of what is allowed into Gaza, there was now a greater understanding internationally for Israel’s naval blockade.

Foreign Ministry Avigdor Lieberman spoke a number of times over the past few days with his Greek and Moldovan counterparts about the Amalthea, and those conversations left a feeling in Jerusalem, according to ministry officials, that the ship would not sail for Gaza.

On Friday, Israel asked that the UN step up efforts to prevent the ship from setting sail.

In an official letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev asked the international community to use its power to halt the ship.

“Israel calls upon the international community to exert its influence on the government of Libya to demonstrate responsibility and prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip,” the envoy wrote.

“Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip,” Shalev told Ban Ki-moon.

“The declared intentions of this mission are even more questionable and provocative, given the recent measures taken by Israel to ensure the increase of humanitarian aid flowing into the Gaza Strip,” Shalev wrote in her letter.

Amalthea’s journey to Gaza was expected to take up to 80 hours, meaning that the ship would arrive at El-Arish or Gaza early on Wednesday morning.

Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, insisted the goal remained to unload the supplies in Gaza. He said the ship would not seek confrontation with the Israelis.

If Israel does not allow the ship into Gaza, the group will seek “any other appropriate destination – El-Arish or other – to deliver the goods to the people in need,” Sawani said.

“I think the Israelis need to understand we are not provoking any kind of action, we are not in military action, we are a peaceful, humanitarian organization,” he said.

MK Ahmed Tibi (Ta’al) confirmed an Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper report that he was helping the flotilla organizers. He said he had given them a list of what was needed in the Gaza Strip, including certain medicines, a special kind of milk and generators for hospitals.

National Union MK Arye Eldad, who like Tibi is a medical doctor, said Israel should insist on transferring the supplies by land.

“Medicine, milk and generators are all good, but they can all be brought to Gaza via Ashdod,” Eldad said. “Tibi is trying to make Israel look bad. He cares about hurting Israel, not about helping Gaza.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:50PM: Ynet reports:

Interior Minister Eli Yishai has bestowed temporary residential status upon Sandra Samuel, the Indian nanny who saved the life of Moshe Holtzberg during the terror attack in Mumbai. The status is a first step towards permanent citizenship.

“This is a humanitarian move necessary for anyone who saves a Jewish life,” Yishai said Sunday.

The citizenship process began with an appeal by the Holtzbergs to the Interior Ministry. The extended family of Gavriel Holtzberg, who was murdered along with wife Rivka in the attack on the Chabad center in which they worked, asked that Samuel be allowed to remain in Israel in order to continue caring for Moshe.

Immediately upon her arrival in Israel a year and a half ago Samuel received a work permit, and sources say she will be granted full-fledged citizenship within a year.

“She risked her life in order to save Jews and we are obligated to take care of her,” the interior minister said. “The family has impressed upon me that she is vital to the continuing rehabilitation process, following the terrible disaster they have undergone.”

8:12PM: A number of Israelis acquainted with former senior Middle East editor for CNN Octavia Nasr think her tweet in praise of deceased Hizbullah terrorist Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah was ‘uncharacteristic’, and claim her coverage of Israel was balanced for the most part.

8:08PM: Senior Hizbullah terrorist Sheikh Nabil Kaouk has warned they have a list of military targets inside Israel to hit in any future war.

8:00PM: Desperately seeking Susan a sense of humor:

Israeli, foreign and Palestinians activists protest against the building of Jewish settlement and against the Jewish settlers living in the Palestinian territories, as they gather at the Israeli manned Beit Romano settlement checkpoint, in the old city of the West Bank town of Hebron, on July 10, 2010. The sign held by the protestors refers to a video clip showing Israeli soldiers dancing as they patrol the streets of Hebron. (HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images)

For the record, Jews have been living in Hebron for way longer than those Arabs referred to as palestinians.

5:10PM: Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy has said she regrets any offense caused by her blog praising dead terrorist Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

Ambassador Frances Guy was criticized by Israel for an article on her Foreign Office blog titled “The passing of decent men”, in which she said she was saddened by the Shiite cleric’s death and that the world “needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths”.

The Foreign Office said on Friday the article had been removed from her website “after mature consideration”.

—-

In a new entry, dated July 9, Guy said her earlier posting had been an attempt to “acknowledge the spiritual significance to many of Sheikh Fadlallah and the views that he held in the latter part of his life”.

Guy said she had “no truck with terrorism wherever it is committed in whoever’s name”, and that it was possible for Hezbollah “to reject violence and play a constructive, democratic and peaceful role in Lebanese politics”.

4:44PM: Oddball story of the day:

Israeli soldiers threatened to storm a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank on Friday night to look for a missing hyena, confused residents told Ma’an.

According to locals, the soldiers say they believe a resident of Kafr Thulth, near Qalqiliya, is hiding the alleged hyena. The residents have emphatically denied the allegations.

Nevertheless, military liaison officials threatened to raid the village if the hyena is not returned, villagers said, expressing astonishment at the escalation and the prospect of the army taking over the town to look for a wild animal. Several officials reiterated that no one in the village has the hyena, but the soldiers say otherwise.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that while the army does not normally deal with animal-related inquiries, she would investigate. According to an initial inquiry, she said, no hyenas have been reported missing.

3:52PM: The Free Gaza terror enablers have posted some photos of the nine men killed on the Mavi Marmara, after attacking Israeli naval commandos with guns, knives, poles and other weapons. Of course, the photos are designed to show these men as peace-loving husbands and fathers.

I found this one to be particularly interesting.

What’s the bet he put his Taekwondo to good use on the ship?

3:42PM: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s address to the Council on Foreign Relations, which took place last Thursday.

12:58PM: Quote of the day:

“Our situation in recent months can be compared to the 1970s, when Zionism was being called racism.”

- Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, commenting on Israel’s current standing in the UN

11:45AM: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull responds to calls to boycott Israel.

Having performed concerts in the Middle East region many times over the last few years, I am well aware of the ethnic and religious tensions existing, not only in the coiuntries concerned, but in the broader international diasporas representing the various groups and their interests.

Having long maintained the position that culture and the arts should be free of political and religious censorship and a distance kept between them, I took a decision, nonetheless, in February of 2009 that any future concerts in Israel by me or Jethro Tull would be for the benefit of charitable donations to bodies representing the development of peaceful co-existence between Arabs, Jews and Christians, and the fostering of better Palestinian/Israeli relations.

I speak only for my own share of concert profits here – I am not about to tell the rest of the musicians or crew what views they should hold or what to do with their remuneration. Nor do I feel pressured by human rights groups, national interests or any individuals to perform or not to perform in Israel or anywhere else. I make up my own mind in light of available facts, with my own experience and a sense of personal ethics.

To those who tell me I should “boycott” Israel (or, for that matter, Turkey or Lebanon), I can only point out that on my travels around the world I am continually reminded of atrocities carried out historically by many nations who are now our friends, and it serves to strengthen my resolve that some degree of peace and better understanding may result from my and other artists’ professional and humble efforts in such places. If I had the opportunity to perform today in Iran or North Korea, hell – I’d be there if I thought it would make a tiny positive net contribution to better relations.

It’s a long time since Pearl Harbor, Auschwitz, Hiroshima and the firestorm of Dresden and I hope that, one bright day sometime in the future, it will seem a long time since the blockading of the supply flotilla to Gaza and the bombing of Israeli citizens by Hamas and Hizbolla.

So, I decided many months ago not to profit from my work in this troubled region and hope that interested parties on all sides will understand and respect my decision and resolve. The details of recipients of my charitable donation will be posted for the benefit of the doubters, as usual, on this website later in the year.

Of course, it’s not the first time he has said the show must go on in Israel.

11:18AM: A former Iranian fighter-cum-US-spy has called for a preemptive strike on Iran, and estimated that his former country will attack Israel and Europe.

A former fighter in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) turned US spy offered a rare glance into one of the most complex countries in the Middle East.

During a conference held at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Friday, Reza Kahlili (pseudonym) estimated that Iran will eventually attack Israel, Europe and the Persian Gulf states. He called for a preemptive strike on the regime in Tehran, but not on the Iranian people or the country’s infrastructure.

Kahlili accused the Obama Administration of being naïve. According to him, the American overtures are viewed by the Iranian regime as a sign of weakness, while the Iranian people consider the efforts to engage the regime an act of betrayal against their struggle for freedom.

Click here to listen to Kahlili speak at conference

“This is a messianic regime. There should be no doubt – they are going to commit the most horrendous suicide bombing in human history. They will attack Israel, European capitals, and (the) Persian Gulf region at the same time,” said Kahlili in one of his first public appearances to promote his new book “A Time To Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran”.

Kahlili said he joined the Revolutionary Guard following the Islamic revolution of 1979, but volunteered to work for the CIA when he became disillusioned with the Khomeini regime after witnessing acts of rape, torture and murder.

Kahlili, arrived at the conference wearing a surgical mask, sunglasses and a baseball cap to conceal his identity. Out of concern for his safety, as well as that of his family inside Iran, his voice was also disguised.

For 10 years, under the code name “Wally,” he relayed the secret operations of the IRGC back to American intelligence, eventually fleeing to the United States. In the aftermath of 9/11, Kahlili reestablished contact with his sources in Iran and began once again providing information to the CIA, according to the Washington Institute.

6:18AM: Irish minister for justice Dermott Ahern said Ireland is seeking to stop an EU initiative that would enable Israel to receive sensitive information about European citizens, due to concerns about the use that Israel would make of this information.

This after Ireland expelled an Israeli diplomat in the wake of Dubai passport-gate.

Meanwhile, the Irish seem less concerned with Russia.

6:05AM: Wow: I have not heard many Israeli politicians speak like this, let alone American ones.

Allen West is running for Congress. More here.

Reuters

Julia Gillard had long been tipped as Australia’s first woman prime minister, but the way it finally happened has shocked almost everyone.

Only last month she said she was more likely to become a football star than replace her boss. But in a brutally efficient move driven by bad opinion polls and the approach of a general election, the Labor party dumped Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for his 48-year-old deputy. On Thursday Gillard was sworn in.

At a news conference that capped one of the most abrupt transitions in Australia’s often-bruising political history, Gillard said she accepted the job “with the greatest humility, resolve and enthusiasm.”

She immediately sought to refocus attention on the popular decisions of the government in which she served for the past 2 1/2 years, while distancing herself from mistakes attributed to Rudd.

She vowed to continue stimulus policies credited with shielding Australia from the global recession, and said she would revisit the plans Rudd shelved for a greenhouse gas emissions trading system. She sought to defuse a bitter dispute with mining companies over a proposed tax on profits.

Gillard is unlikely to change foreign and defense policies, including Australia’s 1,500-strong military contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The biggest change is likely to be in style.

With a schoolteacher’s manner and an Australian twang that betrays nothing of her Welsh origins, Gillard is considered more personable than the wonkish Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former bureaucrat with an autocratic style who led Labor to a landslide victory in the 2007 election.

Typical of Gillard’s style was her tart reply just last month when asked if she would replace Rudd. She said she was more likely to be picked to play for the Western Bulldogs, an Australian Rules football team.

Elected to Parliament in 1998, Gillard built a reputation as a formidable and quick-thinking debater in “the bear pit,” the daily question time in Parliament.

“She’s a good communicator and there’s a warmth about Gillard that Rudd never had,” said Norman Adjorensen, a political scientist at the Australian National University.

A key member of Rudd’s Cabinet, she had long been viewed as a possible future prime minister, and Rudd had repeatedly praised his deputy as a worthy successor, but always with the caveat — “later.”

Born in Wales in 1961, Gillard came to Australia at age 4 with her parents, who wanted her to grow up in a warmer climate to recover from a lung infection.

But of course, since this is predominantly an Israel-related blog, I am sure what you really want to know is her stance on Israel.

Apparently not too shabby.

Jewish leaders welcomed the appointment of Australia’s first female prime minister, who has been supportive of Israel.

Julia Gillard was elected unopposed in a Labor Party caucus meeting Thursday after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to a leadership ballot triggered by a slump in the polls.

Gillard, from Labor’s left faction, was widely considered an unknown quantity on Israel when she was elected deputy leader in 2006.

But she “stood like a rock during the Gaza incursion [in 2009], reiterating again and again that Hamas began the conflict by rocketing Israel,” said Michael Danby, a Jewish lawmaker in the Labor government.

Dr. Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, agreed.

“Having been to Sderot, unlike so many of Israel’s critics, she understood and defended Israel’s right and need to defend its civilian population against repeated and indiscriminate missile attacks from Gaza,” Rubenstein said.

In a congratulatory letter issued Thursday, Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Robert Goot praised Gillard’s “principled stands” and “close understanding” of Jewish issues.

Gillard, who first visited Israel in 2005, led the Australian delegation in June 2009 to the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, a high-profile bilateral conference organized by the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange. She met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah.

Rudd, a staunch supporter of Israel, recently had come under fire from Jewish leaders for expelling an official from the Israeli Embassy in Canberra over the Dubai passports affair. Gillard stayed largely silent on the controversial affair.

Mazal tov, Madam Prime Minister.

Update: Bizarre photo of the day: Courtesy of Chabad, in an article on Gillard.

New Prime Minister: a friend Of Chabad

The newly elected Prime Minister of Australia, Ms. Julia Gillard, is known to be a friend Of Chabad of NSW. She has visited in the Yeshiva Centre – Chabad Headquarters of NSW under the leadership of Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, shliach of NSW, Australia and in “Our Big Kitchen” under the directorship of Rabbi Dovid Slavin (pictured above with the Prime Minister). Rabbi Slavin said that Ms. Julia Gillard is a friend of Chabad and has spoken publicly about her support for Israel and we wish her the traditional Jewish Blessing of “Mazal Tov” and much success in making Australia a good place for all Australians

Not sure why they would be protecting her identity, since millions of people around the world know what she looks like.

Alternatively, the photographer went a bit heavy on the Schnapps.

Update: More on Julia and the Jews.

Update: Shimon Waronker plans to open a trilingual elementary school in Brooklyn this September. He also was awarded the French Ordre des Palmes Académiques last year and was knighted by the French Ambassador.

Meanwhile, on Thursday evening, palestinian terrorists fired 5 mortar in to Israel.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

3:33PM: I’ve already posted the photo; now you can see Omri Casspi, the first Israeli in the NBA, and Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian in the NBA, making nice on video!

12:20PM: One of the terrorists – apparently a member of the Al Qaeda-affiliated group even more radical than Hamas – has reached his 72 virgin Arafats in “paradise.”

12:15PM: The IAF has struck a cell of terrorists in Gaza, wounding at least 4  preparing to fire rockets into Israel. The rocket launcher itself also did not fair well in the strike.

8:30AM: This is how Ma’an News reported yesterday’s palestinian terror attack on two Israelis.

Palestinian shot in Hebron over alleged knife attack

As if the real tragedy was the terrorist being shot. Also note how the it is the knife attack that is only “alleged”, but the palestinian terrorist being shot is a fact.

But it gets better. Ma’an reports it is palestinians who are afraid after the attack.

Bassam Jabari, a Palestinian living in the area near the settlement, said he was afraid he would be attacked by settlers in the evening following the incident.

Meanwhile, even though they report the attack as being only “alleged”, Ma’an nevetheless tries to blame it on the Joooooos.

Kiryat Arba is located on the outskirts of Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank. It has been a flashpoint for violence in the past. In December 2008, settlers from Kiryat Arba rampaged through neighboring areas, setting fire to houses and injuring several people, after their government evicted Israelis from a nearby house they took over from Palestinians.

Tensions were also running high after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday limitations on construction in the Jewish-only settlements, which were built on land owned by Palestinians.

12:40AM: A follow-up story on young Moshe Holtzberg, orphaned after his parents were slaughtered during the Mumbai Chabad House terror attack a year ago.

12:35AM: Quote of the day:

“I do not envy the prime minister. We are facing an awful administration”

“Within a week, construction will start on housing units (in the West Bank) that had been previously approved, and then we will be accused of being cheaters and scoundrels. I know the prime minister is in distress; it is not easy facing the US president, after the latter dragged him through a series of torments.”

- Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat ripping Barack Obama a new one.

(hat tip: Noah)