The Day In Israel: Fri May 15th, 2009

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Israel has promised to coordinate its moves on Iran with Washington and not “surprise” the US with any strike.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Ministry has warned that Iran has two-thirds of the fissile material it needs to manufacture a nuclear weapon, and at the current pace of uranium enrichment, Iran will be able to manufacture its first nuclear weapon in late 2010 or early 2011.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

3:36PM: With the world pressuring Israel into accepting a two-state solution, it bears reminding why the PA officially supports the idea.

3:25PM: I have been in contact with someone who witnessed Brendon O’Connell’s filming and harassment of the two Jewish youth, as seen in the video I posted on this site last week. Here’s what my contact said regarding the attempt by Friends of Palestine to dissociate themselves from O’Connell’s actions.

I don’t think that they have “unfriended” him. In the video (which has been deleted from everywhere) a man from the rally with a beard joined him in shouting anti-israel crap but he disappeared when things got really ugly. But Friends of Palestine themselves didn’t do anything to stop him, even when they knew what he was doing. This “unfriending” has just occurred in the face of the media, or else they would have done it sooner. I have no evidence for this, but I believe that if they weren’t anti-semites, they wouldn’t be so obsessed with Israel.

12:25PM: Egyptian security forces have reportedly uncovered hundreds of weapons and explosive devices hidden along the Sinai Peninsula’s border with Israel, including 266 rockets, 40 mines, 50 mortar shells, 20 hand grenades and at least three anti-aircraft missiles.

10:28AM: Ynet on Perth anti-Semite Brendon O’Connell and his reign of terror:

Anti-Semitic videos posted  by an Australian man, Brendon O’Connell from Perth, on YouTube have sent shockwaves through the Jewish community in the city.

O’Connell, 39, was arrested Thursday and is set to appear before a court next week and be charged with conduct likely to incite animosity or racist harassment. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum penalty of 14 years in prison plus a fine of $18,000.

The affair began about 10 days ago, during a rally held by a number of members of the “Friends of Palestine” group outside a local grocery selling fruits from Israel. Several Jewish students from the Australian Union of Jewish Students arrived at the place to stage a counter-rally, and were then confronted by O’Connell.

“He pulled out a video camera and started yelling at us,” recounted Stanley Keiser, the union’s president. “We soon entered into a heated debate and very soon he began making anti-Semitic slurs.

“He said that the Jewish religion preaches murder, that we are a bunch of blood-thirsty murderers… and that we want to wipe all the non-Jews off the map,” said Keiser. “I asked him whether he was denouncing Israel’s actions or if he’s simply an anti-Semite. He said he was anti-Jewish. At this point I realized that I’m dealing with a certified anti-Semite,” he added.

Keiser also said that at some point the confrontation escalated even further and O’Connell punched him in the face.

‘People literally cried’

Two days later a member of the Jewish community encountered one of O’Connell’s videos on YouTube and contacted the police, which found dozens other racist videos in his home.

According to Tal Dror, the Jewish Agency emissary to Perth, “Things calmed down after he was arrested, but before that the reactions in the community were terrible. People literally cried when they saw the video on the internet. They said they didn’t know such things still existed, certainly not in Australia.”

According to Tal, “This is a small community numbering 4,000-6,000 members, and anti-Semitic harassments are very rare. People are pleased with the way the police handled the affair and don’t feel threatened. I just hope that this person doesn’t try to hurt innocent Jews before his trial.”

This is the first report I have seen – besides Israellycool – which mentions the fact that O’Connell actually struck someone (I am assuming Stanley Keiser is the young Jewish man filmed in O’Connell’s ‘First Fruits’ video).

8:45AM: Jon Stewart on the pope’s visit (Life in Israel via Shy Guy).

6:10AM: Shotgun wedding?

A young Palestinian woman from the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar was shot and died Wednesday when her fiancé misfired his gun while cleaning the weapon.

The Palestine Center for Human Rights later identified the woman as Shadia Ibrahim Allami. The PCHR report confirmed the woman was shot at point blank range in the abdomen when the gun her fiancé was playing with misfired.

According to PCHR Shadia’s wedding party was supposed to be held on Friday.