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US President Barack Obama has met with15 American Jewish leaders in the White House. In the meeting, Obama reportedly tried to reassure them that there was a mistaken perception the US is pressuring Israel more than the palestinians or Arab countries, spoke about the likelihood that Israel would retain the major “settlement” blocs in any final peace deal, and told them that he wants to help Israel overcome its demographic problem by reaching an agreement on a two-state solution, but that in order to do so, Israel would need “to engage in serious self-reflection.”
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
9:20PM: A series of explosions has occurred in a Hizbullah weapons depot, triggering widespread panic among residents and further proving that Hizbullah continues to use Lebanese villages along the border to hide weapons among the civilian population.
9:06PM: For those of you interested in the Maccabiah Games (aka “The Jewish Olympics”), here is the Day One Newscast.
[Warning: Not for those with an aversion to extremely wooden news presenters].8:44PM: Interesting picture-caption combination of the day:
The caption reads:
Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to “corrupt the young. “(AFP/File/Abbas Momani)
I guess that’s one way of avoiding the gum..
8:12PM: The fugitive-KKK-member-in-Israel story just keeps getting weirder.
New details emerged on Tuesday on the remarkable fugitive life led by a US white supremacist who chose Israel as a refuge from American law enforcement efforts to hunt him down, including startling revelations on the suspect’s relationship with a Jewish Israeli woman, whom he reportedly impregnated while staying in the country.
Micky Louis Mayon, 33, one of America’s 100 most wanted criminals and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, arrived in Israel on a tourist visa in January 2008, and became an illegal migrant after overstaying his visa, a source from the National Immigration Authority’s Oz unit told The Jerusalem Post. Though he entered using his own passport, it was unclear whether his entry into the country was a result of a miscommunication between US and Israeli authorities.
With the help of an Israeli friend, Mayon took up odd jobs to survive in Tel Aviv, such as washing dishes, while also receiving money from his parents, who knew of his whereabouts, the source said.
Around four months ago, Mayon entered into a romantic relationship with a Jewish Israeli woman, who became pregnant one month ago. Mayon did not tell his partner about the fact that he was a wanted KKK member back in the US.
But after learning that his girlfriend was pregnant, Mayon decided it was time to reveal his dark past to her, and she reportedly reacted with shock, and went on to tip off the authorities to Mayon’s location.
KKK member going to Israel and impregnating a Jewish woman = epic fail.
6:26PM: Two Israel Navy warships – the INS Hanit and INS Eilat – have crossed Egypt’s Suez Canal in a voyage that highlights the growing cooperation between Egypt and Israel, and is meant to send a message to Iran.
5:43PM: Anti-Israel blogger Richard Silverstein has been caught engaging in bandwidth theft, resulting in a very Jewlicious outcome.
3:18PM: The BBC has more on the KKK man found in Israel (see 6:13AM update)
A spokeswoman for Israel’s interior ministry said immigration police raided Mayon’s apartment in south Tel Aviv following a tip-off from Interpol on Monday.
Sabine Haddad said he had arrived in Israel as a tourist in January 2008. He was issued with a one-month visa but stayed on illegally.
“US marshals are on the way here to escort him back to the United States,” she said.
“He said… that he did not hold a job while in Israel but made some money by washing dishes and that his parents sent him money to make ends meet.”
I hope I never ate in that restaurant.
3:10PM: Today’s future Darwin Awards candidate, courtesy of Ma’an News:
A Bedouin boy was reportedly injured when a bomb he was carrying exploded on Tuesday morning, near the town of Zimirt, in the Negev desert in Israel.
According to Israeli rescue services, the teenager climbed a tree and then fell, causing the bomb to explode, injuring him in the stomach. He was hospitalized.
No word on why he was carrying a bomb to begin with. I assume he wasn’t trying to blow up the tree.
6:13AM: From the WTF Department:
A high-ranking white supremacist on the run from US federal authorities was arrested on Monday night in a south Tel Aviv hideout.
33-year-old Micky Louis Mayon, one of America’s 100 Most Wanted criminals, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested in a Florentine apartment by the National Immigration Authority’s newly formed Oz enforcement unit.
Mayon is wanted in the US on charges of racist assaults, setting fire to vehicles belonging to federal agents, and a host of violence incidents.
The Oz unit was acting on intelligence relayed by Interpol, which informed authorities here that Mayon had entered Israel illegally.
He is said to have moved apartments often in order to evade police, but his efforts proved fruitless on Monday when a delicate operation by the Oz unit saw officers break into his hideout and arrest him.
Oz unit members have the powers of a police officer but can only use them in cases of illegal entry into the country.
Mayon was the subject of an American arrest operation in November 2007, but officers soon realized he had flown to Israel on a one-way ticket. Earlier that year, he reportedly fired his gun in the air repeatedly after being involved in an argument with an African-American. US authorities have described him as a dangerous fugitive.
Oz Unit head Tziki Sela said Mayon was surprised to be arrested, but cooperated with the officers. He has been transferred to a Holon jail facility, where he underwent an immigration hearing. He was then taken to an Israel Prison Authority jail facility.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or rather just being in the wrong place.
Which begs the question: why of all places would he come to Israel? Perhaps he was on his way to the palestinian-controlled territory where he would find the most concentrated area of Jew-haters on the planet. Or perhaps he just figured that he could cut his travel time to work. Of course there’s also the possibility that it’s just a matter of the boy being as sharp as a bowling ball.
6:06AM: Introducing our latest weapon: Zionist Sex Gum of Death.TM
Is Israel targeting the Palestinian population in Gaza by distributing libido-increasing chewing gum in the Strip? A Hamas police spokesman in the Gaza Strip Islam Shahwan claimed Monday that Israeli intelligence operatives are attempting to “destroy” the young generation by distributing such materials in the coastal enclave.
Shahwan said that the police got their hands on gum that increases sexual desire that, according to him, reaches merchants in the Strip by way of the border crossings. According to him, a Palestinian drug dealer admitted that he sold products that increase sex drive. The dealer said that he received the materials from Israeli sources by way of the Karni crossing.
A number of suspects have been arrested.
The affair was exposed when a Palestinian filed a complaint that his daughter chewed the aforementioned gum and experienced the dubious side effects.
Shahwan even claimed that Israeli intelligence operatives encourage dealers in Gaza to distribute the gum for free.
“The Israelis seek to destroy the Palestinians’ social infrastructure with these products and to hurt the young generation by distributing drugs and sex stimulants,” said Shahwan.
However, he noted that drugs reach the Gaza Strip by way of Rafah tunnels, and said that the police keep a close watch on the illegal activities going on in the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
Shahwan added that the police have recently seized large amounts of drugs and alcohol attached to the underside of automobiles passing through Erez crossing. The automobile owners admitted receiving help for smuggling the materials from Israeli intelligence operatives.
